ABSTRACT
Bolsover, a 17th-century castle in Derbyshire, England, managed by English Heritage and built on the site where a 12th-century medieval castle once stood, has recently incorporated reenactment into its programming as a method of engaging wider public interest and drawing more visitors. Exploiting the site’s medieval past, English Heritage stages knights’ tournaments where visitors have the opportunity to “immerse” themselves “in medieval life in the encampment,” meet with “people from the Middle Ages,” and “try on a knight’s armour” themselves ( Knight’s Tournament at Bolsover Castle, 2019). This form of medieval reenactment, along with a 17th-century one in which “Cavalier” horsemen costumed in high boots and feathers bring “to life” the castle’s Riding School, appear to demonstrate bald commercialism.
