Another review of my book, Deeds of Arms

I just ran across this review on the website of Academie Duello in Vancouver.

Book Review: “Deeds of Arms” by S. Muhlberger

Wes von Papineäu JUNE 19, 2015

CATEGORIES: ADULT SWORDPLAY, PROGRAMS, SWORD NEWS

TAGS: BOOK REVIEW DEEDS OF ARMS HUNDRED YEARS' WAR JOUSTING MEDIEVAL MUHLBERGER

“They are stories about stories.” [1]

It does my heart good when I hear competent people say that they’ve recreated the essence of some medieval martial art event to the best of their ability, because they followed the descriptions of medieval combat “exactly” from period texts.

It’s a good … start.

But what if the reference book is not completely correct about the event it describes? What if the author had written a version of the event he witnessed that was “flavoured” by a political or social leaning? What if he wrote of an event based on his interview of someone who had (allegedly) witnessed the event? And even if the author penned a totally neutral recollection of an event, did he truly understand the nuances of the combat that he was witnessing? (Think of when you as sword scholars see swordplay on television, and your “recollection” of what went on compared to that of your swordless peers).

This is the conundrum that the eminently qualified and respected medieval historian Muhlberger brings to our attention in well-documented and easy-to-read detail.

A Broad Overview

In the first half of the book, Muhlberger focusses on the period of the Hundred Years’ War following the battles of Crécy and Poitiers (1350-1400). Using period recollections of “deeds of arms” (conflicts fought by prearrangement and within agreed upon limits), Muhlberger explains how tales of combat came to be so important for 14th century French literature … and for the medieval man-at-arms’ “sense of self”. [2] More importantly for us, he goes on to describe just how period writings concerning these events were influenced by a great variety of political, social or personal influences on the writers during this period. (Apparently, even back then, authors expected to be paid for their original work. Who knew?) With the aid of this information, Muhlberger guides us to a more careful consideration of how we interpret what really happened in any particular mêlée within the context of medieval politics and culture.

This is not a “fight book”, and it is not a history of historical duels; but it is a description of how period authors wrote about “deeds of arms”, and why the styles they used were fashionable.

The book is divided into sequentially supporting chapters, each of which I found could stand alone as independent studies in their own right.

Chapter-by-Chapter

First we learn of the risks undertaken by men-at-arms when one actually engages in physical combat, both in duels and war. (We do get a nod to select fight books here.) [3] The reader is introduced to the concept of “formal duels”, and extant variations on the theme.

Next, Muhlberger gets into the meat of his proposal with his examination of writings featuring the combat of “Thirty against Thirty” in 1351, examining in detail the confusion and discrepancies in recollection caused by passing time and the use of second hand accounts — and how sometimes the story of an event became more important that the actual event.

The chapter entitled “Will a Frenchman fight?” is most illuminating, demonstrating unequivocally that while the French Royal Army of 1380 was not famous for seeking battle, there were lots of French men-at-arms throughout the land ready to remind Englishmen that (to paraphrase a great film) “[their] mothers were hamsters and [their] fathers smelt of elderberries” … and were willing to back that challenge with one-on-one cold steel.

“Deeds of and Careers in Arms” describes how our protagonists built wealth and reputations during deeds of arms, and how the chroniclers of those deeds became our first “spin doctors”, worthy of employment in any modern PR company.

To finish, we are presented with period impressions of the four royal jousts conducted between the years of 1389 and 1390 during the “good peace” … though the intensity of combat during one tournament appeared to be equal to the combat seen in any war.

In Conclusion

A reading of Deeds of Arms would serve well anyone trying to recreate historical events in modern times. Any historical reference that a modern scholar may wish to use as “canon” is apt to be slanted in its representation of any past event — even if written with the very best of “neutral” intent and desire for accuracy. Read the old manuscripts, yes. But remember that when we are looking for guidance on how things happened in medieval times, a manuscript only tells us of one person’s recollection of “historical truth” and that any manuscript — regardless of its detail and “accuracy” — must be interpreted as part of a greater regional and situational historical record.

Read. Consider. Validate.

Sources

1. Muhlberger, Steven. Deeds of Arms – Formal Combats in the Late Fourteeth Century. (Highland Village Texas: Chivalry Bookshelf, 2005) 4.

2. Muhlberger. Deeds of Arms. 3.

3. Muhlberger. Deeds of Arms. 23.

Death by overexertion, an English duel of 1380

Some of you probably know that I am writing a source reader -- a book that combines medieval documents with modern commentary -- on the subject of judicial duels.  These were considered to be the most dramatic "deeds of arms" by contemporaries and modern re-enactors are very interested in them.  My book in fact was inspired by Will McLean's collection of sources in his blog, and he will be credited as co-author.

This book includes an account of an English duel between as squire,Thomas Katrington, and Sir John de Annesley.  Annesley, the knight accused Katrington, who had commanded a castle in France, of treason, because, said Annesley, he had surrendered it to the French when he had the resources to defend it.  After a certain amount of political back and forth among major players, including Duke John of Gaunt, a duel was arranged.  There was so much public interest that the crowds who attended were said to exceed those at the recent coronation of Richard II.

An interesting point is the way the duel ended.  It was said to be half an hour long, and very strenuous, with the weapons of either man being destroyed so that (I think) they  were fighting on foot with daggers.  They ended up both lying on the ground with Katrington on top.  The question then arose, what next?

Soon after [Annesley, the knight] was raised up, without any support he eagerly went to the king, while the squire [Katrington]who had been raised, was not able to stand nor go anywhere without the support of two men; and therefore, he was put upon a chair,  and he remained there quietly. The knight therefore came to the king and asked him, and his nobles, that he would grant him the grace, he should be put in the same place as before, with the squire on top of him... he realized that the squire was nearly at his last breath from the excess of [labor] and heat, and the weight of arms which had almost taken the vital spirits from him.

