Medieval history of St Andrews to come alive at museum

The rich medieval past of St Andrews is set to come alive on Monday.
By The Newsroom
Published 29th Apr 2016, 15:00 BST
Having fun at last year's eventHaving fun at last year's event
Having fun at last year's event

Free, family friendly event, Medieval Mayhem, at the Museum of the University of St Andrews (MUSA) will give visitors the opportunity to experience life in the Middle Ages (500-1500 AD) – a period during which the town flourished.

There will be a wide variety of activities to entertain the whole family and organisers are hoping for locals and visitors will come along and get involved.

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Those attending will be able to explore the town’s architecture as it was some 600 years ago using immersive virtual reality technology from the university’s school of computer science.

There will also be the chance to try your hand at calligraphy, the practice of artistic writing which features on many of the manuscripts on display in the museum.

And university historians will be on hand to answer questions about the period and their latest discoveries from the Middle Ages.

Matt Sheard, learning and access curator at MUSA, said: “Last year’s event attracted the most visitors we’ve ever seen at MUSA in a single day.

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“With historians at the cutting edge of research into this fascinating period, treasure hunts and our new Medieval Passport for children, as well as the return of our popular catapult-building competition and weapons demonstrations, Medieval Mayhem will be bigger and better than ever this year.”

Students from the university’s Shire of Caer Caledon – a society dedicated to researching and re-enacting aspects of medieval life – will don armour and use replica weapons to demonstrate medieval battle skills during the day.

The weapons demonstrations will take place at noon at 2pm.

During the Middle Ages the construction of St Andrews cathedral transformed the town into the centre of religious life in Scotland, attracting pilgrims from across Europe.

St Andrews went on to become a hub of academic excellence after the foundation of the university in 1413.

Medieval Mayhem runs at MUSA on The Scores from 11am to 3pm. For more information visit www.standrews.ac.uk/museum,

Related topics:St AndrewsStudentsEurope