The Tournament and its Role in the Court Culture of Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519)

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goes on to become successful ruler.
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 Featuring 251 woodcuts, many of which were, once 
again, the work of Hans Burgkmair, and other thinly disguised historical figures, such as the 
kings of France and Hungary (the Blue King and the Green King), Weißkunig, like Freydal, 
remained incomplete and was not printed during Maximilian’s lifetime.
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Theuerdank, on the other hand, tells the story of just one event in Maximilian’s life: his 
courtship of Mary of Burgundy. It is an entirely fictional account of how 
Maximilian/Theuerdank must undertake a dangerous quest to reach his intended bride, 
performing feats of bravery along the way. Theuerdank is the only one of this trilogy to have 
been published during Maximilian’s lifetime, in 1517.
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 Tournaments play a role in both of 
these works in vital ways: in Weißkunig, we see some of the practicalities of training a noble 
youth for tournaments, while in Theuerdank, we see the most glorified version of the 
tournament in a chivalric literary setting.
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 Both ideals will play a role in this thesis. 
 
                                                 
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 Editions used for this thesis include Der Weißkunig: Eine Erzehlung von den Thaten Kaiser 
Maximilian des Ersten (Vienna: Kurzböck, 1775); Der Weisskunig: Nach den Dictaten und Eigenhandigen 
Aufzeichnungen Kaiser Maximilian I, ed. by Alwin Schultz, reprinted from Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen 
Sammlungen des Allerhochsten Kaiserhauses 6 (1891); Weiss Kunig: tableau des principaux evenemens de la vie et du 
regne de l’empereur Maximilian I (Vienna: Chez I. Alberti, 1799). 
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 Elke Anna Werner ‘Kaiser Maximilians Weißkunig. Einige Beobachtungen zur Werkgenese 
der Illustrationen’, in Maximilians Ruhmeswerk: Künste und Wissenschaften im Umkreis Kaiser Maximilians I., 
pp. 349-80. 
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 Editions used for this thesis include: Die Geferlicheiten und geschichten des löblichen streytbaren unnd 
hochberiempten Helds und Ritters Teürdancks (Augsburg: Stainer, 1537), Munich, BSB, Rar. 2195; and 
Theuerdank: The Adventures and a Portion of the Story of the Praiseworthy, Valiant, and High-Renowned Hero and 
Knight, Lord Tewrdannckh, ed. by W. Harry Rylands (London: Holbein Society, 1884). 
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 Rabea Kohnen, ‘"Das mer gebeert zuo eim Ritter auserkorn". Überlegungen zum 
Theuerdank’, in Maximilians Ruhmeswerk: Künste und Wissenschaften im Umkreis Kaiser Maximilians I, pp. 
255-80; Hans-Joachim Ziegeler, ‘Beobachtungen zur Entstehungsgeschichte von Kaiser Maximilians 
Theuerdank’, in Maximilians Ruhmeswerk: Künste und Wissenschaften im Umkreis Kaiser Maximilians I, pp. 
211-54. 

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1.5 Material Culture 
Finally, in order to complete the most thorough study of Maximilian’s tournaments possible, 
an examination of the extant material sources is also necessary. These include tournament 
armour for various varieties of joust, including torso, leg, arms, and head protection, along 
with lances, and also equestrian equipment. While visual sources such as the Turnierbücher prove 
their worth through their depictions of more ephemeral items, such as textiles, hardly any of 
which have survived to the present day, the arms and armour which can be studied in person 
represent the three-dimensional, physical artefacts of Maximilian’s time; many of which were 
touched by his own hand. Details can be discovered here which might not be preserved on 
paper. Further, these items offer valuable comparative material. Relating surviving tournament 
arms and armour to those artistic depictions of the same allow us to know how reliable and 
accurate those images are. For the purposes of this thesis, two collections in particular have 
been of great use: that of the Royal Armouries, Leeds, and the Kunsthistorisches Museum, 
Vienna.
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1.6 Conclusions 
As this range of primary sources makes evident, the examination of tournaments during 
Maximilian’s lifetime undertaken in the present study is a highly interdisciplinary one which 
offers a multifaceted look into the social, political, and popular culture of the Middle Ages. 
Furthermore, it can also, in particular, offer new insight into Maximilian’s reign and individual 
personality. The research for this thesis was conducted by taking a comparative look at these 
sources in order to build an all-inclusive picture. Whenever possible, the textual sources have 
                                                 
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 For a comprehensive list of surviving tournament armour specifically affiliated with 
Maximilian and its provenance, see Appendix 3.  

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been studied in their original ENHG. Many of the above-mentioned Turnierbücher are available 
in high-quality digitised copies online through the various libraries which hold them, although, 
where possible, they have also been viewed in person. The same is true for images of the arms 
and armour in certain collections, although the critical collections in Leeds and Vienna have 
been studied in person. Image-focused print sources such as Freydal, Weißkunig, and Theuerdank 
are available in modern editions, as are all of the chronicles, letter collections, and documents 
consulted. For sources not yet available in print, the Regesta Imperii has been highly valuable, 
and its summaries of and quotes from certain archival sources have been used in this thesis 
when the originals have been inaccessible. The many volumes of the Regesta Imperii relating to 
Maximilian’s lifetime provide useful descriptions of archival sources, such as letters, which are 
not yet available in any published form.
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 J. F. Böhmer, Regesta Imperii XIV: Ausgewählte Regesten des Kaiserreiches unter Maximilian I. 1493-
1519, 4 vols (Cologne: Böhlau, 1990-2004). 

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