Court
of Love
The
court of love is another game which was played at the feast
table. Ladies could demand that their gentlemen make a declaration
of their undying love that must convince the assembled guests
that they are sincere. This declaration could take the form
of a poem, an argument before a courtroom, or a direct plea
to the young lady. The presentation should be serious or lighthearted,
but must not be demanding or nasty. Those single men could
make declarations to any single young ladies at the feast.
The reaction of the guests could be either approving or disapproving.
The
first recording of courts of love were by Andreas Capellanus,
chaplain to Christine de Pisan.
A
Sign of Love
This is for both sexes who wish to express interest in anyone
at the feast, those who wish to express interest where to
do so with the proper medieval sign of offering a cloven fruit.
The
fruit which was offered could be any type of fruit and was
to be covered in whole cloves.
The
custom was that the recipient of the cloven fruit was to pluck
a clove from the fruit with his or her teeth and chew it up
before offering a kiss. The origins of this custom are that
by eating the clove would freshen the breath before they gave
a kiss.
Dice
The
dice in medieval times where not always square. The spots,
or pips are arranged the same today.
Dice
games were inviting people to gamble. There are records showing
men losing sheep, clothing, wives and children.
There
are many games that can be played with dice such as"-
1.
A Game where you have two or more players. Each player rolls
the dice and the first to one hundred wins. To make it even
more hard the person must roll exactly a hundred no more.
2.
Another game is raffle which requires three dice and is scored
similar to poker. The object of this game is to get all three
dice to land with the same numbers showing or to throw pairs
of the same number. If the highest score is divided among
two or more players with the same pair then it comes down
to the last number on the third dice.
3.
Passage is another game where the first player rolls three
dice until he/she gets a pair of the same number. If the total
of the pair is under ten, the player is out and loses. If
it is over ten they win. If the throw is exactly ten, then
the dice are passed to the next player but the cash pot or
other wager is not collected.
Hoodman's
Blind
Hoodman's
Blind or Blind Man's Bluff in medieval times was a physical
contact and rough game. The rules where one person was to
be chosen to be "it" and blindfolded by having the
hood of his litrapipe pulled down over the head. The player
is then spun around several times and is to seek his tormentors.
The tormentors are to actively torment him by pulling at his
clothes, shoving him around, and whipping him. Once he has
successfully captured a player, he is then released from the
blindfold and the person he captured then becomes "it".
There is not conclusion to the game.
Children's
Games
There are many children's games such as hide and seek, seesaw,
tag, and walking on stilts were amongst many games played
in medieval times.
Queek.
This
game is played by using a large, checkered cloth and spread
on a hard, smooth surface, or on a chessboard, then the children
would toss pebbles on the board, calling out in advance whether
the pebble would land on a light color or dark color board.
Stone
Throwing
This
done by throwing small stones for a distance or at a target
on the ground for accuracy.
Outdoor
Games
Archery
Archery was a sport competition most common with the medieval
Europe and in England and Wales. The Welsh archers were highly
skilled with the longbow became the terror of the battlefield.
Many English kings outlawed all other forms of sport so as
to have all men practicing with their bows for at least two
hours every Sunday.
Camping
Camping originated as a game similar the what football, soccer
and rugby are today, as well as other games where to teams
are vying to control a ball, which was kicked or thrown to
score points against another team.
In
this game the goal posts could be trees, boulders, and stone
walls. The field may be as small as a village green and the
goals may be miles away even as far as another village that
they played against. The amount of people playing may be 4
or 5 up to whole villages.
There
were no official rules and in many cases the rules were made
up on the spur of the moment. The only thing was that the
players were to throw, carry, pass and kick the ball while
the opponents would try to tackle or block the passing of
the ball to the teams’ players and to gain the ball
to pass to their own team players to get the goal.
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