Orders of Knighthood are the most exclusive and prestigious institutions in the world. Originally the preserve of royalty and aristocracy, they now include amongst their membership tycoons such as Rupert Murdoch, entertainers (Sir Mick Jagger, for example) and world leaders (Nelson Mandela). Burke's Peerage and Gentry have now produced a major new study of the extant orders of knighthood and merit of every state, the result of the collaboration of many of the world's leading specialists. The first section commences with detailed histories of the surviving confraternal orders, beginning with the famous Order of Malta. The second section includes histories of all the great European single class Collar Orders, by date of foundation, beginning with the Order of the Garter (England) and including the Orders from Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Poland, Scotland, Spain and Sweden. The third includes histories of the most prestigious Orders of Chivalry and the remaining sections include one devoted to royal dynastic Orders, another to ladies' Orders and the largest section: State Merit Orders. The main portion ends with a section on institutions of chivalric character. Each Order's purpose, structure, investiture details, officers and membership requirements will be listed along with details of the insignia. These lavishly illustrated, full colour volumes also include illustrations of the uniforms, robes and insignia as well as photographs and paintings of related places and people, diplomas, armorial bearings and ceremonies of investiture.
ISBN-10: 0971196672
ISBN-13: 978-0971196674

Opens up an important subject and present the findings of much diligent research. It is a significant contribution to the history of the political life and culture of the later medieval aristocracy. MAURICE KEEN Orders of lay knights - the most famous of which are those of the Garter and the Golden Fleece - were founded at some time between 1325 and 1470 in almost every kingdom of Western Christendom, and played an important part in the life of the court. Jonathan Boulton defines the `monarchical' orders as those with corporate statutes which attached the presidential office to the crown of the princely founder, or made it hereditary in his house. Modelled either directly or indirectly on the fictional society of the Round Table, they incorporated varying numbers of elements borrowed from the older religious orders of knighthood and from contemporary institutions. This study explores the nature and history of thirteen orders, and reveals them as not only an ingenious supplement to (or replacement for) the feudo-vassalic ties that still bound the leading members of the nobility to their sovereign, but also as the most important institutional embodiments of the secular ideals of chivalry that were at the heart of the international court culture of the age.
ISBN-10: 0851157955
ISBN-13: 978-0851157955

Brian R. Price has updated this text and presented it in a beautifully crafted presentation that supports the text's value as a contemplative work. Having sold several thousand of the translations in monograph format, this hardcover edition is perfect for students and medieval research. Brian R. Price is a well-known essayist and author of books on Arms & Armour ("Techniques of Medieval Armour Reproduction"--Paladin Press, 1999), knighthood, chivalric philosophy, the conduct of medieval tournaments and the medieval martial arts.
(ISBN: 1-89144-803-X)

This original and authoritative text reveals how chivalry was part of the problem of violence in medieval Europe, not merely it's solution. The ideal was to internalize restraint in knights, but a close reading of chivalric literature shows chivalry also praised heroic violence by knights. This fascinating book lays bare the conflicts and paradoxes surrounding the concept of chivalry in medieval Europe.
(ISBN: 0-19924-458-8)

The ancient warrior code which persisted in medieval Christian Europe dictated that a man's greatest virtues were physical strength, skill at arms, bravery, daring, loyalty to the chieftain and solidarity within the tribe. Ideals diametrically opposed to those of the primitive Church. By the early 8th century however, the Church had grown wealthy, and the Saracen invasions of Spain and France posed a threat to that wealth. The Roman Church began to support war in defence of the faith, and by channelling the martial spirit into the service of God, the brutal warrior of the past was transformed into a guardian of society. War was acceptable if it was socially useful, and the warrior codes were harnessed to create a new chivalrous spirit whereby the ?ite warrior class, now the nobility or ruling class, was the defender of the faith, protector of the poor and weak. This new Miles Christanus was to become a romantic hero to rival the heroes of the old pagan sagas: a member of an international brotherhood of a single class, with a common code of behaviour, and sharing a common code of ideals. Accompanied by numerous illustrations, including eight full page colour plates by Richard Scollins, this engaging volume by Terence Wise details the history, organisation and equipment of the many different orders of knights which fought against the pagan hordes.
(ISBN: 1-84176-118-4)

