This is driving me crazy. In ancient battles someone is said to have "held the lists" but I cannot find the meaning after 15 minutes of googling. What does holding the lists mean?

by madkarma

"... At age 24 he held the lists at St. Ingelbert for thirty days, the most admired exploit of his generation. "

Sriad

Good-at-research powers activate!

You made reasonable assumptions but they led you to search from the wrong angle. (Also google [mis]corrects Ingelbert to Engelbert which doesn't help at all, and the text you're working with should have spelled it Igelvert.)

"The Lists" in your quote doesn't have to do with battles per se; it refers to the jousting lists, and in this context "holding the lists" means that someone(s) will conduct a joust where there are champions personally accepting challenges from all comers.

In this case, three French champions (Sir Boucicaut the Younger, Lord Reginald de Roye, and Lord de Saimpi) "held the lists" in 1390--right at the start of the Truce of Leulinghem (a thirteen-year pause in the Hundred Years' War, from 1389-1402), and specifically against English knights. This is why it's "the most admired exploit of his generation"... they wasn't JUST holding a tournament. They were holding a tournament which was very specifically a safer continuation of their war in miniature. The three hung "war shields," indicating that they were also willing to accept jousts which used sharpened lances instead of blunt, issued the challenge to England thus directly challenging elite English knights, and held it near Calais so it would be easy and safe for English knights to attend... The three accounted themselves very well, and between them rode 137 courses during the joust.

More here, translations of Froissart's Chronicles:
https://uts.nipissingu.ca/muhlberger/FROISSART/INGLEVER.HTM
https://uts.nipissingu.ca/muhlberger/FROISSART/ANALYSIS.HTM

Bonus reading: in the historical adventure novel The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle there's a chapter specifically on "holding the lists"/hosting a tournament.

edit: Froissart's Chronicles, having been written by a French guy during the 100 Years' War, might be a slightly biased source, but it IS a direct source. ;)

edit 2: actually Froissart was from "the low countries" near France (a hotly contested region in his time) and traveled extensively through Europe to source his work and spent several years in service to the English court; so probably as close to unbiased as you could get from the time!