Customer Reviews

The Medieval Tournament (Dover Military History, Weapons, Armor)

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For anyone seeking to understand the forms and function of the Medieval tournament Clephan's book is considered to be a standard reference. First published under the auspices of the Royal Armouries at the Tower of London in 1919, this text makes extensive use of primary sources: books of rules of the list, descriptions of the pageantry and spectacles involved in specific tourneys, the training of knights, and letters detailing the planning of such events. Clephan draws on both French and English sources and explains the development of the tournament from the eleventh century through the sixteenth, not only translating and interpreting the primary sources but offering commentary on the how the knightly ideal was shaped by and in turn shaped such popular entertainments.

For those who love arms and armor, Clephan supplies a well-researched book complete with excellent black-and-white illustrations and diagrams. The photographs of suits of armor are especially detailed and well-presented. Clephan gives real insight into the military life of the European nations and covers such varied topics as pieces of armor, jousting techniques, famous tournaments, heraldry and rules of the game.

Clephan's book is informative, but it is hard to decipher the point he is trying to make. His lack of organization really takes away from the quality of the book. His chapters are not unified by any central topic, except the one on trial by combat, which is the best chapter of the book. There are many Latin, French, and German quotations with no translations. Clephan also spends page upon page describing events, pictures, and equipment in other books without illustrations or pictures to accompany it. I was disappointed also because he seems to address the tournament mostly in the 16th century, which many historians do not even consider to be the medieval era.

Very difficult reading. Assumed you kew how to read french and latin paragraphs(ok,so I didn't pay attention in school)could have used translations following the quotes. Pretty much a jumbled mess. On the plus side the descriptions of each tournement were very detailed(more than I wanted to know).