Blue Boar Tavern May 28: Mark Your Calendars!

Tournaments, Jousting and Tilting at the Blue Boar Tavern!

’Twere good, I think your lordship sent him thither:
There shall he practice tilts and tournaments,
Hear sweet discourse, converse with noblemen.
And be in eye of every exercise
Worthy of his youth and nobleness of birth.

Two Gentlemen From Verona, I.iii

Jousting, tilting, and combat at the barriers were aristocratic sports requiring extraordinary skill. They helped keep England’s nobility trained for real warfare, where survival could depend on the width of a sword blade or the angle of a lance. Shakespeare’s works contain scenes of both theatrical tournaments staged for honor and prizes, and real battles, where the stakes were life and death.

On Thursday, May 28, 2026 at 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT, the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship opens its popular on-line forum, the Blue Boar Tavern, for a lively discussion of royal tournaments in Queen Elizabeth’s court.

This episode will explore Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford’s documented appearances in three royal tournaments, including his famous 1581 appearance as the Knight of the Tree of the Sun, and examine how Shakespeare’s detailed knowledge of tournaments, tilts, barriers, and battlefield culture complicates traditional assumptions about authorship.

Come raise a pint with Taverners Dorothea Dickerman, Hank Whittemore, Pete Frengel, and our favorite bartender, Jonathan Dixon.