Facsimile Surprise

I'm fond of illuminated manuscripts. I may possibly have mentioned that at some point on this blog. Back in college, I became aware of very, very expensive facsimiles available from a company in Europe... way beyond my price range. Since then, I've assembled a few facsimiles in slipcases or more conventional editions, and a larger number of books about illuminated manuscripts, their bindings, medieval painting techniques, etc.

But there are two kinds of facsimiles. One is the type where good quality reproductions of medieval manuscripts appear in conventional, if rather luxe, hardcover books. Normally there is an accompanying commentary, and perhaps they reproduce every page of the book, or perhaps they just reproduce the more interesting pages.

The other type is where they literally reproduce the entire book, its binding, every page. If someone penciled notes in, they appear faithfully. Such facsimiles are available from Faksimile Verlag Luzern, a Swiss company.

An aside. I'm not one of those people who fantasizes about being rich, and lies awake nights thinking about Maseratis and super models and flying first class. Just not the sort of thing that jazzes me. I like nice things, and if I were rich I'd buy a Jaguar and eat in nice restaurants all the time and jet over to Europe occasionally, but it really doesn't keep me awake at nights. But there is one thing that tempts me, and makes me doubt my career path, which usually keeps me quite happy: books. If I were rich, really loaded, I'd buy every one of these facsimiles, and keep them in a locked room and gloat over them. Maybe I'd let you see them. If you're nice to me, and wear gloves. That sort of thing. Sue me, I like books.

Well, I ran across the Faksimile Verlag people again late last year, looked at their website, and noted the absence of a price list. Not a good sign, but I'm a somewhat more prosperous academic than I was when I first encountered this concept as a callow youth, so I sent an email inquiring about the price of a volume that I knew was rather modest in size. Some weeks went by, and without any answer, I scouted around the Internet. Some other sites discussed the Faksimile company and gave price lists. The price for the volume I'd inquired about, the Prayers of Anne de Bretagne, was not out of the range I suspected, but it was at the high end of the range. More than I'd hoped. I would like to own one of these facsimiles some day, I thought, but it would have to wait a while. The price I saw was in the high three figures. That sum would fund some bookbinding classes, and plenty of materials, I thought. Owning one of these delightful volumes would have to be planned for carefully.

So yesterday, while working in the home office, I heard the doorbell ring. Shortly afterward, Melisande brought in a sizable package with German language on the label. I was mystified; had I forgotten about a used book or an eBay purchase? She sat down to watch, curious, and I began to open it, finding layers of elaborate packaging inside. Midway through, I remembered the Faksimile Verlag inquiry, and thought "Oh! A very elaborate catalog or brochure, apparently. What an amazing amount of expense to go to!"

You're laughing, gentle reader. No, it really didn't occur to me at first. It had never crossed my mind that asking after the price of the book would cause a company in Switzerland to ship an extremely expensive book to me with a polite invoice. When I got to a handsome presentation case in the center of all this packaging, however, I began to suspect that there was no way this was a catalog.

And it wasn't. It was the facsimile, very beautiful in red velvet, with a commentary volume hidden under a tray and sealed in plastic. There was an invoice: 1276 Swiss francs. At todays rates, about $1100.

Well, I can't keep it, of course. It won't do. I went and read the website much more carefully. Yes, they'll take it back. Yes, they are agreeable about installment plans. No, it isn't responsible for me to do that. I emailed them right away, and if I don't get a reply quickly, I'll call and start making arrangements for it to go back, carefully insured.

I obviously didn't read the inquiry form carefully enough, I realized. It really didn't occur to me at all that they would simply send the actual facsimile without any further communication. I mean, they don't know me from Adam - did they run a credit check, or did they just assume anyone inclined to inquire about the price was also well-heeled enough to buy the book without any further negotiation? I'm rather flattered, I guess.

The photos are borrowed from the Faksimile Verlag website, as I'm not handling the beautiful little object any more. A pity, but it must go back.

UPDATE: A very courteous response from Lucerne this morning - it was indeed a misunderstanding, and they will happily exchange it for the catalogue I was expecting.

Flask-Happy

This is the wonderful thing about antique stores. Sometimes, you just find the most amazing things.

Another Royal Holland Pewter flask, light wear, apparently newer, about half the size of the old one. And very inexpensive.

Medieval Flask

The very interesting blog A Commonplace Book recently pointed to this wonderful item at Billy and Charlies: a medieval flask. Can't tell you how long I've been waiting for a good reproduction of this item. I have a handsome modern flask from Royal Holland Pewter that is functionally the same, but I will have to order this soon.

Manuscript of Forme of Cury

The University of Manchester's John Rylands University Library is digitising and making available on the Internet images of the pages of 40 important books, including the Forme of Cury, the 14th century cookbook compiled by the cooks of Richard II's royal household. (Thanks to pals Skalla-Geirmundr and Breac, both of whom forwarded the Middlebridge post and link to the Guardian.)

Again with the Books

Mistress Melisande is spending the weekend doing something called "stitching camp". I find this activity remote, inexplicable and possibly injurious to sanity; therefore I chose to enjoy a leisurely day among the booksellers (and restaurants, and sellers of fine viands and bottled items) to be found in the Barony of Cynnabar. That is to say, Ann Arbor, for those readers not familiar with the nomenclature of the Middle Kingdom.

Some time ago, I mentioned that I would have more to say about bookstores in Michigan. Two of the finest are to be found in downtown Ann Arbor, and I spent a leisurely hour in each. They don't exhaust the possibilities, by the way, but they are more reliable locations for medieval books than the others.

First, perhaps my favorite bookstore in Michigan is Motte and Bailey, at 212 N. 4th St., just south of the Kerrytown area. With a name like that, you might surmise that the proprietors have a good medieval section, and they do. Their prices are reasonable, I might add. Today I chose Those Who Fought; An Anthology of Medieval Sources, edited by Peter Speed. It was an inexpensive paperback; I resisted the many other temptations in the quiet, elegant store, having many other stops to make. (Besides, I'll be back soon enough. I had to make sure I didn't actually have a copy of another book, and I don't.) Checking out, the co-owner suggested a work describing the military campaigns of Louis the Fat. It's that kind of store. I've had similar conversations with both owners on previous occasions. Once had a long talk with this gentleman about Jonathan Sumption, and when we could expect the next installment of his magisterial history of the Hundred Years War.

A bit later, it was on to Dawn Treader, the venerable warren of stacks at 514 E. Liberty, quite near the big Borders and State St. I've been visiting Dawn Treader since the early 1980s, and have lost track of all the books I've bought there (sold quite a few books to them, too). Today I chose, with some difficulty, The Secular Spirit: Life and Art at the End of the Middle Ages, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is an exceptionally fine catalog from an exhibition in the mid 1970s; not the flashiest museum exhibition book I have, but probably the best I've seen, with many photos of late medieval objects arranged logically, with clear and knowledgeable commentary. Just at a glance in the store, it had photos of things I had heard vaguely described and found interesting, and it was inexpensive. Over the years, I've both found many wonderful things at Dawn Treader but often found their medieval selection a bit thin; picked over by Cynnabar folk, no doubt. The last couple of times I've visited, the selection was not thin; I had trouble deciding what to buy.

Ann Arbor has other used bookstores; I usually visit Westside Books, at 113 W. Liberty, but it happens that I rarely find what I'm looking for. Still fun to look, as I did today. Also, keep in mind the Ann Arbor Public Library Friends book shop, which is open in the basement of the library on Saturdays and Sundays during fall, winter and spring. Their selection changes massively from week to week, but I usually find it the best of the library book sales in Michigan. Today I found two books I've seen many times but never for a price I cared to pay, Grant Uden's handsome Dictionary of Chivalry and Flanders in the Fifteenth Century: Art and Civilization.

Sometime soon, bookstores in East Lansing.

Vikings Pictures

These are Sgt. Radegund's photos on Flickr from Vikings Come Home this year.

Mid Michigan Renaissance Festival

There is a new... I think it's new... Renaissance festival in the Frankenmuth area. The link to their web site is here. Well, I'm famously unenthused about Ren faires, but I have attended the big one in Holly once, and also went to it's predecessor location once - first time I ever saw SCA combat, actually, at that one. I knew about the SCA and was technically a member, in fact, but I had never been to an event at the time - this was the early fall of 1982. Anyway, I reckon I'd like to pay a visit to the new one, it being close by, to encourage them and give them a few of my hard-earned dollars.

New Medieval Glass Options

Historic Enterprises has added new options for medieval glass tableware at their site. They carry several pieces from Le Verre Historique, a Belgian producer, but note that they can now provide anything from the producer's website. Ordering from overseas is often complex and expensive (and there is a language barrier in this instance, as there not infrequently is), so having Historic Enterprises do the importing is a valuable service.

