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6^2 MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
veloped in France; it was the ludus or conflicts Gallicus. Despite
repeated papal prohibitions from the time oflnnocent II ( 1 1 3 o)
till that of John XXII (1316), it flourished, and many reputax
tions and fortunes were made by young landless knights by
prowess on the tournament ground and by ransoms and prizes
won. The outstanding example ofa man who made his fortune
in this way is William Marshal, earl of Pembroke, in the
twelfth century. In the reign of Henry II, if not earlier, the
tournament was introduced into England; in 1194 it was
legalized by Richard I in order to improve the skill in fighting
of English knights who were reputed inferior to the French,
but under certain conditions: the tournament must be licensed
by the king, the combatants must pay (in advance) entrance
fees according to their rank, ranging from twenty marks for an
earl to two marks for a landless knight, and it must be held on
one of five recognized grounds distributed about the country.
It was a battle game, indeed in its early days more battle than
game; it was a dangerous and bloody affair in which the
opposing teams of knights armed with swords charged about
in a general melee on the open plain without rules, goals, or
boundaries (PL 137). Fatal casualties were a frequent occur^
rence. Moreover, as it was often the prelude and the training for
baronial it uprisings, was prohibited by the government during
most of the reign of Henry III, though the penalties
for dis-"
obedience were often little more than nominal. These violent
and disorderly melees continued long into the later middle ages*
But often, it should be said, the most turbulent element was not
the combatants, but the squires on foot who attended upon
them. Incentive was given to the tournament by Edward I,
himself a keen and skilful performer, both before and after he
ascended the throne, and he became the moving spirit in its
development. Under his direction rules were drawn up in 1267
(which about 1292 became statutory) and a committee apx
pointed to enforce them. Tourneying was also much affected
by changes of fashion in arms and armour; blunted (or
re^
bated) instead of sharp weapons came into use, and plate
armour superseded mail in the fourteenth century and gradually