Kingdom of Calontir

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A map of the Kingdom of Calontir. Stars indicate the location of baronies.

The Kingdom of Calontir is one of nineteen "Kingdoms," or regions, of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), an international organization dedicated to researching and recreating aspects of the Middle Ages.

Calontir is located in the Midwestern United States and includes about 40 local SCA groups in Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, and Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The leaders of each SCA Kingdom are known within the group as King and Queen; the current King and Queen of Calontir, crowned in March 2007, are known by the SCA names Lorell of Shrewsbury and Cadfael the Mordacious. The King and Queen are replaced twice each year.

Calontir is the only Kingdom in the SCA that does not allow rapier combat.

1 History
2 Events
3 Local groups
4 External links

[edit] History

Thrones of Calontir (left) next to those of Northshield (right) at a joint event of the two kingdoms.

Calontir, whose name is Welsh for "Heartland", began as a Principality within the Middle Kingdom in 1981-2 (AS XVI in the SCA's own calendar) and on February 29, 1984 (AS XVIII) became the tenth Kingdom of the SCA.

The first King and Queen of Calontir were known as Chepe l’Orageux and Arwyn Antaradi.

At this time the Kingdom of Calontir is the only SCA kingdom that does not permit SCA fencing.

[edit] Events

Calontir hosts the yearly Lilies War, a June camping event lasting over a week where about a thousand SCA members gather for combat and other activities. The first Lilies War was held in 1987 at Perry Lake in Kansas. Since 1992, the event has been held at Smithville Lake in Missouri.

[edit] Local groups

In the SCA, a Barony is the largest type of local group, usually arising in areas of dense population and requiring a core of at least 25 paid, active members (though more people may participate occasionally or not become paid members). Baronies are run by a Baron and Baroness, who represent the King and Queen of the Kingdom. Calontir has six Baronies:

Barony by the Forgotten Sea (Kansas City metropolitan area): Founded as a Shire of the Middle Kingdom in November 1976 after an earlier group (the Shire of the Fountains) had disbanded, Forgotten Sea became a Barony in February 1979. They are home to Calontir's first female Knight, Ariel of Glastonbury Tor, who has also reigned twice as Queen of Calontir.
Barony of the Lonely Tower (Omaha, Nebraska): Lonely Tower was founded as a Shire of the Middle Kingdom in July 1979 and became a Barony in September 1989.
Barony of the Three Rivers (St. Louis, Missouri): The second SCA group in St. Louis by that name (an earlier one, now known as the "Lost Colony of Three Rivers", had disbanded), Three Rivers was founded as a shire in 1975; when it was created a Barony on May 27, 1978, it was the first Barony in what would become Calontir, and also the only one until Forgotten Sea became a Barony two years later.
Barony of Coeur d'Ennui (Des Moines, Iowa): Founded as a Shire of the Middle Kingdom in October 1982, Coeur d'Ennui became a Barony in July 1984. In an unusual occurrence considering how much highway travel SCA members do going to and from out-of-town events, the founding Baron and Baroness (William & Sherry Fesselmeyer) and the other two passengers in their car, also SCA members, were killed by a drunken driver who crossed into their opposite traffic lane while they were on their way to Coronation in Three Rivers in May 1984.
Barony of Mag Mor (Lincoln, Nebraska): Mag Mor was founded as a Shire of the Middle Kingdom in October 1982. Still a Shire at the time, they hosted the Coronation of the first King and Queen of Calontir in 1984. Mag Mor became a Barony in January 1996.
Barony of Vatavia (Wichita, Kansas): Vatavia began as a Shire in January 1983 and became a Barony in August 1983.

The Barony of Dumnonia was founded in Iowa City, Iowa in December 1975, but became defunct before the founding of Calontir. The Iowa City area is now home to the Shire of Shadowdale.

The typical local SCA group, somewhat smaller than a Barony, is a Shire. There are 22 Shires in Calontir and one Shire-March (a Shire on the border between two Kingdoms), Grimfells in the Fayetteville, Arkansas area. Strongholds and Colleges are similar to Shires but located in areas with high military and student populations, respectively; Calontir has one Stronghold (Lost Forest in Warrensburg, Missouri) and two Colleges (Bellewode in Kirksville, Missouri and NoMountain in Grinnell, Iowa). It also has four Cantons ("fiefdoms" of a Barony distant enough to be able to have meetings and events of their own but close enough to not be independent Shires) and several unofficial local contact people in areas with too small a membership to form an official group.