| "Society for Creative Anachronism" | | | | of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, two counts |
| Jovial jousters or dragons in dungeons? | | | | of rape of a child, one count of indecent assault and |
| Peter Webb | | | | six counts of corruption of minors. |
| The "Society for Creative Anachronism" (SCA) is | | | | Schragger was known as "Lord Ben the Steward" to |
| generally believed to have originated in a backyard | | | | the dozens of children he "mentored" over the years |
| graduation celebration for author and medieval studies | | | | as the local youth leader of the SCA. Schragger led |
| graduate, Diana Paxson, in Berkeley, California on May | | | | the local chapter for more than 10 years and also |
| 1, 1966. | | | | directed the youth program for the society's East |
| The party must have been quite a spectacle as it | | | | Kingdom, which stretches from Canada to Delaware. |
| developed into a "Grand Tournament" with | | | | Schragger co-authored the SCA document, "Your |
| combatants, wearing motorcycle helmets and fencing | | | | teenager and the SCA - some answers for parents", |
| masks, thumping each other with plywood swords and | | | | which is still freely available on the SCA website. On |
| padded maces then spilling onto Telegraph Avenue for | | | | weekends, children gathered at Schragger's parents' |
| a march styled as a "protest against the 20th century". | | | | farmhouse (known as "The Manor" or "Tulgey |
| "SCA time", still employed today, dates from that party | | | | Woods", in New Tripoli, about 60 miles northwest of |
| and comprises the letters "AS" (Anno Societatis, "In the | | | | Philadelphia, to sew period dresses, make chain mail |
| year of the Society") followed by Roman numerals so | | | | armour, engage in mock battles and other activities |
| that 1 May 1966 to 30 April 1967 was (and is) known | | | | related to the period. |
| as ASI, while 2007 is known as ASXLI (41). | | | | The offences, involving children aged from 7 to 14, |
| The name, "Society of Creative Anachronism", is | | | | occurred between June 1999 and August 2003. Much |
| attributed to co- founder, Marion Zimmer Bradley, a | | | | of the abuse happened during sleepovers while |
| science fiction writer best known for her fantasy | | | | Schragger's parents were away. Schragger was |
| novel, "The Mists of Avalon". | | | | sentenced to 62.5 years imprisonment with a |
| The behaviour at Paxson's party was clearly | | | | non-parole period of 30 years. The SCA formally |
| "anachronistic" but it is the use of the word "creative" | | | | "banished" him but the question of his ongoing |
| which sets the SCA apart from other groups whose | | | | membership is still unclear. Earlier this year, six of |
| attempts to "re-enact" medieval life are measured by | | | | Schragger's victims, four boys and two girls brought |
| their efforts to maintain a degree of "authenticity". | | | | proceedings against the SCA in the United States |
| From its earliest days, the SCA made no secret of its | | | | District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. |
| desire to recreate the Middle Ages "as they should | | | | The victims allege that the SCA was negligent in its |
| have been" (according to the SCA!). | | | | failure to implement child-protection policies which may |
| It is the initial and ongoing association between the | | | | have prevented the abuse. |
| SCA's version of the Middle Ages and the realms of | | | | Breen's open espousal of pedophilia and his |
| fantasy and science fiction which have attracted both | | | | subsequent conviction was cited as an example of the |
| members and criticism. | | | | SCA's "head in the sand" attitude to child abuse within |
| Clearly, many shared Paxson and Co's desire to | | | | its ranks. |
| escape from the drudgery of the "Mundane World, as | | | | The SCA's refusal to modify the wording of its advice |
| the SCA terms daily life in the 20th and 21st centuries | | | | to parents of teenage participants must make it |
| AD. | | | | vulnerable in such an action. In answer to the |
| By the end of 1969, SCA membership had expanded | | | | "question", "With so many adults around, will my teen |
| rapidly, both numerically and geographically, to the | | | | be exposed to sexual situations or be tempted to |
| extent that the first three "Kingdoms" were established | | | | engage in sex?", "Lord Ben" replies, "Flirting, romance, |
| in the USA: West, East and Middle. | | | | flattery, and light physical contact (hand-kissing, hugging, |
| By 2006, the SCA claimed some 30,000 members in | | | | neck massages) are the norm in the SCA in some |
| 17 "Kingdoms" world wide, including the "Kingdom of | | | | areas. Generally, such activity does not proceed |