This is the first scholarly study of the political role of the Order of the Garter during the late middle ages. Hugh Collins's examination of the Garter's pragmatic considerations and knightly ideas reveals the extent to which political society in the late middle ages founded its ambitions and aspirations on the cult of chivalry.
(ISBN: 0-19820-817-0)

The first modern English translation of this classic medieval work on the art of warfare. It is unexpected in any era to find a woman writing a book on the art of warfare, but in the fifteenth century it was unbelievable. Not surprisingly, therefore, Christine de Pizan's The Book of Deeds of Arms and of Chivalry, written around 1410, has often been regarded with disdain. Many have assumed that Christine was simply copying or pilfering earlier military manuals. But, as Sumner Willard and Charity Cannon Willard show in this faithful English translation, The Book of Deeds of Arms and of Chivalry contains much that is original to Christine. As a military manual it tells us a great deal about the strategy, tactics, and technology of medieval warfare and is one of our most important sources for early gunpowder weapon technology. It also includes a fascinating discussion of Just War.
(ISBN: 0-27101-881-X)

From the book:

• PART ONE. Chivalric Literature in an Age of Exploration
• 1 Towards the Rediscovery of a Literature
• 2 The Romance as an Imaginative Literature of Travel
• PART TWO. Exploration and Chivalry: Case Studies
• 3 Marco Polo and Rustichello da Pisa: the traveler's romance
• 4 Gadifer de la Salle: native kings and traitor knights
• 5 The Lady with the Sword: Philippa of Lancaster and the chivalry of Prince Henry the Navigator
• 6 The Quest for Montezuma: rereading the cartas de relacion
• 7 The Matter of England: Ralegh among the Amazons
• 8 The Captain's Self-Portrait Revisited
• Conclusions

Courtliness is an important feature of medieval literature, and the ideals of social behavior and personal refinement play an integral part in much of the literature and poetry of the period. Courtliness and Literature in Medieval England traces the development of courtliness from its emergence in the exclusive world of the aristocratic courts of the 12th century to a bourgeois respectability in the 15th century. Using such literary examples as Chaucer and the 'Gawain' poet, David Burnley illustrates how the literature of the time reflected the framework of social and aesthetic ideals of medieval society.
(ISBN: 0-58229-216-6)

This book, building upon Archbishop's Cardinale's Orders of Knighthood, Awards and the Holy See, this book presents the many Catholic-founded Orders of Knighthood in a new perspective, and deals not only with the Pontifical Equestrian Orders and the two surviving religious Orders of Knighthood, but with the many Catholic-founded but secularized Orders--dynastic, state, and crown--that exist today. Drawing on source materials never before available, the author is able to expose misunderstandings and misinformation and highlight errors that have been perpetuated, sometimes for centuries.
(ISBN: 0-86140-371-1)

No description available.
(ISBN: 0-19825-140-8)

"This book is a pleasure: its matter is essential; its thorough and clear presentation makes it attractive to students at various levels; its inclusion of the newly edited Middle French text increases its value to scholars. . . . Most of all, the Livre de chevalerie will now assume its rightful, central place in studies of fourteenth-century history and literature and in the history of chivalry."--Speculum.
(ISBN: 0-81221-579-6)

"The Laings, writers on ancient art and archaeology, provide a comprehensive picture of Britain from the Norman Conquest to the end of the Wars of the Roses. Their explanations of the intricate mechanisms of both feudalism and the manor system are lucid, concise, and generally accurate. Charismatic figures, such as Edward I, Richard I, and even Robin Hood, are placed in proper historical perspective. The authors' examination of rural society, particularly at the lower levels, provides the reader with a feel for the ebb and flow of daily life, with its poverty and occasional brutality. This is a well-researched, lavishly illustrated, and easily readable survey that will be instructive for the general reader."-- Jay Freeman.
(ISBN: 0-31221-793-5)

