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The Company of Chivalry is a living history group portraying a Military Company in the age of Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), under the command of Sir Thomas Hungerford (c. 1330 – 3 December 1397), a Vassal of John of Gaunt 1st Duke of Lancaster (March 6, 1340 – February 3, 1399).
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The group performs at Medieval Reenactment events; with civilian Living History and military Combat Display aspects. The Company of Chivalry is well known for its vivid display of daily life in a medieval camp especially in the Castles of Wales for Cadw. The Group has the only fully trained Medieval Siege Engine Crew in the United Kingdom, and regularly displays the use of four types of Siege Engine at Caerphilly Castle in South Wales.
The society has set its effective date as 1370, during the Hundred Years War at a time when the English were ascendent against the Armies of France. Within the society the military aspect consists of soldiers who are primarily made up of Billmen with a gunner in charge of a small black powder cannon, commanded by armoured Knights.
Name
There is not a single correct spelling for the name of the company; the group usually uses “The Company of Chivalry” or the more Archaeic “Ye Compaynye of Cheualrye”
Origins and History
The Company of Chivalry was formed in 1988 by a group of people with a love for medieval England. Over the years they have developed a system of operating that has caused them to evolve from a small group to a well structured society of over 50 active members. The aim of the society is to recreate the daily life, culture and technology of English society in the Plantagenet period of the late fourteenth century.
Membership
There are around seventy five people involved with the group and about fifty of them are considered active. The active members live in the United Kingdom; the General Membership is mostly drawn from the West Country (Somerset, Wiltshire, Devon, Gloucestershire), and from Warwickshire. The society actively recruits and welcomes enquiries for membership and events from all over the UK and Europe, the society is happy to accept members with or without prior experience; and welcomes families to join.
Events
The Company of Chivalry primarily works with Cadw and English Heritage, and some privately owned properties such as Pembroke Caste; and carries out living history events in close cooperation with them. The Group usually carries out between twelve and fifteen events each year/season between Easter and September, in the UK. The Society has developed strong links with Compagnia di Porta Giovia an Italian Reenactment Society Based in Milano, Italy, and travels to Morimondo, Italy every year to participate in a reenactment of The Battle of Casorate (1352) between Carlo IV of Bohemia and the Duke Visconti of Milano. The Society also attends private events.