Rowenna de Manning

• Joined the SCA in the Kingdom of the West in AS X.
• Chancellor of Madrone Campus of the University of Ithra 6 years
• Regent of the University of Ithra 19 years
• Founding member of the Madrone Culinary Guild in AS XI
• Order of the Laurel AS XIV for culinary arts, study and practice of Middle Eastern dance and costume
• Order of the Pelican AS XVII
• Court Baroness of An Tir AS XVIII
• Became a Lion of An Tir at Twelfth Night Coronation XXXVI/2002
• Red Tree Pursuivant (Madrone Herald)somewhere around AS XIII 3 years
• Deputy Kingdom Seneschal AS XVI 3 years
• Guild Head of the Madrone Culinary Guild XL/2005-2006
• Keeper of the Culinary Guild banquet equipment 20+ years

Rowenna de Manning, born in Sicily, is the daughter of a Norman soldier and an Arab merchant's daughter. Upon the death of her mother and father, her Norman father's relatives claimed her and took her to Christian lands, where she was fostered in the household of Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine for a time. With a growing mislike for the curious customs of the Norman French, such as seldom taking a bath, Rowenna fled to her uncle in Sicily, under the protection of a group of pilgrims to Outre Mer. Her Norman French relatives continue to try to retrieve her to live in the West, and Rowenna keeps well out of reach. She has been travelling on the Silk Road and lives in Bukhara when not visiting An Tir.

Mistress Rowenna is married to Master Edward the Stuffy, Pelican and Lion of An Tir. She served on the committee that helped make An Tir a Kingdom and in that role she and Viscountess Maelen of Catcott created the names of the grant level Kingdom Awards, the Goutte de Sang and the Jambe de Leon. She was co-head cook with Mistress Arias the Innkeeper's Daughter of the banquet for 250 served at the first An Tir Kingdom Twelfth Night in January 1982, held in the Barony of Madrone.

Mistress Rowenna attended the 10th anniversary of the SCA at Big Trees (her second event), the 20th anniversary of the SCA in Ansteorra, the 30th anniversary of the SCA in An Tir, and the 50th anniversary of the SCA in the Middle Kingdom. She was a contributing member of the gathering that took place in the Barony of Madrone in May XI that resulted in the founding of the Madrone Culinary Guild and she has been a member ever since, in the first 20 years serving as kitchen head for some of the early banquets, and in the most recent 20 years as general kitchen helper and equipment packer.

Since AS XV she has been a researcher in clothing, culture and dance of women in the Middle East, and helped promulgate appropriate costuming for Middle Eastern women personas through teaching classes and attending events attired as an example of a properly-dressed woman of the 13th century Silk Road. For the past three years she has been a member of the Facebook communities SCA Persian Clothiers, SCA Ottoman Clothing and Culture, the Atlantian Madrasa, SCA Middle Eastern and Mediterranean, and SCA Middle Eastern Musicians.

Emprise_Rowenna.jpg