<P> Melee (/ ˈmeɪleɪ / or / ˈmeleɪ /, French: mêlée (mɛle); in English frequently spelled as mêlée or melée) is a modern term for a type of mock combat in medieval tournaments . The "melee" was the "mass tournament" where two teams of horsemen clashed in formation . The aim was to smash into the enemy in massed formation, with the aim of throwing them back or breaking their ranks . Following a successful maneuver of this kind, the rank would attempt to turn around without breaking formation (widerkere or tornei); this action was so central that it would become eponymous of the entire tradition of the tourney or tournament by the mid-12th century . </P> <P> The Middle High German term for this type of contest was buhurt (adopted in French as bouhourt); some sources may also make a distinction between melee or mass tournament and buhurt, as the latter could refer to a wider class of equestrian games not necessarily confined to the formal tournament reserved to nobility . Some sources distinguish between the buhurt as more playful and the turnei as, while still nominally "mock combat", much closer to military reality, often leading to fatalities . </P> <P> The Old French meslee "brawl, confused fight; mixture, blend" (12th century) is the feminine past participle of the verb mesler "to mix" (ultimately from Vulgar Latin misculāta "mixed", from Latin miscēre "to mix"; compare mélange; meddle, medley). The modern French form mêlée was borrowed into English in the 17th century and is not the historical term used for tournament mock battles . The term buhurt may be related to hurter "to push, collide with" (cognate with English to hurt) or alternatively from a Frankish bihurdan "to fence; encompass with a fence or paling"). </P> <P> Tournaments often contained a mêlée consisting of knights fighting one another on foot or mounted, either divided into two sides or fighting as a free - for - all . The object was to capture opposing knights so that they could be ransomed, and this could be a very profitable business for such skilled knights as William Marshal . </P>

What were the two opposing sides during the renaissance