Learning on the Job

Seeing as the sun is on the opposite side of its orbital path from when I posted last, how about an update?

Despite appearances otherwise, Weisskunig is still very much alive and well. The interim months have been filled with costumery, research, and German-learning. At this stage, there hasn't been much writing since this is still very much the 'prep' phase - getting a handle on the history, letting Max ferment a bit in my brain so I've got a sounder grasp of the nuances of his character, reading a variety of decent fiction written in the first person, etc. I could easily plow ahead and begin writing based on what I know but changes will have to be made the moment I begin reading Deutsch passably enough to work through the German literature.

So where are we at presently? Let's organize things by bullet points.

Learning German
The best literature on Max is in German, of course. This includes the terrifically detailed five-volume set by Hermann Wiesflecker and the shorter popular histories. I have been plugging along with a grammer guide but reading simple stories about die Familie Schulz and their odd personal habits rapidly got old so I'm switching over to a grammer workbook, supplemented with some tentative, dictionary-aided (and shoddy) translation of the actual Max lit. Having some handle on the history already, this is comparatively easy-going until the authors start to indulge themselves in linguistic acrobatics. At this point, I barely know the English words let alone the German.

Learning to Joust
Maximilian loved three things in life beyond anything else: hunting, jousting, and his first wife, Mary. Being a rider and no stranger to the use of weapons from horseback, jousting seemed to be the next logical step. I'm a big believer in trying stuff before you write about it - try out some fencing if you're going to write about epic, swashbuckling duels, take some flying lessons if your work involves airplane operation, etc. It doesn't have to be full-on immersion - just enough to pick up some of the subtle nuances that make your descriptions believable. Given Max's passion for the joust, I had to do it. By a sheer stroke of luck, there's a troupe here in town - the Society of Tilt and Lance Cavalry - so that consumed most of my weekends over the summer and will continue to do so into the fall. Not that I mind, for it's absolutely, utterly addicting.

The Maximilian Tour 2011
I hit up Austria last year for a month to see some of the places Max lived to get a general sense of the 'lay o' the land.' Always intended to write a blog entry devoted to it but that obviously never happened. Regardless, many notes were taken and I'm now quite sure hirschgulash with spatzel is the most delicious thing on earth (apart from the chocolate cake served at Cafe Munding in Innsbruck).

This year, I'll be doing Belgium or Burgundy if you want to get historical. I'll have about six days to split between Brugge, Gent, and Brussels to see the places where Max spent some of his happiest years. The idea here is to get a handle on Flemish culture and get a sense of the Burgundian opulence that had the rest of Europe so captivated. It could even be termed the Mary Tour since I'll be visiting a few of the sights related to her. The plane leaves in just over two weeks. (Yikes, how is it that soon?!)

So that's how things stand at present. I'll leave you with a few goodies before I sign off. Including some art and some injuries.


















Re: That Armour - Don't ask. I'm not too sure either.

















Re: Learning to Joust - I wish I could say this was obtained in the lists but, alas, it was not. But it DOES fall under the category of Practical Experience Useful for Writing. Being in the market for a jousting mount, we drove a few hours north Monday night to see a black percheron/quarter horse mare. This horse, however, turned out to be the Spawn of Satan. We didn't see eye-to-eye and she let that fact be known once we got her into the arena. After bucking the saddle off, she dealt me a sound boot to the hip and proceeded to burn around the arena looking for A) a way out and B) an opportunity to have another go. Thankfully, our troupe leader is a very knowledgeable EMT and after deciding there were no broken bones/severed tendons/ruptured spleens, we were packed up, back into the car, and on our way home.

This was a useful experience because Maximilian had a similar horse-related leg injury around 1500. His was much worse than mine - it gave him a limp that he kept until his death. But without this, I wouldn't have thought about things like being forced to sleep uncomfortably on your back for nights on end or having to mount your horse from the offside since your left leg can't bear your weight. Being a restlessly active person myself, I can see how something like this would have frustrated him to no end.

Needless to say, I didn't buy the horse.