IMS Postgraduate Researchers at the Royal Armouries Easter Tournament 2018
Several IMS Postgraduate Researchers attended the annual Easter Tournament at the Royal Armouries, which included a medieval jousting event as well as various combat and armourer displays.
The Easter Tournament at the Royal Armouries ran from Friday 30 March 2018 to Monday 2 April 2018. The medieval joust welcomed eight internationally-acclaimed knights, both men and women, from France, Poland, Australia and England. The teams competed to win the Sword of Honour and prestigious Queen's Jubilee Trophy. Two 40-minute shows occurred in the outdoor tiltyard arena each day, and the last day of competition included a grand finale as well as an authentic melee.
Other special events occurring inside the museum included medieval combat displays, demonstrating fighting styles in the two-handed sword and longsword, as well as an Arming the Knight display that showed how armour was worn in the 1400s. Dave Hewitt from White Rose Armoury also gave a talk about the development of armour through time.
Isobel Robertson (IMS PG Researcher), Victoria Yuskaitis (IMS PG Researcher), Jacob Deacon (IMS PG Researcher), Samuel Bradley (IMS PG Researcher), and Witt Womack (IMS MA Alumnus) attended the event at some point during the Easter weekend. Visitors were very enthusiastic about the show.
Bradley noted the day was 'very enjoyable' despite the weather, and considered the equestrian display 'the highlight...I have never seen a horse jump so high from standing still!' The melee was a favourite, singled out by Bradley and Deacon.
Yuskaitis was 'excited' to see female jousters, and stated that 'even my non-historian friends also thoroughly enjoyed the joust as well as the combat displays'.
Womack was 'impressed by how the organisers and performers adapted to the weather' and commented that 'the performers - suffering the weather in good humour - encouraged the crowd to do likewise and the feats they pulled off despite the conditions were all the more impressive!