New Website Design for the SCA

The SCA, Inc. website, which, to put it mildly, has always been a very bare bones sort of site, fairly informative but quite plain, has been redesigned. It's still rather spare, but it's distinctly an upgrade.

Cagots

I'd never heard of them, but apparently the Cagots were an oppressed people of southern France and northern Spain. This article describes them, and notes some other vanishing European peoples. Fascinating subject. (Via SCA Today.)

Comic Art

I can't manage to get anything remotely medieval out of this, but oh well. Here is the website which provides much of a forgotten British comic strip classic, Carol Day, from the 50s and 60s. Never made the US papers, because allegedly too sophisticated for the US market. I wish American media outlets would let the public decide that, just once. Not all hillbillies out here in flyover country, no matter what they think on the coasts.

Update: For example, check out panel 2 in strip #139. Wow.

Another SCA Podcast

Right here. The Lion's Road podcast. Via the always interesting SCA Today website.

Books of Hours Again

And other illuminated manuscripts, at the Leaves of Gold website.

SCA and Cocktails

SCA and cocktails don't go together all that well... or I never thought so, anyway. The Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. is all about the Middle Ages, and they didn't have cocktails in the Middle Ages, poor benighted sods. Of course, we SCA members are often fond of the sauce, in our way, and I have been at more than one post-event function at which beer, mead and ale were not the only libations offered. (One time at Pennsic, Geirmundr and I made martinis... well, I made them, and Geirmundr drank them, mostly. A merry evening, to be sure. And we used to have cocktails before dinner in the kitchen during one period of local revels, and we have generally had champagne after local events.)

Well, last summer, I decided to take a break from the SCA for a while, and as I tried to still post occasionally here, I found I really wanted to talk about cocktails, one of my other hobbies being making classic cocktails. I even considered starting a separate blog for a while. But I managed to mostly avoid drifting too far from my chosen topic here. I know other bloggers vary from their topic, so it isn't a sin or anything. I just like the tidiness of sticking to my chosen field of... uh, blogography.

Tonight, I was prowling through drink blogs (trying desperately to avoid actually grading any more papers or final exams from the summer term), and I went to a new one, to me, anyway, called An Exercise in Hospitality... Adventures with Cocktails and Food. And what should be the latest post on this blog but the Pennsic War! The writer explains to his usual readers about Pennsic and then discusses at length drinks and meals he and his comrades had there, together with some stabs at more period fare. Delightful, and perhaps I'm being too picky in my topics. I'd post more often if I could expand my topic base.

Books of Hours

One of my loves about the Middle Ages is the study of Books of Hours, those personal prayer books from the 13th-16th centuries of which so many lovely examples survive. I've manfully restrained myself from greedily collecting all the handsome facsimile copies in print... except for a few, of course, plus many less extravagant books about them. I just got Painted Prayers by Roger S. Wieck, and was reminded that I haven't looked around the Internet lately to see what was currently out there. (Regrettably, Painted Prayers is out of print, and I had meant to get it but not gotten around to it until this week... I did not pay anything like the prices for used books shown here. Just in time, I guess.)

Here is a link to a Book of Hours owned by Oberlin College, the Artz Hours, all of the pages of which are shown on successive pages. Very interesting.

More Book News

One of the features of the Lapeer Days festival in nearby Lapeer, Michigan, is a library used book sale. The festival began today, and so did the book sale at the de Angeli Public Library. It's not the best local used book sale, but it's pretty good. My principal complaint, actually, is that the Friends of the Library arrange the tables in such a narrow fashion that it is fairly difficult to get around and see all the books. They also have a huge selection of children's books, dvds, cds, and etc. Lapeer Days lasts through the 16th.

New Acquisitions

Well, if I didn't get to go to Pennsic, I did some satisfying medieval shopping here at home.

The Flint area is not well supplied with used bookstores. There are two Jellybean stores; together with a third in Owosso, a locally-owned chain. The one to the south of town concentrates on mass media stuff; I can't recall ever finding anything on the Middle Ages other than things that get assigned in history classes. Not complaining, they are the place to go for used music, mystery and science fiction paperbacks, DVDs, that sort of thing. The one closer to the center of town is more interesting, although the management have a sometimes exalted notion of how to price some of their collectibles. They get people to pay it, I guess. They have easily the most extensive collection of used books of a more serious type than anywhere this side of one of the university towns in Michigan, but it is a curiously neglected side room; the main action with paperbacks, records and so forth is in the main room. I don't think there's ever been another customer in the side room on the rare occasions I go in - about once a year or less. Awkwardly, the clerk decides on a price at the counter for these books, after performing a brief check on the Internet. ABEbooks.com, I'm guessing? They don't say. I've actually gotten some good deals, once a spectacular deal, so they're not being unreasonable on price; I just wonder if they realize how discouraging a browsing experience this mysterious method induces. If they just marked the prices in the books, I'd go in more often.

At any rate, on a rare visit this week, I found two books on Western martial arts. Sydney Anglo's authoritative The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe. I've checked it out from academic libraries, and it seemed well worth having. Author John Clement claims it is the most important work on the subject in a century; while my interests tend more to the political and strategic levels, particularly about the Hundred Years War, I'm willing to agree with Clement, as far as I can tell. The second book was the Codex Wallerstein, a 15th century fighting manual with reproductions of the illustrations and translations of the text into several languages. Want to know how to rob a peasant by making him think you've slit his throat, but without actually doing so? No problem, the Codex Wallerstein explains the method. I'm hoping I don't have occasion to use that one, myself. But it's good to know these things, right?

Both volumes were in hardcover, in good shape with a little shelf wear, and I certainly wanted them both. The clerk wanted $40 for each, and I left them there. At the very least, I wanted to make sure I couldn't do better on the Internet. But $40 was about right, I found, and after giving it some thought, I realized I would just regret it if I didn't go back for them. Both books are out of print; I didn't go to Pennsic and spend lots of money there; I haven't been keeping up with the literature on my hobby for years now; so the next day I went back and bought both.

So that was fun, but I had already been thinking this week about a Saturday visit to John K. King Books in Detroit (check out the YouTube videos at the link). I tried to persuade Skalla-Geirmundr to go with me, but he was busy being responsible or something. John K. King is the biggest bookseller in Michigan, advertising 900,000 books. It is a spectacular experience, quite like visiting an academic library but being able to buy the books (well, an academic library with a somewhat haphazard collection, but still...). Five or six floors of an old factory building right downtown on W. Lafayette, just what you'd want a big city used bookstore to be. I knew from experience that they have excellent sections on history, cooking and art, just to note some of my interests. Strangely enough, I haven't been there in about ten years, although my infrequent visits always produced wonderful results back in the 90s. It's not really that much fun, getting to that spot in downtown Detroit all the way from Flint. No, it's not a safety issue, downtown Detroit is perfectly fine with me. It's the traffic, construction and accident backups. I've driven in a lot of big cities, but Detroit's the only one I really try to avoid - things are never going smoothly, the way they do on the average visit to Chicago. Half the place is always torn up for construction, because Michigan can't be bothered to build the roads to proper tolerances to begin with; we'd rather repair them every other other year. I mean, Washington DC is less annoying, even with very much heavier traffic and much more aggressive drivers.

Sure enough, I 75 was backed up, so I found myself on a tedious crawl on surface streets to M 10, the Lodge Freeway. That went quickly, thankfully.

I had originally meant to get there early and spend all day visiting each floor, but my local medievalist extravagance suggested a more disciplined approach. The cooking section for cocktail books and medieval cookery; the medieval and English and French history sections; the military section for medieval items were my targets. So I never made it above the 2nd floor, but I had one of the more productive bookstore visits I've ever had. I found (pertinent to the topic of this blog, anyway):

Food and Feast in Tudor England by Alison Sims.
Art, Culture and Cuisine; Ancient and Medieval Gastronomy by Phyllis Pray Bober.

I'd read both but didn't own them. Both are beautiful hardcovers with dustcovers, both were very attractively priced, much better than I could've done on eBay or Amazon.

The Medieval Soldier; 15th Century Campaign Life Recreated in Colour Photographs by Gerry Embleton and John Howe.
Crecy 1346; Anatomy of a Battle by Henri de Wailly.

The price for these two I can only describe as derisory. $18 for the pair. Both are immaculate; the Embleton and Howe book looks brand new and still bears a sticker for $65 on the back cover. I had never even seen the book outside of libraries, and had little hope of finding it for a reasonable price. I'm unfamiliar with the Crecy 1346 book, although I've read a good deal of more recent books on the topic, so I'm not sure about it, but it looks good. I don't know if it was written in English by the author, all of whose other books I can find are clearly French language texts, or if it is translated, but the translator is not named. We'll see. By the way, there are several books on the Battle of Crecy with almost identical titles; this one was published in 1987. I'm hoping for a strong French point of view, as most books on the topic are written from an English perspective.

On another occasion, comments on other good bookstores in Michigan.

War Over at Opening Ceremonies?

