Like all warrior classes throughout history medieval knights engaged in military games, partly in preparation for war and partly for pure sport. From their often brutal origins in the 10th century to the gaudy pageantry and eventual decline of the 15th and 16th centuries, tournaments were the centre of the knightly life. The image of the armoured and surcoated knight on his caparisoned charger remains the epitome of the chivalric ideal. Christopher Gravett explores the history of the tournament from its chaotic beginnings to its more formal, 'civilised' incarnation, describing the various 'events' and equipment which came into use.

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

"First published hardback 1989"--T.p. verso.

In the Middle Ages Tournaments were the equivalent of Medieval football, with the 'star players' gaining wealth and prestige. Here is the history of the Tournament.

Plans to host a tournament in the spring of 1322, gives moneylenders everywhere a golden opportunity. Many knights in Devon are already indebted to Benjamin Dudenay, and when a month before the festivities, he is found beaten to death, it is not in the least bit surprising. Simon and Baldwin must hurry to find the culprit, but then a carpenter commissioned to build the stands is killed in a similar fashion, leaving them with even more mysteries to solve…

This collection of medieval plates, dedicated to Saxon knights in tournament dress from the 14th century, was created in 1889 to celebrate the anniversary of the distinguished Wettin family. The House of Wettin is a dynasty of German counts, dukes, prince-electors and kings that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The book dates back to 1889 and was printed by Wilhelm Hoffmann of Dresden in a very limited edition of 52 x 38 cm each panel. The technique used is the chromolithography method, the lithographer is G. Hohneck, who used the collotype technique to colour all the images obtained. Our very rare copy comes from the plates that belonged to the Dutch doctor H. J. Vinkhuijzen, an eccentric collector and passionate lover of military iconography. Since 1911 the collection has been donated to the New York Public Library by Mr. Henry Draper, heir to the Dutch doctor. And it is from this collection that Soldiershop has taken the subjects of this new publication. Almost all the 63 original images were in a bad state of preservation, full of stains, scratches and rips on all the pictures. For our book we have submitted each table to a rigorous cleaning and re-classification to provide a complete, easy and useful work for all scholars and fans of uniformology of military history, costume and beyond.

A survey of the tournament in England from its first emergence in the 12th century to the beginning of the 15th, when technical changes altered its very nature. Juliet Barker surveys the tournament in England from its first emergence in the twelfth century to the beginning of the fifteenth, when it was revolutionised by the emergence of technical changes which altered its very nature. Theoriginal publication of this study, deriving from Juliet Barker's PhD thesis supervised by Maurice Keen, reestablished the importance of the tournament at the heart of medieval chivalric culture. The first serious scholarly publication for over half a century, it dramatically reawakened interest in the historical context of tournaments, and is especially valuable for its detailed evidence on the early years. Tournaments are shown as far more than just sport. They had wide political, social and military implications; in England their potential as a political instrument was quickly realised: for the disaffected they became a means of rebellion and feuding, but for the king and court they were a powerful propaganda machine. Participation in tournaments was also a way to earn a coveted reputation for chivalry; the passion for tourneying could bring knights lasting fame. Military demands accounted for the increasing sophistication of armour and weapons, partly in response to the demands of the tourneyers, who needed military training that reflected their role in actual combat. This wide-ranging study looks at the tournament fromall these angles, and in so doing produces an exemplary history of the first three hundred years of their development. JULIET BARKER is a well-known broadcaster and writer, whose other books include The Brontesand Wordsworth: A Life in Letters.