Pennsic War

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The Pennsic War is an annual camping event held by the Society for Creative Anachronism. Pennsic is held in late summer and lasts for 17 days (begins on a Friday, ends two Sundays later). The event centers on pre-17th century history and culture. Campers dress in appropriate clothing and generally act as people from medieval times.

Pennsic is a "War" between two large regional SCA groups: the Kingdom of the East and the Middle Kingdom. Participants choose a side and fight mock battles against each other. The winners of the battles and other activities receive war points, and the Kingdom with the most war points wins that Pennsic.^[1]

Pennsic is the single largest annual SCA event in terms of number of people. As of 2009 there have been 38 Pennsic Wars and the number of people annually attending surpasses 10,000.

The name Pennsic War is a combination of Pennsylvania and Punic War. The Pennsic War uses Roman numerals to identify each war, rather than the year it was held.

Contents 1 History 2 People 3 Activities 3.1 Martial 3.2 Non-Martial 4 Impact 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History

The Pennsic War had been held in the week ending with the third weekend of August since 1972. Beginning in 2007, war was moved to the week ending with the second weekend of August due to the changing school starting times.

• The first Pennsic was held at Newton's Campground (now Shorehaven Campground) in Waterford, Pennsylvania.
• The second was held at St. Clair Beach Campground near Pittsburgh.
• The third was held on a private farm in Wexford, Pennsylvania.
• The fourth, often called "Pennsic Pour" or "Pennsic Puddle," was held at Spencer Farm on Aquilla Road near Chardon, Ohio and was marred by massive flooding and mudslides. This is celebrated in song by performer, Duke Moonwulf Starkadderson in "Pennsic War IV".
• The fifth was held at the Berlin Reservoir outside Alliance, Ohio, after a site in West Virginia was rejected.
• The sixth and all subsequent Pennsics have been held at Coopers Lake Campground in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania near the intersection of Interstate 79 and US 422. The site is easily visible from the I-79 southbound lanes.

^[1]

According to the HERSTAĐR-SAGA: An Incomplete History of Pennsic,

"One day, almost 30 years ago, Cariadoc of the Bow, the King of the Middle, got bored with peace and declared war upon the East, loser to take Pittsburgh. The King of the East read the declaration of war, filed it away and forgot about it. Time passed. Cariadoc moved to New York and subsequently became King of the East, whereupon he retrieved the declaration from the file cabinet and said, 'Let’s fight.' The Middle won, and Cariadoc has the distinction of being the only king who declared war upon himself and lost."^[2]

Contrary to popular myth, the Pennsic wars were not caused by Cariadoc challenging himself to a war and losing. The challenge for the Pennsic war was initially issued by King Irial and Queen Morna of the Middle, with the stated causes being both the ownership of the new group forming in Pittsburgh, the Debatable Lands, and an earnest desire to have fun and “engage in chivalric combat of the highest”. The letter containing the challenge along with an arrow of war was carried by Duke Cariadoc, as a herald of King Irial, to King Rakkuri and Queen Maureen of the East who accepted the challenge, and broke the war arrow. The negotiations for the war, locating a suitable site, determining the rules for combat and scenarios for the battles, etc. dragged on long enough that by the time the war was actually held, neither Irial and Morna nor Rakkuri and Maureen were still on the thrones. The Midrealm was ruled by Andrew and Anne, and the East was ruled by Cariadoc and Diana, who had moved to the East during the negotations.

The board of directors ruled a few weeks before Pennsic I that since Pittsburgh was in the same state as an existing group, in Philadelphia, that it had to belong to the same kingdom. It was considered impossible to split a state between two kingdoms at that time. Thus, the Debatable Lands were assigned to the East Kingdom prior to Pennsic being fought, which rendered moot the initial reason for the war. Since the stated purpose of the war was to determine which kingdom got Pittsburgh and the Midrealm decisively won Pennsic I, it became popular mythology that "the loser got Pittsburgh."

[edit] People

Since Pennsic XXV in 1996 the event has gathered over 10,000 participants each year. These include not only SCA members from across the globe, but also members of various other historical re-enactment groups such as Markland- and martial arts-based organizations, such as the Tuchux. Pennsic is, however, an SCA event; members of other groups are welcome, but are generally expected to follow SCA rules—especially in regards to armor, weapons and behavior on the battlefield for the various fighting scenarios. According to the Pennsic Independent, a privately-published newspaper published on-site, the final count for 2009 was 10,947.^[3]

[edit] Activities

[edit] Martial

• Archery SCA Archery Homepage ==> [1]
• Armoured Combat
• Rapier Combat: also known as Fencing
• Thrown Weapons
• Youth Combat

[edit] Non-Martial

• Pennsic University: a framework of classes where attendees learn period skills, trades, and performing arts.
• Arts and Sciences Exhibition.
• Youth Arts and Sciences Exhibition.
• Performing Arts: which include acrobatics, busking, comedy, dance, magic, music, juggling, and theatre.
• Period Gaming: where one can play games such as Go and Chess.
• Pennsic Choir.
• Dancing: including Renaissance dances, Middle Eastern Dance, South Asian Dance, and East Asian Dance.
• Shopping (roughly 250 vendors)

[edit] Impact

• Pennsic has inspired a mystery novel, Murder at the War, by Mary Monica Pulver.^[4]
• There have been video documentaries made of Pennsic and the battles thereof, the most well known of which is Duckball Home Video's "The Pennsic War: A Video Documentary" produced in 1991 at the 20th Pennsic War.^[5]
• With over 10,000 people, Pennsic becomes the 3rd largest city in Butler County, PA (after Butler and Cranberry Townships).

[edit] See also

• Estrella War — another war held by the SCA

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} http://www.pennsicwar.org/ANNUAL/pwhistory.html
2. ^ F.L. Watkins (Fólki Þorgilsson). 2005. HERSTAĐR-SAGA: An Incomplete History of Pennsic © Folump Enterprises
3. ^ Rogers, Sarah (August 8 2009), Pennsic Independent 
4. ^ Amazon.com: Murder at the War: Books: Mary Monica Pulver
5. ^ Amazon.com: The Pennsic War: A Video Documentary - Noble Edition: Movies & TV: Society for Creative Anachronism,Zorikh Lequidre,Al Arthur

[edit] External links

• The Official Pennsic War web site
• Cooper's Lake Campground The website for the Pennsic Campground
• The official site of the Kingdom of the Midrealm
• The official site of the East Kingdom
• The official site of the Sylvan Kingdom of Æthelmearc (where the war is held)
• A site with collected images, videos, and stories of the Pennsic War
• Pennsic Independent The official site of Pennsic's on-site newspaper
• The Pennsic War: A Video Documentary

Coordinates: 40°58′38″N 80°08′45″W / 40.97718°N 80.14586°W / 40.97718; -80.14586