Guilds and Activities

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Carolingia is a large, thriving Barony, and an amazingly busy one. There is something going on in the Barony practically every night, and there are activities for almost every taste. The following are just some of the regular activities. Note that many of the Cantons and Boroughs have their own regular meetings; see the Canton and Borough listings for more information.

Weekly

Bi-Weekly & Monthly

Irregular & Ad Hoc

Weekly

Dance Practice
A weekly get-together to learn and practice Renaissance dance. No prior experience is required. Dance practice is held wednesday evenings at 7:30pm, at MIT. It is held either in room 491 of the MIT Student Center (click here for a map showing where the Student Center it) or in building 31, room 161 (click here for a map showing the location of building 31). See this list for the full schedule.
Heavy List Practice
Practice for SCA armored combat. For more details, check out the Carolingian Fighters' Page.
There is now a mailing list dedicated specifically to combat in Carolingia. For more information, see the list homepage.
See this page for a listing of where fighting practice will be for the next few months.
Carolingian Guild of Musicians and Jongleurs
Rehearsals of the Guild's two music ensembles, every Monday EXCEPT the first Monday of each month, at MIT in 4-153. Click here for a high-level map of MIT. The contact for the Quire is Eowyn, and for Waytes is Udalrich.
The Carolingian Academy of Defense
Fencing practice occurs every Sunday from 5PM to 8PM, outdoors at the MIT Student Center. Click here for a high-level map showing the Student Center. For more information, contact Connor, or check on the Carolingian Fencing Homepage.
There is also a Carolingian Fencing mailing list.
To Subscribe: carol-fence-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Include a blurb about who you are and why you want to subscribe to the list. The list owner is paranoid about spam, which is why we switched to a moderated membership in the first place.
Study Group: there is a new period study group focusing on Cut & Thrust techniques moving towards Sidesword, meeting on Wednesdays at MIT. Contact Brokk (brokk at carolingia.org) for more information.
Carolingian Company of Bowmen
The Carolingian Company of Bowmen runs a weekly archery practice on Sundays from 10am-1pm in Carlisle, MA. Beginners welcome. Equipment and instruction available. Transportation can sometimes be arranged for those from the Boston area without cars. For more information, contact Yelizaveta Medvedeva (yeliz@carolingia.org) or Peter the Red (pcarmichael@alum.mit.edu). For information about the location of archery practice, see the Canton of the Towers Archery page.
I Sebastiani
A troupe of actors performing improvisational comedy in the period Italian style. For more information, see the I Sebastiani Home Page.
The Accademia della Danza
A group that meets to work in depth on various renaissance dance topics, and to explore new dances. Meets every Tuesday evening from 7:30PM to 9:30PM at MIT, usually in Student Center, room 491 (click here for a map), but occasionally in room 153 of Building 36 (click here for a map).
Click here for the current room schedule. For further information contact Phelan or visit the Accademia della Danza website.

