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

 
 
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commonly associated with nineteenth century myths of the Vikings.
3
 It is in many ways 
charming in its inaccuracy and, while a wholly unreliable historical source, still represents the 
hold over the imagination which Maximilian’s tournaments had on a nineteenth century 
audience. 
 
This legacy has continued on and flourished into the present day in other (more 
historically accurate) ways. Recent museum exhibitions like that held at the Reiss Engelhorn 
Museum in Mannheim entirely dedicated to Maximilian and the courtly tournament are proof 
of this.
4
 Yet, despite the role of tournaments circling around the periphery of Maximilian 
studies for many years, the lack of an expansive study solely focused on this subject has left a 
wide gap in the scholarship, which this thesis has attempted to, at least partially, fill.  
 
While the current study has explored the topic of tournaments and Maximilian, it has 
also brought up many questions which warrant further research yet which were outside its 
scope. For example, this thesis has focused almost exclusively on the joust alone and its 
significance in Maximilian’s tournaments. An in-depth study of the place of foot combat in 
Maximilian’s tournaments would also be worthwhile. Furthermore, while numerous studies of 
tournament arms and armour exist, none have been devoted solely to tournament textiles, 
discussed in Chapter 5 of this thesis but worthy of a much larger and wider ranging 
investigation. Also, this thesis has incorporated where relevant the tournaments of other 
knights of Maximilian’s court and their involvement in Maximilian’s own tournaments. 
However, many of these could be the subject of their own study, which would in turn continue 
to add to the greater understanding of late medieval German tournaments.  
                                                 
3
 See Appendix 1, Figure 36. 
4
 Kaiser Maximilian I: Der letzte Ritter und das höfische Turnier, ed. by Sabine Haag, Alfried Wieczorek, 
Matthias Pfaffenbichler, and Hans-Jürgen Buderer. 

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244 
 
The findings of this project have shown the many and varied ways Maximilian’s 
personal history is intertwined with the history of the tournament. It has done so by exploring 
the evidence presented in a wide range of sources, specifically: narrative, visual, Maximilian’s 
personal works, and material culture. Each of these category of source provides a new lens 
through which to view Maximilian’s tournaments, and together they create a new picture 
which has never before been fully drawn. Using these sources, this study has examined 
Maximilian’s life as a whole and located occurrences of tournaments within it across a variety 
of times and places while also establishing their place in the larger events of his life. Taking a 
closer look at the makeup of the tournament itself, it has scrutinised the individual forms of 
joust which Maximilian both practiced and promoted. Connected to this, it has analysed the 
equipment used in the joust, both practical and decorative. Finally, this study has also explored 
the many roles the tournament played in Maximilian’s courtly life, including its purpose and 
the occasions which warranted such an event, some of the dangers associated with it, and 
Maximilian’s own place within it. These discoveries have painted the picture of a man 
passionate about the tournament, keenly aware of his place in history, and clever enough to use 
the one to guarantee the other. 
 
 

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245 
Appendix 1: Images 
 
 
Figure 1: Map of Maximilian’s Holy Roman Empire

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246 
 
Figure 2: Maximilian’s 
Lehrbuch 
 
 
 
Figure 3: Jousting Figurines in 
Weißkunig 
 

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247 
 
Figure 4: Tourneyers in the 
Triumphzug 
 
 
 
Figure 5: Tourneyers in the 
Turnierbuch of Ludwig von Eyb 

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248 
 
Figure 6: Tourneyers in the 
Turnierbuch of Marx Walther 
 
 
 
Figure 7: Tourneyers in BSB, Cod.icon 398 

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249 
 
Figure 8: The 
Deutschgestech in the Triumphzug 
 
 
 
Figure 9: The 
Welschgestech in Freydal 

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250 
 
Figure 10: The 
Welschgestech in the Triumphzug 
 
 
 
Figure 11: The 
Hohes Zeug 

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251 
 
 
Figure 12: The 
Hohenzeuggestech in Freydal 
 
 
 
Figure 13: The 
Hohenzeuggestech in the Triumphzug 
 

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252 
 
Figure 14: The 
Gestech im Beinharnisch in the Triumphzug 
 
 
 
Figure 15: The 
Welschrennen in the Triumphzug 
 

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