Research for the utter novice:

Advice from a fellow incompetent

By Eric Mason, writing as Gilbert the Short

"Welcome to the SCA, we are a group dedicated to researching and recreating the Middle Ages."

"Great" you think, "I can learn about cool stuff and have fun with some great people." All you need to do is pick a time, place, invent an imaginary person who might have lived then and make sure they aren’t naked and/or bored...

Then you realize you have no idea how to research. Welcome to the club! *

Research, like many things in life can be intimidating until you figure out how to start. Your fellow SCAdians can chat cheerfully about various topics that you’ve never heard of and worse yet, they can have wildly different opinions on the facts. ** What is a newbie to do?

The ultimate goal is to find books which present you with the facts. "Fine" you say, "but I don’t know where to find those books." No worries, that’s what this article is about. Here is how to find these amazing pearls of wisdom:

1. General books on the Middle Ages: These books give an overview on various topics but often contain mistakes on the details. The great thing is that they have bibliographies. *** Find the book that seems to have the most relevant title, read that one and repeat.

2. Articles by reenactors: As with the books on the middle ages these articles often have bibliographies. The advantage of these articles is that they often focus on topics that interest us.

3. Ask people for book recommendations: Ask around, you’d be surprised how many knowledgeable researchers there are. Typically these people are so flattered that you are actually interested that they’ll cheerfully give you a list and if you’re lucky, let you see their library.

4. If all else fails, get thee to the library **** and plug in words related to your topic and hope.

The above techniques work whether or not you have internet access. If you can use the internet then your neighborhood just got a lot bigger.

1. The SCA web site has resources for beginners in the form of links to various articles written on topics that are most important to those of us that are starting out. Again some of these articles have bibliographies.

2. Message boards, mailing lists and newsgroups are full of people interested in various topics. Not all of them are SCA specific, but don’t let that intimidate you. Just be mindful of your netiquette. ***** Read through the messages so you get a feel for the topic and who the experts are. When you’re ready to ask a question, be clear and specific about what it is you want.

3. Web searches on words related to your topic can often turn up new articles and resources you haven’t found yet.

Ok, you’ve found some books and articles. Now you have to read them. Unfortunately you’ve run into the next beginner’s problem... Information overload! Don’t panic, this is perfectly normal. Very few people can do quantum physics their first day either.

Rather than expecting to absorb all the information you’ve found, look at it as an information buffet. Skim through and take what you can digest. When you’re ready you can look more carefully at the sections which you breezed over the first few times. Please remember that you’re doing this for fun. If you aren’t interested in the metallic structure of a fifteenth century helmet, don’t torture yourself.

Congratulations, you know the very basics. Keep your eyes and ears open. There is lots of interesting information out there. I’ve included a small section on trouble shooting typical problems you might encounter and listed some books and web sites I find useful.

End Notes:

* Many would have a hard time believing, but the truth is I am the worst student my high school history teacher ever had and hardly ever set foot in a library until the SCA caught my attention.

** One of the frequent pit traps of poor resources is false information.

*** Also known as the books the authors read so that they could write their book.

**** University libraries tend to be better than public ones due to the higher numbers of historians they cater to. You may have to sign up for a membership to get access to their catalogue system

***** Netiquette is etiquette for the internet. What it basically boils down to is be polite. Dedicated discussion areas the equivalent of the homes of people who are interested in that subject. You wouldn’t go into someone’s home and pick a fight. Don’t go into a discussion area for costumers and call them names because they don’t think tunics should be made of neon orange broad cloth. They’re in their space, their "home" where they can relax, discuss and even bitch about things. You don’t have to agree with them, but you have no right to start a fight with them.

Trouble Shooting:

"How do I know if a resource is good?"

The best rule of thumb is to look at its sources. The closer it is to an artifact or medieval text (known as primary sources) the better it is. Also to be considered is when it was written. Generally more recent good sources have escaped the silly notions that were formed years ago by early researchers. Recent poor sources aren’t much better than old poor sources though.

"I can’t find the book in my library and no one in the area has a copy."

Ok, you have a few options. First you can talk to the library about trying to get the book on an interlibrary loan. This can take a while, but it tends to be cheap or free. The other option is to buy a copy. Read as many reviews as you can about the book and decide if it’s worth the investment.

"I ask people for information and they ignore me!"

Look carefully at what you are asking. Is it polite and if it’s a written request have you made sure of your spelling and punctuation? Are you asking for information on something specific like "styles of tunics worn in northern France circa 1120 AD" or are you asking for "everything about leather armour in the Middle Ages". If your question is precise, try loosening up the conditions like "styles of tunics worn in Western Europe during the first half of the twelfth century". If your question is very general, then try and be more specific. It takes a lot of time to compile a list of good resources for a broad general question, silence is sign that no one has that much time on their hands.

"There is no information on X."

If you’ve asked around and no one knows of any information on a given topic then try a different topic. That may sound harsh, but there is no point in banging your head against a wall. Rare topics will still be around when you’ve gotten better at researching. Elementary school has to be done before your doctorate studies.

Some Resources I’ve Found Useful:

Books

Daily Life in Chaucer’s England - This book is geared toward reenactment. It gives an overview of history, society, clothing, armour, food and entertainment for England in the fourteenth century. The list of sources in this book is incredible.

Arms and Armour of the Medieval Knight - A wonderful overview of European armour from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries written by the curators of a museum with a large armour collection.

Armour from the Battle of Wisby - This book contains the results of an archeological dig in Denmark from a battle in the second half of the fourteenth century. It also has sections on armour used at that time and its development.

Web Sites

www.sca.org - Check out the following sections: resources for newcomers, heraldry, arts & sciences, combat & chivalry.

www.armourarchive.org - A site with resources and message boards about armour, not SCA specific.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/trevor.barker/farisles/guilds/armour/mail.htm - A well researched article on mail (often called chain mail), notice the great list of resources in the bibliography.

www.florilegium.org - An archive of posts and articles posted to the rec.org.sca news group

Articles on Research:

http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/beginners/research.html - An article on researching from a costumer’s perspective.

http://www.virtue.to/articles/sources.html - A concise look at judging sources for clothing

http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/lists/rre/The_art_of_getting_help. - A wonderful article on how to get help (the period is part of the address)