s a late 12th century Anglo-Norman knight, Earl Cire has designed the tournaments based on descriptions of the tournaments of William Marshal's youth.
On Saturday there will be two tourneys. The first is a ransom tourney benefiting the Raven Travel Fund, with ransoms paid on a graduated scale according to SCA rank. Following this there will be a 5-man mêlée team tourney, where the losing team in each round will join the team that defeated them for the next round. For those who did not get enough fighting on Saturday, there will also be a hunt on Sunday.
12th Century Tournaments - Saturday
This style of tournaments is inspired by the accounts of the Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal, which tell of the tournaments of William Marshal's youth in the late 12th century, when tourneys were mêlée combats over large areas. Ransoms of captured opponents were the prize, and there was little to distinguish the tournaments from actual battles except the provision of a safe area, and an increased unwillingness to injure one's rivals. The day would begin with individual knights challenging one another to individual combat, and would then progress to team battles.
Ransom Tourney:
Entry into the tournament will be a donation to the Raven Travel Fund. Each dollar donated will be exchanged for 1 piece of silver (patron's token). Non-combatants may also make donations, and may give their silver coins to the fighter(s) of their choice.
Fighters will be ransomed according to the graduated scale below based on their highest rank:
| Kingdom Royalty | 10 pieces of silver |
| Principality Royalty | 9 pieces of silver |
| Ducal | 8 pieces of silver |
| County (Earl, Jarl, Graf, etc.) | 7 pieces of silver |
| Viscounty | 6 pieces of silver |
| Peers (Knights/Laurels/Pelicans) | 5 pieces of silver |
| Baronage (Landed or Court) | 4 pieces of silver |
| Grants of Arms | 3 pieces of silver |
| Awards of Arms | 2 pieces of silver |
| Non-armigers | 1 piece of silver |
Each fighter must have enough silver pieces (in the keeping of their herald) to pay at least one ransom before they may enter the combat area.
Each fighter must have a herald. This person does not have to be a capital "H" Herald, just someone who can proclaim their fighter's renown (think of the Geoffrey Chaucer character from the movie A Knight's Tale). If you do not have a herald, please go to herald's point, and they will make every effort to find one for you. The herald will also be responsible for paying and receiving the ransoms.
At the beginning of the tournament, each fighter will be presented to Earl Cire by their herald who will proclaim the fighter's renown. The fighter will then move into the combat area, and the herald will move to the safe zone.
The tournament will be a free-form open-field tournament. Not unlike a squire's tourney, there are no rounds. Once a fighter has entered the combat area, they may begin fighting. Each fighter will be able to fight for as long as they have enough silver coins to ransom themselves should they be defeated. The fighter that wins the most ransom will be declared the victor of the tournament and will receive a prize at Court that evening.
The rules of the tournament are thus:
- As this is a tournament, only those weapons approved for the lists may be used (i.e. no missile weapons).
- Each fighter will compete as an individual, but informal alliances are permitted.
- There will be a designated safe area (think resurrection point) in which fighters may go to rest, get some water, and recoup their strength (think resurrect). The safe area is also where the heralds will process all ransoms.
- As the goal is to amass ransom, blows will be dealt to "unhorse" and "disarm", since dead men pay no ransom! Fighters that are struck with a legal leg blow, must go to their knees, but may continue fighting. Think of this as "being unhorsed." If there is no opposing fighter within weapon's reach for 15 seconds, the fighter may "regain their saddle" and fight normally.
- When a fighter is struck by a legal "killing" blow, they must cease fighting. Think of this as "being disarmed." "Disarmed" fighters may not resume fighting, until after they return to the safe area. An "unhorsed" and "disarmed" fighter may rise and move if no opposing fighter is within weapon's reach, but may not resume fighting, until after they return to the safe area.
- A disarmed fighter may be captured by the first opponent who comes within weapons reach and says, "I capture you." Once captured, the disarmed fighter must follow the captor to the safe area. There, the heralds for the two parties will register the capture by transferring the ransom.
- Captive fighters must cooperate with captors, but if the captors are attacked or wander away due to distraction, the captives may escape, returning to the safe area to recoup. Once a captive has reached the safe area, they are no longer captive, and may re-enter the combat area.
- Escaped captives may be chased down (get within weapons' reach) by any opponent, and recaptured; the captives may not fight back. A captor may only hold one captive at a time.
- The tournament will last for three hours, or until there is only one fighter who can and will take the field.
5-Man Melee Team Tourney:
This will be a "warlord" style tourney, with each defeated team joining the team who defeated them for the next round. Again, since this a tournament, there will be no missile weapons allowed. For the first round it will be 5-Man teams fighting each other. For the second round it will be 10-Man teams fighting each other, etc. The winning team will receive a prize at evening court.
The Hunt - Sunday:
For those who still have fight left in them, there will be a Hunt on Sunday. This will be a two-hour resurrection woods battle between hunting teams (the hunter and his dogs) and the animals. The following are the rules and classifications for the animals. All weapons and acknowledgement will conform to ABC standards, unless otherwise noted. No shields, bucklers, or similar defensive device may be used by hunters, dogs, or animals.
Hunting Parties are composed of a Hunter and up to three dogs. Hunters will be armed with a spear, pike, javelin, or bow. The weapon will only be allowed to thrust (no cutting edges or buttspikes). A hunter is killed by normal ABC standards. Hunters can coordinate with other hunters, and command their hunting dogs. Dogs may not talk, but they may bark to alert their Hunter of prey or danger. Dogs may carry 1 single handed sword or up to 2 small daggers (thrust only). Dogs are killed by normal ABC Standards, but leg shots will also count as a kill.
Animals are identified by carrying 2 single handed weapons. They can be killed by 3 killing blows by either hunter or dog (or combination). They will treat limb wounds as normal. They cannot communicate or coordinate with other animals.
Once a kill has been obtained, both the killed and the killer must report to the resurrection area to record their kill. Animals are worth three points, Hunters are worth two points, and Dogs are worth one point. The Hunting Party and Animal with the most points will receive a prize at closing court on Sunday.
Contacts:
For questions about the tournament, please contact Earl Cire at greymoor@hotmail.com. If you would like to help out with marshalling, please contact the MIC for the event, Arthur Buchanan, at arthur@clancarn.com.
Site by Wenyeva atte grene. Last updated 23 February 2004.