Most people associate jousting with the idea of chivalric knights and their adoring maidens, but the use of heavy cavalry - armored warriors on horseback - had become the primary battlefield weapons in mediaeval times and the feudal system in place required rich landowners and nobles to provide knights to fight for their king during war. The gauntlet has been thrown down in the battle for the Shield of Loxwood. The UK’s most spectacular and immersive medieval and jousting festival, The Loxwood Joust, returns with excitement and intrigue as outlaws rise up to take back the Shield of Loxwood on the 5th, 6th, 12th and 13th August.