Classes Jadwiga Can Teach (With Descriptions!) Updated for 2016

A While back I got on a conversation about what I could teach. I began to rattle a few things off, and that got me thinking 'you know, there is an awful lot I could teach...' I then decided to make a list of classes that I am either familiar enough with or have already compiled the notes/written the paper to teach.
Note: For those of You in An Tir, I am happy to teach any of these classes at an event or Ithra if I am going.

Please feel free to contact me at jadwiga.sca@gmail.com or on facebook at Jadwiga Radomyskowa

Scribal- Creation

These are classes focused on creating supplies used for Medieval Scribal Arts. 

Making earth pigments I This class focuses on the basics of Earth Pigment creation. Students can use prepared ingredients to make their own gouache paint. This class can be a lecture, demo or hands-on. There is the option for students to take home with them a small set of period paints.
Making earth pigments II In this class students will take raw materials and create their own pigments. We will cover what makes a good pigment, how to assess if something will work for a pigment. In this class we can also cover some of the more exotic ingredients such as bone and lead.  This class can be a lecture, demo or hands-on. There is the option for students to take home with them a small set of period paints.
Making Oak Gall Ink Learn to make Oak Gall ink! Students will watch as a batch of ink is made in class, and have an opportunity to work with it. I can teach this class as a lecture, demo, or again a hands-on class where students will take home supplies to make their own ink.
The Scribes Toolbox: An overview of the tools of the trade, a good resource on such things as the type of brushes to use, and which paints to get and avoid. Also a resource list on where to actually buy these things!

Scribal-Painting

These classes focus on painting and creation of charters for the SCA. 

Charter Painting 101-104: The basics of Charter Painting. Covers materials and how to use them. Techniques that make your charters look great! Covers base painting, shading, blending, highlighting and some freehand. Can be taught as a single class or spread out into two to four.
Whitework and Diapering basics: One of the best tools in any painters arsenal, whitework takes a charter from good looking to amazing. This class covers how to correctly do white work. Can be taught as a lecture, but is best presented as a hands on class where students take home two different white paints and a sheet of white work and diapering designs to reference later.
Color Theory for charting painting: In this class I teach basic color theory and how it applies to charter painting. Ever wonder why sometimes when you mix red and blue you don't get purple, but rather a nasty brownish color? Want to know how to make something "look medieval"? This is the class for you. Can be taught as a lecture with handouts, or as a hands-on class where students take home samples to reference later.
Charter Creation: Creating Charters for a royal reign is an amazing experience. This class covers how to find reference materials, how to adapt images for a charter, the DOs and DONTs, as well as a step-by-step example of an actual charter created and used.

Polish History

This set of classes covers my passion, Polish History. While definitely a specific and narrow focus, this is a part of the Known World that few know much about. 

Polish History 101 An overview of Polish History as it pertains to the SCA time line. Covers the different eras in history, and major movers and shakers, as well as how Poland interacts and relates with the more well known lands of the Middle Ages. Do you know the surprising reason Polish Knights wouldn't go on Crusade? How did Poland avoid the Black Death when the rest of Europe was falling to it? What was the specific rule pertaining to Ottoman tents on a War field? Find out this and much more!
Polish Hussar Wings My focus. My Passion. Learn about the most well-known item of Polish Military! Learn how they were made, what they were used for, and dispel some myths around the Winged hussar!
16th C Polish Women's Clothing Come learn about women's clothing in the 16th century. We will cover extant pieces, how to research it, and how it was similar and different to both Western European fashions as well as Slavic, Italian, and German styles.
The surprising religious views of 16c Poland: That's a pretty specific title for a class, right? Well, 16th Century Poland was doing some crazy things, well worth looking in to. Come explore why Poland was called "asilum haereticorum" or the heretics asylum! It is said that a Polish town could not be called a city unless it held both a Catholic and Protestant Church, a Synagogue and a Mosque! Join me as we explore some of the most fascinating things in this little covered part of the Known Worlde, and I'll tell you about the time 1200 Noblemen stormed a church trying to burn a cobbler at the stake for heresy! The middle ages as it should have been? Seems like some folks had it right all along...

Misc

The rest of the classes. They don't quite fit anywhere else...

