• About the Gazette
  • Kingdom and Local Events
  • Submissions

The Æthelmearc Gazette

~ Covering the Kingdom of Æthelmearc of the SCA

The Æthelmearc Gazette

Tag Archives: map

COVID Team Update

21 Monday Nov 2022

Posted by aethgazette in Announcements, Officer Announcements

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Covid Policy, Covid-19, map

Good morning!

The COVID Transmission map is looking better!

We have several areas where transmission is listed as Moderate, including places like Misty Highlands (Mon County specifically), Heronter (Chautauqua County), etc. If your event/practice/gathering/meeting are in those areas, masks are not required.

We also have areas where transmission is high or substantial. Masks are required in those areas.

I also wanted to let folks know that Æthelmearc’s Covid Team, which now includes Sir Maghnus an Chnoic na n’Iora (Dr. Joel Welling, PhD) and Duke Christopher Rawlyns (Dr. Chadd Nesbit, MD, PhD), and myself, are still in the process of determining how to improve ventilation with such things like the Corsi-Rosenthal boxes at SCA events/practices that may allow for not requiring masks (AKA a variance to the variance) and we’re making progress. We should have more information out about that soon.

Thank you all so much and enjoy your weekend,

Illadore de Bedegrayne/Monica Gaudio

Kingdom Seneschal, Æthelmearc

Pronouns: She/Her

See the Æ COVID Policy here.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Recent Lecture Shares Current Research on Gough Map

05 Tuesday Mar 2019

Posted by aethgazette in Research, Scribal

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Cartography, ink, map, parchment, Thescorre

The Gough Map, from http://www.TheGoughMap.com.

By THL Máirghréad Stíobhard inghean uí Choinne

The Rochester Institute of Technology Center for Imaging Science hosted a lecture on January 23, 2019 by Dr. David Messinger, Director of the Center, and his PhD students, Di Bai and Morteza Maali Amiri, on the Gough Map, the oldest-known surviving map of Great Britain (dated to approximately 1410 C.B.E., completion date).

The lecture discussed recent work performed to learn more about the origins, materials, tools, and uses of the map. The work has been a collaboration between the R.I.T. team and David Howell of the Bodleian Library at Oxford University where the map is housed, Andy Beebe of the University of Durham, and Catherine Delano-Smith and Damien Bove of the University of London (a group composed of physicists/image scientists, a chemist, a material scientist, and two map historians, respectively).

The Gough Map shows all of England and Scotland and part of Ireland. Robert Gough bequeathed it in 1809 to Oxford after acquiring it from the estate of Thomas “Honest Tom” Martin. The map measures about 115 x 56 cm (45 x 22 inches), which is very large for a manuscript of this era. The parchment is about two-thirds sheepskin and one-third lambskin. The seam joining the two can be seen running across Scotland.

The R.I.T. team’s role was to use a nondestructive technique called hyperspectral imaging spectroscopy (which entails hundreds of colors of light as opposed to the red/blue/green light that digital or phone cameras employ) and a lot of sophisticated mathematics while consulting with the greater team to determine what the materials of the pigments and inks were composed of and which areas of the map contained what materials. To achieve this end, the R.I.T. team traveled to Oxford in 2016 and will continue studies there this summer focusing in more detail on the inks.

Henry IV was king at the time of the map’s creation. It includes 654 place names shown as text in boxes or cartouches. What originally appeared to be roads on the map has proven to be distances between these places. However, the reason for gathering this distance data and how it was used remains a mystery.

There are various characters on the map including fish, sea monsters, and boats, and text such as “where King Arthur landed.” These objects and text can be seen in detail at the interactive, searchable version at www.TheGoughMap.

All of the churches and buildings on the map are identical and are illuminated over four pin holes. It is surmised that a template, as was then common in monastic illumination, was used to draw them and held in place by the holes.

The map was extensively revised after about 100 years of use. Further phases of study will be aimed at determining what materials appear to be different due to aging of the original materials or because they were added during later revisions and/or are indeed different pigments or inks.

During the 1600s, there was some damage to the map. The owner was told the text would be restored if he applied red wine on a sponge to those areas. This actually worked for a few weeks and then, due to chemical reactions, completely destroyed the text and images on those areas of the map. This hyperspectral technique was used to reveal the text and illumination that was removed from the map manuscript.

The map has also been featured in Imago Mundi, a cartography magazine whose editor is Dr. Delano Smith , one of the scientists. They are sponsoring a conference this summer and panel on the map seating Dr. Messinger.