 In the meantime the squire, lacking breath, suddenly  fell off the chair, as if dead, among those who stood around him. Many therefore took care of him, pouring wine and water over the man; but nothing helped at all, until his arms and all of his clothing were removed . This being done  it proved that the knight was the victor and the squire defeated. After a long delay, however, the squire's spirit began to revive, and opening  his eyes he began to raise his head, and terribly began to look at all of those standing around ; when this was announced to the armored knight, (for the knight had not taken off his armor from the beginning of the fight) he approached the squire and called him a false traitor, and asked if he dared to repeat the duel. Since [Katrington] indeed had neither sense nor breath to answer, it was announced that the fight was over and that each should return to his own place. The squire therefore was soon carried to his bed, and he began to rave; and persisting  in his madness, the next day, about the ninth hour, he breathed forth his spirit. 

Interesting that an experienced warrior could end up dying of overexertion caused by among other things the weight of his armor.

In addition, a short piece from Froissart (book III, chapter 7; also late 14th century):

A squire of Navarre was there slain, called Ferdinand de Miranda, an expert man at arms. Some who were present say the bourg d'Espaign killed him, others that he was stifled through the heat of his armour. 

Reviews of Royal Jousts and the Combat of the Thirty (De Re Militari)

Muhlberger, Royal Jousts at the End of the Fourteenth Century & The Combat of the Thirty (Sposato) De Re Militari
MAY 23, 2016
Royal Jousts at the End of the Fourteenth Century, Deeds of Arms series 1
The Combat of the Thirty, Deeds of Arms series 2
ed. and trans. by Steven Muhlberger
(Freelance Academy Press, 2012) i- viii, 88 pp., $24.95; ii- viii, 83 pp., $24.95
Over the past fifteen years Steven Muhlberger has established himself as one of the leading authorities on medieval chivalry. His scholarly oeuvre has not only made an important contribution to the larger field, but in many ways has blazed a new trail through his focus on case-studies of particular events, individuals, and texts. [1] The two works reviewed herein, Royal Jousts at the End of the Fourteenth Century and The Combat of the Thirty, fit this mold and are part of a series on formal deeds of arms (faits d’armes) published by Freelance Academy Press, one that has already received the approbation of scholars. [2] These two volumes, and the series as a whole, will be especially attractive to scholar-teachers who can use them to great effect in the classroom, while also offering a useful introduction for graduate students and researchers who wish to study for the first time formal deeds of arms and their important role in the chivalric culture of late medieval Europe.
In the first volume in the series, Royal Jousts, Muhlberger examines four historical jousts held in 1389-1390. Three of the jousts were organized by the French and one by the English: the Joust at St. Denis (May 1389), the Joust accompanying Queen Isabella of Bavaria’s entry into Paris (August 1389), the Joust at St. Inglevert (March-April 1390), and the Joust at Smithfield near London (October 1390). These jousts were meant to celebrate both armes (arms, i.e., prowess, bravery, valor, etc.) and amour (love). In addition, they served the propagandistic purposes of two young kings, Charles VI of France and Richard II of England, who sought to both secure a lasting peace between their kingdoms after decades of war and to encourage and reward the chivalric energy and violence of their knights and men-at-arms. These two seemingly contradictory impulses could be reconciled in such formal combats.
The first part of Royal Jousts consists of an introduction and succinct historical study of the jousts. Muhlberger aptly sets the stage for each and duly notes their larger implications. Indeed, Muhlberger usefully points out that formal deeds of arms, including jousts, “were taken extremely seriously [by contemporaries:] they were war, diplomacy, or domestic politics in a different form”, suggesting that they were far more than simply a means to satisfy the romantic fancy of a small segment of late medieval society. (12) Muhlberger also includes a critical, albeit concise, discussion of the relatively limited available sources, emphasizing caution in their use: “we should not[…] mistake interest and enthusiasm for diligent, accurate reportage”. (3) The limitations of these sources are all the more important because the accounts of these jousts, especially the joust at St. Inglevert, have generally been utilized by scholars to “stand[…] in for every unrecorded jousting match of the later Middle Ages”. (6) Muhlberger’s English translations of the various texts that discuss each of the four jousts and an appendix, which attempts to score the 137 courses run by the French champions at St. Inglevert, complete the volume.
In the second volume, The Combat of the Thirty, Muhlberger examines a different kind of formal deeds of arms, a pre-arranged battle between two groups of strenuous warriors. In this particular battle, generally known as the Combat of the Thirty, two groups of thirty men fought in an open field in Brittany on March 27, 1351. Each group represented one of the garrisons of two nearby castles (Josselin and Ploermel) and the battle was apparently occasioned by the promise of the captain of one of the sides that “we will go to an open field and there we will fight as long as we can endure it”. (1) The Combat of the Thirty was in many ways a decidedly local (i.e., Breton) affair, while at the same time serving as a microcosm of the larger conflict between the French and English during the Hundred Years War, although it was not officially sanctioned by the leadership on either side. Indeed, the Combat of the Thirty divided opinion among contemporaries, while at the same time acquiring a lasting (and contested) legacy that has continued to the present.
The Combat of the Thirty is organized in a fashion similar to Royal Jousts. The first part consists of a brief, but illuminating historical introduction to the Combat of the Thirty and its place in both the history of the Hundred Years War and of Brittany as a region. Muhlberger also attempts to answer several sensible questions: “Why did sixty men risk themselves in a fight to the finish on that spring day in Brittany six and a half centuries ago? Why did it attract attention and praise in its time? Why does it interest us still?”. (2) His answers shed light on some of the nuances of chivalric culture in the mid-fourteenth century and the important role formal deeds of arms played in it. The introduction also includes a useful discussion of the extant and often conflicting sources that treat the Combat of the Thirty. The second part of the volume contains Muhlberger’s translations of these texts. Finally, the volume also contains two appendices. In the first, Muhlberger reconstructs, as much as is possible, a list of the combatants on both sides, as well as their heraldic devices. Historians of the Hundred Years War will no doubt recognize several of the participants, especially Robert Knolles, Hugh Calveley (Calverley), Jean de Beaumanoir, and Yves (Yvain) Charruel. The second appendix, composed by Douglas Strong, offers a short analysis of the armor of the English and Breton combatants.
In summary, Royal Jousts and The Combat of the Thirty will offer researchers, scholar-teachers, and students alike a stimulating and enlightening introduction to two different kinds of formal deeds of arms: jousts and a pre-arranged battle between two groups of chosen combatants. Muhlberger’s historical introductions and analysis in both volumes are succinct and informative. Likewise, the translations in both works are approachable and accurate. These translations will prove especially useful in the classroom, not least because they will allow students to compare different accounts of the same events. They will also serve as an entry point for those interested in investigating these formal deeds of arms in greater detail, even if specialists and non-specialists alike will lament the lack of footnotes and more expansive analysis. These very minor points, however, take nothing away from the overall quality of the volumes. Finally, this reviewer would be remiss to not give credit to both the author and the publisher for producing two books that are beautifully illustrated and, more importantly, eminently affordable.
Peter W. Sposato
Indiana University Kokomo
psposato@iuk.edu
Footnotes:
[1] Prominent among Muhlberger’s other publications on chivalry are: Jousts and Tournaments: Charny and the Rules for Chivalric Sport in Fourteenth-Century France (Chivalry Bookshelf, 2002); Deeds of Arms: Formal Combats in the Late Fourteenth Century (Chivalry Bookshelf, 2005); and Charny’s Men-at-Arms: Questions Concerning the Joust, Tournaments, and War (Freelance Academy Press, 2014).
[2] The series includes: Noel Fallows, The Twelve of England, Deeds of Arms 3 (Freelance Academy Press, 2013) and Steven Muhlberger, Will a Frenchman Fight, Deeds of Arms 4 (Freelance Academy Press, 2015). For the positive reception of The Twelve of England, see the review by Dr. Samuel Claussen on the De Re Militari website- http://deremilitari.org/2016/04/noel-fallows-the-twelve-of-england-claussen/.