Medieval Pets: Owning pets is not a new or modern invention. This class covers pet ownership in the Middle Ages. Learn about not only cats and dogs that were kept, but squirrels, monkeys and even a pair of royal badgers! We will cover rules and laws around pets, the difference between an animal as a pet and one as a tool. Students can take home a handout with period pet names, as well as a collection of eulogies for a 14 century Italian dog.
Bayeux Tapestry Stitch: One of the most famous pieces of embroidery in the world, the Bayeux Tapestry is an impressive thing. Learn a little bit about this famous textile, and then learn the stitches used to create it, and how it can be used to create your own items. Students should bring a hoop. Needles, thread, and fabric with a design on it will be supplied.
The Medieval Horse: Learn about the use of the horse in the middle ages. We will cover different breeds and riding styles, go over the various types of tack used, as well as images and writings of the horse in the medieval era.
Largess 101: What is largess? Who is allowed to make it? What sort of things make good largess? What sorts of things make bad largess? What should never be largess? Learn the answers to all these questions in this class. As well, there will be a small hands-on largess project to make as we cover the ins and outs of Largess.
Manesse Codex: There are good odds that you have seen images from this 14c German songbook even if you don't know what it is. Here we will discuss what the Manesse codex is, who it was made for, and what its use was. We will cover some of the most famous images out of it, and talk about some of the stories attached to this book. Students will have an opportunity to take home black and white image from the book to color or use as inspiration as they would like.
The Book of Kells: This class will cover what is arguably the most famous book from medieval Ireland. We will discuss its construction, the various authors and illustrators as well as its tragic history. We will also look into some of the most interesting images to be found on it's pages. For instance, did you know that hidden in the Book are sharing the Holy Sacrament with cats?
Persona 101: This class will cover the basics of developing a persona for the SCA. How to figure out who you might want to be. Where to research for more information about your persona. What it means to have a persona and what you can do with it.
Persona 102: In this second persona class we focus on how to be in Persona once you have found one. We will talk about ways to be in persona even with the modern world around you. How to incorporate events from your mundane life into your persona. At the end of this class there is an opportunity to have an in-persona conversation or tea.
Social Media Webministration in the SCA: This class covers the practical aspects of Social Media and Webministration for your local SCA group. We will cover the rules that have been set down by society, but the main focus will be on what makes a good Web Presence for a group, and how to attract people to your site/page. It should be advised that this class is for people familiar with the internet.

A Knighting Name

My husband Mikolaj will be Knighted this January, woo hoo.

There is a lot I'm working on, and so I apologize as my focus on this researching blog for the next month will all be themed around his elevation.

My first project is his Knighting Name. Mikolaj's lineage has every squire taking his Knight's name upon elevation. Now, this isn't too hard with the vikings and the Normans in the clan...Ulfgarson, fitzHrothgar, and so on...but being Poles...well...this put us in a more interesting position.

Here are my notes thus far:

Patronymics:

-wic, -wicz (effectively son of)
ik,yk is a diminutive suffix, used with men's names.

Tom/Thomas in Polish

Tomasz, Tomek  “Toe-Maczh”,

To wit:

Tomazwic
Tomazwicz
Tomekwic
Tomekwicz
Tomazik
Tomazyk
Tomekik
Tomekyk

However...
Thorkel is Thor's Cauldron.

Cauldron:
Kocioł “Cho-shol”
Kociolwicz
Kociołyk

Hmmm....

Springtime in Poland

This paper was entered into the Lionsdale A&S Championship. It was written as a letter by my persona to a woman in Italy who would be a chaperon of her son when he went to the University there. Of note are some of the...inconsistencies in Jadwiga's story. Namely that during this time the Gingerbread Guild is in full swing in Tourn, and there is no way she would be caught dead making the treat and defiling the law of the Guilds at this time...

I am happy to report that I won this championship! 

Springtime in Poland

by HL Pani Jadwiga Radomyskowa

Image from the Behem Codex

This entry is written as a letter, in character, by Jadwiga to a new acquaintance. The style is inspired by “Magdalena and Balthasar” a collection of letters from a 16c Nuremberg couple.

Lions Dale A&S Championship Competition 2015

Greetings my dearest friend! I am Pani Jadwiga Radomyskowa of Radom. I write this missive to you in hopes that our culture and customs may become more familiar. I know the lands of Poland are far from you and our ways may not be your own. I can only hope that by the end of this letter you will have a greater knowledge, and appreciation for this time and place. It is currently the year of our Lord 1569, and my home is a small village outside of Radom. We are just south east of the center of Poland, though if the rumors are true, soon we will be in the western part of the great Commonwealth! My husband and I are of the Szlachta, which is to say the noble class. We run this small village, and have many people who owe their alliance to the King through us.

It is early April as I write this, and spring is nearly here. Though the winter was long, it was mild, as it has been most of my life. So as always, spring arrives early, and there is far too much to do and not nearly enough time to do it! As the weather warms we begin to use the last of the winter stores, I for one am glad of this, as stews and rather old root vegetables get redundant. I'm quite looking forwards to fresh greens, and my gardener tells me that we should have a find fruit crop of cherries, apples and prunes this year. Our butchers will soon begin the harvesting of animals not fit to breed or work, and of course, for Easter, we will have a young lamb for the feast. My mouth waters just writing about it. Oh, but I get ahead of myself, I shall tell you more of Easter in a bit.

My second eldest son, Kaspur will be going off to University quite soon. He is old enough now and quite smart. Though I wished he would go to Kraków his heart is set on going to Italy. He tells me that many great scientists and philosophers study there, and he would be wasted on something more local. My heart aches at the thought of my son being so far away, but Mikołaj believes that such an illustrious education can only add to his marriage prospects. It is of course his coin and decision in the end. To that end, I will spend much of this spring getting him ready for his travels. I will be outfitting him in fine clothing of the western style, and it will be my job to help secure his transportation. My husband is in the Kings army and is gone quite a bit, so it is on me to run so much of these day to day things.

