The Re-Enactor Issue 51, May 2013
Website: www.historicgardener.co.uk
The walk will take place between April 28th & May 5th
Greetings All Welcome to issue 51 The re-enactment season is just about to really start here in the UK. We have had a few events including camping in -7 at Glastonbury over Easter but I think we have all warmed up a little now and we are all raring to go.
The Historic Gardener
Thank you to everyone for their contributions for this issue and to anyone reading this who has an article, report or story they would like to submit please do get in contact. The events list has grown so do take a look through and see what is happening near you, if you see that an event you know of isn’t in the list please let me have the details and I will be sure to add it. Please send all correspondence to the following email address:
Hard at work!
Features This Month 1: The Historic Gardener 2: Book Review-The Historical Novel Soc. 3: The M.H.S. Spring Conference 4: Jogo do Pau’s conceptualization 5: Military and Flying Machines Show 6: Event Information 7: Ratnoe Delo (Battle Skill) - 2012
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thereenactor@btinternet.com Competitions: All competitions are free to enter Winners will be selected at random on the 24th of each month for the relevant competition. Winners will be notified via email shortly after the draw takes place. No correspondence will be entered into. The editor’s decision is final. The views and opinions expressed in the articles in this ezine are those of the individual authors themselves and not those of the Editor
Note: If you have any questions queries thoughts or ideas for and about the magazine please do feel free to contact me and we can discuss them. A Correction: In last month’s article on The Crabchurch Conspiracy-Anyone interested in taking part in future events is asked to refer to: http://theportlandgarrison.weebly.com
HISTORIC GARDENING Many re-enactors take the part of the military, and from experience I know that this is very exhilarating and rewarding, but throughout history somebody has to stay at home to either support the war or to keep the home fires burning. The wealthy have always needed gardens for food, but they could also afford the luxury of a pleasant garden to relax in. The poor have had to garden simply to exist. What follows is a very brief history of gardening in Britain. If you believe the Bible, gardening is the oldest profession, except Adam wasn’t paid, setting a precedent for low paid gardeners for centuries to come. Most of European gardening is based on the Roman methods and many things are still in use today. Modern gardening tools are the same as the ones the Romans used: spades, mattocks, rakes and pruning knives. One piece of equipment that the Romans did not use however was the wheelbarrow. The Romans used baskets to carry garden produce and materials, although they could use handcarts for bulky and heavy materials. The Romans grew plants in raised beds, created topiary by cutting evergreen shrubs into different shapes and made use of water technologies that would not be used in gardens again in Europe until the Renaissance. The Romans seem to be responsible for the idea of writing gardening books. Several authors, such as Cato, Columella, Varro and Palladius wrote books on how to set up an estate and run it profitably, including instructions on how to set out, plant and maintain a garden. The plants that were grown came from the Mediterranean and from all over the Roman Empire. This included plants for food plants, scented resins and oils for perfumery, burning and of course medicinal use. Many of the herbal recipes that we still use today were copied from the Greeks and Romans. Wine was very important to the Romans and vines were grown throughout the Empire, including England. Archaeologists discovered a Roman Vineyard at Wollaston in Northants. The grape vines had been planted in trenches faced with stone to reflect the heat to encourage ripening of the grapes. We are lucky that we have not only the archaeological remains of Roman gardens, but also written and pictorial evidence of them. At Pompeii some gardens have Trompe l'oeil paintings on the surviving walls depicting non-existent areas of the gardens or of views looking outside, that there were not the space for in reality. The virtual world is not just a modern phenomenon! Pruning the grape vines
Archaeological remains stretch across the Roman world, including a site at Piddington, close to where I live, where the archaeologists found the remains of planting areas, a water cistern and even tree roots. One gardener had broken his spud, a long handled tool, leaving the metal head for the archaeologists to find in the future. A much larger site is Fishbourne Palace, near Chichester. The soil at Fishbourne was mainly chalk, which is not very good for most plants, so the Romans dug out trenches where the hedges were to be planted and filled them with good topsoil. From the remains it has been possible to plant new hedges along the same lines, but of course, what we don’t know is how tall the edges where or how the tops were cut. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, gardening was mainly kept alive by the monks, who still had access to Roman documents. Charlemagne drew up a document called ‘The Capituare de Villis’ which sets out how he wants his estates run. It includes a list of plants, but it is only a list. Unlike us, the people of the time were quite aware of the uses of
the plants. The Capitulare includes plants that we now mostly consider decorative, such as the Lily, Iris and Rose, but they were all grown for practical reasons as much as for decoration. Walafrid Strabo wrote a book, ‘Hortulus’, The Little Garden, during the ninth century. He tells us in verse how he set out to make a garden, firstly by digging up the weeds and then making raised beds. He lists 28 plants and includes medicinal and symbolic information about them. Albertus Magnus wrote an encyclopaedia on Nature that includes a description of a garden. Flower beds should be made around the edge of the lawn. There should be a bench with a tree for shade and a fountain or basin of water. The plants are for pleasure and were not to be harvested. Albertus also includes a description on how to lay turf that involves beating the turf into the soil using large wooden mallets until the grass barely shows. Medieval gardens continued to grow plants in raised beds but some of them were adapted to become turf seats planted with roses. Although herbals continue to be compiled, the first gardening book written in English has to wait for a few more centuries. Jon Gardener, writing in the late 14C, compiled a gardening calendar in verse, which is usually referred to as ‘The Feate of Gardening’. Whether he was a real person, or is using a