The group on this platform depicts a foot-tourney in the mid-seventeenth century. The contestants have been divided into pairs, as was usual at that time. The aim in this type of combat was to strike your opponent’s head or chest with your sword or lance across a wooden barrier and, if possible, for the impact to break his weapon. In fact, the weapons were blunt, because the intention was not to kill or even to injure your opponent.
The armours exhibited here are from the mid-seventeenth century. The bear the marks and dents of some hard-fought jousts. The Dresden foot-tourneys were generally held in the palace courtyard or at the old market square. A set of rules for the foot-tourney, written on parchment, has survived from the seventeenth century; we even still have the proclamation for a tourney that Johann Georg I and his brother Christian issued in 1679:
“On the occasion of this princely gathering and celebration and by the Grace of God we, Johann Georg and Christian, brothers and Dukes of Saxony, Jülich, Cleve and Berg, Landgraves in Thuringia, Margraves of Meißen, Oberlausitz and Niederlausitz, Counts of the Marck and of Ravensburg, Lords of Ravenstein, do present here in the square in front of the Electoral Palace a free, open foot-tourney in particular honour of His Grace and the princely personages in attendance, which will revive chivalric skills and celebrate our ancient nobility’s fame and finest qualities; we have therefore resolved to appear on Tuesday, the 3rd day of December, at 11 a.m. in the aforementioned square and to defend ourselves to the best of our ability with the lance and the sword against all aventuriers.”
Unfortunately we don’t know who made the foot-tourney armours you see here. The fact that there were also precious armours, worthy of high-ranking princes and lords, is evident from the items in the display case opposite the platform, where the iron torso has been etched with ornamental foliage and rosettes on finely tooled backgrounds.
The figures on the platform are holding original jousting swords. You can see more examples of swords used in this kind of tournament in the same display case. Like the armours, the weapons were provided by the prince who hosted the tournament. A large supply of armour and swords was stored in the armoury for precisely this purpose. The motifs etched into the blades – including helmets and sword-arms along with inscriptions – were tailored to specific tournaments. One such inscription that was popular at the time was a warning to contestants: “Be nimble in this chivalrous game, Or take many blows for your blame.”
