The Book of Chivalry of Geoffroi de Charny: Text, Context, and Translation (The Middle Ages Series)

Superbly wonderful

Most books on Chivalry either ridicule it, mythologize it, or sentimentalize it. This book does none of these. It was written by a famous French knight who lived it and died it.The long introduction by the editors/translators provides a brief biography of the author, some historical perspective, and convincing speculation on the motivations of its author. "The Book of Chivalry" is de Charny's attempt to improve the quantity and quality of the French warrior classes in a time of crisis. As a member of the knightly elite, as an "insider", he had to play a double game; reform the system without criticizing it too harshly. De Charny's ethic is inclusive of poorer warriors, warriors with shady reputations, but is particularly critical of the spendthrift wealthier knights who spent more money and time on jewelry, lodging, gambling, leisure, and fashion rather than on weapons, training, and religious faith. There is almost nothing on stereotypical chivalry concerning the treatment of women.Ultimately, this attempt at reforming chivalry was a failure. After the bulk of the French army fled, de Charny was killed in battle at Poitiers while holding the Oriflamme. Chivalry and the "Preudhomme" entered myth.The book reveals other interesting aspects of the medieval French warrior mindset. Although immersed in it all his life, De Charny completely ignores the technology and politics of war. He attaches little importance to the achievement of anything other than a good personal reputation as a "preudhomme", or "Man of Worth". He is completely immune from the modern obsessions with justice, victory, security, or wealth. His sense of the ideal warrior would be a deeply pious man who singlemindedly studies and practices the profession of arms from the earliest age, sticks with it through the best and worst times, and gives little time or thought to anything else other than God. But the ideal is not a standard.

The book on chivalry, for those of us who practice it. Thanks, Prof. Kaeuper.

The term chivalry has been perverted to mean a lot of things over the years, mostly to mean a man who puts up with the bad behavior of women. This book sets the record right; chivalry is a code of conduct for fighting men of God. Nothing more, nothing less

It was a privilege to read the writings of this 14th Century Knight and Champion of Chivalric Values. I highly recommend it to anyone who seeks to study the Ideals of Chivalry as well as to anyone seeking to live by its Standards.I am at your service,Sir Blackwolf

This book is a quintessential must-read for those interested in knights, chivalry, and the culture of the Middle Ages. The translators provide an excellent introduction illuminating the life of Geoffroi de Charny. As one of the premier knights of France during the Hundred Years' War, Charny was in a good position to know the ins-and-outs of knighthood. He was captured by the English during his unsuccessful attempt to retake the city of Calais; his captors ferried him across the English Channel and held him for ransom for over a year. This period of imprisonment gave him ample exposure to the English brand of chivalry, and some think that it was during this time that he composed the Book of Chivalry. When Charny was ransomed, he returned to France to fight in one of the greatest set pieces of the Middle Ages, the Battle of Poitiers. He had the distinguished honor of carrying the Oriflamme, the royal standard of France. Sadly, the battle went against the French, and Charny perished on the field. One interesting side note to Charny's biography: he is the first recorded owner of the Shroud of Turin, a relic which many venerate as the actual shroud in which Jesus Christ's body was wrapped before his resurrection.The text of the work itself appears in both the original Medieval French and in an English translation. The translators have done a superb job of keeping the feel of Charny's long, polished prose and making it accessible to a modern audience. In the first part of the book, Charny deals with what kinds of knights there are, comparing and contrasting the lower men-at-arms with those of higher quality. In the middle part of the book, he states what duties are most honorable for a knight to undertake and identifies the greatest knight who ever lived as Judas Maccabee. In the concluding sections, Charny shows that knights can serve God just as well as men of the cloth can, claiming that the practice of knighthood, "which can well be performed according to God's will, is very dangerous and perilous, and its practice makes greater physical and spiritual demands than those required of any of the men who are ordained to serve Our Lord in the Holy Church." This last section is especially interesting. In a world where the clergy saw their own calling as a better path to God, Charny speaks out and says that God can be served through every calling, even and especially in the pursuit of arms.--Review by Rosanne Lortz, author of "I Serve: A Novel of the Black Prince"

A very good dual-text copy of the writings of Geoffroi De Charny (the Knight that kept the oriflamme, a symbol of France, and the first famous possessor of the Shroud of Turin) into what Chivalry is, and what Knighthood should be, and the differences between that and what it really seemed to be.The prose is well done, giving good insight into the mind of the Knight of that era. Examples of the problems of lust versus courtly love, the appropriateness of staying just a little hungry, and a comparison of the Orders of Grace (priesthood) with the Orders of Knighthood all work together to give the reader a sense of the noble and knightly duties in the pre Republic days of Europe. This is a good starting point (along with Ramon Lull's _The Book of the Order of Chivalry_) for the novice to learn how social Chivalry developed from the military form to the current socio-political. The parallels in current day knighthood can easily be seen once an understanding is gained of the past, and this book brings the past into focus in an amazing way.Do be advised -- the French and English are interleaved, so you'll either be reading on the right (english) or left (french) once you get past the introduction!