catearsandchaos

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Maidens with Swords - 12th Century

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I’ve had a couple of different Heraldries in my time in re-enactment. The 12th Century is before all the fun stuff comes in- when there’s too many cadet branches that need unique heraldries and things start getting weird. For us, heraldries are found in their most basic form. And nothing really encapsulates that more than the heraldry I spent all of my early years under- Loncastre.

Loncastre, or Lancaster as it is known in the modern day, was the local group I joined when I started and so I got a shield with their heraldry and most of my stuff is still marked up with a cinquefoil even now. A red cinquefoil on a yellow background, this heraldry has belonged to the Lancaster group since the society was founded and is the closest they could get in heraldic iconography to Lancaster’s red rose, for those who know their English history.

The D’Oyly heraldry is a whole other matter. When creating families and heraldries we don’t use extant names or examples- in many cases they still belong to families in the UK and can be traced back so we try not to step on any toes. Instead, you collect as many sources as you can find, consult the experts in our in-house collage of heralds and make up your own.

We have decided to somewhat strike out in a previously unseen direction for our heraldry which has led to a lot of research and a lot of experimentation. It turns out, there are very few sources showing an English Eagle on a heraldry from the 12th Century so we’ve been constantly tweaking the design for over a year now until we are happy with it. In fact, the latest update comes to you live from 15 minutes ago when the newest sketch came in.

Working on the progression of this heraldry has been really interesting as it’s forced us to think about a lot of things like our responsibilities as re-enactors to both accuracy and being in the public eye at events and how we can thread that needle, which is why nothing will be confirmed until every one of us is happy with it.

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This one is mostly for me, because it’s time to get introspective about Improvements. There’s a lot of obvious improvements on the surface, this hobby has given me access to a whole bunch of skills I didn’t have before. I had never picked up a needle before I was 18 and look at me now. But the most significant improvement for me, for sure, is how it has helped me grow and expand as a person.

Re-enactment was a large part of my life in those crucial years once you’ve left school and are beginning to figure yourself out as an adult. I certainly found a lot out- I saw a new queer label in aromantic and not one but two medical diagnoses of chronic conditions.

And past that, re-enactment was always pushing me to move beyond my boundaries in an environment where I felt safe. I was painfully shy as a kid, incredibly socially awkward and while the second hasn’t changed overly much I now spend my weekends talking to hundreds of strangers and am excited to do so.

My undiagnosed ADHD meant I spent a lot of my schooling and early university years swamped in work, disorganised and lacking direction. I now manage multiple commissions, keep track of craft goals for friends and acquaintances and have been offered multiple organisation roles within the society.

It’s not been entirely smooth sailing- like any group of people, especially in passionate mostly neuro-divergent people, there are clashes but even those have been in some way invaluable for making me the person I am today.

Pictured below is me at my second ever show, a rare sight as I was more often than not hidden away at the back of a tent vs me two weeks ago, at an event where I hardly remember any time I wasn’t talking to a large group of people. It’s nice to see them side by side.

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Wau, your women's sex throughout history non-fiction collection is bigger than my collection of any non-fiction 😅

Which of those books would you recommend to someone, who would like to read more about this subject?

Which of these books is your favourit?

And which of these books do you have the biggest beef with 🤔

Hello, lovely! It’s certainly a collection- I’ve received a couple more from friends of friends who picked them up in charity shops since I took that picture in January.

If it’s the general history of sex that is of interest, I would definitely recommend ‘A Curious History of Sex’ by Kate Lister and for more specifically medieval sex then ‘The Fires of Lust’ by Katherine Harvey. Both are closer to what we call public history than academic history, so are easier reads while still being wonderful sources.

My own favourite and the book I usually reach for first to check something is ‘Doing Unto Others: Sexuality in Medieval Europe’ by Ruth Mazo Karras and would be my first recommendation to anyone already used to reading historical academia. I own the fourth edition which has added a whole bunch of new research on non-European cultures and trans history as well as being a wonderful reference.

My biggest beef is with ‘Handbook of Medieval Sexuality’ edited by Vern Bullough and James Brundage. It’s not a bad source, it’s got some specific research in there I don’t have anywhere else. The problem that I have is that Bullough and Brundage are two of the big names in Medieval Sexuality, they’ve written and edited a lot of books and articles. A lot of this work, however, comes from the 60s and 70s. Which does not make it invaluable, but it needs to be read carefully with the view that both social mores and our understanding of the subject has changed considerably since then.

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As an ex-history student and current re-enactor, I spend a lot of time researching. Unfortunately, the grand majority of my research for re-enactment never makes its way onto encampment and never will. Let’s see if you can figure out why.

A quick glance inside tells me that the first book I bought on the subject of the history of sex was in 2020 with the publication of ‘A Curious History of Sex’ and I’ve been expanding my collection ever since.

I’ve come across the whole spectrum of responses to my chosen field of study, from genuine interest, to uncomfortable laughter, to the condescending ‘there must be more important things to study’.