Antoine de la Sale, Jean de Saintré. My review of a new translation

From The Medieval Review

De la Sale, Antoine. Jean de Saintré: A Late Medieval Education in Love and Chivalry. Trans. Roberta L. Krueger and Jane H. M. Taylor. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014. Pp. 264. $59.95. ISBN: 978-0-8122-4586-8.

Reviewed by Steven Muhlberger

Nipissing University

stevem@nipissingu.ca

Translations are sometimes seen as a lesser form of scholarly endeavor. This is to my mind quite unfair. Medievalists should be among the first to acknowledge that we all bump up against our linguistic limitations and have to turn to translations for help. Translations allow us medievalists to decide, after mastering four or five languages, whether material in a sixth is going to be relevant to our research question. Of course without translations we would have no way of introducing our students to the evidence on which we build our historical reconstructions. The best translations are running commentaries on some historical subject, which provide far more than a literal representation of the original text. The best translators are expert guides to whole past cultures. Finally, translators are literary artists who (in perhaps their most contentious role) create a modern analog of a premodern aesthetic experience.

Jean de Saintré (1456) has long attracted the attention of scholars and ordinary readers. It survives in ten manuscripts and numerous printed editions starting in 1517. Indeed there have been two previous English translations, the most recent being from 1965. Non-specialist readers have been attracted by Jean de Saintré as a portrayal of the chivalric, courtly culture of the fifteenth century--what has been called an early historical novel. Scholars have found and continue to find the book as capturing an important moment in French literary history. Roberta L. Krueger and Jane H. M. Taylor have given this text a new and approachable form.

Jean de Saintré draws much of its value from the fact that it portrays chivalric and courtly culture from the inside. Its author, Antoine de la Sale, is himself a fascinating subject for scholarly investigation. The son of a Gascon mercenary, La Sale spent most of his long life as a courtier in the retinues of the houses of Anjou and Luxemburg, working most of that time as a preceptor or tutor for various young princes. His duties provided him with motivation to write. His three major works, of which Jean de Saintré is one, have a strong pedagogical component, combining moral instruction with discussion of chivalric customs and courtly manners and lighthearted storytelling.

La Sale combined these various elements into Jean de Saintré, which has been called the first historical novel. The eponymous hero was a real warrior of the fourteenth century but little of his actual career found itself into La Sale's book. Jean de Saintré the character is a young nobleman who over the course of the book advances from being a bashful and uncultivated youngster to being a perfect knight, expert in chivalric competition, courtly intercourse, and war. He owes his transformation to the patronage of an older woman, a rich widow whom the author calls the lady of Belles Cousines. This lady spots young Jean in court one day and decides to take him in hand. After teasing him unmercifully about his ignorance of love and his lack of a lover, she begins to train him up to be a knightly figure who attains such courtly grace that by his mid-teens he is wildly popular with all and sundry. Even kings feel privileged to associate with him.

