Tournament knight on horseback

Knight tournaments are believed to have started in Germany in August 1127. The first tournament is said to have taken place between the two princes during the siege of Würzburg. The tournaments spread further and became popular subjects for poets and painters. However, the Church did not approve of such competitions and even refused to allow Christian burials for the participants, who died in the tournaments. Various fighting competitions were held. A jousting was a contest, in which two knights attempted to knock an opponent off his horse, using jousting spears. Two types of shocks were used. From a blow under the chin, the knight often lost consciousness and fell from the horse. A blow to the shield, due to the great force, only threw the knight out of the saddle. When the opponent was lying on the ground, he was not allowed to be trampled by the horse. Bohort was a less dangerous competition with many participants. The name meant something like "hit" and described an important feature of the competition. The knight was armed with a shield and spear and did not wear any armor. Sometimes no weapons were used during the fight to show the prowess of the knights. The winner was the one, who knocked the most other knights off their horses. The actual tournament (from the Latin word "tornus" meaning "spinning disc") was a hard-fought contest, that focused on combat. That is why the knights were armed as, if they were really going into battle, but they used blunt weapons. From the very beginning, the time and place, the number of knights and the ransom for defeat were agreed upon. Any knight was allowed in the tournament. The participants were divided into two teams, which lined up in the form of a wedge. The teams approached each other as a separate group. During the tournament, there were also fights or competitions between small groups. The tournament could last several days. Men were often injured or even killed during the tournament. This was one of the reasons, why the Church did not approve of these competitions. Whoever was defeated or taken prisoner by an opponent during the tournament, had to pay according to his rank. Because of this, some knights became rich during the competition, while others became poor. The winner was the knight, who proved to be the bravest and defeated all opponents. Usually the winner won only symbolic prizes, such as a falconry or a dog hunt, but there was certainly a lot of admiration. The tournament was not only popular among the participants, but also attracted a large number of spectators. The principle of "seeing and being seen" was followed, and tournaments were even used to find a wife. Such competitions were held until the 16th century. However, real tournaments gradually disappeared and more "tourist" (exhibition) tournaments or bohorts were held. After a certain time, the tournaments practically became exercises of skill, in which not only knights, but also ordinary citizens could participate. Even today, such contests entertain spectators at medieval markets.

Quite an interesting and colorful model, which can be perfectly glued even by a modeler with little experience, working under the supervision of a more experienced colleague. And the more experienced, using two magazines and additional materials, can create a masterpiece. The project itself is also not an ordinary one - You can glue one of the two versions of the knights (different clothing, weaponry, horse bridles and equipment) optionally, where necessary, the details are printed with double-sided printing. There are 3 additional sheets of 1 mm thick cardboard for gluing the frame parts and the base.