What
is the SCA?
The SCA is the Society for Creative Anachronism, which is
a group dedicated to researching and recreating the Middle
Ages in the present. Many groups meet weekly, and at these
meetings we dance, talk, study, learn, revel, and make plans.
But first, let's get a little bit of info about the SCA in
general.
Where
did the SCA come from?
The avowed purpose of the SCA is the study and recreation
of the European Middle Ages, its crafts, sciences, arts, traditions,
literature, etc. The SCA "period" is defined to
be Western civilization before 1600 AD, concentrating on the
Western European High Middle Ages. Under the aegis of the
SCA we study dance, calligraphy, martial arts, cooking, metalwork,
stained glass, costuming, literature... well, if they did
it, somebody in the SCA does it (Except die of the Plague!).
As you can probably guess, the thing that separates the SCA
from a Humanities 101 class is the active participation in
the learning process. To learn costuming, you design and build
costumes. To learn SCA infantry fighting, you make armor,
weapons, shields, etc., and put them on and go learn how it
feels to wear them when somebody is swinging a (rattan) sword
at you. To learn brewing, you make (and sample!) your own
wines, meads and beers.
 You
will frequently hear a SCA person describe the SCA as recreating
the Middle Ages "as they ought to have been." In
some ways this is true -- we have few plagues, indoor plumbing,
few peasants. In the dead of winter we have other things to
eat than King's venison, salt pork and dried tubers. However,
a better description is that we selectively recreate medieval
culture, choosing elements of the culture that interest and
attract us.
The
SCA was started in 1966 in Berkeley, California by a group
of science fiction and fantasy fans who wanted a theme party.
Following the party, a group got together to discuss the idea
of a medieval re-creation and re-enactment group (which has
ended up being much like the Civil War, Revolutionary War
or Buck-skinning re-enactment groups that were beginning to
form in the US). In Britain, medieval and British Civil War
recreation societies had existed for any number of years.
The Californians incorporated as a non-profit educational
society, started forming groups, and away they went.
 Since
1966, the society has grown to include over 30,000 paying
members in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland,
Germany, Italy, Greece, Romania, Japan, New Zealand, South
Africa and Australia. Many of us guess that for every dues-paying
member, there are several other active participants.
How
is the SCA Organized?
The SCA is a feudal society. The SCA "Knowne World"
is divided into eighteen Kingdoms, each with a King and Queen
(who rule by right of arms), a Prince and Princess (heirs
to the throne), and a council or Curia of Great Officers who
handle the day to day business of running the kingdom.
A feudal society takes its form from the idea of service and
duty. A noble owes duty of service to his lord, who might
be a Baron or Knight. In return, his lord owes protection
from danger, and food, money, etc., when times are bad. For
his own part, the lord owes fealty (the word that encompasses
this idea of reciprocal responsibilities) to his own overlord,
and so on up the ladder to the King. In return for their service
as good stewards of the land and readily available warriors,
the King owes Knights, Barons, and other high nobles protection,
honor, and a return of money, food, etc., in times of hardship.
It is something like the idea of a Pyramid club, but the benefits
are greater and the idea of personal honor and mutual responsibility,
not profit, tie the structure together (or at least it did
in Europe for nearly a thousand years).
In
the SCA this structure underlies our Society, although not
nearly as rigidly as in the medieval days. Our King, the head
of our Kingdom and our liege lord, has fought for in a Crown
Tournament for the right to make his Lady Queen and the right
to wear the crown. (In the case of female fighters, she has
fought for the right to make her Lord King.) Royalty are bound
by the laws and customs of the kingdom and the Society as
a whole, but still wield significant power over their subjects.
Of course, four to six months later there is a new King, with
different ideas. Life can get interesting.
 Fighting
in the SCA, or Why are those people hitting each other?
