War of the Roses history is brought to life at historic Bradford hall

Discover what life was like in Bradford during the War of the Roses at a medieval living history weekend at Bolling Hall.

 For the second year, re-enactment group the Frei Compagnie will present a weekend of domestic and military demonstrations of life during the 15th century conflict. The free event will be held at the Bradford Council historic home on Saturday and Sunday between 10am and 4pm.

 It will include longbow archery and firepower demonstrations, the opportunity to watch a knight prepare for battle as he dons his armour, and the chance to learn about falconry. A doctor will also be on hand to dispense gruesome medical remedies.

Click here to read this article from the Telegraph and Argus

"Knights" rob medieval festival in France

A gang of thieves dressed as knights and armed with a sword and an axe robbed the organisers of a medieval festival in northeast France Monday and made off with 20,000 euros ($25,000), police said.

The theft took place in the early hours of Monday as organisers were counting revenues from the festival in Bitche, near France's border with Germany, a spokesman for regional police in Lorraine said.

"According to witnesses, there were three or four individuals, masked and wearing medieval attire," the spokesman said.

Click here to read this article from AFP

See also the French article: Bitche : hold-up d’un autre temps à la fête médiévale

Tewkesbury Medieval Festival a muddy affair

Organisers of Tewkesbury Medieval Festival had more than one battle on their hands at the weekend. Fields off Gloucester Road, where the annual re-enactment of the 1471 Battle of Tewkesbury takes place, were so damp due to the wet weather that it caused a host of problems.

 But Saturday and Sunday's displays went ahead thanks to the determination of the festival organisers. Spokesman Steve Goodchild said: "It was very squelchy and on Saturday the traders had to be towed out on to the field."

 Crowd numbers were down, with Mr Goodchild saying about 15,000 people attended the festival, less than on the normal turnout of 20,000.

Click here to read this article from This is Gloucestershire

Click here to visit the Tewkesbury Medieval Festival website

 

Norman residents, students enjoy annual Medieval Fair over weekend

The annual Medieval Fair took place this weekend, bringing thousands of Norman residents out to Reaves Park.

While most people milled around the fair shopping and throwing axes at a wall, local actors and actresses were in full performance-mode to help bring the medieval times to life.

The royal court is a fair staple. They spend their days parading through the park, holding court, dancing and providing extra entertainment aside from the games and shops.

OU alumnus Cody Clark, who played King Edward III in this year’s royal court, said the royal court of the Medieval Fair is the structure that holds the fair together.

The parades and ceremonies are not as dominant in the fair as the vendors and games, but they bind everything together to create the second largest, weekend festivity in Oklahoma, Clark said.

Click here to read this article from the Oklahoma Daily

Cosmeston Medieval Village: Protest at Vale of Glamorgan funds cut

Supporters of a south Wales tourist attraction used as a location for the BBC TV series Merlin have protested against funding cuts there.

Vale of Glamorgan council is making three redundancies at Cosmeston Medieval Village, Penarth in a bid to save £50,000. But it is also introducing free entry to attract more visitors to the site.

Campaigners, who say the changes threaten the village, marched to the council offices in Barry at 17:00 GMT.

The 600-year-old village site was discovered on the Cosmeston Lakes Country Park site in 1978. During the next decade it was reconstructed as a visitor attraction portraying life in a medieval village in the year 1350.

Click here to read this article from the BBC

Click here to visit the Cosmeston Medieval Village website

Medieval flashmob to rouse York residents

Shoppers in York city centre will find themselves in the middle of a flashmob with a difference this weekend, as performing arts students stage impromptu medieval dance mobs.

The event, planned for Parliament Street and St Helen’s Square, is being planned by the York College students as part of the Residents Festival, but also as a prelim to the summer’s Mystery Plays spectacular.

Organisers of the Plays have also revealed tickets to the outdoor performances in the Museum Gardens in August will be sold at a special discount to local residents during the weekend.

A spokesman said up to 500 residents would be able to get ten per cent off when buying two tickets. All they needed to do was visit York Theatre Royal Box Office in person between 10am and 8pm on Saturday and between noon and 4pm on Sunday with a valid York Card.

Click here to read this article from the York Press

Sandal Castle: Celebrations to delve into battle’s past

A battle that changed the course of English history will be remembered during celebrations at Sandal Castle at Wakefield on New Year’s Eve.

