Jousting Before The Nineteenth Century

Sports, hunting and games were very well-liked in the Elizabethan Era. Although sports in the 1500’s were not baseball and basketball, like some our most popular, they did compete in many that we still do today. Some examples of these athletics are archery, hammer-throw, wrestling, and game ball, which is comparable to today's football or rugby. In addition, animal blood sports were played, which included bear baiting, bull baiting and more. The tournaments that the athletes participated in provided great entertainment for both upper-class and lower-class and typically lasted several days. One other common sporting activity in the Elizabethan Era was hunting. The nobles and upper-class naturally enjoyed hunting as a game or pastime. Multiple

At first knights and soldiers in the armies were of little social status. “Many knights in fact possessed little more than peasants” (Spielvogel 244). War was looked as kind of a barbaric act in the beginning and many knights could be found fighting each other. While some of this was tolerated, as they were seen as “defenders of society”, the Catholic Church decided that there should be some ground rules. At the start of the eleventh century, the church urged knights to take an oath to protect churches, and to not harm noncombatants. These rules allowed for battles to follow a civil path and to be carried out in a noble way.

During the Medieval Era, their was not much to do for entertainment besides watch the tournaments that were held all over Western Civilizations. In modern times, many people know what jousting and sword fighting are but not like the way “A Knights Tale” show them. This movie was made in 2001 and was soon a crowd favorite. The modernization of a dark age era gave the audience entertainment through action, love and comedy. The tournaments were very exciting during this era, specifically the 14th century. This movie had many mixed reviews between historians and regular movie goers. There are a lot of great aspects of this movie but also many critiques historically. The movie is a portrayal of the Medieval games which helps a more modern audience

There were many sports that became popular with the citizens of Elizabethan England. Nobles often participated in archery, bowling, dice, hammer-throwing and most known tennis (“Alchin Elizabethan Sports”). Furthermore, nobles watched wrestling and the bloodiest sports including bear and bull baiting and dog and cock fighting. For example the queen often appeared at these events (Alchin “Elizabethan Bear & Bull Baiting”). Sports began to come from other countries and continents as people would travel to England, consequently making tennis the most popular sport of the upper classes as it originated in medieval France.

The small samurai began practicing the basics of fencing with wooden swords at the age of 3, being given a real weapon, a mamorigatana sword for self-defence, between the ages of 5 and 7. A child was required to be able to protect itself from surrounding dangers, family enemies, robbers and vagrants, with his father and male relatives providing early combat training. The boys were sent to be raised by relatives or to the home of a fencing instructor, where they were taught military skills, archery, riding, handling a spear and unarmed combat, jujutsu, i.e. yawara. Attention also contributed to the development of intellectual virtues. There wasn’t a special school for Samurai daughters, who learned how to be good wives and housekeepers from their mothers. These young women also had to learn how to write Japanese syllabic symbols and read classic Japanese literature and poetry, while also receiving weapons training, e.g., in using the naginata spear. The knight’s childhood started with them becoming a Page.The Medieval Page of the Middle Ages was little more than a child. But his training commenced from the age of seven. The duties of a knight were seen as the combat duties and those duties were similar to serving the lords and ladies. The Knighthood training began in earnest as a Page when all their games and sports were geared towards learning skills related to horsemanship, the two-handed sword, battle axe,

            During this time period men were brought up on the teachings of battle.  As they grew they were taught how to

There were many sports that made popular by citizens in Elizabethan England. Nobles most often participated in sports such as archery, bowling, dice, hammer-throwing and most known tennis (“Alchin Elizabethan Sports”). These nobles watched wrestling and blood sports including bear and bull baiting and dog and cock fighting. The queen often appeared at these events (Alchin “Elizabethan Bear & Bull Baiting”). Sports began to come from other countries and continents as people would travel to england. Tennis was the most popular sport by the upper classes and originated in medieval France.

Bullfighting originates back to 700 A.D. in Spain. It started as an activity for the King’s crowning. It was later turned to a ceremonial event for the upper class. The status of bullfighting changed when King Felipe V thought it brought a negative attention to his family. Because the people of Spain had grown accustomed to the event, the commoners took it on as a sport. This event or sport has special equipment, participants, structure, and purpose.

