Knights and beautiful ladies: St. George's Tournament has started in Kolomenskoye. "tournament of St. George" in Kolomna (detailed photo report) Knight's tournament in Kolomna
“. The tournament has such a name for a reason, it is dedicated to St. George, the patron saint of Moscow.
The tournament reached the world level for the first time: knights from Australia, the Netherlands and Germany participated (8 knights and 1 squire in total). Moscow chivalry, of course, was the most numerous, it was represented by five participants. The guests of the tournament were warriors from St. Petersburg, Germany, the Netherlands and a knight errant from Australia. Behind each of the participants there were already many similar tournaments, so the judges made a plan of battles in such a way that the opponents were equal both in strength and skills, and in tournament experience. The judges of the tournament drew up a plan of battles in such a way that the opponents were equal both in strength and skills, and in tournament experience. The organizer managed to make the tournament as spectacular as possible, and the tension of the audience did not subside until the announcement of the winner of the St. George tournament.
Venues and people
During the two days of the festival, various interactive venues worked, for example, making an engraving of the 15th century, a master class in men's fashion and knightly weapons, archery training, medieval “board” games, medicine, and much more. 
Children could fight one on one in knightly attire or storm the fortress, adults could try to mold an earthen vessel or mint a coin by hand. Guests were also entertained by musicians and jesters, a medieval performance was reconstructed. At the end of the tournament, there was even a clash of jesters, and the winner married a “beautiful lady”, a donkey, which she was not very happy about.
Reconstruction
As already mentioned, the festival was dedicated to the reconstruction of the 15th century knightly tournament, and, to be honest, for the first few hours it was extremely difficult to merge into the world around you, where you can suddenly stand in horse manure, where you can become a “victim” of a jester. 
However, by the end of the day you are already a part of this world, and it becomes very difficult to return to reality. 21st century becomes alien and incomprehensible. Reconstruction of this level - professionalism, maximum authenticity and clarity - not only makes us closer to history, allows us to touch the past, but is also effective way learning. After reading five, ten, one hundred books about the Middle Ages and knightly tournaments, it will still be difficult for you to understand the idea of chivalry, the essence of courtly culture, the drive and adrenaline of the tournament. It is necessary to immerse yourself in this atmosphere as a spectator or even as part of a reconstruction.
The tournament was attended not only by professional reenactors, but also by volunteers who helped organize and conduct the event (for example, jesters, musicians, a troupe of actors).
In addition to the emotional component, professional reconstruction allows you to find out what was not recorded in the sources. For example, the art of a knight requires great effort, and even a professional knight is capable of making mistakes; spears, contrary to the image created by cinematography, do not always break off; metal weapons sometimes break quite unexpectedly; and even an experienced knight's horse may not obey his rider. To be honest, after the tournament I had even more questions than before. And it's great, because I just didn't think about such things before.
Tournament of Saint George
The tournament was held for two days, and the organizers arranged the event in such a way that the spectators who visited it only on one of the days could see as much as possible. The first day consisted of three “acts”, or actions: the first round of scoring clashes (actually what we mean by a tournament: two knights rush towards each other with spears in their hands), mele (all knights in teams on horseback fight with swords, protecting his banner) and the second round of scoring clashes. The second day also consisted of three activities: 
the first and last parts of the second day of the tournament (3 and 4 clashes) were held in the same way as on the first day (except for the participants), in the second part, instead of melee, there were one-on-one foot fights on poleaxes (see photo). Alas, I visited only the second day, and although the foot battles were no less interesting from a historical point of view and no less dynamic, it is a pity that I did not see the mele. Also, on the first and second days of the tournament, before the start of each of the “acts”, reconstructions of medieval performances were shown. On the first day, the performance was dedicated to St. George, on the second - to love. Both performances were about different sides chivalric culture and the feats that they had to perform.
Some of the knights on the first day of the battles received severe injuries, due to which they could not continue to participate in the tournament. 
Particularly impressive was the moment when, as a result of a strike by Anre Koets (Germany), the shield of Dmitry Savchenko (Moscow) fell off and the latter's shoulder was damaged. Dmitry Savchenko, unfortunately, could not continue his performance on the first day. After this event, Sergei Zhuravlev (Moscow), a blacksmith knight, a master of foot combat, avenged his master, Dmitry Savchenko, knocking Anre Koets out of the saddle! Henre Coates is one of the best riders in the world, and the knights who knocked him out of the saddle can be counted on the fingers.
