A favourite form of the tourney of the fifteenth century was the Kolbenturnier or baston course, which differed essentially from all the others in that no personal injury was intended in the contest, the object being to batter off the crest which decorated the helm of an adversary; and it was thus purely a game or trial of skill. The weapon employed was a Kolben, a heavy polygonally-cut baston or mace of hard wood, about 80 cm. in length. The Kolben swells out along its shaft to an obtuse point, has a round pommel, short grip, and a rondel-guard of iron. There is an illustration of this weapon in the Tourney-book of René d’Anjou. The helm, a huge, globose form of bascinet, was latticed over the face with strong iron bars, and screwed to the cuirass back and front; it was thickly lined inside and roomy enough to prevent any injury which might be caused by the heavy blows exchanged. It was covered outside with leather and painted with various devices. A fine example of this type of helm is at Dresden, and Boeheim in Waffenkunde,[103] figures one of them in the Collection Mayerfisch at Sigmaringen. The saddle was the high one, known as the Sattel im hohen Zeug; an example, of the second half of the fifteenth century, is in the Germanische National Museum at Nuremburg. The Kolbenturnier ceased being run about the end of the first quarter of the sixteenth century. It was at first practised on foot, and doubtless grew out of the Judicial combats with the baston of the lower classes. Boeheim in Waffenkunde[104] illustrates Duke Georg of Bayern-Zandshut, at Heidelberg, armed for a Kolbenturnier in 1482: from Hans Burgmaior’s Turnierbuch, in possession of the Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.
The crests of the fifteenth century are most fanciful and fantastic, such as a crowned unicorn or the tail of a fox; many examples may be seen in the tourney-book of King René, the Beauchamp pageants, the German tourney books, and other works of the kind; and René describes their construction very fully. They are fragile and made greatly of the same materials as those of the century preceding, though oftener of cuir-bouilli, which substance was more substantial and enduring. The tapestry at Valenciennes, which pictures a mêlée of the fifteenth century, shows numerous fragments of crests lying on the ground under the hoofs of the horses. The knights prized their crests greatly; and they were often buried with them. They were fixed in position by an iron bar or brooch; an example of the latter may be seen at the Musée d’Artillerie, Paris. Sometimes the horse was also provided with a crest, as in the tournament at Windsor Park in 1278.
The hours during which fêtes d’armes took place show that the lists were frequently artificially lighted, and, indeed, torches and flambeaux are sometimes mentioned.
Tournaments held at the royal and princely courts of the countries of chivalry were strictly games, the hosts often challenging their guests to trials of skill; and some correspondence preserved of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, between German princes, shows what a great part these martial sports played in the routine of their daily lives; second only, if even that, to the chase. Kurfürst Albrecht von Brandenburg, writing to a friend in the last quarter of the century, says:—“Wir sind yor mit gots hilff die fordersten im Turnier gewesen und gedenkens aber zu bleiben.”[105] Maximilian, writing, at the age of nineteen, to Sigmund Pruschenk, remarks:—“Ich hab das pest gethan, wann ich hab VIII stechholz zerstossen.”[106]
Much depended on the docility and training of the chargers, which were often ridden blindfolded, and they were sometimes influenced by a spirit of combat like their riders. The bodies of the horses were padded and covered by the trapper, which fell down almost to the ground, considerably hampering their motions; a mattress of straw, crescent-formed, protected their chests;[107] their ears were sometimes stopped with wool or oakum; the head and tail frequently decorated with feathers; and the animals advanced towards each other at a hand-gallop. The rowel-spurs had long necks. Each variety of joust had its own special type of saddle, devised with the object of making unhorsing either difficult or easy as the case might be. These saddles will be described in their order. Each prince or man of rank and fortune kept a considerable number of horses continually in practice; and the correspondence of the times reveals many requests for their loan.
It was at the courts of Aix and Burgundy where for long the tourney was much fostered; and at both it may be said to have been reduced almost to a science. At the first-named court it was much a matter of amusement, emulation and relaxation; while in the latter, then the most brilliant in Europe, it was greatly the policy of the sovereign to encourage tournaments and fêtes of all kinds. They kept the leaders of the armies and the chevaliers generally in close touch with the head of the state and the country, besides providing gladiatorial spectacles for the duke’s somewhat restless and discontented subjects, who were often smarting under heavy imposts to provide him with the means for constant schemes of aggression and a profuse display, and who were frequently in a state of revolt. After the tragic death of Charles the Bold, the jousting traditions of the court of Burgundy passed over to that of Maximilian of Austria, who would seem to have made successful jousting one of the great objects of his life.
There is perhaps necessarily a certain degree of monotony and repetition in the narrations of the chroniclers of the joust and tourney, but they convey collectively a much clearer idea of these encounters than a mere bald statement of the leading facts could do, and they reflect the chivalrous spirit of the times in the incessant craving of the young cavaliers for notoriety and distinction in the tiltyard. Many examples of jousts and pas d’armes of the fifteenth century are given in the Chronique de Monstrelet, the Mémoires de la Marche, and Chastelain’s Cronique Jacques de Lalain. The Chronicle of Euguerrand de Monstrelet, with its somewhat irregular continuations by de Couci and others, commences where that of Froissart leaves off, viz. in the year 1400; and it has the advantage of being for the most part contemporaneous in regard to the events it narrates. Monstrelet’s style of writing is less sprightly and more monotonous than that of Froissart; but he gives dates to his recitals, which, however, leave much to be desired on the score of accuracy. The names of personages and even towns given in the Chronicles are most perplexing, being frequently so distorted as to make identification an impossibility. Like Froissart, Monstrelet does not confine himself to the events of the period under review in France and Burgundy, but deals also with those of other countries in relation to them. The Chronicles, which really amount to a history, afford a good insight into the subject of the jousts and tourneys of the times; and Monstrelet states that his information was carefully collected from heralds, kings-of-arms and other officials of the lists. Monstrelet was born about 1390 and died in 1453.
The Bibliothèque de Bourgogne in the National Library at Brussels possesses many illuminations of the reign of Philip the Good and Charles the Bold; and there are also several in the Paris Collection and particularly in the Armorial de la Toison d’Or.
An Ashmolean MS., No. 1116, ff. 137b-86, gives the names and arms of the sovereigns and knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Toison d’Or) from its institution in 1429 to the twenty-third festival of the Order, which was held by Philip II, King of Spain, 12 Aug. 1559; it gives historical accounts of the celebration of the feasts. The MS., which is in French, is beautifully written, with the arms tricked. Other MSS. in the same Collection, 139-66, 167-75b, of the year 1431, give the statutes and ordinances of the Order.
[Appendix A] furnishes an abstract of all the Ashmolean MSS. relating to the tourney, for reference by our readers.