The Tournament—Its Periods and Phases

by R. Coltman Clephan

“Moreouer, this year (1359) in the Rogation wéeke was solemne iusts enterprised at London, for the maior and his foure and twentie brethern as challengers did appoint to ansuer all commers, in whose name and stéed the King with his foure sonnes, Edward, Lionell, John and Edmund, and ninetéene other great lords; in secret manner came and held the field with honor, to the great pleasure of the citizens that beheld the same.”[68]

“Moreouer this yeare (1362) the fiue first daies of Maie, were kept roiall iusts in Smithfield by London, the king and queene being present, with a great multitude of ladies and gentlemen of both the realms of England and France.”[69]

Much detailed information concerning the jousting of the fourteenth century has fortunately been preserved in the records of the wars in France, some examples of which follow.

At the time when the siege of Tournay was raised by means of a truce, a tournament was held at Mons, at which Sir Gerard de Verchin, Seneschal of Hainault, was mortally wounded.[70]

Froissart states[71] that a combat took place before the walls of the town of Rennes in 1357, then being besieged by the English forces, between a young knight-bachelor,[72] Bertrand du Guesclin, and an English cavalier, Sir Nicholas Dagworth. The articles of combat provided for three courses with the lance, three strokes with the battle-axe and three thrusts with the dagger. These were all duly delivered, the knights bearing themselves right gallantly, without hurt to either of them. The fight was viewed with extreme interest by both armies.

So far Froissart. But there is some doubt whether it was Sir Nicholas Dagworth who was one of the principals in this duel; for in the Histoire de Bretagne it is stated that it was William de Blanchbourg, brother of the Governor of Fougerai, who was Sir Bertrand’s opponent on the occasion, and that he was wounded and unhorsed. It is more probable, however, that both duels were fought, though the last-named combat was not likely to have taken place under the walls of Rennes, for both cavaliers were Frenchmen.

There is a singularly beautiful brass in the pavement of the south chapel of Blickling Church, Norfolk, in memory of Sir Nicholas Dagworth, who was a man of importance in the reigns of kings Edward III and Richard II. He lived until the year 1401,[73] and his will appears in Testamenta Vetusta. The brass is given in the Boutell Collection. It affords an excellent example of the armour prevailing at the end of the fourteenth century, when the evolution from chain-mail to full plate-armour had been almost completed. The helmet is the pointed bascinet, with the camail, the latter with an ornamental bordering coming over the top of the jupon. The cyclas, which has an enriched fringing, hides the body-armour from view, and the knightly belt is elaborately decorated; the pouldrons are articulated. The gauntlets, with short cuffs, have gads over the fingers for use in the mêlée, and they show an imitation of finger-nails, and the solerets are freely articulated. The knight’s head rests on his great helm, which has a mantling; and a wreath, surmounted by the crest, a griffin. The armour is enriched with chasing. The Arms—Erm, on a fesse, gu., three bezants: impaling Rosale, Cu., a fesse between six martlet’s or.

The armour of the Black Prince in the Chapel of the Holy Trinity, at Canterbury Cathedral, affords an excellent illustration of the degree of progress reached in the last quarter of the fourteenth century. The process of evolution from chain-mail to plate is here almost completed, there being only small pieces of the former at the skirt, arms and insteps of the solerets. The Prince died in 1376, and the date of his effigy is somewhat later.

During a skirmish at Toury, in France, shortly before the death of King Charles V, in 1380, an esquire of Beauce, named Gauvain Micaille, enquired through an herald if any English gentleman would be willing to try a feat of arms with him—a joust of three courses, and the exchange of three blows with the battle-axe and of three thrusts with the dagger. The challenge was accepted by an English esquire, named Joachim Cator. The Frenchman received a severe wound in the thigh in the jousting, which was in contravention of the rules of the tourney; but the Englishman pleaded that it was an accident solely due to the restiveness of his horse; and this explanation was accepted by the umpire.[74]

An interesting tournament took place at Cambray in 1385 on the marriage of the Count d’Ostrevant to the daughter of Duke Philip of Burgundy. The ceremony was followed by a banquet at which the King of France was present as well as the Duke. The tournament was held in the market-place of the town, and forty knights took part, the King tilting with a knight of Hainault. The prize was a clasp of precious stones, taken from off the bosom of the Duchess of Burgundy; it was won by a knight of Hainault, Sir John Destrenne, and was formally presented by the Admiral of France and Sir Guy de la Trimouille.[75]