Greetings from
Lady Aine du Bayonne sur l'Adour
Welcome to the Current Middle Ages
I am a member of a worldwide historical recreation group called the Society for Creative Anachronism. I live in the Kingdom of Trimaris. The name is Latin for "three seas" since the Kingdom contains the peninsula of Florida. (It also includes Panama and Antarctica but the translation of that would have made the name too long.) My local group is in Gainesville and is called the Barony of An Crosaire or the Barony of the Crossroads.
I am the Persona (name and character assumed by an SCA member to aid in focusing research in a specific time and place) of Jane Anne Carey. I was born in the year of Our Lord 1128 in Bayonne, a port on the Southwestern coast of Gascony (France) located on the River Adour. My parents are merchants of Celt descent and I am their only child but I have several foster sisters and a foster brother we don't talk about. I brought a large delivery of imported goods to the Court of Eleanor of Aquitaine and I have remained with her ever since. In the summer of 1145 I married Orlando of d'Ax who owned cattle and citrus groves and the loveliest old Roman villa further inland on the Adour. You will notice I use the past tense. I am sorry to say my husband died in my arms on Crusade in 1148. I did everything I could to save him but to no avail. Did I mention that since he had no near relatives I was his heir?
As I said, I have remained loyal to Queen Eleanor since we first met and even took a second husband from among her second husband's Norman followers. This has proved advantageous because Robert has a manor in Glastonbury near where King Henry has confined my Queen (after a small domestic disagreement that involved a civil war). I am able to carry on commerce and remain available to aid my Liege Lady.
Since I have a good deal of time on my hands, I have started dispensing my worldly wisdom and historical knowledge in a series of advice columns. Just as a side note to explain the title (Ask Aine, An Crosaire's Agony Auntie), Agony Auntie is British for advice columnist.
With these articles I hope to convey some historical tidbits liberally seasoned with humor. The following are the first four columns I have written and hopefully more will follow:
Please address any comments you have to Jane Anne Carey at jacarey@ufl.edu since she handles all my correspondence.
The graphics for this page came from Rowan Fairgrove.
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