Knights Do Battle at Goodrich Castle
by Nothing quite brings a castle to life like seeing re-enactors, properly costumed, demonstrating the contemporary way of life and of warfare, and so it was that I timed my visit to Goodrich Castle in Herefordshire, England, to coincide with a small re-enactment display.
I arrived just in time for a staged fight between two men-at-arms equipped in the armour of the Wars of the Roses (1455 to 1485). The atmosphere was expectant, with crowds lining the barbican and entrance bridge as well as scattered over the sandstone outcrops in the dry moat where the action would take place.
Photo: crowds in the dry moat at Goodrich Castle awaiting start of the fight (photo by author)
The lead knight whipped the crowd up as he set the scene, telling how the fight was to be a test of his prospective new squire and regaling us with gory details of the unfortunate fate of his last one! As he talked, the new squire was buckled into his armour (a ‘harness of armour’ not a ‘suit of armour’ as we were told) and then demonstrating how flexible it was by rolling, jogging and jumping. The stories of knights unable to get back up due to the weight of their armour are just myths, we were told, with the armour being in the region of 60 to 80 lbs and perfectly wearable if the weight it properly distributed. The real enemy of the armoured man was heat, not weight.
The two warriors set about each other first with poleaxes and polehammers. These are poles around six feet long with blades, points and bludgeoning hammers on the end, designed to batter and pierce steel plate armour. They were the dismounted knight’s main weapon at this point in the Middle Ages, vicious weapons which could cleave armour or bash it in upon the wearer.
Photo: men-at-arms fighting at Goodrich Castle (photo by author)
The men-at-arms then discarded their polearms at went at each other with swords, a knight’s secondary weapon. The clang of blade upon armour echoed around the castle, just audible above the cheers and jeers of the crowd. Finally one man was downed and the other made a show of calling to the crowd to see whether he should give mercy, before kicking his unfortunate opponent… well, somewhere rather painful!
The showmanship of the two re-enactors was superb and really made the event as far as I was concerned. Afterwards there was a chance to meet them and see and discuss their armour and weapons.
Note: this is a companion article to my main one on Goodrich Castle itself, which can be found here.
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Post CommentCHIPMUNK
On August 31, 2011 at 2:24 am
Incredible read thanks for sharing
Christine Ramsay
On August 31, 2011 at 3:10 am
I love these re-enactments. They bring history alive. I used to take my class to Senlac Hill in Hastings each year to re enact the Battle of Hastings. I am sure the children learnt more about their history that way. A very enjoyable post.
Karen Gross
On August 31, 2011 at 9:17 am
I think I need to hop the pond – life seems more interesting on your side.
MountainGirl
On September 1, 2011 at 8:50 am
Would you look at that? This bring back memories of King Arthur’s adventures that appear in medieval texts. I like it. I like how you show your passion for history
More, please.