Æthelmearc A&S News

Policies of the Kingdom Minister of Arts and Sciences

Online A&S Minister Report Form

19 AUG 08

Greetings Good Gentles;

Today, I, Liam Mac anTsaoir, the current Bardic Champion of the Debatable Lands issues a challenge to the Heavy Fighters of Aethelmearc and the Known World.

We as soldiers are often seen as brutish and unrefined, I offer a chance to prove to the Known World that we are more than just men and women with weapons, we are also patrons of the arts and sciences as well as bards in our own right.

I am challenging all fighters that will attend battles and tournaments at Agincourt this year to a Triathlon.

The First Event : Showing your Chivalrous Art on the field of battle.

The Second Event : Submission of an Arts and Sciences exhibit. The theme of the A & S display in honor of St. Crispin is Leatherwork. However, other A & S displays are allowed.

The Third Event : Performing a Bardic Art during the evenings feast. This can be a story, a poem, or a song.

This is the Challenge I give to you the fighters, as a fellow soldier I beseech you to show your honor and take my challenge.

A prize will be awarded at the end of the evening.

17 JUL 08

European balls at Pennsic

first announcement:

Her Excellency, Alyna Tir-y-Don, Lady of House Haakonstead, member of the Company of the Dragoon Guard, and Freescholar of the Academie d'Espee, by the Grace of God, TRMs Sinclair and Kari, Sovereign and Consort of Atlantia, and Their Excellencies Jean Claude de Calais and Alyna of the Ilex, Baron and Baroness of Tir-y-Don, encourages all gentles who are suitors of Terpsichore but debutantes at dance to join her in the dance pavilion for the Beginner's Ball! This occasion of revelry will begin at the ninth hour in the evening of III Non. Sext., the 3rd day of the month which now honors Caesar Augustus. Each dance will build upon the steps learned from the previous one and the ball will progress from Bransles to English Country dances to a few basic Italian dances. Those who choose Euterpe, the muse of lyric song, as their mistress (i.e., minstrels) are most heartily welcome!

The Baroness will also offer to the populous some light refreshments. In addition, a limited number of cd's, which will have the music for the dances, and documents containing the choreography for each one will be available.

second announcement:

Come one and all to the English Revel in the Dance Tent, on Monday the 4th of August at 9:00 in the Evening, at which shall be done divers sorts of Dances that are known in England. Besides Dancing, we will "have a trifling foolish Banquet towards". Many of the Dances will have been taught beforehand by the Master of the Revels, Lord Henry of Maldon, in Classes including those on Saturday noon’Äì2, Sunday 3’Äì4 & 4’Äì5, and Monday noon’Äì2 & 3’Äì4, with cheat sheets for those Dances.

The tentative program of dances (which may be subject to change up to the time when each dance is done) is as follows:

The eight Old Measures, a Galliard, New Boe Peep, Chestnut, Gathering Peascods, Half Hannikin, Newcastle, Grimstock, My Lady Cullen, Rufty Tufty, Hearts Ease, Sellenger's Round, The Whirligig, Jenny Pluck Pears, Once I Loved a Maiden Fair, Ly Bens Distonys, Parson's Farewell, a French braule (Peas' Branle), Scotch Cap, If All the World Were Paper, Picking of Sticks, Up Tails All, Black Nag, The Merry Merry Milk Maids, Nonesuch, Dull Sir John, Love's Light Wings, Boateman, Trenchmore, Hit and Miss.

third announcement:

To all who read these words, may it be known that the Grand Ball held in the barn of the town of Pennsic on August 5th of this year shall be a colour ball in the tradition of the court of lord Phillip, Duke of Burgundy, Count of Charolais, etc., and that the colors shall be gold and red to create a resplendent ambience in the darkness of the evening. Don garments of one or both colors and come and dance away the evening!