| Lochac" (Australia, New Zealand and parts of | | | | beyond this point, and does not betoken anything more |
| Antarctica) which was founded in 2002. | | | | than friendship. However, it sometimes happens that a |
| The SCA's current headquarters is in Milpitas, California | | | | person, especially a young one, is taken in by all the |
| where a Board of Directors (known as "BoD" in the | | | | flattery and courtliness and misinterprets gentle flirting |
| SCA) dictates policy for the rest of the "Knowne | | | | as genuine interest and develops crushes, or |
| World". | | | | conversely, as pressure to engage in sex. If your teen |
| Despite my background in research (historical in | | | | is confused about such feelings, or is not sure what |
| particular), I have found the structure of the SCA | | | | constitutes proper behavior, he or she should discuss |
| mind-bogglingly complex, necessitating an almost | | | | these issues with you. A (separate) talk with another |
| obsessional effort on my part to form a picture of the | | | | adult in the group may help to guide your teen through |
| organisation behind its most public manifestation - | | | | these situations. Second, most of us are adults. If your |
| jousting knights and delightful damsels performing a | | | | teen looks like a grownup, he or she will probably be |
| variety of pseudo-medieval feats at "Medieval Fairs" in | | | | treated as one and could become the object of |
| schools and communities across the country. | | | | someone's amorous advances. Therefore, it may be |
| For an overview of the world wide organisation, the | | | | necessary for your teen to let others know that he or |
| best place to start is to enter "Society for Creative | | | | she is underage." |
| Anachronism" on your chosen search engine. You will | | | | This "advice" constitutes the most arrogant abrogation |
| readily find the SCA website and, like me, you will | | | | of responsibility I have encountered in any organisation |
| probably be staggered at the number of links found | | | | involving children in its activities. As a parent, I would |
| under that heading. | | | | find no comfort whatsoever in the SCA's blatant |
| For an overview of the SCA's presence in Australia, | | | | attempt to shift the onus of responsibility in such |
| start with "Kingdom of Lochac" and follow the links to | | | | situations of risk onto chidren and their parents. |
| your local "Barony". | | | | One could only pray that such teenagers did not pick |
| For me, the local "Barony" is the "Barony of Innilgard". | | | | "Lord Ben" or one of his ilk for the suggested |
| Depending on interest and time available, you should be | | | | "separate" talk. |
| able to gain some picture of the nature and extent of | | | | Why am I opposed to the "Society for Creative |
| this organisation both world-wide and in Australia. | | | | Anachronism"? |
| If you think anything like me, by this stage you will be | | | | My view of the world is not so simplistic as to suggest |
| starting to wonder if this organisation is just a group of | | | | that the SCA is full of Breens and Schraggers but I |
| fun-loving pseudo-medievalists or a massive, secretive | | | | find it totally unacceptable that, in the light of serious |
| cult full of aliases (called "personae" in the SCA), | | | | attempts by organisations as diverse as the Catholic |
| swearing "fealty" to burlesque caricatures of "royalty" | | | | Church and the Boy Scouts to redress the wrongs of |
| with names like "King Hugh the Little" (current "King of | | | | the past and make sincere and genuine efforts to |
| Lochac") and deciding its leadership positions by "right | | | | prevent the atrocity of child abuse in the future, that an |
| of arms" (full combat). | | | | organisation like the SCA has the audacity to publish |
| If you run across the SCA at a local "Medieval Fair" | | | | the kinds of attitudes proferred to prospective parents |
| (and, as in the USA, scarcely a week goes by without | | | | of teenage participants which are so clearly out of |
| one somewhere in Australia), you may derive some | | | | touch with the social norms of civilised countries. |
| comfort from the presence of gentile "ladies" and the | | | | Why am I opposed to the involvement of the SCA in |
| demonstration of various "medieval" arts and crafts. | | | | Australian schools? |
| Such a seemingly innocuous scene masks the fact | | | | I say that the SCA's stated philosophy is at odds with |
| that SCA Headquarters has decreed that all members | | | | the commitment to child protection and |
| must engage in full combat, irrespective of their usual | | | | anti-harassment policies in Australian schools, both |
