We here at the Royal Armouries have recently received some questions, and I'm going to
attempt to answer them with some degree of accuracy.
Answering your jousting questions
How much would getting heavier and more stable armour than your opponent impact your performance?
Well, I don't think it actually would. You see, when you're going out to joust there
are quite strict rules dictating the kind of armour you would be wearing depending on
what kind of joust you were competing in. So really you're competing on a level playing
field. The armour doesn't contribute that much. It's your skill as a rider and as a
jouster that really makes a difference, so you can't really cheat by having better armour.
What horse breeds are best suited for jousting nowadays?
So it's not really down to the breed as such, it's more down to the build of the horse itself.
You don't want something too big, too stocky. You want something quite short, small in the
back, something nimble and fast. That is the key.
How much force impacts a knight who's hit whilst jousting?
So, actually a study was done fairly recently on this. A bunch of jousters got together
and they developed a kind of ballistic target, if you like, that swung when it was hit with
the lance. And from this, they figured out that at the point of impact, you're getting
around 200 to 250 joules of energy.
How come jousting isn't a bigger thing? It should be at the Olympics!
Why is jousting not at the Olympics? Well, it's a difficult question because obviously
jousting is amazing. Unfortunately, in reality, jousting is a very very very expensive sport
and there's no central organising body, so unfortunately the Olympic committee doesn't
really recognise it as an actual sport as much as we'd love it to be involved.
How do I start jousting?
How do you start jousting, well that is kind of difficult. In the medieval period you'd
start your training at a very very young age. These days most people don't get that opportunity.
So, my top tips are: start riding at a very young age. Number 2, get very good at riding
at a very young age and then probably join some kind of medieval reenactment society
and continue to ride and hopefully get in with the jousting crowd. You may be able to
get involve with some jousts here and there and eventually start riding, training and
competing. It's not easy, but if you're dedicated and you really want it, I'm sure you'll find
a way.
How is the equipment used today made safer that the equipment used in historical jousts?
Well actually, as daft as it sounds, the armour today is no safer than it was back in the
medieval period. The armour that they developed was so well designed and designed for this
specific purpose, for the tournament. It was as safe as could be. So we can't really improve
on those designs without getting space age and really ruining the essence of the joust
and the tournament itself. So, it's not any safer.
How fast to jousting horses walk, trot, canter and gallop in meters per second?
Well a destrier, you have to remember that they're carrying the weight of a fully armoured
knight, so with the knight on top they're naturally going to be slower. And in a joust
as well you have to think that they don't get a run up, they're going from a standing
start. So, in the lists, they're going to go about 20 to 25 miles per hour (7m/s). In
an open field with no obstructions, fairly even ground they probably get to something
around 30 to 35 miles per hour (10m/s).
How do you make an arming doublet? How many layers of fabric is best?
So the real shame is that we only have one maybe two surviving medieval arming doublets
so we don't have much to go on. We assume that they were padded layers of linen, fabric,
etc. but really the modern day arming doublets are down to experimentation and guesswork.
They have to be fairly well fitted to the body so that they don't obstruct the armour
in any way so that the armour fits comfortably. The key is to get as closer fit between the
body, the doublet and the armour as you possibly can so that you can maintain the full range
of motion and still be comfortable.
What are the most common weapons used aside from the jousting lance?
In the joust itself, you'd only use the lance because jousting is about lances but in the
field of battle you'd be looking at swords, maces, hammers, anything you can get your
hands on basically. The knightly weapon was of course the sword. That is the prime weapon
of the medieval knight.
How frequently did knights joust in tournaments?
This is a bit of an impossible question to answer. How long is a piece of string? Some
knights like William Marshall really made a living and their reputation out of competing
at as many tournaments as they possibly could. Others who were less inclined towards sports
probably only competed when they had to, when etiquette dictated that they were present.
Other than that, it depends on the individual.
How much would a suit of quality plate armour cost me. It would need to be custom fit to
me.
How much would a suit of quality armour cost you? Several thousand pounds, they are very
expensive if you want to have a functional, high quality harness of armour.
Subscribe for more videos.