Knights and armor. People are so arranged that the old, even the good, periodically bore them, and they demand newness for themselves. All the same took place in knightly tournaments. That is how, by the beginning of the 15th century in Germany, a new type of equestrian javelin duel was born, which eventually became very popular. He got the name rennen, that is - "horse racing". It seems to have been invented by the Margrave Albercht of Brandenburg, who was a great lover of all kinds of military games. The goal of the duel seemed to remain the same - to "break the spear" against the enemy's tarch or to knock him out of the saddle, but now the art of controlling the horse has become an important matter, so the one-time duel has now turned into a series of duels that took place at full gallop. In this case, the spears spent on "refraction" should be replaced "on the go."
According to the rules of gesture, the knights, after each collision, brought down their horses and returned to the place from which they began the attack, that is, they parted. Here they rested for some time, and the squires at this time could fix their ammunition and give them a new spear. All this took time, and the audience began to frankly get bored. Now there was simply no time left for boredom at the tournament! The essence of the rennen was that the knights dispersed the horses, collided with each other, "broke the spears", then turned the horses and that was the spirit galloped to their end of the lists, where they took new spears "on the go" and again rushed to attack their opponent. There could be three such raids or even more. It was from these numerous "races" that this kind of tournament was called "horse races"!
Moreover, a new armor was created under the new rules. And if the former shtechzeug traced its origin from the armor with topfhelm helmets, the new rennzeug, firstly, was created on the basis of the classic Germanic Gothic armor of the 15th century, and secondly, the salade (sallet) became a helmet for him. A helmet without a visor, but with a viewing slit. This was needed then to provide the fighter with a better air flow and give him a greater view. After all, such a helmet could easily be moved to the back of the head, and so walk in it without removing it, and only if necessary, lower it onto the face.
At the same time, the frontal part of the tournament salade was strengthened, and fastenings were provided on it for the simplest decoration - the sultan of feathers, which replaced the previous complex painted figures made of wood, plaster and papier-mâché. The cuirass in front, like that of the shteichzog, had a lance hook, and in the back there was a bracket with a spear support. But since the salade did not protect the lower part of the face, a metal chin was attached to the cuirass. A "skirt" of movable strips was attached to the belt of the cuirass, which passed into the same lamellar movable legguards. The back of the cuirass had such large cutouts that its shape resembled a cross. The "skirt" rested with its lower end on the saddle, as in the shtekhzog.
A special tarch or renntarch was also invented for the rennzoig. It was made of wood and covered with black bullskin with iron fittings along the edges. It fit snugly to the body, repeating the shape of the rider's chest and left shoulder, and only at the very bottom was slightly bent forward. Its size depended on the type of competition. In "exact" rennen and bundrennen, he was the size from neck to waist, and in "hard" rennen - from the viewing slit on the helmet to the middle of the thigh. It was customary to cover it with a fabric with the owner's heraldic emblems or a pattern similar to the patterns on the blanket of his horse.
The spear, which was used in Rennen, was also new. It was lighter than the old one, which used to knock horses out of place, and was made of soft wood. Dinah it was 380 cm, diameter 7 cm, and weight about 14 kg. Moreover, the tip began to be made sharp, not blunt. The protective shield, which used to be just a funnel-shaped disc, now became even larger, acquired pretentious outlines, and now, being put on the spear shaft, it covered the entire right hand of the combatant, from the wrist to the very shoulder. The knight controlled it with a hook on its inner side, thus directing the spear at the target.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, an improved type of field tournament appeared, imitating, as before, the battle of two opposing knightly detachments. As before, the mounted knights on the lists lined up in a linear order and attacked each other on command. The main difference now was in the armor, which had undergone a strong change over time. Prior to this, the knights used ordinary combat armor with the only difference that chins were additionally screwed to them, reaching the viewing slot on the helmet, and also, if desired, a guard-bra - additional reinforcement of the left shoulder pad. Tournament armor differed from combat armor only in that the upper edge of its bib had no thickening, and on the cuirass there were 2-3 holes for screws, with which the chin was attached. The tournament spear looked like a combat spear, only slightly shorter, thicker, and with an elongated tip.
Now for tournaments, Stechen and Rennen began to use the same horse equipment specially created for them. The shape of the saddles and the reins, which were now ordinary hemp ropes, trimmed with ribbons of the same color as the horse blanket, became different. It happened, however, that such reins were torn, and then the rider drove his horse with a spear.