As a result of the fall, Anre Koets suffered a concussion. The judges forbade him to continue participating in the tournament, so on the second day, so that all the knights had equal opportunities to score their points and in order not to change the schedule of clashes, Andrei Kamin (St. Petersburg) acted instead of Anre Koets, who himself volunteered to replace his comrade. The points scored by Andrei Kamin did not count towards him. This is how knightly prowess and brotherhood are manifested.
Thus, on the second day, I could not see the clashes of Anre Koets, Dmitry Savchenko and Viktor Ruchkin (Moscow), who was injured by his own helmet. 
Due to the impact of the spear on the helmet of Viktor Ruchkin, one of the rivets of the lower part of the helmet was torn out and cut a part of his chin and neck. The injury was not serious, but it significantly prevented Viktor Ruchkin from wearing a helmet. Injuries are a very common occurrence in a jousting tournament. The tournament is not a pre-rehearsed performance, it is a real competition, the course and results of which are almost impossible to predict.
However, I saw Anre and Victor at the end of the tournament and the award ceremony. They demonstrated their riding skills to the audience. Dmitry Savchenko showed worthy courage: despite the injured shoulder, he still fought on foot and was the winner in this type of competition.
Now it's time to announce the summary results of the two days of the tournament and the winner of the "St. George's Tournament 2016":
- Wuter Nicolai - 4 points;
- Arne Coats - 8 points;
- Luke Binks - 12 points;
- Victor Ruchkin - 18 points;
- Andrey Kamin - 19 points;
- Dmitry Savchenko - 20 points;
- Yuri Bogunov - 20 points;
- and Sergey Zhuravlev - 32 points.
Knightly tournaments are absolutely unpredictable. You can never guess who will be the winner, and who, unfortunately, will be forced to leave the lists due to injury. Tournaments are drive, adrenaline, energy. It is an incomparable pleasure. Not just people who work off their money go to the lists here, but really living knights for whom valor and honor are above all else. I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely going to the tournament again, because
“The feat needs an audience!“
My favorite country is RUSSIA and my favorite city is MOSCOW!
Every normal person should love his native country and his native city and do everything to make it better and better.
Is not it?
Those who do not agree with this may not read further.
As I promised, I do detailed photo report
O the second international knightly "Tournament of St. George"
held this year in Museum-Reserve Kolomenskoye May 1 - 2, 2016
First, about the venue of the tournament.
I believe that the choice of the organizers is precisely Kolomensky
was very lucky.
Firstly
, the place itself is historical - after all, the suburban residence of the Moscow sovereigns, known since the time of Ivan Kalita, that is, since the XIV century. (Namely, at this time - XIV - XV centuries - the heyday of knightly tournaments falls. And the XV century is especially significant in this case, when a magnificent ceremonial and strict rules for holding tournaments were developed, in accordance with which the organizers of the "St. George Tournament" also conduct modern competitions).
The main "pearl" of Kolomenskoye, of course, is the tent built by Vasily III in honor of the birth of the heir Church of the Ascension , clearly visible from the venue of the tournament:
Secondly
, the vast and well-maintained territory of the park, which is part of the complex of the historical, architectural and natural landscape museum of the reserve, made it possible to freely place on it not only an arena for equestrian and foot battles of knights, but also a fair stylized as the Middle Ages, many tents and platforms where you can it was to shoot from a bow, learn fencing with swords, practice owning a knight's spear and try on knight's armor, as well as watch master classes on medieval methods of minting coins, baking bread, compiling a family tree and, most importantly, participate in this completely free of charge.
It is also remarkable that the organizers calculated that there would be many children. And I assure you, bored kids different ages I have never been able to notice how enthusiastically they fought with wooden swords on special children's "rounds" both among themselves and with reenactors dressed in medieval armor.
Third , if in order to get into the arena of the tournament, you had to buy a very expensive ticket (from 2 to 5 thousand rubles), then the rest of the territory was open to everyone who wanted to touch medieval history, and judging by the huge number of people, there were more than than enough, given both the popularity of Kolomenskoye among Muscovites and the beautiful weather of these May days.
However, Now about the "Tournament of St. George".
In the comments to the preview post, I already met the question: what does St. George have to do with it?
In my opinion, this is the name of the tournament quite logical
.
I'll explain why.
