Dominique Charles de Blavier: Difference between revisions

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He took his place on the field bearing a mace and, I think, a sword Florentine. As I watched him, I understood why he could go out like that and fight; the person he was fighting never touched him… not once. I was very young and very new to the SCA so I didn’t pay as much attention to details as I would have done later but, man, was I impressed.<BR>
He took his place on the field bearing a mace and, I think, a sword Florentine. As I watched him, I understood why he could go out like that and fight; the person he was fighting never touched him… not once. I was very young and very new to the SCA so I didn’t pay as much attention to details as I would have done later but, man, was I impressed.<BR>
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=====Our First Crown Tournament=====
As one would imagine, people came from all corners of Ansteorra to fight in our first Crown Tourney. There were also many from other parts of Atenveldt, including our King and Queen, Theo and Salene, and many Aten knights. Many of the fighters were unbelted. One such was Otto the Merciless, from The Shadowlands.<BR>
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Then, as now, all combatants in the tournament had to list someone in whose favor they would fight and who would become their consort if they won the right to be crowned the first King of Ansteorra. Otto had no one in particular so he asked an “SCA adjacent” friend who agreed to let her name be given so that he could fight.<BR>
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Otto won his first-round fight but that wasn’t really a big deal because half all of the fighters won their first round fight. What was remarkable was that Otto kept winning his fights and advancing from one round to the next.<BR>
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The more Otto won, the more nervous his named consort became. She had never really been in the SCA at that point, I think that Crown I was, in fact, her first SCA event outside of The Shadowlands. Eventually, our reigning Princess, Tessa of the Gardens, and our reigning Queen, Salene of Mightrinwood were sitting next to her trying to keep her calm and telling what she would need to do that day if Otto won. They were trying to take years of SCA experience that they had between them and begin to educate her on what it meant to be a Queen in the SCA.<BR>
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Sure enough, Otto made it to the final round and was faced off against the most recent past King of Atenveldt, Johnathon DeLaufyson Macebearer. The fight was a good one but, in the end, victory went to the most experienced fighter and, thus, Johnathon and Willow were recognized as the first King and Queen of Ansteorra.<BR>
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But what, you might wonder, became of her who came so close to being our first Queen? Well, she began to be more active in the SCA. She got her AoA in January of 1984 and, eventually became the first woman to win a Crown Tourney anywhere in the Knowne World and the SCA’s first Sovereign Queen… Her Grace, Duchess Rowan Beatrice von Kampfer.<BR>
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====The Crown Tournament I Light Weapons List====
Friday night, the night before Crown Tournament I (May 12, 1979) was to start. I sat in a tent with Tivar and one or two other people (I can’t remember who but I remember that there was at least one female in there with us).<BR>
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Tivar had been given his White Scarf two months before (Tournament of Chivalry or, as those of us who were there took to calling it, the Tournament of Shivering – March 10, 1978). While I told Tivar that night after Court for the Tournament of Chivalry that, since we wanted a peerage award for light weapons fighting, White Scarves needed their own Squires, only they were going to be called Cadets and they would wear a Red Scarf… oh, and that I would be his Cadet.<BR>
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The next month, at Queen Willow’s War (April 7, 1979), after the day’s war had ended, and after I beat the Midrealm King’s fencing champion as Tivar’s appointed Champion for Ansteorra, at Court around the campfire that night, Tivar officially made me his Cadet.<BR>
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So, we’re sitting in the tent and I’m talking about how much I want to get my White Scarf one day. Well, Tivar gets into teacher / mentor mode and says that if I want to be a White Scarf, I have to be able to do more than fight. I had to know courtly graces and know my medieval history. He then began asking me a series of questions which he seemed surprised I was able to answer. This went on for like a half-an-hour but the only question I clearly remember was “What is the difference between a Grand Duke and an Arch-Duke.” I remember that because, after I answered it, he admitted that he hadn’t known the answer, he just got frustrated that I could answer all of his questions and he was just pulling stuff that out of the air to try to stump me. Soon after this it was time to get rest before the next days activities, because were going to need to be rested up. So, I wandered over to my tent. On my way there, I was walking along the edge of a creek that ran through the site and at a weak spot, it gave way out from under me. So, I found myself waist deep in very cold creek water. I pulled myself out and made it the rest of the way to my tent, but I didn’t have a towel to dry off with so I laid down, wet, on top of my sleeping bag and fairly quickly (which was NOT a normal thing for me) drifted to sleep.<BR>
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When I was awakened the next morning, my legs wouldn’t work. I mean that I could literally not stand up, much less walk. So, I was helped down to where I would be sitting to do my work as the Master of the List. (There is more to that, but it will be in a story of its own.) Well, the long hours passed and finally the Crown List was ended. Next would be the Light Weapons list. By this time, I could stand and move around some but my legs were still weak. In basic terms, I knew that I in my fights, I would have to make them fast because a long-drawn out fight would put me at a big disadvantage.<BR>
