People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 12 The opening of the competition

Lienz is very lively.

At least today is very lively.

The taverns, weapon shops, and blacksmith shops were overcrowded. Knights, nobles, ladies, and more servants, flying various square flags and colorfully dressed, filled the small town.

Lothar and his party temporarily settled down in the hotel.

Mordel squatted in front of the fireplace, baking everyone's clothes that were soaked by the continuous drizzle.

Ryan completed the mission perfectly, bringing back the lance and shield needed by Lothar and Hans, and supervised the guys in the backyard to shoe the two newly acquired Hungarian horses.

Lothar held a bowl of steaming oatmeal and sipped it.

Hans wiped the lance he had just acquired, his expression obviously a little nervous.

Like Lothar, he was just an attendant before and hadn't really been on the battlefield.

Therefore, although his martial arts are quite good in terms of attributes, but they have not been tested, which makes people feel a little lacking in confidence.

The exact time of the competition was not announced, but in the afternoon, people from almost the entire city began to flock to the hunting grounds outside the city, and they naturally knew that the competition was about to start.

The hunting grounds are for the private use of the lord.

Hunting without permission is a crime, and the crimes can be big or small. Strict lords will even execute poaching leaders for this.

Common people are regarded by many lords as livestock that only eat grain, and only meat eaters like nobles are worthy of being called people.

Lothar and his party followed the crowd all the way to the hunting ground.

It's already overcrowded.

In the center of the hunting ground, the wooden stands built around the arena are somewhat majestic like the Colosseum of the ancient empire.

Count Leopold's seat is at the top.

From left to right, the eagle coat of arms of the Great Germanian Empire and the red and white coat of arms of the Babenberg family hang respectively.

On both sides are wrap-around stands arranged from top to bottom.

For the Middle Ages, when the venues for most competitive competitions were still very simple, this is simply equivalent to a large stadium that can accommodate tens of thousands of people in later generations.

Lothar felt a little emotional: "This Earl Leopold is also an ambitious person."

"It is said that this Earl Leopold also intends to participate in this round of the Crusade, but because of His Majesty's face, it is still in the preparation stage."

A few years ago, the emperor and the pope were fighting fiercely.

The struggle between imperial power and religious power was almost at a fever pitch. The emperor envied a group of clergymen who were so rich that they tried to reduce the power of the clergymen.

The Pope wished he could gather a group of princes who were loyal to theocracy to go to war against the Hohenstaufen family.

Although there was no fight due to various factors, the pope also expelled the emperor's membership.

Even though both parties now intend to ease, some small and medium-sized feudal lords still dare not make their own claims before the Pope restores the emperor's membership.

Although the Great Germania was loose, the emperor still had its authority.

After all, as the head of the Hohenstaufen family, the Swabian territory owned by Emperor Henry was also among the four initial states of the empire (ie Swabia, Saxony, Franconia, and Bavaria), with strong strength.

The emperor is not only the emperor of the empire, but also the most powerful feudal lord in the empire.

Of course, to be honest, Bohemia is the strongest state in the empire, but Bohemia is mainly inhabited by Slavs, who have always been outside the power center of the empire.

The reason why Lothar said that Count Leopold is an ambitious person can be seen from the scale of the competition he held this time.

In fact, most knight competitions do not have prizes.

The champion will get fame and honor, which is the biggest reward.

And the victor of each match can demand a ransom from the loser, or get the opponent's armor and horses as rewards, just like winning in a real war.

Therefore, holding a knight competition is often a matter of benefit and cost to the lord.

And the knights can also show their personal bravery, whether it is to attract the attention of the lord, stand out from the landless knight, and transform into a fief knight.

It's still a good thing to gain fame, make yourself famous, and then sell it for a price.

It can be said that the knight competition is a large-scale job fair, a grand event that almost every knight has participated in.

It's a pity that Lothar's father, Count Werner of Argau, is really too poor.

He couldn't support more knights at all, so he never held a competition to attract knights.

Therefore, so far, Lothar has not been able to really participate in this kind of entertainment that was popular among noble knights in the Middle Ages.

