10 



couraged them for military reasons ; others 

 discouraged them under Church influence, or 

 as records show, because they were produc- 

 tive of loss in horses and arms, which the 

 resources of the country could ill afford. 



We find traces of the old " Justs of Peace," 

 as tournaments were officially called, in the 

 names of streets in London. Knightrider 

 and Giltspur Streets, for example : the 

 former owed its name to the circumstance 

 that through it lay the route taken by knights 

 on their way from the Tower to the lists at 

 Smithfield ; the latter to the fact that the 

 makers of the gilt spurs worn by knights 

 carried on their business there. Cheapside 

 was the scene of some historical tournaments, 

 as were the Barbican and Roderwell. The 

 Tiltyard near St. James's was the exercise 

 ground of knights and gentlemen at a later 

 date. 



JOHN (1199-1216). 



King John reigned at a period when the 

 armour worn by mounted men was becoming 

 stronger, and when the difficulty of finding- 

 horses powerful enough to carry heavily 

 mailed riders was increasing. This sove- 

 reign, so far as can be discovered, was the 

 first to make an endeavour to increase the 



