Noble knight tournaments were filled with blood and violence, but the nobles were incredibly enthusiastic, even fanatical, about them.
For noble lords, displaying their strength in a knightly tournament could attract more knights to voluntarily pledge allegiance. It was an excellent opportunity to showcase their power.
Lesser knights could also put themselves on display, earning the chance to be noticed by a great noble and get a foot in the door to serve them.
Knightly tournaments included various events.
The simplest divisions were mounted combat and unmounted combat.
Basically, with a horse or without one. Easy enough to understand.
In mounted knightly combat, fully armored noble knights charged their opponents. Victory was determined by killing an opponent, unhorsing them, or forcing a surrender.
It's worth noting that the competition was not "fair." All participating knights wore their own armor; only the weapons had to be made of wood.
