By Sir Guillaume de la Belgique
www.SirGuillaume.com

(©2005 Scott Farrell)

Say to the people in your office that you’re going to spend a whole day of your vacation getting lectured on the technical specifications of 14th century arms and armor and you’ll get some funny looks. (Trust me on that … ) But say you’re going to get to handle real, medieval weaponry and —- well, you’re still going to get funny looks, but, let’s face it, who cares?

Despite the funny looks from our friends, neighbors and co-workers, Felinah and I, along with several of our Chepstow tournament companions, arranged to spend a day touring “behind the scenes” at the Royal Armouries at Leeds.

The Royal Armories moved from the Tower of London to a brand-new facility in Leeds in the mid-90’s. The new museum provides the staff with a fantastic amount of space, which they’ve used to great effect. Unlike most museum galleries, which are devoted to specific periods of history (Egyptian, Roman, Renaissance, etc.) the galleries at Leeds are segregated to focus on the intended function of the items on display. There’s a gallery dedicated to hunting, another on self-defense, and another on warfare. But the thing that will probably make every SCA member’s eyes light up is the fact that there’s a whole gallery devoted to tournaments and jousting.

The Armouries is also unique in that it’s set up to help you forget you’re looking at a bunch of antiques locked inside glass cases. Every display area incorporates four elements: the historical pieces (of course), as well as ongoing video displays, interactive computer demonstrations, and live interpreters in costumes and armor putting on shows of jousting, sword-fighting, falconry, archery and shooting. There is (to say the least) a lot to be seen here.

As much as we all would have enjoyed strolling leisurely through displays (and believe me, we could easily have spent several days doing that), we had been given an invitation to meet with the Armouries’ academic director as “ambassadors” of both the SCA and the Chivalry Today Educational Program. We expected to simply shake hands and get a “welcome to the museum” speech; instead, we were treated as honored guests and given the opportunity to view and handle a wide variety of historical pieces in order to help us improve the understanding and awareness of chivalry and medieval history in the United States.

Which is a really fancy way of saying, “We got to handle real swords and armor!” (But, of course, that doesn’t sound very professional.) Yes, the accompanying photo shows me with my grubby mitts wrapped around a 14th century longsword. (The museum director eventually pried it out of my grasp, but I put up a good fight.) Here’s the surprise we discovered at the Royal Armouries: You don’t have to be Conan the Barbarian to wield a medieval sword. While a lot of spectators who come to Ren Faires and SCA events consider our wooden swords “fake” because they’re way too light, the truth is the sword I’m holding in the picture weighs a few ounces under 3 lbs.

I also handled a pair of 14th and 15th century broadswords (that is, 36" swords meant to be used in one hand), each of which tipped the scales at around 2 lbs. The director of the sword collection explained that even the Scottish claymores on display, which are between 5' and 6' long, have an average weight of just 5 lbs.

So, it seems that the pound-per-foot rule we generally adhere to in the SCA is reasonably realistic – not “way too light.” The swords should be as heavy as a Chevy bumper rule I’ve seen utilized in some other “live steel” re-enactment groups borders on ludicrous — at least, according to the director of the Royal Armouries. (And, after all, what does he know?)

But the biggest surprise of all in Leeds was that re-enactors (both visiting “ambassadors” and the on-staff members of the Armouries) are treated as serious scholars, not overgrown geeks obsessed with swords-and-sorcery. As the director explained to me:

“Our interpreters help visitors at the Armories see that swords and armor are meant to be used, not just put on display … They also work with researchers to help them see armor not simply as a demonstration of changes in fashion, or metallurgy, or tactics, but as a functional system of expertly crafted tools that must all work properly together. Re-enactors wear armor more frequently than anyone has done since the 15th century. They have very intelligent viewpoints regarding what works, what doesn’t and why armor is made the way it is.”

Going to the Royal Armouries provided some great new information for historical research, but it also reminded me that what we do in the SCA (and other re-enactment groups) is more than just fun-and-games. Putting on armor and taking part in tournaments on the weekends is a way of learning about the past, and of bringing history to life for others — and that is a responsibility that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

The Royal Armouries is definitely a vacation spot that any history buff should visit – regardless of the funny looks from the people in your office.

Visit the www.royalarmouries.org for information regarding current displays and events, as well as several outstanding articles on the history of arms and armor.