Post by Creative Consortium on Jan 22, 2008 19:02:05 GMT -6
Introduction
A medieval knight about to enter a joust, donning his armor, which weighs nearly half as much as he, and climbing onto his half-ton-plus warhorse. Feeling the anticipation as he looks down the course to a similarly equipped opponent and prepares to charge. Hear the thundering as the large warhorse races down the list at great speed; holding out his lance, attempting to aim a telling blow upon his opponent, while maintaining a very shaky seat. Can he withstand the impact when his lance strikes him, or his strikes me?
The Joust
First, some terms will need to be defined. A ‘tournament’ is any gathering of warriors for the purpose of martial games of any kind. This is the setting for ‘melees’ and ‘jousts’. Melees are mounted or unmounted combat of competing groups of soldiers. Fights between pairs of warriors, mounted and unmounted, were also known. The joust is competition between pairs of mounted warriors. There are many types of joust.
Tournaments usually included melees, fought with the same weapons used in war. Injury was possible even when these weapons were wielded without the intent to kill. Accidental injury, and sometimes death, was common. It wasn’t until the last half of the 13th century that arms and armor were designed with extra safety during the tournament in mind. Jousts incorporating these new features were called “Jousts of Peace” while those using the sharp lances and standard war armor were called “Jousts of War.” Improvements to the arms and armor for Jousts of Peace had to be such that they would still be similar to real arms – retaining the ‘training’ aspect of the joust – and most importantly, reduce the chance of death or injury to valuable members of the elite fighting class.
Tournament lances were made with blunt heads from the beginning of non-lethal combat games, with the most popular version of this being a three-prong coronal, which spread the impact over a larger area, reducing the chance of impalement.
The barrier, known as the ‘tilt’ was erected between the riders, and they would joust across it. Horse collisions, which were very dangerous to the horses and the riders, were still possible, as the tilt was sometimes a simple length of rope with cloth hanging over it. Tilts were also made of stouter wooden fences and walls, and while collisions with the walls themselves must have caused accidents, horse collisions were eliminated.
The object in the deutsche Rennen was to unhorse one’s opponent. Extra points were given for location of a hit, more points being awarded for a blow landed on the opponent’s helm than on his breastplate, for instance. Additional points were given for the shattering of one’s lance against one’s opponent’s shield. The lances in this joust were blunted. Without a divider, however, a collision of the horses was a very real possibility.
A contrast of the deutsche Rennen was the Scharfrennen (literally “the sharp run”, a Joust of War). The Scharfrennen used a pointed lance, a different suit of armor, and like the Rennen, no tilt. The helm was a simpler sallet-style, usually with additional breakaway plates on the forehead area to indicate a hit. The armor also had no special shoulder protection, but instead the shield was expanded and shaped to cover the entire arm, shoulder and left torso.
Equipment for the Joust
The Lance
The lance was a horseman’s weapon, its design based upon that of the standard spear. Although derived from the spear, a common weapon, feudal nobles held the lance in high regard as the most dignified weapon, and its use by the commoners was generally prohibited. The count of knights’ lances was often used as a measure of the strength of armies and lances fixed in the ground outside their tents commonly indicated the ranks of knights.
The standard spear design was approximately 10’-12’ in length, to provide the necessary reach. The shaft of the lance was constructed of a single piece of wood, typically ash, with a sharply pointed head of iron or steel designed for penetrating armor. Other sources indicate that cedar, aspen, lime, pine, and sycamore woods were also used in lance construction. Below the head was attached a flag, called a gonfanon or gonfalon, which indicated the rank of the lance bearer. A distinction was made between Jousts of War and Jousts of Peace, resulting in a variation of the lance head. Typically, during Jousts of Peace, the pointed lance head was removed and replaced with a small crown-shaped head, referred to as a coronal. The lance design was designed to spread the force of the impact, for shattering one’s lances or unhorsing one’s opponent, rather than piercing the opponent’s armor.
A coronel, a lance head, was three-pronged with points that flare out from the center.
The lance was later fitted with a vamplate and a grapper. The vamplate was a round, conical shield affixed just in front of the lance grip for protection of the hand and forearm supporting the lance. The grapper was designed to butt up against the lance bearer’s armor when the lance was couched, and prevent it from being forced back during impact.
