Games



Varieties of games were played in the Middle Ages and some versions are still played today. There were two types, and one of them is action. There were many different types of action games. For example, action games included ball games, modern games, and other kinds. Some ball games that were played were soccer, field hockey, and football. Modern games were types like leapfrog, tug-of-war, and hide-and-seek. And some other kinds were swordplay, animal sports, and archery. A numerous amount of the action games were also used for training in the military. The Tournament was one of the biggest military exercises used to prepare for war. They were festive occasions that knights usually played in. There were also other men and women who competed in other events like parades and pageants.

The other game type was sitting games. Those games were types like various card games, dice games, and board games. Card games became so popular that playing them on work days was prohibited. Dice had become the classic gambling game but the church opposed it and had several bans on dice games. To be a board game it had to involve moving pieces around a board according to specific rules. The most famous board game was chess. It was held in high esteem as a game that improved your mind. Children mostly played sitting games as adults mostly played action games. But, both types of games we have versions of and still play today.

Works Cited
 * Elyob. “Medieval Jousting, Bayeux.” Flickr. Yahoo, 1 July 2006. Web. 1 Apr. 2010. .
 * “Games and Pastimes.” The Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia For Students. Ed. William Chester Jordan. Vol. 2. New York: Charles Scribner’s Son, 1996. 140-143. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 Mar. 2010.
 * “Sports and Games.” Medieval World. Ed. Sally Mac Earchern. Vol. 9. Danbury, CT: Grolier Education, 2001. 48-52. Print.