His relationship with the lady of Belles Cousines is more complicated. To judge by her rather cool public interaction with Jean, her fellow courtiers might easily conclude that she of all the ladies is the least impressed with him. While others are full of praise for the wonderboy she has hardly a good word to say to or about him. But she meets him in secret to share pleasure and delight; and perhaps more importantly, she lavishly dresses and equips him and funds his training in chivalric combat. Parts of the book reads like a catalogue of luxuries that most nonfictional noblemen of La Sale's time could hardly hope to obtain. For the modern reader, these passages give an idea of the attractions of the royal court--clothing, weapons, horses as well as good company and good food. Not that this can be taken as reportage. Jean lives a dream-like existence and enjoys the best of everything and the approval of all the best people.

Young Jean, with the encouragement of his lady, matures into an impressive warrior. Much of the book is devoted to describing Jean's tremendous success in the lists and on the battlefield. This is the ultimate test of Jean's worth as a man and of the quality of the secret and intense love affair he enjoys. The lady of Belles Cousines is his silent partner, imperiously telling him when and whom he will fight, praying and weeping for him when he goes out to do her will.

Eventually, however, the partnership breaks down when after many years Jean arranges a deed of arms without consulting the lady. She takes tremendous offense at this and without a word of explanation withdraws to the country where she begins an affair with a rich abbot. The book ends with Jean following her to her rural retreat, where he finds out how the land lies. Unsurprisingly, the two lovers of the lady come to blows and Jean defeats the abbot, though not without difficulty. His revenge on the lady is more subtle; he traps her into betraying herself before the entire court as an unworthy lover.

Roberta L. Krueger and Jane H. M. Taylor have created in Jean de Saintré a work that has many valuable characteristics. First, the translation makes available a rich source for those interested in the culture of chivalry in the later Middle Ages. For me, the depiction of the role of the lady in the education and success of an aspiring knight was particularly interesting, a theme that gave me new material to think about, and one that might well be very useful in a number of different teaching situations.

Second, the translators' apparatus is effectively mustered. The introduction briefly and clearly covers the essential information; it should be understandable and accessible to all potential readers. There is a valuable glossary, and a good discussion of some of the choices the translators made, e.g. their very sensible decision not to translate heraldic terminology.

Third, the style of the translators is neither obviously modern nor obnoxiously archaic. They have not, in other words, produced a new set of barriers that readers must jump over.

Fourth, unlike some earlier translations, the entire text is translated, including two long catalogues, one of the heraldry borne by important families of France, another of families that supposedly accompanied Saintré to Prussia on crusade. These catalogues and other long passages devoted to description of the court, luxurious gifts exchanged between important courtiers, and blow-by-blow coverage of Saintré's deeds of arms, could be and sometimes have been abridged in earlier versions of the book; the result being, however, that what La Sale and his fifteenth-century readers thought was edifying and enjoyable is obscured.

It is too bad that the publishers have decided to charge the same price for the e-book as they do for the hardback. For years I have taught a seminar on the history of chivalry and this book is an obvious candidate for the reading list. At its current price, however, I would probably pass it by the next time I teach it.

A twelfth-century description of a judicial duel on horseback

A new site dedicated to the "Song of My Cid" -- the famous Spanish epic -- includes this interesting account of the judicial duel between three of the Carrion clan whose "enfantes" mistreated the Cid's daughters and three of the Cid's chief vassals. Note that the bad guys are unwilling to face the famously sharp swords wielded by the good guys, and bail out by running out of the boundaries. I can't help thinking that structurally this combat may have been like a tournament. Get up and go out to the field, infantes of Carrión,

it is time for you to fight like men,

the Campeador's men will not fail in anything.

If you come off he field well, you will have great honor,

if you are defeated, don't blame us,

for everyone knows that you went looking for it.-

Now the infantes of Carrión are repenting,

for what they did they are filled with regret,

they wouldn't have done it for all there is in Carrión.

All three of the Campeador's men are armed,

King don Alfonso went over to see them,

the Campeador's men said,

-We kiss your hands as king and lord,

that you be field judge for them and for us,

help us fairly, allow no wrongs.

Here the infantes of Carrión have their band,

we know not what they will plan or what they won't,

in your hand our lord placed us,

protect our rights, for the love of the Creator.-

At that moment the king said, -With all my heart and soul.-

They bring them their horses, good ones and swift,

they blessed the saddles and mount confidently,

the shields that are well reinforced at their necks,

in their hands they take the shafts of the sharp lances,

these three lances have their own pennons,

and around them many fine men.

They now went out to the field where the markers were.

All three of the Campeador's men are in agreement

that each one of them should strike his adversary hard.

Behold at the other end the infantes of Carrión,

very well accompanied, for there are many relatives.

The king gave them judges to tell them what's right and what isn't,

that they not dispute with them about who is or isn't right.

When they were in the field King don Alfonso spoke,

-Hear what I say to you, infantes of Carrión,

this combat you might have had in Toledo, but you refused.

These three knights of my Cid the Campeador

I brought them safely to the lands of Carrión,

be in the right, don't commit any wrongs,

for whoever wishes to commit a wrong, I will severely prohibit it,

in all my kingdom he will not be welcome.-

Now it begins to grieve the infantes of Carrión.

The judges and the king point out the markers,

all those around them left the field,

they showed clearly to all six of them how they are laid out,

that there whoever went outside the marker would be defeated.

All the people cleared out around there,

that they not approach the markers by any more than six lance lengths.

They drew lots for field position, now they divided the sun equally,

the judges got out from between them, they are face to face,

then the Cid's men came at the infantes of Carrión

and the infantes of Carrión at the Campeador's men,

each one of them concentrates on his target.

They clasp their shields before their hearts,

they lower their lances along with the pennons,

they lower their faces over the saddlebows,

they struck their horses with their spurs,

the ground shook where they were riding.

