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Ah, the joys of being a Knight in the 20th Century! We have the freedom to choose what time period we want to represent.
Knights and Jousting were in existence from the mid 11th century to the late 16th century. The attire and protection of the Knight changed over these 500 years, as one might imagine.
The early days of Knighthood saw the mounted warriors wearing a chain mail hauberk, which usually extended to the knees. In later years (around 1180) the hauberk was extended to include a hood or coif, and the sleeves were lengthened, sometimes to include mail mittens on the hands. (Illustrations below.)
From the early 1200's to the late 1300's, there was a slow transition to plate armour. By the 1480's on into the 1580's, a Knight was entirely encased in metal - an interesting concept but very uncomfortable, indeed.
Any variation of the above is acceptable, as it gives our Alliance diversity. In my experience, I have found that the medieval Knight wearing chain mail and perhaps some plate is more flexible and can more easily control his horse.
The Knight of the later Renaissance time period was very heavily armoured, with a destrier equally heavily armoured. This combination is admirable when looked upon, however, with a full plate harness on, it can become more difficult to move easily and consequently to control your mount. One needs to be active up there.
And as always, there are exceptions to the rules. Wearing armour can be a pleasant experience if a jousting or tilting harness is really custom fitted and of light metal, and fully articulated in areas where the most movement occurs.
I have tried to give some objective points of view in this article, and what type of mail or armour you choose is entirely up to you. In our case, it is a matter of preference and to a lesser degree, protection. In Tournament Competition, we do our best to hit only the shield, never the body, but it's nice to have some type of protection when the lance inadvertently ricochets off the shield. Ouch!
James Zoppe
Founder and Director
American Jousting Alliance
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