“I was drowning in dreams there:
Knight Tournament
I won there more than once, The world has traveled there"
(Johann Goethe. "New Amadis". Translation by V. Toporov)
As we have already noted, in the Middle Ages, it was not at all metal armor and plate that made a person a knight. There were warriors in armor before them, and at the same time with them, but what they differed in was, first of all, in the nature of land holding, and therefore in belonging to a certain stratum of society. And the nature of land ownership, as well as the absence of it, determined everything else, including social consciousness.
Tournament in Brittany. Thomas Woodstock, Earl of Buckingham and Duke of Brittany John V the Conqueror fight on foot with spears. Around 1483 Miniature from the Chronicles of Jean Froissard. (British Library)
So the concept of knightly honor arose - which is decent for one, was considered completely impermissible for another. This was especially evident in times of peace, when the common dangers of people no longer brought people closer together, and the arrogance of the class could be displayed as much as possible.
Even among the ancient Germans, according to the Roman historian Tacitus, military competitions and duels were widespread. In an era when the knights became the dominant clan of feudal Europe, such war games spread even more, because it was necessary to somehow occupy yourself during periods of forced idleness between wars!
Tournament helmet Stechhelm or "toad's head" 1500 Nuremberg. Weight 8, 09 kg. Deadly attached to the cuirass. It was enough to just raise your head at the moment of collision with the enemy in order to ensure one hundred percent protection of your face. (Metropolitan Museum, New York)
Constant training was also associated with military exercises, from which, in fact, famous tournaments were born. This name is associated with the French verb "turn" - the grounds for equestrian competitions had at the end of the fence, in which the fighters had to quickly turn their horses in order to be face to face with the enemy all the time, and not show him their back. "Whirling", as they said then, was a pair duel of equestrian knights, but paired foot duels and team fights "wall to wall" were also practiced.
Comforter of the tournament helmet 1484 (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna)
According to available historical information, tournaments in Europe began to be held very early. There is a mention of a tournament in Barcelona in 811, a very large tournament in 842 in Strasbourg, where Saxons, Austrians, Bretons and Basques took part. Numerous tournaments in Germany were organized by King Henry I of the Birds (919 - 936), and, therefore, war games took place even when there was no talk of any metal armor, and the warriors, at best, dressed in chain mail!
Tournament Salade of Emperor Maximilian I. Around 1495 (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna)
At the beginning of the 11th century, strict rules for the conduct of tournaments were established, since over time, these once completely harmless training fights became an arena for settling personal scores, rivalry between parties, and more and more people were killed during them. Of course, fights for the sake of settling personal scores have existed from time immemorial, but for their conduct, as for later duels, the fighters met away from human eyes, being surrounded only by the most trusted people.
Field and tournament armor of the Greenwich school, dating from 1527 England. Height 185.4 cm (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
On the other hand, there were also the so-called duels of "God's judgment", where by the decision of the judges, but by force of arms, the question was decided who was right and who was wrong. It is clear that both types of combat existed before the tournaments, and … even after them (duel), however, it was the tournament where it was allowed to fight not only with blunt, but also with sharp weapons that saved the knights from the need to retire to sort things out or to achieve justice through the court.
Tournament set, another representative of the English Greenwich armor, 1610. (Metropolitan Museum, New York)
In addition, participation in the tournament guaranteed not only honor, but also profit, since the winners usually received a horse and armor (weapons) of the defeated, which gave the skilled knight a very decent income! Initially, in tournaments they fought with the same weapons as in combat, trying not to bring matters to death. Then special types of weapons for tournaments began to appear - spears with blunt points, lightweight swords and clubs. However, they were used quite rarely, since in the campaigns few people wanted to burden their wagon train with excess weight, but those who wanted to show their prowess and combat skill were in abundance. Especially often, tournaments began to be held in the era of the Crusades, when on the plains of Palestine, European knights of different nationalities competed among themselves in military experience and massive skill in wielding weapons. The results of other victories in tournaments were then put even higher than the defeats inflicted on the Saracens!
