The Honorable Tomas de Courcy (JdL, GdS)

Student to Mistress Inga in hraustliga

Formerly of Barony of Montengarde, Kingdom of Avacal

Arms: Ermine, on a pale endorsed vert,three roundels argent
Badge: Fieldless, on a bakers peel vert three plates
Moto: Non In Pane Solo (Not by bread alone)

Tomas joined the SCA in 2002 and lived in the Shire of Lionsdale in the Kingdom of An Tir until 2015 when he moved to the Barony of Montengarde in the Kingdom of Avacal. He was student to Mistress Safiye al-Konstantiniyye from 2010 until he moved in 2015, he was taken as a student by Mistress Inga in hraustliga  in April 2018. He is not currently active in the SCA.

Areas of Focus

Cooking, Baking, Rapier, Games, Heraldry, SCA Cartography

Awards & Honours

  • Elder of Avacal (Avacal), May Days 2019 (AS LIV)
  • Champion of Arts and Sciences (Avacal), The University of Avacal 2018 (AS LII)
  • Rose Petal (Montengarde), The University of Avacal 2018 (AS LII)
  • A&S Champion (Lionsdale), Winters Tourney 2013 (AS XLVII)
  • Jambe de Lion (An Tir), Winters Tourney 2012 (AS XLVI)
  • Silver Pillar (Tir Righ), Winters Tourney 2012 (AS XLVI)
  • Lion’s Fang (Lions Gate), Winter Defenders Tourney 2011 (AS XLV)
  • Scapula Leonis (Lionsdale), Winters Tourney 2011 (AS XLV)
  • Baroness’s Champion of Combat (Lions Gate), Sealion War 2010 (AS XLV)
  • Goutte de Sang (An Tir), Tir Righ Heraldic Symposium 2010 (AS XLIV)
  • A&S Defender (Lions Gate), A&S Defender Tourney 2010 (AS XLIV)
  • Award of Arms (An Tir), Eisenmarch Banquet 2005 (AS XXXIX)

Publications

  • “Pre-seventeenth century English bacon: Reconsidering a staple”, Digest: A Journal of Foodways and Culture, 2020, 7(2), 129-150., Peer Reviewed https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/digest/article/view/32018
  • “Beer Barm Bread”, Tournaments Illuminated Issue 213, First Quarter 2020, Feature Article
  • “New World Foods in 16th C England”, Tournaments Illuminated Issue 207, Third Quarter 2018 p.13-18, Feature Article
  • “The Lack of Evidence Regarding the Existence of Classical Roman Pasta” Petits Propos Culinaires Issue 108, May 2017 p74-76, Peer Reviewed
  • “Let Us Define Our Terms: ‘Courses’ versus ‘Removes'”, Tournaments Illuminated Issue 202, Second Quarter 2017 p.35-36
  • “Early Tudor Rapier”, Tournaments Illuminated (SCA) Issue 200, Fourth Quarter 2016 p.15-19, Feature Article
  • “Classical Roman Pasta”, The Avantgarde (Avacal) August 2016 p.11-12
  • “Salting Meat”, The Avantgarde (Avacal) March 2016 p.10-12
  • “Salting Beef”, North Wind (Lions Gate) no. 335, July 2010

Classes Taught

  • Rapier: Back to Basics
  • Introduction to Historical Cookery
  • Playing With Sugar
  • Recreating Medieval Recipes
  • How to Enter an A&S competition
  • Introduction to Research – with HL Kayleigh de Leis

Major Arts & Sciences Competitions Won

  • 2018 The University of Avacal – Kingdom A&S Champion
  • 2013 Winters Tourney – Shire of Lionsdale A&S Champion
  • 2010 AT War – A&S War Point
  • 2010 Lionsgate A&S Defenders – Barony of Lions Gate Defender of A&S
  • 2009 Sealion War with Kayleigh de Leis – War Point

