Tournament

A tournament, or tourney, is a chivalrous competition or mock fight. It is one type of hastilude. The shows are held often for coronations, the marriage of kings, births, baptisms, weddings of princesses, conquests, peace, alliances, or to welcome ambassadors and people of great worth, or for pure entertainment. The heralds and kings of arms are in charge of publicizing the tournament, and the herald passes from castle to castle, taking letters and posters to the most renowned champions and inviting all the brave along the way.

Origin and History

Equestrian warfare, and equestrian practice, did hark back to the Old Empire, just as the notion of chivalry harked back to the rank of horsemen in those days; there may be an element of continuity connecting the tournament to the horse exercises of the Old Imperial cavalry. It is known that such cavalry games were central to military training in the post-Imperial kingdoms. In these early contests, the initial chasing and fleeing was followed by a general mêlée of all combatants.

The setting down of the first tournament laws is attributed to [Henry the Fowler] (r. 919–936), so recorded:

"So that this honourable custom of knightly sport should not be lost, [Henry, the first of this name, Roman Emperor], did establish the noble knightly sport of the tournament, and in the year [938] aided by the counsel of his lords and noblemen, did adorn it with twelve honourable and Pantheonist articles, in such a manner that nobody from among the noblemen, dukes or counts, who had acted against any of the twelve articles, might participate in the knightly game of tournament."

The earliest known use of the word "tournament" comes from the peace legislation by [Count Baldwin III] of [Hainaut] for the town of [Valenciennes], dated to [1114]. It refers to the keepers of the peace in the town leaving it 'for the purpose of frequenting javelin sports, tournaments and such like.'