CHAPTER II

Jousts of peace—_Joutes à outrance_—The term “_À outrance_”—Mediæval chronicles and chroniclers—Body-armour of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries—Brasses and effigies—Tournaments in the reign of King Stephen—Their introduction into England and France—Description of the Martial Sports of London by William Fitzstephen—William Rufus—The knight-errant—Tournaments of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries—Royal Edicts and Papal Bulls issued against them—Tournaments controlled by Royal Ordinances—Fees payable to the Crown—Tournament near Alençon—Philip Augustus sends a challenge to Richard of England—Tournament held at Brackley in 1250—Five authorized Lists in England—Form and decoration of Lists—The duties of varlets—Officials of Lists—The coronal of the lance—The routine of an early Tournament—Prizes—Tournaments in 1236, 1247 and 1248—Interdictions by the Church—Tournament at Rochester in 1251—Another in 1253—Tournament at Chalòns in 1247—Jousting at Blei in 1256—Round Tables at Warwick and Kenilworth—Hardyng’s poem on the last-named—The lance—Roll of purchases for the tournament held at Windsor Park in 1278—_Statuta de armis_, dating towards the end of the thirteenth century—Penalties for breaking the rules—Effigies of Edmund Crouchback and William de Valence—Effigy of Geoffrey de Mandeville—Knightly panoply of the period—The age of mail—Chain-mail—The hauberk and gambeson—Bards and trappers—Transition to plate-armour gradual 9