Games Played in Medieval London
Written By: Stephanie Smith
Submitted by Mistress Dulcia MacPherson, Trimaris
http://www.millersv.edu/~english/homepage/duncan/medfem/games.html

I became interested in the similarities of some of the games I played as a child and those played in London in the twelfth century. Some of those similarities include playing tag and ball, running races, and imitating adult ceremonies like marriage (Hanawalt, 78).
The pre-adolescent males were quite cruel in their activities. They had what was called "Shrove Tuesday," where school boys would bring fighting cocks to their school masters and everyone would watch the cock fights. They often broke many windows and wounded pedestrians during their bird hunts, which involved shooting stones at pigeons and other birds. It got so bad that the city of London had to ban such play in 1327 due to extensive injury and property damage (Hanawalt, 78).
The young people of the city were drawn to the numerous parades and pageants that punctuated London's yearly calendar. They spent most of their time, however, horseracing and bear baiting along with other such sports that involved cruelty to animals (Hanawalt, 117).
Behavioral differences between childhood and adolescence could be revealed through the games they played. Adolescents experimented with wrestling, sword playing, and archery, which were adult games. They also began to visit taverns, learning to play dice and checkers. The tavern was a major temptation for young males. There they could learn all of the bad habits of adults. Basically, the adolescent games were characteristic in preparation to adult games and sports. Women, however, were discouraged from engaging in such activities (Hanawalt, 114-116).
Women could, on the other hand, fill their leisure time with music, embroidery and literature. This was engaged in by women particularly of lower nobility (Labarge, 224). For the noble ladies, it was considered suitable for them to sing and dance for pleasure in their own quarters (Labarge, 226). According to the English eyre rolls (legal documents) of the thirteenth century, women would occassionally engage in what might have been considered male-oriented sports. This included documentation of women swimming, boating, and playing chess (Carter, 84).
References:
Carter, John Marshall. Medieval Games. Connecticut: Greenwood, 1992.
Hanawalt, Barbara A. Growing Up in Medieval London. New York: Oxford University, 1993.
Labarge, Margaret Wade. Small Sound of the Trumpet. Boston: Beacon, 1986.

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