Rab Knight Tournament

The knight tournament of the crossbow shooters from Rab is the competition in which the competitors use the original siege crossbows, representing the central event of Rapsa fjera. The gathered visitors watch carefully the shooters launch their arrows towards the target with a sigh.

THE TRUE KNIGHT TOURNAMENT

The knight tournament of the crossbow shooters from Rab is the competition in which the competitors use the original siege crossbows, representing the central event of Rapsa fjera. The tournament takes place four times a year, as follows: on May 9th the Day of the Town of Rab, on May 30th, the Independence Day, and during Rabska fjera on July 27th, the Feast Day of St. Christopher and August 15th, the Feast Day of the Assumption of Virgin Mary.

ABOUT THE CROSSBOW AND THE ARROW

The crossbow weighs from 18 to 25 kg, and crossbow shooters use it to launch the arrow towards the bullet-casing shaped target, called tuljak from a distance of 36.5. The arrow weighs 0.15 kg. It is a powerful weapon, called the siege crossbow. Depending on the model, the force released from pulling the strings is 800 to 900 kg of thrust, and the arrow speed when launched is the stunning 80 m/s, that is 300 km/h. Crossbows are made based on the original drawings, with the help of friends from the Republic of San Marino and their National Crossbow Federation of San Marino (Federazione Balestrieri Sammarinesi).

KNIGHT TOURNAMENTS TAKE PLACE STRICTLY OBSERVING THE RULES

During Rabska fjera, the renewed knight tournaments initiate with the gathering off crossbow shooters, fanfare players and the nobility wearing the traditional costumes. Accompanied by the sound of trumpets, the beating of drums, they proceed towards the Cathedral. The priest welcomes them at the Cathedral, gives them his blessing and wishes the contestants luck. From the Cathedral the participants head towards the Varoš square. The tournament starts when the court determines the rules and the Duke gives his permission to begin. The winner of the crossbow competition gets the award named Felix. The best shooter obtains a small Felix Arba amphora reproduction and his name is permanently entered in the Rab Knight Games Chronicles.

When the tournament is over, the vivid procession proceeds towards the Duke's Palace. The lowering of the flag and firing from the cannon mark the official end of the Rab Knight Games. According to tradition, fireworks are set off at midnight, symbolically indicating the return to the present and the end of the three-day long Rapska fjera event.

THE HISTORICAL RECORDS AND ESTABLISHMENT OF RAB KNIGHT GAMES

On July 21st, 1364, the Great Council of the Town of Rab adopted a decision establishing the crossbow competition of noblemen and commoners, named Rab Knight Games. There are not many historical sources mentioning the Knight Games in Rab in the 14th c. Records show that the decision about the first games (exercises) was adopted by the City Council, but there is no evidence of a continuous holding and rules of the Games. There is evidence that both noblemen and commoners participated in the event and that the best shooter obtained a reward of 100 small Venetian coins (libre). Before the Games could begin, a the chest containing the powers of St. Christopher (Sv. Kristofor) was carried in the procession, followed by the competition of archers in crossbow using the original medieval siege crossbows.