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diff --git a/40021-0.txt b/40021-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a0bc636 --- /dev/null +++ b/40021-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10726 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40021 *** + + The History of Chivalry + or + Knighthood and its times. + + + By CHARLES MILLS, Esqr. + Author of the History of the Crusades + + + IN TWO VOLUMES. + + Vol: I. + + + [Illustration: Engraved by A. Le Petit + from a sketch by R. W. Sievier.] + + + London. + Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green + MDCCCXXV. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The propriety of my writing a History of Chivalry, as a companion to my +History of the Crusades, was suggested to me by a friend whose +acquaintance with middle-age lore forms but a small portion of his +literary attainments, and whose History of Italy shows his ability of +treating, as well as his skill in discovering, subjects not hitherto +discussed with the fulness which their importance merits.[1] + +The works of Menestrier and Colombiere sleep in the dust of a few ancient +libraries; and there are only two other books whose express and entire +object is a delineation of the Institutions of chivalry. The first and +best known is the French work called "Mémoires sur l'ancienne Chevalerie; +considérée comme un Etablissement Politique et Militaire. Par M. de la +Curne de Sainte Palaye, de l'Académie Françoise," &c. 2 tom. 12mo. Paris, +1759. The last half, however, of the second volume does not relate to +chivalry, and therefore the learned Frenchman cannot be charged with +treating his subject at very great length.[2] It was his purpose to +describe the education which accomplished the youth for the distinction of +knighthood, and this part of his work he has performed with considerable +success. But he failed in his next endeavour, that of painting the martial +games of chivalry, for nothing can be more unsatisfactory than his account +of jousts and tournaments. As he wished to inform his readers of the use +which was made in the battle field of the valour, skill, and experience of +knights, a description of some of the extraordinary and interesting +battles of the middle ages might have been expected. Here also +disappointment is experienced; neither can any pleasure be derived from +perusing his examination of the causes which produced the decline and +extinction of chivalry, and his account of the inconveniences which +counterbalanced the advantages of the establishment. + +Sainte Palaye was a very excellent French antiquarian; but the limited +scope of his studies disqualified him from the office of a general +historian of chivalry. The habits of his mind led him to treat of +knighthood as if it had been the ornament merely of his own country. He +very rarely illustrates his principles by the literature of any other +nation, much less did he attempt to trace their history through the +various states of Europe. He has altogether kept out of sight many +characteristic features of his subject. Scarcely any thing is advanced +about ancient armour; not a word on the religious and military orders; and +but a few pages, and those neither pleasing nor correct, on woman and +lady-love. The best executed part of his subject regards, as I have +already observed, the education of knights; and he has scattered up and +down his little volume and a half many curious notices of ancient manners. + +The other work is written in the German language, and for that reason it +is but very little known in this country. It is called Ritterzeit und +Ritterwesen, (two volumes octavo, Leipzig, 1823,) and is the substance of +a course of lectures on chivalry delivered by the author, Mr. Büsching, to +his pupils of the High School at Breslau. The style of the work is the +garrulous, slovenly, ungrammatical style which lecturers, in all +countries, and upon all subjects, think themselves privileged to use. A +large portion of the book is borrowed from Sainte Palaye; much of the +remainder relates to feudalism and other matters distinct from chivalry: +but when the writer treats of the state of knighthood in Germany I have +found his facts and observations of very great value. + +Attention to the subjects of the middle ages of Europe has for many years +been growing among us. It was first excited by Warton's history of our +national verse, and Percy's edition of the Relics of ancient English +Poetry. The romances of chivalry, both in prose and metre, and the +numberless works on the Troubadour, and every other description of +literature during the middle ages which have been published within the +last few years, have sustained the interest. The poems of Scott convinced +the world that the chivalric times of Europe can strike the moral +imagination as powerfully and pleasingly in respect of character, passion, +and picturesqueness of effect, as the heroic ages of Greece; and even very +recently the glories of chivalry have been sung by a poetess whom Ariosto +himself would have been delighted to honour.[3] Still, however, no attempt +has been hitherto made to describe at large the institutions of +knighthood, the foundation of all that elegant superstructure of poetry +and romance which we admire, and to mark the history of chivalry in the +various countries of Europe. Those institutions have, indeed, been allowed +a few pages in our Encyclopædias; and some of the sketches of them are +drawn with such boldness and precision of outline that we may regret the +authors did not present us with finished pictures. Our popular historians +have but hastily alluded to the subject; for they were so much busied with +feudalism and politics, that they could afford but a small space for the +play of the lighter graces of chivalry. + +For a description, indeed, of antique manners, our materials are not so +ample as for that of their public lives. But still the subject is not +without its witnesses. The monkish chroniclers sometimes give us a glimpse +of the castles of our ancestors. Many of the knights in days of yore had +their biographers; and, for the most interesting time of chivalry, we +possess an historian, who, for vividness of delineation, kindliness of +feeling, and naïveté of language, is the Herodotus of the middle ages. + +"Did you ever read Froissart?" + +"No," answered Henry Morton. + +"I have half a mind," rejoined Claverhouse, "to contrive that you should +have six months' imprisonment, in order to procure you that pleasure. His +chapters inspire me with more enthusiasm than even poetry itself." + +Froissart's[4] history extends from the year 1316 to 1400. It was begun by +him when he was twenty years old, at the command of his dear lord and +master, Sir Robert of Namur, Lord of Beaufort. The annals from 1326 to +1356 are founded on the Chronicles compiled by him whom he calls "The +Right Reverend, discreet, and sage Master John la Bele, sometime canon in +St. Lambertis of Liege, who with good heart and due diligence did his true +devoir in writing his book; and heard of many fair and noble adventures +from his being well beloved, and of the secret counsel of the Lord Sir +John of Hainault." Froissart corrected all this borrowed matter on the +information of the barons and knights of his time regarding their +families' gestes and prowesses. He is the chronicler both of political +events and of chivalric manners. Of his merits in the first part of his +character it falls not within my province to speak. For the office of +historian of chivalry no man could present such fair pretensions. His +father being a herald-painter, he was initiated in his very early years +into that singular form of life which he describes with such picturesque +beauty. "Well I loved," as he says of his youth, in one of his poems, "to +see dances and carolling, and to hear the songs of minstrels and tales of +glee. It pleased me to attach myself to those who took delight in hounds +and hawks. I was wont to toy with my fair companions at school, and +methought I had the art well to win the grace of maidens."--"My ears +quickened at the sound of opening the wine-flask, for I took great +pleasure in drinking, and in fair array, and in fresh and delicate viands. +I loved to see (as is reason) the early violets, and the white and red +roses, and also chambers brilliantly lighted; dances and late vigils, and +fair beds for my refreshment; and for my better repose, I joyously quaffed +a night-draught of claret, or Rochelle wine mingled with spice." + +Froissart wrote his Chronicles "to the intent that the honourable and +noble adventures of feats of arms, done and achieved in the wars of France +and England, should notably be enregistered, and put in perpetual memory; +whereby the preux and hardy might have ensample to encourage them in their +well-doing."[5] To accomplish his purpose, he followed and frequented the +company of divers noble and great lords, as well in France, England, and +Scotland, as in other countries; and in their chivalric festivals he +enquired for tales of arms and amours. For three years he was clerk of the +chamber to Philippa of Hainault, wife of Edward III. He travelled into +Scotland; and, though mounted only on a simple palfrey, with his trunk +placed on the hinder part of his saddle, after the fashion in which a +squire carried the mail-harness of a knight, and attended only by a +greyhound, the favourite dog of the time, instead of a train of varlets, +yet the fame of his literary abilities introduced him to the castle of +Dalkeith, and the court of the Scottish King. + +He generally lived in the society of nobles and knights,--at the courts of +the Duke of Brabant, the Count of Namur, and the Earl of Blois. He knew +and admired the Black Prince, Du Guesclin, the Douglas, and Hotspur; and +while this various acquaintance fitted him to describe the circumstances +and manners of his times, it prevented him from the bias of particular +favouritism. The character of his mind, rather than his station in life, +determined his pursuits. His profession was that of the church: he was a +while curate of Lestines, in the diocese of Liege; and, at the time of his +death, he was canon and treasurer of the collegiate church of Chimay. But +he was a greater reader of romances than of his breviary; and, churchman +though he was, knighthood itself could not boast a more devoted admirer +of dames and damsels. He was, therefore, the very man to describe the +chivalric features of his time. + +The romances of chivalry are another source of information. Favyn says, +with truth and fancy, "The greater part of antiquities are to be sought +for and derived out of the most ancient tales, as well in prose as verse, +like pearls out of the smoky papers of Ennius." The romance-writers were +to the middle ages of Europe what the ancient poets were to Greece,--the +painters of the manners of their times. As Sir Walter Scott observes, "We +have no hesitation in quoting the romances of chivalry as good evidence of +the laws and customs of knighthood. The authors, like the artists of the +period, invented nothing, but, copying the manners of the age in which +they lived, transferred them, without doubt or scruple, to the period and +personages of whom they treated." + +From all these sources of information I have done my devoir, in the +following pages, to describe the origin of chivalry; and, after escaping +from the dark times in which it arose, to mark the various degrees of the +personal nobility of knighthood. An enquiry into the nature and duties of +the chivalric character then will follow; and we cannot pass, without +regard and homage, the sovereign-mistress and lady-love of the adventurous +knight. After viewing our cavalier in the gay and graceful pastime of the +tournament, and pausing a while to behold him when a peculiar character of +religion was added to his chivalry, we shall see him vault upon his good +steed; and we will accompany him in the achievement of his high and hardy +emprises in Britain, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. + +As a view of chivalry is, from its nature, a supplement or an appendix to +the history of Europe, I have supposed my readers to be acquainted with +the general circumstances of past ages, and therefore I have spoken of +them by allusion rather than by direct statement. I have made the +following work as strictly chivalric as the full and fair discussion of my +subject would permit me, avoiding descriptions of baronial and feudal +life, except in its connection with knighthood. I have not detailed +military circumstances of former times, unless they proceeded from +chivalric principles, or were invested with chivalric graces. Thus the +celebrated battle of the Thirty had nothing in it of a knightly character, +and therefore I have left it unnoticed. Judicial combats had their origin +in the state of society from which both feudalism and chivalry sprang; but +they were not regulated by the gentle laws of knighthood, and therefore +have not been described by me. I have not imposed any dry legal facts and +discussions upon my readers; for the incidents attached to the tenure of +land called the tenure in chivalry were strictly feudal; and the courts of +the constable and marshal, holding cognisance as they did of all matters +regarding war, judicial combats, and blazonry of arms, relate not so much +to chivalry as to the general preservation of the peace of the land, and +the good order of society. And it should be mentioned, that it has not +been my purpose to give a minute history of every individual cavalier: for +a work strictly confined to biographical detail, however convenient it +might be for occasional reference, would be tiresome and tedious by reason +of the repetition of circumstances only varied with the difference of +names, and would be any thing but historical. I have brought the great +characters of chivalry, who have received but slight attention from the +political historian, in illustration of the principles of knighthood. Thus +full-length portraits of those English knights of prowess, Sir John +Chandos and Sir Walter Manny, will be more interesting than pictures of +Edward III. and the Black Prince, whose features are so well known to us. +From the lives of these royal heroes I have therefore only selected such +chivalric circumstances as have not been sufficiently described and dwelt +upon, or which it was absolutely incumbent on me to state, in order to +preserve an unbroken thread of narrative. + +I shall not expatiate on the interest and beauty of my subject, lest I +should provoke too rigid an enquiry into my ability for discussing it. I +shall therefore only conclude, in the good old phrase of Chaucer,-- + + "Now, hold your mouth, pour charitie, + Both knight and lady free, + And herkneth to my spell, + Of battaille and of chivalry, + Of ladies' love and druerie, + Anon I wol you tell." + + + While these volumes were passing through the press, the Tales of the + Crusaders appeared. In the second of them is contained a series of + supposed propositions from Saladin for peace between his nation and + the English. The conclusion of those propositions is thus + expressed:--"Saladin will put a sacred seal on this happy union + betwixt the bravest and noblest of Frangistan and Asia, by raising to + the rank of his royal spouse a Christian damsel, allied in blood to + King Richard, and known by the name of the Lady Edith of Plantagenet," + vol. iv. pp. 13, 14. Upon this passage of his text the author remarks + in a note: "This may appear so extraordinary and improbable a + proposition that it is necessary to say such a one was actually made. + The historians, however, substitute the widowed Queen of Naples, + sister of Richard, for the bride, and Saladin's brother for the + bridegroom. They appear to be ignorant of the existence of Edith of + Plantagenet. See MILL'S (MILLS') History of the Crusades, vol. ii. p. + 61." + + In that work I observe, that "Richard proposed a consolidation of the + Christian and Muhammedan interests; the establishment of a government + at Jerusalem, partly European and partly Asiatic; and these schemes of + policy were to be carried into effect by the marriage of Saphadin + (Saladin's brother) with the widow of William King of Sicily." + + M. Michaud, the French historian of the Crusades, makes a similar + statement. He says that Richard "fit d'autres propositions, auxquelles + il intéressa adroitement l'ambition de Malec Adel, frère du Sultan. La + veuve du Guillaume de Sicile fut proposée en marriage au Prince + Musulman." Hist. des Croisades, vol. ii. p. 414. + + Whether or no "the historians" are ignorant of the existence of "Edith + of Plantagenet" is not the present question. The question is, which of + the two opposite statements is consistent with historical truth. The + statement of M. Michaud and myself is supported by the principal + Arabic historians, by writers, who, as every student in history knows, + are of unimpeachable credit. Bohadin, in his life of Saladin, says, + that "the Englishman was desirous that Almalick Aladin should take his + sister to wife. (Her brother had brought her with him from Sicily, + when he passed through that island, to the deceased lord of which she + had been married."[6]) To the same effect Abulfeda observes, "Hither + came the embassadors of the Franks to negotiate a peace; and offered + this condition, that Malek al Adel, brother of the Sultan, should + receive the sister of the King of England in marriage, and Jerusalem + for a kingdom."[7] That this sister, Joan, the widowed Queen of + Sicily, was with Richard in the Holy Land is proved by a passage in + Matthew Paris, p. 171. She and the wife of Richard are mentioned + together, and no other person of royal rank. + + Thus, therefore, "the historians" are correct in their statement, that + the matrimonial proposition was made by the English to Saladin, and + that the parties were to be the brother of Saladin and the widowed + Queen of Sicily. The novelist has not supported his assertion by a + single historical testimony; and we may defy him to produce a tittle + of evidence on his side. + + In the composition of his tales, the author of Waverley has seldom + shown much respect for historical keeping. But greater accuracy than + his no person had a right to expect in the text of a mere novel; and + as long as he gave his readers no excuse for confounding fiction with + truth, the play of his brilliant and excursive imagination was + harmless. Thus in the Talisman, the poetical antiquarian only smiles + when he finds the romance of the Squire of Low Degree quoted as + familiar to the English long before it was written; and when, in the + Betrothed, Gloucester is raised into a bishoprick three centuries and + a half before the authentic æra, we equally admit the author's licence + of anachronism. On these two occasions, as in innumerable other + instances, in which the novelist, whether intentionally or + unwittingly, has strayed from the path of historical accuracy, he has + never given formal warranty for the truth of his statements, and he is + entitled to laugh at the simple credulity which could mistake his + Tales for veracious chronicles: But his assertion respecting the + marriage of Saladin with his "Edith of Plantagenet" is a very + different case. For here he throws aside the fanciful garb of a + novelist, and quits the privilege of his text, that he may gravely + and critically vouch in a note for the errors of our historians, and + his own superior knowledge. If this can possibly be done merely to + heighten the illusion of his romance, it is carrying the jest a little + too far; for the preservation of historical truth is really too + important a principle to be idly violated. But if he seriously + designed to unite the province of the historian with that of the + novelist, he has chosen a very unlucky expedient for his own + reputation; and thus, in either case, he has rather wantonly led his + readers into error, and brought against others a charge of ignorance, + which must recoil more deservedly on himself. + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. + + + Page + + CHAP. I. THE ORIGIN AND FIRST APPEARANCES OF CHIVALRY IN EUROPE. + + General nature of chivalry ... Military and moral chivalry ... + Origin of chivalry ... Usages of the Germans ... Election of + soldiers ... Fraternity ... Dignity of obedience ... Gallantry + ... The age of Charlemagne ... Chivalry modified by religion ... + Ceremonies of Anglo-Saxon inauguration ... Chivalry sanctioned by + councils, and regarded as a form of Christianity ... Nature of + chivalric nobility ... Its degrees ... Knight banneret ... His + qualifications ... By whom created ... His privileges ... His + relation to the baron ... And incidentally of the war-cry and the + escutcheon ... The knight ... Qualifications for knighthood ... + By whom created ... The squirehood ... General view of the other + chapters on the institutions of chivalry 1 + + + CHAP. II. THE EDUCATION OF A KNIGHT. THE CEREMONIES OF + INAUGURATION AND OF DEGRADATION. + + Description in romances of knightly education ... Hawking and + hunting ... Education commenced at the age of seven ... Duties of + the page ... Personal service ... Love and religion ... Martial + exercises ... The squire ... His duties of personal service ... + Curious story of a bold young squire ... Various titles of + squires ... Duties of the squire in battle ... Gallantry ... + Martial exercises ... Horsemanship ... Importance of squires in + the battle-field ... Particularly at the battle of Bovines ... + Preparations for knighthood ... The anxiety of the squire + regarding the character of the knight from whom he was to receive + the accolade ... Knights made in the battle-field ... + Inconveniences of this ... Knights of Mines ... General + ceremonies of degradation ... Ceremonies in England 26 + + + CHAP. III. THE EQUIPMENT. + + Beauty of the chivalric equipment ... The lance ... The pennon + ... The axe, maule, and martel ... The sword ... Fondness of the + knight for it ... Swords in romances ... The shield ... Various + sorts of mail ... Mail ... Mail and plate ... Plate harness ... + The scarf ... Surcoats ... Armorial bearings ... Surcoats of the + military orders ... The dagger of mercy ... Story of its use ... + Value of enquiries into ancient armour ... A precise knowledge + unattainable ... Its general features interesting ... The broad + lines of the subject ... Excellence of Italian armour ... Armour + of the squire, &c. ... Allegories made on armour ... The horse of + the knight 65 + + + CHAP. IV. THE CHIVALRIC CHARACTER. + + General array of knights ... Companions in arms ... The nature of + a cavalier's valiancy ... Singular bravery of Sir Robert Knowles + ... Bravery incited by vows ... Fantastic circumstances ... The + humanities of chivalric war ... Ransoming ... Reason of + courtesies in battles ... Curious pride of knighthood ... + Prisoners ... Instance of knightly honour ... Independence of + knights, and knight-errantry ... Knights fought the battles of + other countries ... English knights dislike wars in Spain ... + Their disgust at Spanish wines ... Principles of their active + conduct ... Knightly independence consistent with discipline ... + Religion of the knight ... His devotion ... His intolerance ... + General nature of his virtue ... Fidelity to obligations ... + Generousness ... Singular instance of it ... Romantic excess of + it ... Liberality ... Humility ... Courtesy ... EVERY-DAY LIFE OF + THE KNIGHT ... Falconry ... Chess playing ... Story of a knight's + love of chess ... Minstrelsy ... Romances ... Conversation ... + Nature and form of chivalric entertainments ... Festival and vow + of the pheasant 117 + + + CHAP. V. DAMES AND DAMSELS, AND LADY-LOVE. + + Courtesy ... Education ... Music ... Graver sciences ... Dress + ... Knowledge of medicine ... Every-day life of the maiden ... + Chivalric love ... The idolatry of the knight's passion ... + Bravery inspired by love ... Character of woman in the eyes of a + knight ... Peculiar nature of his love ... Qualities of knights + admired by women ... A tale of chivalric love ... Constancy ... + Absence of jealousy ... Knights asserted by arms their mistress's + beauty ... Penitents of love ... Other peculiarities of chivalric + love ... The passion universal ... Story of Aristotle ... + Chivalric love the foe to feudal distinctions ... But preserved + religion ... When attachments were formed ... Societies of + knights for the defence of ladies ... Knights of the lady in the + green field ... Customs in England ... Unchivalric to take women + prisoners ... Morals of chivalric times ... Heroines of chivalry + ... Queen Philippa ... The Countess of March ... Tales of Jane of + Mountfort and of Marzia degl' Ubaldini ... Nobleness of the + chivalric female character 181 + + + CHAP. VI. TOURNAMENTS AND JOUSTS. + + Beauty of chivalric sports ... Their superiority to those of + Greece and Rome ... Origin of tournaments ... Reasons for holding + them ... Practice in arms ... Courtesy ... By whom they were held + ... Qualifications for tourneying ... Ceremonies of the + tournament ... Arrival of the knights ... Publication of their + names ... Reasons for it ... Disguised knights ... The lists ... + Ladies the judges of the tournament ... Delicate courtesy at + tournaments ... Morning of the sports ... Knights led by ladies, + who imitated the dress of knights ... Nature of tourneying + weapons ... Knights wore ladies' favours ... The preparation ... + The encounter ... What lance-strokes won the prize ... Conclusion + of the sports ... The festival ... Delivery of the prize ... + Knights thanked by ladies ... The ball ... Liberality ... + Tournaments opposed by the popes ... The opposition unjust ... + The joust ... Description of the joust to the utterance ... Joust + between a Scotch and an English knight ... Jousting for love of + the ladies ... A singular instance of it ... Joust between a + French and an English squire ... Admirable skill of jousters ... + Singular questions regarding jousts ... An Earl of Warwick ... + Celebrated joust at St. Inglebertes ... Joust between Lord Scales + and the Bastard of Burgundy ... The romance of jousts ... The + passage of arms ... Use of tournaments and jousts 258 + + + CHAP. VII. THE RELIGIOUS AND MILITARY ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD. + + General principles of the religious orders ... Qualifications for + them ... Use of these orders to Palestine ... Modern history of + the Knights Templars ... Their present existence and state ... + Religious orders in Spain ... That of St. James ... Its objects + ... Change of its objects ... Order of Calatrava ... Fine + chivalry of a monk ... Fame of this order ... Order of Alcantara + ... Knights of the Lady of Mercy ... Knights of St. Michael ... + Military orders ... Imitations of the religious orders ... + Instanced in the order of the Garter ... Few of the present + orders are of chivalric origin ... Order of the Bath ... Dormant + orders ... Order of the Band ... Its singular rules ... Its noble + enforcement of chivalric duties towards woman ... Order of + Bourbon ... Strange titles of orders ... Fabulous orders ... The + Round Table ... Sir Launcelot ... Sir Gawain ... Order of the + Stocking ... Origin of the phrase Blue Stocking 332 + + + CHAP. VIII. PROGRESS OF CHIVALRY IN ENGLAND, FROM THE NORMAN + CONQUEST TO THE CLOSE OF THE REIGN OF EDWARD II. + + Chivalry connected with feudalism ... Stipendiary knights ... + Knighthood a compulsory honour ... Fine instance of chivalry in + the reign of Edward I. ... Effect of chivalry in Stephen's reign + ... Troubadours and romance writers in the reign of Henry II. ... + Chivalric manners of the time ... Coeur de Lion the first + chivalric king ... His knightly bearing ... John and Henry III. + ... Edward I. ... His gallantry at a tournament ... His + unchivalric cruelties ... He possessed no knightly courtesy ... + Picture of ancient manners ... Edward II. ... Chivalric + circumstance in the battle of Bannockburn ... Singular effect of + chivalry in the reign of Edward II. 382 + + + + +THE HISTORY OF CHIVALRY. + + + + +CHAP. I. + +THE ORIGIN AND FIRST APPEARANCES OF CHIVALRY IN EUROPE. + + _General Nature of Chivalry ... Military and Moral Chivalry ... Origin + of Chivalry ... Usages of the Germans ... Election of Soldiers ... + Fraternity ... Dignity of Obedience ... Gallantry ... The Age of + Charlemagne ... Chivalry modified by Religion ... Ceremonies of + Anglo-Saxon Inauguration ... Chivalry sanctioned by Councils, and + regarded as a Form of Christianity ... Nature of Chivalric Nobility + ... Its Degrees ... Knight Banneret ... His Qualifications ... By whom + created ... His Privileges ... His relation to the Baron ... And + incidentally of the War-Cry and the Escutcheon ... The Knight ... + Qualifications for Knighthood ... By whom created ... The Squirehood + ... General View of the other Chapters on the Institutions of + Chivalry._ + + +There is little to charm the imagination in the first ages of Chivalry. No +plumed steeds, no warrior bearing on his crested helm the favour of his +lady bright, graced those early times. All was rudeness and gloom. But +the subject is not altogether without interest, as it must ever be curious +to mark the causes and the first appearances in conduct of any widely +spread system of opinions. + +[Sidenote: Nature of Chivalry.] + +The martial force of the people who occupied northern and central Europe +in the time of the Romans, was chiefly composed of infantry[8]; but +afterwards a great though imperceptible change took place, and, during all +the long period which forms, in historic phrase, the middle ages, cavalry +was the strongest arm of military power. Terms, expressive of this martial +array, were sought for in its distinguishing circumstances. Among the +ruins of the Latin language, _caballus_ signified a horse, _caballarius_ a +horseman, and _caballicare_, to ride; and from these words all the +languages that were formed on a Latin basis, derived their phrases +descriptive of military duties on horseback. In all languages of Teutonic +origin, the same circumstance was expressed by words literally signifying +service. The German _knight_, the Saxon _cnight_, are synonymous to the +French _cavalier_, the Italian _cavaliere_, and the Spanish _caballero_. +The word _rider_ also designated the same person, preceded by, or standing +without, the word _knight_. + +[Sidenote: Military and Moral Chivalry.] + +In the kingdoms which sprang from the ruins of the Roman empire, every +king, baron, and person of estate was a knight; and therefore the whole +face of Europe was overspread with cavalry. Considered in this aspect, the +knighthood and the feudalism of Europe were synonymous and coexistent. But +there was a chivalry within this chivalry; a moral and personal +knighthood; not the well-ordered assemblage of the instruments of +ambition, but a military barrier against oppression and tyranny, a +corrective of feudal despotism and injustice. Something like this +description of knighthood may be said to have existed in all ages and +countries. Its generousness may be paralleled in Homeric times, and vice +has never reigned entirely without control. But the chivalry, the gallant +and Christian chivalry of Europe, was purer and brighter than any +preceding condition of society; for it established woman in her just rank +in the moral world, and many of its principles of action proceeded from a +divine source, which the classical ancients could not boast of. + +[Sidenote: Origin of Chivalry.] + +[Sidenote: Usages of the Germans.] + +[Sidenote: Election of Soldiers.] + +Some of the rules and maxims of chivalry had their origin in that state of +society in which the feudal system arose; and regarded particularly in a +military light, we find chivalry a part of the earliest condition of a +considerable part of the European world. The bearing of arms was never a +matter of mere private choice. Among the Germans, it rested with the +state to declare a man qualified to serve his country in arms. In an +assembly of the chiefs of his nation, his father, or a near relation, +presented a shield and a javelin to a young and approved candidate for +martial honours, who from that moment was considered as a member of the +commonwealth, and ranked as a citizen. In northern as well as in central +Europe, both in Scandinavia and Germany, the same principle was observed; +and a young man at the age of fifteen became an independent agent, by +receiving a sword, a buckler, and a lance, at some public meeting.[9] + +[Sidenote: Fraternity.] + +The spirit of clanship, or fraternity, which ran through the chivalry of +the middle ages, is of the remotest antiquity. It existed in Germany, in +Scandinavia, and also in Gaul.[10] In all these countries, every young +man, when adorned with his military weapons, entered the train of some +chief; but he was rather his companion than his follower; for, however +numerous were the steps and distinctions of service, a noble spirit of +equality ran through them all. These generous youths formed the bulwark of +their leader in war, and were his ornament in peace. This spirit of +companionship shewed itself in all its power and beauty in the field. It +was disgraceful for a prince to be surpassed in valour by his companions; +their military deeds were to be heroic, but the lustre of them was never +to dim the brightness of his own fame. The chief fought for victory, the +followers fought for their chief. The defence of the leader in battle, to +die with him rather than to leave him, were, in the minds of the military +fathers of Europe, obvious and necessary corollaries of these principles. +The spirit of companionship burnt more fiercely in remote ages, than in +times commonly called chivalric; for if, by the chance of war, a person +was thrown into the hands of an enemy, his military companions would +surrender themselves prisoners, thinking it disgraceful to live in +security and indolence, when their chief and associate was in misery.[11] + +And to bring the matter home to English readers, it may be mentioned, that +in the history of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors, many instances are recorded +where vassals refused to survive their lord. Cyneheard, brother of the +deposed king Sigebyrcht, slew the usurper Cynewulf; and though he offered +freedom to the attendants of the slain, yet they all preferred death to +submission to a new lord, and they died in a vain and wild endeavour to +revenge him. Immediately afterwards fortune frowned on Cyneheard, and his +eighty-four companions, save one, were slain, though liberty had been +offered to them; but declaring that their generosity was not inferior to +the generosity of the attendants of Cynewulf, they perished in a hopeless +battle.[12] + +[Sidenote: Dignity of obedience.] + +The feeling which, in chivalric times, became designated as the dignity of +obedience, may be traced in these circumstances, but it is more clearly +shewn in a singular record of the domestic manners of ancient Europe; for +we learn from Athenæus, in his treatise of the suppers of the Celts, that +it was the custom of the Gaulish youths to stand behind the seats, and to +attend upon their fathers during the principal daily meal.[13] Here we see +the germ, if not of the duties of the squire to the knight, yet of the +feeling which suggested their performance. The beautiful subordination of +chivalry had its origin in the domestic relations of life; obedience +became virtuous when nature sanctioned it, and there could be no loss of +personal consideration in a youth performing services which his own father +had performed, and which, as years and circumstances advanced, would be +rendered to himself. + +[Sidenote: Gallantry.] + +The gallantry of knighthood, that quality which distinguishes, and +distinguishes so much to its advantage, the modern from the ancient world, +was not created by any chivalric institution. We know indeed that it was +cradled in the same sentiments which nursed the other principles of +chivalry, but its birth is lost in the remoteness of ages; and I would +rather dwell in my ignorance of the precise period of its antiquity, than +think with Plutarch that the feeling arose from a judicious opinion +delivered by some women on occasion of a particular dispute between a few +of the Celtic tribes.[14] It was in truth the virtue of the sex, and not +any occasional or accidental opinion, that raised them to their high and +respectful consideration. The Roman historian marked it as a peculiarity +among the Germans, that marriage was considered by them as a sacred +institution[15], and that a man confined himself to the society of one +wife. The mind of Tacitus was filled with respect for the virtuous though +unpolished people of the north; and, reverting his eyes to Rome, the +describer of manners becomes the indignant satirist, and he exclaims, that +no one in Germany dares to ridicule the holy ordinance of marriage, or to +call an infringement of its laws a compliance with the manners of the +age.[16] In earlier times, when the Cimbri invaded Italy, and were +worsted by Marius, the female Teutonic captives wished to be placed among +the vestal virgins, binding themselves to perpetual chastity, but the +Romans could not admire or sympathize with such lofty-mindedness, and the +women had recourse to death, the last sad refuge of their virtue. Strabo +picturesquely describes venerable and hoary-headed prophetesses seated at +the council of the Cimbri, dressed in long linen vestments of shining +white. They were not only embassadresses, but were often entrusted with +the charge of governing kingdoms.[17] The courage of the knight of +chivalry was inspired by the lady of his affections, a feature of +character clearly deducible from the practice among the German nations, of +women mingling in the field of battle with their armed brothers, fathers, +and husbands. Women were always regarded as incentives to valour, and when +warring with a nation of different manners, the German general could +congratulate his soldiers on having motives to courage, which the enemy +did not possess.[18] The warrior of the north, like the hero of chivalry, +hoped for female smiles from his skill in athletic and martial exercises; +and we may take the anecdote as an instance of the general manners of +European antiquity, that the chief anxiety of a Danish champion, who had +lost his chin and one of his cheeks by a single stroke of a sword, was, +how he should be received by the Danish maidens, when his personal +features had been thus dreadfully marred.--"The Danish girls will not now +willingly or easily give me kisses, if I should perhaps return home," was +his complaint. + +Harald the Valiant was one of the most eminent adventurers of his age. He +had slain mighty men; and after sweeping the seas of the north as a +conqueror, he descended to the Mediterranean, and the shores of Africa. +But a greater power now opposed him, and he was taken prisoner, and +detained for some time at Constantinople. He endeavoured to beguile his +gloomy solitude by song; but his muse gave him no joy, for he complains +that the reputation he had acquired by so many hazardous exploits, by his +skill in single combat, riding, swimming, gliding along the ice, darting, +rowing, and guiding a ship through the rocks, had not been able to make +any impression on Elissiff, or Elizabeth, the beautiful daughter of +Yarilas, king of Russia.[19] + +[Sidenote: The Age of Charlemagne.] + +Such were the features of the ancient character of Europe, that formed the +basis of the chivalry of the middle ages; such was chivalry in its rude, +unpolished state, the general character of the whole people, rather than +the moral chastener of turbulence and ferocity. From receiving his weapons +in an assembly of the nation; associating in clans; protecting and +revering women; performing acts of service, when affection and duty +commanded them: from these simple circumstances and qualities, the most +beautiful form of manners arose, that has ever adorned the history of man. +It is impossible to mark the exact time when these elements were framed +into that system of thought and action which we call Chivalry. Knighthood +was certainly a feature and distinction of society before the days of +Charlemagne, and its general prevalence in his time is very curiously +proved, by the permission which he gave to the governor of Friesland to +make knights, by girding them with a sword, and giving them a blow.[20] + +[Sidenote: Chivalry modified by Religion.] + +But the key-stone of the arch was wanting, and religion alone could +furnish it. A new world of principles and objects was introduced. The +defence of the church was one great apparent aim of knightly enterprise, +and on this principle, narrow and selfish as it was, many of the +charities of Christianity were established. The sword was blessed by the +priest, before it was delivered to the young warrior. By what means this +amalgamation was effected, we know not; the less interesting matter, the +date of the circumstance can be more easily ascertained. It was somewhere +between the ninth and the eleventh centuries. It surely was not the custom +in the days of Charlemagne, for he girt the military sword on his son +Louis the Good, agreeably to the rude principles of ancient Germanic +chivalry[21], without any religious ceremonies; and a century afterwards +we read of the Saxon monarch of England, Edward the Elder, cloathing +Athelstan in a soldier's dress of scarlet, and fastening round him a +girdle ornamented with precious stones, in which a Saxon sword in a sheath +of gold was inserted.[22] In the century following, however, during the +reign of Edward the Confessor, we meet with the story of Hereward, a very +noble Anglo-Saxon youth, being knighted by the Abbot of Peterborough. He +made confession of his sins, and, after he had received absolution, he +earnestly prayed to be made a legitimate _miles_ or knight. + +[Sidenote: Ceremonies of Anglo-Saxon inauguration.] + +It was the custom of the English, continues the historian, for every one +who wished to be consecrated into the legitimate militia, to confess his +sins to a bishop, abbot, monk, or other priest, in the evening that +preceded the day of his consecration, and to pass the night in the church, +in prayer, devotion, and mortifications. On the next morning it was his +duty to hear mass, to offer his sword on the altar, and then, after the +Gospel had been read, the priest blessed the sword, and placed it on the +neck of the _miles_, with his benediction. The sacrament of the Lord's +Supper was then communicated to the knight.[23] This passage, though +professedly descriptive only of the military customs of England, may be +applied to the general state of Europe, with the exception of Normandy, +whose people despised the religious part of the ceremony. But this feeling +of dislike did not endure through all ages, for there is abundant evidence +to prove, that in the reign of the Norman dynasty in England, the +ceremonies of knighthood were religious as well as military; and in the +same, the eleventh, century, the usage was similar over all Continental +Europe. + +[Sidenote: Chivalry sanctioned by Councils, and regarded as a form of +Christianity.] + +The eleventh century is a very important epoch in the history of chivalry; +for it was declared by the celebrated Council of Clermont, (which +authorised the first Crusade) that every person of noble birth, on +attaining twelve years of age, should take a solemn oath before the bishop +of his diocese, to defend to the uttermost the oppressed, the widows, and +orphans; that women of noble birth, both married and single, should enjoy +his especial care; and that nothing should be wanting in him to render +travelling safe, and to destroy tyranny. In this decree we observe, that +all the humanities of chivalry were sanctioned by legal and ecclesiastical +power; and that it was intended they should be spread over the whole face +of Christendom, in order to check the barbarism and ferocity of the times. + +The form of chivalry was martial; but its objects were both religious and +social, and the definition of the word from military circumstances ceased +to express its character. The power of the clergy was shewn in a singular +manner. Chivalry was no longer a soldierly array, but it was called the +Order, the Holy Order, and a character of seriousness and solemnity was +given to it.[24] It was accounted an honourable office, above all offices, +orders, and acts of the world, except the order of priesthood, for that +order appertained to the holy sacrament of the altar. The knightly and +clerical characters were every where considered as convertible, and the +writers of romances faithfully reflected manners, when their hero at the +commencement of the tale was a Sir Knight, and when at the close of his +quests, we find him a Sir Priest; + + "And soothly it was said by common fame, + So long as age enabled him thereto, + That he had been a man of mickle name, + Renowned much in arms and derring do. + But being aged now, and weary too + Of war's delight, and world's contentious toil, + The name of Knighthood he did disavow; + And hanging up his arms and warlike spoil, + From all this world's incumbrance did himself assoil."[25] + +[Sidenote: Nature of Chivalric Nobility.] + +Knighthood was an institution perfectly peculiar to the military and +social state of our ancestors. There was no analogy between the knights of +chivalry and the equites of Rome, for pecuniary estate was absolutely +necessary for the latter; whereas, though the European cavalier was +generally a man of some possessions, yet he was often a person promoted +into the order of chivalry, solely as a reward for his redoubted behaviour +in battle. The Roman equites discharged civil functions regarding the +administration of justice and the farming of the public revenue; but the +chivalry of the middle ages had no such duties to perform. Knighthood was +also distinct from nobility; for the nobility of Europe were the governors +and lords of particular districts of a country, and although originally +they held their dignities only for life, yet their title soon became +hereditary. But knighthood was essentially and always a personal +distinction. A man's chivalry died with him. It was conferred upon +noblemen and kings, not being like their other titles, the subject of +inheritance. It was not absorbed in any other title of rank, and the +common form of address, Sir[26] King, shews its high consideration. In the +writs of summons to parliament, the word _Chevalier_ sometimes followed +the baronial title, and more frequently the barons were styled by their +martial designation, than named by the titles of their baronies.[27] + +[Sidenote: Its degrees.] + +There were three degrees in the Chivalry of Europe, Knights-Banneret, +Knights, and Esquires. + +[Sidenote: Knight-Banneret.] + +[Sidenote: His qualifications.] + +[Sidenote: By whom created.] + +A soldier must have passed through the ranks of esquire and knight, before +he could be classed with the knights-banneret. That high dignity could +only be possessed by a knight who had served for a length of years in the +wars, and with distinction, and who had a considerable retinue of +men-at-arms, and other soldiers. To avoid the inconveniences of too minute +a division of the martial force of a country, every knight-banneret ought +to have had fifty[28] knights and squires under his command, each being +attended by one or more horse soldiers, armed with the cross-bow, or with +the long-bow and axe. Several followers on foot completed the equipment. +But as we often meet with instances of elevating men of very few +followers[29] to the rank of knights-banneret, it is probable that kings +usurped the right of conferring the distinction upon their favorites, or +men of fame, not chusing that any title of merit should be demanded as a +right, or that the royal name should be used only as a passive instrument; +for a knight who had proved his chivalry and power, could demand from his +sovereign the distinction of banneret. The laws and usages of the world +allowed the well-tried and nobly attended soldier to carry his emblazoned +pennon to the constable or marshal of the army before or after a battle, +and in the field of contest itself, and require leave to raise his banner. +A herald exhibited the record of his claim to the distinction, and the +leader of the forces cut off the end of the pennon, and this military +ensign then became a square banner. A brief exhortation to valiancy and +honour was generally added by the constable or herald. These were the +whole ceremonies of creation. + +[Sidenote: His privileges.] + +The privileges of a knight-banneret were considerable. He did not fight +under the standard of any baron, but he formed his soldiers under his +own. Like the rest of the feudal force, he was subject to the commands of +the king; but his pride was not galled by being obliged to obey the +behests of men of his own rank. + +[Sidenote: His relation to the Baron.] + +[Sidenote: The war-cry.] + +Every Baron had his banner, and a feudal array of knights, men-at-arms, +and others, was numbered by its banners. The banneret and the baron were +therefore soldiers of equal authority. The banneret, too, like the baron, +had his words of courage, his cry of arms, which he shouted before a +battle, in order to animate his soldiers to the charge, and whose sound, +heard in the moment of direst peril, rallied the scattered troops by the +recollection of the glories of their commander's house, and their own +former achievements. The war-cry was also the underwritten ornament of the +armorial shield, and worked on the surcoat and banner, and was carved on +the tomb both of the knight-banneret and the baron. Each of these +representatives of chivalry and nobility had his square escutcheon. The +wife of a banneret was styled _une dame bannerette_, and the general title +of his family was a _hostel bannière_. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: The Knight.] + +The second and most numerous class of chivalric heroes consisted of +Knights, who were originally called Bas-Chevaliers, in contradiction to +the first class, but in the course of time the word bachelor designated +rather the esquire, the candidate for chivalry, than the cavalier himself. +These knights of the second class were in Spain called _Cavalleros_, in +distinction from the _riccos hombres_, or knights-banneret; and in France, +the illiberal and degrading title of _pauvres hommes_ was sometimes +applied to them, to mark their inferiority to the bannerets. + +[Sidenote: Qualifications for knighthood.] + +A general qualification for knighthood was noble or gentle birth, which, +in its widest signification, expressed a state of independence. Noblemen +and gentlemen were words originally synonymous, describing the owners of +fiefs. In countries where there were other forms of tenure, some military +merit in the occupiers of land seems to have been necessary for elevation +to the class of gentlemen. The mere frankelein was certainly not entitled +to the designation of gentle; but if he became a distinguished man, an +honorary rank was given to the family, and they were esteemed noble.[30] +It is scarcely necessary to mention, that that distinction could alone be +obtained by military achievements; for in the early periods of society, +the only path to glory was stained with blood. The gentility of a father +was more regarded than that of a mother[31]; and in strictness, if a man +were not noble on his paternal side, his lord might cause his spurs to be +cut off on a dunghill.[32] The amount of estate necessary for knighthood +was not regulated by any chivalric institution. But the expence of the +order was by no means inconsiderable. His inauguration was a scene of +splendour; and liberality was one of the chiefest duties of his character. +He could not travel in quest of adventures without some charge[33], and +his squire and other personal attendants were of course maintained by him. +Though a man, says Froissart, be never so rich, men of arms and war waste +all; for he that will have service of men of war, they must be paid truly +their wages, or else they will do nothing available.[34] The knight's +harness for the working day was not without its ornaments; and the +tournament was rendered splendid by the brilliancy of his armour and his +steed's caparisons. There was always a rivalry of expence among knights +who formed an expedition; and of all the recorded instances of this +feeling, perhaps the most interesting one is furnished by Froissart. +Speaking of a projected invasion of England by the French about the year +1386, he says, that gold and silver were no more spared than though they +had rained out of the clouds, or been skimmed from the sea. The great +lords of France sent their servants to Sluse, to apparel and make ready +their provisions and ships, and to furnish them with every thing needful. +Every man garnished his ship, and painted it with his arms. Painters had +then a good season, for they had whatever they desired. They made banners, +pennons, and standards of silk so goodly, that it was a marvel to behold +them; also they painted the masts of their ships from the one end to the +other, glittering with gold, and devices, and arms; and especially the +Lord Guy de la Tremouille garnished his ship richly; the paintings cost +more than two thousand francs.[35] + +[Sidenote: By whom created.] + +We have seen that originally a body of soldiers was selected by the state +from the general mass of the people. Afterwards, kings and nobles in their +several jurisdictions maintained the power of creation. It was also +assumed by the clergy, but not retained long; nor were they anxious to +recover it, for, as they assisted in the religious ceremonies of +inauguration, they possessed a considerable share of power by the milder +means of influence. Knighthood never altogether lost its character of +being a distinction, a reward of merit, presumed, indeed, rather than +proved, in the original instances which have been mentioned. But though it +was often bestowed as an ornament of custom on the nobility and gentry of +a state, yet it often was the bright guerdon of achievements in arms. Of +military merit every knight was supposed to be a sufficient judge; and +therefore every knight had the power of bestowing its reward. Men-at-arms +and other soldiers were often exalted to the class of knights, and the +honour was something more than a chimera of the imagination; for the title +and consideration of a gentleman immediately accompanied the +creation.[36] Thus, in the time of Richard II., the governor of Norwich, +called Sir Robert Sale, was no gentleman born, says Froissart; but he had +the grace to be reputed sage and valiant in arms, and for his valiantness +King Edward had made him a knight. The same sovereign also knighted a +man-at-arms, who had originally been a tailor, and who, after the +conclusion of the king's wars in France, crossed the Alps into Italy, and +under the name of Sir John Hawkwood, headed the company of White or +English adventurers, so famous in the Italian wars.[37] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Squirehood.] + +The third and last class of Chivalry was the Squirehood. It was not +composed of young men who carried the shields of knights, and were +learning the art of war; but the squires were a body of efficient +soldiers, inferior in rank to the knight, and superior to the +men-at-arms.[38] They had been originally intended for the higher classes +of chivalry, but various considerations induced them to remain in the +lowest rank. It was a maxim in chivalry, that a man had better be a good +esquire than a poor knight. Many an esquire, therefore, declined the honor +of knighthood, on account of the slenderness of his revenues. Edward III., +during his wars in France, would have knighted Collart Dambreticourte, the +esquire of his own person; but the young man declined the honor, for, to +use his own simple phrase, he could not furnish his helmet.[39] Barons, +knights, and esquires, form Froissart's frequent description of the parts +of an army; and although there were many young men in the field, who, +released from their duties on knights, were aiming at distinction, yet +there were many more who remained squires during all their military +career, and therefore became recognised as a part of the chivalric array. +Some men of small landed estate, wishing to avoid the expences and the +duties of knighthood, remained esquires. They lost nothing of real power +by their prudence, for they were entitled to lead their vassals into the +field of battle under a penoncele, or small triangular streamer, as the +knight led his under a pennon, or a banneret his under a banner. Military +honours and commands also could be reached by the squirehood, as well as +by the knighthood of a country. Both classes were considered gentle, and +were entitled to wear coat armour. + + * * * * * + +Such was the general form of the personal nobility of Chivalry. Some parts +of the outline varied in different countries, as will be seen when we +watch its progress through Europe; but previously to that enquiry, the +education, the duties, and the equipment of the knight require +description; and as _loyauté aux dames_ is the motto alike of the writers +and the readers of works on Chivalry, I shall make no apology for +suspending the historical investigation, while I endeavour to portray the +lady-love of the gallant cavalier, and delay my steps in that splendid +scene of beauty's power, the Tournament. + + + + +CHAP. II. + +THE EDUCATION OF A KNIGHT. THE CEREMONIES OF INAUGURATION AND OF +DEGRADATION. + + _Description in Romances of Knightly Education ... Hawking and Hunting + ... Education commenced at the age of Seven ... Duties of the Page ... + Personal Service ... Love and Religion ... Martial Exercises ... The + Squire ... His Duties of Personal Service ... Curious Story of a bold + young Squire ... Various Titles of Squires ... Duties of the Squire in + Battle ... Gallantry ... Martial Exercises ... Horsemanship ... + Importance of Squires in the Battle Field ... Particularly at the + Battle of Bovines ... Preparations for Knighthood ... The Anxiety of + the Squire regarding the Character of the Knight from whom he was to + receive the Accolade ... Knights made in the Battle Field ... + Inconveniences of this ... Knights of Mines ... General Ceremonies of + Degradation ... Ceremonies in England._ + + +[Sidenote: Description in Romances of knightly education.] + +The romances of Chivalry, in their picturesque and expressive +representation of manners, present us with many interesting glimpses of +the education in knighthood of the feudal nobility's children. The romance +of Sir Tristrem sings thus; + + "Now hath Rohant in ore[40], + Tristrem, and is full blithe, + The childe he set to lore, + And lernd him al so swithe[41]; + In bok while he was thore + He stodieth ever that stithe[42], + Tho that bi him wore + Of him weren ful blithe, + That bold. + His craftes gan he kithe[43], + Oyaines[44] hem when he wold. + + "Fiftene yere he gan him fede, + Sir Rohant the trewe; + He taught him ich alede[45] + Of ich maner of glewe;[46] + And everich playing thede, + Old lawes and newe. + On hunting oft he yede[47], + To swich alawe he drewe, + Al thus; + More he couthe[48] of veneri + Than couthe Manerious." + +Very similar to this picture is the description of the education of Kyng +Horn, in the romance which bears his name. + + "Stiward tac thou here, + My fundling for to lere + Of thine mestere, + Of wode and of ryvere, + Ant toggen o' the harpe, + With is nayles sharpe; + Ant tech him alle the listes + That thou ever wystes + Byfore me to kerven, + Ant of my coupe to serven; + Ant his feren devyse + With ous other servise. + Horn, child, thou understand + Tech him of harpe and of song."[49] + +For only one more extract from the old romances, shall I claim the +indulgence of my readers in the words of the minstrel, + + "Mekely, lordynges gentyll and fre, + Lysten awhile and herken to me." + +The life of Sir Ipomydon is a finished picture of knightly history. His +foster-father, Sir Tholomew, + + ----"a clerk he toke + That taught the child upon the boke + Bothe to synge and to rede, + And after he taught him other dede. + Afterwards to serve in halle, + Both to grete and to small. + Before the king meat to kerve + Hye and low feyre to serve. + Both of houndis and hawkis game, + After he taught him all and same, + In se, in field, and eke in river, + In wood to chase the wild deer; + And in the field to ride a steed, + That all men had joy of his deed." + +[Sidenote: Hunting and Hawking.] + +The mystery of rivers and the mystery of woods were important parts of +knightly education. The mystery of woods was hunting; the mystery of +rivers was not fishing, but hawking, an expression which requires a few +words of explanation. In hawking, the pursuit of water-fowls afforded most +diversion. Chaucer says that he could + + "ryde on hawking by the river, + With grey gos hawk on hand." + +The favourite bird of chase was the heron, whose peculiar flight is not +horizontal, like that of field birds, but perpendicular. It is wont to +rise to a great height on finding itself the object of pursuit, while its +enemy, using equal efforts to out-tower it, at length gains the advantage, +swoops upon the heron with prodigious force, and strikes it to the ground. +The amusement of hawking, therefore, could be viewed without the +spectators moving far from the river's side where the game was sprung; and +from that circumstance it was called the mystery of rivers.[50] + +But I shall attempt no further to describe in separate portions the +subjects of knightly education, and to fill up the sketches of the old +romances; for those sketches, though correct, present no complete outline, +and the military exercises are altogether omitted. We had better trace the +cavalier, through the gradations of his course, in the castle of his lord. + + * * * * * + +The education of a knight generally commenced at the age of seven or eight +years[51], for no true lover of chivalry wished his children to pass their +time in idleness and indulgence. At a baronial feast, a lady in the full +glow of maternal pride pointed to her offspring, and demanded of her +husband whether he did not bless Heaven for having given him four such +fine and promising boys. "Dame," replied her lord, thinking her +observation ill timed and foolish, "so help me God and Saint Martin, +nothing gives me greater sorrow and shame than to see four great sluggards +who do nothing but eat, and drink, and waste their time in idleness and +folly." Like other children of gentle birth, therefore, the boys of this +noble Duke Guerin of Montglaive, in spite of their mother's wishes, +commenced their chivalric exercises.[52] In some places there were +schools appointed by the nobles of the country, but most frequently their +own castles served. Every feudal lord had his court, to which he drew the +sons and daughters of the poorer gentry of his domains; and his castle was +also frequented by the children of men of equal rank with himself, for +(such was the modesty and courtesy of chivalry) each knight had generally +some brother in arms, whom he thought better fitted than himself to grace +his children with noble accomplishments. + +[Sidenote: Duties of the Page.] + +[Sidenote: Personal Service.] + +The duties of the boy for the first seven years of his service were +chiefly personal. If sometimes the harsh principles of feudal +subordination gave rise to such service, it oftener proceeded from the +friendly relations of life; and as in the latter case it was voluntary, +there was no loss of honourable consideration in performing it. The +dignity of obedience, that principle which blends the various shades of +social life, and which had its origin in the patriarchal manners of early +Europe, was now fostered in the castles of the feudal nobility. The +light-footed youth attended the lord and his lady in the hall, and +followed them in all their exercises of war and pleasure; and it was +considered unknightly for a cavalier to wound a page in battle. He also +acquired the rudiments of those incongruous subjects, religion, love, and +war, so strangely blended in chivalry; and generally the intellectual and +moral education of the boy was given by the ladies of the court. + +[Sidenote: Love and Religion.] + +From the lips of the ladies the gentle page learned both his catechism and +the art of love, and as the religion of the day was full of symbols, and +addressed to the senses, so the other feature of his devotion was not to +be nourished by abstract contemplation alone. He was directed to regard +some one lady of the court as the type of his heart's future mistress; she +was the centre of all his hopes and wishes; to her he was obedient, +faithful, and courteous. + +While the young Jean de Saintré was a page of honour at the court of the +French king, the Dame des Belles Cousines enquired of him the name of the +mistress of his heart's affections. The simple youth replied, that he +loved his lady mother, and next to her, his sister Jacqueline was dear to +him. "Young man," rejoined the lady, "I am not speaking of the affection +due to your mother and sister; but I wish to know the name of the lady to +whom you are attached _par amours_." The poor boy was still more confused, +and he could only reply, that he loved no one _par amours_. The Dame des +Belles Cousines charged him with being a traitor to the laws of chivalry, +and declared that his craven spirit was evinced by such an avowal. +"Whence," she enquired, "sprang the valiancy and knightly feats of +Launcelot, Gawain, Tristram, Giron the courteous, and other ornaments of +the round table; of Ponthus, and of those knights and squires of this +country whom I could enumerate: whence the grandeur of many whom I have +known to arise to renown, except from the noble desire of maintaining +themselves in the grace and esteem of the ladies; without which +spirit-stirring sentiment they must have ever remained in the shades of +obscurity? And do you, coward valet, presume to declare that you possess +no sovereign lady, and desire to have none?" + +Jean underwent a long scene of persecution on account of his confession of +the want of proper chivalric sentiment, but he was at length restored to +favour by the intercession of the ladies of the court. He then named as +his mistress Matheline de Coucy, a child only ten years old. "Matheline is +indeed a pretty girl," replied the Dame des Belles Cousines, "but what +profit, what honour, what comfort, what aid, what council for advancing +you in chivalrous fame can you derive from such a choice? You should elect +a lady of noble blood, who has the ability to advise, and the power to +assist you; and you should serve her so truly, and love her so loyally, +as to compel her to acknowledge the honourable affection which you +entertain for her. For, be assured, that there is no lady, however cruel +and haughty she may be, but through long service, will be induced to +acknowledge and reward loyal affection with some portion of mercy. By such +a course you will gain the praise of worthy knighthood, and till then I +would not give an apple for you or your achievements: but he who loyally +serves his lady will not only be blessed to the height of man's felicity +in this life, but will never fall into those sins which will prevent his +happiness hereafter. Pride will be entirely effaced from the heart of him +who endeavours by humility and courtesy to win the grace of a lady. The +true faith of a lover will defend him from the other deadly sins of anger, +envy, sloth, and gluttony; and his devotion to his mistress renders the +thought impossible of his conduct ever being stained with the vice of +incontinence."[53] + +[Sidenote: Martial exercises.] + +The military exercises of the page were not many, and they were only +important, inasmuch as they were the earliest ideas of his life, and that +consequently the habits of his character were formed on them. He was +taught to leap over trenches, to launch or cast spears and darts, to +sustain the shield, and in his walk to imitate the measured tread of the +soldier. He fought with light staves against stakes raised for the nonce, +as if they had been his mortal enemies, or met in encounters equally +perilous his youthful companions of the castle.[54] During the seven years +of these instructions he was called a valet, a damoiseau, or a page. The +first title was of the most ancient usage, and was thoroughly chivalric; +the second is of nearly equal authority[55], but the word page was not +much used till so late a period as the days of Philip de Comines.[56] +Before that time it was most frequently applied to the children of the +vulgar. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: The squire.] + +[Sidenote: His duties of personal service.] + +The next titles of the candidate for chivalry were armiger, scutifer or +escuyer: but though these words denoted personal military attendance, yet +his personal domestic service continued for some time. He prepared the +refection in the morning, and then betook himself to his chivalric +exercises. At dinner he, as well as the pages, furnished forth and +attended at the table, and presented to his lord and the guests the water +wherewith they washed their hands before and after the repast. The knight +and the squire never sat before the same table, nor was even the relation +of father and son allowed to destroy this principle of chivalric +subordination. We learn from Paulus Warnefridus, the historian of the +Lombards in Italy, that among that nation the son of a king did not dine +with his father, unless he had been knighted by a foreign sovereign.[57] +Such too was the practice among nations whose chivalry wore a brighter +polish than it shone with among the Italian Lombards. In Arragon, no son +of a knight sat at the table of a knight till he had been admitted into +the order.[58] The young English squire in the time of Edward III. carved +before his fader at the table; and again, in the Merchant's Tale, it is +said,-- + + "All but a squire that hight Damian, + That carft before the knight many a day." + +[Sidenote: Curious story of a squire.] + +And about the same time the sewers and cup-bearers of the Earl of Foix +were his sons.[59] The squire cup-bearer was often as fine and spirited a +character as his knight. Once, when Edward the Black Prince was sojourning +in Bourdeaux, he entertained in his chamber many of his English lords. A +squire brought wine into the room, and the prince, after he had drank, +sent the cup to Sir John Chandos, selecting him as the first in honour, +because he was constable of Acquitain. The knight drank, and by his +command the squire bore the cup to the Earl of Oxenford, a vain, weak man, +who, unworthy of greatness, was ever seeking for those poor trifles which +noble knights overlooked and scorned. Feeling his dignity offended that he +had not been treated according to his rank, he refused the cup, and with +mocking gesture desired the squire to carry it to his master, Sir John +Chandos. "Why so?" replied the youth, "he hath drank already, therefore +drink you, since he hath offered it to you. If you will not drink, by +Saint George, I will cast the wine in your face." The Earl, judging from +the stern and dogged manner of the squire that this was no idle threat, +quietly set the cup to his mouth.[60] + +After dinner the squires prepared the chess tables or arranged the hall +for minstrelsy and dancing. They participated in all these amusements; and +herein the difference between the squire and the mere domestic servant was +shown. In strictness of propriety the squire's dress ought to have been +brown, or any of those dark colours which our ancestors used to call +'_sad_.' But the gay spirit of youth was loth to observe this rule. + + "Embroudered was he, as it were a mede, + Alle ful of freshe floures, white and rede." + +His dress was never of the fine texture, nor so highly ornamented as that +of the knight. The squires often made the beds of their lords, and the +service of the day was concluded by their presenting them with the vin du +coucher. + + "Les lis firent le Escuier, + Si coucha chacun son seignor." + +[Sidenote: Various titles of squires.] + +Personal service was considered so much the duty of a squire that his +title was always applied to some particular part of it. The squires of a +lord had each his respective duties--one was the squire of the chamber, or +the chamberlain; and another the carving squire. Every branch of the +domestic arrangements of the castle was, under the charge of an aspirant +to chivalry. Spenser, who has opened to us so many interesting views of +chivalric manners, has admirably painted the domestic squire discharging +some of his duties:-- + + "There fairly them receives a gentle squire, + Of mild demeanour and rare courtesy, + Right cleanly clad in comely sad attire; + In word and deed that show'd great modesty, + And knew his good to all of each degree, + Hight reverence. He them with speeches meet, + Does faire entreat, no courting nicety, + But simple, true, and eke unfained sweet, + As might become a squire so great persons to greet."