Editing Knight (section)

===Tournaments===
{{Main|Tournament (medieval)}}
[[File:Codex Manesse (Herzog) von Anhalt.jpg|thumb|left|[[Tournament (medieval)|Tournament]] from the ''[[Codex Manesse]]'', depicting the mêlée]]
In peacetime, knights often demonstrated their martial skills in tournaments, which usually took place on the grounds of a castle.<ref>Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D.{{cite web |url=http://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/knight4.htm|title=How Knights Work|publisher=How Stuff Works |date=January 22, 2008}}</ref><ref>Johnston, Ruth A. ''All Things Medieval: An Encyclopedia of the Medieval World, Volume 1''. Greenwood (August 15, 2011). pp. 690–700. ASIN: B005JIQEL2.</ref> Knights could parade their armour and banner to the whole court as the tournament commenced. Medieval tournaments were made up of martial sports called ''[[hastilude]]s'', and were not only a major spectator sport but also played as a real combat simulation. It usually ended with many knights either injured or even killed. One contest was a free-for-all battle called a ''[[Melee (tournament)|melee]]'', where large groups of knights numbering hundreds assembled and fought one another, and the last knight standing was the winner. The most popular and romanticized contest for knights was the ''[[joust]]''. In this competition, two knights charge each other with blunt wooden lances in an effort to break their lance on the opponent's head or body or unhorse them completely. The loser in these tournaments had to turn his armour and horse over to the victor. The last day was filled with feasting, dancing and [[minstrel]] singing.

Besides formal tournaments, there were also unformalized [[Trial by combat|judicial duels]] done by knights and [[Squire|squires]] to end various disputes.<ref name="Dav">David Levinson and Karen Christensen. ''Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present''. Oxford University Press; 1st edition (July 22, 1999). pp. 206. {{ISBN|978-0195131956}}.</ref><ref>Clifford J. Rogers, Kelly DeVries, and John Franc. ''Journal of Medieval Military History: Volume VIII''. Boydell Press (November 18, 2010). pp. 157–160. {{ISBN|978-1843835967}}</ref> Countries like [[Germany]], [[Britain (country)|Britain]] and [[Ireland]] practiced this tradition. Judicial combat was of two forms in medieval society, the feat of arms and chivalric combat.<ref name="Dav"/> The feat of arms were done to settle hostilities between two large parties and supervised by a judge. The chivalric combat was fought when one party's [[honor]] was disrespected or challenged and the conflict could not be resolved in court. Weapons were standardized and must be of the same caliber. The duel lasted until the other party was too weak to fight back and in early cases, the defeated party were then subsequently executed. Examples of these brutal duels were the judicial combat known as the [[Combat of the Thirty]] in 1351, and the [[trial by combat]] fought by [[Jean de Carrouges#Trial by combat|Jean de Carrouges]] in 1386. A far more chivalric duel which became popular in the Late Middle Ages was the ''[[pas d'armes]]'' or "passage of arms". In this [[hastilude]], a knight or a group of knights would claim a bridge, lane or city gate, and challenge other passing knights to fight or be disgraced.<ref>Hubbard, Ben. ''Gladiators: From Spartacus to Spitfires''. Canary Press (August 15, 2011). Chapter: Pas D'armes. ASIN: B005HJTS8O.</ref> If a lady passed unescorted, she would leave behind a glove or scarf, to be rescued and returned to her by a future knight who passed that way.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}