Speed skating in the 15th century
About skating in the 15th century several stories are known, First of all there is the story about the Duke of Geldre
A skating match led to the fall of a castle
The Duke of Gelder, Arnold, was very unpopular in his duchy in the East of the Netherlands because of his mismanagement which led to very high debts and poverty in the area. In the end only one town, Grave, and the castle in the same place were left in his position.
His son, Adolf, thought that his father should step down and hand over the management of their country to him. On the 3th of January 1465 this happened according to the story in a very special way. Adolf was skating regularly on the water around the castle with his friends. His father wanted to break the ice because he was afraid that people could enter the castle walking over the ice. His son convinced him not to break the ice because he wanted to have a skating competition with his friends the next day. So the ice was left as it was but in the night some soldiers, on the hand of his son, entered the castle and imprisoned the father. In this unconventional way Adolf took over the governance of Gelder from his father.
A skating match led to the fall of a castle
The Duke of Gelder, Arnold, was very unpopular in his duchy in the East of the Netherlands because of his mismanagement which led to very high debts and poverty in the area. In the end only one town, Grave, and the castle in the same place were left in his position.
His son, Adolf, thought that his father should step down and hand over the management of their country to him. On the 3th of January 1465 this happened according to the story in a very special way. Adolf was skating regularly on the water around the castle with his friends. His father wanted to break the ice because he was afraid that people could enter the castle walking over the ice. His son convinced him not to break the ice because he wanted to have a skating competition with his friends the next day. So the ice was left as it was but in the night some soldiers, on the hand of his son, entered the castle and imprisoned the father. In this unconventional way Adolf took over the governance of Gelder from his father.
Marathon skating at the court of Philips The Good
Around the same time skating was also very popular at the Court of Philip the Good. A Czech visitor reports in 1466 that several members of the Court were skating on the frozen Court Lake. He said that they were faster than horses and he wondered what they had under their feet that they could be so fast even in the curves. Herman Pley (page 237) reporting about this story says that it must have been a kind of marathon with 28 participants who skated a large number of rounds on the lake. This is the first reported marathon in history.
Around the same time skating was also very popular at the Court of Philip the Good. A Czech visitor reports in 1466 that several members of the Court were skating on the frozen Court Lake. He said that they were faster than horses and he wondered what they had under their feet that they could be so fast even in the curves. Herman Pley (page 237) reporting about this story says that it must have been a kind of marathon with 28 participants who skated a large number of rounds on the lake. This is the first reported marathon in history.
What did they have under their feet?
Unfortunately there are no pictures of the skaters of these stories but Hieronymous Bosch in his painting of the “Garden of the Earthly Delights” informs us in his special way about the skates. There is one naked man on skates and another one on a very big skate both going to end up in the water like the man in front of them. Besides that he also shows a kind of bird on skates below them going in the opposite direction with a bow and arrows. All have the same skates, so this was most likely the type of skates that were used at that time although one never can be sure in the case of Hieronymous Bosch if he did not invent these skates himself. In this case we can be quite sure because similar skates have been used later as well up to the 21th century.
Unfortunately there are no pictures of the skaters of these stories but Hieronymous Bosch in his painting of the “Garden of the Earthly Delights” informs us in his special way about the skates. There is one naked man on skates and another one on a very big skate both going to end up in the water like the man in front of them. Besides that he also shows a kind of bird on skates below them going in the opposite direction with a bow and arrows. All have the same skates, so this was most likely the type of skates that were used at that time although one never can be sure in the case of Hieronymous Bosch if he did not invent these skates himself. In this case we can be quite sure because similar skates have been used later as well up to the 21th century.