[61] + +[Sidenote: His duties in battle.] + +The most honorable squire was he that was attached to the person of his +lord; he was called the squire of the body, and was in truth for the time +the only military youth of the class: every squire, however, became in +turn by seniority the martial squire. He accompanied his lord into the +field of battle, carrying his shield and armour, while the page usually +bore the helmet.[62] He held the stirrup, and assisted the knight to arm. +There was always a line of squires in the rear of a line of knights; the +young cavaliers supplying their lords with weapons, assisting them to rise +when overthrown, and receiving their prisoners.[63] The banner of the +banneret and baron was displayed by the squire. The pennon of the knight +was also waved by him when his leader was only a knight, and conducted so +many men-at-arms, and other vassals, that, to give dignity and importance +to his command, he removed his pennon from his own lance to that of his +attendant. We can readily believe the historians of ancient days, that it +was right pleasant to witness the seemly pride and generous emulation with +which the squires of the baron, the banneret, and the knight displayed the +various ensigns of their master's chivalry. + +[Sidenote: Gallantry.] + +But whatever were the class of duties to which the candidate for chivalry +was attached, he never forgot that he was also the squire of dames. During +his course of a valet he had been taught to play with love, and as years +advanced, nature became his tutor. Since the knights were bound by oath +to defend the feebler sex, so the principle was felt in all its force and +spirit by him who aspired to chivalric honours. Hence proceeded the +qualities of kindness, gentleness, and courtesy. The minstrels in the +castle harped of love as well as of war, and from them (for all young men +had not, like Sir Ipomydon, clerks for their tutors) the squire learnt to +express his passion in verse. This was an important feature of chivalric +education, for among the courtesies of love, the present of books from +knights to ladies was not forgotten, and it more often happened than +monkish austerity approved of, that a volume, bound in sacred guise, +contained, not a series of hymns to the Virgin Mary, but a variety of +amatory effusions to a terrestrial mistress.[64] Love was mixed in the +mind of the young squire with images of war, and he, therefore, thought +that his mistress, like honour, could only be gained through difficulties +and dangers; and from this feeling proceeded the romance of his passion. +But while no obstacle, except the maiden's disinclination, was in his way, +he sang, he danced, he played on musical instruments, and practised all +the arts common to all ages and nations to win the fair. In Chaucer, we +have a delightful picture of the manners of the squire:-- + + "Singing he was or floyting all the day, + He was as fresh as is the month of May.[65] + He could songs make, and well endite, + Just and eke dance, and well pourtraie and write; + So hote he loved, that by nighterdale (night time) + He slept no more than doth the nightingale." + +[Sidenote: Martial exercises.] + +Military exercises were mingled with the anxieties of love. He practised +every mode by which strength and activity could be given to the body. He +learnt to endure hunger and thirst; to disregard the seasons' changes, and +like the Roman youths in the Campus Martius, when covered with dust, he +plunged into the stream that watered the domains of his lord. He +accustomed himself to wield the sword, to thrust the lance, to strike with +the axe, and to wear armour. The most favourite exercise was that which +was called the Quintain: for it was particularly calculated to practise +the eye and hand in giving a right direction to the lance. A half figure +of a man, armed with sword and buckler, was placed on a post, and turned +on a pivot, so that if the assailant with his lance hit him not on the +middle of the breast but on the extremities, he made the figure turn +round, and strike him an ill-aimed blow, much to the merriment of the +spectators. The game of the Quintain was sometimes played by hanging a +shield upon a staff fixed in the ground, and the skilful squire riding +apace struck the shield in such a manner as to detach it from its +ligatures.[66] + +[Sidenote: Horsemanship.] + +But of all the exercises of chivalry, none was thought so important as +horsemanship. + + "Wel could he sit on horse and fair ride," + +is Chaucer's praise of his young squire. Horsemanship was considered the +peculiar science of men of gentle blood. That Braggadochio had not been +trained in chivalry was apparent from his bad riding. Even his valiant +courser chafed and foamed, for he disdained to bear any base burthen.[67] + +Notions of religion were blended with those of arms in the mind of the +squire, for his sword was blessed by the priest, and delivered to him at +the altar. As he advanced to manhood he left to younger squires most of +the domestic duties of his station. Without losing his title of squire he +became also called a bachelor, a word also used to designate a young +unmarried knight. He went on military expeditions. The squire in Chaucer, +though but twenty years old, had + + "Sometime been in chevauchee, + In Flanders, in Artois, and in Picardy." + +Love was the inspirer of his chivalry: for he + + "Bore him well, as of so little space, + In hope to stonden in his lady's grace."[68] + +[Sidenote: Importance of squires in battles.] + +[Sidenote: Particularly at the battle of Bovines.] + +For the squire, instead of being merely the servant of the knight, often +periled himself in his defence. When the knight was impetuous beyond the +well-tempered bravery of chivalry, the admirer of his might followed him +so close, and adventured himself so jeopardously, as to cover him with his +shield.[69] A valiant knight, Ernalton of Saint Colombe, was on the point +of being discomfited by a squire called Guillonet, of Salynges; but when +the squire of Sir Ernalton saw his master almost at utterance, he went to +him, and took his axe out of his hands, and said, "Ernalton, go your way, +and rest you; ye can no longer fight;" and then with the axe he went to +the hostile squire, says Froissart, and gave him such a stroke on the head +that he was astonied, and had nigh fallen to the earth. He recovered +himself, and aimed a blow at his antagonist, which would have been fatal, +but that the squire slipped under it, and, throwing his arms round +Guillonet, wrestled, and finally threw him. The victor exclaimed that he +would slay his prostrate foe, unless he would yield himself to his master. +The name of his master was asked: "Ernalton of Saint Colombe," returned +the squire, "with whom thou hast fought all this season." Guillonet seeing +the dagger raised to strike him, yielded him to render his body prisoner +at Lourde within fifteen days after, rescue or no rescue.[70] The squires +were brought into the _mêlée_ of knights, at the famous battle of Bovines, +on the 27th of July, 1214. The force of Philip Augustus was far inferior +in number to that of the united Germans and Flemish; and, in order to +prevent them from surrounding him, he lengthened his line by placing the +squires at the two extremities of the knights. The mail-clad chivalry of +the emperor Otho were indignant at such soldiers daring to front them; but +the young warriors were not dismayed by haughty looks and contumelious +speeches, and their active daring mainly contributed to the gaining of the +victory, the most considerable one that France had ever obtained.[71] + +[Sidenote: Preparations for knighthood.] + +Seldom before the age of twenty-one was a squire admitted to the full +dignity of chivalry. Chaucer's squire was twenty, and had achieved feats +of arms. St. Louis particularly commanded that the honour of knighthood +should not be conferred upon any man under the age of twenty-one. As the +time approached for the completing and crowning of his character, his +religious duties became more strictly enforced. Knighthood was +assimilated, as much as possible, to the clerical state, and prayer, +confession, and fasting were necessary for the candidate for both. The +squire had his sponsors, the emblems of spiritual regeneration were +applied to him, and the ceremonies of inauguration commenced by +considering him a new man. He went into a bath, and then was placed in a +bed. They were symbolical, the bath of purity of soul, and the bed of the +rest which he was hereafter to enjoy in paradise. In the middle ages +people generally reposed naked[72], and it was not till after he had slept +that the neophyte was clad with a shirt. This white dress was considered +symbolical of the purity of his new character. A red garment was thrown +over him to mark his resolution to shed his blood in the cause of Heaven. +The vigil of arms was a necessary preliminary to knighthood. The night +before his inauguration he passed in a church, armed from head to +foot[73], and engaged in prayer and religious meditation. One of the last +acts of preparation was the shaving of his head to make its appearance +resemble that of the ecclesiastical tonsure. To part with hair was always +regarded in the church as a symbol of servitude to God.[74] + +[Sidenote: The inauguration.] + +The ceremony of inauguration was generally performed in a church, or hall +of a castle, on the occasion of some great religious or civic festival. +The candidate advanced to the altar, and, taking his sword from the scarf +to which it was appended, he presented it to the priest, who laid it upon +the altar, praying that Heaven would bless it, and that it might serve for +a protection of the church, of widows, and orphans, and of all the +servants of God against the tyrannies of pagans and other deceivers, in +whose eyes he mercifully hoped that it would appear as an instrument of +terror. The young soldier took his oaths of chivalry; he solemnly swore to +defend the church, to attack the wicked, to respect the priesthood, to +protect women and the poor, to preserve the country in tranquillity, and +to shed his blood, even to its last drop, in behalf of his brethren. The +priest then re-delivered the sword to him with the assurance that, as it +had received God's blessing, he who wielded it would prevail against all +enemies and the adversaries of the church. He then exhorted him to gird +his sword upon his strong thigh, that with it he might exercise the power +of equity to destroy the hopes of the profane, to fight for God's church, +and defend his faithful people, and to repel and destroy the hosts of the +wicked, whether they were heretics or pagans. Finally, the soldier in +chivalry was exhorted to defend widows and orphans, and to restore and +preserve the desolate, to revenge the wronged, to confirm the virtuous; +and he was assured that by performing these high duties he would attain +heavenly joys.[75] + +The young warrior afterwards advanced to the supreme lord in the assembly, +and knelt before him with clasped hands;--an attitude copied from feudal +manners, and the only circumstance of feudality in the whole ceremony. The +lord then questioned him whether his vows had any objects distinct from +the wish to maintain religion and chivalry. The soldier having answered in +the negative, the ceremony was permitted to advance. He was invested with +all the exterior marks of chivalry. The knights and ladies of the court +attended on him, and delivered to him the various pieces of his +harness.[76] The armour varied with the military customs of different +periods and of different countries, but some matters were of permanent +usage. The spurs were always put on first, and the sword was belted on +last. The concluding sign of being dubbed or adopted into the order of +knighthood was a slight blow[77] given by the lord to the cavalier, and +called the accolade, from the part of the body, the neck, whereon it was +struck. The lord then proclaimed him a knight in the name of God and the +saints, and such cavaliers as were present embraced their newly-made +brother. The priest exhorted him to go forth like a man, and observe the +ordinances of heaven. Impressed with the solemnity of the scene, all the +other knights renewed in a few brief and energetic sentences their vows of +chivalry; and while the hall was gleaming with drawn swords, the man of +God again took up the word, blessing him who had newly undertaken, and +those who had been long engaged in holy warfare, and praying that all the +hosts of the enemies of heaven might be destroyed by Christian chivalry. +The assembly then dispersed. The new knight, on leaving the hall, vaulted +on his steed, and showed his skill in the management of the lance, that +the admiring people might know that a cavalier had been elected for their +protection. He distributed largesses among the servants and minstrels of +the castle, for whoso received so great a gift as the order of chivalry +honoured not his order if he gave not after his ability. The remainder of +the day was passed in congratulation and festivity.[78] + +Many of the most virtuous affections of the heart wound themselves round +that important circumstance in a man's life, his admission into +knighthood. He always regarded with filial piety the cavalier who invested +him with the order. He never would take him prisoner if they were ranged +on opposite sides, and he would have forfeited all title to chivalric +honours if he had couched his lance against him. + +[Sidenote: Squires anxious to be knighted by great characters.] + +A noble aspirant to chivalry would only receive the accolade from a +warrior, whose fame had excited his emulation, or sometimes the feelings +of feudal attachment prevailed over the higher and sterner sense of +chivalry. In expectation of a battle, the Earl of Buckingham called forth +a gentle squire of Savoy, and said, "Sir, if God be pleased, I think we +shall this day have a battle; therefore I wish that you would become a +knight." The squire excused himself by saying, "Sir, God thank you for the +nobleness that ye would put me unto; but, Sir, I will never be knight +without I am made by the hands of my natural lord, the Earl of Savoy."[79] + +A very singular tribute was paid to bravery during the famous battle of +Homildon Hill. When the cloth-yard arrows of the English yeomen were +piercing the opposite line through and through, Sir John Swinton exhorted +the Scotsmen not to stand like deer to be shot at, but to indulge their +ancient courage and meet their enemy hand to hand. His wish, however, was +echoed only by one man, Adam Gordon, and between their families a mortal +feud existed. Generously forgetting the hatred which each house bore to +the other, Gordon knelt before Swinton, and solicited to be knighted by so +brave a man. The accolade was given, and the two friends, like companions +in arms, gallantly charged the English. If a kindred spirit had animated +the whole of the Scottish line the fate of the day might have been +reversed; but the two noble knights were only supported by about an +hundred men-at-arms devoted to all their enterprises; and they all +perished.[80] + +[Sidenote: Knights made in battle-field.] + +[Sidenote: Inconvenience of this.] + +The ceremonies of inauguration which have been described were gone through +when knighthood was conferred on great and public occasions of festivity, +but they often gave place to the power of rank and circumstances. Princes +were exempted from the laborious offices of page and squire. Men were +often adopted into chivalry on the eve of a battle, as it was considered +that a sense of their new honours would inspire their gallantry. Once +during the war of our Black Prince in Spain, more than three hundred +soldiers raised their pennons; many of them had been squires, but in one +case the distinction was entirely complimentary, for Peter the Cruel, who +could boast neither chivalric qualities nor chivalric services, was +dubbed. There was scarcely a battle in the middle ages which was not +preceded or followed by a large promotion of men to the honour of +knighthood. Sometimes, indeed, they were regularly educated squires, but +more frequently the mere contingency of the moment was regarded, and +soldiers distinguished only for their bravery and ungraced by the gentle +virtues of chivalry were knighted. We often read of certain squires being +made cavaliers and raising their pennons, but very often no pennons were +raised, that is to say, the men who were knighted were not able to summon +round their lances a single man-at-arms; hence it ocurred that the world +was overspread with poor knights, some of whom brought chivalry into +disgrace by depredations and violence; others wandered about the world in +quest of adventures, and let out their swords to their richer brethren. In +the romance of Partenopex of Blois, there is a picture of a knight of this +last class. + + "So riding, they o'ertake an errant knight, + Well hors'd, and large of limb, Sir Gaudwin hight, + He nor of castle nor of land was lord, + Houseless he reap'd the harvest of the sword; + And now, not more on fame than profit bent, + Rode with blithe heart unto the tournament; + For cowardice he held it deadly sin, + And sure his mind and bearing were akin, + The face an index to the soul within; + It seem'd that he, such pomp his train bewray'd, + Had shap'd a goodly fortune by his blade; + His knaves were point device, in livery dight, + With sumpter nags, and tents for shelter in the night." + +[Sidenote: Knights of Mines.] + +Cavaliers sometimes took their title from the place where they were +knighted: a very distinguished honor was to be called a Knight of the +Mines, which was to be obtained by achieving feats of arms in the +subterranean process of a siege. The mines were the scenes of knightly +valour; they were lighted up by torches; trumpets and other war +instruments resounded, and the general affair of the siege was suspended, +while the knights tried their prowess; the singularity of the mode of +combat giving a zest to the encounters. No prisoners could be taken, as a +board, breast high, placed in the passage by mutual consent, divided the +warriors. Swords or short battle-axes were the only weapons used. + +In the year 1388, the castle of Vertueill, in Poictou, then held by the +English, was besieged by the Duke of Bourbon. Its walls raised on a lofty +rock were not within the play of the battering ram, and therefore the +tedious operation of the mine was resorted to: both parties frequently met +and fought in the excavated chambers, and a battle of swords was one day +carried on between Regnaud de Montferrand, the squire of the castle, and +the Duke of Bourbon, each being ignorant of the name and quality of the +other. At length the cry "Bourbon, Bourbon! Our Lady!" shouted by the +attendants of the Duke, in their eager joy at the fray, struck the ears of +the squire, and arrested his hand. He withdrew some paces, and enquired +whether the duke were present: when they assured him of the fact, he +requested to receive the honour of knighthood in the mine, from the hands +of the duke, and offering to deliver up the castle to him in return for +the distinction, and from respect for the honour and valour he found in +him. Never was a castle in the pride of its strength and power gained by +easier means. The keys were delivered to the Duke of Bourbon by Regnaud de +Montferrand, and the honor of knighthood, with a goodly courser and a +large golden girdle, were bestowed on the squire in return.[81] + +[Sidenote: General ceremonies of degradation.] + +Such were the various ceremonies of chivalric inauguration. Those of +degradation should be noticed. What the offences were which were +punishable by degradation it is impossible to specify. If a knight +offended against the rules of the order of chivalry he was degraded, +inasmuch as he was despised by his brother knights; and as honour was the +life-blood of chivalry, he dreaded contempt more than the sword. Still, +however, there were occasions when a knight might be formally deprived of +his distinctions. The ceremony of degradation generally took place after +sentence, and previous to the execution of a legal judgment against +him.[82] Sometimes his sword was broken over his head, and his spurs were +chopped off; and, to make the bitterness of insult a part of the +punishment, these actions were performed by a person of low condition; but +at other times the forms of degradation were very elaborate. The knight +who was to be degraded was in the first instance armed by his brother +knights from head to foot, as if he had been going to the battle-field; +they then conducted him to a high stage, raised in a church, where the +king and his court, the clergy, and the people, were assembled; thirty +priests sung such psalms as were used at burials; at the end of every +psalm they took from him a piece of armour. First, they removed his +helmet, the defence of disloyal eyes, then his cuirass on the right side, +as the protector of a corrupt heart; then his cuirass on the left side, as +from a member consenting, and thus with the rest; and when any piece of +armour was cast upon the ground, the king of arms and heralds cried, +"Behold the harness of a disloyal and miscreant knight!" A basin of gold +or silver full of warm water was then brought upon the stage, and a herald +holding it up, demanded the knight's name. The pursuivants answered that +which in truth was his designation. Then the chief king of arms said, +"That is not true, for he is a miscreant and false traitor, and hath +transgressed the ordinances of knighthood." The chaplains answered, "Let +us give him his right name." The trumpets sounded a few notes, supposed to +express the demand, "what shall be done with him?" The king, or his chief +officer, who was present replied, "Let him with dishonour and shame be +banished from my kingdom as a vile and infamous man, that hath offended +against the honour of knighthood." The heralds immediately cast the warm +water upon the face of the disgraced knight, as though he were newly +baptized, saying, "Henceforth thou shalt be called by thy right name, +Traitor." Then the king, with twelve other knights, put upon them mourning +garments, declaring sorrow, and thrust the degraded knight from the stage: +by the buffettings of the people he was driven to the altar, where he was +put into a coffin, and the burial-service of the church was solemnly read +over him.[83] + +[Sidenote: Ceremonies in England.] + +The English customs regarding degradation are minutely stated by Stowe in +the case of an English knight, Sir Andrew Harcley, Earl of Carlisle who +(in the time of Edward II.) was deprived of his knighthood, previously to +his suffering the penalties of the law for a treasonable correspondence +with Robert Bruce. "He was led to the bar as an earl, worthily apparelled, +with his sword girt about him, horsed, booted, and spurred, and unto him +Sir Anthony Lucy (his judge) spoke in this manner: 'Sir Andrew,' quoth he, +'the king for thy valiant service hath done thee great honour, and made +thee Earl of Carlisle, since which time thou as a traitor to thy lord, the +king, led his people, that should have helped him at the battle of +Heighland, away by the county of Copland, and through the earldom of +Lancaster, by which means our lord the king was discomfited there of the +Scots, through thy treason and falseness; whereas, if thou haddest come +betimes, he hadde had the victory, and this treason thou committed for the +great sum of gold and silver that thou received of James Douglas, a Scot, +the king's enemy. Our lord the king wills, therefore, that the order of +knighthood, by the which thou received all the honour and worship upon thy +body, be brought to nought, and thy state undone, that other knights of +lower degree may after thee beware, and take example truly to serve.' Then +commanded he to hew his spurs from his heels, then to break his sword over +his head, which the king had given him to keep and defend his land +therewith, when he made him earl. After this, he let unclothe him of his +furred tabard, and of his hood, of his coat of arms, and also of his +girdle; and when this was done, Sir Anthony said unto him, 'Andrew,' quoth +he, 'now art thou no knight, but a knave; and for thy treason the king +wills that thou shalt be hanged and drawn, and thy head smitten off from +thy body, and burned before thee, and thy body quartered, and thy head +being smitten off, afterwards to be set upon London bridge, and thy four +quarters shall be sent into four good towns of England, that all others +may beware by thee;' and as Sir Anthony Lucy had said, so was it done in +all things, on the last day of October."[84] + + + + +CHAP. III. + +THE EQUIPMENT. + + _Beauty of the chivalric Equipment ... The Lance ... The Pennon ... + The Axe, Maule, and Martel ... The Sword ... Fondness of the Knight + for it ... Swords in Romances ... The Shield ... Various sorts of Mail + ... Mail ... Mail and Plate ... Plate Harness ... The Scarf ... + Surcoats ... Armorial Bearings ... Surcoats of the Military Orders ... + The Dagger of Mercy ... Story of its Use ... Value of Enquiries into + ancient Armour ... A precise Knowledge unattainable ... Its general + Features interesting ... The broad Lines of the Subject ... Excellence + of Italian Armour ... Armour of the Squire, &c. ... Allegories made on + Armour ... The Horse of the Knight._ + + +The fierce equipage of war deserves a fuller consideration than was given +to it in the last chapter. The horse whereon the knight dashed to the +perilous encounter should be described, the weapons by which he +established the honour of his fame and the nobleness of his mistress's +beauty deserve something more than a general notice. Never was military +costume more splendid and graceful than in the days which are emphatically +called "the days of the shield and the lance." What can modern warfare +present in comparison with the bright and glittering scene of a goodly +company of gentle knights pricking on the plain with nodding plumes, +emblazoned shields, silken pennons streaming in the wind, and the scarf, +that beautiful token of lady-love, crossing the strong and polished steel +cuirass. + +[Sidenote: The lance.] + +The lance was the chief offensive weapon of the knight: its staff was +commonly formed from the ash-tree. + +[Sidenote: The pennon.] + +Its length was fitted to the vigour and address of him who bore it, and +its iron and sharpened head was fashioned agreeably to his taste.[85] To +the top of the wooden part of the lance was generally fixed an ensign, or +piece of silk, linen, or stuff. On this ensign was marked the cross, if +the expedition of the soldier had for its object the Holy Land, or it bore +some part of his heraldry; and in the latter case, when the lance was +fixed in the ground near the entrance of the owner's tent, it served to +designate the bearer. Originally this ensign was called a gonfanon, the +combination of two Teutonic words, signifying war and a standard. +Subsequently, when the ensign was formed of rich stuffs and silks, it was +called a pennon, from the Latin word pannus.[86] The pennon cannot be +described from its exact breadth, for that quality of it varied with the +different fancies of knights, and it had sometimes one, but more often two +indentations at the end. + +When the pennon was cut square on occasion of a simple knight becoming a +knight banneret it received the title of a banner, the ancient German word +for the standard of a leader, or prince.[87] + +[Sidenote: The axe.] + +[Sidenote: The maule and martel.] + +To transfix his foe with a lance was the ordinary endeavour of a knight; +but some cavaliers of peculiar hardihood preferred to come to the closest +quarters, where the lance could not be used. The battle-axe, which they +therefore often wielded, needs no particular description. But the most +favourite weapons were certain ponderous steel or iron hammers, carrying +death either by the weight of their fall or the sharpness of the edge. +They were called the martel and the maule, words applied indifferently in +old times; for writers of days of chivalry cared little about extreme +accuracy of diction, not foreseeing the fierce disputes which their want +of minuteness in description would give rise to. This was the weapon which +ecclesiastics used when they buckled harness over rochet and hood, and +holy ardour impelled them into the field; for the canons of the church +forbad them from wielding swords, and they always obeyed the letter of the +law. Some cavaliers, in addition to their other weapons, carried the +mallet, or maule, hanging it at their saddle bow, till the happy moment +for 'breaking open skulls' arrived. When it was used alone, this +description of offensive armour was rather Gothic than chivalric; yet the +rudeness of earlier ages had its admirers in all times of chivalry, the +affected love of simplicity not being peculiar to the present day. A lance +could not execute half the sanguinary purposes of Richard Coeur de Lion, +and it was with a battle-axe[88], as often as with a sword, that he +dashed into the ranks of the Saracens. Bertrand du Guesclin had a +partiality for a martel, and so late as the year 1481 the battle-axe was +used. + +Among the hosts of the Duke of Burgundy was a knight named Sir John +Vilain. He was a nobleman from Flanders, very tall, and of great bodily +strength: he was mounted on a good horse, and held a battle-axe in both +hands. He pressed his way into the thickest part of the battle, and, +throwing his bridle on the neck of his steed, he gave such mighty blows on +all sides with his battle-axe that whoever was struck was instantly +unhorsed, and wounded past recovery.[89] Generally speaking, however, the +polite and courteous knights of chivalry thought it an ungentle practice +to use a weapon which was associated with ideas of trade; and the +romance-writers, who reflect the style of thinking of their times, +commonly give the lance to the knight, and the axe or mallet to some rude +and ferocious giant.[90] + +[Sidenote: The sword.] + +[Sidenote: Fondness of the knight for it.] + +The usual weapon for the press and mêlée was the sword, and there were a +great many interesting associations attached to it. The knight threw round +it all his affections. In that weapon he particularly trusted. It was his +_good_ sword, and with still more confidence and kindness he called it his +_own good_ sword. He gave it a name, and engraved on it some moral +sentence, or a word referring to a great event of his life. Not indeed +that these sentences were confined to the sword; they were sometimes +engraven on the frontlet of the helmet, or even on the spurs[91], but the +hilt or blade of the sword were their usual and proper places. The sword +rather than the lance was the weapon which represented the chivalry of a +family, and descended as the heir loom of its knighthood. When no one +inherited his name, there was as much generous contention among his +friends to possess his good sword, as in the days of Greece poetry has +ascribed to the warriors who wished for the armour of Achilles.[92] The +sword was the weapon which connected the religious and military parts of +the chivalrique character. The knight swore by his sword, for its cross +hilt was emblematical of his Saviour's cross. + + David in his daies dubbed knights, + And did hem _swere on her sword_ to serve truth ever. + P. PLOUGHMAN. + +The word Jesus was sometimes engraven on the hilt to remind the wearer of +his religious duties. The sword was his only crucifix, when mass was said +in the awful pause between the forming of the military array and the +laying of lances in their rests. It was moreover his consolation in the +moment of death. When that doughty knight of Spain, Don Rodrigo Frojaz was +lying upon his shield, with his helmet for a pillow, he kissed the cross +of his sword in remembrance of that on which the incarnate son of God had +died for him, and in that act of devotion rendered up his soul into the +hands of his Creator.[93] + +The handle of the sword was also remarkable for another matter. The +knight, in order not to lose the advantage of having his seal by him, +caused it to be cut in the head of his sword, and thus by impressing his +seal upon any wax attached to a legal document, he exhibited his +determination to maintain his obligation by the three-fold figure of his +seal, the upholden naked sword, and the cross.[94] + +The sword of the knight was held in such high estimation, that the name of +its maker was thought worthy of record. Thus when Geoffery of Plantagenet +received the honor of knighthood, a sword was brought out of the royal +treasury, the work of Galan, the best of all sword smiths.[95] Spain was +always famous for the temper and brilliancy of its swords. Martial speaks +in several places of the Spanish swords which, when hot from the forge, +were plunged in the river Salo near Bilbilis in Celtiberia. The armourers +at Saragossa were as renowned in days of chivalry as those of Toledo in +rather later times, for it was not only the sword of Toledo that became a +proverbial phrase for the perfection of the art. Sometimes the armourers +had establishments in both towns. The excellence, however, of the swords +of Julian del Rey, who lived both at Saragossa and Toledo, is referred to +by the keeper of the lions in Don Quixote. The weapons of this artist had +their peculiar marks. El perillo, a little dog; el morillo, a Moor's head, +and la loba, a wolf.[96] + +But perhaps it may be thought I am passing the bounds of my subject. To +return then to earlier days. The girdle round the waist, or the bauldrick +descending from the shoulder across the body was simple tanned leather +only, or sometimes its splendour rivalled that of prince Arthur in the +Fairy Queen. + + Athwart his breast a bauldrick brave he ware + That shind like twinkling stars, with stones most precious rare; + + * * * * * + + And in the midst thereof, one precious stone + Of wond'rous worth, and eke of wondrous mights, + Shapt like a lady's head, exceeding shone, + Like Hesperus among the lesser lights, + And strove for to amaze the weaker sights: + Thereby his mortal blade full comely hung + In ivory sheath, ycarv'd with curious slights, + Whose hilt was burnish'd gold, and handle strong + Of mother perle, and buckled with a golden tong. + Book 1. c. 7. st. 29, 30. + + +[Sidenote: Swords in romances.] + +Many of the historical circumstances just now related regarding the sword +of the knight are pleasingly exaggerated in the beautiful extravagancies +of romantic fabling. The most famous sword in the imagination of our +ancestors was that of king Arthur; it was called Escalibert (corrupted +into Caliburn). The romance of Merlin thus explains the name. Escalibert +est un nom Ebricu qui vault autant à dire en Français, comme tres cher fer +et acier, et aussi dissoyent il vrai. The history of this sword enters +largely into the romances of Arthur, and the knights of the round table, +and the subject was fondly cherished by those who detailed the exploits of +other heroes. The fame of Caliburn was remembered when Richard the first +went to the East. The romances affirm that he wore the terrible and trusty +sword of Arthur. But, instead of mowing down ranks of Saracens with it, he +presented it to Tancred, king of Sicily. + + And Richard at that time gaf him a faire juelle. + The good sword Caliburne, which Arthur luffed so well.[97] + +The romancers followed the practices of the northern scalds[98], of naming +the swords of knights: that of Sir Bevis of Hampton was called Morglay; +and that of the Emperor Charlemagne himself Fusberta joyosa.[99] The poets +were also as faithful delineators of manners as their predecessors the +romance writers had been, and therefore we find in Ariosto that the sword +of the courteous Rogero was called Balisarda, and that of Orlando, +Durindana. + +In the romance of Sir Otuel, the address of the same Orlando to his sword +is perfectly in the spirit of chivalry. + + Then he began to make his moan + And fast looked thereupon, + As he held it in his hond. + "O sword of great might, + Better bare never no knight, + To win with no lond! + Thou hasty--be in many batayle, + That never Sarrazin, sans fayle + Ne might thy stroke withstond. + Go! let never no paynim + Into battle bear him, + After the death of Roland! + O sword of great powere, + In this world n'is nought thy peer, + Of no metal y--wrought; + _All Spain and Galice_, + Through grace of God and thee y--wis, + To Christendom ben brought. + Thou art good withouten blame; + In thee is graven the holy name + That all things made of nought."[100] + +Regarding inscriptions on swords mentioned in the concluding lines, there +is a very interesting passage in the romance of Giron the courteous. On +one occasion where the chaste virtue of that gentle knight and noble +companion of Arthur was in danger, his spear, which he had rested against +a tree, fell upon his sword, and impelled it into a fountain. Giron +immediately left the lady with whom he was conversing, and ran to the +water. He snatched the weapon from the fountain, and, throwing away the +scabbard, began to wipe the blade. Then his eyes lighted on the words +that were written on the sword, and these were the words that were thus +written:--Loyaulte passe tout, et faulsete si honneit tout, et deceit tous +hommes dedans quals elle se herberge. This sentence acted with talismanic +power upon the heart of that noble knight Giron the courteous, and so his +virtue was saved. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: The shield.] + +[Sidenote: Impresses.] + +Leaving those pictures of manners which the old romances have painted, I +come to the defensive harness of the knight, a subject which has many +claims to attention. The shield was held in equal esteem in chivalric as +in classic times; for + + "To lose the badge that should his deeds display," + +was considered the greatest shame and foulest scorn that could happen to a +knight. The shape of the shield was oblong or triangular, wide at the top +for the protection of the body, and tapering to the bottom.[101] Other +shapes were given to it agreeably to the fancy of the knight, and it was +plain or adorned with emblazonry of arms and other ornaments of gold and +silver, according to his estate, and the simplicity or comparative +refinement of his age. Some knights, as gentle as brave, adorned their +shields with a portrait of their lady-love[102], or stamped on them +impresses quaint, with a device emblematical of their passion. Knights +formed of sterner stuff retained their heraldic insignia, and their +mottoes breathed war and homicide; but gallant cavaliers shewed the +gentleness of their minds, and their impressed sentences were sometimes +plain of meaning, but oftener dark to all, except the knight himself, and +the damsel whose playful wit had invented them. We can readily imagine +that those amorous devices and impresses were not so frequently used in +the battle field as in the tournament, and that they were sometimes worn +together with gentilitial distinctions. + +[Sidenote: Various sorts of mail.] + +The casing of the body is a very curious subject of enquiry. The +simplicity of ancient times, in using the skins of beasts, is marked in +the word _loricum_, from the word _lorum_, a thong, and the word +_cuirasse_ is traceable to _cuir_, leather. Body harness has three general +divisions; mail; plate and mail mixed; plate mail entirely. Rows of iron +rings, sown on the dress, were the first defences, and then, for +additional defence, a row of larger rings was laid over the first. These +rings gave way to small iron plates which lapped over each other, and this +variety of mail is interesting, for armour now resembled the _lorica +squammata_ of the Romans, and hence ancient mail of this description has +generally been called scale-mail, while the ordinary appearance of armour +being like the meshes of a net, gained it the title of mail from the +_macula_ of the Latins, and the _maglia_ of the Italians. Sometimes the +plates were square, and sometimes of a lozenge form: but it would be +considering the matter much too curiously to divide armour into as many +species as the shapes and forms which a small piece of iron or steel was +capable of being divided into.[103] + +All this variety of mail harness was sown on an under garment of leather +or cloth, or a more considerable wadding of various sorts of materials, +and called a gambeson. If the garment were a simple tunic or frock the +whole was called a hauberk. The lower members were defended by +_chausses_, which may be intelligible to modern understandings by the +words breeches or pantaloons. When the mailed frock and _chausses_ were +joined, the union was called the haubergeon. In each case, the back and +crown of the head were saved harmless by a hood of mail, which sometimes +formed part of the hauberk or haubergeon, and sometimes was detached. In +Spain, the hood and the other parts of the dress were united, if the case +of the Cid be held as evidence of the general state of manners; for after +his battles, he is always represented as slowly quitting the field with +his gory hood thrown back. The mail covered also the chin, and sometimes +the mouth; in the latter case the office of breathing being entirely +committed to the care of the nose. Finally, the sleeves of the jacket were +carried over the fingers, and a continuation of the _chausses_ protected +the toes. + + "A goodly knight all armed in harness meet + That from his head no place appeared to his feete." + +It is curious that foppery in armour began at the toe. It was the fashion +for the knight to have the toe of the mail several inches in length and +inclining downwards. To fight on foot with such incumbrances was +impossible, and, therefore the enemies of the crusaders (for foppery +prevailed even in religious wars) shot rather at the horses than at the +men. The fashion I am speaking of crossed the Pyrenees, for in the +pictorial representation of a tournament at Grenada, between Moorish and +Christian knights, the former are drawn with the broad shovel shoes of +their country, while the latter have long pointed shoes, like the +cavaliers of the North. + +Such were the various descriptions of mail armour from the earliest æra of +chivalry to the thirteenth century. They were worn at different times in +different countries, and often in the same country at the same time by +different individuals: but at length so excellent an improvement was made +in chain mail, that military fashion could have no longer any pretence for +variety. The different descriptions of mail armour show the skill of the +iron-smiths among our ancestors, and that they were capable of inventing +the next and last great change. But as it was made at a time when the +Asiatic mode of warfare was known in Europe, and as the improvement I am +about to mention was the general mode of the Saracenian soldiers, it is as +probable that it was borrowed, as that it was invented. The rings of mail +were now no longer sewn on the dress, but they were interlaced, each ring +having four others inserted into it, and consequently the rings formed a +garment of themselves. The best coats of mail were made of double +rings.[104] The admirable convenience of this twisted or reticulated mail +secured its general reception. A knight was no longer encumbered by his +armour in travelling. His squire might be the bearer of his mail, for it +was both flexible and compact, or it could be rolled upon the hinder part +of a saddle. + +[Sidenote: Mail and plate.] + +[Sidenote: Plate harness.] + +Before, however, this last great improvement in mail-armour took place, +changes were made in that general description of harness which foretold +its final fall, although it might be partially and for a time supported by +any particular invention of merit. Plates of solid steel or iron were +fixed on the breast or other parts of the body, where painful experience +had assured the wearer of the insufficiency of his metal rings. The new +fashion of reticulated mail added nothing to the strength of defence, and, +therefore, ingenuity and prudence were ever at work to make defensive +armour equal to offensive. New plates continually were added, and many of +them received their titles from the parts of the body which they were +intended to defend: the pectoral protected the breast, the cuisses were +for the thighs, the brassarts for the arms, the ailettes for the +shoulders, while the gorget defended the throat, and a scaly gauntlet +gloved the hand. The cuirass was the title for the defence of the breast +and the back. This mixed harness gained ground till the knight had nearly +a double covering of mail and plate. The plate was then found a perfect +defence, and the mail was gradually thrown aside; and thus, finally, the +warrior was entirely clad in steel plates. This harness was exceedingly +oppressive to the limbs, and therefore we find the circumstance so +frequently mentioned in old writers, that when a knight alighted at his +hostel or inn, he not only doffed his armour, but went into a bath. No +wonder that it was necessary to keep changes of dress to present to the +cavaliers who arrived. Plate-armour must have been as destructive of +clothes as the old chain mail, and describing his knight, Chaucer says, + + "Of fustian he wered a gipon + Alle besmotred with his habergeon. + For he was of late y come fro his viage, + And wente for to don his pilgrimage." + +The plate harness was in one respect far more inconvenient than the armour +it superseded. The coat of chain mail could be put on or slipped off with +instantaneous celerity; but the dressing of a plate-armed knight was no +simple matter. + + "From the tents + The armourers, accomplishing the knights, + With busy hammers closing rivets up, + Give dreadful note of preparation." + +Besides this deprivation of rest before a battle, the knight, in order to +prevent surprise, was obliged to wear his heavy harness almost constantly. + +It is curious to observe, that chain mail formed some part of the harness +of a knight until the very last days of chivalry, chivalric feelings +seeming to be associated with that ancient form of armour. It was _let +into_ the plates round the neck, and thus there was a collar or tippet of +mail; and it also generally hung over other parts of the body, where, +agreeably to its shape and dimensions, it became, if I may again express +myself in the language of ladies, if not of antiquarians, an apron or a +short petticoat. + +[Sidenote: The scarf.] + +[Sidenote: Surcoats.] + +The armour of the knight was often crossed by a scarf of silk embroidered +by his lady-love. He wore also a dress which in different times was +variously designated as a surcoat, a cyclas, or a tabard. It was long[105] +or short, it opened at the sides, in the back, or in the front, as fashion +or caprice ruled the wearer's mind; but it was always sleeveless. +Originally simple cloth was its material; but as times and luxury advanced +it became richer. For the reason that this sort of dress was almost the +only one in which the lords, knights, and barons could display their +magnificence, and because it covered all their clothing and armour, they +had it usually made of cloths of gold or silver, of rich skins, furs of +ermine, sables, minever, and others.[106] There was necessarily more +variety in the appearance of the surcoat than in that of any other part +of his harness, and hence it became the distinction of a knight. In public +meetings and in times of war the lords and knights were marked by their +coats of arms; and when they were spoken of, or when any one wished to +point them out by an exterior sign, it was sufficient to say, that he +wears a coat of or, argent, gules, sinople, sable, gris, ermine, or vair, +or still shorter, he bears or, gules, &c. the words coat of arms being +understood. But as these marks were not sufficient to distinguish in +solemn assemblies, or in times of war every lord, when all were clothed in +coats of arms of gold, silver, or rich furs, they, in process of time, +thought proper to cut the cloths of gold, and silver, and furs, which they +wore over their armour, into various shapes of different colours, +observing, however, as a rule never to put fur on fur, nor cloths of gold +on those of silver, nor those of silver on gold; but they intermixed the +cloths with the furs, in order to produce variety and relief.[107] With +these cloths and furs were mingled devices or cognizances symbolical of +some circumstance in the life of the knight, and with the crest the whole +formed in modern diction the coat of arms. + +[Sidenote: Armorial bearings.] + +Every feudal lord assumed the right of chusing his own armorial +distinctions: they were worn by all his family, and were hereditary. It +was also in his power to grant arms to knights and squires as marks of +honour for military merit; and from all these causes armorial distinctions +represented the feudalism, the gentry, and the chivalry of Europe. One +knight could not give more deadly offence to another than by wearing his +armorial bearings without his permission, and many a lance was broken to +punish such insolence. Kings, as their power arose above that of the +aristocracy, assumed the right of conferring these distinctions;--an +assumption of arms without royal permission was an offence, and the +business of heralds was enlarged from that of being mere messengers +between hostile princes into a court for the arranging of armorial +honours. Thus the usurpation of kings was beneficial to society, for +disputes regarding arms and cognisances were settled by heralds and not by +battle. + +It is totally impossible to mark the history of these circumstances. +Instances of emblazoned sopra vests are to be met with in times anterior +to the crusades. They were worn during the continuance of mail and of +mixed armour: but they gradually went out of usage as plate armour became +general, it being then very much the custom to enamel or emboss the +heraldic distinctions on the armour itself, or to be contented with its +display on the shield or the banner. On festival occasions and +tournaments, however, all the gorgeousness of heraldic splendour was +exhibited upon the cyclas or tabard. + +[Sidenote: Surcoats of the military orders.] + +A word may be said on the surcoats of the military orders. The knights of +St. John and the Temple wore plain sopra vests, and their whole harness +was covered by a monastic mantle, marked with the crosses of their +respective societies. The colour of the mantle worn by the knights of St. +John was black, and from that colour being the usual monastic one, they +were called the military friars. Their cross was white. The brethren of +the Temple wore a white mantle with a red cross, and hence their frequent +title, the Red Cross Knights. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Helmets.] + +The history of the covering of the head is not altogether unamusing. The +knight was not contented to trust the protection of that part of himself +to his mailed hood alone; he wore a helmet, whose shape was at first +conical, then cylindrical, and afterwards resumed its pristine form. The +defence of the face became a matter of serious consideration, and a broad +piece of iron was made to connect the frontlet of the helm with the mail +over the mouth.[108] This nasal piece was not in general use, it being a +very imperfect protection from a sword-cut, and the knight found it of +more inconvenience than service when his vanquisher held him to earth by +it. Cheek-pieces of bars, placed horizontally or perpendicularly, attached +to the helmet, were substituted or introduced. Then came the aventaile, or +iron mask, joined to the helmet, with apertures for the eyes and mouth. It +was at first fixed and immoveable, but ingenuity afterwards assisted those +face defences. By means of pivots the knight could raise or let fall the +plates or grating before the face, and the defence was called a vizor. +Subsequently, plates were brought up from the chin, and this moveable +portion of the helmet was called, as most people know, the bever, from the +Italian _bevere_, to drink. In early times the helmet was without +ornament; it afterwards (though the exact time it is impossible to fix) +was surmounted by that part of the armorial bearings called the crest. A +lady's glove or scarf was often introduced, and was not the least +beautiful ornament. The Templars and the knights of St. John were not +permitted to adorn their helmets with the tokens either of nobility or of +love; the simplicity of religion banishing all vain heraldic distinctions, +and the soldier-priests being obliged, like the monks themselves, to +pretend to that ascetic virtue which was so highly prized in the middle +ages. + +All the splendour of chivalry is comprised in the helmet of prince Arthur. + + "His haughty helmet, horrid all with gold, + Both glorious brightness and great terror bred; + For all the crest a dragon did enfold + With greedy paws, and over all did spred + His golden wings: his dreadful hideous head + Close couched on the bever, seem'd to throw + From flaming mouth bright sparkles fiery red, + That sudden horror to faint hearts did show, + And scaly tail was stretch'd adowne his back full low. + + "Upon the top of all his lofty crest + A bunch of hairs discoloured diversely, + With sprinkled pearl and gold full richly drest, + Did shake and seem'd to dance for jollity, + Like to an almond-tree ymounted hye + On top of green Selinis all alone, + With blossoms brave bedecked daintily; + Whose tender locks do tremble every one + At every little breath that under heaven is blown."[109] + +The helmet, with its vizor and bever, was carried by the squire, or page, +on the pommel of his saddle, a very necessary measure for the relief of +the knight, particularly when the sarcasm of the Duke of Orleans was +applicable, that "if the English had any intellectual armour in their +heads, they could never wear such heavy head-pieces."[110] + +The reader should know, with the barber in Don Quixote, that, except in +the hour of battle, a knight wore only an open casque, or bacinet, a light +and easy covering. The bacinet derived its title from its resemblance to a +basin; but the word was sometimes used, however improperly, for the +helmet, the close helmet of knighthood. A vizor might be attached to the +bacinet, and then the covering for the head became a helmet. Bacinez à +visieres are often spoken of. + +The helmet of war appeared to complete the perfection of defensive +harness; for the lance broke hurtless on the plate of steel, the arrow and +quarrel glanced away, and it is only in romance that we read of swords +cutting through a solid front of iron, or piercing both plate and mail, as +some bolder spirits say. + + "From top to toe no place appeared bare, + That deadly dint of steel endanger may."[111] + +[Sidenote: The dagger of mercy.] + +The only way by which death could be inflicted was by thrusting a lance +through the small holes in the vizor. Such a mode of death was not very +common, for the cavalier always bent his face almost to the saddle-bow +when he charged. The knight, however, might be unhorsed in the shock of +the two adverse lines, and he was in that case at the mercy of the foe who +was left standing. But how to kill the human being inclosed in the rolling +mass of steel was the question; and the armourer, therefore, invented a +thin dagger, which could be inserted between the plates. This dagger was +called the dagger of mercy, apparently a curious title, considering it was +the instrument of death; but, in truth, the laws of chivalry obliged the +conqueror to shew mercy, if, when the dagger was drawn, the prostrate foe +yielded himself, rescue or no rescue. + + * * * * * + +It may be noticed that a dagger or short sword was worn by the knight even +in days of chain mail, for the hauberk was a complete case. + + "Straight from his courser leaps the victor knight, + And bares his deadly blade to end the fight; + The uplifted hauberk's skirt he draws aside, + In his foe's flank the avenging steel is dyed."[112] + +[Sidenote: Story of its use.] + +Froissart's pages furnish us with an interesting tale, descriptive of the +general chivalric custom, regarding the dagger of mercy. About the year +1390, the lord of Langurante in Gascony rode forth with forty spears and +approached the English fortress called Cadilhac. He placed his company in +ambush, and said to them, "Sirs, tarry you still here, and I will go and +ride to yonder fortress alone, and see if any will issue out against us." +He then rode to the barriers of the castle, and desired the keeper to shew +to Bernard Courant, their captain, how that the lord Langurante was there, +and desired to joust with him a course. "If he be so good a man, and so +valiant in arms as it is said," continued the challenger, "he will not +refuse it for his ladies sake: if he do, it shall turn him to much blame, +for I shall report it wheresoever I go, that for cowardice he hath refused +to run with me one course with a spear." + +A squire of Bernard reported this message to his master, whose heart +beginning to swell with ire, he cried, "Get me my harness, and saddle my +horse; he shall not go refused." Incontinently he was armed, and mounted +on his war steed, and taking his shield and spear, he rode through the +gate and the barriers into the open field. The lord Langurante seeing him +coming was rejoiced, and couched his spear like a true knight, and so did +Bernard. Their good horses dashed at each other, and their lances struck +with such equal fierceness that their shields fell in pieces, and as they +crossed Bernard shouldered sir Langurante's horse in such a manner that +the lord fell out of the saddle. Bernard turned his steed shortly round, +and as the lord Langurante was rising, his foe, who was a strong as well +as a valiant squire, took his bacinet with both his hands, and wrenching +it from his head, cast it under his horse's feet. On seeing all this the +lord of Langurante's men quitted their ambush, and were coming to the +rescue of their master, when Bernard drew his dagger, and said to the +lord, "Sir, yield you my prisoner, rescue or no rescue; or else you are +but dead." The lord, who trusted to the rescue of his men, spoke not a +word; and Bernard then gave him a death-blow on his bare head, and dashing +spurs into his horse, he fled within the barriers.[113] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Value of enquiries into ancient armour.] + +Such was the general state of armour in days of chivalry. A more detailed +account of the subject cannot be interesting; for what boots it to know +the exact form and dimensions of any of the numerous plates of steel that +encased the knight. Nor indeed was any shape constant long; for fashion +was as variable and imperious in all her changes in those times as in +ours; and as we turn with contempt from the military foppery of the +present day, little gratification can be expected from too minute an +inspection of the vanities of our forefather. Chaucer says, + + "With him ther wenten knights many on, + Some wol ben armed in an habergeon, + And in a breast-plate, and in a gipon; + And som wol have a pair of plates large; + And som wol have a pruse sheld or a targe. + Som wol ben armed on his legges well, + And have an axe, and some a mace stele. + Ther n'is no newe guise, that it n'as old. + _Armed they weren_, as I have you told, + _Everich after his opinion_." + +[Sidenote: A precise knowledge unattainable.] + +A chronological history of armour, minutely accurate, is unattainable, if +any deduction may be made from the books of laborious dulness which have +hitherto appeared on the armour of different countries. Who can affirm +that the oldest specimen which we possess of any particular form of +harness is the earliest specimen of its kind? No one can determine the +precise duration of a fashion; for after ruling the world for some time it +suddenly disappears, but some years afterwards it rears it's head again to +the confusion and dismay of our antiquarians. + +Our best authorities sometimes fail us. The monumental effigies were not +always carved at the moment of the knight's death: that the bust is +tardily raised to buried merit is not the peculiar reproach of our times. +It is complimenting the sculptors of the middle ages too highly if we +suppose that they did not sometimes violate accuracy, in order to +introduce some favorite fashion of their own days. As for the +illuminations of manuscripts which are so much boasted of, they are often +the attempts of a scribe to imitate antiquity, beautiful in respect of +execution, but of problematical accuracy, and more frequently mark the age +when the manuscript was copied, than that when the work was originally +written. We know that violation of costume was common in the romances. +Thus, in the Morte d'Arthur, an unknown knight, completely armed, and +having his vizor lowered so as to conceal his features, entered the hall +of the king. Again, + + "Cometh sir Launcelot du Lake, + Ridand right into the hall; + His steed and armour all was blake + His visere over his eyen falle,"[114] + +Now if the romance whence the above lines are extracted is to be +considered as a picture of the earliest days of chivalry it is certainly +incorrect, for it was not before the middle age of knighthood that the +face was concealed by a vizor, the earlier defence of the nasal piece +certainly not serving as a mask. The romances are unexceptionable +witnesses for the general customs of chivalry, but we cannot fix their +statements to any particular time, for they were varied and improved by +successive repetitions and transcriptions, and when they were rendered +into prose still further changes were made in order to please the taste of +the age. Thus, in an old Danish romance, a knight fighting for his lady +remains on his horse; but when in the fifteenth century the tale was +translated into the idioms of most chivalric countries, he is represented +as alighting from his milk-white steed and giving it to his fair companion +to hold; and the reason of this departure from the old ballad was, that +the translators, wishing to make their work popular, adapted it to the +manners of the age; and it was the general fashion then for the knights to +dismount when they fought. + +[Sidenote: Its general features interesting] + +In spite of all our attempts at chronological accuracy, something or other +is perpetually baffling us. We commonly think that mixed armour was the +defensive harness in the days of our Edward the Third; but in Chaucer's +portrait of the knightly character of that time, only the haubergeon is +assigned to the cavalier. Plate-armour seems to have been the general +costume of the fifteenth century; and in any pictorial exhibition of the +murder of John Duke of Burgundy in the year 1419, the artist who should +represent the Duke as harnessed in chain-mail, would be condemned by a +synod of archæologists as guilty of an unpardonable anachronism; yet we +know, on the unquestionable authority of Monstrelet, that when the Duke +lay on the ground, Olivier Layet, assisted by Pierre Frotier, thrust a +sword under the haubergeon into his belly; and that after he had been thus +cruelly murdered, the Dauphin's people stripped from him his coat of +mail.[115] But though it is difficult to determine the fashion of any part +of armour in any particular century, and life may afford nobler +occupations than considering the precise year and month when the Normans +gave up the clumsy expedient of inserting the sword through a hole in the +hauberk, and adopted the more graceful and convenient form of a +belt[116], yet viewing the subject of armour in some of its broad +features, matter of no slight interest may be found. We may not regard the +precise form and fashion of a warrior's scarf, or care to enquire whether +the embroidery were worked with gold or silver, but the general fact +itself involves the state of manners and feelings among our ancestors: it +carries us to the lady's bower where she was working this token of love; +our fancy paints the time and mode of bestowing it; and we follow it +through all the subsequent career of the knight as his silent monitor to +courage and loyalty. + +[Sidenote: The broad lines of the subject.] + +It is curious also to mark the perpetual efforts of defensive armour to +meet the improvements in the art of destruction. Chain-mail was found an +inadequate protection; plates of steel were added, and still this mixed +harness did not render the body invulnerable. The covering of steel alone +at length became complete, and defensive harness reached its perfection. +It is utterly impossible for us to state with accuracy the year when +plate-armour began to be mixed with chain-mail in any particular country, +or to determine what particular part of the body the first plate that was +used defended; but the general features of the subject are known well +enough to enable us to sketch to our imagination the military costume of +some of the most remarkable events in the warfare of the middle ages. In +the first crusade, the armour was in the rude state of mail worn on the +tunic. There was the emblazoned surcoat, for that part of dress was of +very early use; the hood was the common covering of the head, and when the +helmet was worn it was of the simplest form, and occasionally had a nasal +piece. The crusades began at the close of the eleventh century, and before +the end of the thirteenth, not only was the hauberk composed of twisted +mail, but mixed armour of plate and mail was common. The English wars in +France during the reign of our Edward III. are the next subject to which +our chivalric recollections recur. By that time plate had attained a +general predominance over chain-mail. Perhaps, at no period of chivalry +was armour more beautiful than in those days when France was one vast +tilting ground for the culled and choice-drawn cavaliers of the two mighty +monarchies of Europe. It was equally removed from the gloomy sternness of +chain-mail, and the elaborate foppery of embossed steel: its solid plates +satisfied the judicious eye by showing that the great principle of armour +was chiefly attended to, and the surcoat and scarf gave the warrior's +harness a character of neat and simple elegance. The horses, too, were +barded in the most vulnerable parts; the symmetry of the form not being +obscured, as it was in after-times by a casing of steel which left only +part of the legs free of action. The helmet had its crest and silken +ornament; the former being the sign of nobility, the latter of love: and +no warriors were so justly entitled to those graceful tokens of ladies' +favour, as the warriors of Edward III., for love was the inspiring soul of +their chivalry.[117] + +In the second series of our French wars complete plate-armour was in +general fashion. Gradually, as armour became more and more ponderous, the +knights preferred to fight on foot with their lances. That mode of +encounter was found best fitted for the display of skill, for in the rude +encounter of the horses many cavaliers were thrown, and the field +presented a ludicrous spectacle of rolling knights.[118] Some traces of +the custom of cavalry dismounting may be found in the twelfth century. The +practice grew as plate-armour became mixed with mail; and when complete +suits of steel were worn, knights sought every occasion of dismounting; +and they were wont to break their lances short for the convenience of the +close conflict. + +As the spirit of chivalry died away, the military costume of chivalry +increased in brilliancy and splendour. Ingenuity and taste were +perpetually varying decorations: the steel was sometimes studded with +ornaments of gold and silver, and sometimes the luxury of the age was +displayed in a complete suit of golden armour. + + "In arms they stood + Of golden panoply, refulgent host." + +But such splendour was only exhibited in the courteous tournament; less +costly armour sheathed the warrior of the working day. Armour gradually +fell out of use as infantry began to be considered and felt as the +principal force in war. It was not, however, till the beginning of the +seventeenth century that the proud nobility of Europe would abandon the +mode of combat of their ancestors, and no longer hope that their iron +armour of proof should hang up in their halls as an incentive to their +children's valour. "They first laid aside the jambes or steel boots; then +the shield was abandoned, and next the covering for the arms. When the +cavalry disused the lance, the cuisses were no longer worn to guard +against its thrust, and the stout leathern or buff coat hung down from +beneath the body armour to the knees, and supplied the place of the +discarded steel. The helmet was later deprived of its useless vizor; but +before the middle of the seventeenth century nothing remained of the +ancient harness but the open cap and the breasts and backs of steel, which +the heavy cavalry of the Continent have more or less worn to our times. In +our service these have been but lately revived for the equipment of the +finest cavalry in Europe, the British Life-guards, who, unaided by such +defences, tore the laurels of Waterloo from the cuirassiers of +France."[119] + +[Sidenote: Excellence of Italian armour.] + +The history of armour would be interesting in another point of view, if +any of the great battles in the middle ages had been decided by the +superior qualities of any particular weapon possessed by either side. No +such circumstances are recorded. Nor can we trace the progress of armour +through the various countries of chivalry. But the superiority of Italian +civilisation, and our knowledge that the long-pointed sword was invented +in Italy, authorise our giving much honour to the Italians; and we also +know that down to the very latest period of chivalric history Milanese +armour was particularly esteemed.[120] Germany, as far as the ancient +martial costume of that country is known, can claim nothing of invention, +nor did armour always take in that country during its course from Italy +through other lands. France quickly received all the varieties in armour +of Italian ingenuity, and in a few years they, passed into England. This +geographical course was not however the usual mode of communicating ideas +in chivalric ages. Knights of various countries met in tournaments, and +in those splendid scenes every description of armour was displayed, and +fashions were interchanged. + +Notwithstanding the general similarity of costume which these gallant and +friendly meetings of cavaliers in tournaments were likely to produce, each +nation had its peculiarities which it never resigned. Thus it may be +mentioned that the swords of the Germans and also of the Normans were +always large, and that those of the French were short. As the bow was the +great weapon of the Normans, the attendants of the English knights used +the bow more frequently than similar attendants in any other country. The +peasantry of Scotland, in spite of repeated statutes, never would use the +bow: spears and axes were their weapons, while their missiles were +cross-bows and culverins. The mace was also a favourite, and their swords +were of excellent temper. Their defensive armour was the plate-jack, +hauberk, or brigantine; and a voluminous handkerchief round their neck, +"not for cold but for cutting," as one of their writers describes it. +Almost all the Scottish forces, except a few knights, men-at-arms, and the +border prickers, who formed excellent light cavalry, acted upon +foot.