University of Atlantia

In preparation for the upcoming Midwinter Revel, Henry VIII’s Holiday Huzzah, let us learn about what the Tudors would have eaten. Can you think of a better way to prepare for the delicious feast by none other than Mistress Lisette la Roux? We will compare and contrast the difference in food between the rich and the poor, as well as sharing recipes and resources to help you produce an authentic Tudor meal.

Missing the forest for the trees? This class will broadly discuss the royal forest system in England, with a focus on the development of English forest law, the restrictions imposed by those laws, and the organization of forests and their administrators.

This class will teach you the basics of forming early period wire fibula using brass wire, hand tools, and a MAPP or butane gas torch. The fundamentals learned here can be used to make hair pins, penannular brooches, veil pins, rings, and more! Tuesday June 21, 2022. 7-8 pm EDT. Handout is available: https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/19jIm-uD5L_yu0dlwz55VBJ5MVcc8DpJk17rNwdFuwVE/mobilebasic?fs=e&s=cl

In advance of our all-online Winter University in February, come learn how easy it is to teach with us! We'll show you how to submit a class proposal and reveal the not-so-secret supports available to instructors (Teaching Assistants! University-provided hosting! Friendly staff to answer questions!). If you've ever considered teaching online, but weren't sure how--come join us! We'd love to have you instruct for University of Atlantia!

An overview of quartz sphere jewelry in history, and also the Viking Sunstone and it's usage.

“The island abounds in milk and honey” is The Venerable Bede’s praise of Ireland in the opening chapter to The Ecclesiastical History of the English People (731 CE). While the near-contemporary Irish classic Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley; ca. 670-725 CE) is a well-known exemplar from whence the milk may come, it is the lesser known, and slightly earlier, Irish law text Bechbretha (‘bee-judgments’; ca. 650 CE) that may inform us as to the honey. This class will explore manuscript, archaeological, artistic, and ethnographic sources to illuminate the culture and practice of beekeeping in early Ireland.

This class will introduce the Deathways of three late era Andean Cultures, the Chachapoyas, the Chimu, and the Inca, as well as the cultural clash resulting from these practices when the Spanish invaded. Death in the Andes is not the same Death with which we are acquainted. Even today the Quechua word for dead people, wanuq, is a progressive or continuous word that means those who are dying or in the process of death. In most of the Andean region, mummification can happen naturally, and often has. Likely due to this natural preservation of the body and a focus on collective, supportive, and reciprocal societies, you start to see the logic that ruled the Andean Deathways, and the interesting ways that played out in different cultures. The three cultures covered in this class lasted at least until the mid 1400s, had at least a few hundred years of history, and range from the Amazonian Cloud Forest, to the Coastal Desert, to the Highland Tundra.

What makes Spanish chivalry unique, and why do many scholars believe that the Iberian Peninsula played host to the most fervent exercise of chivalric ideals in all of Europe? Join Magistra Beatriz for an examination of the history of Spanish chivalry from its earliest roots in 10th century pilgrimage protection to the heights of the Reconquista, from El Cid and Amadis de Gaula to the Conquistadors and a brief moment with the man who "smiled chivalry away."

A practical and scientific discussion of how to make milk into something that lasts longer than milk with a focus on home dairying, regionalization of cheese types, and historic challenges. This class will include practical home cheese-making instructions as well as information on milk types and composition, microbiology underpinning cheese making, and simple recipes.

Feedback! It is a critical part of growth, but well-meaning SCAdians, even peers, sometimes give feedback in a form that is unhelpful at best and harmful at worst. Learn how to make a positive impact and facilitate quantifiable improvement for those you wish to guide to greener pastures. Ollamh Esa will discuss her knowledge and experience in facilitating performance improvement and personal development. Master Dante, a veteran teacher, curriculum developer, and instructional designer with Kirkpatrick Gold certification, will discuss his knowledge and experience regarding skill development and behavioral change. Class will not be recorded.

Medieval life revolved around the agricultural year and depended on the fruits of the land for nearly every aspect of its survival and wellbeing. Learn how you can participate in the Agricultural Arts and Sciences to a greater degree in the SCA by attending a class on Medieval Agriculture, growing medieval vegetables and growing and contributing items to a feast, largess, or sharing your medieval agricultural & animal husbandry interests.

Join the Royal Bards of Atlantia, Elizabeth and Simon de Spaldyng, on the Feast of St. Nicholas for an evening of period, traditional, and original holiday music. Explore the roots of Christian, Jewish, and Pagan holiday traditions. Learn more about the upcoming Royal Bard competition to be held at Kingdom Twelfth Night. Recording is planned.

This time of year is all about connection. Friends, families, communities. Long-distance, or across broad regions. In contrast, we've been handed a myth of isolation in the premodern world, as if Medieval-era borders were solid and ideas couldn't travel. It's why the story of "a silk road" holds so much sway; with a romantic story of silk from China being carted by a single intrepid merchant across the wilds of Eurasia to end up in an Italian nobleman's coat, it lights up our mind with pictures of those in the past encountering astonishing novelty after lifetimes of familiarity. But the world was so much more integrated than that. Regions relied on each other, not only for goods but also for culture and ideas. Regular connection with far-off lands was pervasive and, often, expected. Through art and archaeology, we'll use the modern research of diverse specialists and scholars to talk about the trading networks of raw materials, manufactured items, and culture which opened up and knitted together the world—the effects of which are even applicable in the present day. The globalism of the premodern era was vast and deep. Join us to broaden your view. [This class will not be recorded.]

In-person University, held in June and September, is the easiest event to steward in the Kingdom. Don't believe us? Just ask our Event Support Coordinator for in-person sessions, Dame Juliana Grene. Come hear about our resources and requirements for hosting a session. But do you feel that the University event is too big for you? Too far away? Already taken this year? What about a Collegium instead? Or getting credits for classes held at an event that’s already planned? She has information on that.

