José Cabrera de Castilla

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La nobleza no se conoce fronteras --Ramon Lull

Twelfth Night, 2010

Name

José Cabrera de Castilla is mundanely known as Ryan Davidson.

The name José Cabrera de Castilla is a properly researched, documented, and approved SCA name (March 2008). It is historically accurate to 16th century Spain. The name José is the equivalent of the English name "Joseph". Cabrera is a familial surname, and de Castilla is a locative byname. In combination, the compound surname represents José's origin. See the Persona History section for more information.

Having been awarded arms, José prefers to be styled señor, rather than lord.

My SCA name is actually a compound irony/homage. I chose the name Cabrera for two reasons; primarily, it stems from when I was a teller for Oregon Community Credit Union and one of my favorite members to assist was a hispanic gentleman whose last name was Cabrera. The ironic part comes in from the etymology of the word "Cabrera" itself. Un cabrón is a goat, and una cabrera is a goatherd. So I find it hilarious to portray a pompous, well-dressed Spaniard whose name means "The goatherd of Castile."

Find José on Facebook.

Interests

José pursues a number of SCA-related interests.

Heavy Fighting

José acquired his first suit of armor in time to fight in the Acorn War in 2006. He attends the Three Mountains Fight Practice and the Dragon's Mist Fight Practice as he is able, and is in the process of migrating from his starter set into a matching 16th century harness. José primarily fights with a sword and buckler, in an attempt to emulate the style of the Spanish rodeleros. In war, José wields a mighty greatsword with his stalwart companions in the Iron Ring.

Millinery

José works hard to make accurately shaped bonnets, tall hats, toques, and other headwear of the 16th century in both men's and women's styles. Rather than work from completely period materials, he focuses on durability and retention of shape so that the work he creates can survive rough treatment by its owner. He's also produced a set of hats for the Wilsonville High School production of Taming of the Shrew.

Music and Dance

José attends the Dragon's Mist Friday Night Revel on occasion, and is happy to dance at any event that includes one.

José grew up learning the saxophone, and finds the recorder very similar. He and Ana own both a soprano and an alto recorder. He enjoys music and has the books necessary to learn period European music. He also intends to learn how to play the recorder part of various dances so he can accompany dancing live.

Tailoring

Tailoring is the primary skill that José practices as often as possible within the SCA.

José studies the cut and construction of mid-to-late 16th century clothing for both men and women. In men's clothing, he has learned to draft patterns for doublets, hose, trunkhose (slops, pantaloons, breeches), shirts and capes. Using final drafts of custom-fit patterns, he designed court garb for himself and his lady wife for Twelfth Night Coronation XLIII/2009.

He completed an outfit of green doublet and hose that match the lacing points of the first outfit, ensuring the interchangeability of the pieces. Subsequently, he has completed a brown outfit that is compatible with the court garb and the green outfit, granting more flexibility to the overall wardrobe. Plans are underway for bronze and white garments as well.

José is proud to have patterned and sewn two complete outfits for Nicolai Rabenis Von Tachov, patterned and assisted with outfits for Iuliana de la Sara and Helena Zancani, and been heavily involved in the project to make outfits for the entire Iron Ring in 2008. He is excited about completing an unusual (by continental standards) 16th century Irish outfit for his lordship Eoghan ÓBriain.

So, a lot of people have commented about my court garb, how the slops I am wearing don't seem like they've hit a historically accurate shape. Initially, I agreed, but then I ran across the term "roundhose", a good example of which is A Fete at Bermondsey, by Joris Hoefnagel, a dutch painter who traveled to England. At least three distinct gentlemen are wearing hose very like my court garb. The style is puffed more spherically, and the color underneath allowed to show through more.

See the Other Images section for examples of José's progressing skill.

Woodworking

In 2006, José created a set of 8 wooden benches for the Iron Ring. In the five years since then, 4 of them have suffered accidents and been destroyed. Not bad for pine, all things considered. He's concocting a plan to make a set of sedia a tenaglia for himself and his lady wife, if not for the Iron Ring and maybe the shire of Dragon's Mist.

Wiki Editing

Although not a primary component of SCA activities, José feels strongly that this wiki has a lot of potential to be a central repository of historical and cultural information for An Tir. He spends more than a little time editing the Culturewiki.

Irons in the Fire

Sometimes I find it motivational to be held to my stated word. With that in mind, here are the things I'm working on. If you meet me, ask me what I'm working on and how it's going.

Current and Upcoming Sewing Projects

  • Smock, partlet, corset, dress and doublet for Morgan. Poor girl has no late period garb and wants to be able to dress nicely when she's not merchanting.
  • Riding hat for Ana.
  • Bronze and cream outfit for myself.
  • Voiders for my arming doublet for war fighting and to legalize the sleeves for rapier fighting (as seen here), as well as a placket to make the doublet rapier legal. Placket is done (a hidden zipper is my only concession to non-period stuff here, but it just makes the whole thing soooo much easier to don).
  • Utility outfits in wool and linen with simple embroidery for things like setup and breakdown. This Irish outfit of Eoghan's and Ana's new overgown are inspiring me to want to have wool clothing, especially for colder events.

