Medieval Jousting.

[Abdulmajid]

Was this just for fun or was the ultimate aim to actually kill the opponent?

Thank you.

[tiggerblue10]

Both I would imagine. Henry VIII had fun whilst maiming and killing other jousters. I think his opponents let him win anyway.

[jno]

originally it was like military manoeuvres, practice for the real thing; but it came to be part of tournaments, which were basically entertainment. It wasn't about killing people (that's what wars were for) - the main aim was just to unseat your opponent - but it was pretty dangerous however you did it and people did die, including Henry II of France.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_II_of_Franc e

His older brother had died after a game of tennis, so sport in the middle ages was a tough business.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis%2C_Dauphi n_of_France_%281518-1536%29

[Lil O'lady]

Peace and prosperity in Tudor times gave the royal court the opportunity to re-invent their own fantasy of courtly knighthood. Jousting was elevated from military training to a showy game of manliness to impress da laydeez and da opposition.
In real battles there would not be much chance for a good clean run at your opponenent whist clutching a glorified clothesprop as too many skilled people would be waiting to kill you, and your horse.

[Peter Pedant]

Jousting is older than Tudor times (begins 1485) by which time it had become a little formulaic

I would say it started at the beginninng of the fourteenth century (1300). Defintiely a game - definitely not fatal every time (I think Shah Jehan had the habit of decapitating the fella who was holding the bridle of his horse as he got on it, didnt he ?)

However it could be fatal - Francis II of France got zeroed by Montmorency in a joust in 1535.

YOu practised in a tilting yard of which there are still a very few. Warwick I think - it just looks like a big field.

[Octavius]

The first recorded reference of a tournament was dated in 1066 and refers to Godfrey de Preuilly, who is described as having invented the medieval tournament.

By the 12th century the tournament had grown so popular in England that King Henry II (1154-1189) found it necessary to forbid the sport which gathered in one place so many knights in arms and jousting contests.

The 1292 Statute of Arms provided new laws for tournaments which included jousting. The Statute of Arms ordained that no pointed weapons should be used - they should be blunted. New types of lances were developed called the 'lance of peace'. The tip of this type of lance had either been rebated (blunted) or replaced by a metal crown-shaped head called a coronel, which was designed to disperse the impact of the blow during the jousting contest.

Jousting was used in a judicial combat. Disputes were settled according to the outcome of such jousts - the victor was seen to have God on his side, therefore not guilty, and the dispute was settled in his favour. The most skilled and accomplished knight in the realm was referred to as the King's champion and he would joust for his King. Edward III (1327-1377) challenged the King of France to combat between either two champions or 100 knights per side, in a combat "au outrance" meaning 'to the limits'. Jousting "au Outrance" was typically performed during wartime on battlefields and was performed "to the death" using sharpened lance tips.