At this point in history the men who fought the wars were lead by their leaders with a code of chivalry. Chivalry can be explained as “the Anglo-Saxon code on steroids.” (McGee) Which is, explained further, a moral system for a good way to conduct fighting. The knights in Arthurian time went even further with that code to say that it was a way to conduct oneself not only in battle, but at all times. Knights, by being chivalrous, were kind to all people, fought well and true, kept faith and believed in the Christian God, and fought for their kings. Chivalry can be found across the Arthurian texts, The Song of Roland is one of the texts that has multiple examples of chivalry.

For entertainment at our kingdom we have small Jousting competition between 2 people, this prepares us for the upcoming crusade. A knight’s life includes many duties, but we have time for other activities where we are able to go out with the lord and do some hunting or hawking. While we head out the peasant stay and do some farming for us as that is all they are capable of. I believe my life will change after this crusade as I might be given a prominent role or duty after presenting such high

However, what was in the beginning anticipated purely as military training rapidly became a form of popular entertainment. The first recorded reference to a jousting tournament was in 1066, by chance the same year as the Battle of Hastings and the Norman conquest of England, and within a century they had become so widespread that a series of procedures were entrenched, restricting the number of jousts that could be held, so that the king’s armies would not be engaged when an actual skirmish occured.

Medieval sports of the middle ages were a source of public entertainment designed to increase the overall fitness and military experiences of men and woman. These games, called béhourds, were fought by rival knights and soldiers either on horses or the ground. This was in accordance with the feudal practice that required Lords to bring forth soldiers to protect the king in exchange for ownership of land. Knights that participated in these sports used weapons such as swords, lances, daggers, and battle axes, and thus men were often killed or brutally wounded (“Medieval Sports”). These sporting contests also made it possible for men to move up in the ranks of the Pyramid of Power. Those who performed heroically in battle or were triumphant in competition would become wealthy and considered a part of the nobility, whereas, the peasant class received as little as a purse for their excellence. Similar to the fame experienced by modern-day professional football players, medieval jousters were subject to the same treatment. However, different games were enjoyed by either class of men, therefore stardom was concentrated more toward the nobility. Despite this, many of the sports enjoyed during this time are still around today, some of which have been included in the world famous Olympic Games.

Only nobles were allowed to attend or host a tournament. This, usually known as a martial competition, which was the main event of the competition. Armor was provided for participants; however, it was common for one to be injured. It’s ironic how those who pierced the armor were dubbed “skillful”. Even Queen Elizabeth I enjoyed watching hawking and similar sports.

It involved activities such as mock battles and jousting competitions. Writing about the ‘Tournament at Saint-Inglevert’ Froissart claimed great occasion , where both French and English enjoyed themselves. He claimed that both sides stated that there were no injuries. Very typically on this occasion, it seems that Froissart's account was romanticised. The tournament was, according to Malcolm Vale baffling because of the how artificial it was. However, contemporaries such as Henry VII believed that the tournament gave men the chance to learn the ‘exercise of the deeds of arms’. The contemporary view of tournaments, in general, is one of praise. They were seen as entertainment and quite possibly useful too. Many contemporaries do seem to concur that the tournament was a useful exercise from a combat point of view and there must be some truth to this. The tournament certainly would not have prepared a knight for a full-scale battle, but it would have thought them essential skills such as how to joust and wield a sword. Either way, the tournament as described by Froissart was a part of the chivalric society, although we may question his claim that nobody was injured during the tournament he wrote about. It is fact that tournaments were great social occasions that were set up as methods of

The people at the top of the social class, who included the nobles, the king, and church officials, were entertained by a wide variety of entertainment through their daily lives. Most entertainment included suffering such as public execution, jousting, sword fighting, shin kicking, bear baiting, and hare coursing. Public execution occurred whenever there was a crime made or people were executed for biased reasons. Jousting was when the knights fought with armor and lances until they were unable to battle. Shin kicking was a version of English martial arts. It was played by where two people would wear the iron tipped boots, and kick the opponent's shins, trying to force the opponent down. Hare coursing was when the dogs were to race with hares,