Seasonal Articles

Winter holidays are here, and war season is fast approaching...and Lord Gryffri de Newmarch has submitted articles that discuss both!  Enjoy!  And thank you, Gryffri for the contributions.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Christmas for the Enlightened

Christmas has not always been with us. So what is this holiday season we all celebrate with much commercial glee? The word for Christmas in late Old English is Cristes Maesse, the Mass of Christ, and was first recorded in 1038, and Cristes-messe, in 1131. In Latin Dies Natalis, whence comes the French Noël. Today it is widely recognized as a celebration of the birth of a Jewish savior. It is important to note however that the primary book of the faith of Christians does not mention anywhere that Christians should celebrate the birth of this savior, only remember his death.

So when did all this Christian revelry begin? The first evidence of the feast is from Alexandria Egypt. About A.D. 200, Clement of Alexandria (Strom., I, xxi in P.G., VIII, 888) says that certain Egyptian theologians "over curiously" assign, not the year alone, but the day of Christ's birth, placing it on 25 Pachon (20 May) in the twenty-eighth year of Augustus. [Ideler (Chron., II, 397, n.) thought they did this believing that the ninth month, in which Christ was born, was the ninth of their own calendar.] Others reached the date of 24 or 25 Pharmuthi (19 or 20 April).

With Clement's evidence may be mentioned the "De paschæ computus", written in 243 and falsely ascribed to Cyprian (P.L., IV, 963 sqq.), which places Christ's birth on 28 March, because on that day the material sun was created. But Lupi has shown (Zaccaria, Dissertazioni ecc. del p. A.M. Lupi, Faenza, 1785, p. 219) that there is no month in the year to which respectable authorities have not assigned Christ's birth.

By 300 AD the spread of the Christian faith was wide spread over the known world. This does not mean that it was widely accepted, but it was indeed widely known by this time. Each culture began to incorporate their own practices and festivals of winter into the celebration of the nativity, which became known as "The Feast of the Nativity."

Roman Catholics would like to point out that it was Pope Liberius, who in 354 A.D. decreed Christmas to be celebrated December 25th. In reality it was the Roman Emperor, Constantine who declared December 25th to be Christ's birthday in the year 336 A.D. The date was picked to coincide with traditional non Christian religious celebrations, the largest of which was "The Feast of Saturn, Birthday of the unconquered Sun." This feast began two weeks of festivities that included feasting, drinking, special musical plays and the exchanging of gifts. This also was the time of mid winter solstice.

Constantine was the first "Christian" emperor of the Roman Empire. He became so after a dream or vision of the cross, inscribed with "In hoc signo vinces" which in Latin means, "By this emblem shalt thou conquer." In 312 A.D., Constantine gave full support to Christianity and proclaimed it the official religion of the Empire as he embraced it to wage war in the name of Christ. It is said he even ordered his army to ride on horseback through a river to "baptize" them into Christianity. It was Constantine's desire to "Christianize" December 25th so that people would continue to have a holiday and could also honor Christ, the Light Of The World instead of the pagan god like Saturn or the Sun.

New Year's Day was observed in England before 1068 on December 25th as was the end of the Saturnalia. It is the traditional day mentioned as that which Merlin placed Excalibur into the Stone and the Glastonbury Thorn tree traditionally blossoms. Many historical events were scheduled to occur on the Feats of the Nativity, to lend religious acknowledgement to the event. In 800 A.D. Charlemagne (Charles the Great) was crowned Emperor and in 1066 A.D. William the Conqueror was crowned King of England.

So what about the other traditions of Christmas like the Christmas Tree? An early Roman ritual was to exchange green tree branches on the new year. They believed this would bring them good luck. The Scandinavian people once worshipped evergreen trees. They believed godlike spirits inhabited them so people brought trees into their homes to please the spirits and seek their blessing. When the Gospel of Christ reached the Scandinavian people they made the evergreen tree part of their Christian Festivals. Early Celtic faiths believed that the spirit of the son of Mother earth resided in the tree. The burning of the Yule was a tradition of releasing the spirit of the son by burning a Yule log on the eve of the Solstice.

Who is Saint Nick or Santa Claus? Saint Nicholas was a real person and the most popular saint honored by the Greek and the Latin churches who lived in the 4th century in Myra, Asia Minor, which is presently Demre in Turkey. Traditionally, the Latin Church honors him on December 6. 

In his youth Nicholas entered a monastery and later became an abbot and then a bishop. After suffering persecution and imprisonment, he was freed by a new emperor, Constantine. He died in 352 and his relics were preserved in Myra for seven centuries until some Italian merchants sent an expedition of three ships and 62 men to Myra and, through a ruse, carried off his remains. They were deposited in the church in Bari, Italy on the Adriatic Sea on May 9, 1087 where they have remained to this day.