Medieval weapons, clothes and crafts from the era of the Battle of Wakefield will be used by the Frei Compagnie re-enactors to help bring 15th century history to life.

On December 30, 1460, Richard, Duke of York – the disputed king of England – and his small army of around 5,000 left the safety of Sandal Castle, pictured, only to be overwhelmed by King Henry VI’s Lancastrian forces estimated at 15,000 strong during the Wars of the Roses.

Richard and his 17-year-old son Edmund, Earl of Rutland, were killed in the slaughter and their heads infamously stuck on poles at Micklegate Bar in York.

Click here to read this article from the Yorkshire Evening Post

Sarasota's Medieval Fair compares Peasants Revolt of 1381 with Occupy movement

The Occupy movement is spreading across the globe because people are tired of the 1%'s greed forcing the 99% further into poverty and wage slavery. But a theatrical rendition in Sarasota Sunday reminded people this isn't the first time in history the rich have been targeted by angry crowds of common folk tired of being stepped on.

About 25 Common people from the Peasant Revolt of 1381 are preparing to storm London Tower, intent on murder. Fourteen year old King Richard II raised poll taxes for the third time in six years, ostensibly to pay for military campaigns overseas. One Common is a scruffy young man covered in dirt. He seemed to be in a bit of a quandary on precisely why he was protesting.

Click here to read this article from WMNF Community Radio

The 800-year-old story of Stourbridge Fair

In the month of September, Stourbridge Common on the outskirts of Cambridge is a lush and pleasant water meadow, frequented by dog walkers, morning joggers and nonchalantly masticating cattle. Scroll back to this very spot several hundred years ago and the air would have been rich with the sounds of tradesmen’s animated chatter, the sawing and hammering of timber, and travelling people tramping down the rough road. Barges and wherries laden with goods would have replaced the sleek college eights skimming the River Cam. Out on the field, carefully measured rows of wooden booths were multiplying, assembling the streets of the most renowned medieval hub of trade, entertainment and revelry: Stourbridge Fair.

For hundreds of years the area known as Stourbridge Common was home to possibly the largest fair of medieval Europe; now all that remains is just a scattering of street names in the east of Cambridge. Garlic row, Mercers Row and Oyster Row are tastes of the huge range of produce bought and sold at this momentous annual event.

The Fair dates back 800 years to 1211, when King John issued a Royal Charter giving the Leper Chapel at Steresbrigge the right to hold a small fund-raising fete. Built on the boundary of Cambridge, the Chapel was part of an abbey that provided care for Cambridge town’s sick and contagious. Growing steadily, the Fair became immensely popular and enticed crowds from all over the country: craftsmen, tradesmen, travellers, nobility, intellectuals, and some of the most famous names in history. For a few weeks a year, it transformed this grazing common into a lively, industrious destination. In 18th century writer Daniel Defoe’s words, Stourbridge Fair became “not only the greatest in the whole nation, but in the world”.

Click here to read this article from the University of Cambridge

Medieval knights prepare to fight at Herstmonceux castle

Final preparations are well under way for one of the largest events in the South East when Herstmonceux Castle will witness the battlecry and mayhem of knight battling each other for the annual Medieval Festival.

Now in its 19th year, the festival promisses a colourful spectacle from August 27 to 29.

The stunning setting of the magnificent 15th century moated castle is transformed into a living history encampment populated by more than 1,000 medievalists in authentic garb from all over the world.

Click here to read this article from the Sussex Express

See also Monty Python’s Spamalot at Herstmonceux Medieval Festival

Medieval Lincoln captures best-selling author and historian Alison Weir

Lincoln Castle will open its gates and transport visitors back in time at the weekend, transforming its grounds into a scene from Medieval England. The Medieval Merriment event at the castle will be brought to life with theatrical performances and re-enactments of traditional crafts.

Bestselling author and historian Alison Weir, who recently visited Lincoln to promote her latest book, The Captive Queen, explains why Lincoln is really such brilliant place for rediscovering the past. In the past she has spent a lot of time in Lincoln researching her books, in particular, while writing a biography of local historical figure, Katherine Swynford.