[121] + +[Sidenote: Of the knight's armour; of the squire, &c.] + +Little need be said concerning the military costume of the esquire, and +the men-at-arms. The esquire wore silver spurs in distinction from the +golden spurs of the knight; but when an esquire as a member of the third +class of chivalry held a distinct command, he was permitted to bear at the +end of his lance a penoncel, or small triangular streamer. In countries +where the bow was not used, the weapons of the men-at-arms were generally +the lance and the sword. This was the case when the knight led his +personal retainers to battle; but when his followers were the people of +any particular town which he protected, few chivalric arms were borne, and +the bill more frequently than the spear was brought into the field. The +cross-bow can hardly be considered a weapon of chivalry. It required no +strength of arm like the long-bow; it allowed none of that personal +display which was the soul of knighthood. The popes, to their honour, +frequently condemned its use; and it was more often bent by mercenaries +than the regular attendants of knights. + +The men-at-arms generally fought on horseback, and it often happened that +archers, after the Asiatic mode, were mounted. The defensive armour of the +knight's attendants was not so complete as his own, for they could not +afford its costliness, and difference of rank was marked by difference of +harness. Thus, in France, only persons possessed of a certain estate were +permitted to wear the haubergeon, while esquires had nothing more than a +simple coat of mail, without hood or hose[122], though their rank in +nobility might equal that of the knights. The men-at-arms had generally +the pectoral and the shield, and the morion or open helmet, without vizor +or beaver. They frequently wore a long and large garment called the +aketon, gambeson, or jack, formed of various folds of linen cloth or +leather: but it is totally impossible to give any useful or interesting +information on a subject which caprice or poverty perpetually varied. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Allegories made on armour.] + +Armour had other purposes in the mind of the knight besides its common and +apparent use. Days of chivalry were especially times when imagination was +in its freest exercise, and every thing was full of allegories and +recondite meanings. To the knight a sword was given in resemblance of a +cross to signify the death of Christ, and to instruct him that he ought to +destroy the enemies of religion by the sword. This is intelligible; but +there is something apparently arbitrary in the double edge signifying that +a knight should maintain chivalry and justice. The spear, on account of +its straitness, was the emblem of truth, and the iron head meant +strength, which truth should possess. The force and power of courage were +expressed by the mace. The helmet conveyed the idea of shamefacedness; and +the hauberk was emblematical of the spiritual panoply which should protect +a man and a soldier from the vices to which his nature was liable. The +spurs meant diligence. The gorget was the sign of obedience; for as the +gorget went about the neck protecting it from wounds, so the virtue of +obedience kept a knight within the commands of his sovereign and the order +of chivalry; and thus neither treason nor any other foe to virtue +corrupted the oath he had taken to his lord and knighthood. The shield +showed the office of a knight; for as the knight placed his shield between +himself and his enemy, so the knight was the barrier between the king and +the people, and as the stroke of a sword fell upon the shield and saved +the knight, so it behoved the knight to present his body before his lord +when he was in danger. The equipment and barding of the horse furnished +also subjects of instruction. The saddle meant safety of courage; for as +by the saddle a knight was safe on his horse, so courage was the knight's +best security in the field. The great size of the saddle was regarded as +emblematical of the greatness of the chivalric charge. It was added, that +as the head of a horse went before its rider, so should reason precede +all the acts of a knight; and as the armour at the head of a horse +defended the horse, so reason kept the knight from blame. The defensive +armour of a horse illustrated the necessity of wealth to a knight; for a +knight without estate could not maintain the honours of chivalry, and be +protected from temptation, for poverty opens the door to treason and vice. + +It was in this manner that the romantic imaginations of the knights of +chivalry drew moralities from subjects apparently little capable of +furnishing instruction; and then assuming a more sober and rational tone, +they would exclaim that chivalry was not in the horse, nor in the arms, +but was in the knight, who taught his horse well, and accustomed himself +and his sons to noble actions and virtuous deeds; and a foul and recreant +knight, who taught himself and his son evil works, converted one into the +other, the cavaleresque and equestrian qualities, making himself and his +son beasts, and his horse a knight.[123] + +[Sidenote: The horse of the knight.] + +Before we close our account of the cavalier's equipment, something must be +said regarding his steed, his _good_ steed, as he was fond of calling him. +The horse of the knight was necessarily an animal of great power when his +charge was a cavalier with his weighty armour. The horses of Spain were +highly famed. In the country itself those of Asturia were preferred, but +in other chivalric states they regarded not the particular province +wherein the horse was bred.[124] The favourite steed of William the +Conqueror came from Spain. The crusades were certainly the means of +bringing Asiatic horses into Europe; and it was found that the Arabian, +though smaller than the bony charger of the west, had a compensating power +in his superior spirit. French and English romance writers were not from +natural prejudices disposed to praise any productions of Heathenesse, yet +the Arabian horse is frequently commended by them. That doughty knight, +Guy, a son of Sir Bevis of Hampton, + + ----"bestrode a _Rabyte_,[125] + That was mickle and nought _light_,[126] + That Sir Bevis in Paynim lond + Had iwunnen with his hond." + +The Arab horse was the standard of perfection, as is evident from the +romancer's praise of the two celebrated steeds, Favel and Lyard, which +Richard Coeur de Lion procured at Cyprus. + + "In the world was not their peer, + Dromedary, nor destreer, + Steed, Rabyte, ne Camayl, + That ran so swift sans fail. + For a thousand pounds of gold + Should not that one be sold." + +The Arabian horse must have been already prepared for part of the +discipline of a chivalric horse. On his own sandy plains he had been +accustomed to stop his career when his fleetness had cast the rider from +his seat; and in the encounter of lances so often were knights overthrown, +that to stand firm, ready to be mounted again, was a high quality of a +good horse. The steed of the Cid was very much celebrated in Spain; and, +in acknowledgment for an act of great kindness, the owner wished to +present him to the king, Alfonso of Castile. To induce the king to accept +him, he showed his qualities. + + "With that the Cid, clad as he was in mantle furr'd and wide, + On Bavieca vaulting, put the rowel in his side; + And up and down, and round and round, so fierce was his career, + Stream'd like a pennon on the wind Ruy Diaz' minivere. + + And all that saw them prais'd them,--they lauded man and horse, + As matched well, and rivalless for gallantry and force. + Ne'er had they look'd on horseman might to this knight come near, + Nor on other charger worthy of such a cavalier. + + Thus, to and fro a-rushing, the fierce and furious steed, + He snapp'd in twain his hither rein:--'God pity now the Cid;' + 'God pity Diaz,' cried the Lords;--but when they look'd again, + They saw Ruz Diaz ruling him with the fragment of his rein; + They saw him proudly ruling, with gesture firm and calm, + Like a true Lord commanding,--and obey'd as by a lamb. + + And so he led him foaming and panting to the king, + But 'No,' said Don Alphonso, 'it were a shameful thing + That peerless Bavieca should ever be bestrid + By any mortal but Bivar,--mount, mount again, my Cid.'"[127] + +It has been often said that the knight had always his ambling palfrey, on +which he rode till the hour of battle arrived; and that the war-horse, +from the circumstance of his being led by the right hand of the squire, +was called dextrarius.[128] With respect to sovereigns and men of great +estate this was certainly the custom, but it was by no means a general +chivalric practice. Froissart's pages are a perfect picture of knightly +riding and combatting; and each of his favorite cavaliers seems to have +had but one and the same steed for the road and the battle-plain. Even +romance, so prone to exaggerate, commonly represents the usage as similar; +for when we find that a damsel is rescued, she is not placed upon a spare +horse, but the knight mounts her behind himself.[129] + +The _destrier_, _cheval de lance_, or war-steed, was armed or barded[130] +very much on the plan of the harness of the knight himself, and was +defended, therefore, by mail or plate, agreeably to the fashion of the +age. His head, chest, and flanks were either wholly or partially +protected, and sometimes, on occasions of pomp, he was clad in complete +steel, with the arms of his master engraven or embossed on his bardings. +His caparisons and housings frequently descended so low that they were +justly termed bases, from the French _bas à bas_, upon the ground. His +head, too, was ornamented with a crest, like the helmet of a knight. The +bridle of the horse was always as splendid as the circumstances of the +knight allowed; and thus a horse was often called Brigliadore, from +_briglia d'oro_, a bridle of gold. The knight was fond of ornamenting the +partner of his perils and glories. The horse was not always like that of +Chaucer's knight; + + "His hors was good, but he was not gay." + +Bells were a very favourite addition to the equipment of a horse, +particularly in the early times of chivalry. An old Troubadour poet, +Arnold of Marsan, states very grave reasons for wearing them. He says, +"Let the neck of the knight's horse be garnished with bells well hung. +Nothing is more proper to inspire confidence in a knight, and terror in an +enemy." The war-horse of a soldier of a religious order of knighthood +might have his collar of bells, for their jangling was loved by a monk +himself. + + "And when he rode men might his bridel hear, + Gingeling in a whistling wind as clere, + And eke as loud as doth the chapel bell." + +But here the comparison ceases, for the horse-furniture of the religious +soldiers was ordered to be free from all golden and silver ornaments.[131] +This regulation was however ill observed; for the knights-templars in the +middle of the thirteenth century were censured for having their bridles +embroidered, or gilded, or adorned with silver.[132] + + + + +CHAP. IV. + +THE CHIVALRIC CHARACTER. + + _General Array of Knights ... Companions in Arms ... The Nature of a + Cavalier's Valiancy ... Singular Bravery of Sir Robert Knowles ... + Bravery incited by Vows ... Fantastic Circumstances ... The Humanities + of Chivalric War ... Ransoming ... Reason of Courtesies in Battles ... + Curious Pride of Knighthood ... Prisoners ... Instance of Knightly + Honour ... Independence of Knights, and Knight Errantry ... Knights + fought the Battles of other Countries ... English Knights dislike Wars + in Spain ... Their Disgust at Spanish Wines ... Principles of their + active Conduct ... Knightly Independence consistent with Discipline + ... Religion of the Knight ... His Devotion ... His Intolerance ... + General Nature of his Virtue ... Fidelity to Obligations ... + Generousness ... Singular Instance of it ... Romantic excess of it ... + Liberality ... Humility ... Courtesy ..._ EVERY DAY LIFE OF THE KNIGHT + _... Falconry ... Chess playing ... Story of a Knight's Love of Chess + ... Minstrelsy ... Romances ... Conversation ... Nature and Form of + Chivalric Entertainments ... Festival and Vow of the Pheasant._ + + +[Sidenote: General array of knights.] + +The knight was accompanied into the field by his squires and pages, by his +armed vassals on horseback and on foot, all bearing his cognisance. The +number of these attendants varied necessarily with his estate, and also +the occasion that induced him to arm; and I should weary, without +instructing my readers, were I to insert in these volumes all the petty +details of history regarding the amount of force which in various +countries, and in different periods of the same country's annals, +constituted, to use the phraseology of the middle ages, the complement of +a lance. Armies were reckoned by lances, each lance meaning the knight +himself with his men-at-arms, or lighter cavalry, and his foot soldiers. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Companions in arms.] + +The knight was not only supported by his vassals, who formed the furniture +of his lance, but by his brother in arms, when such an intercourse +subsisted between two cavaliers; and instances of such unions are +extremely frequent in chivalric history: they may be met with in other +annals. In the early days of Greece, brotherhood in arms was a well-known +form of friendship: the two companions engaged never to abandon each other +in affairs however perilous, and in pledge of their mutual faith they +exchanged armour. No stronger proof of affection could be given than thus +parting with what they held most dear. Among barbarous people the +fraternity of arms was established by the horrid custom of the new +brothers drinking each other's blood: but if this practice was barbarous, +nothing was farther from barbarism than the sentiment which inspired it. + +The chivalry of Europe borrowed this sacred bond from the Scandinavians, +among whom the future brothers in arms mingled their blood, and then +tasted it. + + "Father of slaughter, Odin, say, + Rememberest not the former day, + When ruddy in the goblet stood, + For mutual drink, our blended blood? + Rememberest not, thou then dids't swear, + The festive banquet ne'er to share, + Unless thy brother Lok was there?"[133] + +This custom, like most others of Pagan Europe, was corrected and softened +by the light and humanity of religion. Fraternal adoptions then took place +in churches, in presence of relations, and with the sanction of priests. +The knights vowed that they would never injure or vilify each other, that +they would share each other's dangers; and in sign of the perfection of +love, and of true unity, and in order to possess, as much as they could, +the same heart and resolves, they solemnly promised true fraternity and +companionship of arms.[134] They then received the holy sacrament, and the +priest blessed the union. It was a point rather of generous understanding +than of regular convention, that they would divide equally all their +acquisitions. Of this custom an instance may be given. Robert de Oily and +Roger de Ivery, two young gentlemen who came into England with the duke of +Normandy, were sworn brothers. Some time after the conquest, the king +granted the two great honours of Oxford, and St. Waleries, to Robert de +Oily, who immediately bestowed one of them, that of St. Waleries, on his +sworn brother, Roger de Ivery[135]. + +Fraternity of arms was entered into for a specific object, or general +knightly quests, for a limited term, or for life. It did not always occur, +however, that the fraternity of arms was established with religious +solemnities: but whatever might have been the ceremonies, the obligation +was ever considered sacred; so sacred, indeed, that romance writers did +not startle their readers by a tale, whose interest hangs upon the +circumstance of a knight slaying his two infant children for the sake of +compounding a medicine with their blood which should heal the leprosy of +his brother in arms.[136] + +This form of attachment was the strongest tie in chivalry. + + "From this day forward, ever mo + Neither fail, either for weal or wo, + To help other at need, + Brother, be now true to me, + And I shall be as true to thee." + +So said Sir Amylion to Sir Amys, and it was the common language of +chivalry. Friendship was carried to the romantic extremity of the Homeric +age. Brethren in arms adopted all the enmities and loves of each other, + + "A generous friendship no cold medium knows, + Burns with one love, with one resentment glows." + +And so powerful was the obligation that it even superseded the duty of +knighthood to womankind. A lady might in vain have claimed the protection +of a cavalier, if he could allege that at that moment he was bound to fly +to the succour of his brother in arms. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Qualities of the chivalric character.] + +Thus accompanied, the knight proceeded to achieve the high emprises of his +noble and gallant calling. Both the principles and the objects of chivalry +having been always the same, a general similarity of character existed +through all the chivalric ages; and as certain moral combinations divide +human nature into classes, so the knight was a distinct character, and the +qualities peculiar to his order may be delineated in one picture, +notwithstanding individual and national variations, which had better be +described when we come to mark the degrees of the influence of chivalry in +the different countries of Europe. + +[Sidenote: The nature of their valiancy.] + +[Sidenote: Singular bravery of Sir Robert Knowles.] + +The courage of the knight is the part of his character which naturally +calls for our first attention. It was daring and enterprising: but I +cannot insist upon recklessness of danger as the quality of chivalry only, +for in every nation's battles, to be the first to advance and the last to +retreat have been the ambition of warriors. The knight however cared +little for the cause or necessity of his doing battle so that he could +display his valour. About the year 1370, Sir Robert Knowles marched +through France, and laid waste the country as far as the very gates of the +capital. A knight was in his company, who had made a vow that he would +ride to the walls or gates of Paris, and strike at the barriers[137] with +a spear. And for the finishing of his vow he departed from his company, +his spear in his hand, his shield suspended from his neck, armed at all +points, and mounted on a good horse, his squire following him on another, +with his helmet. When he approached Paris he put on the glittering +head-piece, and leaving his squire behind him, and dashing his spurs into +his steed, he rode at full career to the barriers which were then open. +The French lords, who were there, weened that he would have entered the +town, but that was not his mind, for when he had struck the barriers +according to his vow, he turned his rein and departed. Then the knights of +France immediately divined his purpose, and cried, "Go your way; you have +right well acquitted yourself."[138] + +About the same time a band of English knights advanced to the French town +of Noyon, and spread their banners abroad, as a defiance to the garrison. +But the French made no sally; and a Scottish knight, named Sir John +Swinton, impatient of rest, departed from his company, his spear in his +hand, and mounted on a _cheval de lance_, his page behind him, and in that +manner approached the barriers. He then alighted, and saying to his page, +"Hold, keep my horse, and depart not hence," he went to the barriers. +Within the pallisades were many good knights, who had great marvel what +this said knight would do. Then Swinton said to them, "Sirs, I am come +hither to see you; as you will not issue out of your barriers, I will +enter them, and prove my knighthood against yours. Win me if you can!" He +then fought with the French cavaliers, and so skilfully, that he wounded +two or three of them; the people on the walls and the tops of the houses +remaining still, for they had great pleasure to regard his valiantness, +and the gallant knights of France charged them not to cast any missiles +against him, but to let the battle go fairly and freely forward. So long +they fought that at last the page went to the barriers, and said to his +master, "Sir, come away; it is time for you to depart, for your company +are leaving the field." The knight heard him well, and then gave two or +three strokes about him, and armed as he was he leapt over the barriers, +and vaulting upon his horse behind his faithful page, he waved his hand to +the Frenchmen, and cried, "Adieu, Sirs, I thank you." He then urged his +noble horse to speed, and rode to his own company. This goodly feat of +arms was praised by many folks.[139] + +[Sidenote: Bravery incited by vows.] + +This love of causeless perils was often accompanied by curious +circumstances. On the manners of the ancestors of the heroes of chivalry +it has been said, + + "In the caverns of the west, + By Odin's fierce embrace comprest, + A wond'rous boy shall Rinda bear, + Who ne'er shall comb his raven hair, + Nor wash his visage in the stream, + Nor see the sun's departing beam, + Till he on Hoder's corse shall smile + Flaming on the fun'ral pile!" + +[Sidenote: Fantastic circumstances.] + +And king Harold made a solemn vow never to clip or comb his hair till he +should have extended his sway over the whole country. Tacitus informs us, +that the youthful Germans, particularly those among the Catti, did not +shave the hair from the head or chin until they had achieved renown in +arms. The same feeling influenced the knight of chivalry. He was wont to +wear a chain on his arm or leg until he had performed some distinguishing +exploit; and when his merit became conspicuous, the mark of thraldom was +removed with great solemnity.[140] A young knight would not at first +assume his family arms, but wore plain armour and shield without any +device till he had won renown. He would even fight blindfold, or pinion +one of his hands to his body, or in some other manner partially disable +himself from performing his deed, of arms. Before the gate of Troyes there +was an English squire, resolved to achieve some high and romantic feat. +His companions were unable to judge whether or not he could see, but with +his spear in his hand, and his targe suspended from his neck, he +recklessly spurred his horse to the barriers, leaped over them, and +careered to the gate of the town, where the Duke of Burgundy and other +great lords of France were standing. He reined round his foaming steed and +urged him back towards the camp. The duke shouted applause at his +boldness: but some surrounding men-at-arms had not the same generous +sympathy for noble chivalry, and they hurled their lances like javelins at +the brave squire, till they brought him and his horse dead to the ground, +wherewith the Duke of Burgundy was right sore displeased.[141] Equally +singular, and more fantastic, was the conduct of certain young knights of +England during the French wars of Edward III., for each of them bound up +one of his eyes with a silk ribbon, and swore before the ladies and the +peacock, that he would not see with both eyes until he had accomplished +certain deeds of arms in France.[142] + +[Sidenote: The sageness of knights]. + +Nothing appears incredible in romances after reading these tales of a very +faithful historian; but we should wrong chivalry were we to suppose that +this wild, this phrenetic, courage was its chief character. Perhaps it was +in general the quality of young soldiers only; for discretion was +certainly a part of cavaleresque valour. That a knight was sage is +frequently said to his honour. Not, indeed, that his skill ever +degenerated into the subtlety of stratagem, for bold and open[143] battle +was always preferred to the refinements of artifice, and he would have +debased his order if he had profited by any mischance happening to his +foe. But in the choice of ground, in the disposition of his squires and +men-at-arms, he exerted his best skill, for to be adventurous was only one +part of valour. The soldier in chivalry was also imaginative, a word +constantly used by our old authors to show a mind full of resources, and +to express military abilities.[144] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Their humanities of war.] + +There was not so much ruthlessness in his heroism as distinguished those +ages of the ancient world which fancy and poetry have sometimes painted +as chivalrous. The prostrate and suppliant foe seldom sued for mercy in +vain from the true knight. It was a maxim, that a warrior without pity was +without worship.[145] Even the pride of knighthood often softened the +fierce and rugged face of war, for inferior people were spared, because +they were unworthy of the lance. A knight trained to warlike exercises +cared little for a battle unless he could prove his skilful bearing; and +what honour could he gain from slaying rude and unarmed peasantry? The +simple peasant was often spared from motives of prudence. Richard +Brembrow, an English knight, was ravaging Brittany, in the year 1350, but +was reproached for his conduct by Beaumanoir, a partisan of the house of +Blois, who was astonished that a valiant cavalier should make war, not +only on men bearing arms, but on labourers and others. "In all wars guided +by chivalric principles," continued the knight of Brittany, "true soldiers +never injure the tillers of the ground; for if they were to do so, the +world would be destroyed by famine."[146] More generous feelings, +however, sometimes had their influence. The stern Du Guesclin, when on his +death-bed, desired his old companions in arms to remember that "neither +the clergy, nor women, nor children, nor poor people, were their enemies;" +and the charge came with peculiar propriety from him, for his past life +could furnish no instance of needless severity. + +To show the reverse of such mildness was the unhappy fate of the Black +Prince, who, by his massacre of three thousand people at Limoges[147], +tarnished the lustre of all his former glories. The narrative of this +affair which Froissart has left us, shews that such barbarities were not +so frequent in chivalric times as modern hatred of aristocratical power +has represented. We may learn from our historian that the massacre at +Limoges proceeded from the unhappy disposition to cruelty which at that +time clouded the mind of the Prince of Wales, and not from the general +principles of chivalry; for he tells us, that the knights prepared +themselves to do evil, to slay men, women, and children, because they were +so commanded; and he whose heart leaped for joy in describing a manly +conflict, where banners and standards waved in the wind, with horses +barded, and knights and squires richly armed, yet sighs over the massacre +of Limoges, and says it was "great pity" to see the slaughter.[148] It was +only when cities that belonged to the enemies of the church were taken, +that the sword of the victorious Christian was embrued in blood to the +very hilt; for pagans, Saracens, Jews, and heretics were not considered +within the pale of the humane courtesies of chivalry. + +Frequent pauses were made in the single encounters of knighthood, for +generousness was thought an essential part of bravery, and the soldier +would rather vanquish by his skill than by any accidental advantage. A +giant of the first enormity requested of his antagonist, Sir Guy of +Warwick, a momentary respite for the purpose of slaking his thirst in a +neighbouring stream. The noble knight assented to this request, and the +giant, perfectly recovered from his fatigue, renewed the combat with fresh +vigour. Sir Guy, in his turn, was oppressed by heat and fatigue, and +requested a similar favour; but the uncourteous giant refused.[149] In a +battle between the celebrated Roland and a Saracen knight, named Sir +Otuel, a stroke of the former's sword cut into the brain of his +antagonist's horse. The paladin of Charlemagne, with true chivalric +courtesy, reined in his steed, and rested on his arms till Sir Otuel had +disengaged himself from the equipments of his horse. The Saracen rallied +him for want of skill in missing his gigantic frame; but on the renewal of +the battle Otuel was guilty of a similar awkwardness, and conscious that +his raillery might now be retorted with double force, he imitated the +knightly courtesy of Roland, and waited till his foe was completely free +from his fallen steed.[150] The preliminaries of a battle between the +famous Oliver and a Saracen cavalier, hight Sir Ferumbras, was still more +courteous, for the Christian knight assisted his foe to lace his helmet, +and before they encountered, the combatants politely bowed to each +other.[151] + +Veracious chroniclers confirm the stories of romance writers. In a battle +of honour between the English and French, when it was thought contrary to +chivalry for either party to be more numerous than the other, the knights +contended for several hours with intervals of repose. When any two of them +had fought so long as to be fatigued, they fairly and easily departed, and +sat themselves down by the side of a stream, and took off their helmets. +On being refreshed they donned their armour, and returned to the +fight.[152] + +[Sidenote: Ransoming] + +[Sidenote: Reason of courtesies in battles.] + +We commonly refer to the principles of honour in chivalry to account for +the interesting fact, that a victorious knight permitted his prisoner to +go to his own country or town, in order to fetch his ransom; and we know +that his word of honour was considered a sufficient pledge for his return +at the appointed season. The true reason of this general practice of +chivalry may be learnt from a passage in Froissart. After describing a +battle between the English and French in the year 1344, he says, that the +English dealt like good companions with their prisoners; and suffered many +to depart on their oaths and promises to return again at a certain day to +Bergerac or to Bourdeaux.[153] The Scots were equally courteous to the +English after the truly chivalric battle of Otterbourn. They set them to +their ransom, and every man said to his prisoner, "Sir, go and unarm +yourself, and take your ease;" and so made their prisoners as good cheer +as if they had been brethren, without doing them any injury.[154] A short +while after the battle Sir Matthew Redman yielded himself prisoner to Sir +James Lindsay, rescue or no rescue, so that he dealt with him like a good +companion.[155] It was, therefore, because all the knights of Europe were +united in one universal bond of brotherhood, that one knight showed +courtesy to another. It was the principle of fraternity which the +Christian religion inculcates, that created all the kindly consideration +in war which distinguished chivalry; and base and barbarous, as we may +chuse to call our ancestors, I know not whether the principles of +Christian friendship were not as well understood in their days as in our +own age of boasted light and improvement. There is truth as well as beauty +in Froissart's observation, that "nobleness and gentleness ought to be +aided by nobles and gentles." Not only were prisoners released on their +parole of honour, but their ransom was never set so high that they could +not pay it at their ease, and still maintain their degree.[156] + +[Sidenote: Curious pride of knighthood.] + +[Sidenote: Prisoners.] + +One curious particular, illustrative of knightly dignity, remains to be +mentioned. It was beneath the bearing of chivalry for a cavalier to +surrender himself prisoner to one of the raskall rout, and if he ever was +reduced to such a sad necessity he would amuse his pride by raising his +conqueror to the rank of chivalry. The Earl of Suffolk, during our wars in +France, was taken prisoner by William Renaud; but he would not surrender +to him until he had given him the accolade, bound a sword round him, and +thus dignified him with knighthood. But there was no loss of chivalric +dignity in a knight being taken prisoner by a squire, for a squire, though +inferior in rank, was of the same quality as a knight. The renowned Du +Guesclin, whom I so often mention as a pattern of chivalry, yielded to the +prowess of a squire of England who fought under the standard of Sir John +Chandos. + +[Sidenote: Instance of knightly honour.] + +In the course of the fourteenth century the Duke of Gueldres was taken +prisoner by a squire named Arnold, and was removed to a castle, where he +promised to pay his ransom. The lords of Prussia, hearing that the duke +had been captured in his course to their country, summoned a mighty force, +and marched to the place of the duke's confinement. The squire dreaded +their power, and resolved to quit the castle: but before his departure he +went to the Duke of Gueldres, and said to him, "Sir duke, you are my +prisoner, and I am your master: you are a gentleman and a true knight; you +have sworn and given me your faith, and whithersoever I go you ought to +follow me. I cannot tell if you have sent for the great master of Prussia +or not, but he is coming hither with a mighty power. I shall not remain: +you may tarry if you list, and I will take with me your faith and +promise." Gueldres made no answer. The squire soon afterwards mounted +horse and departed, telling the Duke that he would always find him at such +a place, naming a strong castle, in a remote situation. The Prussians soon +arrived and liberated their friend: but he resolved to perform his promise +to the squire whom he called his master, and neither absolution, nor +dispensation, nor argument, nor raillery could induce him to break his +faith. His friends and relations then treated with the squire for his +freedom, and by paying the customary ransom the Duke of Gueldres recovered +that honourable liberty of mind which above all things was dear to the +true knight.[157] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Independence of knights and knight errantry.] + +Certainly the virtues of a knight were not necessarily patriotic. They +were rather calculated to weaken than to strengthen his tendencies to +king and country. Although as an individual he was bound to his native +land, yet the character of his knighthood was perpetually pressing him to +a course of conduct distinct from all national objects. He was the judge +of right and wrong[158]; he referred to no external standard of equity; he +was an independent agent. These qualities of chivalry gave birth to knight +errantry, that singular feature in the character of the middle ages. + + "Long so they travell'd through wasteful ways, + Where dangers dwelt and perils most did wonne, + To hunt for glory and renowned praise: + Full many countries they did overrun, + From the uprising to the setting sun, + And many hard adventures did atchieve; + Of all the which they honour ever wonne, + Seeking the weak oppressed to relieve, + And to recover right for such as wrong did grieve."[159] + +It was considered the first praise of knighthood to efface foul outrage, +and the advantages arising to society from this disposition are confessed +even by satirists. + + ------------"Knyghtes shoulde + Ryden and rappe adoune in remes aboute, + And to take trespassours and tye them faste. + + * * * * * + + Truly to take, and truly to fight, + Is the profession and the pure order that apendeth to knights."[160] + +The happy consequences to woman of this chivalric principle, and its +tendencies to ameliorate manners, will best be seen in our delineation of +the character of dames and damsels in the middle ages. With respect to the +general interests of society it may be observed, that knight errantry was +a very considerable means of correcting the state of violence and misrule +in feudal times. The monks of St. Albans held a body of knights in pay, +who defended the abbey and preserved the roads free from robbers, whether +of the baronial or the vulgar class.[161] Until the discipline of laws had +tamed the world into order, force was the only measure of power; and it +was by the sword alone that injuries committed by the sword could be +avenged. The protection of the wronged being a great principle of +chivalry, no oppressed person was at a loss for a mode of redress. Some +gentle knight was ever to be found who would lay his lance in its rest to +chastise the evil doer. While Edward the First was travelling in France, +he heard that a lord of Burgundy was continually committing outrages on +the persons and property of his neighbours. In the true spirit of chivalry +Edward attacked the castle of this uncourteous baron. His prowess asserted +the cause of justice; and he bestowed the domains which he had won upon a +nobler and more deserving lord.[162] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Knights fought the battles of other countries.] + +[Sidenote: Englishmen's disgust at Spanish wines.] + +When he was neither engaged in his country's wars, nor errant in quest of +adventures, the knight fought among the chivalry of foreign princes. This +was a matter of daily occurrence; the English knights obtaining licences +from the king on their pledging the honour of their chivalry not to +disclose the secrets of the court, nor to fight on the side of the +nation's enemies. It is curious to observe that the service of France was +always preferred by the English adventurers to that of Spain or Portugal. +France, they said, was a good, sweet country, and temperate, possessing +pleasant towns and fair rivers, but Castile was full of barren rocks and +mountains, the air was unwholesome, the waters were troubled, and the +people were poor and evil arrayed. The wines of Spain formed, however, the +principal grievance. The English complained that they were so strong and +fiery as to corrupt their heads, dry their bowels, and consume their very +livers; and what with hot suns and hot wines Englishmen, who in their own +country were sweetly nourished, were in Castile burnt without and within. +There is another passage of Froissart which I shall lay before the reader +in the right genuine and expressive old English of John Bourchier, knight, +Lord Berners. "The Englishmen ate grapes (in Spain) when they might get +them, and drank of the hot wines, and the more they drank the more they +were set on fire, and thereby burnt their livers and lungs; for that diet +was contrary to their nature. Englishmen are nourished with good meats and +with ale, which keep their bodies in temper." In Spain the nights were hot +because of the great heat of the day, and the mornings marvellously cold, +which deceives them; for in the night they could suffer nothing on them, +and so slept all naked, and in the morning cold took them ere they were +aware, and that cast them into fevers and fluxes without remedy, and as +well died great men as mean people.[163] + +[Sidenote: Principles of this active conduct.] + +All this adventurousness proceeded from the principle, that the life of a +knight was not to be regarded as a course of personal indulgence. His +virtues were of an active, stirring nature, and he was not permitted to +waste his days in dark obscurity, or to revel in ease. Like falcons that +disdained confinement, he could not remain long at rest without wishing to +roam abroad. "Why do we not array ourselves and go and see the bounds and +ports of Normandy?" were the words of war by which our English knights and +squires would rouse one another to arms. "There be knights and squires to +awake us and to fight with us."[164] And Honour was always the quest of +the true knight. + + "In woods, in waves, in wars she wont to dwell, + And will be found with peril and with pain; + Nor can the man that moulders in idle cell, + Unto her happy mansion attain. + Before her gate high God did sweat ordain, + And wakeful watchers ever to abide: + But easy is the way and passage plain + To pleasure's palace: it may soon be spide, + And day and night her doors to all stand open wide."[165] + +[Sidenote: Knightly independence consistent with discipline.] + +It has often been supposed[166] that the chivalric array must have been +inconvenient to the feudal and national disposition of armies, and that +knightly honours would be continually striving with other distinctions for +pre-eminence. But this supposition has arisen from a want of attention to +chivalric principles. Chivalry was not opposed to national institutions; +it was a feeling of honour that pervaded without disturbing society; and +knightly distinctions were altogether independent of ranks in the state. +As every lord was educated in chivalry, he was of course a knight; but he +led his troops into the field in consequence of his feudal possessions; +and any that were attached to his knighthood, it would be in vain to +enquire after. The array of an army was always formed agreeably to the +sageness and imagination of the constable, or marshal, or whatever other +officer of the nation was commander, without the slightest reference to +chivalry. A squire frequently led knights, certainly not on account of his +chivalric title, but by reason of favour or merit, or any other of the +infinity of causes that occasion advancement. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Religion of the knight.] + +[Sidenote: His devotion.] + +The religion of the knight was generally the religion of the time; and it +would be idle to expect to see religious reformers start from the bands of +an unlettered soldiery, whose swords had been consecrated by the church. +The warrior said many orisons every day; besides a nocturne of the +Psalter, matins of our Lady, of the Holy Ghost, and of the cross, and also +the dirige.[167] The service of the mass was usually performed by both +armies in the presence of each other before a battle; and no warrior would +fight without secretly breathing a prayer to God or a favourite saint. +Brevity was an important feature in a soldier's devotion, as the following +anecdote proves. When the French cavalier, Lahire, had just reached his +army, he met a chaplain, from whom he demanded absolution. The priest +required him to confess his sins. But the knight answered he had not time, +for he wanted immediately to attack the enemy. He added, that a minute +disclosure of his offences was not necessary, for he had only been guilty +of sins common to cavaliers, and the chaplain well knew what those sins +were. The priest thereupon absolved him, and Lahire raised his hands to +heaven, and exclaimed, "God, I pray thee that thou wouldest do to-day for +Lahire as much as thou wouldest Lahire should do for thee, if he were God +and thou wert Lahire." He then dashed spurs into his horse, and his +falchion was stained with foeman's blood before the good chaplain had +recovered from his astonishment at this singular form of prayer. The union +of religion and arms was displayed in a very remarkable manner at a joust +which was held at Berwick, in the year 1338. The lance of an English +knight pierced the helmet of his Scottish opponent, William de Ramsey, and +nailed it to his head. It being instantly perceived that the wound was +mortal, a priest was hastily sent for. The knight was shriven in his helm, +and soon afterwards died, and the good Earl of Derby, who was present, was +so much delighted at the religious and chivalric mode of the Scotsman's +death, that he hoped God of his grace would vouchsafe to send him a +similar end.[168] + +The knight visited sacred places, and adopted all the superstitions, +whether mild or terrible, and the full spirit of intolerant fierceness, of +his time. The defence of the church formed part of his obligation. + + "Chevaliers en ce monde cy + Ne peuvent vivre sans soucy: + Ils doivent le peuple défendre, + Et leur sang pour la foi espandre." + +[Sidenote: His intolerance.] + +The knight knew no other argument than the sword to gainsay the infidel, +and he was ready at all times to "thrust it into the belly of a heretic as +far as it would go." This was the feeling in all chivalric times; but St. +Louis was the knight who had the merit of arraying it in the form of a +maxim. + +The wars of these soldiers of the church were not purely defensive. The +cavalier fought openly and offensively against heretics. This was part of +the spirit and essence of his character, encouraged by the crusades, and +the principles of the military orders; and thus no knight's military +reputation was perfect, unless it was adorned with laurels which had been +won in Heathennesse as well as in Christendom; for it was the general +opinion, that, as Heaven had chosen learned clerks to maintain the holy +Catholic faith with Scripture and reason against the miscreants and +unbelievers, so knights had also been chosen, in order that the miscreants +might be vanquished by force of arms.[169] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: General nature of his virtue.] + +The highest possible degree of virtue was required of a knight: it was a +maxim in chivalry, that he who ordained another a knight must be virtuous +himself; for it was argued if the knight who made a knight were not +virtuous, how could he give that which he had not; and no man could be a +true son of chivalry unless he were of unsullied life.[170] He was not +only to be virtuous, but without reproach; for he considered his +honourable fame as a polished mirror, whose beauty may be lost by an +impure breath and an unwholesome air, as well as by being broken into +pieces. But there was nothing so abstract and refined in the nature of +knightly virtue as has been generally thought. It was the duty of the +cavalier to peril himself in the cause of the afflicted and of the church; +and his exertions and endeavours to perform the conditions of his oath of +chivalry were to be rewarded, not by the mere gratification of any +metaphysical fancies, but by the hope of joy in heaven. This was the +leading principle of his duty, however often it might be abused or +forgotten; and this was the feeling which his oath taught him to +encourage. But it did not exclude from his conduct the operation of +personal motives. Thus, in displaying his love of justice, he displayed +his chivalric skill; and by the same action he gratified his laudable +aspirations for fame, and soothed and satisfied his conscience. + +Certes all knights were not religious, even in the sense in which religion +was understood in chivalric times. One cavalier made it his heart's boast +that he had burnt a church, with twenty-four monks, its contents.[171] The +joyousness of youth often broke out in witty sentences, and the sallies of +the buoyant spirits of the young cavalier were neither decent nor moral. +When his imagination was inflamed by chivalry and love, he forgot his +rosary, and said that paradise was only the habitation of dirty monks, +priests, and hermits; and that, for his own part, he preferred the +thoughts of going to the devil; and, in his fiery kingdom, he was sure of +the society of kings, knights, squires, minstrels, and jugglers, and, +above all the rest, the mistress of his heart.[172] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Fidelity to obligations.] + +Of his moral virtues perfect fidelity to a promise was very conspicuous, +for his nobleness disdained any compromise with convenience or +circumstances. However absurd the vow, still he was compelled to perform +it in all the strictness of the letter. Notwithstanding the obvious +inconveniences of such a course, a man frequently promised to grant +whatever another should ask; and he would have lost the honour of his +knighthood, if he had declined from his word when the wish of him to whom +the promise had been made was stated. Sir Charles du Blois promised Sir +Loyes of Spain whatever gift he might require for the service he had +rendered him. "Then," said Sir Loyes, "I require you to cause the two +knights that are in prison in Favet to be brought hither, and give them to +me to do with them at my pleasure, for they have injured me, and slain my +nephew. I will strike their heads off before the town, in sight of their +companions." Sir Charles was obliged to comply and deliver up the knights; +only remonstrating with Sir Loyes on the cruelty of putting two such +valiant knights to death, and on the impolicy of such a measure, as giving +occasion to their enemies of dealing in a similar manner with them when +the fortune of war changed her face.[173] + +[Sidenote: Generousness.] + +[Sidenote: Singular instance of it.] + +There was a generousness about chivalry unknown to other warfare. If in +these days of improved jurisprudence we revert our eyes with horror and +contempt to times when every question was decided by the sword, still an +air of graceful courtesy hung over them, which charms the imagination. A +cavalier always granted safe-conduct through his territories to all who +required it, even to those who asserted pretensions, which, if +established, would deprive him of his possessions. When Matilda landed +near Arundel, to contend for the throne of England, Stephen gave her +honourable conduct to the castle of his brother, the Earl of +Gloucester.[174] This instance of chivalric generousness seems scarcely +credible to those who view ancient times by the light of modern +prejudices. It was not the passive virtue that declined to profit by any +mischance happening to an adversary, but it was one knight drawing the +sword, and placing it in the hands of his foe. + +[Sidenote: Romantic excess of it.] + +More full in its circumstances, and equally romantic in its character, is +the following tale. About the year 1388, Sir Peter Courtenay, an English +knight of approved valiancy, went to France in order to joust with the +renowned Sir Guy of Tremouille. They ran one course with spears, and the +king then stopped the martial game, saying that each had done enough. He +made the stranger-knight fair presents, and set him on his way to Calais, +under the care of the Lord of Clary, who is characterised by our old +chivalric chronicler as a lusty and frisky knight. They rode together till +they reached Lucen, where resided the Countess of St. Poule, sister of the +King of England, and whose first husband had been a Lord of Courtenay. +During the noble entertainment with which she greeted her guests, the +Countess enquired of Sir Peter his opinion of France. He complimented the +country in most of its forms, and praised the demeanour of the French +chivalry, except in one thing, for he complained that none of their +knights would do any deed of arms with him, although he had with great +trouble and cost left England to encounter them. The Lord of Clary heard +with pain the knights of his country reviled, in the presence of the +sister of the King of England; but he restrained his feelings, because Sir +Peter was then under his protection. + +The next day they took their leave of the Countess, who, like a noble +lady, threw a chain of gold round the neck of each. They proceeded to +Calais, and when they reached the frontier, and Sir Peter stepped on the +English territory, the Lord of Clary reminded him of the language he had +used at the board of the Countess St. Poule, regarding the French +chivalry, and added, that such an opinion was not courteous nor honorable, +and that simple knight as he was he would do his devoir to answer him, +saying, however, that he was influenced not by any hatred to his person, +but the desire of maintaining the honor of French knighthood. + +Accordingly they jousted in the marshes of Calais, in the presence of +noble cavaliers and squires of the two nations. In the second course the +lance of Lord Clary pierced the shoulder of Sir Peter, and the wounded +knight was led to the neighbouring town. The Lord of Clary returned to +Paris, proud that he had vindicated the chivalric honor of his country, +and expecting praise. But when it was reported that a strange knight, +travelling under the royal safeguard, had been required to do a deed of +arms, the king and his council felt alarmed, lest the honor of their +nation had received a stain. It was also thought that the joust had been +intentionally a mortal one, a matter which aggravated the offence. The +Lord of Clary was summoned before them, and interrogated how he had +presumed to be so outrageous, as to hold a joust to the utterance with a +knight-stranger that had come to the king's court for good love and to +exalt his honor, to do feats of arms, and had departed thence with good +love and joy, and to the intent that he should not be troubled in his +return, he had been delivered to his charge. + +The Lord of Clary, in reply, simply related his tale, and instead of +deprecating the anger of his liege lord, he claimed reward for his +vindication of the French chivalry. He said he would abide the judgment of +the constable and the high marshal of France, the knights and squires of +honor in every land; and so highly did he esteem the chivalry of that +noble knight himself, Sir Peter Courtenay, that he would appeal to his +voice and discretion. + +Notwithstanding this defence, the Lord of Clary was committed to prison, +nor was he delivered thence till after a long time, when the entreaties of +the Countess of St. Poule, the Lord of Bourbon, the Lord of Coucy, and +other nobles, prevailed with the king. He was dismissed with this reproof +and exhortation: "Sir of Clary, you supposed that you had done right well, +howbeit you acted shamefully, when you offered to do arms with Sir Peter +Courtenay, who was under the king's safeguard, and delivered to you to +conduct to Calais. You did a great outrage when you renewed the words, +which were spoken only in sport before the Countess of St. Poule. Before +you had so renewed them, you ought to have returned to the king, and then +what counsel the king had given, you should have followed; because you did +not this, you have suffered pain. Beware better another time, and thank +the Lord of Bourbon and the Lord of Coucy for your deliverance, for they +earnestly solicited for you, and also thank the Lady of St. Poule."[175] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Liberality.] + +The virtue of liberality seems to have been a striking feature of the +chivalric character. It proceeded from that loftiness of spirit which felt +that avarice would have debased a heroism that should contend for crowns +and kingdoms. The minstrels of the times, who kept alive the flame of +chivalry, encouraged this virtue above all others, for upon it depended +their own subsistence. But it often sprang from better motives than pride +or vanity. The good Lord de Foix gave every day five florins, in small +money, at his gate, to poor folks, for the love of God; and he was liberal +and courteous in his gifts to others; for he had certain coffers in his +chambers, out of which he would oft-times take money to give to lords, +knights, and squires, such as came to him, and none departed from him +without a gift.[176] A knight, indeed, was taught to consider nothing his +own, save his horse and arms, which he ought to keep as his means of +acquiring honour, by using them in the defence of his religion and +country, and of those who were unable to defend themselves.[177] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Humility.] + +The valiancy of chivalry was beautifully chastened by humility; + + "And of his port as meek as is a maid." + +Every hero, as well as Chaucer's knight, demeaned himself in all things as +if he had been in the hands of God, and in his name used his arms, +without vaunting or praising himself; for praise was regarded as blame in +the mouth of him who commended his own actions. It was thought that if the +squire had vain-glory of his arms, he was not worthy to be a knight, for +vain-glory was a vice which destroyed the merits and the claims of +chivalry. + +The heroes of the Round Table were the mirror of all Christian knights; +and the generous modesty of Sir Lancelot was reflected in the conduct of +many a true soldier of chivalry. In the lofty fancies of romantic Europe +that valiant friend of Arthur was the prowest of all the heroes of +Britain; yet he always gave place to Sir Tristram, and often retired from +the field of tournament when that noble son of arms was performing his +devoir. Even when he was entitled to the prize, Sir Lancelot would not +receive it, maugre the offering of king, queen, and knights; but when the +cry was great through the field, "Sir Lancelot, Sir Lancelot hath won the +field, this day!" that noble subject of praise cried, on the contrary, +"Sir Tristram hath won the field; for he began first, and endured last, +and so hath he done the first day, the second, and the third day."[178] + +[Sidenote: Courtesy.] + +The catalogue of knightly virtues is not yet complete; and nothing can be +more beautiful to the moral eye than some of the characteristics of the +ancient chivalry. Kindness and gentleness of manner, which, when adopted +by kings from knightly customs, were called courtesy, were peculiar to the +soldier of the middle ages, and pleasingly distinguished him from the +savage sternness of other warriors, whether Roman or barbarian. Courtesy +was the appearance, in the ordinary circumstances of life, of that +principle of protection which, in weightier matters, made the sword leap +from its scabbard; and, like every other blessing of modern times, it had +its origin in the Christian religion. The world thought that courtesy and +chivalry accorded together, and that villainous and foul words were +contrary to an order which was founded on piety.[179] Whether historians +or fabulists speak of a true knight, he is always called gentle and +courteous. To be debonnaire was as necessary as to be bold; + + "Preux chevalier n'en doutez pas, + Doit ferir hault et parler bas."[180] + +The following anecdote curiously marks the manners of chivalric ages with +relation to the quality of courtesy:--The wife and sister of Du Guesclin +were once living in a castle which was attacked and taken by a force of +Normans and Englishmen. The success was great and important; but public +indignation was excited against the invaders, because they had +transgressed the licence of war, and been guilty of the uncourteous action +of surprizing and disturbing ladies while they were asleep.[181] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Every-day life of the knight.] + +[Sidenote: Falconry.] + +These military and moral qualities of knighthood were sustained and +nourished by all the circumstances of chivalric life, even those of a +peaceful nature. Hunting and falconry, the amusements of the cavalier, +were images of war, and he threw over them a grace beyond the power of +mere baronial rank. Dames and maidens accompanied him to the sport of +hawking, when the merry bugles sounded to field; and it was the pleasing +care of every gallant knight to attend on his damsel, and on her bird +which was so gallantly bedight; to let the falcon loose at the proper +moment, to animate it by his cries, to take from its talons the prey it +had seized, to return with it triumphantly to his lady, and, placing the +hood on its eyes, to set it again on her hand. Every true knight could +say, like the cavalier in Spenser, + + "Ne is there hawk which mantleth her on perch, + Whether high towering or accosting low, + But I the measure of her flight do search, + And all her prey and all her diet know." + +These amusements of every-day life were always mingling themselves with +the humanities of war. Edward III., when in France, in the year 1359, was +attended by sixty couple of dogs, and by thirty falconers, on horseback, +carrying birds. Various barons in the army had their dogs and birds with +them, like the king. During the reign of Richard II., when the Duke of +Lancaster was in France and Spain, many ladies accompanied the army, for +the objects of the expedition were not altogether military; pleasure was +as much the occupation as affairs of moment, and for the space of a month +or more the Duke lay at Cologne, and removed not, except it were hunting +or hawking; for the Duke and other lords of England had brought with them +hawks and hounds for their own sport, and sparrow-hawks for the +ladies.[182] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Chess-playing.] + +To play the game of chess, to hear the minstrel's lays, and read romances, +were the principal amusements of the knight when the season and the +weather did not permit hawking and hunting. A true knight was a +chess-player, and the game was played in every country of chivalry; for +as the chivalric states of midland Europe obtained a knowledge of it from +the Scandinavians, so the southern states acquired it from the Arabs. + + "When they had dined, as I you say, + Lords and ladies went to play; + Some to tables, and some to chess, + With other games more and less."[183] + +[Sidenote: Story of knights' love of chess.] + +The fondness of our ancestors for the game of chess appears by the +frequent mention of the amusement in the ancient romances. Sometimes a +lover procured admittance to the place where his mistress was confined, by +permitting the jailor to win from him a game at chess. Again, the +minstrels in the baronial hall, spread over their subject all the riches +of their imagination. They were wont to fancy the enchanted castle of a +beautiful fairy, who challenged a noble knight to play with her at chess. +Flags of white and black marble formed the chequer, and the pieces +consisted of massive statues of gold and silver, which moved at the touch +of a magic wand held by the player. Such fables show the state of manners: +but a curious story remains on historical record, which displays the +practical consequences of chess-playing. During part of the reign of our +Edward III. the town and castle of Evreux were French. A noble knight of +the neighbourhood, named Sir William Graville, who was secretly attached +to the English side, thought he could win the place, and he formed his +scheme on his knowledge of the governor's character. He first gained some +friends among the burgesses, who were not very strongly attached to the +French cause. As he had not declared himself the friend of either party, +he was permitted to walk in whatever quarters of the city he chose, and +one day he loitered before the gate of the castle till he attracted the +attention of the governor. They saluted each other, and conversed awhile +on the topics of the season. Sir William found his auditor credulous to +every tale, till, when he had told one of wondrous improbability, the +governor demanded his authority. "Sir," replied the knight of Graville, "a +cavalier of Flanders wrote this to me on the pledge of his honour, and +sent with the letter the goodliest chess-men I ever saw." + +The governor dropped all care for the story at the mention of chess-men, +and he anxiously desired to see them. + +"I will send for them," said Sir William, "on condition that you will play +a game with me for the wine." + +The governor assented, and Sir William desired his squire to fetch the +chess-men and bring them to the gate. + +The two knights then passed through two wickets into the castle yard; and +while the stranger was viewing the edifice, his faithful squire ran at +speed to the burgesses' houses, and summoned them to arms. They soon +donned their harness and repaired with him to the castle gate, where, +agreeably to a concerted scheme, he sounded a horn. + +When Sir William heard it, he said to the governor, "Let us go out of the +second gate, for the chess-men are arrived." Sir William passed the +wicket, and remained without. In following him the governor stooped and +put out his head. Sir William drew a small battle-axe from under his +cloak, and therewith smote to death his defenceless foe. He then opened +the first gate, the burgesses entered in numerous and gallant array, and +incontinently the castle was taken.[184] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Minstrelsy.] + +The minstrel's lay, the poetry of the troubadour, the romance of the +learned clerk, all spoke of war and love, of the duties and sports of +chivalry. Every baronial knight had his gay troop of minstrels that +accompanied him to the field, and afterwards chaunted in his hall, whether +in their own or another's verse, the martial deeds which had renowned his +house. A branch of the minstrelsy art consisted of reciting tales; and +such persons as practised it were called jesters. + + "I warn you first at the beginning, + That I will make no vain carping + Of deeds of arms nor of amours + As do minstrelles and jestours, + That make carping in many a place + Of Octoviane and Isembrase, + And of many other jestes, + And namely when they come to festes; + Nor of the life of Bevis of Hampton, + That was a knight of great renown; + Nor of Sir Guy of Warwick, + All if it might some men like."[185] + +Minstrels played on various musical instruments during dinner, and +chaunted or recited their verses and tales afterwards both in the hall, +and in the chamber to which the barons and knights retired for amusement. + + "Before the king he set him down, + And took his harp of merry soun, + And, as he full well can, + Many merry notes he began. + The king beheld, and sat full still, + To hear his harping he had good will. + When he left off his harping, + To him said that rich king, + Minstrel, me liketh well thy glee, + What thing that thou ask of me + Largely I will thee pay; + Therefore ask now and asay."[186] + +A minstrel's lay generally accompanied the wine and spices which concluded +the entertainment.[187] Kings and queens had their trains of songsters, +and partly from humour and partly from contempt, the head of the band was +called king of the minstrels.[188] But men of the first quality, +particularly the younger sons and brothers of great houses, followed the +profession of minstrelsy, and no wonder, if it be true that they gained +the guerdon without having encountered the dangers of war; for many a +doughty knight complained that the smiles for which he had perilled +himself in the battle field were bestowed upon some idle son of peace at +home. The person of a minstrel was sacred, and base and barbarian the man +would have been accounted, who did not venerate him that sang the heroic +and the tender lay, the magic strains of chivalry, and could shed a +romantic lustre over fierce wars and faithful loves. + + "In days of yore how fortunately fared + The minstrel! wandering on from hall to hall, + Baronial court or royal; cheered with gifts + Munificent, and love, and ladies' praise: + Now meeting on his road an armed knight, + Now resting with a pilgrim by the side + Of a clear brook: beneath an abbey's roof + One evening sumptuously lodg'd; the next + Humbly, in a religious hospital; + Or with some merry outlaws of the wood; + Or haply shrouded in a hermit's cell. + Him, sleeping or awake, the robber spared; + He walk'd--protected from the sword of war + By virtue of that sacred instrument + His harp, suspended at the traveller's side; + His dear companion wheresoe'er he went, + Opening from land to land an easy way + By melody, and by the charm of verse."[189] + +Every page of early European history attests the sacred consideration of +the minstrel, and the romances are full of stories, which at least our +imagination can credit, of many a knight telling his soft tale in the +dress of a love-singing poet. That dress had another claim to respect, for +it was fashioned like a sacerdotal robe, as we learn from the story of two +itinerant priests gaining admittance to a monastery, on the supposition of +their being minstrels; but as soon as the fraud was discovered the poor +ecclesiastics were beaten and driven from the monastery by their happier +brethren.[190] The minstrel also was often arrayed in a dress of +splendour, given to him by a baron in a moment of joyous generosity. The +Earl of Foix, after a great festival, gave to heralds and minstrels the +sum of five hundred franks; and he gave to the minstrels of his guest, the +Duke of Tourrain, gowns of cloth of gold, furred with ermine, valued at +two hundred franks.[191] + +[Sidenote: Romances.] + +There were other classes of poets in days of chivalry, who, under the +names of troubadours, trouveurs, and minnesingers, were spread over all +chivalric countries, and sang the qualities by which a knight could render +himself agreeable to his mistress. The board of a baron was sometimes +enlivened by a tenson, or dialogue in verse, on the comparative merits of +love and war; and the argument was often supported by warmer feelings than +those which could influence a hireling rhymer, for the harp of the +troubadour was borne by kings, and lords, and knights. The romances, or +poems longer than the minstrels' or troubadour lay, were also faithful +ministers of chivalry. All their heroes were advocates of the church, and +enemies of the Saracens and pagans. The perilous adventures of the Gothic +knights, their high honor, tender gallantry, and solemn superstition were +all recorded in romances[192], and there was not a bay window in a +baronial hall without its chivalric volume, with which knights and +squires drove away the lazy hours of peace. + +The fictitious tales of Arthur and Charlemagne were the study and +amusement of the warrior in his moments of ease, and even the few relics +of classical literature, which, after the Gothic storm, were cast on the +shores of modern Europe, were fashioned anew by chivalry. The heroes of +Troy were converted into knights, and Troilus and Cressida moved like a +warrior and damsel of chivalric times. Indeed, as the tale of Troy Divine +was occasioned by a lady, it blended very readily with the established +fictions of the times. And the romancers, like the minstrels and +troubadours, were highly favoured by the great, who knew that their +actions, unless recorded by _clerc_, could have no duration, and therefore +they often made handsome presents to authors in order to have their names +recorded in never-dying histories.[193] + +[Sidenote: Conversation.] + +The conversation of knights, like their lives and literature, related only +to love and war. + + "Then were the tables taken all away, + And every knight, and every gentle squire, + Gan choose his dame with _basciomani_[194] gay, + With whom he meant to make his sport and play, + + * * * * * + + Some fell to dance; some fell to hazardry; + Some to make love; some to make merriment." + +Every knight was welcome at another knight's castle, if it were only for +the intelligence he could communicate regarding the deeds of arms that +had been done in the countries which he had visited; and the great charm +of the castle of the Earl of Foix, to the imagination of Froissart, was +the goodly company of knights and squires of honor, pages and damsels, +that he met in the hall, chamber, and court, going up and down, and +talking of arms and amours.[195] + + "After meat they went to play, + All the people, as I you say; + Some to chamber, and some to bower, + And some to the high tower, + And some in the hall stode, + And spake what them thought gode; + Men that were of that cytè, + Enquired of men of other contrè."[196] + +[Sidenote: Nature and forms of chivalric entertainments.] + +Knights were wont, at these entertainments, to repose on couches, or sit +on benches. The guests were placed two by two, and only one plate was +allotted to each pair; for to eat on the same trencher or plate with any +one was considered the strongest mark of friendship or love.[197] Peacocks +and pheasants were the peculiar food of knights on great and festival +occasions; they were said to be the nutriment of lovers, and the viand of +worthies. The peacock was as much esteemed in chivalric as in classic +times; and as Jupiter clothed himself with a robe made of that bird's +feathers, so Pope Paul, sending to King Pepin a sword, in sign of true +regard, accompanied it with a mantle ornamented with a peacock's plumes. +The highest honours were conferred on these birds; for knights associated +them with all their ideas of fame, and vowed by the peacock, as well as by +the ladies, to perform their highest enterprises. A graceful splendour +often characterised the circumstances in which the vow of the pheasant or +peacock was made. + +On a day of public festival, and between the courses of the repast, a +troop of ladies brought into the assembly a peacock, or a pheasant, +roasted in its feathers, in a golden or silver dish.[198] The hall was +adorned with scenes, and wooden or other semblances of men, animals, or +nature, all being expressive of the object for which the vow of the +peacock was to be taken. If the promotion of religious wars was in view, a +matron, clad in habiliments of woe, entered the room, and, approaching the +dais, or lofty seat, which the chief lords and knights surrounded, she +recited a long complaint, in verse, on the evils she suffered under the +yoke of infidels, and complained of the tardiness of Europe in attempting +her deliverance. Some knights then advanced, to the sound of solemn +minstrelsy, to the lord of the castle, and presented two ladies, who bore +between them the noble bird, in its splendid dish. In a brief speech the +ladies recommended themselves to his protection. The lord promised to make +war upon the infidels, and sanctioned his resolution by appealing to God +and the Virgin Mary, the ladies and the peacock. All the knights who were +in the hall drew their swords and repeated the vow; and, while bright +falchions and ladies' eyes illumined the scene, each knight, inflamed by +thoughts of war and love, added some new difficulty to the enterprise, or +bound himself, by grievous penalties, to achieve it. Sometimes a knight +vowed that he would be the first to enter the enemy's territory. Others +vowed that they would not sleep in beds, nor eat off a cloth, nor drink +wine, till they had been delivered of their emprise. The dish was then +placed upon the table, and the lord of the festival deputed some renowned +knight to carve it in such a manner that every guest might taste the bird. +While he was exercising his talents of carving and subdivision, a lady, +dressed in white, came to thank the assembly, presenting twelve damsels, +each conducted by a cavalier. These twelve represented, by emblematical +dresses, Faith, Charity, Justice, Reason, Prudence, Temperance, Strength, +Generosity, Mercy, Diligence, Hope, and Courage. This bevy of bright +damsels trooped round the hall, amidst the applauses of the assembly, and +then the repast proceeded.