Things haven't changed much in the last thousand years. The young women (married and unmarried) who attended tournaments were not always simply spectators. It was openly admitted that there was a certain interplay between the women in the stands and the armored young men on the playing field. A knight could ask for "a lady's favor" in the coming event and, if she were interested, she would give "her" knight a small bit of her clothing which he would wear on his armor or, more symbolically, tie to the end of his lance. If he won, he and the lady might get together later for some private jousting. Tournaments were basically combination festivals, ongoing party, and sporting event. Only a fraction of the action was on the playing field. It was this aspect of tournaments, perhaps more so than the violence, that led many prominant clergymen to preach against tournaments. Without much success, as it turned out, for atheletes and their female admirers will always manage to find each other.