The History of Jousting

The credit for creating jousting is usually given to Geoffori de Pruelli of France. The sport quickly spread to Germany and then to England, and quickly became the sport of tournaments. In these tournaments, originally set as military training excercises, some men could obtain great riches and wealth. While some conflicts were created through jousting, most jousting over time was purely for sport. In 1559, the contact version of the sport was all but banned due to the death of a few nobles and one king, King Henry II of France, at a jouster's lance. "Ring Jousting" still lived on. [1]



This is an example of a joust. Two knights on horse back would charge at each other with blunted lances and receive points according to where the lance hit.(2)

Origins of jousting are believed to be traced back to ancient Rome, but the actual sport didnt arise until the 1400s in Europe. It started from smaller battles where soldiers would mount on horses, assisted by foot soldiers, and charge at one another in a large meadow. This was given the name of "melee". Lances broke, swords banged together, and men were thrown off of their horses to the ground. These battles were often fought with high stakes, and the loser usually had to give up something of value, such as his horse or armor for payment.
By the mid 1200's, jousting was used as a way to determine which knight was better out of the two. Sometimes battles would be fought just for pleasure, and were called "Joust a Plaisir". Some were fought to the death, and these were called "a l'Outrance". If two knight were simply playing for sport though, their lances were tipped and their swords were dulled. (3)

Sources:

1: http://www.nationaljousting.com/history/history.htm
2:http://strategicsimulations.net/catalog/images/SSITA6108.jpg
3. http://emol.org/azrenfest/azrenjoust.html