The Royal University of the Midrealm (RUM) was officially founded around the Spring of A.S. 22 (1988) to help communicate the vast amount of knowledge and expertise within the kingdom to its newer members. The first session of RUM was held November 12, 1988 (A.S. XXIII), hosted by the College of Grey Gargoyles and the Shire of Rokkehealdan at Noyes Hall on the campus of the University of Chicago. The second session was held February 25, 1989, hosted by the Marche of Tirnewydd in the Student Union on the campus of Ohio State University
In 1990, Mistress Claire Fitzwilliam was one of the first RUM Chancellors.
In the July 1991 edition of The Pale, Duchess Katherine of Sternfeld, the next RUM Chancellor, stated that the major purpose of the SCA has always been to provide a forum for learning about the Middle Ages and Renaissance. While this has proven successful in terms of individual research and recreation, dissemination of that research to others has not been easy… Fortunately, the University system already in place in other kingdoms filled this void and during the second reign of King Eliahu and Queen Elen, the Royal University of the Midrealm was chartered.
The functions of the University were to (1) create a forum for dissemination of information on the Middle Ages and Renaissance, (2) act as a place in which discussions of issues and practices within the Society can take place, and (3) pass on history and traditions of the Middle Kingdom.
At this time (in 1991), the University desired to sponsor three sessions per year (one session in the fall, the winter, and the spring). To better serve the populace, a rotational schedule of the regions was created, for the Board of Regents and Staff of the University to follow. During the 1990s, each region (Oaken, Constellation, Pentamere, and Midlands) and principality (Ealdomere and Northshield) had a RUM Regent. In addition to the RUM regents, there was the RUM Chancellor, Provost, Registrar, and Bursar. The Chancellor was the director of RUM, who reported directly to the Crown through written reports and attendance at Curia meetings. The Provost scheduled classes and organize each session with the local event stewards. The Registrar maintained records of who has attended and/or taught which classes. The Bursar handled all the financial records and reports.
The first Dean of the College of Martial Arts was Count William of Fairhaven (at the time, he was Sir William of Fairhaven). The idea was to bring combat arts into RUM to get more people to come. It worked! The first one was in Tree Girt Sea at the College around 1998. Duke Paul of Bellatrix, who had been King of the West 8 times, was the guest speaker. This particular event was very well attended. A short time later, a huge track of RUM classes in fighting from the College of Martial Arts was held in the Barony of Flaming Gryphon. Many of the greatest fighters in the kingdom were invited to come teach and let them name their classes. Duke Finn Herjolfsson taught “How to Kick Ass!” and “Total Domination Fighting”, Duke Palymar of the Two Baronies taught “Smashmouth Polearm”, and Duke Dag Thorgrimsson taught “Two Weapon for Non-Mutants”. Many other classes were taught by the best fighters. The fighting guest of honor was Duke Girth Oldecaste (the man who invented the Oldecastle style, which is still prevalent today). As a bonus, his wife, Duchess Sedalia (who was the Society Seneschal at that time), came with him. Over 400 people attended that RUM! Their Graces presided over a fantastic post revel that mostly was them telling stories and everyone being amazed. That’s largely how the College of Martial Arts came into being. It began with folks such as Sir William, Duke Finn, Duke Brannos O’Irongardail, and others traveling around the kingdom to teach fighting until there was a critical mass of interest. Events like Martial RUM come from those humble beginnings in the late 90s.
In the winter of 2000, to better meet the needs of the populace, RUM was revised and expanded. The intention was that these improvements would allow RUM to be the educational equivalent of the Tournaments of Chivalry. The regions began to take turns hosting these sessions, to make it easier for more people to include RUM in their long-term plans. RUM encouraged experts to teach away from their local groups, to help spread their expertise beyond individual regions.
Accordingly, RUM went through some major changes. Assisting the RUM Chancellor were the Deans of the individual colleges, who recruited teachers from around the kingdom in order to provide beginning, intermediate, and advanced classes in their specific areas at each RUM session. Originally, there were five colleges: the Administration College (to disseminate information to current and potential officers and hold classes in how the Society operates), the Martial Arts College (to incorporate meetings of the War College and classes on all the martial and martial-related activities, including armored combat, rapier combat, archery, equestrian, scouting and water-bearing), the History College (to investigate the history of pre-1600 Europe and related cultures), the Performing Arts and Letters College (to help to develop both group and individual entertainers, an understanding of their place within medieval cultures, and written scripts intended for performance), and the Fine Arts and Crafts College (to help the populace to create artifacts that increase our understanding of medieval culture and our enjoyment of the current Middle Ages).
By 2002, the office of Registrar no longer existed, a Web Minister had been added, and the College of Children had been created. By 2006, the Provost position had been removed, the History and Administration Colleges had been merged into one college, and the College of Children had been renamed the College of Youth Arts and Education. In 2015, the Fine Arts and Crafts College was divided into two colleges: the College of Textiles and Domestic Arts & Sciences and the College of Technological and Studio Arts & Sciences. In 2017, the College of Introductions and Experiments was created. In 2018, the job of Provost returned, the College of Youth Arts and Education was renamed to the College of Youth Education, and instead of the History and Administration College, there were two colleges: College of SCA Topics and College of Historic Topics. In 2019, the job of Librarian was added, College of Introductions and Experiments disappeared, and the Colleges of SCA Topics and Historic Topics had been merged into the College of SCA and Historic Topics.
When the pandemic started in 2020, RUM had to get creative to continue its education of the populace while everyone isolated at home. Virtual learning became a thing and the Royal University of the Midrealm YouTube Channel was born. The first video on the channel was live on March 31, 2020. The channel now hosts over 240 videos. By 2022, the Provost position disappeared again, along with the Webminister position. However, a new job appeared on the RUM staff, which was the Social Media Officer.
The Royal University of the Midrealm has seen its various changes throughout the decades, but has continued to be an educational beacon for the Middle Kingdom.
Information will be updated as needed