[Steppes] Steppes Fighter Practice - 05-21-2006

[Mike]

Heilsa,

Day bright - blue of sky
Cooling wind, strong against face and body
  Humidity at bay
A hint from the Queen of Summer
Perhaps or not -
One can hope

Various "moderns" out and about
With boxes by Merlin
Scenes - frozen moments of time
Things to wonder as they
Played back scenes of medieval adventure
Perhaps one or two will step forward
Afterall, a journey is must start with
That first step or there is no journey

Overall, a good day to be in the park
With friends
Whether in armor or not
Excellent training
And of course, always wonderful discussion
Both on the field and the sidelines.

HL Chiara - Apprentice to Master Fritz
   her son - Ioseph Birthday is May 22nd.
     Happy Birthday to Ioseph.

Steppes Warlord is:
   May 26 through May 29.
Heavy Tournament is May 27th - Saturday.

I know that the Steppes Web site shows that
there will be a fighter practice on Sunday. But,
that is misleading - everyone will be out at
Steppes Warlord this weekend.

Gothic Wars:
Labor Day Weekend
September 2nd through 4th
Sweetwater, Texas

Please start drinking extra water several days prior to the day of practice.
This is also true of going to an event, be it SCA related or not.
You will have a better time and enjoy yourself more
if you are hydrate before you start your activity.
Energy drinks may give you a lift, but will not carry you as far,
  when compared to water and gatorade.

Remember - Pace yourself!

Please bring at least 1 gallon or more of water and gatorade. I
recommend 2 gallons of fluids and snacks to replenish your
energy levels if you are in armor and fighting.
Suggested of items you might wish to bring out:
- cold pickles
- oranges - energy bars - etc...
- Bring Chairs for you to sit upon.
- Perhaps a grill to heat snack food
- Dress for the weather
- Sunscreen
- Hats
- Sun pavilions can be set up

Sun pavilion with tarp provided additional shade,
thanks to Tori, Jon and Nikko for their assistance in both
setting up and tearing down.

"Oya, Oya! "
Week in review:

May 15th:
China Before 601
An ancient Chinese fort from the Kingdom of Wei has been
discovered by archaeologists in China's eastern Anhui province.
Built between 230 and 233 C.E., the fort garrisoned up to 6,000
soldiers and included a smelting furnace and a stone mill.
Many artifacts such as arrows, basins, and kettles were also unearthed.

Islam 701 - 800
Moorish Spain
Abd ar-Rahman was proclaimed Emir of Cordoba,
beginning the three-century Umayyad dynasty of Moorish Spain.
Several years earlier, Abd ar-Rahman had witnessed the massacre
of his family, at that time the rulers of Syria, by the Abbasids.
The only survivor, he escaped to North Africa and made his way to
Spain, where he was able to seize power. He spent most of his reign
struggling against rebellious and unruly subjects, but succeeded in
consolidating power before he died. He began the Great Mosque
of Cordoba, which was finished by his son and successors.

Dutch 1501 - 1600
Anthropologists working with nine skeletons discovered in May 2004
in Amsterdam's Maastricht district believe that the remains are of
members of the Staatse leger (State army) who were killed during
the siege of the city. The Dutch town of Maastricht has been the site
of battles since Roman times. The skeletons were originally believed
to be musketeers killed during a battle with the French in the 18th
century, but new research shows that they probably died either in
the late 16th or early 17th centuries. The possibility exists since
the town was the site of the 1673 siege by the French in which fictional
musketeer D'Artagnan was killed.

Modern Day:
The grandson of Thor Heyerdahl is re-enacting his grandfather's 1947
re-enactment of a hypothetical ancient voyage from South America to
the Polynesian islands.  Olav Heyerdahl, 28, is one of a six-person crew
that set sail May 1 on a 56-foot balsa raft. Tangaroa, named for the
Polynesian god of the sea, is equipped with a hand-woven sail, thatched
hut, GPS equipment and solar electric panels. The voyagers believe their
raft is more authentic than the historic Kon-Tiki, which sailed from South
America to Tahiti in 101 days. Unlike Kon-Tiki, Tangaroa can sail against
the wind. Readers can follow the expedition's progress on its
webpage http://pub.tv2.no/nettavisen/friluftsliv/tangaroa/,
although it will be most effective for readers of Norwegian.