pen name to add authenticity to the writing, we cannot be sure. Many books say that his poem is a useful insight into medieval gardening. Jon does tell us about grafting plants in great detail and includes a list of herbs that he grows, but unfortunately, that is about it. The garden tools were still those used by the Romans, including the wooden spade. In Italy Pietro de Crecenzi wrote Liber Ruraliam Commodorum, during the early fourteenth century. He refers to Roman authors but also quotes The Arab, Avicenna. His book follows the roman estate manuals and offers very sound advice. He mentions the use of hot beds made of dung to produce early crops, a practice that would not become common in England for a few centuries. His book has been translated into many languages, but unfortunately, not English. With the advent of printing the mass production of books for the general reader becomes possible. In 1563 Thomas Hill published a book aimed at those with a small manor to maintain and make productive, ‘The profitable arte of gardening. A most briefe and pleasaunte treatise, teaching how to dresse, sowe, and set a garden’. The instructions include choosing the site of the garden and examples of decorative knots to set out using thyme and hyssop. Box would not become common as an edging plant until the mid 1600’s. Imported plants from America are becoming common, although the herbalist Gerard was often at a loss with their usefulness and grow them because they were pretty or interesting. This is the first proper book about gardening published in England. Under the pen name of Didymus Montain, Hill later published ‘The Gardener’s Labyrinth’ in 1577. Both books are based on the work of earlier authors, especially the Roman ones mentioned earlier. Today this is often called plagiarism and frowned on, but Hill’s intention was to show his own scholarship and to prove the value of his work. Many books on differing subjects would follow the same reference to antiquity and the classical authors. Hill is not ashamed to name the ancient authors to whom he has referred and lists them prominently at the front of his book. In both books Hill gives us the sort of practical information that we expect from a gardening book today, but there is also an abundance of myth, magic and pure rubbish that has been copied from the ‘ancient authorities’ of Rome. A practical
tip is killing moles by filling a nut shell with sulphur, lighting the sulphur and throwing the toxic smoke bomb into the mole run. The sulphur di oxide gas would have certainly killed the moles, but it is not a method that we can legally use today. There is a large section devoted to the use of the plants Hill includes a chapter on the weather. Here is an appropriate quote referring to our recent weather. ‘ And the plenty of snow falling in due season of the yeare dooth fatten the earth, (and if the others doe helpe) then dooth it it signifie the plenty of corne and other fruites of the earth.’ Maybe we shall have a good summer in 2013... Ever since Thomas Hill, gardening books have been published in great profusion on every horticultural subject imaginable to instruct gardeners in this peaceful art. But gardens for pleasure were often symbolic of power and wealth. The restructuring of the landscape from a wilderness into a formal layout displays your power over nature. If you want others to see you as the strong hero, make sure there is a statue of Hercules in your garden. If you prefer art, then maybe a statue of Apollo is more suitable. At Stowe Gardens there is a theme is of political and moral virtue; not so far away at Wycombe Park, the home of the Hellfire Club, it is more of sex and debauchery. Formal gardens remain in fashion until the English gentlemen returning from their gap years of the ‘Grand Tour’, when they had visited the cultural ancient sites of Europe, decided they wanted a classical rural idyll, an Arcadia of temples and natural lakes populated with gods, nymphs and shepherdesses surrounding their country houses. The English Landscape Garden swept away the formal gardens in favour of an extended lawn. The browsing sheep gave an air of peace and idleness, but of course you don’t want sheep muck on the lawn in front of your house, so you needed a Ha-Ha to keep them at arm’s length. The sheep kept the grass trim, saving the payment of labourers to scythe it short and they also provided wool and meat; what more could you ask for? But the English love their flowers, so it was not so long before the formal terraces returned to encircle the house and with the growth of the British Empire and the abolition of the window tax flowers returned with a vengeance. The landed gentry and the nouveau riche industrialists created ever larger gardens bursting to the seams with colourful flowers, exotic fruit and an endless supply of vegetables as growing methods developed to extend the growing season, any new technology being exploited where ever possible. The gardens were powered by glasshouses heated with coal fired boilers and a cheap supply of manual labour. The workers had their own hierarchy, ranging from apprentices learning the trade by scaring birds and washing the pots, to the journeymen who moved from garden to garden as they learned about different horticultural specialities, finally resulting with the prestigious job of Head Gardener, which took years of training - at your own expense! The working gardener’s lot has never been an easy, nor prosperous one. It has always involved heavy physical labour and with the introduction of the lethal pesticides during the Victorian period it could be the pathway to an early death. As Kipling would later write:
‘Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made By singing:--"Oh, how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade, While better men than we go out and start their working lives At grubbing weeds from gravel-paths with broken dinner-knives’. During WW2, the gardeners of Britain would be digging up these gardens and parks to produce food, supported by the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign. “Dig! Dig! Dig! And your muscles will grow big Keep on pushing the spade Don’t mind the worms Just ignore their squirms And when your back aches laugh with glee And keep on diggin’ Till we give our foes a Wiggin’ Dig! Dig! Dig! to Victory" For all the terrors that the front line soldiers suffered, if Hitler had succeeded in starving the country he would have won the war. For many years I have been a professional gardener within the heritage sector, originally the medieval period, and during this time I have learned much of the use of plants and gardening techniques throughout the centuries. I now offer displays for historic sites and schools and talks on gardening from the Romans to the WW2 ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign.
