The Jousting Life: 2015

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

A Look Back at the 2015 Jousting Season of Association Chevalerie Initiatique

Written by Alexandre Leon of Association Chevalerie Initiatique

In 2015, Association Chevalerie Initiatique participated in more than ten events in France and Belgium. The troupe also participated in tournaments from Crèvecoeur, Fontainbleau and Agincourt to the castles of the Loire.

Jousters of Association Chevalerie Initiatique, left to right: Alexander Leon, Arnaud Leon, Quentin Ricolleau, Marie Meunier, Benjamin Neel and Meryl Bunout (photo by Eric Meunier)

The 2015 season was hectic, not just because of changes in equipment and horses, but also changes in jousters. Chevaleri Initiatique does not stop striving to improve materially, technically and historically. During this season, we participated in a few atypical events, such as the parade at the Grand Palace of Bruxelle. We also had eight riders who participated in the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt.

Florent Meriel jousts Alexandre Leon (photo by Eric Meunier)

In 2015, we also introduced a new generation of jousters. Marie Meunier, a young lady of 17 and Benjamin Benjamin Neel, a 24-year-old man, both donned armor, joining the more experienced team members of the troupe. Their addition brings the average age of the team to 24 years. The younger jousters earned a couple of victories during tournaments this season. For example, at a tournament at the Château du Rivau, Quentin Ricolleau(21 years) became champion during a jousting competition based on the Tournament of King Rene, which set the count of Brézé against that of Rivau.

Quentin Ricolleau receives first prize for winning the Tournament at the Château du Rivau
(photo by Eric Meunier)

And we should not forget Valentin Colle, who won at the Tournaments of Agincourt. And Florent Meriel, who was the Champion of Brézé.

Florent Meriel(left) jousts Alexandre Leon(right) at the Château de Crèvecoeur, August, 2015
(photo by Eric Meunier)

These young jousters exhibited a general level of accomplishment which continued to increase, following the example of the older riders.

Marie Meunier, a young jouster at Château du Rivau, August, 2015 (photo by Eric Meunier)

However the more experienced riders were not outdone because the current president of Association Chevalerie Initiatique, Meryl Bunout, won a whole lot of the events of Ommegang of Brussels. And Arnaud Leon won the tournaments on his lands of Chambines!

Arnaud Leon at the Tournament of Chambines 2015 (photo by Eric Meunier)

At the end of the 2015 season, the general ranking was:

1. Meryl Bunout
2. Alexandre Leon
3. Arnaud Leon
4. Quentin Ricolleau
5. Valentin Colle
6. Jérôme Sauterel
7. Florent Meriel
8. Marie Meunier
9. Benjamin Neel

Meryl Bunout(left) and Alexander Leon (right) at Château du Rivau 2015 (photo by Eric Meunier)

This past season was outstanding, we competed at magnificent castles and the audiences were great! However, we knew all the same during this season full of changes how to maintain the family context which allows this chivalrous adventure to continue. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Virginia Léon, Virginia Miller and all the others who work behind the scenes to allow this association to evolve; without them nothing would be possible, and we could not continue to compete in front of the crowds!

The 2016 season looks even more full than 2015 was, with more events and thus more shows. We hope that 2016 will be even bigger and better than previous years.

For more information about Association Chevalerie Initiatique, check out their website and Facebook page. You can also email them.

Valentin Colle(left) jousts Alexander Leon(right) at Château du Rivau 2015 (photo by Eric Meunier)

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Ramdom Pic: Helm Off!

Back in 2006, Toby Capwell blasted Arne Koets' helm completely off during a jousting pass. I do not know if, or how badly, Arne was injured during this incident, but both Toby and Arne have continued to compete in jousting tournaments to this day. Toby Capwell is actually Dr. Tobias Capwell FSA, and – in addition to his jousting activities – he is the curator of arms and armour at the prestigious Wallace Collection. Today, Arne Koets not only competes in jousting tournaments, he also organizes them.

Toby Capwell(left) knocks Arne Koets'(right) helm off during a jousting pass in 2006
(photo by Jonathan Hodd)

There are several articles and interviews about Toby and Arne's more recent jousting activities listed below as well as a link to video from another incident where a jouster's helm was knocked off by his opponent's lance.

Feel free to write something in the comments about this photo, especially if you have some knowledge about this dramatic un-helming or any other incident involving a jouster's helm being knocked off.