May 16th:
Sweden 1501 - 1600
A 1539 map by Swedish cartographer Olaus Magnus surprises scholars
with its depiction of the North Atlantic Ocean. The Carta Marina, drawn in
1539 by Olaus Magnus, features sea snakes and other monsters frolicking
in the North Atlantic, but it also shows something else that has made
modern cartographers sit up and take notice: a remarkably modern
depiction of sea swirls which "closely match a giant ocean front shown in
satellite images." Magnus, a Swedish exile to Italy, was known for filling
his maps with depictions of all manner of men, monsters, and other
details, leading scholars to wonder if the sea swirls were accidential
whimsey or true cartographic elements.

Japan - 1600 - 1620
William Adams, the first Englishman to reach Japan, died on May 16, 1620.
Adams was a navigator and shipbuilder who piloted a Dutch ship to the
islands, arriving in April, 1600. He adapted to Japanese culture, learned
the language, and was awarded the rank and swords of a samurai.
He was known in Japan as "Anjin-sama," Lord Pilot. James Clavell's
absorbing novel Shogun centers on a fictionalized account of
Adams's years in Japan.


May 17th:
England - 1201 - 1300
On May 17, 1215, the barons of England marched on King John in the
uprising that culminated in the signing of the Magna Carta. John was
nicknamed "Lackland" because as the youngest of Henry I's several
sons, he had no share in his father's lands. He has one of the worst
reputations of any English monarch, but the very negative light history
casts on his reign may have come partly from chronicling monks who
resented his refusal to take part in the Fourth Crusade. John's modern
legend as a grasping, rather stupid monarch is largely shaped by Sir
Walter Scott's Ivanhoe and by the Robin Hood movies that use it as a
major source. However, legend has sufficient power that subsequent
heirs to the English throne have not borne the name John.


May 18th:
England - 1501 - 1600
On May 18, 1593, just days before his death, playwright Christopher
Marlowe was arrested on charges of atheism. Marlowe's accuser,
Richard Baines, appears to have hated him, and their testimony was
full of mutual accusations. Marlowe died young, and only a few of his
plays survive, but they show great excellence of language as well as
dramatic power. Had he had a longer career, we might now speak
of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries as the Marlovian
era, rather than the Shakespearean. The details of Marlowe's death
at the end of May 1593 remain murky. For many years, he was simply
considered to have disappeared, until documentation of his killing in
a tavern resurfaced in the 19th century. The theory that he died in a
brawl has wide acceptance, but some still maintain that he was killed
at government orders, or, even less provably, at the instigation of
William Shakespeare.


May 19th:
Saxon - 1001 - 1100
The 11th Century skeleton of a young Anglo-Saxon Christian male has
found to contain a rare form of mitochondrial DNA identified as Romani.
This pre-dates the previous discovery of Romani DNA in England by
500 years.

England - 1201 - 1300
The City of London received a charter allowing it to elect its own 
officials
on May 19, 1214. The Lord Mayor ruled with the advice of a council of
guild leaders. In effect, the guilds ran the City in a form of governance
modeled on the great merchant cities of the Continent. Londoners of the
period valued their civic autonomy and sometimes acted as a force in
English politics. In the twelfth century, they had successfully applied
pressure for King Stephen's release by his cousin and rival the
Empress Maud. The office of the Lord Mayor and many guild
traditions and buildings still exist in London.


May 20th:
Scotland - 601 - 700
On May 20, 635, an invading Northumbrian army was soundly trounced
by the Picts under the command of King Bridei. The Northumbrians had
been extending their power north for decades under their ambitious king,
Ecgfrith. King Bridei proved himself superior in strategy, drawing the
Northumbrians in with a pretended retreat. The Northumbrians never
recouped their former power in the north, and Bridei's victory
encouraged the development of Scotland's national identity.

Islam - Portugal 701 - 800
35 skeletons, discovered recently near Lisbon Portugal, are believed
to be from one of the largest medieval Muslim burial grounds in Europe.
The graves were found near the city of Santarem, site of the medieval
Muslim capitol on the Iberian Peninsula, and are believed to date
somewhere between the 8th and 12th centuries.

May 21st:
Ireland - before 601
A newly discovered burial site near Tara shows features not found
in Ireland before. A cemetery from the first few centuries CE,
when Romano-British customs were being introduced into Ireland,
includes a variety of burial types and a kind of square-ditched
enclosure characteristic of Yorkshire burials.

