Sea jousting

Water jousting is a sport practised principally in France and also Switzerland and Germany. It is a form of jousting where the adversaries, carrying a lance and protected only by a shield, stand on a platform on the stern of a boat. The boat is propelled by oarsmen or, in some cases, a motor may be used. The aim of the sport is to send the adversary into the water whilst maintaining one's own balance on the platform.

The jousters stand on a wooden platform on their boats. As the two competing boats draw level with each other, each jouster, protected by their shield, uses their lance to push their opponent off the platform and into the water. The exact rules of the contest vary from region to region and country to country.

The oldest representations of water jousting have been found on bas-reliefs dating from the Ancient Egyptians (2780 – 2380BC). It would seem however, that these relate more to a form of brawling than a leisure activity; given that the jousters are wearing no form of protection and carry gaffes armed with two points at their end.

Evidence of jousting is subsequently found in Ancient Greece. The Greeks introduced the practice into Sicily where the Latins, great lovers of all kinds of spectacle, immediately adopted it. Indeed, there are countless signs of jousting in the Roman Empire, especially during naumachia (literally "naval combat"). The latter featured naval re-enactments and other water-sports that took place in arenas designed to be flooded for the purpose. In all likelihood, the Romans introduced these types of games throughout their empire. Evidence for this comes from the description of a fête held at Strasbourg in 303 in honour of Emperor Diocletian. Some historians argue, however, for an introduction of the games from the foundation of Massilia, a Greek colony founded in 570BC and later to become the French city of Marseille.

After Roman times, there is no record of water jousting until the twelfth century. It is possible that the sport survived during the intervening period in communities close to water, but it is not mentioned anywhere. The oldest document dating from the post Roman period in France refers to a jousting tournament in Lyon on 2 June 1177, to commemorate the millennium of the Christian martyrs of Lyon and Vienna. Another document tells us that "in 1270 in Aigues-Mortes, crusaders, soldiers and sailors, awaiting embarkation for the Holy Land with King Louis IX (Saint Louis), faced off in single combat mounted on small boats.

...
Wikipedia