Weird Medieval Sports

Everyone is familiar with the Hollywood version of medieval jousts. The handsome knight galloping towards his sworn enemy, lance steady and stern, while his lady’s handkerchief gently sits next to his heart. But have you ever seen a joust that used boats instead of horses? Knights who practised hitting targets hung from masts in rivers instead of in training grounds? Watch how even some of the painted Maya, viking raiders or pious monks staved off their boredom. Through some truly odd ball games, they might leave you baffled and confused, and yet still have a part of you wanting to try them out yourself

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Credit:
Created by Daniel Turner (B.A. (Hons) in History, University College London)
Script: Natasha Martell
Narrator:

Chris Kane

Sources

Barber, Richard, and Juliet Barker. Tournaments: Jousts, Chivalry and Pageants in the Middle Ages. New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1989.
Brand, Jonathan. “Jeu de Paume: Holding Court in Paris”. Smithsonian Magazine, May 18th 2010.
Coss, Peter, and Maurice Keen. Heraldry, Pageantry and Social Display in Medieval England. Gateshead: Athenæum Press Ltd, 2003.
Cummins, John. The Hound and the Hawk: The Art of Medieval Hunting. New York: St Martin’s Press, 1988.
Cybulskie, Danièle. “Sports in Medieval London”. Accessed 7 June 2022.
Davies, Diane. “Ballgame – Pok-ta-Pok”. Accessed 7 June 2022.
Gillmeister, Heiner. Tennis: A Cultural History. Bristol: Equinox Publishing, 2017.
Gogosz Remigiusz. “Horse Fights: The Brutal Entertainment of the Icelanders in the Middle Ages”, Średniowiecze Polski i Powszechne (2014) pp. 17-32.
Henricks, Thomas S. “Sport and Social Hierarchy in Medieval England”, Journal of Sport History, Vol. 9, No.2 (1982) pp. 20-37.
Hjaltialin, Jon A. “On the Cvilisation of the First Iceleandic Colonists, with a Short Account of Some of Their Manners and Customs”, Transactions of the Ethnological Society of London, Vol. 6 (1868) pp. 176-182.
Kowaleski, Maryanne. “Medieval Towns: A Reader” (22 August, 2008).
Oggins, Robin S. The Kings and Their Hawks: Falconry in Medieval England. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004.
Pattie, Tammy. “Medieval Games and Recreation”, Eastern Illinois University, (2011) pdf.
Thurber, B. A. “The Viking Ball Game”, Scandinavian Studies, volume 87, No.2 (2015) pp. 167-188.

[TheStapleGunKid]

Medieval sports are so weird.

Now excuse me, I'm off to go watch a bunch of guys kick a ball back and forth for three hours, hoping one of them might hit a net with it once or twice.

[AndrewPonti]

Jousting is the official state sport of Maryland, and it's the only state that uses heraldic colors and coat of arms from England (Lords Baltimore). It was given to the Calverts as an almost feudal land grant in the Americas as a Palatinate for them to rule directly.

[bernardorios]

Ah yes. 0:04. The Road to El Dorado is my favorite childhood movie since my older brother and I were kids. 😏. It brings me back memories.

I saw a video of an old Finnish contest where men had a foot race carrying their wives over their shoulder. The winner got his wife’s weight in beer.

[PhoenixGamerxx]

It's awesome that in the first second of this video he references DreamWorks Road to El Droado. That's awesome. Btw. That movie was a masterpiece of comedy and humor.

[followernumber]

Was the owner of the dead horse compensated or was there any kind of prize, because in any medieval culture horses were extremely valuable.

[Thomas-rlxd]

Please do a video on the battle of Delville wood. As a South African it would be truly amazing to see our troops remembered on this channel.

Thank you

[CaptainrdGaming]

The fact that you used Road to El Dorado 0:04 couldnt have made me happier 😄

[fabricio-agrippa-zarate]

The "hand tennis" eventually evolved into several sports; in País Vasco, Spain, they still play with just their hands, not bare tho, as they use a special type of glove.

[magnus]

Naval jousting is still a thing in the southern German city of Ulm (yes, the same one as in EU4).

Every four years members of the old patrician families dress up as local historical figures and compete on the river Danube. The event attracts thousands of spectators and it is usually being broadcast on live TV.

There's similar, but much smaller events in other parts of Germany, Switzerland and France

[paleoph]

6:40
"...because who doesn't love beating a dead horse?"
Lmao

[thepunisher]

I once went to a few horse fights in Mexico they were more brutal than what I had expected

[zeopharn]

Naval jousting is still a thing in various places in France, especially in the south. Among the famous ones, the joust of Sète, combining the charming streets, the crowd excitement and the traditional white-robed fighters.

[Lupintherd.]

love this. As a suggestion for another video you guys should do one about the naval battles in the roman colosseum. Many people are unaware that the colosseum use to host mock naval battles.

[scaredofghosts]

The Aztec ball game in the first segment usually ended with the decapitation of the losers..there are ball courts found lined with skulls of entire teams

[dotdashdotdash]

I visited Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire once, and learned they killed a dwarf jester by kicking him as a football.

[reijiminato]

I think the Japanese game show Takeshi's Castle (more popularly known in the western world as MXC - Most Extreme Elimination Challenge) was partially inspired by naval jousting

[RoxoCara]

Mock battles reminiscent of stage plays involving story lines, costumes and audience interaction.
Sounds like medieval wrestling to me.

[razormc]

So tournaments basically became like medieval professional wrestling?

[czarbuscus]

Knattleikr looks alot like lacrosse that's so cool