Click here to read this article from the Lincolnite

Poland's medieval love affair for knights

There is something about summer that makes some Poles clamour to slip into chain mail or flowing dresses and pretend to be medieval knights and damsels.

During the holiday season there is a knights' tournament or battle re-enactment every weekend.

"People love it. They want to be some somewhere far, far away from the normal, just a little bit boring, everyday life," says popular historian Boguslaw Woloszanski.

"We are a very romantic nation, and knights and the medieval time is so romantic."

Click here to read this article from the BBC

World famous abbey to host insight into late medieval life

Since it was founded in 1132, Fountains Abbey has been a place of pilgrimage for millions of people throughout the passing centuries.

And visitors to the World Heritage site near Ripon are being given the chance to get an insight into what life would have been like had they arrived in the late medieval era.

Historical re-enactors have taken over the North Yorkshire site to set up camp and provide a taste of what Britain would have been like in the 15th century.

Click here to read this article from the Yorkshire Post

Lances raised, Italian town prepares to joust

It is time for the butcher to polish up his battle-axe and the schoolmistress to stitch fresh silks on her noblewoman's gown as the hired horseman hones his lance and primes his mount for combat.

Jousting season in Sulmona, and the people of this ancient town, nestled in Italy's central mountains, are making fevered preparations for the biggest festival of their year, when Renaissance pageantry and feasting set the tone for local rivalries fought out in knightly contests on the main square.

The piazza, a natural hippodrome of tall, stone buildings with the high peaks of the Abruzzi soaring up behind, has been laid with hundreds of tonnes of sand and planted with greenery to mark out a track round which 'cavaliere' -- the knights -- will race with lances raised at breakneck speeds.

Click here to read this article from Reuters

Bayeux Medieval Fair to celebrate all things Norman

As part of the pageant of events planned to celebrate the 1100th birthday of the French province of Normandy, the town of Bayeux will turn its 25th annual Medieval Fair, held July 1-3, into a celebration of all things Norman.

Descended from a band of marauding Vikings who founded the province, the Normans conquered Britain in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings. A re-enactment of that battle will take place on the morning of July 3.

Click here to read this article from the Los Angeles Times

New book captures history of Tewkesbury's Medieval Festival

New history of Tewkesbury’s internationally renowned Medieval Festival through photographs has been captured in the form of a new book.

The publication, by professional Tewkesbury-based photographer Nigel Byde, includes everything from a selection of black and white images of the early days of the event, to exclusive pictures of last year’s battle re-enactment, and scenes from the authentic living history camps.

Click here to read this article from the Tewkesbury Admag

Honouring one of Scotland's great heroes — 2011 Bruce Festival launched

Fit for a king — Dunfermline, the final resting place of Robert the Bruce, staked its claim as the modern home of his legend when the 2011 Bruce Festival was launched in front of its medieval abbey on Tuesday.

This year's line-up has some new additions that will bring the Bruce story to life in dramatic style, placing the event as the focal point for the celebration of one of Scotland's greatest heroes.

Click here to read this article from The Courier

Medieval history brought to life as crowds flock to extravaganza

Thousands of people flocked to Tamworth at the weekend for the St George's Day Extravaganza Jousting, archery, a medieval encampment and even a sword swallower brought entertainment to the crowds throughout the town.

Living history events filled the castle grounds and there were shows for shoppers all day Saturday. Organised by Tamworth Borough Council the annual event has been described as a "huge success" as the sun shone and as people lined the streets and filled the Castle Grounds to enjoy a feast of fun.

Click here to read this article from the Tamsworth Herald

Easter Mass Returns to Old Bulgarian Capital after 618 Years

An Easter Mass in the old Bulgarian capital of Veliko Tarnovo is going to be served at the Tsarevets fortress for the first time in 618 years.

The mass will be held Saturday evening into Sunday outside the walls of the fortress, but within the patriarchy complex since the church in the medieval fortress is not canonized.

Click here to read this article from the Sofia News Agency

Middle Ages return to Norman with 35th annual Medieval Fair

Knights, jesters, maidens and minstrels will stage their own Norman conquest this weekend during the 35th annual Medieval Fair at Reaves Park.

The free fair, open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday, is the state's largest weekend event and the third largest event in Oklahoma.

Click here to read this article from NewsOK