World Jousting Championships

July 14, 2001, Orangeville, Ontario

There were three separate divisions in the Jousting tournament:

The Games:

There were three games that the riders participated in.

• The rings: three rings were suspended from poles at 8 points around the riding ring. The riders attempted to "catch" a ring on their lance at each pole. The smallest ring was worth 3 points, the middle one 2 points, and the largest one 1 point.
• The spear-throw: A target was painted on a bale of hay. The rider would ride by the hay bale, and throw a spear at the target. The spear had to be released by a certain point.
• The quintain: The quintain is a device mounted on a swivel, with a shield at one end, and a counterweight at the other. The rider strikes the shield with their lance, and makes the quintain spin. Scoring is by the number of times the quintain rotates after the strike.

The riders also participated in a "gauntlet", in which they had a fixed amount of time to do all three of the above games.

Light Armoured Jousting:

In the Light division, the knights wore various sorts of armour – chain mail, coats-of-plates, etc., carried shields, and used heavy lances. They attempted to strike each other in the shield (and were required to present their shield to be struck). Points were scored based on how well the shield was struck. Unhorsings are very uncommon in this division.

Heavy Armoured Jousting:

In the Heavy division, the knights wore full plate harness. A shield-shaped piece of armour was attached to their left shoulder – this was the target. The lances were much lighter, with a brass cap on the end, and a pennant about a foot down the shaft.

The scoring system was based on one created by Henry VIII: