Men of Iron is an 1891 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by the American author Howard Pyle

Howard Pyle

Howard Pyle was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.__FORCETOC__...

, who also illustrated it. Set in the 15th century, it is a juvenile "coming of age

Coming of age

Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...

" work in which a young squire, Myles Falworth, becomes a knight. In Chapter 24 the knighthood ceremony is presented and described as it would be in a non-fiction

Non-fiction

Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...

 work concerning knighthood and chivalry

Chivalry

Chivalry is a term related to the medieval institution of knighthood which has an aristocratic military origin of individual training and service to others. Chivalry was also the term used to refer to a group of mounted men-at-arms as well as to martial valour...

. Descriptions of training equipment are also given throughout.

It comprises 68,334 words and is divided into 33 unnamed chapters, an introduction, and a conclusion. It was made into a movie in 1954, The Black Shield of Falworth

The Black Shield of Falworth

The Black Shield of Falworth is a 1954 film made by Universal Studios, produced by Robert Arthur and Melville Tucker and directed by Rudolph Maté...

.

Plot

The story begins in 1400, the year after the abdication

Abdication

Abdication occurs when a monarch, such as a king or emperor, renounces his office.-Terminology:The word abdication comes derives from the Latin abdicatio. meaning to disown or renounce...

 of Richard II of England

Richard II of England

Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...

 and accession of Henry IV

Henry IV of England

Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...

. Lord Gilbert Reginald Falworth is attainted

Attainder

In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura is the metaphorical 'stain' or 'corruption of blood' which arises from being condemned for a serious capital crime . It entails losing not only one's property and hereditary titles, but typically also the right to pass them on to one's heirs...

 for being King Richard's councilor, who strongly advised him to resist his cousin Henry's movement to seize the throne, and for protecting Sir John Dale, a fictional conspirator against the succeeding King Henry. Falworth is blinded in a trial by combat with William Bushy Brookhurst, later created Earl of Alban, whom young Myles remembers brutally killing Sir John Dale in the hall of Falworth castle where he lived with his parents.

Lord Falworth, his wife, Myles, and Diccon Bowman go into hiding in Crosbey-Dale on the estates of the Priory of St. Mary, under the protection of the elderly Prior Edward. Most of the action of the novel is in Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 where a city of Mackworth actually exists near Derby

Derby

Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...

. Diccon Bowman undertakes the physical training of young Myles, and Prior Edward performs the academic training. Lady Falworth teaches him the French language

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

. Myles is a champion wrestler, defeating a man a head taller than he. Later in the novel the reader learns that Myles as a child took a dangerous ride on a country windmill.

In 1408 when Myles is 16 years old he is taken to Devlen castle, the seat of the Earl of Mackworth, kinsman to Lord Falworth. There he is enrolled as a squire by Sir James Lee, an old friend of his father's and Diccon Bowman. Sir James advises Myles to be discreet about matters concerning his family since his father had been attainted as a traitor to the king.

Another squire, Francis Gascoyne, became Myles's good friend, who defended him in his struggle against the head-squires (the bachelors) led by Walter Blunt. There had been a pecking order established by which the bachelors forced the younger squires to serve them. Myles, Francis, and eighteen other lads formed what they called the "Twenty Knights of the Rose" as a fellowship to promote justice among the squires and end the heirarchy established by the bachelors. The "Knights of the Rose" met in a hideout discovered by Myles and Francis at the top of the oldest part of the castle, known as the "Brutus Tower," which they called their Eyry (hawk's nest). After two fights with Walter Blunt, Myles and his "knights" win a skirmish with the bachelors in which Blunt is gravely wounded by Myles for the second time. The bachelor's routine is ended. Walter Blunt is made a gentleman-in-waiting by the Earl Mackworth, and he is no longer mentioned in the novel.

When retrieving a ball he had used in play with his friends, Myles makes his way over a wall into the "privy garden" used by the Countess Mackworth and her household, and meets Anne, the earl's daughter and Alice, the earl's niece. Anne is a few years older than Myles, but Alice is just his age so he begins to consider her his lady fair and a possible wife. Seven times he climbs over the wall to meet with the girls to tell them about his exploits. The last time Earl Mackworth himself sees him tresspassing and puts a stop to it. The reader is told later that Myles's father had his mother write Mackworth to advise him to do this. Myles escapes being severely punished for his actions as two other young men had been for venturing into this forbidden area.

Unknown to Myles, his father and Earl Mackworth, who also was an enemy to the Earl of Alban, plan to have Myles knighted by the king as a Knight of the Bath

Order of the Bath

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

 to make him eligible to champion and exonerate his father on the field of battle in trial by combat

Trial by combat

Trial by combat was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession, in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the fight was proclaimed to be right. In essence, it is a judicially sanctioned duel...

. This is done during a royal visit to Devlen castle in 1411 in order to have Myles oppose the French jousting

Jousting

Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two knights mounted on horses and using lances, often as part of a tournament.Jousting emerged in the High Middle Ages based on the military use of the lance by heavy cavalry. The first camels tournament was staged in 1066, but jousting itself did not...

 champion of the Compte de Vermoise, Sieur de la Montaigne. Sir Myles succeeds in unhorsing this knight fairly in a joust. Sir Myles with his chosen squire and friend Francis Gascoyne accompany the Earl Mackworth's brother Lord George Beaumont into France for military maneuvers in the French Dauphin's service. After six months he is recalled to London by Earl Mackworth to oppose the Earl of Alban. To further facilitate this Sir Myles is transferred from Mackworth's household to that of Henry, Prince of Wales

Henry V of England

Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....

.

Myles's parents are brought to London to join their son before the king as their grievances are presented to him. Myles throws down his gauntlet before the Earl of Alban, initiating trial by combat

Trial by combat

Trial by combat was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession, in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the fight was proclaimed to be right. In essence, it is a judicially sanctioned duel...

. The ailing King Henry suspends these proceedings until the "High Court of Chivalry" can render a decision about the legality of the matter. After two months they find that Sir Myles Falworth may justly fight Alban. The battle is set for September 3, 1412. Sir Myles shows himself a more chivalrous knight than Earl Alban had been by giving his opponent quarter three times. This almost costs him his life, but in the end Sir Myles prevails in conquering his enemy. The king refuses to restore all the estates of Lord Falworth, but with the accession of his son, King Henry V of England

Henry V of England

Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....

, the following January the fortunes of Falworth and Mackworth are secured. Sir Myles marries the Lady Alice and lives in Falworth castle as his home with Sir Francis Gascoyne and Sir James Lee.