The word is derived from the French “tournoyer,” to wheel round, and the name in old French was “tournoiement.” Tournaments were first instituted as training schools for the practice of arms, and were later tempered by the rules of chivalry. Jousts or justs of peace (_hastiludia pacifica_) were single combats, or a succession of such, for a prize or trial of skill; while the tourney was troop against troop. The term “passage of arms” is often used somewhat generally; but, strictly interpreted, it was a combat where several knights on each side were engaged, some fighting on foot, others on horseback. The sword was often blunt and pointless, being of whalebone covered with leather and silvered over. When actual swords were used no thrusting was permitted, but striking only. The length of the lance proper was usually about fourteen feet, the shaft being of ash; but there were several varieties of the weapon for the different “courses”; and in very early times, like the lance for battle, it was both thinner and shorter. An ordinance of the thirteenth century provides that the lance should be blunted, but this having been systematically evaded, another ordinance of the century following required the lance-head to be in the form of a coronal; and this law was for a time strictly enforced. There are examples in the Tower of London, and specimens exist in most museums abroad, notably at Dresden. The courses to be run were generally three in number. “Joustes à outrance” were to the death. Tournaments had their birth in Germany, in which country warlike games, probably inherited from the Romans, prevailed as early as the ninth century; indeed, there was an important “passage of arms” at Strasburg in the year 842.[20] They continued very popular after the breaking up of the Franco-Germanic empire, and formed the pastime of the higher class up to the Thirty Years’ War. These early warlike games, in spite of all precautions, were often attended with great loss of life, and as many as sixty combatants have been put _hors de combat_ at one “passage of arms.” They were always popular in France, and held there on a large scale; indeed, it is claimed that the “tournoiement,” properly so called, had its birth in that country, where it is said to have been instituted by Geoffrey de Preuilli, who died in 1066; and these warlike games were very much in vogue during the reign of Philip Augustus. The armour and weapons for the tournament at this time were the same as those used for battle, and continued so until after the reign of Edward III.; but the lighter form of lance was common in France long after it had been discarded in the other countries mentioned, and the French shaft was made of sycamore or fir. It was not before the beginning of the twelfth century that jousting or fighting with lance in rest became common; in fact, until then the lances in use were unsuitable for that purpose. Much information regarding the