Tournaments

---__MEDIEVAL TOURNAMENTS__---



By: Josh McDaniel Medieval tournaments were very wide spread in Europe. They are thought to have been started in the 11th century but nobody really knows. When the tournaments first started they were merely mock battles between the knights to settle rankings more than they were a spectator sport. This changed around the 13th century when it reached it's height as a sport. Many of the tournaments were sponsered by rich nobles and those same nobles also provided the prizes for the winner.

The armor used in jousting was the same used in battle which was, chainmail, leg and arm armor, chest and back armor, head and neck armor, and a sheild.



Jousting The tournaments consisted of many events. One of the events was jousting. In jousting, there are two knights that compete against each other and they were both on a horse. They both had normal battle armor on and they each had a lance in hand. The two knights were faced towards each other and were seperated by a wall. They would charge at each other and attempt to nock the other knight off his horse or break the other knights lance. Before the joust, each knight would go up to a married woman and express his feelings for her. The knight would beg for tokens and the women would give him favours. The favours were usually things like a veil, or a ribbion that the knight could attatch to his armor. He would then dedicate that match to the married woman. This was known as the Rules of Courtly Love.

There were many prizes to be won after the battle, but the biggest prize was money. Although they didn't always get money, they did have the right to seize the fallen knights armor, because it was so expensive and they could sell it, and the could also take the other knights weapons. The armor was not always given up very easily by the fallen knight, so both of the knights carried a very heavy club and the victorious knight would nock the fallen knight unconscious so he could take his armor and weapons.



Melee There were many different types of melee in the tournaments. One type of melee was the pied Tournament. This is where teams of knights fight each other. There was also the cheval Tournament type of melee. This is where teams of knights fight one another on horseback. Another type of melee was the Pas d'armes or passage of arms Tournament. This is where a knight sent out a proclamation that he couldtake on any knight at any time and come out the victor.



For any other additional information:

[] [] []- Mainly for jousting.