Armor
During a joust, protection of a knight’s body was of utmost importance, and armor was the most effective way to achieve this goal. In a Joust of Peace, where the idea was to unhorse an opponent or shatter a lance, armor helped prevent serious injury or death in a situation designed to improve skills and prove one’s abilities. In a Joust of War, armor would also provide some level of protection against injury and death, and perhaps give a knight the edge needed to be victorious. Standard field armor and helm was used for the purposes of jousting. This armor was equipped with certain reinforcing pieces to provide extra protection against injuries caused by jousting.
Helms
Probably one of the most specialized pieces of jousting equipment was the helm.
Horses and Related Equipment
The breeds of horses used as warhorses, often referred to as destriers, varied from nation to nation. The French often used Castilian and Aragonese horses, but also obtained stock from Gascony, Hungary, and Syria. The Netherlands had the Friesian breed, Spain had the Andalusian, and Italy the Mantuan.
Destriers were of moderate height [approximately 15hh] and robust build. A close approximation for the traveling speed of a horse during a joust is 20 miles per hour. Friesian ranges from approximately 14.3-15.3hh (57.2-61.2 in/150-160 cm) in height and 1001-1298 lbs (455-590 kg) in weight, while Andalusians average around 15hh (60 in/152 cm) and 1199-1298 lbs (545-590 kg).
Jousting Saddles
The design of the jousting saddle is of great importance when considering the impact results of a joust. The design of the saddle, its foot and leg grips, and backing will have an effect on how well a rider can maintain his seat when struck with a lance.
The most common type of saddle used for jousting was referred to as a war saddle, which was the same type of saddle used in actual warfare. These saddles had a raised front grip and back, as opposed to standard riding saddles which had a pommel on the front and a nearly flat seat all the way to the back. (Mann 1962: Plate 95) The raised front and back of the war saddle also continued down the sides, providing some protection to the legs and better purchase to grip one’s legs around the horse. The figure below shows the form of a war saddle and a standard riding saddle.
The front plate of this saddle rises approximately 7 inches above the seat, placing the top at approximately the abdomen of a rider. The saddle front plate is also quite wide, 11.25 inches across the top and 17.25 inches at the plane of the seat, providing a great deal of protection to the rider. The front plate also continues down the sides, and comes up in front of the thighs of a rider. The plate continues down approximately 11 inches, along the side of the horse, and extends approximately 5 inches outward from the side of the saddle, perpendicular to the side of the horse. This would almost completely cover the rider’s legs down to the knee.
The back plate rises approximately 6.125 inches from the seat, placing it near the waist of a rider. The back plate is tilted forward slightly, which would place the padding against the pelvis and lower back of a rider. It was done to help provide more support to a rider during an impact from lance or while fighting in close quarters combat. The width of the saddle back plate is approximately 14 inches across the top and 17.5 inches at the seat. The back plate continues down the sides of the saddle for approximately 11.5 inches, and has a width of roughly 3 inches from the sides of the saddle. The back plate must have proved useful for supporting one’s self during a joust or battle, providing a decent buttress against being forced back, and lower back support and a hold for a sturdy leg grip to prevent being tipped off one’s horse. A war saddle obviously provided a great deal of frontal protection and rear support to a rider, extending from the waist/lower back down the thigh to about the knee of a rider.
Analyzing the Joust
What forces would cause a lance to shatter?
What conditions would leave a lance intact and unhorse a rider?
Does the angle of the lance conclusively determine a win or loss?
It is beneficial to approach these questions by analyzing the physical aspects of a joust.
If it is assumed that the lance hits the Knight in the center of his chest, directly above the pivot point, the torque applied to the Knight will cause him to lean backwards, toward the back of the horse. If the lance hit is assumed to be on the Knight’s lower torso, in the area of the pelvis, directly to the left or right of the pivot point, the torque will cause the Knight’s body to rotate to one side. Since most lance blows are to the upper left of an opponent’s chest, there will be a combination of these two effects. These torques will create a twisting that is likely to create a greater strain on the Knight’s grip on his saddle and horse, increasing the chance of unhorsing.
There are many factors to be considered when analyzing a collision such as a joust. The location of the lance strike has a great effect on the impact forces felt by both combatants. Additionally, the abilities of each jouster affect their response to the impact force, and how well they maintain their position on their horses.
Here's How:
Tips:
Strike Well
As you charge blindly at 20 mph, lower the lance over your horse’s left shoulder so it’s at a 35-degree angle across your body. Aim at the middle of your enemy’s shield or head to break the tip, or go for the Hail Mary—hit low on the breastplate to unhorse his ass.
Save Yourself
To survive a blow, hold your shield high, twist your torso, and shift forward, because the impact will knock you back,” advises Rodlin. Still up? Swing your horse around, snag a lance from thy squire, and do it all over again. Damsels await!
