Genealogy for SCAdians Classes

In 2011, I decided to teach a class about medieval genealogy at the Pennsic War. I had been teaching equestrian related classes for a few years and I thought there may be interest in a class related to genealogy. As noted before, I have been doing genealogical research for many years, searching for the origins of my family. I think it is natural for any modern medievalist to reflect on their own family's origins back into the Middle Ages. Questions arise such as  - What type of life did my ancestors live in the Middle Ages? Were they of the nobility or did they work the fields of some fiefdom? Even people outside of the SCA wonder if their family can be traced to Royalty. This class presented an opportunity to blend my two hobbies - genealogy and medieval research - and share my knowledge of genealogical research with like-minded people in the SCA.

I really was not sure how well the class would be received or if people would be interested enough to attend the class. But I figured it was worth a try, and if the class was not well attended, I wouldn't teach it again. I was pleasantly surprised when folks started showing up at the tent where my class was scheduled. And kept coming! There were so many folks at that first class that we had to filch chairs from a nearby tent, and I ran out of hand-outs. There were over 35 people at that first class at Pennsic! 

My main thought for the class was to review basic genealogy principles and techniques and then spend the rest of the class discussing period sources for people wanting to trace their family back into the time period covered by the Middle Ages. This was the class description I submitted for inclusion in the Pennsic War book to advertise the class:

"Genealogy for SCAdians - While our personas, according to SCA practice and tradition, are not connected to historical persons, or persons who can be documented to have lived in the medieval period, our mundane identity is connected to our family origins. It s only natural that we as living history practitioners should wonder about our own family roots in the medieval period. This class will focus on family research into the medieval period, including myths and realities of conducting research to determine the origins of our families and connections to medieval places and people of interest."

 

Æthelmearc Procession, thunderstorm clouds in the background.

An important lesson that I have learned from teaching within the SCA is to remain flexible. Unforeseen circumstances can happen anytime. We are teaching in tents outside. The weather can impact our classes as well as physical restrictions or events.  Electricity may not be available, or it may go out due to a thunderstorm. The class before yours could over-run, cutting into your time.  You may have forgotten to pack supplies or materials. In this case, I had a huge turn-out and most of the students were new to genealogy. The introductory review of genealogy procedures turned into a 45 minute portion of the class. The students were eager to learn and had a lot of questions. This is a good thing. But it left only about 10-15 minutes for me to cover medieval sources. The following year, I taught two classes- one on basic genealogy principles and another on medieval genealogy sources. 

 

Each year I have continued to teach classes at Pennsic related to genealogy.  Last year, I wasn't sure if I would teach a genealogy related class, but felt compelled to do so lest I let down my followers.  If I did not teach a class, I suspected they might come to Pennsic and eagerly look in the class book for a genealogy class only to find none listed and be disappointed. When I mentioned this to my class attendees last year, they confirmed that my suspicions were true. That class was a roundtable discussion of medieval genealogy sources and the students were mostly experienced genealogists with a wealth of information to share.

 

I will post the class notes from each of these classes, including the source materials so that readers may obtain further information. The basic class is patterned after a Family History research outline that I have used for teaching genealogy outside of the SCA.