Who’s Who in 2022, Inspiring People: Luke Binks

With a lifelong passion for knights and the Middle Ages, Moreton Bay Region local Luke Binks was chosen to run and co-ordinate the jousting tournament for the first time at this year’s Abbey Medieval Festival, held on July 9 and 10 at Caboolture.

With plenty of knowledge about the era, Luke implemented a number of changes to make the tournament more historically accurate, which made it harder for the riders to complete, and created more thrills and spills for the spectators to enjoy.

The tournament was one of the highlights of the two-day event, with thousands of people filling the area to cheer on the riders and their horses in the pursuit of victory.

About Luke Binks

From an early age, Luke had a love and passion for all things medieval.

When he was eight years old, he loved playing with knight Lego, making wooden swords, jousting from his bicycle and hunting rabbits with his bow.

As a teenager, he joined a Brisbane-based re-enactment group where he studied historical fight manuals and recreated medieval combat scenarios.

When he was 21, Luke bought himself a horse and taught himself to joust.

This kickstarted his career as a professional jouster – a career that has taken him to multiple countries such as New Zealand, Belgium, Holland, France, England, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and America.

He was the first Australian to joust at the prestigious Sword of Honour tournament held at the Royal Armouries of England and is also one of three knights to re-introduce jousting with real historical lances.

Luke has also lived and trained jousters and jousting horses on three different continents while working as a professional armourer.

His armoury business - Red Hart Reproductions at Petrie - specialises in high-quality medieval pieces that he creates for museums, collectors and re-enactors.

Luke has competed multiple times at the Abbey Medieval Festival, however this year was the first time he oversaw the running of the event.

To make the tournament more historically accurate, Luke did something new that hadn’t been done before – he did a representation of a mid-15^th century jousting competition by removing the outer fence which ran down the outer side of the rider, making it more difficult for the riders to control their horses.

He also ensured all the riders, including himself, were dressed in replica suits of armour from that time period.

The jousting tournament attracted a big crowd, with thousands of people filling the arena to cheer on each rider as they attempted to knock off their competitor with wooden lances.