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

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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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