Company of Saynt George
Encyclopedia
Living history
Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to reenact a specific event in history, living history is...
group portraying an artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
Company in the age of Charles the Bold (1467-1477). The group does events with a civil and military aspect and is known for its display of daily life in a medieval camp.
Name
There is no correct spelling for the name of the company. The group uses multiple styles on its website: The Company of Saynte George, The Company of Saynt George, The Companie of Saynt George and The Compagnie of Saynte George. All variants seem to be equally correct.History
The Company of St. George was formed during the 1980s around Gerry EmbletonGerry Embleton
Gerry Embleton is an Anglo-Swiss artist, born in London. He is the brother of Ron Embleton.-Career:Embleton began as a comic strip artist, and worked on TV Century 21 in the 1960s. He later began working in children's educational illustrations and then advertising. He also paints landscapes and was...
and a group of history enthusiasts living in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. Traditionally the Company has retained a close link to other groups in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The Company of St. George has been made popular with the book "The Medieval Soldier", written by Gerry Embleton and John Howe, featuring over one hundred colour photographs of people in historical costume. It has been translated into French, German and Italian. The book came out in 1994 and had an influence on living-history and re-enactment. This is especially true on the European continent where it helped to make living history a popular hobby and the second half of the 15th century one of the most popular periods for re-enactment.
Membership
There are around one hundred people involved with the group and about sixty of them are considered active. The active members live in SwitzerlandSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Tolkien illustrator John Howe and the historical illustrator Gerry Embleton
Gerry Embleton
Gerry Embleton is an Anglo-Swiss artist, born in London. He is the brother of Ron Embleton.-Career:Embleton began as a comic strip artist, and worked on TV Century 21 in the 1960s. He later began working in children's educational illustrations and then advertising. He also paints landscapes and was...
are prominent members.
Events
The Company of St. George primarily works with museumMuseum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
s and does living-history events in close cooperation with them. The ties with the Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg
Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg
The château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg is located at Orschwiller, Alsace, France, in the Vosges mountains just west of Sélestat. The castle is nestled at a strategic location on a high hill overlooking the Alsatian plain; as a result it was used by successive powers from the Middle Ages until the Thirty...
are particularly strong. There are also private events.