Tournament courses

The early tournament
The tournament evolved as practice for war, probably in France during the later part of the 11th century. Until the 13th century it consisted essentially of the mêlée, a mounted combat between groups of knights and sometimes infantrymen as well, which differed little from real warfare and offered the opportunity of ransoms from captured knights.

The tournament field sometimes extended over several kilometres and was provided with enclosures for recuperation. It was not considered unreasonable for a group to attack a single opponent. Contestants dressed as for battle in mail with helmet and shield, their main weapons being lance and sword.

References to specialised armour for the tournament first appear in the 13th century. Matthew Paris, writing in the middle of the century, notes that linen armour had been used in 1216. Such light equipment seems to have been a feature of the béhourd, a form of gathering in which squires often participated. The roll of purchases for the tourney held at Windsor Park in England in 1278 lists "cuir bouilli" helms, crests and shaffrons to guard the horses' heads, leather cuirasses with buckram sleeves and ailettes of leather andcord for the shoulders, sufficient protection against the whalebone swords covered in parchment which are also mentioned.

However, illustrations would suggest that many contestants continued to wear their usual war harness in the lists, as the combat area was now called. In order to reduce accidents swords might have their edges rebated (blunted) and lances could be fitted with a rebated head, often a coronel which was provided with three or more prongs to prevent penetration.

During the 13th century the tournament began to diverge into two parts; the mêlée still formed the main entertainment but numerous jousts or single combats became increasingly popular. The joust "of war" (à outrance) retained the sharp lance, though the aim was not to kill the opponent but to demonstrate courage and skill. The rebated lance was used in the joust "of peace" (à plaisance).

The principal objective in all courses was to unhorse an opponent by aiming at the shield, the helm or the iron collar at the neck. However, shattering the lance squarely on the body also scored points. In the joust knights often attempted to break three lances, after which they might continue on foot with swords. A knight who unhorsed his opponent would also dismount if he wished to continue the fight, for in the first half of the century there is scant reference to swordfighting on horseback. the early 13th century German writer, Wolfram von Eschenbach, notes five types of combat technique: the joust, the initial charge in the mêlée, the flank attack, the pursuit of a defeated opponent, and the turn by a single knight to attack a group of pursuers.

The Round Table, a reference to the cult of King Arthur, was a social gathering in which jousting, béhourds and sometimes a mêlée formed part of the ceremonies and was especially popular in England. In Italy the towns of Pisa, Perugia and Siena additionally hold combats and team games for armoured footsoldiers carrying shields, clubs and, in some cases, stones.

During the 14th century jousting grew in popularity whilst the mêlée declined. Formal notices were sent by the tenans (challengers) to the venans (opponents). Contestants usually touched a coloured shield denoting either mounted or foot combat. Weapons for the latter, such as sword, axe or spear, were stipulated as were the number of blows, often three though latterly this was increased. The tournament was often the venue for courtly display; heraldic identification in the lists was sometimes replaced by thematic designs.

References to special pieces of armour increase at this time. Whalebone shoulder pieces, solid breastplates, tourney hauberks, iron manifers for the left hand, and shields which laced to the shoulder, all find mention in accounts. In general, tournament armour was probably heavier than war armour for better protection, and may have been highly decorated.

Certainly some helms and additional plate barbers strapped round the lower half of the face defence, while others had reinforces riveted to the left side. In order to increase protection for the eyes the lower lip of the sight began to protrude in a "frog-mouthed" form.

Saddle now appeared with extensions at the front to guard the lower limbs, allowing leg armour to be discarded as desired. From the late 14th century a very high saddle was occasionally used in which the seat was several centimeters off the horse's back and the rider held so firmly that splintering the lance was the main objective. This type of saddle was usually provided with a defence for the horse's chest.

The 15th century
Especially popular in the 15th century was the Pas d'armes, a form in which one or more knights announced their intention to hold a chosen landmark against all comers. Vows were frequently used to instigate combat, whilst a perron (a mound or pillar), tree or other device marked the shields of the challengers in an often fantastic setting. By contrast there was also an increase in the number of challenges to combat à outrance between individuals or groups.

The most important innovation was the introduction for the joust of the tilt or toile, first mentioned in 1429. This was a barrier initially of rope and cloth but soon of wood, which separated the contestants. It prevented collisions, allowed a straighter course and surer aim, and widened the angle of the lance across the body which resulted in less impact hut increased the likelihood of breaking it. Probably introduced from Italy, the tilt did not wholly replace running "at large" and was not popular in Germany until the early 16th century.

According to the Earl of Worcester's ordinances of 1466, prizes were lost for hitting the tilt three times, striking a horse, an unarmed opponent or one with his back turned, or unhelming oneself twice. Lesser misdemeanours lost points, whilst the manner of breaking the lance was graded. Similarly, unhorsing remained the finest achievement. Lances were carefully measured tobe equal in length.

