SCA and Pennsic?

[Kathryn]

Can someone explain this to me? One of my FB friends is posting from Pennsic. I've never heard of this, so I looked it up. I don't really get it. What exactly does a member of the SCA do? And what happens at Pennsic? I tried reading their site and the Wikipedia article but it still doesn't tell me what people actually DO.

[Mrs Mungo]

The SCA is a group that gets dressed up and recreates battles and such, specifically surrounding the Middle Ages. Some groups are more strict about accuracy than others. Pennsic is their biggest event of the year and all bets are sort of off there-lots of faeries, vampires and such. I've never been involved with the SCA or been to Pennsic, but I do hear tell. ;)

[FaithManor]

Pennsic is a war reenactment based on the Roman legions. It covers acres and acres of both fighting area, an entire Roman village set up with family units, marketplace, training grounds, etc. It is intended to be a step back in time. Participants can choose any of a huge array of characters though those that play the roles of gladiators, warriors of the legion, and other very skilled fighting areas, are trained through their Pennsic University. Participants, I believe, have to become "citizens" and some positions must be applied for...there is even an Imperator. It has a "government", hierachy, advanced social structure, etc. The entire thing is modeled after ancient Rome as if Rome did not fall and continued in its glory throughout the medieval period.

 

It's SCA or Renaissance Fair on steroids. I've never been to it and do not have a desire, but my brother, who is quite into the SCA event held in Holly, MI. has a goal of attending one day.

 

The magnitude is a bit mind boggling from what I've been told. Approximately 10,000 participants this year. Just to attend for one day as a spectator, one can expect to park more than a mile away from the village.

 

Faith

[Seshet]

I believe each SCA group decides on the specific time period they focus on, but I think it's mostly Medieval Times. They dress in period clothes, eat period food, do period activities, etc. They have several events each year, some rather small, some quite large (like Pennsic). The events may have demonstrations of warfare, archery, etc., or may have actual fights & competitions. It depends on the event. At some events, they teach period skills to those interested in learning.

 

My mom & ex-step-dad are members of a local SCA group & I've attended a few smaller events. They have taken almost all of the grandkids to various events, most just one day events, a few overnight or weekend ones. The kids have always had a blast at the events. They can be quite interesting to those who are really into History.

[KarenNC]

Wow, if that's the case, things have evidently changed quite a bit since I went to Pennsic XX and XXI (1991/1992). There wasn't a Roman presence at all that I remember, then, though we did have some non-SCA groups involved (thinking particularly of the "bunny-fur princesses" with the Tuchux---think folks role-playing Conan the Barbarian style--who've always had a specific area of the campground), but their numbers are very small in comparison to the SCA folks. I did see one Aztec warrior, one year. I'd like to see the Roman warfare. I was very actively involved with the SCA from 1990 to 2000 (when my daughter was born) and I met my husband through the SCA. We've played only sporadically since then.

 

The SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism), as I experienced it, is a group of folks who enjoy learning about and recreating the Middle Ages "as it should have been" (ie without the plague and with sanitation;)). Rather than reenacting specific battles a la Civil War reenactors, we worked to recreate the medieval world. Rather than stepping into the role of a documented historical person, you create a persona of someone who could have lived in a specific time period and culture (in fact, it's not allowed to say you are Eleanor of Aquitaine, for instance) and try, as best you can, to become that person. Rather than role-playing fantasy like live action D&D, the emphasis is on scholarship and the goal was to be as authentic as possible, given one's time and means. People varied widely in their levels of achieving this, but it was always great fun learning and trying. All aspects and all cultures (between about 500 and 1600 CE) are fair game, but most folks tended to Western European personae, at least in our area. I learned a lot about hand-sewing, embroidery, brewing, music, fashion, dance, cooking, etc, as well as how to tent camp and use a portajon in full 14th century dress:tongue_smilie:. Fighting (for those interested in broadswords) is done with period techniques using rattan swords (to approximate the weight of a real weapon without cutting off vital bits;)) and making armor is quite popular. There are also those who enjoy rapier and archery (both target and combat), basically anything that existed in the time period (and is not currently illegal) is fair game for exploration.

 

The SCA is divided worldwide into kingdoms, further broken down into subunits (baronies, shires, etc). Kingdoms are led by a king and queen, chosen by right of arms every 6 months (which means either the king or queen won a Crown Tourney--rounds of single combat until one winner remains). There are various orders of nobility (earned by service, skill at arms or skill in a particular discipline). Folks role-playing fantasy characters are not a part of the core SCA (unless it's at a masquerade or other specific event for fun). That said, there's definitely a lot of fun, a lot of leeway, a lot of in-jokes (and a lot of bawdiness and various forms of alcohol) at huge events like Pennsic, but a lot of folks as well who have put in countless hours learning as much as they can about this time period and trying to make a great experience.

 

Pennsic is the largest war (and party) of the year, between the East Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom (areas of the country) and their respective allies---loser gets Pittsburgh:D. It's held at a campground in Slippery Rock, PA, where we took over the campground for roughly 2 weeks each August. The story even back then was that "they quit counting at 10,000." Most folks came for the second week, as that's when the battles are set up. Each group would have their own tent camp area, which was usually decorated to look as medieval as possible. There were classes, battles, archery contests, exhibitions, demonstrations, visiting other encampments, and lots and lots of shopping in the market area during the day. Evening usually included dances and parties at the encampments of various groups. Things at the time I went were pretty family-friendly during the day, but some of the evening encampment parties were definitely not. Everyone made their best attempt at medieval dress for the entire time, as the goal was to make it feel as much like a medieval city as possible. This is quite different from the atmosphere at a Renn Faire, for instance, where folks are performers and audience, rather than participants. Points are awarded to the various kingdoms for victories in battle, etc over the course of the time, so that a winner can be determined.