This is the first specific, large-scale study of conduct in warfare and the nature of chivalry in the Anglo-Norman period. The extent to which the knighthood consciously sought to limit the extent of fatalities among its members is explored through a study of notions of a brotherhood in arms, the actualities of combat and the effectiveness of armour, the treatment of prisoners, and the workings of ransom. Were there 'laws of war' in operation in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and, if so, were they binding? How far did notions of honour affect knights' actions in war itself? Conduct in war against an opposing suzerain such as the Capetian king is contrasted to behaviour in situations of rebellion and of civil war. A study of aristocratic violence towards churches in war, and of the mechanisms of ravaging, examines the behaviour of the knighthood to the other ordines of society, the Church and the peasantry. An overall context is provided by an examination of the behaviour in war of the Scots and the mercenary routiers, both accused of perpetrating 'atrocities'.
(ISBN: 0-52144-392-X)

Keen (Chivalry, 1983) treats the ideas of chivalry and the reality of warfare during the Middle Ages, and the nearly indiscernible relationship between them. Brotherhood-in-arms, courtly love, crusades, heraldry, knighthood, tournaments, and plunder are among the topics. The 14 essays were originally published between 1962 and 1993. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
(ISBN: 1-85285-087-6)

The concept of chivalry is one of the central ideas of the medieval world, linking the practicalities of warfare to the highest levels of literary creation and to religious idealism. To understand it, it is necessary to look at both history and literature, and to give equal weight to the worlds of reality and imagination, in order to examine the complex interaction between the two which produces chivalry. The first part of the book looks at the prehistory of chivalry, the warriors and knights of early medieval Europe, their social function and status. It considers the ceremonies which began to set off the knight from other men, their place at princely courts, and the complex reaction of the Church to this new order of society. From this, the quest for chivalry leads to the literary world of the chansons de geste and the early romances, and to the biographies and handbooks which served as examples to the aspiring knight. The great festival of chivalry, the tournament, is considered in the next part, showing how it developed from training for warfare into a spectacular pageant, while retaining the exhilaration and danger of war; and this in turn leads us to the knight on the battlefield, chivalry in action in the incessant warfare of the middle ages. Warfare is also the topic of the opening chapter of the section on chivalry and religion, in which the church's attitude to warfare, as reflected in the crusades, is discussed. The emergence of the military orders, and their subsequent history in the Near East, Spain and the Baltic, shows religious chivalry in action. The final part, on chivalry in the realm of politics, concerns the use of the ideals of chivalry by the princes of western Europe, and the development of the secular orders.
(ISBN: 0-85115-663-0)

The history of the Grail legend begins with a romance composed by Chretien de Troyes in the last decades of the twelfth century, Perceval ou Le Conte du Graal. Whereas Chretien's earlier romances explored the secular tensions generated by chivalric and courtly life, the Conte du Graal has appeared to most scholars to resolve such tensions by offering a spiritualized ideal of a new kind of chivalry governed by a universal vision of chivalry's redemptive mission in the world. Focusing on this earliest extant version of the Grail legend the author proposes instead a social interpretation of Chretien's romance as a story concerned with earthly violence and vendetta. She asserts that, rather than anticipating the mystical quest for the "Holy Grail" narrated in subsequent renditions of the legend, Chretien's Conte du Graal functions as a chronicle of aggressive pursuits at whose core is a long-standing dispute between two principal forces: King Arthur and the Grail lineage. The author shows how this history of rivalry is revealed through a double narrative that consists of the parallel adventures of Perceval, the heir presumptive of the Grail lineage, and of Gauvain, King Arthur's most powerful and honored champion. In Cazelles's view, the Conte du Graal forecasts a lethal encounter between its two protagonists and points to the presence of a cycle of conflicts and tensions that threatens to engulf the entire chivalric community, including King Arthur himself. The Unholy Grail assesses the importance of the Conte du Graal as both a crepuscular account of Arthur's "history" and as a final phase of traditional chivalric romance. It also suggests that the aggressiveness of knightly society as depicted in the Conte du Graal reflects, via a displacement to the imaginary, the very predicament that the chivalric aristocracy - notably the noble sponsors of courtly literature.
(ISBN: 0-80472-481-4)

