 Every
schoolchild knows that jousting is Maryland's state sport. But few of us
get much farther than that mental picture of Medieval lords and ladies.
How can a sport known before the colonial days still be a part of modern
Maryland? Does anybody really joust, these days, anyway?
Originally a military competition between nobles, jousting changed as it
spread from its birthplace in France. Over the centuries, the sport was
refined and regulated from a chaotic, no-holds-barred melee to a more
choreographed battle between pairs of knights. Though injuries were
common, they were not the goal of the sport. Instead, knights aimed
their lances at their opponent's shields, hoping to shatter their own
lances (and thereby prove just how forcefully and skillfully they
competed) without touching man or horse.
Over time the sport evolved. Low partitions between the riders protected
horses from an errant lance. Eventually, jousting targets changed from
the shields of an opposing rider to mechanized "carousel" targets,
mounted on wooden horses that led to the carnival carousel of today, to
the modern sport: the less bloody, less deadly "running of the rings."
As the introduction of guns changed the nature of war, jousting became a
less important pastime in Europe. Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, first
introduced the sport to the Colonies, but it did not maintain its
popularity in early Maryland. Since a revival of interest in jousting in
the American South in the mid-1800s, it has grown in popularity in
America, most notably in Maryland and Virginia.
Jousting today is less about shattering lances or impressing a fair
lady-in fact, today's competitors are just as likely to be ladies, and
sometimes even young children astride Shetland ponies. What matters are
skill, aim, and communication between rider and horse.
The Maryland Jousting Tournament Association was first organized in
1950. The association set out rules for annual tournaments, and worked
to promote the sport through amateur and skilled jousting groups across
Maryland. In 1962 a member of the Association, Henry Fowler, Jr.,
introduced the legislation that would make jousting our state's official
sport. Other groups of jousting enthusiasts have since formed across the
state, and in Virginia and Pennsylvania, as well. Here in Southern
Maryland, though, we've had a jousting tradition for generations.
This year, Christ Church in Port Republic will host its 138th annual
Calvert County Jousting Tournament. The tournament and its day of
celebrations are organized and staffed by volunteers from within the
Christ Church congregation. The jousters themselves, however, come to
Calvert County from all over Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.
According to John Wahl, General Chair of the annual tournament, most of
the jousters are working families who travel from joust to joust on
weekends, sharing their traditions with their next generation of riders.
Chivalry and athleticism are still key-but jousters no longer are pitted
directly against each other.
Like European sportsmen of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, they
compete in "ring tournaments" on an 80-yard course, each rider aiming
for small rings suspended from arches. The ornate costumes of long ago,
and the chivalric flirtation between knight and lady, are left in the
past. Today's jousters look like any other rider, until the competition
begins and their specialized skills are on display.
"Human and horse are one unit," notes an impressed Wahl. "The lance is
rock steady." And it has to be, to catch those tiny rings while
balancing atop a speeding horse.
The jousting tournament is organized into novice, amateur, semi-pro and
professional divisions. As the riders become more skilled and
experienced, the size of the rings they must loop over the tip of their
lance decreases. The most skilled riders spear several rings "the size
of Life Savers," while riding the full course in under nine seconds.
It's an amazing display of horsemanship, concentration, and strength.
This year's tournament, to be held August 28th, will also include an
"attic treasures" flea market, crafts bazaar, and country supper. The
church grounds also include an historic one-room schoolhouse. The annual
tournament is one of the church's most successful fundraisers, but more
importantly it's a way to carry on the traditions our ancestors brought
over from Europe more than three centuries ago. |
