Run Through Medieval Sports Trivia Quiz

Answer: pig's bladder

Similar to modern day football but you were unlikely to get any of those nasty yellow or red cards for breaking the rules as there wasn't any. All you had to do was to get the ball to the opponent's side by any means. On the day before Ash Wednesday, whole villages would join in and play.

The game sometimes lasted for days through the streets and across fields! The pigs bladder, after being inflated with air, was filled with dried peas. A local legend from Chester and Kingston-on-Thames, claims the first game was played with the head of Danish Prince!

Answer: Stick fighting contests

The Quarterstaff, sometimes known as a Balkstaff or Stave, was usually made from hardwood such as Ash or Oak and measured around six to nine feet. Some had metal tips making this close contact weapon even more lethal. Stick fighting contests were especially popular with the lower classes as the quarterstaff was fairly cheap to make. During the 16th century the Quarterstaff also became the favoured weapon of 'London Masters of Defense', an organisation founded during the reign of Henry VIII.

Answer: Archery

If you didn't have a bow and arrow and practice Archery you were breaking the law of the land! This law certainly paid off during a battle with the French in 1346 when the French lost around 2000 men to the power of English Longbow.
Archery was considered one of the most important of sports and even a lowly serf could find fame and fortune if he excelled at it.

Answer: Tennis

Known as Real tennis now, a name given by sports journalists in the 20th century to separate it from modern Tennis, Henry V111 was a real enthusiast building the first indoor court in England at Hampton Court Palace. He went on to build other indoor tennis courts in various of his palaces so he was never short of a place to play! This game almost certainly spawned many of the indoor racket games seen today.

It's thought that Henry's wife, Anne Boleyn was watching him playing tennis when she was arrested and that he was playing tennis when he was told she had been executed.

Answer: Milkmaids

Milkmaids were said to turn their milking stools upside down and throw stones at them while waiting for their husbands to come back from work. Not everyone believes cricket is descended from Stoolball but it's possible that a game played with a three legged stool and the hand could turn into a game using a wicket and bat. Also, the first mention of Stoolball (around 1470) predates cricket by over a hundred years. Stoolball is mentioned in Samuel Johnson's dictionary as being "a game played by driving a ball from stool to stool". Stoolball is still played today but bares almost no resemblance to the game played in the middle ages.

Answer: Shinty

Shinty is thought to be one of the oldest games in history, predating Christianity and the recorded history of Scotland. It's believed that it arrived in Scotland with the Gauls, having the same root as the Irish game of Hurling. It is also called camánacht, cammock, and knotty amongst other things.

The World English Dictionary defines Shinty as "a simple form of hockey of Scottish origin played with a ball and sticks curved at the lower end". It was traditionally played in he winter months, which presumably kept the cold at bay!

Answer: Golf

Maybe the more interesting question would have been who invented Golf or Colf? However, that may have been a very tricky question to answer as so many countries lay claim to the origin of the game. It's believed that the name 'Golf' comes from the Dutch word 'Colf' which means 'Club'.

It was a very popular game in Holland played by both Kings and commoners in the 15th century. The French claim that their game, 'jeu de mail', played from the 16th century was a forerunner of Golf. A stained glass window in Gloucester Cathedral shows a man hitting a ball in a very golf-like way and this was at least 100 years before the first written golf record in Scotland.

It's true that the origins of a club and ball based game could have come from anywhere but it was the Scots who added the final touches to give us the game of golf we recognise today.

Answer: Hammer

Hammer throwing has been traced back to the Tailteann games, Tara, Ireland which were held from 2000 BC. During the Middle Ages hammers were forged from iron with three foot handles. The weight of the axes often differed so one would be tempted to go for the lightest (I would anyway!). Around 1875, hammer-throwing, was included in field events in the British Isles and the weight of the hammer set at 16 pounds.

Answer: Richard of Normandy

Richard of Normandy, the second eldest son of William the Conquerer and Matilda of Flanders, was mauled to death by a stag in the New Forest, England.
For the lower classes hunting was off limits. Poachers found inside the royal forests were usually put to death.
I have no doubt that at least two of Henry VIII 's wifes wish he had fallen prey to his prey! Thomas Beckett, of course, was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by followers of Henry II. The forests of Europe were brimming with wildlife and hunting was a great social event, not just a pastime. As many other of the medieval sports, it also honed the skills needed for warfare.

Answer: Jousting

A ladies favour was usually a ribbon or a veil given to the knight she wanted to be her champion. It was then up to the knight to succeed for the sake of that ladies honour. Bit like betting on a horse :)
Tournaments often lasted days and often the prize money provided by a rich noble. Jousting was very dangerous. A wooden fence separated the two horseback contestants who rode at each other with lances, the object being to knock your opponent of their horse. Drinking too much caused unruliness, pillaging of the local villages and deaths.
So many valuable knights were being killed that in 1292 a new law was passed for tournaments. The " Statute of Arms for Tournaments" stated that weapons used must be blunt and the tournament organised properly with only authorised competitors carrying arms.