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The Middle Ages in Our Century
by Melissa Snell
More than ten years ago I went to my first and only Renaissance Festival. Dressed in pseudo-medieval clothing with a group of friends similarly attired, I wandered at length through the grounds, observing magnificent birds of prey, sword fights, wandering minstrels, and people messily devouring huge turkey legs. A clever troupe of players performed Romeo and Juliet in the original Elizabethan and in a back-woods Texas dialect--simultaneously. Medieval music filled the air, all manner of reproduction craft work was sold, and the King and all his court put on a fine spectacle that was nearly as entertaining as the joust they were watching.
Amidst all this fanfare and pageantry, what stands out most clearly in my mind is... a sheep.
The sheep belonged to a woman who spun wool by hand. She would shear wool from the creature as she needed it, also by hand, and after it was spun she would dye it by hand. Using only the materials available in medieval times, she had achieved an extraordinary variety of warm, rich colors. She would then use the wool to knit clothing of authentic medieval style.
I watched her nimble fingers working swiftly and competently as she chatted with visitors and the sheep blithely cropped the grass nearby. She did marvelous work, and she did it from start to finish the way it had been done five hundred years ago. I suddenly understood what it must have been like to live in medieval times. I knew my understanding was limited to this tiny aspect of daily life, but nevertheless I did understand.
This, I realized, was living history.
Evidently, there is quite a controversy over what constitutes living history. Some try to make distinctions between living history and reenactment. Others insist the only true living history is that which totally immerses the participant in the past. But I like to think that living history encompasses reenactment, reconstruction, and much more.
Living history is a museum exhibit that displays artifacts of daily life and explains how they were used. It's a film that shows in fairly accurate detail an event that took place hundreds of years ago. Living history is dressing in reproduction clothes or putting on a suit of armor and bashing another armor-clad individual with a fake sword. It's brewing beer, making mead, weaving cloth, making boots, shooting with or constructing crossbows, forging knives and swords, playing a game, crafting a musical instrument or cooking a meal using only the materials, equipment and methods used in the era you're trying to reproduce. It's creating, participating in, or attending a feast, a tournament, or a festival, and making the event as close as possible to how such events really were experienced in centuries past.
In short, living history is any activity that brings the past to life.
Obviously, I believe living history is of great value. As fascinating as I find the grand events of the past--the wars, the battles, the dynasties, the politics--I feel the most absorbing part of history is the daily life, and living history addresses that more than anything else. For me, the most important thing about studying history is to understand what it was like to live in the past, and thus grow closer to an understanding of the people who lived in it.
I strongly encourage anyone interested in medieval history to seek out a living history experience. Since the medieval period is a popular era of living history participation, there are several different ways to do this.
One of the best ways to participate in medieval living history is to join an organization that focuses on recreating the past. In such groups, each member takes on a medieval persona and researches the facts of daily life in the time and place in which the persona lives. Members participate in numerous living history activities as the fictional characters they have created. Many illuminating articles on medieval daily life have been written by members of recreation societies, and some of the best can be found on the web at the Angelcynn and Regia Anglorum sites.
The biggest and most well-known medieval recreation group is the international Society for Creative Anachronism (whose site also has some helpful articles). If you're interested in joining, look for an SCA group near you. If the SCA isn't for you, there are numerous other groups in the United States and all over the world -- please see the Living History Organizations Subject Index to start your search.
If joining a group doesn't attract you, perhaps you'd find a visit to a Renaissance Festival entertaining and educational. Faire afficianado Mike Bonk has pages listing fairs by location or by date. While some of these festivals include items for sale and events that are absolutely not medieval, still each presents a terrific opportunity for encountering living history and having fun at the same time.
For an even briefer foray into the world of medieval history, try a film that, for the most part, accurately portrays life in those times (even if the events it depicts are not proven fact). Some of the best are The Lion in Winter, A Man for All Seasons, Beckett, Stealing Heaven, The Name of the Rose, and The Return of Martin Guerre. Also try a period version of any Shakespeare "historical" play -- most particularly Kenneth Branagh's version of Henry V, which includes a powerfully realistic battle sequence. While the events in these plays cannot always be taken for historical fact, watching those with authentic settings can evoke a picture of what life was like in those days. (And Shakespeare is always worthwhile!)
And last but certainly not least, visit some web sites that focus on bringing the past to life.
I've often regretted not returning to the Renaissance Festival. Living in a very small town does not provide much opportunity for adventures in medieval history. So I'll continue to live in the past on the web. Who knows? Maybe next year I'll see you at the Faire.
The Middle Ages in Our Century is copyright © 1997-2003 Melissa Snell. Permission is granted to reproduce this article for personal or classroom use only, provided that the URL below is included. For reprint permission, please contact Melissa Snell.
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