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Medieval Jousting
By Joy J. Fine
The sport favored most by the knights of the Middle Ages was medieval jousting. This sport was an integral part of the tournaments that took place to determine who was the best and who could impress the King and his court. This sport was so important that it changed the ways that horses were bred at the time. It became necessary to breed their draft horses to produce bigger and strong horses because the armor worn by the knights for their jousting contests was increasing in weight and the smaller horses could not properly carry them. Another change to the way the knights rode in tournaments was the use of stirrups. Before they had them the knights had to hold on by clutching the sides of the horse tightly. This was quite difficult and accounts for why so many of them fell off during a joust. After the arrival of the stirrup from the Far East the knights were able to balance better with their heavy armor and heavy weapons.
Medieval jousting was the main event in the tournaments that took place. The word joust actually means a contest between two men on horseback whereas tournament means a contest between many. The original rules for the tournaments, and these were well respected and rigorously adhered to, were set down by Geoffroi de Purelli. Sadly it was at a tournament, following his own rules that he died. This occurred in the middle eleventh century. The jousting tournaments became more common in the thirteenth century across Europe and they all used the same strict rules put down by de Purelli.
These medieval jousting contests were fought for pride and to show off their skill but they were also fought for the prize money that was given. The best knights were able to secure a good life for themselves and be set financially by winning the large sums of money given as prizes. But just as many, or perhaps many more, died trying to win these prizes. One tragic tale is told of a jousting event that ended unexpectedly. King Henry the second of France partook in a jousting tournament to show his prowess at the sport as well as to celebrate the Peace Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis with the Austrians. The tournament was also in honor of the coming marriage of his daughter to the Spanish king. Sadly he was critically injured when a piece of his opponent’s lance punctured his helmet and entered his eye, slicing into his brain before leaving through his ear. He suffered for ten days before dying from his injuries.
Originally the armor was made of chain mail, but when it was not enough protection this was replaced with suits of plate armor. It was often a light combat suit with pieces that could be attached for the jousting events. These would include a breast plate and pieces to protect the arms and shoulders. All suits had a protective solid helmet. The lances were made of oak which would be strong because it is a hardwood. It was not easy to shatter them even against the opposing knight’s armor. Medieval jousting was a honorable way to show one’s skill not to cause irreparable harm to one’s opponent. It had rules that spoke against killing. The goal was to knock the opponent off his horse, to break his lance, but not to cause death. If a horse were killed the knight that caused its death was all but disgraced during the tournament. The knights wanted to be remembered as honorable, brave and skilled not savage.
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