Medieval Games

The games of medieval Europe were mainly the same as those of

Egypt, Greece, and Rome: dice, knucklebones, marbles,
checkers.

Chess, which came to Europe from the Islamic Empire, began to be

played in Europe toward the end of the Middle Ages, and after paper
reached Europe from China, playing cards also began to appear in the
later Middle Ages.

We also see more children's toys from this time: whistles and little
dishes and dolls.

As for spectator sports, the gladiatorial games of the Roman Empire

ended with the fall of Rome. In the Christian era, men no longer
fought men to the death in the arenas.

But many similar entertainments survived and flourished. In the old

amphitheaters, many of which still continued to be used, men
continued to fight animals: bears and bulls were the most popular of
these, because they were the most dangerous. And people who had
been convicted of crimes continued to be executed as entertainment.

In the old circuses, also, horse-racing and chariot-racing continued

to be popular for a long time. This was especially true in
Constantinople, where the charioteers (the drivers) were divided
into teams (the Blues, the Greens, the Whites, and the Reds, though
the Blues and the Greens were the most important) and which team
you rooted for was tied to your politics and your religion, and often
led to violent riots and murders in the circus and in the streets. But on
a smaller scale, horse-racing continued in Spain and Italy also,
throughout the Early Medieval period. You can still see a medieval
horse-race today at the Palio in Siena, which is held every year.

Instead of the old gladiatorial combats, the medieval world introduced

the tournament, in which armed and armored knights fought each
other for prizes, and for the entertainment of the king and queen and
the public. Tournaments were different from the old gladiatorial
games in two ways. First, they were not intended to end in death,
though men did sometimes get killed anyway. Second, they were
fought by aristocrats, not by slaves and poor men. Still, they
presented men fighting each other for entertainment, just as the
older gladiatorial games had.

These tournaments were also a lot like the popular Islamic sport of
polo, which was invented in Uzbekistan around the time of the
Parthians, became common in West Asia around 800 BC, in the time
of the Abbasid Empire. It might be the popularity of polo that
encouraged the people who organized tournaments to emphasize
fighting on horseback, rather than on foot as the gladiators did.
(http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/games/index.htm)

Questions.

1. Find out the meaning of the words in bold. Use your own words.

2. Which sports form the Middle Ages are still played today?

3. Have you ever played any of these sports?

4. In which ways was tournament different from gladiator’s fights?

5. Choose one of the sports and find information on the Internet.

Compose a power point including photos, pictures and some
text about the sport.

Deadline: December 15th 2010