According to the Pennsic Independent, King Konrad of the East has conceded all 37 War Points to the Middle at the Opening Ceremonies yesterday.

That was unexpected! I have no idea what the story is here, although I'm sure there is one. From the count of kingdoms enrolled on each side, it looked like the East might be outnumbered. It appeared that mostly smaller and more distant kingdoms were fighting with the East and Atlantia, although I didn't see Meridies in either list. So perhaps the East felt it would make everyone on both sides happier to just fight and have a good time without a foreordained loss. But I don't know, that's the purest speculation; the Pennsic Independent didn't explain further. No doubt more details will become available.

I urge my readers to subscribe to PI if you are at home wondering what's going on at Pennsic; I know many of my friends are this year. Also, check out Master Rowan's page for lots of pictures every day.

Pennsic War 37

Once again I find myself unable to attend Pennsic, even briefly. I gave it some slight thought, but it seems impractical. We moved earlier this year into much more spacious and congenial quarters, and that cost a lot in time, effort and money; and I am in no way prepared to fight, camp or otherwise participate. And that's leaving aside the question of my work schedule, which makes Pennsic highly impractical. Can't just wander off and cancel classes during a nine-week term, and it's awkward to schedule substitutes during the summer. If the regular Econ guy were around this time of year to fill in for me, I wouldn't be teaching the classes to begin with! (I could afford the time to go to Pennsic, certainly, but my bank account would very much not appreciate it.)

However, in this day and age, it is increasingly possible to attend Pennsic in spirit, if not in person. One can keep up in the virtual world of the Internet. Here's my primary tool, the Pennsic Independent. This is the on-site daily newsletter of Pennsic, and they provide hard copies in the mail or .pdf copies. I prefer .pdf, as I can read them the same day.

And tonight I came across this web diary, at which the writer, one Rowan, who appears to be an old hand, promises to deliver photos and commentary on a daily basis.

Ok, it's not arming up and fighting in the field battle. One does what one can.

Jousting as a Sport

The Wall Street Journal has a front page story today on the revival of jousting as a genuine competitive sport, which they describe as "A far cry from the mock re-enactments at Renaissance fairs..." The story profiles Belgian jouster Fred Piraux, who seems to have quite the attitude. There is video at the link.

The Weekly Standard on the Medieval Congress

The conservative magazine the Weekly Standard has a brilliant article by medievalist Charlotte Allen on Western Michigan University's annual Medieval Congress. I particularly enjoyed her merciless remarks on the dreary post modernism that has infected much medievalism.

Sir Vitus and Caffeine

Sir Vitus Atzinger makes a humorous remark regarding proper behavior in the emergency Crown Tourney this weekend here. I laughed out loud.

MidRealm News

Well, actually, this probably isn't news to most people who might read my blog. But Their Royal Majesties, Lutr and Tessa, had their reign terminated by the Board of Directors of the SCA over the weekend. Their membership lapsed for three days during their term as Crown Prince and Princess. It seems that Lutr and Tessa discovered they'd lapsed after their check went astray, reupped online at once, and reported the lapse themselves. A class move which saves a lot of trouble and argument, that.

Duke Palymar and Duchess Aislinn were appointed regents for the kingdom. Fortunately, the timing is good, as Crown Tournament is set for this Sunday, the 25th. Palymar has announced that there will be two tournaments that day. One at 10 am whose winner will be crowned king at once, and the conventional tournament that afternoon as had already been planned. He specifically noted that Lutr is free to enter the morning tournament, along with whatever other eligible contestants are acceptable to the regents. I thought that was an interesting way to phrase it.

Unfortunately, I'll be busy that day, or this would be an unusually interesting event to attend. The Board has chimed in this morning on this topic. Notice that the Board, the regents and Lutr and Tessa all agree on what happened and what has been done. That's one of the reasons I like living in the Middle Kingdom. No drama, just an orderly, calm and courteous solution for the problem, everyone takes responsibility and moves on.

Medieval(ish)

We just spent a long weekend in Traverse City, Charlevoix and Petoskey, and I had a good food find. We visited the Traverse City wine tasting bar of Black Star Farms, a Leelenau Peninsula vineyard, and in the midst of examining their wines, I discovered a bottle of "Verjus" - verjuice, in other words. I posted about an earlier find here.

Now, when not cooking feasts or preparing dishes for local functions - long story, but I haven't been doing much with the SCA in recent months - one doesn't have a lot of call for verjuice, so I hadn't tried it yet. However, after getting the bottle of Black Star Farms Verjus home, I read the label more carefully, and discovered the following:

Verjus... the wine friendly alternative to vinegar. this unfermented juice of early harvested grapes offers a sweet-sour balance.

Use anyway you would use vinegar in salads, sauces and marinades or try our...

Virgo Cocktail
1-1/2 oz. Black Star Farms Verjus
1-1/2 oz. Club Soda
Add a squeeze of lime and serve on the rocks.

Well, I had to try that, of course, and it gave me an excuse to actually taste verjuice for the first time. It tastes mild, just a little tart. More reminiscent of vinegar than like it.

As for the cocktail? Well, it's ok. But I'll be using the rest of the bottle for cooking, I think.

MidRealm Humor

Unlike most April 1 posts, this one is actually quite funny on several levels.

1381 The Peel Affinity

I have been eyeing this prospective book, which was due to be published in February, for some time. Remembering to check on it last week, I found that while Amazon has a page for the book, it doesn't have any copies. Windrose Armoury had six copies, though with a breathtaking amount for shipping, so I anted up. The volume arrived today.

The Peel Affinity does not disappoint. From a physical point of view, it is nicely bound with a handsome dust cover, a silk ribbon and slick paper with color photos on almost every page. The introduction says:

The book is divided into three sections. The first is a brief introduction to the world in which our characters live. In the central part, we take you through a year in the life of our fictional English knight and the people around him. The last part presents a more generalized view of campaign life and war as they might be experienced by our characters. Throughout you will find sidebars highlighting important aspects of medieval English life which affect the lives of our characters.

The book is provided by a historical recreation group called La Belle Compagnie, and depicts the band's impression of a late 14th century knightly family, that of Sir Geoffrey Peel. The photos are gorgeous, in places stunning (some interior room scenes at spots like pp. 40-1, for example). I haven't had time to read the book, but at a glance the text seems quite serious and accurate.

I'll have more comments later, after I've had more time with the book, but I'm delighted with the purchase.

Update: Oops, I missed the link to buy on this page, too.

Mead Makes a Comeback

Slate Magazine discusses the phenomenon here. The SCA is named-checked, but alas, not favorably.

Camera Lucida

An interesting SCA site which had hitherto escaped my notice is Camera Lucida.

Nuremberg Tournament Book

Amazon emails me (because I bought Prof. Muhlberger's Deeds of Arms) that the Nuremberg Tournament Book is available at this link. No pictures and little detail, but the book apparently has reproductions of some or all of the original manuscript illustrations plus modern commentary. The Metropolitian Museum of Art (which owns the manuscript) has a little detail and an illo here.

The Peel Affinity

1381: The Peel Affinity is about to be published in February 2008. I'm not sure what it will cost, but it looks interesting.

Thinkwell is Back

In the early 1990s, one of the more interesting and thought-provoking projects in the SCA was Thinkwell, a newsletter featuring commentary by SCA members on the organization and how to recreate the Middle Ages. It was put together by Sandra Dodd, AElflaed of Duckford, a long-standing peer and former president of the SCA, Inc.

My wife subscribed and we both enjoyed reading it at the time, and were sorry when it stopped publication. Now it's back in an online format with a blog and some of the old issues archived. I recommend it.

Update: I forgot to mention... in fact, I had altogether forgotten until I posted this... that I met Mistress AElflaed in 1990 at a SCA Board of Directors meeting in Cynnabar. I asked her a rather silly question during an intermission, and she gave me a very polite answer.

Repeal Day

December 5 is Repeal Day, the day the odious 18th Amendment was repealed by the 21st Amendment. Tonight, in the midst of grading papers, I will celebrate by mixing a Roosevelt. FDR is not my favorite president, but for this he deserves credit.

Prohibition was perhaps the most foolish and failed political experiment in American political history (unless you count electing Jimmy Carter, I guess). A high-minded attempt to force everyone to conform to the standards of a bunch of early health fascists, it failed as it deserved to, and cast violaters of the law of the land (almost everyone) as heroes, with effects on American's attitude toward law down to today. Remember that when someone wants to ban smoking, or when you look at the regrettable legal results of the war on drugs. These things don't work, and cast the law in disrepute.

