Medieval Football
As early as the 12th century，“football”was practiced by people throughout Britain.
The first documented case of football was recorded by William FitzStephenin the year 1170.While he was visiting London，he noticed that“after dinner all the youths of the city goes out into the fields for the very popular game of ball.”He also noted that every trade had its own football team.
The games of ball，of course，were quite different than theirmodern counterpart.The name“football”was referring to the game being played on foot and not because itwas played by using your feet.Actually，all parts of the body were allowed to be used to propel the ball.The game was simply called“ball”or“gameball.”
Most often，the sessions of“football”took place in the open country but sometimes they were played inside the towns and villageswhich caused an abundance of commotion and property damage.Of course，once again，the ball games served different kinds of purposes for the communities.Sometimes the games of ball were used to settle disputes and other times they were used as some kind of ritual，serving some pagan religious need.
2-7 Medieval Football
2-8 The Gameball Taking Place in the Open Country
The“Goals”were sometimes set a couple of miles apart and there were no or very little amount of rules.The teamsmay have consisted of300 to 500 people each.Wrestling，punching，kicking and other aggressive behavior was as normal as it is today in the Mixed Martial Arts fights.Due to the riotous nature of the game，property damage and injuries to the people involved were quite the usual outcome.In some cases，the injuries were so bad that they led to the death of the participants.
Due to the rough nature of the game then，it comes as quite a surprise that there were versions of the game reserved only for women.They sometimes played，split into two teams，one of which would be the married women who would play against the other team which would consist of the unmarried ones.That proves that football was a very popular game during those times.Even though it seemed that football was set to flourish，its progress was almost put to a hold by King Edward Ⅱ9.He opposed it with full force and attempted to ban the game.
In 1314，he became quite concerned by the effects that came out of playing“football”so he decided to ban it.According to him，“football”was only awaste of valuable energy and time for his soldiers.He wanted them to practice their skills with the boWinstead of playing“football”.He feared that the impact football was having on his archers in particular would be devastating to the monarchy's future involvements in wars.
Another monarch，Edward Ⅳ10，continued to battle with the constantly spreading game.In 1477，he converted his believes into a reality with a law that ordered：“no person shall practice any unlawful games such as dice，quoits，football and such games，but that every strong and able-bodied person shall practice with bow for the reason that the national defense depends upon such bowmen.”
However，plenty of records show that the young men who were in love with the game refused to accept the bans.Many people were fined or arrested for playing“unlawful games of football.”Nevertheless，people continued to practice this game.
Despite the heavy opposition there were people who continued to believe that football had its benefits as well，especially to the health of its participants.It was in the hearts of the young men and it steadily continued to gain more and more popularity and support around the British Isles.
Medieval sports were not only fun and entertaining but they gave more life and color to a highly spiritual era occasionally plagued by monotony.Medieval culture thrived and grew with the help of those sporting events.Current society has greatly benefited from Medieval sports as most of the events we know and practice at present could trace their roots to that time.
Notes：
1 Middle Ages
In the history of Europe，the Middle Ages lasted from the 5th to the 15th century.It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery.The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history：classical antiquity，themedieval period，and themodern period.Themedieval period is itself subdivided into the Early，High，and Late Middle Ages.
2 Battle of Crecy
The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August1346 in north-east France between a French army commanded by King PhilipⅥand an English army led by King Edward III.The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France during the Hundred Years'War resulting in an English victory and heavy loss of life among the French.
3 bow ls
Bowls or lawn bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a“jack”or“kitty”.It is played on a bowling green which may be flator convex or uneven.It is normally played outdoors and the outdoor surface is either natural grass，artificial turf，or cotula.
2-9 Bow ls
4 colf
The ancestor of Golf（a sport for the nobles）.
2-10 Colf
5 shinty
Shinty，also called shinny，or shinney，Gaelic camanachd，game played outdoors with sticks and a small，hard ball in which two opposing teams attempt to hit the ball through their opponents'goal（hail）；it is similar to the Irish game of hurling and to field hockey.Shinty probably originated in chaotic mass games between Scottish Highland clans at least as early as the 17th century，and it is still played in Scotland under supervision of the Camanachd Association（founded 1893），which considers it the“national game.”
2-11 Shinty
6 stoolball
Stoolball is a sport that dates back to at least the 15th century，originating in Sussex，southern England.Itmay be an ancestor of cricket，baseball，and rounders，in fact stoolball is sometimes called“cricket in the air”.Hence its archaic name of bittle-battle.
2-12 Stoolball
7 horseshoes
Horseshoes is a lawn game played between two people using four horseshoes and two throwingtargets set in a lawn or sandbox area.The game is played by the players alternating turns tossing horseshoes at stakes in the ground，which are traditionally placed 40 feet apart.Modern games use a more stylized U-shaped bar，about twice the size of an actual horseshoe.
2-13 Horseshoes
8 skittles
Skittles，game of bowling at pins，played primarily in Great Britain.Skittleswas played for centuries in public houses or clubs，mostly in western England and the Midlands，southern Wales，and southeastern Scotland.
2-14 Skittles
9 King Edward Ⅱ
Edward Ⅱ，king of England from 1307 to 1327.Although he was aman of limited capability，he waged a long，hopeless campaign to assert his authority over powerful barons.Hewas also notable for leading the English to defeatat the Battle of Bannockburn，which virtually secured Scottish independence froMengland.
10 Edward Ⅳ
Edward Ⅳ，also called（until 1459）Earl of March，（born April 28，1442，Rouen，France—died April 9，1483，Westminster，England），king of England from 1461 until October 1470 and again from April 1471 until his death in 1483.He was a leading participant in the Yorkist-Lancastrian conflict known as the Wars of the Roses.