The hyperspectral analysis revealed that the Hadrian’s Wall on the map was not composed of the same material as the red text writing. Analysis initially showed there were two different pigments. Further analysis showed that they were both vermillion pigment, however the text was done with no binder and a quill pen whereas the wall was done with a brush and a binder (such as egg white) had been added to the vermillion. Five unique red pigments were identified in use on the map.

Not only do the pigments appear different depending on how they were mixed, they appear different on the various substrates such as sheepskin versus. lambskin parchment.

The R.I.T. team identified five unique green pigments for the open waterways. Were they used to denote tides? Crossing spots? River depths?

They also identified five unique green pigments for the for inland waterways. Were they used for labels? Town signs? Distance markers?

The answers to these questions remain unknown at this time.

The map was created in three phases starting in 1360 C.B.E: first, the outline of Great Britain and Scotland, second, the other towns, and lastly, London.

Regarding the green pigments, one is a mixture of indigo (also known as woad) and a yellow pigment, but hyperspectral analysis showed the yellow is not orpiment. It is an organic yellow. However, it is not believed to be saffron due to the expense. Another possibility is buckthorn yellow and studies in this area will continue. Further analysis discovered verdigris or copper-based green pigment. This discovery was due to the R.I.T team’s work and a new algorithm they developed. The same technique will be used to separate which areas of the map employ iron gall and carbon inks.

There are years of additional analysis and discovery planned for the map and other historical documents including minimizing light exposure from the imaging analysis to avoid possible long term damage, how to analyze pigments by “unmixing” them spectrally, using hyperspectral fluorescence to recover text and damaged areas, automating the process to identify pigments, and creating an affordable imaging system (the two systems at R.I.T. cost about $50,000 each; the goal is $2,000 per unit).

Rochester, N.Y., located in the Barony of Thescorre in AEthelmearc, is establishing itself as the world center for recovery of historical documents, whether they have been damaged by age, smoke, or water or are palimpsests (which are documents where the original text was scraped off from the parchment or other substrate and new text and or illumination applied). The Rochester Cultural Heritage Imaging, Visualization and Education (R-CHIVE) group meets alternately at R.I.T. and the University of Rochester and is a collaboration of university researchers and students from across the globe. They have held conferences for the past two years in Rochester. You can read the full text of Dr. Messinger’s paper (published in SPIE) through a link at the R-CHIVE website.

 See more on the Gough Map here.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Some Fun Æthelmearc Websites

06 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by aethgazette in Esoterica

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

archery, bards, Debatable Lands, Delftwood, demos, earl marshal, fencing, Heraldry, King's Crossing, Links, map, scribes, Sylvan Glen, Thescorre

Just about every Shire, Canton, and Barony in Æthelmearc has a website, as do many other groups like the scribes, heralds, and marshals. Many have useful resources, interesting information, or fun photos or stories. Here are some highlights:

Thescorre armsBarony of Thescorre: known as the “Industrious Barony of Thescorre,” their website includes a wonderful manual on how to present various types of demos, many aimed at school children. Three gentles from Thescorre, Mistress Daedra McBeth a Gryphon, Mistress Sadira bint Wassouf, and Lady Cerridwyn of Raventree, call themselves the Academic Demo & Educational Presentations Team (or ADEPT). Their manual covers all kinds of demos that the SCA can present, including Displays, Bardic Circles, Talk Panels, and “Taking a Persona to School.” The ADEPT Handbook can be downloaded as a single file or viewed by section on the baronial website.

DelftwoodBarony of Delftwood: The Barony known for its Windmill has a beautifully designed recruiting brochure that does a great job of explaining what the Society is and does. They also have a page called A&S Handouts that includes articles on various topics like “Turnshoes” by Sir Óláfr Þorvarðarson, “Plying Your Homespun Yarn” by Lady Genevieve de Chaumont, and many articles on costuming by  Meisterin Felicitas Flußmüllnerin.

Shire of Coppertree: this shire, located east of Delftwood, has a storied past and is populated by many notable peers of the realm. Speaking of stories, on the shire website there’s a humorous one about the origins of the name of their Shire herald, the Red Squid Pursuivant.

Shire of Sylvan Glen: The southeastern-most shire in the Kingdom has a wonderful page for the Sylvan Glen Scriptorium with an enormous array of useful information for scribes, including links to sites with period manuscripts, or instructional materials on how to paint in various styles or do various calligraphic hands, as well as line drawings that can be used to create scroll blanks.

sylvan glen

Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands: the Meetings & Activities page has links to separate pages for each of the regular activities offered in the Barony – not just when and where practices and workshops are held, but photos and detailed information including things like videos of choir performances, information on how to build youth combat armor and weapons, and links to related websites on heraldic resources or scribal standards from the baronial signet.