But there is use found in every corner of historical study. Sex is such a fundamental part of most people’s lives and the ways it was approached can tell us so much. It can teach us about gender, about class divides, about the church and religion and how the views of clergy diverged from the views of lay people. It can tell us how they viewed their own bodies and the bodies of other people, about medicine and health.

More than anything, this is a subject I could talk about all day, and am happy to if people have curiosities. Before I dropped out of university my dissertation was going to be on this very topic.

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I’ve decided to combine the last two prompts together for today. I myself don’t do an Unusual Crafts, sewing and embroidery fills up plenty of my time but one of my very dear friends does and does a lot of work Behind the Scenes in creating educational resources in her field.

To quote Ruby directly, she is a ‘blacksmith that specialises in making historical replicas using period techniques.’ Her newest series on her YouTube channel is covering a bunch of beginner projects that can help kit out your medieval forge with all the tools you need and she puts up shorter content fairly regularly- each one of them as funny and they are fascinating.

Am I slightly biased? Yes. But that does not make Ruby’s work, both online and in the forge any less wonderful. So if learning more about medieval blacksmithing sounds up your alley, go and say hi!

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No one tell the leatherworkers, but I am going to borrow their day to talk about embroidery after missing yesterday.

I picked up embroidery about a month after joining re-enactment and it truly takes up most of my days now with commissions and looking after my own kit.

Embroidery takes two main forms for us- decorating clothing and ‘tapestry’ style pieces, which tend to be small and handheld but there are increasing numbers of people mad enough to start committing to those giant metres long projects. Which I admire immensely but the tension on medieval embroidery frames drive me crazy. I need my fabric tight enough I could use it as a snare drum!

Below you’ll find the first piece of embroidery I ever did, my first two tapestry pieces and my current project, some bands for a rich lord. Possibly the most time consuming commission I’ve ever had, it takes about a week of work to do just one diamond.

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Come and meet my children! The only ones of their kind in the society and the apples of my eye, each and every one of them.

These lovely little darlings make up the bulk of my display and are there to show off the Clothing worn by various peoples in the 12th Century. Around two years ago I got fed up of never being able to find an example of what I needed thanks to people’s propensity to ‘walk about’ and ‘need food and drink’ so I made my own, each wearing exact replicas of our own clothing but in miniature. You can find two tenant farmers, or peasants, on the far left, two wealthy merchants in the middle and our nobility on the far right.

I could talk about the clothes of the Middle Ages for hours, in fact it’s exactly what I do at events, but instead I will restrain myself to my favourite facts and a few myths that always need busting.

First of all is a big one- the people of the Middle Ages loved colour. They adored it. And it was available to people of all social strata. The vast majority of dyes in use at this time in the UK were native and incredibly easy to come by, including madder, weld and woad.

You will have caught sight of them yesterday on the bliaut, but the size of the sleeves of female court wear were impractically large and designed to be so. They were a signal of a lady’s wealth and leisure. They were so large, however, that a lady could take them, tuck them into her belt behind her back and still have full range of movement.

These clothes are incredibly comfortable! I doubt many of us would still be doing this if they weren’t. They existed in a time well before off the rack clothing so each item is made tailored to the body and, as everything is made of natural fibres, you find yourself a lot cooler than you would expect, even while wearing two layers, especially if you find yourself fortunate enough to be in double linen.

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I have missed the past couple of days due to recovering from my first big event over the weekend but, I’ll be honest, I didn’t have anything for them anyway. While I do enjoy combat, Craft is where I find the most joy in this hobby. From my very first day, it has pretty much always been fibre crafts for me, and has left me with a very niche set of skills. I still don’t know how to insert a zipper or use elastic but I sure can whip up a medieval tunic from scratch in about 3 hours. It does mean I have spent much of the past seven years trailing around a large amount of fabric behind me. It’s a problem. I have so much of it. My latest big project has just wrapped up- a gorgeous purple bliaut for a friend that I’m incredibly proud of, especially considering a did most of the sewing long distance! It got maybe two fitting sessions with her before the start of the season.

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While I don’t take part in as much Combat as I did back in the early days of this hobby, it’s definitely still something I get a lot of enjoyment of and something that I was, if I may indulge in a brief burst of pride, fairly good at.

Normannis uses non-scripted competitive combat. Everyone has two hit points to begin with that scale upwards with the amount of armour you wear up to a maximum of six, and we train once or twice a week in order to fight safely and-more importantly- win.

I trained on spear and have used it since my first session. I enjoy the safety of being in the other end of an eight foot pole. I also use a bow, although there aren’t any good pictures of me doing archery around. I just really like being far away…

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I wasn’t sure what I would end up using for today, because I don’t have any pictures of me kitted out as a Soldier. Although I attended combat training for the first four years of my time here, I’ve never actually been on the field- poor health has always prevented it in the already hectic mix that is an event.

Except for once, two years ago. They needed some people to play cowardly soldiers who would flee before the fight ever started. Which is right up my alley. So we scraped together enough clothes so I wasn’t in my dress, handed me a dane axe and I joined the muster.

