St Pyro’s Mail: We’re new, but we have big plans!
The name St Pyro comes from my school days. I found it in a document written over 800 years ago, and it always stuck with me. Pyro isn’t considered a “real” saint these days, but a very long time ago a lot of people believed that he was. You can check out the full story on our website at https://stpyro.com/who-is-st-pyro/
We’re a small company that was formed out of a few things: I’m a medievalist and a historical martial artist, a re-enactor, and a craftsperson. I’ve used mail ever since I made my first piece in my bedroom in the early 1990s (and I still have it!), but when I graduated with a degree in Medieval Studies I started martial arts and re-enacting in earnest.
Mail armour is the oldest iron armour in the world – and the longest-lived. We have actual pieces of surviving mail from the 3rd century BCE, and written references going all the way back to the 8th century BCE, nearly 3,000 years ago. And mail was still being worn in some parts of the world into the 20th century. That’s a super long time!
Mail is a flexible, easily-modified, easily-repaired armour and that helps explain why it’s been around for so long. Julius Caesar’s legions wore mail, as did many of the foes that they faced. Rome had industrial-scale armour production, and by the late Middle Ages there were entire towns focused on the production of mail, from producing iron to drawing wire to shaping rings and then actually tailoring mail shirts in huge quantities.
Some surviving mail shirts were in real use for over 250 years, with constant repair, modification, and updates. Very few pieces of armour of any other kind were ever worn for so long.
The problem that we have here in Canada is that real, riveted mail is heavy and it takes a long time to produce – both of which make it expensive to buy and to transport around the world.
And so Canadians have always run into the problem that there just hasn’t been a real Canadian source. Ever. Not for mail, and not for other quality medieval goods. And as time has gone on it’s been more and more expensive – and taken longer and longer – to buy things from other countries.
Shipping costs alone almost double the final cost for mail, and that makes it really expensive. So while at first I was importing things from the US, it was still really expensive even when I got a retail discount, so it just wasn’t a viable opportunity to make things better. With the recent trade wars with the US everything has become even more costly and supplies even more uncertain, and we knew that we could do better.
I am joined in the business by my wife, Emily, who teaches both English to newcomers to Canada and art to local community members. She’s super talented in many art different forms, and you can see her work in all of our graphic designs, including our logo.
Our goal is partnership with as many people as possible while we work to supply Canadians with high-quality medieval goods for whatever their needs are. We’re importing products from overseas because they’re well-made and they’re affordable, and that gives everyone the chance to participate. Our partners overseas are awesome people, they understand our needs, and everyone has seen their works on the big screen in productions such as Game of Thrones and the Witcher. But we’re also working with local artisans and craftspeople to highlight their products too – starting right here in our own home with our own handmade items.
We sell everything from shoes to clothing to hats to incense to hand-printed modern t-shirts. We run workshops. We have awesome lanterns and camping and cooking supplies. We want to support our fellow re-enactors and their lifestyles at home and when re-enacting.
Even more importantly, we want to showcase the work of small makers right across our country, whether they’re making just one or two things a year, or a thousand. We would love to hear from anyone who is making medieval re-enactment or re-enactment-adjacent goods (like historical martial arts equipment).
We support makers from all cultures and backgrounds, and while our focus is on the European Middle Ages, that absolutely included such places as the Middle East and North Africa, with products passing down the Silk Road from as far afield as Southern, Central, and East Asia.
We want to make Canada more medieval, and if you do too then we recommend that you check us out at StPyro.com or on Facebook, Instagram, or Threads at St Pyro’s Mail.
We have so much more coming, and our online catalogue is about to explode – and stay tuned as well for our new Etsy shop!
Let’s build something awesome together, and create a new golden age for Canadian re-enactors.
– Chris
