On Saturday, November 6, 2021, I had the pleasure of competing in the Barony of Three Mountains A&S Championship. The topic for the event was "The Silk Road" and one of the requirements was that one of your entries must reflect the topic. I had been really pushing myself to jump back into crafting/research (the COVID situation sapped a lot of my drive) and seeing this topic inspired me to throw my hat in the ring!
While researching Birka in the past, I came across several papers that referred to it as "The Silk Road of the North." Normally my research is very focused on tablet weaving, textiles and brocade threads, so, aside from some very basic facts regarding Birka as a merchant/trade town, I had never really deep dived into its history and connections. I really wanted to find out definitively where the silk originated from, who was trading at Birka, and what exactly happened for it all to come to an end (many articles, especially ones focusing on textiles had been quite vague about why Birka was abandoned). I also knew that researching Birka more broadly would allow me to have a data repository that I could look back on and draw from when I reproduced more Birka bands in the future. I was able to put together a research paper titled "The Silk Road of the North - A Report Exploring The Origins of Silk Textiles in 8th to 10th Century Birka" that describes how Birka was connected to the Silk Road, origins of the silk finds there, and what actually happened to cause it to come to an abrupt end after two centuries.
I was also very excited to be able to document/present a piece I created originally for a display! I have been trying to bring more recognition to late period brocade tablet weaving, because I'd love for it to be an art more late period personas can enjoy! A lot of people I've spoken with have always assumed tablet weaving to be more of an early middle ages art form (or exclusively Viking Age), so I think it is important to show pieces post 14th century as well! The piece I presented was from Anna Neuper's Modelbuch - Neuper was an incredible 15th-16th century woman that wrote Modelbuch, one of the first textile technique books ever. It just so happened that the technique book was for brocade tablet weaving! She wrote the book in her 70s and the forward displays her personality really well. It really moved me to be working on and producing something that someone documented the pattern for 500 years ago. The book managed to exist till present day by a miracle! The object process paper was titled, "Examination and Reproduction of a 16th Century Tabletwoven Brocade Pattern from Modelbuch."
I presented along with two absolutely marvelous ladies (Mistress Marya and Mistress Hlutwige, both of which are my personal heroes and do, frankly, incredible and amazing work), and I was so stunned and humbled to have been chosen to be the new Three Mountain's Champion. I am looking forward to helping the Baron and Baroness, as well as the A&S Officer of Three Mountains to continue to further supporting A&S in our rivers region area and doing the best I can to support the barony as their Champion!
Special thanks to Mistress Khalja Khorkhoi for running a wonderful event and taking these photos (I failed to get any!!).
