Peasants, Citizenry or Something Else?

[NelleMoorley]

Our faire definitely has the nobility and royalty down, but our peasantry has recently been narrowed down to one "dirty peasant" and two jesters, and the rest of us are in-between.  Gentry is how we like to refer to ourselves, (besides the pirates).  But then, our street cast is almost non-existant, so hopefully we'll get a few more real peasants next year . . .

[SirRichardBear]

One of the reasons I'm so fond of Scarborough is the fact that it feels like a village wondering around you meet every level of society from the royals to Peasantry.  I agree that the causal patron will not at first notice this I think it does help set the stage for them.   I was encouraged to see how many causal patrons stopped by our morning History, Customs, and Manners class and stayed for the entire lecture.  As our lecturers proved it is possible to have fun and learn something at the same time.

[Frederic]

The classes generally portrayed are court (nobles), gentry (middle class), and peasants.  The yeomanry really isn't separate and tends to overlap in the gap between middle class and peasants.  There are also a few sailors and foreign visitors.  In the case of RPFS, there is an Italian group and Germans are a part of St Michael's Guild (military).

The middle class was present during the reign of Henry VIII and became much stronger with Elizabeth.  I believe that it evolved with the craft guilds.

My persona (John Woodman) is that of a Master Joiner and Turner who has reached an age where active involvement in his trade is now a very small part of his life.  He leaves the active operation of the business to his sons and sons-in-law who are now either Masters or Journeymen  I don't think you'd find any Elizabethan guild member who considered himself to be a peasant.  Many had more actual wealth than some nobles.

A lot also depends on what the faire's "storyline" is.  The Connecticut Faire has a Arthurian storyline set in roughly Tudor-era England (I know, I know - its anachronistic, but think Sir Thomas Malory's Arthur, and you get the picture).  In any case, each year there is a major event (the royal wedding, the visit of another King, etc.) that occurs in the "town".  In real, historical Tudor England what would have happened if good King Harry decided to get married in, say, Portsmouth rather than London?  There'd be the royal household descending on the town, nobility from elsewhere coming in to do the social climbing thing, merchants from elsewhere in England as well as from the German Hansa and Venice trying to make a schilling (or a mark or a ducat) from all the nobility trying to look their best, craftsmen from all over working to set up for the specticals that Tudor-era nobility loved to put on, local peasant farmers coming in to sell produce to feed everybody and to see the sights, and finally the town's officials tearing their hair out as they sort out the social presidence maze and try to keep a lid on the chaos.  Which is pretty much what we have at the CT faire (especially the chaos!)  - no, actually I think that we have a pretty good representation of the social classes for that scenario - between the "formal" cast and the "supporting" cast (volunteers) I don't think we're too heavy on the nobility  - my character is a German merchant in town to sell furs and amber to the all rich ladies gathered here to attend the (wedding, betrothal, ...whatever).  We have plenty of characters playing artisans (carpenters, cooks, weavers) to go with our Royal Court, and our dirt poor peasants. 

As a point of historical fact, the craft guild members (not to mention the merchants) would have been very insulted to be called, or treated as peasants.  There was a social distinction that the nobility recognized, not to mention the money factor that the nobility (and the King himself) was well aware of.  "We" Hansa merchants had had significant trading priveledges in England during Tudor times largely because we lent the Tudor's money and when they couldn't pay it back in full, we negotiated favorable tax rates and trading terms.   The nobility could wring a little money out of the peasants, but if they wanted enough to fight a war had to borrow it from the middle class.  My persona (Frederic Balke of Rostok) would have been with John Woodman in insisting that we were most certainly NOT peasants.  When my persona is asked about this kind of thing at the faire, that's what he says - so there's the educational aspect of our little game.

[Steev]

I'm a peasant and love being one.  MDRF has a great cast which includes a royal court and also many villagers.  There is a smattering of lower class characters but nowhere near what the proportions would have been back when (huge majority of peasantry).  My family and I have been getting progressively dirtier and more authentic and we've had some great rewards- we've been asked (by visitors AND by paid performers) if we worked at MDRF, we've been singled out for many photos by complete strangers, we did well in the VARF costume contests...

Sometimes it's great being the one peasant in a town full of nobles, fairies, pirates and goths...

[DonaCatalina]

I am wondering why more people don't want to be nobles.

Or maybe they do but they think the garb is too expensive?

Or maybe some faires are mostly nobles and others are mostly peasants and pirates?

[Steev]

I am wondering why more people don't want to be nobles.

Or maybe they do but they think the garb is too expensive?

Or maybe some faires are mostly nobles and others are mostly peasants and pirates?

For me cost was a factor- as a relatively recent faire-goer it was easier to start with basic peasant garb and add to it gradually than to get the whole sheband necessary to come off as an authentic noble.  Plus, given what the actual breakdown of nobility vs. freemen vs. peasants at a village faire would have been, it seemed that the poor were under-represented and it seemed fun to go in for a support role vs. a flashier persona.

BTW, MDRF has the whole range of classes and while I have nothing against anyone opting for any particular type it seems we have a preponderance of pirates, fae, goths, and nobles.

[Butch]

I like being a sailor, as I was a U.S. Marine for so many years, and that's the closest thing to it.  It's a comfortable role for me!