Wednesday, February 05, 2020

Question from Bertha - Favors at jousts

Hi everyone, I'm the admin of a AU Tudor-era collaborative writing site (https://loyaltybindsus.jcink.net/index.php), so you'll probably be seeing me around here a lot! Anyways, in the first season of The Tudors, Henry VIII asks Catherine of Aragon for her favor before a joust (he simply says, "My Lady," and holds his lance up to her and she ties a ribbon around it). It's been surprisingly difficult to research on my own because "favor" is so widely used to mean political favor (though I did read on an unverifiable website that detachable sleeves were often given as favors, which sounds true and is neat!). In any case, my main question is, would women have given favors at an early-Tudor-era joust? Any other information or resources about the history or social implications of that sort of favor would be massively appreciated.

2 comments:

Jacky LORETTE said...

A "favor" is a very narrow, plain ribbon. You can tie a gift with a "favor".
Formerly called "favors", ribbons, gloves, buckles, sword knots, given by a lady.
At the Field of Cloth of Gold, during the jousting on Thursday, June 14, on Henry's helmet was tied a "favor": a detachable sleeve of a woman's clothing replaced the usual plumage.

Unknown said...

It seems a favor was any little bauble or ribbon that a lady could bestow upon her chosen champion.