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Early Modern England Encyclopedia
By Paige Melton, inspired by
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This document uses Canadian English spelling
In 1194, the English tournament was legalized by King Richard I. Originally a French custom, the English adopted it initially as an exercise in battle technique, but it quickly became a ceremonial occasion for the aristocracy. These tournaments offered knights and other male members of the nobility a chance to show off their skill and valor as warriors. Tournaments continued in popularity but changed in form by the early modern period.
Medieval tournaments had groups of knights charging at each other with horses and swords. By the Tudor period, tournaments were a more organized form of entertainment, designed to show off the power and wealth of the Crown. Tournament participants paid to enter. The elaborate shows entertained the nobility and gentry who watched them from elaborate, decorated stands constructed for the purpose.
In Tudor tournaments, showmanship and pageantry were considered just as important as physical prowess and skill. Knights were accompanied by an entire group of squires and servants, who were responsible for caring for the horse, armor, and other equipment. Each knight or nobleman also had a coat of arms, which was usually prominently displayed on their shield, pavillion, and the many pennants and flags carried by their servants. These ancestral insignia were used to identify the fighter, but they also communicated messages about family history, family motto, and more.
Tudor tournaments consisted of several competitions, the most popular of which was the joust. The joust consisted of two men seated on horseback, in full armor, separated by a wooden barrier, charging at each other with the intent to unseat the other after a strike from a long wooden spear called a lance. At times, the joust was replaced with
Other events also entertained spectators at tournaments and allowed entrants to demonstrate their martial prowess. One such form of competition was a hand-to-hand duel, which was when entrants fought each other on foot with blunted swords and spears. Wrestling was also a very popular event at tournaments. The joust was considered more impressive than the duel or wrestling, and it offered greater rewards and more recognition for combatants.
Henry VIII regularly staged and even participated in tournaments. A skilled jouster, Henry hosted numerous tournaments at home and abroad, such as when he met King Francis I of France at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in Calais in 1515. Henry VIII was also seriously wounded twice in jousting accidents. In 1524, Henry escaped serious injury when he failed to lower the visor of his helm and his opponent’s lance splintered near his face. In 1536, the now overweight 44-year-old Henry fell from his fully armored horse, which then fell and crushed him; he was unconscious for two hours and may have suffered a brain injury that affected his moods and behavior. This accident also gave him a serious leg wound which troubled him for the rest of his life.
Henry VIII’s daughter Elizabeth I also used tournaments to show her power and influence, although of course she did not compete in them. Rooted in the tradition of chivalry, combatants who entered tournaments would often fight for the attention of a maiden, such as Elizabeth I. The chivalric code was an integral part of aristocratic English society, and the idea of fighting for the attention, as well as the honor, of a maiden was a center point of many tournaments. As evidence of their importance in the late Tudor period, court finanicial records during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I show that more money was spent on tournaments than on any other form of entertainment.
Among the more famous combatants during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I were the poet and courtier Sir Philip Sidney and, prior to his disgrace and execution, the Queen’s favorite, Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex. Tournaments were held when foreign dignitaries visited the English court and annually to celebrate Elizabeth’s accession to the throne on November 17.