English/French - 1401 - 1500
On May 21, 1420, the Treaty of Troyes was concluded between
England and France. Its terms included Henry V of England's betrothal
to Catherine de Valois of France. After his seemingly miraculous victory
at Agincourt, Henry attempted to use the treaty to end the Hundred Years'
War in his favor. It made him "heir to France" and disinherited the French
Dauphin. But when Joan of Arc succeeded in placing the Dauphin on
the French throne, he repudiated the treaty and continued the war.
Subsequently, Henry VI of England's mixed English and French descent
and his accession to the thrones of both nations in early infancy further
destabilized the situation and prepared the ground for the Wars of the
Roses. Way to nation-build, Hal.

People in armor:  11
   10 Heavy Fighters
      1 Combat Archer
Children: 4
Total in attendance: 21
  
Instruction provided in the following areas:
  Sword and shield - buckler, round, and kite
by -
HRM Mahdi
Sir Duncan
Centurion Morgan
Centurion Tomas
Lord Hrafn

In attendance this day:

HRM Qadi 'Abd al-Mahdi Jamal ibn Hakim -
           (KSCA - Knight in SCA)

Clan Ross:
  Earl Duncan Arthur Ross (KSCA - Knight in SCA)
Centurion Morgan Buchanan (Squire to Sir Duncan)  -
              (Central Region Knight Marshal)
      and his lady, Lady Ciannait Chaimbuel
Centurion Tomas Niallagain (Squire to Sir Duncan)
        with son - Daniel
Lord Hrafn Olafsson (Squire to Sir Duncan) -
               (Steppes Knight Marshal )
    and his lady,
        Lady Elizabeta di Valore della Rosa
          (Apprentice to Duchess Larissa) -
             Steppes Equestrian Marshall

Condottieri:
Lord CinaedOHosey
     with children
         daugther - Tori
         and son - Jon
         and son - Nikko
HL Honour du Bois -Squire to Sir Galen of Bristol
Lord Michael Kettering

Lord David ben Leon
    and his lady,  Lady Gertia della Maira
     with daughter

Lord Walter Robin - Cadet to Don Ianvarre of Wastelands

Justin
Robert - graduated from Law School this past week. Vivat!
Karl Von Walter - recently moved here from the
                               Kingdom of Trimaris


Weapons used this day:
Sword

Shields used this day:
Heater
Round
Buckler
Kite
Rectangle Shield

Combat Archery:
  1 30 lb., Recure
  Combat arrows:
   15 Combat Arrows for Condottieri

Individual fights (21) witness this day:
Centurion Tomas with heater and sword
      vs Lord Hrafn with round and sword
Justin with round and sword
      vs Centurion Tomas with heater and sword
Centurion Morgan with kite and sword
      vs Robert with kite and sword
HRM Mahdi with round and sword
      vs Centurion Morgan with kite and sword
HRM Mahdi with round and sword
      vs Lord Hrafn with round and sword
Robert with heater and sword
      vs Centurion Tomas with heater and sword
HRM Mahdi with buckler and sword
      vs Lord CinaedOHosey with buckler and sword
Sir Duncan with heater and sword
      vs Centurion Morgan with kite and sword
Justin with round and sword
      vs Sir Duncan with round and sword
Robert with heater and sword
      vs Sir Duncan with heater and sword
HRM Mahdi with buckler and sword
       vs HL Honour with buckler and sword
Lord Hrafn with kite and sword
        vs Sir Duncan with heater and sword
Karl with rectangle and sword
        vs Sir Duncan with heater and sword
Centurion Morgan with kite and sword
        vs Justin with round and sword
Centurion Tomas with heater and sword
        vs Karl with rectangle and sword
Robert with heater and sword
        vs Centurion Tomas heater and sword
HL Honour with buckler and sword
        vs Lord CinaedOHosey with buckler and sword
HRM Mahdi with kite and sword
        vs Centurion Tomas with heater and sword
Karl with rectangle and sword
       vs Centurion Morgan with kite and sword
Lord CinaedOHosey with buckler and sword
       vs Lord Hrafn with buckler and sword
Sir Duncan with heater and sword
       vs Centurion Tomas with heater and sword

Solo practice with combat arrows took place at
standard target.


YIS,
 Lord Michael Kettering
  Combat Archer for the Condottieri
  King's Archer
  Steppes Deputy Knight Marshal
  Steppes Deputy Hospitaler



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