Medieval Tournament as Spectacle: Tourneys, Jousts and Pas d'Armes, 1100-1600 (Royal Armouries Research Series)

Fresh insights into the development of the tournament as an opportunity for social display.

The period from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century witnessed a rapid development of the tournament. Alongside the original tourney - a mass battle fought between opposing armies of knights with minimal and rudimentary regulation - new forms of chivalric military contests emerged, in which entertainment featured alongside the necessity of practice for war. The joust featured individual combats, with increasingly elaborate rules and variations in form and accompanying pageantry, while the passage of arms placed tournaments within theatrical and allegorical formats.
This volume brings together the latest research on the late medieval tournament, demonstrating how such events, particularly at the courts of France, Burgundy, England and the German principalities, were increasingly integrated in wider festivities, ceremonies and diplomatic negotiations. Published in association with the Royal Armouries, it will appeal to all those interested in chivalric culture and medieval warfare.

Royal Armouries Research Series is a partnership between the Royal Armouries and Boydell & Brewer. The series is a forum for the study of arms and armour and cognate subjects from antiquity to the present day.

We welcome proposals for future volumes – either edited collections or monographs – from the broad world of arms and armour study, unlimited by geography, discipline or time period. Volumes that focus on objects within the Royal Armouries collection, or that support the organisation’s research strategy are particularly encouraged. Critical editions and translations of arms and armour texts (such as fencing
manuals and fight books) will also be considered.

• Publisher: ‎ Boydell Press; Reprint edition (16 Oct. 2023)
• Language: ‎ English
• Paperback
• 264 pages
• ISBN-10: ‎ 1837651086
• ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1837651085
• Dimensions: ‎ 15.88 x 1.27 x 24.13 cm