'Nothing Says Christmas Like an Axe Fight'
Toby Capwell to give The Arts Society Chiswick's November lecture
Chivalry took on the role of a kind of sixteenth-century 'festival of light'
October 23, 2024
Join Toby Capwell, one of the world’s foremost jousters and medieval martial artists to discover why, in the Renaissance, Christmas was a popular time to hold jousts, tournaments and courtly spectacles.
He is giving a lecture to the The Arts Society Chiswick’s titled “Nothing Says Christmas like an Axe Fight” on Thursday, 14 November at 8pm at POSK King Street Hammersmith.
In the dark, dead of winter, a colourful, glamorous celebration of chivalry very much took on the role of a kind of sixteenth-century 'festival of light'. In England, Christmas jousts became especially popular under that famous lover of armour and fighting, King Henry VIII. Such events were a kind of performance art, which fused real armoured combat with fantastical, mythological and allegorical themes.
Author and lecturer Toby Capwell is Curator of Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection in London and an internationally-acknowledged authority on Medieval and Renaissance weapons. In 2015 Toby had the unusual honour of serving as one of the two fully armoured horsemen escorting the remains of King Richard III, from the battlefield at Bosworth to their final resting place in Leicester Cathedral.
Olivia Freeman, Chair, The Arts Society Chiswick says, “In this lecture, we explore this rich history through the personal experiences of our lecturer, an academic specialist but also one of the world’s foremost jousters and medieval martial artists.” .
Doors open at 7pm, as does the private bar with the lecture beginning at 8pm. The Lecture will start at 8pm and guests are very welcome for a payment of £15 on the door.
Membership of the Arts Society Chiswick includes ten expert lectures on the second Thursday of every month (except August and December) and the opportunity to participate in tours, visits, social events and Special Interest Days. Half year Membership available from 1 July. For more information see the society’s web site. For more information see the society's web site.
The Arts Society Chiswick brings people together through a shared curiosity for the arts, to create opportunities for everyone to be part of a diverse community in which they can enjoy, learn about, participate in, and preserve the Arts and Cultural Heritage.
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