The SCA does not always create easy parallels for a hopefully plausible, and somewhat authentic, persona
In reality, it is very hard for me to explain my being a part of two SCA orders, one polled and one not. It is also difficult explain away being a member of a guild or being that of an apprentice, which I am not but would be difficult to fit such things in just the same.
This isn't to say all medieval and renaissance women never held any standing in communities or guild, just that such things were not always that common for all trades and all sexes.
What I'm about to write here is not going to appeal to everyone, that is, I'm looking at the state of persona as realistically, or authentically, as possible in relation to the SCA. There are not hard rules on doing this and most people chose to just play along with the SCA model with it's historical creativity or treat the SCA as a unique historical concept that could have been such as if An Tir could have been a functioning country and relate their persona as if they are from one place but living in the new reality (SCA kingdoms and subgroups). In the end, there is no wrong way to play so long as you attempt a pre-1600's name and clothes, so anything more is more.
My approach is to possibly a little more different than most, not wrong but quite different. My persona is not living in An Tir or the East Kingdom, she lives and works in Antwerp. My approach to the kingdom problem (I mean this as in a puzzle to be solved rather than an issue to be fixed) is that I do engage blinders in a sense. For me, I have the jolly fortune of having my persona living in an active Port area where she would see many cultures come together in one spot. I do make some compromises where I will see the kingdom banner as that of a ruling banner over the land in which I live (hmmm, maybe they are Spaniards) but I am still from Antwerp. If I were to move my persons to somewhere in England, that would be her new home but she would have still moved there from Antwerp. The kingdom Queen and King would be hers, her principality, shire or barony would also be hers but she is still physically nested in a house called the Eik en Zwijn, in Antwerp.
But, what Mergriet does in the SCA is not always what I do in the SCA
For my own example, I occasionally do scribal work, I embroider, I enjoy cooking among countless other things.
In reality, Mergriet would not be doing all these things and when she would do any of the above, it would not be with any notion of becoming something very unlikely... at least not if she were practical about it.
In the SCA, I do fancy Mergriet a cook, what sort of cook is something I am still fleshing out but certainly a cook able to earn a wage. This also means she is not likely going to be embroidering and creating fancy documents for people receiving grants and the like. On the other side of that, she probably would know how to make very basic garments and repair them, she would also likely be able to read and might even be able to write. It is also quite possible that she would not be in a guild, which is something that appeals to me within the SCA.
Titles in the SCA
In the SCA, Mergriet had become a "Lady" which is not exactly in keeping with her persona, while some nobility were indeed of lesser wealth than some, Mergriet is from the working classes which creates a problem. According to the SCA Mergriet is nobility and she would also bare arms for which her persona would most likely not have or be, so how do we address the persona in a way that respects them? How can I get past SCA courtesy? Simply, we have to be gracious about it when called by our titles, and plus, do you wish to be the person to correct your superiors? ;) But in general, just don't push to be called by those titles you earned in the SCA and simply go by your name or a suitable address that is not taken up by the list of recognized titles in the SCA.
Language
I speak English, I read and write in English, I try to read other languages and can a little with some, to some degree, but I am English and generally play in English. Of course, I should be doing the whole Dutch thing, however this is not a practical approach. Even being English in an earlier century, and few people would really understand me, it is just not practical, as fun as it would be... I actually do enjoy Middle English. Rather I take an approach long used by science fiction movie and tv creators take, toss all the funky language realism out the window so we can get on with the show, that is, take on a universal language and that language will be the language of the audience. In this case, the language of wherever the event is taking place. This isn't to say that one could not speak in a native language, but if not done carefully, it could be taken as rude.
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Occupation
This is how I have at least tackled the idea of being a cook.
First off, we know there were women cooks, artwork and period cook books give some aid to this. Just recently, I did up a pinterest board of cooks through various pre-1700, some late for SCA I know, of cooks in general, but the number of women appearances are quite large. Some medieval cooks along with a lot of 16th and 17th century cooks
Another great reference is "Working Women in English Society, 1300-1620" by Marjorie Keniston McIntosh, 2005 who also sourced a lot of information from Martha Carlin who is a treasure trove of at least medieval English food practices, street food and peasant/poor eating habits coming to mind. Just with books on hand from those two people, we can quickly establish (with sources given in hand) that yes, there were women cooks and they can, and sometimes did, turn a profit. A particularly wonderful example was a 1614, widow, Julianne Brigges in Farnham, who ran the hostilery "the sign of the George" who was meticulous with her book keeping and also conducted business transactions between costumers by way of transmitting money. I found this later example still valid because of books on economics and trade in Antwerp decades before this date, already established the role of Inns and trade. The book also gives other examples of widows being in ownership of various establishments within and before the 16th century, though it was not until the 16th century were the larger and potentially more profitable inns were more typically run.
Lesser examples of being a profitable cook would be that of a cook or pot-cook selling hot street food, think fast-food. The pot-cook was just that of liquid foods and lower on the food chain than other street cooks who would sell baked meat and fish, cheese, bread, puddings and so on. While records are not showing women running such eateries, or victualing houses (where the food and drink was consumed), women, both single and married as well as men, were fined for selling either bad or overpriced cooked meat. These were occasionally run by widows or at least worked in by wives. In the 1520's, the books shows an example of a John Gene who owed money to "the wife at the Bell" inn in Doncaster. It is not clear what her role was, but it shows her being part of the business.
The book also offers a charming glimpse of an inn where it describes the 1590's inns of two widows as described as having three sleeping chambers and two parlours plus equipment for cooking, brewing, and serving food and drink. This certainly gives greater thought about having Mergriet work various jobs within a Hosterlry or Victualing house though likely in conjunction with her husband such as a woman in, Joan, who in the 1590's likely ran much of the victualing house that was owned by her husband Richard Eynsworth who was also in ownership of fishing vessels as a fisherman. According to Keniston, when Joan was widowed, she continued to run the eatery which may have been housed in the same building as their home. While it is not certain that it was, an inn being run in a dwelling was not unheard of in Antwerp so various similarities can be drawn from one country to another.
Also, presently, I have been trying to bring together a born and raised persona mostly from Antwerp and move her to England which isn't an unusual arrangement at all, as many tradespeople did make the journey and it would tie in my growing love for most things English. Basically, I don't want to toss our what I have studied on Antwerp in the past, or the persona I developed thus far, however that also means that Mergriet would not be moving in relation to a trade as her husband is in the business of trade. This does not mean that it still could not work, I just haven't done the extra study yet.
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