shorn" knights of the Conqueror's time had, in the reign of his
successor, fallen into disrepute as models of fashion. Long hair
came into vogue, called down the anathemas of the Church, suffered
a temporary discredit, and again rose into favour. Malmesbury has a
curious sketch of this fluctuation of fashion. In the twenty-ninth
regnal year of Henry I., he tells us, "a circumstance occurred in
England which may seem surprising to our long-haired gallants, who,
forgetting what they were born, transform themselves into the fashion
of females, by the length of their locks. A certain English knight,
who prided himself on the luxuriancy of his tresses, being stung
by conscience on the subject, seemed to feel in a dream as though
some person strangled him with his ringlets. Awaking in a fright,
he immediately cut off all his superfluous hair. The example spread
throughout England; and, as recent punishment is apt to affect the
mind, almost all military men allowed their hair to be cropped in
a proper manner without reluctance. But this decency was not of
long continuance; for scarcely had a year expired, before all who
thought themselves courtly relapsed into their former vice, vying
with women in the length of their locks, and whenever they were
defective, supplying their place with false tresses[206]." In 1102,
at a council held in London by Archbishop Anselm, it was enacted that
those who had long hair should be cropped, so as to shew part of the
ear and the eyes. Compare also the well-known passage of Ordericus
Vitalis, where he tells us how Bishop Serlo, preaching before Henry
I. and his court, inveighed so successfully against the iniquity of
long locks, that his audience saw the folly of their ways; and the
prelate, seizing the favourable moment, produced a pair of scissors
from his sleeve (_de manticâ forcipes_), and cropped the king and
many of his courtiers with his own hand[207].
From Wace and the Bayeux tapestry we have found that the Beard was
not worn by the Normans at the time of the Conquest, though in
fashion among the Anglo-Saxons:--
"Li Normant * * *
N'unt mie barbe ne guernons,
Co dist Heraut, com nos avons."--_Line_ 12,252.
And the Normans continued their custom till the second half of the
twelfth century. The monumental effigy of Henry II. at Fontevraud
represents him without either beard or moustache. "The beard,"
says Stothard[208], "is painted, and pencilled like a miniature,
to represent its being close shaven." Among the English, however,
the beard was often retained, and became a sort of protest against
the new dynasty[209]. In 1196 William Longbeard, "le dernier des
Saxons," as he is named by M. Thierry, became conspicuous from his
opposition to the Norman rule, the inveteracy of which was manifested
to the world by the excessive length of his beard[210]. At this time,
however, a beard and moustache of moderate dimensions were in vogue
among both races. The effigy of Richard I. at Fontevraud and that of
King John at Worcester offer good examples of this change of fashion.
The WEAPONS in use among the knightly order were the lance, the
sword, the mace, and, towards the middle of the twelfth century, the
axe. The shaft of the Lance was of uniform thickness throughout, the
swell at the grip being a much later invention. The material was
usually ash or pine. Wace, in the _Roman de Rou_, has:--
"Mult i véissiez colps è de fer è d'achier,
Mainte hante[211] de sap è de fresne bruissier[212]."
--_Line_ 4639.
Guillaume le Breton, describing the combat of Richard I. and
Guillaume des Barres, says:--
"Utraque per clypeos ad corpora _fraxinus_ ibat."
And Albertus Aquensis, speaking of the French, tells us: "Hastæ
fraxineæ in manibus eorum ferro acutissimo præfixæ sunt, quasi grandes
perticæ." The heads of the lance were commonly of the leaf-form or
the lozenge; more rarely barbed. All three appear in the Bayeux
tapestry, and are found in many monuments throughout the twelfth
century. Lance-flags (or streamers) of two, three, four, and of five
points are found at the close of the eleventh and during the twelfth
centuries. See Harleian MS. 603, the Bayeux tapestry, and our woodcuts,
Nos. 1, 27, 28, 30 and 37. A curious Eastern example of the use of
the lance-flag is found in the wall-painting of the Ajunta caves, a
work referred to the first century of our era. A fine copy of this
interesting monument has been placed in the Museum of the East India
House. The spear was also a weapon of the inferior troops:--
"Archiers trovent vilainz, dont la terre est planiere,
Ki porte arc è ki hache, ki grant lance geldiere."
_Rom. de Rou_, l. 4680.
Geldon was a name often given to the foot soldiery: "Et ceciderunt
de Israël triginta millia _peditum_:" 1. Kings iv. 10. "Kar il i
chaïrent trente milie de _gelde_."
[Illustration: GREAT SEAL OF KING HENRY II.
No. 43.]
The Sword was of the old form: straight, broad, two-edged, and
pointed. The cross-piece was generally straight: in other cases,
curved towards the blade. Examples of the latter fashion occur in the
great seal of King Henry II., here given; in Harl. MS. 603, _passim_;
and in Cotton MS., Titus, D. xvi. See also our woodcut, No. 41.
