Medieval history/hobby/reenactment/recreation...

[Mir]

Greetings, all!

I want this to be a thread for all things medieval - while I'm a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, there are other hobby research and reenactment/recreation groups out there and I want to include all of us.

(There was a thread on the previous forum called Butch Femme SCAdians... we had some neat discussions there.)

Let me give a little background for my own aspect of this hobby: I've been in the SCA since 1988 (as we say, anno societatis 22). Our particular group does research and recreation (unlike re-enactors we don't exactly choreograph actual battles or exactly copy illumination - we use the learning to test our own mettle and ideas in their asthetic and tradition.)

In the SCA, I portray a Russian merchant from Novgorod who keeps a warehouse near Chepstow, on the English / Welsh border in the 1220s. Because we're recreation not reenactment, Tvorimir Danilov was not a real person I can prove - in fact we don't let you portray a specific famous person. Instead, he's a valid example of that sort of person from that time. I wear the clothes and portray the background and attitudes (it makes a good joke when I send the dog to be my wife's guard on merchants' row - she SURELY can't be allowed to go alone!). However, I am also a Marshal (safety official), a Chirurgeon (first aid officer), and Herald (announcer). I do enough work and leadership that I was elevated to the peerage as a Companion of the Order of the Pelican, and am in direct fealty to the Crown. In the SCA, our rulers win a tournament for the headache...I mean privilege... of ruling for 6 months.

So, here's a snapshot. I think our modern era can learn a lot from the chivalrous ideals, and I go play a game on weekends that gives me a focus for learning, an excuse to teach and show what I'm learning, and a community I've enjoyed for years.

Anyone else?

in service,
Mir

Master Tvorimir Danilov, OP, MC, GPoAT

(Here's one of my pet projects)
http://www.cafepress.com/conalscorner/4747221 - Mir's Quest is an effort to get those ideals thought about and discussed, as described in Lord Conal's store...