Book Review
The Royal Book of Jousting, Horsemanship and Knightly Combat
King Dom Duarte of Portugal, 1438
"The Art of Riding in every saddle"
Translated by Antonio Preto and Luis Preto
Published by Chivalry Bookshelf
I much prefer the actual title "The Art of Riding in every saddle" than the one attached to the book by the translator/publisher. While the book does deal with jousting, horsemanship and knightly combat, having read the book one sees that there is much more to it than that. So while he is discussing ridding and conducting oneself on horseback in many situations, it is rather more that Duarte is giving us his view on how one should conduct ourselves in life through the lens of horsemanship. So while there are many useful lessons for the aspiring horseman, there are as many lessons on how one, especially a noble, should act and behave.
This is the great value of the book. It offers a glimpse at the mindset of the people in medieval society for whom martial skills of all kinds were a primary function. Through Dom Duarte’s writing we get the chance to understand how one approached training and the Practice of a skill, and what was felt to be the important aspects of achieving, developing mastery.
Not for the first time when reading historical European martial texts, I was struck the similarities to similarities in philosophy, mindset and approach to those of Medieval Japan. Of course this is not really all that surprising, approaching similar problems from a similar starting point will produce similar results.
Another point of interest which should be noted as
Dom Duarte spends time talking about The Will. He emphasises the importance of the Will to do well, the Will to commit oneself to do what is necessary to be good at something. He also talks about the different types of Will within us all and how these different Wills compete and are in conflict within us all. By learning to balance and control these Wills we are able to live and act in the right way.
What may be surprising to some is that three of the four Wills described by Duarte correspond to Sigmund Freud’s descriptions of the aspects of the human psyche, Id the Super Ego and the Ego, over 450 years later.
Duarte’s 1st Will he calls Carnal and relates to self-gratification and corresponds to Freud’s definition of the Id.
His second Will, he calls Spiritual and is concerned with doing Right and striving for perfection and works as the polar opposite of the 1st Will. In effect this is Freud’s Super Ego.
Freud’s concept of Ego, is covered by aspects of Duartes 3rd Will, Pleasant and Half hearted and 4th Will, Perfect and Virtuous (obedient to good reason and understanding).
While they do not directly translate, it highlights that the Philosophy and approach to learning and the human condition was complex and developed, and should not be considered primitive.
It should be noted that while the content of the book is excellent there are some bad points to the published work. Particularly annoying are the numerous spelling and grammatical errors, this is understandable as English is not the translators first language. However whoever was responsible for proof reading the work before it went to print has done a poor job, especially in light of the high cost of the book.
In conclusion, I would highly recommend reading this book as it offers a chance to see in English an important medieval text until now only available in Portuguese. However bear in mind the spelling and grammatical errors and the price, so that one might consider looking out for a second hand copy rather than a new one.
Jonathan Waller