[199] + + * * * * * + +These were the military, the religious, and the social qualities of a +preux chevalier. The gentler feelings of his heart will be best delineated +in the next chapter; and, as we have seen him adventurous and imaginative, +so we shall find him amorous and true.[200] + + + + +CHAP. V. + +DAMES AND DAMSELS, AND LADY-LOVE. + + _Courtesy ... Education ... Music ... Graver Sciences ... Dress ... + Knowledge of Medicine ... Every-day Life of the Maiden ... Chivalric + Love ... The Idolatry of the Knight's Passion ... Bravery inspired by + Love ... Character of Woman in the Eyes of a Knight ... Peculiar + Nature of his Love ... Qualities of Knights admired by Women ... A + Tale of chivalric Love ... Constancy ... Absence of Jealousy ... + Knights asserted by Arms their Mistress's Beauty ... Penitents of Love + ... Other Peculiarities of chivalric Love ... The Passion universal + ... Story of Aristotle ... Chivalric Love the Foe to feudal + Distinctions ... But preserved Religion ... When Attachments were + formed ... Societies of Knights for the Defence of Ladies ... Knights + of the Lady in the Green Field ... Customs in England ... Unchivalric + to take Women Prisoners ... Morals of chivalric Times ... Heroines of + Chivalry ... Queen Philippa ... The Countess of March ... Tales of + Jane of Mountfort and of Marzia degl' Ubaldini ... Nobleness of the + chivalric Female Character._ + + +[Sidenote: Courtesy.] + +If we fancy the knight of chivalry as valiant, noble-minded, and gentle, +our imagination pictures to our minds the lady of his love in colours +equally fair and pleasing. But we must not lose her individuality in +general expressions of admiration, for she had a distinct and peculiar +character, which from the circumstances of her life can be accurately +traced. The maiden of gentle birth was, like her brother, educated in the +castle of some knight or baron, her father's friend, and many of her +duties were those of personal attendance. As the young candidate for +chivalric honours carved at table, handed the wines, and made the beds of +his lord, so his sister's care was to dress her lady, to contribute by +music and conversation to her amusement, and to form a part of her state +retinue[201]: and while there was no loss of dignity in this description +of service, the practice being universal and of immemorial antiquity, +feelings of humility insensibly entered the mind, and a kind consideration +for those of harder fortunes softened the severity of feudal pride. Thus a +condescending deportment to inferiors was a duty which their moral +instructors enforced. It was represented to them by the pleasing image of +the sparrow-hawk, which, when called in gentle accents, would come and +settle on her hand, but if, instead of being courteous, she were rude and +cruel, he would remain on the rock's pinnacle heedless of her calls. +Courtesy from persons of superior consideration was the fair right of +people of gentle birth though of small estate, for gentility was always to +be respected, and to the poor man or woman it ought to be shown, because +it gives pleasure to them, and reflects honour on those who bestowed it. A +lady once in company of knights and ladies took off her hood and humbled +herself courteously unto a mechanic. One of her friends exclaimed in +astonishment, "Why, noble dame, you have taken off your hood to a +tailor."--"Yes," she replied, "and I would rather have doffed it to him +than to a gentleman:" and her courteous friends reputed that she had done +right well.[202] + +[Sidenote: Education.] + +[Sidenote: Music.] + +The mental education of women of those days was not of a very high polish. +To repeat the prayers of the church, to sing the brief piece of poetry +called the lai, or the longer romaunt were the only tasks on the +intellect. + + "The king had a daughter dear, + That maiden Ysonde hight; + That glee was lef to hear + And romance to read aright."[203] + +The ladies also played upon the harp. + + "They were wont to harp and syng, + And be the merriest in chamber comyng."[204] + +The same particular of ancient manners is recorded by another poet: + + "The lady that was so fair and bright, + Upon the bed she sat down right, + The harpers notes sweet and fine, + Her maids filled a price of wine. + And Sir Degore sat him down, + For to hear the harper's sown."[205] + +[Sidenote: Graver sciences.] + +But sometimes the graver sciences were introduced into female education, +and Felice, the daughter of Rohand, Earl of Warwick, was not without +parallels. + + "Gentle she was, and as demure + As ger-fauk, or falcon to lure, + That out of mew were y-drawe. + So fair was none, in sooth sawe. + She was thereto courteous, and free and wise, + And in the seven arts learned withouten miss. + Her masters were thither come + Out of Thoulouse all and some, + White and hoar all they were; + Busy they were that maiden to lere; + And they her lered of astronomy, + Of armsmetrick, and of geometry; + Of sophistry she was also witty, + Of rhetorick, and of other clergy: + Learned she was in musick; + Of clergy was her none like."[206] + +Maidens were taught that a mild dignity of demeanour beseemed them, and +moralising their duty into a thousand similies, their teachers declared +that they ought not to resemble the tortoise or the crane, which turn the +visage and the head above their shoulders, and winde their head like a +vane; but their regard and manner ought to be steadfast, in imitation of +the beautiful hare, which always looks right on. If an occasion required a +damsel to look aside, she ought to turn the visage and body together, and +so her estate would be more firm and sure; for it was unmaidenly lightly +to cast about her sight and head, and turn her face here and there.[207] + +[Sidenote: Dress.] + +Simplicity of dress was another part of instruction: but there was to be +no lack of jewels of price and other splendid ornaments on festive +occasions, and, consistently with the general magnificence of religious +worship of the age, maidens were commanded to wear their gorgeous robes at +church, and not merely at courtly festivals. There was a gravity about +chivalry which accorded well with the recommendation for women not quickly +to adopt new dresses introduced from strange countries. Modesty of attire +was the theme of many a wise discourse, and every castle had its story of +the daughter of a knight who lost her marriage by displaying too +conspicuously the graces of her figure, and that the cavalier who was her +intended suitor preferred her sister who had modesty, though not beauty, +for her dower.[208] + +[Sidenote: Knowledge of medicine.] + +All the domestic oeconomy of the baronial mansion was arranged by these +young maidens: and the consideration which this power gave them was not a +little heightened by their sharing with the monks in the knowledge which +the age possessed of vulnerary medicaments. This attribute of skill over +the powers of nature was a clear deduction from that sublime, prophetic, +and mysterious character of women in the ages which preceded the times +both of feudalism and chivalry. The healing art was not reduced to an +elaborate system of principles and rules, for memory to store and talent +to apply, but it was thought that the professors of medicine enjoyed a +holy intercourse with worlds unknown to common minds. The possession of +more than mortal knowledge was readily ascribed to a pure, unearthly being +like woman, and the knight who felt to his heart of hearts the charm of +her beauty was not slow in believing that she could fascinate the very +elements of nature to aid him. There are innumerable passages in the +various works which reflect the manners of chivalric times on the +medicinal practice of dames and damsels. A pleasing passage of Spenser +illustrates their affectionate tendance of the sick. + + "Where many grooms and squires ready were + To take him from his steed full tenderly; + And eke the fairest Alma met him there + With balm and wine and costly spicery, + To comfort him in his infirmity. + Eftesoones she caus'd him up to be conveyed, + And of his arms despoiled easily: + In sumptuous bed she made him to be laid, + And, all the while his wounds were dressing, by him stay'd."[209] + +Chirurgical knowledge was also a necessary feminine accomplishment, and we +will accept the reason of the cavalier with "high thoughts, seated in a +heart of courtesy," for such a remarkable feature in their character. "The +art of surgery," says Sir Philip Sidney, "was much esteemed, because it +served to virtuous courage, which even ladies would, even with the +contempt of cowards, seem to cherish."[210] A fair maiden could perform as +many wonderful cures as the most renowned and skilful leech. The gentle +Nicolette successfully treated an accident which her knight Aucassin met +with. + + "So prosper'd the sweet lass, her strength alone + Thrust deftly back the dislocated bone; + Then, culling curious herbs of virtue tried, + While her white smock the needful bands supplied: + With many a coil the limb she swath'd around, + And nature's strength return'd, nor knew its former wound." + +Spenser favours us with the ladies' method of treating a wound. + + "Mekely she bowed down, to weete if life + Yet in his frozen members did remain; + And, feeling by his pulses beating rife + That the weak soul her seat did yet retain, + She cast to comfort him with busy pain: + His double-folded neck she reared upright, + And rubb'd his temples and each trembling vein; + His mailed haberieon she did undight, + And from his head his heavy burganet did light. + + Into the woods thenceforth in haste she went, + To seek for herbs that mote him remedy; + For she of herbes had great intendiment, + Taught of the nymph from whom her infancy + Her nourced had in true nobility. + + * * * * * + + The soveraine weede betwixt two marbles plain, + She powder'd small, and in pieces bruize; + And then atweene her lily handes twain + Into his wound ye juice thereof did scruze; + And round about, as she could well it use, + The flesh therewith she suppled and did steepe + T'abate all spasm and soke the swelling bruise; + And, after having search't the intuse deep, + She with her scarf did bind the wound, from cold to keep."[211] + +[Sidenote: Every-day life of the maiden.] + +The every-day life of a young maiden in chivalric times is described with +a great deal of spirit in the fine old English tale, of the Squire of Low +Degree. I am not acquainted with any other passage of the metrical +romances which contains so vivid a picture of the usages of our ancestors. +To dissipate his daughter's melancholy for the loss of her lover, the King +of Hungary says, + + "To-morrow ye shall on hunting fare, + And ride, my daughter, in a chair,[212] + It shall be covered with velvet red, + And cloths of fine gold all about your head; + With damask white and azure blue + Well diapered with lilies new. + Your pomelles shall be ended with gold, + Your chains enameled many a fold; + Your mantle of rich degree, + Purple pall and ermine fre. + + Jennets of Spain that be so white + Trapped to the ground with velvet bright. + Ye shall have harp, sawtry, and song, + And other myrthes you among; + Ye shall have Rumney and Malmesyne, + Both ypocrass and vernage wine, + Mount rose and wine of Greek, + Both algrade and despice eke; + Antioch and bastard, + Piment also and gamarde; + Wine of Greek and muscadell, + Both clare piment and rochell,[213] + The red your stomach to defy, + And pots of osey set you by. + + You shall have venison ybake,[214] + The best wild fowl that may be take. + A lese of greyhounds with you to strike, + And hart and hind and other lyke, + Ye shall be set at such a tryst[215] + That hart and hind shall come to your fist. + Your disease to drive you fro, + To hear the bugles there yblowe. + Homeward thus shall ye ride, + On hawking by the river's side, + With goss hawk and with gentle falcon, + With egle-horn, and merlyon.[216] + When you come home your men among, + Ye shall have revel dance and song, + Little children great and small + Shall sing as doth the nightingale. + + Then shall ye go to your even song, + With tenors and trebles among, + Threescore of ropes of damask bright + Full of pearls they shall be pight,[217] + Your censers shall be of gold + Indent with azure many a fold: + Your choir nor organ song shall want + With counter note and discant. + The other half on organs playing, + With young children full fair singing. + + Then shall ye go to your supper, + And sit in tents in green arbour, + With cloth of arras pight to the ground, + With saphires set and diamond. + The nightingale sitting on a thorn + Shall sing you notes both even and morn. + An hundred knights truly told, + Shall play with bowls in alleys cold, + Your disease to drive away, + To see the fishes in pools play. + And then walk in arbour up and down, + To see the flowers of great renown. + To a draw-bridge then shall ye, + The one half of stone, the other of tree; + A barge shall meet you, full right, + With twenty-four oars full bright, + With trumpets and with clarion, + The fresh water to row up and down. + + * * * * * + + Into your chamber they shall you bring + With much mirth and more liking. + Your blankets shall be of fustain, + Your sheets shall be of cloths of Rayne;[218] + Your head sheet shall be of pery pyght,[219] + With diamonds set and ruby bright. + When you are laid in bed so soft, + A cage of gold shall hang aloft, + With long pepper fair burning, + And cloves that be sweet smelling, + Frankinsence and olibanum,[220] + That when you sleep the taste may come, + And if ye no rest can make, + All night minstrels for you shall wake." + +[Sidenote: Chivalric love.] + +In that singular system of manners which we call chivalric, religion was a +chief influential principle of action; but scarcely less consequence ought +in truth to be given to another feeling apparently incompatible with it; +and if Venus, in the Greek mythology, was called the universal cause, her +empire seems not to have been less extensive in days of knighthood. A +Latin poet, of no mean authority in such subjects, has described love as +the sole employment of woman's life, and of man's only a part[221]; and +Boccacio says, that he composed his tales for the solace of fair and noble +ladies in love, who, confined within their melancholy chambers, had no +other occupation, but perpetually to revolve in their minds the same +consuming thoughts, rendered intolerable by shame and concealment: while +man might hunt, hawk, fish, and had a thousand channels for his thoughts. + +But the state of society at Rome was not similar to that in days of +knighthood, and though Boccacio lived in those days, he describes the +manners of commercial cities rather than of chivalric courts, of fair +Florence and not of a frowning baronial castle. The ideas of God and of +love were always blended in the heart of the true knight, and to be loving +was as necessary as to be devout. Cervantes expresses the feelings of +chivalry in the declaration of Don Quixote, that "a knight without a +mistress was like a tree without either fruit or leaves, or a body +without a soul." A ship without a rudder, a horse without a bridle, were +other illustrations of the prevailing sentiment, and more expressive of +the characteristic of chivalric love, which assigned superiority to woman, +which made her the directress of the thoughts, and inspirer of the courage +of her chosen cavalier. "A knight may never be of prowess, but if he be a +lover," was the sentiment of Sir Tristram, a valiant peer of Arthur, and +it was echoed by every gentle son of chivalry.[222] Not, indeed, that +every knight felt this strength and purity of passion. Spenser has +described four cavaliers, and each represents a large class. + + "Druon's delight was all for single life, + And unto ladie's love would lend no leasure; + The more was Claribell engaged rife + With fervent flames, and loved out of measure: + So eke lov'd Blandamour, but yet at pleasure + Would change his liking, and new lemans prove: + But Paridell of love did make no threasure, + But lusted after all that did him move: + So diversely these four disposed were to love."[223] + +[Sidenote: The idolatry of the knight's passion.] + +The true knight, he whose mind was formed in the best mould of chivalric +principles, was a more perfect personification of love than poets and +romancers have ever dreamed. The fair object of his passion was truly and +emphatically the mistress of his heart. She reigned there with absolute +dominion. His love was, + + "All adoration, duty, and observance." + +Our old English poet, Gower, whose soul was filled with romantic +tenderness and gallantry, says, + + "In every place, in every stead, + What so my lady hath me bid, + With all my heart obedient, + I have thereto been diligent." + +And every gallant spirit of Gower's days, the reign of Edward III., said +of his mistress, + + "What thing she bid me do, I do, + And where she bid me go, I go. + And when she likes to call, I come, + I serve, I bow, I look, I lowte, + My eye followeth her about. + What so she will, so will I, + When she would set, I kneel by. + And when she stands then will I stand, + And when she taketh her work in hand, + Of wevying or of embroidrie, + Then can I not but muse and prie, + Upon her fingers long and small." + +Gower, in describing the knight's mode of tendance on his mistress, has +drawn a pleasing picture of the domestic life of chivalry. + + "And if she list to riden out, + On pilgrimage, or other stead, + I come, though I be not bid, + And take her in my arms aloft, + And set her in her saddle soft, + And so forth lead her by the bridle, + For that I would not be idle. + And if she list to ride in chare, + And that I may thereof beware, + Anon, I shape me to ride, + Right even by the chares side, + And as I may, I speak among, + And other while, I sing a song."[224] + +These quotations show that the expression in ancient times of knights +being servants of the ladies was not a mere figure of the imagination. The +instances from Gower, however, which prove the propriety of the title, may +not be thought exclusively chivalric. A story in Froissart will fully +supply the want. A Bourbon knight, named Sir John Bonnelance, a valiant +soldier, gracious and amorous, was once at Montferrand, in Auvergne, +sporting among the ladies and damsels of the town. While commending his +chivalry, they urged him to undertake an enterprise against the English, +and she who, as his lady-love, was ruler of his actions, told him that she +would fain see an Englishman, for she had heard much of the valiancy of +the knights of England. Bonnelance replied, "that if it should ever be his +good fortune to take one, he would bring him into her presence." Soon +afterwards he was able to perform his word. He took to Montferrand some +English prisoners, and addressing her who fancied the wish of seeing an +Englishman, he said "that for her love he had brought them to the town." +The ladies and damsels laughed, and turned the matter to a great sport. +They thanked him for his courtesy, and entertained him right sweetly +during his three days abode at Montferrand.[225] + +[Sidenote: Love inspired bravery.] + +The knight, whose heart was warmed with the true light of chivalry, never +wished that the dominion of his mistress should be less than absolute, and +the confession of her perfect virtue, which this feeling implied, made him +preserve his own faith pure and without a stain. Love was as marked a +feature in the chivalric character as valour; and, in the phrase of the +time, he who understood how to break a lance, and did not understand how +to win a lady, was but half a man. He fought to gain her smiles, for love +in brave and gentle knights kindled aspirations for high desert and +honour. "Oh! that my lady saw me," was the exclamation of a knight in the +pride of successful valour as he mounted the city's wall, and with his +good sword was proving the worth of his chivalry.[226] He wore her +colours, and the favour of his lady bright was the chief ornament of his +harness. She judged the prize at the tournament, assisted him to arm, and +was the first and the most joyous to hail his return from the perils of +war. + + "A damisel came unto me, + The seemliest that ever I se, + Luffumer[227] lifed never in land, + Hendly she take me by the hand; + And soon that gentle creature + Al unlaced mine armure + Into a chamber she me led, + And with a mantle she me cled; + It was of purpur fair and fine, + And the pane of rich ermine; + Al the folk war went us fra, + And there was none than both we twa; + She served me hendely to hend, + Her manners might no man amend; + Of tong she was true and renable, + And of her semblant soft and stabile. + Fullfain I would, if that I might, + Have woned[228] with that sweet wight: + And when we sold go to sopere + That lady with a lufforn chere, + Led me down into the hall, + That war we served wele at all."[229] + +[Sidenote: Character of woman in the eyes of a knight.] + +A soldier of chivalry would go to battle, proud of the title, a pursuivant +of love[230], and in the contests of chivalric skill, which, like the +battles of Homer's heroes, gave brilliancy and splendour to war, a knight +challenged another to joust with a lance for love of the ladies; and he +commended himself to the mistress of his heart for protection and +assistance. In his mind woman was a being of mystic power; in the forests +of Germany her voice had been listened to like that of the spirit of the +woods, melodious, solemn, and oracular; and when chivalry was formed into +a system, the same idea of something supernaturally powerful in her +character threw a shadowy and serious interest over softer feelings, and +she was revered as well as loved. While this devotedness of soul to +woman's charms appeared in his general intercourse with the sex, in a +demeanor of homage, in a grave and stately politeness, his lady-love he +regarded with religious constancy. Fickleness would have been a species of +impiety, for she was not a toy that he played with, but a divinity whom he +worshipped. This adoration of her sustained him through all the perils +that lay before his reaching his heart's desire; and loyalty (a word that +has lost its pristine and noble meaning) was the choicest quality in the +character of the preux chevalier. + +[Sidenote: Peculiar nature of his love.] + +It was supported, too, by the state of the world he lived in. He fought +the battles of his country and his church, and he travelled to foreign +lands as a pilgrim, or a crusader, for such were the calls of his +chivalry. To be the first in the charge and the last in the retreat was +the counsel which one knight gave to another, on being asked the surest +means of winning a lady fair. Love was the crowning grace, the guerdon of +his toils, and its gentle influence aided him in discharging the duties of +his gallant and solemn profession. The lady Isabella, daughter of the Earl +of Jullyers, loved the lord Eustace Damberticourt for the great nobleness +of arms that she had heard reported of him; and her messengers often +carried to him letters of love, whereby her noble paramour was the more +hardy in his deeds of arms.[231] "I should have loved him better dead than +alive," another damsel exclaimed, on hearing that her knight had survived +his honour. + +[Sidenote: Qualities in knights admired by women.] + +[Sidenote: A tale of chivalric love.] + +No wonder that in those ages of violence bravery was the manly quality, +dear, above all others, in woman's eyes. Its possession atoned for want of +every personal grace; and the damsel who, on being reproached for loving +an ugly man, replied, "he is so valiant I have never looked in his face," +apologised for her passion in a manner that every woman of her time could +sympathise with. As proficiency in chivalric exercises was the only +distinction of the age, it would have been contrary to its spirit and laws +for a gentle maiden to have loved any other than a knight who had achieved +high deeds of arms. The advancement of his fame was, therefore, among the +dearest wishes of her heart, and she fanned his love of noble enterprise +in order to speed the hour of their union. The poets and romance-writers +of the days of chivalry bear ample testimony to the existence of this +state of feeling, and to the perils which brave men underwent to gain fair +ladies' smiles; but all their tales must yield in pathos to the following +simple historical fact:--When the Scots were endeavouring to throw off the +yoke which Edward I. had imposed on them, the recovery of the castle of +Douglas was the unceasing effort of the good Lord James. It was often lost +and won; for if the vigilance of the English garrison relaxed for a +moment, the Scots, who lived in the neighbourhood, and were ever on the +watch, aided their feudal lord in regaining the fortress, which, however, +he could not maintain long against the numerous chivalry of England. The +possession of this castle seemed to be held by so perilous a tenure, that +it excited the noblest aspirations for fame in the breasts of the English; +and a fair maiden, perplexed by the number of knights who were in suit of +her, vowed she would bestow her hand upon him who preserved the +adventurous or hazardous castle of Douglas for a year and a day. Sir John +Walton boldly and gladly undertook the emprise, and right gallantly he +held possession of the fortress for some months. At length he was slain in +a sally which Douglas provoked him to make. On his person was found a +letter which he had lately received from his lady-love, commending his +noble chevisance, declaring that her heart was now his, and praying him to +return to her forthwith, without exposing himself to further peril. The +good Lord James of Douglas grieved when he read this letter, and it was +generous and gallant of him to lament that a brother knight should be +slain when his fairest hopes of happiness seemed on the point of being +realised.[232] + +[Sidenote: Constancy.] + +The loves of chivalric times must often have been shaded with gloom, and +so convulsed was the state of Europe, so distant were its parts often +thrown from each other, that the course of true love seldom ran smoothly, +and affianced knights and damsels more frequently breathed the wish of +annihilating time and space than is necessary in the happier monotony of +modern times. In almost every case of attachment absence was unavoidable, +and constancy, therefore, became a necessary virtue of love in chivalry. + + "Young knight whatever, that dost arms profess, + And through long labours huntest after fame, + Beware of fraud, beware of fickleness, + In choice, and change, of thy dear loved dame; + Least thou of her believe too lightly blame, + And rash misweening do thy heart remove; + For unto knight there is no greater shame + Than lightness and inconstancy in love."[233] + + * * * * * + +His mistress was ever present to his imagination, and he felt there would +be a witness to his disloyalty. Even if he could dismiss her picture from +his mind, his own sense of honour preserved his virtue, and the reply of a +knight to a beautiful temptress, that though his sovereign-lady might +never know of his conduct, yet his heart, which was constantly near her, +could not be ignorant, was conceived in the purest spirit of chivalry. + +[Sidenote: Absence of jealousy.] + +The troubadours, who were the teachers of the art of love, refined upon +this respectful passion of the knight in a very amusing manner. They were +wont to affirm, that though a knight saw cause for jealousy, yet if his +lady-love were to deny the circumstances, he was to reply that he was +convinced of the verity of her assertions; but he really did believe he +had witnessed such and such matters.[234] + +[Sidenote: Knights asserted by arms their mistress' beauty.] + +Chivalric love had, indeed, its absurdities as well as its impieties. It +was a pleasing caricature of chivalry, when the knight of La Mancha +stationed himself in the middle of a high road, and calling to the +merchants of Toledo, who were bound to the silk fairs at Murcia, forbad +them to pass, unless they acknowledged that there was not in the universe +a more beautiful damsel than the empress of La Mancha, the peerless +Dulcinea del Toboso. For the knights of chivalry were not satisfied to +fight in defence of the ladies, and to joust in their honour, but from the +extravagancy of their love, each knight maintained at the point of his +lance, that his mistress surpassed all other ladies in beauty.[235] The +knight Jehan de Saintré (whose education in chivalry has been already +described by me) vowed to wear a helmet of a particular shape, and to +visit, during three years, the courts of Europe, maintaining against all +their chivalry the beauty of his mistress. Four knights and five squires, +who had made a similar vow, were his companions. At a tournament held by +the Emperor of Germany, the noble undertaking was held to be accomplished, +and the emblems of the emprise were unchained from the left shoulder of +the gallant knights and squires.[236] Indeed, wherever a knight went, to +court or to camp, he asserted the superiority of his lady and his love, +but he hurled his defiances not against simple merchants, as our right +worshipful knight Don Quixote did, but against persons of his own rank, +who were in amours as well as himself. Instances of this chivalric +disposition occur frequently in chivalric history: but Cervantes +caricatured the romances, and not the sober chronicles of chivalry, when, +in reply to the natural enquiry of one of the merchants regarding the +beauty of the lady, he made his hero exclaim, "Had I once shown you that +beauty, what wonder would it be to acknowledge so notorious a truth? the +importance of the thing lies in obliging you to believe it, confess it, +affirm it, swear it, and maintain it, without seeing her." But the display +of chivalric bravery in avowal of woman's beauty proceeded from so noble a +feeling, that it must not be censured or satirised too severely, for + + "Who is the owner of a treasure + Above all value, but, without offence, + May glory in the glad possession of it?" + +[Sidenote: Penitents of love.] + +As history, however, should be a record, and not a panegyric, I proceed to +observe, that the most marked display of the extravagancies of our knights +took place in the courts of love; but as I have dilated on that topic in +another work, I am precluded of treating the subject here, and it is the +tritest of all the subjects of chivalry. Equally ridiculous among the +amatory phrenzies of the middle ages was the society of the penitents of +love, formed by some ladies and gentlemen in Poictou, at the beginning of +the fourteenth century. They opposed themselves to nature in every thing, +on the principle that love can effect the strangest metamorphoses. During +the hottest months of summer, they covered themselves with mantles lined +with fur, and in their houses they sat before large fires. When winter +came they affected to be burning with the fires of love, and a dress of +the slightest texture wrapt their limbs. This society did not endure long, +nor was its example pernicious. A few enthusiasts perished, and reason +then resumed her empire.[237] + +[Sidenote: Other peculiarities of chivalric love.] + +The knight was as zealous in the gentle as in the more solemn affections +of the soul. He believed that both God and love hated hard and +hypocritical hearts. In a bolder strain of irreverence he thought that +both God and love could be softened by prayer, and that he who served both +with fidelity would secure to himself happiness in this life and the joys +of Paradise hereafter. On other occasions the gallant spirit of chivalry +spoke more rationally. Love, according to one renowned knight, is the +chaste union of two hearts, which, attached by virtue, live for the +promotion of happiness, having only one soul and one will in common. + + "Liege lady mine! (Gruélan thus return'd,) + With love's bright fires this bosom ne'er hath burn'd. + Love's sovereign lore, mysterious and refined, + Is the pure confluence of immortal mind; + Chaste union of two hearts by virtue wrought, + Where each seems either in word, deed, and thought, + Each singly to itself no more remains, + But one will guides, one common soul sustains."[238] + +[Sidenote: The passion universal.] + +[Sidenote: Story of Aristotle.] + +So prevailing was amatory enthusiasm, that not only did poets fancy +themselves inspired by love, but learned clerks were its subjects, and in +spite of its supposed divinity some natural satire fell upon the scholar +who yielded to its fascination. In Gower's Confessio Amantis, the +omnipotence of love is strikingly displayed; for besides those whom we +might expect to see at the feet of the goddess, we are presented with +Plato and Socrates, and even him who was the object of veneration +bordering on idolatry in the ages which we in courtesy to ourselves call +dark. Gower, the moral Gower, says with some humour, + + "I saw there Aristotle also, + Whom that the queen of Greece also + Hath bridled, that in thilke time + She made him such a syllogisme + That he forgot all his logike." + +The story whereon this sentence was founded was among the most popular of +the times. The delights of love had made Alexander pause in the career of +ambition. His host of knights and barons were discontented at the change, +and Aristotle, as the tutor and guardian of his youthful course, +endeavoured to rouse anew the spirit of the hero. The prince attempted no +lengthened reply to this appeal to his chivalry; + + "Sighing, alone he cried, as inly mov'd, + Alas! these men, meseems, have never lov'd." + +The grave saws of the sage took root, however, in Alexander's heart, and +he absented himself from his mistress. She wailed her fate for some time +in solitude, but at length assured that it was not the mere capriciousness +of passion which kept him from her, she forced herself into the presence +of her lord. Her beauty smiled away all dreams of glory from his mind, and +in the fondness of his love he accused Aristotle of breaking in upon his +joy. But the dominion of his passion was only momentary, and recovering +the martial tone of his soul, he declared the sad necessity of their +parting. She then requested a brief delay, promising to convince the king +that his tutor's counsel derived no additional recommendation from his +practice, for that he stood in need of as much instruction as Alexander +himself. Accordingly, with the first appearance of the next morning, the +damsel repaired to the lawn before the chamber where Aristotle lay. As she +approached the casement, she broke the stillness of the air by chanting a +love ditty, and the sweetness of her wild notes charmed the philosopher +from his studious page. He softly stole to the window, and beheld a form +far fairer than any image of truth which his fancy had just previously +been conceiving. Her face was not shrouded by vail or wimple, her long +flaxen tresses strayed negligently down her neck, and her dress, like +drapery on an antient statue, displayed the beauty of a well-turned limb. +She loitered about the place on pretence of gathering a branch of a +myrtle-tree, and winding it round her forehead. When her confidence in her +beauty assured her that Aristotle was mad for her love, she stole +underneath the casement, and, in a voice checked by sighs, she sang that +love detained her there. Aristotle drank the delicious sounds, and gazing +again, her charms appeared more resplendent than before. Reason faintly +whispered that he was not born to be loved, and that his hair was now +white with age, his forehead wrinkled with study; but passion and vanity +drove away these faint remonstrances, and Aristotle was a sage no more. +The damsel carelessly passed his window, and in the delirium of his love +he caught the floating folds of her robe. She affected anger, and he +avowed his passion. She listened to his confession with a surprize of +manner that fanned his flame, and she answered him by complaining of the +late coldness of Alexander. The greybeard, not caring for a return of +love, so that she accepted his suit, promised to bring his pupil to her +feet, if she would but confer some sign of favour upon himself. She +feigned an intention of compliance, but declared that, before she yielded, +she must be indulged in a foolish whim which long had distracted her +fancy. Aristotle then renewed his professions of devoted love, and she in +sentences, broken by exclamations of apparent shame at her folly, vowed +that she was dying to mount and ride upon the back of a wise man. He was +now so passionately in love, that the fancies of his mistress appeared +divinest wisdom to his mind, and he immediately threw himself along the +ground in a crawling attitude. She seated herself in a gorgeous saddle +which she placed on his back, and, throwing a rein round his neck, she +urged him to proceed. In a few moments they reached the terrace under the +royal apartments, and the king beheld the singular spectacle. A peal of +laughter from the windows awoke the philosopher to a sense of his state, +and when he saw his pupil he owned that youth might well yield to love, as +it had power to break even the frost of age. + +Such was the lay of Aristotle which the wandering minstrel chanted in the +baronial hall, and the damsel in her lady's bower, and the pleasing moral +of the fable was not more sincerely echoed by the shouts of the gallant +knights and squires than by the broken sighs of beauty. + + "Mark ye, who hear me, that no blameful shade + Be thrown henceforth on gallant or on maid. + For here, by grave example taught, we find + That mighty love is master of mankind. + Love conquers all, and love shall conquer still, + Last the round world how long soe'er it will."[239] + +It is singular to observe that in the north and in the south, in Germany +and in Languedoc, the love of the cavalier bore the same character, the +same blending of tender and devotional feelings. The troubadour burned +tapers, and caused masses to be said for the success of his love, and +when the fervour of passion for his mistress was crossed by religious awe, +he declared that the part of his heart which God held was still under the +superior dominion of his lady-love. The German knight wrote poems to the +honour of the Virgin Mary and the damsel of his heart, and it is not +always easy to distinguish to which of these persons his vows are +addressed.[240] He adored the shadow, nay, the very neighbourhood of his +mistress, and declared that nothing could induce him to violate his vow of +fidelity. Here, however, the resemblance ceases, for the knights of +France, England, and Spain were not more highly distinguished for +chivalric courtesy, than the Germans were remarkable for ferocity and +savageness.[241] Once, and once only, were there courts of love in +Germany. They were established by Frederic Barbarossa, and they did not +long survive their founder. + +[Sidenote: Chivalric love the foe to feudal distinctions.] + +Chivalric love took delight in reconciling and joining the opposites of +the world.[242] It was no cold and calculating principle; it abrogated the +distinctions of wealth and rank, and many a knight, whose whole fortune +lay in his prowess, gained the hand of high-born beauty. "How can I +hope," observed a young candidate for chivalry to a lady of high estate, +"how can I hope to find a damsel of noble birth, who will return the +affection of a knight that, ungraced by rank, has only his good sword to +trust to?"--"And why should you not find her?" replied the lady; "are you +not gently born? are you not a handsome youth? have you not eyes to gaze +on her, ears to hear her, feet to move at her will, body and heart to +accomplish loyally her commands? and, possessed of these qualities, can +you doubt to adventure yourself in the service of a lady, however exalted +her rank?"[243] + +A squire of low degree often aspired to the hand of a king's daughter: + + "And I have seen that many a page + Have become men by marriage." + +The intenseness of passion, and the generousness of soul implied in this +state of manners, were sternly opposed by feudal pride and tyranny; but +chivalry could not always beat down the absurd distinctions of society. +When the Countess of Vergy returned the passion of Sir Agolane, she was +obliged to love in secret, lest the dignity of the court of Burgundy +should be offended.[244] The maidens themselves sometimes sanctioned the +prejudices of feudalism, in opposition to the generous feelings of +chivalry and nature. Felice, daughter of Rahand, Earl of Warwick, +disdained to return the passion of Guy, her father's steward, till an +angel in a dream commanded her to love him.[245] + +[Sidenote: But preserved religion.] + +Agreement in religious opinions was as necessary as sympathy of souls in +the loves of chivalry; and many a story is related of a knight reposing in +a lady's chamber, where, instead of adoring the divinity of the place, he +assailed her with a fierce invective against her religious creed.[246] On +such occasions he forgot even his courtesy, and shamed his knighthood by +calling her a heathen hound: + + "I will not go one foot on ground + For to speak with an heathen hound; + Unchristen hounds I rede ye flee, + Or I your heart's blood will see." + +But + + "'Mercy,' she cried, 'my lemman sweet!'-- + (She fell down and 'gan to weep)-- + 'Forgive me that I have mis-said, + I will that ye be well assayed! + My false gods I will forsake, + And Christendom for thy love take.' + 'On that covenant,' said Sir Bevis than, + 'I will thee love, fair Josyan!'"[247] + +[Sidenote: When attachments were formed.] + +The occasions which kindled the flame of love in the heart of the knight +and the maiden of chivalry were various, and many of them well calculated +to give rise to romantic and enthusiastic attachments. Sometimes the +parties had been educated in the same castle, and passion insensibly +succeeded childish amusements. The masque and the ball were often the +theatre of love; but, above all other scenes, it spread its light over the +brilliant tournament. Performed in honour and in view of the ladies, it +was there that love exerted its mightiest power. She who gave the prize +bestowed almost universally her heart upon the brave and skilful +vanquisher, and many were the tears she shed, if she found that the +knight had been proving his puissance only to win the heart of some other +fair one. It often happened that the circumstances of life carried a young +cavalier to a baronial castle, where he found more peril in the daughter's +fair looks than in the frowning battlements of her father. At the feast +which welcomed the stranger, eyes mingled in love, and the suddenness of +passion was always considered as the strongest proof of its purity and +strength. The damsel might then avow her affection without any violation +of maidenly shame; for generous, confiding love, reading another's heart +in its own, dreaded no petty triumphs of vanity from confessing its +fondness. It often occurred that a knight, weary and wounded, was confided +to the ministrations of woman's tenderness; and Spenser, who had read the +history as well as the romance of chivalry, tells us, + + "O foolish physick, and unfruitful pain, + That heals up one, and makes another wound." + +[Sidenote: Societies of knights for defence of ladies.] + +[Sidenote: Knights of the Lady in the Green Field.] + +The rude state of society, which it was the noble object of chivalry to +soften, presented many occasions for the display of generous affections, +and love was the grateful return of protection. A cavalier called the +Knight of the Swan reinstated a lady in the possessions of which the Duke +of Saxony had deprived her. Indignant that the throne, and not chivalry, +should be regarded as the fountain of justice, knights sometimes formed +themselves into associations for the express object of defending the +rights of all ladies that required their aid. At one period (during the +reign of Charles VI.) of great violence in France, the ladies and +gentlewomen of the country laid before the king grievous complaints of +their sufferings from powerful lords, and lamented that gallantry was so +much degenerated, that no knights and squires had attempted to defend +them. They appealed, therefore, to the king, as the fountain of justice, +to afford them protection. This appeal roused the dormant chivalry of +France; and the valiant knight and marshal, Boucicaut[248], whose skill as +a jouster will be described anon, gathered round him twelve preux +chevaliers, and the fraternity avowed themselves champions of oppressed +dames and damsels. The gallantry of their object was proclaimed to the +world by the device on their shields of a fair lady in a green field, and +their letters of arms, circulated throughout France, promised that they +would assist all ladies and gentlewomen who were injured in their honours +or fortunes.[249] + +[Sidenote: Custom in England.] + +The same generous feeling warmed the hearts of the English chivalry. We +become acquainted with this feature of our ancient national character, not +in dry monkish chronicles, but in the living page of one of our earliest +and greatest poets. Chaucer makes all the persons of his dramatic tale +speak agreeably to their rank and station in the world; and he puts into +the mouth of his very perfect and gentle knight the following spirited +description of the gallant feelings of English nobles and gentles in the +time of Edward III. + + "For every knight that loved chivalry, + And would his thanks have a passant name, + Hath prayed that he might be of that game, + And well was him that thereto chosen was! + For if there to-morrow such a case, + Ye knowen well that every lusty knight + That loveth _par amour_, and hath his might, + Were it in Engleland, or elsewhere, + They would, hir thanks, willen to be there. + _To fight for a lady, a! benedicite, + It were a lusty sight for to see!_"[250] + +And thus it continued in every age of chivalric history. Noble knights of +prowess were ever perilling themselves in the cause of woman. So late as +the year 1425, when the title to certain territories in Hainault was +contested between the English Duke of Gloucester and John of Brabant on +behalf of the lady Jacquiline, those gallant cavaliers, the bastard of St. +Pol, and André de Humieres appeared at Hesden with silver rings on their +right arms, proclaiming the superior title of Jacquiline.[251] + +These are a few of the historical facts, which shew that the ancient +romancers did not paint from their imagination when they described gallant +cavaliers wandering over the gloomy waste of feudal Europe, in order to +redress wrongs and injuries, to relieve widows, and defend the honor of +damsels. Sometimes a knight rode alone, and like the valorous Don Quixote +left it to his horse's discretion to go which way he pleased. In other +cases they went in parties of three or four in quest of adventures. That +they might surprise the enemy they sought for, they changed or disguised +their armorial distinctions. A year and a day was the general term for +enterprises of this nature; and at the conclusion they rendered to their +sovereign mistresses an account of their adventures, and ingenuously +confessed their faults and misfortunes.--But I find myself stepping into +the regions of romance, which are not the province of this work. I return +therefore, to the realities of chivalry, which are no less pleasing than +its fictions. + +[Sidenote: Unchivalric to take women prisoners.] + +The protection of widows and orphans, and all ladies of virtuous repute, +was indeed the serious duty ever present to the imagination of a preux +chevalier. The praiseworthy soldier was he who chose to fight for dames +and damsels in preference to contending in vain-glorious frays, and with +equal spirit it was thought that death was too slight a punishment for the +man who could offer scathe or dishonour to, or deceive or wrong a gentle +lady. From this generous consideration for woman proceeded the honorable +maxim in chivalry, of its not being just or courteous to take ladies in +war.[252] When a town was captured, the heralds of the conqueror +proclaimed his will, that no violence nor displeasure should be done to +any lady or gentlewoman. In the reign of Edward III. Caen fell into the +hands of the English, and Sir Thomas Holland preserved many ladies, +damsels, and nuns, from outrage worse than death. About the same time the +castle of Poys was taken by the English, and two noble knights (one was +the renowned Sir John Chandos) saved from violation two fair damsels, +daughters of the Lord of Poys. The ladies were conducted into the presence +of Edward, who, for his honor, made them good cheer, and caused them to be +carried in safety to a town friendly to their family.[253] And the +generous feelings of cavaliers for ladies were nobly requited. In the wars +of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, the Emperor Conrad, as an offended +sovereign, had refused all terms of capitulation to the garrison of +Winnisberg; but as a courteous knight, he permitted the women to depart +with such of their precious effects as they themselves could transport. +The gates of the town were thrown open, and a long procession of matrons, +each bearing a husband, or a father, or brother, on her shoulders, passed +in safety through the applauding camp.[254] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Morals of chivalric times.] + +Some writers have severely censured the morals of the chivalric æra, and +according to them every species of licentiousness was practised by its +dames and damsels. This opinion is as erroneous as the one which it +superseded, that in the times we speak of every knight was brave, and +every woman was chaste; an assertion bearing more liberality than truth on +its face, considering that it refers to a period of seven or eight +centuries, and that the objects of the panegyric were the largest part of +the European world. For my part, I shall not, like the knight of La +Mancha, challenge to a _joust à l'outrance_ any discourteous cavalier who +has the audacity to declare that Queen Madasima was scandalously familiar +with a barber-surgeon; but I think that our imaginations do not altogether +deceive us in painting the days of chivalry as days of feminine virtue. + +If we regard the times in reference only to their baronial and feudal +features, the view is deeply dyed with turpitude, and the romances, whence +the denunciations against the ladies of forepast ages have been drawn, are +not sparing in their pictures of licentiousness. But chivalry was the +golden thread that ran through the middle ages, the corrective of vice, +the personification of virtue. That it did not altogether succeed in +colouring with its brightness the surrounding gloom is sufficiently true, +and the times warranted the assertion of a character in Amadis de Gaul, +that our country yields, as others do, both good and bad. The romances +present us with instances of the profligacy of women, and so they also do +of the baseness of knights: but as no one will contend that chivalry did +not in general inspire its professors with sentiments of honour, so its +virtuous influence cannot in fairness be denied to the maidens of its age. +Let us not, as Spenser says, blame the whole sex for the fault of one. + + "Fair ladies that to love captived are + And chaste desires do nourish in your mind, + Let not her fault your sweet affections mar; + Ne blot the bounty of all womankind, + 'Mongst thousands good, one wanton dame to find: + Amongst the roses grow some wicked weeds: + For this was not to love, but lust, inclin'd; + For love doth always bring forth bounteous deeds, + And in each gentle heart desire of honour breeds."[255] + +The romance writers were satirists, but they had more humour than +malignity. Every one of them introduces a magical test of feminine virtue, +a drinking cup, a mantle or a girdle. This is harmless; and their general +censure of women is without point; for they were for the most part men of +profligate habits, and judged the other sex by the standard of their own +vices. + + "Safe her, I never any woman found + That chastity did for itself embrace + But were for other causes firm and sound; + Either for want of handsome time and place, + Or else for fear of shame and foul disgrace."[256] + +This is the burthen of all their declamations against women; and Spenser +has shewn how little credit he gave to it, for he does not let it proceed +from the mouth of any of his preux chevaliers, but from a wretched +profligate, misnamed the squire of dames.[257] + +However highly some enthusiastic minds may have coloured the manners of +the chivalric ages, still it is unquestionable that the love of the knight +was not the mere impulse of passion, but that the feeling was raised and +refined by respect. Now, as nature is ever true to herself, as certain +causes have had certain operations in all ages and in all countries, so +this purity of love must have been followed by a corresponding correctness +of morals. Women had every reason to retain and support the virtues of +their nature; for it was only in behalf of those of fair reputation and +honour, that the knight was compelled by his principles to draw his sword; +all others were without the pale of chivalry; and although many instances +can be found in the romances of feminine indiscretion, yet the princess in +the celebrated romance of Tirante the White accurately describes the +general feeling when she submits to lose all her claims on the noble +chevisance of knights, if she failed in observing a promise of marriage +which she had given to a gallant cavalier that loved her. + +The knights, though courteous to the highest polish of refinement, were +rigid and inflexible censors; and in those days as well as in these, each +sex formed the character of the other.[258] The cavalier in travelling +would write on the door of a castle where a dame of tarnished reputation +resided, some sentence of infamy; and on the contrary, he would pause at +the door of a lady of pure honour and salute her courteously. Even on +solemn and public occasions distinctions were made between women in +matters of ceremony. If any lady of sullied fame took precedence of a dame +of bright virtue, a cavalier would advance and reverse the order, saying +to her who was displaced, "Lady, be not offended that this lady precedes +you, for although she is not so rich or well allied as you are, yet her +fame has never been impeached."[259] Here, therefore, chivalry vindicated +its purity, and showed itself as the moral guide of the world. Its +tendencies were beneficent; for Christianity was deeply infused into all +its institutions and principles, and it not only spread abroad order and +grace, but strung the tone of morals to actions of virtue. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Chivalric heroines.] + +All ladies were not of the opinion of Amadis de Gaul, that their best +weapons were sighs and tears. What they admired they imitated; and a +high-spirited damsel would, in private, divest herself of her robe, gird +round her a belt, and drawing its sword from the scabbard, fight with the +air till she was wearied. The gallant youths of chivalry called a lady of +this martial temperament--le bel cavalier. Were we to meet in romances +with dames engaged in mortal combat, we should say that the writers had +not faithfully represented the manners of the times; but such facts are +recorded by sober chroniclers. Two ladies decided some fierce disputes by +the sword. Each summoned to her aid a band of cavaliers, and the stoutest +lances of Normandy felt no loss of dignity in being commanded by a woman. +The lady Eloisa and the lady Isabella rode through their respective ranks +with the address of experienced leaders, and their contest, like that of +nations, was only terminated by burning and plundering each other's +states. In the crusades, parties of fair and noble women accompanied the +chivalry of Europe to the Holy Land, charming the seas 'to give them +gentle pass,' and binding up the wounds of husbands and brothers after a +well foughten field with the bold Mussulman. Sometimes they wielded the +flaming brand themselves, and the second crusade in particular was +distinguished by a troop of ladies harnessed in armour of price, and +mounted on goodly steeds. A lady often wore a sword even in times of +peace, and every great landed proprietress sat _gladio cincta_ among the +justices at sessions and assizes.[260] In England, particularly, was this +martial spirit recognised, for in the time of Edward the first a lady held +a manor by sarjeanty to conduct the vanguard of the king's army as often +as he should march into Wales with one; and on its return it was her duty +to array the rear-guard.[261] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Queen Philippa.] + +The victory of the English over the Scots at Neville Cross is mainly +attributable to the spirited demeanour of Philippa, wife of Edward the +third. At her father's court in Hainault, she had witnessed war in its +splendid image, the tournament; and now, in a perilous moment, when the +king her husband was far away, and the fate of England was in her hands, +she showed that she was not unworthy of her race or her alliance. She rode +among the battles or divisions of her host, exhorting them to perform +their _devoir_, to defend the honour of her lord the king of England, and +in the name of God she implored every man to bear a good heart and +courage, promising them that she would reward them better than if her lord +the king were personally in the field. She then quitted the ranks, +recommending her soldiers to the protection of God, and of St. George, +that special defender of the realm of England. This exhortation of the +queen nerved the hearts of the English yeomen, and they shot their arrows +so fiercely and so wholly together, that the Scottish battle-axe failed +of its wonted might.[262] + +[Sidenote: The countess of March.] + +For the heroism of women, the page of Scottish history furnishes a +remarkable instance. In the beginning of the year 1338, William de +Montague, Earl of Salisbury, by command of the Earl of Arundel, the leader +of the army of Edward III., laid siege to the castle of Dunbar, the chief +post which the Scots possessed on the eastern coast of their country. The +castle stood upon a reef of rocks which were almost girdled by the sea, +and such parts of it as could be attacked were fortified with great skill. +The Earl of March, its lord, was absent when Salisbury commenced the +siege, but the defence lacked not his presence. His wife was there, and +while to the vulgar spirits of the time, she was known, from the unwonted +darkness of her eyes and hair, as Black Agnes, the chivalric sons of +Scotland joyfully beheld a leader in the person of the high-spirited +daughter of the illustrious Thomas Ranulph, Earl of Moray. The Countess +of March performed all the duties of a skilful and vigilant commander. She +animated her little band by her exhortations and munificence; she roused +the brave into heroism, and shamed the timid into courage by the firmness +of her bearing. When the warlike engines of the besiegers hurled stones +against the battlements, she, as in scorn, ordered one of her female +attendants to wipe off the dust with a handkerchief, and when the Earl of +Salisbury commanded the enormous machine called the sow, to be advanced to +the foot of the walls, she scoffingly cried out, 'Beware, Montague, thy +sow is about to farrow,' and instantly by her command a huge fragment of +rock was discharged from the battlements, and it dashed the engine to +pieces. Many of the men who were about it were killed, and those who +crawled from the ruin on their hands and knees were deridingly called by +the Scots, Montague's pigs. Foiled in his attempts, he endeavoured to gain +the castle by treachery: he bribed the person who had the care of the +gates to leave them open; but the man, faithful to his duty as well as to +his pecuniary interest, disclosed the whole transaction to the Countess. +Salisbury himself headed the party who were to enter; finding the gates +open, he was advancing, when John Copeland, one of his attendants, hastily +passing before him, the portcullis was let down, and Copeland, mistaken +for his lord, remained a prisoner. The Countess, who from a high tower was +observing the event, cried out to Salisbury with her wonted humour, +'Farewell, Montague; I intended that you should have supped with us, and +assisted in defending this fortress against the English.' + +The English turned the siege into a blockade, but still without success. +The gallantry of the Countess was supported by some favourable +circumstances, and finally, in June, the Earl of Salisbury consented to a +cessation of hostilities, and he abandoned the place.[263] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Tale of Jane of Mountfort.] + +But the most interesting of all the heroines of chivalry was Jane Countess +of Mountfort, who, as Froissart says, had the courage of a man and the +heart of a lion. She was a worthy descendant of those German women whom +Tacitus describes as mixing with the warriors, administering refreshment, +and exhorting them to valour. About the year 1341, the right to the duchy +of Bretagne was disputed between the Earl of Mountfort and Charles of +Blois. The question turned on certain points of inheritance which the +earl dreaded the court of Paris would decide in favor of his rival, who +was a relation of the French king. He, therefore, sought another alliance, +and repairing to England, he performed homage for the duchy to Edward +III.[264] His next steps were directed to Paris, but his journeys were not +so secretly taken as he expected; for on presenting himself before King +Philip he was charged with having acknowleged the sovereignty of the +English monarch. The earl pretended that his journey to England had only +related to his private affairs, but the king did not credit his story, and +in distrust of his purposes he ordered him to remain in Paris. Mountfort, +equally suspicious of his sovereign's honor, effected his escape from the +city in the guise of a merchant. He went to Brittany, and took his station +in the castle of Nantes. The decision of the court at Paris was adverse to +his claims; and the successful candidate, Charles of Blois, levied an +army, and pursued his former rival, who was taken in his retreat, conveyed +to Paris, and lodged in the Louvre. + +To those who did not know the noble spirit of his countess the cause of +the Mountfort family seemed hopeless. She was at Rennes when he was taken +prisoner, and although she had great sorrow in her heart, yet she +valiantly recomforted her friends and soldiers, and showing them her +little son John, she said, 'Sirs, be not too sore abashed of the earl my +lord, whom you have lost, (he was but a man): behold my little child, who +shall be by the grace of God his restorer, and he shall advance you all, +and I have riches enough: you shall not lack; and I trust that I shall +prosper in such wise that you shall be all recomforted.'[265] All her +friends and soldiers vowed to die in her service; and she then went to her +other fortresses and towns, replenishing them with warlike stores and +provisions, and exhibiting her little son to the people, in order to rouse +the allegiance of the friends of her family. She stationed herself in +Hennebon, a town seated near the shores of Brittany.[266] + +In the following summer Charles of Blois was aided by the whole puissance +of France in his attempt to make himself complete master of Brittany; but +so able were the dispositions of the countess, that, instead of sweeping +over the whole country as they expected, they were detained before Rennes, +and it was not till after much labour that they won it. The countess, in +the mean while, had sent one of her knights, Sir Amery of Clysson, into +England, desiring royal succour, on condition that the Earl of Mountfort's +son and heir should marry a daughter of the king, who was to be adorned +with the highly splendid title, the Duchess of Brittany. Edward III., +always anxious to strengthen his power in France, accepted the alliance, +and ordered one of his noblest knights of prowess, Sir Walter Manny, to +join the valiant countess with three thousand archers. Charles of Blois, +after the capture of Rennes, was counselled to lay siege to Hennebon; but +before he reached that town Jane de Mountfort was apprised of his purpose, +and she commanded the watch-bell to be sounded, and every man to be +armed, and standing at his post. When Sir Charles and the Frenchmen came +near the town, they pitched their tents; but many of their gay and +valorous spirits went skirmishing to the barriers. Some of the cavaliers +of Hennebon did not suffer them to brandish their swords in the air; and +it was only the shades of night that separated those preluders of battle. +The next day the Frenchmen spent in council, and it was resolved that a +general assault should be made on the barriers. Accordingly, on the third +morning they fiercely pressed to the outward works of the town, and +continued the assault till noon, when they retired with diminished forces. +The lords of France rallied their soldiers, and urged the assault anew; +but they that were within defended themselves right valiantly. The +countess herself, clad in mail, and mounted on a goodly courser, rode from +street to street, exhorting her people to defend their posts; and if in +the din of battle her woman's voice was sometimes drowned, nothing could +mar her cheering smiles, which lighted the flame of noble chevisance in +every gallant breast. She caused damsels and other women to cut short +their kirtels, and carry stones and pots full of lime to the walls, to be +cast upon the enemy. She then mounted a tower, and espied that the +Frenchman's camp was deserted. Her resolution was immediately taken: she +drew around her three hundred of her best knights, and, grasping a targe +and spear, and mounting again her good steed, she quitted the town by a +gate which the enemy had overlooked. At the head of her gallant troop she +made a short circuit, and then dashed into the Frenchmen's lodgings. When +the assailants, reverting their eyes, saw their tents on fire, and heard +cries of terror from a few boys and varlets in the camp, they quickly +returned to their lodgings to stop the conflagration. The countess and her +noble band could not cope with so vast a force, and her retreat to the +city being cut off, she took the road to the castle of Brest, where she +was received with great joy. For five days the good soldiers of Hennebon +wist not of the fate of their right valiant lady; but on the sixth morning +they saw her golden banners glittering in the rising sun, and a hill in +the distance crowned by a noble troop of five hundred lances, which her +beauty and her just cause had drawn to her side at Brest. With the gay +curvetting pace of gallant cavaliers progressing to a tournament, they +gallantly held on their way to the town, smiling defiance to the martial +front of the French, and entered Hennebon amidst the flourishes of their +own trumpets, and the exulting cries of the people. + +But the siege was advanced by the French with such courage, and their +engines so dreadfully injured the walls, that the soldiers of Hennebon +were in time discomfited. All except the countess were anxious to yield +the town upon honourable terms; but she hoped for succour from Edward; and +while her knights and men-at-arms sullenly guarded the walls which fronted +the enemy, a solitary warder paced the ramparts that looked towards +England. One day the members of her council were on the point of +compelling her to submit, when, casting her eyes on the sea, whereon she +had so often gazed in vain, she saw a dark mass rising out of the horizon. +Her smile of fearful joy, before she discovered that it was the English +fleet, excited the attention of her friends. They all rushed to the +window, but her sight was the most piercing, for her heart was the most +deeply anxious, and she was the first to exclaim, "I see the succours of +England coming!" The joyful news quickly spread, the walls of Hennebon +were crowded with the townsfolk, and the English fleet entered the +harbour. When the soldiers landed, she went to them with great reverence, +and feasted them right hospitably. She lodged the knights and others in +the castle and in the town, where she dressed up halls and chambers for +them; and the next day she made them a great feast at dinner. The +exploits of Sir Walter Manny and his archers will be more appropriately +related in another place. The siege of Hennebon was raised, and it is not +unworthy of notice as a trait of manners, that on one occasion of valiancy +on the part of the English, the countess descended from the castle with a +glad cheer, and went and kissed Sir Walter Manny and his companions, one +after another, two or three times, like a valiant lady.[267] + +After some time a truce was concluded between Sir Charles of Blois and the +Countess of Mountfort, their aiders and assisters; and the countess, on +the invitation of Edward III., took ship for England, accompanied by the +Earls of Richmond, Pembroke, Salisbury, Suffolk, Oxford, the barons +Stamford, Spenser, Bourchier, and divers other knights of England, and +their companies. When they were off Guernsey they were approached by Sir +Loyes of Spain and his fleet. At first the countess supposed it was with a +friendly purpose, for Sir Loyes, as the ally of Sir Charles of Blois, was +virtually bound by the treaty: but she was soon assured of his +unchivalric purpose. The mariners cried to the knights, "Sirs, arm +yourselves quickly, for these Genoese and Spaniards will soon attack you." +All in a moment the Englishmen sounded their trumpets, and reared their +standards with the great banner of St. George, and marshalled themselves +on the decks of the ships, the archers, as on land, being in front. + + "Looking far forth into the ocean wide, + A goodly ship with banners bravely dight, + And flag in her top-gallant I espied, + Through the main sea making her merry flight; + Fair blew the wind into her bosom right, + And the heavens look'd lovely all the while, + That she did seem to dance as in delight, + And at her own felicity did smile."[268] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1345.] + +And in this gallant trim the English fleet bore down upon the superior +force of their ungenerous foe. The arrows of the one side, and the +cross-bows of the other, did murderous execution; and when the lords, +knights, and squires came together, the battle was so dreadful that it +furnished matter of song to the minstrels of England and France for years +afterwards. The countess that day was worth the bravest knight; she had +the heart of a lion, and, with a sharp glaive in her hand, she fought +fiercely. They contended till it became so dark that one could scarcely +know another. The fleets then separated, the men remaining in their +harness, intending to renew the battle next morning. But at midnight a +tempest arose so horrible that every one thought the end of the world was +approaching; and those very cavaliers who, a few hours before, had +gallantly courted death, would now have abandoned their chivalry and their +cause, if a safe landing could have been effected.[269] The battle was not +renewed the next day; the English fleet sailed to Brittany; the troops +landed near Vannes, which they immediately besieged, the countess being +always foremost in the press. Soon afterwards Edward III. went to France, +in the contest for whose throne the affairs of Brittany were lost, and the +noble Countess of Mountfort disappeared from the scene[270], while her +husband escaped from prison only to die of a fever at Hennebon.