The Pennsic War is an annual American medieval and Renaissance camping event held by the

Society for Creative Anachronism The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) is an international living history group with the aim of studying and recreating mainly Medieval European cultures and their histories before the 17th century. A quip often used within the SCA describes ...

(SCA), a "war" between two large regional SCA groups: the Kingdom of the East and the Middle Kingdom. It is the single largest annual SCA event, with more than 10,000 people attending each year, from as far as China, South Korea, Sweden, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, and Australia. Pennsic is held in late summer and lasts for 17 days (begins on a Friday, ends on the third Sunday). The event centers on pre-17th century history and culture with all campers dressing in historically relevant clothing. The winners of the battles and other activities receive war points, and the Kingdom with the most war points wins that Pennsic. The Pennsic War uses numbers to identify each war rather than the year it was held, so the 2019 event was known as "Pennsic War 48", there having been 47 previous events. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no Pennsic event was held in 2020 or 2021, and so the 2022 event is known as "Pennsic War 49".

History

The Pennsic War takes place in late July/early August. Prior to 2007, Pennsic took place during the first two weeks of August, and some of the earliest Pennsics were held during September. * The first Pennsic was held in 1972, at Newton's Campground (now Shorehaven Campground) in

Waterford, Pennsylvania Waterford is a borough in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,475 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Erie Metropolitan Statistical Area. Waterford is an independent municipality located entirely within (and surr ...

. * The second was held at St. Clair Beach Campground near

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. * The third was held on a private farm in

Wexford, Pennsylvania Wexford is an unincorporated community in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a suburb in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area split across the incorporated places of Franklin Park, McCandless, Pine Township and Marshall Township ...

. * The fourth, often called "Pennsic Pour" or "Pennsic Puddle", was held at Spencer Farm on Aquilla Road near

Chardon, Ohio Chardon is a city in Geauga County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 5,242 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.Duke Moonwulf Starkadderson in "Pennsic War IV". * The fifth was held at the Berlin Reservoir outside

Alliance, Ohio Alliance is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States. The population was 21,672 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It was established in 1854 by the merger of three smaller communities and was a manufacturing and railroad hub in t ...

, after a site in

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

was rejected. * The sixth and all subsequent Pennsics have been held at Coopers Lake Campground in Worth Township near

Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania Slippery Rock is a borough in Butler County, Pennsylvania. The population was 3,081 at the 2020 census. Slippery Rock is included in the Greater Pittsburgh Region. The area is home to Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, partially in the ...

near the intersection of

Interstate 79 Interstate 79 (I-79) is an Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States, designated from I-77 in Charleston, West Virginia, north to Pennsylvania Route 5 (PA 5) and PA 290 in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is a primary thoroughfare t ...

and

US 422 U.S. Route 422 (US 422) is a spur route of U.S. Route 22, US 22 split into two segments in the U.S. states of Ohio and Pennsylvania. The western segment of US 422 runs from downtown Cleveland, Ohio, east to Ebensburg, Penns ...

. The site is easily visible from the I-79 southbound lanes. According to the HERSTAĐR-SAGA: An Incomplete History of Pennsic,

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 to New York 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 only king who declared war upon himself and lost.

Nearly every person who attends Pennsic has heard this story, and nearly every element of this story is incorrect. Negotiations for an inter-kingdom war had begun in early 1971 under the reigns of Murad (East) and Franz (Middle). The Middle did not prepare its declaration of war until January 1972, by which time Cariadoc had stepped down and Irial had succeeded the throne of the Middle. Cariadoc carried the challenge to the East in the form of a war arrow, which he presented that spring to the Eastern king, Shogun Rakkurai, who broke the arrow and cast it to the floor, saying "that's what we will do with your armies." It took months to arrange the details, so the date and location of the first Pennsic War were not announced until August 1972, by which time Rakkurai had stepped down and Cariadoc had succeeded the throne of the East. The territory of Pittsburgh was never in dispute and never changed hands, remaining part of the East until the formation of Æthelmearc in 1997.

People

Since Pennsic XXV in 1996, the event has gathered over 10,000 participants most years. These include not only SCA members from across the globe, but also members of various other historical re-enactment groups such as Markland; and martial arts–based organizations, such as the Tuchux or Rome. Pennsic is, however, an SCA event; members of other groups are welcome, but are generally expected to follow SCA rules—especially in regards to armor, weapons and behavior on the battlefield for the various fighting scenarios. According to the official Pennsic website, the final count for 2015 was 10,556. In 2023, the 50th Pennsic War, the final count was 11,384 Pennsic field battle 2006 kdh

Activities

Martial

Archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

SCA heavy combat SCA armoured combat, or informally heavy combat, is a combat sport developed by the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) in which participants in protective body armor, body armour compete in mock combat, individual tournaments inspired by forms ...

SCA fencing Rapier combat is a style of historical fencing practiced in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). The primary focus is to study, replicate and compete with styles of rapier sword-fighting found in Europe during the Renaissance period, using ...

* Thrown weapons * Youth combat

Non-martial

* Pennsic University (and its offshoot, Bog U): a framework of classes where attendees learn period skills, trades, and performing arts. * Arts and sciences exhibition. * Youth arts and sciences exhibition. *

Performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

: which include

acrobatics Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance (ability), balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sports, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most ...

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuity, gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performa ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

magic Magic or magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces ** ''Magick'' (with ''-ck'') can specifically refer to ceremonial magic * Magic (illusion), also known as sta ...

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

juggling Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object o ...

, and

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

. * Period

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

: where one can play board games such as Go,

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

and

tafl games Tafl games (), also known as hnefatafl games, are a family of ancient Northern European strategy board games played on a checkered or latticed gameboard with two armies of uneven numbers. Names of different variants of tafl include hnefatafl, ...

, card games such as

tarot card games Tarot games are card games played with tarot packs designed for card play and which have a permanent trump suit alongside the usual four card suits. The games and packs which English-speakers call by the French name tarot are called tarocchi ...

and dice games. * Pennsic

Choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

. * Dancing: including Renaissance dances,

Middle Eastern dance The traditional dances of the Middle East (Arabic: ‎رقص شرق أوسطي) (also known as Oriental dance) span a large variety of folk traditions throughout North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. For detailed information on speci ...

, South Asian dance, and East Asian dance. * Shopping (roughly 250 vendors)

Local impact

With over 10,000 people, Pennsic becomes the fourth largest populated place in Butler County, PA (after

Cranberry Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines up to long and in height; they have slender stems that are not th ...

and

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

townships, and the City of Butler). Pennsic's annual economic impact on the immediate area amounts to $1.8 million added into the Butler County economy, and many local businesses cite the period during Pennsic being among their busiest of the year. During the 2020

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

when no Pennsic was held, regular Pennsic attendees who were aware of the event's historically positive impact on businesses organized fundraising for charities local to the area.

References

External links

The Official Pennsic War web site

The Official Pennsic University site

A site with collected images, videos, and stories of the Pennsic War

"The Largest Medieval Battle in Modern Times."
''Atlas Obscura'' {{Coord, 40, 58, 45, N, 80, 8, 30, W, display=title 1972 establishments in Pennsylvania Festivals in Pennsylvania Recurring events established in 1972 Society for Creative Anachronism