Hobbies And Interests
Jousting
Jousting was the most popular medieval tournament sport. A joust was a competition between two knights with lances, mounted on horses. The knights would charge at each other on a straight-line path and attempt to knock the other knight off of his horse by ramming him with the lance. Jousting competitions took place for a few different reasons, including to gain fame, win prize money or to fight in the name of a lord.
Melee
The Melee a Pied event took place between teams of knights fighting against each other on foot, with blunted weapons. One knight defeated another by striking him three times with a weapon, thus removing that knight from the competition. Score was based on the honor system, as judging the event from outside was difficult due to the number of participants. The Melee a Cheval was a similar event fought on horseback.
Pas d'Armes
A pas d'Armes would occur when a knight would announce to other knights passing near his home that they must compete in a joust before they could move on. List of opponent knights would be created for the challenged knights to face. The challenged knights had to break a set number of lances during their run before they could leave. These events would sometimes go on for months as the number of required broken lances could be set in the hundreds.
Tournaments
Tournaments were typically used for both entertainment and conditioning purposes. The tournaments typically lasted for several days and included hundreds of participating knights. The locations were usually decorated with pageants and other colorful displays. Each day of a tournament would consist of feasting, music and dance. Tournaments came to an end in the 17th century with the decline of chivalry and the rise of firearms.