The medieval tournament event involving two opposing groups of mounted fighters was called a melee.
A melee, also known by forms of the French word mêlée, was a team combat in which groups of knights fought one another. Participants might attempt to unhorse opponents, capture them for ransom, or demonstrate military skill. Unlike a joust, it was not usually a single formal pass between two individual riders.
Early tournaments could resemble large-scale military exercises and were sometimes dangerous, involving many combatants across open countryside. Later events were more regulated, with designated fields, rules, officials, and prizes. Wealthy participants could gain financially by taking opponents captive, although injuries and deaths remained possible.
The term melee is now used generally for a confused close-quarters fight. In medieval tournament history, however, it specifically describes group combat. A pas d’armes was a different kind of chivalric challenge in which a defender held a position against challengers.