The Jousting Life

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.