Prancing Knights

More medieval catwalk posing than stereotypical jousting scenes perhaps, this group of illustrations precedes an historically significant text, Ludwig von Eyb's 'Turnierbuch'.

This 1525 version of von Eyb's Tournament Book is hosted by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek [click 'Minaturansicht' for thumbnail views] (All of the illustrations are seen above).

"In 1519, Ludwig von Eyb (the Younger), a member of a highly literary Franconian noble family, produced a manuscript that included a synopsis of the protocols and progress of important tournaments in Germany from the previous two centuries, using a number of late medieval texts and chronicles.

The first part of the text provides an historical overview, freely combining into one pseudo-historical panorama material from seven centuries of German/East European history. This short sketch tells how a horde of East European invaders, under the overlordship of the tyrant Volcker [?], but also including Goths, Slavs, Russians and Tartars, was destroyed by a Teutsche confederation drawn from all parts of Germany by the tenth century Saxon king, Heinrich Fowler.

In celebration of this victory, Heinrich decided to hold a tournament, so that he, along with his guests and good friends, might ride and joust. Although the practice was exotic and unknown in the Empire at the time, it had been a praiseworthy custom and sign of peace in Brittany, France, and England. Heinrich's victory therefore gave rise to the beginning of the knightly game of the jousting tournament in German lands."¹

¹Please note that this "quoted" text was fairly heavily edited and paraphrased from what appears to be a machine-translated article: 'Eastern Europe and the cultural poetics of the chivalric tournament in medieval Germany', 2003, by Alexander Sager. I think the main points are correct but the names and some of the details are probably a bit suspect.

There are occasional other references around, mainly attesting to von Eyb's work having relied upon a range of unknown and older sources belonging to the fechtbücher tradition. A modern edition of von Eyb's Turnierbuch with analytical commentary was published in 1986. Previously: combat.