[271] + +[Sidenote: And of Marzia.] + +A few years after this beautiful display of the chivalric character of +woman in France, the gloom of war in Italy was illuminated by a noble +trait of female heroism. Marzia, a lady of the family of the Ubaldini, so +celebrated for its virtue and noble gestes, was the wife of Francesco +d'Ordelaffi, lord of Forli, the only prince in Romagna who maintained his +independence against the tyranny of the papal power. Knowing her firmness +and spirit, he entrusted the defence of the town of Cesena to his wife, +while he himself maintained the more important position of Forli. In the +beginning of the year 1357, Marzia tore herself from her husband, and, +throwing aside the gorgeous robe of peaceful power, donned the casque and +the cuirass. She stationed herself in Cesena with two hundred soldiers, +equipped like knights, and the same number of ordinary troops. She was +accompanied also by her son and daughter, and that sage counsellor of the +Ordelaffi family, Sgariglino de Pétragudula. An army ten times more +numerous than all the defenders of Cesena soon beleaguered the place. At +the end of April some of the terrified burgesses opened the gates of the +lower part of the town to the enemy; but in that moment of peril Marzia +remembered that her husband had declared that, unless the pope would treat +with him on honourable terms, he would sustain a siege in every one of his +castles, and when he had lost them he would defend the walls of Forli, and +then its streets, its squares, his palace, and the last tower of his +palace, rather than give his consent to surrender that which was his own. +Marzia retreated into the upper part of the town with such of the soldiers +and citizens who continued faithful to her. She now discovered that +Sgariglino had been a traitor. Justice then had her due, and the head of +him whom no feelings of honour or gallantry could preserve in the path of +virtue was rolled from the battlements among the besieging army. Marzia +relied entirely on her own wisdom and courage; she took on herself all the +duties of governor and captain, and, wearing her cuirass both by night and +day, she braved all those hardships which, in former moments of happiness +and ease, she would have thought herself incapable of supporting. But the +besiegers smiled with indifference at her courage, for their miners were +slowly and surely effecting her ruin. She was compelled to retreat to the +citadel with four hundred soldiers and citizens, who vowed to be faithful +to death. The miners persevered, and at length the citadel almost hung in +air. The father of Marzia at that moment reached Cesena, and his passage +had been facilitated by the legate. He entreated his heroic daughter to +surrender, as bravery had accomplished its utmost, and still the besiegers +were gradually prevailing. Her reply was simple and firm,--that her +husband had given her a duty to perform, and that she must obey, without +forming any opinion on the nature of his command. Her heroism was not +supported by the people, for they unanimously declared the folly of +further resistance. Compelled, then, to surrender, she herself opened the +negociations; and so skilfully did she act, so much dreaded was the +despair to which she might be tempted, that she obtained from the legate a +treaty, whereby it was agreed that all the soldiers who had bravely +supported her might return home with their arms and equipments. On the +21st of June she opened the gate of the citadel: she disdained to ask any +favour for herself; and the legate, untouched by any chivalric sympathy +for female heroism, cast her and her children into prison.[272] + +[Sidenote: Chivalric titles of ladies.] + +The honorary titles of ladies in days of chivalry favoured this martial +spirit in women. The wife of a knight was often called equitissa or +militissa, or chevaliére. In France, too, ladies, as ruling over fiefs, +having the right of war, judicature, and coining money, could confer the +honour of knighthood. But in general the feudal law opposed the chivalry +of women, for a woman alone could not hold a fief, it not being supposed +that she could head her vassals or accompany her liege lord into the +field. The instances, therefore, that are scattered over the middle ages +of the brave gestes of women sprang from the spirit of chivalry and not +from any other principle of society. They were always praised, and +joyfully remembered; and when the direction of war was entirely usurped by +men, the world reverted with a melancholy pleasure to the chivalry of +womankind. + + "Where is the antique glory now become, + That whilome wont in women to appeare? + Where be the brave atchievements done by some? + Where be the battles, where the shield and spear, + And all the conquests which them high did rear, + That matter made for famous poets verse, + And boastful men so oft abasht to hear? + Be they all dead, and laid in doleful hearse? + Or do they all sleep, and shall again reverse?"[273] + +Though 'meek-eyed women' were 'without fear,' yet this martial disposition +was never displayed at the sacrifice of the sex's milder qualities. The +same lady who placed a lance in rest was in her castle gentle and +courteous, dispensing hospitality, tending the sick, or reading romance in +hall and bower. Her heart was as tender as her's who was rocked in +pleasure's wanton lap. Spenser's picture of his martial maid, Britomart, +in love, represents the whole class of chivalric heroines: + + "Thenceforth the feather in her lofty crest, + Ruffed of love, gan lowly to availe; + And her proud portance and her princely gest, + With which she erst triumphed, now did quail, + Sad, solemn, sour, and full of fancies frail, + She woxe yet wist she neither how, nor why; + She wist not, silly maid, what she did ail, + Yet wist she was not well at ease perdy, + Yet thought it was not love, but some melancholy."[274] + +There were other points in the character of women in days of chivalry +hardly necessary to be noticed as not being peculiar to the times. The +artifices and sleights of some of them would beseem more refined ages. To +repress the presumption of lovers when circumstances did not favour an +avowal of passion, they would reprove the sighs and glances which they +pretended to see interchanged between the young squires and maidens of the +table; but the admirer of the dame sometimes mistook this demeanour for +the sign of a coquettish spirit, and left the lady to lament his +dulness.[275] The spirit of chivalry, which disposed the heart to all +noble feelings, was not universal in its influence, and we accordingly +read of ladies who were deformed by the mood of envy and detraction. + + "Then was the lady of the house + A proud dame and malicious, + _Hokerfull, iche mis-segging_[276] + Squeamous and eke scorning."[277] + +[Sidenote: Nobleness of the chivalric character.] + +But the subject need not be pursued further; for it is woman, as formed by +chivalric principles, and not as uninfluenced by that noble spirit whose +lineaments it is my purpose to pourtray. That lofty consideration in which +she was held had, as we have seen, a remoter origin than the days of +chivalry, and to that elevation much of her moral dignity may be ascribed. +But chivalry saved her from being altogether oppressed into slavery and +degradation under the tyranny of feudalism. That odious system endeavoured +to bring under its sway even the very affections of the heart; for not +only no woman of rank and estate could marry without the consent of her +sovereign, but in some countries she was obliged to accept a husband at +his nomination, unless for a large pecuniary payment he restored her to +the privileges of her sex. By preserving woman in her noble state of moral +dignity, chivalry prevented the harsh exercise of feudal rights. A +sovereign who prided himself on his knighthood could never offend the +inclinations of one of that sex which by his principles he was bound to +protect and cherish. Chivalry hung out the heart-stirring hope that beauty +was the reward of bravery. A valiant, but landless knight was often hailed +by the whole martial fraternity of his country as worthy the hand of a +noble heiress, and the king could not in every case bestow her on some +minion of his court. Woman was sustained in her proud elevation by the +virtues which chivalry required of her; and man paid homage to her mind as +well as to her beauty. She was not the mere subject of pleasure, taken up +or thrown aside as passion or caprice suggested, but being the fountain of +honour, her image was always blended with the fairest visions of his +fancy, and the respectful consideration which she, therefore, met with, +showed she was not an unworthy awarder of fame. Fixed by the gallant +warriors of chivalry in a nobler station than that which had been assigned +to her by the polite nations of antiquity, all the graceful qualities of +her nature blossomed into beauty, and the chastening influence of feminine +gentleness and tenderness was, for the first time in his history, +experienced by man. + + + + +CHAP. VI. + +TOURNAMENTS AND JOUSTS. + + _Beauty of Chivalric Sports ... Their Superiority to those of Greece + and Rome ... Origin of Tournaments ... Reasons for holding them ... + Practice in Arms ... Courtesy ... By whom they were held ... + Qualifications for Tourneying ... Ceremonies of the Tournament ... + Arrival of the Knights ... Publication of their Names ... Reasons for + it ... Disguised Knights ... The Lists ... Ladies the Judges of the + Tournament ... Delicate Courtesy at Tournaments ... Morning of the + Sports ... Knights led by Ladies, who imitated the Dress of Knights + ... Nature of tourneying Weapons ... Knights wore Ladies' Favours ... + The Preparation ... The Encounter ... What Lance Strokes won the Prize + ... Conclusion of the Sports ... The Festival ... Delivery of the + Prize ... Knights thanked by Ladies ... The Ball ... Liberality ... + Tournaments opposed by the Popes ... The Opposition unjust ... The + Joust ... Description of the Joust to the Utterance ... Joust between + a Scotch and an English Knight ... Jousting for Love of the Ladies ... + A singular Instance of it ... Joust between a French and an English + Squire ... Admirable Skill of Jousters ... Singular Questions + regarding Jousts ... An Earl of Warwick ... Celebrated Joust at St. + Inglebertes' ... Joust between Lord Scales and the Bastard of + Burgundy ... The Romance of Jousts ... The Passage of Arms ... Use of + Tournaments and Jousts._ + + +[Sidenote: Beauty of chivalric sports.] + +[Sidenote: Superiority to those of Greece and Rome.] + +All our most delightful imaginings of chivalry are associated with the +tournament. We see in fancy's mirror the gay and graceful knight +displaying on his plumed steed the nobleness of his bearing, and the lady +of his affections smiling upon his gallant skill, while the admiring +people in rude and hearty joy shout their loud acclaims. Those who were +illustrious for ancestral or newly acquired renown met in the listed +plain. The fierceness of war was mellowed into elegance, and even +feudalism abated something of its sternness, when called on to perform +tendance on the ladies and damsels who graced the scene. Baronial pomp, +knightly gallantry, woman's beauty, gay caparisons, rich attire, and +feudal pageantry, throng the mind in wild and splendid confusion, when we +hear the herald's trumpet-clang summoning the knights to achievement. It +was in the tournament especially that the chivalric nations of Europe +asserted their superior claims to gracefulness and humanity; for though +the Greeks might vaunt their Olympic games, yet in them woman's favour did +not bestow the garland, and though matrons mingled with senators in the +Coliseum, and a virgin gave the signal for the commencement of the sports, +yet the tortures and death of their fellow-creatures constituted the +amusement. + +[Sidenote: Origin of tournaments.] + +Our ancestors were so proud of the Trojan descent which their historians +deduced for them, that they even regarded the games which Æneas celebrated +to the honour of his dead father, Anchises, as the origin of their own +knightly joust and tournament. But in those games there was no encounter +of two lances as in the joust, and no courteous battle between two parties +of warriors, as was the case in the tournament. This learned enthusiasm +was needless and absurd; for the knights might have discovered in the +nature and tendency of circumstances, and in the practice of their known +and immediate forefathers, sufficient matter of originality. The Romans +were wont to exercise themselves in mock combats, and so were the +Goths[278]; but it would be difficult to prove any chain of connection +between these people. War was an art in the middle ages, and a long and +painful education preceded the practice of it. It was the delight as well +as the occupation of the world; for fame[279], fortune, and woman's +love[280], could only be obtained by gallant bearing. Hence we find that +thoughts of war were not abandoned in times of peace, and that some +softened images of battle formed the grace of festive solemnities. + +[Sidenote: Reasons for holding them.] + +[Sidenote: Practice in arms.] + +[Sidenote: Courtesy.] + +The martial spirit of the world was nourished by such customs, for kings +were always eager to hold tourneys for the better training up of soldiers +in feats of arms.[281] It was the beneficial nature of tournaments to shed +the amenities and courtesies of peace over the horrid front of war. Thus +there were rules for conducting these images of battle which no knight +could violate without forfeiting his title to chivalry. The display of +address, with as little danger as possible to life and limb, was the chief +character of these encounters, and skill, therefore, in real war, became +more esteemed than brute violence. To profit by the mischance of an +adversary would, in the tournament, have been considered unknightly; and +it followed that even in the most deadly encounters of nations no cavalier +would avail himself of any accident happening to his foe. + +[Sidenote: By whom they were held.] + +Military exercises, when performed by two parties of cavaliers with +hurtless weapons, were called tournaments. If the occasion were high and +solemn, heralds repaired to different courts, announcing their sovereign's +purpose of holding martial exercises at a particular time, and inviting +all those who valued their knighthood, and respected dames and maidens, to +repair to the appointed city, and prove their chivalry.[282] + +In Germany matters were somewhat different, and should be stated. Except +in Saxony (which had its own tournaments), the Germans who were entitled +to appear in the tourneying lists were divided into four companies; +namely, that of the Rhine--of Bavaria--of Swabia--and of Franconia. The +assembled cavaliers were called the chivalry of the four countries. Each +country by rotation held the tournament, and chose its leader or judge of +the sports, who appointed three ladies to give the arms to the knights, +and three others to distribute the prizes. It was usual for one of the +ladies to be a wife, another a widow, and the third a maiden.[283] + +[Sidenote: Qualifications for tourneying.] + +Originally, in most countries, no person could tourney unless he proved +himself to be maternally a knight of gentle birth, by four descents, and +displayed a legitimate coat-armour. But this regulation was every where +relaxed in favour of hardy knights who could not boast of ancestral +honours.[284] In early times, knights, whether bannerets or bachelors, +contended in the listed plain; but, subsequently, the squire (both the +follower of the knight and the soldier of the third class of chivalry) was +permitted to joust or tourney with knights. + +Safe-conduct through hostile lands was always allowed to those who wished +to tourney; and the silence and solitude of the country in those dark +times were pleasingly relieved by bands of jolly and amorous cavaliers, +with trains of squires and pages, riding apace to court to the tune of a +merry roundelay. It was particularly the custom of newly-made knights to +attend a tournament in order to show that they deserved their spurs, and +to establish their prowess.[285] + +Nor did simple knights alone thus progress to the tournament. Kings and +princes pricked over the plain in gallant and graceful array; for though +their rank excused them from performing many knightly observances, yet +their chivalric spirit disdained the pride of their station, and their +souls were inflamed with the noble desire of illustrating their royalty by +deeds of high knighthood. + +[Sidenote: Ceremonies of the tournament.] + +[Sidenote: Arrival of the knights.] + +[Sidenote: Publication of their names.] + +[Sidenote: Reasons for it.] + +The knights were wont to arrive, at the respective hostels or tents +assigned them by the kings-at-arms and the heralds somewhile before the +day of tournament; and they affixed their armorial ensigns over the +entrances, and raised their banners and pennons in front of their parades. +The tourneying knights were known by their heraldry, and this publication +of their names was made for a very noble purpose. If any one of them had +been guilty of unchivalric deportment, the matter might be proved before +the ladies or other judges of the tournament, and they would strike down +his banner. None could tourney who had blasphemed God, or offended the +ladies: he who had been false to gratitude and honour; he who had violated +his word, or deserted his brother in arms in battle, was unworthy of +appearing at the splendid show; and the high courtesy of chivalry was +maintained by the law, that no one could tourney who had without warning +assailed his enemy, or by indirect means had despoiled his territory.[286] + +[Sidenote: Disguised knights.] + +These rules, however, were not always observed; for cavaliers were often +permitted to partake of chivalric sports, though they declined to name +themselves to the heralds. If they were novices in arms, and not very +confident in their prowess, they would conceal their names till they had +won renown; and if the chance of the game were against them, the +spectators knew not who had failed to acquire honour. The baron who held +the tournament might be the enemy of a gallant knight, who, from prudence, +would not wish to make himself known, unless he could appear with the bold +front of a conqueror. Sometimes the persons of the knights were not +concealed by common armour, but by the guise which fancy had thrown over +the fabled knights of yore. A troop of cavaliers calling themselves King +Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table often dashed into the lists; and +their trumpet's defiance was answered by that of another band meeting them +at speed from the other end, and calling themselves Charlemagne and his +Paladins. This was a beautiful mode of realising the romances of chivalry. +Other disguises were not equally praiseworthy; and I can only state as an +historical fact, without attempting to apologise for its madness and +impiety, that at a tournament held at Valladolid in the year 1428, the +King of Castille was accompanied by twelve knights, who personated the +twelve Apostles.[287] + +[Sidenote: The lists.] + +The place of combat was the lists, a large space surrounded by ropes or +railing in single or double rows. Sometimes there was a wooden division in +the lists or area to prevent the horses of the adverse knights from +careening against each other.[288] The lists were decorated with the +splendid richness of feudal power. Besides the gorgeous array of heraldic +insignia near the champions' tents, the galleries, which were made to +contain the proud and joyous spectators, were covered with tapestry, +representing chivalry both in its warlike and amorous guise: on one side +the knight with his bright faulchion smiting away hosts of foes, and on +the other kneeling at the feet of beauty. + +[Sidenote: Ladies were the judges of tournaments.] + +The ladies were the supreme judges of tournaments; and if any complaint +was raised against a knight, they adjudged the cause without appeal.[289] +Generally, however, they deputed their power to a knight, who, on account +of this distinction, was called the _Knight of Honour_. He bore at the end +of his lance a ribbon or some other sign of woman's favour; and with this +badge of power he waved the fiercest knights into order and obedience. + +The heralds read to the knights the regulations of the sport, and +announced the nature of the prize they were to contend for. The dames and +maidens sometimes proposed jewels of price, a diamond, a ruby, and a +sapphire, as rewards of valour. But the meed of renown was often more +military; and the reader of Italian history remembers that at a tournament +celebrated at Florence in the year 1468, Lorenzo de' Medici bore away the +prize of a helmet of silver with a figure of Mars as the crest. It was +the general wont of tournaments for a vanquished knight to forfeit his +armour and horse to his victor. + +[Sidenote: Delicate courtesy at tournaments.] + +Nothing was more beautiful than the courtesy of chivalric times. At a +martial game held in Smithfield, during the reign of Richard II., the +Queen proposed a crown of gold as the reward of the best jouster, were he +a stranger; but if an English knight had the praise, then a rich bracelet +was to be his reward. The same polite preference of strangers influenced +the chivalry of England, and they promised to give to the lord of best +desert, if he were a foreign knight, a fair horse, with his trappings; but +if he were one of their own land, then only a falcon should reward him. + +[Sidenote: Morning of the sports.] + +On the morning of the tournament, + + "When the day 'gan spring, + Of horse and harneis, noise and clattering, + Ther was in the hostelries all about."[290] + +[Sidenote: Knights led by ladies,] + +The knights then trooped to the listed plain, with lords, ladies, and +damsels, the chivalry and beauty of the country, mounted on +gaily-caparisoned steeds and palfreys, whose housings swept the ground. +Sometimes a lady fair led the horse of her chosen knight, and in the song +of the minstrel the bridle became a golden chain of love. At the day +appointed for a merry tournament, in the reign of Richard II., there +issued out of the Tower of London, first, three-score coursers, apparelled +for the lists, and on every one a squire of honour riding a soft pace. +Then appeared three-score ladies of honour, mounted on fair palfreys, each +lady leading by a chain of silver a knight sheathed in jousting harness. +The fair and gallant troop, with the sound of clarions, trumpets, and +other minstrelsy, rode along the streets of London[291], the fronts of the +houses shining with martial glory in the rich banners and tapestries which +hung from the windows. They reached Smithfield[292], where the Queen of +England and many matrons and damsels were already seated in richly +adorned galleries. The ladies that led the knights joined them; the +squires of honour alighted from their coursers, and the knights in good +order vaulted upon them. + +[Sidenote: who imitated the dress of knights.] + +This mode of conducting knights to the tournament was not the only +pleasing prelude of the sports. As it was in perfect harmony with the +general tone of chivalric feeling for knights to array themselves in +weeds, which woman's taste had chosen or approved of, so dames and +maidens, with equal courtesy, imitated in their attire the semblance of +knights. They often rode to the tournament with their girdles ornamented +with gold and silver, to resemble military belts, and, sportively, +wielding short and light swords, embossed with emblems of love and war. + +[Sidenote: Nature of tourneying weapons.] + +When the knights reached the lists, their arms were examined by the +constable; and such as were of a frame and fabric contrary to good +chivalry were rejected. The lances were hurtless, the points being either +removed altogether, or covered with broad pieces of wood, called +_rockets_. The gallant manners of the age gave such lances the title of +_Glaives Courtois_. The swords were blunted and rebated. Instances are on +record of knights encountering with swords made of whalebone, covered with +parchment, the helmet and hauberk being made of leather. + +There existed very often, however, a disposition to convert tournaments +into real battles. National rivalry broke through the restraints of +knightly gentleness; envy of martial prowess, or of woman's love, had +found an occasion of venting its passion; and, in spite of the authority +of the king-at-arms and heralds to reject weapons of violence, bribery and +power appear often to have introduced them. As the nature of offensive +armour may be judged from the defensive harness, so in the laws of a +country we may read the state of manners. The practice of converting the +elegant tournament into a deadly fray occasioned an oath to be imposed on +all knights that they would frequent tournaments solely to learn military +exercises[293]; and, by a law of England made towards the close of the +thirteenth century, a broad-sword for tourneying was the only weapon that +was allowed to the knight and squire; and there was a stern prohibition of +a sword pointed, a dagger pointed, or a staff or mace. Knights banneret +and barons might be armed with mufflers, and cuishes, and shoulder-plates, +and a scull-cap, without more. Spectators were forbidden from wearing any +armour at all, and the king-at-arms and heralds, and the minstrels, were +allowed to carry only their accustomed swords without points. + +[Sidenote: Knights wore ladies' favors.] + +The tilting armour in which knights were sheathed was generally of a light +fabric, and splendid. Its ornaments came under a gentler authority than +that of royal constables and marshals. If the iron front of a line of +cavaliers in the battle-field was frequently gemmed with the variously +coloured signs of ladies' favors, those graceful additions to armour yet +more beseemed the tournament. Damsels were wont to surmount the helmets of +their knights with chaplets, or to affix streamers to their spears[294], +and a cavalier who was thus honoured smiled with self-complacency on the +highly emblazoned surcoat of his rival in chivalry. + +The desire to please ladies fair formed the very soul of the +tournament.[295] Every young and gallant knight wore the device of his +mistress, while, indeed, the hardier sons of chivalry carried fiercer +signs of their own achievements: but they were unmarked by the bright +judges of the tourney, for their eyes could only follow through the press +their own emblems of love. + +Nothing was now to be heard but the noise and clattering of horse and +armour. + + "Ther mayst thou see devising of harneis + So uncouth[296], and so rich, and wrought so wele + Of goldsmithey, of brouding[297], and of stele, + The sheldes bright, testeres[298], and trappures; + Gold hewn helms, hauberks, cote-armures; + Lords in paramentes[299], on hir courseres, + Knights of retinue, and eke squires, + Nailing the speres, and helmes buckling, + Gniding[300] of sheldes, with lainers[301] lacing; + Ther as need is they were nothing idle: + The fomy steeds on the golden bridle + Gnawing, and fast the armourers also + With file and hammer pricking to and fro; + Yeomen on foot, and communes many on, + With short staves, thick as they may gone; + Pipes, trompes, nakeres[302], and clariounes, + That in the bataile blowen blody sounes."[303] + +[Sidenote: The preparation.] + +After the arms had been examined, "_à l'ostelle, à l'ostelle_, to +achievement knights and squires to achievement," was cried by the +well-voiced heralds from side to side, and the cavaliers, making their +obeisances to the ladies, retired within their tents to don their harness. +At the cry, "Come forth, knights, come forth," they left their pavilions, +and mounting their good steeds, stationed themselves by the side of their +banners. The officers-at-arms then examined their saddles; for though they +might grow unto their seats, yet it could only lawfully be done by noble +horsemanship, and not by thongs attaching the man and horse together.[304] + +[Sidenote: The encounter.] + +The ladies and gallant spectators being fairly ranged round the lists, and +the crowds of plebeian gazers being disciplined into silence and order, +the heralds watched the gestures of the knight of honour, and, catching +his sign that the sports might begin, they cried, "_Laissez aller_." The +cords which divided the two parties were immediately slackened, and the +cavaliers dressing their spears to their rests, and commending themselves +to their mistresses, dashed to the encounter, while the trumpets sounded +the beautiful point of chivalry, for every man to do his devoir.[305] + +Each knight was followed by his squires, whose number was, in England, by +the ancient statute of tournaments already alluded to, limited to three. +They furnished their lord with arms, arranged his harness, and raised him +from the ground, if his foe had dismounted him. These squires performed +also the more pleasing task of being pages of dames and damsels. They +carried words of love to re-animate the courage and strength of the +exhausted cavalier, and a ribbon drawn from a maiden's bosom was often +sent to her chosen knight, when in the shock of spears her first favour +had been torn from the place where her fair hand had fixed it.[306] + +The chivalric bands were so well poised, that one encounter seldom +terminated the sport. Lances were broken, horses and knights overthrown, +and the tide of victory flowed to either end of the lists. The air was +rent with names of ladies. War-cries were changed for gentler invocations. +Each noble knight called upon his mistress to assist him, thinking that +there was a magic in beauty to sustain his strength and courage. "On, +valiant knights, fair eyes behold you!" was the spirit-stirring cry of +those older warriors who could now only gaze at and direct the amusements +of chivalry. The poursuivants-at-arms cried at every noble achievement, +"Honor to the sons of the brave!"[307] The minstrels echoed it in the +loudest notes of their martial music, and the chivalric spectators replied +by the cry, "Loyauté aux dames!" + +[Sidenote: What lance-strokes won the prize.] + +The keen and well-practised eyes of the heralds noted the circumstances of +the contest. To break a spear between the saddle and the helmet was +accounted one point or degree of honour. The higher on the body the lance +was attainted or broken, the greater was the consideration; and the +difficulty of breaking it on the helmet was regarded as so considerable, +that the knight who performed this feat was thought to be worthy of ten +points. Either to strike one of the opposite party out of his saddle, or +to disable him so that he could not join the next course, was an +achievement that merited three points. A curious question once arose at a +tournament held in Naples. A knight struck his antagonist with such +violence as to disarm him of his shield, cuirass, and helmet, and in turn, +he was unhorsed. The judges had some difficulty in determining who merited +least reproach; and it was at length decided, quite in consonance with +chivalric principles, that he who fell from his horse was most +dishonoured, for good horsemanship was the first quality of a knight. +Hence it was thought less dishonourable for a tourneying cavalier to fall +with his horse than to fall alone. He who carried his lance comelily and +firmly was more worthy of praise, although he broke not, than he who +misgoverned his horse, and broke. He who ran high and sat steadily, +accompanying his horse evenly and gently, was worthy of all commendation. +To take away the rest of his adversary's lance merited more honour than to +carry away any other part of his harness. To break his lance against the +bow or pommel of the saddle was accounted greater shame than to bear a +lance without breaking. It was equally dishonourable to break a lance +traverse, or across the breast of an opponent, without striking him with +the point; for as it could only occur from the horse swerving on one +side, it showed unskilful riding.[308] The courtesies of chivalry were +maintained by the laws that he who struck a horse, or a man, when his back +was turned, or when he was unarmed, deserved no honor. Any combatant might +unhelm himself, and until his helmet was replaced, none could assail +him.[309] + +[Sidenote: Conclusion of the sports.] + +[Sidenote: The festival.] + +[Sidenote: Delivery of the prize.] + +[Sidenote: Knights thanked by ladies.] + +When all the knights had proved their valiancy, the lord of the tournament +dropped his warder[310], or otherwise signed to the heralds, who cried +"_Ployer vos bannieres_." The banners were accordingly folded, and the +amusements ended. The fair and noble spectators then descended from their +galleries, and repaired to the place of festival. The knights who had +tourneyed clad themselves in gay weeds of peace, and entering the hall +amidst long and high flourishes of trumpets, sat under the silken banners +whose emblazonings recorded the antique glory of their families. Favourite +falcons were seated on perches above their heads, and the old and +faithful dogs of the chace were allowed to be present at this joyous +celebration of their master's honor. Sometimes the knights encircled, in +generous equality, a round table. On other occasions the feudal long table +with its dais, or raised upper end, was used; and to the bravest knights +were allotted the seats which were wont to belong to proud and powerful +barons.[311] Every preux cavalier had by his side a lady bright. The +minstrels tuned their harps to the praise of courtesy and prowess; and +when the merriment was most joyous, the heralds[312] presented to the +ladies the knights who had worthily demeaned themselves.[313] She, who by +the consent of her fair companions was called _La Royne de la Beaulté et +des Amours_, delivered the prizes to the kneeling knights.[314] This queen +of beauty and love addressed each of them with a speech of courtesy, +thanking him for the disport and labour which he had taken that day, +presenting to him the prize as the ladies' award for his skill, and +concluding with the wish that such a valorous cavalier would have much joy +and worship with his lady.[315] "The victory was entirely owing to the +favor of my mistress, which I wore in my helmet," was the gallant reply of +the knight; for he was always solicitous to exalt the honor of his +lady-love. As tournaments were scenes of pleasure, the knight who appeared +in the most handsome guise was praised; and, to complete the courtesies of +chivalry, thanks were rendered to those who had travelled to the lists +from far countries.[316] + +[Sidenote: The ball.] + +[Sidenote: Liberality.] + +Dancing then succeeded, the knights taking precedence agreeably to their +feats of arms in the morning. And now, when every one's heart was exalted +by the rich glow of chivalry, the heralds called for their rewards. +Liberality was a virtue of every true knight, and the officers-at-arms +were more particular in tracing the lines of his pedigree, than in +checking him from overleaping the bounds of a prudent and rational +generosity. + +One day's amusement did not always close the tournament: but on the second +morning the knights resigned the lists to their esquires, who mounted upon +the horses, and wore the armour and cognisances of their lords. They also +were conducted by young maidens, who possessed authority to adjudge and +give the prize to the worthiest esquire. At the close of the day the +festival was renewed, and the honours were awarded. On the third morning +there was a mêlée of knights and esquires in the lists, and the judgment +of the ladies was again referred to, and considered decisive.[317] + +[Sidenote: Tournaments opposed by the popes.] + +[Sidenote: The opposition was unjust.] + +Such were the general circumstances and laws of tournaments during the +days of chivalry. These warlike exercises even survived their chief +purpose, for they formed the delight of nations[318] after the use of +artillery had driven the graceful and personal prowess of chivalry from +the battle-field.[319] In all the time of their existence they were +powerfully opposed by the papal see, avowedly on the ground of humanity. +There was some little excuse for this interference; for though the lances +were headless, and the swords rebated, yet the shock of the career +sometimes overthrew men and horses, and bruises were as deadly as the +lances' wounds. The historians of the middle ages, who generally echoed +the wishes of the Vatican, carefully record every instance where a life +was lost in a tournament; and, perhaps, a dozen such unfortunate events +are mentioned by the chroniclers of all European nations during the +fourteenth century: a number exceedingly small when we reflect upon the +nature of the conflict; that the time now spoken of was the very noonday +of chivalry; and that not a circumstance of public joy, not a marriage +among the nobles and high gentry of the land, but was celebrated by a +tournament. The Vatican might thunder its denial of Christian sepulture to +those who fell in a tilting ground; but still the knights would don their +gorgeous harness to win the meed of noble chevisance. While learned +casuists were declaring from the pulpits that they who were killed at +tournaments were most assuredly damned[320], heralds' trumpets in every +baronial court were summoning knights and squires to gentle exercise and +proof of arms; and though fanatical monks might imagine visions where +knights were perishing in hell flames[321], yet gallant cavaliers, warm +and joyous with aspirations for fame and woman's love, could not be scared +by such idle phantasms. + +It was not, however, from any sincere considerations for humanity that the +popes opposed themselves to the graceful exercises of the age; for, at the +celebrated council held at Lyons in 1245, it was openly and for the first +time declared, that tournaments were iniquitous, because they prevented +the chivalry of Europe from joining the holy wars in Palestine. The shores +of Syria might drink torrents of Christian blood, and the popes would +bless the soil; but if in the course of several centuries a few +unfortunate accidents happened in the lists of peace and courtesy, all the +graceful amusements of Europe were to be interdicted, and the world was to +be plunged into the state of barbarism from which chivalry had redeemed +it. Tournaments were also interdicted on account of their expensiveness. +Wealth poured forth its treasures, and art exercised its ingenuity in +apparelling the barons, knights, and ladies; and even the housings of the +horses were so rich as to rival the caparisons of Asiatic steeds: but the +popes could see no advantage to the social state in all this gay and +prodigal magnificence, and they wished that all the treasures of the West +should be poured into the Holy Land.[322] + +[Sidenote: The joust.] + +The joust was the other chief description of military exercises. It was so +far inferior to the tournament, that he who had tourneyed, and had given +largess to the heralds, might joust without further cost; but the joust +did not give freedom to the tournament, nor was it the most favourite +amusement, for baronial pomp was not necessary to its display, and many a +joust was held without a store of ladies bright distributing the prize. +There were two sorts of jousts, the _joute à l'outrance_, or the joust to +the utterance, and the _joute à plaisance_, or joust of peace. + +[Sidenote: Description of the joust to the utterance.] + +And, first, of the serious joust. The joust to the utterance expressed a +single combat between two knights, who were generally of different +nations. In strictness of speech, the judicial combat was a joust _à +l'outrance_, and so was every duel, whether lawful or unlawful; but with +such jousts chivalry has no concern.[323] + +[Sidenote: Joust between a Scotch and English knight.] + +In a time of peace, during the year 1398, there were sundry jousts and +combats between Scots and Englishmen, for proof of their valiant activity +in feats of arms, and to win fame and honour. The most remarkable +encounter was that which took place between Sir David de Lindsay, first +Earl of Crawford, and the Lord Wells, in the presence of Richard II. and +his court. They agreed[324] to run certain courses on horseback, with +spears sharply ground, for life or death. The place appointed for these +jousts was London bridge; the day was the feast of St. George. The doughty +knights appeared sheathed in armour of proof, and mounted on mighty +war-horses. They ran together with all the fierceness of mortal hate; and +though they attainted, yet both kept their saddles. Lord Crawford retained +his seat with such remarkable firmness that the people cried out that +assuredly he was locked in his saddle. Incontinently that right noble +knight leaped from his steed, and again, armed as he was, vaulted on his +back, and amazed the beholders by his perfect horsemanship. The battle was +renewed on foot; the skill of the Scotsman prevailed, and the life of the +Lord Wells was in his power. De Lindsay now displayed the grace and +courtesy of his chivalry, for he raised his foe from the ground, and +presented him as a gift to the queen, wishing, like a true knight, that +mercy should proceed from woman. The queen thanked the valiant and +courteous Scot, and then gave liberty to the Lord Wells.[325] + +[Sidenote: Jousting for love of the ladies.] + +Woman's love was as frequent a cause for a joust to the utterance as +national rivalry. Many a knight would sally from a besieged town during a +suspension of general hostilities, and demand whether there was any +cavalier of the opposite host who, for love of his lady bright, would do +any deed of arms. "Now let us see if there be any amorous among you[326]," +was the usual conclusion of such a challenger, as he reined in his fiery +steed, and laid his spear in its rest. Such an invitation was generally +accepted; but if it passed unheeded, he was permitted to return to the +gates of his town; for it would not have been thought chivalric to +surround and capture a cavalier who offered to peril himself in so noble a +manner. + +[Sidenote: A singular instance of it.] + +Two parties of French and English met by adventure near Cherbourg, and, +like valiant knights, each desired to fight with the other. They all +alighted, except Sir Launcelot of Lorrys, who sat firm and erect upon his +horse, his spear in his hand, and his shield hanging from his neck. He +demanded a course of jousting for his lady's sake. There were many present +who right well understood him; for there were knights and squires of the +English part in love as well as he was. All was bustle, and every man ran +to his horse, anxious to prove his gallantry against the noble Frenchman. +Sir John Copeland was the first who advanced from the press, and in a +moment his well-pointed ashen lance pierced through the side of Lorrys, +and wounded him to death. Every one lamented his fate, for he was a hardy +knight, young, jolly, and right amorous[327]; and the death of a gallant +cavalier was always lamented by his brethren in arms; for the good +companionship of chivalry was superior to national distinctions. + +[Sidenote: Joust between a French and an English squire.] + +This noble feeling of knighthood was very pleasingly displayed in a +circumstance that happened in France, during the year 1380. The Duke of +Brittany profited by the weakness and confusion consequent on the death of +King John, and easily made his peace with the court of the new monarch. +The Duke of Buckingham, uncle of Richard II. of England, had been acting +as the ally of the Duke of Brittany; but now, as the war was over, he +prepared to conduct most of his army home. He had been joined by some +knights from Cherbourg, then an English town, and in the new martial +arrangements it was agreed that they should return to their garrison; but +they were not allowed to wear their harness during their march. The +Constable of France, who was then at the castle of Josselyn, gave them +safe-conduct. After embracing their good companions at Vannes, they +mounted their palfreys, and commenced their course. An hour's riding +brought them to Josselyn, and they rested awhile in the town, without the +castle, intending merely to dine there, and then depart. While they were +at their lodging, certain companions of the castle, knights and squires, +came to see them, as was the wont of men of war, and particularly +Englishmen and Frenchmen. + +A French squire, named John Boucmell, discovered among the stranger band a +squire called Nicholas Clifford, with whom, on former occasions, he had +often exchanged looks and words of defiance. Thinking that a very fair +opportunity for chevisance had presented itself, he exclaimed, "Nicholas, +divers times we have wished and devised to do deeds of arms together, and +now we have found each other in place and time where we may accomplish it. +Let us now, in presence of the Constable of France, and other lords, have +three courses on foot with sharp spears, each of us against the other." + +Nicholas replied, "John, you know right well that we are now going on our +way by the safe-conduct of my lord your constable. What you require of me, +therefore, cannot now be done, for I am not the chief of this +safe-conduct, for I am but under those other knights who are here. I would +willingly abide, but they will not." + +The French squire replied, "You shall not excuse yourself by this means: +let your company depart, if they list, for I promise you, by covenant, +that when the arms are performed between you and me, I will bring you to +Cherbourg without peril. Make you no doubt of that." + +Nicholas answered, that he did not mean to gainsay his courtesy, but that +he could not fight, as he and the rest of the English were journeying +without their armour. + +This objection was readily answered by the Frenchman, who proffered his +own stores of harness; and Nicholas, though exceedingly indisposed to a +joust, was obliged to say, that if the lords whom he accompanied would not +permit the encounter there, he promised him, as soon as he arrived at +Cherbourg, and was apprised of John's arrival at Boulogne, he would come +to him, and deliver him of his challenge. + +"Nay, nay," quoth John, "seek no respite: I have offered, and continue to +offer, so many things so honourable, that you cannot depart and preserve +your good name, without doing deeds of arms with me." + +The Frenchmen then retired to the castle, leaving the Englishmen to dine +in their lodging. + +After dinner the travelling knights repaired to the castle, to require +from the Constable a troop of cavaliers to conduct them through Brittany +and Normandy to Cherbourg. The subject of the challenge had been much +discussed by the Frenchmen, and as the execution of it appeared to be +within their own power, they earnestly requested their leader to forbid +the further journey of the Englishmen, while the deed of arms remained +unaccomplished. The Constable received the strangers sweetly, and then, +softening the harshness of his words by the chivalric courtesy of his +manner, he said to them, "Sirs, I arrest you all, so that ye shall not +depart this day; and to-morrow, after mass, you shall see deeds of arms +done between our squire and yours; and you shall dine with me, and after +dinner you shall depart with your guides to Cherbourg." + +The English were right glad to be summoned to a chivalric sport, and, +after drinking of the Constable's wine, they took their leave, and +returned to their lodging. + +On the next morning each squire heard mass, and was confessed. They then +leapt on their horses, and, with the lords of France on one part, and the +Englishmen on the other, they rode all together to a fair plain, near the +castle of Josselyn. + +John Boucmell had prepared, according to his promise, two suits of +harness, fair and good, and offered the choice to Nicholas; but the +Englishman not only waved his choice, but, with still further courtesy, +assisted John to arm. The Frenchman, in return, helped him to don the +other suit of harness. + +When they were armed they took their spears, and advanced against each +other on foot, from the opposite ends of the lists. On approaching they +couched their spears, and the weapon of Nicholas struck John on the +breast, and, sliding under the gorget of mail, it entered his throat. The +spear broke, and the iron truncheon remained in the neck. The English +squire passed onwards, and sat down in his chair. The Frenchman appeared +transfixed to the spot, and his companions advanced to him in alarm. They +took off his helmet, and, drawing out the truncheon, the poor squire fell +down dead. Grief at this event was general, but the saddest and sincerest +mourners were Nicholas and the Earl of March, the former for having slain +a valiant man of arms, and the other because John Boucmell had been his +squire. The Constable spoke all the words of comfort to his noble friend +which his kindness could prompt, and then made the knightly spectators +repair to the castle, in whose hospitable hall every disposition to +jealousy and revenge was discarded. After dinner the English troop bade +farewell to the noble Constable, and, under the conduct of the gentle +knight, the Barrois of Barres, they resumed their course to +Cherbourg.[328] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Jousts of peace.] + +I come now to describe the joust _à plaisance_. Jousts of this friendly +description often took place at the conclusion of a tournament; for a +knight who had shown himself worthy of the tourneying prize caracoled his +prancing steed about the lists; and, animated by the applauding smiles of +dames and damsels, he called on the surrounding cavaliers by their +valiancy, and for love of the ladies, to encounter him in three strokes +with the lance. + +[Sidenote: Skill of jousters.] + +More frequently jousts were held at places appointed expressly for the +occasion. When they were jousts of peace, the mode of combat was always +specifically described. A knight would often challenge another for love of +his lady to joust three courses with a spear, three strokes with a sword, +three with a dagger, and three with an axe.[329] It was the rule for +knights to strike at each other only on the body, or within the four +quarters, as the times phrased their meaning. The loss of his good name +and the forfeiture of his horse and arms were the penalties of violating +this usage. Sometimes the weapons were similar to those used in +tournaments; but more frequently they were weapons of war[330]; and though +the lances were sharp, and the bright swords were not rebated, seldom was +blood shed in these jousts, so truly admirable was the military skill of +the soldiers in chivalry. The tournaments are interesting in the general +circumstances of their splendour and knightly gallantry; but the jousts +give us a far more curious knowledge of ancient manners. + +[Sidenote: Singular questions regarding jousts.] + +But before I describe these martial amusements, let me call my reader's +attention for a few moments to the subtlety of intellect with which +questions respecting the circumstances that happened at jousts were +discussed. + +Two gentlemen agreed to fight on horseback, and he who first fell was to +be deemed the vanquished man. By the chance of battle it happened that +they both fell together, and the sage spirits of chivalry were agitated by +the question, who should be accounted victorious. Some thought that the +defender ought to have the honour, for in all doubtful cases the +challenged person should be favoured; others contended, that as the fall +of the challenger might proceed from his own force, and not the virtue of +the enemy, the judgment ought to lie dead: but the best and general +decision was this:--if the combat were for trial of skill or love of the +ladies, the challenger ought to lose the honour; but if it were for the +decision of any mortal quarrel, the battle ought to be resumed some other +day, because in combats of that kind no victory was gained until one of +the parties were either slain or yielded himself prisoner, or had with his +own mouth denied the words whereon the combat was occasioned. + +On another occasion, seven knights agreed with seven of their companions +to run certain courses for honour and love of the ladies. When the joust +took place, five of one side acquitted themselves right chivalrously, but +their two brother-tilters were overthrown. On the other side, two only +performed their courses well, the rest of that company lost many lances +and ran very foul. It was then debated whether unto five well-doers and +two evil, or unto two well-doers and five evil, the honour ought to be +allotted. As the question did not regard the merit of any particular man, +but which party in general best performed the enterprise, it was alleged +that the party wherein were most well-doers ought to have the honour, +notwithstanding the fall of two of their companions. This opinion was met +by the acknowledged rule of arms, that the fall from horseback by the +enemies' force or skill was the most reproachful chance that could happen +to a knight. Therefore it was contended that the misadventure of two men +only might reasonably be the loss of honour to the rest.[331] But further +details of chivalric subtleties would afford little pleasure, and +contenting myself with having shown that our ancestors' intellects were as +sharp as their swords, we will progress to the tilting ground. + +[Sidenote: An earl of Warwick.] + +One of the earls of Warwick went to France dressed in weeds of peace, but +carrying secretly his jousting harness. In honour of his lady he set up +three shields on three pavilions, and his heralds proclaimed his +challenges, apparently from three different knights, among the lords, +knights, and squires of honour in France. The devices on his shields and +the names he assumed were emblematical of love and war. Three skilful +jousters of France on three successive days touched the shields, and the +earl, dressed in different guises, overthrew them all. They now became his +friends: he entertained them with chivalrique magnificence, and gave +jewels of price to them all. For himself he had acquired renown, and that +was all he wished; for he now could return to his lady, and showing how +he had sped in his chivalric courses, could proudly claim the reward of +valour.[332] + +[Sidenote: Celebrated joust at St. Ingelbertes.] + +"Ye have heard oftentimes, it said, how the sport of ladies and damsels +encourageth the hearts of young lusty gentlemen, and causeth them to +desire and seek to get honour."[333] + +Such is Froissart's beautiful and romantic prelude to his account of a +very interesting joust. + +In the year 1389, the King Charles V. tarried several days at Montpellier, +delighting himself with the pastime of the ladies; and the gentlemen of +his court were no bad imitators of his fancy. Three cavaliers, in +particular, were chiefly marked. They were the young Sir Boucicaut, Sir +Raynold of Roy, and the Lord of St. Pye. Their valour was inspired by +gallantry, and they resolved to achieve high feats of arms in the ensuing +summer; and if it had been possible for a knight to entertain any other +object in his imagination, than the favour of his sovereign lady, the +gallant knights of France had a very noble motive to enterprise, for some +reflections had lately been cast upon their honour by an English cavalier. +The noble knighthood that was in them felt a stain like a wound; and this +imputation on their honor gave the form and color to the joust they +meditated; for they resolved to perform their deeds of arms in the +frontier near Calais, hoping that Englishmen might be incited to meet +them. + +The holding of the joust at such a place was not deemed courteous by some +members of the king's council, for it was thought that the English would +consider it presumptuous; and the more sage and prudent knights murmured +their opinion, that it was not always right to consent to the purposes of +young men, for incidents rather evil than good often sprang from them. The +king, however, who was young and courageous, overruled all scruples, and +ordered that the joust should proceed, because the knights had promised +and sworn it before the ladies of Montpellier. + +Then the king sent for the three knights into his chamber, and said to +them, "Sirs, in all your doing regard wisely the honor of us and of our +realm; and to maintain your estate, spare nothing, for we will not fail +you for the expence of ten thousand franks." + +The three knights knelt before the king, and thanked his grace. So +important to the national honor was this joust considered, that the +challenge was not published till it had been revised by Charles and his +council. + +This was its form:--"For the great desire that we have to come to the +knowledge of noble gentlemen, knights, esquires, strangers, as well of the +nation of France, as elsewhere of far countries, we shall be at St. +Ingelbertes, in the marshes of Calais, the 20th day of the month of May +next coming, and there continue thirty days complete, the Fridays only +excepted, and to deliver all manner of knights and squires, gentlemen, +strangers of any nation, whosoever they be, that will come thither for the +breaking of five spears, either sharp or rockets, at their pleasure; and +without our lodgings shall be the shields of our arms, both shields of +peace and of war, and whosoever will joust, let him come or send the day +before, and with a rod touch which shield he pleases. If he touch the +shield of war, the next day he shall joust with which of the three he +will; and if he touch the shield of peace, he shall have the jousts of +peace and of war; so that whosoever shall touch any of the shields shall +shew their names to such as shall be then limited by us to receive them. +And all such stranger-knights as will joust shall bring each some nobleman +on his part who shall be instructed by us what ought to be done in this +case. And we require all knights and squires, strangers that will come and +joust, that they think not we do this for any pride, hatred, or evil will, +but that we only do it to have their honorable company and acquaintance, +which with our entire hearts we desire. None of our shields shall be +covered with iron or steel, nor any of theirs that will come to joust with +us, without any manner of fraud or unfair advantage, but every thing shall +be ordered by them to whom shall be committed the charge of governing the +jousts. And because that all gentlemen, noble knights, and squires, to +whom this shall come to knowledge, should be assured of its being firm and +stable, we have sealed the present writing with the seals of our arms. +Written at Montpellier the twentieth day of November, in the year of our +Lord God one thousand, three hundred, four-score and nine, and signed +thus. Raynolde du Roy--Boucicaut--St. Pye." + +When this challenge was published, the knights and squires of England +entertained great imaginations to know what to do; and most of them +thought it would be deeply to their blame and reproach that such an +enterprise should take place near Calais, without their passing the sea. +They therefore thanked the French chivalry for deporting themselves so +courteously, and holding the joust so near the English marshes. + +Accordingly, in the fresh and jolly month of May, when the spring was at +its finest point, the three young knights of France mounted their gay +steeds, and sportively held their course from Paris to Boulogne. They then +progressed to the abbey of St. Ingilbertes, and were right joyful to learn +that a number of knights and squires of merry England had, like good +companions, crossed the sea, and were arraying themselves for the joust. +The Frenchmen raised three green pavilions, in a fair and champaign spot, +between St. Ingilbertes and Calais. To the entrance of each pavilion they +affixed two shields, with the arms of the knights, one shield of peace, +and the other of war; and again proclaimed that such knights as would do +deeds of arms should touch one of the shields, or cause it to be touched, +whichever mode pleased him, and he should be delivered according to his +desire. + +On the day appointed for the jousts, all the respective chivalries of +France and England poured from the gates of St. Ingilberte and Calais, +eager for the gallant fray. Such as proposed to be mere spectators met in +friendly union, without regard to national differences. The King of France +was present in a disguise.[334] The three French knights retired within +their pavilions, and squires donned their harness. The English jousters +apparelled themselves, and took their station at the end of the plain, +opposite the pavilions. A flourish of clarions proclaimed the commencement +of the joust, and the herald's trumpet sounded to horse. + +When all was hushed in breathless expectation, Sir John Holland, Earl of +Huntingdon, pricked forth with the slow and stately pace of high-born +chivalry, from the end of the lists which had been assigned to the English +strangers. He was a right gallant cavalier, and he commanded his squire to +touch the war-shield of Sir Boucicaut. Incontinently, that noble son of +chivalry, ready mounted, left his pavilion with shield and spear. The +knights marked each other well, and then spurred their horses to the +encounter. The spear of Sir Boucicaut pierced through the shield of the +English knight; but it passed hurtless over his arm, and their good steeds +bounded to either end of the plain. This course was greatly commended. The +second course was altogether harmless; and in the third course the horses +started aside, and would not cope. The Earl of Huntingdon, who was +somewhat chafed, came to his place, waiting for Sir Boucicaut taking his +spear; but he did not, for he showed that he would run no more that day +against the Earl, who then sent his squire to touch the war-shield of the +Lord of St. Pye. He issued out of his pavilion, and took his horse, +shield, and spear. When the Earl saw that he was ready, he spurred his +horse, and St. Pye did not with less force urge his own good steed. They +couched their spears: at the meeting their horses crossed, but with the +crossing of their spears the Earl was unhelmed. He returned to his +squires, and incontinently was rehelmed. He took his spear, and St. Pye +his, and they ran again, and met each other with their spears in the +middle of their shields. The shock nearly hurled both to the ground, but +they saved themselves by griping their horses with their legs, and +returned to their places, and took breath. Sir John Holland, who had great +desire to do honourably, took again his spear, and urged his horse to +speed. When the Lord of St. Pye saw him coming, he dashed forth his horse +to encounter him. Each of them struck the other on the helms with such +force that the fire flew out. With that attaint the Lord of St. Pye was +unhelmed; and so they passed forth, and came again to their own places. +This course was greatly praised, and both French and English said that +those three knights, the Earl of Huntingdon, Sir Boucicaut, and the Lord +St. Pye, had right well done their devoirs. Again the earl desired, for +love of his lady, to have another course; but he was refused, and he then +mixed with the knights, and spectators, and gave place to others, for he +had ran all his six courses well and valiantly, so that he had laud and +honour of all parties. + +These noble jousts continued for four days.[335] The gallant champions +assembled after matins, and did not quit the course till the vesper-bell +of the abbey summoned them to prayer. Of the noble company of knights and +squires there were few who did not add something to their fame; for if a +knight happened to be unhelmed, yet perhaps he did not lose his stirrups, +and he was admired for sustaining a severe shock. + +Such was the noble chevisance of the jousters that no mortal wound was +inflicted.[336] The lance was the only weapon used. To unhelm the adverse +knight by striking his frontlet was the chiefest feat of arms, and in the +fierce career of opposing steeds, the firmest strength and the nicest +skill could alone achieve it. Helms struck fire, lances were splintered, +and the lance-head was lodged in the shield: but sometimes the shield +resisted the lance, and men and steeds reeled back to their several +pavilions. + +Each gallant knight, however, + + "grew unto his seat, + And to such wond'rous doing brought his horse + As he had been incorps'd and demi-natur'd + With the brave beast." + +The knighthood and squirery of England sent forth nearly forty of their +host to vindicate their chivalry, and right nobly did they deport +themselves against the doughtiest lances of France. There was only one +knight who disgraced the order of chivalry. By birth he was a Bohemian, in +station an attendant of the King of England. It was demanded of him with +whom he would joust. He answered, with Boucicaut. They then prepared +themselves and ran together, but the Bohemian struck a prohibited part of +the armour, and he was greatly blamed that he demeaned his course so +badly. By the laws of the joust he should have forfeited his arms and +horse, but the Frenchman, out of courtesy to the Englishmen, forgave him. +The Bohemian to redeem his shame required again to joust one course. He +was demanded against whom he would run; and he sent to touch the shield of +Sir Raynolde du Roy. That gallant knight was not long before he answered +him. They met in the middle of their shields, and the French cavalier +struck his antagonist from his horse; and the Englishmen were not +displeased that he was overthrown, because he had ran the first course so +ungoodly. + +This Sir Raynolde du Roy was one of the best jousters in all the realm of +France, and no wonder; for our faithful and gallant chronicler reports +that he lived in love with a young maiden, which availed him much in all +his affairs.[337] One of his most valiant antagonists was a gentle knight +of England, young and fresh, a jolly dancer and singer, called Sir John +Arundell. At the first course they met rudely, and struck each other on +the shields, but they held themselves without falling, and passed forth +their course. The second course they struck each other on the helms; the +third course they crossed and lost their staves; the fourth course +resembled the second; the fifth course they splintered their spears +against their shields, and then Sir John Arundell ran no more that day. + +At the conclusion of the jousts the Earl of Huntingdon, and the Earl +Marshal, and the Lord Clifford, the Lord Beaumont, Sir John Clinton, Sir +John Dambreticourt, Sir Peter Sherborne, and all other knights that had +jousted those four days with the French knights, thanked them greatly for +their pastime, and said, "Sirs, all such as would joust of our party have +accomplished their desires; therefore now we will take leave of you: we +will return to Calais, and so cross to England; and we know that whoever +will joust with you will find you here these thirty days, according to the +tenor of your challenge." + +The French knights were grateful for this courtesy, saying, that all new +comers should be right heartily welcome; "and we will deliver them +according to the rights of arms, as we have done you; and, moreover, we +thank you for the grace and gallantry that you have shewn to us." + +Thus in knightly manner the Englishmen departed from Saint Ingilbertes, +and rode to Calais, where they tarried not long, for the Saturday +afterwards they took shipping and sailed to Dover, and reached that place +by noon. On the Sunday they progressed to Rochester, and the next day to +London, whence every man returned to his home. + +The three French knights remained the thirty days at Saint Ingilbertes, +but no more Englishmen crossed the sea to do any deed of arms with +them.[338] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Joust between Lord Scales and the Bastard of Burgundy.] + +Perhaps the most interesting joust in the middle ages was that which was +held between Lord Scales, brother of the Queen of Edward the Fourth, and +the Bastard of Burgundy. Many of the circumstances which attended it are +truly chivalric.[339] + +On the 17th of April, 1465, the Queen and some ladies of her court, in a +mood of harmless merriment, attached a collar of gold, enamelled with the +rich floure of souvenance[340], to the thigh of that right worshipful and +amorous knight, Anthony Woodville, Lord Scales, for an emprise of arms on +horseback and on foot.[341] The most renowned cavalier at that time was +the Bastard of Burgundy, and accordingly Lord Scales addressed him in +courteous wise, praising his prowess, and vowing before God and the ladies +that his own great desire was to rival his fame. In order, then, that +there might exist that love and fraternity between them which became +knights of worship, he related the goodly adventure at the court of +England, and requiring the Bastard, in all affection for the honour of +chivalry, to do him so much favour as to discharge him of his bond. The +Earl of Worcester, Lord High Constable of England, certified the fact of +the delivery of the floure of souvenance to the Lord Scales, and the +King's permission for his herald to cross the seas to Burgundy. + +The Bastard received the letter on the last day of April, and with +permission of his father, the Duke of Burgundy, he consented to assist the +Lord Scales in accomplishing his emprise. Lord Scales and the court of +England were right joyous and grateful at the news, and Edward granted a +safe-conduct to the adventurous Burgundian, the Earl of Roche, and a +thousand persons in his company, to come into England, to perform certain +feats of arms with his dearly beloved brother Anthony Woodville, Lord +Scales, and Nucelles.