Sir Anthony Lord Scales

[Strider]

It was a clear late summer day. Several tents were pitched on the grass outside of the walls of the old Tower of London, common folk was flocking in, few noblemen and ladies were assembled around where the Queen was about to emerge, a bagpiper and a drummer were entertaining the people. At the far end of the pitch the knights were being attended by their servants: putting up all that armor is no easy task.
I found a place as close to the line as I could and held my breath as the Mayor of London galloped past, turned to us, the spectators, and announced that the jousting tournament is about to begin. The challengers are the English champions led by Sir Anthony Lord of Scales brother to the Queen herself, and those who took the challenge are the finest knights of Burgundy. The trumpets sounded and the Queen's procession approached the pitch, walked past us to the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd, and the ladies and nobleman took their place at the special wooden construction placed at the side of the pitch and decorated with flags and tapestries. The Mayor went on explaining the rules of the tournament and introduced the 4 knights, as they one by one galloped onto the pitch. They all looked splendid, but the English champion, Sir Anthony, attracted every gaze, as he rode his black steed, protected by black armor with but a red cloth flying behind him.
The knights took their positions and the trumpets rang again.
No storyteller could possibly put all of the excitement of jousting tournament into words. One has to see it with his or her own eyes and hear the thunder of the hooves, the cheers of the crowd and the clash of shattering spears... It was so real that it felt somehow unreal: the old stones of the Tower, the clothes, the armor, the manners of the people accurately replicating year 1467, and the tournament itself. Each knight took 2 rides against the other and the points were awarded according to the rules of jousting. The Burgundies won, because they had more points in total. But that was not the end yet, as the Queen wanted to know who the best knight is. So there were 3 more runs between Sir Anthony and Duke of Burgundy - the two knights who were equally matched. Three perfect runs, where each shattered his spear on the opponent's shield. After the third round, as they still had equal points, the Herald took both spears and measured the broken ends. It was but by a half an inch that Sir Anthony's spear emerged from the clash shorter than that of his opponent, testifying the superior strength of his blow. And so it came to pass that Sir Anthony Lord Scales was declared the best knight of the tournament at the Tower of London in the year 1467 [Or at least this was the outcome of the "re-play" that took place on 1st of September 2007 and was, as the participants told me, not staged but played out fairly, as a true sport event, rather than a theater, although, of course, there was a lot of theatrical elements to it]
And I was there and saw it with my own eyes...