Lance of St. Eligius

Medieval reenactment has, in fact, been popular in and around Europe for a good many years. Whether you love watching medieval reenactments, or actually take part in medieval reenactment yourself, you may be interested in this brief history of the activity.

Over the years, Medieval reenactment has been noted to have taken place in a number of different location. One of the earliest know examples was the Eglinton Tournament of 1839, which was held in Scotland, and had been a reenactment of a medieval joust and revel. The event was funded by the 13th Earl of Eglinton, Archibald Montgomerie, and drew an unexpectedly large crowd of 100,000 spectators.

However, it was not until the 1960s that medieval reenactment gained significant popularity within the United Kingdom. Of course, the internet was not yet available to offer other forms of amusement via sites such as Partypoker, and so medieval reenactment became a common source of entertainment at a large number of events. Often, battles were reenacted at the site on which they had originally taken place, in an attempt to create a high level of authenticity. One of the largest reenactment events to take place in the UK was the Battle of Hastings reenactment, which combined living history and combat with over 3600 registered participants. Many British battles, such as the Battle of Bosworth Field and the Battle of Tewkesbury, were also reenacted annually.

Another country which is known for its Medieval reenactments is Belgium, who has at least two dozen separate medieval reenactment groups. Medieval reenactment is also a popular feature of many living history and renaissance faires in Germany. Also, in Poland, the annual Battle of Grunwald reenactment is known to attract a large number of participants from countries elsewhere in the world.