Io 
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 
