Hey Blog! This time is another post about history – the reenactment day I went to over a month ago and only now can relate!
I may or may not have told you about Bosworth, site of the Battle of Bosworth Field. This was the final battle of the Wars of the Roses, where Richard III, last Plantagenet king and the scion of the House of York, was defeated by Henry VII, first Tudor king and scion of the House of Lancaster. By Henry’s marriage to the heiress of York, the House of Tudor settled the war with a peaceful union of roses, forming the Tudor Rose. Bosworth was where it all happened, and about 500 years after the battle, the present visitor centre was established to commemorate the fight and inform people about it. From time to time, there are special events: living history weekends, or reenactments of the battle, or similar. It was one of these that we went to see.
I should explain here the difference between reenactment and living history. The former has the crucial part “act”. It is about acting out an event – usually a battle or something similar. The latter is more passive: without the acting out an event, it shows how a place and time would have looked – bringing a historical place and period to live. This was more living history.
The situation of the event was the army camp, prior to, during or after the Battle of Bosworth. While the equipment and people obviously weren’t original, the style of the reconstruction was identical to how it was 500 years ago. Some of the highlights of the day follow:
Gun display. While gunpowder (I do know the formula but will probably get arrested if I disclose) was invented in China around or before the year 1000, it only made its way to Europe and was known in England in the 13 and 1400s. Some of the final battles of the Hundred Years War included French cannon fire, which was in a way payback for the English longbow mastery. One Scottish king was killed when a nearby cannon exploded, and Bosworth was one of the first times guns and such explosive propulsionary (is that a word? It is now!) devices were used in England. These were not high-tech rifles, they were thin metal tubes on sticks, which were packed with powder, wadding and a little shot, and then fired as quickly as possible into the oncoming crowd of soldiers. They were also very noisy, as can be heard from the replicas; I don’t think you could be a professional and still have eardrums after a battle! This was perhaps the thing that most intrigued me in the whole day, as I had no idea or experience of mediaeval gun warfare!
Explanation of all the different weapons to use in a mediaeval battle. There are quite a lot. Everything from the Spiked Mace, which can both shatter and puncture your skull; to the classic knight’s Arming Sword, which can cut through most body parts (armour is more difficult to harm). There are more: from the Longbow, which fires arrows with such force that even if they don’t pierce a hole through you, the sheer force the bow fires with can provide such a shock it can kill instantly; to the Halberd, which can smash your head in, stab you in the guts, and cut off limbs – all in one weapon. A little gruesome, but very helpful if you accidentally wind up through a time portal on a mediaeval battlefield. Actually, in that scenario you’d probably be dead already. And in the unlikely case that doesn’t happen, you have a good store of knowledge to gross out your friends with, or tell people detailed knowledge in a fantasy/fiction game where you get to use them.
Lunch, on the way back. That restaurant was very good. We’ll probably return there if we go to Bosworth again!