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About my legs, the only explanation I could come up with at the time had to do with going to sleep all wet and cold. As I’ve thought about it over the decades, however, I have no doubt that it was psychological. I was scared to death about what I was going to be doing, my responsibilities as Master of the Lists, and that I would be interacting with a King and Queen, and a Prince and Princess, and nobles and famous knights from foreign lands. I was about to enter onto the grand stage and I didn’t know if I was up to it.<BR>
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So, the Light Weapons Lists began. There weren’t all that many of us there. I think we only had enough fighters to go three or four rounds. After winning my first fight, in my second fight, I was paired off with Tivar. Now Tivar and I had fought MANY times over the course of the previous year, starting with me coming in second place after him in the Light Weapons List at our first Shadowlands tournament… the Tax-Day Tourney, One Month Late (May 15, 1978). And then in the Fall of 1978 every weekend at the Texas Renaissance Festival several times each day, with practices between he and I in between the demos. Anyway, I knew what he was like as a fighter and, again, I was scared… of making a fool of myself in front of Kings and Queens and Nobels and Knights and Peers of the Realm(s).<BR>
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What all of this meant is that, while I knew how Tivar fought, I think that he was preparing for how I USUALLY fought, which was with flourishes and spins and general insanity. That isn’t how I fought him that day, though. I still clearly remember the entire fight. It went like this…<BR>
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Tivar – Lunged<BR>
Dominique – Parried by swirling my sword around his and then thrusting.<BR>
Dominique – turned and walked away<BR>
Tivar – fell dead<BR>
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I then raised my swords crossed over my head, looking up at my household and crying out “Drekaheima.”<BR>
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It was over in mere seconds… and it was probably one of my worst moments in my entire involvement in the SCA. It took time for things to play out but, I think I shamed Tivar. It wasn’t my intention, I just won quickly, and then I crowed about it. Tivar wanted his time and I think I stole it from him. After that, things changed and my best friend in the SCA started drifting away from me. The last positive interactions with him that I can recall was driving he and Adalecia to the Steppes with me for Crown II. It was the last real and good conversations I can remember having with him.<BR>
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In any case, the final round came and it was between Dominique and Luigi di Donate. I think that Gino had been paying attention to how I had fought my previous fights. What resulted was the really long fight that I had been dreading. I was too weak to push through any of my attacks and he couldn’t get past my defenses, which was pretty much all I was doing at that point. The fight went on seemingly forever. In my mind it went on for about 45 minutes but, of course, that couldn’t be the reality outside of the field. All I know is that eventually His Majesty Theo had enough and ordered the fight to stop. I think the real problem was, even more than the time it took, our fight was boring to watch because nothing really happened. So, Luigi and I were holding each other up as we approached the Thrones and were declared co-winners. King Theo gave us the two prizes that I had donated from my recent adventures in England… a decorative rapier and a mug of milky white glass. I let Luigi have the sword and I took the mug. Later, after Court, I approached His Majesty and gave him the mug in gratitude for what he had done to make Ansteorra a Kingdom of it own. I don’t remember what exactly I said, but he got teary-eyed and gave me a big bear hug.<BR>
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Now, the Light Weapons portion of the Tournament had no real meaning. We were specifically told that it was in no way a crowning of a Champion, especially not a Queen’s Champion. So, all that we took away from it was that we had been allowed to have a Light Weapons tournament at the very first Ansteorran Crown Tournament in front of a King and Queen from faraway lands. Everything else came from that.<BR>
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=====About That Fight with the Midrealm....=====
=====About That Fight with the Midrealm....=====
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===Populace Provided Information:===
===Populace Provided Information:===
====[[Robin of Gilwell]]====
(A memory of the first time meeting Dominique)<BR>
Steppes Warlord 1979.  The Steppes was having its first ever swashbuckling tourney.  It started with a challenge round.  [[Tivar Moondragon|Tivar]] chose the three top people, and everyone else had to challenge one of the three to get into the second round.  He chose himself, David, and you.  Maybe he didn't have the words, but by choosing you, he declared to be you one of the top three swashbucklers present.
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[[File:Last Principality Court.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Dominique stands guard behind Tessa at the Final Principality Court]]
[[File:Last Principality Court.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Dominique stands guard behind Tessa at the Final Principality Court]]
===Notable Contributions or Accomplishments:===
===Notable Contributions or Accomplishments:===
* Was the originator of the concept and the first Cadet in Ansteorra / SCA history. Served two Dons: Tivar and Sigmund.  
* Was the originator of the concept and the first Cadet in Ansteorra / SCA history. Served two Dons: Tivar and Sigmund.  

