The Bellicose and Belligerent Barony of Dreiburgen, 2022
The Bellicose and Belligerent Barony of Dreiburgen, (Revised)
By Thegn Eadwynne of Runedun
(As published in the October, 2022 edition of the Dreiburgen News, with minor edits and amendments)
When one thinks of War, one usually thinks of the Barony of Calafia with their many war bands and their annual Potrero War. Or perhaps the Shire of Al-Sahid with their Highland Wars. Al-Sahid, I should note, was originally a Canton of Dreiburgen. Fewer people think of Barony of Drieburgen when they think of War, but they should. The very foundation of the Barony of Dreiburgen was founded upon War. The first event in the area now called Dreiburgen was on April 22 - 23, AS VI (1972), and called the “Overnight Tourney” by the Barony of Angels. It was held in Black Mountain Park on Mount San Jacinto, in Riverside County near the town of Idyllwild. Not only was it a War of armored combatants, but it also had a “War of Roses and Thistles” – a battle between the sexes using pillows. (Silly events near Idyllwild are not a new thing to us).
On Saturday and Sunday, Apr 20 - 21, AS VIII (1974), the Baronies of the Calafia, Angels, Dreiburgen, and the Isles held a Tourney of Union, in anticipation of forming the Principality of CAID, at Glen Helen Regional Park in Devore, in Dreiburgen. Little did the Kingdom of the West realize the trouble this would cause. Within a few short years, Dreiburgen’s bellicose soul was evident in our participation in the Principality of CAID’s first and second Rebellions against our parent Kingdom of the West (Apr 26, AS IX (1975), and May 15, AS XI (1976)). There remains a song, of which this is the first verse: The Caid Rebellion; Tune: Battle Hymn of the Republic:
He is marching out his warriors as the Western soldiers wince,
They're lining up for battle and all CAID’s convinced,
On 06/03/1978 (A.S. XII-XIII), The Principality of CAID became the Kingdom of Caid. The King and Queen of the West, Gregory of York and Bevin Fraser of Stirling had residence in Caid, and were thus issued Green Cards by Caid to allow them to remain. This allowed us to remain friendly with the Kingdom of the West, since we held their King and Queen hostage. But, the greedy eyes of the Kingdom of Atenveldt looked towards us and they thought they saw an opportunity to advance their realm towards the ocean. The Atens descended upon Dreiburgen on Oct. 20, 21 & 22, AS XIII (1978), at Glen Helen Regional Park.
This was my first war. Although I wasn't squired to Dreiburgen Baron Sir Waldt von Markheim yet, he had already taken me under his wing and got me armored up and fighting. His lady, Alison, recruited me for War Gate duties and general camp help. This was the largest gathering of SCA folk I had ever seen. I was used to a fairly crude armor up until then and there I saw some museum quality stuff which generated an ambition for better quality gear (leading ultimately to the founding of the Dreiburgen Armourers Guild). I didn't really have my own armor at the time, so I was borrowing the baronial chain mail which was made for a much smaller man. It took three people to pull it onto me, and one of them asked me to tell them later, "what it was like to sleep in mail," because they didn't think they could get me back out. Waldt had armed me with a spear, which was an uncommon weapon at the time. I was attached to the small Drieburgen fighting unit. If memory serves, several folks including later Baron Leo de Coronado, Hrorek Halfdane of Faulconwood and his brother Theodric Pendar of Faulconwood, and Brann Morgan Dunmore of Galloway formed our front shield wall. Waldt and I were behind them, me with a spear, and him with a mace. At one point in the battle our defensive wall split apart leaving a whole plethora of White belts and other fighters from the other side right in front of me. I admit, I froze for a moment. Then Waldt in his ever calm voice said, "Edvin, kill someone, won't you?" That woke me up and I started strike after strike from about nine feet back. Not being used to spears yet, the opposing fighters were unprepared for my assault and they went down one after another. Waldt told me later that I had killed nine in a row. I had no idea what I did since I had gone into survival mode. In a later scenario, I recall King Armand de Sevigny asking for volunteers to take a hill on which the opposing army had entrenched themselves. We outnumbered them, so to give them an honorable fighting chance, he wanted to limit our assault to similar numbers. I ended up getting specifically picked by him. I don't know whether it was because I was a spearman or whether it was because I was in the Baronial chain mail (he wore mail cap-à-pie). I felt so honored that I was on a cloud the rest of the war. We did really well on that hill too. Oh, I did eventually get out of the borrowed chain mail.
