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The first Georgia Renaissance Festival was held in 1986 and it has grown bigger and better with each passing year. This time around, it is scheduled from April 13 through June 2. The 34th edition of the fair is certain to be another proper celebration of an important period in history. The festival never disappoints. The 32-acre Village of Newcastle is filled with artisan craft shops, 10 stages of fun, great pubs, taverns and a whole lot more. It...

Swords in the Middle Ages and other historical periods were most likely just called "swords." There were no names given to them. Over time, however, historians began to associate the blades with specific names resulting in their present-day nomenclature.So, how many types of swords were there?It's difficult to answer that with any certainty. What we will do in this blog is differentiate popular European medieval and Renaissance swords in terms of...

Medieval shields came in all shapes and sizes. The kite shield, popular around the 10th century, was designed to protect the foreleg. As armor improved, the kite shield was adapted to the shorter and wider heater shield. The late medieval period saw the surge in popularity of the round buckler, which was small and preferred by the foot soldier. The Scottish targe was, one could say, the bigger version of the buckler. Then there was the pavise, a...