It is, secretly, one of my favourite photos of me once you find me, stood there in my blue stockings and hood draped over my chest that is somewhat more ample than your average peasant boy.

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In an alternate universe, I think it’s highly likely I would have built a Religious impression when I started re-enactment. There’s something about the quiet routine based life in a nunnery that appeals to even modern day me, despite my complete lack of belief in a Christian God. But in the end, I am far too much of an enjoyer of colour to swap out my dress for a habit.

But that doesn’t mean I haven’t done work for the church. My first big embroidery project was for a member who portrays a bishop and was in need of a hat. From initial sketches in June 2020 to final completion in May 2022, it took a long time for such a small garment and marked a lot of firsts for me- first time using silk, first time doing metalwork and first time working with precious stones.

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I’m sure this won’t come as a surprise to anyone not already in these circles, but re-enactors are nerds. And most are ttrpg nerds. So when given the opportunity to build a character, most of us will run with it. I only have a Civillian impression, and I’ve only developed a lot of the details of it in the past few years, so there’s still a few kinks to work out here and there.

This is Matilda D’Oyly, oldest of 4 siblings making up the current generation of the D’Oyly clan. Born to a poorer aristocratic family, younger brother Jacques has recently made a well placed marriage to Iseult FitzHenry that has rocketed the family upwards in wealth and standing. With Jacques married and a successful knight, sister Petronillia now Mother Superior at her convent and youngest sibling Godwin very much the black sheep of the family, Matilda is at somewhat of a loss as to what to do with herself now as neither the richest, most important or busiest of her siblings. Her time is mostly taken up with sewing- more for pleasure than profit nowadays- and, on occasion, a somewhat ill-advised ongoing affair with Bo Fortesque, ever poor but charming tourney fighter.

This is all built entirely for fun with friends, it will hardly ever come up to the public but sometimes you just have to do something your yourself.

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Deep in the middle of second lockdown in the UK my housemate and I, missing doing shows and feeling incredibly Silly, put our kit on and went outside at 9pm for a photoshoot. What emerged from that is a series of incredibly cursed photos that really encapsulates how we were all feeling around that time. Featuring my old yellow dress, that I miss dearly, and debuting the rare cryptid that is Beige Man, my old combat kit that very rarely sees the light of day.

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It was genuinely a struggle to find a picture of me in a state of what would be considered Relaxation, which is today’s prompt. Yes, I don’t move away much from my table during the day, but that’s because I’m usually busy talking to the public.

But it is important to me to find time away from that to spend with friends, and most of them comes during set pieces in the arena, the few minutes in the day when I get to be in the audience too to watch the fighting or the talks going on. And, every now and then, someone will watch after my display so I can grab some food and drink and have a few minutes of conversation.

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Time to talk about one of my truest loves. Castles. I’ve been visiting castles and historical sites with my family for as long as I can remember and getting what basically amounts to free access to them through this hobby is nothing short of a win, really!

But in all seriousness, I think the shows set in castle grounds are my favourites. I should be at a castle right now. And I don’t mean that in the metaphorical sense, I do mean very literally. For the past seven years, baring a blip from Covid, I have spent the first weekend of May at Kenilworth Castle for our Large Annual Event.

It is possibly the event I look forwards to the most in the whole year, and it is sadly missing from the calendar this year, along with a whole other slew of events due to lack of funding from the people who run and own the sites.

So if you take anything from today’s edition of Medieval May, please go and show some love to your local heritage sites! I have a feeling I may be preaching to the choir a bit, but they are run and staffed by people who truly care about preserving and teaching history and are always well worth your time.

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Cooking! That’s what day 4 is all about. I don’t cook on encampment. I’m not much of a chef in my day-to-day life and I have a healthy phobia of open fires, so suffice to say I don’t stop by the hearth much. But I do love our cooks, immensely and unconditionally for the immense amount of work they do to keep us all fed.

One of the big misconceptions we work to battle is that everyone in the Middle Ages ate flavourless gruel. There is porridge in the morning, but that comes with salt, honey, summer berries. There’s plenty of bacon and sausage- pork was the favoured meat for most of the population compared to chicken or beef, who provided much needed eggs and milk. And they certainly weren’t afraid of using the spices available to them. A particular favourite of everyone whenever it shows up is the gingerbread. Made by combining honey, breadcrumbs and enough cloves, ginger, pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon to blow your tits off, I am told it’s delightful. Alas, my own pitiful spice tolerance cannot take it, as tempting as it always looks.

Medieval Gingerbread Recipe, courtesy of one of our cooks. As you can tell, it isn’t really an exact science.

- Make fresh breadcrumbs (easiest in food processor)

- Boil a couple of jars of honey (scale to amount of gingerbread you want)

- Skim off scum from honey

- Add an amount of breadcrumbs until it's breadcrumby but still liquidy

- Add ground ginger, ground cloves, ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon and black pepper until it tastes too strong

- Add more breadcrumbs until it becomes stiff

- Wrap portions in baking parchment