Medievalists Invade Quad As Jousting Practice Begins

About 20 medieval fighters, some wearing brightly-colored tunies and vinyl attracted much attention around the Quad Sunday afternoon as they battled with swords, spears, polearms, shields, and armor in their first "practice" at Harvard.

The spectacle, the brainstorm of Dass M. Gass 85. was actually the first meting this year of the Harvard branch of the Society for Curative Anachronism, a national group who members aim to recreate the atone here of the middle Ages. The Society has branches across the country, including chapters at MIT. Wellesley, and Tufts.

The Harvard borough, which includes instrumentalists, was first organized around 1970. but Glass said interest had fallen off until she "resuscitated it" this year.

Gass said she enjoys the group's activities which include medieval dancing and cooking as well as jesting, because they provide "an escape from the pressures of my normal life. She added that the society's events are also geared toward giving the members a "learning experience."

Group actvities revolve around the "persons," the medieval character each member "becomes" after researching the historical background and customes of the times.

Playing Monk

Diana A. Jarvis '86, a new member of the Harvard chapter, said her persons will be a monk who wanders through England in the 8th century preserving classical manuscripts for posterity. In her studies of the period, Jarvis explained, she has often felt frustrated by the dearth of manuscripts surviving from this time.

Group activities caluminate in several events throughout the year in which members put their smith into inactive in full costume Harvard's group, termed the borough of Discharging, will sponsor a Valentine's Reval in February for all Boston area groups, effectively known is the Barony of Carolingia.