Contact the Historic Gardener: Phone: 01604 470 651 Email: michaelbmike@gmail.com Website: www.historicgardener.co.uk COME & MAKE A HISTORICAL COSTUME with Chalemie in Oxford 13-18 August 2013 Contact Barbara Segal, info & brochure: 020 7700 4293 chalemie@thorn.demon.co.uk www.chalemie.co.uk Other courses in Baroque Dance, Commedia, Singing and Instrumental Music Fees: £545 for full board and tuition (financial help available, age immaterial)
THE DEADLY SISTERHOOD BY LEONIE FRIEDA
After her much lauded biography of Catherine de’ Medici, Frieda has shifted her chronological focus back a few years and broadened it to a cast of eight formidable 15thcentury women. Some were related by blood (like the sisters Beatrice and Isabella d’Este), others by marriage (like Lucrezia Tornabuoni, mother of Lorenzo and Giuliano de’Medici, and her daughter-in-law, the Roman aristocrat Clarice Orsini), but all were renowned either as beauties – particularly Lucrezia Borgia and Giulia Farnese – political brides (like Isabella d’Aragona), or viragos like Caterina Sforza. Frieda’s skill lies not so much in having researched these eight women’s lives – some of whom have been the subject of recent, often revisionist research – but in linking them to form a saga spanning an extraordinarily complex and dynamic period of history in the Italian peninsula with its patchwork of major and minor city-states and principalities ruled – apparently, as Frieda adds – by men. As Burckhardt first pointed out, this was the golden age of bastards in Italy, where men and women born on either side of the marriage vows could seize political control and ride the crested waves of Fortune. This libidinous, opportunistic age ended dramatically in the horrific violence of the Sack of Rome, and the years that followed it ushered in a stricter sense of legitimacy – of birth, nationality and religion – but many of the women who became influential in it were descended from these extraordinary 15th-century women whose lives are charted so magnificently here.
For other great reviews visit: http://historicalnovelsociety.org/
Jogo do Pau’s conceptualization An historical and sociological analysis My name is Luís Preto. After completing an undergrad in physical education and two masters, one in sports’ teaching methodologies and another in coaching sciences, I am now 34 years old and with 25 years of martial arts experience, which includes 16 years of exposure to Jogo do Pau. First premise To start off it is important to realize that my understanding of the word fencing is that it refers to any activity in which an object external to one’s body is used to perform strikes and parries. Additionally, in light of the innumerable and physically distinct fencing weapons around, each weapon’s specific physical traits and combat tactics entail that there are different “types” of fencing. Overall view on European martial arts I am going to start this historical and sociological conceptualization of Jogo do Pau by describing my overall systematization of European fencing arts. In this regard, I find that European historical fencing arts can be systematized into 3 main categories, according to the contextual circumstances under which combats took place, and its resulting weapons and tactics: 1) Bashing weapons’ battlefield period As a result of many countries’ efforts to extend their territory, such as what took place in Portugal between the XII and XIV centuries, European fencing’s first period was centred around the participation in battlefields. In Portugal, such activity brought about “extralong swords” that were mostly blunt. These “extra-long” swords, like the Montante, were at least 1,5m long so as to enable their users to have the maximum possible reach. Additionally, they also had to be significantly thick, and thus heavy, so as to sustain strikes from any type of weapon, from swords to steal pools. Finally, on top of having to face multiple opponents at the same time, battlefield combat also entailed facing opponents who wore both chainmail and body armour. Therefore, combatants didn’t waste time sharpening their weapons and were forced to rely on powerful bashing striking techniques. 2) Cutting weapons’ duelling period Later, with the creation of firearms, long swords began being used for leisure and, with
this taking place in fencing schools where fighters did not use much, if any, body armour, swords became sharper and sparring incorporated softer slashing striking techniques. 3) Thrusting weapons’ duelling period Finally, the further development of duelling under an increasingly stricter code of honour assured that combatants wouldn't have to face heavy weapons such as steal pools, which allowed for the development of thinner swords such as the rapier. This new duelling context and its resulting new weapon promoted the restructuring of single combat tactics, centring it on the fastest of all striking techniques, the thrust. My personal opinion is that none of these fencing styles is better than the remaining ones. As martial arts, their usefulness depends on the context under which each person is forced to fight for survival and, as recreational leisure activities, it simply depends on each person’s personal preference. Now, using this overall systematization as reference, let us dive into the specific theme of Jogo do Pau. Jogo do Pau Jogo do Pau, which literally means “game of the staff”, is starting to become more well known internationally and, for the most part, people view it as a Portuguese staff fencing art. However, having researched this topic beyond a standard internet search, I disagree with both these attributes. On being a staff (exclusive) fencing art ... Portuguese King D. Duarte describes, in his XV century book “A ensinança de bem cavalgar toda a sela” (available in English under the name “The art of riding on every saddle”), the striking techniques that can be performed with swords. It so happens that, both the strikes’ names and the description of their trajectories correspond to Jogo do Pau’s terminology and striking angles. Furthermore, since the King’s brief description of outnumbered combat tactics also matches Jogo do Pau’s, we consider that Jogo do Pau corresponds to the first period of battlefield fencing system. We believe that these combat skills (techniques and tactics) were, historically, performed with both “extra-long” swords and staffs but, upon having swords being replaced in the military by firearms, this art ended up being preserved by civilians through the exclusive use of staffs, since these were the only weapons most people could afford.
