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also present only an outline. The full interdisciplinary scope of this subject has not been taken
advantage of – the printed, manuscript, artistic, and material sources have never yet been
brought together as they ought. That is what the present study will accomplish. By examining a
wide variety of primary sources, this thesis will endeavour to accomplish what prior studies
have not: to create a comprehensive picture of Maximilian’s tournaments while illuminating
their wider significance within his court and reign.
0.3 Research Questions and Thesis Outline
This thesis attempts to answer the questions: How frequently was Maximilian personally
involved in tournaments and in what capacity? What did the tournament look like in
Maximilian’s court? What forms did it take and how was it conducted? What did the arms and
armour used in the tournament look like and how was it uniquely suited to the event, as well as
what role did decorative elements such as textiles play? What role did the tournament play in
Maximilian’s court and what overall significance did it take on in the context of his reign? How
did Maximilian’s direct involvement in the tournament as a participant set him apart as a ruler?
Finally, what place does the tournament have in his legacy?
There is also the dilemma of terminology and determining what counts as a
‘tournament’. The definition which best serves the purpose of this thesis delineates the
tournament as the overarching event, within which various forms of jousts – between
individuals or large groups and using lances, swords, or clubs – as well as foot combat may
take place. However, as was often the case, numerous different jousts might take place over a
series of weeks, or even months, in the same location, and even all be centred on the same
event. During this time, Maximilian might participate frequently while also being a spectator at
other times. There is an often frustrating fluidity in the organisation and occurrence of
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‘tournaments’ and the ‘jousts’ within them. If multiple jousts took place over several days as
part of a wedding celebration, did this make them all one tournament? The sources are unclear
on this and make no attempt to neatly delineate such events. The vocabulary used might label
one encounter a ‘tournament’ and one a ‘joust’ interchangeably. The language of the sources
also plays a significant role in the sort of terminology used. However, a concept of formally
defining what constituted a tournament never seemed to have bothered any of the writers who
chronicled them.
The first chapter of this thesis provides an overview and an analysis of the primary
sources used in the preparation of the current study. These are the sources for tournament
culture in the time of Maximilian I, and they are divided into four main categories: narrative,
visual, Maximilian’s personal works (that is, ones which he commissioned himself), and extant
material culture. The examination of narrative sources also take a closer look at how
Maximilian was viewed through the eyes of his contempories as a useful way of introducing
the sources, but, furthermore, these descriptions of the emperor by those who had firsthand
knowledge of him paint a picture of his character which, in turn, may inform the more narrow
investigation of solely his tournaments. The wide range of these sources, taken together, will
be used throughout this thesis to examine Maximilian’s tournaments from every angle.
The second chapter presents an in-depth study of how tournaments were interwoven
throughout Maximilian’s lifetime. It first examines Maximilian’s Burgundian inheritance and
likely influences before proceeding chronologically through the emperor’s life, combining
biographical details with details of the tournaments in which he was involved in some way.
This includes those tournaments which he organised, those in which he was a participant (i.e.
combatant), and those which he attended. Evidence for and descriptions of such tournaments
were found using various narrative, archival, and chronicle sources in an attempt to show the
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wide range – chronologically, geographically, and stylistically – of tournaments with which
Maximilian was associated, for some of which there is extensive detail and for some barely a
passing mention. This chapter is divided by various periods of significance during Maximilian’s
life.
The third chapter provides an analysis of the specific types of joust named and
memorialised in various forms by Maximilian. It begins with a discussion of the tournament
terminology unique to Maximilian’s court and of some of the difficulties of translation when
writing about a uniquely German topic in English. It goes on to examine each style of joust
prevalent in Maximilian’s court by looking at how it was practiced in reality, as well as its
idealised form. The first of these is the tourney, or mêlée-style joust fought among a group of
men on horseback, the primary form of which practiced at Maximilian’s court was the
Kolbenturnier. The second form is the Gestech, which may be further divided into the sub-
categories of Deutschgestech, Welschgestech, Hohenzeuggestech, and Gestech im Beinharnisch. Finally,
there is the Rennen, which include the sub-categories of Welschrennen, Geschiftrennen,
Scheibenrennen, Schweifrennen, Bundrennen, Feldrennen, Wulstrennen, and Pfannenrennen.
The fourth chapter is closely tied with the fifth, the two of which make up a study of
the equipment required for a tournament in Maximilian’s court. The fourth chapter analyses
the practical equipment, i.e. the arms and armour. It does so by investigating what
differentiates the armour for the Rennen and the Gestech and inspecting the essential parts of
each: the lance and vamplate, the shield, the helmet, and the harness. Finally, it also discusses
the equestrian armour customary in the German tournament. Closely connected with this is
the fifth chapter, which presents a study of the decorative equipment used in Maximilian’s
tournaments: mainly, the ways in which textiles were utilised and their symbolism and
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