Who We Are
La Belle Compagnie is an award-winning living history organization portraying an English knight’s household and military company of the Hundred Years War.
We build our portrayals to represent typical people of the times rather than specific historical persons. In our research into the social and military history of the time and its material culture we look for the ordinary rather than the extraordinary and strive to bring the past alive in an educational and entertaining way.
We portray various aspects of the ‘Peel affinity,’ those people associated with Sir Geoffrey Peel, our fictitious knight from Hampshire, England. Some of the affinity are his family, others are servants or tenants, and some are soldiers. Whom you meet depends on the occasion!
La Belle Compagnie was formed in Virginia, USA as a non-profit educational organization and draws members from across the country. We are most active in VA, MD, OH, and PA, where we attend approximately 6-8 events each year. Our members meet regularly (in person and virtually) to discuss medieval topics & material culture, present new research and plan events. We welcome the interest of medieval enthusiasts of all kinds and would love to hear from you. If you would like to know more about what we do, please check out our ‘Reconstructions’ area. You can also reach out to us through the ‘Contact’ link above or find us on Facebook at La Belle Compagnie.
LBC’s Approach to Living History
Strict Attention to Material Authenticity: Our portrayals utilize historically accurate materials, reproduction tools, and period-correct construction techniques. We regularly vet new materials, ensuring a high standards-level for our impressions. LBC has three principles in our approach to Authenticity:
‘Typical over Unusual:’ The clothing and personal items you will be using should be appropriate to the social class and expected level of wealth you are portraying. The components of your kit should be typical of both place (England) and time (late 14th-early 15th century). Unusual or exceptional items are approved on a one-for-one basis by the Board.
‘Right or Not at All’: When we cannot accurately reproduce an item to our standards, we either find a good substitute (replacing elephant ivory with cow bone, for example) or we do not attempt it at all (recreating toxic medieval medicines for instance).
‘As Good as we can do:’ When the utility of an item is greater than its shortcomings (a tent with anachronistic material, for instance) it may be waived by the board for use while it is brought up to standards or replaced by something better.
Our presentations emphasis:
Deep Primary and Secondary Source Grounding: LBC members are researchers first. Rather than relying on modern assumptions or Hollywood tropes, we base our portrayals and spoken narratives on the knowledge gleaned from primary documents and artifacts and current, well-vetted publications that reference the diaries, letters, and period inventories of medieval people.
Multisensory Storytelling: LBC goes beyond a recitation of facts. We engage the senses by demonstrating period-specific tasks (like combat training, spinning, or historical cooking) and accurately recreating the sights, sounds, and (most of) the smells of our era.
First-Person Empathy and Agility: LBC portrayals humanize history. We refrain from looking down on historical figures for not possessing modern knowledge. When presenting in first person, we attempt to embody the genuine fears, motivations, and daily realities of our characters while possessing the agility to break character to answer modern visitor questions accurately.