The Persona Survey, WIP

1. What is your persona’s name?

Alijna van den Oostenbrugge.

2. What year was your persona born?

1483

3. What is your persona’s native country?

The Netherlands.

4. What is your persona’s current country?

Same.

5. What are the climates of your persona's native and current countries?

Highs in the low 70's during the summer, and the low 40's during the winter. Very rainy, often cloudy and damp.

6. What are the terrains of your persona's native and current countries?
Amsterdam is a sprawling metropolitan area cut through with canals and city squares.

7. In what city/town/barn was your persona born?

Amsterdam.

8. What city does your persona currently claim as "home"?

Same.

9. What are/were your persona’s parents’ names?
Jutte & Allaert.

10. What are/were your persona’s parents’ occupation(s)?
Midwife and Painter, respectively.

11. Does your persona have any siblings, and if so, are any still alive?
A brother 12 years her junior, named Reyn, and a sister 25 years her junior, named Mabelien.

12. Is your persona married?
Not right now! (Not until my husband decides on a persona, anyway. At which point the whole story changes.)

13. What are the marriage customs and typical age of marriage for your persona's culture/time-frame?
Answer unknown!

14. What type of building does your persona currently live in?
A house that stands on the plot of land currently occupied by Rembrandt's house.

15. With whom does your persona live?
Her mother, primarily. Her father is often traveling when not home painting. There is also two serving girls, her brother and her sister.

16. Are there members of your persona's household that are not related to your persons (servants/retainers, wards/fosterlings, guests, etc.)?
Yes, two serving girls.

17. Were pets kept during your persona’s culture/time-frame? If so, what kind, if any, does your persona have?
Typical small farm-type animals and domestic animals were common. In a city such as Amsterdam, cats and dogs would have been common, and out along the outskirts like where Alijna lives, animals are kept and put to pasture, so it would not be unlikely for the family to have a horse or two, chickens, perhaps a goat or sheep, possibly rabbits for meat and fur, etc. To properly answer the question, I have not designated any kept pets for Alijna, but if I had to give my cats Dutch names and incorporate them, they would be Lysken and Lynken. Not sure which is which.

18. What is your persona’s occupation?
Stay-at-home Mother,  I suppose!

19. How old is your persona?
At ages with myself- easiest to do the math this way!

20. How long do people like your persona tend to live?
Approximately 70 years, assuming they make it to age 21!

21. What is your persona’s ethnicity?
European/Caucasian.

22. Who is your persona’s current employer?
Her mother! Or her daughter, depending on the day, I suppose.

23. Would your persona have been literate in your chosen culture/time-frame?
Yes.

24. What level of education does your persona have?
Just the standard “unschooling” level of education any daughter would have, learning domestic skills from the women in her family and scholarly skills from her father.

25. Where was your persona educated?
Home.

26. What languages does your persona speak?
Dutch, German

27. What units of measure were used by your persona’s culture/time-frame?

28. What type of money did people of your persona’s culture/time-frame use?

29. What kind of legal system exists in your persona’s culture/time-frame, and who make the laws?

30. What is the status of women among your persona’s culture/time-frame, and can they own property or conduct business?

31. What major events have occurred during your persona’s lifetime? (Natural catastrophes, wars, revolutions, discoveries, etc.?)

32. Does your persona fight? If so, where did your persona learn to fight?

33 What type of armour and weapons were used by fighters in your persona’s culture/time-frame? And how were such obtained?

34. List your persona’s skills and hobbies. For each, write down where your persona learned them.
From her mother she would have learned midwifery skills, herbal lore, gardening, natural medicines and even hedge witchery after a fashion. She would have also learned sewing, cooking and housekeeping. If she made friends with any of the kept servants, she'd have learned the latter three from them, too.

From her father she would have learned how to read and write, plus basic painter's skills such as selecting and grinding colors, sketching, etc.

35. What "class" is your persona? (I.e., royalty, nobility, merchant, middle, artisan, slave, etc.)
Artisan. Lesser nobility.

