It was an exciting festival and we’re glad to be home!
This year we tried out a new format and just did a market day at Rowany Festival. It was very busy, some good feedback about things to change for next year but overall a good success!
In May we’ll be going to Gumeracha Medieval Fair (May 8 and 9) so look forward to seeing some people from Adelaide there.
(Photo of Medieval Archery Society camp at Rowany Festival AS50 2016 by Andrew Bennett)
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.
Here Richard (of Keystone Forge, one of our talented artisans) demonstrates how to start a fire with flint and steel using one of our Fire Starter Kit
Greetings Gentle Readers;
It has been a while between newsletters and for this we do apologise; we have not been idle! Mainly Medieval as a store and as an entity is evolving to better support Australian re-enactment and improve your retail experience. To that end, we are working to make our website a news and research destination as well as a store. We will be rationalising our somewhat sprawling catalogue to provide goods faster and more efficiently, and to weather the decline of the Australian dollar.
In the coming weeks, you can expect a raft of product changes on our catalogue as we update prices and availability. Rest assured pending backorders are being honoured, regardless of product changes. A number of products will only be available at events but in turn we are working to appear at more events.
Our online store will increasingly focus on locally made re-enactor items and specialist publications including Australian Artisans such as Adam McKay, Medieval Still Room and Cracked Anvil Forge, and the Stuart Press and Compleat Anachronist pamphlet series.
We are excited to bring you these improvements and we thank you for your patronage and patience in 2015. We look forward to seeing you all at more events in the coming year. So until next time, we bid you all – good reading!
Paul, Elden, Loreena and Roxy – the Mainly Medieval Team
Greetings Gentle reader,
This month we are showcasing new titles in a variety of crafts and trades from Straw and Strawcraft (Shire Publishing) to Calligraphy from the Court of Emperor Ruldolf II, and the Italian Fruit and vegetables of the 16th Century. During the next few weeks we will also be adding new brass belt findings and brooches from a variety of periods. For our subscribers, be assured the May issues of Ancient Warfare and Medieval Warfare will be here shortly.
Until next month we bid you all, good reading.
Paul and Loreena
Greetings Gentle Reader,
This month see the addition of a number of ecclesiastical studies examining the different religious orders and their part in western medieval society. These include, ‘The Other Friars; Carmelite, Augustinian, Sack and Pied Friars in the Middle Ages’; ‘The Cistercians’; The Francicans in the Middle Ages’; ‘The Benedictines in the Middle Ages’; ‘The Chronica Maiora of Thomas Walsingham (1376-1422)’. We also have the new release titles from Shire which include ‘Beauty and Cosmetics, 1550-1950’ and our latest shipment has replenished the re-enactor supplies of chapes/agulets, dress pins, towels and combs. Last but certainly not least we have the April magazine issues of Ancient Warfare (Vol6 issue 1) and Medieval Warfare (Vol2 issue 2).
We hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Easter break, particularly for those traveling to and from Rowany Festival at Glenworth Valley. It was great to see so many friends and we look forward to being there, full time, in 2013 with our new Past Tents, Tudor Pavilion.
Until next month we bid you all, good reading.
Paul and Loreena
Greetings Gentle readers,
A food and social bent this month, with new food titles such as Ken Albala?s ?Pancakes; A global History? and texts considering various aspects of society such as the yearly calendar, dance and maritime fishing. This is in addition to the new issues of the monthly magazine titles ?Ancient Warfare (Issue 5 2012)? and ?Medieval Warfare (Issue 1 2012 )?.
We also have an announcement:
Sadly, our intention to run the store at Rowany Festival this year has been foiled by other circumstances. Fear not, for those with pre-orders we will be taking a table at the Saturday market to ensure everyone receives their items. Be assured we will be attending Abbey Festival in July 2012 and back again for Rowany Festival 2013 with a new and larger store.
As ever, we bid you good reading,
Paul and Loreena
Greetings gentle readers,
This month we are highlighting Gaita and their latest collection of instrumental medieval music, ?Medieval Music: A collection of 12th to 14th Century?. Gaita is a specialist medieval music ensemble based in Edinburgh who have transcribed and published several manuscripts of medieval music and dance as well as producing several CDs of medieval dance music. To discover more in the Gaita range please go to the entertainment section on this site.
Throughout February new titles from the Stuart Peachey range will be added to the current range including a new DVD, ?Tudor Lives on DVD? following the daily routine of ordinary Tudor people living in the country.
Until next month we bid you all, Good Reading.
Paul and Loreena
Greetings gentle readers; we hope that the Festive season was a joyous and safe one for everyone. This month, the Creative Anachronist (CA?s) range has been expanded to CA153 as highlighted below. In addition we are proud to showcase the latest offering from the Tudor Tailor library: ?The Queen?s Servant; Gentlewomen?s dress at the accession of Henry VIII?. Keep watching for the Tudor Tailor pewter button range and Button DVD which will be added very shortly.
So until next month we bid you all, Good Reading.
Paul and Loreena