The pommel was round, hemispherical, square, lozenge, trefoiled or
cinquefoiled. All these forms may be seen in Harl. MS., 603, Titus,
D. xvi., the Bayeux tapestry, Addit. MS. 11,695, and the effigy of
Henry II., figured by Stothard. This effigy also shews very clearly
the Belt with its buckle, by which the sword was fastened round the
waist. Compare also the second plate of the Bayeux tapestry, where
the form of this short belt is very distinctly exhibited. We have
already noticed that the sword was sometimes worn with its handle
projecting through a cleft in the hauberk, the scabbard being fixed
beneath the hauberk. See cut 34, and Bayeux tapestry, Plate VI. As
in our own day, swords attributed to ancient heroes had an especial
value, and became the most cherished gifts of kings and nobles. Thus,
when Richard Cœur-de-Lion was on his way to the Holy Land, "the
king of Sicily sent to him many presents of great value, consisting
of gold and silver, of horses and cloth of silk. But the king of
England would receive nothing from him, except a little ring, which
he accepted as a token of their mutual esteem. On the other hand,
King Richard gave to King Tancred that most excellent sword which the
Britons call _Caliburn_, and which had been the sword of Arthur, once
the valiant king of England[213]."
The Sword of William the Conqueror became the feudal instrument
by which the Umfrevilles held the lordship of Riddesdale, in
Northumberland:--"In the tenth year of William the Conqueror, Robert
de Umfranvil, knight, obtained from that king a grant of the Lordship,
Valley and Forest of Riddesdale, by the service of defending that part
of the country for ever from Enemies and Wolves, with that Sword which
King William had by his side when he entered Northumberland[214]."
From a very curious drawing in the Psalter of Eadwine, written at
Canterbury in the middle of the twelfth century, and now preserved
in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge, we learn the exact
manner in which the soldiery of this day furbished and ground their
swords. The implement for furbishing is in the form of an ordinary
axe-head, fixed in the centre of a rod or staff, which is held by
both hands. This curious subject has been engraved by Mr. Westwood in
his _Palæographia Sacra_.
The Mace does not often appear in the pictorial monuments of the
period. It is, however, seen in the Bayeux tapestry, in the hands of
both armies. The heads are quatrefoil, or of a heart-shape. What Wace
calls the "gibet" is considered to be the mace, and it is carried at
the right-hand side of the knight, to be used when the lance had been
broken:
"Endementrez ke il versa,
Sa lance chaï è froissa,
Et il a le _gibet_ seisi,
Ki a sun _destre bras pendi_."--_Rom. de Rou_, 1. 13,456.
It was also the usual arm of Churchmen when they went to battle; who
sought thus to avoid the denunciation against those "who smite with
the sword." Under the name of _clava_, it is mentioned by Guillaume
le Breton:--
"Nunc contus, nunc clava caput, nunc vero bipennis
Excerebrat."--_Philippidos_, p. 213.
The Axe, which in the Bayeux tapestry is never seen in the hands of
the Norman knights, appears in the twelfth century to have come into
favour among them, for even the kings of this race are said to have
contended with it. Thus Hoveden, describing the valour of Stephen
at the battle of Lincoln, in 1141, says:--"Then was seen the might
of the king, equal to a thunderbolt, slaying some with his immense
battle-axe, and striking down others. Then arose the shouts afresh,
all rushing against him, and he against all. At length, through
the number of the blows, the king's battle-axe was broken asunder.
Instantly, with his right hand, drawing his sword, he marvellously
waged the combat until the sword also was broken. On seeing this,
William de Kahamnes, a most powerful knight, rushed upon the king,
and seizing him by the helmet, cried with loud voice, 'Hither, all of
you, come hither! I have taken the King.'"
In the quotation from the _Philippidos_, above, we have seen that
the double-axe, the _bipennis_, was also in use at this time. Like
the mace, it is of rare occurrence in the pictures of the day, but
several representations of it will be found in Harleian MS. 603, a
Latin Psalter of the close of the eleventh century, probably written
in France.
Among the weapons in use by the common soldiery are the cultellus, the
guisarme, the pike, the bisacuta, the javelin, the sling, the long-bow,
the cross-bow, (at the close of the twelfth century,) and some others
in which fire was the offensive agent. The Cultellus, or coustel, was a
short sword or long dagger, well calculated for use of the foot-troops,
rushing upon the knights who had been unhorsed in the charge of the
cavalry; and equally well adapted for close fight of foot against foot.