On being a Portuguese (exclusive) art ... Before the more recent development of the combat sport Canne de Combat, France also used to have its own “staff fencing” art. It so happens that this French art had exactly the same name as the “Portuguese art”, only in French, obviously! It was Le Jeux du Baton. My Jogo do Pau instructor, Master Nuno Curvello Russo, who is regarded as the most experienced and knowledgeable Jogo do Pau instructor in Portugal, lived in France during the seventies. While there, he met Maurice Sarry who, like Master Russo, had dedicated himself to the extensive study of his country’s traditional fighting art and was highly regarded on a national level.
As these two great Masters got acquainted with one another, they started training together and soon realized their arts were identical regarding their single combat techniques: strikes, parries and footwork. I specifically pointed out that I am referring to single combat technique because, at the time, the French art had become exclusively focused on this type of combat, similarly to what also occurred within the Portuguese urban industrial cities, where the practice of Jogo do Pau was undertaken as a leisure activity and, therefore, exclusively focused on single combat.
Thus, with Jogo do Pau and Jeux du Baton being identical, and knowing that European countries interacted both socially (such as through royal marriages) and commercially, it is all but surprising to realize that they also developed a common standardized combat art. Hence, Jogo do Pau corresponds to the preservation of European historical fencing and not merely a Portuguese specific art.
I do not wish to sound, even if for just for a second, disrespectful towards other European combat schools of thought, such as the German and Italian. They are also European Historical Fencing, but simply from a different period and context, more specifically, from the second period mentioned at the start of this article. On the parallel between society’s evolution and Jogo do Pau’s motor skills ... Double handed weapons From its very first days mankind has always had the need to hunt for food, as well as fight other human beings in large groups, so as to protect and / or conquer both assets and territory. Consequently, with martial arts’ origin and essence residing in the development of effective
skills for outnumbered combat, Jogo do Pau was no exception, which made it useful to both civilians and the country’s army. Additionally, since people lived in rural environments (where space wasn’t lacking) and, with striking arts being highly influenced by reach, this art was initially focused on the exclusive use of long double handed weapons: the extra long swords amongst the military and the staffs amongst civilians. Surely enough, some social conflicts did end up being settled through duels but, with people’s standard training being focused on outnumbered combat, these duels were fought by looking to make the best possible use of the commonly trained outnumbered combat skills. Only towards to eighteenth century, with the development of industrial cities, did Jogo do Pau begin being practiced as a leisure activity within these few cities. Eventually, the connection between these two forms of combat, single and outnumbered combat, and their distinct social realities, became so strong that the practice of outnumbered combat started being designated as “north’s game”, where it kept being practitioners’ main focus until the later stages of the twentieth century. On the other hand, the more recent leisure type practice groups, which focused on the art’s single combat recreational version, brought about new techniques and strategies to this type combat and began being called Lisbon’s school. From the early 1970’s onward, Master Nuno Russo, originally trained in Master Pedro Ferreira’s Lisbon school, routinely travelled to the north of Portugal for long seasons in order to learn the art’s system of outnumbered combat. Ultimately, Master Russo was able to combine both systems into one single and unified technical program which, to my knowledge, is the only of its kind. Single handed weapons Nevertheless, people living in industrial cities were also confronted by self defence scenarios. Given this, and keeping alive the art’s original essence, Master Nuno Russo picked up on Master Pedro Ferreira’s initial efforts and adopted some more city type weapons: the walking cane and the baton. He extensively studied the art’s application to these shorter one handed weapons, making his school a very unique and complete system that offers both double and single handed weapon mastery for both outnumbered and single combat. Currently, Master Russo’s school is called Escola Santo Condestável, in memory of Portuguese medieval legendary knight Nuno Álvares Pereira (1360-1431), who was officially declared saint by the current Pope on April 26th, 2009. From Jogo do Pau to Lusitanian Fencing
Last, but surely not least, the previously mentioned elements allow us to conclude that the art’s designation, Jogo do Pau, is incorrect, as this art is not staff exclusive and by no means a game. This medieval fencing art’s designation probably came about as a result of having been preserved through staffs and, additionally, having, in ancient Portuguese, the verb “jogar” (to play) being used to designate the action of throwing something. Consequently, the skill of knowing how to swing and kind of throw the staff against an opponent (jogar o pau) paved the way for the art to be called Jogo do Pau. With the art’s name being incorrect, and despite being aware of the difficult task that we face in changing popular culture, we decided to do something about it. Were this to be a staff specific fencing art, its correct name would have been staff fencing (Esgrima de Pau) but, knowing of its historical and technical connection to medieval weapons, we opted to rename the art as Esgrima Lusitana (Lusitanian Fenicng), which also serves as a well deserved tribute to our country’s forefathers, the brave Lusitanian people whom the Romans only managed to subdue through treachery.
