The preparation for tournament day was very important. There were two major reasons a nobleman would host the tournament. Either another nobleman would challenge them to or they would do it for a lady. The nobleman who chose to do so would then announce the rules, location, and supply the prize of the tournament. The area where the tournament took place was called the lists. If you were competing in the tournament you were "in the lists." Tournaments were made as a training exercise, but became very popular and known for being extravagant. They were used by knights to show off their skill, and gain suitors. Knights would arrive on the grounds and stay in the pre-arranged lodgings in the days leading up to the tournament. Then they would divide into …show more content…
Sometimes it was gold, sometimes it was a golden vulture. The prizes for tournaments depended on the event and the person who was hosting it. Animals and jewels were very common along with weapons and armor. Knights would also commonly dedicate their performance to a woman by acquiring a token of their favor and attaching it to their helmet or arm. Knights were allowed to pursue married women as well, because the rules of chivalry allowed it. In early tournaments, the loser would have to forfeit Martinez 3 their armor and weapons to the winner, but the armor was very expensive so they put up a fight. For this, knights would hire a person to be his kipper. A kipper was armed with a club or similar bludgeoning weapon. They would knock out the resisting knight and take the armor to their employer. Kipper comes from the word kippa which means to snatch or seize in a Scandinavian language. The spoils of a tournament were all different from each other and depended who was hosting the event.
In conclusion, tournament day was an event that the everyone