Happy Sunday !
This week, we fell down the jousting rabbit hole. Though we won't be using this topic as a quiz-round, we wanted to share some of the most interesting facts we learned. (This email may seem a little pokey, but we are testing out a Monday morning lagniappe.)
Just the tip
The first recorded jousting event occurred in 1066. Within 100 years, there were laws limiting the total number of jousting contests per year. The king was concerned that too many soldiers would be busy jousting in the event of an actual war.
England's King Henry VIII was an avid jouster. He suffered several serious injuries as he was insistent that no competitor throw a match simply because he was the king. France's King Henry II died of sepsis after being injured in a jousting match.
Many different forms of jousting were popularized over time. Knights were encouraged to hit their lances together causing explosions instead of killing one another. In a different event, they collect rings with lances instead of wounding adversaries. One interesting match saw two jousters standing in the sterns of boats being rowed quickly toward each other.
By around the 1700s, jousting had fallen out of favor and people took to other equestrian sports and war games.
Presently prodding
"Just like the Olympic British equestrian team, we ride beautiful horses to an exceptional level." --Dominic Sewell, jousting expert, English Heritage
- Though only about 20 people in the UK joust competitively, English Heritage is petitioning for jousting's inclusion in the Olympic games.
- Jousting is the state sport of Maryland
- Modern Jousting tournaments are held by the Society for Creative Anachronism
- Jousting is alive and well in the historical reenactment sphere. Though COVID-19 put a damper on live events, some jousting events are planned for this year.
Our classic quiz is tonight. Join us at 8:00pm GMT for an 8-Round quiz. This one features a dancing quiz host. We will be back again on Thursday for Think Fast: our short and sweet speed quiz at 6:30pm GMT/12:30pm CT. We hope to see you there!
Have a great week!
MJ and Jessica
0 comments