A Getty Exhibit Shows The Surprising Similarities – And Differences – Between Medieval Knights And LeBron James

Long before LeBron James and Lionel Messi, the greatest name in sports was Jacques de Lalaing. As a medieval knight-errant, Jacques competed in tournaments hosted by royalty, winning titles and wealth and the attention of ladies. Undefeated in single and group combat, he dominated 15^th century jousting to such an extent that his triumphs were celebrated in a lavishly-illuminated posthumous biography.

The Book of the Deeds of Jacques de Laliang is one of fifteen extraordinary medieval manuscripts currently on view at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, included in an exhibition about play and pastimes in the Middle Ages.

Some of the manuscripts are instructional. For instance, The Flower of Battle, created in Venice or Padua around 1410 – a decade before Jacques was born – provided step-by-step directions on how to handle a lance. For more intellectually inclined patrons, a near-contemporaneous book from Northern France presented a suite of chess problems that would still serve as good training for grandmasters-in-waiting.

However, as an illumination in a nearby manuscript reminds us, play in the Middle Ages had a seriousness distinct from today’s professional sports and chess tournaments.

Produced in Antwerp in 1464, with exquisite miniature paintings by Lieven van Lathem, the Romance of Gillion de Trazegnies tells the story of a medieval nobleman, his journey to Egypt, his accidental fall into bigamy, and his heroic death in battle. In the page on view, his twin sons kneel before the king of Cyprus, dressed in battle armor, holding shields with emblems that visually evoke the checkered pattern of a nearby chessboard. The mirroring is significant because chess was a game used to teach military strategy and battlefield tactics that the twins would later use in mortal combat.

Mastery of sports including jousting and hunting likewise played into squires’ training, providing practice in horsemanship and handling of weaponry while also informing royals’ choices about who to field in war. These playful pursuits were foundational to status in the bellicose Middle Ages, and provided iconography fit for a king, as illustrated in a Latin psalter from the 13^th century showing a monarch regally mounted on a white horse while gracefully practicing falconry.

In a way, the tale of Jacques de Lalaing marks the end of this era. As brave in battle as in jousting, he fought for Philip the Good in the Revolt of Ghent. Besieging Poucques Castle, he is said to have met his fate when he was unsportingly struck down by a cannonball.

As advances in warfare made tournaments less significant in militaristic terms, sports gained leeway to provide entertainment for player and spectator alike. By the 20^th century, brinkmanship carried the threat of nuclear apocalypse and a terrorized public craved all the distraction it could get.

Of course the distinction is not absolute. Jousting was undoubtedly entertaining, athletic pursuits still prepare soldiers for the battlefield, and modern-day war games (including those informing strategies for nuclear conflict) are directly descended from chess. It would also be ludicrous to refer to pro sports as a pastime; the fame and fortune bestowed on LeBron James Lionel Massi far exceed even the rewards amassed by Jacques de Lalaing. There is no denying the serious work governments put into attaining geopolitical supremacy and or the serious business underlying multimillion dollar sponsorship negotiations.

However the medieval manuscripts show a more fluid relationship between playful and serious pursuits. In the artful imagery of Jacques de Lalaing, the tournament has the quality of theater, a staged event in which and Jacques and his horse are fancifully costumed characters. Jacques even wears a jeweled cuff and a white veil given to him by noblewomen watching the event. The battle theme overlaps seamlessly with the drama of courtly love.

Playfulness may never have been more serious, nor seriousness more playful, than they were in the Middle Ages.