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As the seventeenth century approached,
an alternative needed to be found to replace the
medieval tournaments which were rapidly being
outlawed due to excessive injuries. The nobles
would not be deprived of a game that displayed
one of their best qualities, their skill at equestrian
sports. The substitute they found was the origin
of the "carousel". The name comes from
the Italian word "garosello" and the
Spanish word "carossela," meaning little
war.
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One of the equestrian games played at the carousel
was inspired by a training exercise for tournaments:
the game of "catching the ring." Elaborately
costumed noble participants instructed by their coaches,
the great horsemasters of Europe, introduced a whole
new era of the sport of catching rings. Louis XIV at
the court of France, was reputed to be one of the best
at this new, considerably less dangerous sport. Antoine
Pluvenil and Grisonne, two men often credited as the
front-runners of classical riding and dressage, both
instructed Kings and noblemen in the finer points of
riding and "riding at rings". Pluvinel in
his 1623 book Maneige Royal, devoted 1/3 of the manual
to instructing King Charles on his ring riding skills.
There were several other games played at the carousel.
They were the quintain games which involved lancing
a pivoting figure or dummy with a lance from horseback,
and another version first referred to as a roundabout
which involved lancing small rings from seats suspended
from a revolving apparatus with seats, which were later
changed to small wooden horses. We know these apparatus
today as the carousel bedecked with magnificently painted
horses. Marie Antoinette was particularly fond of this
aristocratic game and even had a building erected at
Versailles park to house her carousel.
Colonial Americans, although only one or two generations
removed from their European ancestors did not seem as
interested in sports reminiscent of medieval trappings.
Although very familiar with the eccentricities of their
European contemporaries' pastimes, they were not quite
so quick to adopt them. The only well documented eighteenth
century account of a tournament in America is the famous
Meschianza. Held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May
18, 1778 during the American Revolution, the Meschianza
was organized and planned by a Frenchman Major John
Andre' to honor General Howe who was stepping down as
commander of colonial British forces. An elaborate "exhibition
of a tilt and tournament according to the customs and
ordinances of ancient chivalry" the event did not
seem to capture the Americans interest.
Courtesy of the National Jousting Association.
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