The Society for Creative Anachronism is an international group boasting more than 30,000 members dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe.
“Its historical medieval recreation,” said Roy Clark, Seneschal of the Village of Heorotdenu, or in mundane terms, president of the Brandon club. Heorotdenu, or Brandon, is part of the Kingdom of Northshield, which includes villages from all over North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, as well as Manitoba and North-western Ontario.
“The SCA is a not-for-profit educational group. That means that everything we do needs to based on educational standards of some sort, even if it’s something as simple as putting together a Viking outfit to wear to the next event, you need to research what the outfits were really like. The society as a whole is so big, with so many different interests and focuses, there isn’t just one-way to do things.”
The ‘known-world’ of the SCA consists of 19 kingdoms from countries around the world. Participants, dressed in clothing of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, attend events which may feature everything from live combat tournaments to arts exhibits, trade workshops, dancing, feasts, and more.
“The goal is to learn through doing,” says the SCA website, www.sca.org.
“Doing and sharing ones subject knowledge with others. The SCA encourages historical research and recreation, and most importantly preserving a code of conduct, mentality and philosophy that, in many ways, is lacking in the modern world.”
The only guidelines to attending an SCA event are paying any necessary fees, which usually aren’t much more than $30, and dress in an attempt at pre-17th-century style. Clark emphasizes attempt, as many of the outfits are not professionally done, but some can be amazingly detailed.
“Some people take on personas at events, acting as the same person at every event they attend,” said Clark.
“Events differ, depending on the group putting them on. People can do basically anything that humans did during that time period; some people devote themselves to one of two trades, like mead making or music, and almost become masters at them, while other people try out a bit of everything and have a great educational experience.”
Generally, Clark says, events include a great feast, dancing, and some form of combat, usually including heavy list fighting, rapier duels, and archery displays.
“The combat is meant to simulate European combat during the time of the crusades. People can wear full suits or armour, and we have fairly strict safety regulations to make sure no one is seriously hurt,” said Clark.
“I have not done heavy combat in a long time; it’s a young man’s sport. People will don full suits of gothic armour – steel from head to toe, including a chainmail hauberk, and steel protection on elbows, knees, head, spine and kidneys. They use Rattan stick weapons, which is a type of grass that is very similar to steel in weight and density, and engage in full speed, full force combat.”
The rapier bouts are a tad gentler, using modified modern fencing gear and various types of metal blades to recreate combat seen in historical works like Romeo and Juliet or the Three Musketeers. Differing from Olympic-style fencing, rapier duels use slicing cuts as well as thrusts and jabs, use of secondary weapons such as daggers or extra swords, and non-linear movement.
The combat is not just fun competition; it is also the way new royalty in the realm is determined.
“Every kingdom has a prince and princess and a King and Queen,” said Clark.
“In most kingdoms, they change every six months at a Crown Tournament. We just had our Crown Tournament in Winnipeg with people from all over the Kingdom. The winner of the combat is crowned the new prince, or in rare cases, princess, and his or her consort becomes the new princess or prince. They spend six months under the King and Queen, learning the ropes, and then the King and Queen will step down so the prince and princess can step up. As new King and Queen, their first job is to hold another Crown Tournament to find their future replacements.”
While one must be a member of the SCA, which involves a small fee, to become an officer, simply attending group meetings is entirely free any everyone with a taste for history and fun is welcome. The Brandon group tries to meet on the third Wednesday of every month in the St. Matthew’s Church at 403 13th Street. For more information, email isobel_sca@yahoo.ca, or rusty@westman.wave.ca.