Knights and armor. Over time, the organizers of tournament fights began to pay more and more attention to their entertainment. So that they would be interesting not only to their participants, but also to the audience. This is how, for example, the "mechanical" rennen appeared - a competition in which, after a successful blow to the tarch, he broke off the cuirass along with many fasteners and all this flew high into the air. For this, a special spring mechanism was installed under the cuirass, connected to the tarch with a pin. This pin passed through a hole in the tarche, and from the outside it was jammed with metal wedges and a washer. Accordingly, there was also a spring under the tarch, which was held in a compressed form by these same wedges. When the spear hit the tarch, it pressed on the spring, the spring was compressed, the wedges were released and no longer held it.
The two levers under the tarch pushed it up with force, and the tarch, as well as the wedges holding it, flew in different directions. At the same time, the calculation was for the audience to see with their own eyes the result of the hit and the "force of the blow", which would undoubtedly increase the spectacularity of the performance. A great lover of such a game was again Emperor Maximilian I, who was very amused, as from his strong blow, the fragments of the tarches soared high into the air. Moreover, if the rider who participated in this tournament could not “sit out” the blow, that is, he fell out of the saddle, then he was removed from further participation in the tournament.
Another kind of rennen was the "exact" rennen. The rider who participated in it wore a rennzoig. Leggings or bracers were hardly ever used. Shaffron is blind, without viewing holes. The horse was covered with a leather blanket and a cape of bright fabric. It was called accurate rennen because collisions were carried out at full gallop, that is, the horses rushed towards each other very quickly and it took a lot of skill to get into the enemy's tarch.
However, getting into it was still half the battle. It was necessary to knock out the tarch from the grabs that held him on the cuirass. And if the tarch fell to the ground, its owner was considered defeated. As a rule, armor for the legs was not provided for in this type of tournament; legguards were enough.
But the most dangerous type of "mechanical" rennen was considered to be its other type - bundrenn. To participate in it, the Rennzoig was equipped with a special bib called the Bund. A mechanism was installed on it, arranged in such a way that with a successful blow of the enemy's spear into the tarch, he threw it up, and he flew up high above the head of the combatant. And not only did it take off, it also disintegrated into many segments. But since the rider did not have a chin under this tart, any inaccuracy in the assembly of the mechanism or its operation led to mortal danger. To ensure all this, two guides were mounted on the cuirass, which passed along it until the very tournament sallet.
And again, Emperor Maximilian I also played in the Bundkiras at the Bundrennen tournament. When the shields flew, the courtiers rejoiced, but his participation in such a dangerous competition gave them great anxiety and aroused considerable concern.
The "hard" rennen was the simplest variation of the two previous competitions. Tarch in it was tightly screwed with one or two screws to the cuirass and did not fly away on impact. The essence of the duel was to break your spear against the enemy's tarch again and … that's it! The knight who broke the spear was declared the winner!
The "mixed" rennen was specially invented for the sake of fun. The duel was attended by two knights, but in different armor. One in Štekhsoig, the other in Rennzoig. The one who was wearing a shtekhzog had a crown-like point on the spear. Dressed in Rennzoig - the usual spicy. Equestrian equipment was also appropriate. The goal of the duel was still the same - to break your spear on the enemy's tarch and, in addition, knock him out of the saddle.
For the "field" rennen, it was necessary to put on full knightly armor so that everyone would look at them and … again, break the spear. The only difference is to show yourself dressed in polished steel.
But the field tournament was already a group competition of two detachments. That is, everything was exactly the same as in the war. The spear was used in combat, not tournament. But the goal was still the same - "to break the spear." Therefore, the knights did not take swords with them to this tournament. However, sometimes the rules stipulated their use. And then, breaking the spear, the tournament participants fought with swords. Blunt, of course, and, apparently, by this time such swords were already made on purpose.
Under Emperor Maximilian I, foot tournaments were also very popular, which also required special armor. Moreover, these armor were so expensive that in fact they became the privilege of only the highest nobility - dukes and kings. It was simply indecent to enter such a tournament in cheap armor. But there was also armor for equestrian competitions, which required at least 2-3, then battle armor, then ceremonial armor … All this led to attempts to somehow reduce the cost of tournament equipment, but so that this did not affect the entertainment of the duel … This is how the competition with the barrier appeared. The fighters went to the lists in battle armor, but their legs were usually not protected with armor, since the fighters were separated by a wooden barrier. The fighters performed in two parties and fought through him, trying to break the spear of their rival. At the same time, the spear, as the landsknechts did, had to be held with both hands. Each participant in such a tournament was allowed to break from five to six copies. Well, and, of course, the judges made sure that no one hit below the belt.
Such tournaments began to be held before the equestrian competitions of Stechen and Rennen, in order to give the equestrian knights time to prepare their complex equipment for entering the lists. By the middle of the 16th century, although there were strong and dexterous knights who preferred to participate in the Stechen and Rennen tournaments, and saw them as the only occupation worthy of a knight, an increasing number of representatives of the nobility saw this already as snobbery and preferred fights on foot. Even kings did not hesitate to participate in them, showing their luxurious armor to the public.
The era of the Renaissance was also reflected in the art of tournament. The Italians did not like heavy armor for the German tournament, and they were reluctant to follow this northern knightly fashion. Over time, tournaments according to Italian rules have become fashionable. For example, already in the middle of the 16th century, two types became popular: free tournament, or "free" rennen, for which ordinary combat armor was used with only some additional protective elements.
For the fight over the barrier, as already reported here, the shtekhzoig was first used. But gradually it was replaced by lightweight Italian armor, in shape approaching combat. By about 1550, the armor for this "new" fight through the barrier differed from battle armor only with a new helmet, only slightly similar to the old "toad head".
German noblemen, spectators and participants in Italian tournaments gradually abandoned heavy German equipment and increasingly used ordinary battle armor, equipped with various additional protective details.
This new armor could be used both in a free tournament and in a duel through the barrier. This achieved significant cost savings, so it is not surprising that they also became the most widespread in Germany. Now this armor had nothing to do with the old shtechzeug. The knight's head was protected by a Burgundy helmet armé. Moreover, the tournament helmet from the combat one was distinguished by the left-side reinforcement of the visor. A steel German shtekhtarch was screwed to the left shoulder of the armor, slightly curved from below. Such overhead guards were known before. But then they were smooth so that the tip of the spear would slide off them. The new plate was distinguished by a thick diamond-shaped lattice of steel rods. The crown tip of the spear could no longer slide on such a plate, but this is precisely what the creators of the armor sought. Now the blow had to "sit out" and at any cost to stay in the saddle!
Another important element of the new protective equipment was the bracers of the guard-bra with plate gloves (and the left hand was especially good!) And movable legguards.
In the second half of the 16th century, at the courts of the Saxon nobility, a mixed version of tournament armor came into fashion: something in between - shtechzeug and rennzoig. The helmet is the same tournament sallet. However, it was attached to the cuirass from the back with the help of a special bracket, which did not allow it to be thrown off the head with a blow of a spear. For some time, such armor was, apparently, very popular, and they are called just that - "Saxon tournament armor". But by 1590, they had gone out of fashion, the fights of two knightly detachments, imitating a battle, were practiced even at the beginning of the 17th century.
