The History of the Most Noble Order of the Garter
Ashmole, Elias, 1617-1692Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019
Rating 3.8- Word count
- 1.2M words
- Chapters
- 121
Tags
English Originals World HistoryHistory and Culture Institutional HistoryHistorical ReappraisalBritish HistoryPortrait GalleryIllustrated GuideRituals and CeremonyTraditional AestheticsCambridgeOrder of the GarterChivalry SystemSummary
Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The History of the Most Noble Order of the Garter by Elias AshmoleAuthor: Ashmole, Elias, 1617-1692,Language: English, Class: CR: History: Heraldry, Release Date: Mar 22, 2015Editor's review
This book is the seventeenth-century English antiquary and officer of the College of Arms Elias Ashmole's systematic account of the history of the Order of the Garter, an early important document in the fields of heraldry and English institutional history. It covers the order's founding, statutes, ceremonies, roll of knights, and heraldic system, bearing the antiquarian methods and narrative voice of the author's age; it is both a primary source for the study of the English honours system and a window into how early modern scholars organized archives and legends. As a public-domain e-book it is easy to search and cite, suited to focused study rather than casual reading. Read it as a historical source: attend to institutional statutes, ceremonial descriptions, and lists of persons, while noting the author's stance and the limitations of his era. Readers interested in English history, heraldry, chivalric orders, or early modern antiquarianism will find details here not easily replaced elsewhere; general readers should sample introductory chapters or read alongside secondary scholarship.Who it's for
A good fit for
- Scholars and students of English history, institutional history, and systems of honour
- Specialist readers interested in heraldry, chivalric orders, and ceremonial history
- Writers of papers needing to cite early English primary sources
- Deep readers collecting public-domain English historical e-books
Not a good fit for
- General readers seeking light historical stories or popular history
- Beginners who struggle with English and need modern annotations
- Readers looking for novelistic narrative or illustrated picture books
Reading tips
- Begin with the table of contents and preface to grasp the order's institutional framework, then read chapters by theme.
- Keep pen and paper for the roll of knights and heraldic terms, and check them against heraldic reference works.
- Read alongside modern works on English institutional history to distinguish contemporary records from later interpretation.
About the publisher
Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.
Contents
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FAQ
Is this book suitable for readers with no background in heraldry?
It is not well suited to complete beginners reading straight through. It deals heavily with the order's statutes, ceremonies, and heraldic terminology, and is hard going without background knowledge. Learn the basic history of the Order of the Garter first, read with introductory heraldry materials at hand, or simply select the chapters that interest you.Is this a modern edition or the original text?
This is a public-domain English e-book released by Project Gutenberg, containing the text of Ashmole's original work rather than a scholarly edition with modern annotations. You must work out seventeenth-century spelling, syntax, and the author's period stance for yourself, and should check other editions when citing.What level of English is needed to read this book?
Good English reading ability is required. The text dates from the seventeenth century, with long sentences and dense proper nouns and heraldic terms. Readers experienced with early modern English will find it smoother; others may read slowly with a dictionary and background materials.This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
About the author
Ashmole, Elias, 1617-1692 Author · British · 1617–1692Elias Ashmole (1617–1692) was an English antiquary and astrologer whose collections laid the foundation of the Ashmolean Museum. Public information about his life is limited, but his representative work, The History of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, reflects his scholarly orientation: a rigorous antiquarian examination of the institution, ceremonies, and figures of England's highest order of chivalry, written with close attention to documentary evidence and the encyclopedic curiosity typical of seventeenth-century scholars. He also studied astrology, reflecting a period in which antiquarian research and natural philosophy were not yet clearly separated. His collections were later organized and deposited at Oxford, becoming an important source for public collections and linking his name to the early history of museums.