Members of Buckingham’s Retinue recently took part in the Barnet Mediaeval Festival, commemorating the battle of Barnet in 1471.
Barnet is a relatively new event but well organized, with two battles per day, a good mix of traders and merchants, and other shows, talks and activities throughout the day.
For our part we set up a small encampment, with Mark providing his mediaeval medicine and surgery talk throughout the day, then we were off to fight for the house of York at the battles of St Albans and Barnet!
Our camp
Preparing for battle
The calm before the battle
Shiny things in the market!
Medieval board games
Marks Medieval Medicine
Our neigbours were a bit flat...
More goodies in the market
Advancing on the enemy!
Saturday sunset
Group members will next be attending the Tewkesbury Mediaeval Festival, 8th-9th July. See the Tewkesbury Mediaeval Festival for more information:Tewkesbury Medieval Festival
This weekend Buckingham’s Retinue appeared, alongside our friends and colleagues from Livery and Maintenance, at the St George’s Day festivities hosted by English Heritage at Wrest Park, an impressive stately home on the edge of Milton Keynes.
Some of our members will be at the Barnet Mediaeval Festival 10th-11th June. See the festival website for further details Barnet Medieval Festival – Reenactment of the Battle of Barnet 1471
Buckingham's Retinue returned to the wonderful Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings in Bromsgrove. Though the group has performed at events at Avoncroft previously, this was the first time we had taken part in the International Living History Fair (ILHF) for Pike and Shot Events. ILHF is a multi-period show, with visitors able to see shows and displays from across the span of history, from the Bronze Age all the way up to the Cold War.
For our part, Buckingham's Retinue provided a range of 15th century displays covering cooking and food, armour and weapons, games, music and medicine/surgery.
The displays set up in the medieval wattle and daub barn.
The camp and kitchen tent
The Dukes banner flying in the sun.
The tools of the barber-surgeon's trade.
Chopping onions for the pot.
Preparing a meal over the fire.
Our next event will be the Saint George’s Day Festival at Wrest Park, Bedfordshire on 22nd and 23rd April. See the English Heritage website for further details: Wrest Park | English Heritage (english-heritage.org.uk)