[342] + +The Bastard accordingly set sail for England, nobly accompanied by four +hundred of his father's prowest chivalry. By Edward's command, Garter +king-at-arms met him at Gravesend. The gallant squadron sailed towards +London, and at Blackwall it was joined by the Earl of Worcester, attended +by a noble troop of lords, knights, and squires, and also by many of the +aldermen and rich citizens of London. The Lord of Burgundy landed at +Billingsgate, and was welcomed by another party of the nobility and trades +of England, (so general was the interest of the expected joust,) who +conducted him on horseback through Cornhill and Cheap to the palace of the +Bishop of Salisbury in Fleet Street, which royal courtesy had appointed +for his abode. Lord Scales soon afterwards came to London, attended by the +nobility and chivalry of his house, and the King assigned him the palace +of the Bishop of Ely in Holborn for his residence. The noble stranger was +introduced to Edward on his coming to London from Kingston, in order to +open the parliament. + +The ceremonies of the joust were then arranged by well experienced +knights, and strong lists were erected in Smithfield, one hundred and +twenty yards and ten feet long, eighty yards and ten feet broad, with fair +and costly galleries around. On the morning appointed for the gallant +show, the King and Queen with all the chivalry and beauty of the land, +repaired to Smithfield. The King sat under a richly canopied throne, at +one end of the lists; on each side were lords and ladies, and underneath +him were ranged the knights, the squires, and the archers of his train. +The city magistrates then appeared; the lord mayor bowing, and the +mace-bearer lowering his sign of authority, as they passed the King in +their procession to the other end of the lists, where scaffolds of similar +form, but inferior magnificence to the royal chambers, were erected for +them. The eight guards of the lists entered on horseback, and received +their charge from the Earl Marshal and Lord High Constable of England, who +gently paced their horses to and fro beneath the throne. + +When every thing was fairly arranged, Lord Scales appeared at the gate of +the lists. At the sound of his trumpet the Constable advanced and +demanded his purpose. The young lord, with the grace and modesty of +chivalry, replied, that he solicited the honor of presenting himself +before his sovereign liege the King, in order to accomplish his arms +against the Bastard of Burgundy. The gate was then thrown open by command +of the Constable, and the Lord Scales entered the lists, followed by nine +noblemen on horseback, bearing parts of his harness and arms, and nine +pages riding on gaily caparisoned steeds. They advanced to the King, and +after having made their obeisances, they retired to a pavilion at one end +of the lists. + +With similar forms the Lord of Burgundy, attended by the chosen chivalry +of his country, approached the King, and then repaired to his tent. + +The heralds commanded silence, and forbad any one, by the severest +penalties, from intermeddling with the jousters. Two lances and two swords +were taken to the King, who, being satisfied of their fitness, commanded +the lords who bore them to take them to the combatants. The +stranger-knight made his election, and dressed his lance to its rest. Lord +Scales prepared himself with equal gallantry, and they dashed to the +encounter. Their spears were sharp; but so perfect was their knowledge of +chivalry, that no wounds were inflicted. The nicest judges could mark no +difference of skill, and the noble knights jousted their courses, when the +King dropped his warder, and the amusements ended. + +The next day the court and city repaired to Smithfield, with their +accustomed pomp, and the spectacle was varied by the jousters contending +with swords. The sports were, however, untimely closed by the steed of +Lord Scales with the spike of his chaffron overthrowing the Bastard of +Burgundy and his horse; and the King would not allow the tourney to +proceed, though the bruised knight gallantly asserted his wish not to fail +his encounter companion. + +Not wearied by two days' amusement, the chivalry and beauty of England +assembled in the lists of Smithfield on the third morning. The noblemen +now fought on foot with pole-axes. At last the point of Lord Scales's +weapon entered the sight of the Burgundian's helmet, and there was a +feeling of fear through the galleries that a joust of peace would have a +fatal termination. But before it could be seen whether Lord Scales meant +to press his advantage, the King dropped his warder, and the Marshals +separated them. The Bastard of Burgundy prayed for leave to continue his +enterprise; and the Lord Scales consented. But the matter was debated by +the assembled chivalry; and it was declared by the Earl of Worcester, +then Constable of England, and the Duke of Norfolk the Marshal, that if +the affair were to proceed, the knight of Burgundy must, by the law of +arms, be delivered to his adversary in the same state and condition as he +was in when they were separated. This sentence was a virtual prohibition +of the continuance of the joust, and the Bastard therefore relinquished +his challenge. The herald's trumpet then sounded the well known point of +chivalry that the sports were over; but as the times were joyous as well +as martial, the knights and ladies before they parted held a noble +festival at Mercer's Hall.[343] + +The feats of arms at St. Ingilbertes displayed the martial character of +the joust; and the emprise of Lord Scales shows how beautifully love could +blend itself with images of war, and the interest which a whole nation +could take in the circumstance of certain fair ladies of a court binding +round the thigh of a gallant knight a collar of gold, enamelled with a +floure of souvenance. + +[Sidenote: The romance of jousts.] + +But the high romantic feeling of chivalric times is, perhaps, still more +strikingly displayed in the following tale. In the beginning of the year +1400, an esquire of Spain, named Michel d'Orris, being full of valour and +love, attached a piece of iron to his leg, and vowed that he would endure +the pain till he had won renown by deeds of chivalry. The prowess of the +English knights most keenly excited his emulation; and, as his first +measure to cope with it, he journeyed from Arragon to Paris. He then +issued his defiance to the English chivalry at Calais, to perform +exercises on foot with the battle-axe, the sword, and the dagger, and to +run certain courses on horseback with the lance. + +A noble soldier, hight Sir John Prendergast, a companion of Lord Somerset, +governor of Calais, being equally desirous to gain honour and amusement, +like a gentleman, to the utmost of his power, accepted the challenge in +the name of God, of the blessed Virgin Mary, and of his lords Saint George +and Saint Anthony. Like a true brother in chivalry, he expressed his wish +to relieve the Arragonian esquire from the pain he was suffering; and, +agreeably to the nobleness and modesty of his profession, he avowed his +joy at the occasion of making acquaintance with some of the French +nobility[344], and learning from them the honourable exercise of arms; and +then, in a fine strain of gallantry, he concludes his acceptance of the +challenge by praying that the Author of all good would grant the gentle +esquire joy, honour, and pleasure, and every description of happiness to +the lady of his affection, to whom Sir John Prendergast entreated that +those letters might recommend him. + +Political affairs recalled Orris to Arragon, and the English knight, not +knowing that circumstance, wrote to him at Paris, pressing the performance +of the emprise, reminding him how much his honour was concerned in the +matter, and entreating Cupid, the god of love, as Orris might desire the +affections of his lady, to urge him to hasten his journey.[345] No answer +was returned to this heart-stirring epistle; and, after waiting several +months, Prendergast again addressed Orris, expressing his astonishment +that the challenge had not been prosecuted, and no reason rendered for the +neglect by the valiant esquire. He was ignorant if the god of love, who +had inspired him with courage to undertake the emprise, had since been +displeased, and changed his ancient pleasures, which formerly consisted in +urging on deeds of arms, and in promoting the delights of chivalry. He was +wont to keep the nobles of his court under such good government, that, to +add to their honor, after having undertaken any deeds of arms, they could +not absent themselves from the country where such enterprise was to be +performed, until it was perfectly accomplished. Anxious to preserve the +favour of the god of love, and from respect to the ladies, Sir John +Prendergast was still ready, with the aid of God, of Saint George, and +Saint Anthony, to deliver him whom he still hoped was the servant of +Cupid; and unless within a short time the emprise was accomplished, he +intended to return to England, where he hoped that knights and esquires +would bear witness that he had not misbehaved towards the god of love, to +whom he recommended his own lady and the lady of Orris.[346] + +The esquire returned to Paris, after he had finished his military duties +in Arragon, still wearing the painful badge of iron. He found at Paris all +the letters of Prendergast. His chivalric pride was wounded at the thought +that the god of love had banished him from his court, and made him change +his mind; and he informed his noble foe that assuredly, without any +dissembling, he should never, in regard to the present emprise, change his +mind, so long as God might preserve his life; nor had there ever been any +of his family who had not always acted in such wise as became honest men +and gentlemen. + +Notwithstanding the appeal of Orris to the chivalry of Prendergast no +deeds of arms were achieved. The delay of answers to his letters had +offended the English knight, and some misunderstanding regarding the petty +arrangements of the joust abruptly terminated the affair.[347] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: The passage of arms.] + +A very favourite description of joust was that which was called a passage +of arms. A knight and his companions proclaimed that they would on a +certain day guard a particular road or bridge from all persons of +cavaleresque rank, who attempted to pass.[348] Those who undertook such an +emprise had their arms attached to pillars at the end of the lists with +some plain shields of different colours, in which were marked the nature +of the adventure, and the description of arms that were to be employed, so +that he, who repaired to the passage, with the design of trying his +skill, chose his mode of combat by touching one of the shields whereon it +was specified. Officers at arms were in waiting to collect and register +the names of such as touched the different shields, that they might be +called out in the rotation of their first appearance. + +In the spring of the year 1443, the Lord of Chargny, a noble knight of the +court of Burgundy, made known to all princes, barons, cavaliers, and +esquires without reproach, that, for the augmentation and extension of the +most noble profession and exercise of arms, it was his will and intention, +in conjunction with twelve knights, squires, and gentlemen, of four +quarterings, whose names he mentioned, to guard and defend a pass d'armes, +situated on the great road leading from Dijon toward Exonne, at the end of +the causeway from the said town of Dijon, at a great tree called the +Hermit's Tree, or the Tree of Charlemagne. He proposed to suspend on the +tree two shields, (one black, besprinkled with tears of gold, the other +violet, having tears of sable,) and all those who by a king at arms or +pursuivant should touch the first shield should be bounden to perform +twelve courses on horseback, with him the Lord of Chargny, or one of his +knights and squires, with blunted lances; and if either of the champions, +during their twelve courses, should be unhorsed by a direct blow with the +lance on his armour, such person so unhorsed should present to his +adversary a diamond of whatever value he pleased. Those princes, barons, +knights, and esquires, who should rather take their pleasure in performing +feats of arms on foot, were to touch the violet shield, and should perform +fifteen courses with battle-axes or swords, as might be most agreeable to +them, and if during those courses any champion should touch the ground +with his hand or knees he should be obliged to present to his adversary a +ruby of whatever value he pleased. + +The Lord of Chargny was a right modest as well as a valiant knight, for he +besought all princes, barons, knights, and esquires, not to construe his +intention as the result of pride and presumption, for he assured them that +his sole motive was to exalt the noble profession of arms, and also to +make acquaintance by chivalric deeds with such renowned and valiant +princes and nobles as might be pleased to honor him with their presence. + +For the forty days that followed the first of July, the passage of arms +lasted, and right nobly did the Burgundian chivalry comport themselves. +Their most skilful opponent was a valiant knight of Spain, hight Messire +Pierre Vasque de Suavedra, with whom the Lord of Chargny jousted on +horseback and on foot, and the nicest eye of criticism could not determine +which was the doughtiest knight. At the conclusion of the jousts the +cavaliers repaired to the church of our Lady at Dijon, and on their knees +offered the shields to the Virgin.[349] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Use of tournaments and jousts.] + +Such were the martial amusements and exercises of preux chevaliers. All +the noble and graceful virtues of chivalry were reflected in the +tournament and joust, and the warrior who had displayed them in the lists +could not but feel their mild and beneficent influence even in the +battle-field. He pricked on the plain with knightly grace as if his +lady-mistress had been beholding him: skill and address insensibly +softened the ferocity of the mere soldier, and he soon came to consider +war itself only as a great tournament. Thus the tourneying lists were +schools of chivalric virtue as well as of chivalric prowess, while the +splendour and joyousness of the show brought all classes of society into +kind and merry intercourse. + +Through the long period of the middle ages tournaments were the elegant +pastimes of Europe, and not of Europe only, but of Greece; and knighthood +had its triumph over classical institutions when the games of chivalry +were played in the circus of Constantinople. The Byzantines learnt them +from the early Crusaders; and when the French and Venetians in the twelfth +century became masters of the East, chivalric amusements were the common +pastimes of the people, and continued so even when the Greeks recovered +the throne of their ancestors; nor were they abolished until the +Mussulmans captured Constantinople, and swept away every Christian and +chivalric feature.[350] + +In the West the tournament and joust survived chivalry itself, whose image +they had reflected and brightened, for changes in the military art did not +immediately affect manners; and the world long clung with fondness to +those splendid and graceful shows which had thrown light and elegance over +the warriors and dames of yore. + + + + +CHAP. VII. + +THE RELIGIOUS AND MILITARY ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD. + + _General Principles of the Religious Orders ... Qualifications for + them ... Use of these Orders to Palestine ... Modern History of the + Knights Templars ... Their present Existence and State ... Religious + Orders in Spain ... That of St. James ... Its Objects ... Change of + its Objects ... Order of Calatrava ... Fine Chivalry of a Monk ... + Fame of this Order ... Order of Alcantara ... Knights of the Lady of + Mercy ... Knights of St. Michael ... Military Orders ... Imitations of + the Religious Orders ... Instanced in the Order of the Garter ... Few + of the present Orders are of Chivalric Origin ... Order of the Bath + ... Dormant Orders ... Order of the Band ... Its singular Rules ... + Its noble Enforcement of Chivalric Duties towards Woman ... Order of + Bourbon ... Strange Titles of Orders ... Fabulous Orders ... The Round + Table ... Sir Launcelot ... Sir Gawain ... Order of the Stocking ... + Origin of the Phrase Blue Stocking._ + + +Such were the institutions by which the character of the true knight was +formed; and we might now resume our historical course did not a matter of +considerable interest detain us, which, as it belongs to chivalry in +general, and not entirely to any state in particular, can no where be +treated with so much propriety as in this place. + +It has been shown that from the union of religion and arms chivalry arose, +and that the defence of the church and the promoting of its interests were +among the chief objects of the new system of principles and manners. But +knighthood had various duties to discharge, and the cavalier, who was +sometimes distracted by their number, consecrated his life to the single +purpose of upholding the cross of Christ. Thus orders called the Religious +Orders of Knighthood were founded, and in imitation of them, fraternities, +called Military Orders, appeared, all being ranged within the general pale +of chivalry. + +[Sidenote: General principles of the religious orders.] + +The religious orders, as might be expected, were sanctioned by papal +authority. They were both martial and monastic in their general +principles, but their internal conduct was entirely regulated by the +discipline of the cloister; and, like the establishments of monks, they +took some existing rule of a favourite saint as their guide. Theirs was a +singular compound of the chivalric and the cloisteral characters, + + "The fine vocation of the sword and lance + With the gross aims and body-bending toil + Of a poor brotherhood who walk the earth + Pitied."[351] + +Like the monks they were bound by the three great monastic vows of +chastity, poverty, and obedience. The first of these matters needs no +explanation[352]; the second meant a total oblivion of individuality, the +community and not a peculiar possession of property; and by the third, the +members were confined to obey the head of their order, to the exclusion of +all other authority. These general principles of the religious societies +of knighthood gave way, however, and fitted themselves to the occasions +and demands of society, for like the chain-mail, which was flexible to all +the motions of the body, the orders of chivalry have varied with every +change of European life. Ascetic privations gave place to chivalric +gallantry, the vow of chastity was mitigated into a vow of connubial +fidelity; and when men of noble birth and high fortune became knights of +the holy and valiant societies of Saint John, the Temple, or Saint James, +the vow of poverty was dispensed with, or explained away to the +satisfaction of conscientious scruples. In the fraternity of the Temple a +knight was permitted to hold estates, so that at his death he bequeathed +some portion of them to his order.[353] + +In another very important respect the religious brotherhoods were moulded +to the general frame of political society. Their independence of civil +authority was given up, as the papal power declined, and kings refused +admittance of the bulls of Rome into their states without their previous +license. The knights of the religious fraternities became connected with +the state by professing that their duties to God and their country were +prior and paramount to the rules and statutes of the brotherhood; and +they adopted this form of phrase rather to prevent the suggestions of +malice than from any existing necessity, for they contended that the +obligations of chivalry, instead of contravening the duty of a citizen, +gave it strength, and dignity, and grace.[354] + +[Sidenote: Qualifications for them.] + +In their origin all the military orders and most of the religious ones +were entirely aristocratic; proofs of gentility of birth were scrupulously +examined; and no soldier by the mere force of his valiancy could attain +the honours of an order, though such a claim was allowed for his admission +into the general fraternity of knighthood. These requisites for nobleness +of birth kept pace with the political state of different countries, for +the sovereigns of Europe and chivalry did not accord upon any particular +form. Thus a French candidate for the knighthood of Saint John of +Jerusalem must have shown four quarters of gentility on his coat-armour, +but in the severer aristocracies of Spain and Germany no less than eight +heraldic emblasonings were requisite. In Italy, however, where commerce +checked the haughtiness of nobility, it was not expected that the pedigree +should be so proud and full, and at length the old families conceded, and +the new families were satisfied with the concession, that the sons of +merchants should be at liberty to enter into the religious orders. + +It would be tedious and unprofitable to detail the history of all these +chivalric societies; and were I to repeat or abridge the usual books on +the topic I should in many cases be only assisting to give currency to +fraud, for the title, a religious order of knighthood, was often +improperly bestowed on an establishment, while in truth it was only a +fraternity of monks who maintained some soldiers in their pay: other +associations obtained a papal sanction, but they were small and +insignificant, and their history did not affect the general state of any +country. + +[Sidenote: Use of these orders to Palestine.] + +Not so, however, the noble fraternities of Saint John and the Temple[355], +and next, though the intervening space of dignity was considerable, the +Teutonic knights. These religious orders of chivalry by their principles +and conduct are strongly marked in the political history of the world, for +they formed the firm and unceasing bulwark of the Christian kingdom in +Palestine during the middle ages. They were its regular militia, and +maintained the Holy Land in the interval between the departure of one +fleet of crusaders and the arrival of another. Generous emulation +sometimes degenerated into envy, and the heats and feuds of the knights of +Saint John and the Temple violated the peace of the country; but these +dissensions were usually hushed when danger approached their charge, and +the atabal of the Muselmans was seldom sounded in defiance on the frontier +of the kingdom without the trumpets of the military orders in every +preceptory and commandery receiving and echoing the challenge. + +[Sidenote: Particularly of the Templars.] + +The valiancy of the Templars was particularly conspicuous in the moments +of the kingdom's final fate; for when the Christians of the Holy Land were +reduced to the possession of Acre, and two hundred thousand Mameluke +Tartars from Egypt were encamped round its walls, the defence of the city +was entrusted to Peter de Beaujeau, Grand Master of the Templars. And well +and chivalrously did he sustain his high and sacred charge. Acre fell, +indeed, but not until this heroic representative of Christian chivalry and +most of the noble followers of his standard had been slain. The memory of +the Templars is embalmed in all our recollections of the beautiful romance +of the middle ages, for the red cross knights were the last band of +Europe's host that contended for the possession of Palestine. A few +survived the fall of Acre and retired to Sis in Armenia. They were driven +to the island of Tortosa, whence they escaped to Cyprus, and the southern +shore of the Mediterranean no longer rang with the cry of religious war. + +The origin and peculiar nature of these three great religious orders have +been detailed by me in another work, and also their history as far as it +was connected with the crusades; but on one subject our present deductions +may be carried further: for though the annals of the cavaliers of Saint +John and also of the Teutonic knights are mixed with general European +history, yet those of the Templars stand isolated. In the History of the +Crusades, I described the circumstances of the iniquitous and sanguinary +persecution of the brotherhood of the Temple, the consequent suspension +of their functions[356], and the spoliation of all those possessions with +which the respect of the world had enriched them. + +[Sidenote: Modern history of the Templars.] + +But the persecution of the Templars in the fourteenth century does not +close the history of the order, for though the knights were spoliated the +order was not annihilated. In truth, the cavaliers were not guilty, the +brotherhood was not suppressed, and, startling as is the assertion, there +has been a succession of Knights Templars from the twelfth century down +even to these days; the chain of transmission is perfect in all its links. +Jacques de Molai, the Grand Master at the time of the persecution, +anticipating his own martyrdom, appointed as his successor, in power and +dignity, Johannes Marcus Larmenius of Jerusalem, and from that time to the +present there has been a regular and uninterrupted line of grand masters. +The charter by which the supreme authority has been transmitted is +judicial and conclusive evidence of the order's continued existence. This +charter of transmission, with the signatures of the various chiefs of the +Temple, is preserved at Paris, with the ancient statutes of the order, the +rituals, the records, the seals, the standards, and other memorials of the +early Templars. The brotherhood has been headed by the bravest cavaliers +of France, by men who, jealous of the dignity of knighthood, would admit +no corruption, no base copies of the orders of chivalry, and who thought +that the shield of their nobility was enriched by the impress of the +Templars' red cross. Bertrand du Guesclin was the grand master from 1357 +till his death in 1380, and he was the only French commander who prevailed +over the chivalry of our Edward III. From 1478 to 1497, we may mark Robert +Lenoncourt, a cavalier of one of the most ancient and valiant families of +Lorraine. Philippe Chabot, a renowned captain in the reign of Francis I., +wielded the staff of power from 1516 to To 1543. The illustrious family of +Montmorency appear as Knights Templars, and Henry, the first duke, was the +chief of the order from 1574 to 1614. At the close of the seventeenth +century the grand master was James Henry de Duras, a marshal of France, +the nephew of Turenne, and one of the most skilful soldiers of Louis XIV. +The grand masters from 1734 to 1776 were three princes of the royal +Bourbon family. The names and years of power of these royal personages who +acknowledged the dignity of the order of the Temple were Louis Augustus +Bourbon, Duke of Maine, 1724-1737; Louis Henry Bourbon Condé 1737-1741; +and Louis Francis Bourbon Conty 1741-1746. The successor of these princes +in the grand-mastership of the Temple was Louis Hercules Timoleon, Duke de +Cossé Brissac, the descendant of an ancient family long celebrated in +French history for its loyalty and gallant bearing. He accepted the office +in 1776, and sustained it till he died in the cause of royalty at the +beginning of the French Revolution. The order has now its grand master, +Bernardus Raymundus Fabré Palaprat, and there are colleges in England and +in many of the chief cities in Europe. + +[Sidenote: Present existence and state of the Templars.] + +Thus the very ancient and sovereign order of the Temple is now in full and +chivalric existence, like those orders of knighthood which were either +formed in imitation of it, or had their origin in the same noble +principles of chivalry. It has mourned as well as flourished; but there is +in its nature and constitution a principle of vitality which has carried +it through all the storms of fate. Its continuance, by representatives as +well as by title, is as indisputable a fact as the existence of any other +chivalric fraternity. The Templars of these days claim no titular rank, +yet their station is so far identified with that of the other orders of +knighthood, that they assert equal purity of descent from the same bright +source of chivalry. Nor is it possible to impugn the legitimate claims to +honorable estimation, which the modern brethren of the Temple derive from +the antiquity and pristine lustre of their order, without at the same time +shaking to its centre the whole venerable fabric of knightly honor.[357] + +[Sidenote: Religious orders in Spain.] + +The Holy Land was not the only country which gave birth to the religious +orders of knighthood. Several arose in Spain, and their arms were mainly +instrumental in effecting the triumph of the Christian cause over that of +the Moors. War with the usurpers was the pristine object of some of these +societies, and in other cases it was based and pillared upon a foundation +of charity. Perpetual enmity to the Arabian infidels was the motto of all. +Unlike the Christian kings of Spain, the orders never relaxed in their +hostility; they never mingled with the Moors in the delights of peace, and +their character was formed by their own rules and principles, unaffected +by the graceful softenings of oriental luxury and taste. + +[Sidenote: That of St. James.] + +The most considerable of these Spanish religious orders of knighthood was +that of Saint James, of Compostella, which sprang from the association of +some knights and monks in the middle of the twelfth century, for the +protection of the pilgrims who flocked from all countries to bow before +the relics of the tutelar saint of Spain.[358] The monks were of the +society of St. Eloy, a holy person of great fame among our English +ancestors; for Chaucer's demure prioress was wont to verify her assertions +by appealing to his authority. + + "Her greatest oath n'as but by St. Eloy." + +The monks and knights lived in friendly communion, the prior of the +convent regulating the spiritual concerns, and a grand master, chosen by +the cavaliers, leading the soldiers. They were taken under the protection +of the papal see, on their professing the vows of chastity, poverty, and +obedience; but afterwards Pope Alexander the Third sank the ascendancy of +the monastic portion of their character, for he permitted an oath of +connubial fidelity to be substituted for that of chastity. A descent of +two degrees of gentle birth was required for admission into the order of +Saint James, and the Christian blood must have been uncontaminated with +any Jewish or Moorish mixture. + +[Sidenote: Its objects.] + +The guarding of the passages to the shrine of Saint James from the +incursions of the Moors became extended into a general defence of the +kingdom against the hostilities of those enemies of the Christian name; +and in time their active military operations far exceeded their defensive +wars in consequence and splendour. The simple object of their association +being forgotten, their glories became associated with the earliest +struggles of the Christians for the repossession of their inheritance; and +they pretended to trace their line up to the ninth century, when Saint +James himself, riding on a white horse, and bearing a banner marked with a +red cross in his hand, assisted them to discomfit the Moors. A cross, +finished like the blade of a sword, and the hilt crossleted, became the +ensign of the order, and the order was then appropriately called _La +Orden de Santiago de la Espada_. The centre of the crosslet was ornamented +with an escalop-shell, the badge of Saint James; and nothing can more +strongly mark the popularity of his shrine in the middle ages than the +fact of the escalop-shell being the usual designation of an European +palmer. The cross was worn on a white cross mantle, and was painted red, +agreeably, as it might seem, to that on the banner already alluded to. But +Don Rodrigo Ximines, an archbishop of Toledo, who dealt in allegories, +observed the reason to be that the sword was red with the blood of the +Arabs, and that the faith of the knights was burning with charity. + +The grand master of the order of Saint James had precedence over the grand +masters of other Spanish orders; but the internal government of the +fraternity was in the hands of a council, whose decrees were obligatory, +even on the grand master himself. The order of Saint James had two great +commanderies, one in Leon and the other in Castile; and to them all other +establishments were subordinate. There were perpetual disputes for +precedency between these commanderies, and the kings of Castile and Leon +fomented them, thus preventing an union which might be dangerous to the +state itself, and obtaining military aid in return for occasional +interference. The gratitude of sovereigns enriched the order with various +possessions; but it was its own good swords that won for it the best part +of its territories. + +Notwithstanding that, like all other religious orders of knighthood, the +order of Saint James had originally enjoyed independence of royal +authority, yet in the course of time the kings of Castile acquired the +right of delivering to every newly-elected grand master the standard of +the order. The obedience was only titular till the beginning of the +sixteenth century, when the Emperor Charles V. obtained from Popes Leo X. +and Adrian VI. the supreme direction of all the affairs of the order, and, +consequently, the dignity of grand master became attached to the crown. +But the power of the king was not suffered to be absolute; for the popes +compelled him to consent that the affairs of the order should be managed +by a council, with a right of appeal to the pope himself. The power of the +Spanish kings then became a species of influence, rather than of direct +prerogative. + +[Sidenote: Change of its objects.] + +The object of the association, the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, +being accomplished, this religious order became an order of merit,--a +feather in the plume of Spanish dignity. It could be gained only by the +nobility; for it then behoved every knight to prove the gentility of his +descent, maternal and paternal, for four degrees. The old vows of poverty, +obedience, and conjugal chastity were preserved, with a mental reservation +regarding the two former. + +In the year 1652, the knights of St. James as well as the knights of +Calatrava and Alcantara, in the fervour of their zeal for what they called +religion, added a vow to defend and maintain the doctrine of the +immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary. The people of Madrid were +invited to three churches to witness the taking of the vows by the +knights. After the celebration of the mass a cavalier in the name of all +his brothers pronounced the vow[359], and every one repeated it, placing +his hand on the cross and the Gospels. And thus an order, which in its +origin was charitable, in its progress patriotic, had the bright glories +of its days of honor sullied by superstition.[360] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Order of Calatrava.] + +The next station in the dignity of rank was occupied by the knights of +Calatrava, who, considering the circumstances of their origin, may be +regarded as a more honourable fraternity than the brotherhood of St. +James. About the year 1147, Alfonso King of Spain recovered from the Moors +the fortress of Calatrava, which was the key of Toledo. The king committed +it to the charge of the Knights Templars. That noble order of Christian +soldiers was then in the very infancy of its career of honour, and so few +were the red crosses in Spain, that they could not drive back the swelling +tide of Muselman power. After retaining it for only eight years, the +Templars resigned it into the hands of Don Sancho, successor of Alfonso, +who endeavoured to secure for it defenders, by proposing to accord +Calatrava and its lands in perpetual possession to such knights as would +undertake the guarding of the fortress. The chivalry of Spain, remembering +that the brave militia of the Temple had quailed before the Moors, hung +back in caution and dismay; and Sancho already saw the fate of Calatrava +sealed in Arabian subjection, when the cloisters of a convent rang with a +cry of war which was unheard in the baronial hall. + +[Sidenote: Fine chivalry of a monk.] + +The monastery of Santa Maria de Fetero in Navarre contained a monk named +Diego Velasquez, who had spent the morning of his life in arms, but +afterwards had changed the mailed frock for a monastic mantle, for in days +of chivalry, when religion was the master spring of action, such +conversions were easy and natural. The gloom of a convent was calculated +only to repress the martial spirit; but yet the surrounding memorials of +military greatness, the armed warrior in stone, the overhanging banner and +gauntlet, while they proved the frail nature of earthly happiness, showed +what were the subjects wherein men wished for fame beyond the grave. The +pomp of the choir-service, the swelling note of exultation in which the +victories of the Jews over the enemies of Heaven were sung, could not but +excite the heart to admiration of chivalric renown, and in moments of +enthusiasm many a monk cast his cowl aside, and changed his rosary for the +belt of a knight. + +And thus it was with Velasquez. His chivalric spirit was roused by the +call of his king, and he lighted a flame of military ardor among his +brethren. They implored the superior of the convent to accept the royal +proffer; and the king, who was at first astonished at the apparent +audacity of the wish, soon recollected that the defence of the fortress of +Calatrava could not be achieved by the ordinary exertions of courage, and +he then granted it to the Cistertian order, and principally to its station +at Santa Maria de Fetero, in Navarre. And the fortress was wisely betowed; +for not only did the bold spirits of the convents keep the Moors at bay +in that quarter, but the valour of the friars caused many heroic knights +of Spain to join them. To these banded monks and cavaliers the king gave +the title of the Religious Fraternity of Calatrava, and Pope Alexander +III. accepted their vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity. The new +religious order of knighthood, like that of Saint James of Compostella, +was a noble bulwark of the Christian kingdom. + +[Sidenote: Discipline of the order.] + +[Sidenote: Fame of this order.] + +Nothing could be more perfect than the simplicity of the knights of +Calatrava. Their dress was formed from the coarsest woollen, and the edges +were not like those of many a monk of the time, purfiled or ornamented +with vair or gris, or other sorts of rich fur. Their diet, too, reproached +the usual luxury of the monastery, for the fruits of the earth sustained +them. They were silent in the oratory, and the refectory, one voice only +reciting the prayers, or reading a legend of battle; but when the first +note of the Moorish atabal was heard by the warder on the tower, the +convent became a scene of universal uproar. The caparisoning of steeds, +and the clashing of armour, broke the repose of the cloister, while the +humble figure of the monk was raised into a bold and expanded form of +dignity and power. Through all the mighty efforts of the Christians for +the recovery of their throne, the firm and dense array of the knights of +Calatrava never was tardy in appearing on the field; but the kingdom, as +its power and splendour increased, overshadowed the soldiers of every +religious order of chivalry. The grand mastership of the Calatrava +fraternity became annexed to the thrones of Castile and Leon by the decree +of Pope Innocent VIII., and the Kings of Spain kept alive the chivalry of +their nation by using the crosses and other emblems of the ancient +knighthood as signs of military merit.[361] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Order of Alcantara.] + +Inferior in dignity and power to both these orders was the order of +Alcantara. It was formed soon after the establishing of the fraternity of +Saint James of Compostella, at a town called Saint Julian of the +Pear-tree, near Ciudad Rodrigo. The ancient badge was a pear-tree, in +allusion to the origin of the order. The knights of the Pear-tree were so +poor in worldly estate and consideration, that the knights of Calatrava +took them under their protection, and gave them the town of Alcantara. The +knights of the Pear-tree then quitted their humble title for a name of +loftier sound, though ideas of dependence were associated with it. For +nearly two centuries the cavaliers of Alcantara remained the vassals and +retainers of the knights of Calatrava; but the spirit of independence +gradually rose with their prowess in the field; and about the year 1412 +their martial array was led to battle by their own grand master. Until the +union of the Spanish crowns in the persons of Ferdinand and Isabella, they +rivalled their former lords and the knights of Saint James in power and +rank: the crown then placed them within its own control, and like the +other fraternities, the main object of whose institution had been the +expulsion of the Moors from Spain, the cross of the order of Alcantara +became a mere decoration of nobility.[362] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Knights of our Lady of Mercy.] + +Co-existent with these religious brotherhoods was a charitable +establishment, which completed the blessings of chivalry in Spain. +Experience of the wretchedness of imprisonment taught James I. of Arragon +to sympathise with the hapless fate of others; and about the year 1218 he +associated several valiant knights and pious ecclesiastics in Barcelona, +whose whole thoughts and cares were to have for their chief end and aim +the applying of the alms of the charitable towards the liberation of +Christian captives. Knights of our Lady of Mercy was their title; and +every cavalier at his inauguration professed his heart's resolve to +observe the vows of chastity, obedience, and poverty, to apply the whole +energies of his mind and feelings to succour such of his unhappy +countrymen as, by the chance of battle, were in Moorish prisons, and if +necessary to remain a slave in the hands of the Saracens rather than +abandon his duty of procuring the redemption of captives. The general +course of their lives was directed by the rule of Saint Benedict, for a +knight as a monk,-- + + "When he is reckless,[363] + Is like to a fish that is waterless."[364] + +So zealous were the Spaniards in promoting the noble objects of this +order, that within the first six years of its institution no less than +four hundred captives were ransomed. Originally the government of the +order was in the hands of the knights, afterwards the priests obtained a +share of the command, and finally they usurped it altogether, a matter of +little reprehension, considering that the purpose of the institution had +no military features. After the complete triumph of the Christian cause +the scene of charity was changed from Spain to Africa; and it is curious +to observe, that the order sullied the impartiality of its principle by +releasing first the monks who had fallen into the hands of the African +Moors, and then, but not before, the laity.[365] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Knights of St. Michael.] + +Superstition as well as charity gave birth to some religious orders of +knighthood. The Knights of the Wing of Saint Michael, in Portugal, a very +honourable order in chivalric times, had their origin in the opinion of +Alfonso, King of Portugal, that Saint Michael the Archangel assisted him +in 1171 to gain a great victory over the Moors. Only persons of noble +birth could be admitted members of this order. The knights lived in their +monastery agreeably to the rule of Saint Benedict. Their most anxious care +in private life was to discharge the chivalric duty of protecting widows +and orphans, and when they marched into the field of battle, the support +of the Catholic faith was the motto on their standard.[366] + +[Sidenote: Military orders.] + +But it would be profitless to pursue the subject; for the religious orders +of knighthood are only worthy of enquiry as far as they are connected with +the defence of the Holy Land, and the expulsion of the Moors from Spain. + + "Turn we now all the matere, + And speke we of" + +the military orders founded in imitation of those whose history has just +been related; not that I shall transcribe their statutes or paint their +costume,--such matters belong to the herald. It is the part of the +historian to notice their existence, to trace the principles which gave +rise to them, and to mark such parts of their rules or their annals as +reflect the state of manners. + +Though knights were often created before battle, for the purpose of +stimulating them to achieve high exploits, yet many were invested after +they had fought, and proved themselves worthy of their spurs. But +knighthood was so much diffused through society, that it almost ceased to +be a distinction; and kings and other rulers who wished to shew their +power or their gratitude were obliged to give a new form to chivalric +dignity. The religious orders of knighthood presented a fair example of +the benefits of close fraternity; and as those societies often gave a +patriotic direction to chivalric feelings, so kings found the orders of +military merit which they established admirable means of uniting in a bond +of brotherhood their high-spirited nobles. When Louis, King of Hungary, +avenged the murder of his brother Andrew, he endeavoured to unite the +Hungarian and Neapolitan nobles by associating them in a fraternity called +the Order of the Knot. The order did not live long. There were some +singular provisions in this order of the Knot: there was to be an annual +meeting of the knights on the day of Pentecost; and each knight was +obliged to deliver to the chaplain of the order a written account of his +adventures in the preceding year. The chaplain delivered it to the king +and council, who ordered such parts as they approved of to be registered +in the great book of the order. The order of the Argonautes of Saint +Nicholas, at Naples, was instituted by Charles the Third, for the avowed +purpose of fraternising his lords; and in the year 1579, when indeed the +days of chivalry may be considered as past, the order of the Holy Ghost +was established in France: the friendly union of the nobility and prelates +of the land was declared to be a great purpose of the order. The throne of +France had already been strengthened by the order of Saint Michael, +founded about a century before by Louis XI., to draw the affections of the +nobility to himself. + +Knights who were associated under one title, and lived under one code of +regulations, were in truth companions in arms; and, like any two cavaliers +who had vowed to live in brotherhood, the banded knights were united for +weal or woe, and were bound to assist each other with council and arms, as +if a perfect community of interest existed. This was the general +principle, but it was relaxed in favour of knights of foreign countries. +Kings frequently interchanged orders, stipulating at the same time that in +case of war they should be at liberty to return them. Instances of this +nature occur repeatedly in the history of the middle ages; and in the last +days of chivalry the principle of the companionship of knights was very +artfully applied by Henry VII. to the support of his own avarice. The +French king wished to borrow from him a sum of money in order to prosecute +a war with the King of Naples; but Henry replied that he could not with +honour aid any prince against the sovereign of Naples, who had received +the Garter, and was therefore his companion and ally. To give such +assistance would be to act contrary to the oath which he had taken to +observe the statutes of the order.[367] + +[Sidenote: Imitations of the religious orders.] + +[Sidenote: Instanced in the Garter order.] + +The rewarding of noble achievements in the higher classes of society was a +principle that ran through all the martial orders, but they were not +exclusively aristocratic when simple knighthood fell into disuse, and the +military brotherhood represented the ancient chivalry. These associations +of merit adopted many of the principles and usages of the religious orders +of knighthood. Notwithstanding the real causes of their foundation, +religious objects were always set forth. Fraternisation and the reward of +military merit were undoubtedly the reasons for instituting the most noble +order of the Garter; and yet in the statutes the exaltation of the holy +faith, Catholic, is declared to be the great purpose of the brotherhood. +This is expressed in the statutes of the order promulgated in the reign of +Henry the Eighth, and the words are evidently copied from earlier +authorities.[368] As the exaltation of the Roman Catholic religion is +certainly not in the minds of the modern members of the Garter, I may +adduce these facts in proof of my position in an early part of this +chapter, that the orders of knighthood have always been flexible to the +change of society. + +The military, like the religious orders, had their establishments of +priests. Thus, to the knights companions of the Garter were added a +prelate, a chancellor, and the chapel of Saint George at Windsor, with its +dean and chapter. Prayers and thanksgivings were perpetually to be offered +to heaven, and masses were ordered to be celebrated for the souls of +deceased companions. Some military orders, like their religious exemplars, +forgot not the promotion of charitable objects, and Edward the Third, with +particular propriety, connected with that most noble order which he +founded, a number of poor or alms-knights, men who through adverse +fortune were brought to that extremity, that they had not of their own +wherewith to sustain them, or live so richly and nobly as became a +military condition.[369] + +Every military fraternity had a cross of some shape or other among its +emblems. To the highest order of merit in England a cross, as well as a +garter, was assigned; but the silver star of eight points, which Charles +I. with so little propriety, and with such wretched taste, commanded the +knights to wear, renders insignificant the original chivalric designation +of the order. The associations of nobles were always expressed to have +been formed to the honor of God, or of some of his saints. Thus, even in +the present days, a knight of the Garter is admonished at his installation +to wear the symbols of his order, that, by the imitation of the blessed +martyr and soldier of Christ, Saint George, he may be able to overpass +both adverse and prosperous adventures; and that, having stoutly +vanquished his enemies, both of body and soul, he may not only receive the +praise of this transitory combat, but be crowned with the palm of eternal +victory. + +[Sidenote: Few of the present orders are of chivalric origin.] + +Considering the fact that many of the honours of the present day have a +chivalric form, we might expect that most of our military orders could be +traced to the splendid times of knighthood. Attempts to prove so high an +origin have been often made. Knights of the order called the Most Ancient +Order of the Thistle justly think that a foundation in the sixteenth +century scarcely merits so august a title. They have ascended, therefore, +to the days of Charlemagne himself; and, boasting an union between their +king Fergus and that emperor, have contended that the order of the Thistle +was founded to commemorate the glorious event. The supporters of this +hypothesis tread with timid steps the sombre walks of antiquity; others, +with bolder march, have ascended several centuries higher, and fancied +that they saw a great battle between the Scots and the English, when the +former won the victory by the aid of Saint Andrew, and that an equestrian +order, properly called the Order of St. Andrew, and vulgarly, the Order of +the Thistle, was founded. With equal extravagance, the order of St. +Michael, in France, pretends to the possession of a regular descent from +Michael the Archangel, who, according to the enlightened judgment of +French antiquarians, was the premier chevalier in the world, and it was +he, they say, who established the earliest chivalric order in Paradise +itself. But, in simple truth, the order of Saint Michael was founded by +Louis XI., King of France in the year 1469, and the name of Michael was +used, for he stood as high in favour in France as Saint George did in +England. Except the orders of the Garter and the Golden Fleece, the one +established in 1344, the other in 1429, and the order of St. Michael +already mentioned, a chivalric origin cannot be successfully claimed for +any of the institutions of knighthood. Thus, the order of Saint Stephen +was founded in 1561, that of Saint Michael, in Germany, in 1618, and those +of the Holy Ghost in 1579, and of Saint Louis in 1693; and none of these +years dates with the age of chivalry. A view, therefore, of most of the +military orders that now flourish comes not within the scope of the +present work. On one of them, however, a few words may be said. + +[Sidenote: Order of the Bath.] + +England, above all other countries, can pride herself on the chivalric +nature of her military rewards; for her Most Honourable Order of the Bath +is a revival of an institution of chivalry, while her Most Noble Order of +the Garter has suffered no suspension of its dignity. In tracing the +progress of chivalry in England, I shall show that the knighthood of the +Bath was an honour distinct from that which constituted the ordinary +knighthood of the sword; and that from very early times to the days of +Charles II. it was conferred on occasions of certain august solemnities, +with great state, upon the royal issue male, the princes of the +blood-royal, several of the nobility, principal officers, and other +persons distinguished by their birth, quality, and personal merit. George +I., in the year 1727, not only revived that order of knighthood, but +converted it into a regular military order. + +The curious ceremonies regarding the Bath itself were dispensed with; but +in many other respects the imitation was sufficiently exact. It was +ordained that a banner of each knight was to be placed over, and a plate +of his crest, helmet, and sword, was to be affixed to his stall in the +chapel of Henry VII. in Westminster Abbey. All the romantic associations +of early times were pleasingly attended to; for on the seal of the order +were to be represented three imperial crowns _Or_, being the arms usually +ascribed to the renowned King Arthur. The lady-love of chivalric times was +to be commemorated in the collar; for its seventeen knobs, enamelled +white, which linked imperial crowns of gold and thistles, were intended to +represent the white laces mentioned in the ancient ceremonial of +conferring knighthood of the Bath, and which were worn till the knight had +achieved some high emprise, or till they had been removed by the hand of +some fair and noble lady. The collar, however, is an honorary distinction +of the order, whereas the white laces were regarded as a stigma. The form +of the old oath was also strictly preserved, even with the singular clause +that a knight would defend maidens, widows, and orphans, in their rights; +and, as it had been said in old times, a newly-made companion was +admonished to use his sword to the glory of God, the defence of the +Gospel, the maintenance of his sovereign's right and honour, and of all +equity and justice, to the utmost of his power. At the close of the +ceremony, and without the door of the abbey, the king's master-cook made +the usual admonition to him, viz. "Sir, you know what great oath you have +taken; which, if you keep it, will be great honour to you; but if you +break it, I shall be compelled, by my office, to hack off your spurs from +your heels." + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Dormant orders.] + +Of those orders, which are either dormant or extinct, the account needs +only be brief; for their history contains little matter that is either +fanciful or instructive. An enlightened curiosity could find no +satisfaction in investigating the annals of the extinct order of Saint +Anthony of Hainault, or of the order of the Sword of Cyprus, and a +thousand others, whose history, presenting only a list of grand masters, +and the ceremonies of knightly inauguration, adds nothing to our pleasure +or our knowledge. + +[Sidenote: Order of the Band.] + +[Sidenote: Its singular rules.] + +A few exceptions may be made to this opinion. In the year 1330 Alphonso +XI., King of Spain, attached many of the nobility to his interests by +founding an order of merit, which from the circumstance of every knight +wearing a red ribbon three inches broad across the breast and shoulder was +called the order of the Band or Scarf. Some of the rules of the +institution are exceedingly interesting, as reflecting the state of +manners and opinions in Spain during the fourteenth century. Not only were +the duties of patriotism and loyalty inculcated by the statutes of the +order, but, singular as it may seem in the history of Spain, virtue was to +be cultivated at court, for every knight was charged to speak nothing but +truth to his sovereign, and to abhor dissimulation and flattery. He was +not to be silent whenever any person spoke against the king's honour, upon +pain of being banished from the court, and deprived of his band: but he +was to be always ready to address the king for the general good of the +country, or on the particular affairs of any individual; and supposing +that his patriotic virtue might be checked by his attachment to his +sovereign, the punishment for neglecting this duty was a forfeiture of all +his patrimony, and perpetual banishment. Of the two extremes, taciturnity +was to be preferred to loquaciousness: he was to be rather "checked for +silence" than "taxed for speech;" and if in his conversation he uttered an +untruth, he was to walk in the streets without a sword for a month. He was +bound to keep his faith to whomever he had pledged it; but he was to +associate only with men of martial rank, despising the conversation of +mechanics and artisans. + +Every knight was enjoined always to have good armour in his chamber, good +horses in his stable, good lances in his hall, and a good sword by his +side; nor was he to be mounted upon any mule nor other unseemly hackney, +nor to walk abroad without his band, nor to enter the king's palace +without his sword; and he was to avoid all ascetic practices, for he was +particularly enjoined not to eat alone. The vices of flattery and of +scoffing were to be shunned; and the penalty for committing them was for +the knight to walk on foot for a month, and to be confined to his house +for another month. Boasting and repining were both prohibited: the reproof +of the grand master and the neglect of him by his companions were to +punish the offender. A knight was not permitted to complain of any +hurt[370]; and even while he was being mangled by the surgeons of the +times, he was to deport himself with stoical firmness. In walking, either +in the court or the city, the gait of the knight was to be slow and +solemn; and he was exhorted to preserve a discreet and grave demeanour, +when any vain and foolish person mocked at and scorned him. + +[Sidenote: Duties to women.] + +Chivalric duties to women were more insisted upon in this order than in +any other. If a knight instituted an action against the daughter of a +brother-knight, no lady or gentlewoman of the court would ever afterwards +be his lady-love, or wife. If he happened, when he was riding, to meet any +lady or gentlewoman of the court it was his duty to alight from his horse, +and tender her his service, upon pain of losing a month's wages and the +favour of all dames and damsels. The circumstance was scarcely conceived +to be possible, but the statutes of the order, to provide for every +imaginable as well every probable offence, decreed that he who refused to +perform any service which a fair lady commanded should be branded with the +title, The Discourteous Knight. + +The statutes echoed the voice of nature in all her appeals to the heart; +and thus every cavalier was enjoined to select from the ladies of the +court some one upon whom his affections might rest, some one who was to be +to him like a light leading him forward in the noble path of chivalry. +There was no penalty for disobedience to this command, for disobedience +seems to have been thought impossible. All the higher acts of chivalric +devotion to his lady-love were presumed to be performed by the knight; and +to show that his daily duties to his Order were to give way to his +attention to his mistress, it was commanded that whenever she pleased to +walk, he was to attend upon her on foot or on horseback, to do her all +possible honour and service. When by his valiant feats against the Moors +he had proved himself worthy of her love, the day of his marriage was a +festival with his brother-knights, who made rich presents to the lady, and +honoured the nuptials with cavaleresque games and shows. Nor did this +generous consideration for woman stop here; for when a knight died, his +surviving brothers were bound to solicit the King to make such grants of +land and money to the family as would enable the widow to maintain her +wonted state, and would furnish the marriage-portions of his daughters. + +The band of the deceased knight was, agreeably to the general usage of the +military orders, to be re-delivered to the king, who was to be solicited +to bestow it upon one of the sons of its last wearer. The king was to +select the knights from among the younger sons of men of station in the +country, but no elder brother or other heir-apparent could be received; +for it was the purpose of the founder to advance the fortunes of the nobly +born, but indifferently provided, gentlemen of his court. Only one species +of exception was made to this form of introduction. The honor of the order +was conferred upon any stranger-knight who overcame one of the companions +in the joust or tournament. This regulation was made for the general honor +of chivalry, and the promotion of noble chevisance among the knights of +the band. It was a bold defiance, and was seldom answered.[371] + +The order of Bourbon, called of the Thistle, and of Our Lady, must not +pass unnoticed. It was instituted at Moulins, in the Bourbonnois, in the +year 1370, by Louis II., Duke of Bourbon, who was named, on account of his +virtues, the Good Duke. It had for its object the winning of honor by +acts of chivalry. The device of the order was a golden shield; and when it +was given to knights they were exhorted to live as brethren, and die for +each other if occasion should require it. They were told that every good +action which beseemed chivalry ought to be performed by the knights of +Bourbon. Above all things, they were exhorted to honor ladies, not +permitting any man to speak slanderous matters of them, because, after +God, comes from them all honor which men can acquire. Nothing could be +more base than to vilify that sex which had not the strength to redress +its wrongs. The knights were charged not to speak evil of each other, for +that was the foulest vice which a nobleman or gentleman could be taxed +with; and in conclusion, as the summary of their duty, they were exhorted +to practise faith and loyalty, and to respect each other as became knights +of praise and virtue.[372] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Strange titles of orders.] + +The occasions of the titles of many of the military orders are more +interesting than a view of the external marks of their chivalry. +Notwithstanding the haughtiness of knighthood, one of the most celebrated +orders took its name from no chivalric source. The order was instituted +by Philip Duke of Burgundy, who named the fraternity the Knights of the +Golden Fleece, in gratitude to the trade in woollens by which he and his +family had been so much enriched. In the fifteenth century, the order of +the Porcupine was highly celebrated in France; and it was furnished with +its singular title from the fancy of the founder (Louis Duke of Orleans, +second son of Charles V. King of France), that by such a sign he should +commemorate the fact, that he had been abandoned by his friends in +adversity, and that he was able to defend himself by his own weapons. +While the Porcupine was a favourite order in France, that of the +Dragon-overthrown was famous in Germany; and by this ferocious title, the +Emperor Sigismond intended to express his conquest over heresy and schism. +The Dukes of Mantua fancied that they possessed three drops of our +Saviour's blood; and an order of knighthood was instituted in the year +1608, which took for its title the order of the Precious Blood of our +Saviour Jesus Christ, at Mantua. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Fabulous orders.] + +The chivalric nations of Europe attached as much consequence to orders +which existed only in their own fervid imagination as to those whose +lineage was certain. To Constantine the Great was ascribed the honor of +inventing the first military order of knighthood. The great captains of +his court were said to have been associated under the title of the order +of the Constantinian Angelic Knights of Saint George, that Saint being in +Greece, as well as in England, the patron of military men. The +grand-mastership resided in the Imperial family. After the fall of the +Eastern empire, the order passed into Italy; and the knights of that +country imagined the existence of papal bulls, which permitted the grand +masters to sit at the same table with the Popes, to coin money, and to +confer titles of honor, whether in nobility or learning, and exercise +every prerogative of independent princes. But it would be in vain to +enquire after the names of any of these mensal companions of the Pope; and +no cabinet of curiosities contains any coins which they struck in +attestation of their power. + +The memory of Charles Martel's great victory over the Moors was preserved +in the middle ages of France, by the belief that the conqueror had +established an order of knighthood called the Order of the Gennet; and +lists of cavaliers were drawn out, and statutes imagined, attesting only +the love of the French for chivalric distinctions. The Spaniards delighted +to imagine that their early victories over the Moors were commemorated by +an order called the Order of the Oak in Navarre, and founded on occasion +of the Holy Cross, adored by an infinite number of angels, appearing to a +Gothic chief who led the Christians. + +[Sidenote: The Round Table.] + +But of all these imaginary orders none is so interesting as that of the +Round Table, instituted by Uther Pendragon, King of Great Britain, and +which reached its perfection of martial glory in the reign of his son +Arthur. While our ancient historians exaggerated into heroism the +patriotic efforts of the last of the British kings, the minstrels who sang +in the baronial halls superadded the charms of chivalric circumstance. +Since the time of Adam, God hath not made a man more perfect than Arthur, +was the favourite opinion; and when his remains were discovered in the +Abbey of Glastonbury, in the year 1189, the people from their idea that +prowess always corresponded with size of limb fancied that his bones were +of gigantic frame.[373] + +The court of Arthur was supposed to be the seminary of military discipline +of knights of all countries; and it was thought that his hundred and +fifty[374] good companions felt it their chief devoir to protect widows, +maidens, and orphans[375], not only in England, but in every country +whither they might be invited. They were champions of the public weal, and +like lions repulsed the enemies of their country. It was their duty to +advance the reputation of honor, and suppress all vice, to relieve people +afflicted by adverse fortune, to fight for holy church, and protect +pilgrims. They were likewise supposed to be enjoined to bury soldiers that +wanted sepulture, to deliver prisoners, ransom captives, and heal men who +had been wounded in the service of chivalry and their country. +Independently of these patriotic and humane charges, they were thought to +have formed a standing court for the redress of injuries; for Arthur, in +case of any complaint being laid before him, was bound to send one of his +knights to redress it. + +[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot.] + +The virtues of the knights of the Round Table were the mirror in which the +chivalry of England arrayed themselves. These virtues are admirably +described in the lamentation of Sir Ector over the dead body of Sir +Launcelot of the Lake, the prowest of all the companions of Arthur:--"Thou +wert never matched of none earthly knight's hands; and thou wert the +curtiest knight that ever bare shield; and thou wert the truest friend to +thy lover that ever bestrode horse; and thou wert the truest lover of a +sinful man that ever loved woman; and thou wert the kindest man that ever +struck with sword; and thou wert the goodliest person that ever came among +press of knights; and thou wert the meekest man and the gentlest that ever +ate in hall among ladies; and thou wert the sternest knight to thy mortal +foe that ever put spere in the rest."[376] Next in rank to Sir Launcelot +was his friend Sir Tristram, the history of whose emprises and love +entered so largely into the fancies and conversation of our ancestors. +Then came Sir Gawaine, a nephew of Arthur, the bright exemplar of +courtesy, the virtue which was so highly prized in chivalric times. +Chaucer makes a very pleasing allusion to him in his Squire's Tale. +Describing the entrance of the strange knight, our old bard says that he + + "Salueth king and lordes alle + By order as they sat in the hall, + With so high reverence and observance, + As well in speech as in his countenance, + That Gawain with his old courtesy, + Though he were come agen out of faerie, + Ne coude him not amenden with a word."[376] + +The most prominent of all the chivalric virtues which the institutions of +Arthur shadowed forth was that of fraternity: for it was believed that +round one vast and mysterious table, the gift of the enchanter Merlin, +Arthur and all his peerage sat in perfect equality; and to this idea may +be traced the circumstance that the friendly familiarity of a chivalric +round table broke down the iron distinctions of feudal haughtiness, and +not only "mitigated kings into companions, but raised private men to be +fellows with kings." Localities unlock the gates of memory, whether the +stores within be treasured there by imagination or the sterner powers of +the mind; and with a more serious interest than that with which the modern +traveller follows Don Quixote in the Sierra Morena our ancestors were wont +to mark Winchester and Windsor, Camelot in Somersetshire, Carlion in +Monmouthshire, where + + "Uther's son, + Begirt with British and Armoric knights," + +held his solemn feasts about the Round Table. + +[Sidenote: Order of the Stocking.] + +[Sidenote: Origin of the phrase Blue Stocking.] + +Many of the orders whose histories fill the pages of works on knighthood +have no claims to their places; for they were only associations of +cavaliers without royal or pontifical authority, and wearing no badge or +cross, except in the imagination of the writer. Only one of these +fraternities merits mention here. The Society de la Calza (of the +Stocking) was formed at Venice in the year 1400, to the honor of the +inauguration of the Doge, Michele Steno. The employments of the members +were conversation and festivity; and so splendid were the entertainments +of music and dancing, that the gay spirits of other parts of Italy +anxiously solicited the honor of seats in the society. All their statutes +regarded only the ceremonies of the ball or the theatre; and the members +being resolved on their rigorous performance, took an oath in a church to +that tendency. They had banners and a seal like an authorised order of +knighthood. Their dress was as splendid and elegant as Venetian luxury and +taste could fashion it; and, consistently with the singular custom of the +Italians of marking academies and other intellectual associations by some +external signs of folly, the members when they met in literary discussion +were distinguished by the colours of their stockings. The colours were +sometimes fantastically blended, and at other times one colour, +particularly the _blue_, prevailed. The Society de la Calza lasted till +the year 1590[377] when the foppery of Italian literature took some other +symbol. The rejected title then crossed the Alps, and found a congenial +soil in the flippancy and literary triflings of Parisian society, and +particularly branded female pedantry as the strongest feature in the +character of French pretension. It diverged from France to England, and +for a while marked the vanity of the small advances in literature of our +female coteries. But the propriety of its application is now gradually +ceasing; for we see in every circle that attainments in literature can be +accomplished with no loss of womanly modesty. It is in this country, above +all others, that knowledge asserts her right of general dominion, or +contends that if she be the sustaining energy of one sex, she forms the +lighter charm, the graceful drapery of the other. + + + + +CHAP. VIII. + +PROGRESS OF CHIVALRY IN ENGLAND, FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO THE CLOSE OF +THE REIGN OF EDWARD II. + + _Chivalry connected with Feudalism ... Stipendiary Knights ... + Knighthood a compulsory Honour ... Fine Instance of Chivalry in the + Reign of Edward I ... Effect of Chivalry in Stephen's Reign ... + Troubadours and Romance Writers in the Reign of Henry II ... Chivalric + Manners of the Time ... Coeur de Lion the first Chivalric King ... His + Knightly Bearing ... John and Henry III ... Edward I ... His Gallantry + at a Tournament ... His unchivalric Cruelties ... He possessed no + knightly Courtesy ... Picture of ancient Manners ... Edward II ... + Chivalric Circumstance in the Battle of Bannockburn ... Singular + Effect of Chivalry in the Reign of Edward II._ + + +In the first chapter we traced, by the help of the few lights which yet +remain, the rise of chivalry in Europe. We may now mark its progress, and, +in order to avoid the inconvenience of frequent transitions, it will be +better to follow the historical train in each chivalric country, than to +attempt to form one general collection of knightly events. And first, of +its influence in England. + + * * * * * + +Many chivalric principles and customs were known to the Anglo-Saxons[378], +and affected, in some degree, the character of the nation.[379] Many of +the elements of chivalry were brought into England by the Normans, and, in +the course of time, they were framed, by the energy which was involved in +them, into a fair and noble system. The adventurousness of knighthood +comported well with a people who, quitting the inhospitable shores of +Scandinavia, had impressed their conquests on France, Italy, and even +Greece. The Norman nation was one vast brotherhood, and therefore it was +natural for them to nourish the principles of chivalric fraternity.