Past meets present in Renaissance Fair

Published 12:00 am Monday, November 29, 2004

Her reign may have ended more than 400 years ago, but Queen Elizabeth I visited Ohio this week where she kept subjects in line with royal orders to do the chicken dance.

Chesapeake Middle School's 12 Talented and Gifted (TAG) students sponsored their third annual Renaissance Fair on Monday and Tuesday. The event offered the school's fifth through eighth graders an up close and personal view of the period stretching from the 14th to the 16th Century.

For Hannah Huron, filling the famous monarch's shoes was exciting, albeit somewhat intimidating. She researched the queen's life in detail, gleaning information from her Social Studies class as well as from past "Elizabeths."

"It's really awesome," said Hannah, a 13-year-old eighth grader. "I do get a little nervous thinking I would say something wrong, but it's been really fun getting to do it. Last year when we did it (the fair), I was Joan of Arc and that was a small part. But this year, it's really big because I'm the Queen."

The event was a virtual who's who of the era. Elizabeth's father, King Henry VIII, made an appearance thanks to the talents of 13-year-old seventh grader Tony Brumfield, while ultimate Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci was portrayed by substitute teacher Louis Capaldini.

Da Vinci had some initial difficulty speaking in English after traveling a great distance over time and space, but adjusted in no time for his captivated audience.

"I'm a genius-I learn very quickly," he said in a heavy Italian dialect.

Meanwhile in Elizabeth's presence, many students got a taste of royal treatment. Upon pain of beheading, she commanded them to perform a variety of tasks including dancing like a chicken or marrying a fellow classmate for the day.

She also described her background in detail, including the soap opera-like behavior of her larger-than-life father who married six different women, of which two he executed while divorcing two others.

"My father eats a lot and has had many wives," Elizabeth said.

"Sounds like my dad," one of the students said laughing.

During the two-and-a-half hour event, students visited several Renaissance stations.

They could learn how to become a knight or see the interior of a 32 feet square castle with 8 feet high walls constructed for the fair by TAG students. There were also modern retellings of Shakespeare and information about family crests. To cap it off right, there was a jousting match at the end.

To fellow knights Graham Oberly and C.J. Vaughn, the age-old occupation had a lot to offer.

"They seemed interesting," said C.J, 13-year-old eighth grader. "They could face each other (in battle) and usually if you were a knight you were very wealthy, so that would have been cool."

TAG teacher Terry Morris said her students benefited from delving into the period because it forced them not only to learn about the character they portrayed, but what it must have been like for them at that time.

"For instance, Queen Elizabeth (Hannah) talks about her father having her mother killed," Morris said. "You know Henry VIII killed her mother, Anne Boleyn, when she (Elizabeth) was only three. So (Hannah) said, 'Gosh, that must have been really terrible for her.' "

So what did fellow students think of the Renaissance Fair?

"It's always great every year," said Desiree Huff, a 12-year-old seventh grader. "I mean, they work really hard to make sure we learn something,"

Her seventh grade classmates agreed and listed their favorite things about the fair.

"I liked the castle, cause it was fun," said 12-year-old Tesha Mattson. "I liked Leonardo da Vinci," said 13-year-old Michalyn Godfrey. "He was very interesting, how he talked and how he came here to America and he didn't know how to speak English until just a few days before he came here."