This, people did die, but they also wore full plate, and used blunted wooden lances designed to (hopefully) shatter instead of pierce, and there were rules about where you had to aim, usually the breastplate etc so that your hitting the strongest part of the armor. You were trying to knock the guy off his horse, not kill him.
That said, you still have two men on horses charging at each other with large wooden sticks that you were aiming the best you could amidst all the horses movement jostling you around. Accidents happened. Sometimes people died. But at the time, the fame and prestige you stood to earn was seen as worth that risk, especially if you were only minor nobility or a commonor, if you could make a name for yourself it could transform your life.
Fortune_Silver t1_iugq6vb wrote
Reply to comment by Shadowcat514 in ELI5 How did knights participate in tournaments like jousting without killing themselves? by QuantumHamster
This, people did die, but they also wore full plate, and used blunted wooden lances designed to (hopefully) shatter instead of pierce, and there were rules about where you had to aim, usually the breastplate etc so that your hitting the strongest part of the armor. You were trying to knock the guy off his horse, not kill him.
That said, you still have two men on horses charging at each other with large wooden sticks that you were aiming the best you could amidst all the horses movement jostling you around. Accidents happened. Sometimes people died. But at the time, the fame and prestige you stood to earn was seen as worth that risk, especially if you were only minor nobility or a commonor, if you could make a name for yourself it could transform your life.