Each one of them has his mind on his target,

all three on three have now come together,

those that are nearby think that at that moment they will fall dead.

Pedro Bermúdez, he who challenged first,

met with Fernán González face to face,

they strike each other's shield fearlessly.

Fernán González pierced the shield of Pedro Bermúdez,

he hit only air, he did not strike flesh,

in two places his lance shaft broke cleanly apart.

Pedro Bermúdez remained steady, he did lose his balance from it,

he received one blow, but he dealt another,

he broke the boss of the shield, he split it in two,

he went through it entirely, it didn't protect him at all,

he stuck his lance into his chest, it didn't protect him at all.

Fernando wore three layers of mail, this helped him,

two of them broke on him and the third held up,

the padded tunic with the shirt and with the mail

out from his mouth the blood came, his saddle-girths broke,

not one of them was of any use to him,

over the croup of the horse he was thrown to the ground.

In this way the people thought he is fatally wounded.

The other dropped the lance and the sword he took in hand,

when Fernán González saw it, he recognized Tizón,

rather than wait for the blow he said, -I am defeated.-

The judges granted it, Pedro Bermúdez let him be.

Martín Antolínez and Diego González struck each other with their lances,

the blows were such that both lances broke.

Martín Antolínez took his sword in hand,

it lights up all the field, it is so clean and bright,

he gave him a blow, he hit him a glancing blow,

it broke away the top of the helmet,

it cut away all the helmet straps,

it tore off the mailed hood, and reached the coif,

the coif and the hood all were ripped away,

it cut the hairs on his head, and it reached well into the flesh,

one part fell to the ground and the other remained.

When precious Colada has struck this blow,

Diego González saw that he would not escape with his soul,

he turned his horse to face his opponent.

At that moment Martín Antolínez hit him with his sword,

he struck him broadside, with the cutting edge he did not hit him.

Diego González has sword in hand, but he does not

use it,at that moment the infante began to shout,

-Help me, God, glorious Lord, and protect me from this sword!-

He reined in his horse and, dodging the sword,

rode it outside the marker, Martín Antolínez remained on the field

. Then said the king, -Come join my company,

by all you have done, you have won this battle.-

The judges grant it, that he says the truth.

Both men have won, I'll tell you of Muño Gustioz,

how he fared against Asur González.

They strike each other on their shields with such great blows,

Asur González, rugged and valiant,

struck the shield of don Muño Gustioz,

through the shield he broke his armor,

the lance hit only air, for it did not strike flesh.

This blow struck, Muño Gustioz struck another one,

through the shield he broke his armor,

he broke through the shield's boss,

it could not protect him, he broke through his armor,

he hit him on one side, not near the heart,

he thrust his lance and the pennon right through his flesh,

pushing it through the other side an arm's length,

he gave it a twist, he tipped him from the saddle,

when he pulled back on the lance he threw him to the ground,

the shaft came out red as did the lance-tip and the pennon.

Everyone thinks that he is mortally wounded.

He repositioned his lance and halted over him, said Gonzalo Ansúrez,

-Don't strike him, for God's sake!

He is defeated since this is finished.-

Said the judges, -This we hear.-

The good king don Alfonso ordered the field cleared,

the arms that remained there he took them.

The Campeador's men left fully honored,

they won this combat, thanks to the Creator.

Great is the grief through the lands of Carrión.

The king sent my Cid's men at night,

so that they not be attacked or have fear.

Like prudent men they ride day and night,

behold them in Valencia with my Cid the Campeador,

they left the infantes of Carrión in disgrace,

they have fulfilled their duty that their lord demanded of them,

my Cid the Campeador was pleased by this.

Great is the shame of the infantes of Carrión,

whoever scorns a good lady and then abandons her

may such befall him or even worse.

Buy these books!

I recently got a royalty statement from my main publisher, Freelance Academy Press, and I'm sad to say that sales of been rather anemic the last six months. I know there are more people who are interested in this material than have heard about it. Also FAP does a classy job of printing and binding and illustrating these volumes. Finally, the price is right. The books are about a third the price of some of the other similar works put out by mainstream publishers. So I'm going to do my bit to get the word out, something that everybody who publishes these days is told they have to do. ,

FAP carries three recent books by me. All of them concern "deeds of arms" or chivalric sports and warfare in the late 14th century. All of them include translations of accounts from that period plus my own analysis of the material. I think I am quite a good writer so a lot of people should find my approach easy to understand and even entertaining.

First, there is "Royal Jousts". This book describes famous jousts of the 14th century as described by people who took part in them. This is the time when the kings of France and England competed not just on the battlefield but also in their sponsorship of chivalric sports. The best part of the book is the description of the jousts at St. Inglevert in the 1390s. It's famously described by Froissart, but other people wrote up the event too. I've included those other descriptions. If you are curious about what jousting meant to knights of the time, this is your book.

 Second is "the Combat of the Thirty." This is a famous incident of 1350s in which Breton – French men at arms fought English and mercenary men at arms for the fun of it. Each group controlled a strategic castle, but the war itself had bogged down. Out of boredom or other calculations, the captains of these garrisons decided to fight "30 against 30 with no one running away." Some people at the time thought it was a foolish pointless fight, while others thought it showed a true knightly spirit, unlike for instance the French cavalry who had run away from the battle of Crecy. There may have been some doubt too about whether the winning tactic was a fair one or not. Modern reenactors love to reenact this one. If you have friends who love the Hundred Years War, get them this book.