For the next few years, Dreiburgen joined in Caid’s assaults on Atenveldt in what was called, the Burro Creek wars. But they did make one more advance into Dreiburgen, notably in 30-31 of August, AS XV (1980) in Redlands. The Kingdom of the West, no doubt hoping to regain some of its lost southern territories, joined the Atens in their attack. Dreiburgen Baron Leo de Coronado called on the Kingdom of Caid for assistance and received it. According to the Event Steward, Sir Theodric Pendar of Faulconwood, the war was fought to a draw, but no treaty was signed, and the armies of the West and of Atenveldt returned home. Together with Baron Leo, Adrian Buchanon (later becoming both a Knight and Duke) was instrumental in Dreiburgen’s defenses and logistics.
Realizing that Dreiburgen was still open to assault, Baron Leo and Sir Theodric Pendar of Faulconwood began encouraging both heavy fighting and archery. The skills of Archery grew strong and Dreiburgen hosted Caid’s sixth Kingdom Archery Tournament in AS XVI (1982). Cavalry was also needed and so by the following year, in AS XVII (1983), Dreiburgen hosted Caid’s first Kingdom Equestrian Event. As Dreiburgen’s power and influence grew within the Kingdom, it was inevitable that certain envies would emerge from other territories. On the 7th of April, 1984, there was a war between Isles and Dreiburgen. The Isles’ pretext was the accusation that Dreiburgen had “fouly and untimely sundered from our midst a lovely maiden.” Knowing that they could not assault so great a Barony as Dreiburgen alone, they made an open call to arms to the entire Kingdom of Caid, saying:
This, of course, pulled The Barony of Altavia into the fray. Leo, Baron of Dreiburgen, taking notice of this, was also aware that the Baron of Altavia held ancestral holdings in Dreiburgen. In kindly fashion, Leo wrote: “The Baron of Altavia has enjoyed his rightfully inherited property for many happy years and we do not dispute his right. However, we do demand our right to TOLL, and insist upon prompt remittance of same.”
But Dreiburgen and Caid’s conflict with Atenveldt was far from over. Caid, with a push from my own Household, Drachenstern, established a foothold in Aten territory. Elgil Mardil of Dor-Mallos, later a Dreiburgen seneschal, and Malcolm Alberic, later Baron of Dreiburgen, were highly involved. The two resulting wars were called the Great Desert Wars. Due to the rather primitive (cold/hot, windy, sandy, and dry) location, some gentlefolk nicknamed the wars, the “Catbox Wars.” Obviously, no one in Dreiburgen would use such a slur on an event in which Dreiburgen was so heavily invested. It was about this time that the Dreiburgen Sciences Officer, Roger de Boeuf, also of Dreiburgen and Drachenstern, took note of the development of Aten siege craft technology, and reported it to both Baronial and Kingdom officials, "...the Kingdom of Atenveldt is constructing another ballista and a catapult for the coming war, and I suggest we start ours." Not long afterwards, Gunnar Redbeard began the Dreiburgen Siegecrafters' Guild, which later became the Dreiburgen Engineers' Company, which even later became part of the Caidan Royal Artillery Corps.
Within a few short years, the Barony of Angels attempted an assault on our Good Barony, on the 7th of September, AS XX (1985). The border of the two Baronies was a matter of dispute, and the battle was held in the Barony of Gyldenholt in Irvine Regional Park, chosen as a neutral site. Nevertheless, Gyldenholt and many others chose to involve themselves in the combat. It has been said that this (continuing) border dispute was one of the principle causes of the creation of the Shire of Heatherwyne (now sadly defunct) as a buffer zone about the time Caid became a Kingdom. Afterwards, Dreiburgen enjoyed a time of internal peace, while supporting Caid’s wars outside the Kingdom, in the West, Atenveldt and as far away as An Tir and Pennsic Wars.
