Who we are

The year is 1391, in the month of May. We are a group of French knights who, having been deeply moved by the noble deed of arms performed by 3 of our brothers the previous year at the field of St. Inglevert near Calais, have decided to hold a tournament to commemorate that deed. To that end we have formed L'Emprise de l'Escu Gules and undertaken this enterprise for the purpose of said commemoration and have taken a vow of chivalry to give noble combat to all comers who would take the field. The tournament will last for 3 days, during which time there will be games of horsemanship, as well as deeds of arms on foot and on horse. Redshield-1391, Inc. is a not-for-profit educational organization dedicated to re-creation (in reasonably accurate historical detail) aspects of the culture of Western Europe in the span of years from 1375 to 1425. We are not actors or performers, we do this purely for the educational merit. Our goal is to encourage and promote the study of Western European history, with emphasis on the middle classes and lesser nobility of the late 14th and early 15th Centuries. In order to accomplish this we organize and conduct events such as tournaments, feasts, festivals, fairs, military company drill and maneuver, and demonstrations of everyday life. We make a concerted effort to narrow the time period of events to within an approximate one year time interval of 1391.

Some of our Activities

We participate in a variety of activities such as: live and/or static demonstrations for educational organizations, and groups, as well as participating in community parades, Living History "Timeline" portrayals, and gatherings for our own enjoyment. However, our favorite activity is our special "Medieval Life" demonstration that we present to local schools. During these presentations we educate school children (typically 6th Graders in NY State) about the daily lives of various people in the Middle Ages. We display and demonstrate a wide array of items, tools, and elements of daily life. We demonstrate typical handcrafts from weaving to armoring. We discuss and lecture on science as it was practiced. We even, from time to time, present demonstrations of the Art of Falconry. And of course, we also have a detailed presentation about the life of a knight from youth through adulthood as well as demonstrating the proper use of armor and arms, including the joust. Presentations and/or events may be only a few hours long, or may run for several days with all, or only part, of that time open to the public. During all of our events, both public and private, we make every attempt to keep all anachronisms hidden from view, and all participants stay in costume and character. In addition to the jousting and ground combat activities we also practice many non-combative activities such as cooking, crafts, or other domestic duties. More information about our programs and pricing can be found here.

The Tournament

It is one of the primary purposes of our organization to portray a full contact tournament of foot combat and jousting just like that which would have been held in 14th Century France. As a portrayal of this magnitude is no mean feat, it takes a great deal of time and effort to achieve the goal of such an event. To that end, we are steadily working to improve our skills and equipment so that we can hold such tournaments. In the 14th Century, a tournament would typically span 3 or 4 days (with some lasting much longer.) In an effort to more closely duplicate a tournament of the period we divide our competitions into three segments to represent the days of the tourney. Thee first consists of games, foot combat, and jousting between the knights of the company and their challengers; the second consists of those same contests, but between the company squires and their challengers; and the third is between any visiting knights. Visiting knights are offered the option of competing against the squires or waiting to participate in the third segment. For further information on what constitutes "visiting knight" status, please see our Rules section.

Questions? Please have a look at our FAQ page.