Many medieval knights considered St. George (George the Victorious) as their patron, and in the Middle Ages there was a tradition to dedicate tournaments to some Christian saint. So why not Saint George
, especially considering that the tournament is taking place in Moscow
, on the coat of arms of which this particular saint is depicted? Yes, and the founder of Moscow is considered Yuri
(in the annals - "Gyurgiy", that is, George) Vladimirovich Dolgoruky
.
Well, now a lot of photos with my brief ( or not very short) comments on them from the "rally" - the venue for the duels of knights.
With a little work, I was able to identify all the knights that you will see in the photographs below (mainly by their coats of arms, their horse blankets, or by the colors of the feathers on the helmet and other items of equipment, since their faces are far from always visible).
The tournament is not in vain named international . Not only our Russian knights take part in it, but also knights - guests from other countries, including from distant Australia.
For example, the famous knight in the southern hemisphere from the Australian city of Warwick, 34-year-old LUKE BINKS, who is an active participant in European and US tournaments (performs in Russia for the first time):
Motto
Luke Binks - "Glory is the reward of valor."
His coat of arms
: in a four-part shield, the first and fourth quarters are black, the second and third are gold. In the first quarter, a rising looking forward golden lion with a scarlet tongue.
The knights and their squires are preparing for mounted clashes:
Victor Ruchkin, Luke Binks and Andrey Kamin:
Luke Binks and Andrey Kamin:
The youngest of the participants in the tournament, 26 years old ANDREY KAMIN from St. Petersburg, however, is one of his main favorites, as he won last year's "St. George's Tournament".
Motto:
"God loves the brave!"
Coat of arms:
in a silver shield, a rising black bear with scarlet weapons (claws), tongue and eyes, with his right paw holding a black ax with a scarlet shaft on his right shoulder.
Not every knight participating in the tournament manages to complete an additional task: to remove a ring-wreath with a spear at full gallop of his horse.
Andrey Kamin succeeded:
Here he is the winner of the 2015 tournament and the favorite of the current tournament
in all its glory (without a helmet, but with a wreath) Andrey Kamin:
Knight from the Dutch city of Leiden, multiple winner European tournaments, 34 years old WUTTER NICHOLAI, also performing in Russia for the first time.
Motto:
"Hope gives strength."
Coat of arms:
in a gold field, a black and silver chess right baldric.
Knight from Moscow VICTOR RUCCHKIN(33 years). He was remembered by spectators and fans from the last tournament, when he managed to knock out the Norwegian Mariutz-Hansen (the representative of Norway did not come to the tournament in 2016. Why not?).
Motto:
"Heart to the Light"
Coat of arms:
in a scarlet field a silver horse marching with a raised right foot, bridled by scarlet.
Fights of knights in the tournament at all are not fake
, and the injuries that they can receive (and receive) are real. Here, for example, on May 1, Viktor Ruchkin was seriously hurt (see the bandaged head?), but he courageously decided to continue participating in the tournament despite a clear shell shock:
Fight between Viktor Ruchkin and Yuri Bogunov:
From left to right:
Victor Ruchkin, Luke Binks, Sergey Zhuravlev and Wouter Nikolay:
Moscow knight YURI BOGUNOV(31 years old), who was second in last year's tournament.
Motto:
"Do what you must and come what may."
Coat of arms:
the shield is beveled seven times into azure and silver, three scarlet roses with golden cores.
Yuri Bogunov without a helmet
(and behind his main competitor - Andrey Kamin):
SERGEY ZHURAVLEV from Moscow (30 years old), especially strong in foot battles.
Motto:
"Totally ruthless."
Coat of arms:
four-part, in the first and fourth azure fields a golden rearing horse, accompanied by a hammer on the right, the second and third fields are squirrel and azure.
Luke Binks
And Wouter Nicolai
before Court Dam
, which has the right to assign additional points for the gallantry and courtesy of a particular knight or to fine knights for insufficient knightly behavior:
As you can see, these knights after the Court of Dames return very satisfied, which means that everything is in order with their courtesy:
With might and main goes preparation of a rhistalitz for foot battles of knights on two-handed axes (polexes):
And at this time, so that the audience does not get bored, it is entertained by parodying the fights of knights jesters:
The heralds blow their trumpets:
A chief herald of the tournament MIKHAIL SUSANOV announces the participants in the foot battles of the knights and explains the rules for conducting fights:
Participants enter the arena for battles, accompanied by squires:
Luke Binks:
Andrey Kamin:
Wouter Nicolai:
And finally, the fights begin.
Fight of Sergey Zhuravlev and Dmitry Savchenko.