But this is a blog on medieval and SCA topics, and I try not to stray too far, so let's examine a related topic that is at least a little closer. I have coveted for some time a bottle of Rothman and Winter creme de violette, an old liqueur made from Alpine violets and an ingredient in some European confections and in some old cocktails. It just came back on the market in the US again, but is not distributed in Michigan. Finding a distributor who carried it, had it in stock and would ship to Michigan all at the same time was fairly difficult, but it came today, along with a bottle of Chartreuse, the famous herbal liqueur made by Carthusian monks. Chartreuse is generally available in Michigan, but with the dollar-euro exchange rate highly unfavorable right now, is quite expensive. It too is an ingredient in quite a few old cocktails.

Liqueurs of this type have a long history, certainly reaching back to the end of the Middle Ages or before. It is too much to imagine that either of these are based on recipes quite that old, but Chartreuse is made from a secret recipe (although hyssop is widely suspected) of 130 Alpine herbs and is said to be based on a 1605 formula. Creme de violette is probably not so old, although it was made in the 19th century and was once very popular. Creme Yvette was the American version, but ceased production many years ago after highballs, the ubiquitous dry martini and various vodka drinks pretty much drove the old cocktail "up" and usually made with fresh fruit juices out of style. Certainly there is no reasons to suppose there wasn't something similar by the Renaissance.

So raise a glass tonight in honor of Repeal Day and the return of common sense to these shores, once benighted by Prohibition!

Echo of Middle Ages in Holiday Drinks

Eric Felten's How's Your Drink column in the Saturday Wall Street Journal is a favorite part of the week in the newspaper for me. Yesterday, November 17, he spent his column discussing Thanksgiving drinks and lamenting that there weren't more. So he suggested two: Metheglin Punch and Samoset, both made with honey and spices. They aren't meads or metheglins in the official sense, but they are polite nods in their direction. I may try the Punch this week.

Here's the link, but it is likely subscribers-only. (As an aside, email links to the article last for seven days. My email address is balian at chartermi dot net for anyone who wishes to peruse the article.)

I can't strongly enough recommend, by the way, How's Your Drink, Felten's recent book collecting his columns.

Another Take on Beowulf

The Wall Street Journal reviewer saw a 3-D version and liked it. In fact, much of what the National Review writer didn't like is exactly what he was impressed with. The link is here, but non-subscribers may not be able to see it. (Rumor has it that Rupert Murdoch will take the online service free when he fully takes over; might be a good idea, but the Journal is so good I'm happy to subscribe, I'll admit.)

What's more, as if more is needed, the movie's animation and 3-D techniques offer a seductive vision of the medium's future.

We've seen a glimpse of that future before, and it didn't work. Mr. Zemeckis used an earlier version of "Beowulf's" motion-capture technology, or digitally-enhanced live action, in "The Polar Express," a ponderous Christmas fantasy that seemed to be populated by overachieving glove puppets with dead eyes. But that was then and this is now. The passing years -- all three of them -- have brought significant changes: facial features moving with a subtlety that's near-human rather than nonhuman, bodies conducting cross-border raids between the concrete and the abstract. Lapses still occur -- an occasional face will make you wonder if they had plastic surgery in the seventh century -- but the look of the film as a whole is literally captivating.

Beowulf Review

National Review (what other political magazine would bother, I wonder, or have a Beowulf scholar on staff) has a good review of Beowulf here.

Not planning to see the movie. I almost always wait for the DVD anyway, but I'm afraid that while I read Beowulf in college, of course, my interest in the Middle Ages before the 12th century was always quite minimal.

Free Access

Sage Publications has free access to scholarly docs, including articles on medieval topics, until November 30. (Via SCA Today.)

Liz's Golden Age

Speaking of movies, Professor Muhlberger hasn't seen Elizabeth: The Golden Age, but has some brief thoughts. My impression from ads and trailers is similar.

Beowulf Coverage

Unlocked Wordhoard has lots to say about the Beowulf movie due for release soon.

25th Anniversary Combat Pt. 3

L to R: Skalla-Geirmundr Ulfsson and Tsunamei Kenjiro Torashi

25th Anniversary Combat Pt. 2

L to R: Tsunamei Kenjiro Torashi and Nagatatsu Satto.

25th Anniversary Combat Pt. 1

L to R: Tsunamei Kenjiro Torashi and Erevon FitzGerald.

Founders Day Luminaries

Front row, left to right: Lady Terryl MacAodhagain, Lord Eduard von Schonberg, Lady Aisha al'Zarqa. Back row: Lord Balian de Brionne, Lord Skalla-Geirmundr Ulfsson, Lord Erevon FitzGerald, Lady Eron Crowfford, Lord Tsunamei Kenjiro Torashi.

25th Anniversary

Stormvale celebrated its 25th anniversary on Saturday the 20th. The actual anniversary is next Saturday, the 27th. I have mixed feelings. A number of members of the branch did not appear, but most did, and there was a pleasant celebration.

We should all thank Lady Terryl for hosting the party. She gave up her whole day, and essentially her weekend, and had been preparing for weeks. A lot of people put a lot of work into this, including Lady Eron.

Lord Eduard von Schonberg came for the first time in quite a few years, and it was very agreeable to see him again. I missed him, and it was fun to talk over old times.

The various tournaments and competitions took up the afternoon - I don't have a complete list, but Lord Torashi reclaimed his armored combat championship. Lady Femke from Three Hills was teaching a class on illumination when we arrived, which was very kind of her. (And it was nice to finally meet her in person.)

My contribution to the festivities was smaller than it would have been in previous years. I obtained a very fine bottle of champagne, however, and in the evening, when most of the old timers and long-time hard workers could be gathered without disrupting the festivities, we opened it and toasted our 25 years. Some photos are going to follow, but Blogger is glitching on me just at the moment, so I'll do another post later.

What is Panforte?

Strong bread, of course. (Pan is bread and forte is strong.) A return trip to Morgan & York yesterday yielded a treat I had not encountered before: Panforte Nero from an Italian maker. It was a small flat cake in a really beautiful medieval wrapper with nice art, and I wasn't sure what it was. I almost balked when it turned out to be $11.00 - the clerk apologetically pointed out that the difference between the dollar and the euro was making imports quite pricey right now, and the cakes had just come in. This web page has a picture that gives an impression, although the image doesn't do the wrapper justice. Unfortunately, the page is in Italian.

Well, it was delicious, and I was very happy to have spent the money, because I believe I can make these. I'd heard of it, of course, but medieval desserts, as I believe I've mentioned before, are not my forte. It turned out to be a chewy fruit and nut composition, very dark and spicy. My friend thought it tasted like mincemeat; my wife was immediately put in mind of fruitcake, which she dislikes. (My friend and I ate half of it happily while still on the trip; my wife made a face and began looking for a drink to get rid of the taste.)

Coincidentally, we ran into our old friend Becky, formerly Arianwen, who lives in Ann Arbor, and she and another friend had just gotten back from Italy. Also on the European front, I bought a small bottle of Noilly Prat, the original French dry vermouth. I didn't realize it was affordable, never having encountered anything more exotic than the familiar (and very satisfactory) Italian version, Martini and Rossi. I haven't tried it yet, but will report if there is a substantial difference - some authors on cocktails say yes. Quite a post medieval topic, but perhaps readers will find it interesting.

Verjuice

Verjuice is a very common cooking ingredient in Medieval cuisine. When I first encountered cookbooks on the topic, there was still a lot of debate about exactly what it was, although most agreed it was a type of vinegar made with unripe grapes. (It's not fermented and therefore non-alcoholic and not really the same thing as vinegar.) I've known for a while that verjuice was commercially available, but I had never actually seen any, nor, obviously, cooked with it.

This weekend Melisande and I spent the day in Ann Arbor and stopped at a gourmet food and wine shop, Morgan and York (incongruously, it used to be the Big Ten Party Store - party store for the wine and brie set, I would say!). It was a delightful experience, although I was disappointed not to see any artisanal gins I haven't tried yet. Wine was clearly their emphasis. We bought a few odds and ends I hadn't seen elsewhere, along with some chocolate truffles, but the main find from my perspective was a bottle of verjuice. The maker is a South Australian outfit called Maggie Beer. By the way, Morgan and York is one of the pricier shops of its kind I've seen in Michigan. Well worth a visit, though.

I haven't used the verjuice yet. At the price I paid for 375 ml (they are selling it as a gourmet item for salads and sauces like balsamic vinegar), I hope it is useful for medieval dishes. I'll report here when I try it.

Better Heraldry

Courtesy of Master Edward of Effingham, a better version of the arms to the left. He checked my blog to see how the image worked, wasn't satisfied, and sent two more versions for me to try out. Really very kind and generous of him.

SCA Cocktails

Well, one SCA cocktail, at least. That would be an interesting set of recipes to collect, though. I might have to invent one! I was looking for the recipe of a cocktail my handy references didn't have, and came across this on the front page at DrinksMixer.com: Conn's Fruity Beverage, which is said to be popular at SCA events in the south. Ok, I'm not going to pretend that it sounds good to me at all, but perhaps it will interest some.

New Heraldry

See the new and glorious coat of arms to the left? Spiffy, ain't it?

