Medieval History comes alive!
Expert living historians bring the daily life of peasants, tradesfolk, nobles & knights to your school, fete, festival or business. From the daily grind of breadmaking to knights vying for honorable victory, Australia's leading medieval education company, Days of Knights, transports you to the Middle Ages in an exciting, engaging and entertaining set of presentations, or we can tailor a presentation to fit you or your clients' needs.
Days of Knights has been described as "Australia's premier Medieval Education company" by our clients. Days of Knights has been involved in part of academic conferences, medieval fairs & festivals, community events, the Melbourne International Food & Wine Festival, Musuem Victoria events and school programs in Victoria and interstate. We have even been invited to participate in these types of events in the USA and Europe.
Days of Knights welcomes you to 2010. Days of Knights has accumulated over 5 decades of involvement in Living History groups and medieval education. Our people each have up to 24+ years of experience in Medieval educational, promotional and film work for schools, businesses, festivals, fetes and film/television. We can provide knights fighting ferociously, a noble lady in her court, or teach dances, games and the crafts of days long gone, and provide colour for any event you plan. We can advise on how to create a spectacular fight scene , or create the appearance of a sumptuous medieval court. We're not actors. We're living historians who actually create our own equipment, clothing and accoutrements, often by painstakingly researching and recreating the methods used by real people in the real Middle Ages. Take a look at the lengths we go to to understand and research our work, as can be seen in these short videos about one of our many projects, making a quern to grind grain into flour and "The Daily Grind". We have part of the demonstration of tourney combat we take into schools captured on video.
SA Tour and Gumeracha Medieval Festival - 2010
Film Work
Living Museum of the West
Updated Resources page with new links and resources
Days of Knights is off to Gumeracha Medieval Festival again in 2010. We'll be there, on May 1st and 2nd, and conducting incursions into South Australian schools from 26/4/2010 until 7/5/2010. We already have bookings for schools, so getting in early would be an excellent idea. A second trip to SA is planned for late September to attend a couple of major living history events, and we'll be available for school incursions then for schools who may miss out because we are heavily booked in May.
We were presenters at the 2009 Australian Early Medieval Association's annual conference, hosted by Monash University. This event brings together academics researching and teaching medieval history at universities around the country, and being invited to present again at it shows that living history is now being taken seriously by academia, and that Days of Knights is at the very leading edge of this form of historical study. Our hands on session on the textile crafts of the early middle ages was very successful, as post graduate students, lecturers and professors tried their hands at spinning, weaving and braiding.
Days of Knights is looking forward to some exciting new projects in 2010, including involvement in film, established museums and academic history studies.
One of our favorite things to do is to visit country schools. We know that it is difficult for many rurally based schools to get access to the facilities and services that metropolitan schools have ready access to. It is gratifying to see how happy country schools are to have us. We'd love to do more, especially in the remoter parts of the state. In order to make this practical, we really need to do a mini-tour of a region. To this end, if your school books us and refers another school to us who books the day before or after your school you will receive a discount on our incursion to your school.
Days of Knights staff have all hold Working With Children cards. The card serves as photographic id, and confirms that the bearer has passed a police check. Our staff carry their cards at all times.
Days of Knights is often asked if we hold Public Liability Insurance. The answer is, of course, we do. As per standard industry practice, we have $10m cover. Our current policy is good through to May, 2010.
Recreating the lives of people in the Middle Ages is our job and our hobby (some would say obsession). We have brought the Middle Ages to life for 5chools and academic conferences, for television and festivals. We've launched products, educated, entertained and provided colour for scores of clients, and for tens of thousands of people. Our attention to detail, historic accuracy and creating engaging, interactive sessions and displays has led to our being called "the premier Medieval Education company in Australia", bringing the Middle Ages alive for people in an astonishing array of ways. The Days of Knights staff are full time, professional medievalists. We don't have "casual" staff or "occasional guest presenters". We don't have rote learned sessions that just anyone can present with a few minutes prepping. Days of Knights don't casually employ sub-contracted hobbyists to come to your school. The three of us own the company.
Every presentation is different, as we direct each session according to the questions we are asked and interests of the group, whether it be in the classroom, at a festival or at a corporate function. Our combat is full speed, full power and unchoreographed recreation of the 14th century tournament. This is only possible because of the combined 5 decades of martial arts (eastern and western) experience of Peter and Jason, and means that the excitement is unable to be rivaled.
Last updated on 8 January, 2010
Days of Knights Pty Ltd
Medieval Education, Entertainment and Consulting
History comes alive!
ABN - 3112 224 503