Welcome to Altavia

A Barony in the Kingdom of Caid, in the Society for Creative Anachronism

On May 11, 2024 Altavia’s Anniversary will be held at

Veterans Memorial Community Regional Park in Sylmar, California!

Please see details here!

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Baron Griffith Von Bremen and Baroness Amabel Radleigh

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
May 2024

Hello Altavia!

It’s been a year already since we stepped up, and we have had such a fantastic time! Altavia Anniversary on Saturday was everything we could have hoped for, and there were so many people who put in time and effort to make it an amazing day.

The William Marshal Ransom Tournament format was such a fun change, and it brought in both fighters and negotiators and got them to work together throughout the day. A huge thank you to Giacchino and Brianna for being our stewards for the event and putting together such a fun and unique tournament format.

Our champions from the tournament were tested throughout the rounds of fighting against many opponents, and we are pleased to have Duke Adam Makandro (armored), MoD vigilant Nafar Sämé (rapier) and the Honorable Dark Lord Diago de las Casas (cut and thrust) as our martial champions, as well as Lady Caterina Sanzio as our Arts and Sciences champion.

A heartfelt thank you as well to Caterina who designed this year’s champion favors and the site token bag designs as our A&S champion last year, and to Merlin Wynn who carved and block printed the designs for the champion favors and the site tokens.

Thank you to the many, many people who helped make this anniversary a success. We could not have such a fantastic event without you all, from working with the park to get the permits to setting up, running lysts, to tearing down, you are all appreciated, and it truly does take a populace to run an event, and a Barony, and we love you all. Thank you.

Yours in Service,

Baroness Amabel

Baron Griffith
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