If you'd like your own, I recommend contacting Master Edward of Effingham. He says he started doing heraldic avatars for friends on the Armour Archive forums and decided to turn it into a little business. He's fast and reasonably priced, and provides several different sizes for various purposes - I actually wanted a nice rendering of my heraldry for the MidRealm Forum and similar venues, but it immediately seemed apparent I could use good looking heraldry for many purposes, such as here on the blog.

Coolest Blog Ever?

Maybe. Try Curious Expeditions.

Beautiful Libraries

This link was provided by a bookbinding list I get. If there is a heaven, the chambers look like this.

Lots of News

Lots of bloggy goodness over at Skalla's Steading. This link is also over in my links column to the left. Skalla Geirmundr has been keeping track of local activities at the artisan's guild workshops and fighting practices.

What I'm Reading IV

The Battle of Crecy 1346. Andrew Ayton and Sir Philip Preston, et al. Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press, 2005.

I've been on an early and mid 14th century tear. I neglected to note my recent reading of The Perfect King by Ian Mortimer and Queen Isabella by Alisoun Weir, but I'll come back to the first one, at least. Two very worthwhile books, at any rate.

Ayton and Preston, with help from several other authors, conduct a very detailed examination of all the Battle of Crecy, in which Edward III and a relatively small English army heavily defeated the royal army of France on a hillside in the County of Ponthieu. I love this sort of thing, a serious and calm examination of all the arguments and issues, without grinding any axes. Very persuasive, and I'm glad to see that these authors, together with Iain Mortimer and Clifford Rogers, are engaged in rehabilitating the military reputation of one of England's greatest kings, indeed perhaps the greatest, Edward III.

I'm only about half way through, so I may have more comments later. But this is highly recommended. There is a lot more to the story than the usual set of assumptions, which suggest that Edward invaded France, blundered around until being cornered and then beat off the French with tactical brilliance. This always seemed to me to be a rather silly story. Ayton and company demonstrate quite convincingly that Edward was seeking a decisive battle on ground that favored English tactics, as had proved decisive at Dupplin Moor, Halidon Hill and Morlaix.

English Longbow Site

This is a very nice and informative site on the English longbow, or "warbow". I found this via the wonderful SCA Today site.

Artisan's Guild Again

On Tuesday, I was able to attend the local Artisan's Guild again. I've had Tuesday night classes for many months, but I should be free to attend regularly until next April.

There was a good turnout, with lots of youngsters doing youth combat, and adults busy with various projects, especially stained glass. I worked on my somewhat ragged aventail and completely repaired it. In fact, I plan to replace it entirely with a new aventail with a brass ring edge, but simple repairs will do for now.

More on armor shortly.

Bayeux Tapestry Animated

Breac drew my attention to this some time ago. Really splendid.

September Arms Practice

Lord Skalla Geirmundr Ulfsson is hosting arms practice for heavy and light weapons. Everyone in the mid-Michigan/Thumb area is welcome to attend.

Here's the schedule for September:

Practice is on Sunday afternoon from 2 pm to 5 pm at 5481 N. State Rd. north of Davison. Each practice will feature a class and then a general activity. Armoring will go on concurrently, especially in bad weather.

Sept. 2. Basic sword and shield work. Open sparring.
Sept. 9. Slow work and targeting. Open sparring.
Sept. 16. No practice.
Sept. 23. Melee conventions/differences. Open sparring.
Oct. 7. Melee shield work/teams (numbers permitting). Team combat.

Kerrytown Book Festival

The Kerrytown Book Festival is being held on September 9 in the Ann Arbor neighborhood ( a little north or northwest of the downtown area). There are some activities of interest to those interested in book arts.

Templar's Treasure Cancelled

The October 13 Templar's Treasure event, which was also to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Stormvale, has been cancelled. It was the second event scheduled for this October that Stormvale has successively scheduled and cancelled.

I understand that we will instead have some kind of revel and invite the neighboring groups. The Artisan's Guild decided a schedule for the fall, and I will note coming classes and workshops here.

Library Acquisition

Crecy 1346 from Osprey by David Nicolle and illustrated by Graham Turner. The usual charming illustrations and a very decent text. Especially satisfying because I bought a used copy for a derisory fee and rather expected it to be battered - it is nearly perfect. I love that.

Tangent

I am guessing that most of the folks who find this blog interesting also like Harry Potter. We therefore depart from the usual topic to note this column which notes the classical and religious allusions in the books. Actually rather inspiring.

Video of Pennsic 36

From Legio Draconis, a list of YouTube videos of Pennsic. Haven't had time to watch any yet. If any reader sees any local folks in the videos, or anything else of special note, perhaps you might note it in the comments here.

Pennsic Update

Here is Geirmundr's report on his late visit to the Pennsic War, complete with a photo of all the Stormvale soldiers. From left to right: Lord Tsunamei Kenjiro Torashi in the Stormvale Champion tabard, Nagatatsu Satto, Lady Juana de Leon in the Cynnabar tabard and Lord Skalla Geirmundr Ulfsson in the (Mark III) Stormvale Militia tabard.

Update: Link added.

Congratulations and Thanks

A hearty thank you is owed to Lady Maryska Daciana de la Mare, the Web Minister of the Shire of Stormvale. Her handiwork was an advancement over previous versions of the site, including my own. She included slideshows, music, nice graphics and kept it up to date.

My old comrade Lord Breac Mac Finnein is taking over as the Web Minister, and I'm sure he'll have fun adding his particular touch to the operation.

Pennsic 36 News

Well, we won. Not sure of the final score, but the Middle was up by enough points as of Friday that no combination of additional scoring could result in a surprise win for the East and its allies. So Hoobah! to my fellow Midrealmers!

I kept up on a daily basis by subscribing to the web edition of the Pennsic Independent, which I heartily endorse. Only $6 and one can read the daily newspaper of Pennsic town in the comfort of one's home that same day - or in moments at work, to be sure.

Melisande made some wistful remarks during the war about how she rather misses going, and my father has expressed a wish to go next year, likely basing his operation out of a trailer in a nearby campground and visiting during the day. Melisande's allergies are much worse than they were years ago when we camped at Pennsic more frequently, so a hotel room or perhaps in my parent's trailer would seem indicated.

My own situation is problematic. I have had the curious misfortune (in this regard, anyway) to first study and then teach at two different institutions with unusual academic schedules. Pennsic was scheduled for early August in order to make it easier for college students to attend. This has never worked for me, alas. I had a narrow window of opportunity in the late 80s and early 90s during which I regularly attended for the second week, but the last time I was able to spend a whole week at Pennsic was in 1997. I've only been able to visit for a day or two a couple of times since.

It would take some arranging. I will likely have three classes to teach, and I can't just blithely wander off on vacation during the term. I might be able to arrange substitutes or something of the kind. At any rate, I am presently planning to attend for - well, as much of the second week as possible, let's say. Let's say long enough to set up camp and fight in as many battles as possible. 51 weeks away! I'm looking forward to raising my banner in Aethelmarc again.

MidRealm Forum

The Middle Kingdom's provider of all good web things, Master Dafydd Blaidd, has established a web based forum for discussion. I don't think there is a link on the front page at MidRealm yet, so here's the link.

Geirmundr alerted me that this had been done earlier today. I had signed off on the Middlebridge several months ago, because there was just way too much noise to signal. I'm really very interested in keeping up on what's going on in the kingdom, but the Middlebridge, unfortunately, wasn't quite the place for that. The splendid Legio Draconis site, where all the armored combat discussion moved, seems like a better model. I have actually always tended to prefer email to web forums, but there's no denying the advantages of being able to look at all the subject lines and decide what to read and what not to.

I just signed up - I hope many do and the experiment is a success. Also established - an email list for the non-medieval, non-SCA chat that is, to me at least, the least appealing part of the Middlebridge. That seems like an excellent idea. Not that I don't like to talk politics, I certainly do, but not on lists dedicated to other topics.

New Tournaments Illuminated

Tournaments Illuminated 163, the 2007 Summer issue, arrived today. It was a pleasant surprise. The amateurish and plain style TI has affected for many years long ago became tedious to the eye and difficult to be interested in. This issue has a slicker, more professional look. I would have preferred a photo to the painting on the cover, I think, but that's merely personal preference. The painting is nice. It may be the superior presentation, but the articles seemed more interesting, as well. There are good articles on tournament etiquette and food preparation safety, both useful things to reiterate every once in a while in our SCA quarterly magazine, and a pattern for an armor repair station. The armor chest looks like it would pass for a decent thing to have around the list field without looking modern. On the whole, a considerable upgrade for the venerable TI. The new editor is Doria Tecla.

Household Emblem?

After a discussion of some import this evening, regarding my future in the Society, I went for a walk in the handsome park near to my manse, to think on what I had heard and to consider what was to be done. In particular I mulled over many heraldic options for a new household.

