The Nádasdy Ferenc Banderium in Sárvár
Let me translate the introduction sent me from the Nádasdy Ferenc Banderium:
“The Nádasdy Ferenc Banderium is a „banderium” (my note: it was the name of military units led by their liege-lord in Hungary), a group of reenactors who are devoted to preserving the military traditions of the 16th-17th century. It was founded in 2009 by the Nádasdy Historical Association in Sárvár and its goal was to bring together those who are interested in the history and in historical military traditions attached to the region of Sárvár.
The Banderium is a non-governmental organization that became an independent association in 2018 and its full name is Nádasdy Ferenc Banderium Traditionalist and Sports Association.
We think our job is to present contemporary life, warfare, and thinking to the public.
Our group has a fully equipped contemporary camp, along with all the weapons and clothes.
We go to schools and give them history lessons, provide martial art presentations where we explain the use of several weapons, including firearms. Those of us who own contemporary firearms have gained the necessary certifications. We are also casting bullets and buttons.
We can show the contemporary tools of surgery and the herbs used for healing. Also, we can prepare food the way they made it in the age of Lord Nádasdy. One can play contemporary card and dice games with us.
„Non muri, sed viri sunt praesidium oppidorum” was the saying of Lord Nádasdy Ferenc aka „the Strong Black Bey”, our respected name-giver. It means that „men defend the castle, not walls”.
Our group has a brother group, the Valiant Order of Vas County.
„We, the ones who are carrying the flags of our Noble and High Lordship, Batthyány Ádám, along with the Drabants of Kőszeg, have joined forces and decided to unfold the flag of the Valiant Order of Vas County and come together under it so as to aid each other. May God help us so.”
It was how the cities of Kőszeg, Körmend, and Sárvár have joined forces.
Presently, there are 25 members in the Nádasdy Ferenc Banderium. There are regular pieces of training of saber fencing as well as training for riflemen.
We take part in many festivals all over the country where we can practice our skills just like in Sárvár during our presentations and lectures held in Nádasdy Castle or during our history lessons in schools.
We organize and take parts in events in Simontornya, Tata, Várpalota, Kapuvár, Sárvár, Bük, Kőszeg, Eger, Körmend, Szigetvár. The list is ever-expanding. We accept several invitations from villages and schools if we have the time. Besides, we can travel to festivals and events held abroad, either individually or in a group. So far we have been to Czechia, Slovakia, Croatia, Poland.
The Local Authority is providing us minimal support, giving us a storage place where we can keep our equipment. The members own their weapons, clothes,, and other pieces of equipment. We try to make our items ourselves, there are members who work with leather and wood while others are learning the ways of working with metal.
There are other groups from the area who also belong to us: the Batthyány Mounted Banderium from Kőszeg, the Drabants of Kőszeg, the Musketeers of Kapuvár, and the Musketeers of Garta.
There are boys and girls among us and we welcome everybody who would like to join us. Even those who are not 18 can join us but they are not allowed to take part in our military activities and presentations. They may train and practice with the members of our association but cannot actively take part in battles. They have to present written permission from their parents in order to take part in our events, too.
The historical characters we are presenting are as follows:
Captain, Borderland warrior with a saber, Borderland warrior with a rifle, Hajdú soldier, Western mercenary, peasant, Franciscan monk, wife of Captain, camp-follower, healing woman…
We are fortunate enough that the 10-month-old baby, Baby Borka, our Captain’s and his Ladywife’s child is also coming with us to our events, naturally in contemporary clothes…”
Here you can visit them on FB:
https://www.facebook.com/nadasdyferencbanderium/?ref=br_rs
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