Podcast #26 Renaissance Festival Games 
Hello and Hip hip huzzah and welcome to The Ren-fest Experience Podcast
Music Break - “Mayhem”, Sloanwolfe - Sloanwolfe
Days of Yore History Lesson
Card and Board Games

• Frussi and Basetta, are some card games popular during the renaissance. Chess was likewise a favorite board game during this time. It was said the game was played in Florence as early as the 14th century.
  
  
• One of the popular ball games during that era was Pallone, wherein a ball had to be struck by a person using his fist. The object of the game was for the players not to let the said ball rest on their side of the field. Another ball game played during that time was Maglio wherein a ball had to be knocked to a certain spot. The player who knocked the ball to a spot nearest to the “goal” was declared the winner. The game was said to have been popularized in Florence in the 15th century.
  
  
• Football was another favorite game during the Renaissance time period. It was played in Florence during the republican rule. The game was particularly popular during the 16th century as young men of 25 per team battled to bring their football to the other side of the goal. Interestingly, the game was called Calcio during those times, a name that is still used to refer to the modern-day game.
  
  
• The Pome which is a game of skill and strength, was also played during that time. The game had players throwing a spear at a hanged apple. They were allowed to run to get more momentum in taking aim at the target.
  

Sports

- Jousting was a competition between two knights on horse-back, wherein each knight tried to knock the other off his mount. Jousting was at the peak of its popularity in the 14th to 16th centuries.

- other outdoor type of games include badminton, croquet, and tennis

- People in the renaissance played with balls made out of animal bladder, wood, and cloth. Dolls and toy solider were used for children play.

- Early forms of bowling and tennis were played. Children, and adults, played with balls made of animal bladders, cloth and wood. Hobby horses, dolls, toy soldiers made from clay and wood; and small wooden "play" swords were also known to exist at the time, for children.
- Swordsmanship, previously used in battle, was refined into the sport of Fencing and of course Archery a past time then is still played today.

Games at Renaissance festivals – darts and archery, Jacob's ladder, dunking booths, Human chess games, and other games of chance like trying to land a ping pong ball in a tankard. Music, dancing, and plays are also great ways to have fun at renaissance festivals.

Jacob's Ladder The trick is balance – keeping it centered all the while moving the one hand and the opposite foot at the same time when climbing the ladder until you reach the top.

Games outside of renaissance festivals include computer role playing games and there are many to choose from or the Sims Medieval game – simulating life in a renaissance or medieval village. Board games like Backgammon and chess are still popular. Try Carcossone, a puzzle like game where you build roads, castles and fields to gain points where the one with the most points wins. And you can't forget, as a kid – string games like cats in the cradle, hop scotch, and group games like London Bridges, Ring Around the Rosey and Red Rover.
References
http://www.renaissance-spell.com/Renaissance-Games.html
http://www.erasofelegance.com/history/renaissancelife.html
Music Break – Past time with Good Company, Elizabethan Syngers Sing We and Chant It.
Interview with Mac Gregor Games
Music Break - “Briefcase No. 1”, Uncivilized, Tartanic
Tavern Talk News

- MN Fire – Sept. 30 A fire damaged was started in one of the food booths and spread damaging booths such as Scotch Eggs, the pizza booth, the soup booth and the sub booth.

- Article “Don't go to a renaissance festival for a history lesson” (http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/130587713.html )

- Fires in Houston forces changes in what's going on at the Ren-fest

In years past, the festival has had a nightly fireworks display, but this year there will be a light show instead. The Magnolia Fire Department will be on hand each night, just in case. Smoking is now prohibited in the parking lot and campfires are not permitted in the campgrounds. Only propane devices are allowed for cooking. For more info go to their website www.txrenfest.com ww.click2houtson.com
www.myfoxhouston.com

Check out our website www.therenfestexperiencepodcast.com and sister site www.therenfestexperiencepodcast.podbean.com We are on Facebook (www.facebook.com/therenfestexperiencepodcast ) and Twitter - @RenfestPodcast
Toast
He who goes to bed, and goes to bed sober,
Falls as the leaves do, and dies in October;
But he who goes to bed, and does so mellow,
Lives as he ought to, and dies a good fellow.
--Parody on Fletcher.
Final Song – “Victor” by Wine and Alchemy, What Dreams May Come