A quick note, my trip up to the site after not having felt well most of the day was not the best in the world either.  Combine feeling ill with a horse pulling during loading and putting a good rope burn on my hand and allow two hours of sitting in traffic on the interstate not hardly moving (four miles in two hours) to allow it all to settle well and you get the idea.  Combine that with my good friend Edmund having a blow out and being hours behind me, at least until I was stuck in traffic and you get some idea of my thinking it was going to be a bad weekend.  I should have known better.  We arrived to stalls already made up, water in the buckets and in general very well set.

Saturday we started the day with some breakfast and much needed coffee.  There was some general discussion between folks present but classes did not start until yours truly got going at 9:00am, with a welcome and given a state of affairs for the Equestrian College.  I figured I would be thirty minutes and have a few questions.  After the first hour and only being half way through the notes, Peitre graciously bowed out of one class to allow me to continue.  The discussion on several issues was really good and general nature of the questions said to me such a sit down discussion from dean to marshalate is needed on regular basis.

During this time it was open riding to participate in whatever games and practicing that anyone wanted to do.  Apparently the classes and especially discussion through out was so interesting that everyone seemed to have forgotten about the riding.  Up next was a discussion about the balsa wood jousting experiment, that again I headed up, as I wanted to get that out there in front of everyone.  There was a good sharing of equipment and much discussion that followed.  Much gratitude to Edmund for his insightful comments during this session as well.  I do apologize for regrettably never getting to the jousting demo by the way – there were several issues.  First, balsa to make tips arrived late, though it could have been worked around.  Lonesome (the newer horse) is a bit green about it and Angel (the backup) came up lame Saturday afternoon).  Hopefully everyone will make it to Siege next weekend and get to see some of it.

During the afternoon, I personally got in some riding on Jack and he was being his usual high strung self, made all the worse by his extreme herd bound attachment to Angel.  Once I got him going at the games good a few times we slacked off and let him have off (at this point, thinking we may do jousting later or on Sunday morning sometime).  I got back over for some of a class on elegant attire for your war horse.  Some of it looked really good and I would love to get my chamfron/crinets finished up.  I have inspiration now.

I don’t recall what order things occurred in next, but I know there was a class on the history of the warhorse which was well done and something else that I am failing to recall now.  Later, several headed out for a trail ride around the farm, which is where Angel showed up lame.  As Jack was having such issues I felt this was a strong suggestion I should not make this trail ride.

I think there may have been another class in there, but I was beat and went to have dinner and get some refreshment.  Later, toward dusk, we were entertained His Excellency, The Baron, playing his guitar and singing.   A bottle was passed a few times and after moving to a bonfire as stories starting to come out the bottle was passed a few more times.

Sunday morning we awoke and after a hot breakfast and more coffee (seeing a theme?) we heading over to do some games practice, get some pointers, and work on getting some folks authorized.  All went extremely well and we now have three new riders in the kingdom.  If you see them, a hoo-bah for Enkara of Darkhorse, Patrick von Brandenburg, and Sir Jasper of the Lakes.  Additionally, during the Sunday morning time frame I wrapped up the testing for two new marshals and hoo-bah is also in order for Erelwin Sarpo & Azzah bing al Bardawi al Murabbiyyah al Rualliyyah (yeah, that is just two names).  Congratulations are in order to all!

I was seriously thinking of heading out after lunch on Sunday, but Patrick’s two session class on historical mounted combat techniques was too much for me to pass up in the end.  I stuck around to see that and it was very interesting.  I was proud of that moment when asked about left to left passes and I was able to cite that in Germany some styles in late period with full breastplates were right shoulder passes at tilt.  The class was very interested and the mobile wooden mounts (very similar to some illuminations I have seen) added a lot to the class.  I still have a doubt or two about a couple of moves working when at speed (even the trot) but will explore that at another time.

Again, if you missed it this year you should put it on your calendar for next year right now!  Truly a great event, even with traffic issues and lack of jousting due to lame horse.

