Companie of Saynt George : new website
Some of you may have heard about the Companie of Saynt George, a XVth century living history group based in Switzerland. The company is nearly 20 years old and is mostly known through the book "Medieval Soldier" by Gerry Embleton and John Howe. It is somewhat unique as it is one of the only living history group whose members come from more than 10 countries around Europe. It creates a special atmosphere in camps, always friendly and very motivating.

After 7 years we finally decided to change our website. It was rather old looking, most pictures were very old (more than 15 years old for some) and some texts needed to be modified to mirror the slow but steady evolution of the company:

http://www.companie-of-st-george.ch

We choose to make the website a clean and modern looking picture frame into the world of the 15th century. The design is modern and sober, to emphasis the images of medieval paintings and photos of Company events, which is the most important in our opinion

I wanted to share it with you. I hope you will enjoy browsing in the pages and galleries. You will perhaps recognise some Albion swords in the pictures, nothing surprising since Peter Johnsson has been one of our guest during an event a very long time ago (I wasn't even there yet). His friends of the Guild of St Olaus are also among the most esteemed (and armored) members of the Company. :)

There are four languages right now : English, German, French and Italian, the "historical" languages of the company. We hope to release more soon. The Latin version (the international language of the middle ages) is already online but not complete yet. There should be the following versions in a near future : Swedish, Dutch, Polish.
Looking good, you guys have very accurate looking kit and costumes.
My warmest congratulations for your level of accuracy. Perfect.
So that was why I couldn't access the Co.St.G. site for some time? The new site is certainly worth the bother, though. It's cleaner and somewhat faster to load.
I can't stop looking at the site, excellent redesign. Front end and back end
Thanks for your feedback and appreciation.
We are trying to be as close to the original as possible. It is a long process and a never ending quest but a lot of fun.
We put a lot of care on shape and forms of items and costume. We believe that it is very important to understand the mentality of this period. The silhouette off each period of history is very characteristic. Getting it right helps to understand how it worked and what were the ideas that lead to it.
15th century male costume is very close fitting and can easily become a nuisance to the wearer if it not properly made. But if you get it right and after wearing some pieces of armour, you will find out that is very convenient even a necessity. It may even help to understand things on armour.

Sharing informations form all over Europe makes things somewhat easier as we get information of new discovery pretty fast. Some items of the middle ages are so rare that there is sometime only one original artifact. If you don't live in the country were it is found you may never hear about it.

However, we are doing living history and we are not dressed-up figures in a museum. As a result we don't hesitate to use our equipment and move in our costume. Long marches, passing canon over rivers, night attacks, crossing lakes with halberds are the type of activities we have during our events !
Did anyone spot the Albion Prince in a couple of the pictures?

Great images Mathieu, very evocative of the period. I especially like the picture of the chap boating on the moat with the castle rising in the background.
My only complaint is that I would like to see more pictures. Bigger galleries! Your costumes and kit are beautiful to look at and unlike with some re-enactment groups in my country, you guys seem very natural in the period outfits and gear, an attractive bunch too. Congratulations and keep up the good work.
Cheers Mathieu !

Fab
By coincidence, my copy of The Medieval Soldier arrived yesterday (finally found an affordable copy!). Although it's relatively old now, it's still extremely informative and beautiful. I understand that y'all have moved well beyond some of the interpretations shown, but it's still a great inspiration and visual reference.
David, it is my Albion Prince that can be seen. It is a bit old for the period but still serviceable, a family heirloom passed down from the time of the good king John!

There is also a Poitiers somewhere in the gallery that belongs to me. This sword is advertise as dating of the 14th century but it belongs very well to the 15th century as Oakeshott write in Records of Medieval Swords.

I have also a very nice Castellan, first sword that I ordered to Albion in fact, but I still have to make the scabbard for it.

Jean Henri Chandler wrote:
My only complaint is that I would like to see more pictures. Bigger galleries! Your costumes and kit are beautiful to look at and unlike with some re-enactment groups in my country, you guys seem very natural in the period outfits and gear, an attractive bunch too. Congratulations and keep up the good work.

We would like to change the pictures often. It gives us time to choose the right pictures and the site will be more active.

Thanks for the compliment. We try to be believable and to wear everyday clothes and not costumes. We have to really move in them, fight and work and still feel comfortable. After a couple of events hiking in the woods or pulling a canon in a stream with an officer yelling at you, you got the motivation to make a proper and fitting costume. :)
If the garment is really close fitting it is usually more easy to move than when you wear baggy hose and a doublet too long.

Most garments are completely handsewn and usually by members themselves.

Sean Flynt wrote:
By coincidence, my copy of The Medieval Soldier arrived yesterday (finally found an affordable copy!). Although it's relatively old now, it's still extremely informative and beautiful. I understand that y'all have moved well beyond some of the interpretations shown, but it's still a great inspiration and visual reference.


Yes Sean, it is a really nice book, the pictures are very beautiful. There is a real atmosphere which is not really true of most books on reenactment. I believe that the Company improved a lot since but still, this book was the inspiration of most members in the company now. However, be careful not to use this book as a references there are always mistakes everywhere ( which is also true of any pictures of reenactment) :)

Hello Fabrice! you should come and see us for real one of this day.


Last edited by Mathieu Harlaut on Fri 29 Jun, 2007 10:00 am; edited 2 times in total
Is Embleton's 2000 book significantly better? I've seen that one MUCH cheaper than The Medieval Soldier. It's smaller, I know, and covers a much larger range of dates.
It is not better but a good companion to Medieval Soldier. The concept is sightly different.There are more references in the form of drawings of original artworks. Quite useful to understand where to get the information when you do reenactment. There are a couple of pictures which are in the 2 books but most are new. It covers different periods but the 15th is the biggest part. I believe it is a good book.

BTW, there is a famous swordsmith on some pictures. :)
Mathieu Harlaut wrote:
It is not better but a good companion to Medieval Soldier. The concept is sightly different.There are more references in the form of drawings of original artworks. Quite useful to understand where to get the information when you do reenactment. There are a couple of pictures which are in the 2 books but most are new. It covers different periods but the 15th is the biggest part. I believe it is a good book.

BTW, there is a famous swordsmith on some pictures. :)


Thanks for the info. I just ordered it. Tell Embleton he owes you a sales commission. :D

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