Outdoor Sports

What a royal or nobleman often liked best was outdoor sports, especially on horseback. Jousting was one example of a sport that involved horses. The player would use a long pole called a lance to try and knock his opponent off his horse. If a man won, it was one of his greatest sporting pleasures.

 

Another popular outdoor sport was hunting. All game was reserved for the royals and the nobles. They had a right to hunt or fish whenever they pleased. A villein never dared to kill a wild animal or take a fish from a stream. The peasants were not even allowed to shoot a deer or wild boar that was uprooting their crops. If they even trapped a rabbit they risked the sentence of death!

 

In Medieval times, both lords and ladies were skilled at falconry. This was a very popular sport in Medieval times. The object was to teach birds to hunt.

 

Other outdoor sports were archery and broad jumping. In winter, children pushed playmates across frozen marshes and ponds on sheets of ice. Older boys lashed small animal bones to their feet and ice skated.