By Aaron Hoskinson, Contributing Writer

The Wheeling Regional Pre-Modern Symposium will be held on West Liberty University’s campus for the first time on Saturday, Oct. 1.

The symposium is a chain of events focusing on medieval history (the time of the armored knight and easel painting).

The action begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday and lasts until 3:30 p.m. It is sponsored by the Society for Creative Anachronisms and held in conjunction with West Liberty University’s History Club. West Liberty History professor Dr. Darrin Cox organized the event.

The symposium will include traditional scholarly panels and presentations as well as many workshops for attendees to enjoy. Admission is free for all ages.

There will be combat demonstrations going on throughout the day. Anyone is welcome to participate. Safety is not a concern because of the steel armor worn. Anything from heavy weapons to rapiers to thrown weapons will be used. For those who have watched movies such as “Troy” Dr. John Lennox will be going over some of the fighting styles seen in the movie.

Medieval cooking lessons will start off the day. This is a time to eat like a king and for folks not interested, they can still find some common foods used today. There will be bodhran lessons for beginners, a very popular instrument in Irish history.

History lessons on heraldry will also be going on all day, people can come to decorate their own shield and make it unique. As beer was a common made drink back in pre-modern times, parish guilds will compete in a best beer competition.

All can learn about the Golden Age of Piracy through the 1500s and find out what is right and what wrong about common beliefs about pirates in that era. On top of that, individuals can learn what types of transactions pirates used around 1400 and see how it’s similar to today’s methods of trade.

Medieval paleography lessons will also be on the list to learn how to read medieval scripts and make fancy lettering used to begin chapters of books. Exercises to recreate Italian White Vine manuscripts will be also running.

Carol Symes, author of “A Common Stage: Theater and Public Life in Medieval Arras”, will be the symposium’s keynote speaker. Her address will take place from 4 to 6 p.m.

Cox encourages everyone to come check it out. “Students, academics, the general public and medieval hobbyists are all targeted audiences.  We’ve got something for just about everyone,” Cox said.

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