By mid-century certain special pieces had become increasingly used in the joust, notably in the joust of peace. The "frog-mouthed" helm was strapped to a brigandine or bolted to a steel cuirass. A stell disc, the graper, was fixedover the lance behind the hand, its spiked rear edge designed to dig into a wood-filled lance rest stapled to the cuirass and so prevent the lance sliding through the hand on impact. According to an anonymous French manuscript of 1446, special pieces included a manifer for the left hand and a polder mitten for the right forearm and elbow. A wooden shield faced with squares of horn was tied to the left shoulder over a wooden poire or pear-shaped buffer. In Germany the joust of peace was known as the Gestech, for which special pieces are mentioned in 1436. As this was run at large, a padded bumper was introduced in about 1480 to protect the horse's chest and rider's legs. This was probably influenced by the defence worn in the joust with the high saddle (known in Germany as the Hohenzeug-gestech), which generally declined in the second half of the century.

The joust of war was often run in field armour. In the later 15th century the grandguard and pasguard, reinforces for the left shoulder and elbow respectively, were increasingly worn. Unhorsing remained the main purpose of this course. In Germany the joust of war was known as the Rennen and is also mentioned in the 1436 inventory. Until the last quarter of the 15th century participants probably wore a half-armour, including a helmet called a sallet and a throat defence or bevor. Laterly a large shield of wood faced with leather was screwed to the left side of the chest defence. There was no limb armour but a pair of steel plates to protect the legs was hung from a low saddle.

The tourney course was similar to the joust of war but once the lances were shattered the reinforces could be removed and the contest continued with rebated swords. This course was run without a barrier and sometimes several couples took part. The mêlée was similar but involved two groups of contestants. It sometimes formed the final spectacle of the tournament but might be replaces by an attack on a mock fortress (the German Scharmützel). In the club tournament (known as the Kolbenturnier in Germany) two teams used batons and rebated swords to strike the crests from the helmets of opponents. Illustrations show that the frog-mouthed helm had given way by mid century to a barred basinet, sometimes of leather. According to the famous treatise by René of Anjou, this might be worn with a brigandine and "cuir bouilli" arm defences. High saddles and horse's chest defences were also used on occasion.

Foot combats with prescribed numbers of blows were especially popular. Often a basinet was worn with full field armour; some helms from the end of the century could be converted into basinets by removing the front part and substituting a visor and throat plate. Although a shield was carried it was usually discarded after casting spears had been thrown, the combatants resorting to pollaxe, sword and dagger. Other weapons were occasionally seen.

The 16th century
Information concerning the tournament in the early 16th century comes largely from German sources, being partly due to the interest shown by the Emperor Maximilian I. Splintering the lance was the main objective in the Gestech, though unhorsing was facilitated by the absence of a cantlo on the saddle. The Hohenzeug-gestech briefly reappeared, whilst the Gestech in Geinharnisch (in leg harness) reduced the grip on the horse's flanks. The Welsch or "foreign" Gestech was rather similar but involved the use of the imported barrier.

The Rennen continued as before, unhorsing being facilitated by a very low saddle. In some forms the brow reinforces and the frontal segments of the lance guard (vamplate) were made to fly off when struck; in others the shield itself could be flung off when a mechanical device on the breastplate was hit. This was also utilised for two spectacular variants in which either the shield or a disc on the breastplate was designed to explode in fragments when hit.

The Rennen gave rise to many other variants, some of which are obscure and many short-lived. Some were run in field armour; by contrast no armour at all was worn in the highly dangerous "pan course" (Pfannenrennen), a steel plate on the chest being the point of aim.

Acquiring armours for so many courses was extremely costly and it is not surprising that a solution first appeared in Germany in the form of the garniture, whereby one or two harnesses could be provided with enough pieces to make up a variety of tournament and field armours.

Tilting (jousting over the barrier) was now widespread, usually with rebated and occasionally hollowed lances. The close helmet became common but adopted the "frog-mouthed" form of the jousting helm. Absence of breathing holes on the left side provided a better glancing surface, and for added strength it was bolted to the breastplate. Reinforces gave additional protection especially to the left side of the body and included a large grandguard, pasguard and manifer. For the tilt in the German fashion a trellised shield (tilt-targe) was bolted to the left shoulder. Even within Germany these courses varied; in Saxony a form of armour for the old Rennen was adapted, with no lower leg pieces and a close helmet in the form of a sallet.

In the mêlée (the German Freiturnier), reinforces were again worn but allowed for greater movement. Sometimes the bend of the arm and knee had numerous articulated steel laminations instead of mail gussets. A locking gauntlet often secured the hand around the sword to prevent it from being dropped.

Foot combat armour was fitted with a visor provided with ventilation holes on both sides and also symmetrical shoulder pieces (since a lance rest was not required). It usually had enclosing thigh pieces, whilst steel laminations at the elbow and knee, and a locking gauntlet, were sometimes provided as in the mêlée. Armours with skirts (tonlets) were popular until about 1520, and persisted in Germany for another forty years. These contests were gradually replaced by the foot tournament involving teams of contestants usually fighting over a barrier. Leg armour was normally discarded and the helmet bolted shut, the aim being to splinter a blunted spear and continue with rebated sword, blows below the barrier being forbidden.

Tilting with hollow lances was continued into the 17th century but there was increasing emphasis on running at the ring and tilting at the quintain. As warfare changed so the riding skills of the Carousel largely replaced the tournament, although in a few areas of Europe some forms lasted until the early 18th century. However, in its day it had served its purpose as a training ground for the battlefield.