Jan

Alcaçar de Brioga

Alcaçar de Brioga is not a place that you will find on the typical map of Spain. It is a collection of people in various regions of Spain who participate in the Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA).

What is the SCA?

My friends and family know a little about the SCA, but for those that don’t, it is a medieval and Renaissance recreation society. Are you still wondering what that is? The SCA is an international organization whose members have varying levels of interest in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Members typically choose a kingdom, a name and a time period for their persona. SCA groups organize events–mostly on the weekends–so that fellow enthusiasts can gather, have fun, and share their interests. I started learning a number of my hobbies because of my participation in the SCA, such as fencing, embroidery, and sewing, and I have met many friendly and interesting people through the organization.

Alcaçar de Brioga

While there are SCA groups spread across the United States, especially in the major cities, all of Spain’s members form one small, friendly group, Alcaçar de Brioga. I contacted a couple of officers in their group before heading to Oklahoma for the holidays, and they invited me to an event called Parias last Sunday.

Las Parias

Three members drove in from Alicante–Antonino (Balduin de Valke in the SCA), Gema and Juan Miguel, and two came from Madrid–Javier (Aldred) and Julio. Javier was kind enough to give me a ride, Gema showed me how to shoot a bow, and everyone was very friendly. At the end of the day, we also chatted with Diego, another SCA member who lived nearby. It was a crisp, sunny day spent in good company.

Originally, the event was going to take place at the castle ruins of Almonacid de Toledo which you see above, but the recent snow prevented us from being able to take the road up to the castle.

The group drove to another city, and we spent the day outside of this Church of the Virgin of the Assumption in Casalgordo (now part of Sonseca). In this photo Julio and Antonino are fighting with Gema and a local policeman watching.

The group drove to another town, and we spent the day outside the Church of the Virgin of the Assumption in Casalgordo (now part of Sonseca). In this photo Julio and Antonino are fighting with Gema and a local policeman watching.

We shared bread, cheese and sausages together for lunch, and in this photo you can see everyone. Going around the circle clockwise starting with the front-left: Juan Miguel, Antonino, Julio, Javier and Gema.

There was another pleasant surprise on Sunday. I met Gregorio and his son Iván who go out shooting photos every weekend. They spent the morning taking photos of the fighting, and they also loaned me a telephoto lens to use with my camera during the morning.