Spaniards in the SCA

New World Spanish History Reenactors

2008-07-10T09:35:00.003-07:00

I found this link Calderon's Company, a group of New World Spanish history reenactors out of Florida.

From their website:

Calderon’s Company is a group of “living-history” volunteers based at De Soto National Memorial, in Bradenton, Florida. The organization is named after Captain Pedro Calderón, who was left in charge of the base camp and port with approximately 100 soldiers and sailors, when Hernando de Soto began his entrada into La Florida in June of 1539. Members of the company have since 1993 researched, constructed arms and armor, and portrayed the garrison life of these sixteenth-century conquistadors in the Tampa Bay area. Additionally, Calderon’s Company has done public demonstrations at the De Soto Winter Encampment site in Tallahassee and at various State Parks and museums throughout Florida. As well, the group also frequently participates at sixteenth century reenactments in St. Augustine.

They also have a newsletter/blog: Entrada.

Medieval Spain

2007-10-14T13:50:00.000-07:00

Below are links to a couple of short articles about Medieval Spain that I found on the Suite101.com Medieval History blog

* Medieval Spain: Al-Andulus, From The Visigoths to al-Mansur (711-1000)

* Medieval Spain: Reconquista, From the Taifa Kingdoms to Isabella and Ferdinand versus Granada (1000-1492)

Both articles were written by Paula Stiles, a frequent contributor to the Suite101.com blog.

Urraca of Castile and Spain

2007-10-14T13:31:00.000-07:00

I found an article about Urraca of Castile and Leon on the Suite101.com Medieval History Blog. Urraca was a 12th century queen in Spain. Enjoy the article.

1492

2007-07-03T13:58:00.000-07:00

Queen Isabella
A number of events happened in 1492: Spain was united when Granada was conquered, the Inquisition expelled the Jews from Spain, and Columbus made his first voyage to te new world. All of these events would have impacted the lives of people who lived in Spain during that era. As such, if you are looking to do a late period persona you may wish to do a little research on the period. Below are some short biographies and articles about that time:

Biographies

Queen Isabella of Aragon

King Ferdinand of Castille

Tomas de Torquemada

Christopher Columbus

Articles

The Conquest of Granada

1492: An Ongoing Voyage

The Inquisition

... of course, there is so much more to learn about this period. This is just a small taste of what is out there, both on the internet and it print.

Happy hunting on your persona research! - Xptobal

The Spanish "lisp": because of the king?

2007-05-31T14:28:00.000-07:00

The story is that certain Spanish speaking people "lisp" their "z"s because a Spanish king had a lisp. Not so, says Gerald Erichsen in this article on About.com.

El Cid's sword

2007-05-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

Greetings:

Has El Cid's sword been found? Or has a collector be dupped? You decide: read this link for a story about this sword.

This link was posted on the Spaniard in the SCA discussion list.

Spanish Personae Research Class at Grand Outlandish XXXIII

2006-05-12T11:55:00.000-07:00

Greetings:

I will be teaching a “Spanish Personae Research” class at Grand Outlandish on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 3 PM. Information on the class can be found here.

Grand Outlandish will be held in the Barony al-Barran during Memorial Day Weekend. The site is near Edgewood, New Mexico which is east of Albuquerque. If you wish to find out more about Grand Outlandish, click on here.

Although my class will only be one hour long, I’ll be happy to talk to anyone at the event about persona research. I’ll will bring my Spanish history, literature and art book collection to use as reference material.

On Saturday, May 27th, I will also be teaching a class on “Titles, Awards and Precedence in the (Kingdom of the) Outlands.” Newcomers will find this class helpful.

In Service,

THL Cristobal Vazquez de Narriahondo

Exploring 13th Century Sephardic Jewish personas: Nahmanides

2006-04-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

You can create your SCA persona by studying period role models. Therefore, I will begin offering links to historical biographies. I suggest that you do further research if you are interested in the subject.

In the 13th century there was a remarkable Sephardic Jewish rabbi by the name of Nahmanides. As a rabbi he was a learned man. He studied the Torah and the Talmud extensively and wrote many books on these subjects. However, what made him remarkable was the fact that he was allowed to freely argue against a Christian scholar about the nature of the Messiah and Christianity.

