Active Games from the Middle Ages
This is a handy listing of games to play with children. Even though the listing was created for SCA reenactment events - it's still lots of fun to play these today! I've used it many times with my Girl Scout troups as well as children at SCA events - loads of fun! And while the children learn to play a new game, they can also learn a little bit of history!
Time to play!
Below is a listing of games for play with children of all ages. Used quite extensively for both my SCA events, and with my Girl Scout troop events. Hope you find these useful.
Hoodman's Blind
Hoodman's Blind, known today as Blind Man's Bluff, is played by having one person to be it. This person is blinded with a blindfold or hood and stands in the midst of the other players. The other players try to buffet him without being caught. If he caught someone, the blind man had to identify the player before being replaced by him. When played among strangers, a simple capture or tap was sufficient. Some children enjoy being blind and so tend to try to get caught, which spoils the game, This can be helped by holding to the rule that a player three times blinded is out of the game.
Jingling
In Jingling, all of the players are blindfolded except one. He must stay within a certain area while they all try to catch him. If he can remain uncaught for a set time, he wins a prize. This is not so easy, for he must keep moving and he wears jingle bells around his wrists, ankles and neck. Sometimes he wears a hat, tunic, or belt from which jingle bells are suspended as well. It is best to have a referee available to warn the blind men if they are in danger of injuring themselves. If the Jingler is caught before the time allotted, he who caught him becomes the new Jingler.
Hot Cockles
In this game, one person sits while another kneels with his face in the sitter's lap. The other players then take turns slapping the hands which the kneeling player holds out behind him. If he cannot guess who has slapped him, another gets an opportunity to slap. If he guesses right, the slapper takes the kneeler's place.
Tierce
One of the most popular games of tag in the Middle Ages was Tierce. In it, the players are standing two deep in a circle. Two players are chosen as the chaser and runner. The chaser pursues the runner in and out of the circle. If tagged, the runner becomes the chaser. A runner can seek safety at any time by standing in front of one of the pairs in a circle. The player in the back of what is now a line of three then becomes the runner. The game continues until the players tire of it.
Drop Gloves
Drop Gloves is played in a circle also. The players are all facing the center except the "it". "It" walks slowly around the circle behind the players. He drops a handkerchief behind one player's back. That player must pick up the handkerchief and race after the "it" in the same direction around the circle. If the "it" can reach the space left by the chaser before being tagged, the chaser is "it." If he is tagged first, then he is "it" again. If done surreptitiously enough, the "it" can get nearly around the circle before the person behind whom the handkerchief has been dropped realizes he is the chaser.
King Caesar
In King Caesar, the King (who must hop on one foot) must tap the other players on the head, making them his subjects. They then capture the other players by the same method, until one is left, who becomes King for the next game.
Fox and Chickens
In Fox and chickens, or Fox in the Hole, the fox must chase the chickens on one foot. He has a hole (base), where he may stand on two feet, but whenever chasing chickens, he must hop on one foot. The chickens are free to run on both feet. Once a chicken is caught, it returns with the fox to the hole and becomes a fox also. The game continues until there is only one chicken left. This chicken becomes the fox in the next game. The nature of the handicap is counterbalanced by the notion that it is cowardly for the chickens to refrain from taunting the fox by coming as close to him as they think possible. Any time the fox stands on both feet, he is required to return to his hole.
Kales
Kales is a game in which from six to eight pins are set in a line with one pin somewhat larger than the rest. The players vie to see who can knock all of them down in the fewest throws of a baton. If the distance from which they throw is great or the terrain particularly difficult, a set number of throws is decided on, and the contest is to see how many pins can be knocked down in that series of throws. Children and rustics, indeed, all those who could not afford the pins in the Middle Ages, played a similar game using the shin bones of a sheep. This game was called "Loggats."
Court Baton
Court Baton is a test of strength. The two players sit opposite each other on the ground. Their feet are together and they both hold a stout pole between them. At a signal, they each pull on the pole and push with the feet, trying to flip the other person.
Barres
The most popular chase game of the medieval period was Barres, or Prisoner's Base. Two camps are set off on one side of the field. Two prisoners are set off about 20 yards away diagonal to the camps as in the diagram. Two captains choose sides of about ten players each, and the teams go to their bases. The captain of one side will send one of his men to taunt the other side and start the game. The captain of the other side will send one of his men to capture the first man. The captain of the first team will then send someone to capture that man, and so on. Except for the first player, each player will be both pursuer and pursued. A player getting back to his own base can be sent out again after a new opponent. Each person may only chase one person at a time, however. If a player is caught,
he is taken to prison by his captor, who is immune from capture until he returns to base and is sent out again. The opposing captain may send one of his men to rescue a prisoner, but he is subject to capture by a man sent out by his opponent. Should a rescuer reach the opponent's prison, both he and the prisoner within (he may only release one prisoner at a time) may return to their base immune from capture. The game continues until all members of one side (except the captains, who do not play on the field) have been captured, until an agreed length of time has elapsed (in which case the side with the most prisoners wins) or until the game has become hopelessly confused.
Gluckshaus
Background:
Gluckshaus means "house of fortune" and is a late medieval ancestor of Roulette. The German version of the popular dice game has a beautiful playing board. The board pictured on the back of this page is from Laura Palmer's coloring book, The Big Book of Board Games. It is a copy of an actual board, dated 1583, now in Munich.
Playing Board:
The board is shaped like a double-armed cross and has ten squares, each bearing a picture and a number. Players (any number) throw two dice in turn counter-clockwise. If a player rolls 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 or 11 and the corresponding square has a coin or coins in it, he takes it/them. A roll of 4 has no effect because there is no square number 4. A roll of 7 is the Wedding, and since you must always bring a gift to a wedding, the player rolling 7 always pays a coin to the 7 square. If a player rolls 2, the Lucky Pig, he takes the coins from every square except the Wedding (7). If a player rolls 12, the King, he takes all the coins on the board. Players may enter or leave the game at any time.
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