Related articles:
An Interview with Toby Capwell, Champion of Tournament of the Phoenix 2014

An Interview with Arne Koets, Jouster and Organizer of the Grand Tournament at Schaffhausen

Video: Toby Capwell Explains His Passion for Jousting

Promotional Video for Die Grossen Ritterspiele zu Schaffhausen

Jouster's Helmet Knocked Off by Opponent's Lance at the European Championship Joust at Spottrup Castle

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

English Heritage Announces their Jousting Tournaments for 2015

English Heritage is a charitable company that takes care of over 400 historic sites throughout England. The places they care for span six millennia and include palaces, houses, hill figures, castles, abbeys, industrial sites, Roman forts and even deserted medieval villages. English Heritage works to inspire, entertain and educate people about history ... where it actually happened. Their aim is to create inspirational visitor experiences that bring the story of England to life.

Mark Griffin(left) and Joram van Essen(right) joust at Carisbrooke Castle in August 2014
(photo by English Heritage/Chris Long)

Part of their program of events each year is a series of competitive jousting tournaments that take place at various castles and ruins across the English countryside. This year, they have created a video featuring jouster Dominic Sewell to help promote these jousts.

How to Joust Like a Medieval Knight(video by English Heritage)

You can find out more about these tournaments on the Knights and Jousts events page of the English Heritage website.

Related articles:
Jousting Tournaments

Competitive Jousting Tournament to be Held at Château du Plessis-Bourré

Jousters Featured in Documentary about Richard III

The Tournament of the Golden Chain at the Middelaldercentret 2014

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Lysts on the Lake 2013 Documentary

The Lysts on the Lake 2013 competitive jousting tournament was held October 30 - November 1 in Cedar Park, Texas, USA. Nine jousters competed in jousting, mounted melee, mounted skill at arms and chivalry for the tournament championship. Jeffrey Basham of Texas won both the jousting and mounted skill at arms competitions as well as the tournament championship. Dave Wise, also of Texas, won the mounted melee competition, and Sarah Hay, who came all the way from Australia to compete, was chosen to receive the Award of Chivalry.

Jouster Jeffrey Basham on his jousting horse Pooh Bear at
Lysts on the Lake 2013(photo by Zhi Zhu/The Jousting Life)

Josh Baker of AzulOx Visuals, who has been photographing the Lysts on the Lake jousting tournaments for several years, videotaped the tournament for the first time. It took a while to edit, but he released the finished video documentary of the tournament in May 2015. The documentary not only features video of the equestrian competitions, it also includes interviews with some of the jousters and ground crew involved in the tournament, as well as tournament organizer Steve Hemphill of a'Plaisance, Ltd.

Lysts on the Lake 2013 Documentary(video by AzulOx)

You can find out more about the Lysts on the Lake competitive jousting tournaments on the Lysts on the Lake website.

Related articles:
Jeffrey Basham Wins Tournament Champion at Lysts on the Lake 2013

An Interview with Jouster Jeffrey Basham, Winner of Lysts on the Lake 2013

DeSignet International Designs Custom Prizes for Lysts on the Lake 2013

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Promotional Video for the Annual Arundel Castle International Jousting Tournament

The prestigious and grueling seven day Arundel International Jousting Tournament will be returning this summer to the beautiful grounds of Arundel Castle in West Sussex, England. The tournament will take place from July 21 - 26, and will feature eight jousters from around the world.

Ben van Koert(left) jousts Jan Gradon(right) at the Arundel Castle International Jousting Tournament 2013(photo by Richard Pearn)

From Arundel Castle:

Under the shadow of the mighty Castle, experience the thrill of the renowned Arundel International Jousting Competition, as revered knights from around the world gather to test their chivalry and skill at mounted combat in full plate armour.

Set within an authentic Medieval style encampment and supported by the knights and men-at-arms of Raven Tor, Distant Trumpets Story Teller and the musicians of Rough Musicke, this is a unique week long tournament.

A thrilling tournament accompanied by have-a-go archery and a host of craft displays and entertainment; this really is the highlight of Arundel Castle’s events calendar.

The video below provides a taste of what the upcoming jousting and medieval tournament will be like:

Arundel Castle International Jousting & Medieval Tournament from ArundelCastle on Vimeo.

The tournament is held as both a team and individual competition. Last year's team champions were Ben van Koert and Per Estein Prøis- Røhjell of the Burgundian Alliance, and the individual champion was Andy Deane. Since he was the individual tournament champion for 2014, Andy Deane will act as the knight marshal(head referee) for the 2015 Arundel International Tournament.

