Pennsic War

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The Pennsic War is an annual two week camping event held by the Society for Creative Anachronism between the kingdoms of the East and the Middle (the kingdoms are regional groups of the society). It is the single largest annual event of the SCA. It has been held each August in western Pennsylvania since 1972. The name is a combination of Pennsylvania and Punic.

The first Pennsic was held at Newt's Campground (now Shorehaven Campground) in Waterford, Pennsylvania. The second was held at St. Clair Beach Campground near Pittsburgh. The third was held on a private farm outside Zelienople, Pennsylvania. The fourth was held outside Cleveland, Ohio and was marred by massive flooding and mudslides. The fifth was held outsite Ashtabula, Ohio after a site in West Virginia was rejected. The sixth and all subsequent Pennsics have been held at Cooper's Lake Campground in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. Since Pennsic XXV in 1996 the event has gathered over 10,000 participants each year. These include not only SCA members from all over the U.S. (and even Europe, Australia and elsewhere) but also members of various other history- or fantasy-based organizations, such as the Tuchux. Pennsic is, however, an SCA event; members of other groups are welcome, but are (in theory) expected to follow SCA rules -- especially in regards to armor, weapons and behavior on the battlefield for the various fighting scenarios.

"One day, almost 30 years ago, Cariadoc of the Bow, the King of the Middle got bored with peace and declared war upon the East, loser to take Pittsburgh. The king of the East read the declaration of war, filed it away and forgot about it. Time passed. Cariadoc moved and subsequently became king of the East, whereupon he retrieved the declaration from the file cabinet and said, 'Let’s fight.' The Middle won, and Cariadoc has the distinction of being the king who declared war upon himself and lost." - from HERSTAĐR-SAGA: An Incomplete History of Pennsic

Since its inception in 1972, the Pennsic War has acquired almost mythic status in the world of the SCA; nowhere else can one see and meet so many medieval reenactors from so many places, or see so many people engaging in friendly armored combat at one time. It has even inspired a mystery novel, Murder at the War (later retitled Knightfall), by Mary Monica Pulver. Also, Pennsic has become thoroughly identified with Cooper's Lake. In 2001, SCA members built a permanent wooden "fort" on the site, for use in various battle scenarios and ceremonies.

References

External links

[http://www.pennsicwar.org] The Official Pennsic War web site
[Cooper's Lake Campground] The website for the Pennsic Campground
[http://www.midrealm.org] The official site of the Kingdom of the Midrealm
[http://www.eastkingdom.org] The official site of the East Kingdom
[http://www.aethelmearc.org] The official site of the Sylvan Kingdom of Æthelmearc (where the war is held)
[http://www.pennsic.net/] A site with collected images, videos, and stories of the Pennsic War
[Pennsic Independent] The official site of Pennsic's on-site newspaper

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