Where to start? I would be cautious of anything Alison Weir wrote. She is a sensationalist/populist historian who is sloppy in her research and has been known to make up facts from time to time. There are far better books on the subject than hers, Phillip Hammonds "Military Campaigns of the Wars of the Roses" might be a place to start. Also from a military viewpoint, Andrew Boardmans "The Medieval Soldier in the Wars of the Roses" is a pioneering work. I'm not sure I agree with all of his conclusions, but his work is one of the most important books to come out on the subject in the past few decades.

I'll give you a couple of titles that survey the subject when I can get to the right stack of books in the domocile.

As to persona - Most people on the board belonging to groups that Re-enact the Wars of the Roses were drawn to the subject itself, and built up a persona based on the exact phase of the war that interested them (or the existing re-enactment group) and then based what they were doing on what they wanted to do and what sort of portrayal they could afford.

It is a very bad idea to base a persona around a suit of armour you are attracted to and than come up with a hodge-podge explanation of who you are and what you are doing. Many groups represented on this board as a for instance don't allow you to portray a man-at-arms or knight unless you invest your time and energy in getting all the appropriate equipment, and work on aquiring the appropriate skills. The minimum standards of authenticity make a full harness to this standard a very expensive proposition (averaging I figured out the other day $5,000 - $7,000, and approaching $10,000 if you only want the very best). This doesn't include the horse for the portrayal, the pavillion, all the nice clothes appropriate to the station, and all the little do-dads and extras.

As a result, most people portray archers, crossbowmen, and armoured infantrymen such as pikemen. If you want to truely be authentic, God is in the details, and it is tough enough to do one of these portrayals correctly.

Most groups also require the basic clothing to get on the field, as nothing looks worse than having a fellow in a pair of sweats and Nikies under a shiney harness. Fortunately most groups also have a variety of loaner gear to get you on the field in short order, and are willing to help you make all your basic gear for nothing more than the cost of the raw materials and your sweat equity in helping make the items.

The SCA is a wonderful orginization to go and have fun with a bunch of people. If your intrest is hard core authenticity, it may not meet your needs. To explain, there are very rare individuals inside the orginization that are very authentic. The vast majority of participants however do not share the same enthusiasim for authenticity, and a very large minority of these will go out of their way to discourage your attempts at authenticity. Ask some members of this board as to their experiences. As a rule the members here are devotees of authenticity, and about half the posters here are members of the Society. They could relate some very ointeresting stories regarding this phenomenon were they so inclined.

This is neither here nor there, as the purpose of FireStryker is to be a meeting place for those who desire authenticity in High-Later Medieval Re-enactment regardless of which group they belong to, and all who are so inclined are welcome. Those who are not interested in the pursuit we do not waste our time with.

on picking a persona....the reasons for choosing are as varied as the person themselves...

I chose mine (1467, Brugges, cuisinier for Anotoine le grand Batard de Bourgogne) over my old SCA persona (1190, Gasconne in the court of Eleanore of Aquitaine) becuase of the relative ease of research on a wide array of topics (those francoflemish types were VERY big into illustrated books, etc, which means LOTS of pictures!), combined with interest in being French (my real heritage) but not TOO French .

Burgundy suited me, and the fact that Brugges was a city state, and had very strong ties to all kinds of other places like Scotland and Italy intruged me as well.

Bob...havign armor you like is as good a reason to get interested in a period as any! Me, I went for the clothing (much more flattering than a 14th century cotehardie), and the food and music and dance and politics and art were just bonuses .

Dan, dont worry about fleshing it all out right away...pick a time and place that amuses you and jump in with both feet!

AM - I wll have to jump into reading with both feet, as I know next to nothing about the Wars of the Roses or Burgundy, etc. But I like to read and all medieval stuff is pretty fascinating to me, so I'm sure it won't be like pulling teeth. Thanks for the background on your persona. I am having some trouble deciding partly because I am both partly French and German (bit of a mutt am I)and can't decide. I suppose the best thing for it will be just to read, read, read and see what is most appealing!

I have read a little of Burgundy in my AAoMK. It is very interesting. I'll have to read more and decide which culture I like the most. I looked through the booklist on the Wolfe Argent page and have seen posts here about different books regarding Burguundy and the Companies. What is the best sort of "covers everything" in little detail/ starter type book? Is it the Embleton and Howe one? Just to be reading something about this time period I started the Allison Weir book I mentioned. I can't wait to find out more about this era!

Chef De Chambre - I can see why you say people are drawn to this subject. It's much more interesting than it sounded like it would be.

FYI-Charles the Bold is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to find except maybe at your local big city library. Everytime I try to find this book, someone beats me to it by as little as a couple of hours.

Commynes is an excellent source but, as Chef will tell you, must be read with a "grain" as Commynes changed sides from Charles to Louis and tends to write in favor of the latter master.

Cheers,

I too am fairly new to the idea of authentic reenactment...congratulations on your choice to join in! I don't think that there is a more helpful and courteous group of people. I think that the reason Chef advises against creating a personna around a suit of armour is that many who do so aren't interested in the details behind the impression, instead only in the "shiny toys" part of the impression. Unfortunately (and I myself have seen this time and again), a lot of people who do so spread a lot of misinformation because they never bother to learn more once they have their kit. Another big drawback of this is that you may find a suit of armour you really like, spend a bunch of time and effort creating it, and then find out when you get into the research that the personna that the kit would fit isn't really you after all...and thus you may end up discouraged, fatigued, and ready to give up...I know, because I have been there! I'm making a new personna now, and I want to try and do it in a better way...I am researching the background, culture, and quirks of my personna first, then I'll worry about getting the kit together...I think it'll be a lot better, financially and impersonation wise if I do so.

Sorry Chef, didn't mean to speak for you there...you may have different reasons, these are just my ideas.

quote:

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Originally posted by Sir Dan:
Well, I just ordered the Golden Age of Burgundy. I checked a local library on the interent about any of the Vaughan books, but no dice.
I am having my order rushed so I can jump in ASAP!

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bwah hah hah! another one for our side!

quote:

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Originally posted by Marcus:
Oh, come now, Anne-Marie, you know the Spaniards are far superior...

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the 15th century Spanish music is almost as good as the Flemish

I have found 7 copies of The Golden Age of Burgundy by Joseph Calmette.

Go to the following URL.

http://www.addall.com/used

Type in the TITLE field only: The Golden Age of Burgundy

The prices look pretty good ranging from $10 - 40.

Cheers,

Chef de Chambre read all three volumes of Kirk. He grumbled occasionally, but he read them and thinks that they are worth while.

Ruth Putnam's book Charles the Bold is okay from my understanding. We have, but Chef doesn't talk much about it so I read that as it is not one of his primary sources.

Louis XI and Charles the Bold by Lt. Colonel Andrew C. P. Haggard is amusing, but does not contain a lot of footnotes. Good for entertainment value. It reads more like a tabloid of 15th c Burgundy. I will see if I can get Chef to post a couple of book reviews.

Glad to be of assistance.

Cheers,
Jenn