Number of players: 2
Type of game: Boardgame
Period: 2400BC+

History

The Royal Game of Ur is a game that was played in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest game boards date to about 2400 BCE, but the most famous, from which the game gets its modern name, come from the royal tombs at Ur, in ancient Sumer, which is in modern Iraq.

It was a very popular game in the past as boards have been found all over the Middle East and beyond, including Crete, even making it all the way to Sri Lanka! The game was also played in ancient Egypt as ‘the game of 20 squares’; all four senet boards in the tomb of Tutankhamun had this game on the other side of the boxes.

Tables is both a family of games that all use the same board and a specific game. Today the most common tables game is backgammon, and the medieval game of Irish is the direct precursor of Backgammon.

As Tables games were very popular we have made a leather tables set.

The “Hundred Years’ War” between France and England (1337-1453) was an episodic struggle lasting well over a hundred years, for much of the time without any conflict. The battles were both violent, but also occasions when ideals of “chivalry” were displayed. Here are extracts describing various battles from the Chronicle of Jean Froissart.

The Battle of Poitiers 1356
Oftentimes the adventure of amours and of war are more fortunate and marvellous than any man can think or wish. Truly this battle, the which was near to Poitiers in the fields of Beauvoir and Maupertuis, was right great and perilous, and many deeds of arms there was done the which all came not to knowledge.

The “Hundred Years’ War” between France and England (1337-1453) was an episodic struggle lasting well over a hundred years, for much of the time without any conflict. The battles were both violent, but also occasions when ideals of “chivalry” were displayed. Here are extracts describing various battles from the Chronicle of Jean Froissart.
The Battle of Crecy (1346)
The Englishmen, who were in three battles lying on the ground to rest them, as soon as they saw the Frenchmen approach, they rose upon their feet fair and easily without any haste and arranged their battles. The first, which was the prince’s battle, the archers there stood in manner of a herse and the men of arms in the bottom of the battle. The earl of Northampton and the earl of Arundel with the second battle were on a wing in good order, ready to comfort the Black prince’s battle, if need were.

In the 14th century there were four main forms of bow, the longbow, the English bow, as used by the English, the short bow, as used by the southern Europeans, and the crossbow. Each weapon was used in different ways and had its own strengths and weaknesses. First, let us have a brief overview of the different bows, then we can look in more detail at the methods in which they were used.