Other Projects and Ideas

  • Sedia a tenaglia design, planning and test models. (Lord William Mor is interested in helping with this project, but it may need to be on the back-burner until I have more liquid funds.)
  • An article on techniques for making buttons.
  • An article on fabric weaves available now that were also available in period.
  • More interviews to come as time permits!
  • Autocrat of Acorn War XLV/2010.

Completed Projects

  • Green doublet and hose for myself. The doublet is all-new but the hose are a re-work of the ones featured in my first garb showcase. You can see part of the doublet in this photo.
  • Black and bronze doublet for Nicolai, paired with blue-paned over white "turkey leg" hose. A blue jerkin with skirting completes this outfit.
  • Brown and bronze doublet for myself, with leaf-shaped piccadils. Paired with "turkey leg" hose with decorated pockets and side-seams. See this photo.
  • Arming doublet. Padded doublet to wear under my armor. Later added a placket to it with a hidden zipper. Lace-on sleeves that can be removed in case of emergency or as a fashion element.
  • A white linen shirt. Then attached my ruff and cuff set from the Renaissance Tailor to it. Now when I wear the ruff and cuffs, they will be part of a shirt like they are supposed to be and they won't gape at the wrists and neck any more.
  • Eoghan's Irish outfit. Ionar, leine, braies and hose/chausses/trews.
  • Escoffion (cap/caul/coif) for Ana. Pictures online at Ana's Facebook album. Just needs to have barretts or combs sewn into it wherever she likes.
  • Great coat for Nicolai in the style of Henry XIII and other wealthy gentlemen of the mid-16th century. Pictures are via Facebook, 1, 2, 3.

==SCA Event History==

José in armor at war practice, April 2010

2005

2006

2007

  • First Court, Barony of Three Mountains, March 2007.
  • Faire in the Grove, April 2007.
  • The Gathering, May 2007.
  • Seadog Nights, July 2007.
  • Blackthorne Revel, August 2007. Participated in the wake for Esclave de Winter, lost champion of the Iron Ring.
  • Sport of Kings, August 2007.
  • Beaverton Farmer's Market Demo, September 2007. Fought in the heavy fighting demonstration.
  • Yule Feast, Canton of Kaldor, December 2007.

2008

2009

2010

Upcoming Attendance

  • Artsy Fartsy has to be dropped because of a personal obligation that conflicts and is regrettably more important.
  • Yule
  • 12th Night 2011.

Persona History

José is the son of Tomas Cabrera, a wealthy tailor, and Analucia de Castilla, a member of a minor branch of a larger noble family. He was born in Barcelona. The marriage was arranged to both bolster the fortunes of Analucia's nearly impoverished family and provide Tomas' children with a station above his own. Despite being an arranged marriage, the couple were relatively happy with each other as spouses.

José learned his father's trade of tailoring from a young age. At his mother's insistence, he was given basic training in swordfighting, reading and writing, and courtly etiquette including dancing. After his father fell ill, José took over the tailoring trade despite his mother's many protests. He continued this business for nearly two years before his father recovered sufficiently to attend his own affairs again.

Shortly thereafter, José was sent to Milan to establish interest and control over a number of guilds and trades. At this time, the Spanish Habsburgs had recently come in control of Milan, so it was an opportunity for the family to seize some power and influence. In addition to learning something of the woodworking trade while there, José became attached to a unit of rodeleros in defense of Milan against aggression from neighboring states.

Once his term of service ended, José remained enamored of his experience in war. He sought out a company with which he could continue his military training, and encountered the Iron Ring on one of it's many maneuvers into Italy. After securing the loose ends of his family's growing wealth and power in the hands of other members of the family, José took up with the mercenaries and quickly gained rank, becoming a sergeant.

Despite active campaigning throughout Europe and especially An Tir, José and Iuliana have found time to begin a family, and had their first child in December of A.S. XLIV.

Affiliation

José Cabrera de Castilla is a member of the Iron Ring, living in the Shire of Dragon's Mist.

José is married, both mundanely and in-persona, to Iuliana de la Sara.

The Iron Ring device

Rank and Station

  • Sergeant of the Iron Ring
  • Camp Master of the Iron Ring
  • Keeper of the Grete Boke for Dragon's Mist

Achievements, Awards and Accolades

Other Images

Oh, the embarassing history of my outfits...

Actually, they are getting better. I'm pretty happy with everything I've made since 2009, starting with the twelfth night outfit.

First season in the SCA, 2005
First doublet and trunkhose, 2007
Scary black armor of doom, 2007ish
"Fancypants" FitG Demo, 2008
Armor FitG Demo, 2008
Iron Ring Unit Garb, 2008
Court garb, Twelfth Night, 2009
Dragon's Scale at DMDT, 2009
Court garb at BFM Demo 2009
Brown doublet and hose, Twelfth Night, 2010
José in armor at war practice, April 2010
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