Throughout the Middle Ages (pre-1430) and Renaissance (ca. 1430-1600), trumpets retained their traditional military and ceremonial functions: they were used mainly for signals and fanfares.

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Throughout the Middle Ages, from the barons forcing King John to sign the Magna Carta, to the Wars of the Roses, rebellion was a game played almost exclusively by the rich and powerful.

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The tradition dates back as far as Egyptian times, where relief paintings on tomb walls depict the activity as far back as 2300 BC, and continued throughout the Middle Ages, primarily in France, where tournaments were staged for kings and queens and at local festivals.

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One should not downplay the importance of literacy, too, as the printing press and the ability to mass-produce cheap paper ignited an explosion in publishing throughout Europe in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

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