[MR] A&S at Twelfth Night

[Margaret Wolseley]

Good People of Atlantia, and Artisans of all Diverse Skills and Trades!

In one week time we will be gathering at long last, streaming through
the gates of the Court of Emperor Maximilian, eager to partake in the
Festivities of Twelfth Night. What will you have brought to the
palace? Please, present it at the Arts and Sciences table for all to
view your handwork!

I have copied the original contest text below. This contest is meant
to be broad -- foodstuffs, clothing items or accessories, wood and
metal, illumination and calligraphy, or even the materials used to
produce the finished products: pigments, hand tools, spun fibers, etc.
-- all are welcome at the A&S table. However, the contest is also
quite specific: the items must have a plausible reason for being
present at the royal court (or in the adjacent workshops and servants'
quarters) in Germany in roughly the year 1500.

I am familiar with the documentation available in this time period, or
the lack thereof, and so of course you need not have rock-solid proof
of an item to enter it. But if you can show that it was used in 1380
and also in 1657 -- well, you've got a good argument for its existence
in 1500.

If you are planning to enter an item and can send me a message in
advance, I will make an extra effort to find a knowledgeable gentle to
give you feedback on your artistry.

Youth are encouraged to display their creations, and will be critiqued
with age-appropriate feedback.

I look forward to seeing the many and diverse objects our people bring
to the festivities.

In Service to the Arts,

Margaret Wolseley


What are You Bringing to the Palace?

With the arrival of the Emperor to this palace, the entire local
community is in a frenzy, producing the goods and services required of
his extensive retinue.

You have just shown up at the gates, surely to deliver some essential
commodity. What have you brought? Tell me so that I might direct you
to the correct place. Are you a baker? The kitchens are that way, and
hurry! More bread is needed for the feast. Are you a merchant? From
where? Ah, yes! His majesty’s tailors require your goods at once.
These are the toys ordered for the children? Of course m’lord, right
this way, you are expected. Are you an ambassador? Excellent…but
before I herald your arrival, perhaps you could show me what wonders
you brought from your native lands? Please understand that the Emperor
is a wealthy and worldly man, and gifts to him must be worthy of his
magnificence.

This contest has two parts: a brief persona story, and the item you
have created and brought to the palace. The persona story need have
nothing to do with your usual SCA persona, your age or gender, or with
the way you have dressed today. Just imagine who might bear this item
to the palace, and why, and briefly describe that person. The person
might be a journeyman delivering goods for his master, a servant of a
local lord attempting to court favor, a noble ambassador from a
distant land, a peasant carting in goods from the village, or many
other hard-working characters whose entry into the Emperor’s castle —
whether through the front gates or around back in the servants’ area —
was crucial to the creation of the grand court of Emperor Maximilian
I.

As the year is approximately 1500, items that could have been produced
and used in that time period clearly qualify, even if they originate
in a culture far from the Holy Roman Empire. Antiquities from around
the known world might also be presented, although your persona story
should explain why such unfashionable objects are valuable, rare, or
inspiring enough to be worthy of the court’s attention. Persons and
items attempting to time-travel in from the future shall be exorcised
as the witchcraft they must surely be.

Documentation for your entry is recommended but not required. Since we
strongly suspect that the Maximilian himself will not be present to
consume the goods you present in this contest, you are free to collect
the items when the display period is over, so that you might bestow
the gifts as you personally desire, instead of according to the whims
of the Holy Roman Emperor.