There were many different types of Medieval Sports in the Middle Ages. The majority of which were

designed to increase skills and fitness of fighting men. The sports included the following:

Archery - Archery contests were especially popular

Bowls

Colf - the ancestor of Golf ( a sport for the nobles)

Gameball - a simple football game

Hammer-throwing

Hurling or Shinty - a similar game to hockey

Horseshoes - throwing horseshoes at a target

Jousting at Tournaments

Quarter-staff contests

Skittles - an ancestor of modern ten-pin bowling

Stoolball - an ancestor of Cricket

Wrestling

Archery was not just one of the Medieval sports of the Middle Ages. Lower Class men were required to

practise archery by law! The first Medieval Archery Law was passed in 1252 when all Englishmen

between the age of 15 to 60 years old were ordered, by Law, to equip themselves with a bow and

arrows. The areas designated for archery training during the Medieval period of the Middle Ages were

called the Butts. The power of the longbow was so great that at the Battle of Crecy, in 1346, the French

army was decimated. It is estimated that nearly 2000 French knights and soldiers were killed by the

longbow arrows. The English lost just 50 men. This explains why Archery Laws were passed and why

training at the Butts was so important and included as one of the most important Medieval sports in the

Middle Ages!

The really big sporting events were the Tournaments and the Jousts. These sports were dangerous, men

were killed at tournaments. Quintain and Pell Training were essential for the Knights who participated in

these sports. Feudal Lords and Knights used such weapons as swords, lances, daggers and battle axes

and many Medieval sports were designed to provide practise of such skills.

http://www.lordsandladies.org/medieval-sports.htm 

 

 

Peasant men wore stockings or tunics, while women wore long gowns with sleeveless tunics and

wimples to cover their hair. Sheepskin cloaks and woolen hats and mittens were worn in winter for

protection from the cold and rain. Leather boots were covered with wooden patens to keep the feet

dry. The outer clothes were almost never laundered, but the linen underwear was regularly washed. The

smell of wood smoke that permeated the clothing seemed to act as a deodorant. Peasant women spun

wool into the threads that were woven into the cloth for these garments.

Fur was often used to line the garments of the wealthy. Jewelry was lavish, much of it imported and

often used as security against loans. Gem cutting was not invented until the fifteenth century, so most

stones were not very lustrous. Ring brooches were the most popular item from the twelfth century on.

Chaucer's prioress in the Canterbury Tales wore a brooch with the inscription "Amor vincit omnia"

("Love conquers all"), not a particularly appropriate slogan for a nun. Diamonds became popular in

Europe in the fourteenth century. By the mid-fourteenth century there were laws to control who wore

what jewelry , and knights were not permitted to wear rings. Sometimes clothes were garnished with

silver, but only the wealthy could wear such items.

 

Art and music were critical aspects of medieval religious life and, towards the end of the Middle Ages,

secular life as well. Singing without instrumental accompaniment was an essential part of church

services. Monks and priests chanted the divine offices and the mass daily.

Some churches had instruments such as organs and bells. The organistrum or symphony (later known as

a hurdy gurdy) was also found in churches. Two people were required to play this stringed instrument--

one to turn the crank and the other to play the keys.

Medieval drama grew out of the liturgy, beginning in about the eleventh century. Some of the

StoryWeaver: Contribute your story about a medieval tapestry. topics were from the Old Testament

(Noah and the flood, Jonah and the whale, Daniel in the lion's den) and others were stories about the

birth and death of Christ. These dramas were performed with costumes and musical instruments and at

first took place directly outside the church. Later they were staged in marketplaces, where they

wereproduced by local guilds.

http://www.learner.org/interactives/middleages/artsentr.html