Chivalry. Rivalry. Revelry. Jersey?

Magnet #109 - Medieval Times

Leave it to America to commercialize the hell out of history...we love doing it to our own (National Treasures 1 and 2, HBO's John Adams). But, we also love doing it to other countries' history and cultures, too (Epcot, Busch Gardens). And, really, who hasn't been to a Renaissance Fair in the last ten years.

However, one of the best examples of commercializing the past, is Medieval Times. For those of you who haven't been - it's where you pay a lot of real money to go to a fake castle, sit in a real grandstand, to watch fake knights on real horses participate in a somewhat real jousting tournament hosted by fake royalty, while eating a real (and pretty darn good) chicken dinner with your real hands.

I. LOVE. IT. It's so darn cheesy that you can't help but have loads of fun. And, I'll admit to falling a little bit for the romantic ideals of knights of the realm.

You get color-assigned to a knight's team, and he's your knight for the night, as he goes through the knights' competition - throwing the javelin, hand-to-hand combat, and then the jousting. There's even a whole overarching storyline of royal intrigue and betrayal. And, if you're really lucky, you have a supercute knight. The funny thing is, that the actors are so genuinely into their roles, you sort of forget that they're actors. Which makes them very, very good...or me, very, very gullible.

Here's what I want to know. One has to wonder if Medieval Times exists in Europe. The closest I've seen for myself was a big military tournament at Earl's Court in London many years ago. And, I know they have Highlander festivals throughout Scotland. Oh! And then there's that game that's not quite football that's played over miles and miles of hill and dale for days and days - again in Scotland (or at least according to the last book I read).

But, I gotta wonder if there's anything that's as commercially cheesy as Medieval Times in the land of medieval times, or is it yet another thing that we've co-opted for our own amusement.

I chose MT for today's magnet, because last year, we went to the fake castle in Jersey (!) to celebrate a friend's birthday last year. So much fun to be had, right down to the official roll call of birthday announcements.

Speaking of: Happy birthday, Ro!

eta: Huh. I just looked at the history of MT. It's the 25th anniversary. And started in Majorca. Who knew?