Fighting in the SCA evolved from what happened when two armed
knights were unhorsed and had to fight on the ground. It resembles
nothing so much as medieval foot tournaments. There are two
basic types of SCA fights: single combat, and group or team
battles, known as melees. SCA fighting does have rules. The
first, and most important rule, is that each and every fighter
on the field has honor. The fighter keeps faith with his honor
by accepting blows that would be killing or wounding.
The second basic principle is like the first; A fighter keeps
faith with his brother fighters by acknowledging his opponent's
word -- if he says a blow was too light to cause injury, then
it was light. Since we prefer that no one get hurt, SCA fighting
is done with real armor (made with leather, metal, padding,
kydex, etc) and rattan swords. Rattan is that bamboo-y stuff,
only with a solid core, that furniture is made of. Rattan,
surprisingly enough, is springy enough to absorb some of the
force of the blow (although blows are *real solid*) and light
enough to approximate a real steel sword. Swords are made
by wrapping rattan staffs with strapping tape, covering them
with duct tape for aesthetic reasons, and attaching some sort
of crosspiece or guard. Armor is much more complex -- some
armor, being made of steel, rivets, leather, etc, can take
more than 40 hours per piece of armor (for example, a gauntlet,
or armored glove, with moving fingers and joints can take
upwards of 75 hours to complete).
There
are several essential and required pieces of armor -- a helm,
and protection for the neck, cervical vertebrae, elbows, knees,
kidneys, hands, and groin. In addition, most SCA fighters
wear chest, leg, arm and forearm, and foot protection.
Before
being allowed to participate in combat without close supervision,
each fighter is trained by senior fighters, known as "marshals."
This training aims at ensuring that the fighter is safe to
himself or herself and to others, and typically lasts a few
months. As part of this training, the novice fighter is taught
how to recognize a "good" blow. Each fighter judges
whether blows received in combat strike hard enough to do
injury through armor. If the blow is "good" to an
arm or leg, the fighter will give up use of that limb; if
the blow is good to the head or body, the fighter is "dead,"
and falls to the ground, signaling that his opponent is victorious.
At the end of training, each fighter must prove to a panel
of marshals that he is competent to fight on his own. If the
panel decides the fighter is safe (not good, you understand,
but unlikely to hurt him or herself or an opponent) they authorized
him or her to fight in tournaments. This process (from starting
to fight to being authorized) can take from a couple of months
to a year or more.
Why
Do you all have such funny names?
Every person in the SCA picks a name to use in the Society.
It could be something simple and familiar (John of Wardcliff)
or something elaborate and exotic (Oisin Dubh mac Lochlainn).
Most people pick a time period in the SCA "period"
(pre-1600) and a country (any place that can documented and
proven to have had trade with western civilization during
the period), and choose a name from that. Some SCA members
try to create a "persona" which could have lived
in some time and place within the scope of the SCA, and fit
their garb and activities to that persona; some people try
to live at events as if they were their personae. Other folk
simply pick a name and go ahead with life if the "Current
Middle Ages."
Even our towns have medieval names. Lansing, MI, is Northwoods,
Toronto is Eoforwic, Boston is Carolingia, the San Francisco
bay area is the Principality of the Mists, etc.
The SCA
has its own College of Arms, which assists members in choosing
a registering their SCA names and heraldic devices. The College
of Arms assists members in their research, to ensure that
their names and devices are appropriate to the medieval world
we try to create, and ensures that each person's name and
device will be unique.
Rank
in the SCA, or How Come She is Wearing a Crown?
The SCA has an elaborate system of rank, awards, and honors,
which are granted to individual members by the royalty in
return for various kinds of service to the Society. SCA rank
is earned, not inherited: Everyone is presumed to be minor
nobility to start, but any noble titles or honors used in
the SCA must be earned in the SCA. Many new members (and lots
of long-time members!) find the SCA's system of rank to be
rather peculiar, in that it differs rather radically from
medieval practice. Like many of the SCA's institutions, our
system of rank wasn't so much planned as evolved. It seems
to serve our needs most of the time, but don't be surprised
to hear people discussing how it could be improved.
