Men of Iron

A boy whose father was outlawed for treason is sent to be trained in the household of an earl, and learns quarter-staff, sword and the politics of a court where his name is a liability. Howard Pyle drew and wrote it, and got the armour, the horses and the trial by combat right because he had studied them for his own illustrations. The whole training leads to a trial by combat at the end, and Pyle stages it like a man who knew exactly how the armour moved.