• pay up and get storage unit contents
• purchase tent (Panther Regency?)
• make/check tent poles for tent, along with ropes
• purchase horse trailer(?)
• clean armour
• restrape armour
• blue armor (puchase of tank/torch)
• organize armour packaging
• redo cloasure on bar grill  basinet
• roll front edges on vambraces (trim down a bit?)
• repair/fix guantlets
• nix padding for padded liner (period style) both helms
• purchase aventail/camails X2 and install
• ? of voiders and skirt or habergon – looks like habergon is right
• jupon or arming coat
• spiff up some garb
• make a new piece or two of garb (better stuff)
• order chuasses and braies
• use above to pattern a few more
• order turn shoes
• make chamfron and crinit (w/ eye protection)
• get saddles/tack out, clean and oil
• get bottles for cordial
• bottom cordial (simple syrup 2:1?)
• labels for cordial?
• ride a bunch on Jack and some on Angel
• fix one suitcase
• make a choice about 1350-60 versus 1390-1400?
• make a sheild, heater curved opposite (jousting)
• make side/back plates for churburg #13, strap, use…

I used the graphic above because I am pretty sure that I if I do one thing a day I will be pretty close to completion by the time GW rolls around.  Keep in mind the list is kind of crude at this point, like garb for instance needs to be broke down more into what specifically are goals for the war and listed out separately.

Do not get me wrong, I think Roy Cox is a great guy.  We have never actually met, but we have several mutual friends.  And further I think a lot of what he and the other folks say is on target.   However, there are a lot of things that were left out or glossed over.

A couple of examples.  There is absolutely no mention about some of the lighter jousting that takes place, which is often a great training ground for the folks that have an interest but may not have the full gumption to take it on beyond that or even lack the funding that would be required to do things at that level.

Another thing that Roy mentions is you have to be a start out being a squire and work up to participate.  While I will agree that feudal times were very much like that, I would say that there are plenty of people who have a good seat on horseback long before their adult life brings them to jousting.  I would further say that many of those folks have an ability to take things to that level fairly quickly with minimum training.    Note I am not saying that everyone can do that – matter of fact most indeed can not and the folks that have a good seat on a horse further reduces that set of folks.

Last thing I will take issue with is the comment that all modern jousters take on the name and such of actual people from period.  While I know that particular group does indeed do that, certainly to say ALL is far to a wide a net.  I know in some groups I use my preferred, and documented to have been correct for the period, medieval name of Raynold of Wharram.  He is not based on any actual historical figure though, as I do not think I could really do a lot of those folks actual justice.  And in a lot of groups including another I do things with, I am just Sir Ray – my plain ol’ modern mundane name.  Both use my own colors and coat of arms when I am jousting and you can readily recognize me on the field by those.

Anyway, just a couple of minor exceptions, all in all I am glad to see our sport getting some exposure in the press and no hard feelings to anyone involved.  For your own pleasure, here is a link to the story and a video snippet is included – American Jouster on NPR.

** – photo courtesy of Jacki Lyden, via NPR website

Currently there is a movement to make the membership money from those members residing here in the U.S. stay here in the U.S. to support the IJA stateside and get it really going.  This involves a number of things, including the creation of non-profit corporation status with the U.S. and the ability to get an umberalla liability insurance policy to be able to tap into for events.  That last one is going to be a major step toward really moving foward with the organization and having a regular group of events spring up at various places.

To that end, as is the case with so many things in this world, the seed money to get that process going is simply just not there right now.  I know that more then a few of the readers of this blog are probably interested in eventually taking things to the next level.  Currently it has been suggested that membership will run $20.00 per person annually.  Further, in order to get the funds to be able to proceed with things like formation of the corporation, getting things in order on the insurance and a few other things, like websites, that perhaps a five year membership be made available.  Further it has been even suggested that perhaps if anyone that wanted did that move they could get the remainder of 2009 membership for free.

I realize this not apply to very many people, but if you have ever though you may want to go there eventually (think really good looking period armour, full wood lances with balsa tips, and perhaps 1000′s watching jousting competitons and exhibitions) then I would encourage you to inquire so you can get in the ground floor of making this grow in a major way.

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

If you check out the website you can get an inkling of the differences. First of all, where the SCA is all inclusive and lets anyone participate who makes a minimum effort of the wide range of cultures and time period, the IJA has a much more narrow time period and is only open to those histirical interpertations of knights or men-at-arms from the classic European concetric ideal of knights background we would expect.

