Historic Replicas

Many archeologists and historians are always fascinated when they find old and ancient relics. They might find pottery, jewelry and almost always some form of weapon used during those times.  Some may be in good condition but most have some previous damage.  They only way they can share their find is to have reproductions made.  Daggers and knives are some of the most used weapons during the olden times so there are lots of reproductions made.

Reproduction daggers are well made and crafted to look exactly like it was centuries ago.  The Romans had their daggers along with swords and helmets.  Even the Japanese samurais had their versions of the dagger.  More modern daggers during WWII can also be seen.  It is really impressive how they are able to make them with such fine detail.

When you watch the old Western movies, you always see their guns and rifles that look almost real.  It is very hard to find real western rifles like those used in the old wild, wild west.  So the closest you will bet to handling these rifles is by getting replicas.  There are companies out there that specialize in making replicas of old weapons and the rifle is one of the favorites.

The most recognizable and popular is the Winchester lever-action rifle.  It is distinctly American, well-crafted and widely used as immortalized by Annie Oakley and other popular heroes of the West.  Other rifles from Europe came to America but the Winchester never lost its grip.  John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart even helped its popularity more by using them in their films.  It truly is an American classic.

Renaissance costumes  and Medieval festivals commemorate an era that was famous for its great minds and is remembered as a time of widespread cultural evolution.  Brilliant painters like Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci created some of history’s most famous works of art.  Dante Alighieri wrote The Divine Comedy, his epic saga of a mortal’s journey through the afterlife.  Philosophers Niccolo Machiavelli and Michel de Montaigne were making giant leaps in political and social thought, gradually reshaping European notions of society and the human condition.  The image of the Renaissance in the history books is overwhelmingly positive, a shining beacon of progress and civility that emerges like a lighthouse from the roiling black sea of Europe’s Dark Ages.  So much good was done that it’s easy to overlook the darker side of life during the Renaissance. 

While Europeans were liberating themselves from the cruelty and superstition of previous centuries, they were rediscovering slavery.  It had been declining gradually since the reign of the Romans soldiers, and had been almost completely abolished in Northern Europe by the end of the Viking Age in 11th century- think horned Viking helmets.  When the Renaissance got going, though, a lot of people were getting rich, and slaves were a mark of status.  Explorers were also discovering new lands across the sea, and when they encountered the Natives, turned to classical philosophers for insight into how to deal with them.  According to Aristotle, slavery was part of the natural order, a suitable form of government for people who were mentally incapable of governing themselves.  With that, the Europeans could justify human bondage, and slavery found new life in an otherwise enlightened era. It became an enduring part of their legacy, to the detriment of all mankind.

The Vikings were one of the dominant cultural forces in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire.  Like the Romans, the Vikings lived in a heavily stratified society. They lived according to a caste system resembling India’s.  People were born into a group that determined their rights, professions, and social standing, and slaves were on the bottom.  The Vikings depended on slaves to work their land and perform other labor, but generally didn’t accord them the same dignity and respect that some Romans did.  Viking raiding parties captured slaves throughout Eastern and Western Europe, both prisoners of war and peaceful villagers.  The Vikings were more than slaveholders. 

Wielding Viking axes, they went on countless raids for slaves and treasure, and while they weren’t as organized than the Romans, they were no less well traveled; Viking swords and Viking helmets have been discovered in archeological digs throughout Europe.  They expanded their territory and created colonies and settlements far and wide.  Slaves often found themselves far from their homelands; at the turn of the first millennium, in fact, the Vikings ran the largest slave market in the world in Dublin.  Slaves were integral to Viking society, so much so that they were a part of Norse mythology.  The slaves were called thralls, and according to legend, they were descended from a God of the same name.  Many cultures have used religion to justify slavery.  The Vikings went one step further and incorporated slavery into their creation stories; for them, slavery was a God-given institution, and had been since the beginning of time.  

The Renaissance costumes on our website commemorate an era that was famous for its great minds and is remembered as a time of widespread cultural evolution.  Brilliant painters like Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci created some of history’s most famous works of art.  Dante Alighieri wrote The Divine Comedy, his epic saga of a mortal’s journey through the afterlife.  Philosophers Niccolo Machiavelli and Michel de Montaigne were making giant leaps in political and social thought, gradually reshaping European notions of society and the human condition. The image of the Renaissance in the history books is overwhelmingly positive, a shining beacon of progress and civility that emerges like a lighthouse from the roiling black sea of Europe’s Dark Ages.  So much good was done that it’s easy to overlook the darker side of life during the Renaissance.  While Europeans were liberating themselves from the cruelty and superstition of previous centuries, they were rediscovering slavery.  It had been declining gradually since the reign of the Romans soldiers, and had been almost completely abolished in Northern Europe by the end of the Viking Age in 11th century.  When the Renaissance got going, though, a lot of people were getting rich, and slaves were a mark of status.  Explorers were also discovering new lands across the sea, and when they encountered the Natives, turned to classical philosophers for insight into how to deal with them.  According to Aristotle, slavery was part of the natural order, a suitable form of government for people who were mentally incapable of governing themselves.  With that, the Europeans could justify human bondage, and slavery found new life in an otherwise enlightened era. It became an enduring part of their legacy, to the detriment of all mankind.