Granarda is an additional armor element for tournament armor, which serves to enhance the protection of the left side of the chest and left arm. (Metropolitan Museum, New York)
On their return to Europe, however, they immediately found themselves in conditions when their former knightly freedom no longer suited many kings or the Roman Catholic Church. The latter more than once anathematized tournaments and tried in every possible way to prohibit them, as, indeed, many other amusements. In the 9th century, tournaments were banned by Pope Eugene II, then they were also banned by Pope Eugene III and Alexander III in the 12th century. It got to the point that Clement V at the beginning of the XIV century excommunicated all the participants in the tournaments and forbade them to be buried in the consecrated ground, but … he never made the knights give up this fun.
Knight with a grand guard. Highly visible screws with which it was attached to the main armor. (Dresden Armory)
The only thing that the church really managed to do was to limit tournaments to days from Friday to Sunday, and on other days they were not allowed.
The kings of France were somewhat more successful in eradicating tournaments: Philip the Fair, who banned them in 1313, and Philip the Long, who confirmed this ban of his father in 1318. But … there was no continuity in this matter, and in accordance with the personal tastes of each new king, tournaments were either forbidden or allowed again.
At the height of the Hundred Years War, in 1344, King Edward III of England even issued special protective letters to the French knights so that they could come to the tournament in England.
Until the end of the 15th century, knights in tournaments fought mainly with blunt weapons, but in ordinary battle armor. However, in the 16th century, the rules were tightened again, they began to fight with sharp weapons. I wanted to die even less in the game than in battle, and the armor for the tournament was “specialized”. For a foot duel, the armor was made completely closed and required special sophistication of the craftsmen in the invention of additional movable joints.
The set for group combat - wall to wall - differed from the combat only in that the left side of the chest, shoulder and chin - the places where the spear was directed - were protected by an additional thick iron plate screwed to the cuirass.
Tournament spear tip of the 15th - 16th centuriesThe tournament spear was often painted in the colors of the coat of arms or horse blanket of the tournament participant.
Inside, they were often hollow or the shafts were filed so that they broke from the average force of impact on the shield. The tip in the form of a toothed crown could not slip off the wooden shield, but since the spear itself broke at the same time, the blow for the knight was not fatal. Since, for the above reasons, the spears were actually disposable, the knights took several such copies to the tournament at once - sometimes up to a dozen or more. (Metropolitan Museum)
But armor for a horse spear duel could weigh up to 85 kg. It covered only the rider's head and torso, but had a thickness of about a centimeter and was almost motionless - after all, it was only necessary to strike with a spear. They clothed a knight in him, putting him on a log raised above the ground, since he could not mount a horse from the ground, and the fighter could withstand it for a very short time. The tournament spear looked like a real log, with a steel circle attached to the handle - protection of the right hand and the right side of the chest. The horse for the tournament was also dressed in especially thick armor, and a thick leather cushion stuffed with something soft was put on top of the steel bib. The knight sat in a huge saddle, the back bow of which was propped up by steel rods, and the front one was so wide, high and extended downward that, bound with steel, it reliably protected the rider's legs. And all this was covered with the richest heraldic robes, blankets, heraldic figures of wood towered on helmets, spears were wrapped in ribbons.
A 1485 sample of Emperor Maximilian I with the beams of the Order of the Golden Fleece engraved on it. Augsburg. (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna)
Spear fights were practiced with and without a barrier. The barrier separated the riders and made their collision safer, since the spear had to be struck from the enemy from right to left, at an angle of maximum 75 °, which reduced his strength by 25 percent. Without a barrier, one knight could “cross” the course of another, and then the push became frontal and much stronger, like in war. A fight without a barrier was practiced for a long time in France, where the severity of its consequences was somewhat lessened by the spread of special armor and spears made of light wood.
Tournament armor 1468-1532 To facilitate the holding of a huge tournament spear in the hands, tournament armor was equipped with special hooks - one in front, and the other - for support - in the back. The latter helped to keep the spear on the line of impact and did not allow it to go down (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna)
The best blow was considered to be in the middle of the helmet, so it was strengthened in the first place, and since most of the blows hit the left side, it was defended stronger than the right. At the same time, at the end of the 16th century, the entire left part of the shell was often forged so that it was one piece with the shoulder pad, and then no shield was used anymore.
