Siklódi Csilla szerk.: Tradicionális sportok, népi játékok (A Sportmúzeum Kincsei 2. Budapest, 1996)

Tradicionális sportok, népi játékok (Siklódi Csilla)

The banning of the Olympic Games coincided with the period when Christianity became a state religion. For Christian ideology not only were the schools and Greek philosophy to be abolished, but also body culture, the propagation of proportionate and beautiful human bodies in the arts and in the contests. It must be here be noted that one of the studies included in this volume describes traditional Osset games which bear a striking resemblance to the Greek games. The culture, the lifeways and, most probably, the games of the Ossets, a pastoral people, must have had much in common with that of the ancient Hungarians', who settled in the Carpathian Basin 1100 years ago. And even though their original culture was thoroughly transformed by Christianity, there are indications that some elements of the ancestral traditions were preserved in folk tradition. A better knowledge of similar, still living customs enables the reconstruction of these ancestral traditions. Christian culture too had its institutionalized contests: the tournament. Education was practically restricted to monasteries and ecclesiastic schools, where games and contests were, more often than not, actively discouraged or outright banned. Physical education and a knowledge of the arts and sciences were now practically divorced from each other. Strength and skills in the martial arts was only considered a virtue if it was exercised for defending the faith or protecting the weak. Those who accepted, professed and practiced these noble principles were regarded as honourable knights, becoming staunch supporters of the priesthood and their lords. These knights were therefore educated and trained in noblemen's or royal courts, and they obviously came from an aristocratic background. Beside fencing, archery and spear-throwing, another important part of their education was an immersion in the Christian faith; also, as part of their role as the protector of the weak, they were trained to honour and revere women — or, to be more precise, the wife and the daughters of their lord, the queen and other aristocratic ladies. This had very little to do with love. It remained an 'ethereally pure' love, reflected by the fact that on the various tournaments the knights fought for the name of their lady, for her greater glory. (3. picture) Only pure combat could be equal to these pure feeling of love. These defined the code of chivalry or what we would today call 'fair play'. With the strengthening of the bourgeoisie, a secular education and a general all-round education came to play a key role. The importance of education and the role of schools became increasingly important in everyday life. The best pedagogues soon realized that spiritual education cannot be divorced from physical education. The call for the use of folk traditions and folk games in education is a recurrent theme that can be traced from medieval descriptions and compendiums of games to modern ethnographic and pedagogical studies.