A medieval knight about to enter a joust, donning his armor, which weighs nearly half as much as he, and climbing onto his half-ton-plus warhorse. Feeling the anticipation as he looks down the course to a similarly equipped opponent and prepares to charge. Hear the thundering as the large warhorse races down the list at great speed; holding out his lance, attempting to aim a telling blow upon his opponent, while maintaining a very shaky seat. Can he withstand the impact when his lance strikes him, or his strikes me?
The Joust
First, some terms will need to be defined. A ‘tournament’ is any gathering of warriors for the purpose of martial games of any kind. This is the setting for ‘melees’ and ‘jousts’. Melees are mounted or unmounted combat of competing groups of soldiers. Fights between pairs of warriors, mounted and unmounted, were also known. The joust is competition between pairs of mounted warriors. There are many types of joust.
Tournaments usually included melees, fought with the same weapons used in war. Injury was possible even when these weapons were wielded without the intent to kill. Accidental injury, and sometimes death, was common. It wasn’t until the last half of the 13th century that arms and armor were designed with extra safety during the tournament in mind. Jousts incorporating these new features were called “Jousts of Peace” while those using the sharp lances and standard war armor were called “Jousts of War.” Improvements to the arms and armor for Jousts of Peace had to be such that they would still be similar to real arms – retaining the ‘training’ aspect of the joust – and most importantly, reduce the chance of death or injury to valuable members of the elite fighting class.
Tournament lances were made with blunt heads from the beginning of non-lethal combat games, with the most popular version of this being a three-prong coronal, which spread the impact over a larger area, reducing the chance of impalement.
The barrier, known as the ‘tilt’ was erected between the riders, and they would joust across it. Horse collisions, which were very dangerous to the horses and the riders, were still possible, as the tilt was sometimes a simple length of rope with cloth hanging over it. Tilts were also made of stouter wooden fences and walls, and while collisions with the walls themselves must have caused accidents, horse collisions were eliminated.
The object in the deutsche Rennen was to unhorse one’s opponent. Extra points were given for location of a hit, more points being awarded for a blow landed on the opponent’s helm than on his breastplate, for instance. Additional points were given for the shattering of one’s lance against one’s opponent’s shield. The lances in this joust were blunted. Without a divider, however, a collision of the horses was a very real possibility.
A contrast of the deutsche Rennen was the Scharfrennen (literally “the sharp run”, a Joust of War). The Scharfrennen used a pointed lance, a different suit of armor, and like the Rennen, no tilt. The helm was a simpler sallet-style, usually with additional breakaway plates on the forehead area to indicate a hit. The armor also had no special shoulder protection, but instead the shield was expanded and shaped to cover the entire arm, shoulder and left torso.
Equipment for the Joust
The Lance
The lance was a horseman’s weapon, its design based upon that of the standard spear. Although derived from the spear, a common weapon, feudal nobles held the lance in high regard as the most dignified weapon, and its use by the commoners was generally prohibited. The count of knights’ lances was often used as a measure of the strength of armies and lances fixed in the ground outside their tents commonly indicated the ranks of knights.
The standard spear design was approximately 10’-12’ in length, to provide the necessary reach. The shaft of the lance was constructed of a single piece of wood, typically ash, with a sharply pointed head of iron or steel designed for penetrating armor. Other sources indicate that cedar, aspen, lime, pine, and sycamore woods were also used in lance construction. Below the head was attached a flag, called a gonfanon or gonfalon, which indicated the rank of the lance bearer. A distinction was made between Jousts of War and Jousts of Peace, resulting in a variation of the lance head. Typically, during Jousts of Peace, the pointed lance head was removed and replaced with a small crown-shaped head, referred to as a coronal. The lance design was designed to spread the force of the impact, for shattering one’s lances or unhorsing one’s opponent, rather than piercing the opponent’s armor.
A coronel, a lance head, was three-pronged with points that flare out from the center.
The lance was later fitted with a vamplate and a grapper. The vamplate was a round, conical shield affixed just in front of the lance grip for protection of the hand and forearm supporting the lance. The grapper was designed to butt up against the lance bearer’s armor when the lance was couched, and prevent it from being forced back during impact.
Armor
During a joust, protection of a knight’s body was of utmost importance, and armor was the most effective way to achieve this goal. In a Joust of Peace, where the idea was to unhorse an opponent or shatter a lance, armor helped prevent serious injury or death in a situation designed to improve skills and prove one’s abilities. In a Joust of War, armor would also provide some level of protection against injury and death, and perhaps give a knight the edge needed to be victorious. Standard field armor and helm was used for the purposes of jousting. This armor was equipped with certain reinforcing pieces to provide extra protection against injuries caused by jousting.