Latest revision as of 05:40, 15 May 2025

Photo

Portrait by Phillip Mitchell
Information
Registered Name: []
Resides: Inactive
Status: Historical Deadname Persona
Joined SCA: 1977
Order of Precedence
Dominique Charles de Blavier
Heraldry

'

Lord Dominique Charles de Blavier

Previously Known As:
Nickname(s):
Pronouns: He / His

Additional Registered Heraldry:


Offices:

  • Local Offices Held
    • (Founding) Knight Marshal, March of Loch Morrow, Kingdom of the Middle September 1982 - March 1984
  • Regional Offices Held
  • Kingdom Offices Held


Persona History:

Dominique had no real persona history. He just liked dressing up and spending time with his friends.. and swashbuckling.

Interests:

  • Swashbuckling
  • List Administration
  • Service


Timeline of Activity:

1977 - 1979

  • September 1977: Attendant at the founding meeting of the Shire of the Shadowlands and thus a Founding Member. (It was a Thursday).
  • March 1979: Pledged Personal Allegiance to Simonn of Amber Isle and Tessa of the Gardens during Court. Originated the idea and name of "Cadet" and the symbol of a Red Scarf.
  • April 1979: Queen Willow's War - Represented Ansteorra in single combat (light weapons) against the Champion of the Midrealm King (who issued the challenge)... Won. Became Premier Cadet under the tutelage of Don Tivar Moondragon.
  • May 1979: Steward of the List, Crown I (held in Bryn Gwlad). List format was Single Elimination. Light Weapons List Combatant, Crown Tournament I (Bryn Gwlad... May 12, 1979) Co-winner with Luigi di Donate. Prizes (provided by Dominique) split between Luigi (Decorative Rapier brought back from England) and Dominique (Milky Glass Mug brought back from England) (Later gave the Mug in private to King Theo of Atenveldt after all Court business had ended). Light Weapon Guard behind the Royalty during Final Principality Court, Crown Tournament I.
  • November 1979: Steward of the List, Crown Tournament II. (Held in Steppes) List Format was Dominique's Double Elimination.
Seeing Our First Prince Fight

Ansteorra was technically still a Region when I first got involved. I had been to no events outside of the Shadowlands but I remember Godfrey (de la Fosse) coming back from Coronet 1 and talking about it. I was not there but later, on one single occasion, I saw Sir Sean (our first Prince) fight. It had to have been during Randall and Constance’s reign as our second Coronets. It wasn’t even a tournament fight, just, as I recall, for fun.

Sir Sean went out in literally the bare minimum armor required at that time… a helmet, (I think) a gorget, a kidney belt, elbow pads (I mean just pads, nothing armored. The only thing they could have been protection for would have been from getting elbow burns if he fell into the grass) and, I assume, a cup… although I have no personal verification for that. For his body? No shoulder protection, nothing for his knees (unless he had pads on them under his pants), nothing else at all. Over his torso, he wore a kaftan… just a kaftan. He didn’t even have a shirt on under it. Not only was that the only armor he wore, he didn’t use a shield, either.

He took his place on the field bearing a mace and, I think, a sword Florentine. As I watched him, I understood why he could go out like that and fight; the person he was fighting never touched him… not once. I was very young and very new to the SCA so I didn’t pay as much attention to details as I would have done later but, man, was I impressed.

About That Fight with the Midrealm....

"What I think was most significant about the fight with the champion of the Midrealm King at Queen Willow's War is that it was possibly, if not probably, the first inter-kingdom light weapons fight. I have no doubt that it was the first such sanctioned fight in the SCA in that it happened because of a challenge issued to Ansteorra by the King of another Realm who brought his personal champion to fight a Champion from Ansteorra, which honor Tivar gave to me. Given that we became a sovereign Kingdom the next month, it was probably also the last competition between the Principality of Ansteorra and any other realm. The Midrealm King publicly issued his challenge because he made it clear that he did NOT like light weapons fighting in the SCA, which only Ansteorra was doing at that time as a fully sanctioned method of combat and tournament in our lands. The Midrealm King also made sure that we knew that his champion would be a Master-rated fencer. The thing is that his plan did not work because we were not intimidated, and our Principality won that fight."