Of course, the knight competition is also a very dangerous activity.

In previous competitions, it was rare that there were no casualties.

Even if you use a white beech lance that is easy to break and a round blunt sword head, if you really fight, it is still easy to cause casualties and permanent disabilities.

Especially the pauper knights who don't have complete armor, whose family fortune has fallen, and only a pair of ancestral armor, which can be called an antique, is left.

Often a face to face, the weak point of his armor will be found out by the enemy and deal a fatal blow.

But they still flock to them, hoping to be valued by the emperor and recruit themselves as fief knights.

Model said enthusiastically: "My lord, I heard that foot soldiers like us can also participate in the competition."

Lothar shook his head: "It's best not to. Only knights can kill knights. If you accidentally kill a knight, you may die."

These words immediately poured cold water on Model.

At this time, melodious singing came from the crowd.

A bard from the north of Albion, holding a lute in his arms, playing and dancing while singing.

These Celts who lived on the island seemed to be born dancers who could sing and dance, and they sang some enduring famous songs.

Occasionally improvised.

A bard saw the veiled Prajna, his eyes lit up, he played the lute, and danced beside him: "Ah, the black-haired beauty from the East, she walks side by side with our brave knights." "

While singing, showing a flattering smile, he stretched out his hand to Lothar.

Lothar smiled helplessly, and motioned Ryan to put the coin in the opponent's palm.

Banruo looked at this scene expressionlessly. She is a master of expression management, and she can't see the slightest psychological fluctuation just by looking at her eyes.

A huge long table was filled with delicacies, roasted pheasants, peacocks, even swans, all kinds of game, and large bottles of fine wine for the guests to take.

It's like a buffet for later generations.

Already some knights and their companions got drunk, ran to the stands, and danced wildly to the singing of the bard.

Under the earl's stand, in the center of the competition field, there is a long baffle, surrounded by simple wooden fences.

When the competition starts, the knights will enter the arena on both sides of the baffle, and then fight, this is to avoid the horses from colliding and causing irreparable damage.

In the stands, many ladies have already arrived first.

They whispered to each other, looking at the knights who appeared on the arena.

Some noble ladies made no secret of their favor for certain knights in the arena, throwing winks and garlands at them.

Many aristocratic couples who came together through political marriages seldom restrained each other's behavior, which also made both of them married, but they could be unrestrained.

If these noble ladies took a fancy to a knight, it was said that they would not only recruit them as guests, but also provide a sum of money for the knight to purchase equipment, and even develop into long-term lovers.

In front, a knight with painted bird feathers on his head, like a peacock courting a mate, is waving his hands to the stands.

His handsome appearance and fair skin immediately attracted a large crowd of ladies screaming.

Participating in the martial arts tournament, winning the favor of the noble ladies and young ladies in the stands, in order to obtain funding, even prostitution for free, is also the pursuit of the knights.

Lothar noticed very keenly that among the crowd, a knight in old armor exchanged glances with a lady in the stands.

The lady's eyes were full of worry, but the knight's face was full of determination.

Obviously, this is a love story between a down-and-out knight and a noble lady.

Once the knight can win the game, or emerge and win favor, he has the hope of marrying this noble lady.

But Lothar didn't think he had much to expect.

A set of excellent armor can enable a knight like Lothar to fight ten against nomad cavalry in Magyar.

With armor and without armor, refined armor and old armor are completely two concepts.

"Competitive competitions in this era are really interesting."

Lothar sighed.

"Hans, have you participated in similar activities?"

Hans shook his head and said, "The competitive competitions of our era have been transformed into social performances. The knights are dressed up like pheasants, and there is no need to fight at all."

He was also dazzled by the sight, and his heart was surging, and he had already begun to fantasize about easily defeating the enemy in such a scene and winning applause from all the halls.

"Look, the Earl is here."

Someone shouted excitedly.

People suddenly boiled.

In this era of lack of entertainment.

They were extremely grateful to the generous earl for spending such a large sum of money to provide them with such a lively event.

(End of this chapter)