The Twelve of England
by Noel Fallows
Paperback (Published)
(September 2013)
ISBN: 9781937439040
6.97 x 10 inches
Price: $27.95
In stock
Translated into English for the first time, this book includes a valuable and extensive technical introduction, with illustrations from both original sources and modern photographs. Antonio Manciolino’s instructions are easy to follow, sword-in-hand, even by beginners, while providing years of training for veteran martial artists.
In the waning years of the fourteenth century, the household of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster was scandalized when twelve petulant English knights publicly mocked the twelve ladies-in-waiting to the Duke’s wife, calling them ugly to their faces. Outraged, the ladies sought immediate redress, but so fearsome were the knights’ reputations that none would step forward. Desperate for help, the Duke appealed to his son-in-law King Joao I of Portugal to find champions ready to fight for the ladies’ honor. Enter the “Twelve of England,” a band of battle-hardened Portuguese knights. Led by the redoubtable Alvaro Goncalves Coutinho, known as “Magrico,” or “The Lean One,” these twelve fearless men set out for England to fight the English knights in judicial combat, prepared to shed their blood to save the honor of ladies they had never met. Such tales of valor and derring-do, which often hinge on the notion of a team of warriors venturing into hostile territory on a quest for vengeance or redress set against a sweeping historical backdrop, have captured the imagination of audiences through the ages, from Jason and the Argonauts to Lieutenant Aldo Raine and the “Inglorious Basterds.” Although undoubtedly a fictional tale inserted into historical reality, the action does not end at the household of the Duke of Lancaster, and other adventures ensue in France, Germany, and Burgundy, as the twelve heroes spread the fame of Portuguese chivalry throughout the great courts of Europe. The third volume of the Deeds of Arms series presents a complete translation of the earliest known version of the Twelve of England, which has survived in only one manuscript. Professor Fallows presents the text in both the medieval Portuguese and an accompanying English translation. A facsimile of the original manuscript and an extensive introduction covering the historical context of both the text and the deeds it discusses are also included. An overview of the arms and armor used by the combatants, color illustrations, genealogical tables, maps, and a comprehensive bibliography further complement the text.
- By (author) Noel Fallows
Other Titles in this Series
Similar Books
A Late Antique Harrowing of Hell and Its Medieval Reception
Eusebius of Alexandria's Sermons 15 and 17 (CPG 5524; 5526) and their Latin Rewritings
Volume 99
Behind the Scenes of Medieval Roofs
An Overview of the Roofing Systems of Italian Churches
Volume 90
Innovation and Medieval Communities
The Circulation of Ideas and Practices in and out of the Town (1200-1500)
Volume 63
Medieval Debates on Foreknowledge: Future Contingents, Prophecy, and Divination
Acts of the XXVII Annual Colloquium of the SIEPM, Trento 12-15 September 2023
Volume 31
Medieval Yeghegis, Armenia
History, Archaeology, Society. Local Multiplicities and Global Connections of a Rural Centre on the Silk Road(s)
Power and Women in Southeast and Central Europe in Late Medieval and Early Modern Period (1300-1600)
Volume 10
Tradition, Interpretation, and Change
Developments in the Liturgy of Medieval and Early Modern Ashkenaz
Women in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages
Studies from Western Europe and North Africa
Volume 44
Networking through Biography
Constructing Intellectual Junctions in Antiquity, the Renaissance and the Arabo-Islamic World
Volume 19