Shire of King’s Crossing: their website includes something every new Scadian needs: a Lexicon called “Good Grief, what do they mean by that?” This article explains the mysteries of words like Chirurgeon, Seneschal, Porta-castle and Troll Booth.

Kingdom of Æthelmearc: of course the Kingdom website has all kinds of useful information, including the Kingdom calendar, lists of Kingdom officers and royalty, links to local groups, and contacts for polling orders and mailing lists. But to my mind the most useful page is the Online Award Recommendation Form. If you know people who are doing great things for your group, whether in martial arts, service, or as artisans, then you should recommend them for appropriate awards. You don’t have to possess an award to recommend someone for it.

AE Kingdom

Æthelmearc Heralds: before you write that award recommendation, check the Order of Precedence on the Kingdom’s College of Heralds website to see what awards the person already has. Under Tools and Links, you can find a link to the Awards of Æthelmearc which can help you understand which awards to recommend your friends for. The Roll of Arms is a great place to find the registered names and Arms of the citizens of AEthelmearc, so if you’re handy with needle and thread and want to give a friend a gift, consider making them a banner using the image on the roll of arms!

AERapierÆthelmearc Rapier Combat: you can read the Kingdom Rapier rules, see a list of the White Scarfs of Æthelmearc and learn about the history of the order, find out who the past Kingdom Rapier Champions are all the way back to the founding of the Kingdom, and access links to all things rapier-related.

Æthelmearc Earl Marshal: for links to all things martial, whether heavy weapons, rapier, thrown weapons, target and combat archery, equestrian, youth combat, or siege, this is your best starting place.

Æthelmearc Archery Scores: want to see your current Royal Round average, learn how to run an IKAC, or find out who the Grandmaster Bowmen of the Kingdom are? This is your site. It’s actually a “child” site under an SCA-wide archery site, but the scores for Æthelmearc are maintained by the Kingdom Archery Scorekeeper.

Æthelmearc College of Bards: this site lists bards from all over the Kingdom, the history of bardic arts in Æthelmearc, lyrics and audio files of original songs about our Kingdom, and links to sites of bardic interest.

AEBards

Æthelmearc College of Scribes: this site offers an array of resources for calligraphers and illuminators, including a list of current scribes, links to resources for scribes, the policies of the Kingdom Signet, and the Red Book that provides guidelines, advice, and scroll wordings for scribes.

Map of Æthelmearc: this site superimposes a map of Æthelmearc on a map of the U.S. You can zoom in and click an area on the map to see a pop-up window listing the name of the Shire, Canton, or Barony in that area, along with its region and a link to its website, if available.

AE Map– submitted by Mistress Arianna of Wynthrope

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Æthelmearc Gazette

Æthelmearc Gazette

Categories

  • 50 Year
  • A&S Champs
  • A&S Competition and Display
  • A&S Faire
  • AE 300
  • AEcademy
  • AELive
  • Announcements
  • Aoife's Links
  • Archery
  • Arts & Sciences
  • Autocratting
  • Awards
  • Æthelmeac Æcademy
  • Æthelmearc History
  • Bardic
  • Book Reviews
  • Brewing
  • Camping
  • Combat Archery
  • Competitions
  • Cooking
  • Corporate News
  • Costuming
  • Court Reports
  • Crown Tourney
  • Dance
  • demos
  • donations
  • Equestrian
  • Esoterica
  • Event Announcements & Updates
  • Event Reports
  • Feast
  • Fencing
  • Fiber Arts
  • Food
  • Food pantry
  • Foresters Guild
  • Forestry
  • Gaming & Fun
  • Gulf Wars
  • Heavy List
  • Heraldry
  • Herbalism
  • Humor
  • Ice Dragon
  • In memoriam
  • Interviews
  • Kingdom News
  • KMOAS
  • Largesse
  • Music
  • Newcomers
  • Officer Announcements
  • Pennsic
  • Poetry & Prose
  • Populace-in-focus
  • Quarterly reports
  • Queen's Rapier
  • Rapier
  • Research
  • Royalty
  • SCA @ Home
  • SCA History
  • SCA Shop Talk
  • Scribal
  • Service
  • Siege
  • Teaching
  • The AEthelmearc 300
  • Thrown Weapons
  • Tidings
  • Uncategorized
  • Youth Activities
  • Youth combat

RSS The Æthelmearc Gazette

  • Introducing the Order of the Sad Accoutrements
  • New Competitions at A&S Faire Announced
  • Event Announcement: Brewing Bacon Bash Offers Boxed Lunches

Powered by WordPress.com.

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: