The late fifteenth-century Livre des faits de messire Jacques de Lalaing (The Book of the Deeds of Jacques de Lalaing) is a chivalric biography of a young knight from Hainaut, one of the core principalities of the Burgundian composite state under its third Valois duke, Philip the Good (r.1419–67). Most likely written in the early 1470s, the biography follows the career of Lalaing (c.1421–53) in chronological order, from his childhood, through his early participation in tournaments organised by other knights (in Dijon, Nancy and Ghent) and his travels around Europe in order to perform in jousts that he himself devised (in the Iberian Peninsula, Scotland, Bruges and Chalon-sur-Saône) and to serve Duke Philip in a diplomatic capacity. Thereafter it narrates Lalaing's role in the war waged by the duke in the early 1450s in order to put down a revolt by the town of Ghent and, finally, recounts his death during this war at a siege of the castle of Poeke. Jacques became famous principally for the dazzling feats of arms that he accomplished in tilting yards across Europe during the 1440s. However, as we shall see, he was not just a highly skilled jouster whose chivalric exploits redounded to the glory of the Burgundian dukes. Rather, following in the footsteps of his father, Guillaume de Lalaing (d.1475) and his uncle, Simon de Lalaing (c.1405–77), who were both in the political and military service of Duke Philip, he was also a valued diplomat, chamberlain and military leader.

This introduction to the Livre consists of two main parts which together offer an analysis of Lalaing's career and of how it epitomises the complexity and variety of what it meant to lead a chivalric life in the later medieval period. The first part (sections 1.1–1.7) examines Lalaing's life and career, paying particular attention to his noble lineage and the importance of the lordship of Lalaing as well as to his rela tionship with the Burgundian court and especially with Philip the Good. Although the Livre itself focuses on Jacques's martial career, going into great detail about his exploits as a jouster and his feats in battle, the archival sources available allow us to situate his career in a wider social and political context.