Bi-Weekly & Monthly

Cooks' Guild
We meet monthly to attempt the redaction of medieval recipes. (Redaction is testing and interpreting medieval recipes, then rewriting them in a format that is friendly to modern users) The meetings happen at my (Richenza's) house in Allston which is T accessible and has some limited parking. Directions to the house may be found at http://www2.ennui.net/~jjjjack/wadsworth.html. The time and date of the meetings is not necessarily consistent, so you can watch the carolingia mailing list for updates or contact me personally if you wish to be updated in some other fashion. My contact info is as follows:
Richenza of the Bridge
richenza@yahoo.com
(617) 787-3376
The Storytellers' Guild of Carolingia
The Storytellers' Guild of Carolingia is dedicated to practicing, performing, and preserving, the art of the story. We tell stories, recite poems, challenge each other with riddles, sing ballads, and perform all manners of stories, tales, anecdotes, sagas, jokes, epics, legends, and even the ocassional lie. All are welcome, but we ask that if you do not bring a piece to perform before the company, that you bring something for the guild to eat or drink. Storytelling is hard work, after all.
Guild meetings are every month on the fifteenth at 7:30PM. They begin with brief lessons in storytelling, and are followed by performance. Meetings take place at the home of the First Speaker (guild master) Aleksandr Ruslanovich, called Yevsha, in Dorchester, two blocks from the Ashmont T-station at the end of the Red line.
Additionally, the guild maintains an electronic mailing list for the discussion of storytelling in general and guild business, and is largely responsible for the Codex Fabliuum; a ever-growing annotated list of period sources. If you would like directions to the meetings or more information on the mailing list, please contact Aleksandr by sending mail to yevsha@earthlink.com or by calling (617) 288-9762.
Woodworkers
The Ancient and Honorable Company of Turners, Joiners, and Carpenters of Carolingia meets Third Sundays from Noon till 4:30pm in Waltham, MA, at the workshop of the Guildmaster, Harald Longfellow, at: Basement, Building 18, 144 Moody Street. This is a factory complex converted into artists' studios, hence the odd form of the address.
We are generally interested in all forms of period woodworking and woodworkers' tools, but concentrate on furniture & artifacts suitable for use at SCA events. We use both hand tools and power tools, but try to first understand the period approach with hand tools before applying power tools.
To get there: take your best route to the intersection of Moody Street and Main Street. Drive (or walk) down Moody Street heading south (your only option). You will very shortly cross over a set of railroad tracks; cross them, and slow down and prepare to turn left. Immediately BEFORE the bridge, turn left into a large driveway marked with a number of signs, one of them reading "Waltham Millworks Picture Gallery". Go *straight* along this driveway a few hundred feet, passing a parking lot on the right (which you may not park in), then another on the left (which you *may* park in). You will then find yourself between two brick buildings; the one on the left has "WORLDWIDE" written across the top in letters of fire, I mean, letters 6 feet tall. The one on the right is Building 18, and the basement entrance is in the middle of the wall facing the Worldwide building.
Calligraphers
We meet monthly, usually during the afternoon of the second Sunday of the month, to discuss topics related to scribal arts. All aspects of calligraphy, painting and illumination are included, as well as other topics related to the written word within the medieval era. We also have hands-on project meetings to try various scribal techniques and methods. Contact Rhonwen glyn Conwy for more information, at CCHCrow@AOL.com or call (508) 881-7550.
Thrown Weapons Practice
We meet the second Saturday and last Sunday of each month (and occasionally at other times) to throw axes & knives at wooden targets. We also occasionally throw spear (contact Pandaulf if interested). No experience is necessary. Instructions and loaner weapons are always available. Participants my bring their own weapons but these must pass inspection by the marshal. More exotic weapons may be allowed at the discretion of the marshal. Contact Pandaulf at pandaulf@carolingia.org or jonathan.libby@verizon.net or call Pandaulf at 978-590-5483 for further details.
Cooks
Needleworkers Guild
The Carolingian Needleworkers Guild shall provide an open forum for discussion and teaching of embroidery, weaving, spinning, dyeing, lace making, basketry, tapestry and all related arts.
Meetings are held the second Sunday of the month, from 11am - 3pm, at the home of the Guildmistress. Meetings either cover a specific topic or are an opportunity to work on projects in the company of others. Please contact the Guildmistress for meeting locations.
Please RSVP before the meeting.
Those wishing to learn something which is not being taught at a regular meeting can make appointments with the Guildmistress.
The schedule of topics and further information about the guild is available at the guild home page.
Brewers Guild
Meets the 2nd Thursday of each month, at the home of Ruadh; directions are available online. Contact Ruadh at brewer@carolingia.org or natasha@apocalypse.org for more details. For more information, see Guild Homepage.
Clothing Workshop
The next major clothing event will be the Robin Netherton lectures, to be held in November. See Upcoming Events for more information.

