The Society for Creative Anachronism promotes the arts and culture of Europe and neighbouring cultures as they existed prior to the seventeenth century. I've been a member since 1999, and am known within it as Ælfred se leof.
I practise dancing and brewing, do the occasional bit of fighting, and do just enough costuming, armouring and leatherwork to turn up to events with a reasonable number of accoutrements. I’ve also written a number of articles, mostly on the history of science and mediaeval geography, for Cockatrice, the arts and sciences magazine of the Kingdom of Lochac.
Articles
- Arithmetic by Counters. Cockatrice #16 (November 2002). The abacus as used in Europe throughout the SCA period. Video demonstration available on Vimeo.
- Counting on the Fingers. Cockatrice #17 (January 2003). A method of calculation on the fingers used by Bede, Fibonacci and other mediaeval mathematicians.
- Ciphers. Cockatrice #19 (July 2003). Cryptography over the SCA period.
- That Pilgrim's Packing (with Claude Quincairnon). Cockatrice #24 (October 2004). A travel guide for SCA re-creations of Christian pilgrimages. Republished in the Florilegium.
- Flying Dragons. Cockatrice #30 (April 2006). Mediaeval European kites. Republished in the Florilegium.
- The World: Just How Big Is It?. Cockatrice January AS 47 (2013). Classical and mediaeval attempts to calculate the size of the Earth.
- Don't Try This At Home: Curious Adventures in Mediaeval Science and Technology. Cockatrice May AS 49 (2014). Dangerous, gruesome and unethical experiments from Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Republished in the Florilegium.
- In Search of Spices and Christians: Europeans in Southeast Asia 1511-1606. Cockatrice August AS 51 (2016). European activity in Southeast Asia during the SCA period.
- From East to West. Cockatrice August AS 52 (2017). A companion to In Search of Spices and Christians, investigating Asian travel to Europe. Republished in the Florilegium.
- The Many Kinds of Money in Mediaeval Europe. Cockatrice August AS 53 (2018). Alternative currencies in the SCA period.
