The Tournament at Saint-Inglevert (1390): Chivalry, Diplomacy and Pas d’armes

Abstract

In March and April 1390, three French knights jousted against over one hundred knights and squires who had travelled from across Europe to challenge them, but above all from England. This great tournament was held at Saint-Inglevert near to Calais, the English outpost on the northern coastline of France. Modern scholars have viewed the event through the lens of the on-going Hundred Years War. But rather than seeing this chivalric competition as an extension of the war between the two sides, it should rather be understood as part of the diplomatic engagement between Charles VI and Richard II during the 1390s, an informal opportunity for the elites to meet and form bonds that shaped the rapprochement between the two sides. Saint-Inglevert also marked an important stage on the path towards the great theatrical tournaments of the fifteenth century, helping to explain the rise in popularity of the famous pas d’armes.