Book of the Civilized Man (, also known as Liber Urbani, Urbanus Magnus, or Civilized Man), by Daniel of Beccles, is believed to be the first English courtesy book (or book of manners), dating probably from the beginning of the 13th century. The book is significant because in the later Middle Ages dozens of such courtesy books were produced. Because this appears to be the first in English history, it represented a new awakening to etiquette and decorum in English court society, which occurred in the 13th century. As a general rule, a book of etiquette is a mark of a dynamic rather than a stable society, one in which there is an influx of "new" men, who have not been indoctrinated with the correct decorum from an early age and who are avid to catch up in a hurry. The poem Civilized Man is a 3000-line Latin verse poem that gives proper advice on a wide range of social situations that the typical medieval person might have encountered in day-to-day life. Examples include: If you wish to belch, remember to look up to the ceiling. Do not attack your enemy while he is squatting to defecate. If there is something you do not want people to know, do not tell it to your wife. Say thank you to your host. Don't mount your horse in the hall. If visitors had already eaten, give them drink anyway. Loosen your reins when riding over a bridge. Receive gifts from great men with gratitude. If you are a judge, be just. Eating at the table of the rich, speak little. The book ends with "Old King Henry first gave to the uncourtly the teaching written in this book." The poet Historians believe that Daniel of Beccles may have been a member of Henry II's court. John Bale (16th century) wrote that he had seen a document showing Daniel in Henry's court for over 30 years. This, the fact that a Henry is mentioned in the text, and some of the manuscripts can be dated to the early 13th century, make it very probable the poem dates from that period. There a reference to a Daniel of Beccles in the "Seventh Regnal Year of King John" (circa 1206) secretly being given the patronage (advowson) of the church of Endgate in Beccles by the Abbot of Bury St Edmund's. Three themes There are three