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The movement of the rooks and of their progression.
Woodcut, from Caxton's Game and playe of the chesse, 1474, publ. 1883


Caxton's Game and Playe of the Chesse is a 15th-century English translation of a work originally written in French by Jean de Vignay. It is a didactic text that presents the game of chess as a metaphor for life, incorporating moral lessons and strategies. The book, which was translated by William Caxton, the renown English printer and merchant, serves both as a manual for playing chess and as an allegory for the virtues and vices of human behaviour. Caxton's translation includes explanations of chess pieces, their movements, and the rules of the game, but it also uses chess to discuss topics such as fortune, wisdom, and the importance of strategy in life. The text reflects the mediaeval view of the game as a noble activity, linked to the intellectual and moral development of individuals. Chess was often seen as a tool for teaching virtues such as patience, foresight, and prudence. In some early European artistic depictions of chess, the rook—originally a chariot or tower—was sometimes shown as a mounted warrior. Over time, its visual representation evolved into the tower or castle-like structure familiar in later European chess sets. Caxton's book presents the rook as a mounted knight and includes the following description of the piece (translated from Middle English):


The movement and advance of the rooks, which are the king’s deputies, is such that the right rook is black and the left rook is white. When the chess pieces are set, both nobles and common people are first placed in their proper positions. The rooks, by their own power, have no way to move unless moved by the nobles or common people, for they are enclosed in their proper spaces. And the reason is this: since they are the king’s deputies, lieutenants, or commissioners, their authority is of no effect until they move out. And once they have begun to act in their office—for as long as they remain in the king’s palace, they may not use or exercise their commission—but once they move, they may exercise their authority.

And you shall understand that their authority is great, for they represent the person of the king. Therefore, where the board is empty, they may run all across it, just as they travel through the kingdom. They may go on both black and white squares, forwards and backwards. As far as they can run, they go, provided the board is empty, whether it be over their enemies or among their own company. When the rook is in the middle of the board, he may go whichever way he likes, in four straight lines in every direction. And it is to be known that he may not go diagonally, but always straight, back and forth as said above.

Therefore, all the king’s subjects, both good and evil, ought to recognise that their movement and authority as the king’s deputies and commissioners should be truly just and upright. You shall understand that they are to be strong and virtuous in battle, for only the two rooks may conquer a king, defeat his enemy, take him, and strip him of his life and his kingdom. This was done when Cyrus, king of Persia, and Darius, king of the Medes, slew Balthazar and took his kingdom from him. He was nephew to Evil-Merodach, under whom this game was founded.