Won this fight Sergei Zhuravlev.
However, I have not imagined DMITRY SAVCHENKO, which must be presented, since he is one of the main organizers of the "St. George's Tournament". At this tournament, the 33-year-old Moscow knight for the first time acts not only as an organizer, but also as a participant in the competition.
Motto:
"I'm here!"
Coat of arms:
in the azure field there are three gold crossed crosses.
And in the next fight, Dmitry Savchenko had a very difficult time:
Chief marshal of the tournament
SERGEY VISLENEV(in a black hat) had to stop the fight.
But the brave knight Dmitry Savchenko
still going to fight with Luke Binks
and defeat him.
Luke Binks even breaks his poleax:
Yury Bogunov vs. Luke Binks.
On May 1 and 2, 2016, the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve will host the second "St. George's Tournament" - the largest equestrian competition of knights in Russia. And although I am not a big fan of all kinds of historical reconstructions, I do not intend to miss this most interesting spectacle (tickets have already been booked and even redeemed).
In Europe, the tradition of equestrian competitions dates back to Ancient Rome, and their heyday fell on the era of the High Middle Ages. The birthplace of those equestrian tournaments that we know about from books and films is Northern France: according to legend, the baron "invented" them here Geoffroy de Preily
(he died in a tournament in 1066).
Initially, tournaments served to maintain combat skills, earn money and release irrepressible energy in peacetime. Tournaments were organized by kings or large feudal lords in honor of church holidays, weddings, christenings, births of children, signing contracts, etc.
On "St. George Tournament - 2016" eight knights from Russia, Germany, Holland and Australia will meet on the lists in equestrian and foot combats. The program of the festival complies with the regulations of medieval competitions, as they are described in "Tournament Book" by Duke René of Anjou (1460) . Two days of fighting, historical armor and weapons, observance of medieval tournament rules. Without compromise and props: the knights will fight on solid wood spears in full contact, the area of destruction is complete, including the head.
Like the knights of the 15th century, the participants of the "Tournament of St. George" will perform in three disciplines :
- hosting
(from Old French joster
) - horse clashes on spears with metal tips;
- mele
(fr. melee
) - group equestrian battles on wooden maces;
- fights on steel two-handed axes
.
Warriors are divided into two parties. This allows a new combination of knights to enter the arena in each round.
"The Tournament of St. George" is not only a competition, but also colorful show
built according to the canons of medieval ceremonies.
Tournament starts from helmshaw
- the parade of helmets described in the Tournament Book. On it, spectators, judges and ladies get acquainted with the participants before the start of the competition.
According to the Tournament Book, only a knight could adequately pass the helmshow, who had never been convicted of perjury and usury. The helmet was torn off the dishonored knight, the lords and nobles began to beat him, took away the horse and forced the whole tournament to sit on the fence of the stadium.
If it turned out that the knight married a commoner, he was beaten and put on a horse backwards.
If a knight was rude to the ladies, he, as usual, was also beaten - until he loudly asked for forgiveness.
Guests of the festival will be convinced of the virtue of the participants in the "St. George's Tournament", and God forbid the knights hide something from the exacting Suda Dam
!
"Manes codex" of the XIV century:
Knights came to the tournament from all over Europe. The retinue of a noble knight included squires, pages, cooks, grooms, musicians and jesters. There was not enough room for everyone in the inns of the nearest town. The cortege was located in tents around the stadium. The camp was decorated with coats of arms and banners, it was full of life.
In the interactive camp at the Tournament of St. George, guests shoot at the shooting range with bows, arquebus and siege weapons, learn fencing, and participate in craft master classes. People come here in between competitions or just because - the entrance to the camp is free.
Near the medieval tournament, a fair was certainly held to feed, equip and entertain the tent city of the knight's servants. At the Tournament of St. George, the fair is a self-sufficient "festival within a festival." Venerable reenactor merchants, dressed in the spirit of the era, trade in tents made according to medieval illustrations. Without consumer goods - only copies, replicas, stylizations of medieval clothing, armor, souvenirs, jewelry. Between the malls, pedlars ride on donkeys, selling brooms and steamed turnips - a medieval fast food. Bread is baked here, knives are sharpened, loads are weighed on huge scales. And all this with ancient music.
Photo essay from this interesting tournament for all readers of my blog I guarantee.
And if someone wants to get to know me personally, then I will be all for it!
Sergei Vorobyov -.
