The three basic pieces of equipment for jousting include a suite of armor, a wooden lance and a shield. Learn about the origins of jousting gear with information from an experienced jousting instructor in this video on medieval sports.
Hi, my name is Matt Hiltman. I'm the head knight here at Medieval Times, and I train all of our jousters. I'm here today to talk about the equipment that a knight would use in a joust. The knight would require four pieces of equipment that would be absolutely vital for his participation in a joust. The first would be his horse. The horse could be very expensive and he required a finely trained, finely bred horse that had power and speed. The second piece of equipment that a knight would require would be his armor. The armor was also very technically complex and required molding to a knight's specific body type. That could also be very expensive. It afforded the knight, however, much more protection against the wooden poles that were used as lances in the days, in the day. The third piece of equipment that a knight would require would be his shield. The shields were typically metal and although they varied in size and shape, their purpose was the same is to absorb the blow dealt from an opponent. The last piece of equipment that a knight would require to perform in a joust would be his own lance. A knight typically went through several lances in a joust with the hopes of splintering his own lance and winning points. The lances were 10 to 12 feet in length and could weigh 20 pounds or so. They were made from hard wood and could deliver a devastating blow. And that is how to equip yourself as a knight by Matt Hiltman.
on March 17, 2012, 4:18 am