For the first time, the King of Portugal's 1438 treatise, LIVRO DA ENSINAN DE BEM CAVALGAR TODA SELA, will be available in English. Never before translated even into modern Portuguese, Antonio Franco Preto has delivered a superb rendition of this most important treatise. The ROYAL BOOK OF HORSEMANSHIP, JOUSTING & KNIGHTLY COMBAT is a chivalric treatise written by a renowned medieval king who was an expert in his subject matter. Superbly educated, the king wrote about fundamentals of medieval horsemanship--including specifics about clothing, shoes, saddles and tack--about the seat and riding securely in the saddle, details about the medieval hunt, about how to joust, including roles for the knight's assistants and squires, about different kinds of lances, about wrestling and fighting with the sword. More than this, the work is a chivalric treatise on the par with Geoffrey de Charny's Book of Chivalry or Ramon Lull's Book of Knighthood & Chivalry. Its minute examination of the human spirit, in all its glory and failings, is woven with consummate skill into the text. D. Duarte discusses the moment of impact, for example, lance against lance, and about different ways that men fail at the point of impact. This failure is then discussed in the context of life. This work is a prize of medieval literature and Portuguese history that has languished in obscurity owing to its difficulty. But Dom Duarte was considered to be one of the great kings of Portugal, and his work, dedicated to his wife, left Portugal with her as she departed for Naples with the king's death. When the French overran Naples in 1495, the book was transferred to the French National Library, which it remains today. Although several old editions have appeared in Portugal, they were in the original language and were extremely difficult. Antonio Franco Preto has now rendered this text not only accessible, but preserved its elegance as well. It will be an important book to many: students of chivalric literature, the equestrian arts, jousting, Western martial arts, or Portuguese history.
(ISBN: 978-1891448348)

Medieval deeds of arms evoke the imagination as brightly armoured knights clash with a splintering of lances. During the fourteenth century, the reality of deeds of arms was focused not only on the noble jousting festivals and round tables. They were sometimes fought by men-at-arms who risked their lives for the fame and renown that could be won. By their deeds these knights not only won fame, but social prestige and wealth achieved by catapulting their names far and wide through the risk of a potentially mortal chivalric feat of arms. These miniature battles were more than just bravado--they established legitimacy for key personalities during the fourteenth century. Upon the chivalric stage we meet famous names such as Edward III, Boucicaut the Younger, and Charles le Blois. Perhaps more importantly, we find less well-known combatants whose deeds inspired generations of knights and men-at-arms. Encounters such as the Combat of the Thirty and the Jousts at Saint Ingelvert, well-described in multiple surviving sources, were the superbowls of chivalric life during the Hundred Years' War and have been leveraged by Professor Muhlberger to bring these amazing stories to life.
(ISBN: 978-1891448447)

Scholarly study - does much to illuminate an important element of chivalric culture. HISTORY [This] sterling book is clearly written and logically organized. Its scholarship is à outrance, its appeal to the student of the chivalric period à plaisance. AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Juliet Barker surveys the tournament in England from its first emergence in the twelfth century to the beginning of the fifteenth, when it was revolutionised by the emergence of technical changes which altered its very nature. The original publication of this study, deriving from Juliet Barker's PhD thesis supervised by Maurice Keen, reestablished the importance of the tournament at the heart of medieval chivalric culture. The first serious scholarly publication for over half a century, it dramatically reawakened interest in the historical context of tournaments, and is especially valuable for its detailed evidence on the early years.

Tournaments are shown as far more than just sport. They had wide political, social and military implications; in England their potential as a political instrument was quickly realised: for the disaffected they became a means of rebellion and feuding, but for the king and court they were a powerful propaganda machine. Participation in tournaments was also a way to earn a coveted reputation for chivalry; the passion for tourneying could bring knights lasting fame. Military demands accounted for the increasing sophistication of armour and weapons, partly in response to the demands of the tourneyers, who needed military training that reflected their role in actual combat. This wide-ranging study looks at the tournament from all these angles, and in so doing produces an exemplary history of the first three hundred years of their development.
(ISBN: 0-85115-942-7)

In 1386, Jean de Carrouges accused his former friend, Jacques LeGris, of raping his wife, and the young king of France allowed their dispute to be resolved in what was to be the last legally ordered judicial combat in Paris. Jager deftly blends this story with the background necessary to understand it: the ideas behind trial by combat, the realities of 14th-century marriage, the complexity of the regional and central powers in France, and the personal rivalries at court. Jager describes a harsh and violent era, when public executions were a form of entertainment and both commoners and elites eagerly anticipated the increasingly rare duel to the death. But it was also a time of lawyers, chroniclers and ceremony. Jager doesn't condescend to the people of medieval France but explains the complicated logic by which they could believe that a duel would prove guilt or innocence, pregnancy could be considered proof that sex had been consensual, and a lady could be convicted and executed as a false accuser if her champion lost. A brief history of the duel demonstrates its origins in age-old military tradition rather than divine providence. Jager acknowledges where the definitive facts of his story are unknown while presenting a riveting account that will satisfy general readers and historians alike.

Click here to read a review by Brian G. Ditchman, January 2005, posted on deremilitari.org.

Steven Muhlberger adds a significant new work to the understanding of the tournament of the 14th century with this groundbreaking work. Drawing extensively and with great expertise from the historial record, and featuring the first translation of the 14th century Demands Pour La Joute, Le Tournois et La Guerre, by Sir Geoffroi de Charny, Dr. Muhlberger has created a crystal clear picture of what the sweat, blood and competion of the mounted tournament was all about.

Beautifully written and illustrated with six equally beautiful full-page color illuminations, the book is also unusually accessible for an academic work, an enjoyable read for medieval enthusiasts at any level of knowledge or experience.

The book is presented in two parts. Part I offers the analysis, while Part II contains the original French transcription by Michael Anthony Taylor and a facing page translation of each question posed by the wiley 14th century de Charny. Muhlbergers translation of these questions alone warrant interest in the book, since they lend a fascinating glimpse into the concerns of tourneyers and how they thought.

Far more than an academic work, this book crosses the boundary and can boast success both for serious academics and for amateur students of medieval chivalry, tournaments, and warfare.
(ISBN: 1-89144-828-5)

This is the first serious study of medieval tournaments: Richard Barber and Juliet Barker illuminate their importance, and reveal their place at the heart of medieval culture. They are seen as having played a vital role in the training of a medieval knight, who depended for his survival on skill in hand-to-hand combat, and they stimulated new devleopments in arms and armour; they were used by ruling princes for political patronage. A thoroughly interesting and fascinating book with loads of colour images that makes this book, a necessary addition to your reference library for anyone interested in the medieval period.
(ISBN: 0-85115-781-5)