For the second year already, on May 1-2, the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve in Moscow hosts a real knightly tournament-tournament of St. George. Why Saint George? The knights considered him their patron, this is the first thing. And secondly, this saint is considered the heavenly patron of Moscow, so everything came together here) The organizers of the festival, the Agency for Historical Projects "Ratobortsy" threw a cry and knights, both ours and foreign ones, came to the tournament: from Germany, Holland, even "the most famous in the Southern Hemisphere" (as it was in the information booklet) a knight from Australia)
The tournament was organized according to the strict rules and ceremonial of the 15th century, which was the heyday of jousting in Western Europe. At that time, large tournaments were held in honor of the signing of important agreements, weddings, christenings, and the birth of children from the nobility. And since these events took place quite often then, there were plenty of reasons for the knights to meet on foot or on horseback duels.
But back to our 21st century)
To hold the tournament in a place remote from the famous masterpieces of Russian architecture, which are so rich in Kolomenskoye, an arena was arranged with stands for spectators surrounding it from three sides. From the fourth was the camp of the knights and their squires, where they prepared for fights, rested, and prepared equipment. Having bought a ticket not at all for a medieval price and received a bracelet on hand, it was possible to spend the whole day at the tournament, leaving and revisiting the arena, because its program was very busy: it began at 12 noon and ended only by late evening.
The chief of the tournament, as expected, was the Marshal, and the experienced Herold helped him. He represented the judges, the Court of Ladies, the knights themselves, announced the beginning and led the fights.
The beginning of the tournament began with the presentation of his "legend", which the loud music of the bagpipes prevented me from understanding, therefore I can’t tell anything coherent about it)
Judges entering the arena
Each tournament day began with joisting, paired clashes of mounted knights armed with long spears. Opponents are separated by a barrier, something like a medieval striker to protect the knights from injury and not really unnerve the horses) Armor and equipment are all as authentic as they like to say among historical reenactors, no props and sawn copies.
To the right of the barrier, on the VIP-tribune, there is the Court of Beautiful Ladies, each of which was named after one of the female virtues - Lady Generosity, Lady Kindness, Lady Beauty. Chief among them is Dame Justice. The Court of Dams is designed to monitor the courtesy of the knights and may even fine a disrespectful or dishonest knight, but this time there were none.
The camp before the fights, the knights, their faithful squires, who, according to the rules of the tournament, could well replace the wounded owner, which happened on the second day of the tournament.
And these are, in fact, knights ... Each has its own coat of arms and motto, knights cannot do without it) Here, for example, the wandering guest from Australia, Luke Binks, has the motto "Glory is the reward of valor", and our favorite Andrey Kamin "God loves the brave." Looking ahead, I will say that Luke was unlucky in the tournament - on the second day, in foot combat on two-handed swords, he suffered a shoulder injury and did not complete the round. He's right here.
In the foreground is Andrei Kamin, a knight from St. Petersburg. Sounds as cute as "knight from Australia", right?) 
Arne Koets, one of the most famous knights from Germany, a favorite of the public, but he was even more unlucky than Luke - on the first day he received swipe with a spear from our knight and a slight concussion, so I did not participate in the second day of the tournament. Good unbelievable, photo from the booklet
During clashes, the spears sometimes shattered into pieces, and sometimes, let's be objective, the knights did not hit the target at all. But no one was knocked out of the saddle, and that's good)
After the break, the tournament continued with foot fights on poleaxes, two-handed steel axes on long shafts. Our Andrei Kamin won it. There, too, they fought for real, the shafts broke, pieces of armor flew off)
But who won the entire tournament? I left before the results were announced...
Also a duel, but only in cardboard armor and with wooden swords. Not the worst game for boys, in my opinion)
And around the stadium, a medieval fair and a city of craftsmen were in full swing. There you could listen to the music of the 15th century, try rye cakes with caraway according to old recipes, or mint a “real fake” coin yourself, make a clay pot, look into the witch’s pharmacy, buy replicas of medieval clothes and jewelry, they baked bread and roasted chestnuts .. .
Would you like to see?
But I want to warn you, I don’t shoot very well, my technique is the simplest, the one that is always at hand,
No, I know what ZOOM is, I know that you can’t fill up the horizon, leave “severed” heads or limbs in the frame, but ... what happened, it happened)
I looked into the pharmacy - no dried frog legs, but a lot of Altai balms, herbs and Suzdal mead
For those who are hungry: turnip with butter is what you need)
The man in the red jacket is none other than the Herald of the Tournament
