Tournament of Chauvency

The Tournament of Chauvency was held in 1285 to bring together the greatest knights of France and Germany for six days of jousting and other activities, a social event of primary importance at the end of the thirteenth century.

The tournament was documented in the poem le Tournoi de Chauvency by the thirteenth century trouvère Jacques Bretel.

Most notable are: Note that Ottokar II was killed on 26 August 1278 at the Battle on the Marchfeld (by the troops of Rudolf) as so was clearly not at the tournament as reported by Bretel.

A fanciful description of the tournament activities can be found in the book The Reign of Chivalry by British historian Richard Barber.

[1] According to Laret-Kayser,[2] Louis V used to tournament to promote his family's illustrious history, from being descended from Charlemagne to his ancestor Arnold I, Count of Chiny, sending his sons to fight in the First Crusade.