Jousting was one of the most admired sports in the Medieval period. It started as a “melee” which was an endless, bloody, war taking place all day and into the night (Medieval ). Jousting eventually began to emerge into a sophisticated and classy sport that gave honour to those who participated (Steele 48). In the Medieval era, jousting served many useful purposes to the knights. Purposes that jousting provided was: it prevented sieges on castles, it kept the knights in shape, and it had great rewards.
Jousting tournaments were very valuable in preventing sieges on castles. There were many battles back in the Medieval time period, but the jousting tournaments eliminated quite a few wars. Sieges, which were the cutting off of castles by enemy armies happened very much in the Medieval era, and no one liked to take part in them (Steele 61). Most of the time, instead of settling disputes through war they would often be settled by jousting against one another and fight for one’s armor and horse. The sport of jousting was so much better than having an endless number of people dying. Even though people the knights sometimes died while jousting, it only happened every so often so it was not affecting the death r
Not only did the knights enjoy jousting by keeping in shape, they also got many awards when they won, which were very worthwhile. The main reward that most knights wanted to achieve was the honour of the people (Steele 48). Just winning a jousting tournament would practically change their whole life around giving a knight a good reputation. Winning a tournament also gave knights a better home to live in, and training offers from others interested in helping them to enhance their skills (Connors ). The knights’ would also be rewarded by the lady of his choice who would tie a scarf around his arm (Steele 48), and splendor him with kisses (Medieval ). Knights were also awarded with the position of being a Royal Champion when they won a major jousting tournament and people knew them as a new Captain of the Royal Guard, Lord High Chamberlain, or Lord High Marshall (Connors ). A great benefit that would happen only once in a while was knocking a knight off his horse. This did not happen very often but the knight would lose his own horse and armor (Dersin 72). After winning a Royal tournament the knight won a fair amount of money, customary golden rings (Medieval ), and he got to have
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