Military & Flying Machines Show www.militaryandflyingmachines.org.uk
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Welcome Back Sally B! The Military & Flying Machines Team are so excited and pleased to be able to confirm some very special news for the 2013 show at Damyns Hall Aerodrome. Due to public rd th th demand we are expanding our show to a three day event, taking place on 3 , 4 and 5 August, with more attractions, more vehicles, more flying and more big bangs. This year we are delighted to welcome back the fantastic WW2 vintage B-17 Flying Fortress Bomber ‘Sally B’, the last remaining airworthy B-17 in Europe! It quickly took on mythic proportions, and widely circulated stories and photos of B-17s surviving battle damage increased its iconic status. The B17 could fly higher than any of its Allied contemporaries and established its place in history, dropping more bombs than any other U.S. aircraft in World War II. The Sally B has featured in many feature films, most notably the blockbuster film "Memphis Belle". It will again amaze the crowds with low level displays as this truly historic aircraft is put through its paces. “Sally B” has always in the past performed the most amazing air display at Damyns Hall, especially as the aerodrome is fairly small, when this almighty warbird fly’s past it feels like you can reach out and touch it, it is a display that cannot be missed! If Warbirds are of interest to you, then you will be in for a big treat at this year’s show with a superb display from the magnificent Spitfire the iconic shape and unmistakeable noise stir the imagination and the emotion of all that watch. We also welcome the Hurricane “Hurribomber” a first for our show (MORE ON HURRBOMBER). The WW2 fighter trainers – the Harvard T6 single-engine advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces, United States Navy, Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1950s and the Boeing Stearman, the work horses of the training airfield which were used to train many Battle of Britain heroes – will also join the line up to entertain the crowds. The incomparable Jungmeister will also be displaying demonstrating its flying versatility. A rare Messerschmitt 108, another classic WW2 aircraft from the German Luftwaffe. The ME108 will also form part of a Living History static display on the ground. Many of the aircrafts will be landing as well over the weekend, so it is a fabulous rare opportunity to get up close. As well as all this there will be so much more to see whilst your there admiring the sights and sounds in the skies including helicopter pleasure flights, along with 300+ military vehicles, living history displays, live entertainment all day, arena activities, including big bangs and even bigger vehicles! Kids’ activities, vintage funfair, refreshments, stalls – there truly is something for everyone and at great value for money! We’ve got more exciting news coming very soon – so watch this space for the next BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!! For the latest updates on the show visit www.militaryandflyingmachines.org.uk
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Event Information May 4th – 6th Bentley Medieval Festival, Lewes, east Sussex, UK mark@time-productions.com 4th – 6th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament at Blenheim Palace, , UK http://www.blenheimpalace.com/ 5th & 6th “Rogues & Outlaws” Sherwood Forest, UK Office@Plantagenet-Events.com 10th – 12th British Quarterstaff Association weekend in Gloucestershire, UK. http://quarterstaff.org/events.html 11th The Mortimer History Society Spring Conference, Leominster, UK www.mortimerhistorysociety.org.uk 11th & 12th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament at Ekenas Castle, Sweden http://www.ekenasslott.se/ May 11th & 12th: A Victorian Celebration, Forge Mill Needle Museum, Redditch. UK www.eventplan.co.uk or www.facebook.com/EventplanUK May 25th & 26th: Tall Ships ’13, Gloucester Historic Docks. Ships, maritime living history www.eventplan.co.uk or www.facebook.com/EventplanUK May 26th & 27th: Harewood Medieval Faire, Harewood House, Leeds. 2nd major annual "multi-period medieval" festival with 1066 to 1487 timeline. www.eventplan.co.uk or www.facebook.com/EventplanUK 26th – 28th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament at Hedingham Castle, UK http://www.hedinghamcastle.co.uk/ May 28th June 1st Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Leeds Castle, UK http://www.leeds-castle.com/land.php
June 1st & 2nd Templecombe Medieval fair, Templecombe, UK https://www.facebook.com/events/300657233387495/ 8th & 9th History Alive. Fort Lytton National Park, Brisbane, Australia www.historyalive.co..au
15th & 16th Gloucester Medieval Play Festival, UK www.glostheatre.co.uk 15th & 16th Tatton Park Old Hall Medieval fayre, UK Office@Plantagenet-Events.com 21st – 23rd Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Cardiff Castle, Wales http://www.cardiffcastle.com/ 21st – 23rd Times & Epochs, Moscow, Russia http://www.facebook.com/historyfest?ref=ts&fref=ts
29th & 30th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Linlithgow Palace, Scotland http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/propertyresults/propertyoverview.htm?PropID=PL_199&PropName=Linlithgow%20Palace
July 5th – 7th LARP Camp, Huntley Wood, Staffordshire, UK www.larpcamp.co.uk 6th & 7th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Linlithgow Palace, Scotland http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/propertyresults/propertyoverview.htm?PropID=PL_199&PropName=Linlithgow%20Palace
13th & 14th The Battle of Tewkesbury, UK http://www.tewkesburymedievalfestival.org/ 13th & 14th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Hever Castle, UK http://www.hevercastle.co.uk/ 20th & 21st Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Hever Castle, UK http://www.hevercastle.co.uk/ 26th – 28th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Hever Castle, UK http://www.hevercastle.co.uk/ 27th & 28th Berkeley Skirmish, Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, UK Office@Plantagenet-Events.com 27th & 28th Smugglers Island, Appuldurcombe House, I.O.W. UK Email: ednash.1993@hotmail.co.uk July 27th & 28th: Hughenden’s Victorian Weekend, Hughenden Manor, Buckinghamshire. www.eventplan.co.uk or www.facebook.com/EventplanUK 27th & 28th Slaughterbridge Camlann Life and Legend, Camelford, Cornwall, UK heburbeck@gmaiI.c0m