The third book is "Charny's men-at-arms." Geoffroi de Charny is the famous knight of the 1350s, among other things the first owner of the shroud of Turin. He was a trusted advisor of King John II of France and took part in John's efforts to revitalize chivalry in his kingdom. One project that Geoffroi de Charny participated in was an effort to revive knowledge of the "law of arms" that governed the relations between knights and knights (or "men at arms"). With the King's encouragement, Charny put together a list of questions about how the law of arms applied to jousting tournaments and warfare. Interestingly, he did not include or record any answers to those questions. So "Charny's questions"as they are usually called doesn't give us a codified legal document, but rather a list of things that practical warriors worried about – ransoms, who was qualified to fight in tournaments, and various questions of honour.

Let me also urge you to suggest to your local public library or academic library that they buy them books for their collections. These are not just books for scholars. Scholars will like them, but so will people of a variety of back grounds interested in some of the most colourful aspects of the Middle Ages.

Buy these books at Freelance Academy Press.

"Tournament Culture in the Low Countries and England" by Mario Damen

This article is available in the following book:

Hannah Skoda, Patrick Lantschner and R. L. J. Shaw eds., Contact and Exchange in Later Medieval Europe. Essays in Honour of Malcolm Vale (Woodbridge 2012) 247-266.

And also at:

https://www.academia.edu/1760499/Tournament_Culture_in_the_Low_Countries_and_England.

It is particularly interesting for its discussion of non-noble participation in 15th century tournaments in the Burgundian lands.

Unhelmed

As portrayed in Froissart's Chronicle; and thanks to Raymond Hindle.

Charny's Men at Arms -- the cover

The Deeds of Arms series -- don't miss "Royal Jousts."

Soon – very soon indeed – my Charny’s Men at Arms will be available from Freelance Academy Press, complete with a full translation of Charny’s Questions on the Joust Tournaments and War. I’ve explained before that this book is not really part of the Deeds of Arms series (which I edit) from the same press, but it’s about nothing but “deeds of arms”.

In the meantime, it's possible  to  read about deeds of arms in the series. I just got my royalty statement for last year (thank you, readers), and I found it surprising that though many people have bought The Combat of  the Thirty, only a few have bought Royal Jousts at the End of the Fourteenth Century. It’s comparable in interest, for students of chivalry, to the book on the Thirty, and it includes a chivalric festival as famous as the Thirty, the joust at St. Inglevert.

Those of you who want to know what knights of the late 14th century thought was cool, this is a book you should have. Like all the productions of Freelance Academy Press, it’s very pretty. When you finish this volume, you will be ready and anxious to read Charny’s Men at Arms.

Ps. If you don't have any of the series, FAP has a great sale price for all three.

Le Tournoi de Chauvency

Back around the end of the 13th century, the poet named Jacques Bretel wrote a semi-satirical account of a tournament, Le Tournoi de Chauvency. It was a real event and the poem features real people. Alas for me, the focus was not on the fighting, but on the audience and attendees, and how they contributed to what was a big, expensive and lighthearted celebration. For instance, the poem is hardly started when it begins making fun of people's accents, showing named figures protesting that their French is as good as anybody's. In another section, prominent ladies are shown singing songs appropriate to the occasion. I've always wanted to read the poem, but the language is old enough that I have put off tackling it.

But if you want to read about the poem, there is now this detailed treatment, just recently reviewed in The Medieval Review (but not yet on their website):

Chazan, Mireille, and Nancy Freeman Regalado, eds. Lettres, musique et société en Lorraine médiévale: Autour du Tournoi de Chauvency (Ms. Oxford Bodleian Douce 308). Series: Publications romanes et françaises. Geneva: Droz, 2012.  Pp. 583. Euros 78.00 or $96.00. ISBN-13: 9782600014656.

And if you want to hear a musical composition based on the poem there is this on YouTube.

The remarkable book by Sebastien Nadot, Le spectacle des joustes

Update:  I have not finished yet, but feel I should post my conclusion about Nadot's book.

For the period covered, the 15th century, it is the most thorough book I know.  It compares to Noel Fallows' equally thorough book on Iberian jousting -- though the books are quite different, since they rely on different sources.  Likewise it is quite a bit fuller than my Jousts and Tournaments, though again availability of the sources  accounts for much of that.

What I like about Nadot's treatment is that he is interested in all aspects of the phenomenon:  the fighting, the riding, the symbolism, the facilities built, the role of judges and heralds, the role of politics, everything.

Recommended for serious students of formal deeds of arms. And it doesn't cost the  earth.

Further update:   Nadot has another book from 2010, available at Amazon Canada.  All I know is the title, "Break the Lances:"

ROMPEZ LES LANCES : CHEVALIERS ET TOURNOIS AU MOYEN-ÂGE.

Deeds of arms and me

Since the late 1990s, I have been studdying  and  writing  about  formal combats -- challenges, tournaments, jousts, trials  by combat -- in the late Middle Ages.  What did the fighters do? Why did they do it?  What did it mean to them?

Over this decade or so, I have generated a lot of material entitled "Deeds of Arms," because, well, it's  all about deeds of arms.   Is there room for confusion?  Yes!  So here's a brief guide to the various works of that name.

I started by reading all of Froissart's Chronicles in the 1805 Thomas Johnes translation, and typing stories that caught  my eye into web pages so I could share them with friends and strangers.  I didn't call  this collection  Deeds of Arms, fortunately -- I called  it Tales from Froissart.

Somewhat later I started collecting and translating chronicle accounts of formal combats.  This was the first Deeds of Arms. Soon after I followed up some footnotes and found archival documents relevant to the history of formal deeds  of arms.  These I collected under the name Deeds of Arms -- from the Archives.

In 2003 my book Jousts and Tournaments:  Charny and the rules for chivalric sport in fourteenth-century France  came out. It included my translation of Geoffroi de Charny's questions on jousting and the  tournament.  At the moment this book -- which avoided the dread phrase in the title, you'll notice -- is out of print, but worry not, a more complete and accurate treatment and translation of Charny's Questions is coming out.