Your servant,

Judith, Lady of the Royal Court of Drachenwald, Magistra Laurea

p.s. People are OF COURSE permitted to attend and participate even if they are not wearing red or gold. This is only intended to add a little festivity and visual interest to the proceedings.

fourth announcement:

Joshua the Imperfekt, host, with Clan Blue Feather, wishes all gentles of the Known World to hear that the 19th Annual Clan Blue Feather Ball & Fashion Cotillion will be held on Tuesday evening, August 5th, at 9:00 p.m. in the Dance Tent at the Pennsic War. Please join them for dancing, fun, food, friends and frivolity, as well as prizes for the most notable garb. Remember, their motto is "Wear what makes you look your best, but not necessarily your best garb!" A panel of roving mystery judges will be on the lookout for both fun and serious garb, so be sure to arrive early to give all plenty of time to admire your handiwork, and also to enjoy an evening of dancing. Following the Ball, Camp Urso will host a post-revel just down the block.

fifth announcement:

From five p. m. to seven p.m. on August 6th, Gregory Blount will host a ball as prescribed by Messer Fabrito Caroso.

sixth announcement:

May it be known that I will host a revel on the feast of St. Sixtus (August 7th), and that this revel will be rather wanton in nature, indulging in drink, food, music--- and that path into the bowels of Hell itself, dance! Festivities will commence after the setting of the sun, at the ninth hour of the clock; all are invited to come and make merry, no matter their pleasure! For those who follow the path of Terpsichore, I have contracted a ine ensemble of pipers who will obey any request provided that it be concurrent with contemporary tastes in these time of the Medici and the ascendancy of the great house of Burgundy.

I remain your servant,

Judith de Northumbria.

Notice!

The theme of the food, dancing and music will be 15th century, but that does not preclude people who have no 15th c. clothing from attending--- ALL are welcome, whether they dance, drink or do anything 15th century or not...Vikings, Romans, Arabs, Magyars, Franks, everyone! Please, pass this invitation on to all and sundry. It is a party, first and foremost!

07 JUL 08

The Æethelmearc Challenge page is up. There is, initially, one challenge presently. As new challenges are submitted the section will expand.

07 JUL 08

Greetings To everyone from Elisabeth Johanna von der Flossenburg

When this issue of the Aestel arrives many of you will be at War. Pennsic will be half over. I hope everyone is having a great time. When all the Pennsic items are cleaned up and stored away I hope you will find time to think of creating and sharing your creations.

With gas prices rising daily and traveling getting more costly, attending events will be harder. I have been talking to many people about this and we brainstormed. One of the things we came up with is to give stipends towards costs when artisans teach at events and Aecademies. In order to do this, we have to raise funds. In order to do this we need items to raffle of. Therefore I would like to ask everyone in our Kingdom to see if there is something you can donate. We will try to post pictures of the items to be raffled on our Webpage along with information where tickets are available, how much they are, and when the drawings will be held. Once we have raised some funds we will publish how you can apply for travel stipends. I truly hope that many of you will participate in this endeavor for we are raising these funds for you! We want everyone to have the opportunity to share their knowledge!

Please check out the A&S Website for updates and news. Master Christofano, the A&S Webminister and Odriana, my Deputy, are putting a lot of work and effort into the website to give you resources and information. Again I want to thank both of them for what they have done and what they will be doing.

Finally I would like to announce the subject for our monthly essay contest: How would your persona have prepared and how would your persona have been affected by War? How would your persona have dealt with war and the aftermath. I hope to receive some interesting essays and stories!

I hope everybody will have a great War and a safe return home!

With these thoughts I remain in Service to Aethelmearc Elisabeth

27 JUN 08

A short web admin announcement. With the finishing of the Summer Institute at my workplace I will now be able to devote more time to upgrading the web site - Thank you for your patience.

Christofano

23 JUN 08

Greetings to all from Elisabeth Johanna von der Flossenburg:

Coming home after an absolutely wonderful weekend at Æcademy in the Shire of Coppertree I have to let everyone know what a great time I had. If you could not make it, you really missed a great event. I want to thank everyone who came, shared their knowledge, attended classes, prepared this beautiful and tasty all day sideboard, the autocrats, the Æcademy Chancellor, well just everyone for a great event. I also want to thank Their Majesties again for supporting the Arts and Sciences like they do. It is just wonderful.

