Full name: Deeds of Arms: Formal Combats in the Late Fourteenth Century

Author: Steven Muhlberger Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: History Purchase/reserch links: Goodreads ISBNs: 9781891448447 1891448447

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.