With all my wonderful gadgets like cellphones, televisions, and computers available today which I just can’t live without, it is difficult to imagine how people found entertainment before the technology boom. Lets step back a couple hundred years and experience the festivity of the medieval era. Entertainment was extremely important to peasants and nobility alike. Live performances, sporting events, and parties were held on an almost daily basis. Medieval people loved entertainment, the more entertainment the better!
Feasts and banquets were common ceremonial meals for the rich celebrating honorary guests or religious festivals. These events were accompanied by various entertainment including plays, dances, and individual entertainers (Jesters, Mummers, Jugglers). The Medieval population loved their free time. It is estimated that, apart from Sundays, they had about eight weeks off a year for play.
Another form of Medieval entertainment were the Tournaments. Medieval tournaments included the clashing of armored knights and were attended by both rich and poor. The tournaments were the favorite sport of hundreds of participating Medieval Knights due to the fact that they not only provided prizes and honor but also kept the knight in great physical condition for his role in warfare. Knights would fight as individuals in tournaments but there would also be team events. There were many different types of tournaments during the Middle Ages which each had a different type of combat method including Jousting and mounted/ground melee fighting.
Sporting in the Medieval Age was also notably prevalent. Sports and games included archery, bowling, dice, hammer-throwing, horseshoes, quarter-staff contests, quoits, skittles and wrestling. The nobility also participated in hunting and Hawking. Other common sport events were animal sports including bear and bull baiting or dog and cock fighting. So now that you see the festivity and easygoing nature of the Medieval Era and mirror it to your busy, gadget filled life, you might become a little green-eyed. I know I did!