Offices & Events

  • Webminister, Shire of Lionsdale September 2009-January 2014
  • Seneschal, Shire of Lionsdale August 2010-August 2012
  • Deputy Seneschal, Shire of Lionsdale January 2010-August 2010
  • Event Steward: Lionsdale Winter’s Tourney February 2012
  • Assistant Director: Bard and a Banquet November 2011
  • Event Steward: Tir Righ Heraldic Symposium April 2010 with Hleafdige Thora Golvik and HL Kayleigh de Leis
  • Event Steward: Lionsdale Champion’s Tourney June 2007 with HL Johanna Morgenstochter
  • Event Steward: Lionsdale Champion’s Tourney June 2006 with Lord John Shewan
  • Deputy Minister of Rapier, Shire of Lionsdale 2004-2005

Other Service

  • Retinue King Angar & Queen Saxa of Avacal 2019
  • Retinue Prince Christian & Princess Heléne of Tir Righ 2013
  • Event Web Designer: Antioch May 2012
  • Event Web Designer: Antioch November 2010
  • Event Web Designer: Odin’s Playground September 2010
  • Retinue Queen Caoimhe of Drachenwald 2010
  • Event Web Designer: Tournament of Armies July 2010
  • Event Web Designer: Lionsdale Champions June 2010
  • Merchant Coordinator: Lionsdale Champions June 2010
  • Event Web Designer: Tir Righ Heraldic Symposium April 2010
  • Lighting Designer: Bard and a Banquet November 2009
  • Event Web Designer: Tir Righ Coronet May 2009
  • Lighting Designer: Bard and a Banquet November 2008
  • Event Web Designer: Tir Righ Coronet September 2008
  • Lighting Designer: Bard and a Banquet November 2005
  • Rapier MIC: Odin’s Playground September 2005

Arts & Sciences

My main areas of expertise are cooking, baking, and food preservation with a focus on English 14th-17th century cookery. I also venture into French, Roman, and Arabic cooking on occasion.

I have been the Kingdom of Avacal Champion of Arts and Sciences as well as the Lions Gate Defender of Arts and Sciences and the Lionsdale Arts and Sciences Champion and have won several other Arts and Sciences competitions including AT War 2010. I also presented a single entry at Tir Righ Principality Arts & Sciences in 2010. In 2017 I completed the A&S 50 challenge, redacting and making fifty period recipes. My research has been published in the academic journal Petits Propos Culinaires and in the SCA it has been published in Tournaments Illuminated, the Avacal newsletter, the Avantgarde  as well as the Lions Gate newsletter, the North Wind.

I have judged at Avacal Kingdom Arts & Sciences once, An Tir Kingdom Arts & Sciences three times, and at Tir Righ Principality Arts & Sciences twice as well as judging many times at the Baronial and Shire levels.

I was part of the Press Ganged Theatre Company in the Shire of Lionsdale from their second production in 2002 through their final performance in 2011, as well as an encore presentation in 2015. During that time I have played Verges in Much Ado About Nothing, Grumio in Taming of the Shrew, Kindred in Everyman, Jaques in Tamer Tamed, Caliban in The Tempest, Tarkin in William Shakespeare’s Star Wars, and Sir Toby in 12th Night. I also worked behind the scenes in many roles and was assistant director for the final production, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

Rapier

I have been fencing since 2002. However in 2011 I had an injury which made it so that I was unable to fence for over a year and since then I have been working on rapier from an Arts and Sciences angle.  I went through Joseph Swetnam’s Schoole of the Noble and Worthy Science of Defence, published in 1617, and noticed that most people focused on the second section of his manual, the part which deals exclusively with combat, and ignore the first eleven chapters.  I instead went through the first part of the manual and wrote up a summary for each chapter with a discussion of it’s applicability to SCA rapier combat. See here. I’ve also done a great deal of research on the London Masters of Defence and their use of the rapier.

Cartography

In 2009 I began mapping the SCA. I have updated it several times and the current version is a Google Maps overlay which can be found here.

achievement w motto