Tournament/Chivalry
3D Presentation Activity
Definition
Tournaments were mock fights or chivalrous competitions held on a grand scale as displays of power, prowess, and skill usually to entertain the king, his family, and the noblemen,
Detail
Cause
- Tournaments first began in the 11th century in France. They first started as a way for knights to practice and improve their skills in combat without actually fighting, but gained popularity for entertainment as well as a source of public acclaim and money from winning. Chivalry was a moral, religious, and social code of knightly and courtly conduct.
Characteristics
- Noble sat in wooden stands while commoners stood around the roped off area where the tournament would occur.
- The activities in a tournament included all the skills a knight should have such as fighting of all kind. They even had contests for poetry and song, but the most popular events were jousting and melee combat.
- Jousting was practiced between two knights who charged at each other from opposite ends of a field on horseback. The goal was to knock the other knight off his horse using a lance then swords or aces when those lances broke.
- Melee combat was between two teams of knights and squires and the goal was to capture the flag each knight and squire carried on their back.
- Serious injuries and death were common in tournaments.
- There were three types of chivalry -- duties to countrymen, duties to God, and duties to women. These three areas intertwined often and were sometimes hard to distinguish.
Significance
- Tournaments were extremely popular in the Medieval era, and still are popular topics today. Jousting is still practiced at fairs or for sport. Since tournaments were held on such a grand scale featuring banquets, feasts, and awards, they are remembered for their large amount of entertainment.
Bibliography
- "English Online." Knights, Tournaments and Weapons of the Middle Ages. English Online, n.d. Web
- Newman, Simon. "Tournaments in the Middle Ages." Tournaments in the Middle Ages. The Finer Times, n.d. Web.
- Donn. "Middle Ages for KidsJousts, Melees,& Tournaments." Jousts & Tournaments. N.p., n.d. Web.
- Newman, Simon. "Chivalry in the Middle Ages." Chivalry in the Middle Ages. The Finer Times, n.d. Web.