IRL Books to read to get in the mood

Story & Setting
#1

First of all, I would recommend the “Name of the Rose” from the great medievalist Umberto Eco. The book is a fascinating peek not into the details of medieval life and customs, but also into the people’s minds and the way they thought. It’s not exactly light reading with numerous Latin quotes and references to contemporary literature and events, but it’s very authentic and informative.

Sapkovsky, the auther of the now famous “Witcher” saga wrote a trilogy about the Hussite uprising in the lands of the Czech and Polish crown - the books are called “Narrentum”, “God’s Warriors”, and “Lux Perpetua”. These books, while riddled with fantasy elements like ghouls, spectres and witches, together with authors weirdly eroticised concept of magic, still represent a solid reading and the author has certainly researched the topic well. The writing is original, peculiar, and the books read very well, often introducing a surprise view on actual historical events or dilemmas.

Lastly, I would recommend “Teutonic Knights” from the Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz dealing with the struggle of Poland with their arch-enemy - the Order of Teutonic Knights.

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#2

Funny thing about Teutons (Not to do with topic) they still exist !

#3

Were those books originally polish? I’ve always wanted to pick up some of Andrzej Sapkowski’s work but since he is polish, I fear the translation might be off, boring, or even lifeless.

#4

I have read the Sapkovsky’s hussite trilogy in Czech translation which was very competent, since Czech and Polish are rather similar Slav languages. I don’t know how good the English translation is, provided it exists at all.

#5

I once met someone who was offered to become a member. It’s mainly old catholic people with too much money and a lot of free time. They meet together once in a while and one of the “knights” has to host the party for hundreds of people so as I said you need a lot of money to participate. You need to get invited by one of them in order to join the teutonic order

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#6

Ye ik, and you get q cape ! But most members are priests nowadays

#7

In my opinion, to call oneself a Templar, Hospitaler, or a Teutonic knight, one would have to live the way they lived, and fulfill their duties - that would mean divide time between prayers, combat training and patrolling the roads to the Holy Land and protecting Christian piligrims along the way (that was the main purpose of the monastic orders). Celibacy was also a part of the deal.

Since the contemporary Templars and Teutonic Knights do not do any of this, they are Templars and Teutons only by name, just like people can be knighted by the Brittish Queen, but they are knights only by name, not by their training or way of life. Other people call themselves “shamans” or “druids”, but it’s equally ridiculous.

#8

For an easily accessible insight into late medieval fencing:
The Art Of Combat. Joachim Meyer (trans. Foreng) 1570 - 9781403970923

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#9

The Knights of malta are still officially a military order as part of the italian armed forces .

#10

Talhof… erm sorry

#11

Plus Knights of Malta are also a country ! And their members have ranks and all… Plus they still build hospitals.
To be a full ranking knight you have to have 3 catholic predecessors, ti be accomplished in a field, live by moral standards etc…
Plus being a knight was always a matter of spirit rather than of combat !

#12

Eclipse of the Crescent Moon - by Géza Gárdonyi. Although book deals with Ottoman wars in Hungary and 100-150 years after KCD, it is still a fantastic book. A mix of adventure novel, historical record and a nailbiting page-turner you can’t stop reading before very last page. Definitely my favourite in historical books.

Story is slightly similar to KCD - book follows an orphan boy adopted by local noble, dealing with being lowborn and her love interest (noble’s daughter) and ultimately becoming officer in Buda fortress during turkish siege, while Hungary is split between peasant uprisings, civil war and wars with Austria and Turkey. There’s also an antagonist, clever turkish Janissary with whom his paths cross every now and then and make his adventures extra dangerous.

It’s also really easy to read, since it’s a youth novel. Once you get the basic geopolitic situation in the book and remember few Hungarian names, rest is breeze.

English copy might be a bit hard to find, though.

#13

Try Morte d’Arthur. Hard going but awesome stories.

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