Welcome to Suzanne's World!
By day I'm a software consultant working with Oracle and SQL Database tools.
At night and on weekends, I let out my creative side with my involvement in The Society for Creative Anachronisms (http://www.sca.org/).
“The SCA is an international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe. Our "Known World" consists of 19 kingdoms, with over 30,000 members residing in countries around the world. Members, dressed in clothing of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, attend events which feature tournaments, royal courts, feasts, dancing, various classes & workshops, and more.”
Since I live in Charlotte, North Carolina, the regional SCA group I play with is called “The Kingdom of Atlantia”. This regional group encompasses all of Maryland, the District of Columbia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and a small portion of Georgia.. It's website can be found at:
https://atlantia.sca.org/index.php/
My local SCA group is called “The Canton of Charlesbury Crossing” and its website can be found at:
http://charlesbury.atlantia.sca.org/
Charlesbury Crossing is part of the Barony of Sacred Stone - that website can be found at:
http://sacredstone.atlantia.sca.org/
In the SCA, I have 4 main interests - all of which are set in the Italian Renaissance - feasting (and the associated ambiance), clothing, portraiture (drawing), and calligraphy and illumination (the replication of “period” manuscript pages).
I've set up this web site so that I could share my research on these 4 areas with you.
My Persona Story
Suzanne de la Ferté is an early 16th century noblewoman born in the barony of La Ferté near Evreux, France. Growing up in the privileged la Ferté family, she was quite the dreamer who loved to read and draw. As with other young women of her class, she was taught the skills necessary to run an estate. Of these skills, she enjoyed the most the time spent with the family cook - choosing appropriate menus and even taking interest in the workings of the kitchen staff. Her parents made sure she had a thorough grounding in "her letters" - reading, writing, literature, philosophy, history, religion, and some math. She was also expected to excel at music and painting, how to sew a fine seam, as well as to dance and make merry.
Suzanne was married early to an older gentleman in order to consolidate her father's landholdings. Her husband passed away after they had only been married a few years, leaving Suzanne with a baby daughter.
It was about this time that her brother, who lived on the family's large estate just outside Monaco, asked her to come and manage his household (since his wife had just died in childbirth). The history of Monaco is inseparable from that of the House of Grimaldi. At various times, they were to be found allied with almost every power in the region, particularly during the Italian wars in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Monaco’s geographical position left them ideally placed to either help or hinder the repeated and largely unsuccessful attempts by the kings of France to conquer Italy. Machiavelli himself was in Monaco in the early 16th century to sign a treaty on behalf of Florence.
In 1535, her brother introduced her to the dashing Scots nobleman who was also a merchant, Angus de Botha. Angus received permission from Suzanne's brother to court her and the couple soon fell madly in love. Angus, with his fleet of ships, trades heavily with the nearby Italian cities of Genova (Genoa), Pisa, and Firenze (Florence). He sometimes brings Suzanne things (gowns, fabric, paper, and paints) from as far away as Venezia (Venice).
One of Suzanne's favorite activities is planning feasts to entertain her husband's associates. She loves making sure the ambiance is just right. She makes sure to obtain all of the best performers (bards, thespians, dancers, and musicians) so that her multi-course dinners are a feast for all of the senses.