Speaking of. With the ground drying, our men will go to battle again soon. The Tartars ever menace the western borders of Lithuania, and I am told that it is more important than ever that we show our strength and support to them. My husband says that this is because we may very well join with them and become that Commonwealth I spoke of. My what exciting times. There is also the issue of Rus. They like to sign treaties, but not renew them, so they are ever a threat. To that end, I am busy as ever! I must get Mikołaj's outfits sewn, source the brocade with them, and make sure that new breeding stock for our horses is found and arrived. Now of course, I don't do most of this, rather I find people who's job it is to do this, and make sure it gets done. And make sure all are paid fairly.

I am told in other lands wives do not have as much of a hands-on approach to the day-to-day life of their husbands home or village, but I cannot fathom that sort of lifestyle! One must be exceedingly wealthy to afford no interaction with the mundane! While we have gardeners, and horse breeders, and merchants, I still must work with them, and check the books. Moreover, when Mikołaj is gone, I am the head of household. Truth be told, I like it this way.

It is not just our household that is getting ready for spring, the whole village is! As this is our village (okay, so really it is his, but please indulge me!), we have much to prepare for the turning of the seasons! We will be bringing on much new labor, for these last few years our surrounding area has exported more and more lumber, salt and other goods. This means we need men to harvest, pack and travel. While I do not write contracts, I am one of the people who can oversee them, though not sign them.

We are also preparing for spring planting. New animals are trained for the yoke, the ground is turned, and seeds are planted. As you can imagine a lot of repairs are being done! We must have good solid building for which to store both livestock and crops. With all the trade that has been going on, we are looking to add a dyer to the village. Mikołaj has a great number of sheep to his name, and we have reached a point where it is far better to begin to dye the wool here than to ship it off. I'm quite excited to see more of this process, though I hear it smells terrible (can't be worse than the tannery!) and those poor souls who work it have hands that are permanently black and blue!

All this work leads us to Easter. I admit it has been hard writing about all these mundane affairs when all I really want to do is tell you all about one of my favorite Holy Days! Though technically only a few days long, this celebration lasts most of the month! Or at least the good cheer and festivities! We begin before Easter Sunday by gathering eggs and dying them. Oh, we do so love the bright colors! Some of the more artistically inclined will even trace designs upon the eggs in wax before dying them to create even more marvelous patterns. How I do miss that! Sadly, that task belongs to unmarried women and of course merchants who will sell them to busy souls like myself.

On the morning of Easter we are roused from bed by the village boys making a ruckus with noise makers and drums. I am told this is to represent the sound of the earth shaking when our Lord broke free from our tomb, but I am certain that it is in truth an excuse for those ruffians to go around the village tormenting the rest of us who would rather be sleeping. We get dressed and I will gather a basket of our finest food that I've spent preparing for this event. I will have sausage, bread, mushrooms, the colored eggs and whatever greens have grown by then. My dear husband will go and gather pussy willows, or any other sort of flowering greenery he can find. This is to represent the palm fronds spoken of in the Good Book. We are far away from the Holy Land and no palm grows here, so being good Poles, we make due with what we have.

After service, our Bishop will bless the baskets, insuring prosperity for the coming season. Then we will head back to the village for a great feast. After all is said and done, the eggs will be placed around the village for good luck and to insure growth and protection from disease, and we will take our leftovers to the graveyard to “feed the dead” and remind those who have gone before us that they are not forgotten. Oh, the priest don't like it, but it's tradition.

Once the festivities are done, it is back to mundane life for me. I shall spend my days mending my families clothing, embroidering my husbands war uniforms and banner, as well as making many of the day-to-day important decisions that let us keep our village running smoothly. I will also be making gingerbread, lots and lots of gingerbread, it is my favorite, and hopefully, should you ever travel this far east, I shall have to make some for you!

I can only hope that your preparations for springtime are as at least as interesting as mine, for I feel any less would be far to dull! Wishing you good health and prosperity,

-Jadwiga

Sources Referenced

Dembińska, Maria, and William Woys Weaver. Food and Drink in Medieval Poland: Rediscovering a Cuisine of the past. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania, 1999. Print.



Jadaszewski, Eryk Stefan. Polish Re-enactors Handbook: A Guide to 17th Century Living History in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Lexington, KY: S.n., 2008. Print.



Lemnis, Maria, and Henryk Vitry. Old Polish Traditions. Interpress Publishers, 2000. Web. 19 June 2014.



Paumgartner, Magdalena Balthasar, Balthasar Paumgartner, and Steven E. Ozment. Magdalena and Balthasar: An Intimate Portrait of Life in Sixteenth-century Europe Revealed in the Letters of a Nuremberg Husband and Wife. New Haven: Yale UP, 1989. Print.

Radzilowski, John. A Traveller's History of Poland, second edition. Interlink Books, 2013. Print

Zamoyski, Adam. Poland: A History. New York: Hippocrene, 2012. Print.



Zamoyski, Adam. The Polish Way: A Thousand-year History of the Poles and Their Culture. New York: Hippocrene, 1994. Print.