Médiévales

3rd weekend in August

All over town during the 3rd weekend in August there are training sessions with armed fighters in costume, passage of arms and jousting. A large medieval market holds events, fun workshops about past professions for young and old and weapon presentations at the foot of the château.

The Médiévales events are the perfect chance to take part in the most famous Tarascon tournament: Le Pas d’Armes de la Bergère (the sheperdess’ passage of arms). King René wrote Le Livre des Tournois (The Tournament Book) in 1460, in collaboration with Barthélemy d’Eyck, the artist with whom he also worked on Cœur d’Amour Épris, This exciting manuscript is essential to the history of the tournaments as they were at the end of the Middle Ages: a formal parade with a strict etiquette perfectly illustrated in René of Anjou’s guide.

In verse, it recounts the famous tournament of the Pas de la Bergère, which took place between the 3rd and 8th of June 1449 on the Isle of Jarnègues. A shepherdess is guarding her flock under a tree during the jousts. The tree has two shields, a white one symbolising joy and a black one for sorrow. The knights taking part in the tournament receive one or the other depending on their success. The winner receives a golden stick, a kiss from the shepherdess and a diamond. The nobility of Provence, Anjou and Lorraine then come together for a ball and a great banquet during which rare animals (hedgehogs, porcupines, storks and peacocks) prepared with spices from the Orient are served. An enormous pâté in the shape of the castle is also served and when it is opened, rabbits, hare and birds run and fly out of it to the sound of trumpets, fifes, horns and tambourines, “much to the ladies’ amusement”.