Tournament armour is plate armour made specifically for the mock combats, jousts and foot contests of the medieval and Renaissance tournament, rather than for the battlefield. Because these events involved predictable kinds of blow, particularly the impact of a lance on the left side, tournament harnesses were often much heavier and more heavily reinforced than field armour.
Specialised forms developed during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, including the frog-mouthed jousting helm, bolted to the breastplate and giving the wearer only a narrow sight; reinforcing plates such as the grandguard and pasguard that protected the left shoulder and elbow; and the shaped shield or targe fixed to the chest. Princely armourers in Germany, Italy and at the royal workshops at Greenwich produced elaborate garnitures that could be adapted with exchange pieces for different events. Genuine tournament armour is rare and largely held in great collections such as the Royal Armouries and the Wallace Collection. Many pieces on the market are nineteenth-century reproductions or composite armours made for display in country house halls, so collectors pay close attention to construction, metal, wear and provenance.