As I walked down the path beside a creek near to the end of my walk, there was a sudden crashing in the underbrush, and then a flash of golden lightning across the path, as a huge deer appeared and disappeared, apparently leaping the creek and climbing the bank on the other side in an instant. If I had been a few feet farther along, he would have trampled me. A family taking a leisurely stroll in the other direction stopped, startled, and remarked among themselves that I had been very fortunate, and that the animal had barely missed me. Only a slight exaggeration.

After pausing to be certain that more deer were not going to appear quite so suddenly on their trail as I traversed it, my thoughts turned again to heraldic symbols.

Yes, dear reader, I can be a little slow on the uptake. But after a moment, it occurred to me that I was not thinking like a medieval nobleman. Perhaps a golden stag or hart would be the thing, and thanks to the deer for suggesting the notion.

My Bearengaer Story

Back in the early 1980s, I became Stormvale's Minister of Sciences. Yes, boys and girls, the office used to be separated into Minister of Sciences and Minister of Arts. Earl Bearengaer was the Pentamere regional Minister. I spoke to him at a Valentine's Day Massacre event to mention that I had entered the post and would be glad of any advice he had to offer, or intructions to convey.

As always, Bearengaer was very helpful, and spent some time acquainting me with my duties and discussing the sciences. We were standing beside the lists, as neither of us were in armor that day. I may actually not have authorized until a couple of months later, if I recall correctly. As often happens in the vigorous four-man melee team tourneys they always used in those days, a crowd of armored fighters suddenly careened up nearly into the ropes, rattan thrashing everywhere. Sir Bearengaer kept talking to me as though nothing untoward was happening, and merely held up an arm to shield his head from a stray blow. I had the strange notion that we ought to move back a bit, as it happened, but, well, I was there to take instruction, so I did as he did and held up my own arm and kept listening closely. Although in fact I don't quite recall what he was saying at just that moment. The marshals just looked at us like we were crazy when they moved the combat away.

He was quite a fellow.

Sir Bearengaer hinn Rauthi

Lord Gavin of Blackwood, one of Earl Sir Bearengaer's squires, reports that his knight has passed away. I take the liberty of repeating the message being circulated below:

Harken to these awful words, wail and rend your garments! Earl Sir Bearengaer hinn Rauthi has gone to his ancestors in Valhalla on this 9th day of July, A.S. XLII. Let all pay heed to to the passing of a mighty warrior and a person who enriched the Current Middle Ages.

Bearengaer had been a member of the SCA for almost 40 years. He was the 8th Knight of the Middle Kingdom, the 9th King of the MidRealm He was King of the Middle Kingdom for Pennsic 3. He was second Prince of Drachenwald. In more recent years, as ill health kept him from the list fields, he served the Kingdom of AEthelmearc by training new fighters, marshaling, being an MOL and helping Lady Leah Janette (the Evil Book Lady) run her book business. For several years, he was Grimm's liaison at Pennsic.

Those wishing to honor him, pray for him or confirm his death should present themselves on July 14, in Stormsport (Erie, PA) at the Burton Funeral Home, 602 W. 10th St. A reception will follow at the home of Viscount Alexander and Viscountess Rannveigr. As he had no particular religious affiliation or close mundane relatives to be offended, the funeral will have an SCA theme. SCA attendees are requested to wear garb. Since "You can't take it with you" is not a Viking concept, people may bring mementos to put in the coffin.

Those who wish crash space or direction should contact Viscount Sir Bear the Wallsbane at SyrBear@aol.com or 814-454-3262. Leah Janette (his lady) can be contacted at bear_janet@msn.com or 814-451-0250.

This e-mail may be forwarded to any other SCA list.

Bearengaer was the patron and sponsor of the Canton of Withermoor in Flint, Michigan, in the 1970s. In 1982, when Stormvale, a second group in Flint, had its first event, Earl Bearengaer and Viscountess Nige of the Cleftlands appeared and were a gracious and noble presence for our revels. Sir Bearengaer took our first authorized fighter, Lord Garth Brandon, as his squire. He was a noble man as well as a nobleman, and will be missed. RIP.

Decisions

I don't like to give up. Never have. It isn't even a matter of practicality. Basically, I've always been the kind of person who'd rather fight than switch. My longevity at what has become my major effort in the SCA will reach 25 years this October. It's not just that I was there at the beginning (which I was, quite literally), but also that many times over the intervening years I was just too stubborn to quit. Much more stubborn than others.

Strangely enough, I've reached the end now, right at the end of that quarter century. It's complicated, and I'm certainly not going to write about the whole business elaborately here. But suffice to say that it got to the point where I threatened to join a walkout, and finally the moment came where the threat had to be carried out, when promises had to be kept.

Tonight, I did what had to be done, and I feel somewhat sick. It doesn't seem as though it can really have happened at long last. How can I have allowed them to drive me out?

But promises have to be kept.

The reader who knows what I'm talking about may be wondering - what about that function I've been talking about here on the blog? Oh, I'm still doing that, because that promise has to be kept, too. Asssuming the function is still wanted, we'll go right ahead with that as though nothing is wrong.

But something is very much wrong.

I'm not one of those SCA members who goes on and on about honor. When someone starts going on about "My honor!" I generally roll my eyes. And yet, some things are dishonorable, and one does not wish to be associated with them. Really, one cannot. Perhaps I waited too long to cast down my gauntlet on this matter, and perhaps then I fought too long after it was clear I could not effect a solution at just this moment.

The first I will always regret, and the second I will never regret. Truly, I would cheerfully go on fighting, because that's pretty much me, but I said I would do something, and now I must, because my allies are ready. Can't really wait until October, no matter what else I agreed to do. So now an awkward straddle while the clock runs out.

Well, nothing is forever, right? Not 25 years - I could never have imagined that in October of 1982! - and not the present circumstances, either.

Things change, and I am patient. My honor is intact, I think. It will suffice for now, and the wilderness may hold new challenges. I have a defunct household, I seem to recall...

Medieval Institute Congress 2008

I've been hearing about the Medieval Institute Congress every May at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo every since I've been in the SCA. And strangely enough, I have never gone. Not sure why, just never got around to it, even though I would likely enjoy it as much or more than the average SCA event. I am told they have an excellent vendor's hall.

Next year I have decided to attend, and probably to make a weekend of it, get a hotel room, etc. The conference lasts from Thursday to Sunday on May 8-11 next year.

Book Review

Richard II and the English Nobility by Anthony Tuck. Edward Arnold, 1973.

This is a survey of the relationship between Richard II and the higher nobility of England. As we noted in the previous review, the relationship ended in disaster for Richard with the Lancastrian usurpation in 1399.

Tuck takes the view, not unlike our previous author, that Richard was not the mentally unstable figure of tragedy, but an able ruler with a plan for the development of the monarchy that differed from what his nobles preferred.

Successful English monarchs during this period, modern scholars tend to agree, worked in concert with their nobles - Edward III was the exemplar. Richard, however, chose to model his rule after his great-grandfather, Edward II, heedless of the historical lesson there. He attempted to sideline the great landed magnates and to create his own court party, using the administrative machinery of the royal household in innovative ways to get around relying on the nobles. There was substantial resistance, and it is possible to read biographies or studies of Richard II and feel one wants to slap him for what seem like unnecessary provocations. The author even addresses the question of whether Richard and his contemporaries were aware of the historical parallels with Edward II and his deposition (he demonstrates that they were.)

Tuck traces the phases of Richard's rule: first the period of his youth when the court party was formed, then its destruction in 1387 when the Appelant nobles defeated Richard's favorite Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, and very nearly deposed the king. Then a period of relative calm in which Richard managed to balance more assertive rule without provoking the nobles in the early 1390s. Finally the end of the reign, in which Richard had his aristocratic enemies killed or exiled, achieved a period of dominance that even sympathetic writers like Tuck acknowledge was tyranny; which ended in the deposition discussed in more detail in the previous book.

This is, like Three Armies in Britain, a scholarly study, not a popular history. Tuck assumes his audience knows the basics and makes only occasional reference to the Peasant's Revolt, the military events of the reign or Richard's marriages. But it is a first class piece of academic writing. Although uncompromising in academic quality, Tuck is a skilled writer, and the book is an enjoyable read, unlike many drier accounts. Scholarly works on any topic have a reputation for being boring and filled with jargon. (I once amused myself in a peer review exercise by accurately predicting which law article would win the competition - the one with the most uses of the word "heuristic." I don't think my sarcasm was appreciated, as they didn't ask me back the next year.) But Tuck demonstrates that it is possible to write a serious scholarly study that is actually a pleasure to read. I might add that unlike the more recent book, this volume is completely free of misspellings, typographical errors, and shows signs of expert editing - which is to say that you can't see that the editor did anything and you don't notice what the editor didn't do.

A highly recommended book for the late 14th century enthusiast.

