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Sex...murder....lunacy....ambition....lust......greed.....

Things haven’t changed much in 500 years, have they?

King Henry is mad, and his wife is thought to be a witch. Edward is the [what *is* the word I'm looking for here?] and he can’t keep his hands off the ladies. Richard of Glouster is in love with the daughter of his enemy. Their brother Charles is a spineless trout who can’t decide if he’s with them or against them.

Does this sound like the latest episode of (insert name of well known TV potboiler)?

History is more than than dates, dead guys, and boring catalogs of facts compiled by pipe smoking historians in tweed coats. Living history allows you to know how people really lived during the Wars of the Roses. Several times a year, we “go on campaign”, and put up an encampment. During these encampments, we sleep in tents, cook our meals over a fire, shoot crossbows, fight with swords and pollarms, drill with pikes and ride our horses in armour. More than merely acting a part, we actually live the life of a medieval person for a few fleeting days.

Membership in the Company is open to anyone who would like to know first hand what it was like to live in the Middle Ages. If you’d like to know how to shoot a bow, ride a horse in armour, cook over a fire or sleep under the stars, give us a call! We welcome new members, and are VERY support-oriented!

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Shot of Red Company women doing camp stuff, socializing, smiling, having a good time
Caption - "Medieaval Baebes"

Virginia has always been fascinated by herbal remedies and cures. Gwen loves to cook as much as she loves a challenge. Carly just likes a break from housework. Women join the Red Company for all sorts of reasons, some no more complex than a break from the daily grind. If you’d like to learn a new skill, learn to cook over a fire, meet new people or just want to get out of the house, give us a call! We welcome new members, and are VERY support-oriented!

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Shot of Jeff, Bill and "the army"
Caption: ......they’re back......

It is the spring of 1471. In the Fall, Richard and Edward had fled their homeland after nearly being captured at [insert name of battle here]. They’ve married their sister off to a political ally in exchange for support, and now they’re coming home with a fresh army. In their boats are 2,000 men itching for battle- mightly Flemish archers, well-schooled Burgundian footsoldiers and bloodthirsty German mercenaries. At stake is the crown of England.....and their lives.

Living history allows you to be one of that army, and experience the sights, smells, adrenaline rush, and anticipation of being there. The History Channel got you started, now find out what it’s like to wear armour, swing a sword and feel the sting of sweat in your eyes.

For details on how to join, call our Membership officer. Details of our other activities can be found in the listings.

The proud-
The brave-
The Yorkists
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So whaddaya think???? (bouncing up and down like Tigger)

Gwen

You might want to check the spineless trout of a brother. If you are referring to Clarence...it is George. Brother of his Majesty Edward IV and his Grace, Richard Duke of Gloucester.

Re Edward- no, the word I'm looking for is akin to "pretender", but that's not it. Edward feels he is the true king and has a right to the throne now that Henry is loopy due to the deal Edward's dad swung in Edward's name. He's not the "successor", or "pretender"........I still can't come up with the word I want!!

I still need the name of a popular sleazy TV show. I don't watch TV, so I need some help here. I know names from reading the TV Guide, but since I don't watch the shows, they're just names.

And Bob, correct me if I'm wrong, but Edward and Richard fled because Richard Neville almost captured tham, but it wasn't after a battle, was it? Ed and Dicken were caught unprepared and fled to Burgundy after being cornered near Doncaster. So to be more precise "In September of 1470, Richard and Edward had fled their homeland after nearly being captured near Doncaster". Wasn't it Doncaster? I wish my memory for these details was better, but I'm just not very interested in the military end of things...

Gwen

You're not thinking of the word "Usurper", are you?

Jeff suggested "contender" for Edward, and we'll probably go with that unless we have a stroke of insight.

Urine????? Boy I'd love to see that one!!!

I found it was pretty easy to come up with ideas if I thought about the section of the public I wanted to appeal to- women, young men, armchair historians, etc. The hard part is finding the right way to phrase things to make them "catchy".

I have come up with almost a dozen different "ads". Most are still just concepts:

• Photo- party scene. Caption "Why do people join the Red Company?" "It's the beer" (Demographic- people who think LH is boring)

• Photo: Display of fabulous medieval foods. Caption- Your teachers lied (Demographic- people who like to cook, eat or just wonder about some of the stuff they were taught in school; in this case, that medieval food was disgusting)

• Photo- Guy at a desk, dreaming of jousting scene. Caption- Change your career (Demographic- people who are looking for some excitement in their life)]
  

Jeff and I sat down last night and worked on the original 3 and they are very slick now. We'll work on these and the others to have a good rotating stock. Jenn, do you know where RA places their ads?

