The Tournament—Its Periods and Phases

The Tournament—Its Periods and Phases

Most of us owe our early impressions of the tournament to the delightful account of the Gentle and Joyous Passage of Arms of Ashby de la Zouche, in the county of Leicester, given by Sir Walter Scott in his fine romance Ivanhoe. But that eminent novelist, in presenting to his readers the picture of a pas darmes of the times of the lion-hearted Richard, took a poets licence by describing a jousting and mle such as belonged, in many details, to a time later than Richards by some two and a half centuries. The knightly armour of the reign of King Richard was of chain-mail, while that of the times of Henry VI was, of course, a complete harness of plate. The first-named equipment is thus described by Sainte-Palaye: Une lance forte et dificile rompre, un haubert ou haubergeon, cest dire, une double cotte de mailles, tissues de fer, lepreuve de lpe, toient les armes assignes aux Chevaliers.[1] Sir Walters account is thus hopelessly misleading in regard to its period, though admirably worked out in many other respects. There are ancient romances of great historic value, in that they give nearly contemporaneous details of the tournament of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and represent many features which may be regarded as correct in the light of a close comparison with other records. That of Petit Jehan de Saintr, written by Anthoine de la Sale, in 1459, is one of these, and we owe much enlightenment to it. There is great confusion among the works of chroniclers in regard to the dates of many tournaments, and often it is impossible to reconcile their statements. The differences are, however, usually but slight. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 64928
Author: Clephan, R. Coltman (Robert Coltman)
Release Date: Mar 26, 2021
Format: eBook
Language: English