Helms
Probably one of the most specialized pieces of jousting equipment was the helm.
Horses and Related Equipment
The breeds of horses used as warhorses, often referred to as destriers, varied from nation to nation. The French often used Castilian and Aragonese horses, but also obtained stock from Gascony, Hungary, and Syria. The Netherlands had the Friesian breed, Spain had the Andalusian, and Italy the Mantuan.
Destriers were of moderate height [approximately 15hh] and robust build. A close approximation for the traveling speed of a horse during a joust is 20 miles per hour. Friesian ranges from approximately 14.3-15.3hh (57.2-61.2 in/150-160 cm) in height and 1001-1298 lbs (455-590 kg) in weight, while Andalusians average around 15hh (60 in/152 cm) and 1199-1298 lbs (545-590 kg).
Jousting Saddles
The design of the jousting saddle is of great importance when considering the impact results of a joust. The design of the saddle, its foot and leg grips, and backing will have an effect on how well a rider can maintain his seat when struck with a lance.
The most common type of saddle used for jousting was referred to as a war saddle, which was the same type of saddle used in actual warfare. These saddles had a raised front grip and back, as opposed to standard riding saddles which had a pommel on the front and a nearly flat seat all the way to the back. (Mann 1962: Plate 95) The raised front and back of the war saddle also continued down the sides, providing some protection to the legs and better purchase to grip one’s legs around the horse. The figure below shows the form of a war saddle and a standard riding saddle.
The front plate of this saddle rises approximately 7 inches above the seat, placing the top at approximately the abdomen of a rider. The saddle front plate is also quite wide, 11.25 inches across the top and 17.25 inches at the plane of the seat, providing a great deal of protection to the rider. The front plate also continues down the sides, and comes up in front of the thighs of a rider. The plate continues down approximately 11 inches, along the side of the horse, and extends approximately 5 inches outward from the side of the saddle, perpendicular to the side of the horse. This would almost completely cover the rider’s legs down to the knee.
The back plate rises approximately 6.125 inches from the seat, placing it near the waist of a rider. The back plate is tilted forward slightly, which would place the padding against the pelvis and lower back of a rider. It was done to help provide more support to a rider during an impact from lance or while fighting in close quarters combat. The width of the saddle back plate is approximately 14 inches across the top and 17.5 inches at the seat. The back plate continues down the sides of the saddle for approximately 11.5 inches, and has a width of roughly 3 inches from the sides of the saddle. The back plate must have proved useful for supporting one’s self during a joust or battle, providing a decent buttress against being forced back, and lower back support and a hold for a sturdy leg grip to prevent being tipped off one’s horse. A war saddle obviously provided a great deal of frontal protection and rear support to a rider, extending from the waist/lower back down the thigh to about the knee of a rider.
Analyzing the Joust
What forces would cause a lance to shatter?
What conditions would leave a lance intact and unhorse a rider?
Does the angle of the lance conclusively determine a win or loss?
It is beneficial to approach these questions by analyzing the physical aspects of a joust.
If it is assumed that the lance hits the Knight in the center of his chest, directly above the pivot point, the torque applied to the Knight will cause him to lean backwards, toward the back of the horse. If the lance hit is assumed to be on the Knight’s lower torso, in the area of the pelvis, directly to the left or right of the pivot point, the torque will cause the Knight’s body to rotate to one side. Since most lance blows are to the upper left of an opponent’s chest, there will be a combination of these two effects. These torques will create a twisting that is likely to create a greater strain on the Knight’s grip on his saddle and horse, increasing the chance of unhorsing.
There are many factors to be considered when analyzing a collision such as a joust. The location of the lance strike has a great effect on the impact forces felt by both combatants. Additionally, the abilities of each jouster affect their response to the impact force, and how well they maintain their position on their horses.
Here's How:
Tips:
Strike Well
As you charge blindly at 20 mph, lower the lance over your horse’s left shoulder so it’s at a 35-degree angle across your body. Aim at the middle of your enemy’s shield or head to break the tip, or go for the Hail Mary—hit low on the breastplate to unhorse his ass.
Save Yourself
To survive a blow, hold your shield high, twist your torso, and shift forward, because the impact will knock you back,” advises Rodlin. Still up? Swing your horse around, snag a lance from thy squire, and do it all over again. Damsels await!
