Just ran across this -- has anyone read it? Looks interesting... I

1381 - The Peel Affinity
"An English Knight's Household in the 14th Century"

http://www.freelanceacademypress.com/peelaffinity.aspx

I haven't - but would love to hear from someone who has. I did check it out on amazon - it has been rated by five persons, whom all have given it five stars!?! Mostly re-enactment people, though; I'm not sure it they look for the same things in a book as roleplayers ...

I own the book, so if you have any specific questions I’ll be happy to answer them.

After the initial chapters giving the historical background to the Hundred Years' War, the bulk of the book is written in a “you-are-there” style, commenting throughout on what is stable and what is changing technologically, militarily, and socially – and how different people react to those changes.

First it follows for a year the lives of not just the knight and his family but all of those who live on his primary manor. This would be useful for those who want a sense of what it was like not just to live back then but what it takes to actually run a manor and what sort of squabbles a manor-holding PK must resolve.

Then it follows the lead knight and his company – in Pendragon terms, an eschille of 10 fully armored fighters (each with a non-combatant) plus 20 archers – during preparation for and a campaign in France. There are some basic discussions of tactics, and the book handles the role of the archers intelligently – they are useful but definitely not firing Vorpal Arrows of Hollywood Armor Penetration. Let me clear though: it is NOT a medieval combat manual, more of an adding of depth and color, such as when Sir Geoffrey and an esquire are playing chess while camped in enemy territory, and each makes different choices of how much of their plate armor to wear (the text accompanying the picture translates into “the esquire makes his Prudent roll”). But although the campaign section is only 38 pages long, it is chock full of concentrated “I wouldn’t have thought of that but it makes sense” stuff you’ll probably not get anywhere else.

The campaign section is followed by six pages showing the evolution of armor from 12-point mail to 18-point plate, with one page of text and detailed pictures per historical phase of evolution.

Bottom line: it’s an expensive book, but very useful if you want to add depth to an Arthurian (not Utherian) era campaign. For example, both the lead knight and his squire fight “for love” single combats with their French counterparts during a lull in the siege, and the book discusses how this was arranged. Sharpskytten’s observation was dead on though: re-enactors *will* get more out of it than the average gamer will – it’s the difference between “So that’s how you put on 14-point plate” and “I want THAT guy’s helm and THAT guy’s gauntlets and … honey do we REALLY have to pay the mortgage this month? ….”.

Thank you for your answer, Gideon. Very informative. I think I'll have to buy the book, you can't have to much background information, van you?

I’m glad to help.

If you’re looking for good books on being a knight, I would like to also suggest “The Book of Chivalry” by Sir Geoffroi de Charny. It’s a practical “how to become a good knight” manual, written around 1352 by France’s top knight. Think Gawaine writing a manual for the Tournament – Twilight Era kids, hoping that a few worthy ones will actually listen.

Amazon has the Kaeuper/Kennedy translation in paperback for about $21.

I want to back Gideonhere.
de Charney's book could be a handbook of Pendragon chivalry
especially important is his attitude to understand knightly piety:
Love God nd thank him, because He gave you everything you have. You are a noble, and thus honored to have the noble responsibly of throwing yourself at death.

he says nothing about obeying the clergy
De Charney owned the Shroud of Turin (mask of veronica?), and built a chapel for it
he also bore the Oriflamme, the sacred royal banner of the king
he was killed defending his king, banner still in hand



I’m glad to help.

If you’re looking for good books on being a knight, I would like to also suggest “The Book of Chivalry” by Sir Geoffroi de Charny. It’s a practical “how to become a good knight” manual, written around 1352 by France’s top knight. Think Gawaine writing a manual for the Tournament – Twilight Era kids, hoping that a few worthy ones will actually listen.

Amazon has the Kaeuper/Kennedy translation in paperback for about $21.

De Charney is mentioned several times in "Knight: the Medieval Warrior's Unofficial Manual" by Michael Prestwich (which I recommended in another thread). He was even made one of the three central contemporary knights in it (the other two being John Hawkwood and Jean le Maingre/Boucicaut).