Our calendar of Australian medieval fairs is up to date with all of the 2022 events still to come, and a start on the 2023 season. The events of recent years have seen a lot of changes to the lineup, with several old favourites going by the wayside but interesting new events popping up in their place. Please let us know if we’ve missed an upcoming fair near you!
After a protracted migration and redevelopment, we’re thrilled to announce that our new online shop is – Open! Our updated shop is now mobile-responsive, with a compact layout when you browse from your smartphone or tablet, and live inventory data so if you can see a product on the shop, it’s in stock and ready to ship immediately.
For the moment, we have our top 3 most popular product categories available but over the next few months we will be bringing the rest of the catalogue online – including some exciting new additions.
The calendar of Australian medieval fairs is also back for the 2020 event season. We’ll keep adding events as we discover them
We’re excited to welcome you all to our newly refurbished corner of the internet and bid you good reading!
– Loreena, Roxy, Paul and Elden – the Mainly Medieval team.
Greetings gentle readers,
We have exciting news. The time has come to undertake a major upgrade of the Mainly Medieval website! To facilitate this, we will be switching off the online store section of the website and stock will only be available for sale at events such as St Ives Medieval Faire. The calendar and our blog and Facebook will continue as normal with fresh posts and interesting snippets, and we will keep you all updated on progress.
For those customers with orders currently in progress or with back orders, we will,?of course, continue to process these and keep you updated.
We are really looking forward to the changes that are occurring and we thank you in advance for your patience as we work towards the new Mainly Medieval incarnation.
Medieval Fightclub have a range of metal and leather care products, from Traitement Royal, which would be of use to all kinds of re-enactors. I tried out the Le:Balm?Forever Leather Wax and Wax:On polishing compound. The products were supplied by Medieval Fightclub, but they have not otherwise compensated us for this review.
Continue reading Review – Traitement Royal Le:Balm and Wax:On
Greetings Gentle Readers,
Rowany Festival in Mittagong is only one week away! For those able to attend, we will be setting up our shingle in the kitchen hall on the Saturday market day, from 9.00am to 12.00pm. Pre-orders can be picked up from our stall during this time.
Do come and say hello and check out the latest arrivals we will have available for sale. These include the most recent Compleat Anachronists, the ?B? pendant from Steve Millingham, bejeweled ring brooches and the debut of the Queen of Hungary water 2017 vintage and Gentleman?s beard pomade from Medieval?Still Room.
Easter falling within this month, we suspend our study into appropriate medieval Saints. There is no doubt that this was and remains one of the greater holidays in the Christian world, even if there is a lot more chocolate in the modern world.
Until next time, we bid you good reading!
Loreena, Roxy, Paul and Elden
Greetings Gentle Readers,
Our sincere apologies – January slipped past and February is here. We have been busy rebuilding stocks, placing orders and researching new and interesting products from local Artisans. This year we hope to expand our library of instructional pdfs, as well as book and product reviews and more events.
This month in the medieval calendar one of the many martyrs celebrated is St Valentine on February 14th. Yet mystery still abounds; which St Valentine? There were no less than 3 Valentines martyred and celebrated for their heroic love to their fellow man and all three were celebrated on this date.Nor was the exchange of gifts between couples actually a part of the St Valentines celebration. From literary sources such as Chaucer and the Paston letters, we learn that showing love and affection on this particular date was almost co-incidental, and secular in nature. A common belief held in England and France throughout the period was that birds of every kind, began to pair on February 14th. Thus it was seen as an auspicious day for people to celebrate and show their love.Today we celebrate St Valentine?s day with cards, chocolates and flowers. Flowers and letters of affection also figured largely during the medieval period along with small tokens such as pewter badges depicting hearts, flowers and other symbols of earthly as well as divine love.
Should you wish to show your loved one a lasting token of your affection with something a little different, may we suggest our range of replica medieval pewter pins and badges? Order before Feb 7th and?these tokens will arrive beautifully presented in elegant white packaging, ready for the big day.
Until next time, we bid you good reading!
–Loreena, Roxy, Paul and Elden
Image:?Birds from De Artes Venandi Cum Avibus, Pal. lat. 1071?21v (Sicily, 1240’s) -?http://digi.vatlib.it/view/bav_pal_lat_1071/ Copyright Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
To make Jelly of Flesh, take swine’s feet and snouts and ears and chicken feet. Wash them clean and seep in equal parts?wine, vinegar and water. Sieve through a cloth and serve it forth cold. –Curye on Inglysch
A founding principle of Mainly Medieval was that good books underpin research in historical re-enactment. By collecting the best specialist books and bringing them to re-enactors, we felt we could support the community. This has largely been a success at festival and fair events. Online, however, we simply cannot compete with the big players.
The largest and most economical of all is Book Depository. They have an excellent range, very low prices and offer free shipping. Seeing as most of our regular customers buy their books from Book Depository anyway, we’ve become a Book Depository affiliate. This means that if you go to Book Depository via our site and buy a book, we are eligible for a $1-2 credit. Buy a pile of books from Book Depository, and you’ve bought one of us here at Mainly Medieval a beer. The price for you, dear reader, is identical. You need only click through once per ‘session’, and not for every single title you’re buying.
By shopping on Book Depository via our site, you’re supporting our endeavours and earning our enduring gratitude, totally free!
With the time we’re not spending ordering books and populating our inventory system, we will instead be reviewing re-enactment books on our new blog. We will still be giving our honest opinion, as ever, on each book and aim to help you know what to expect before you order.
Not all of our books will be moving to Book Depository, either. We carry some publishers like Stuart Press and Society for Creative Anachronism which are not available elsewhere online, and we will always be looking to make more specialised titles available.
