Jousting's Arms Race: Ransom Melees to Maximilian's Spring-Loaded Shields

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Early jousting, from the 11th to 14th centuries, was a group brawl across open fields, fought in ordinary mail and great helms, where the goal was to beat opponents into submission and seize their horses, weapons, and ransom. The word comes from the Latin for to approach or meet. As chivalric romances spread, nobles began reenacting Arthurian ideals and fair fights became the point. Froissart's chronicle of the Earl of Buckingham's 1380 campaign records a French squire, Gauvain Micaille, challenging any English gentleman in love to three courses with the lance, three blows of the axe, and three of the dagger. When the English squire who answered struck him in the thigh, Buckingham was furious at his own man and gave Micaille 100 francs.

Equipment changed to keep valuable fighters alive. A cloth divider became the wooden tilt, lances got blunt three-pronged coronels, and jousting armor reached 50 kilograms, carried by destriers in high-backed saddles. In 1434 Suero de Quiñones held a bridge on the pilgrim road to Santiago de Compostela, vowing to break 300 lances. Emperor Maximilian I created the heavy Stechen and the faster Rennen, with shields that sprang off on a perfect hit. The 1559 death of Henry II of France from a lance splinter ended the sport in France. It returned with John Waller's 1973 balsa breakaway lance and full-contact competition from Shane Adams's World Championship Jousting Association.

• Jousting armor weighed up to twice as much as battlefield plate, which was about 55 pounds.
• Riders needed long-necked spurs to reach the horse's flanks with their legs locked straight.
• Stechen helmets were bolted to the breastplate because blows aimed to shear the crest off the helm.
• Mark Twain's image of crane-lifted knights came from seeing heavy tournament armor, not war armor.
• Ring tilting, the sport's harmless successor, is the official state sport of Maryland.