A Prize Playing was a test of martial skill popular in Renaissance England with the London-based Corporation of Masters of the Noble Science of Defence. It involved several dozen bouts against continually refreshing opponents, with little or no rest in between.
This practice was revived after a fashion in the late 17th century in the form of "Prize Fights", whence the term prizefighting for modern professional boxing.
Read more about Prize Playing: Renaissance Prize Playings, Prize Fights, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words prize and/or playing:
“To a maiden true he’ll give his hand,
Hey lillie, ho lillie lallie,
To the king’s daughter o’ fair England,
To a prize that was won by a slain brother’s brand,
I’ the brave nights so early.”
—Unknown. Earl Brand (l. 67–71)
“Is this then a touch? quivering me to a new identity,
Flames and ether making a rush for my veins,
Treacherous tip of me reaching and crowding to help them,
My flesh and blood playing out lightning to strike what is hardly
different from myself,
On all sides prurient provokers stiffening my limbs,”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)