Ad Hoc & Irregular

Hurling
Hurling practice is sunday afternoons (anywhere between 2 and 4 pm) at MIT, and is located adjacent to the heavy fighting practice on the south west green around Kresgie Auditorium. Contact Terran of MITGaard (terran@ai.mit.edu) for more information.
Heralds
Heralds are now meeting irregularly, to discuss all sorts of educational topics on heraldry that might appeal to a regular member of Carolingia. Contact Tibor for information.
There is now a mailing list for heralds in Carolingia: Pall Wavy.
To subscribe: send a blank email to pallwavy-subscribe@tao.merseine.nu
To unsubscribe: send a blank email to pallwavy-unsubscribe@tao.merseine.nu
Low Company
A fairly informal group that gets together monthly to reconstruct and play period games. Pretty much anything that can be called a "game" is within the group's scope: board games, card games, table games, and more physical ones. Meetings are held irregularly, when there is a convenient venue; those interested in currently details, or who wish to host a meeting, should contact Ace (AKA Justin du Coeur).
Pike Company
For more information about the Carolingian Pike Company, contact Valerian of Somerset, at voloudak@fas.harvard.edu.
Le Poulet Gauche
A period tavern, set in Calais 400 years ago. Runs at various events around the Kingdom, and occasionally as a standalone event. There is copious information available about the Poulet, its times, and the culture of 1590's France; for more information about Le Poulet (including how to get involved), see those pages.
Fellowship of Philosophers
Eowyn's salons are currently in abeyance, partly because she's busy arranging for a session of the University of Carolingia -- an event to be held late this winter (early 2004 CE) -- and partly because inspiration has failed and she hasn't recently come across any topics she feels would be suitable for discussion. If you have a topic you would like discussed at a salon, please let Eowyn know about it -- she'd be glad to arrange more salons if topics arise. Eowyn may be reached at:
Pandora Berman
617-492-7274
cent@lcs.mit.edu
Chirurgeons
The Chirurgeons (pronounced "Surgeons", the folks who see to the health of the Barony) meet irregularly. There is a low-volume mailing list, where we try to organize who will work at what events, and any questions. If you're interested in becomming a chirurgeon it's a good place to find out more, and even hook up with someone who can do some training with you. To join send email to carochi-requests@drum.org. For more information about the Chirurgeons, contact Ruadh.
The Baron's Troupe of Mummers
The Mummers are actors and others interested in theatre of the middle ages. We have performed works from throughout the period, from mummings and masques to full texts of Shakespeare. The Mummers do not meet regularly but come together when someone is inspired to produce, direct, and/or host a play at an event. For more information or to get a show going, please contact Troupemistress Rhonwen glyn Conwy at CCHCrow@aol.com or (508) 881-7550.
Soothsayers
Armorers
Fools
Peasants
Bards
Arachne's Web (lacemakers)
Middle Eastern Dance

Great Council

The regular running of the Barony is governed by its Charter and Statutes, enacted in the time of Cariadoc and Diana and preserved since then. A major aspect of that Charter is The Great Council of Carolingia. The following is a description of Council, from Tibicen Blackmane.

Great Council is the monthly business meeting of the Barony of Carolingia. It is open to all, and does not involve garb. The meetings are run by the seneschal, and are normally held on the first Monday of the month at MIT room 6-120 beginning at 7pm.

At Great Council, all the officers and guild leaders report. They tell what they and/or their groups have been up to, and announce what they'll be doing in the future. Sometimes there is business before Council, which is discussed. There is a period for public announcements, both SCA and personal (from "keen new exhibit at the MFA" to "need a roommate" to "y'all're invited to a party".) Scheduling of activities and events is announced, so be sure bring a datebook. Often autocrats will accept reservations in person, so you might want to bring a check book or cash to reserve for local Events.

After that is "After Council", as in "If you'd like {more information}/{to volunteer}/{to buy one}, see me After Council." This completely informal, completely unofficial yet absolutely vital period of high-intensity schmoozing (it would be called "networking" if our livelihoods depended on it) lasts from fifteen minutes to an hour, depending on how much gossip/planning there is in the Barony that month. People wander off as they finish talking to everyone to whom they needed to speak (many of us write up checklists during the course of Council of people to talk to, so we won't forget to touch base with anyone vital). Sometimes groups form up to go off to dinner or out to ice cream. It is during After Council that you can buy Libers if they are available, or make reservations in person with any autocrats in attendance, or talk to activity leaders about joining their activities, or subscribe to the Minuscule.

While some of Great Council can be boring (reports about activities you're not interested in can be dull), it is generally a good place to find out what's going on and to meet the people with the information, and affords good socializing opportunities, too. It is where many of us who seem to know what's going on get our clues for ourselves.

To find Great Council: 6-120 is a lecture hall on the first floor of building 6 at MIT. To find it, enter MIT at the main entrance at 77 Massachusetts Avenue (the big one domed building with the steps, columns, etc.). Head straight ahead through the lobby ("lobby 7") into the "infinite corridor". You will pass through a number of MIT buildings on the way (buildings 7, 10, 4, and 8), but you won't need to turn. Take the last right before the end of the corridor, just before the steps headed down to go outside again; this will point you in the direction of building 6. After passing through one or two sets of fire doors, you'll hit a smallish-sized lobby with doors to your left; the entrance to 6-120 will be to your right at that point. To get to MIT, check out their online directions.

To the Barony of Carolingia Homepage
Page Owner
Justin du Coeur
Also known as Mark Waks
781-891-3057
justin@waks.org