Book Review

Three Armies in Britain: The Irish Campaign of Richard II and the Usurpation of Henry IV, 1397-1399 by Douglas Biggs. 2006. This is vol. 39 in the History of Warfare series.

In my studies of the 14th century, I've always been a trifle weak on Richard II's reign. My core area of interest was always the reign of his grandfather Edward III and the life of his son the Black Prince. Not that I haven't read the usual biographies and histories, but I actually have a bookshelf full of histories and studies of the earlier period, and relatively little on Richard of Bordeaux, and I've been meaning to correct that.

I have always been fairly well persuaded that the traditional view of Richard as effeminate, unsoldierly, and perhaps mentally unstable was an exaggeration at best. Stubborn, haughty and his own worst enemy, yes. The author of this scholarly work makes the case for the military and political sense of Richard's actions in 1399, and attempts to demolish the traditional view of Henry of Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster as a heroic military figure.

For those not familiar, in 1399, King Richard II of England took an army to Ireland to pacify the Anglo-Irish territories there. While he was out of the country, his cousin Henry of Bolingbroke, who had been exiled and disinherited from the Duchy of Lancaster, reentered the country, quickly brought most of the political class of England to his side, and captured the hapless Richard upon his return. Richard was deposed in his favor by Parliament, and died in 1400 under suspicious circumstances. Shakespeare's tragedy on the topic is undoubtedly more familiar than the actual events to most people today. The author examines the rationale for Richard's expedition to Ireland, the progress of Henry's reentry into England and the Duke of York's rather unconvincing and brief resistance to Henry.

This is not a general history and the casual reader would not have an easy time keeping up, I would think. The author assumes his reader is familiar with the events of Richard's reign and the scholarly controversies about who, where, when and why. He engages in a close examination of the extant records to determine the movements and actions of the principal actors in the drama, and I find his conclusions persuasive.

What I don't find quite as persuasive is that this is fundamentally a work of military history. As an exploration and analysis of the documentary evidence for a complex political event which had military ramifications and features, it is highly successful. But it is rather unpersuasive in the military sense. The author has a tendency to assert the military wisdom of various actions without explaining why he thinks so. I would concede that he is perhaps merely assuming that he is writing for an audience likely to comprehend his observations, but it had rather a feel of being interjected because the work would be published as part of a series on military history. Further, the title itself, "Three Armies in Britain", is a trifle misleading. Certainly Henry and his allies comprise one army. The other two melt away at once, however. Richard's army is really left behind in Ireland. There is very little fighting and no battles worth mentioning, and the major issues are not really military in character.

Another flaw in the book is not Biggs' fault. This volume has the highest proportion of typographical errors I have ever seen in a professionally produced work, much less one produced for an academic audience. I have become inured over the last couple of decades to the declining standards for editing and proofreading in the publishing world, but this is startling. As I read, I gradually became distracted to the degree of looking for the next typo. Toward the end of the book, there are as many as two or more per page, often of the type that would be missed by a spell check program. I also found it weird that Henry "Hotspur" Percy, a figure frequently mentioned using his famous nickname because he shares his given name with his father the Duke of Northumberland, also alive at the time, is invariably referred to as "hotspur" unless the name begins a sentence. I realize that recent academic publishing standards have tended to use lower case for words like "duke" and "king", but this seems to me to be getting carried away and is quite jarring. Names are rendered with an upper case initial, and nicknames generally are as well. I don't see why this should change.

On the whole, however, a worthy and interesting addition to the corpus of Richard II study.

The Stormvale Populace Meeting

We had a good turnout for the populace meeting, although everyone wasn't there at the same time - we sort of had two shifts of attendees. Early in the evening, we were working on armor, so we regrettably only got to the October event discussion after the Miller clan departed.

I did a PowerPoint presentation on the main topic of the meeting, and I can't readily link to it here, so I will be happy to email it to anyone who wants to see it.

The consensus of the meeting was that we would hold an event on October 13 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Stormvale. The suggestions of the 25th Anniversary Committee were generally accepted.

Event Steward: me.
Head Cook: Diego.
Lunch Tavern: Eron.

(We are working on the details of whether we'll do a full feast, a dessert revel or something in between.)

We had two sites to choose from, and the consensus was the the Elba Lions Club was the appropriate choice, as it is closer to I 69 and therefore likely attendees from other groups, and we can fight indoors in case of inclement weather.

Those present expressed enthusiasm for Cobb Hall, and hope the shire can use it for a future event, perhaps during a time of the year when we are more sure of the weather.

Thanks to Lord Joseff for looking into Cobb Hall for us!

The name of the event remains undecided, and we'd like some input from the group in email about that. My three suggestions are in the presentation. The members also noted that October 13 is the anniversary of the arrest of the Templars by Phillip the Fair in 1307, so we might be able to work that in somehow. We'll need to decide soon, as we need to get back on the calendar right away.

I will contact the hall on Monday and make sure they are still available on that date and give them a check. (Actually, I'll try to reach someone tomorrow.)

The suggestion that we should wrap up the event fairly early and adjourn to a private party to complete the celebration was accepted, although it was noted that we'll have to work out the logistics.

Many thanks to Lord Geirmundr and Lady Giovanna and their family for hosting the meeting, as always, and here's hoping we can do it again soon.

A couple of extra highlights of the evening:

It was Lady Maryska's birthday, so we had some treats to celebrate, and Geirmundr didn't sing... much.

And Geirmundr gave two beautiful medieval wooden chairs he had made to Lord Erevon and Lady Eron.

Armor Update

My effort to get my kit back up to par is proceeding - slowly, very slowly. However, some progress has been made recently. Geirmundr and I bent a shield blank last night. I'm going to take it off the press tonight and put another on. I propose to have three blanks this week. The plywood I like to use for shields is quite light, so I want to have spares ready for use.

My gambeson arrived on Saturday, and it is beautiful. It fits nicely, and I'm looking forward to wearing it. Revival Clothing is the vendor.

Gambeson

They said I was crazy to wait! Why not black, or red? No, I said it had to be blue. Revival Clothing just emailed me to tell me that my medium blue linen gambeson is being sent Priority Mail this week. I can't wait. The one I ordered that was too small was beautiful. I hope that by the end of June, I can be back in something resembling a decent looking kit. Much work to do.

SCA Photo Banned

There now, that's a sensationalistic headline for this audience. I'm proud of myself. Anyway, there is an article on pages A6-7 of the Flint Journal today, June 16, that is interesting. It's an AP story by Ray Henry if you don't get the Journal. Zero Tolerance, Zero Sense is the headline, and it is a fairly typical catalog of the dimwitted zero tolerance policies in public schools that result in expulsions for bringing aspirin or butter knives to school. There is a photo of Patrick Agin, a Portsmouth, Rhode Island high school student in a nice suit of chainmail described in the caption as "his Society for Creative Anachronism outfit". It seems the photo was submitted for the yearbook and was not allowed because the young man was depicted carrying a sword and a dagger. Mind you, not bringing the weapons to school, merely photographed with them.

Now, those who know me well will be sighing deeply and preparing to batten down the hatches, because this presses pretty much all of my buttons: the emasculated culture of dogmatic relativism in the public schools, the embarrassing lack of quality of public school administrators, and the meek, frightened liberal mind set for which even the representation of a weapon is too, too much. But I will restrain myself.

Joan of Arc

Smithsonian Magazine has a nice article on Joan of Arc, prompted by the discovery that her extant relics are 19th century fakes.

25th Anniversary Event

Regrettably, the Harvest of Souls event scheduled for October 6 this year is being cancelled. The event staff has decided to withdraw from continued preparations and notified the shire in a timely fashion. There were several problems, among them the fact that four other groups in Michigan and Ohio were staging events that day.

However, this turned out to be good timing for the Stormvale 25th Anniversary Celebration Committee. We met the Sunday following the Harvest of Souls announcement, and the committee decided to put together a proposal for an event to mark the anniversary, which my readers will recall is October 27, 2007. We are looking into sites right now, and should have a report for the branch shortly. We're thinking of October 13.

Frustratingly, I wasn't there for the meeting, after calling it. I was less than a mile away trapped in a monumental traffic jam after graduation at my college. We had one of the biggest graduating classes we've ever had, and there was another such function later in the afternoon, and getting out proved difficult. So I sat on the grass chatting with former students, thankfully relieved of the old robe, hood and cap at that point, and kept in touch with the meeting by phone.

We have lots of other ideas, and I'll air most or all of them on Clarion Hall in due course.

The Middle Kingdom Great Book

In the 1980s, various talented artists and artisans in the Middle Kingdom were commissioned to produce the Great Book of the Middle Kingdom, a hand-bound illuminated manuscript with the kingdom's important ceremonies and lists of sovereigns, etc. I gather one of the original ideas was to produce something that would actually be toted around to kingdom events for ceremonial use, so the Dragon Herald wasn't reading out of an ordinary binder. But inevitably, the book was quickly perceived as one of the, perhaps the, superlative treasure of the kingdom, and was eventually housed in the Western Michigan University Library's Rare Books Room.