His story gives us a look at Sephardic Judaism in Spanish Christian kingdoms. For more information, please click on the following sites:

1. Wikipedia
2. Bookrags.com

-Cristobal

Sephardic Jews

2006-04-06T15:37:00.000-07:00

Greetings:

Chaiya's Sephardic World is a site created by a woman who has a Sephardic Jewish persona. It seems to be a good resource for those trying to create a Sephardic Jewish persona.

-Cristobal

A SCA group in Spain

2006-04-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

Greetings:

I found a link to the Shire of Alcazar, an SCA group in Spain. Take a look at some of the photos on the site. Wouldn't it be great to be able to do events at an actual medieval castle in Spain?

-Cristobal

Period Role-Models

2006-04-06T13:54:00.000-07:00

Greetings:

I found a short article written by Etienne de Montagu on the Ansteorran Rapier Combat website titled "Period Role-Models." Although it was written about how to develop a period rapier persona, I found it to be a good article about persona research in general.

The article has short biographies of certain historical persons such as Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra and Hernan Cortez. The page also has a helpful bibliography of selected sources.

-Cristobal

Al-Andalus

2006-04-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

"Al-andalus for Historical Recreationists" is a good site to go to find links about Islamic Spain. It has everything that a creative anacronists needs in order to create a persona from this period: history, culture, religion and garb.

The Unofficial Spanish SCAdian Book Club: Don Quixote

2006-04-03T07:10:00.000-07:00

Greetings:

One of the ways to develop a Spanish persona is to read about Spain. But what books should you read? Well, we're here to help. Welcome to the first listing of "The Unofficial Spanish SCAdian Book Club."

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.

I once heard the character of Don Quixote described as "the first anachronist." Quixote is actually a gentleman by the name of Quixada (or is it Quesada or Quixana?) who has become disillusioned by the inequities and injustices of life. He reads romantic books about the chivalrous lives of Knights and ladies. He slowly goes mad reading these books until one day he fashions together his great-grandfather's armor, picks out a broken-down horse and renames the steed Rozinante, and begins his new life of knight-errantry.

Don Quixote is a satire on Spain in the early 17th century seen though the eyes of a man who believes he is living in earlier, more heroic times. It is a fantastic read.

I have to admit I have not read the entire book. only about a quarter of it. It was originally two books written decades apart therefore the unabridged version is around 1000 pages long. Every so often, though, I pick up the book and read a chapter or two. If you are like me and are not a fast reader I suggest that you find an abridged version.

-THL Cristobal

If you wish to post a review for the Book Club, please send me an Email.

-Xptobal

Cristóbal's name and device

2006-03-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

Recently I was informed that my name and device were approved by the SCA College of Heralds.

My registered SCA name is Cristóbal Vázquez de Narriahondo.

The emblazon for my device is below:

The blazon for this device is "per pale azure and argent, a cross of Santiago counterchanged."

If you ever wondered about the process of approving a name and device, check out the Outlands College of Heralds July 2005 Letter of Intent and the SCA College of Heralds November 2005 Letter of Acceptances and Returns. These links show how my name and device were discussed and approved.

By the way I am a voice herald, not a submissions herald. I could never do the amount of paperwork that is required to be a submissions herald.

The Purpose of the "Spaniards in the SCA" website

2006-03-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

Greetings:

Welcome to the "Spaniards in the SCA" website. This is a companion site for the "Spaniards in the SCA" discussion list. Members of the discussion list are allowed to add content to this site. The general public may post comments to member postings.

When I created the discussion list nearly two years ago, I intended it to be a place for people with SCA Spanish personas to share their thoughts and questions regarding their persona development. Currently there are 80 list members.

If you wish to join the list, please send me an Email.

This site is meant for the members to express themselves as members of the Spanish persona community in The Society for Creative Anachronism. They may post articles,images and links regarding SCA events that they attended, research they have done, and projects that they are working on.

Neither the discussion list nor this site is meant to exclusively deal with just Spanish Christian civilization. In fact, the whole of Spanish / Iberian history until 1600 A.D. is represented here. This includes Muslim, Jewish, Christian and other religions. This includes the Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths, Moors, Basques, etc. The history and culture of Spain is extremely rich. There is much potential for persona research that has yet to be tapped.

Please enjoy this site!

In Service to the Dream,

The Honorable Lord Cristóbal Vázquez de Narriahondo
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