As a record of past glories, nothing delights the student as much as heraldry. The information that a coat of arms can give the serious scholar is considerable, and over the past 800 years rules have been evolved to control what one can put in one's personal arms and how to show one's descent from other armigerous families. One of the most intriguing rules is that one is not allowed to put metal on metal - gold and silver (Or and Argent in heraldic terms) - or next to each other. Similarly one must not put colour on colour. The reasoning behind these rules has long been suspect however, so Archbishop Heim's work on the history of, and rules concerning, this subject is most timely. While many authorities maintain that the rules of heraldry forbid such neighbourliness, the author here provides ample evidence that the rule is broken as often as it is adhered to. This volume contains twenty-four full colour plates containing over 360 coats of arms, with examples from every European country, all of which break this so-called immutable rule, and there are many others in black and white in the text, as well as a bibliography giving the most important authorities. There is a Preface by the Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal of England.
(ISBN: 0-90571-524-1)

Hartmann von Aue was one of the most important writers in medieval German and Arthurian literature, his position as an educated knight providing a perspectives from both the clerical and aristocratic worlds. Here is an inquiry across the full range of his poetry into his representation of knighthood and chivalric values, their social and ideological dimensions, and their historical context. Also considers the various strands of literary, linguistic, and historical influences on his work. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
(ISBN: 0-85991-431-3)

David Crouch's biography of William Marshal, an icon in his own time, a courtier and knight who served five kings--Henry II, Henry the Young King, Richard the Lionheart, John, and Henry III--as well as a queen, Eleanor of Aquitane, coming to represent the ideal of the corteis (courtly) to his peers and the embodiment of chevalerie for those who have since studied the period, does much to ground the legend and question earlier interpretations that often accepted the contemporary accounts of Marshal's life at face value.

The author uses his biography to examine the role of the mesnie in 12th century medieval society, as well as the function of the tournament, both as a social phenomenon and an avenue for advancement, both financial and social. He investigates the evolving notion of chivalry, both as an ideal and its actual practice. And he makes a cursory foray into the influence of religion, especially as it pertained to the noble's household, with its dependence upon an administration of clerical clerks. As much an insight into medieval military and noble society as a biography, the author has leavened his account with some wonderful anecdotes, such as Richard I's remonstrance with Marshal against killing him in battle, and Henry II's pique with his son over the latter's crossbowmen firing at him during a period of The Young King's insurrection. The various interactions and shifting allegiances between King Henry II and his often recalcitrant sons is illuminating in itself. Though Marshal was often out of the king's favor, Henry II nonetheless twice requested that Marshal serve his son, even though the son was at war with his father, and Marshal's military skills and allegiance would be turned against him! Quite a different mindset than what we're accustomed to today.
(ISBN: 0-58203-786-7)

Knights at Court is a grand tour and survey of manners, manhood, and court life in the Middle Ages, like no other in print. Composed on an epic canvas, this authoritative work traces the development of court culture and its various manifestations from the latter years of the Holy Roman Empire (ca. A.D. 1000) to the Italian Renaissance of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Leading medievalist and Renaissance scholar Aldo Scaglione offers a sweeping sociological view of three geographic areas that reveals a surprising continuity of courtly forms and motifs: German romances; the lyrical and narrative literature of northern and southern France; Italy's chivalric poetry. Scaglione discusses a broad number of texts, from early Norman and Flemish baronial chronicles to the romances of Chrtien de Troyes, the troubadours and Minnesingers. He delves into the Niebelungenlied, Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, and an array of treatises on conduct down to Castiglione and his successors. All these works and Scaglione's superior scholarship attest to the enduring power over minds and hearts of a mentality that issued from a small minority of peoplethe courtiers and knightsin central positions of leadership and power. Knights at Court is for all scholars and students interested in "the civilizing process.
(ISBN: 0-52007-270-7)

