Pennsic War

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Caidan Encampment at Pennsic War 2008

The Pennsic War is an annual American medieval camping event held by the Society for Creative Anachronism (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"


Pennsic War History

According to the HERSTAĐR-SAGA: An Incomplete History of Pennsic: The origin of the Pennsic Wars: when Cariadoc of the Bow was King of the Middle, he thought it would be entertaining to have a war between the East and Middle Kingdoms. He sent a declaration of war to the East in A.S. 5, but nothing ever came of it. By A.S. 7, Cariadoc had moved and become King of the East, whereupon he found the old declaration of war and promptly accepted. The Midrealm army defeated the Easterners, making Cariadoc (as the joke goes) the first king in history to declare war on himself and lose.

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

Caid at Pennsic


External links


Events of Caid
Events: 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s

Event Types: Tournament, War, Collegium, Revel, Court, Arts & Sciences Competition

Other Information: Results