To my mind, this is one of the more splendid and interesting projects in the kingdom's history. It includes some of the finest work of many of our Laurels and other talented artists, it more closely resembles a de luxe medieval object for court use than most reproductions we use, and the illumination is gorgeous. It has a wooden case to protect the book and a leather case to carry the case. The work of artists no longer active or gone with new kingdoms are reproduced forever with the item.

The artwork is now reproduced at the Middle Kingdom web site, more or less in full, with explanatory pictures and the entire text. It can be viewed here.

Now, I would pay quite a lot for a hardbound reproduction in a modern binding, personally. I hope that will someday be done.

SCA Reference

There is an amusing Little Dee comic strip here, which refers to the SCA. (Neither very flatteringly or accurately, but still funny.) The date for the strip is April 23, if you follow the link after today.

Update: Here's an up to date link.

Background Checks

The article describing the policy is here.

It appears that the SCA will require background checks of all officers and
members supervising youth activities. Apparently the background check is
cursory, as such things go. A fee of $10 per check has been mentioned.
There is an FAQ at the link.

My view: distressing, but such is the modern world. The SCA really can't go
on having people designated as officers supervising youth activities without
making some sort of effort to vet them, as all schools and institutions
dealing with the young must do today.

I am aware of some critics in the SCA complaining that this is more about
CYA for the SCA than protecting young people. Well, yes. That's what the
Board of Directors is supposed to do, protect the SCA's legal status and
reputation. However, it is not true that this does nothing - it assures the
group and the SCA that the officers and members who volunteer to supervise
young people are not obviously unqualified. That is a plus even if it does
not solve every conceivable problem. No one in any organization can solve
every conceivable problem.

Assuming the information about the amount for the checks is accurate and
assuming that payment arrangements are not going to be handled in some other
way - there seems to be some question about exactly how it will be done - I
would be happy to pay for any background checks that are called for in
Stormvale.

Event Dates

Stormvale's Hallowe'en event, Harvest of Souls, has been creeping back farther in the month of October for a while. We had reached the middle of the month the last couple of times, and that was the plan this year as well, but apparently there is a conflict with the desired site. It was mentioned at the revel that the planners are thinking of moving back another week, to the 6th. I've been thinking about this, and I wonder if we ought not to consider some possible problems:

1st: This is pretty far from Hallowe'en. How far away do we get in time before the event doesn't make nearly as much sense? Shouldn't we consider getting closer to the date? The weekend of the 20th is Crown, but the weekend of the 27th is open, much closer to the appropriate date. We once had the event on the actual date of the holiday, and were worried that it would be a problem for attendance, but we did fine.

2nd: On the 6th, there are two other events fairly close by - Vineyard Raids in Westmere (Paw Paw, Michigan) and Pounce VI in Catteden (Findlay, OH). These are outside the 100-mile rule, so there is no problem with stepping on anyone's toes, but I wonder if three rather smallish events, the other two sponsored by sizable nearby baronies (Andelcrag and Red Spears) is not going to divide the event-going population in Pentamere that day pretty comprehensively. Aren't we trying to attract more people to this event?

3rd: Here's the clincher. I understand we feel it is necessary to send a letter to Andelcrag mentioning our plan and expressing our regret for having an event on the same day as one of theirs. I don't think anyone will think ill of us - they are on the other side of the state, but... if we think it is necessary to excuse our action, should we be taking the action to begin with? We're a long way out from October. We could use a different site, or move our date in the other direction, or even change to a different theme, in theory. If we were in a jam about the date or site, then ok, of course. But I'm not sure we're in a jam yet.

Just my idle thoughts on the topic.

Coronation

Just took a look at the Coronation site. The event is taking place on April 28, 2007, and hosted by Roaring Wastes and Northwoods. I think this is very nearly a model site - I found all my questions quickly answered. I'm excited about both the unique (in my experience) noon feast and the rules for the bear-pit tourney, which incentivizes period display and armor rather than demanding them. Excellent idea in my opinion. I think I can meet all or virtually all of the rules, by then, too.

Clancy Day and Canadian Trips

Over on the Stormvale list, we're discussing Clancy Day and trips to Canada. Over the years, I have noticed there is perhaps a little less interaction between the SCA in Canada and the US than there used to be. When Ealdormere was part of the Middle Kingdom (indeed, at one time part of Pentamere), we used to head over pretty regularly. Even after the separation, it was no big deal to hop over the Blue Water Bridge into Sarnia for an event or a practice. Since 9/11 and the possibility of long lines and more intrusive checks at the border, there has perhaps been a little less contact.

Clancy Day is an event of very long standing held by the Shire of Starleaf Gate in Windsor. Starleaf Gate is the only Ontario group not to go with Ealdormere. Windsor is of course much closer to Roaring Wastes and Detroit than to the Ealdormere population center around Toronto. I don't know whether the Starleaf Gate crew feels a bit isolated since 9/11 or not - I actually haven't been to a Canadian event since the late 1990s. Melisande and I went quite frequently in those days and made good friends; our apartment hosted parties of event-goers from Toronto on a regular basis in return.

We never had any trouble going back and forth over the border. The only incident was one time, the Canadian border guard asked whether we had any weapons, and to my flabbergasted surprise, Melisande innocently volunteered the fact that she was carrying mace in her purse. Mace is illegal in Canada - it had never occurred to me that she might not have realized that. There was a brief delay at that point... but actually they didn't give us a hard time, just made us go back over the border and get rid of the mace and come back.

No passports are required yet unless you're flying, but I've been planning to get passports for us soon anyway. (Not before Clancy Day, obviously.) Strange that I've never had one, but I've never needed one, having travelled only in North and Central America. But we want to go to England in the forseeable future, Canada will be an issue sooner or later, and passports make remarkably good ID no matter where you are.

Not sure about Clancy Day. Definitely going to Coronation at the end of April.

History Posters

Nothing quite medieval, but perhaps some of my readers might find something amusing.

March Stormvale Revel

Another delightful afternoon and evening at Lady Terryl's for the March revel! We met on Sunday afternoon, the 18th. We counted 30+ attendees. The food was wonderful - I saw (and in some cases sampled) sauerkraut and sausage, chicken, three kinds of cheese tarts, scotch eggs, meatballs and lots of other delightful things.

There were four heavy combatants and a couple of folks interested. I missed the youth combat, but I gather there was some. No fencing, as far as I know. Where are all the fencers?!

I was the recipient of a couple of gifts. Carrie gave me a splendid covered dish for feast gear. She told me she was sufficiently impressed with my feast gear talk, which featured several modern pieces that sufficiently resemble period items, to seek out her own. Having done so, she was kind enough to give me one, too! Thank you, Carrie! (She also gave me tips about how to find them on eBay - I'd had no luck at that for years.)

Later, THL Skalla-Geirmundr gave me two magnificent painted banner stands for Melisande (purple and black) and me (blue and white). Thank you, Geirmundr!

It wasn't even my birthday!

The Pale Youth Issue

The March issue of The Pale came today, and it is loaded with useful information and articles on youth activities. This seems particularly interesting in Stormvale these days. For anyone who isn't subscribed and would like to read the articles, please let me know at balian@chartermi.net.

Good News for Pennsic

SCAToday reports that the Kingdom of Atlantia will be allied with the Middle this summer. Former MidRealm monarch Valharic is Atlantia's prince and will be king at Pennsic. Good news.

Question

Is it time for Stormvale to rethink its habit of having most meetings in private homes?

We actually almost always met in public locations throughout most of our history. Revels were sometimes in private homes, but we were fortunate in being able to obtain meeting space at the University of Michigan-Flint, Red Dragon Hobby Shop, Mundy Presbyterian Church, Flint Public Library, Mott Middle College, and the Grand Blanc MacFarlane Library. We also met for a long time at the Black Dragon Farm location, although that was also a private home.

So our recent rotation of populace meetings and revels in private homes, with the occasional revel in semi-public rooms at the Collingwood Village Apartments in Davison, is a relative change. It doesn't seem to be a problem, exactly. For a long time, the SCA generally discouraged meetings of this kind simply because experience tends to show that it discourages some new members, who are more shy about introducing themselves in someone's home rather than a public place. I haven't heard complaints about this, but maybe we wouldn't.

A more immediate question is whether we may have literally outgrown the practice. There were a reported 17 attendees at the February 17 populace meeting, and about 33 people at the February 19 revel. There were 17 at a recent Artisan's Guild meeting, too. I haven't heard about attendance at either the February 24 meeting or tonight's March 2 meeting, but I wonder whether we may not have reached the point where we will effectively cap our membership at the number that will rationally fit in one of our homes!

I'm not suggesting a solution, just asking the question.