This work contains the legal contributions and observations of Hugh Henry Brackenridge, Pennsylvania Supreme Court judge, teacher, preacher, publisher, gazetteer, lawyer, and fiction writer who reached the pinnacle of his career during the Jeffersonian era. Brackenridge's body of legal thought is juxtaposed with the published lectures of James Wilson, the commentaries on Blackstone by St. George Tucker, and selections from "The Federalist Papers." Contents: "Modern Chivalry:" The Early Books; "Modern Chivalry:" The Later Books; Overview of "Law Miscellanies"; Selected State Supreme Court Cases; Concluding Thoughts.
(ISBN: 0-81918-375-X)

Geroges Duby, one of this century's great medieval historians, has brought to life with exceptional brilliance and imagination William Marshal, adviser to the Plantagenets, knight extraordinaire, the flower of chivalry. A marvel of historical reconstruction, William Marshal is based on a biographical poem written in the 13th century, and offers an evocation of chivalric life - the contests and tournaments, the rites of war and the daily details of medieval existence.
(ISBN: 0-96331-000-3)

No description available.
(ISBN: 0-85115-493-X)

Lull's The Book of the Order of Chivalry (c. 1270), which focused on chivalry as a way of life and offered instruction toward that end, is the most influential Medieval discussion of chivalry known. Translated into French, Castilian, Scots and English (by Caxton, c. 1485), it was widely read and is generally recognized as the classic account of knighthood.
(ISBN: 0-39475-154-X)

"Chivalry is the work of a master. Comprehensive in its scope, it covers four centuries of European history.--Richard C. McCoy, Renaissance Quarterly

"All historians of Western society, even of periods close to our own, will do well to refer to this book."--Georges Duby, Times Literary Supplement

"[Keen's] exploration of the actual complex reality of chivalry, its vast literature and the traditions it imposed on European nobility is the last word on a seductive subject."--Washington Post

"Keen's eminently readable study of the crucial years between 1100 and 1500 not only furnishes us with a colorful, sharply detailed portrait of a way of life, but also provides us with an understanding of how chivalric ideals and practices helped meet the political, social, and economic needs of the time."--Christian Science Monitor

"A refreshingly new approach to the subject, reinterprets the evidence and brings chivalry alive in the context of the times during which it flourished."--Rodney Dennys, Antiquaries Journal

"Clearly written and engaging. . . . The author has intelligent and useful things to say throughout."--John F. Benton, Manuscripta

"Welcome and important. . . . A splendid book written with great enthusiasm, easy to read, and reflecting a wide scholarship."--Christopher Allmand, Historical Review.
(ISBN: 0-30003-360-5)

"This book is well written by an expert on the various Military-Religious Orders. The book gives great detail on the formation and history of the Order through the centuries . The books details the geneology of the current Grand Master of the Order HRH Don Ferdinando Maria, Prince of Bourbon Two Sicillies, Head of the Royal House, Duke of Calabria and Castro. and how the Order under his leadership has been recognised. Also explains how the Parma branch of the Bourbons confers membership but is not recognised by the Holy See or the Italian Republic. A fascinating history and a notably prestigious membership." - Ozzy Marcenaro (omarcenaro@aol.com)
(ISBN: 0-90571-528-4)

No description available.
(ISBN: 0-90571-526-8)

The best image of the Middle Ages that is available . . . A masterful effort is made to get behind the bare facts and to show how the peasant would react, what his life meant, and something of his psychology Speculum
(ISBN: 0-87451-259-X)

This is the standard reference work on the knights of England, Scotland, and Ireland, bearing reference to more than 10,000 historical personages. The first volume describes the ten official Orders of Knighthood, and with each Order, the knights are listed in chronological order of succession, with details setting out the full name and title of the knight, beginning with the date of his appointment, and generally containing the exact date of installation, and date, place and cause of death. The second volume comprises a chronological list of the largest Order--the Knights Bachelor--and contains over 7,000 entries.
(ISBN: 0-80630-443-X)