Taking that one step further, the group has very rigid requirements on both hard and soft kit representations of your character. To clarify, the hard would be in armour ready for the joust or such and the soft would be the clothing a noble of such rank would wear at perhaps court or such as that for the same time period. Both hard and soft kits will be judged, either in person or via picture by some very knowledgable folks prior to one being allowed to even really start things.

From there there are several rankings of what one can actually participate in during events, usually centered around brotherly competition in arms. The rankings are actually termed grades and without giving it all away at the lower levels one is only allowed to act as a squire and participate in the skills of arms competions, where things such as tilting at the rings, the quintain, and such are the focus. At the next level jousting in local tournaments is allowed, though local is to the country generally. The upper grade levels allow you to participate in jousts in other countries. At the highest you judge other applicants on riding grade and as wether kits are up to specificiations or not.

Obviously a much smaller group in number, but the jousting is typically done with wooden lances, the tips most commonly balsa wood. When compared to the SCA, the skill at arms is similar, though some of the life weapons would be frowned on by the SCA. Further comparison of the wood lances with the foam really makes the SCA jousting seem a step below. (I should note the one big IJA tournament I did, had at least six SCA members participating who had stepped up to such a level. Keep in mind though that no one is in the group thinking they are going to hurt anyone – it is all friendly. Even to the point of prizes being limited and generally most everyone getting a stipend if such is available.

Fundamentally this could probably be compared to the difference between high school sports and the step up to semi-pro sports. It is a good place to aim for somoene that is very serious about things, but not a place to start at. Oh, and there are at least two such events in the United States next year and an offspring group that has two other events on teh schedule for 2009 as well.

As I write that above about semi-pro, it dawns on me, that I am a professional jouster, having been paid for such on several occasions, and that strikes me as odd. I am going to start putting that on my resume though.

** And the hat-trick **

** Originally published on Mephistos on 16th of December 2008

SCA -  The Society for Creative Anachronism started back in the late 1960′s at a very hip unversity in California.  From there it grew like wildfire and today, it literarly spans the globe.  It is technically what I would call a historical recreational group, in that historically accuracy is not rigidly enforced.  It does require that all who are participating make some attempt at being in costume (or garb) that represents a person from the 6th – 15th centuries.  Because it is a large organization and has minimum entry requirements it is a great place to start for the historical reenactor.  Once involved you are not limited at all and can make your kit as historically accurate as you desire, including developing a particular persona from a via specific time period.

Some additional information about the SCA that is worth knowing.  The world is divided up into kingdoms, for instance most of Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois compos the Midrealm Kingdom, where I reside. Each kingdom has a ruler, chosen two to three times a year by ground based combat.  There is no roll of dice to determine the outcome, but actual slugging it out with wood (okay, technically, rattan – a type of wicker) and ones physical abilities.  The winner of such a tournament gets to name his (or her) consort to sit on the throne, usually the very inspiration of why they fought.

Equestrian activities, when I started to become really active in the SCA, some ten or eleven years back were mostly limited to things like what knights and squires would have used to train.  It included things like tilting at rings (and I mean with long lances, not the pool-queue stuff you see in Maryland and Virginia sometimes), tilting at the quintain (hitting a shield like device that spins), and throwing a spear.  It would combine these into quests and challenge course and sometimes have a quadrille or some such as well.  In not the not so far off past they have included a crest combat, based on historical records, with swords and jousting, granted with stryrofoam tips.  There are to date some experiments going on with using wooden (rattan) swords for combat and some balsa wood tip jousting experiments.  All in all, the SCA is a good place to start, growing both a kit (costume) and your skill set.

I should note that the equestrian activities have definite seasons and are rare to occur more then one or two a month in a kingdom, but could still have you driving up to 500 miles to attend one.  The SCA in general though has something going on just about every weekend and most times you can something with a 100-200 miles maximum, depending on your specific interests of course.

Oh, and just to clarify, I am still fairly active in the SCA, both equestrian and getting going with the ground fighting (as well occasionally practicing some in the artistic side of things).  I am just about to stop up to the head position of the equestrian group in the kingdom.  There is just something about going to an event and having 8,000 friends there who have a similar mind set for a whole week, the opportunity to met 3,000 of them on the field in combat, or find 50-60 of them to compete with on horseback, not to mention the kicking back and have a deep drink of some homemade brew that evening around the campfire as you recount the days heroics.  I would invite everyone that reads here to join me at Gulf Wars XVIII in Mississippi come March 2009.