[380] +It is recorded of them that they brought from the north a love of +splendor, and having learnt courtesy of manner from the French, they were +fitted to admire the shows and the gallantry of knighthood.[381] They +affected, indeed, to despise the religious parts of the Saxon ceremonies +of initiation into knighthood, but they soon adopted them; for we find +that William Rufus himself was knighted by Archbishop Lanfrank.[382] + +[Sidenote: Chivalry connected with feudalism.] + +[Sidenote: Stipendiary knights.] + +Chivalry became established as part of the national constitution when +William the Conqueror divided the country into about sixty thousand +knights' fees, with the tenure of military service. The clergy, as well as +the laity, were compelled to furnish armed knights, on horseback, as the +price of their possessions, when the king went abroad against his enemies; +and, consequently, knights became attached to every ecclesiastical +foundation. These servants of the church were generally younger members of +baronial families; and as there was constant occasion for them, chivalry +became a military profession. In England, as in every country, the feudal +array was found insufficient for foreign wars, and wide-spread domestic +rebellions; for few contests could be finished in forty days,--and that +was the brief space which, in the earliest simplicity of feudal times, had +been fixed for the duration of military service. As petty states swelled +into kingdoms, and their public operations became extensive, many a +martial enterprise was broken up before achievement, because the time of +service had expired. So frequent were the calls on the holders of knights' +fees, that they were glad to compromise for attendance by pecuniary +penalties. The sovereigns were exorbitant in their exactions, in order to +be able to pay the stipendiary substitutes; but one of the most important +provisions of Magna Charta gave to parliament alone the power of imposing +this escuage or military tax.[383] When the custom of escuage arose is a +matter which no antiquarian researches have settled. The clause in Magna +Charta shows not only its existence, but its being used as an instrument +of tyranny; and under this aspect of chivalric history, the reign of John +is important. Most of these stipendiary subsidiaries were knights, with +their equipments of men-at-arms and archers; and the sovereign was +accustomed to contract with his barons for their attendance upon him in +his foreign expeditions. Chivalry and feudal tenure were, therefore, no +longer convertible terms; yet the spirit of knighthood long survived the +decay of the forms of feudal obligation; for the practice of escuage was +fully established in the days of Edward III.; and that was the brightest +era of English chivalry. + +[Sidenote: Knighthood a compulsory honor.] + +In England, knighthood was always regarded as the necessary distinction of +people of some substance and estate.[384] In the reigns of our three first +Edwards the qualification for knighthood varied from land of the yearly +value of forty to that of fifty pounds. The King was the sovereign and +supreme judge of chivalry, and he might confer knighthood on whomsoever he +chose. He could compel men of worth to be knights, for knighthood was +honourable to the kingdom. Like the performance of every other duty in all +states of society, that of knighthood could be commuted for by money; and +the royal invitation to honour was so extensive as to be inconvenient; for +a statute was passed in the reign of Edward II. whereby the King respited +for some time the payment of the fines of such persons whose station in +the world made knighthood a necessary part of their consequence. Besides +all these ways of forming the knighthood of England, must be added the +custom of elevating to chivalric dignities men who had gained renown by +martial exploits. This was indeed a mode more pure in principle, and, +therefore, more honourable than any we have mentioned. + +The military necessities of many of our sovereigns favoured the growth of +chivalry. William Rufus invited to his court the prowest cavaliers from +every country[385]; for as his father had effected the subjugation of +Harold not merely by the feudal force of Normandy, but by hired soldiers, +it was the natural policy of the kings of the Norman line to attach to +their person valiant men who were not connected by ties of nature with the +people. + +[Sidenote: Fine instance of chivalry in reign of Henry I.] + +The principles and feelings of chivalry were firmly established in England +in the reign of Henry I., and gave the tone and character to our foreign +military warfare. This state of things is proved in an interesting manner +by a circumstance that occurred during the war of Henry with Louis the +French king. The reader remembers that the latter had espoused the cause +of William the son of Robert, Henry's elder brother, who was kept by his +uncle from his rightful inheritance of Normandy. The chivalric anecdote is +this: The two armies were approaching each other near Audelay, when, +instead of rushing to the conflict with their whole masses, five hundred +knights on the English side and four hundred on the French prepared for an +encounter, a joust to the utterance. About eighty Normans, friends of the +French king, charged the centre of Henry's line with true chivalric fire. +The English monarch was severely wounded in the head, but the Normans +could not pierce the firm line of the English, and they were all taken +prisoners. The three hundred remaining knights of Louis made a fine +attempt to redeem their companions in arms. Again the English line was +impenetrable, and the recoil of the shock scattered the French. Henry's +soldiers now were assailants; and so fiercely did they press their +advantage, that even the French king scarcely escaped with life.[386] + +[Sidenote: Effect of chivalry in Stephen's reign.] + +The knightly character had an important effect on England during the +troublous reign of Stephen. As he was deserted by his barons, he called +in foreign cavaliers to assist him in his resistance to the Empress Maud. +Their valour was rewarded by the grant of estates; and thus a new order of +nobility arose to shake the arrogance of the old; and new opinions, +feelings, and manners, became blended with English habits. + +[Sidenote: Troubadours and romance writers,--reign of Henry II.] + +[Sidenote: Chivalric manners of the time.] + +The arms of chivalry grew rusty in the long and unwarlike reign of Henry +II.; but many of the milder graces of knighthood were cultivated in +consequence of the love of letters entertained by the sovereign and his +queen. The Troubadours found royal and, from the force of example, noble, +patronage in England; and, however offensive to a classic ear their +conceits and bombast may sound, yet, since they treated love as an affair +of the fancy rather than as an appetite, they contributed to purify the +manners of the age. By another channel literature promoted the cause of +arms. Romance with her bold fictions and splendid colouring inspired the +tamest hearts with the love of adventure. Such of the traditions and +fables regarding Arthur and the knights of the Round Table as dwelt in the +memory of the people of Britanny (that ancient colony of England) were +collected by an Archdeacon Walter, of Oxford, and formed part of a Latin +history of Great Britain that was written in the time of Henry I. by +Jeffry of Monmouth. Wace, the translator-general of the age, turned it +into Anglo-Norman verse, mingling with it all the stories of his hero that +were floating in the English mind. The subject was fitted to the martial +taste of the time; and as the book was now rendered into the language of +the upper classes of life, it found its way into the baronial hall and the +lady's bower. This was the earliest of the French metrical romances; and +before the close of the twelfth century nothing was read by the nobility +but romances of Arthur and his knights. And the sports and exercises of +the time nourished the chivalric spirit. A writer of those days has given +us a graphic description of them. "Every Sunday in Lent, immediately after +dinner, crowds of noble and sprightly youths, mounted on war-horses, +admirably trained to perform all their turnings and evolutions, ride into +the fields in distinct bands, armed with lances and shields, and exhibit +representations of battles, and go through all their martial exercises. +Many of the young nobility, who have not yet received the honour of +knighthood, issue from the king's court, and from the houses of bishops, +earls, and barons, to make trial of their courage, strength, and skill in +arms. The hope of victory rouses the spirits of these noble youths; their +fiery horses neigh and prance, and champ their foaming bits. At length +the signal is given, and the sports begin. The youths, divided into +opposite bands, encounter one another. In one place some fly, and others +pursue, without being able to overtake them. In another place, one of the +bands overtakes and overturns the other."[387] + +[Sidenote: Coeur de Lion, the first chivalric king.] + +Martial daring, thus fostered and promoted, broke out with fresh vigour in +the reign of Richard Coeur de Lion; and England, which hitherto had but +partially and occasionally engaged in the crusades, now took up those +sacred and perilous enterprises with the ardour of the French. Richard was +the first king of England of knightly character; for I cannot, with some +writers, place William Rufus among our chivalric sovereigns. I cannot with +them see any thing magnanimous in his receiving under his banners an +enemy's soldier who had unhorsed him, and who had foreborne to slay him +because he declared himself king of England. The conduct of the soldier +merited reward; and William acted only with common selfishness in taking +so good a soldier into his service. Rufus had mere brutal courage, but +that quality was not the character of chivalry. His bravery was not +directed either by religion or the love of fame, nor was it tempered into +virtue by the charities of life. When with Robert he besieged his brother +Henry in his castle, Rufus was guilty of one of the most unchivalric acts +on record. Henry's supply of water was exhausted, and he solicited some +from his brothers on the true knightly principle that valour should decide +a triumph, and that it was unworthy of a soldier's pride to gain a victory +merely by the circumstance of his antagonists being in want of the common +necessaries of life. Robert, with fine chivalric generosity, supplied his +brother, much to the regret of William, who ridiculed and was angry at his +simplicity.[388] + +[Sidenote: His knightly bearing.] + +But in Richard the whole knightly character appeared in all its martial +dignity and splendor. His courage was not the mere savage confidence in +superior strength, but the fine display of chivalric exercises. Such was +the might of his arm, and such the fierceness of his spirit, that he could +sweep from the field whole squadrons of knights. When we see his javelin +transfixing a Turk on the walls of Acre[389], the exploits of Grecian +heroes appear to be no longer poetical fictions; and when he appears on +the plains of Palestine, grasping his lance and riding from wing to wing +of the Saracenian host without meeting an enemy who dared to encounter his +career, the stories of Arthur and the Round Table seem the calm relations +of truth. + +No one was more attentive than Richard to the regulations of chivalry. In +the course of his crusade he was assailed by some rustics, against whom it +was unlawful for a knight to use his sword. He beat them with the flat +part of it till it broke, and he then took up stones, and drove them +away.[390] Richard's mind was framed in the finest spirit of chivalric +liberality. His largesses, both to his own soldiers and those of his ally, +Philip Augustus, while in Sicily during their voyage to Palestine, were +so magnificent, that it was acknowledged he had given more treasure in a +month than his predecessors in a year.[391] + +Like the knights of romance, he revelled in gorgeousness and splendour, +and his court resounded with the minstrel's lay. One of the Provençal +poets followed him into Palestine: nor did he entirely want the minds of +others to soften into grace his martial spirit; for often his own fancy +played with poetical images. In the history of chivalric amusements, +Richard is an important character. All his predecessors in sovereignty had +forbidden jousts and tournaments; and their absurd regulations had only +been violated in the time of Stephen. When Richard was in the Holy Land, +he observed the inferiority of the English chivalry to that of the French: +his own knights were rude soldiers, with none of the dexterity and skill +of their crusading brethren, which could only be acquired in tournaments, +the schools of war. Richard broke through the jealousy of adopting foreign +customs, and, like a politic monarch, he allowed and encouraged his +soldiers to practise martial exercises.[392] + +These circumstances and the various other events of his chivalric life, +which I have described at length in another work complete the authentic +character of our lion-hearted King, for I dare not invest the severe +simplicity of history with those golden fictions, which romance has +delighted to throw over the story of his Eastern atchievements. + +[Sidenote: John and Henry III.] + +There was nothing chivalric in the character and conduct of his brother +and successor King John, or he would not have suffered the foreign +possessions of England's crown to be wrested from it. In the reign of +Henry III. the flame of chivalry was kept alive by some English knights, +who assisted the Emperor in his Milanese wars, and whose prowess was the +most distinguished of the day. The crusades to the Holy Land were not +altogether forgotten; but the page of our history is marked with the +peculiar disgrace that English knights assisted the French in their +inhuman war on the Albigenses. + +[Sidenote: Edward I.] + +[Sidenote: His gallantry at a tournament.] + +There was much of the chivalric character in Edward I. He was a diligent +reader of the ancient romances; and, as soon as he was invested with +knighthood, he went to foreign courts, in order that he might display his +prowess.[393] For the sake of acquiring military fame, he exposed his +person in the Holy Land, and, during his journey homeward, though ill and +forespent with travel, he displayed remarkable heroism at a tournament in +Savoy.[394] The challenger was the Count of Chalons; but if pontifical +authority could have destroyed chivalry, the knights never would have met. +The pope feared that some hostility was menaced, and earnestly dissuaded +Edward from the tournament. He warned him of his danger: he exhorted him, +as a son of the church, to decline these encounters, which the church had +forbidden; and he added, that as Edward now was king, he might decline the +challenge, as kings were not wont to risk their persons in these perilous +shocks. But most of these reasons were so many stimulants of his courage: +the more danger, the greater share of honour, and it was beneath the +gallantry of his bearing to have thrown his rank as a shield before his +knighthood. Followed by a thousand men-at-arms, and archers on horseback +and on foot, Edward pressed his bounding steed upon the chosen plain, and +the Count of Chalons met him with equal spirit, and nearly twice the +number of companions. The English king soon found that no lofty courtesy, +no love of chivalric exercises, had influenced the French lord. The +graceful tournament soon became a deadly fray. The cause of honour +triumphed, and the knights of Chalons were either slain or driven from the +field. After many cavaliers on each side had been disabled, the lords of +either host encountered. Their lances met and shivered; and if Chalons had +been a courteous knight, he would have passed to the other end of the +plain, and seized a new lance to continue his emprise; but, maddened at +his weapon failing, he threw himself upon Edward, endeavouring to crush +him by his prodigious weight. At that moment Edward's horse started +forwards, and the Count was thrown on the ground. His companions raised +him; but he was so much bruised by the fall that he cried for mercy. His +conduct had put him without the pale of chivalry, and Edward, therefore, +treated him like a base-born churl. He beat him with the flat part of his +sword; and, refusing to take him as his prisoner, he compelled him to +surrender himself to a man of mean condition.[395] + +[Sidenote: His unchivalric cruelties.] + +[Sidenote: He possessed no knightly courtesy.] + +Edward's love of chivalric exercises was imitated by his nobility. +Tournaments and jousts were held in various parts of the country; and +Kenilworth is particularly marked as famous for its Round Table, to which +knights from every nation flocked.[396] In his Scotch wars, therefore, +his armies were not deficient in chivalric bravery. At the battle of +Falkirk the strength of the Scots was foot, as that of the English was +horse; and the repeated charges of Edward's chivalry decided the fate of +that memorable day. In his Welsh wars he had sullied his reputation for +knightly generosity by making a public exhibition of the head of his +worsted foe, Llewelyn ap Gryffyth, the last sovereign of Wales[397]; and +his well-known conduct to Wallace betrayed such an absence of all +nobleness of mind, that he forfeited his claims to knightly consideration. +The beautiful parts, the embellishments of chivalry, were subservient to +his ambition. Before his second war in Scotland he vowed, in Wesminster +Abbey, by God, and also by two swans which were introduced into the +assembly with great pomp and splendour, that he would punish the Scottish +nation for their breach of faith, and for the death of Comyn. Nor did any +of the courtesies of chivalry grace Edward: the queen of Bruce and her +ladies fell into his power, and in defiance of all chivalric gallantry, +he treated them as prisoners. There was something peculiarly ferocious in +his treatment of the Countess of Buchan, who was also his captive. Her +offence was, that she had crowned Bruce. Edward exclaimed, with the +deliberation of malignity, "As she has not used the sword, she shall not +perish by the sword; but for her lawless conspiracy, she shall be shut up +in a stone and iron chamber, circular as the crown she gave; and at +Berwick she shall be suspended in the open air, a spectacle to travellers, +and for her everlasting infamy."[398] And the English Tamerlane did not +relent.[399] + +[Sidenote: Picture of ancient manners.] + +The close of the reign of Edward I. is remarkable for a very splendid +scene illustrative of the ancient mode of creating knights, and of the +chivalric manners of our forefathers. Before his last and fatal journey +to Scotland, Edward caused proclamation to be made throughout England, +that all persons who were entitled to the honour of knighthood by custom +of hereditary succession, or who had estates sufficient to support the +dignity, should, at the next feast of Pentecost, repair to Westminster, +and that to every one would be delivered out of the King's wardrobe, at +the King's expence, the festive and inauguratory dress of a knight. + +Accordingly, at the time and place appointed, there was a fair and gallant +show of three hundred young gentlemen, sons of earls, barons, and knights, +and among these aspirants to chivalry were distributed in ample measure, +according to their different ranks, purple, fine linen, furs, and mantles +embroidered with gold. The royal palace, though magnificently spacious, +could not accommodate all these young esquires with their retinue of +yeomen and pages. Many of them repaired to the New Temple, where, cutting +down the trees and levelling the walls of the garden, they set up their +tents and pavilions in brave emulation of actual war. They performed their +vigils in the Temple church, while the Prince of Wales, by command of the +King his father, passed the night in prayer in Westminster Abbey. + +On the following day, the King invested his son with the military belt, +and assigned to him the duchy of Aquitaine. The Prince, being knighted, +went to the Abbey that he might confer the like military honor on his +companions. So close was the press of spectators round the high altar, +that two knights were stifled, and several fainted, though each was +supported by three knights of experienced prowess. The Prince, accompanied +by his father and the chief nobility, at length reached the altar, and his +guards made a passage for his friends to receive knighthood at his hands. +After he had dubbed and embraced them all, his attendants introduced two +swans covered with golden nets, which were adorned and embossed with studs +of gold. This was the most joyous part of the ceremony in the eyes of the +people, and their rude and joyous shouts drowned the clangor of the +trumpets. The King, as before stated, vowed by heaven and the swans that +he would go to Scotland; and even if he should die in the enterprise, he +would avenge the death of Comyn and the violated faith of the Scots. He +then adjured the Prince and the nobles, and his band of knights by their +fealty and chivalry, that if he should die in his journey to Scotland, +they would carry his body forwards, and never bury it till his son had +established his dominion. Every heart assented to this high resolve, and +the ceremony closed. The knights were feasted that day at the royal +palace; and while they were quaffing muscadel in honour of chivalry and +the ladies, the minstrels in their songs reminded them of their duty to +pledge themselves before the swans to perform some rare feats of arms. The +Prince vowed that he would never rest two nights in one place until he had +performed his father's high behests; and the other knights made various +fantastic vows for the promotion of the same object.[400] + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Edward II.] + +[Sidenote: Chivalric circumstances in the battle of Bannockburn.] + +The defeat of the English chivalry at the battle of Bannockburn, (24th +June, 1315,) was the most remarkable circumstance in the reign of Edward +II. On the preceding day, Douglas[401] and Sir Robert Keith, marshal of +Scotland, were dispatched by Robert Bruce from the main body of his army +to descry whether the enemy was approaching. + + "And soon the great host have they seen, + Where shields shining were so sheen, + And basinets burnished bright, + That gave against the sun great light. + They saw so fele[402] brawdyne[403] baners, + Standards, and pennons, and spears, + And so fele[402] knights upon steeds, + All flaming in their weeds. + And so fele[404] bataills[405], and so broad, + And too so great room as they rode + That the maist host, and the stoutest + Of Christendom, and the greatest + Should be abaysit[406], for to see + Their foes into such quantity." + The Bruce, vol. ii. p. 111. + +The English vanguard, commanded by the Earls of Gloucester and Hereford, +soon came in general sight. The appearance of Edward's army is described +by Barbour in a rich chivalric style. + + "The sun was bright, and shined clear, + And armouris that burnished were, + So blomyt[407], with the sun's beam, + That all the land was in a leme[408], + Banners right fairly flawinand[409], + And pensels to the wind wawand."[410] + Barbour, xi. 188-193. + +Bruce was riding on a palfrey and marshalling his men, when Sir Henry de +Bohun started from the opposite host, and careered his horse against him. +Sir Henry was a fierce rather than a gallant knight, or he would not have +pressed his war-steed upon a foe who was riding on a palfrey.[411] But +his want of chivalric gallantry was justly punished. + + "And when Glosyter and Hertfurd were, + With their battle approaching near, + Before them all there come riding, + With helm on head and spear in hand, + Sir Henry Boune, the worthy, + That was a wight knight, and a hardy; + And to the Earl of Hertfurd cousin; + Armed in arms good and fine; + Come on a steed, a bow-shot nere, + Before all other that there were. + And knew the King, for that he saw + Him so range his men in row; + And by the crown, that was set + Also upon his bacinet, + And towards him he went on haste. + And the King so apertly + Saw him come, forth all his feres[412] + In hy[413] to him the horse he steers. + And when Sir Henry saw the King + Come on forouting abaysing,[414] + To him he rode in full great hy[415] + He thought that he should well lightly + Win him and have him at his will, + Since he him horsed saw so ill. + Sprent[416] they came unto a ling,[417] + Sir Henry missed the noble king. + And he, that in his stirrups stood, + With the axe, that was hard and good, + With so great mayn[418] reached him a dint, + That neither hat nor helm might stynt, + The hewy dusche[419] that he him gave, + That near the head to the harness clave. + The hand-axe shaft fruschyt[420] in tow; + And he down to the yird gan go + All flatlyngs[421], for him failed might. + This was the first stroke of the fight." + Barbour, vol. ii. p. 122. + +The fine generousness of chivalry was very nobly displayed in another +circumstance which preceded the great battle. It was a main object with +the English to throw succours into the castle of Stirling; and Edward, +therefore, commanded Sir Robert Clifford and eight hundred horsemen to +make a circuit by the low grounds to the east, and approach the castle. +Bruce, in anticipation of the Englishmen's purpose, had charged Randolph +who commanded his left wing to prevent Stirling from being relieved; and +when he saw the English troops holding on their gallant course unchecked, +he cried, "A rose has fallen from thy chaplet, Randolph,"[422] and +bitterly reproached him for his want of vigilance. Nothing but the utmost +desperateness of valour could efface this shame; and gathering round him a +few hundred bold spirits, the Scottish General advanced against the +English. Clifford, in his pride of chivalry, thought that he could soon +disperse a band of lightly armed troops of foot-soldiers, who were now +being marshalled into a circle with their spears resting on the ground, +the points protruded on every side. The English charged, but the +resistance was more gallant than what they had foreseen. Still, however, +the Scots seemed gradually sinking under the force of numbers; and +Douglas, who saw the peril, requested the King's permission to go and join +him. "You shall not move from your ground," cried the King: "let Randolph +extricate himself as he best may. I will not alter my order of battle, and +lose the advantage of my position." But Douglas reiterated his request, +and wrung leave from the King. He flew to the assistance of his friend. +But before he reached him he saw that the English were falling into +disorder, and that the perseverance of Randolph had prevailed over their +impetuous courage. "Halt," cried Douglas, like a generous knight, "these +brave men have repulsed the enemy; let us not diminish their glory by +sharing it." + +Of the battle of Bannockburn itself little need be said by me, because +there was not much chivalric character about it. Some historians describe +the defeat of the English as having been principally occasioned by the +Scottish cavalry throwing the rear of their archers into confusion. Others +affirm that Bruce, seeing the inadequacy of his own cavalry to cope with +that of the English, formed the battles or divisions of his army entirely +of foot-soldiers, and dug trenches before his line, slightly covering them +with turf and hurdles. The gallant knights of England, with the sun +streaming on their burnished helms and gilt shields, advanced to charge +the bristled front of the Scots: but the turf sunk beneath the pressure of +their horses' feet, and men and their steeds lay at the mercy of their +enemy. One or other of these circumstances turned the event of the battle, +and the Scotch reserve being judiciously brought up, completed the +victory. In every way the generalship of Bruce was admirable: but the fate +of the battle reflects nothing on the personal character of the English +chivalry; for they were not worsted in an encounter of lance to lance, and +horse to horse. The bravery of one English knight must not pass +unrecorded. Sir Giles D'Argentyn, upon seeing some of his friends around +him pause in alarm, cried that he was not used to fly, and spurring his +war-steed into the thickest of the press, gallantly perished. Nor was this +a solitary instance of courage; and even Edward seemed for a moment to be +inspired with the fire of the Plantagenets. He dashed into the enemy's +lines, and was by force drawn away by the Earl of Pembroke, when courage +was evidently unavailing.[423] + +[Sidenote: Singular effect of chivalry in his reign.] + +Though the chivalric character was only for one moment of his life +sustained by Edward II., yet it was too deeply fixed in the national mind +to die on account of its neglect by any particular monarch. There is a +singular circumstance on record illustrative of the power of this feeling. +During his war with the barons, which his system of unprincipled +favouritism had provoked, one of the lords refused the Queen the +hospitality of his castle. This act of individual insult had general +consequences. Disgusted with a cause which was blended with so much +uncourtesy, barons and knights immediately flocked round the standard of +the King; his arms completely triumphed, and the Spencers were +recalled.[424] + + +END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. + + + LONDON: + Printed by A. & R. Spottiswoode. + New-Street-Square. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The History of Italy, from the Fall of the Western Empire to the +Commencement of the Wars of the French Revolution. By George Perceval, +Esq. 2 vols. 8vo. 1825. + +[2] A third volume was added in the year 1781, which also bears the title +"Mémoires sur l'ancienne Chevalerie;" though more than half of the volume +relates to the sport of hunting, which is a baronial or feudal rather than +a chivalric subject. + +[3] The Troubadour, &c. By L. E. L., author of The Improvisatrice. 12mo. + +[4] Jean Froissart, called Sir Jean Froissart, (the title, Sir, being in +the middle ages common to all who were either in the holy orders of the +church or in the holy order of knighthood,) was born at Valenciennes in +the year 1337, and died in 1397. + +[5] The Prologue of Froissart--Lord Berners' translation. + +[6] I subjoin Schultens' Latin version of the Arabic passage in Bohadin, +vita et res gestæ Saladini, c. 127. p. 209. "Cupere Anglum ut Almalichus +Aladilus sororem ipsius in matrimonium duceret (eam e Sicilia cujus functo +domino nupta fuerat, secum avexerat frater, quum insulam illam +trajiceret)." + +[7] Reiske's Latin version of Abulfeda is this:--"Illuc commeabant +Francorum pacis causa legati, eam offerentes conditionem, ut +Malec-al-Adel, frater Sultani sororem Regis Angliæ in matrimonium, et +Hierosolymas in regnum acciperet." Abulfeda, vol. iv. p. 111. + +[8] Tacitus Germania, sec. 6. Cæsar de Bello Gallico, lib. i. s. 48. + +[9] Tacitus Germania, s. 13. Mallet's Northern Antiquities, vol. i. p. +197. + +[10] Tacitus Germania. Cæsar, lib. 6. s. 14. + +[11] Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. 16. c. 13. + +[12] Chron. Saxon, 57, &c. Florence, ad an. 784. William of Malmsbury, 7. + +[13] Athenæus, lib. iv. c. 36. + +[14] Treatise on the Virtue of the Female Sex. + +[15] Tacitus Germania, s. 18. c. 19. + +[16] Ibid. + +[17] Strabo, lib. iv. Tacitus Historia, lib. iv. c. 61. 65. Pomponius +Mela, lib. iii. c. 6. + +[18] Tacitus, Hist. lib. iv. c. 18. Life of Agricola, s. 32. Germania, s. +7. + +[19] Barthol. p. 54. as cited by Warton, Dissert. I. Of the Origin of +Romantic Fiction in Europe, in the first volume of the late admirable +edition of his History of English Poetry. + +[20] It is also curious that this blow was said to have been +customary.--"Dato eisdem, sicut consuetudinis est, manu colapho." + +[21] Not exactly according to the form, for by this time a belt with a +sword inserted was girded round the military candidate, instead of +delivering a javelin to him. See the preceding page. + +[22] William of Malmsbury, lib. ii. c. 6. + +[23] Ingulph, p. 512. + +[24] Caxton, Fayts of Arms and Chivalry, chapter entitled "Of the Honor +that ought to be done to a Knight." + +[25] Spencer's Fairy Queen, book v. canto 5. st. 37. The romance of the +Morte D'Arthur says, that in early times there were no hermits, but who +had been men of worship and prowess; "and the hermits held great +household, and refreshed people that were in distress." Lib. 18. c. 10. + +[26] The reader will find in Johnson's Dictionary the etymology of _sir_. +When this word, acknowledging power and superiority, was first used as the +title of chivalry, I do not know. Instances exist as high as the reign of +Henry II. + +[27] Coke, Instit. 4. In the Reports of the Lords' Committees respecting +the Peerage, (printed 2d July 1821), doubts are often expressed regarding +the meaning of the word Banneret. A little attention to the difference +between the personal nobility of chivalry, and the nobility which arose as +a franchise appurtenant to land, would have prevented the entertaining of +such doubts, and the conclusion might have been drawn from principles, +instead of being guessed from precedent, that the title of banneret had no +relation to the dignity of Lord of Parliament. The Lords' Committees seem +surprised that barons should sometimes have had the addition of knights, +and at other times of bannerets but in truth chevalier was the title which +comprehended all others, and, like the word 'Lord,' was used in a general +sense. + +[28] See Du Cange, Dissertation 9. on Joinville. This learned commentator +seems inclined to confound knights-banneret with barons, chivalry with +nobility; and a herd of subsequent writers, refining on his error, have +gravely placed knights-banneret as an order or class of society mediate +between Nobility and Knighthood. + +[29] Some fortune was, however, always thought necessary for the support +of the dignity of knight-banneret. In the 28th of Edward III. John de +Cobham was made a banneret, and had a grant of an annuity of 100 marks, +out of the issues of the county of Norfolk, expressly for the better +support of that dignity. Dugdale's Baronage, vol. ii. p. 66. Many similar +instances are mentioned in the Parliamentary Rolls. + +[30] A note of Waterhouse on Fortescue will illustrate this. "The title of +franklein is 'good man;' and yet they have oft knights' estates. Many are +called by courtesy 'masters,' and even 'gentlemen;' and their sons are +educated in the inns of court, and adopted into the orders of knights and +squires." + +[31] Illegitimacy seems not to have been a matter of the slightest +consequence. Froissart. ii. 26. + +[32] Favyn. i. 6. + +[33] When Don Quixote was dubbed a knight, the landlord asked him whether +he had any money. "Not a cross," replied the knight; "for I never read in +any history of chivalry, that any knight-errant ever carried money about +him."--"Respondio Don Quixote que no traia blanca, porque él nunca habia +leido en las historias de los caballeros andantes, que ninguno los hubiese +traido." This was a very singular error in Cervantes, for in Amadis de +Gaul, which he characterizes as the best work of its class, and which is +evidently one of his textbooks, we read that the queen gave Adrian the +Dwarf enough money to last Amadis de Gaul his master for a whole year. +Book III. c. 6. + +[34] Froissart, i. c. 448. + +[35] Froissart, ii. c. 49. + +[36] Thus, as Bracton observes, if a villain be made a knight, he is +thereby immediately enfranchised, and consequently accounted a gentleman, +l. iv. f. 198. b. + +[37] Froissart, i. 384. + +[38] Du Cange says, the third order of Chivalry consisted of the Esquires; +but he evidently thinks they were the personal attendants of knights, for +he calls them infancons or damoiseaux. He does not seem to have thought +that a grave old squire ever existed. + +[39] ----"Mais le dit escuyer s'excusa; et dit qu'il ne pouvoit trouver +son bacinet."--Froissart, i. 211. + +[40] favour. + +[41] soon. + +[42] diligently. + +[43] attempted. + +[44] against. + +[45] rule. + +[46] the minstrelsy art. + +[47] went. + +[48] knew. + +[49] Geste of Kyng Horn, v. 233. + +[50] Mr Rose's note on the Romance of Partenopex of Blois, p. 51. + +[51] Caxton, Fayt of Armes and of Chyvalrye, c. 9., Mémoires du bon +Messire Jean le Maingre, dit Boucicaut, Maréchal de France, c. 5, 9. in +the sixth volume of the large collection of French Memoirs. + +[52] L'Histoire de Guerin de Montglaive. + +[53] L'Histoire et plaisante Cronicque du petit Jehan de Saintré, vol. 1. +c. 3-6. I have the authority of Sir Walter Scott and other able writers on +chivalry, to cite this romance as good evidence for the laws and manners +of knighthood. It was written in 1459; the first edition was printed in +Gothic characters in 1523, and it was reprinted in three volumes, 12mo. in +1724. + +[54] Caxton, Fayt of Armes and Chevalrye, c. 9. + +[55] _Damoisel_ et Eescuyer sont arrivés à Novandel demandant chivalarie, +lequel layant reçu n'est plus appellé de tels tiltres, ains seulement des +tiltre de chevalier.--Amadis de Gaul, liv. 3. c. 3. + +[56] Fauchet de l'Origine des Chevaliers, liv. 1. ch. 1. Monstrelet, vol. +1. c. 138. L'histoire de Bertrand du Guesclin, c. 1. + +[57] Paulus Warnefridus, lib. 1. c. 23. + +[58] Eximinus Petri Salonava Justitia Arragonum. Lib. de privilegiis +baronum et riccorum hominum. + +[59] Froissart, vol. 2. c. 31. + +[60] Froissart, vol. 2. c. 92. The Earl of Oxenford had reason to repent +of his arrogance. Sir John Chandos, observes Froissart, marked well all +the matter between his squire and the earl, and remained quiet till the +prince was gone from them, and then coming to the earl, he said, "Sir +Thomas, are you displeased that I drank before you? I am constable of this +country; I may well drink before you, since my lord the prince, and other +lords here, are content therewith. It is of truth that you were at the +battle of Poictiers; but all who were there do not know so well as I what +you did. I shall declare it. When my lord the prince had made his voyage +in Languedock and Carcassone to Narbonne, and was returned hither to his +town of Bourdeaux, you chose to go to England. What the king said to you +on your arrival I know right well, though I was not present. He demanded +of you whether you had finished your voyage, and what you had done with +his son the prince. You answered, that you had left him in good health at +Bourdeaux. Then the king said, 'How durst you be so bold as to return +without him? I commanded you and all others when ye departed, that you +should not return without him, and you thus presume to come again to +England. I straitly command you, that within four days you avoid my realm +and return again to him, and if I find you within this my realm on the +fifth day, you shall lose your life, and all your heritage for ever.' And +you feared the king's words, as it was reason, and left the realm, and so +your fortune was good, for truly you were with my lord the prince four +days before the battle of Poictiers. On the day of the battle you had +forty spears under your charge, and I had fourscore. Now you may see +whether I ought to drink before you or not, since I am constable of +Acquitain." The Earl of Oxenford was ashamed, and would gladly have been +thence at the time; but he was obliged to remain and hear this reproof +from that right noble knight, Sir John Chandos. + +[61] Fairy Queen, book 1. canto 10. st. 7. + +[62] Froissart, 1. c. 269. M. Paris, 873. + +[63] + + "Les prisons firent arreter, + Et en lieu seur tourner, + A leurs escuyers les liverent + Et à garder les commandement." + +[64] Ulrich von Lichtenstein, p. 70. Ulrich was a German knight, who lived +in the fourteenth century, and wrote his own memoirs. They often give us +curious glimpses into ancient chivalry. + +[65] Chaucer, in drawing his squire, had certainly in mind a passage from +his favourite poem, "The Romaunt of the Rose:"-- + + "Si avoient bien a Bachalier, + Que il sache de vieler, + De fleuter et de danser." + +I do not notice this circumstance on account of the literary coincidence, +but to shew that the squire of France and the squire of England were in +Chaucer's view the same character. + +[66] Du Cange, Dissert. 7. au Joinville, and Menage, Dict. Et. in verb. + +[67] Fairy Queen, book 2. canto 3. st. 46. + + "So to his steed he got, and 'gan to ride, + As one unfit therefore, that all might see + He had not trained been in chivalry; + Which well that valiant courser did discern; + For he despised to tread in dew degree, + But chaf'd and foam'd with courage fierce and stern, + And to be eas'd of that base burthen still did erne." + +In the old poem called the Siege of Karvalerock, a knight is praised for +not appearing on horseback like a man asleep. + + "Ki kant seroit sur le cheval, + Ne sembloit home ki someille." + +[68] Chaucer, Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. Selden, Titles of Honour, +part 2. c. 3, 6. + +[69] Froissart, vol. 1. c. 321. 'The lord Langurant did that day marvels +in arms, so that his own men and also strangers had marvels of his deeds. +He advanced himself so much forward that he put his life in great +jeopardy, for they within the town (against whose walls he was standing on +a ladder,) by clean force raised his helm from his head, and so had been +dead without remedy, if a squire of his had not been there, who followed +him so near that he covered him with his target, and the lord and he +together descended down the ladder by little and little, and in their +descending they, received on their target many a great stroke. They were +greatly praised by all that saw them.'--Berner's Froissart. + +[70] Froissart, liv. 2. c. 24. + +[71] Rigordus in Du Chesne, vol. 5. p. 59. Mr. Maturin, in that powerful +and magnificent romance, the Albigenses, has made a very fine use of the +instance related above of the squirehood of Philip Augustus. + +[72] This strange practice prevailed, says Mr. Ellis, (Specimens of early +English Poetry, vol. i. p. 325.) at a time when the day-dress of both +sexes was much warmer than at present, it being generally bordered, and +often lined with furs; insomuch that numberless warrens were established +in the neighbourhood of London for the purpose of supplying its +inhabitants with rabbit skins. "Perhaps," continues Mr. Ellis, in his +usual style of pleasantry, "it was this warmth of clothing that enabled +our ancestors, in defiance of a northern climate, to serenade their +mistresses with as much perseverance as if they had lived under the torrid +zone." + +[73] This circumstance was satirised, as the reader must remember, by +Cervantes, who did not always spare chivalry itself in his good humoured +satire of the romances of chivalry. + +[74] Du Cange, articles Barbani radere, and Capilli. The complete shaving +of the head was not often submitted to by knights. It was generally +thought sufficient if a lock of hair was cut off. + +[75] In the Fabliau of the order of knighthood the exhortation is somewhat +different, and necessarily so, for the candidate was a Saracen. It was not +to be expected that he would vow to destroy his erring brethren. The +exhortation deserves to be extracted, for it contains some particulars not +noticed in the one which I have inserted in the text. Whether specially +mentioned or not, attendance at church and serving the ladies were always +regarded as essentials of a knight's duty. + + "Still to the truth direct thy strong desire, + And flee the very air where dwells a liar: + Fail not the mass, there still with reverend feet + Each morn be found, nor scant thy offering meet: + Each week's sixth day with fast subdue thy mind, + For 'twas the day of PASSION for mankind: + Else let some pious work, some deed of grace, + With substituted worth fulfil the place: + Haste thee, in fine, where dames complain of wrong, + Maintain their right, and in their cause be strong. + For not a wight there lives, if right I deem, + Who holds fair hope of well-deserv'd esteem, + But to the dames by strong devotion bound, + Their cause sustains, nor faints for toil or wound." + WAY'S _Fabliaux_, vol. i. p. 94. + +The expressive conciseness of the exhortation to the duties of knighthood +in the romance of Ysaie le Triste is admirable. "Chevalier soies cruel a +tes ennemys, debonnaire a tes amys, humble a non puissans, et aidez +toujours le droit a soustenir, et confons celluy qui tort a vefves dames, +poures pucelles et orphelins, et poures gens aymes toujours a ton pouvir, +et avec ce aime toujours Saincte Eglise." + +[76] The more distinguished the rank of the aspirant, the more +distinguished were those who put themselves forward to arm him. The +romances often state that the shield was given to a knight by a king of +Spain, the sword by a king of England, the helmet from a French sovereign, +&c. + +[77] The word dub is of pure Saxon origin. The French word adouber is +similar to the Latin adoptare, not adaptare, for knights were not made by +adapting the habiliments of chivalry to them, but by receiving them, or +being adopted into the order. Many writers have imagined that the accolade +was the last blow which the soldier might receive with impunity: but this +interpretation is not correct, for the squire was as jealous of his honour +as the knight. The origin of the accolade it is impossible to trace, but +it was clearly considered symbolical of the religious and moral duties of +knighthood, and was the only ceremony used when knights were made in +places (the field of battle, for instance,) where time and circumstances +did not allow of many ceremonies. + +[78] Caxton, Fayt of Armes and Chivalry, c. 49. Favyn Theatre of Honour, +liv. i. c. 6. Daniel, Hist. de la Milice Francaise, liv. i. c. 4. + +[79] Froissart, vol. i. c. 364. The romance writers made strange work of +this disposition of candidates for chivalry to receive the wished for +honours from the hands of redoubted heroes. In one of them a man wanted to +be knighted by the famous Sir Lancelot of the Lake. He however happened to +be dead, but that circumstance was of no consequence, for a sword was +placed in the right hand of the skeleton, and made to drop upon the neck +of the kneeling squire, who immediately rose a knight. + +[80] Pinkerton's History of Scotland, vol. i. p. 71. + +[81] Favyn, liv. iii. c. 12. Monstrelet, vol. vi. p. 82. Honoré, +Dissertations Historiques et Critiques sur la Chevaliere. 4to. Paris. +1718. p. 55. + +[82] Selden likens the degradation of a knight to the degradation of a +clergyman by the canon law, previously to his being delivered over to the +secular magistrate for punishment. The order of the clergy and the order +of knighthood were supposed to be saved from disgrace by this expulsion of +an unworthy member. Selden, Titles of Honour, p. 787. + +[83] Segar, Of Honour, lib. ii. c. 5. + +[84] Stow's Chronicle. + +[85] The iron of Poictou was particularly famous for making admirable +lance-heads; nor was it disliked as a shield. Thus an old French poet +says,-- + + "Et fu armé sor le cheval de pris, + D'Aubere, et d'iaume, d'escu Poitevin." + Du Cange, art. Ferrum Pictavense. + +The iron of Bourdeaux is frequently mentioned by Froissart as of excellent +use in armour. liv. 2. c. 117. 4. 6. And the old chronicle of Bertrand du +Guesclin says,-- + + "Un escuier y vint qui au comte lanca + D'une espée de Bourdeaux, qui moult chier li cousta." + +[86] Menage, Diction. Etym. in verb. + +[87] It is not worth while to say much about mere words. I shall only add +that the banner was sometimes called the Gonfanon. + + "Li Barons aurent gonfanons + Li chevaliers aurent penons." + +[88] This battle-axe is very amusingly described in the metrical romance +of Richard Coeur de Lion:-- + + "King Richard I understond, + Or he went out of Englond, + Let him make an axe for the nones, + To break therewith the Sarasyns bones. + The head was wrought right wele, + Therein was twenty pounds of steel, + And when he came into Cyprus land, + The ax he took in his hand. + All that he hit he all to-frapped, + The Griffons away fast rapped + Natheless many he cleaved, + And their unthanks there by lived, + And the prison when he came to, + With his ax he smot right thro, + Dores, barres, and iron-chains, + And delivered his men out of pains." + Line 2197, &c. + +[89] Monstrelet. Johnes' edit. vol. 5. p. 294. + +[90] Thus Pandaro the giant in Palmerin of England carried a huge +mallet:--but I need not multiply instances. + +[91] En loyal amour tout mon coeur, was a favourite motto on the shank of +a spur. + +[92] Ritterzeit und Ritterwesen, vol. 1. p. 193. + +[93] Chronicle of the Cid. p. 46. + +[94] Ritterzeit und Ritterwesen, vol. 1. p. 201. + +[95] Hoveden. + +[96] Pellicer's note on Don Quixote, edit. Madrid, 1798. Dillon's Travels +in Spain, p. 143. + +[97] Robert of Brune. + +[98] Wormius, Lit. Run. p. 110. Hickes Thes. vol. 1. p. 193. + +[99] The notion of applying the word jocosé to a sword is thus pleasantly +dilated on by St. Palaye. "Ils ont continuellement repandu sur toutes les +images de la guerre un air d'enjouement, qui leur est propre: ils n'ont +jamais parlé que comme d'une fête, d'un jeu, et d'un passe-temps. _Jouer +leur jeu_, ont-ils dit, les arbalétriers qui faisoient pleuvoir une grêle +de traits. _Jouer gros jeu_, pour donner battaile. _Jouer des mains_, et +une infinité d'autres façons de parler semblables se recontrent souvent +dans la lecture de recits militaires nos écrivains." + +[100] Ellis' Metrical Romances. 2. 362. + +[101] The shield therefore was fitted by its shape to bear a wounded +knight from the field, and to that use it was frequently applied. Another +purpose is alluded to in the spirited opening to the Lay of the Gentle +Bachelor. + + "What gentle Bachelor is he + Sword-begot in fighting field, + Rock'd and cradled in a shield, + Whose infant food a helm did yield." + +[102] Malmsbury, p. 170. + +[103] Dr. Meyrick, in his huge work on armour, divides the sorts of this +early mail into the rustred, the scaled, the trellissed, the purpointed, +and the tegulated. The grave precision of this enumeration will amuse the +curious enquirer into the infinite divisibility of matter. + +[104] In a masterly dissertation upon Ancient Armour, in the sixtieth +number of the Quarterly Review, it is said, that "though chain-mail was +impervious to a sword-cut, yet it afforded no defence against the bruising +stroke of the ponderous battle-axe and martel; it did not always resist +the shaft of the long or cross bow, and still less could it repel the +thrust of the lance or the long-pointed sword."--There is a slight mistake +here. All good coats of mail were formed of duplicated rings, and their +impenetrability to a lance thrust was an essential quality. "Induitur +lorica incomparabili, quæ maculis duplicibus intexta, nullius lanceæ +ictibus transforabilis haberetur." Mon. l. 1. ann. 1127. + +[105] Froissart describes Sir John Chandos as dressed in a long robe, +which fell to the ground, blazoned with his arms on white sarcenet, argent +a field gules, one on his breast, and another on his back. + +[106] Du Cange, Dissert. the first on Joinville. The extravagance of +people in the middle ages on the subject of furs is the theme of perpetual +complaint with contemporary authors. By two statutes of the English +parliament, holden at London in 1334 and 1363, all persons who could not +expend one hundred pounds a-year were forbidden to wear furs. + +[107] Du Cange, ubi supra. + +[108] Montfaucon, Pl. 2. xiv. 7. and Gough i. 137. + +[109] Fairy Queen, Book i. canto vii. st. 31, 32. + +[110] Shakspeare, Henry V. Act iii. sc. 7. + +[111] Fairy Queen, Book i. c. 7. st. 29. + +[112] Lay of the Knight and the Sword. + +[113] Froissart, livre i. c. 342. + +[114] Ellis's Specimens of Metrical Romances, i. 328. 366. + +[115] Monstrelet, Johnes's edition, vol. v. p. 121. 126., et prestement un +nommé Olivier Layet à l'ayde de Pierre Frotier lui bouta une espée par +dessoules son haulbergeon tout dedans le ventre, &c.--En apres le +dessusdit duc mis à mort, comme dit est fut tantost par les gens du +Daulphin desuestu de sa robbe, de son haulbergeon, &c. Monstrelet, vol. i. +c. 212, 213. + +[116] Books of military costume may illustrate the truth, how important +every man's occupation is in his own eyes. The old French writer, Fauchet, +has devoted some pages to a description of the regular process of +dressing, and his example has been followed by some of our English +antiquarians. + +[117] In Dr. Meyrick's three ponderous quartos on Armour there is one +interesting point: he shews that the celebrated title of the Black Prince, +which the Prince of Wales gained for his achievements at the battle of +Cressy, did not arise, as is generally supposed, from his wearing black +armour on that day, nor does it appear that he ever wore black armour at +all. Plain steel armour was his usual wear, and the surcoat was emblazoned +with the arms of England labelled. When he attended tournaments in France +or England he appeared in a surcoat with a shield, and his horse in a +caparison all black with the white feathers on them; so that the colour of +the covering of the armour, and not of the armour itself, gave him his +title. Dr. Meyrick thinks the common story an erroneous one, that the +ostrich feathers in the crest of our princes of Wales arose from young +Edward's taking that ornament from the helmet of the King of Bohemia, who +was slain by him at the battle of Cressy. He contends that the feathers +formed a _device_ on the banner of the monarch, and were not worn on the +helmet, because plumes of feathers were not used as crests till the +fifteenth century. That Dr. Meyrick has not been able to find any instance +of their being thus worn goes but very little way to prove the negative. +On the other hand, we know that the swan's neck, the feathers of favourite +birds, such as the peacock and pheasant, were devices on shields, and also +at the same time continually surmounted the helmet, and the ostrich +feathers, which ever since the crusades the western world had been +familiar with, might in all probability have been used in this twofold +manner. How the King of Bohemia wore his we do not know with historic +certainty, but it is very difficult to believe that he, or our chivalric +ancestors, with their love of splendid ornament, would have been contented +with placing the ostrich feathers as a mere device on a shield, and not +have also fixed it where they set every thing peculiarly graceful, on the +summit of the helm. + +[118] A very singular instance of the inconvenience of heavy armour +occurred in the year 1427, during a war between the Milanese and the +Venetians. Carmagnola, the Venetian General, had skilfully posted his army +behind a morass, the surface of which, from the dryness of the season, was +capable of bearing the weight of infantry. He irritated the enemy (the +Milanese) to attack him, by capturing the village of Macalo before their +eyes, but their heavy cavalry had no sooner charged along the causeway +intersecting the marshy ground, which he purposely left unguarded, than +his infantry assailed them with missiles on both flanks. In attempting to +repulse them the Milanese cuirassiers sank into the morass: their column +was crowded on the narrow passage, and thrown into confusion, and the +infantry of Carmagnola then venturing among them on the causeway, and +stabbing their horses, made prisoners of the dismounted cuirassiers to the +number of eight thousand, as they lay helpless under the enormous weight +of their own impervious armour. Perceval's History of Italy, vol. ii. p. +77. + +[119] Quarterly Review, No. lx. p. 351. + +[120] In marking the progress of chivalry through Italy I shall again have +occasion to notice the excellence of the Milanese armour. + +[121] Note 8. on Marmion, canto 5. + +[122] Grose, ii. 246. + +[123] Caxton, Fayt of Armes and of Chyvalrye, c. 62, &c. If the reader be +curious for information on the subject of the allegories which were formed +from the armour and dress of the Knights of the Garter and the Bath, he +will find it in Anstis's Register of the Garter, p. 119, 120, and his +History of the Knighthood of the Bath, p. 77-80. + +[124] + + Asturco dextrarius est, Astur caput ejus + Nam prius Astur equum dextrandi repperit usum. + Ebrardus Betuniensis in Græcismo, c. 7. + +[125] An Arabian horse. + +[126] Weak. + +[127] Lockhart's Spanish Ballads, p. 66. + +[128] William of Newbridge, c. 11. lib. ii. Brunetus in Thesauro, MS. part +1. c. 155, says "Il y a chevaus de plusieurs manieres, à ce que li un sont +déstreir quant pour li combat, li auter sont palefroy pour chevaucher à +l'aise de son cors pour li autres son roueis pour sommes porter," &c. and +the continuator of Nangis says, "Et apres venoient les grans chevaux et +palefrois du roy tres rechement ensellez, et les valets les menaient en +dextre sur autres roussins." + +[129] History of the Crusades, vol. i. p. 357. note. + +[130] Lest the reader's mind should wander in conjecture regarding the +purpose of barding a horse, I will transcribe, for his instruction and +illumination, a few lines from Dr. Meyrick's Chronological Inquiry into +Ancient Armour, vol. ii. p. 126. "The principal reason for arming the +horse in plate as well as his rider was to preserve his life, on which +depended the life or liberty of the man-at-arms himself; for when he was +unhorsed, the weight of his own armour prevented him from speedily +recovering himself or getting out of the way, when under the animal. +Besides this, by thus preserving the horse, the expence of another was +saved." Wonderful! + +[131] Statutes of the Templars, c. 37. + +[132] Vincent de Beauvais, Hist. lib. 30. c. 85. + +[133] From the Loka Lenna, or Strife of Loc, cited in the notes on Sir +Tristrem, p. 350.; St. Palaye, "Memoires sur l'ancienne Chevaliere," +partie 3.; Du Cange, Twenty-first Dissertation on Joinville; Glossary, +Arma Mutare, Companionship in weal and woe sanctioned by religious +solemnities, still exists among the Albanians and other people of the +eastern shore of the Adriatic. The custom is wrought into a very +interesting story in the tale of Anastasius, vol. i. c. 7. + +[134] Juv. des Ursins anno 1411. Vraye fraternité et compagnie d'armes, is +the frequent expression in old writers for this chivalric union. + +[135] Kennet's Parochial Antiquities, p. 57. cited in Henry's History of +England, vol. iii. p. 360. 4to. + +[136] The romance of Amys and Amylion. It is abridged by Mr. Ellis in the +third volume of his Specimens of early English Metrical Romances, and +inserted at length by Mr. Weber in the second volume of his collection. +The reader may be amused to learn that the mother of the children was so +complaisant to her husband as to approve of his having cut their little +throats. + + "O lef lief! she said tho, + God may send us children mo! + Of them have thou no care. + And if it were at my heart's root, + For to bring thy brother boot, + My life I would not spare. + There shall no man our children sene, + For to morrow they shall buried ben, + As they fairly dead were. + Thus that lady, fair and bright, + Comforted her lord with her might, + As ye may understand + Sin[A] they went both right + To Sir Amylion, that gentle knight, + That ever was fre to fonde[B] + When Sir Amylion awaked tho, + All his foulehead away was go + Through grace of God's Son. + Then was he as fair a man + As ever he was ere than + Since he was been in londe." + +The conclusion of the story shows the belief of the writer that heaven +approved of such sacrifices to friendship. + + "Then were they all blithe, + Their joy could no man kithe, + They thanked God that day. + As ye may at me liste and lythe.[C] + Into the chamber they went swythe.[D] + Ther as the children lay. + Without wern[E], without wound, + All whole the children there they found, + And lay together in play. + For joy they went there, they stood + And thanked God with mild mode + Their care was all away." + + [A] After. + + [B] That ever could be met with. + + [C] Now you must listen to me. + + [D] Quickly. + + [E] Scar. + +[137] It may be as well to notice that the barriers of a town, or its +outer fortification, are described by Froissart as being grated +pallisades, the grates being about half a foot wide. + +[138] The remainder of this knight's story should be told, although it +does not relate to the matter of the text. "In the suburbs he had a sore +encounter, for, as he passed on the pavement, he found before him a +bocher, a big man, who had well seen this knight pass by, and he held in +his hands a sharp heavy axe, with a long point; and as the knight +returned, and took no heed, this bocher came on his side and gave him such +a stroke between the neck and shoulders, that he fell upon his horse, and +yet he recovered; and then the bocher struck him again, so that the axe +entered into his body, so that, for pain, the knight fell to the earth, +and his horse ran away, and came to the squire who abode for his master at +the streets; and so the squire took the horse, and had great marvel what +was become of his master, for he had seen him ride to the barriers, and +strike thereat with his glaive, and return again. Then he rode a little +forth thitherward, and anon he saw his master laying upon the earth +between four men, who were striking him as they would strike an anvil. And +then the squire was so affrighted he durst not go farther, for he saw he +could not help his master. Therefore he returned as fast as he might; so +there the said knight was slain. And the knights that were at the gate +caused him to be buried in holy ground." Lord Berners's Froissart, c. 281. + +[139] Froissart, vol. i. c. 278. + +[140] Froissart, c. 281.; Gray's Descent of Odin.; Herbert's Icelandic +Translations, p. 39; Scott's Minstrelsy, vol. 1. p. 45. + +[141] Froissart c. 384. + +[142] Froissart, c. 28. "Et si avoit entre eux plusieurs jeunes +bacheliers, qui avoient chacun un oeil couvert de drap, à fin qu'ils n'en +puissent veoir; et disoit on que ceux là avoient voué, entre dames de leur +pais, que jamais ne verroient que d'un oeil jusques à ce qu'ils auroient +fait aucunes prouesses de leur corps en royaume de France." The +disposition of knights to make vows was an excellent subject for +Cervantes' raillery. "Tell her," continued I, (Don Quixote) "when she +least expects it, she will come to hear how I made an oath, as the Marquis +of Mantua did, when he found his nephew Baldwin ready to expire on the +mountains, never to eat upon a table-cloth, and several other particulars, +which he swore to observe, till he had revenged his death. So in the like +solemn manner will I swear, never to desist from traversing the habitable +globe, and ranging through all the seven parts of the world, more +indefatigably than ever was done by Prince Pedro of Portugal, till I have +freed her from her enchantment." Don Quixote, part 2. c. 23. + +[143] Every true knight said like him in the Morte d'Arthur, "Though the +knight be never so false, I will never slay him sleeping; for I will never +destroy the high order of knighthood." And again, "Well, I can deem that I +shall give him a fall. For it is no mastery, for my horse and I be both +fresh, and so are not his horse and he, and weet ye well that he will take +it for great unkindness, for every one good is loth to take another at +disadvantage." + +[144] The true son of chivalry was like Banquo, of whom Macbeth says, + + "'Tis much he dares; + And, to that dauntless temper of his mind, + He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour + To act in safety." + +Sir Philip Sidney excellently well describes the nature of chivalric +courage. "Their courage was guided with skill, and their skill was armed +with courage; neither did their hardiness darken their wit, nor their wit +cool their hardiness: both valiant as men despising death, and both +confident as unwonted to be overcome. Their feet steady, their hands +diligent, their eyes watchful, and their hearts resolute." Arcadia, p. 28. +Edit. 1590. + +[145] Morte d'Arthur. 1. 7. + +[146] Argentré, Histoire de la Bretagne, p. 391. + +[147] Limoges had revolted on account of a tax which had been imposed on +the English dominions in France, to pay the expences of the war, which had +had for its object the restoration of Peter the Cruel. + +[148] Froissart, liv. 1. c. 283. "Then the Prince, the Duke of Lancaster, +the Earl of Cambridge, the Earl of Pembroke, Sir Guiscard Dangle, and all +the others, with their companies, entered into the city, and all other +footmen ready apparelled, to do evil, and to pillage and rob the city, and +to slay men, women, and children; for so it was commanded them to do. It +was great pity to see the men, women and children that kneeled down on +their knees to the Prince for mercy, but he was so inflamed with ire, that +he took no heed to them, so that none was heard; but all put to death as +they were met withal, and such as were nothing culpable. There was no pity +taken of the poor people who wrought never no manner of treason; yet they +bought it dearer than the great personages, such as had done the evil and +trespass. There was not so hard a heart within the city of Limoges, and if +he had any remembrance of God, but that wept piteously for the great +mischief that they saw before their eyes: for more than three thousand +men, women and children were slain that day. God have mercy on their +souls, for I trow they were martyrs." Lord Berners' Translation. + +[149] Romance of Guy of Warwick. + +[150] Romance of Sir Otuel. And in the Morte d'Arthur it is said, "and +thus by assent of them both, they granted either other to rest, and so +they set them down upon two mole hills there beside the fighting place, +and either of them unlaced his helmet, and took the cold wind, for either +of their pages was fast by them to come when they called to lace their +harness, and to set them on again at their commandment." Morte d'Arthur. +lib. 8. c. 17. + +[151] Romance of Sir Ferumbras. + +[152] Froissart, liv. 2. c. 24. This story of Froissart reminds one of +Mortimer, + + "When on the gentle Severn's sedgy bank, + In single opposition, hand to hand, + He did confound the best part of an hour + In changing hardiment with great Glendower: + Three times they breath'd, and three times did they drink, + Upon agreement, of swift Severn's flood; + Who then, affrighted with their bloody looks, + Ran fearfully among the trembling reeds, + And hid his crisp head in the hollow bank, + Blood-stain'd with these valiant combatants." + Henry IV. Part 1. Act 1. Sc. iii. + +[153] Froissart liv. 1. c. 107. + +[154] Froissart, liv. 2. c. 145. + +[155] Froissart, liv. 2. c. 146. + +[156] Froissart, liv. 1. c. 149. 233. + +[157] Froissart, liv. 1. c. 235. 371. liv. 2. c. 152. + +[158] Thus Don Quixote pleasantly says in his enumeration of chivalric +qualities, "whoever possesses the science of knight errantry ought to be +learned in the laws, and understand distributive and commutative justice, +in order to right all mankind." + +[159] Fairy Queen, book iii. canto 1. st. 3.; and Tasso, with equal +attention to truth, thus describes the duty of a knight. + + Premer gli alteri, e sollevar gli imbelli, + Defender gli innocenti, e punir gli empi, + Fian l'arti lor. + La Ger. lib. 10. 76. + +[160] Piers Ploughman, first vision. + +[161] M. Paris. 45. + +[162] Matthew of Westminster, p. 353. + +[163] Froissart, 1. c. 361. 2. 124. 202. 203. + +[164] Froissart, 1. 46. + +[165] Fairy Queen, book ii. canto c. st. 41. + +[166] Even so judicious a writer as Mr. Dunlop says, (Hist. of Fiction, +vol. ii. p. 144.) that vigor of discipline was broken by want of unity of +command. St. Palaye, in whom want of acquaintance with the subject is less +excusable, says, "Si le pouvoir absolu, si l'unité du commandement est le +seul moyen d'entretenir la vigueur de la discipline, jamais elle ne dut +être moins solidement établie, et plus souvent ébranlée que du temps de +nos chevaliers. Quelle confusion, en effet, ne devoient point apporter +tant d'especes de chefs, dont les principes, les motifs et les interêts +n'etoient pas toujours d'accord, et qui ne tiroient point d'une même +source le droit de se faire obeir?" Memoires sur l'Ancienne Chevalerie, +partie 5. + +[167] Froissart, vol. ii. c. 26. + +[168] + + "Then said the gud Erl of Derby, + Lo! here a fair sight sykkyrly. + A fairer sight how may man see, + Than knight or squire which ever he be, + In-til his helm him thus got schryive? + When I shall pass out of this life, + I would God of his grace would send + To me a like manner to end." + Wyntown's Cronykil of Scotland, book viii. c. 35. + +[169] Caxton, Fayt of Armes and Chevalrie, fol. 40. + +[170] Ibid. c. 48. + +[171] Malmsbury, p. 186. + +[172] Lai of Aucassin and Nicolette. + +[173] Froissart, livre 1. c. 87. The romances of chivalry are full of +tales expressive of this feature of the knightly character. As amusing a +story as any is to be found in the Morte d'Arthur. "There came into the +court a lady that hight the lady of the lake. And she came on horseback, +richly bysene, and saluted King Arthur, and asked him a gift that he +promised her when she gave him the sword. 'That is sooth,' said Arthur, 'a +gift I promised you. Ask what ye will, and ye shall have it, an it be in +my power to give it.'--'Well,' saith the lady, 'I ask the head of the +knight that hath wore the sword, or the damsel's head that brought it. I +take no force though I have both their heads, for he slew my brother, a +good knight and a true, and that gentlewoman was causer of my father's +death.'--'Truly,' said King Arthur, 'I may not grant either of their heads +with my worship, therefore ask what ye will else, and I shall fulfill your +desire.'--'I will ask none other thing,' said the lady. When Balyn was +ready to depart, he saw the lady of the lake, that by her means had slain +Balyn's mother, and he had sought her three years; and when it was told +him that she asked his head of King Arthur, he went to her streyte, and +said, 'Evil be you found, you would have my head, and therefore shall lose +yours,' and with his sword lightly he smote off her head before King +Arthur. 'Alas! for shame,' said Arthur, 'why have you done so? you have +shamed me and all my court; for this was a lady that I was beholden to, +and hither she came under my safe-conduct. I shall never forgive you that +trespass.'--'Sir,' said Balyn, 'me forthinketh of your displeasure; for +this same lady was the untruest lady living, and by enchantment and +sorcery she hath been the destroyer of many good knights, and she was +causer that my mother was burnt through her falsehood and +treachery.'--'What cause soever ye had,' said Arthur, 'you should have +forborne her in my presence; therefore, think not the contrary, you shall +repent it, for such another despite had I never in my court, therefore +withdraw you out of my court in all haste that you may.'" Morte d'Arthur, +lib. ii. c. 3. + +[174] Malmsbury, p. 184. Quem cuilibet, quamvis infestissimo inimico +negare, laudabilium militum mos non est. + +[175] Froissart, vol. ii. c. 162. + +[176] Froissart, ii. 26. + +[177] This was part of the exhortation of a king of Portugal, on knighting +his son, according to a Portuguese historian, cited in Lord Lyttleton's +History of Henry II., vol. ii. p. 233. 