August 2nd – 4th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Blenheim Palace, UK http://www.blenheimpalace.com/ 3rd & 4thThe Midlands Festival of History, UK http://www.mid-fest.co.uk 3rd & 4th The Loxwood Joust, Loxwood Meadow, RH14 0AL, UK www.loxwoodjoust.co.uk 9th – 11th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Hever Castle, UK http://www.hevercastle.co.uk/ 16th – 18th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Hever Castle, UK http://www.hevercastle.co.uk/ 17th & 18th Scotlands Festival of History, Chatelherault, Scotland www.scotlandsfestivalofhistory.co.uk 17th & 18th M5-Multi Period Re-enactment Weekend, Spetchley Park, Worcs UK Website – www.m5show.co.uk 23rd & 24th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Hever Castle, UK http://www.hevercastle.co.uk/ 25th & 26th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Hedingham Castle, UK http://www.hedinghamcastle.co.uk/ 25th & 26th The Sheffield Fayre, Norfolk Heritage Park, Sheffield. www.eventplan.co,.uk or www.facebook.com/EventplanUK August 31st & September 1st: On the Home Front 1939-45, Rufford Abbey Country Park, Notts. Annual 1940s show. www.eventplan.co.uk or www.facebook.com/EventplanUK
September 12th & 13th Bexbach 1474 Call To Arms www.1474.eu 14th & 15th The Battle of Mortimer’s Cross, Hampton Court Castle, Herefordshire. www.mortimerscross.co.uk September 21st & 22nd: Wimpole at War, The Wimpole Estate, Cambridgeshire. Annual 1940s event. www.eventplan.co.uk or www.facebook.com/EventplanUK September 28th & 29th: Sherwood through the ages, Sherwood Forest. Annual Ancient to 1980s multi-period event. www.eventplan.co.uk or www.facebook.com/EventplanUK
October October 5th & 6th: Hughenden’s Wartime Weekend, Hughenden Manor, Bucks. Annual 1940s event. www.eventplan.co.uk or www.facebook.com/EventplanUK 12th & 13th International Events of Historical Crafts (EIAH) Portugal Email: artesanatocomhistoria@gmail.com
November 15th-17th The Original Re-Enactors Market, Ryton on Dunsmore, Coventry, UK www.reenactorsmarket.co.uk 16th & 17th The National Living History Fair www.nlhf.co.uk 23rd & 24th The Ludlow Medieval Christmas Fair, Ludlow Castle, Shropshire http://www.ludlowcastle.com/pages/events.aspx
Living History Festival “Ratnoe Delo (Battle Skill) - 2012” By Nikolai Chebotarev 3 September 2012 Translated by Inna Drabkina At last I’ve got to my computer to tell you about the festival "Ratnoe Delo-2012". For us, host living history societies ("Legend", "Russian Village", "The Flemings"), this was the main event of the year. I am sure that our true friends from Samara and the Krasnoyarsky district, where the action unfolded, found it a most pleasurable and interesting event, too. Catching my breath after the festival, I decided to take up the pen to commemorate the events of the festival together with our photographers.
100 Dyed-in-the-Wool Re-Enactors The festival focuses on the confrontation of the Russian warriors and the West-European knights of the 13th century. The 13th century was a dramatic one for the Medieval Rus; it was the age of the Mongol invasion, but it was also the age of contact and conflict of the Western Europe and the principalities of the north-west of Russia. The special appeal of the festival was its “authenticity” focus. In the first place, only those societies that had top-quality historical costumes, military equipment, household utensils were admitted to the festival. Secondly, all these things had to be exact replicas of the 13 th century ones.
The photographers couldn’t get all the re-enactors in frame. As it turned out, it is not easy to gather in one place one hundred dyed-in-the-wool “authentic� re-enactors, but we coped with the task. The geography of the festival participants ranges from Bryansk in Russia to Yokohama in Japan. Yes, you heard right. Yokohama. A year ago, a Japanese guy, Utah Iwasaki, came to Russia to see our festival. He was fascinated by the idea of living history and historical re-enactment, he told us that in the Land of the Rising Sun there were no amateur re-enactors, only professional actors playing their parts in public shows. This time he is taking to Japan not just photos from the festival, but also a chain mail Halberk - the one in the photo.
“I’m going to show the chain mail and the photos to my father. I think he will be very much impressed. And then I’ll show them to my friends and colleagues at work, maybe next time there will be several of us coming.” And who could expect that Utah would meet his compatriots amidst our steppes! “There were 2 boys from Japan. They come from a mixed Russian-Japanese family, and they live in Tokyo. They came to Samara on a visit to their granddad, and that’s how we met at the festival.” All the participants were divided into two rivaling parties– the East and the West. A small rivulet separated their camps. The contest between the parties was the main intrigue of the festival.
The first two days - Friday and Saturday - were the time for the re-enactors’ master classes, seminars and sharing their findings and ideas with each other. The participant societies prepared an extensive program, including a master class in long sword and bastard sword fencing.
The wooden models of swords in the hands of the guys are the same as those used for practicing many years ago. All the fencing movements that Mikhail Manin and Artem Rumyantsev showed were taken from medieval fencing manuals - fechtbucher. The earliest fencing manual known as Manuscript I.33 dates from about the year 1295 and shows techniques of fencing with a sword and a small round shield (buckler). It goes without saying that the program on Friday and Saturday was rich - tournaments, maneuvers on rough terrain, etc. All the participants received a lot of adrenaline and fun.
Battering the palisade of the European camp with a ram
Alex Bogatikov, a Samara “Legend� novice, says: "This is my first time at the living history festival, and I am really enjoying it; a lot of people and a lot of fun. Thanks for the nice impressions of the festival, thanks to the guys from other living history societies - I expected struggle and rivalry at the spear tournament, but it turned out to be great fun, a real adrenaline rush! All the re-enactors are friends, they cheer each other and are very careful not to hurt their adversaries - it's cool, guys." And the winners were duly rewarded.
