Grasses and trees rustle gently on a breezy August afternoon. Sunlight glimmers off the river flowing through this scene. As the river approaches a populated area, farms begin to appear on either shore. The workmen in the fields stop in their labors to watch as a ship passes, its sails creaking in the wind. The Bright Dawn has returned from its voyage abroad. The year is 1035.
The owner and captain of the ship smiles at another successful journey. From humble beginnings as the son of a shipbuilder in the city of Ryazan', he had enlisted as a sailor for a Rus' trading firm, and had learned the rivers and trade routes from the Baltic to Byzantium. With some luck and hard work, he rose in the ranks and became owner of the firm. He now lived in Kiev, where he had a modest estate and influential customers. His name, however, still honored his father and his city of birth: Ivan Matfeevich Rezansky.
The shining gold cupolas of Kiev's churches guide the Bright Dawn toward the city. As the ship draws near its owner's estate, the household bustles to welcome the ship and its crew home....
Greetings! My name is John Beebe. Welcome to my webpage! Although I've worked in the software industry for the past 9+ years, this is my first experiment with webpage design. It's meant to provide a bit of information about me, and serve mainly as an online estate for the medieval "persona" I've adopted in the Society for Creative Anachronism, a group that studies the Middle Ages through reenactment.
Much like my medieval counterpart, I've lived in many places. My father was in the US Air Force when I was growing up, and we moved around about ever 4-6 years. I've lived all over the United States, from Alabama to California. After attending Air Academy High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, I moved to New Hampshire to attend Dartmouth College. There, I studied Russian, and was a very active member of Phi Tau coeducational fraternity. During my sophomore year, I spent a semester abroad studying in the Soviet Union at Leningrad State University (now St. Petersburg State), with side trips to Kiev, Novgorod, Tbilisi, Tallinn, and Moscow. This was my first trip abroad, and sealed my desire to get a degree in Russian. In 1993, I graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Russian Language and Literature.
After Dartmouth, I started grad school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the best Slavic programs in the country. In 1995 I got a Master's degree in Slavic Languages and Literatures. As part of this program, I studied Old Church Slavonic and medieval Russian literature, and became very interested in medieval Russian history and Russian folk literature. In 1995, I made my second study trip abroad, and studied Russian for a summer on the Black Sea at Odessa State Polytechnic.
Around 1996 I became disenchanted with the politics of academia when I realized that my interests were not "job market" material. Concerned I'd never be able to pay off my student loans, I decided to take a brief break from academics and started working at Epic Systems, a leader in software for the healthcare industry located in Madison, WI. Here, I learned all about the world of software quality assurance, and have been a software test professional ever since. Over time I became a supervisor and now manage a number of testers, but my favorite part of the job is evaluating changes that have been made to the software and verifying that it works correctly for our end users across the country and the world.
My wife Toni and I met about 11 years ago through mutual friends. We live in Madison, Wisconsin, and have two dogs. Flashy is a rescued ex-racing greyhound we adopted from the now closed Geneva Lakes greyhound racetrack. Oliver is a Springer Spaniel we adopted from the Dane County Humane Society. Click here for some fun pictures of our pets.
Around 1994, I discovered the Society for Creative Anachronism, a group which studies the Middle Ages through reenactment. The city of Madison has a large, active group known as the Barony of Jararvellir, which is part of the Kingdom of Northshield. Each person chooses a "persona" that suits their area and time of interest, which can be any time from 600-1600 AD. I chose a Russian persona from the height of Kievan Rus', just after the Russian conversion to Christianity in 988. At this time, the rivers of Russia were a prime route for trade between the Vikings in the north and the Byzantines and Persians in the south, and Kiev and the other Rus' city-states flourished as a result. In the first half of the 11th century, Yaroslav the Wise founded St. Sophia's Cathedral, to show Kiev's unity with the Byzantine emperors. Artisans from Byzantium helped with the construction of this Russian Hagia Sophia, bringing an influx of art and wealth into the region.
St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev
Within the SCA, I'm interested in Russian history, as well as a number of different arts, most notably embroidery, lampworking, and metalworking. My artisan gallery page will have pictures of some of my work.. I'm apprenticed to Bronwyn ferch Gwyn ap Rhys, Mistress of the Laurel and am a member of House Candlehaven. I've been recognized a few times by the Crown for my art and participation in the society:
- Award of Arms, Kingdom of the Midrealm, 1995
- Order of the Willow, Kingdom of the Midrealm, 2003
- Order of Bridget's Flame, Kingdom of Northshield, 2004
- Order of Alasdair's Lamp, Barony of Jararvellir, 2005
- Order of the Golden Scales, Barony of Jararvellir, 2005
Ivan, looking pensive
My wife Toni and I met in the SCA at an event in 1995. She's also a member of House Candlehaven, and plays as Lady Cwenthryth wine (pronounced "winna"), a 9th-10th century Anglo-Saxon. Cwen went to Rome with her family on pilgrimage, then returned to Britain where she served as retainer to Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians.
Toni is an active scribe for the Kingdom of Northshield, and is interested in calligraphy, bookbinding, tablet-weaving, and medieval baking. Some of her scribal work will eventually be available for viewing here.
Cwen and Ivan at Northshield's First Coronation, 2004
The Golden Gate of Kiev
- Home
- Ivan's Artwork
- Embroidery
- Metalworking
- Lampworking
- John and Toni's Pets
