Every 17 November, the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s accession, the knights of her court rode in the tilt-yard to defend her beauty and worth against all comers. The custom began in 1559 when Sir Henry Lee of Quarendon vowed to appear yearly as the Queen’s champion, and the gentlemen who followed him formed a society of Knights Tilters. Lee handed the office to the Earl of Cumberland in 1590.
Sir Henry Lee’s Accession Day tilts
17 November · Whitehall, London
No longer kept
the nobility and gentry of the court, incited by so worthy an example, formed themselves into an honourable society of Knights Tilters, which, yearly assembling in arms, held a grand tourney on each successive 17th of November.
From Chambers's Book of Days, vol. 2, p. 590. Read the original
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