Anyway, thanks for all the input, everybody! Keep those comments coming- your ideas have really helped me hone these rewrites!!!

THANKS!!!!!!

the ads for RA appear in Call to Arms and Skirmish magazine. The "urine" ad I am looking for is in Skirmish. It is similar in format to the "Martin" one. Just a picture of the person in historical clothing a few words, then the "gritty" details below the image.

Ar, ar, ar! you so funny.....

How about this ad?

Photo of young man in armor with beer in one hand, and "bloody" sword in the other surrounded by young red-headed women.

Young John isn't interested in politics, religion, or even tomorrow, yet he attends every muster!

Or something to that effect...

Or how about a picture of a battlefield littered with bodies and captioned, "The Goode Olde Days"

Another idea I have is to throw up some slogans. Stuff like:

The Red Company, History Extreme!

The Red Company, Where the Past IS Alive! (The History Channel may take umbrage with this one).

Another body strewn battlefield or a pic of a guy standing over a vanquished foe. Caption: Better Red than Dead

A face shot of a person in open-faced helm, dripping wet. Person has on his "war face". Caption: Wet & Wild

These are great- I'll have to add them to the list for development.

As for "tag lines" we've rejected John Smart's contributions:

red company, we do history right... Hows that to annoy eveybody?
red company, we bleed murry and blue, how about you?
red company, are you going to use that pike or what?
red company, duct tape and simulate this!!
red company, we drink more than the lancastrians do in a week!
red company, we march and fight....so you don't have to

in favor of

"The Red Company-1471- A new way to experience the past"

Just reading over some of the captions. Are you depicting Yorkists or are you in Burgundian service?

Murray and Blue is the Yorkist livery.
Blue and White is the Burgundian livery.

quote:

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Originally posted by hauptfrau:

I still need the name of a popular sleazy TV show. I don't watch TV, so I need some help here. I know names from reading the TV Guide, but since I don't watch the shows, they're just names.

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The mindless drivel that passes for entertainment these days is enough to make me reach for a bucket. I have never watched any of these shows but have seen the TV ads and listened to people at work talking about who's going to be thrown off the island enough to make me wish they had tested a NUKE on it!

(Just kidding, but I am sick of hearing about these stupid shows. But I thought I would list a few of the sleazy or tasteless.)

The Man Show (Comedy Central)
Strip Mall (Comedy Central)

I have only seen Commercials for these as well. They look thoroughly tasteless and offensive.

I think they fit the sleazy catagory.

Talk shows aplenty. Just turn on the TV between 1-5 pm on any given weekday afternoon and you can't help but trip over them: Ricki Lake (still around??); Jerry Springer (already mentioned); Heraldo (the older shows where a chair gets broken across his face); etc...etc...

Any of the People's court type deals. Not sleazy, just amazes me how ridiculous some of these "court cases" are.

People's Medieval Court could actually be quite funny. Nikki keeps telling me I should see the "ADVOCATE". Nothing quite like defending a pig accused of Murder. Sounds like the People's Court doesn't it???

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The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at a tempting moment.

Tristan is one of Charles' Captains, so we are Burgundians. We've been deployed to England to fight the Yorkist war, so we serve the Yorkists.

Having spent 6 months "hanging around" with Edward and Richard, and having no love of *anything* French, Tristan is quite taken with Richard and will fight his war willingly. He feels His Grace Edward is a little too glib and frilly for his tastes, but he sees Duke Richard as a kindred spririt- intense, passionate and a bit taciturn.

Having heard all the gossip through my husband, Ginevra is also a staunch supporter of the Yorkists- although it means she has to leave comfortable and cosmopolitan Bruges for the wilds of God-forsken England!

Does that answer your question?

Stephen (or Etienne as you know him) is a Yorkist sympathiser in the employ of the Duchess and Duke of Burgundy, and is able to happily work for both interests (not to mention his own family's interests in mercantile ventures in the Low Countries) with little conflict of interest (until Autumn 1475 anyhow).

Despite the personal preferal of Charles for his Lancastrian relations, the prosperity of the Low Countries depended to a large extent on having a Pro-Burgundian anti-French Yorkist government in power as a trading partner and ally rather than an anti-Burgundian pro-French Lancastrian government.