en featuring reinforced steel plates and enclosed helmets fixed to backplates to prevent the neck from snapping back. Though it was a sporting event injuries and fatalities were not uncommon and tournament armor could weigh as much as 100 pounds. The third type was parade armor intended for public show. It was thin and light, made of softer metals, and extensively decorated.
Tournaments began around 1100 as training for knights and by 1200 they were sporting events in which knights displayed their skills. They offered dazzling spectacles and by the fourteenth century were usually combined with other public entertainments--feasts, pageants, music--that took on chivalrous themes. There were several forms of jousting, but the usual goal was to break lances and unseat one's opponent. One of the most common jousts was tilting, named for the low barrier that ran the length of the field, between opponents. Jousting knights had to protect their heads especially well and as helmets became larger and more concealing knights' distinctive markings on shield, armor
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