Wednesday 9 July 2008

Reenacting the Wars of Louis XIV

This is not a period that is going to catch on in the UK where literally thousands of enthusiasts get to grip with pike and matchlock in reenacting the English Civil War, but in the areas where the various battles and sieges took place it has every chance of catching on and part of the aim of this blog is to stimulate an interest in those areas. There's a great deal of expertise in the pike and shot world in Britain and so in order to prevent people having to reinvent the wheel shall try to work through some of the best traders making reproduction items that may be persuaded to make 1660s-70s pieces. There are many reasons for focussing on the early wars - such as the Franco-Dutch war where England was a French ally - it has a distinct identity unlikely to be swamped by the early 18thc being primarily pike and matchlock, it is a period before complete uniformity in the French army and it is from the French perspective a high point. With Vauban's fortifications now recognised as sites of cultural significance I would like see the seeds sewn for recreating sieges of the 70s...maybe it won't happen in my lifetime but who knows?

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