It was my great honor to announce five people who have gone above and beyond to help in furthering the Arts and Sciences in this Kingdom and to help make the Æcademy what it is today. Those five persons are:

Her Excellency Mistress Alison of the Many Isles. During her tenure as Misister of Arts and Sciences in our glorious Kingdom she rebuilt and restructuured the Æcademy to what it is today.

Mistress Rhiannon y Bwa served as Æcademy Chancilor and made it a special point to make sure everyone in this Kingdom was included especially also the folks in West Virginia.

Master Valgardr Gunnarson has worked tiredlessly in helping all the groups in West Virginia have Arts and Sciences, has encouraged participation in Ice Dragon, has run the Æcademy Web Page and the Arts and Science Web Page for many years and gives his Lady THL Julianna Delamere the time and the encpuragement to serve our Kingdom as Æcademy Chancilor.

THL Solveig Throndardottir, who is the go to person when it comes to questions about Japanese Arts, Food, Names...

Her Excellency Dame Katja Davidova Orlova Khazarina. When you have questions about Turkish things or cooking she is the go to person, who always cheerfully shares her knowledge.

I am so honored to have been able to recognize these five gentles as Fellows of the Æcademy. If you have any questions or need help, here are five gentles who are willing to help you as they have been doing all along!

My thank you also goes to my Deputy Odriana vander Brugge and to Master Christofano for revamping the A&S Webpages. I encourage ALL Artisans, regardless of award level, to send your information to Master Christofano for the Rolls of Æthelmearc Artisans and Scientists.

This leads me to questions that only YOU, the artisans and people of Æthelmearc can answer: What would you like to see at Æcademies? Should we continue to offer mainly Beginners to Intermediate classes or should we have Æcademies be the advanced classes? Should we have advanced classes more at subject specific events like for example textile type classes at FFF event, Bards and Cooks symposiums, Heralds and Scribes, Clothing Symposium etc? Should these events be one day, day-tripping events, or should they be weekend events (to get more classes in. to get more bang for your Buck)?

Could and should we ask Autocrats to set aside space in the Hall for spontaneous classes at events? And would artisans be willing to spontaneously teach not in a structured class but kind of like I have done a couple of times at events by bringing knitting needles and sock yarn and just doing some one on one teaching as the interest is there?

It would be wonderful if artisans would be willing to bring their drop spindle, plus a few extras and wool, their inkle loom or their card weaving cards plus extras to events. It may be really nice if this could be coordinated with the autocrat ahead of time, but it is not a must. Let me know what you think.

And finally one more thought/suggestion: With gas prices having climbed to prices I was used to in Europe, and no end in sight yet, traveling will get more and more expensive. I can only encourage you all and ask: Please carpool and please consider opening your homes, as we did in Drachenwald, and I am sure here in Æthelmearc as well when we older ones were much younger and not as worried about our creature comforts. Autocrats, if it is not too much to ask, add a Crash space coordinator to your event staff, if possible so we can keep attending events without going broke.

Please let me know what you think and how the Arts and Science Office can best serve YOU!!

I remain in service to Æthelmearc

Elisabeth

08 JUN 08

From the Minister of Arts and Scientists

Mistress Elisabeth Johanna von der Flossenburg

Greeting to everyone from Elisabeth Johanna von der Flossenburg.

I hope this missive will find everyone well. I am sure most will be deep in preparations for the upcoming War Practice as well as Pennsic, which certainly is not far away anymore.

This year again I ask that all artisans to help any way possible to decorate OUR Kingdom encampment and show the rest of the Known World that Æthelmearc is the greatest and has the most talented Artisans! Please be generous in sharing, our Royalty always has to present gifts to others and what better way to show the wealth and talent in our kingdom than through things made by our Artisans? Please get in touch with our gift basket coordinator.

