Kingdom of Lochac

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The Kingdom of Lochac is one of nineteen "Kingdoms" or regions, of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) - an international organization dedicated to researching and recreating aspects of the Middle Ages.

Comprising Australia, New Zealand and their Antarctic territories, it is made up of almost 40 local groups.

The current King and Queen are Gabriel and Constanzia

The Kingdom takes its name from a Dutch term for Australia dating from 1630 [1].

Contents

[edit] General

The group has around 2000 members[2] , and is one of Australia's oldest Living History groups, having started in 1980. [3]The Australasian Branch includes Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica[4]

[edit] History

Local SCA groups began in Sydney around 1981, and in Christchurch shortly after[5]. Other cities in both countries formed groups, but the New Zealand groups became part of the Kingdom of Caid[5], while Australia became the Crown Principality (and later the Principality) of Lochac under the Kingdom of the West. Lochac became a kingdom its own right in 2002, and the New Zealand based groups joined in 2003.[6][7]

[edit] Local Groups

The different branches of the group are known within the group by their SCA names, for instance Liverpool in Sydney is known as Agaricus, the Blue Mountains is known as the Shire of Dismal Fogs[7], greater Sydney itself is the Barony of Rowany[4] .

Other groups include:

[edit] Awards

The society has a number of awards that are given to group members to encourage their skills in Historical based arts. Examples of these include the

  • Shining Helm - for armour
  • Order of the Pelican - for exceptional service and organisational skills
  • Order of the Chivalry - for martial prowess and chivalry
  • Order of the Laurel - Exceptional skill as an artisan, in a specialised area

[edit] Events

[edit] Rowany Festival

The group's largest event is the Rowany Festival, a week long Medieval festival that features classes, tournaments, competitions and general revelry. It is held Easter every year, near Sydney. The Festival has been running since 1983 and has grown to its current size at which 1000 people may attend. It is the largest SCA event in Australia.

Some SCA members are involved in the Crossroads Medieval Village near Yass, New South Wales, and in the past the Rowany Festival has been held there.

As it is held over Easter, Christians generally get together in a discreet place to hold a scheduled Easter Sunday mass. And if Pesach falls at the same time of year, there is often people cooking in accordance with the very special customs that relate to that.

Traditionally large battles involving SCA Heavy Combat are fought at Rowany Festival that may include up to 300 combatants. Medieval feasts are held by the households participating. A "merchants row", a street of merchants, runs for the whole weekend, as well as a Saturday only market. Typically, the merchants sell arts, crafts and off the peg armour. [8]

Rowany Festival has had four different locations - Fairholme Park in Wilton, Tara Girl Guide camp in Silverdale in Western Sydney, and Crossroads . In 2008 it has moved to the Glenworth Valley Horse Riding centre at Peats Ridge, New South Wales.

[edit] Other events

Other large, multi day event activities include Canterbury Faire held in New Zealand, The Surveying Expedition held in Melbourne and Spring War held in Newcastle.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Day Turns to knight in the battle of Northbridge". , The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 May 1995.p2
  2. ^ McIntosh, Deborah. "Sunday". The Sun Herald 28 Jun 1998.p 6
  3. ^ Fennel, Tim. "They love the Knight life" HQ Magazine, Sep/Oct 1995, p63.
  4. ^ a b Taylor, Andrew. "Forsooth, A Fair Damsel, Mate". The Sun Herald, 12 August p 34
  5. ^ a b [1]
  6. ^ [2]
  7. ^ a b Willis, Robyn. "Back to the age of Chivalry". The Sun Herald, 14 October, 1990. P 155
  8. ^ Fennel, Tim. "They love the Knight life" HQ Magazine, Sep/Oct 1995, p63.
  • (1) McIntosh, Deborah. "Sunday". The Sun Herald 28 Jun 1998.p 6
  • (2) Taylor, Andrew. "Forsooth, A Fair Damsel, Mate". The Sun Herald, 12 Sugust p 34
  • (3) Willis, Robyn. "Back to the age of Chivalry". The Sun Herald, 14 October, 1990. P 155,
  • (4) Willis, Robyn. "Back to the age of Chivalry". The Sun Herald, 14 October, 1990. P 155,
  • (5) Taylor, Andrew. "Forsooth, A Fair Damsel, Mate". The Sun Herald, 12 Sugust p 34
  • (6) "Day Turns to knight in the battle of Northbridge". , The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 May 1995.p2
  • (7) http://www.sca.org.au/lochac/groups/groups.php SCA Lochac Site

[edit] Bibliography

  • Crowe, Sara. "Knight-Games". The Sun Herald. 14 April 1996
  • Watson, Chad. "Ready for Battle". Newcastle Herald. 28 Sep 2001
  • Taffel, Jacquie. "Lance Australia Fair". The Sydney Morning Herald 2 Jan 2004.
  • Wilson, David. "Armed and Odorous". The Sydney Morning Herald. 24 Jan 2007.
  • McIntosh, Deborah. "Sunday". The Sun Herald 28 Jun 1998.p 6
  • Taylor, Andrew. "Forsooth, A Fair Damsel, Mate". The Sun Herald, 12 Sugust p 34
  • Willis, Robyn. "Back to the age of Chivalry". The Sun Herald, 14 October, 1990. P 155,

[edit] Internal

[edit] External

  • Kingdom of Lochac - official website
  • [3] - A short history of Lochac
  • [4] - The History of the Kingdom of the west - The longer history of Lochac

[edit] Further reading

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Lochac"