From the Introduction: Some of the local gentry's more ambitious and wealthy members decided to host a jousting event, to impress the citizenry, to curry favour with their own lord and probably to no small degree to win over the hearts of their beloved ones. On a reasonably flat field just outside town they had the jousting field set up. Stands and platforms for the audience have been erected as well as colourful tents for the competitors arriving from near and far. Although the joust is not the only competition, it is the most prestigious one. Thus all the other structures have of course been arranged around the centrepiece of the event, the actual jousting field. The field itself is covered with sand and framed by a low railing. A similar railing marks the centre line of the field along which the competitors will charge at each other.