Mercenaries of Western Europe

Salutations Traveller!

Welcome to the Official homepage of The Mercenaries of Western Europe. We are a Historical Re-enactment group based in Mackay, Tropical North Queensland.

The Mercenaries of Western Europe are a medieval re-enactment group that, as the name suggests, re-enacts a Mercenary band incorporating people from all of the cultures found in Western Europe - Germany, Scandinavia, Ireland, France and Britain.

Through taking on accurate personas the group re-enacts medieval combat, feasting and gaming/entertainment. Study of the history of famous battles and important events that mercenaries were involved in from 1050 AD to 1250 AD is also undertaken. The MWE trains in 12th Century fighting and works on the construction of clothing, armour, accessories, and weaponry.

The MWE consist of 12th century fighting mercenaries, and their mercenary entourage. If you are interested in joining, we hope this will help you decide just what type of re-enactor you are interested in being.

What Is Re-enactment?

Medieval Re-enactment is a hands-on approach at the study of Dark Age/Medieval culture and combat. The MWE 'studies' a 12th century band of fighting mercenaries, who were paid by larger armies for use of their man-power and skill.

The MWE fight in hand-to-hand combat, with the use of 12th century weapons, which consist of; Sword (one handed), Quarterstaff, Shield, Spear, Sword & Dagger, Axe, Mace, Pole arm, Scimitar, Bastard sword and any other weapon with a historical basis in MWE's time period that can be used with safety .

But the MWE could not function as a group without its Mercenary Entourage, which consists of Merchants, Ladies, family and all other types of 'followers' that would have followed the mercenary band in the 12th century.

Re-enactment is for everyone! Everyone can become a part of the MWE, as we re-enact more than just the military side of history, families and children are more than welcome. Although for insurance reasons, javelineers have to be over the age of 12 and all other combatants 16 yo or older.