Echoes of Chivalry
Military Honour and Human Dignity in the Age of Professional Armies
Francisco Lobo, Brill Nijhoff, 2026, 336 pages
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Lt. Col. J. David Thompson, US Army
Chivalry, then, is not dead. ... It appears to be in good health a century later, at least in the minds of soldiers and fighters, most notably in the echoes that can be heard in military doctrine, as well as in the weaponry and the understated military regalia deployed in the battlefields of the 21st century.
In Echoes of Chivalry, Dr. Franscisco Lobo analyses a profound and timely challenge in military ethics: the moral landscape between the cold letter of the law and the complexity of the modern soldier. He shows that legal compliance alone is insufficient to protect the humanity of combatants and noncombatants, recognized in a time when concepts such as “moral injury” continue to gain recognition. Lobo bridges this gap by compellingly arguing that the ancient, often dismissed, ideal of chivalry—specifically military honor—not only persists in the professional military doctrines but also remains an essential ethical practice supporting human dignity. His work weaves military history, ethical theory, and legal philosophy, culminating in a proposed jus armorum (law of arms) for the twenty-first century.
Lobo begins by identifying the moral unease through much of modern warfare by using evocative examples like the 1991 “Highway of Death” from the Gulf War and instances of the “naked soldier” image.1 He illustrates that military professionals expressed unease about killing that, despite complying with the law of armed conflict, seemed unfair, “unsportsmanlike,” or dishonorable.2 Lobo contends that this dissonance expresses the need for a normative language that surpasses that of mere legality. While the law tells soldiers what they can do, it does not always guide what they should do.
The book’s foundational argument builds upon what Lobo refers to as the “circumstances of war,” which is an analytical framework depicting how interest, mortality, and technology function as conditions that make war a permanent possibility.3 This frames the military as a permanent profession that manages a most extreme facet of the human condition: waging war. Thus, the professional soldier is a manager of violence requiring a robust ethical toolkit.
The core of Lobo’s work rests in a meticulous unpacking of two concepts: military honor and human dignity. Lobo defines military honor as a dynamic “interpretive concept,” drawing from Ronald Dworkin.4 The meaning, though, derives from the value practitioners emplace in it. For Lobo, the point of military honour is to distinguish the professional soldier from the mere murderer. The soldier grounds conduct in virtue that constitutes a self-worth and professional identity.
Dignity, however, is an “essentially contested concept.”5 Immanuel Kant’s concept of autonomy has dominated the foundation in much of this discussion in modern human rights; however, Lobo finds much potential for Jeremy Waldron’s “universalized rank.” Per this perspective, dignity extends to every individual. It entails a “package” of rights, protections, and duties. Lobo claims this as an “abbreviation or summary of a collection of (human) rights.”6
The book then strongly synthesizes these two concepts. Lobo argues that the essential function of the chivalric code—protection of the vulnerable—has been preserved. This, in turn, has been extended and universalized in the modern concept of human dignity. The aristocratic, exclusionary nature of medieval chivalry gave way to its core purpose—restraint and protection of others. This remains preserved in modern, professional militaries. Military honor, then, is a soldier’s commitment to uphold the dignity of every person, making the soldier a “steward of human dignity in times of war.”7 The soldier’s honor is the reward for fulfilling this public trust. This is more than a legal requirement as it provides a powerful philosophical basis on why soldiers must act with restraint: a professional soldier’s identity demands acting with honor.
Echoes of Chivalry is a dense, scholarly work while also remaining accessible for many readers. Lobo uses classical just war tradition, contemporary military doctrine, legal philosophy, and literary analysis. This approach builds a rich argument that is philosophically backed while remaining connected to lived experiences and military doctrine.
If there is a critique to be made, Lobo’s project, despite its academic rigor, may be fundamentally optimistic. Lobo convincedly argues why military honor should remain normative. Yet it feels a bit aspirational to connect chivalry’s connection to “the detritus of misogyny, hypermasculinity, and racism” to a modern, egalitarian conception of human dignity.8 While Lobo acknowledges the shortcomings inherent in the old code, he asserts that the core remains. Whether this core echoes—or has been reconstructed—remains a question.
Nonetheless, this does not lessen the book’s importance. Lobo provides an indisputable contribution to the profession of military ethics. He offers a compelling answer to the question of what lies beyond the law to normatively guide soldier conduct. He expertly weaves philosophy, law, and modern military doctrine to a coherent and practical framework. Echoes of Chivalry is essential reading for both scholars and military professionals seeking to understand the moral core of the profession over time. It will become a key text for discussions around moral injury, military virtue, and the challenge of waging war honorably.
Notes 
- Epigraph. Francisco Lobo, Echoes of Chivalry: Military Honour and Human Dignity in the Age of Professional Armies (Brill Nijhoff, 2026), 84.
- Lobo, Echoes of Chivalry, 1.
- Lobo, Echoes of Chivalry, 150.
- Lobo, Echoes of Chivalry, 47.
- Lobo, Echoes of Chivalry, 91.
- Lobo, Echoes of Chivalry, 114.
- Lobo, Echoes of Chivalry, 134.
- Lobo, Echoes of Chivalry, 176.
- Lobo, Echoes of Chivalry, 34.
Lt. Col. J. David Thompson, US Army, is a civil affairs officer and an instructor at the US Army Command and General Staff Officer’s Course. He holds a juris doctorate from Washington and Lee University School of Law and is pursuing a PhD from King’s College London. He has been deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Jordan with other operational experience in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal.
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