SC - Fw: Klibanos- More from the Byzantine List

[Philippa Alderton]

Hi all from Anne-Marie

The Known World Handbook says that we're all supposed to be assumed to be
of noble birth, if that helps.

Me, and my household, have decided to re-enact the life and times of a
bunch of upstart middle class people, the household staff and servants of
Antoine the Bastard of Burgundy. He treats us pretty well, so we dress OK,
and we cook food for him (ie from the latest cookbooks and soooo chic chic!
:))

Since we decided to stick with the middle class thing, things have gotten
SO Much easier! gold isnt appropriate, but silver and pewter and brass are.
Silks arent appropriate but linen and wool is. The upper classes in the
15th century wore goofy clothes anyway (especially the womens hats. Ugh!),
the middle and lower classes wore very reasonable and practical garments. 

Once a year, we in the Culinary Guild put on Peasants revel, and its
amazing to see all these SCA "nobles" dress up in ratty clothes and play
stupid field games (a la Brugel). So I guess there's a little peasant in us
all :D

Its not a matter of lack of imagination, its all about what kind of game
you want to play. When I first joined, I wanted nothing more than to be a
Lady out of Mists of Avalon, all floaty veils and flowers in my hair. I
wanted boys to kiss my hand and call me m'lady and put me on a pedestal
like the books said they did. Now I'm older, and I'm more interested in
historical re-enactment. According to the sources, in medieval Europe,  
80% of the people were rural serf types, only 1-2% were aristocrats. Of
course, of those farmers, the majority were actually self employed and
owned their own lands. The dirt grubbing peasant is not the norm. We have
inventories for people where even the peasant pig farmer has a couple coins
stashed away. (ack! my books are out in the car from teaching a class on
agriculture last week!! I can give citations if you like).

anyway, lets just say that while the SCA was likely set up so everyone
could be a magical princess in their own right :), real history says most
people would have been independent farmers, managing a comfortable enough
living, barring unforeseen plagues, famines, etc. Just like today! What
game you choose to play is entirely up to you.

hope this helps some...
- --AM

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