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

 
 
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When he at last (although unofficially) became Holy Roman emperor, Maximilian’s 
court was a unique entity, made so by several factors. Firstly, its makeup was unusual. This was 
due to the nature of the territories which Maximilianruled. As a monarch, Maximilian held 
many titles at different times in his life: first as archduke of Austria and king of the Romans, 
then Holy Roman emperor, as well as duke of Burgundy following his inheritances from Mary 
of Burgundy. Combined, each of these titles brought Maximilian a wealth of land but also a 
highly disparate collection of cultures and languages (not all of which always welcomed 
Maximilian as a ruler) across a wide, often unmanageable, geographic spread. As a result, the 
members of Maximilian’s court were drawn from a broad range of homelands. On top of this, 
as Holy Roman emperor, Maximilian ruled a large number of princes – rulers and large land-
holders in their own rights. These men’s support and loyalty were critical to Maximilian. All of 
this would have placed great responsibility on Maximilian, as one of the pre-eminent European 
monarchs, to run his court smoothly, as well as to make it a centre of unquestionable power 
for the emperor.
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 Tournaments would continue to aid him in this mission. 
 
In addition, in order to bring further stability to his rule, in 1494 Maximilian married 
again. This time it proved more successful than his thwarted marriage to Anne of Brittany. 
Maximilian chose for his second wife Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan (1472-1510). Bianca Maria 
                                                 
Turniergesellschaften of the late Middle Ages as a separate entity from the knightly societies, or 
Rittergesellschaften (although the two often intertwined). Piccolruaz Alexander, ‘Turniere und 
Turniergesellschaften des Spätmittelalters’ (unpublished master’s thesis, Leopold-Franzens-Universität, 
Innsbruck, 1993), pp. 97-99 provides a list of the main tournaments held by these societies in the latter 
half of the fifteenth century and their winners. See also: Andreas Ranft, Adelgesellschaften: Gruppenbildung 
und Genossenschaft im spätmittelalterlichen Reich (Sigmaringen: Jan Thorbecke Verlag, 1994) and Werner 
Meyer, ‘Turniergesellschaften. Bemerkungen zur sozialgeschichtlichen Bedeutung der Turniere im 
Spätmittelalter’ in Das ritterliche Turnier im Mittelalter, pp. 500-12. 
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 For a further discussion of Maximilian’s court, see Paula S. Fichtner, The Habsburgs: Dynasty, 
Culture and Politics; Fichtner, ‘The Politics of Honor: Renaissance Chivalry and Habsburg Dynasticism’, 
in Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance, 29 (1967), 567-80; Franz Fuchs, Paul-Joachim Heinig, and Jörg 
Schwarz, eds, König, Fürsten und Reich im 15. Jahrhundert (Köln: Böhlau Verlag, 2009). 

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was the daughter of Duke Galeazzo Sforza and niece to Ludovico Sforza, who became duke of 
Milan after his brother was assassinated. The Sforzas were a powerful and wealthy family, and 
Bianca Maria brought a considerable dowry with her to the union. Unlike Maximilian’s first 
marriage, however, this marriage was never a happy one. Maximilian and Bianca Maria never 
had any children, and, after a short while, they largely kept separate courts and rarely saw each 
other.
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Still, the wedding itself was cause for celebration, and there are records of several 
tournaments taking place in 1494 around the time of the marriage. The first was held in 
January in one of Maximilian’s most favoured cities, Innsbruck, and was part of the 
celebrations organised by the archduchess Katharina of Austria in honour of the arrival of 
Maximilian’s second wife, Bianca Maria Sforza, in the city.
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 These events were documented in 
the letters of the Italian envoy Guido Manfredi as well as the Milanese noblewoman Barbara 
Crivelli Stampi on 15 and 24 January. They described tournaments being held on a daily basis 
with great pomp, along with dancing and stag hunts in the mountains (all this in spite of a fire 
breaking out in the ducal palace). Although it was not specifically stated, Maximilian would 
very likely have participated in these tournaments, and he certainly would have taken part in 
the hunting.
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78
 Wiesflecker, Kaiser Maximilian I.: Das Reich, Österreich und Europa an der Wende zur Neuzeit, vol. 1, 
pp. 363-72. Not a great deal has been written on Bianca Maria. One source is Sabine Weiss, Die 
Vergessene Kaiserin: Bianca Maria Sforza, Kaiser Maximilians Zweite Gemahlin (Innsbruck: Tyrolia Verlag 
2010). 
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 Katharina of Saxony, archduchess of Austria (1468-1524) and daughter of Duke Albrecht III 
of Saxony, was at this time the second wife of Archduke Sigismund of Austria, who, in 1490, handed 
over the rulership of Tyrol to Maximilian. After Sigismund died, Katharina married Duke Erich of 
Brunswick, a frequent competitor in Maximilian’s tournaments.    
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 Regesta Imperii, Maximilian I., RI XIV, n. 2899, n. 2907. Original source: Modena, Archivio di 
Stato, Estero, Dispacci degli ambasciatori della Germania, busta 1. 

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In August 1494 a tournament was held to celebrate Bianca Maria Sforza’s entry into 
the Flemish city of Mechlin. This occasion was again recorded in the writings of Jean Molinet, 
who described the rich Italian fashions of Bianca Maria and her ladies as being new and novel 
to the Flemings. The company received an honourable reception in the city, with which 
Molinet stated Maximilian had a good relationship, and tournaments and bonfires took place. 
This time, the tournaments were stated to be in the presence of Maximilian, thus seemingly 
ruling him out as a participant on this occasion.
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 There was also a triumphal march of the new 
royal couple through the streets of the city.
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These tournaments continued during Maximilian’s residence in the city. On 8 
September 1494 there is a description by the German humanist Georg Spalatin (a pseudonym 
for Georg Burkhardt, 1484-1545) of a tournament, executed in a very casual-sounding way, 
taking place in the market square. There Maximilian and some of his knights held a 
tournament in the welsch style in their Drabharnisch, or field armour.
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 Maximilian, it is perhaps 
little surprise to hear, did the best.
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Later that month, a tournament on a grand scale was held in Mechlin to celebrate the 
wedding of Wolfgang von Polheim to Johanna von Borsselen
 
of the Netherlands on 18 
                                                 
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 Molinet, Chroniques, vol. 2, Et, à sa trés noble advenue, furent faites joustes, esbatemens et fues de joye, en 
presence du roy, son mary, de monseigneur l’archiduc son filz, et pluseurs chevaliers estranges, p. 394. 
82
 Regesta Imperii, Maximilian I., RI XIV, 1 n. 3097; Molinet, Chroniques, vol. II, pp. 393-95. 
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 Welsch was a term for non-German speaking people and a designator of a very specific type of 
joust, as will be explained in Chapter 3. 
84
 Georg Spalatin's historischer Nachlaß und Briefe, p. 230. Am Freitag nach Nativitatis Marie ist der König 
wie der gein Mecheln kommen, hat von viel Kürissern und andern einen schönen gerüsten Zeug und köstlichen Jnzog 
gehabt. Sind alle in einer Ordnung und Geschick um den Markt gezogen. Da hat sein kö. Mt. mit etlichen den seinen im 
Drabharnisch auf welisch gestochen. Das hat wol anderthalb Stund gewähret, bis sie die Rächt abtreib. Der König that 
das Best. 

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