The Joust at Scarborough
1994 - 1995
Don't worry. The banner may say "Camelot" but these pictures were taken at Scarborough.
The Joust at Scarborough
The jousting events at Scarborough Renaissance Faire are presented by the Free Lancers of the Cimmerian Combatives Company, founded by Roy Cox. A different style of jousting is presented each weekend of the Faire. Just in case you're wondering, there are 15 different styles of jousting. The Free Lancers use 7 of these 15 styles.
Horses
are also stars of the joust.
A knight's charger
is his most prized possesion; a good war-horse
could be worth it's weight in gold (and with most
war-horses averaging 2000 pounds, that's a lot of gold!).
Horses must carry not only the knight and his armour, but their
own armour as well.
Since jousting involves knights riding at each other at speeds
of 25 miles an hour or greater, horses wear armour to protect their heads
and chests.
Jousting pits knight against knight in a test of horsemanship and weapons skills. A joust may be used as a way to settle disputes or as a friendly competition. But, whatever else it may be, a joust is frequently a part of a celebration, such as the wedding of a nobleman or woman, or the birthday of the King.
All good jousts must have a
hero to cheer and
a villian to boo.
The Black Knight generally plays the part of the villian.
He is usually the biggest, meanest knight riding the biggest, blackest
charger.
The Black Knight defeats all knights who ride against him, until the hero,
an innocent young knight beloved of the people and the fair maiden who is
the prize in this story, rides against him.
After multiple passes, just when it looks like the Black Knight will be
the victor, the hero overcomes adversity, wins the joust and the hand
of the fair maiden.
I love happy endings, don't you?
The force of the impact when two knights come together
(2.5 tons concentrated on the end of a wooden lance) is enough to shatter
lances and shields.
It's no wonder that knights were mortally wounded on the jousting field.
In fact, there was a king, of France, I think, who was killed when his opponent's
lance broke and the splintered end was forced through the king's visor.
The Free Lancers have spent years in combat and stunt training in order to
present a joust that is authentic but at the same time safe for both horse and
knight.
Still, knights are sometimes injured.
Bruises and broken bones are part of what it means to be a knight
in a company like the Free Lancers.
No, this knight wasn't impaled on his opponent's lance.
But it sure makes a good picture, doesn't it?
I hope you've enjoyed the day's joust.
By the way, today's joust was won by the Black Knight.
And he turned out to be a hero in disguise.
The King was amused, the fair maiden was in love, and everyone lived happily
ever after.
Just in case you're wondering, the story I presented here did not actually take place at Scarborough Faire. I just used it to illustrate the romance of the joust. Some of the information about jousting and the Free Lancers was taken from promotion material written by Roy Cox. The rest came from historical texts and encyclopedic references. To find out more about jousting, Roy Cox and the Free Lancers visit their home page at http://www.faire.net/freelancers
You can see more photos of the Free Lancers in action at the 4th Annual Gath of Baal Memorial Tournament held at Scarborough Faire 1996.
21 November 1997