* – Photo credited to Lady Em, via Flickr

** Originally published on Mephistos on 11th of December 2008

The real Ulrich had a life that was probably just interesting, perhaps more so, and certainly as ruled by the notions of courtly love and how to win the favor of his this lady that inspired in him all things.  Further, the true Ulrich was not only a knight and jouster of some fame during his lifetime, but he was further was educated and used his talents to write poetry describing his exploits pursuing the love that spurned him.  The title of the work the famed poet-jouster, as he is often called, wrote in the original Middle High German was Frauendienst. Translated to modern English, it reads as The Service of Ladies.  The work itself is, as noted, poetic in nature and is largely a autobiographical account of Ulrich’s attempts to win the attention and love of a Lady that somehow captured his young heart at the tender age of twelve. It is a true, or at least as true by the accounting of it, story of a knight errant on the mission of all that is embodied in the terms courtly love.  I am sure some of my friends find me, who reenacts an English knight somtimes in France are amused that I am pointing to a Germanic figure as a hero.

Ironically I found a copy of these yesterday at the half-price book store here in Lexington yesterday.  And though I have read some excerpts here and there, I have never had the full piece to devour in its whole until now.  For those that are interested, they did have three more copies and I am sure it is also available via Amazon.  It has quickly bumped up to the top spot on my current reading lists of about six or seven books that I have going at any given time, even for the short term bumping the biography of Sam Clemens.

What we know about Ulrich is that he is a real person, of noble birth (the von signifies that in his name) in modern day southern Austria.  We do not however, know if he was a first son or otherwise, which would have been important in regards to his right to inheritance and such.  We know the picture above was likely done a few years after his death and certainly after he was no longer jousting regularly.  Despite that though, it does show fairly correctly the chain mail and great helm that would have been appropriate for the time period that would have actively been involved in tournaments and his acts of courtly love.  Further, we are relatively sure that picture does depict his actual arms on both the sheild and again repeated on the trappings his mount presents.

We also know that during this time that outside of the crusades, their was relative peace, especially in the areas where Ulrich was located.  We know that it was some time, despite having served as a page and later a squire in good and faithful service, before he was made a knight, largely because of the lack of war.  However, we know that he did actively participated in tournaments of the day and apparently gained some deal of renown in doing so.  Tournaments consisted of two types at the time for the most, the melee, where mock armies started with a horse charge and the victory was determined usually by whoever was less bloodied with the blunted weapons at the end of the day.  The second types is the early version of the joust we see depicted in the moves, horses charging toward one another, lance drops and hits the opposing rider, splintering into a pieces.

A brief excerpt to give you and idea of the flowery language:

Women are rich in charm and grace.

To match there lovely form and face

is more then angels hope to do.

A woman, virtuous and true,

who has no faults of any kind,

must have an angel’s heart and mind

and like an angel seems to glow.

You have my word that this is so.

The story told by Ulrich begins with his proclaiming that all ladies deserve everything a man can do for them to honor them, for they are just that great and full of grace and the only way men can if hope to do well is to do so by striving to serve the ladies, otherwise it is all for naught.  He then goes on to tell of how at twelve he fell fully into love, but was spurned because of his youth by this older woman.  Later he arranged to be a squire and page in her household in order to be close to her, but she still yet spurned him.  He eventually begins to take to the jousting field wearing her colors and wins acclaim and she still denies him.  He write her poetry, professes his undying love to her, and continues with jousting in her honor often, and still she takes not any notice.   At one point, she does note that an injured finger from jousting must have been mild and Ulrich was just a whiner who complained to much.  In response, he apologized and supposedly removed one his fingers and sent it to her as a token (and we though Jocelyn in the movie was hard on the Heath version of Ulrich), and this gesture began to break the ice between them. Even then though she thought he was plain and undesirable due to a facial flaw, which he has corrected through surgery, again just for her.