36. How widely has your persona traveled?
Just across the Netherlands and Germany to Wismar, Germany, which is approximately 340 miles by horse. This would take about a fortnight if traveling nonstop, possibly up to a month if making stops and stays.

37. In what capacity has your persona traveled? (I.e., military, sailor, rich person’s hobby, etc.)
With her father as a commissioned portrait artist to nobility, to Wismar.

38. Who is your persona’s current monarch?

39. Who is the current Pope during your persona time?

40. What religion is your persona?

41. What kind of religious duties would be required of your persona?

42. How did people of your persona’s culture/time-frame deal with trade?

43. With respect to international relations, does your persona favor colonization, isolationism, conquest/conversion, open trade, etc.?

44. How does your persona personally obtain goods (food, drink, clothes, etc.)?

45. How did people of your persona’s culture/time-frame tell time?

46. How did people of your persona’s culture/time-frame keep track of days?

47. What type of clothes does your persona normally wear?

48. What type of clothes does your persona wear for special occasions?

49. Are there any (sumptuary) laws restricting what your persona can wear?

50. What does your persona eat in a normal day?

51. How is food prepared and preserved in your persona’s culture/time-frame?

52. What spices were available to your persona and how expensive were they?

53. What were the eating habits of people of your persona’s culture/time-frame?

54. What are the cleaning/bathing habits of your persona’s culture/time-frame?

55. What types of wildlife live in your persona's area?

56. Name your persona’s favorite musicians/artists/dances.

57. What political figure/party/movement does your persona support?

58. Who is the most significant thinker of your persona’s time?

59. What does your persona consider to be the greatest social problem their country?

60. What is most likely to cause your persona’s death?

61. What type of medical aid is available in your persona’s culture/time-frame, and does your persona have access to it?

62. List at least three of your persona’s goals in life. (Learn to write, become apprenticed to a craftsman, visit the "big city", take over the family business, go to the Holy Land, usurp the crown, etc.)

63. What does your persona know of history/science/medicine/geography?

64. What’s the most striking scientific achievement of which your persona is aware?

65. Does your persona consider the Earth to be flat, round, or hollow?

66. Does your persona believe that the Earth revolves around the Sun, or vice-versa?

67. What does your persona consider to be the causes of criminal behavior?

68. What does your persona consider to be the true measure of a man?

69. Who has most influenced your persona’s thoughts on these questions?

70. Did your persona’s culture/time-frame have heraldry?

Oh hellloooooo..oooo....ooo

Don't look at me like that, I'm just, uh.
Making notes. Yes, that's it. I'm making notes.
And what notes indeed. And how!

Buy:

9x12 Canvas Cabin Tent + Poly Rain Fly :  $448
Rectangular Fire Pit with Cooking Grate : $110
Painted Floor Cloth : ~$40
Air Bed, Twin : ~$50
5x Plates : ~$5
5x Wooden Spoons : $20
5x Knives : .50¢
Wooden Spoons & Spatulas : ~$8
Washtub : $20
Folding Table & Chairs : ~$150

Make:

2x Dining flies.
Cover for cooler w/ beasties. (Set snaps on cooler so that the cover stays put.)
5x Cloth Napkins & Linen Towels

Have:
Queen Air Bed.
Cooler.
2x Wooden Benches (seats one ea.)
2x Mugs.
5x Goblets.
1x Bowls.
2x Serving Bowls.
1x Serving Plate.
5x Forks.
5x Tablecloths, Dividers or Bedspreads.
Oil Lamp.
Candlesticks.
Flashlights.
Terra Cotta Baking Dish.
Cast Iron Skillet.
Dutch Oven.
Water Kettle.
French Press (v. important.)

The Supersizers Go...

I mean, you know as well as I do how hard it is to find a good Medieval thing to put on the TV that's going to scratch that itch. The itch that wants something entertaining but educational, and that isn't going to make us throw a pair of Ginghers through the screen because of how pissed off the inaccuracies make us. So you're like, oh, I love Knight's Tale but AUGH ZIPPERS, AUGH! You know?

