Arundel tournament was joust amazing

Knights from around the globe descended on the historic venue to take part in the annual International Jousting and Medieval Tournament, which ended on Sunday (July 27).

The contest is the longest of its kind, and the largest in Europe.

Arundel’s deputy mayor and town crier, Angela Standing said: “It was absolutely fantastic. How they can do a skilled job like jousting while riding on a horse, I’ll never know.

“Hundreds of people were watching, especially on the Saturday and Sunday. There wasn’t a blade of grass free to sit on.”

And as the tournament entered its sixth year at the castle, rivalries between teams and nations were fiercer than ever, resulting in the toughest fought competition to date.

The Burgundian Alliance rode to victory to take the team title. As this was the first time the team had competed at Arundel, they surprised onlookers with their jousting prowess.

Made up of an amalgamation of countries, the team included renowned Norwegian jouster Per Estein Prøis-Røhjell and Ben van Koert from The Netherlands.

Taking the individual jousting title this year was Andrew Deane, knight of the Kingdom of England.

Andrew has been jousting since 1985 and has since travelled across the globe, teaching and performing mediaeval skills. As the reigning Individual Champion of Arundel Castle, Andrew will be invited back as Knight-Marshal for the 2015 tournament.

The award for the most chivalrous knight was given to Patrice Rolland, knight of the Kingdom of France, while Jan Gradon, knight of the Kingdom of Poland took the skill at arms title.

As well as all the action over six days in the jousting arena and the display of hand-to-hand combat, visitors to the castle’s grounds were able to experience a range of other medieval activities throughout the packed week.

Living history group Raven Tor held a medieval encampment throughout the week.