Andreas Wenzel(left), Individual tournament champion of Arundel 2013 and Knight Marshal of Arundel 2014, hands the marshal's baton to Andy Deane(right), individual tournament champion of Arundel International Jousting Tournament 2014(photo by Stephen Moss)

You can find out more about the event on the jousting tournament page of the Arundel Castle website and on the Arundel International Tournament Facebook page. There is also a Pinterest-style page with photos and information about the 2015 jousting tournament.

Jousters Per Estein Prøis-Røhjell(left) and Andy Deane(right) break their lances against one another during Arundel International Jousting Tournament 2014(photo by ARW Photography)

Holy Roman Empire Defeats England at Arundel Castle International Jousting Tournament 2012

All of The Jousting Life articles that mention the Arundel Castle International Jousting Tournament

Monday, June 22, 2015

Video of St. Hallvard's Jousting Tournament 2014

Back in 2014, from May 23 through May 25, the St. Hallvard's Jousting Tournament was held as part of the Oslo Middelalderfestival in Oslo, Norway. The tournament was organized by jouster Petter Ellingsen of Ridderhest and featured ten jousters from Norway, the Netherlands, Germany and Australia.

Jousters at the St. Hallvard's Tournament prepare to enter the lists for the mounted melee
(photo by Renate Skeie)

Jouster Joram van Essen, who was born in New Zealand, but lives in the Netherlands, won the tournament championship. Jouster Luke Binks of Australia came in second place overall, and jouster Wouter Nicolai of the Netherlands was named Most Chivalrous.

Luke Binks(left) and Joram van Essen(right) joust at St. Hallvard's Jousting Tournament 2014 in Oslo, Norway(photo by Renate Skeie)

Ben van Koert of Kaos Historical Media (who also happens to be a jouster, though he did not compete in this tournament) created two videos about the event. The first video features the jousters competing in the tournament.

St. Hallvard's Tournament (video by Ben van Koert/Kaos Historical Media)

The second video features behind the scenes footage showing all the work(and the people who do it) that is required to put on a competitive jousting tournament.

Behind the Tournament (video by Ben van Koert/Kaos Historical Media)

Friday, June 19, 2015

Joust For Fun: Face Off

A humorous photo from Joust Fest Texas, which recently held a competitive jousting tournament near Houston, Texas, USA, to benefit SIRE Therapeutic Horsemanship. The photo features jouster and tournament organizer Steve Hemphill on his Frisian cross jousting horse and a SIRE volunteer leading a child on a pony.

Jouster Steve Hemphill on his Frisian cross jousting horse faces off against a child on a pony
(photo from Joust Fest Texas)

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Andrey Kamin Wins the Tournament of St. George in Moscow, Russia

written by Dmitry Savchenko (edited by Zhi Zhu)
photos by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show

"Laissez aller!"

For a long time this phrase will sound in the heads of those who visited The Tournament of St.George which took place on the 2nd and 3rd of May 2015 as the central event of the Ratobor Knight Tournaments series. The Tournament lasted two days and gathered 4,000 people in the tournament stands and about 40,000 visitors in the Interactive Zone. The event was truly international: there were knights from Germany, Norway and Russia, as well as flag-wavers from Italy.

Ivar Mauritz-Hansen of Norway(left) jousts Arne Koets from Germany(right) during the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

The Military Program:
The Military Program consisted of equestrian jousting with lances, group fights of riders with wooden cudgels (Mounted Melees) and foot combats with poleaxes. The jousters also tilted at very decorative flower rings during the event.

Russian jousters Sergey Zhuravlev(left) and Yuri Bogunov(right) joust during the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

The jousters fight in one of the mounted melees held during the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

Viktor Ruchkin(left) chops part of the crest off of Sergey Zhuravlev's helm during the poleaxe competition at the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia
(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

Jouster Arne Koets successfully spears a ring of flowers with his lance during the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

The knights scored points by competing in the three contests. After the contests were over, their points were added together to determine the winner of the Tournament. At the end of the second day of competition, the tournament champion was a jouster from St. Petersburg, Russia, Andrey Kamin.

Andrey Kamin, a jouster from St. Petersburg, Russia was the champion of the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

The results after two days of competition:

Victor Ruchkin (Moscow, Russia) - 13 points
Sergey Zhuravlev (Moscow, Russia) - 14 points
Ivar Mauritz-Hansen (Skotterud, Norway) - 14 points
Arne Koets (Bückeburg, Germany) - 15 points
Alexsey Malinin (St.Petersburg, Russia) - 15 points
Yuri Bogunov (Moscow, Russia) - 19 points
Andrey Kamin (St.Petersburg, Russia) - 27 points

As a prize, the winner received a replica of a XV century tournament cup from Basel, Switzerland – a gold-plated cup made of silver and brass.

