As promised, I'm posting a topic on the how to's of coming up with a background for a portrayal. I've given a lot of thought to it over the years, but haven't put it down in writing before, so bear with me. I personaly think that anybody who wishes to strive for a first person impression should be able to be comforatble enough in their role to be able to freely and easily converse with the public and other re-enactors about "themselves".

The first place you should start is to ground your "persona" to a very specific time and place, and the nuts and bolts of this is to ask yourself a series of questions, and come up with the answers to them

1. Where was I born? - this is a tougher problem for those of us not living on the continent and having knowledge of local geography or local histories, but not an insurmountable one. Where you were born can be a key in figuring out exactly what the occupation of your family was, for instance, if you were born in a community who's primary industry was cloth making, then the odds are your family would have been likely to be involved in the cloth trade in some capacity.

2. When was I born? This is important for having some idea of what events you may have been witness to, and probably to attitudes as well. As a for instance, somebody of English origin born in the heyday of and having a memory of the Agincourt phase of the Hundred Years War would very likely be a warhawk, keen on England re-taking her continental possesions, whereas somebody born after the loss of Normandy may well care less. Keep in mind that you would probably think in terms of time being measured in the years of a kings reign, as a for instance "I was born in the twelth year of the reign of Henry, the sixth of that name...", rather than saying 1429 (I think I got that right!)

3. What was my families occupation? - This is very important, as it will tell you the class, relative wealth, and also some basic areas of knowledge you should be familiar with. As a for instance, if you lived in a town, and your father was a joiner, then you should go out of your way to read up on Medieval joinery, and try to learn some of the skills (a lot of fun, I think anyway), and you are well on your way to being able to put some depth into a persona.

4. What was my childhood like? I think this is a very important topic to explore. Events in our childhood help to shape us into who we are. I am sure any one of us could sit down and regale the rest of us with a series of stories about their childhood, and if we are to have a believable first person impression, we ought to have a couple of anecdotes we can relate.

5. Who is my Lord? Everybody in 14th or 15th c. Europe lived in a class based society, and unless you are portraying the King of France or some other such exalted personage, then you have a superior who is your lord, that you are beholden to and owe fealty to. Everybody should know their immediate lord, as well as have some idea as to who his superior would be. You would know who your lord was as readily as you would know your own name

6. Why am I here doing what I am doing? OK, you should have a very clear idea as to why you are in the middle of the events being played out at any event. You would have a reason for being where you are. In the case of a Military portrayal, this is fairly easy - you are following your lord, but you should probably have a good idea of the why's of what is going on. A civilian persona at a primarily military event can be a little more challenging, but not necessarily so considering the huge train of craftsmen and artisans required to keep a Medieval army in the field - not to mention the soldiers families.

So, where do you get started? I would heartily recommend any of the Gie's books as a jumping off point - "Life in a Medieval Village", Life in a Medieval City", "Life in a Medieval Castle" - these have been in print for a long time and are readily available. You probably have read them already, but a re-read is always a good thing, especialy with the above questions in mind - keep a small notebook about your "persona, and write your thoughts down in it. I also heartily recommend Barbra Hainawalt's "Growing up in Medieval London", wich is actually an examination of Medieval childhood in general, and the process of becoming "Sad and Wise" - growing up.

I intend this to be the first in a series of "how to's" on a persona, the basics first - please feel free to comment - by all means, tell me if my head is firmly entrenched in my forth point of contact.

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Bob R.