Due to the fact that such armor, as already noted, was terribly heavy, participants in spear fights very soon stopped wearing leggings altogether and confined themselves to the so-called half-armor - shtekhtsoig. If the shield of the tournament spear did not expand in the form of a small shield sufficient for protection from the right side, then the right arm was still covered with armor. But with a large shield and a carapace with a plate on the entire left side of the chest, the hands were often not armed at all.
Tournament armor for the Jostra of the Spanish King Philip I of the Arsenal of Madrid. This armor was called "Josta Real" in Spain and was very characteristic of the 15th century.
Salads for spear fighting were originally a very simple device. But gradually they became more complex and even received special "hit counters" in the form of special plates on the forehead, arranged so that they fell from the blow, and with them the covers fastened to them, fluttering on the helmet, fell. The other armor had a very complex structure in the breastplate: when the blow of the spear hit the rider in the very chest, parts of the armor fell!
A knight in full tournament gear for Jostra. (Dresden Armory)
A feature of the armor for a foot duel, in addition to the presence of many especially movable joints, was that at the bottom they had something like an iron skirt in the form of a bell. This armor design was good in that it provided good protection for the hip joint and at the same time guaranteed high mobility for the knight.
The pre-face shield on the helmet had a double function: on the one hand, additional protection, and on the other hand, it limited the view of the combatant, in which it was strictly forbidden to hit below the waist, which was rather difficult with such a pre-face device. With this armor, as a rule, the heaviest helmet of the bourguignot type was used, which appeared almost simultaneously with the armor of this type.
Many armor was made "ventilated", that is, with holes in the shell. Their diameter was less than the diameter of the spearhead, so they provided protection, but the rider himself suffered much less from the heat and stuffiness in them. Over the "ventilated" armor, a tournament surcoat embroidered with coats of arms was dressed, so that the holes on the carapace were not visible, and outwardly the warrior looked completely in combat.
For the same purpose, many parts of the armor began to be made of so-called "boiled leather", and gradually they began to fundamentally differ from combat ones. Many knights of the "old school" regretted this more than once, who, as before, saw in tournaments not so much an amusement for the ladies as a traditional military exercise, but naturally they could not do anything.
True, fights were still practiced with a scarecrow armed with a shield and a mace, which, with an inaccurate blow, turned and beat its opponent in the back.
Tournament armor of John the Stoic, Elector of Saxony, late 15th - early 16th centuries. Nuremberg. Typical armor for Jostra - horse fighting on spears: a toad's head helmet, a tarch for the left hand and a huge vemplete - a shield on the spear shaft to protect the right hand. (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna)
They continued to learn the use of military weapons in castles, but the very nature of tournament fights over time more and more took the form of a theatrical performance, which had nothing to do with war. The desire to make it as entertaining as possible led sometimes to the organization of spear fights on the water, in boats, where, to the great delight of the assembled audience, the knights threw each other overboard, and the servants climbed to get them!
German tharch 1450 - 1500 Weight 2, 737 kg. The latest samples of shields - tarchi, were no longer used in battle, but in tournaments, and, of course, they were very brightly painted. (Metropolitan Museum, New York)
Another type of tournament was “pass protection”. A group of knights in this case announced that in honor of their ladies they would defend some place against everyone. In 1434, in Spain, at the town of Orbigo, 10 knights defended the bridge against 68 rivals for a whole month, having spent more than 700 fights during this time!
Thumbnail from the "Album of tournaments and parades in Nuremberg". Late 16th - early 17th century (Metropolitan Museum, New York). Knights in tournament armor and with the most bizarre helmet decorations on their heads. Since the tournament in this case was held with a barrier, there is no leg armor.
The pages from this album are one more colorful than the other …
It was here that the knights, by the way, came in handy with their coats of arms and helmet decorations even more than in the war, because fans and spectators could follow the progress of the fights and cheer for their participants.
