Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

282 Knights
glect. Instead, many new forms of order and pseudo-order, only superficially
resembling the older orders, were founded, both by kings and princes
and by nobles of lesser rank.
The traditional tournament was virtually discontinued after 1380 and
was replaced by the joust, in which knights fought what were effectively
duels. A number of variants of the traditional joust—each designed to provide
practice in a different form of knightly combat—emerged in this period,
especially in Germany, in which regional societies dedicated to promoting
the sport were founded. In France, by contrast, individual knights
or small groups of knights began in this subphase to undertake chivalrous
enterprises (called emprinses d’armes) based on those of the errant knights
of the Round Table, and these might involve challenging to a joust all those
who passed a certain spot or performing a set of faits d’armes (deeds of
arms) by a specified day.
For some of the more formalized variants of the joust, the great helm
was still employed, though in a modified form now described as “frogfaced.”
For serious military activities, however, the great helm was abandoned
around 1380 in favor of a new type called the great basinet, which
was equipped with a movable visor and a separate plate for the chin and
neck, or bevor, which remained the dominant form of knightly helmet until
the end of the phase. In addition, the classic war-shield was finally abandoned
by most knights around 1380, and thereafter shields were employed
almost exclusively in jousts. A new form of shield was adopted for this setting
around 1380: the concave, cusped, quasi-rectangular type called the
targe, which was used into the sixteenth century.
The emergence of the articulated harness of plate around 1410 led to
a temporary abandonment of the heraldic surcoat as well as of the heraldic
shield, and the heraldic arms of the knight were displayed to the end of the
phase mainly on flags and horse trappings (though they continued to monopolize
the designs of seals and became increasingly important in funerals
and on tombs). The same subphase, however, saw an immense expansion
and spread of the use of paraheraldic symbols of all types, especially as livery
symbols, but also as marks of military units.
Finally, there is reason to believe that it was during this subphase that
the knighting ritual was increasingly reduced from its traditional form, in
which the central acts were the attachment of the sword belt and golden
spurs of knighthood, to a much simpler one in which the sole act was the
delivery by the officiant of the (previously described) collée. This abbreviated
form may have been used when knighthood was conferred on the eve
of a battle, and it was probably extended to civil settings on a temporary
or emergency basis before it was generalized. The collée was commonly accompanied
by a short exhortation by the officiant, who said, “I make you