4to. + +[178] Morte d'Arthur; first book of Sir Tristram, c. 34. + +[179] Caxton, c. 66. + +[180] The necessity of courtesy of manner was so important in the minds of +the old poets that they ascribed it not only to every favourite hero, but +even to animals, whether real or imaginary. Our moral poet Gower thus +gravely sets forth the politeness of a dragon. + + "With all the cheer that he may, + Toward the bed there as she lay, + Till he came to her the beddes side, + And she lay still and nothing cried; + For he did all his things fair, + And was courteous and debonair." + Confessio Amantis, lib. 6. fol. 138. + +[181] Extrait de l'Histoire de Du Gueslin, par P. H. Du Chastelet, p. 39, +&c. + +[182] Froissart, vol. ii. c. 47. It is difficult to fancy the extravagant +degree of estimation in which hawks were held during the chivalric ages. +As Mr. Rose says in one of his notes to the Romance of Partenopex of +Blois, they were considered as symbols of high estate, and as such were +constantly carried about by the nobility of both sexes. Barclay, in his +translation from Brandt, complains of the indecent usage of bringing them +into places appropriated to public worship; a practice which, in the case +of some individuals, appears to have been recognized as a right. The +treasurer of the church of Auxerre enjoyed the distinction of assisting at +divine service on solemn days, with a falcon on his fist; and the Lord of +Sassai held the privilege of perching his upon the altar. Nothing was +thought more dishonorable to a man of rank, than to give up his hawks, and +if he were taken prisoner, he would not resign them even as the price of +liberty. + +[183] Romance of Ipomydon. + +[184] Froissart, vol. i. c. 177; and Sir Walter Scott's note to the +Romance of Sir Tristrem, p. 274. + +[185] This statement of the objects of the minstrelsy art, is taken from a +manuscript cited by Tyrwhitt, Chaucer ii. 483. It is the railing of a sour +fanatic, who wished to destroy all the harmless pleasures of life. But we +may profit by his communication, while we despise his gloom. + +I shall add another description of the various subjects of minstrelsy from +the Lay le Fraine. + + "Some beth of war and some of woe, + And some of joy and mirth also; + And some of treachery and of guile, + Of old adventures that fell while; + And some of jests and ribaudy; + And many there beth of fairy; + Of all things that men see, + Most of love, forsooth, there be." + +[186] Sir Orpheo. + +[187] Froissart, vol. ii. c. 26. 52. 163. In Dr. Henderson's History of +Wines, p. 283, it is stated that our ancestors mixed honey and spices with +their wine, in order to correct its harshness and acidity, and to give it +an agreeable flavour. True, but it should also have been remarked that the +spices were not always mixed with the wine, but that they were served up +on a plate by themselves. This custom is proved from an amusing passage in +Froissart, which involves also another point of manners. Describing a +dinner at the castle of Tholouse, at which the king of France was present, +our chronicler says, "This was a great dinner and well stuffed of all +things; and after dinner and grace said, they took other pastimes in a +great chamber, and hearing of instruments, wherein the Earl of Foix +greatly delighted. Then wine and spices were brought, the Earl of Harcourt +served the king of his spice plate, and Sir Gerrard de la Pyen served the +Duke of Bourbon, and Sir Monnaut of Nouailles served the Earl of Foix." +Vol. ii. c. 264. Another passage is equally expressive: "The king alighted +at his palace, which was ready apparelled for him. There the king drank +and took spices, and his uncles also; and other prelates, lords, and +knights." Thus too, at a celebration of the order of the Golden Fleece, at +Ghent, in 1445, Olivier de la Marche, describing the dinner, says, +"Longuement dura le disner et le service. Là jouerent et sonnerent +menestries et trompettes; et herauts eurent grans dons, et crierent +largesse; et tables levées furent les espices aportées, et furent les +princes et les chevaliers servis d'espices et de vins, &c." Memoires, +d'Olivier de la Marche, in the vol. ix. c. 15. of the great collection of +French Memoirs: and in the Morte d'Arthur it is said they went unto Sir +Persauntes pavilion, and drank the wine and ate the spices. + +[188] He was a great personage, if wealth could confer dignity. The +hospital and priory of St. Bartholomew in Smithfield, London, were founded +by Royer or Raherus, the king's minstrel, in the third year of the reign +of Henry I. A. D. 1102. Percy, Essay on the Ancient Minstrels, p. 32. The +SERJEANT of the minstrels was another title for the head of the royal +minstrelsy. A circumstance that occurred in the reign of Edward IV. shews +the confidential character of this officer, and his facility of access to +the king at all hours and on all occasions. "And as he (king Edward IV.) +was in the north country in the month of September, as he lay in his bed, +one, named Alexander Carlisle, that was _serjeant of the minstrels_, came +to him in great haste, and bade him arise, for he had enemies coming." +This fact is mentioned by Warton, on the authority of an historical +fragment. ad calc. Sportti Chron. ed. Hearne, Oxon, 1729. + +[189] Wordsworth's Excursion, book ii. + +[190] Wood, Hist. Antiq. Un. Oxon. 1. 67. sub anno 1224; and Percy, Notes +on his Essay on the Ancient Minstrels, p. 64. + +[191] Froissart, vol. ii. c. 31. Writers on chivalry have too often +affirmed, that the minstrels besides singing, reciting, and playing on +musical instruments, added the entertainments of vaulting over ropes, +playing with the pendent sword, and practising various other feats of +juggling and buffoonery. That this was sometimes the case during all the +ages of the minstrelsy art, is probable enough, for the inferior minstrels +were in a dreadful state of indigence. But the disgraceful union of poetry +and juggling was not common in the best ages of chivalry. Chaucer +expressly separates the minstrel from the juggler. + + "There mightest thou karols seen, + And folk dance, and merry ben, + And made many a fair tourning + Upon the green grass springing. + There mightest thou see these flouters. + Minstrallis and eke jugelours." + Romaunt of the Rose, l. 759, &c. + +Other passages to the same effect are collected in Anstis Order of the +Garter, vol. i. p. 304; and Warton, History of English poetry, vol. ii. p. +55. As chivalry declined, minstrelsy was discountenanced, and its +professors, fallen in public esteem, were obliged to cultivate other arts +besides those of poetry and music. + +[192] Dunlop, History of Fiction, vol. i. p. 142. + +[193] Wace, a canon of Bayeux, and one of the most prolific rhimers that +ever practised the art of poetry, continually reminded the great of the +benefits which accrued to themselves from patronising poets. + + "Bien entend conuis e sai + Que tuit morrunt, e clerc, e lai; + E que mult ad curte decrée, + En pres la mort lur renumee; + Si per clerc ne est mis en livre, + Ne poet par el dureement vivre. + + * * * * + + Suvent aveient des barruns, + E des nobles dames beaus duns, + Pur mettre lur nuns en estroire, + Que tuz tens mais fust de eus memoire." + +MS. Bib. Reg. iv. c. 11. cited by Mr. Turner, History of England, vol. i. +p. 442. 4to. + +[194] This description (Spenser's) of chivalric manners, has sadly puzzled +his commentators. They are quite agreed, however, on one point, namely, +that to kiss the hand of a fair lady (which the word basciomani signified) +was not a custom indigenous to England, but that it was imported hither +from Italy or Spain. A preux chevalier of the olden time would have been +indignant at this insult to the originality of his gallantry. + +[195] Froissart, vol. ii. c. 26. + +[196] The Life of Ipomydon, Fytte, 1. + +[197] Thus in the Romance of Perceforest (cited by Ellis, Notes to Way's +Fabliaux, vol. i. p. 220) it is said, "There were eight hundred knights +all seated at table, and yet there was not one who had not a dame or +damsel at his plate!" + +In the tale of the Mule without a Bridle, it is said, + + "Fill'd with these views the attendant dwarf she sends: + Before the knight the dwarf respectful bends; + Kind greetings bears as to his lady's guest, + And prays his presence to adorn her feast. + The knight delays not; on a bed design'd + With gay magnificence the fair reclin'd + High o'er her head, on silver columns rais'd, + With broidering gems her proud pavilion blaz'd. + Herself, a paragon in every part, + Seem'd sovereign beauty deck'd with comeliest art. + With a sweet smile of condescending pride + She seats the courteous Gawaine by her side, + Scans with assiduous glance each rising wish, + Feeds from her food the partner of her dish!" + +[198] M. le Grand, in his valuable Histoire de la Vie Privée des Français, +has given us some very curious information regarding the mode of dressing +this distinguished bird. "It was generally," he says, "served up roasted. +Instead of plucking the bird (observes the Complete Housekeeper of former +times) skin it carefully so as not to damage the feathers; then cut off +the feet, stuff the body with spices and sweet herbs; roll a cloth round +the head, and then spit your bird. Sprinkle the cloth, all the time it is +roasting, to preserve its crest. When it is roasted enough, tie the feet +on again; remove the cloth; set up the crest; replace the skin; spread out +the tail, and so serve it up. Some people, instead of serving up the bird +in the feathers, carry their magnificence so far as to cover their peacock +with leaf gold: others have a very pleasant way of regaling their guests. +Just before they serve up, they cram the beak of their peacock with wool, +rubbed with camphor: then, when the dish is placed upon the table, they +set fire to the wool, and the bird instantly vomits out flames like a +little volcano." + +[199] Du Chesne, House of Montmorencí, liv. i. p. 29, &c. M. de Couci, (c. +7.) 664, &c. Olivier de la Marche, p. 412. Hist. de Boucicaut, ed. de +Godefroi. + +[200] Like Sir Guiscard Dangle, Earl of Huntingdon, who, according to +Froissart, possessed all the noble virtues that a knight ought to have, +for "he was merry, true, amourous, sage, sweet, liberal, preux, hardy, +adventurous, and chivalrous," vol. i. c. 384. + +[201] See the verses of Des Escas, a Troubadour at the court of the King +of Arragon. + +[202] Knight of the Tower, chap. "How goodly women ought to maintain +themselves courteously." + +[203] Sir Tristram, Fytte second, st. 13. and Scott's note. + +[204] Squire of Low Degree. + +[205] Sir Degore. + +[206] Romance of Guy of Warwick. + +[207] Knight of the Tower, chap. "How young maidens ought not lightly to +turn their heads here and there." + +[208] Knight of the Tower, chap. intitled, "Of them that will not wear +their good clothes on high feasts and holy-days," and, "How the daughter +of a knight lost her marriage." Memoires de Louis de la Tremouille, cap. +xii. p. 169, &c. in the 14th vol. of the great collection of French +Memoires. + +[209] Fairy Queen, book ii. canto 11. st. 49. + +[210] The manners of his times might, perhaps, have been the origin of +this picture, for even so late as the reign of Elizabeth, it is mentioned +among the accomplishments of the ladies of her court, that the eldest of +them are skilful surgeons. Harrison's Description of England, prefixed to +Holinshed. + +[211] Fairy Queen, book iii. canto 5. st. 31. 33. + +[212] Before the year 1680, when coaches were first used in England, as +Percy observes, ladies rode chiefly on horseback, either single on their +palfreys, or double behind some person on a pillion. Not but in case of +sickness, or bad weather, they had horse-litters, and even vehicles called +chairs, and carrs or charres. Note on the Northumberland Household Book. + +[213] It is evident that the good King of Hungary was a boon companion, +and we will fancy that it was from a very common and natural feeling, that +he supposed his daughter's inclinations similar to his own. Of the +formidable list of wines which he gives, some names declare their growths +very clearly; of the rest, I believe, that Rumney wine means the wine from +La Romanée, a vineyard of Burgundy. Dr. Henderson, however, suggests that +it was an Andalusian growth. Malmesyne was a Greek wine, from Malvagia in +the Morea, the original seat of the Malmsey grape. Vernage was perhaps a +Tuscan wine. Osey was Alsatian wine. Respice, (vin rapé) was the produce +of unbruised grapes, and Bastard was a sweet Spanish wine. + +[214] Baked meats were the usual food of our ancestors. Thus Chaucer says +of his Frankelein (the modern country squire), + + "Withoutin bake-mete never was his house." + +[215] Station. + +[216] Two species of hawks. + +[217] Sewed or quilted. + +[218] Rennes in Brittany was highly famous for its manufacture of linen. + +[219] Inlaid with jewels. + +[220] A modern princess, as Mr. Ellis says (Specimens of the early English +Poets, vol. i. p. 344), might possibly object to breathe the smoke of +pepper, cloves, and frankincense during her sleep; but the fondness of our +ancestors for those, and indeed for perfumes of all kinds was excessive. +Mr. Ellis adds, that in the foregoing description of diversions, the good +King of Hungary has forgotten one, which seems to have been as great a +favorite with the English and French as ever it was with the Turkish +ladies; this is the bath. It was considered, and with great reason, as the +best of all cosmetics; and Mr. Strutt has extracted from an old MS. of +prognostications, written in the time of Richard II., a medical caution to +the women, against "going to the bath _for beauty_" during the months of +March and November. Women also often bathed together for purposes of +conversation. The reader knows that the public baths were not always used +for such healthful and innocent purposes. + +[221] + + "Vos, modo venando, modo rus geniale colendo + Ponitis in varia tempora longa mora. + Aut fora vos retinent, aut unctæ dona palæstræ; + Flectitis aut fræno colla sequaris equi. + Nunc volucrem laqueo, nunc piscem ducitis hamo. + Diluitur posito serior hora mero. + His mihi submotæ, vel si minus acriter utar, + Quod faciam, superest, præter amare, nihil. + Quod superest, facio; teque, o mi sola voluptas, + Plus quoque, quam reddi quod mihi possit, amo." + Ovid. Ep. Hero Leandro. + +[222] Don Quixote affirmed, that no history ever made mention of any +knight errant that was not a lover; for were any knight free from the +impulses of that generous passion, he would not be allowed to be a lawful +knight, but a misborn intruder, and one who was not admitted within the +pale of knighthood at the door, but leaped the fence, and stole in like a +thief and a robber. Vivaldo, who was talking with the Don, asserted in +opposition to this opinion and statement, that Don Galaor, the brother of +Amadis de Gaul, never had any mistress in particular to recommend himself +to, and yet for all that he was not the less esteemed. Don Quixote, after +borrowing one of Sancho's proverbs, that one swallow never makes a summer, +replied that he knew Don Galaor was privately very much in love; and as +for his paying his addresses wherever he met with beauty, this was an +effect of his natural inclination, which he could not easily restrain. It +was an undeniable truth, concluded the Don, that Galaor had a favourite +lady whom he had crowned empress of his will; and to her he frequently +recommended himself in private, for he did not a little value himself upon +his discretion and secrecy in love. This defence of Galaor is very +amusing, and Vivaldo submitted to it. But he ought to have adduced the +opinions of that mad knight and merry talker of the Round Table, Sir +Dynadan, who marvelled what could ail Sir Tristram and many others of his +companions, that they were always sighing after women. "Why," said la +belle Isaud, "are you a knight and no lover? you cannot be called a good +knight, except you make a quarrel for a lady." "God defend me!" replied +Dynadan, "for the joy of love is so short, and the sorrow thereof and what +cometh thereof endureth so long." + + Morte d'Arthur, lib. i. c. 56. + +[223] Fairy Queen, book iv. canto 9. st. 21. + +[224] Gower's Confessio Amantis, book iv. p. 103, &c. + +[225] Froissart, vol. ii. c. 117 and 118. + +[226] Essais Histor. sur Paris, by St. Foix, vol. iii. p. 263, cited by +Strutt. Sports and Pastimes, &c. "As it happened, Sir Palomydis looked up +towards her (la belle Isaud) where she lay in the window, and he espied +how she laughed, and therewith he took such a rejoicing that he smote down +what with his spear and with his sword all that ever he met, for through +the sight of her he was so enamoured of her love, that he seemed at that +time, that had Sir Tristrem and Sir Launcelot been both against him, they +would have won no worship of him." Morte d'Arthur, book x. c. 70. + +[227] Lovelier. + +[228] Lived. + +[229] Romance of Ywaine and Gawin. + +[230] Froissart, c. 249. "Le duc de Lancastre avoit de son heritage en +Champaigne: c'estassavoir un chastel entre Troye et Chalons, qui +s'appelait Beaufort, et duquel un escuyer Anglais (qui se nommoit le +poursuivant d'amour) estait capitaine." + +[231] Froissart, liv. i. c. 7. + +[232] Barbour's Bruce, book vi. Hume's (of Godscroft) History of the House +of Douglas, p. 29, &c. + +The description of the good Lord James of Douglas, in Barbour's Bruce, is +not uninteresting. + + "In visage was he some deal gray, + And had black hair, as I heard say, + But then he was of limbs well made, + With bones great and shoulders braid. + His body well made and lenzie, + As they that saw him said to me. + When he was blyth he was lovely + And meek and sweet in company. + But who in battle might him see + Another countenance had he. + And in his speech he lispt some deal, + But that set him right wonder well." + The Bruce, p. 13. + +[233] Spenser's Fairy Queen, book i. canto 4. st. 1. + +[234] + + "E se la us fa gelos + E us en dona razo, + E us ditz c'ancre no fo + De so que dels huelhs vis, + Diguatz Don. En suy fiz + Que vos disetz vertat, + Mas yeu vay simiat." + +The name of the gentleman who thus consented to distrust the evidence of +his senses was Amanieu des Escas, a favourite troubadour in Spain during +the thirteenth century. One of the "statutes" in the Court of Love is, +according to Chaucer's report of it, pretty much in the same strain: + + "But think that she, so bounteous and fair, + Could not be false, imagine this algate, + And think that tongues wicked would her appair, + Slandering her name, and worshipful estate, + And lovers true to settin at debate, + And though thou seest a fault, right at thine eye, + Excuse it blith, and gloss it prettily." + Chaucer, Urry's edit. fol. 563. + +[235] Mr. Skottowe, in his Essays on Shakspeare (essays which have done +more for the right understanding of the great dramatist than all the works +of his commentators from Theobald to Malone), observes that, in the play +of Troilus and Cressida, a courtly knight of chivalry is often seen under +the name of a Trojan hero. The following challenge of Hector is conceived +and executed in the true chivalric spirit. + + "Kings, princes, lords, + If there be one, among the fair'st of Greece, + That holds his honour higher than his ease; + That seeks his praise more than he fears his peril; + That knows his valour, and knows not his fear; + That loves his mistress more than in confession, + (With truant vows to her own lips he loves,) + And dare avow her beauty and her worth, + In other arms than hers,--to him this challenge. + Hector, in view of Trojans and of Greeks, + Shall make it good, or do his best to do it. + He hath a lady, wiser, fairer, truer, + Than ever Greek did compass in his arms; + And will to-morrow with his trumpet call, + Midway between yon tents and walls of Troy, + To rouse a Grecian that is true in love: + If any come, Hector shall honour him; + If none, he'll say in Troy, when he retires, + The Grecian dames are sun-burn'd, and not worth + The splinter of a lance." + Troilus and Cressida, act i. sc. 3. + +[236] Cronique de Saintré, vol. iii. c. 65. + +[237] This society of the Penitents of Love is mentioned by the Chevalier +of the Tower, whose book I have so often quoted in illustration of the +chivalric character. + +[238] The Lai of Sir Gruélan. + +[239] Way's Fabliaux, vol. ii. p. 170. The _moral_ of the Lay of Aristotle +brings to mind Voltaire's two celebrated lines under a statue of Cupid:-- + + "Qui que tu sois, tu vois ton maitre, + Il l'est, le fut, ou le doit être." + +[240] Illustrations of Northern Antiquities, p. 8, &c. + +[241] Ibid. p. 41. + +[242] Lai of the Canonesses and the Gray Nuns. + +[243] L'Histoire et plaisante Cronicque du petit Jehan de Saintré, vol. i. +c. 7. + +[244] Lai of the Countess of Vergy. + +[245] Romance of Guy of Warwick. + +[246] Illustrations of Northern Antiquities, p. 104. + +[247] Romance of Sir Bevis. In Ariosto, the heroine Bradamante wishes +Rugiero to be baptized; and he replies, with great gallantry, that he +would put his head not only into water, but into fire, for the sake of her +love. + + Non che nell' acqua, disse, ma nel foco + Per tuo amor porre il capo mi fia poco. + Orlando Furioso, canto xxii. st. 36. + +[248] Don Quixote himself was not a greater idolater of the ladies, than +was the valiant Marshal Boucicaut, who, however, carried his fear of +impertinent intrusion to a more romantic pitch than perhaps the ladies +liked, for he would not even permit the knights of his banner to look a +second time at a window where a handsome woman was seated. Mémoires, +partie 3. c. 7. + +[249] Boucicaut, Mémoires, partie i. c. 38, 39. The commencement of the +letters of those knights of the lady in the green field is worthy of +insertion on account of its chivalric tone. "A toutes haultes et nobles +dames and damoiselles, et à tous seigneurs, chevaliers, et escuyers, apres +tous recommendations, font á sçavoir les treize chevaliers compagnons, +portans en leur devise l'escu verd à la dame blanche. Premièrement pour ce +que tout chevalier est tenu de droict de vouloir garder et deffendre +l'honneur, l'estat, les biens, la renommée, et la louange de toutes dames +et damoiselles de noble lignée, et que iceulx entre les autres sont tres +desirans de le vouloir faire, les prient et requierent que il leur plaise +que si aulcune ou aulcunes est ou sont par oultraige, ou force, contre +raison diminuées ou amoindries des choses dessus dictes, que celle ou +celles à qui le tort ou force en sera faicte veuille ou veuillent venir ou +envoyer requerir l'un des dicts chevaliers, tous ou partie d'iceulx, selon +ce que le cas le requerra, et le requis de par la dicte dame ou +damoiselle, soit un, tous ou partie, sont et veulent estre tenus de mettre +leurs corps pour leur droict garder et deffendre encontre tout autre +seigneur, chevalier, ou escuyer, en tout ce que chevalier se peut et doibt +employer au mestier d'armes, de tout leur pouvoir, de personne à personne, +jusques au nombre dessus dicts et au dessoutes, tant pour tant. Et en +breifs jours après la requeste à l'un, tous ou partie d'iceulx, faicte de +par les dictes dames ou damoiselles, ils veulent presentement eulx mettre +en tout debovir d'accomplir les choses dessus dictes, et si brief que +faire se pourra. Et s'il advenoit, que Dieu ne veuille que celuy au ceulx +qui par les dictes dames ou damoiselles seroient requis, eussent essoine +raisonnable; a fin que leur service et besongne ne se puisse en rien +retarder qu'il ne prist conclusion, le requis ou les requis seront tenus +de bailler prestement de leurs compaignons, par qui le dict faict seroit +et pouvoit estre mené à chef et accomply." + +[250] The Knight's Tale, l. 2108, &c. The following is Dryden's version of +the above lines. The spirit of the last two lines of Chaucer is entirely +lost. + + "Beside the champions, all of high degree, + Who knighthood lov'd and deeds of chivalry, + Throng'd to the lists, and envy'd to behold + The names of others, not their own, enroll'd. + Nor seems it strange, for every noble knight + Who loves the fair, and is endu'd with might, + In such a quarrel would be proud to fight." + +[251] Monstrelet, vol. vi. p. 167. Boucicaut, Memoirs, c. 382. + +[252] Froissart, liv. i. c. 389. + +[253] Froissart, liv. ii. c. 6.; liv. i. c. 124, 125. "Puis passerent +oultre destruisans le pais d'entour et vindrent ainsi jusques au chastel +de Poys: ou il y avoit bonne ville, et deux beaux chasteaux: mais nul des +seigneurs n'y estait, fors deux belles damoiselles, filles au Seigneur de +Poys: qui tost eussent esté violees, si n'eussent esté deux chevaliers +d'Angleterre; messire Jehan Chandos, et le sire de Basset: qui les +deffendirent: et pour les garder les menerent au roy: qui pour honneur +leur fit bonne chere, et leur demanda ou elles voudroyent estre, si disent +à Corbie. Là les fit le roi conduire sans pareil." + +[254] I have taken this story from Gibbon, (Antiquities of the House of +Brunswick, Miscellaneous Works, vol. iii. p. 530,) who says it is told (if +he is not mistaken) by the Spectator, and may certainly be supported by +ancient evidence. + +[255] Fairy Queen, book iii. canto 1. st. 49. + +[256] Ibid. book iii. canto 7. st. 60. + +[257] Another writer says, + + "Ah! well was he that he forebore to blame; + Misfortune be his lot and worldly shame, + Nor, dying, let him taste of heavenly bliss + Whoe'er of dame or damsel speaks amiss; + And sure no gentle clerk did ever vex + With foul discourtesy the gentle sex, + But churl or villain, of degenerate mind, + Brutal and base, the scandal of his kind." + S. Rose's Partenopex of Blois, canto ii. + +And in a similar strain of courtesy is the beginning of the Fabliau of +Constant du Hamel, as translated by M. Le Grand. "Je ne pardonne pas qu'on +se moque des dames. On doit toute sa vie les honorer et les servir et ne +leur parler jamais que pour leur dire choses courtoises. Qui agit +autrement est un vilain." + +[258] As the romance of the Rose says, + + "Les chevaliers mieux en valoient, + Les dames meilleures etoient + Et plus chastement en vivoient." + +[259] Caxton's Chevalier of the Tower, cap. "How every good woman ought to +keep her renommèe." + +[260] Ord. Vit. p. 687, &c. + +[261] Harleian MS. No. 166. 2087. p. 23. cited in Retrospective Review. +No. 19. p. 95. + +[262] Froissart, liv. i. c. 138. Lord Hailes is not pleased that the queen +should have shared in the honour of the battle, and wishes to doubt her +presence, because Froissart is the _only_ writer who states it. Upon which +Mr. Turner (History of England, vol. 2. p. 204, 8vo.) very judiciously +observes, that, if we disbelieve all the facts of this reign, for which we +have _only_ Froissart's authority, our scepticism must take a large sweep. + +[263] Wyntown's Cronykil of Scotland, book viii. c. 32. Lord Hailes, vol. +2. p. 218, 221. Border Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 170. + +[264] Avesbury, p. 97. Froissart, liv. i. c. 69. + +[265] La Comtesse de Montfort avoit courage d'homme et coeur de lion. Elle +estoit en la cité de Rénes, quand elle entendit que son seigneur fut +prins; et, combien qu'elle eust grand dueil au coeur, elle reconfortoit +tous ses amis vaillamment, et tous ses soudoyers: et leur monstroit un +petit fils (qu'elle avoit appelé Jehan, comme son pere) et leur disoit, +Haa, seigneurs, ne vous ébahissez mie de monseigneur, que nous avons +perdu. Ce n'estoit qu'un homme. Veez cy mon petit enfant, qui sera (si +Dieu plaist) son restorier, et vous sera des biens assez et j'ai de savoir +à planté; si vous en donneraz assez, et vous pourchaceray tel capitaine, +parquoy vous serez tous reconfortes. Froissart, liv. i. c. 73. + +[266] Mrs. Charles Stothard, in her interesting Tour through Normandy and +Brittany, observes (p. 231.) that the massive walls which once surrounded +the town of Hennebon, remain in many places entire, and must have been +impregnable in their strength and construction. + +[267] Froissart, c. 82. Lors descendit la Comtesse du Chastel, à joyeuse +chere, et vint baiser messiu Gautier de Manny et ses compaignons, les uns +apres les autre, deux fois ou trois, comme vaillante Dame. + +[268] Spenser, Vision of the World's Vanity, st. 9. + +[269] Like Gonzalo in the Tempest. "Now would I give a thousand furlongs +of sea for an acre of barren ground, long heath, brown furze, any thing. +The wills above be done; but I would fain die a dry death." Act i. sc. 1. + +[270] The principal facts in the heroic life of the Countess of Mountfort +are recorded by Froissart, c. 68, 72, 80, 91, &c. Lobineau, Histoire de +Bretagne, vol. i. p. 320, &c. Argentré, Histoire de Bretagne, liv. vii. c. +9, 10. + +[271] Hist. Gen. de la France, l. 452. + +[272] See the chronicle of M. Villani in the 14th vol. of Muratori, Rerum +Scrip. Ital.; and Sismondi, Histoire des Rep. Ital. tom. vi. c. 45. Italy +has not many romantic associations, and there are now no remains of Cesena +to awaken the admiration of the traveller to the heroism of Marzia. +Forsyth, Remarks on Italy, vol. ii. p. 266. + +[273] Fairy Queen, book iii. canto 4, st. 1. + +[274] Ibid, book iii. canto ii. st. 27. + +[275] + + "The lady's heart was on him cast, + And she beheld him wonder fast; + Ever on him she cast her eye, + Ipomydon full well it seye[F]; + Anon it gave him in his thought, + To loke again let would be not. + Nor no more coward thought he to be + Of his looking than was she. + The lady perceived it full well, + Of all his looking every dell, + And therewith began to shame, + For she might lightly fall in blame, + If men perceived it any thing, + Betwixt them two such looking, + Then would they say all bydene[G], + That some love were them between; + Then should she fall in slander, + And lose much of her honour. + She thought to warn him privily, + By her cousin that set him by. + 'Jason,' she said, 'thou art to blame, + And therewith the ought to shame, + To behold my maid in vain; + Every man to other will sayne, + That betwixt you is some sin, + Of thy looking, I rede[H], thou blynne[I].' + Ipomydon him bethought anon, + Then that she blamed Jason, + Without deserving every dell: + But the encheson[J] he perceived well. + Down he looked and thought great shame, + That Jason bore for him the blame. + Still he sat, and said no more, + He thought to dwell no longer there." + Romance of Sir Ipomydon. + + [F] Saw. + + [G] Together. + + [H] Council. + + [I] Cease. + + [J] Occasion. + +[276] Full of frowardness, each mis-saying or reviling, as Ellis renders +the passage. + +[277] Lai le Fraine. + +[278] Du Cange gravely quotes Saint Isidore for this truth; and it is +credible even upon less solemn authority. + +[279] Thus Holingshed, speaking of a royal joust and martial tournament, +held at Smithfield in 1389, says, "And so many a noble course and other +martial feats were achieved in those four days, to the great contentation +and pleasure of many a young bachelor desirous to win fame." P. 474. edit. +1587. + +[280] The objects and tendencies of tournaments are extremely well +expressed by Jeffry of Monmouth:--"Many knights famous for feats of +chivalry were present, with apparel and arms of the same colour and +fashion. They formed a species of diversion, in imitation of a fight on +horseback; and the ladies being placed on the walls of the castles, darted +amorous glances on the combatants. None of these ladies esteemed any +knight worthy of her love but such as had given proof of his gallantry in +three several encounters. Thus the valour of the men encouraged chastity +in the women, and the attention of the women proved an incentive to the +soldier's bravery." Lib. ix. c. 12. + +[281] Holingshed, vol. ii. p. 252. reprint. + +[282] Froissart, vol. ii. c. 175. + +[283] Ritterzeit und Ritterwesen, vol. i. p. 311. 323. + +[284] The German nation, as it may be easily supposed, were more strict +than other people regarding the nature of the birth-right which authorised +a man to tourney. If any person be curious enough to enquire into the +fantastic subtleties of German heraldry about this matter, I refer him to +the Ritterzeit und Ritterwesen, vol. i. p. 293. 300. + +[285] M. Westm. p. 300. + +[286] Segar of Honor, lib. ii. c. 26. Ritterzeit und Ritterwesen, vol. i. +p. 302. There was a singular law in Germany, prohibiting from the +tournament those who had been the cause of imposing taxes or duties, or +had used their endeavours to get them imposed. Ritterzeit und Ritterwesen, +vol. i. p. 304. + +[287] Croneca del Conde D. Pero Nino, p. 203., cited in the notes to the +preface to the reprint of the Morte d'Arthur, p. 61. + +[288] Monstrelet, vol. vi. p. 333. + +[289] Ritterzeit und Ritterwesen, vol. i. p. 323. + +[290] Chaucer, Knight's Tale, l. 2493, &c. So Froissart says, "On the next +day you might have seen in divers places of the city of London squires and +varlettes going about with harness, and doing other business of their +masters." Vol. ii. p. 273. + +[291] Froissart, vol. ii. c. 173. + +[292] Smithfield was famous many years earlier, both as the place of +sports and the horse-market of London. Fitzstephen, who wrote in the time +of Henry II., says, "Without one of the gates is a certain field[K], plain +(or smooth) both in name and situation. Every Friday, except some greater +festival come in the way, there is a brave sight of gallant horses to be +sold: many come out of the city to buy or look on, to wit, earls, barons, +knights, citizens, all resorting thither." + + [K] Smethfield, as it were Smoothfield. + + +[293] Du Cange, Dissertation 6. on Joinville. + +[294] Memoires d'Olivier de la Marche, liv. i. c. 14. + +[295] This feeling is exceedingly well expressed in a challenge given by +some foreign knights in England to the English chivalry. "Ever in courts +of great kings are wont to come knights of divers nations, and more to +this court of England, where are maintained knighthood and feats of arms +valiantly for the service of ladies in higher degrees and estates than in +any realm of the world: it beseemeth well to Don Francisco de Mendoza, and +Carflast De la Vega, that here, better than in any place, they may shew +their great desire that they have to serve their ladies." Antiquarian +Repertory, vol. i. p. 148. + +[296] elegant. + +[297] embroidery. + +[298] head-pieces. + +[299] ornamented dresses. + +[300] rubbing. + +[301] straps. + +[302] brazen drums. + +[303] Chaucer, The Knight's Tale, line 2498, &c. Chaucer must have had in +his imagination one of the splendid tournaments of the days of Edward III. +when he wrote these spirited lines; for there is much more circumstance in +his description than could have belonged to a simple joust between the two +knights, Palamon and Arcite. + +[304] Du Cange (Diss. 6. on Joinville) on the authority of an ancient MS. +regarding tournaments; and Ritterzeit und Ritterwesen, vol. i. p. 325. + +[305] Harleian MSS. No. 69. + +[306] Hist. de Charles VI. vol. ii. p. 120. fol. 1663. As every thing +regarding the ladies of chivalric as well as of other times is +interesting, no apology will be required for my hazarding a conjecture, +that the colour of the ribbon mentioned in the text was blue, the emblem +of constancy. + + "Lo, yonder folk, quoth she, that kneel in blue! + They wear the colour ay and ever shall, + In sign they were and ever will be true, + Withouten change." + Chaucer's Court of Love, l. 248, &c. + +The author of the Romance of Perceforest has made a strange exaggeration +of the custom of ladies sending favours to knights during the heat of a +tournament. He says, that at the end of one of those martial games, "Les +dames étoient si dénues de leur atours, que la plus grande partie étoit en +pur chef (mie tête) car elles s'en alloient les cheveux sur leurs epaules +gisans, plus jaunes que fin or, en plus leurs cottes sans manches, car +tous avoient donné aux chevaliers pour eux parer et guimples et chaperons, +manteaux et camises, manches et habits: mais quand elles se virent à tel +point, elles en furent ainsi comme toutes honteuses; mais sitost qu'elles +veirent que chacune étoit en tel point, elles se prirent toutes a rire de +leur adventure, car elles avoient donné leurs joyaux et leurs habits de si +grand coeur aux chevaliers, qu'elles ne s'appercevoient de leur dénuement +et devestemens." + +[307] The reader may wonder at this form of expression; but it proceeded +from the very noble principle of teaching young knights to emulate the +glories of their ancestors, and from the peculiar refinement and delicacy +of chivalry which argued that there was no knight so perfect, but who +might commit a fault, and so great a one as to efface the merit of all his +former good deeds. Heralds, therefore, observes Monstrelet, do not at +jousts and battles cry out, "Honour to the brave!" but they exclaim, +"Honour to the sons of the brave!" No knight can be deemed perfect, until +death has removed the possibility of his committing an offence against his +knighthood. "Il n'est nul si bon chevalier au monde qu'il ne puisse bien +faire une faute, voire si grande que tous les biens qu'il aura faits +devant seront adnihillez; et pour ce on ne crie aux joustes ne aux +batailles, aux preux, mais on crie bien aux fils des preux après la mort +de leur pere car nul chevalier ne peut estre jugé preux se ce n'est après +le trépassement." Monstrelet, vol. i. p. 29. + +[308] "To break across," the phrase for bad chivalry, did not die with the +lance. It was used by the writers of the Elizabethan age to express any +failure of wit or argument. To the same purpose, Celia, in "As You Like +it," says of Orlando, tauntingly, "O that's a brave man. He writes brave +verses, speaks brave words, swears brave oaths, and breaks them bravely, +quite traverse, athwart the heart of his lover, as a puny tilter, that +spurs his horse but on one side, breaks his staff like a noble goose." + +[309] The old English ordinances, fortunately, have been preserved, and +are exceedingly curious. + +The ordinances, statutes, and rules, made and enacted by John Earl of +Worcester, constable of England, by the kinge's commandement, at Windsor, +the 14th day of May, in the seventh year of his noble reign (Edward IV.), +to be observed and kept in all manner of justes of peace royal, within +this realm of England, before his highness or lieutenant, by his +commandment or licence, had from this time forth, reserving always to the +queen's highness and to the ladies there present, the attribution and gift +of the price, after the manner and form accustomed, the merits and +demerits attribute according to the articles following:-- + +First, whoso breaketh most spears, as they ought to be broken, shall have +the price. + +Item, whoso hitteth three times in the helm shall have the price. + +Item, whoso meteth two times coronel to coronel, shall have the price. + +Item, whoso beareth a man down with stroke of spear shall have the price. + + +How the Price should be lost. + +First, whoso striketh a horse shall have no price. + +Item, whoso striketh a man, his back turned, or disarmed of his spear, +shall have no price. + +Item, whoso hitteth the toil or tilt thrice shall have no price. + +Item, whoso unhelms himself twice shall have no price without his horse +fail him. + + +How Spears broken shall be allowed. + +First, whoso breaketh a spear between the saddle and the charnel of the +helm shall be allowed for one. + +Item, whoso breaketh a spear from the charnel upwards shall be allowed for +two. + +Item, whoso breaketh a spear so as he strike him down or put him out of +his saddle, or disarm him in such wise as he may not run the next course, +shall be allowed for three spears broken. + + +How Spears broken shall be disallowed. + +First, whoso breaketh on the saddle shall be disallowed for a spear +breaking. + +Item, whoso hits the toil or tilt over shall be disallowed for two. + +Item, whoso hitteth the toil twice, for the second time shall be abased +three. + +Item, whoso breaketh a spear within a foot of the coronall, shall be +judged as no spear broken, but a good attempt. + + +For the Price. + +First, whoso beareth a man down out of the saddle, or putteth him to the +earth, horse and man, shall have the price before him that striketh +coronall to coronall two times. + +Item, he that striketh coronall to coronall two times shall have the price +before him that striketh the sight three times. + +Item, he that striketh the sight three times shall have the price before +him that breaketh the most spears. + +Item, if there be any man that fortunately in this wise shall be deemed he +bode longest in the field helmed, and ran the fairest course, and gave the +greatest strokes, helping himself best with his spear. + + Antiquarian Repertory, l. 145, &c. + +[310] Olivier de la Marche, a hero of Burgundy in the fifteenth century, +thus describes a warder:--"Et tenoit le Duc de Bourgogne un petit blanc +baton en sa main pour jetter et faire séparer les champions, leurs armes +achivees, comme il est de coustume en tel cas." Memoires, p. 71. + +[311] Walsingham, p. 8. In early times, in England, those tournament +festivals were held about a round table, and therefore the tournaments +themselves were often called round tables. Walter Hemingford, vol. i. p. +7. ed. Hearne. + +[312] This was the address of the heralds after a tournament in the days +of Edward IV.:-- + +"Oyez, oyez, oyez, we let to understand to all princes and princesses, +lords, ladies, and gentlewomen of this noble court, and to all others to +whom it appertaineth, that the nobles that this day have exercised the +feats of arms at the tilt, tourney, and barriers, have every one behaved +themselves most valiantly, in shewing their prowess and valour worthy of +great praise. + +"And to begin, as touching the brave entry of the Lord ----, made by him +very gallantly, the King's Majesty more brave than he, and above all, the +Earl ----, unto whom the price of a very rich ring is given by the Queen's +Majesty, by the advice of other princesses, ladies, and gentlewomen of +this noble court. + +"And as touching the valiantness of the piques, the Duke of M. hath very +valiantly behaved himself, the Earl of P. better than he, and above all +others, the Earl of D., unto whom the price of a ring of gold with a ruby +is given, by the most high and mighty Princess the Queen of England, by +the advice aforesaid. + +"And as touching the valiantness of the sword, ---- knight hath very well +behaved himself, the Earl of N. better than he, and Sir J. P., knight, +above all the rest, unto whom is given the price of a ring of gold with a +diamond, by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by the advice of other +princesses, ladies, and gentlewomen. + +"And as touching the valiantness of the sword at the foil, Sir. W. R., +knight, hath very valiantly behaved himself, the Marquis of C. better than +he, and above all others, the King's Majesty, unto whom was given the +price of a ring of gold with a diamond, by the Queen's Majesty, by the +advice of other princesses, ladies, and gentlewomen. + +"Finally, touching the valiancy of the pique, the point abated, Thomas P. +hath well and valiantly behaved himself, Charles C. better than he, and +above all others, Z. S., unto whom was given by the Queen's Majesty a ring +of gold, by the advice of other princesses, ladies, and gentlewomen." + +[313] Knights are always mentioned as good or unskilful tilters, according +to the judgment of the ladies. Froissart, vol. ii. c. 234. Monstrelet, +vol. i. c. 10.; and see the last note. + +[314] The account of every tournament in our grave old chronicles warrants +the sentence in the Romance of Perceforest, "Pris ne doit ne peult estre +donne sans les _dames_; car pour elles sont toutes les prouesses fautes." + +[315] This form of thanks prevailed also at the joust, as we learn from an +account of one in the days of Edward IV. See Lansdowne MSS., British +Museum, No. 285. art. 7. + +[316] Ritterzeit und Ritterwesen, vol. i. p. 346. + +[317] A tournament of this three-fold description took place at St. Denys, +in the year 1389. + +[318] The love of our ancestors for tournaments is evident in a curious +passage of an ancient satirical poem, which Strutt has thus rendered: + + "If wealth, Sir Knight, perchance be thine, + In tournaments you're bound to shine; + Refuse--and all the world will swear, + You die not worth a rotten pear." + +[319] Mr. Sharon Turner (History of England, vol. i. p. 144. 4to. edit.) +says, that nothing could break the custom (of holding tournaments) but the +increased civilisation of the age. This is a mistake, for tournaments +increased in number as the world became more civilised. There were more +tournaments in the fourteenth century than in the thirteenth, and even so +late as the reign of Henry VIII. the whole of England seems to have been +parcelled out into tilting grounds. + +[320] "De his vero qui in torneamentis cadunt, nulla quæstio est, quin +vadant ad inferos, si non fuerint adjuti beneficio contritionis." Du Cange +on Joinville, Dissert. 6. + +[321] Still more absurd is the story of Matthew Paris, that Roger de +Toeny, a valiant knight, appeared after death to his brother Raoul, and +thus addressed him: "Jam et pænas vidi malorum, et gaudio beatorum; nec +non supplicia magna, quibus miser deputatus sum, oculis meis conspexi. Væ, +væ mihi, quare unquam torneamenta exercui, et ea tanto studio dilexi?" + +[322] Thus Lambert d'Ardres writes: "Cum omnino tunc temporis propter +Dominici sepulchri peregrinationem in toto orbe, interdicta fuissent +torneamenta." Du Cange, Diss. 6. on Joinville. + +[323] Du Cange calls any combat between two knights preliminary to a +general battle, a joust to the utterance. He might as well have called the +battle itself a joust. + +[324] The agreement was made in legal form, as we learn from Wyntown. Sir +David de Lindsay had a safe-conduct for his purpose, and came to London +with a retinue of twenty-eight persons,-- + + "Where he and all his company + Was well arrayed, and daintily, + And all purveyed at device. + There was his purpose to win prize: + With the Lord of the Wellis he + Thought til have done there a _journée_ (day's battle), + For both they were by _certane taillé_ + Obliged to do there that deed, _sauf faillie_ (without fail)." + +Macpherson says, that challenges of this sort were called taillés +indentures, because they were bonds of which duplicates were made having +indentures taillés answering to each other. + +[325] Holingshed, History of Scotland, p. 252. ed. 1587. Wyntown's +Cronykil of Scotland, book ix. c. 11. The Sir David de Lindsay, mentioned +above is the knight of whom Sir Walter Scott tells an amusing story in his +notes to Marmion, canto i. note 8. + +[326] "Or verra l'on s'il y a nul d'entre vous Anglois, qui soit +amoureux." Froissart, vol. ii. c. 55. Lyons's edit. + +[327] Froissart, i. 345. + +[328] Berners' Froissart, vol. i. c. 374. + +[329] Froissart, vol. ii. c. 78. + +[330] Some writers, confounding the joust with the duel, have said that +bearded darts, poisoned needles, razors, and similar weapons, were lawful +in the jousts. The instance to support this assertion is the challenge of +the Duke of Orleans to Henry IV. of England, recorded by Monstrelet, vol. +i. c. 9., where the Duke declined to use them. But Orleans challenged +Lancaster to a duel, and not to a chivalric joust. + +[331] Segar, of Honor, lib. iii. c. 13. + +[332] I do not know when exactly this truly chivalric circumstance +occurred. The story is told in a manuscript, in the Lansdowne Collection, +British Museum, No. 285. It is described as the challenge of an ancestor +of the Earl of Warwick, and the MS. bears date in the days of Edward IV. + +[333] Vous savez, et bien l'avez oui dire et recorder plusieurs fois, que +les ebatemens des dames et damoiselles encouragent voulontiers les coeurs +des jeunes gentils-hommes, et les elevent, en requerant et desirant tous +honneur. Froissart, vol. iv. c. 6. ed. Lyons, 1560. + +[334] "Ye may know well that Charles the French King was sore desirous to +be at those jousts: he was young and light of spirit, and glad to see new +things. It was shewed me that from the beginning to the ending he was +there present, disguised as unknown, so that none knew him but the Lord of +Garansyers, who came also with him as unknown, and every day returned to +Marquise." Froissart, vol. i. c. 168. + +[335] As the weather was bright, according to Froissart, I wonder he did +not, in his fondness for detail, mention the number of barrels of water +that were every evening poured on the dusty plain. On one occasion he +says, "The knights complained of the dust, so that some of them said they +lost their deeds by reason thereof. The King made provision for it: he +ordained more than two hundred barrels of water that watered the place, +whereby the ground was well amended, and yet the next day they had dust +enough, and too much." vol. ii. p. 157. + +[336] Du Cange (Dissertation 7. on Joinville) is incorrect in saying that +a joust seldom terminated without some knights being slain, or very +grievously wounded. The jousts at St. Ingilberte were on the most +extensive scale, and nothing worse than a flesh-wound or a bruise from +falling was felt, even by the most unskilful or unlucky knight. Froissart +perpetually describes jousts of three courses with lances, three strokes +with axes, three encounters both with swords and daggers; and generally +concludes with saying, "And when all was done, there was none of them +hurt." "You should have jousted more courteously," was the reproach of the +spectators to a knight, when his lance had pierced the shoulder of the +other jouster. Froissart, vol. ii. c. 161. Du Cange preserved no clear +idea in his mind of the difference between the joust _à la plaisance_ and +the joust _à l'outrance_, and most subsequent writers have only blindly +followed him. I shall notice in this place another popular error on the +subject of jousts. Mr. Strutt, (Sports and Pastimes of the People of +England, book iii. c. 1.) and an hundred writers after him, assert that +the authority of the ladies was more extensive in the joust than in the +tournament. Mr. Strutt says, that "in the days of chivalry jousts were +made in honor of the ladies, who presided as judges paramount over the +sports." Now there are many jousts mentioned in Froissart and other +chivalric historians that were held only in the presence of knights. But I +can find no instance of a tournament being held without ladies. The joust +was a martial exercise; but the tournament was connected with all the +circumstances of domestic life. + +[337] "Et si aimoit, par amour, jeune dame: dont en tous estats son +affaire en valoit grandement mieux." Froissart, vol. iii. c. 12. edit. +Lyons, 1560. + +[338] Froissart, vol. ii. c. 160. 162. 168. Memoires du Mareschal de +Boucicaut, partie i. c. 17. The writer of those memoirs, a contemporary of +Boucicaut's, in his zeal for his hero, gives all the honor to the French +knights. Juvenal des Ursins (p. 83, &c.) is more modest, and he makes +certain judges of the court compliment many of the knights for their +valiancy. + +[339] Most of these circumstances are unnoticed by our historians. I can +pardon their unacquaintance with the Lansdowne manuscripts, for those are +but recently acquired national treasures: but every scholar is supposed to +know the Biographia Britannica,--and in the article Caxton, some of the +chivalric features of the joust in question are mentioned. + +[340] A very amusing little volume might be made on the romance of +flowers, on the tales which poetry and fancy have invented to associate +the affections and the mind with plants, thus adding the pleasures of the +feelings and the imagination to those of the eye. The reader remembers the +Love in Idleness, in Shakspeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. The Floure of +Souvenance, the Forget-me-not, is an equally pleasing instance. The +application of this name to the Myosotis Scorpioidis of botanists is of +considerable antiquity: the story in the text proves that the plant with +its romantic associations was known in England as early as the days of our +Edward IV. The following tale of the origin of the fanciful name has been +communicated to me by my friend Anthony Todd Thomson, whose Lectures on +the Elements of Botany, at once scientific and popular, profound and +elegant, take a high place in the class of our most valuable works. + +"Two lovers were loitering on the margin of a lake, on a fine summer's +evening, when the maiden espied some of the flowers of Myosotis growing on +the water, close to the bank of an island, at some distance from the +shore. She expressed a desire to possess them, when her knight, in the +true spirit of chivalry, plunged into the water, and, swimming to the +spot, cropped the wished-for plant, but his strength was unable to fulfil +the object of his achievement, and feeling that he could not regain the +shore, although very near it, he threw the flowers upon the bank, and +casting a last affectionate look upon his lady-love, he cried, +'Forget-me-not,' and was buried in the waters." + +"There are three varieties of the plant," Mr. Thomson adds; "the one to +which the tradition of the name is attached is perennial, and grows in +marshes and on the margins of lakes." + +[341] The Lord Scales was a right good knight of worship, in spite of the +reflections on his courage which Edward IV. once threw out against him. +"The kyng hathe sayd of hym that even wyr he hathe most to do, then the +Lord Scalys wyll soonest axe leve to depart, and the kyng weenyth that it +is mist because of kowardyese." Paston Letters, vol. iv. p. 116. + +[342] Rymer, Foedera, tom. ii. p. 573. + +[343] Besides Holingshed, Stow, and other chroniclers, I have consulted +for this very interesting joust a curious collection of contemporary +documents, among the Lansdowne manuscripts (No. 285.) in the British +Museum. The Chevalier de la Marche accompanied the Bastard of Burgundy to +England, and his Memoirs furnish a few particulars not noticed by English +writers. His account of the joust itself differs from that of our +chroniclers, (whom I have followed,) for he makes all the advantage lie +with his own knight. It is neither possible nor important to discover the +truth. The spirit of the age which gave birth to the challenge and the +general interest excited by the joust are the points that deserve to be +marked. There is also much confusion regarding the dates of most of the +circumstances, and I hold my readers in too much respect to enter into any +arguments touching such trifling matters. Such few dates as are undoubted +I have mentioned. Let me add Hawkins's conjecture (Origin of the English +Drama, vol. iii. p. 91.), that the word _Burgullian_ or Burgonian meaning +a bully, a braggadochio, was derived from this joust. This is by no means +unlikely, observes Mr. Gifford, (note on Every Man in his Humour, act iv. +sc. 2.) for our ancestors, who were not over delicate, nor, generally +speaking, much overburdened with respect for the feelings of foreigners, +had a number of vituperative appellations derived from their real or +supposed ill qualities, of many of which the precise import cannot now be +ascertained. + +[344] Prendergast mistook Orris for a French knight. Orris afterwards +refused the honor intended him, expressing, however, very high compliments +to the chivalry of France, and merely stating his Arragonese descent, on +the ground, that no honest man ought to deny his country. + +[345] "Si prie au dieu d'amour qu'ainsi comme vous desirez l'amour de ma +dame la vostre, il ne vous l'ait de vostre dicte venue." Monstrelet, vol. +i. p. 3. ed. 1573. + +[346] Lest it should be thought that I am drawing from a romance, I +subjoin part of the original letter from the grave old chronicler +Monstrelet. "Je ne scay se le dieu d'amours qui vous enhorta et meit en +couraige de vosdictes, lettres quand les envoyes, ait en aucune chose esté +si despleu: parquoy il ait changé ses conditions anciennes, qui souloient +estre telles que pour esbaudir armes et à cognoistre chevalerie. Il tenoit +les nobles de sa court en si royalle gouvernance, que pour accroissement +de leur honneur, apres ce qu'ils avoient fait leur dicte emprise, jusques +à tant que fin en fut faicte: ne aussi ne faisoient leurs compagnons +frayer, travailler, ne despendre leurs biens en vain. Non pourtant que n'y +voudroye pas qu'il trouvast celle deffaute en moy, si qu'il eut cause de +moy bannir de sa court. Je vueil encores demourer par deça jusques au +huictiesme jour de ce present mois de May preste a l'ayde de Dieu, de St. +George, et de St. Anthoine à vous deliverir, ainsi que ma dame et la +vostre le puissent scavoir que pour reverence d'icelles j'ai voulenté de +vous aiser de vostre griefue: qui par long temps vous a desaisié comme +vosdictes lettres contiennent: pourquoy aussi vous avez cause de desirer +vostre allegeance. Apres le quel temps se venir ne voulez, je pense au +plaisir de Dieu de m'enretourner en Angleterre par devers nos dames: +ausquelles j'ai espai en Dieu que sera tesgmoigné par chevaliers et +escuyers que je n'ai en riens mesprins envers le dit dieu d'amours: le +quel vueille avoir lesdits madame et la vostre pour recommandées, sans +avoir desplaisir envers elles pour quelque course qui soit advenue." + +[347] Monstrelet, vol. i. c. 1. + +[348] The phrase, the passage of arms, is used in the romance of Ivanhoe +as a general expression for chivalric games. But this is incorrect; for +the defence of a particular spot was the essential and distinguishing +quality of the exercise in question. Now there was no such circumstance in +the affair near Ashby-de-la-Zouche. Five knights challengers undertook to +answer all comers, but it was not expected that those comers should +attempt to pass any particular place. The encounters which were the +consequences of the challenges were simple jousts, and constituted the +first day's sport, on the second day there was a general tourney or mélée +of knights, and as in chivalric times the tournament was always regarded +as the chief military exercise, the amusements at Ashby-de-la-Zouch were a +tournament, and by that name, indeed, the author of Ivanhoe has sometimes +called them. + +[349] The challenge of the Lord of Chargny is contained in Monstrelet, +vol. viii. c. 60, 61. The description of the passage of arms is given by +Olivier de la Marche in his Mémoires, c. 9. There are many other passages +of arms recorded in the histories of the middle ages, but there is only +one of them of interest, and it will find a place in my description of the +progress of chivalry in Spain. + +[350] Nicetas, Hist. Byzant. 1. iii. c. 3. Johannes Cantacuzenus, 1. i. c. +42. + +[351] Wordsworth. + +[352] I may observe, however, that the ancient Templars were so dreadfully +afraid of their virtue, that they forbad themselves the pleasure of +looking in a fair woman's face; at least the statutes attempted to put +down this instinct of nature. No brother of the Temple was permitted to +kiss maid, wife, or widow, his sister, mother, or any relation whatever. +The statute gravely adds, that it behoves the knights of Jesus Christ to +avoid the kisses of women, in order that they may always walk with a pure +conscience before the Lord. I shall transcribe the statute in the original +Latin, and I hope that it will not be perused with that levity which an +allusion to it during Rebecca's trial at Temple-stowe excited in the +younger members of the valiant and venerable order of the Temple. The +title is sufficiently ascetic,--Ut omnium mulierum oscula fugiantur. It +proceeds thus:--"Periculosum esse credimus omni religioni, vultum mulierum +nimis attendere, et ideo nec viduam, nec virginem, nec matrem, nec +sororem, nec amitam, nec ullam aliam foeminam aliquis frater osculari +præsumat. Fugiat ergo foeminea oscula Christi Militia, per quæ solent +homines sæpe periclitari, ut pura conscientia, et secura vita, in +conspectu Domini perenniter valeat conversare." Cap. 72. + +[353] Statutes, c. 51. 55. + +[354] "I was a Scotsman ere I was a Templar," is the assertion of Vipont +in the dramatic sketch of Halidon Hill,--a sentiment confessedly borrowed +from the story of the Venetian General, who, observing that his soldiers +testified some unwillingness to fight against those of the Pope whom they +regarded as father of the church, addressed them in terms of similar +encouragement:--"Fight on--we were Venetians before we were Christians." + +[355] The Templars find no favour in the eyes of the author of Ivanhoe, +and Tales of the Crusaders. He has imbibed all the vulgar prejudices +against the order; and when he wants a villain to form the shadow of his +scene, he as regularly and unscrupulously resorts to the fraternity of the +Temple, as other novelists refer to the church, or to Italy, for a similar +purpose. + +[356] The Pope (Clement V.) committed the glaring absurdity of making a +provisional decree to be executed in perpetuity. The bull which he issued +at the council of Vienne, without asking the judgment of the assembled +bishops and others, declares, that although he cannot of right, +consistently with the Inquisition and proceedings, pronounce a definitive +sentence, yet by way of apostolical provision and regulation, he +perpetually prohibited people from entering into the order and calling +themselves Templars. The penalty of the greater excommunication was held +out as a punishment for offending. + +[357] I add a complete list of the grand masters of the Temple, from the +time of Jacques de Molai to these days. (Manuel des Chevaliers de l'Order +du Temple. Paris. 1817.) + + A.D. + Johannes Marcus Larmenius, Hierosolymetanus 1314 + Thomas Theobaldus, Alexandrinus 1324 + Arnaldus de Braque 1340 + Johannes Claromontanus 1349 + Bertrandus Du Guesclin 1357 + Johannes Arminiacus 1381 + Bernardus Arminiacus 1392 + Johannes Arminiacus 1419 + Johannes Croyus 1451 + Bernardus Imbaultius, Vic. Mag. Afric. (Regens.) 1472 + Robertus Lenoncurtius 1478 + Galeatius de Salazar 1497 + Philippus Chabotius 1516 + Gaspardus de Salceaco, Tavannensis 1544 + Henricus de Montmorenciaco 1574 + Carolus Valesius 1615 + Jacobus Ruxellius de Granceio 1651 + Jacobus Henricus de Duroforti, Dux de Duras 1681 + Philippus, Dux de Aurelianensis 1705 + Ludovicus-Augustus Borbonius, Dux de Maine 1724 + Ludovicus-Henricus Borbonius, Condæus 1737 + Ludovicus-Franciscus Borbonius, Conty 1741 + Ludovicus-Henricus Timoleo de Cossé Brissac 1776 + Claudius Mathæus Radix de Chevillon, Vic. Mag. Europ. (Regens.) 1792 + Bernardus-Raymundus Fabré Palaprat 1804 + +[358] "I would fain know," quoth Sancho, "why the Spaniards call upon that +same St. James, the destroyer of the Moors: just when they are going to +give battle, they cry, St. Jago and close Spain. Pray is Spain open, that +it wants to be closed up? What do you make of that ceremony?"--"Thou art a +very simple fellow, Sancho," answered Don Quixote. "Thou must know, that +heaven gave to Spain this mighty champion of the Red Cross, for its patron +and protector, especially in the desperate engagements which the Spaniards +had with the Moors; and therefore they invoke him, in all their martial +encounters, as their protector; and many times he has been personally seen +cutting and slaying, overthrowing, trampling, and destroying the Moorish +squadrons; of which I could give thee many examples deduced from authentic +Spanish histories." Don Quixote, part ii. c. 58. + +[359] The words are these:--Y asi mesmo hago voto, detener, voto defender, +y guardar en publico, y en secreto, que la Vergen Maria Madre de Dios, y +senora nuestra, fue concebida sin mancha de peccato original. + +[360] Favyne. Theat. d'Honneur, l. 6. c. 5. Carode Torres, Hist. de las +Ordines Militares, l. 1. Mariana, l. 7. c. 10. + +[361] Mennenius, Delic. Equest. p. 99, &c. Marquez Tesoro Milit. de +Cavale., p. 286. Favyn, Theat. de l'Honneur, lib. 6. + +[362] Mennen. Delic. Equest. p. 102, &c. Miræus, and Fr. Caro de Torres, +in locis. + +[363] Without rule. + +[364] Chaucer's Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. + +[365] Reman, Hist. Gen. de la Ordere de la Mercie, passim. Mennen. Del. +Eq. p. 107. + +[366] Marquez, Tesoro Milit. 35, &c. + +[367] Caligula. D. 6. in Bib. Cott. (cited in Anstis, Register of the Most +Noble Order of the Garter, vol. i. p. 66.) "Que le Roy ne povoit avec son +honneur bailler aide et assistence a icelluy son bon frere et cousin a +l'encontre du Roy de Naples, qui estoit son confrere et allye, veu et +considere qu'il avoit prins et receu l'ordre de la Jarretiere. Et si le +roi autrement faisoit ce seroit contrevenir au serment, qu'il a fait par +les statuz du dit ordre," &c. + +[368] This assertion may be supported by some lines in a poem which +Chaucer addressed to the Lords and Knights of the Garter. He says to them, + + "Do forth, do forth, continue your succour, + Hold up Christ's banner, let it not fall." + +And again: + + "Ye Lordis eke, shining in noble fame, + To which appropred is the maintenance + Of Christ 'is cause; in honour of his name, + Shove on, and put his foes to utterance." + +[369] Ashmole on the Garter, c. iv. s. 5. + +[370] This rule did not escape Cervantes. "If I do not complain of the +pain," says Don Quixote, after the disastrous chance of the windmills, "it +is because a knight-errant must never complain of his wounds, though his +bowels were dropping out through them."--"Then I have no more to say," +quoth Sancho; "and yet, heaven knows my heart, I should be glad to hear +your worship hone a little now and then when something ails you; for my +part, I shall not fail to bemoan myself when I suffer the smallest pain, +unless, indeed, it can be proved, that the rule of not complaining extends +to the squires as well as knights." Don Quixote, part i. book 1. c. 8. + +[371] Favyn, lib. vi. Mariana, lib. xvi. c. 2. + +[372] Favyn, lib. iii. c. 12. + +[373] Giraldus says, that the leg-bone of Arthur was three fingers longer +than that of the tallest man present at the opening. Selden, in his +Illustrations of Drayton, gives a very interesting account of the +discovery of Great Arthur's tomb. "Henry II., in his expedition towards +Ireland, was entertained by the way, in Wales, with bardish songs, wherein +he heard it affirmed, that in Glastonbury (made almost an isle by the +river's embracements) Arthur was buried betwixt two pillars; he gave +commandment to Henry of Blois, then abbot, to make search for the corpse; +which was found in a wooden coffin some sixteen foote deepe; but, after +they had digged nine foot, they found a stone, on whose lower side was +fixt a leaden cross with his name inscribed, and the letter-side of it +turned to the stone. He was then honored with a sumptuous monument; and, +afterwards, the skulls of him and his wife Guinever were taken out (to +remain as separate reliques and spectacles) by Edward Longshanks and +Eleanor. The bards sang, that, after the battle of Camlan, in Cornwall, +where traitorous Mordred was slain, and Arthur wounded, Morgan le Fay +conveyed the body hither to cure it; which done, Arthur is to return (yet +expected) to the rule of his country." + +[374] At the high feast, evermore, there should be fulfilled the hole +number of an hundred and fifty, for then was the Round Table fully +accomplished. Morte d'Arthur, lib. vii. c. 1. + +[375] The general objects of the knights of the Round Table are +exceedingly well stated in the following fine passage of genuine, +expressive old English:--"Then King Arthur stablished all his knights, and +to them that were of lands not rich he gave them lands, and charged them +never to do outrageouste, nor murder, and always to flee treason. Also by +no means to be cruel, but to give mercy unto him that asketh mercy, upon +pain of forfeiture of their worship and lordships to King Arthur, for +evermore; and always to do ladies, damsels, and gentlewomen, succour, upon +pain of death. Also, that no man take no battles in a wrongful quarrel for +no law, nor for no world's goods. Unto this were all the knights sworn of +the table round, both old and young. And every year were they sworn at the +high feast of Pentecost." Morte d'Arthur, lib. iv. c. last. + +[376] Morte d'Arthur, lib. ult. cap. ult. + +[377] Ashmole, p. 105. + +[378] Pp. 5. 9. 11. ante. + +[379] The exact degree of this influence it is impossible to ascertain +now. The author of the romance of Ivanhoe appears to deny it altogether; +and while he represents the Normans as perfectly chivalric, he describes, +for the sake of contrast, the Anglo-Saxons as totally unadorned with the +graces of knighthood. This is a sacrifice of historic truth to dramatic +effect, and materially detracts from the merit of Ivanhoe as a faithful +picture of ancient manners. + +[380] Glaber Rod. c. 5. + +[381] Snorre. Malmsbury, p. 174. + +[382] Ingulf, p. 512. Order. Vit. p. 460. 463, &c. Malmsbury, passim. +Dudo, p. 82. + +[383] Magna Charta, cl. xiv. + +[384] Lord Lyttleton gives no higher date to this compulsory knighthood +than the reign of Henry III. But it surely must have existed earlier, as +it seems the natural consequence of the change of constitution, effected +by William I., by his uniting chivalry to feudalism. + +[385] Wace tells us that William Rufus never could hear a knight of +prowess spoken of without endeavouring to engage his services. + + "Li reis ros fu de grant noblesce + Proz, et de mult grant largesce. + N'oist de chevalier parler, + Qui de proesse oist loer, + Qui en son breif escrit ne fust, + Et qui par an del soen n'eust." + +[386] H. Huntingdon, p. 381. Order. Vit. 854, &c. + +[387] Stephan. Descrip. Lond. p. 7. + +[388] Malmsbury, p. 121. + +[389] Vinesauf, p. 338. + +[390] Hoveden, p. 673. This principle of chivalric pride did not escape +the good-humoured ridicule of Cervantes. "As for myself," answered the +bruised Don Quixote, after his battle with the Yanguesian carriers, "I +must own I cannot set a term to the days of our recovery; but it is I who +am the fatal cause of all this mischief; for I ought not to have drawn my +sword upon a company of fellows, upon whom the honor of knighthood was +never conferred; and I do not doubt, but that the Lord of Hosts suffered +this punishment to befall me for thus transgressing the laws of chivalry. +Therefore, friend Sancho, observe what I am going to tell thee, for it is +a thing that highly concerns the welfare of us both: it is, that, for the +future, whenever thou perceivest us to be any ways abused by such inferior +fellows, thou art not to expect I should offer to draw my sword against +them, for I will not do it in the least; no, do thou then draw, and +chastise them as thou thinkest fit; but if any knights come to take their +parts, then will I be sure to step between thee and danger, and assault +them with the utmost vigour and intrepidity." Don Quixote, part i. book 3. +c. 1. + +[391] Hoveden, p. 687. + +[392] William of Newbridge, lib. v. c. 4. + +[393] M. of Westminster, p. 300. + +[394] Walsingham, p. 13. + +[395] Matthew of Westminster, p. 402. Hemingford, p. 592. + +[396] Walsingham, p. 8. Leland's Collectanea, p. 177. + +[397] He sent the head up to London, adorned in derision with a silver +crown, that it might be exhibited to the populace in Cheapside, and fixed +upon the Tower. Knyghton, p. 2465. Mr. Sharon Turner (History of England, +vol. ii. p. 44.) judiciously contrasts the conduct of Edward with the +reprimand of William the Conqueror, to the knight who had wounded the dead +body of Harold. + +[398] Matthew of Westminster, p. 460. + +[399] The chamberlain of Scotland was directed by Edward I., A. D. 1306, +to fit up one of the turrets of the castle of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and +therein to build a strong cage of lattice-work, constructed with stout +posts and bars, and well strengthened with iron. The Countess was +prohibited from speaking with any person, Scotch or English, except the +keeper of the castle and a woman or two of the town of Berwick, appointed +by him to deliver her food. The sister of Robert Bruce was prisoner at the +same time, and treated in the same manner. Lord Hailes's observation on +this passage is amusing. "To those who have no notion of any cage but one +for a parrot or a squirrel, hung out at a window, I despair of rendering +this mandate intelligible." + +[400] Matthew of Westminster, p. 457, &c. Trevet, p. 343. + +[401] This was the good Lord James of Douglas, of whom see p. 205 ante. + +[402] many. + +[403] displayed. + +[404] many. + +[405] battalions. + +[406] alarmed. + +[407] gleamed. + +[408] flame of fire. + +[409] flowing. + +[410] waving. + +[411] Sir Walter Scott has made King Edward the author of this unknightly +conduct + + "'Knows't thou,' he said, 'De Argentine, + Yon knight who marshals thus their line?'-- + 'The tokens on his helmet tell + The Bruce my liege: I know him well.'-- + 'And shall the audacious traitor brave + The presence where our banners wave?'-- + 'So please my liege,' said Argentine, + 'Were he but hors'd on steed like mine, + To give him fair and knightly chance, + I would adventure forth my lance.'-- + 'In battle-day,' the King replied, + 'Nice tourney rules are set aside. + --Still must the rebel dare our wrath? + Set on--sweep him from our path.' + And at King Edward's signal, soon + Dash'd from the ranks Sir Henry Boune." + The Lord of the Isles, canto vi. st. 14. + +[412] companions. + +[413] haste. + +[414] without shrinking. + +[415] haste. + +[416] spurred. + +[417] line. + +[418] moan. + +[419] heavy clash. + +[420] broken. + +[421] flat. + +[422] + + "For the king had said him rudely, + That a rose off his chaplet + Has fallen; for quhar[L] he was set + To kep the way these men were past." + Barbour, vol. ii p. 545-548. + + [L] where. + +[423] Mon. Malms., p. 149, &c. Moor, p. 594. Fordun, vol. xii. p. 20. +Scala Chronica, p. 547. Dalrymple, vol. ii. p. 45, &c. + +[424] Trokelowe in Hearne, p. 52. Moor in Camden, Angl. Norm. p. 595. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of Chivalry, Volume I (of +2), by Charles Mills + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40021 *** |