Битва Націй

The tradition & historical record

The Battle of the Nations was an international armored combat sport world championship series, first held in 2009, in Khotyn, Ukraine and held in Europe, in April, every year until the 2020 and 2021 events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2022 cancelled due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is a full contact competition using metal weapons and a standardized list of rules. National teams compete in several standard events, with all being full contact - no stage reenactment battles are included. Teams from up to 60 countries have entered the tournaments. ¹

The first meeting for the organization of the festival and the championship was held in Kharkiv, Ukraine in 2009. Its participants, captains of the first national teams, came to a consensus concerning how to hold the event. Since the rules could vary in different countries and even in different regions of one country, they also agreed of a set of unified international rules for the conduct of battles. The first "Battle of the Nations" event was held in 2010 in the Khotyn Fortress (Ukraine). It was attended by the national teams of four countries: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Poland. Russia won most of the first places. The program included three categories: a duel (1 vs 1), group battles (5 vs 5) and mass battles (21 vs 21). For those who were not members of the national teams, but came to support the comrades, there were non-security buhurts. The second event, in 2011, was also held at the Khotyn Fortress. Seven national teams participated; the previous four and three novice teams: Italy, Germany and Quebec. Two more categories were added to the three classic ones, namely the “professional fight” and “all vs all”. The latter category allows participants who are not members of the national teams to fight for their countries. The first places were won by Russia. The festival was attended by about 30,000 spectators and a documentary about the life of the participants was shot. The 2012 event, the third held, was in Warsaw, Poland, and included representatives of twelve countries. A feature of the festival were battles of mounted knights, that were included in the program of the traditionally on-foot world championship in HMB for the first time. The top four teams were Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and USA. The 2013 event, the fourth, was held in Aigues-Mortes, France. ¹

National teams of different countries compete at “Battle of the Nations”. Under the rules of BN, a national team has to consist of at least 8 and a maximum of 50 fighters. Any representative of any of the historical medieval battles (HMB) clubs, as well as an individual fighter, provided they have gone through a selection process conventional for a country, can become a member of a national team. Qualifying tournaments are competitions, where battles are held in accordance with the unified international rules for the historical medieval battle. National teams organize qualifying tournaments to find the best HMB fighters of a country. The unified international rules, according to which battles are held, have been written especially for "Battle of the Nations”. Before the unified rules were written, the countries had different HMB rules. The tradition for this combat/competition has largely come from Russia, where enthusiasts have held previous events where full contact "battles" of large numbers of armoured combatants, are held, often in historical sites. The emphasis is put on the combatants wearing historically accurate equipment and heraldry, and the use of appropriate weapons for the combat. The heraldry, however, reflects the modern competition teams, rather than necessarily historically correct heraldic device that may have been worn by combatants in the medieval period. The first tournament was held at the Khotyn Fortress in Ukraine in 2010. The combatants depict armoured fighters from the 12th - 15th century. A number of different forms of combat take place, including some involving individuals, 5 a side or 21 on each side. ¹

2025 Visegrad Palace, in Hungary 2019 Smederevo Fortress, in Smederevo, Serbia 2018 Santa Severa, in Rome, Italy 2017 La Monumental, in Barcelona, Spain 2016 Petrin Hill, in Prague, Czech Republic 2015 Petrin Hill, in Prague, Czech Republic 2014 in Trogir, Croatia 2013 Aigues-Mortes, in Gard, France 2012 in Warsaw, Poland 2011, Khotyn Fortress, in Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine 2010, Khotyn Fortress in Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine ¹

Male category “Triathlon Duel” 1vs1. 1. Sergey Ukolov, Russia 2. Mikhail Babynin, Russia 3. Franck de Gouil, France Category “Group Battles” 5vs5. 1. Russia 1 2. Ukraine 1 3. France 1 Category “Mass Battles” 21vs21. 1. Russia 2. France 3. Belarus ¹

Male category “Triathlon Duel” 1vs1. 1. Sergey Ukolov, Russia 2. Ivan Vasilev, Russia 3. Aleksandr Nadezhdin, Russia Category “Group Battles” 5vs5. 1. Russia 1 2. Russia 2 3. Russia 3 Category “Mass Battles” 21vs21. 1. Russia 2. Ukraine 3. Belarus ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Battle of the Nations (modern tournament)”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Battle of the Nations is modern International Medieval Tournament and festival held yearly in Europe, in which a number of nations field a team, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. ²