| | In its early days, when the weapons were unblunted and [[impromptu]] contests were frequently set up on country roads, the practice was frowned upon by kings and the church as a needless loss of life. [[Henry II]] banned it. [[Richard I]], however, as a money-making device, licensed tournaments on chosen ''steads'', or fields, and contestants paid an entry fee. Jousting tournaments were often lavish affairs and offered prizes of money or land to victorious knights. The winner often claimed the horse and armour of the vanquished. Fortunes, and indeed reputations, could be won and lost, and it was a way for younger - therefore landless - knights to get up in the world. The practice is described in stirring detail in Scott's ''[[Ivanhoe]]''. | | In its early days, when the weapons were unblunted and [[impromptu]] contests were frequently set up on country roads, the practice was frowned upon by kings and the church as a needless loss of life. [[Henry II]] banned it. [[Richard I]], however, as a money-making device, licensed tournaments on chosen ''steads'', or fields, and contestants paid an entry fee. Jousting tournaments were often lavish affairs and offered prizes of money or land to victorious knights. The winner often claimed the horse and armour of the vanquished. Fortunes, and indeed reputations, could be won and lost, and it was a way for younger - therefore landless - knights to get up in the world. The practice is described in stirring detail in Scott's ''[[Ivanhoe]]''. |
| − | A joust could also settle a score between two knights or noblemen, in the role that a [[duel]] with [[pistol]]s or [[rapier]]s came to fulfil in later centuries. [[Froissart]] describes such a duel in 1386 in his ''Chronicles''. | + | A joust could also settle a score between two knights or noblemen, in the role that a [[duel]] with [[pistol]]s or [[rapier]]s came to fulfill in later centuries. [[Froissart]] describes such a duel in 1386 in his ''Chronicles''. |