On Mon, 5 Sep 2005, Suzi Clarke wrote: > "Eglington Tournament" which took place (or not!) in 1839. Albert, > Queen Victoria's husband, was very interested in the medieval period, > as were a number of people in England - hence all the Victorian Gothic > architecture. If you want to read more about it, there is a book > called "The Knight and the Umbrella". I have some original costume > designs/fashion plates from the tournament.
Another good account is in Mark Girouard's "The Return to Camelot: Chivalry and the English Gentleman," which devotes a highly entertaining chapter to the Eglinton tournament. I frequently receommend the entire book as essential reading for SCA members and other medieval re-enactors -- it gives you a very good sense of just where many of our assumptions and impressions of the medieval period really come from, and how such disparate elements as the pre-Raphaelites, Victoria's costume balls, Gothic Revival architecture, and the Boy Scouts all fit into the thinking of the time. The Eglinton Tournament was a multi-day event; the procession and joust were to be open to the public, and this part is what got rained out. The participants, who were mostly guests of Lord Eglinton, went inside for a day or two to party, and then re-staged the tournament later (though most of the spectators were long gone). The ball and other events went as planned. Victoria and Albert were not involved in the Eglinton tournament; their Plantagent Costume Ball was a few years later. Girouard traces the various influences and events in a very readable fashion. --Robin _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