This class will cover the process for bard/scribe collaborations to create custom scroll text for an award recipient, from assignment to submission, and explore other avenues for bards and scribes to be involved in the ceremony of Society. The material will include multiple methods of compromise between Award text needs, persona-specific needs, scribal needs of layout and length, and more. This class is designed to function partially as a Q&A as well. It is designed for scribes who would like to work with bards, and bards who would like to work with scribes, to connect with each other.

Discussion and following question and answer session hopefully with Baroness Ingegerd Kastanrazi, Sir Signy Heri, The Honorable Lady Tegan of Anglesey, Baroness Caterina di Paulo, and Dame Sbyslava Ruslanova. Navigating and helping to remove invisible barriers to Gender Minority Armored Fighters. This class is for ALL armored fighters, armored marshals, or those interested. We begin with recognizing the obstacles specific to Gender Minority and women armored combat/heavy fighters and then we provide actionable steps, strategies, and suggestions to help mitigate or eliminate those obstacles. We acknowledge this is already a broad topic, but there are many other categories of minorities that also need support. There are also many other forms of combat, to effectively offer some solutions within a single class time frame, we are focusing specifically on armored combat for women and gender minorities for this class. The aim is help support a more inclusive fighting culture that welcomes and helps more fighters stay on the field. The presentation will be recorded, with a non-recorded section of the Q&A for those who prefer.

If I invite you over for barbecue, what are you expecting? The image you form will vary widely depending on where I am located. If we're in England or Australia, you expect a meal served outside, cooked on a metal grill over a fire or coals, but I could prepare fish or vegetables or sausages and still call it a BBQ. If we're in the US, you're probably picturing a meaty dish. But what type of meat? Pork, chicken, beef, goat? Is it a specific cut of meat, or did you expect a whole animal? Was it grilled or smoked? Or is the definition in the sauce? Sweet or spicy? Tomato, vinegar, mustard or mayonnaise based? Medieval fashion is every bit as nuanced, regionally specific, and rooted in personal identity, reflecting both nationality and social class. Merchants can travel to Florence, buy locally produced silks to sell in their home country, and wear Florentine clothing while conducting business in the city without adopting any trace of Italian fashion once they return home. An ambassador to the court of Charles VIII might dress in the latest French styles while there, and tell their wife back home what the ladies were wearing, but would she want to stroll the streets of Oxford in this Parisian finery? If you are an English man or woman in 1483 and have been invited to appear at the court of King Richard III and Queen Anne Neville, what should you wear? Given the lack of portrait painters and the limited number of illuminators working in Britain during the fifteenth century, what visual sources can guide one in recreating English clothing of this period? Dame Margaret Wolseley is a former resident of Atlantia now residing in Thamesreach, Insulae Draconis, Drachenwald. Her alter ego, Challe Hudson, is an independent scholar living in London, interested in late medieval and early modern English fashion. Challe is currently studying the depiction of fifteenth and sixteenth century women’s clothing as preserved on church monuments, effigies and monumental brasses, and is an active member of the Medieval Dress and Textile Society, Monumental Brass Society and the Church Monuments Society.

Have you heard of Combat Archery? Do you want to support the Atlantean Army on the field? Discussion of how to get involved in combat Archery, some basic tactics and how to get involved.

Ever wonder where people find medieval names? How those cool shields and banners are designed? Why are those people wearing funny capes over their clothes and yelling? And why do some people say "device" and others say "coat of arms"? Come learn about the various facets of heraldry both historically and in the SCA. This class will not be recorded.

The Persona Pentathlon is an annual competition sponsored by the Order of the Laurel. The Pentathlon requires five separate items that a single persona would have used, owned, or interacted with. This class will discuss one artisan's experience in planning, preparing, and participating in this competition at 2024's Kingdom Arts and Sciences Festival

One of the first things we learn after picking a persona is what fabric our garb should be made from. But how often do we look at why our persona would use one fabric instead of another? This class looks at the cultural context around the rise and fall of cotton among the upper class of Abbasid Persia. Come Join the University of Atlantia as Mu’allim Vashti al-Ashariyah enlightens us on cotton use in Persia.

For July's Instructor Spotlight, join Baroness Ceridwen and other members of the Royal Academie d'Espee Guild Charter Committee to hear more about what this Guild does in Atlantia, the process of Guild chartering, and how you can get involved! Here is an article on the Academie site on the history of the Academie d’Espee: http://www.academiedespee.com/articles/history/ New Approved Ad'E bylaws: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10C_Ldj6RJeeI4quGR-D1IyCszYJXH6oQ/view?usp=sharing And one more link! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Eb_RHDcKoX0SllTNO6LScKp0SU0PeNNY/view Academie update Data Team presentation. TLDR - we asked fencing people their thoughts on how they're feeling about the Academie. Draft curricula that the committee came up with: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X6ZP9jp0OgbJjaXay-HwPmfqpfi6G_E6BVBK8MxzKww/edit?usp=sharing

In this class we will be looking at how medieval Christian women used and interacted with books of hours, the most common type of manuscript in the medieval period. Because of their deeply personal nature, books of hours were powerful tools for women to exercise autonomy in their religious practice, while also being a way to reinforce ideas about what a woman should be.

Events don’t have to be large to be successful, nor do they always have to offer “something for everyone.” Smaller events, which are more focused on a particular area, can also be enjoyable, educational, and an enhancement to our overall SCA experience. This class will look at how to create and run small “workshop” type events in your local group, how they differ from their larger cousins, and how attendees can also receive University of Atlantia credit for the classes that they attend there.