Welcome to Altavia
A Barony in the Kingdom of Caid,
in the Society for Creative Anachronism
Caid Archery Open is Sunday, March 29th!
The Barony of Altavia is a local chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), an international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts, skills, and traditions of pre-17th-century Europe. The Barony of Altavia includes the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita Valley, and Malibu, and is part of the Kingdom of Caid which includes Southern California, Greater Las Vegas Area, and Hawaii.
Members of the SCA study and take part in a variety of activities, including combat, archery, equestrian activities, costuming, cooking, metalwork, woodworking, music, dance, calligraphy, fiber arts, and much more. If it was done in the Middle Ages or Renaissance, odds are you’ll find someone in the SCA interested in recreating it. What makes the SCA different from a Humanities 101 class is the active participation in the learning process. To learn about the clothing of the period, you research it, then sew and wear it yourself. To learn about combat, you put on armor (which you may have built yourself) and learn how to defeat your opponent. To learn brewing, you make (and sample!) your own wines, meads and beers. You will frequently hear SCA participants describe the SCA as recreating the Middle Ages “as they ought to have been.” In some ways this is true – we choose to use indoor plumbing, heated halls, and sewing machines. In the dead of winter we have more to eat than King’s venison, salt pork and dried tubers. However, a better description is that we selectively recreate the culture, choosing elements of the culture that interest and attract us.
Altavia News From Their Excellencies
February 2026
Hello Altavia,
We had a wonderfully busy month, with Arts, Archery and Melees.
We started off with Consorts Champion Ranged hosted by Lyondomere at our local Woodley park archery range. It was packed on the line, with tons of archers and crossbowmen. Everyone got lots of shooting in, and her majesty ended up with wonderful champions in crossbow, open handbow and period handbow. I am looking forward to the thrown weapons Championship this coming weekend at Rapier War.
We hosted Festival of the Rose, and it was the most amazing event I could have ever dreamed. We had two brand new stewards; Serafina and Cosimo step up and run this as their first ever event. They put together a wonderful staff, and had many people step forward to help with different aspects of the event from serving a donation lunch for the public, to running classes, to arts displays and a bardic showcase. A huge thank you to both of them and everyone who helped with the planning and execution of a wonderful event. Everything went wonderfully and I’m so proud of everyone who contributed.
The following weekend was Angels Melee, and it was a wonderful day to get out and fight with our friends! Altavia set up camp in the corner by the Rapier field and it was a joy to watch and see all of the different Rapier fighters fight with and against everyone else on the field. The Harnischfechten fighting demonstrations were really neat to watch and it was exciting to get to see the different forms that are available within the new fighting form. The weather was lovely and it was a great day to be out with our community.
We’re all ramping up now for wars with Phoenix War and Rapier War coming up right around the corner. I’m looking forward to the next month of wars, archery tournaments and Anniversaries.
In service to the dream,
Baroness Amabel Radleigh