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Origins of the Company of St Jude |
The co-founders of the group (Andy Oldfield and Mark Simpson) met each other though a mutual friend who was a former member of the Dawn Duellist Society (DDS) an Edinburgh based historical fencing group, later on they became members of a Viking re-enactment group called Dal Raida with Mark's brother Chris, during which time mark had risen to the position of Battle Captain.
After being with Dal Raida for a couple of years Mark and Shaggy decided that they wanted to look into doing a different period in re-enactment, they were not the only people so we gained more members for the as yet unnamed re-enactment group. They were joined by Corin and his partner Emma.
Resurrecting a name that they believed to be defunct "The White Company", they attended several shows throughout 2003 and during this time went on to meet (And recruit!) Rhys, Paul and Sam in various events!
Discovering the name "The White Company" was still in use for a living history group the decision was made to re-form the society under the name "Company of St Jude" ("CosJ" for short). We found this quite appropriate for the members of the group due to Saint Jude being the patron saint of desperate situations and lost and hopeless causes.
Since 2004 the COSJ's have been active primarily as a War of the Roses mercenary unit. During this period the group has expanded to some 10 combat members ranging from a variety of different weapons from sword to pole arm. You will be able to identify us on the battle field by our tabards (a short coat, either sleeveless, or with short sleeves or shoulder pieces) a length of black and white with the white side covering our left had side.
Today the Company of St Jude is predominately a combatant group but we are expanding into living history and also archery. We attend medieval events and village fairs across the country fighting in battles large and small and demonstrating historic combat techniques and lifestyles to the public.
Only time will tell what the future holds for the re-enactment world's most lost and hopeless cause...
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