Join us
Join the Seigneurie
What we do together
Joining the Seigneurie means stepping into a team of volunteers who reenact civil life in a seigneurie of the mid-14th century. The group meets over four to eight weekends a year, plus workshops and preparation meetings. None of these gatherings is compulsory. For anyone who takes to the project, the time spent soon adds up, and it is always freely given. This page tells you what keeps us busy, so that you know what a season looks like before writing to us.
People rarely arrive already knowing how. Most of us learned on the spot, next to someone who knew, ruining a few pieces along the way. You will find your feet at your own pace, and the workshop that appeals to you will turn up by itself. The rest comes down to everyday mutual help: we lend each other tools, we check each other's patterns before cutting.
Public events amount to four to eight weekends a year: festivals, castles, museums, school workshops, educational projects. Ideally they run from Friday evening, when the camp goes up, until late on Sunday, because packing away takes time. That schedule only binds those who can follow it. Coming for a single day works perfectly well, and so does doing just one weekend in the season. Between events, the work carries on at its own pace: workshops, research meetings, preparing outfits and equipment.
Home
Who can join us
There is no expected profile. Some people like working with their hands, others would rather dig through the archives, others again feel at ease in front of an audience: everyone finds a place, and many end up trying a bit of everything over the seasons. No reenactment experience is required. What matters is wanting to be part of a group and to enjoy the time spent there.
Our demands bear on what we make and on what we tell the public. An outfit, an object, a statement made during an activity are all discussed from the sources, and that discussion happens together, in good spirits. People themselves come as they are.
The group holds together through everyday mutual help: a hand with a sewing pattern, an evening shared once the camp has been taken down.
In the workshop
Hand sewing, garment cutting, shoemaking, forging, cooking, plant dyeing. Every piece starts from a document and is reworked until it holds together.
In the sources
Reading the texts, palaeography, iconography, technical treatises. Research feeds what we make and what we pass on.
In front of the public
Festivals, castles, museums, school classes. Answering questions, showing a gesture, telling how life went in a mid-14th-century town.
First steps
How we get to know each other
There is no file to put together and no trial period. Three steps are enough, and they can fit into a few weeks.
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First step
You write to us
The form below will do, and so will an email. Tell us what draws you to the project and where you are writing from. Someone from the group will reply, usually within two weeks.
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Second step
We meet
The simplest thing is to come and see us, at a preparation workshop or at a public presentation. You will see the group at work, you will ask your questions, and we will get to know each other without any commitment on either side.
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Third step
You join the project
If you still feel like it, you are one of us. Membership of the AMVCC must be taken out before your first event, without exception: it is what covers you under the association's insurance. It runs for a year and grants statutory rights, including the general assembly and votes.
First contact
Write to us
A few lines are enough to begin with. The more you tell us, the more useful our reply will be, but we write back to everyone.