There are two sorts of peers in the SCA; Royal Peers and Awarded
Peers. Royal Peers are folk who have ruled a Kingdom or Principality
at least once. Ex-Princes are Viscounts, Ex-Princesses Viscountesses,
and from there it gets complex. Those who have been King or
Queen once are Counts/Countesses. Those who have been King
or Queen twice are Dukes/Duchesses. Those who have been King
or Queen more than that are generally considered masochistic!
(Small in-joke!) There are many who have reigned at least
three times, and in the West there is a legendary Duke who
has been King eight times.
Other
sorts of Peers are folk who, by dint of talent, hard work,
and long effort, have earned recognition for their contributions
and skills. There are three awarded peerage orders, all of
which have the same basic requirements: new companions must
be honorable and courteous, familiar with the basic gentle
arts of a medieval court, and should have proven their dedication
to the Society and its ideals. These orders rank equally.
The oldest of the peerage orders is the Chivalry. The chivalry,
who include the Knights, are fighters who have achieved great
skill at arms, and who are considered by the other members
of the Chivalry to be models of prowess, chivalry, and honor.
The knight is considered by many to be the central figure
in our medieval mythos. Second oldest is Order of the Laurel,
which is awards to craftsmen and artists recognized for their
research in medieval crafts, their willingness to teach their
skills, and their skill at their arts. The laurel wreath was
anciently used to crown victors at Greek games, great poets,
etc., and has always been a mark of achievement and skill.
Finally, there is the Order of the Pelican, given to those
whose work in service to the SCA has made a great difference.
Companions of the Pelican are often skilled bureaucrats --
somebody *has* to do the hard paperwork of running a Kingdom
of 3000 people in, and some people keep working at this sort
of task for years. The Pelican was thought in medieval times
to be the most self-sacrificing animal: It was thought a Pelican
would pierce her breast to allow her heart's blood to drip
into the mouths of her offspring when food was short. Peers
are created by the desire of the King and Queen in accordance
with the recommendations of the companions of the order.
Feasting,
Dancing and Merrymaking
One of the most interesting parts of the SCA is "events",
our word for the times when we put on our medieval clothing,
go out and dance those dances we've been practicing, flirt,
eat, talk, and generally have a good time. Events are held
almost every weekend of the year somewhere; some weekends
there may be as many as a couple dozen events scattered around
the SCA. Most groups hold at least one event per year; some
larger groups will hold two or more. At events there are often
tournaments, art exhibits or competitions, classes on all
manner of medieval skills, workshops, and, later in the evening,
a medieval feast, Royal or Baronial Court, and dancing. There
are many different kinds of events, and the common pattern
varies from place to place and season to season. The events
are the most fun to most folk, because you get to go and show
off all the things you have been learning in the past few
months.
What
Kind of Person Joins the SCA?
SCA folk tend to be people like you and me -- just plain folks,
but people who enjoy doing something more with their weekends.
It seems that a high percentage of SCA members are involved
in high tech fields -- Computers, Aerospace, high energy physics,
etc. Perhaps the attraction the SCA holds for them can be
attributed to the fact that people who spend all week with
highly complex, modern technology find it relaxing to spend
their leisure time working with a different kind of technology,
in a less modern setting. There are lots of people in all
fields in the SCA -- historians, writers, secretaries, law
enforcement personnel, teachers, programmers, insurance agents
-- the appeal of the SCA is widespread.
A housemate of a SCA person recently said: "From what
I can tell about these wild and crazy SCA people, they do
more than just this fighting thing. They really like to make
and wear the medieval clothes (garb), eat the medieval food,
dance the medieval dances to the medieval music, maybe even
make their own medieval music, and other medieval party type
activities. They also seem to like to be medieval so they
can relax and have a good time. They are quite willing to
talk about SCA or invite you to the SCA stuff or whatever."
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