An Introduction to the Corsairium

Some of you may have asked yourselves at an event around the Barony, "Why are those Lords and Ladies wearing black sashes?" We are the members of The Corsairium, a nautical guild within the Kingdom of Atlantia. The purpose of our group is, per our official charter

"The Corsairium is a guild dedicated to the research, development and teaching of the nautical aspects of history and how it relates to the Society for Creative Anachronisms (SCA). As we are a guild operating within the confines of the SCA, we will keep our focus on the years prior to 1601ce, with our emphasis on all aspects of privateering within that period."

The members of the guild are organized into "ships" which are the loose equivalent of households. They are groups of like-minded individuals who enjoy coming together to fellowship and share knowledge. But you don’t have to be a crew member or passenger on a ship to be a member of the Corsairium. All you need is an interest in period nautical knowledge and a desire to share said knowledge with others. This can take many forms, such as: the study of influential Captains of the time, critical naval battles of our time period, A&S projects (ship models, nautical knots, flags and nautical garb of the times, etc), and even participation in martial activities as a representative of the Corsairium.

And the beauty of the group is that participation can take many forms. You can show up and hang out and glean and share nautical knowledge, or you can go "all-in". There is a ranking system within the guild, based upon service to the group and demonstration of nautical knowledge of our chosen time period.

Over the next several months, the guild will be taking a more active role in the area, and you will see more of us around (identified by our black sashes, of course) teaching classes, on the fighting fields, and generally making our presence known around the Kingdom and the Barony. So if you have an interest in nautical knowledge, or if you just want to know more about the guild itself, grab one of us and ask. You can also go to the yahoo group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/corsairium
Or feel free to contact myself or Captain Nichola (The Drax, or Admiral of the Corsairium) for more information. We aren’t hard to find, just look for the black sashes.

Yours in Service,
Captain Brandon Caiside
Captain of the Corsairium Dhow "Sea Wolf"
Southern Regional Commander of the Corsairium Fleet