By 2005 I felt  I knew a bit about deeds of arms in general and in that year my book Deeds of  Arms: Formal combats in the late fourteenth century, emerged in print.  It treated the period when Froissart was writing so much about war and chivalry.  Can't get away from that man... The book is still in print.

After that I had another idea -- a series  about...deeds of arms.  It was a kind of an extension of the  first collection, a series of  thematic source collections in print and illustrated.  Factors not under my control  derailed this project for a number of years, but thanks to Freelance Academy Press, that series, Deeds of Arms, is now a reality.      I  am the series editor and the editor/translator of the  first two volumes.  There will be more from me, but we've already lined up other contributors.

And the book design is excellent...a Freelance Academy Press specialty.

Jousting in Frankish Greece, from the Chronicle of Morea

The Chronicle of Morea is an important source for the  history of the Frankish lordships that  grew up in Greece as a result of the Fourth Crusade,  and for  that reason Anne van Arsdall is translating the  French version  for the  Ashgate Crusader texts in translation series.  It includes this interesting story of  a  mid-fourteenth century joust, which was written up in the 1340s, just before Charny compiled his questions on the joust. Thanks to Anne for allowing me to use this.

1016. The prince sent his messengers throughout all Romania and all the islands, ordering them to announce that seven crusaders who had come from the Holy Land were challenging all the knights who wanted to come and joust with them  to win and lose horses. The jousts were to last twenty days and were to be held at the city of Corinth. Then he had armor made as required for seven knights, sewn with a crest of golden shells on precious green silk.  Then he had suitably noble lists constructed . When the jousts began, the local knights jousted, each in turn, with the visitors. 

1017. Then Prince Philip of Savoy came and jousted nobly, as did all the knights of his house. When the Duke of Athens, the most powerful man after the prince and the best rider, saw how noble the jousts were, he said he would lack nothing if he could joust with William Bouchart, because Lord Bouchart was considered one of the best jousters in the West. The duke said to prove himself, he would joust in such a way that he would charge straight on at Lord Bouchart and his horse, even if he should die. 

1018. Then the duke covered himself with good layers of cloth all over his body and underneath that he armed himself with the best furs he could have. But he could not do so secretly enough that the marshal did not know about it. And when the marshal knew about it, he told Lord William Bouchart that he ought to arm and outfit himself exactly like the duke, because the duke was going to charge him head-on.  Lord William replied that God would not be pleased if such dishonor were attributed to him, and he would not arm himself to die other than as simply as he had in jousting with the other knights. 

1019. It happened like this: the duke entered from the visitors' side, nobly accompanied,and Lord William from the locals'.  When they were in the row inside the lists, during the first joust they had, Lord William intended to spare the duke first because of the duke’s nobility and rank, and second because he was not used to jousting like the duke of Athens was doing.  He left him in the list. 

1020. But the duke, who wanted in the worst way to charge him, came galloping so audaciously that Lord William could not avoid him. The duke managed to point his horse's head  straight toward Lord William with the result that the knights fought  body and chest against one another, and their horses too—head to head, so hard that the head of Lord William's horse was  smashed into its body between the two shoulders and collapsed on the ground together with the knight.  

1021. But the lord, who knew the profession, did not want to leave the saddle bow until the judge ruled whether he was without a horse or not. The duke’s horse crashed into the wooden barriers.  As he was about to pummet down with the duke, the knights and other men who were there around the lists in a great crowd, ran there and looked under the duke’s horse, and they forcefully dragged him out by his shoulders and arms.. 

….. 

1022.  . .  . to enter the lists like someone who thinks he will die ignobly. When the marshal saw that the knight did not seem to be coming toward him, he accomplished his four laps and then went back to his tents, very angry because the count would not come joust with him and lost his resolve and the great will he had to fight with him. 

1023. Lord William Bouchart had known for certain that the horse Lord John rode to the jousts was one of the best in the country and that the Lord had acted as though the horse was injured because of how much he feared the marshal. And when it got toward evening, Lord William managed to get the horse, mounted on it completely unarmed and galloped about, going in and out of the lists yelling at the top of his voice: Look here at the horse who is not able to go to the jousts! 

1024. This act caused serious accusations to be made against Lord John of Nivelet. And after this joust, everone who came as a local jousted with all who came as visitors, until the jousts were finished, because there were more than 1000 to joust with the locals. 

Based on:  Jean Longnon, Jean, ed. 1911. Livre de la conquest de la Princée de l'Amorée, Chronique de 

Morée (1204-1305). Paris: Librarie Renouard. 

An interim review of Sebastien Nadot’s Le spectacle des joustes

I read French rather slowly, so I may move on to other books before I properly finish this one.  But Le spectacle des joustes deserves some attention and so I am writing this comment.

Few scholarly books look at all aspects of medieval deeds of arms in detail. This is one of them. 

The book’s title is deceptive in that the book, though it treats jousting very thoroughly, is not restricted to jousting.  The subject is the events called emprises and pas d’armes, which could include a variety of fighting.

Potential readers should also know that the book covers the fifteenth century.  Thus no St. Inglevert and no Charny’s Questions.

However, there is plenty more on deeds of arms as athletics, as spectacles, and as economic and political events.  Particularly interesting is the way Nadot wrestles with the idea of fighting “courteously.”

This book could serve as an index to interesting incidents on the list fields of the fifteenth century.

I think I’m going to need a copy of my own.  Only 30 euro!  But the shipping?

Combat of the Thirty -- my new book

Out today!

