Leisure Activities
Medieval entertainment varied between classes but they did enjoy feasts, banquets, jousts and tournaments, Mystery Plays, fairs, hunting, hawking and animal entertainment. Jesters were people who acted like a fool or buffoon at medieval courts.
Mummers were incognito dancers or merrymakers at the festivals. Other entertainers include Minstrels (musicians or singers), Troubadours (balladeer or poet), acrobats, jugglers and conjurers (performer of conjuring tricks).
Upper and Lower Medieval people played games like card games, board games, dice games, children’s games and sporting games.
Mummers were incognito dancers or merrymakers at the festivals. Other entertainers include Minstrels (musicians or singers), Troubadours (balladeer or poet), acrobats, jugglers and conjurers (performer of conjuring tricks).
Upper and Lower Medieval people played games like card games, board games, dice games, children’s games and sporting games.
Board GamesThey particularly enjoyed chess, The Philosophers Game (rithmomachy- a mathematical board game), knucklebones (early dice game), Alquerques (ancestor of Checkers) and Fox & Geese (a strategy game.
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Archery ContestsArchery contest were very popular and competitive. Colf is ancestor of Golf and Gameball is the ancestor of football. The Olympic field event hammer-throwing and wrestling were practised in the Middle Ages. Hockey was even played but was called Hurling or Shinty. Horseshoes, which is throwing a horseshoe around a target, was played rather often. Skittles (forefather of ten pin bowling) and Stoolball (predecessor of Cricket) were also played.
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