The legend that connects St. Nicholas with the tradition of giving presents secretly is not really related to the Christmas season. There was a nobleman in Patana with three daughters who was very poor. He was too poor to provide his daughters with a dowry for marriage. He was almost on the point of abandoning them to a life of wanton sin when Nicholas heard of his problem. One night he took a purse of gold and threw it through an open window of the nobleman's house. The nobleman used it for a dowry the next day as he did a second purse he found when his next daughter was ready to marry. Curious about his benefactor, when it was time for his third daughter to be wed he hid and watched as Nicholas was caught in the act of giving. Nicholas begged that the man tell no man, lest his reward in heaven be less for it. Ever since this time, St. Nicholas has been identified with the tradition of gift giving. His three purses of gold eventually became the three golden balls symbol of pawnbrokers. The red costume worn today is recognition of the uniform of a cardinal of the Catholic Church. In the early 1900's commercial enterprising Americans turned Saint Nicholas into a fat jovial elfish type character that is now widely recognized.

So we now have a holiday of celebration that incorporates the traditions and customs of many cultures and peoples. For those who believe that the Christ has indeed been given as declared in Biblical prophesy, a holiday to celebrate the greatest gift of all, a promise of life eternal for those who believe. For those not so inclined to faith, a celebration of the mid of winter, a sign of the charity of man kind, the beginning of longer days and a new beginning of yet another year. No matter your faith, I offer this traditional holiday greeting, "Peace on earth, Good will to all of man."

Adding to the Ambiance

Practical tips for making an event seem more period, submitted by Lord Gryffri de Newmarch

Many of us play this 'game' to escape the reality of our daily mundane lives. The more effort that is made to remove mundane reality from our events, the more likely that we can successfully remove ourselves from our daily routines and realities to immerse ourselves in the fantasy that creates these current middle ages. There are some simple and oft free things you can do to increase the atmosphere of these middle ages and lend your chivalrous effort to the enjoyment of one and all.

This list is by no means comprehensive and you may have many more ideas that can make things seem even better. Here are some simple ways you can make an event seem more period:

Speak slower and louder when speaking publicly and attempt to reduce your southern accent. No need to put on a fake accent, just try your best at speaking without geographic dialect. Remember to speak of things as they relate to the event such as the activities and save mundane work conversations and such to the privacy of your cabins or tents when appropriate or possible.

Use afghan throws, twin bed size flat sheets, extra fabric and solid color blankets in heraldic colors to cover mundane items such as: coolers, folding chairs, tables and plastic boxes filled with armour and other obviously mundane things. You can also make custom covers for these common items.

Move your car at least 50 yards away from pavilions and the fighting field. See if your site sheriff can enforce a community parking area away from cabins and encampments after initial unloading has been completed. Don't hesitate to ask politely, beg perhaps on bended knee, that the fighter next to you move his steel motorized box a little further from the fighting field. Your autocrat should plan in advance for a parking area away from event activities. They could further enhance this effort by creating pre arranged reserved parking and use volunteers to direct parking. (Think of events like Pennsic and Gulf Wars.)

Paint a piece of painter's canvas with a primitive design or copies of enlarged period murals and tapestries for floor covings. 

Make or purchase a full body length surcoat to cover your armor.

Buy an oversize pewter or ceramic mug and put your aluminum soft drink can inside it. Or spray paint a "coolie" with that speckle stone paint. Cover water coolers and if you must use plastic cups or water bottles, carry them in a basket or crate to hide them when not being emptied by the fighters.

Use a mint tin or chewing tobacco tin to keep your cigarette butts in. Carry a pouch for your personal trash. You should never litter on an event site!

Paint or sew cloth sleeves for metallic support poles of non-period pavilions. Use discount fabric to cover your carport pavilion. Create 'faux facia' embattlements or trims for "pop-up" pavilions that can be pinned on.

Purchase surplus Halloween costume capes and such at a after season discount to provide children's loaner garb.

Paint your device or shire device on boxes and containers most often carted to events. Paint your device on chairs.

Make a shield tree device at out of thin plywood and hang it outside the door of your cabin.

Use bolts of discounted fabric for room dividers and bed covers in event cabins.

Store mundane items out of site under tables and chairs or in tents and pavilions.

Use crackle or stone craft type spray paint to change the appearance of items like coolers or plastic armour boxes.

Use Barak coppers instead of dollars with merchants and keep a coin purse for "jingle money."

Use cutout and plywood forms to represent guards, sheep, gates or other period objects throughout your encampment. Use rope and list stakes to channel traffic away from mundane areas of your encampment and segregate period pavilions from non period tents and campers.

Use off white painters canvas and paint your group member devices or kingdom group devices on it for privacy barriers and "encampment walls" to screen mundane collections of camp equipment.

Remember, your effort at removing the 'mundane' from an event site can be consider a gallant contribution to the enjoyment of all. It takes a concerted effort and sometimes a really mean event sheriff to create an ambience of distant history.