Shaffron from the knightly headset of Otto Heinrich, the future Elector of the Palatinate. The trim of the shaffron has always matched the trim of the armor itself and all the rest of the horse armor. always matches the same armor. Since the headset was made in the style of "Maximilian", that is, corrugated armor, this forehead was also made corrugated in the same way. Schaffron was adorned with engraved foliage, flowers, mythical creatures and trophies by the Augsburg engraver Daniel Hopfer, and a bear on his forehead hinted at the prince's motto: "MDZ" (Over Time), as well as the date 1516. On the reverse side, you can see the Latin numerals "XXIII", which can mean the date - 1523. Which one is more accurate is unknown. Exhibited in hall №3. Owner: Otto Heinrich son of Ruprecht Palatinate (1502 - 1559). Manufacturer: Kohlman Helmschmid (1471 - 1532, Augsburg). Engraver: Daniel Hopfer (1471-1536 Augsburg)
The horse was completely covered with a leather blanket, over which they put on the same, but sewn from linen. The blankets covered the horse's croup, neck and head up to the nostrils. The horse's muzzle was protected by a steel forehead, often blind, that is, without holes for the eyes. It was a precautionary measure in case of unpredictable behavior of the horse after a collision of two riders. It is interesting that such shaffron headbands without viewing holes appeared long before the appearance of the Rennen tournament. The earliest can be seen on the coat of arms of John I of Lorraine, dating from around 1367.
By the way, the same Geshtech was still popular, but its varieties appeared. There were three main types of gesture: the tournament of "high saddles", "general German" and "clad in armor".
To participate in the re-shtekh of "high saddles", the knight dressed in shtekhtsoig. At the same time, his legs were protected by armor, but they were shod in low leather shoes made of thick leather with felt lining in the socks and on the ankles. The same shoes were used by the Rennen participants, since they did not need foot protection in this type of tournament. The main difference of this fight from all others, as it is clear from its very name, was a saddle with high bows, similar to the one used in the tournament on clubs. The front bows of wood were trimmed with metal at the edges and were so high that they reached the rider's chest and, in addition, covered both of his legs. The saddle literally covered the rider's torso so that he could not fall out of it under any circumstances. Moreover, on his front bow, some of these saddles had a handrail, which could be grabbed if the rider lost his balance from a spear strike. The horse was dressed in a blanket and a deaf forehead made of steel. The goal of the duel was to break your spear against the enemy's shield.
The "general German" geshtech was distinguished by the fact that the rider was dressed in a shtekhzog, but his legs were not protected by armor, only the withers were covered with a leather blanket, and the saddle did not have a back bow. Emperor Maximilian I, in order to better protect the animal, recommended putting a kind of bib on his chest - a pillow made of rough linen stuffed with straw. The cushion was held by straps held under the front saddle bow. A cape, that is, the same blanket, only made of cloth for a horse was obligatory. The goal of the duel is to throw the enemy off his horse with an accurate blow of the spear on his tarch, which is why the rear bow was not saddled and was absent!
The Geshtech "clad in armor" differed from the two previous types of Geshtech in that the knight also wore armor on his feet, protecting them from blows. That is, there was a little more metal on the fighters, that's all. The saddles are the same as in the "general German" geshtech. The winner was the one who managed to break his spear on the enemy's tarch, or knock him out of the saddle.
For the old style Italian duel, the rider would have to wear Italian armor or German shtechzeug. Shaffron might not have been deaf. In this case, the horse's eyes were protected by a strong steel mesh. However, the main difference between the Italian Rennen and all the others was not in the equipment of the fighters, but in the fact that the riders were cut by a wooden barrier. The knights, the participants of the tournament, collided, turning to the barrier with their left side, so the spear hit the tarch at an angle and its blow was not so strong, and most importantly, the horses of the combatants could not collide at the same time.
Around 1550, the so-called "Hungarian tournament" began to enjoy great popularity around 1550 both in Austria and in eastern Germany, which, in addition to the fight, was also a costumed masquerade. At the Hungarian tournaments, which were held in the same year by Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol in Bohemia and Elector August I in Dresden, the only new thing was the use of Hungarian tarches instead of German ones, and Hungarian sabers, which served, however, not for battle, but for decoration. Actually, no one has yet changed the rules at these tournaments. But then, over the armor, they began to wear the most fantastic clothes. Well, Rennen himself at different times and in different places simply underwent a lot of all sorts of changes, so great was the craving of knighthood for diversity. So, in such an authoritative document as the book "Frendal" (c. 1480), it was reported that there were such types of rennen tournaments as: "mechanical" rennen; "Exact" rennen; Bund Rennen; "Hard" rennen; “Mixed” rennen, which was also called “rennen with crown spear”; and also "field" rennen. But the story about all these tournament excesses will be continued next time.
