May | 2024 | Lions and Lilies

(THE RUSTY GAUNTLET – MAY EDITION)

By Cathy T

Continuing with our advent calendar theme of 2022, we decided to create a set of magazine covers in the likeness of GQ or Men’s Health that capture the medieval essence for men. If such a journal could have existed, what sort of articles would it have contained? Anything and everything to assist a knight or his squire about to set out on a military campaign, crusade or pilgrimage. So please enjoy the snippets below from the May issues of The Rusty Gauntlet.

It must also be mentioned that some articles in these blogs are written as they would have appeared directly in the ‘magazine’, whilst others, due to wanting to be as informative as possible, are written from the present-day point of view. Either way, please enjoy.

Jousting is a medieval and renaissance martial game between two combatants either on horse or on foot. The joust became an iconic characteristic of the knight in Romantic medievalism. The term is derived from Old French joster, ultimately from Latin iuxtare “to approach, to meet”. The word was loaned into Middle English around 1300, when jousting was a very popular sport among the nobility.

It originated between the 10th and 13th centuries and began as a mounted contest in north-west France in the late 11th century. The mêlée, (on foot fighting) which was part sporting contest and part training for the real challenges of medieval combat, evolved into the joust during the high medieval era. Jousting became more of an entertainment for the king and his court when guns began to be used for warfare.

The basic equipment for jousting includes:

A suite of armour
A wooden lance
A shield

Knights without a team to attach themselves to were called “bachelor” knights and in the days leading up to the tournament there would be a series of paired events so that individual knights could demonstrate their skills and talents. Knights belonging to a mesnie or household would also partake in these events, especially if they had not yet made their reputations.

The tournament field was set up and the rules of the tourney usually allowed a knight up to three lances. Essentially the knights formed teams. The first part of the tournament involved the teams of knights parading onto the field side by side. This might be followed by some of the pairs of knights jousting. Jousts were, from the 13th to 16th century CE, a popular part of the European culture where knights showed off their martial skills.

From c. 1400 CE onwards they were separated by a barrier or tilt, hence the sport’s other name of tilting. Jousting was an important opportunity for heraldic display, general pageantry, and the chance for a knight to impress aristocratic ladies who might show them favour by giving them their scarf or veil.

A herald would blow a bugle to indicate that round one of the mêlée was about to begin a cheval (on horseback). This part of the mêlée involved mounted knights with lances charging at one another. Once the lances broke or knights were unhorsed the mêlée continued a pied (on foot) with round two of the tournament on foot with swords and maces. Obviously not all knights were unhorsed at the same time so the mêlée could be somewhat chaotic.

The best tournament knights didn’t necessarily dive straight in but held back and waited until the keener elements of the event had tired themselves out and then swept in and took plenty of prisoners. This technique was developed by Philip of Flanders.

Jousting fell out of fashion by the end of the Middle Ages, but there were occasional revivals up to the 19th century CE.

Usually lances are 6 feet to 7 feet in length. Many riders nowadays have their lances custom-made to 6 feet 9 inches. The length and weight affects the speed and accuracy, however, while the length of the lance was important for performance, it was just one factor among many that influenced a knight’s success in the jousting arena.

Black armour is in – Edward of Woodstock wore it

There has been much speculation over the years as to why Edward of Woodstock, son of King Edward III, was called ‘The Black Prince,’ – was it the colour of the armour he wore or his ‘dark character that showed no mercy.’ It was said that once he trod upon French soil, a devil was released. It also needs to be said that he didn’t earn that name whilst he was alive, but only afterwards. Here, now, I will throw another suggestion into the ring. The recent popularity of a series called ‘Bridgerton’ revealed one of the show’s characters, Queen Charlotte, had African Moorish decent – a black queen. Even more astonishing is that research tells us she was not the first of England’s ‘black queens.’ It also names Queen Phillipa Hainault (Edward of Woodstock’s mother) to have had a similar heritage.

So, is it possible, Edward called ‘The Black Prince’ due to his mother’s ancestry? Food for thought but I guess we’ll never really know. We do know that he wore black armour (given to him by his father) making him distinctive on the battlefield.

LOOKING FOR THE BEST MEDIEVAL MOUNT?

In medieval times, horses were not known so much by their breeds as today, but rather for the function or physical attributes. There were four main types of horses used by medieval knights: destriers, coursers, rounceys, and palfreys.

DESTRIERS OR GREAT HORSE

The destrier was the best-known war horse. It was renowned and admired for its capabilities in war, sometimes even attacking other horses. Large and hot-blooded, great horses were bred specifically to be courageous in battle. They carried fully armoured knights as well as saddle, tack, barding and weapons. Worth seven or eight times the price of an ordinary horse, less than 5% of war horses were destriers owned by a small elite of the wealthy knights.

COURSER OR CHARGING HORSE

A courser was a swift and strong horse that was also used as a war horse, generally preferred for hard battles because they were light, fast and powerful. They were valuable horses but less expensive than the highly prized destrier. They were widely used for hunting as well.

ROUNCEY

The rouncys was an ordinary, all-purpose horse. They were used for riding but also could be used in battle. It was not unknown for them to be used as pack horses. Squires, men-at-arms, and poorer knights were common users of rounceys, and a wealthy knight would provide rounceys for his retinue.

PALFREY OR AMBLER

Elegant-looking, mild-mannered horses with a smooth gait were bred with other horses of a similar temperament to create ‘amblers’ also known as palfreys. A palfrey was a type of horse that was highly valued as a riding horse. They were very comfortable to ride on long journeys (anyone who has ever ridden a horse that ‘ambles’ knows exactly what that means!)

During the Middle Ages the palfrey was the most expensive and highly bred type of riding horse, sometimes costing as much as knight’s destrier! Consequently, it was popular with the nobles, ladies and highly-ranked knights for riding, hunting and ceremonial use, however, they were also used in battle because they could move quickly and easily even on uneven terrain. Knights would ride palfreys to battle to keep their heavier war horses from becoming fatigued before combat. The most beautiful palfreys were saved for parades and given special grooming and care.

No matter which horse was the choice, a good horse could mean the difference between life and death on the battlefield.

Catherine A Wilson co-writes with Catherine T Wilson (no relation). Their first book, The Lily and the Lion, was based upon their true-life accidental meeting and resulting friendship. All four books in their ‘Lions and Lilies’ series have won first place prizes in the Chatelaine/Chaucer Awards in the US and in 2019, The Traitor’s Noose won the Grand Prize Chaucer Award.