I stumbled across this British show on Hulu that had me in a riot of laughter, it's called The Supersizers Go... and it's simply brilliant. Restaurant critic Giles Coren and his friend and comedienne Sue Perkins swan off to different points in history to dress the part and live and eat for a week as people of that era would have done. Additionally, they visit a physician before and after the fact for a full range of tests- just to see what eating this way does to you.

For SCAdians, the Ancient Rome, Medieval, Elizabethan, and Restoration episodes will be of the greatest interest, but they're all hilarious and brilliant and I've been eating them up. The commentary, both gastronomic and social, is most excellent. They offer full menus of every meal, with plenty of behind-the-scenes on how it was cooked, although it would be up to you to research the recipes in full.

The Gourmet cookbook is not going to tell you how to make mice fried in foaming honey. It's just not.

Aurora's Cloak : Finished

Fits perfectly! Just grazes the floor, so the 8" grow stripe leaves plenty of years worth of wear, yet. I tried it hilariously on my husband (comedy) but he declared it VERY comfy and wants his own made of velveteen. That would take... a lot of velveteen.

Anyway, Aurora loves her cloak, says it's very warm. Exactly what I was going for! And I can't say how glad I am that this mink collar finally has a home. It's been kicking around in my sewing box for eight years. GET A LIFE! (It has.)

The purple looks glorious with her Sansa Stark hair.

Little Dutch Girl

So I'm looking at this map of Amsterdam from 1544 on my hard drive, I've had it forever. I'm thinking, hmm. What house would my persona live in, anyway? It would be her family's home, her mother is a midwife, her father a painter- an artist, probably a portrait artist. This would have been 1483-1512 or so, but I had to figure not TOO much had changed in 30 years.

So the map is oriented upside down, with the southwest at the top of the page. So I picked the one that looked nice, off to the east, near some pastures and orchards and looking out over the water. (You can see it in the lower left hand corner of my header!) I chose this house for a reason;

My persona's surname is Van Den Oostenbrugge, meaning "From the Bridge to the East." I chose this surname deliberately because my great-great grandmother, who immigrated to America from Amsterdam, was named Gertrude Van Estenbridge. I did a lot of research on this last name, and so did a friend of mine who's mother is really into Dutch geneology, and we couldn't find anything. When this is the case, you can usually assume that something got mangled coming through Ellis Island. So I translated it. What is "eastern bridge" in Dutch? Once I had that information, I searched for something resembling that, as a Dutch surname, and sure enough, I found it. So that being said, I chose a house right on a bridge to the eastern fringes of the city.

So I've been to Amsterdam, and I was wondering where this house actually was in modern terms. So I went to Google Maps and zoomed in on the rough area. Had to screen shot it, pull it into Photoshop and rotate it most of the way around to get it to line up correctly with the 1544 map. And of course nothing is exact, but the layout of Amsterdam is very unique, so it was easy enough to make up for the slight offset and distance discrepancy.

So I see in Photoshop that I haven't zoomed out far enough in Google Maps, but I can see on the 1544 map that it's a street that goes straight out from the Weigh House (or Waag) on the Nieuwmarkt, and there's going to be a bridge, it's a street that goes right on over a canal, and the house I've chosen on the 1544 map is like the first house on the right over the bridge.

So I go back to Google Maps, I zoom out, re-orient myself on the map, follow the street and... Now, you remember that her father is a painter, right?

That house?

Yeah, that's Rembrandt's house.
::face palm::  Only me, would this happen to. Only me.

 To be FAIR, Rembrandt was not born until 1606, did not move into the house until 1639, which was built between 1606 and 1607. There obviously were buildings in the area at Alijna's time, however. What did they look like, I wonder? Who lived there, and why? Now I can't wait to get back to the city and look at the area. It'll be years before I can afford that trip, though!

While also screwing around with Google Maps, I mapped how long it would take to walk from Rembrandt's House to the Oude Kerk, where Alijna would have gone to church. It's only a nine-minute walk, so almost certainly she would have been able to hear the bells from home.

