Chronique:
Journal of Chivalry

Issue #1

40pp

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Understanding
the Tournament

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• Introduction
• Questions on Knightly Orders and Tournament Societies
• Calendar of Events
• A 15th C. Tournament Treatise of Uncertain Authorship
  Translation by Ray Lischner, AKA SCA L. Peregrin Payne
• Some Tournament Functions in Recreation Societies
  Brian R. Price, AKA SCA Earl Sir Brion Thornbird ap Rhys, OL
• Tournaments to Enhance Chivalry
  Hugh T. Knight, Jr., AKA SCA Count Sir Rhys of Harlech
• The Purpose of the Tournament of Chivalry (excerpt from The Book of the Tournament)
  Brian R. Price, AKA SCA Earl Sir Brion Thornbird ap Rhys, OL
• Advertising
• Reviews
• Crossword
• Subscriptions

A 15th C. Tournament Treatise of Uncertain Authorship (page 7) Ray Lischner (Translation)

"Editor [Brian R. Price]: This article first appeared on the Rialto computer network in March, 1992. It was brought to my attention and I found the content intriguing--as Mr. Lischner states in his introduction this is one of two major treatises on tournaments from the 15th century."

"Then the challenging prince comes to the city or village three weeks or a month before the day of the tournament. There he gathers all the knights who came for the tourney and directs each according to his station, because many good, poor knights come who do not have everything they need in their array.

"It is good when everyone has their arms, especially the knights of great renown who will try to win the prize of the day. The knights carry colors or other marks of the quest, as ordered by the princes of the tournament, each one bearing colors for his entourage.

"No signs are carried except the banners of those who lead orders in the tournament or three ranks of knights, according to the number of people each one has in his party. And each puts in the last rank of those assembled the best knights, who, by their virtue, can undertake and conquer in the end."

Some Tournament Functions in Recreation Societies (page 20) Brian R. Price
Why are tournaments themselves so important to what recreation societies attempt to accomplish? That is the question that this article means to answer.

"For the recreation society, the tournament serves many functions. Chiefly, it attracts new interest into the societies and slowly inculturates members into the ideology of chivalry by requiring chivalric conduct. Additionally, it is a testing ground for individuals to measure their skill (prowess) and their mental strength. In this sense it is also a martial art, a uniquely Western martial art which carries the unique western value system bound tightly in the chivalric codes. These two major functional areas are often divided in the minds of tourniers as they consider themselves part of the 'martial arts school' or of the 'chivalric school'. To a large degree these roles are not mutually exclusive--the role of the tournament is inclusive of both but the degree to which a combatant emphasizes certain elements places them somehwhere on a spectrum between the two."

Tournaments to Enhance Chivalry (page 25) Hugh T. Knight, Jr.
Chivalry is definitely a part of tournaments, but exactly how it fits into the tournament may not be as obvious. Perhaps this essay can clarify this.

"...I feel we can do a great deal to enhance the skill, style and pageantry of SCA fighting. In order to make a difference, however, each of us must guard against complacency. We cannot allow ourselves to be pushed into demeaning our art to mere sport, and we must treat our opponents with the courtesy and chivalry appropriate to a knight."

The Purpose of the Tournament of Chivalry (page 33) Brian R. Price
This piece is a section of The Book of the Tournament published here in Chronique before the book's completion.

"Few activities can match the color, romance, and excitement of the Medieval tournament of chivalry. Knights, squires and lords compete with one another in their displays of prowess and honor, of their skills and their character. Ladies escort their lords to the field, watchful of their performance as the combatant fights for the honor of the consort. Some ladies fight as well, displaying their own chivalric conduct. In addition to the entertaining, spectators can observe the combatant and the challenger in a melieu where character is brought to the surface and honest expressions of courtesy and valor can be plainly seen. These are values in short supply these days, and their display makes the tournament all the more pleasing."

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