Pas d'armes and Late Medieval Chivalry (original) (raw)
Related papers
2022
King René d'Anjou's Tournament Book describes a manner of arming for the friendly melee in tourney that is specific to regions of the Low-Countries and Germany. His writing succeeds this of another author on the same subject, Antoine de la Sale, who dedicated a treatise on tournaments to the lord of Richebourg only a few years earlier. The similarities described make it clear that King René used la Sale as a source for the foreign armaments he mentions. However, the true context of la Sale's writing appears to shed some light on King René's understanding of the foreigners. This short essay aims at putting the two similar passages relating the arming process of the tourneyers from both works side-by-side, and provide further context and openings for interpretations.
CHIVALRY AND PERFORMANCE IN MEDICEAN JOUSTS OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
Dies Legibiles, 2021
Jousts and other tournaments have existed in Europe since the early 1000s, but they began to take a different form during the Italian Renaissance, particularly in Florence during the fifteenth century. Rather than serving as demonstrations of military prowess, they became performative events that exhibited the patrons' and competitors' wealth as well as their devotion to the city. Descriptions of these tournaments tended to focus on the spectacular processions and visuals that were put on display during these occasions, rather than on the competitive portion of the event itself. The joust of Giuliano de' Medici in 1475 embodies these characteristics to the fullest, as reflected in the wealth of descriptions in chronicles, letters, and poems that it inspired. Overall, the florid nature of these accounts evince the joust's importance as a spectacle more than a military event, and the attitude to tournaments in Medicean Florence as a whole.