The knight represents what is best about English history: the pageantry and honour that go hand in hand with the idea of chivalry. Yet these individuals were fundamentally warriors, highly trained individuals who faced the brutal reality of medieval combat. Today their achievements still surround us - their castles, titles and bloodlines have survived - yet of the individuals themselves little remains. A select few of this warrior elite have been immortalised in wood, stone and alabaster and lie, weapons beside them, in the country churches of England. These effigies, battered by time, reformation and restoration, are our only true link to the human face of the medieval knight. They also represent a once flourishing medieval artistic tradition, and the work of some of the most talented craftsmen of the middle ages who, unlike their illustrious subjects, remain largely nameless. This book brings together, often for the first time, stunning new images of the very best of this medieval memorial tradition.
Each is accompanied by a biography of the subject, and the book also includes a comprehensive gazetteer and background information on the medieval knight and his world, as well as notes on techniques employed in the portrayal of these effigies. Roger Rosewell is the author of the acclaimed "Medieval Wall Paintings". A former journalist, he is a Director of a private European art foundation and the news editor of the online stained glass magazine, "VIDIMUS".