Blackwolf’s

HISTORY

Blackwolf is a medieval enactor group based in Southern Queensland, Australia. We are dedicated to learning, understanding, and sharing the medieval experience of mercenaries and traders in the 12th and 13th centuries through a fusion of multiculturalism at the hub of the continents.

Formed by our fearless leader, Duc Robert le Rouge, over a decade ago, Blackwolf has evolved to become a tight-knit and jolly group of like-minded people who value kindness, good humour, and an inspiring work ethic. Based in Southern Queensland, Australia, we have a marvellous time enacting the adventures of traders and mercenaries in the guise of a Bedouin caravan traversing the trade routes of the Middle East during the 12th and 13th centuries.

Blackwolf members are kind, considerate, and hard-working. We trust and support each other and value a peaceful and friendly environment. We choose our members carefully to maintain a community where everyone is treated with respect and dignity and each member gives generously of their time, resources, and talents.

We are open to new members who are passionate about medieval life yet humble, willing to learn from others, and supportive of the passions of those in the group even when they differ from their own. Those who are know-it-alls, lazy, or unreliable are not a good fit. We’d rather have those who know nothing about medieval life yet have an attitude to learn rather than those who exhibit an odious attitude to those around them.

We are dedicated to learning, understanding, and sharing the medieval experience of mercenaries and traders in the 12th and 13th centuries through a fusion of multiculturalism at the hub of the continents.

This hub is the Middle East, or Outremer, as it was referred to by the Franks at that time.

 

Outremer

 Outremer was the core of the continents of Africa, Western, Northern and Eastern Europe, the East, the far East, and the Indian Continent. It was in constant flux and exchange, death and renewed life, the tearing down and setting up of instant kingdoms.

The Crusader kingdoms were small states forged by military courage, nerve, gallantry, stupidity and ignorance of the country itself. These instant kingdoms, based in the Middle East but always with ties oriented westward to distant patrons, constantly faced potential enemies and concubine states as neighbours. Outremer was a magnet for fanatics, trader merchants and lost souls from east, west, north and south alike.

The key to Outremer’s lure was it being the crossroads of trade by sea and land. Here, as nowhere else in the world, one could experience the interplay of cultures, the riches, the poverty, the flow of the new supplementing the old, this life of discovery…this experience is Blackwolf.

In Crusader times, leaders faced the mammoth task of supplying their troops in the field. Supplies were often too little, too late or not at all.

As Raynald de Chatillion harassed the Muslim Caravans, so too does Blackwolf, a group of Crusader mercenaries and merchants operating covertly as a Bedouin caravan trading goods between the locals, the Crusaders, and pilgrims, under the banner of our Duc, Robert le Rouge of France. We also traverse the Silk and Salt roads as far away as Russia and Western Europe trading goods, medicines, and mercenary services.

Our group members are diverse, hailing from France, England, Scotland, Poland, and Finland, and each one brings their own unique National dress, food, traditions, and expertise to the group. We love studying and experimenting, bringing new discoveries, displays, and demonstrations to each event we attend. From the thrill of medieval combat and the startling world of medieval medicine to the secrets of home-brewing and the lure of the coffee trade, the Blackwolf encampment is a bustling hub of adventure, creativity, and inspiration.

Come visit us at Abbey Medieval Festival (July), History Alive: A Journey Through Time (August), and St. Ives Medieval Festival (September). We’d love to meet you!