 

Here's this year's schedule, so that you can see some of the varieties of activities that the overall event has planned. It doesn't list the literally hundreds of small parties and activities among the individual groups over the course of the week. http://pennsicwar.org/penn41/GENERAL/schedule.html You can also find tons of pictures and video online.

 

From what I can see online, it appears that there has indeed been a Roman presence at Pennsic since Pennsic XXIV (so, after my time), but my guess is that, rather than having taken over the entire event, they, like other groups, have their own area of the campground and hold some specifically Roman battles,while participating in the overall event as well. Think a couple of thousand medieval fighters, with 80 or so Tuchux and fewer than that of Romans on the field in a given battle.

Edited August 4, 2012 by KarenNC

[Farrar]

Ah, SCA. :thumbup1:

[Kathryn]

Karen, thank you so much! That's the kind of info I wasn't finding.

[5wolfcubs]

Ask me in a year! I have a couple children hoping to go to Pennsic next year...we will see if I get my act together enough to take them, dh-willing.

 

The SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism), as I experienced it, is a group of folks who enjoy learning about and recreating the Middle Ages "as it should have been" (ie without the plague and with sanitation;)).

:iagree: The two baronies we have done things with have been super family-friendly, and willing to share & teach Medieval arts & fighting skills. Due to her interests and the plethora of mentors we've met, 15yo dd is basing her fine art credit on the Medieval arts and part of her PE credit on archery this year.

[KarenNC]

:iagree: The two baronies we have done things with have been super family-friendly, and willing to share & teach Medieval arts & fighting skills. Due to her interests and the plethora of mentors we've met, 15yo dd is basing her fine art credit on the Medieval arts and part of her PE credit on archery this year.

 

There are very few things a SCAdian likes better than to be asked to share their skills with someone interested in learning. :D I still regularly use the inkle weaving skills and sewing skills I learned there.

 

Local groups abound, and there are usually any number of small scale events on any given weekend. Check http://www.sca.org to find them. All that is asked is an attempt at medieval garb, and some groups even have loaner garb for new folks if you contact them in advance. Events are typically fairly inexpensive, since it's all done by volunteers. You could also check with local SCA groups if you want some sort of educational demo for your homeschool group, Scouts, etc. We participated in a number of those while we were active.

 

Volunteer to help out in some way while you are there, even in something small, and you will find you begin to fit in pretty quickly.

[celticmom]

 

The SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism), as I experienced it, is a group of folks who enjoy learning about and recreating the Middle Ages "as it should have been" (ie without the plague and with sanitation;)). Rather than reenacting specific battles a la Civil War reenactors, we worked to recreate the medieval world. Rather than stepping into the role of a documented historical person, you create a persona of someone who could have lived in a specific time period and culture (in fact, it's not allowed to say you are Eleanor of Aquitaine, for instance) and try, as best you can, to become that person. Rather than role-playing fantasy like live action D&D, the emphasis is on scholarship and the goal was to be as authentic as possible, given one's time and means. People varied widely in their levels of achieving this, but it was always great fun learning and trying. All aspects and all cultures (between about 500 and 1600 CE) are fair game, but most folks tended to Western European personae, at least in our area. I learned a lot about hand-sewing, embroidery, brewing, music, fashion, dance, cooking, etc, as well as how to tent camp and use a portajon in full 14th century dress:tongue_smilie:. Fighting (for those interested in broadswords) is done with period techniques using rattan swords (to approximate the weight of a real weapon without cutting off vital bits;)) and making armor is quite popular. There are also those who enjoy rapier and archery (both target and combat), basically anything that existed in the time period (and is not currently illegal) is fair game for exploration.

 

The SCA is divided worldwide into kingdoms, further broken down into subunits (baronies, shires, etc). Kingdoms are led by a king and queen, chosen by right of arms every 6 months (which means either the king or queen won a Crown Tourney--rounds of single combat until one winner remains). There are various orders of nobility (earned by service, skill at arms or skill in a particular discipline). Folks role-playing fantasy characters are not a part of the core SCA (unless it's at a masquerade or other specific event for fun). That said, there's definitely a lot of fun, a lot of leeway, a lot of in-jokes (and a lot of bawdiness and various forms of alcohol) at huge events like Pennsic, but a lot of folks as well who have put in countless hours learning as much as they can about this time period and trying to make a great experience.

 

 

:iagree:This is my experience of the SCA as well. I can't really comment about Pennsic because I have never been to that event. I do go to another large event every year and it is much like other events only more of everything.

[KarenNC]

:iagree:This is my experience of the SCA as well. I can't really comment about Pennsic because I have never been to that event. I do go to another large event every year and it is much like other events only more of everything.

 

For me it was not just that it was exponentially more, it was also longer, so there was more time to get into the mindset. Most other events I've gone to have been a day or weekend. A week to two weeks is a huge difference.