There were two distinct ways in which the jousting took place: (1) On an open course; (2) with a barrier. In the former, the combatants usually started from the ends of the lists, and met about the centre. In the latter, a wooden barrier was erected down the centre of the lists lengthwise, and, when the signal was given, the combatants charged, each of them having the barrier on his left. (Fig. 1.) For these two methods of jousting, different arrangements of armour were worn; for some, the upper part of the body was armed more than the lower limbs, and sometimes it was vice versa.
PLATE 24.
(Fig. 1): A joust between Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, and an opponent, each charging on the left of the barrier. The Earl of Warwick has his arms displayed upon his tabard, and there is also a display of arms on the trappings, or bardings, of his horse. This was not the first of the charges, for a broken lance lies on the ground. (From the Life of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, written in MS. by a Chantry priest of Guy’s Cliff, named Rouse, about 1485.) (Fig. 2): The combat on foot after the charge. The Earl of Warwick is armed with a lance, and the other knight with a pole-axe. Several splintered lances on the ground show that the combat has been going on for some time. The Earl of Warwick’s crest, “a bear with a ragged staff,” appears on his helmet, while his adversary has a single large feather as crest.
[ENGLISH ARCHERS.]
In Saxon times, little value was placed upon the bow as a weapon, but, after the decisive part it played at Hastings, its use was practised generally.
From early times, archers carried long stakes, sharpened at both ends, and when they took up their position on the battlefield, they stuck them into the ground before them, with the points sloping outward, to break up a cavalry charge which might be made against them. In the 12th century, English archers became renowned for their skill, and Richard I. himself used the long-bow on more than one occasion. By the end of the 13th century, it had come into great prominence. Each archer—in later times, at least—carried two dozen arrows under his belt, and archers sometimes carried great movable shields, which they fixed upright by means of rests, and so sheltered themselves from the enemy’s bowmen. They also carried swords, so that they could defend themselves, if attacked, hand to hand.