Dominique's Double Elimination

After each round of combat, all the fighters with no losses went to one side of the lyst chart and the fighters with one loss went to the other side. Anyone who hit their second loss was out of the lyst. Each round was re-drawn for each side, so that no one could plan for who they would fight. This also meant that the Final would be between a fighter with one loss and a fighter with no losses. If the fighter with no losses lost in the Final round, that was their one loss and the fight would be repeated. No one was eliminated in the final round until they had two losses. This happened at least once during Crown Tournament, where two fights were required to determine the winner (Believed to be Jan w Orzeldom's Crown bout). It was my own idea and was allowed to do it for the second, third, and fourth Ansteorran Crown Tournaments.

1980 - 1983

  • May 1980: Steward of the List and Event Steward for Crown Tournament III, held in the Shadowlands. List Format was Dominique's Double Elimination.
  • November 1980: Steward of the List for Crown Tournament IV.
  • 1981: Left Texas to attend school in the Kingdom of the Middle -- but Ansteorra was still home.
  • 1982: Became cadet to Sigmund the Wingfooted.
  • September 1982: Founding Knight Marshal of the March of Loch Morrow (In Office from September 1982 through March 10, 1984) (A physical Warrant never received)
  • May 1983: Steward of the List and Deputy Marshal of the Field for first Tournament held in the March of Loch Morrow.
  • Summer, 1983: Appointed First Ansteorran Ambassador to the Middle Kingdom by Inman I and Arrowyn I. Warrant received by mail in Fall, 1983. Sadly Dominique never attended an Event with the Crown of the Middle Kingdom so the Warrant was never presented. The Warrant document was returned unused to Barn Silveraxe and Katrionna McLochlainn.

1984

Ended participation as Dominique.

Prior Groups:


Populace Provided Information:

Robin of Gilwell

(A memory of the first time meeting Dominique)
Steppes Warlord 1979. The Steppes was having its first ever swashbuckling tourney. It started with a challenge round. Tivar chose the three top people, and everyone else had to challenge one of the three to get into the second round. He chose himself, David, and you. Maybe he didn't have the words, but by choosing you, he declared to be you one of the top three swashbucklers present.

Dominique stands guard behind Tessa at the Final Principality Court

Notable Contributions or Accomplishments:

  • Was the originator of the concept and the first Cadet in Ansteorra / SCA history. Served two Dons: Tivar and Sigmund.
  • Event Steward: Ansteorra Crown Tournament III, held in Shadowlands, May 1980.
  • Appointed Ansteorran Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Middle by Inman I and Arrowyn I.
  • As a member of House Drekaheima, won the right to be the Protector of the House.

Trivia

  • Became the first ordinary member from the Shire of the Shadowlands to be awarded an AoA (6th member counting Founding Officers) (March 10, 1979, Tournament of Chivalry)
  • In photos of our last Principality Court, Dominique can be seen standing guard over Princess Tessa of the Gardens.
  • House Drekaheima had a tradition of taking people we liked as "captives." After a captive was taken, everyone who wanted to be that captive's protector entered a fighting square to challenge anyone else. In Dominique's case, since they were not a heavy armored combat fighter, Ivan fought as their champion. The three Captives that Dominique was the protector for were: Tessa of the Gardens, Bevin Fraser of Stirling (Steward of the SCA) and Rowan of the Shadowlands.

Non-Armigerous Awards and Recognitions:

  • f.o.s.s.e. (Founder of (the) Shadowlands Serving Eternally: This was a joke among several of the Shadowlands founders who were still playing in the early-1980s (since most of our members were college students and there was a LOT of membership turnover every year). The name is a play-off of Godfrey de la Fosse. No actual presentation of the award, just it being generally applied to "old-timers."
  • v.a.r.m.(i.t.) Vicious Ansteorran Rumor Monger (in training): This was because of the turmoil and rumor mill that was so damaging to so many people in the early kingdom days. So, this was a joke between Dominique and Godfrey, where we "offered" to be OFFICIAL rumor mongers for the kingdom... i.e. -- if it didn't come from a varm or varmit then it was, at best an UNOFFICIAL rumor. The idea was Dominique's but he wanted to be a varmit and, thus, Godfrey was the varm he served as he "learned the ropes" about how to only spread official rumors and help end all of the unofficial rumors that were so pervasive. Again, no official date or origin or presentation. We started it sometime in late-1979 or early- to mid-1980.


Affiliations:


Mundane Information:


Special Needs:


In Case of Court:


Special Notes

This page is unique as it is information on a prior, deadname Persona. The SCA participant who used this persona considers it dead and completely separate from their later participation, but wanted to document their perspective and participation under this identity.

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