BBC on William Marshal and the Medieval Joust

BBC on the medieval joust:

But while jousting was popular in medieval Europe, it originated as the
curtain-opener to a far more brutal affair.

This was the melee tournament - a brutal free-for-all with few rules
designed very much as a preparation for war.

A substantial portion of the article is devoted to the exploits of William Marshal, the star of the twelfth century tournament circuit:

As an international sport, the melee tournament attracted big money, and from
the 1170s to 1182 William's patron was Henry the Young King, son of Henry II,
and they were fixtures on the tournament fields of Flanders and France.

William Marshal was also apparently a heck of a general. A vernacular history of William Marshal survives, History of William the Marshal, offering both a unique picture of chivalric society and military culture in the twelfth century. Particularly interesting to me is the History's portrayal of intelligence in medieval warfare. Several instances in the History offer insight into effective reconnaissance and the countermeasures that it allowed medieval commanders to take. At Le Mans in 1189, Henry II sent the Marshal with a scouting party to reconnoiter the position of the opposing French army. They quickly spotted the enemy, but a thick fog hindered an accurate view. An attendant suggested they return to Henry II and inform him at least of the French army's position. The Marshal, however, insisted on getting close enough to gain precise information on the size, composition and location of the French troops. (a practice known as "autopsy.") So close did he get that he could have easily been hit by a crossbow bolt. Based the Marshal’s observations, Henry II took specific countermeasures including destruction of a significant bridge, staking nearby fords, and digging ditches to hinder the French advance. In 1202 the Marshal again sought to confirm for himself what his scouts had told him — that the French king had given up the siege of Arques.

The experience of William the Marshal — a knight, not a king — shows that reliance on intelligence for military success was not just a royal ideal. That the Marshal was widely regarded in his day as the greatest of knights, and that his History was written in the vernacular language, suggest that the necessity of acquiring precise and confirmable intelligence gained wide attention.

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