Running at the ring

[2] A similar contest, the corrida de sortija, is held in Argentina where it is considered a gaucho sport derived from the Spanish tradition of medieval tournaments.

[5] This version of a lance game or quintain could be played in teams, and the riders sometimes dressed in exotic fancy costume as a spectacle at weddings or other court festivals.

[6] At Munich in February 1568, at a match held at the wedding of Renata of Lorraine and William V, Duke of Bavaria, the spectators were entertained by the costumed aristocratic riders and professional Italian comedians.

[13] Costume fabrics for Henry VIII of England to run at the ring at Greenwich Palace in January and February 1516 included velvets, damasks, satins, and sarcenets.

[17] John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland wagered and lost a valuable velvet cap to Jakes Granado, running at the ring at Westminster Palace on 6 June 1550.

When the French ambassador, Gilles de Noailles, came to see Elizabeth I at Horsley in Surrey in August 1559, they watched Robert Dudley, Master of the Horse,[22] and other courtiers running at the ring from a window: Noailles wrote:d'alla asseoir prés d'une fenestre, au devant de laquelle son Grand Escuyer, et dix ou onze autres Gentilshommes se tenoient prestz pour luy donner du plaisir à voir courre la BagueWe sat near a window, below which, nearby, her Great Squire [Dudley], and ten or twelve other courtiers ran at the ring for her pleasure.

François wrote to Mary of Guise from the Palace of Fontainebleau in January 1548, mentioning his exercises wearing armour and running at the ring, courir la bague.

[38] An entertainment written by George Buchanan for the wedding of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry, Lord Darnley, the Pompae Equestres, involved the arrival of teams of exotic knights, and may have provided themes for a tournament.

[40] In May 1567, following his wedding to Mary, Queen of Scots, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, then known as the Duke of Orkney, ran at the ring at a court festival at the Water of Leith or beside the Firth of Forth.

Sand was brought to lay out a course for running at the ring, under the direction of William MacDowall who had supervised works in the palace garden for three decades.

The wedding was celebrated in Fife with a tournament of "running at the ring" and James VI took part in a costume of white satin dressed with silken ribbons.

[47] In February 1581 a payment was made for painted spears supplied to James VI and sand delivered to Holyrood to build a course or track called a "carear" or career.

(tree = lance)And so I trou, dare ony of yon thrie:Bot they are not come heir for sik a thing;Bot rather, for thair Ladyes sake, to seQuha fairest runis, and oftest taks the ring.Go to than, schirs, and let us streik a sting.Cast crosse or pyle, wha sall begin the play;And let the luifsume Ladyis and the KingDecerne, as judges, wha dois best, this day.

[54][55] The rules of the Stirling tournament were: Some people were not pleased at the idea of the king and his companions dressed as the Catholic "Knights of the Holy Spirit".

[60] After the Union of the Crowns, in January 1604, a "standing" was built for Anne of Denmark to watch running at the ring at Hampton Court.

[61] The courtier Roger Wilbraham wrote a summary of his impressions of the entertainments at court in January 1604, including the masque of The Vision of the Twelve Goddesses and ruuning at the ring; "King James was at his court at Hampton, where the French, Spanish, and Polonian ambassadors were severallie solemplie feasted, many plaies & daunces with swordes, one mask by English & Scottish lords, another by the Queen's Maiestie & eleven more ladies of her chamber presenting giftes as goddesses.

[64] Prince Henry competed at running at the ring with foreign visitors and diplomats including Louis Frederick, Duke of Württemberg-Montbéliard in April and May 1610.

[65] On Monday 15 February 1613, after the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of the Palatinate there was a tournament of tilting and running at the ring at Whitehall.

[67] George Carleton, newly appointed as a chaplain in the household of Prince Charles in February 1615, praised his skill at riding and running at the ring.

[69] Philip Massinger in his play The Maid of Honour wrote of "carpet knights" who "thought to charge, through dust and blood, an armed foe, Was but like graceful running at the ring".

After his Royal Entry to Madrid, Charles and the Marquess of Buckingham were invited to view the course from a high window with Philip III of Spain and his sister.

One of the few known instances of colonial-era jousting was organized by John André as part of the 1778 Mischianza held in Philadelphia to honor the British Commander-in-Chief William Howe.