29 September 2008

Knight's Tournament - impressive images





Who would ever have imagined that jousting knights in the 1550s dressed and caparisoned their mounts so colorfully? Click the bottom image to supersize it and enjoy the detail...

The superb illustrations above are just a few taken from Turnierbuch. Ritterspiele gehalten von Kaiser Friedrich III. und Kaiser Maximilian I. in den Jahren 1489 - 1511 - BSB Cod.icon. 398 (tournament-book, knight-games held by Kaisers in years indicated). The book is digitally reproduced and available online from the Bavarian Staatsbibliothek. It apparently was published in 1550 as a sort of reference work illustrating the outcome of jousting tournaments at Innsbruck, Nurnberg, and Heidelberg in 1491, 1497, 1498, and 1511. Some, such as the second one above, show both riders being simultaneously unseated.

Full credit for locating and posting this goes to the remarkable site BibliOdyssey.

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