Jousting101
An Insider’s Guide for
Maryland Renaissance Festival’s
Must-See Entertainment By WPCG
Imagine two powerful sworn enemies in full armor charging at each other on horseback with lances drawn. While in a Medieval setting, the outcome of such a joust might have settled debates, decided justice or even swayed politics. By the era of King Henry VIII and the Renaissance, jousting tournaments were staged mostly for entertainment.
These tournaments were extravagant events, requiring six months to a year to plan and lasting for days on end. The abundance of activity preceding and following tournaments often caused new villages to spring up in the area. Since hopeful competitors and their avid audiences came from far and wide, they required housing, meals and the presence of cooks and barmaids to prepare and serve them. Craftspeople came to sell their wares, and everyone wanted musicians and other entertainers to ensure non-stop merriment.
Imagine two powerful sworn enemies in full armor charging at each other on horseback with lances drawn. While in a Medieval setting, the outcome of such a joust might have settled debates, decided justice or even swayed politics. By the era of King Henry VIII and the Renaissance, jousting tournaments were staged mostly for entertainment.
These tournaments were extravagant events, requiring six months to a year to plan and lasting for days on end. The abundance of activity preceding and following tournaments often caused new villages to spring up in the area. Since hopeful competitors and their avid audiences came from far and wide, they required housing, meals and the presence of cooks and barmaids to prepare and serve them. Craftspeople came to sell their wares, and everyone wanted musicians and other entertainers to ensure non-stop merriment.
One such place is Revel Grove, the 27-acre permanent replica Tudor village setting of the Maryland Renaissance Festival, open Saturdays, Sundays, and Labor Day Monday from August 26 to October 22. The festival, now in its 47th year, brings together more than 200 performers to fill its ten stages and pathways with entertainment. Over 120 craftspeople offer their wares in quaint shops along the village’s many streets. With six taverns and many food and beverage emporiums, visitors can feast like a king. The music, theatre and variety performances will transport revelers back to the year 1536.
Three times daily, knights perform not only jousts, but other daring feats on horseback to please King Henry VIII during his annual visit. While some characters compete for sport, others might have a more sinister reason for joining a joust. One such character this year is Karakhan, the Destroyer. A king in his own right, his presence at the joust should raise a few eyebrows in Revel Grove. Is he out to sabotage someone or protect them?
In the article that follows, we’ll help you understand more about the origin of this historic sport, it’s armor and weaponry, and how it continues to be an impressive display of athleticism and entertainment for all ages.
We’ll also tell you what to look for. A lot of intrigue goes on behind the scenes.
Jousting Origins:
The how and the why.
In the Medieval days, the joust was intended to prepare combatants for battlefields. These tournaments were extremely violent. The goal was to incapacitate an opponent to gain possession of their armor and horses.
By the beginning of the Renaissance in the early 14th century, the concept of chivalry had been introduced, and jousting tournaments became less violent and more regulated. Knights had to follow strict codes of integrity, and many kings and other noblemen turned to jousting to showcase their own skill, bravery and wealth.
“Obviously, kings and dukes did not want to die while jousting,” said Bill Burch, owner of Debracey Productions, the jousting troupe that performs at Maryland Renaissance Festival each year. “These tournaments were a real spectacle. Sometimes you were jousting for a prize or respect; sometimes you were jousting for land or for titles.”
Visitors to the Maryland Renaissance Festival witness modern theatrical jousting, where three times each day competitive jousts are performed by characters with scripted lines that dovetail into the festival’s main storyline. This year, the festival is set in 1536, during King Henry VIII’s marriage to his third wife, Jane Seymour.
Jousting Essentials:
The goal of modern theatrical jousting is to determine who is strongest in the saddle, and knights demonstrate their strength by knocking their opponents off their horses and breaking their lances.
The armor
“We don’t want to slow down our performance, and no matter how fast you think you’re moving in full armor, you’d look like the Michelin Man, and we don’t want that. Neither does our audience,” he said. “So, we wear plenty of protective gear, just not a lot of historical armor.”
The lance
The weight and style of a knight’s lance had different purposes and, like the armor, have undergone many variations. Knights carried a heavier lance to unhorse a rider and used a lighter one like a spear or sometimes a projectile.
“A lot of jousting was for the spectacle. Some lances were 15 feet long, and because they were hollow, a knight could hold one up for long periods of time and look strong. Our knights use an inch-and-a-quarter round solid lance,” Burch said. “And since we really do aim at the other guy, we break them quite often!”
What’s going on during a joust that we can’t see?
Plenty!
The jousters are highly skilled performers, but the competition isn’t necessarily an act. Each day, they change the story to make it interesting for them and to keep the audience guessing.
“At our first show of the day, for example, our knights don’t know who the bad guy is,” said Burch. “We don’t even tell them what their motivation is until the second show. And to give audiences the most realistic experience, the knights enter the arena without knowing the outcome.”
A princess hosts the tournament, but no one is certain if she’s staging it for the benefit of the king, or if it’s part of her political agenda. Audience members should pay close attention to the way she speaks to each knight, for it’s likely she has something hidden up her sleeve.
The Maryland Renaissance Festival runs Saturdays, Sundays and Labor Day Monday for nine thrilling weekends, August 26 through October 22. For tickets and more information, visit MarylandRenaissanceFestival.com.