I have collected and translated the most important accounts of this famous 14th century deed  of arms, and Doug   Strong has contributed an appendix  on the armor.

A pretty book and a bargain!

How to arm knights for a tournament

Latin text and English translation by Will McLean.

You have to wonder who this was written for.

Le spectacle des joutes Sport et courtoisie à la fin du Moyen Âge, by Sebastien Nadot

A friend sends news of this French academic book on jousting. I haven't seen the book so will just copy the description off its publisher's webpage:

Le spectacle des joutes

Sport et courtoisie à la fin du Moyen Âge

Les pas d’armes sont des jeux corporels où la dépense physique, les accidents, l’esprit compétitif, les tricheries et le chauvinisme font rage, dans un cadre réglementé. Spectacles pour un public nombreux en partie féminin, les pas d’armes ont aussi une réalité financière et politique. Les plus grands princes de Castille, de Bourgogne ou de France côtoient les champions les plus réputés. Avec ce regard sur les pratiques physiques médiévales, la comparaison entre sport et pas d’armes devient possible. Elle s’oppose aux « penseurs du muscle » qui ont communément admis que le sport est né au XIXe siècle en Angleterre sur des bases antiques…
Avec une préface d’Adeline Rucquoi.

2012 Sébastien Nadot Domaine : Histoire médiévale Collection : Histoire Format : 15,5 x 24 cm Nombre de pages : 354 p. Illustrations : Couleurs ISBN : 978-2-7535-2148-3 Disponibilité : en librairie Prix : 18,00 €

And is it another $100 book?  NO! Color pictures and all, a mere 18 euro!

Martial art

For the last 20 years (!), My wife and I have been hosting an SCA medieval re-creation event on our rural property. Because it takes place on Labor Day weekend, and because we have 95 acres of land, there is time and space for a lot of different things to happen, or for people just to relax.
One of the chief activities is SCA style combat, which uses rattan weapons to make possible a vigorous style of fighting. I don't think that the SCA style can honestly be called an historical one; it evolved from some logical but mistaken assumptions about the effects of weapons and armor. Thanks to intelligent and scholarly martial artists we know a lot more about late medieval combat at the very least.
But SCA combat has its virtues. You can stage a hard-hitting analog of medieval combat with a minimum of serious injuries. Many SCA fighters have never broken a bone, even after many years of competition. And it has a certain aesthetic appeal.
This aesthetic element was brought home to me on the weekend. I was discussing various combat systems that now exist with someone who fences in the "cut and thrust" style, in which real steel swords are used. He and I both agreed that we did not see the point of certain modern jousters and martial artists who have adopted medieval styles, who use something like medieval weaponry and medieval techniques, but scorn dressing up in medieval costume, since what they are doing is in their minds a purely modern thing. The two of us didn't see the point. It may or may not make any sense to fight in a medieval or pseudo–medieval style just for the fun of it, but to do the same thing in 21st century dress and high tech armor just has no meaning for me at all.
And that same day I was lucky enough to see the fruits of medieval aestheticism, SCA style. One of our standard fighting activities involves a small earth and wood fort that we built some years back. One of the challenges of using it is coming up with scenarios that make a certain tactical sense, even though the number of fighters involved is seldom over 20. On Saturday afternoon, some good scenarios were devised and played over and over until everyone was good and tired.
It may be the fact that I am now retired from fighting for good and all, but I found this fighting to be really quite amazing. To my educated eyes, everybody involved looked like they really knew what they were doing. That struck me because with few exceptions, the fighters were what passes for average in our corner of the SCA. There were no famous knights, except one, and he is not nearly as famous as he deserves to be as a master of the pole weapon. There were also a number of quite new fighters, and they picked up on the clues of their more experienced neighbors like there was nothing to it. For me, it was an impressive and moving moment.

Making iron at the event, 2006.

One of the best things I've written

Those allergic to even the slightest touch of braggadocio should stop reading now.

Last night and this morning I reread something I wrote a while back that I think is really very good, in its conception,  its analysis, and in its expression as an effective piece of writing.

It wasn't "Democracy's Place in World History," which I wrote back in 1991 with Phil Paine; I hope that article did some good in the world, and I think it did. No, not that.

It wasn't my first book, the Fifth-century Chroniclers, a solid piece of work on how contemporaries understood what we think of as the fall of the Roman Empire. I got some good compliments on that, and I know it's one of those specialized studies that has a long scholarly half-life, maybe a century or so.

What gave me such satisfaction?

It was the chapter called "Will a Frenchman fight?" In my book Deeds of Arms. In what could almost stand as an article by itself, I tackled what for me is perhaps the most important passage in Froissart, the one which discusses the deeds of arms done at Vannes in 1381. Some of you will remember them – French and English champions fighting on foot, climaxing with an Englishman thrusting his lance  into an off–target area of his opponent and disgracing himself. To understand what was going on in this passage, I had to read all of Froissart's Chronicles (and much more) to see the big picture, what Froissart and his audience thought was chivalric and what they did not. I had to  be able to explain not just these deeds of arms, but many more depicted by Froissart and other way medieval writers.

And I think I succeeded. It's a good feeling.

Some readers may know that I am the editor of the Deeds of Arms series that Freelance Academy Press is putting out.  (Volume 1, Royal jousts at the end of the 14th century is already in print. )    I hope in ayear or so to make a book called Will a Frenchman fight? available in that series. It won't be a duplicate of the analytical chapter I have just been talking about: instead, it will be a collection of the original accounts of those famous deeds of arms and the campaign through France that they were part of, introduced by yours truly.

In the meantime, the volume on the Combat of the Thirty should be out very soon, including a full modern translation of the best account, plus much more. Stay tuned.