Photo link: http://vk.com/albums-30578984?z=photo-30578984_288268662%2Fphotos30578984 For the victory of their fighters in an event, the factions got points. The total score determined the winner who got the honorary right to raise the banner of the festival on the tourists’ day. This time the winner was the East. Therefore, the right to hoist the flag of the festival on August19, during the solemn opening ceremony for the tourists, passed to the re-enactors of the Medieval Rus.
The very festival field over which the scarlet banner flew seemed to be meant for such activities. "The place is just gorgeous!” - our spectator Natalia Kuznetsova says. – “The sweet smell of wild strawberries, the bridge over the river, the undulating hills… Unforgettable." And from the practical point of view the place was ideal, too. First of all, the federal highway to Ulyanovsk runs next to the festival field, and there’s a village with a cheerful name of Stary Booyan (which in Russian sounds exactly the same as ‘Old Brawler’) nearby. Secondly, the festival meadow is separated from the road and other marks of the modern civilization by a copse, which accounted for the effect of a real time travel. The secrets of the medieval handicrafts After the opening of the festival a dynamic and rich program unfolded. Potters Maxim and Elena Borisov (society "Mir masterov (World of Masters)", Samara) showed everyone who wished so the basics of working with clay. Classes turned out to be very exciting - the potters could not complain about the lack of public interest. Their workshop was thronged.
While the enthusiasts at the market were molding clay, women of fashion and glamour gathered in the Western camp. Kate Aristova from the Moscow living history club "Legend" (full namesake of the Samara host society) spoke about makeup in the Middle Ages.
According to her, even now, in the age of Oriflame and Amway, the recipes that originated eight hundred years ago can be of great interest to modern beauties, as they are environmentally friendly and work miracles with the skin.
How to become a sergeant While the women were buzzing and fussing about their jars of cream and bottles of scent, true men displayed their battle skill. On the eve of the battle Greg, a fighter from "The Flemings", had to prove that he was ready to become a sergeant. One doesn’t get promotion for a song, and Greg, challenged by experienced combatants, had to fight each of them in turn. The task was to remain standing, and he coped with it.
After the duels ended, “The Flemings” commander, Walter, asked the warriors’ opinion of Greg. "I have known Greg for a very long time,” raised his voice the Samara Legend’s commander Alexei Romanov. – “We fought with him side by side, and we also met on the battle-field as adversaries. And I believe that Greg is truly worthy of the rank of sergeant. " After the duels and this praise the case was decided. The commander of "The Flemings" with due ceremony promoted Greg to sergeant. Clash of armour This was followed by duels (sword – buckler, sword - shield, spears), and finally group battles. Before the fight opponents egged each other on as best they could ...
... And then rushed into battle:
After which there happened something of the sort:
Several group fights, tough but fair, ended in a most amicable way. See for yourself:
After the fights the spectators spilled out into the field - everyone wanted to be photographed with the warriors. Sometimes the result was pretty funny:
Fair maidens' prowess and singing arrows Then came the turn of the women's tournament, where fair maidens competed showing their feminine prowess. To begin with, they competed in throwing rolling pins into the target - of course, strength and accuracy were of utmost importance. A very useful skill in family life, they say. And then the ladies took their husbands' battle axes and chopped cabbage with them, and in general, displayed their prowess in the skills of “keeping the home fires burning�:
Then the archers stepped on the scene. The prize was contested by European infantrymen, the Mongol batyrs, and, of course, by Russian warriors:
Photo link: http://vk.com/photo-30578984_288494144
Moreover, women competed alongside with men:
In the end, the prize went to the well-known local marksman Mikhail Manin (Novokuibyshevsk), winner of last year's tournament.
Medieval Jousting contest Shortly after the tournament the mounted display "Medieval Jousting" was announced. This was a series of trials in which riders competed in various military disciplines. Let me first introduce the participants:
Left to right - Master of the Knights Hospitaller, a Mongolian horseman, a Russian nobleman in disgrace, and an Arab, who would not reveal his face to the audience. By the way, this is only half of the participants! The first trial was mounted archery.
Master of the Knights Hospitaller. Note the speed of the rider. And the wooden target he has to hit is rather smallish!
The second trial was “The Saracen” (This is a spear game, the accuracy of lance thrust is evaluated.) Let me draw your attention to the fact that tournament lances have no heads, and this is not by chance. Just think of the force of the blow a mounted rider strikes when going at full canter! The spearhead passes through the target like a knife through butter. Then one of the two things will surely happen: either the lance is stuck and the warrior gets thrown or loses his lance, or “The Saracen" gets wrenched out of the earth. Nobody wants it.
Trial Three - mounted cutting It’s interesting that this exercise expressly shows the difference between a sword and a sabre. A sabre, due to its characteristic curve of the blade, cuts the head of cabbage neatly in two. But the sword chopping blows crush, grind the head of cabbage.
To some extent the difference is so marked because the sword blades at the festival weren’t honed. Honed sword blades also cut very neatly. On the other hand, a sabre is meant for slashing blows, and weighing less than a sword, cuts very efficiently.
\ In the photo you can see the “Legend” posadnik Maxim wearing a red mantle. By the way, he won the riders’ competition.
