Purpose of St. Ambrose
Faires & Activities
History of the Guild
The Guild Crest

urpose of St Ambrose. We are a Public Benefit Corporation with a non-profit status issued by the state and federal governments. As such our prime directive is to educate as well as entertain. To fill that goal we visit schools, clubs, and retirement residences and give demonstrations on the clothing and activities you would find in both Elizabethan and Victorian eras.

aires and Activities. St. Ambrose members are frequent participants in the “living history” programs of many communities and in their holiday celebrations. The guild holds meetings throughout the year to plan our events and to conduct the workshops needed for our presentations. These workshops are presented by our own knowledgable members. We teach new members the clothing, language, music and dance of the time period we are preparing for. We also schedule social events, such as Victorian ice cream socials, croquet parties, barbecues and picnics for the enjoyment of members, their friends and families.

istory of the Guild. Our group was formed 24 years ago and was originally known as St. Anthony’s Renaissance Society. It was organized and run by Aydele Place. In 1986 a formal board of directors was elected and the name was changed to St. Ambrose Acting Group two months later.

The focus of the group at that time was to simply establish a good reputation at “Northern Faire” (Held in Blackpoint Forest in Novato) so that we would be a desired element of the entertainment found at that faire. To that end we concentrated on honing our skills as improvisational actors and actresses, developing authentic costumes and believable characterizations of Elizabethan people. Our goal was to someday produce a Renaissance event of our own.

Both of these have been realized. We became the middle-class guild at “Big Faire” (St. Ives Guild) and had both the aldermen and the constables of The Shire within our group. We became known as the group that could be relied upon to carry out any activity that was needed and our costumes were known to be some of the best at Faire. Though St. Ives is no longer a guild at “Big Faire,” we are still there, still in major roles and still held in high regard.

In 1997 our goal of producing our own event came to pass. We produced the “Jack O’ the Green Renaissance Feire” at Chanslor Ranch in Bodega Bay. Due to circumstances beyond our control we were forced to skip holding our Feire in the following years.

he Guild Crest. Each symbol in our crest represents an aspect of our guild and its members.

Stag: This is the emblem of the guild, a visual pun of the acronym STAAG.
Knight’s helm: We are allowed to use the knight’s helm because the master of our guild, Sir Thomas Fludd, is a knight.
Chrysalis: This symbol of rebirth and change represents the old guild.
Butterfly: The new guild that has arisen
Bee: This represents industry, and thus the industrious nature of the guild and its members.
Beehive: The guild’s home.
Tudor rose: A symbol of the guild’s English members
Thistle: Represents Scots members
Ram’s head: The Faire.
Our motto: Ita voleurunt, ita factum est. “Thus they willed, thus it was done.”