Largest knightly retinue

The largest retinue of knights retained by a tournament patron was 200, gathered by Henry the Young King, the son and co-ruler to Henry II of England in November 1179. This vast entourage accompanied Young Henry to a tournament held to mark the coronation of King Phillip II of France at Lagny-sur-Marne.

Henry's vast entourage at this tournament included 15 senior knights called "bannerets", who commanded their own sections of the 200-man team. Henry paid them handsomely, and also offered 20 shillings per day to the men of each banneret's section. The total cost of this retinue was over £200 per day in wages alone – a sum equivalent to the annual income of a powerful nobleman, or the yearly tax revenues of Worcestershire.

Young Henry (1155–1183) was nominally the co-ruler of England alongside his father Henry II. In practice, he had little to do with the running of the Angevin Empire, though it is unclear whether this was the result of his father's unwillingness to delegate, or his own disinterest in matters of state.

Instead of ruling a section of his father's empire, Young Henry lived an itinerant life, travelling the European tournament circuit with his retinue and his mentor, famed tournament fighter Sir William Marshal. Through his success on the tournament field, and his generosity in supporting events, Young Henry attained a level of celebrity akin to a modern superstar athlete. This fame was useful to Henry in his conflicts with his father, as it meant he had personal contacts with powerful figures from across the continent.

Henry died of dysentry in 1183 while leading a military campaign against his father in Limousin (present-day central France). In the opinion of many contemporary writers, the tournament circuit never regained the level of grandeur and prestige that it had enjoyed as a result of Young Henry's largesse.