In 1986, Dreiburgen hosted the first War College for the Kingdom. I recall being at one of these Kingdom practices whereat combat archers were grouped and taught to fire en masse, which proved far more effective than individual archers loosing their arrows at will. Dreiburgen was continually working on its preparedness, with Thomas Danlar of Herrick leading the way as Captain of the "Dreiburgen War Band." Thomas was holding practices in Redlands and inviting noteworthy trainers to come out. We learned advanced pole weapon techniques and the use of Fire Teams of three to five persons. This proved to be a highly adaptable organizational strategy which Dreiburgen used to great effect in Wars both local and in other Kingdoms.
There was a short time when the War Band of Dreiburgen was called, The Smurfs From Hell. The Baronial Seneschal, Aldred was tasked to acquire appropriate blue cloth to make tabards for the Dreiburgen War Band. He came back with a considerable quantity of Baby-blue cloth that he got at a "really good price." We fighters almost wept. But tabards were made. And we wore them. Marching to the field, there were jeers and laughter coming from all sides, "Look, it's Smurfs." This "put us in a mood." We fought like baby-blue demons, and so we earned the name, "Smurfs from Hell." We actually sang out the Smurf song as our battle cry, "La, La, La-la-la-la!!!" This unit lasted until the Dreiburgen Levy was absorbed into the Vth Brigade, whose Phoenix enflamed heraldry earned us the name, "Los Pollos Locos."
In an attempt to professionalize its army, Caid established a Brigade System. The Levies of Dreiburgen were assigned to the Vth Brigade, first under Brigade Commander, Sir Edward Ian Anderson. Later, Duncan Brock of Greyfeather from Dreiburgen took over and after that Dreiburgen Baron Sir Thurstan de Barri held the position. Under Baron Thurstan’s leadership, strong ties to the forces of others in the Brigade were forged, especially with the Barony of Starkhafn. During this time, Dreiburgen itself was challenged by Shire of the Burning Sands in Atenveldt over the Eastern-most portion of the Barony of Dreiburgen (Blythe). They wrote, in part:
This challenge was answered by Dreiburgen at the Estrella War in AS XXX (1996). Dreiburgen Baron and Baroness, Thurstan and Allaine, were responsible for the lands in question since Blythe, CA, was part of the Barony of Dreiburgen. From what Baron Thurstan told me, he did not feel that Dreiburgen could support the area as well as the Shire of Burning Sands could, and so he was willing to give it up... but not without a fight. With the approval of Caid's King John II, Dreiburgen fought valiantly and virtually alone against the onslaught of the Army of the Kingdom of Atenveldt. As the battle ended and I laid sprawled on the ground with my Baronial comrades, my thought was, "This was a good day to die."
While Dreiburgen was part of the Vth Brigade, there were households and war bands who recruited from Dreiburgen, but they tended to fight as their own units, attaching themselves to the army as need be. Because of this, Baron Malcolm of Dreiburgen founded the "Dreiburgen Irregulars" who fought under the Baronial Banner for particular wars or engagements. This allowed those associated with the knights or other great households as well as unassociated fighters to sign up without commitment conflicts. If you look up SCA Stories, you will find many Jests (stories) recorded by Baron Malcolm of many War time adventures of the Dreiburgen Irregulars.
After Baron Sir Thurstan stepped down as Brigade Commander, our own Gregory de Saville took it up. As of this writing, the last Vth Brigade Commander from Dreiburgen was Duke Edward Senestre who stepped down in XLIV (2009). Dame Adrien de Calais became acting commander until 2012, after which she became the Baronial Marshal of Dreiburgen. Although the Barony of Dreiburgen has seen an era of internal peace for some time now, one never knows when war may again threaten our borders. We must forever remain vigilant and practiced.
Amendment: Since I wrote this, Great Western War XIV (2022) has passed, and Dreiburgen was right in the thick of it (although I, alas, was not). I wanted to note that with the decline of the old Brigade Units of the Army of Caid, there has been much reorganization. Of special note are the Black Hats under Sir Yaroslav the Persistent who, together with many from our Barony and backed by the Dreiburgen Armourers Guild, put together a sizable force and fought boldly as the New First Brigade.
