JULIANNA DE MONTAIGN
BARONESS OF RAGLAN
The Baroness of Raglan, Julianna de Montaign, of the role play community of Usk, an Earldom of England in the year 1313, is not the typical medieval lady. She is also in training for knighthood. de Montaign spoke about her title and her duties as Squire, “I am a Baroness because I chose to rent the Barony of Raglan. My role of Baroness is based on land ownership, which is accurate for the time period. My role of Squire to Dame Feid is that of a young noble in training for knighthood. “ “As a squire, my duties are to learn to participate in jousting, combat, and archery, and to learn the Code of Chivalry which knights in Usk are supposed to embody. I also carry out assignments which benefit the group, such as teaching a weekly archery class and, with my fellow squires, organizing some events for our upcoming faire. In Usk, one needs to work very hard to become a knight.” She explained, “In real life history, medieval women had roles that were extremely limited by their culture and religion. In Usk, though the role play is based on history, women don’t have the limitations which they did in actual history.” de Montaign went further to express that she enjoys exploring roles that a woman would not otherwise be able to explore. She does feel that one negative is that some role players view women as sex objects. “I’ve found this to be even more true in SL than in real life”, she said. In closing, de Montaign privileged Maniera magazine by sharing some insight that is quite personal, “In real life I have Acute Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and spend most of my time in a wheelchair. My physical activities, at which I once excelled, are now impossible for me to even attempt. In Second Life and through role play especially, I’m given the opportunity to do things which are impossible for me in real life. In fact, what first attracted me to SL was dancing, something I can no longer do in real life. My role play characters tend to be strong, competent women, who often have some physical problem to overcome. I wish I could say that my MS doesn’t affect my activities in SL. Unfortunately, it does, but not to the same degree that it does my real life. In SL you truly have the option of being anything you want to be and of doing anything you want to do. That is a kind of freedom that I do not enjoy in real life.”
54 | MANIERA | mymaniera.com
JULY/AUGUST 2013