'Rennen' and 'stechen' during the early Vasa period

Mentions of tournaments in Sweden are few and far between before the age of the Vasa dynasty. It is mainly from the Rhyming Chronicles that we know tornej (tournament), dyst (joust) and bohord (béhourd or bohort - a kind of group tournament with blunted weapons) to have occurred at big festivities. Thus we are told the story of an encounter in 1278 between Magnus Ladulås, King of Sweden, and King Erik Klipping of Denmark.

In Swedish:

För dansk och svensk det var en lust
att se de manlige riddares dust.
Svensk red mot dansk med så väldig kraft,
att sönder brusto spjutens skaft,
och elden flög ur hjälmar ut
vid häftig stöt av månget spjut.

In English:

For Dane and Swede it was a joy
to see the manly riders joust.
Swede rode at Dane with such tremendous force,
that the spear shafts burst asunder,
and fire spurted from helmets
at the heavy blow of many a spear.

At the courts of king Gustav Vasa and his sons, tournaments were held to celebrate coronations, royal weddings and christenings. There were lists at all the royal castles. Gustav Vasa instituted a school of fencing in which young noblemen developed their proficiency in "chivalrous exercises with Rennen and Stechen".

The royal chronicler Peder Swart records, concering the festival marking the coronation of Gustav Vasa in 1528, that "no kind of pleasure was there lacking. Nor was there any neglect of rennen and stechen the following days". The prize competed for was the hand of a wealthy, beautiful widow. A classically chivalrous and romantic combat of this kind was something out of the ordinary. Most often the prizes would be pearl wreaths or jewels.

The most magnificent festival in Sweden during the Vasa period was the coronation feast of Erik XIV in Uppsala in 1561. The ceremonies were based on ideas and impressions gathered both from England and from the court of the Holy Roman Emperor with its ancient Burgundian traditions. A couple of days after the actual coronation, a tournament was held behind the castle. The grandstand, reserved for ladies and foreign envoys, was faced with red cloth.

The tournament opened with the shields and arms of the knights being carried round the lists, "splendidly painted and adorned". The King himself appeared "in his full armour, which was full well etched". The tournament lasted from 3 o'clock until nine, and such was its violence that, in the end, horses and men all lay together in a tangled pile. The Queen's Dowager's brother broke his leg in the tumult, causing widespread dismay and the cancellation of the evening's banquet.

Only a few tournament properties have survived from this period, but inventories of the belongings of the sons of Gustav Vasa convey some idea of the theatrical pomp. They mention, for example, pearl-embroidered "Rennen" cloths of velvet and cloth of silver, embroidered with Latin sentences and grapes of gold, a tilting skirt of floral-patterned cloth of gold and lances clad with "rose taffeta".

Several different kind of tournament were practised at this time. Stäckande corresponded to the German "Gestech", for which the lance used was blunted and divided into three prongs. Rännande corresponded to the German "Rennen" and was fought with sharp lances. A new, less dangerous form was skranktorneringen ("Welsch Gestech" or the Italian joust), in which the two combatants were separated by a low wooden barrier. The object here was to splinter one's lance on the opponent's armour and knock him out of his saddle, which was more difficult. The high pommel and cantle of the saddles gave the rider quite a firm seat. He wore full armour, to protect his legs from the barrier. Erik XIV's armoury contained several "skrankeköritz" for use in this kind of tournament, some of which had extra reinforcing pieces.

Tournaments could also be fought on foot, with spear and sword. The winner was the contestant who had broken most swords and spears. A blunt-edged tourneying sword is extant which once belonged to Duke Karl. In running at the ring, the prize went to the contestant most often catching a suspended ring with his lance. But, to the general amusement, the person who missed and only struck above the cord or the ring had to wear a fool's hood.

The 16th century suits of armour now extant in the Royal Armoury are not intended for tournaments. They are ceremonial armour, intended rather for the pageant entry of the lists or for other ceremonial processions, and accordingly they show no trace of the cut and thrust of the lists. This is supremely true of Erik XIV's armour, decorated by Eliseus Libaerts of Antwerp, and of Johan III's Lochner armour. These are luxurious suits of steel, the haute couture of their age, made specially for the uppermost stratum of society.

A special prize, the Zierdanken, was usually awarded to the person making the most graceful entry into the lists - wearing the most beautiful armour. Similarly, a prize would go to the person whose comportment was silliest and most comical, "so that the women can derive pleasure and amusement from it". In a tilting of the ring event at the court of Duke Karl in Nyköping in 1586, the parties were dressed up as Moors, peasants, old women, maidens and heroes. The Duke had seen similar "inventions" on his travels in Germany. This heralded the fully developed allegorical processions which made their way into the lists at the coronation of Gustavus Adolphus in 1617.