Eventually he took an oath tourney for the love that inspired him, vowing to met all comers during a month of travels, that he called the the “Journey of Venus,” in honor to the goddess of love, the honor his own love that inspired him, and indeed all women from which all love must obviously originate.   During this journey, he reportedly styled himself and dressed as the goddess Venus both during the joust and when traveling otherwise. During the month of this journey he boasts of having broke 307 lances for the honor of his love.  Also of note, is that during this time he gave a ring to any comer that was able to break a lance on him, or basically strike him with a the lance.  He gave out 271 such rings, meaning he was struck that many times himself.

Eventually his love does allow him to find her favor and one would think they would have lived happily ever after right?  Well, here you can here the record in the background being scratched across the surface as the happy music stops abruptly.  The “courtly love” was apparently one of an arrangement of patronage.  For it is noted, that during the time of trying to win such approval from this lady, Ulrich himself was indeed married and had an apparently lovely wife who bore him children.  In fact, his son, also named Ulrich, married well enough to secure a small region that become its own country, Leichtenstein, which still exists today.

Of particular interest to me, in 1240, at forty years of age Ulrich organized a new round of tournament jousting based on Arthurian legends.  He himself played the role of Arthur and those that would joust him assumed names such and Gwain, Kay and Lancelot.  I have to think that it is good to know as I myself approach forty that there is historical evidence I can keep going.  Further, forty then, would more like sixty today I suspect.  Now I need to find that love which will inspire me thus and challenge all comers to prove such love!

** Originally published on Mephistos on 24th August 2008

Anyway, I am getting distracted. I am sitting here, once again preparing for my journey to the southern Mississippi for the annual event called Gulf Wars, this being I believe the 5th one that I will attend in twice as many years as I only make it bi-annually. I find it interesting that I am currently planning on leaving on Friday after work and the most recent forecast has it snowing, with some accumulation on the grassy areas and elevated surfaces for late Thursday evening/early Friday morning. Interesting, as I am pretty sure the last two times I have gone, leaving from here in Kentucky it has snowed or been snowing when horses were being loaded for departure.

It is with a huge amount of, well busted flat, that I note I will not be taking the horses this year. The first in my years of attending the event that I will not have a trusty hooved companion with me. Over the years, I have always taken a horse for myself and in all the previous years I have also had a traveling companion and hence took Angel. My horse over the years has been one of three different ones, S.D. (Special Dark), Dusty (Carbon’s Gold Dust), and Jack (Mad Jack Juett) – but Angel has always been there. I feel like Fatus Obscuros is striking again, which I have been told could roughly mean ‘the Gods will otherwise.’

This year it will be different. After purchasing a truck and getting things ready with back in January and up through February, including putting a braking control package on it and after searching and not finding a trailer, instead almost begging to borrow one, on Saturday past when hauling the trailer to do some repairs, my truck quit. It was a big time quit too, the engine seized. It may not be obvious to everyone, but seized engines do not get repaired quickly and are very expensive to replace on top of that.

So that brings me to not going or going down in the car without horses. That is kind of tough, given the extra money I know that will be required to fix the truck upon my return if I do attend. It is even worse though, as I am suppose to be early on event staff and be around the barns during the early part of the week for horses arriving. Further, I was running the big event, the emprise and hauling down the equipment that has been amassed over the years. That will not happen. Matter of fact, I am having an overwhelming feeling with just thinking about packing armour, clothing, and the big tent in my seemingly big enough four door (mini) sedan.

Anyway, hopefully I will figure it out on the morrow with some testing of getting the stuff in the car, as I have decided as of right now I am still planning on going. I am not going to hold out for getting to ride at all though I do have a couple of friends and maybe I will get to hack out a horse at some point over the week. I do feel like it important to uphold my obligations to my friends though in regards to the things I agreed to do if at all possible and will make sure that happens. I am sure that I will enjoy the new found joys of the heavy combat melee’s and at some point or another when folks I know are enjoying a good equestrian competition, especially like the joust or heavy mounted combat, I will feel just about the way Kristofferson when he hers Janice sing his song on the radio – happy for her, but yet just a tinge of busted flat over the whole deal.

First post here on Eligius as a blog, where I intend to start with blogging my medieval activities during this coming campaign season.  I may start with blogging from Gulf Wars.  Eventually I will get galleries of pictures and some video posted up here as well, and expect some additional awesome things in the near future on the site, maybe an eventaul restoration of the original forum discussions, which had some good information included.