(As a totally crazy aside, I just this second discovered that Kiliaen Van Rensselaer is buried beneath the floor of the Oude Kerk. He's the founder of the only successful Patroonship, Rensselaerswyk- which would become (among other towns and cities) Albany, Troy, and Rensselaer, which is where I live now. What is with the coincidences today?!)

I got excited to see that the Nieuwmarkt was right there, thinking that Alijna might go there to buy from merchants, but it turns out that the Waag was originally a gate, part of the eastern city walls which were actually being built when she was born. Alijna would have been living outside of them. It didn't become a market until the 1600's.

I love this tidbit from Wikipedia: "A number of guilds were housed on the top floors of the building: the blacksmiths' guild, the painter's guild, the masons' guild and the surgeons' guild. Each guild had its own entrance gate. The guild emblems are still visible over these entrances" 

I love the idea of guilds, especially after reading the work of Tracy Chevalier, which is exquisitely researched. The Lady and the Unicorn, which revolves around tapestry weavers commissioned for the famous tapestries of the same name, and the weaver's guild they're members of. And also, of course, Girl with a Pearl Earring, which revolves around the Dutch Master Vermeer, and he too is a member of a painter's guild.

Ah, but the painter's guild! If only I wasn't a touch out of period for that. Anyway- this has been a fun couple of hours of research and I'm pleased with the discoveries I've made. History is kind of the best. Don't let anyone tell you differently.

Seriously.
(Check out all of Hark! A Vagrant! here.)

Acquisitions List: Haus Tanzenbar

(Huis Dansendebeer?) 

Buy:

9x12 Canvas Cabin Tent + Poly Rain Fly :  $448
Rectangular Fire Pit with Cooking Grate : $110
Painted Floor Cloth : ~$40
Air Beds, Queen & Twin : ~$150
5x Plates : ~$5
5x Spoons : .50¢
5x Knives : .50¢
Wooden Spoons & Spatulas : ~$8
Washtub : $20
Linen Towels (hand, face, dish.) : ?
Folding Table : ~$75

Make: Very thick reflective hot-pads to protect plastic folding table from fire-hot cookware.

Have:

10x10 Shade/Screen Room, (needs slight repairs.)
Cooler.
2x Wooden Benches (seats one ea.) 
1x Camp Seat for Aurora (needs canvas slipcover.)
5x Mugs.
5x Goblets.
5x Bowls.
2x Serving Bowls.
1x Serving Plate.
5x Forks.
5x Cloth Napkins.
5x Tablecloths, Dividers or Bedspreads. 
Oil Lamp.
Candle Lantern.
Candlesticks & Tapers.
Flashlights (need batteries.)
Terra Cotta Baking Dish.Cast Iron Skillet.
Water Kettle.
French Press (v. important.)

So I Put a Toe Back In.

I was there for like five hours. Trolled in with two noobs, and I think I drove back out with two converts, so that's a good feeling.

I enjoyed the time I spent there. It did my heart good to see my one friend get so excited by archery. It did my heart good to make a new friend while sitting under the shade of the trees by the lake. She and I spoke long about making a home for yourself and your children within the SCA, and nurturing the next generation of reenactors. It did my heart good to see my daughter make toys of sticks and stones and leaves and acorns, and play with other children. It did my heart good to laugh with someone I have always admired.

I didn't stay for my favorite part of SCA events- the long and lazy evenings spent around the fire, breathing in that perfume of smoke and night air, wrapped in my cloak, shoulder to shoulder with good friends, and passing stories and songs and bottles around and around and around. But this was one toe in. Just one toe.

Next, Coronation. It'll feel good to attend another event at the Cathedral of All Saints. It feels more real when I'm there. If I make it through that, then we'll see what's next. The main game plan is to be ready to camp by Roses of next year- that's nine months to acquire a good tent and fire pit, plus everything else we'll need. Time to make a list, I think.