Many years ago at Æthelmearc War Practice, Mistress Michaele del Vaga handed out linen napkins to be decorated with an embroidered Rose. These napkins were gifts for the Queen's attending the tea hosted by Her Majesty Æthelmearc at Pennsic. This year again our Majesty will host a Queen's Tea and will need napkins. I would like to ask all Needleworkers in Æthelmearc to get in touch with me and participate in this project. I will have blank linen napkins to hand out at War Practice. If you cannot make it there, but would like to participate, please contact me.

Æthelmearc Æcademy will be held June 20-22. Please, if you have not yet signed up to teach a class, please do so. If you are not teaching, come and attend classes and learn something new. It will be a lot of fun! One young lady has taken up the Youth Challenge I issued. She has taught and is well on her way to get all of the proizes. Will she be the only Æthelmearc Youth teaching at next year's Æcademy? Anyone that needs information on the Challenge, please contact me!

I would like to thank THL Gianna di Aurelio for taking on yet another responsibility. She agreed to serve Æthelmearc and the Arts and Science community as Regional A&S Deputy for Region 2. This wonderful lady is also a fantastic scribe and runs the Hounds Website. Please look her up and talk to her about Arts and Sciences, you will be amazed how much she has to share. While I am expressing my gratitude, I must mention that Odriana vander Brugghe, my Drop Dead Deputy, is researching ways to help the A&S Community through online sources and eGroups. With the rising gas cost, this may be the best way for sharing and teaching. She will lead an A&S Roundtable at Æcademy to talk about these topics. I hope many of you will attend and share your thoughts on building a community.

Finally, I would like to announce the subject for our monthly essay contest: How would your persona have prepared and how would your persona have been affected by War? I hope to receive some interesting essays and stories.

With these thoughts I remain in Service to Æthelmearc,

Elisabeth

28 MAY 08

Odriana, by the grace of God, by the grace of the King of Æthelmearc, &c, to the Artisans and Scientists of the Kingdom of Æthelmearc.

It pleases me to announce that under the capable hands of Master Christofano Vecchione, the Kingdom A&S Website has undergone a major redesign. There are a number of changes, including:

1. A new look; the navigation links are now in a bar at the top of the page, there is a section with information about what has changed, and the design has been devised with the intention of being expanded upon without having to make major changes. This provides the ability to deliver more to the Kingdom A&S community in an expedient fashion.
3. An Artisan/Scientist of the Month feature; This feature will begin in June 2008. This is to highlight artists and scientists all over the Kingdom. The criterion for being nominated for Artisan/Scientist of the Month is: 1. To be doing an art or science in the Kingdom of Æthelmearc, and 2. To be nominated by someone for Artisan/Scientist of the Month by sending a nomination to me, , and including the following information:
1. SCA Name of the person making the nomination
2. SCA Name of the Nominee
3. Local Group of the Nominee
4. Area of specialty
5. Information about the nominee (a paragraph describing what they do)
4. The most exciting change is that we are building a listing of Artisans and Scientists that will be catalogued by Name as well as by Interest, called the Rolls of Æthelmearc Artists and Scientists. This listing is open to every citizen of Æthelmearc, regardless of award and level of skill. This listing is to make it easier for people of similar interests to find each other, to use as a resource for classes, and as a means by which to get to know each other and our work better. If you choose to participate, please send the following information to our webminister :
1. Your Name
2. Your Local Group
3. Your Website (if applicable)
4. Your Contact information
5. A picture. If you have one. We can take one of you as well, just let us know you'd like us to do that and we will make arrangements.
6. A one or two paragraph bio about YOU, not your persona. Where you learned what you learned. What your focused area of interest is.
7. A list of your fields of interest. This is not necessary just the fields you feel are your expertise but all fields you are interested in and would like to share. I leave it up to you for which fields you feel should be placed included.
8. Permission to use your email address on the Kingdom A&S website.

The Kingdom A&S Ministry is changing so that it can better serve the Kingdom A&S community. If you have thoughts on how the Kingdom A&S Ministry can better serve you, please contact the Kingdom A&S Minister, , or the Deputy Kingdom A&S Minister, .

Given at the center of the remarkable Barony Marche of the Debatable Lands, on the twenty-eighth day of the month of May, in the year of our Lord, two thousand and eight.