René of Anjou wrote the tournament manual The Book of the Tournament. René was a fifteenth-century prince, soldier, patron, and writer who held several European titles, including Duke of Anjou.
The work, also called Le Livre des tournois, describes how to organize and stage a formal tournament. It discusses announcements, participants, heralds, equipment, ceremonies, and the roles of officials. The manuscript is especially valuable because it presents tournament culture from the viewpoint of a leading aristocratic patron.
René’s life also connected him to the political struggles of the Hundred Years’ War and the dynastic politics of France, Naples, and Lorraine. He was not simply a fictional “good king” of romance; he was a real prince whose artistic interests included illuminated manuscripts, poetry, and courtly spectacle.