Marina Savchenko, leader of the Court of Honour, carries the championship prize, a replica of a XV century tournament cup, for the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia
(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

Manners:
The Knight Tournament of the XV century is not only a military contest, but also a courtly representation, which is why the manners of the knight in the arena(and out of it) are no less important than his skill. During the two days of the jousting tournament the Ladies of the Court of Honour were watching the chivalry of the jousters with specific attention. The story of the Tournament was taken from one of the historical sources (Podarm) of the XV century, and each Lady represented of one of the knightly virtues: Honesty, Youth, Humility, Hope, Magnanimity, Nobility, Modesty and Courtesy. The Lady of Justice led the Court of Honour.

Left to right: Elizabeth Rylova: Humility, Elena Markova: Generosity, Xenia Galilova: Courtesy, Daria Ryzhova: Modesty, Marina Savchenko: Justice, Margarita Zolotareva: Youth, Victoria Borisova: Nobility, Anastasia Radomskaya: Honesty, Elizaveta Ilina: Hope
(photo by Andrew Boykov)

The favorite of many women in both this tournament as well as the jousting tournament held during the 2013 Times & Epochs: Middle Ages history festival, was the jouster from Germany, Arne Koets. In spite of becoming ill just before the competitions, Arne, as a true knight, was true to his word and did indeed participate in the jousting tournament. Although during the first day of the competition, he was forced to miss one evening round of jousting for health reasons. Numerous shouts from the stands of "Where is Arne?" showed that the audience knew this knight and remembered him from the jousting tournament in 2013.

Jouster Arne Koets bows to the Court of Honour while the Ladies of the Court applaud,
Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

The Cultural Program:
In addition to military competitions, the program included musical groups Schellen, Trebuchet, Teufelstanz and Five Shillings, which played medieval music throughout the festival. There was also the show of flag-wavers from the Italian town of Pistoia.

Italian flag-wavers perform during the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia
(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

The Program for Participants:
Knights, squires, beautiful ladies and other participants/reenactors lived in a closed authentic camp during the festival, where they had a separate cultural program. In the evening of the first day, there was a gala dinner held in the style of the XV century. Dishes were prepared according to medieval recipes, and a theatrical play about St. George’s exploits was shown.

Food for the feast is prepared during the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia (photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

Food for the feast is prepared using traditional methods during the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

Participants enjoy a grand feast during the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia
(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

A play about St. George is performed during the feast at the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

At the end of the dinner, there was ludicrous tournament. Clowns mounted on broomsticks, fought with mops for the honorary prize, a mountain of leavings. However, the next morning the participants were again ready for a serious fight and real work.

Summary:
The Tournament of St. George, much like the jousting tournament during the 2013 Times & Epochs: Middle Ages history festival, has shown again the great interest of the Russian public in the traditions and spectacles of the European Middle Ages. We plan to make the Ratobor Knight Tournaments series an annual historical adventure that will involve not only Moscow but also other cities in Russia. So this autumn, we hope to please you with The Tournament of St. Peter. Follow the development of these events on the theme of chivalry on the Knight Tournaments page of the Ratobor website.

For the Future:
We have already begun to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the most recent jousting tournament and have made the following decisions:
- It is necessary to reduce the intensity of the tournament to no more than 2 sessions of jousting each day.
- We need to make sure that the lances break a little more and that the riders are unhorsed a little less!
- We need to re-work the rules for foot combats, and pay more attention to safety issues.

Arne Koets' ecranche is ripped off during a jousting pass against Yuri Bogunov at the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

Tournament Champion Andrey Kamin's dented breastplate at the end of the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo from Ratobor Show)

Alexsey Malinin's visor is knocked loose during a poleaxe fight against Sergey Zhuravlev at the Tournament of St. George 2015, Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

In general, we are very pleased with the work so far and are always open to discussions, constructive criticism and friendly advice.

This tournament was held with the support of the Moscow Government. The coordinator and organizer of the competitive aspects of this event was Dmitry Savchenko, who is also the producer of the annual Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo and was the organizer of the Times & Epochs 2013 jousting tournament.

Tournament organizer Dmitry Savchenko on the Arab/Trakehner stallion Grey, at the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)