Just in case, let me explain who posadnik is. The word is derived from the word "posad (pronounced as pah-‘sa:d)." In Russia “posad” was the part of town where most of the citizens lived. There was also a "krom" (kremlin) or "citadel", but only the prince with his household and his host lived there, and in the time of an enemy invasion the people flocked to the citadel seeking protection. In short, posadnik is the head of the civil authority of the town. Siege engine and storm After the horsemen’s contest a ten-minute break was declared, during which the audience had a chance to walk around the festival lawn, and the participants - to prepare for the impending battle. According to our idea, all the participants able to hold weapons were to meet on the battlefield in the mass battle. Among them was the team of a medieval siege engine, into which Utah Iwasaki seamlessly blended.
That’s what arcuballista looks like as seen by its aimer The arcuballista team was under command of Vadim Sinichkin, head of the living history society “Slovene” from Novokuibyshevsk. This society built all the siege engines of the festival. “We are a small society that is why our only chance to influence the outcome of the battle is to bombard the adversary with trebuchet and arcuballista projectiles. We have adjusted those things for throwing projectiles for 50 metres – contemporary living history festivals seldom
require more powerful siege engines with a longer range. They are also rather convenient in transportation - they can be taken apart and the parts fit on the floor of a mini-bus. That’s how, actually, we brought them here.� The final battle About 4 p.m. the master of ceremonies announced the last battle of the festival. He said that all the warriors of the festival would cross swords and break spears in the final melee. The 3,000 spectators began to fill the slope of the hill which became a natural amphitheater.
The legend of the final battle was as follows: it was a very ordinary event for the troubled 13th century. A squad of European soldiers assaulted a Russian frontier guard outpost, located in the steppes of the Volga region. The European soldiers came there with a unit of Mongol warriors (which was a frequent occasion with Genoan mercenaries from the Crimea). The Mongol warriors brought portable siege engines to storm the outpost.
The soldiers bring an arcuballista, which is followed by the trebuchet. Perhaps, the stone throwing engine with the help of which the women of Toulouse smashed the head of count Simon de Montfort, the legendary leader of the Crusaders, looked very much the same. This unfortunate episode also took place in the 13th century, and to be absolutely precise, on June 25, 1218. Having bombarded the outpost with the trebuchet projectiles, the Mongols gave the European foot soldiers the opportunity to attack it while the outpost defenders were still dazed. A brief skirmish, and the outpost is taken… The Russian warriors retreat to the steppe ... Another spell of fighting ... Only a handful of Russian warriors remain… And at the last moment another Russian unit comes to the aid of the outpost. I’d better give the floor to Galina, who came to the festival with her 4-year-old son Timothy. “Timothy absolutely believed what he saw. I myself felt enthralled – everything looked so real!
During the battle, when only two Russian warriors remained, fighting back to back, surrounded by enemies, Tim thought they were about to perish, and went to their aid.
Photo link: http://vk.com/photo7768284_287885078 White as a sheet, he breathed out: "I'm coming. Hold on!" And ran to the rescue‌
I could barely catch him. It was hard to calm him down, to persuade him it was all makebelieve... When the cavalry came to the rescue, I said, “Look, they are fine now! Victory!” You should have seen the triumph and relief in his eyes." That's how our long awaited festival ended. The spectators got into their cars and buses, and went home – some to Samara, some to Togliatti, some to Ulyanovsk… Photos by Olga Borisenkova, Georgy Korobov, Olga Nemkova, Yulia Timirkhanova, Svetlana Makoveyeva, Maria Gomolova, Irina Yashina, Natalia Kalmykova, Alexey Pleshkov, Andrey Surin, Ekaterina Orlova, Tatiana Besschastnaya, Vadim Kozin, Evgeny Krasnikov, Alexandra Bunayeva, Denis Khramov, Nina Gubanova, Yuri Chikin, Ildar Hassanov, Ivan Yegorov, Mikhail Pishchakov, Mikhail Puzankov, Olesya Strelchenko. Thank you all! Many thanks to the musicians who entertained the spectators. They are Yegor Strelnikov (psaltery, Moscow), “Musica Radicum” (folk group, Saint Petersburg).
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Photo link: http://cs317423.userapi.com/v317423020/20a1/HFnxYFD_uS0.jpg
“The East”: LHS “Legend” (Stupino) LHS “Legend” (Samara) LHS “Suzdalskaya Druzhina (Suzdal Host)” (Moscow) LHS “Truvor” (Orenburg) LHS “Vityaz (Russian Knight)” (Kazan) LHS “Slovene” (Novokuibyshevsk) Association “NORD Rus” (Samara) “Mjollnir” (Samara) Individual participants “The West”: LHS “Atlit – Zamok Palomnika (Atlit - Pilgrim’s Castle)” (Moscow)
LHS «Novum castrum» (Zheleznodorozhny) LHS “Stary Svet (The Old World Company)” (Samara) LHS “Dostoyanie (Heritage)” (Samara) LHS “Flamandtsy (The Flemings)” (Odintsovo) Individual participants Special thanks to the artisans: Association “Mir masterov (World of Masters)” (Samara) “Nizhegorodskaya Artel Oruzheinikov (Armourers’ Artel)” (Nizhny Novgorod) Our valiant steeds came from “Russkaya Sloboda (Russian Village)” (Samara) and equestrian club (Borskoe).
Thank you all, guys, for war and peace, for merry feasts and fair competition! The festival took place on the 19 August 2012 near Stary Booyan in the Krasnoyarsky district of the Samara Region. Next year our festival will be held again, and we expect that our friends from Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, and Japan will be able to come. So, if you are interested in the 13th century re-enactment, welcome to Samara, “Battle Skill – 2013”!
Release Date: May 11th 2013