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Tournament gallery

a couple stop to admire and examine a shining armour with a skirt that once belonged to Henry VIII

Discover the fearsome weapons used and the special armours developed for protection in different competitions. Tournaments were extreme sporting events that were often organised to show royal or noble power. Like many modern elite sporting events, many tournaments were also lavish displays that brought competitors and spectators far and wide. As a colourful, chivalrous and dangerous spectacle, the era of Tournaments lasted 600 years.

Highlights

  • New display focusing on The Field of Cloth of Gold - one of the most amazing political and sporting events ever staged which celebrated Tudor power and glory
  • Armourers' tools from Henry VIII's armoury
  • Gift armours for horse and man, and sporting weapons
  • Two innovative and technically splendid armours made for King Henry VIII
  • Elizabethan courtiers armours made by the royal workshop at Greenwich

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