| pursuits at SCA events. The "Kingdom of Lochac" has | | | | public and independent. |
| been given until August 2008 to provide the training to | | | | I say, further, that any invitation issued to the SCA to |
| comply with the decree or to weed out any member | | | | participate in schools' "Medieval Fairs" or any other |
| who may wish to object to being forced to engage in | | | | aspect of the curriculum could too easily be construed |
| full combat. | | | | as promoting or condoning such an "anachronistic" |
| This apparent contradiction between what the SCA | | | | philosophy as that espoused by the SCA. |
| purports to be - "a group dedicated to researching and | | | | I question the relevance of the SCA's brand of |
| recreating the Middle Ages in the present" - and what | | | | "recreational medievalism" in the curriculum of the 21st |
| it actually represents is not the only image problem | | | | Century Australian school. In a curriculum of finite |
| confronting the organisation in the "Mundane World". | | | | duration which has, over the years, been subjected to |
| Along with Paxson and Bradley, one of the | | | | an infinite number of demands for extra inclusions |
| co-founders was one Walter Breen, a well known coin | | | | ranging from work education to AIDS prevention, each |
| collector and author of, "Walter Breen's Complete | | | | addition must inevitably lead to a concomitant |
| Encyclopedia of US and Colonial Coins". | | | | subtraction. |
| Breen also had a somewhat less publishable passion - | | | | The fad for "recreational medievalism" has been |
| for young boys. | | | | embraced by many schools on the spurious grounds |
| In the 1950's, he was arrested for "lewd behaviour" | | | | that students will be inspired by such "history" and, |
| after exposing himself to young boys in Atlanta City. | | | | thereby, encouraged to pursue other history (even our |
| Despite this incident, Breen continued his extensive | | | | own) "down the track". |
| research into homosexuality and pederasty and, in | | | | The sad fact, however, is that the study of Australian |
| 1964, published the book, "Greek Love" under the | | | | history, particularly indigenous history, has fallen into a |
| pseudonym "J.Z. Eglinton". | | | | sad state of neglect across the curriculum, partly, |
| In the same year, he married fellow author, Marion | | | | though not entirely due to the notion that "fun's the |
| Zimmer Bradley. | | | | thing". |
| Two years later, the couple were instrumental in the | | | | Who says that Australian history, well-taught, cannot |
| foundation of the "Society for Creative Anachronism", | | | | be "fun"? |
| the same year in which Breen was awarded his | | | | If "recreational re-enactment" really is the go, why not |
| Masters Degree from Berkeley. He was remembered | | | | engage in "recreational Australianism"? |
| as something of an eccentric who wore his "Phi Beta | | | | Finally, the SCA's portrayal of the past is "bad history". |
| Kappa" key as a zipper pull on the fly of his pants. | | | | Lack of serious research has led to a plethora of |
| Breen and Bradley had two children and separated in | | | | ludicrous misrepresentations of the Middle Ages in |
| 1979. | | | | SCA "literature". The SCA's approach is as |
| In 1990, Breen was arrested on child molestation | | | | "anachronistic" in relation to the Middle Ages as it is in |
| charges and given a suspended sentence with three | | | | relation to the present. |
| years probation. | | | | The jousting "gentles" and their "ladies" were |
| In 1991, he was charged with a further eight counts of | | | | representative of, at best, 10% of the medieval |
| child molestation and sentenced to ten years | | | | populace. Poverty, malnutrition and oppression were |
| imprisonment. | | | | the norm for the other 90%. |
| Breen ultimately died of liver cancer in 1993. | | | | The SCA's cartography of the "Knowne World" in |
| The extent to which Breen had pursued his pedophilia | | | | 1400 is about as accurate as the belief among |
| with the knowledge and approval of the SCA is | | | | Christopher Columbus' peers that, when he sailed |
| unclear. However, despite his conviction, the SCA | | | | West in 1492, he would fall off the edge of a flat |
| failed to implement child-protection policies which were | | | | world. |
| almost universally enforced in similar organisations all | | | | Cook, Flinders and Co needn't have bothered - the |
| over the world. | | | | "Kingdom of Lochac" was already well mapped three |
| The next major bombshell for the SCA came with the | | | | or four centuries before they set sail! |
| 2004 conviction of Benjamin Schragger on two counts | | | | |