A statute of William, king of Scotland, (1165-1214,) shews the identity
of the coustel and dagger: "Habeat equum, habergeon, capitium e ferro,
et cultellum qui dicitur _dagger_[215]." In the fourteenth century,
Knighton has: "Cultellos, quos _daggerios_ vulgariter dicunt, in
_powchiis_ impositis[216]." And Walsingham, in the fifteenth century,
writes: "Mox extracto cultello, quem _dagger_ vulgo dicimus, ictum
militi minabatur[217]." The cultellus, like the sica of classic times,
not only became the weapon of the depredator, but gave its name to that
class; as we see from a statute of the Count of Toulouse in 1152: "Si
quis aliquem hominem malum, quem Cultellarium dicimus, cum cultellis
euntem nocte causa furandi occiderit, nullum damnum patiatur propter
hoc." The Guisarme, which we have already noticed in the previous
chapter, was still in favour in the twelfth century, and is frequently
mentioned by the writers of this period. A striking passage of the
_Philippidos_ brings before us a rich group of the weapons of this
day:--
"Nunc contus, nunc clava caput, nunc vero bipennis
Excerebrat: sed nec bisacuta, sudisve vel hasta
Otia vel gladius ducit."--_Page_ 213.
The contus and the sudis of these lines are pikes, of which the
particular difference from each other would be a vain enquiry for our
times. The clava (mace) and bipennis have been already noticed. The
Bisacuta appears to have been an arm of the pick kind. Père Daniel
cites from a French poet who lived in 1376, these lines:--
"Trop bien faisoit la besaguë
Qui est par les deux becs aguë."--_Mil. Franç._, i. 433.
The phrase, _deux becs_, seems to indicate a form of the kind we have
mentioned, and the exact structure of the weapon is perhaps presented
to us in the well-known brass of Bishop Wyvil, at Salisbury[218].
A letter remissory of the fourteenth century appears to confirm
this view: "Le dit Hue d'un gran _martel_ qu'il portoit, appellé
besague, getta au dit Colart," &c. The head of the martel-d'armes
was constantly, on one or both sides, of this pick or beak form. The
besague was also a carpenter's tool. Thus Wace, on the invasion of
England by the Normans, tells us:--
"Li charpentiers, ki emprès vindrent,
Granz coignies en lor mains tindrent:
Doloères è besaguës
Orent à lor costez pendues."--_Line_ 11,650.
The Sling of this time may be seen, though rudely drawn, in the group
from Add. MS. 14,789, copied in our woodcut No. 37. Compare also cuts
12 and 50. The Javelin is found at the close of the eleventh century;
in the hands of the English in the Bayeux tapestry, and in the French
manuscript, Harl. 603, fol. 60. In the twelfth century it seems to have
fallen into discredit among these nations, though probably employed
to a much later period by the Spaniards[219], with whom it was always
a favourite weapon, and by those races who had retained the rough
fashions and the heroic traditions of their Old-Northern ancestry.
The Long-bow was of the most simple construction: it appears
frequently in the Bayeux tapestry, (Plates XIII., XV. and XVI.;) in
the cotemporary manuscript, Harleian 603, and in many monuments of the
twelfth century. The arrows are usually barbed. A curious variety of
the arrow is seen in the Spanish codex, Addit. MSS. 11,695, written in
1109. This missile, which is frequently represented in the volume, has
three pairs of barbs, fixed at a little distance from each other along
the shaft; a cruel contrivance, which does not seem to have reached
other nations of Europe, and, we may hope, was not long in vogue within
the Pyrennees. Already in the twelfth century the English began to
evince that skill in archery which afterwards gave them such celebrity.
At the siege of Messina by Cœur-de-Lion, as we learn from Richard of
Devizes, the Sicilians were forced to leave their walls unmanned,
"because no one could look out of doors, but he would have an arrow
in his eye before he could shut it." The king himself did not disdain
occasionally to use the bow. When before the castle of Nottingham,
which had been seized by "Earl John," the monarch, says Roger of
Hoveden, "took up his quarters near the castle, so that the archers
therein pierced the king's men at his very feet. The king, incensed at
this, put on his armour, and commanded his troops to make an assault
upon the castle; on which a sharp conflict took place, and many fell on
both sides. The king himself slew one knight with an arrow, and having
at last prevailed, drove back his enemies into the castle, took some
outworks which had been thrown up without the gates, and destroyed the
outer gates by fire[220]."
The practice of archery was encouraged and protected by statute.
Among the enactments of Henry I. of England, it was provided, that if
any one in practising with arrows or with darts should by accident
slay another, it was not to be visited against him as a crime[221].
The Quivers, as represented in the Bayeux tapestry, are without
covers; but on folio 25 of Harl. MS. 603, is a drawing of a quiver
having a cap attached by cords, so that when the quiver is in use,
the cap remains suspended by the strings. The dress of the archers
has been already noticed.
The Cross-bow does not appear to have been recognised as a military
weapon before the close of the twelfth century. The term _balista_, by
which it is described in monkish annals and other writings, is indeed
found at an earlier period; but there is great doubt whether this
earlier balista meant a hand-weapon, or one of those "gyns" derived
from classic times. The later use of the arm seems confirmed by the
fact that it is not found in pictorial representations till about 1200.
There appears to have been an attempt to introduce it at the beginning
of this century, but it was prohibited by papal decree as unfit for
Christian warfare. A council in 1139, under Innocent II., has: "Artem
illam mortiferam et Deo odibilem balistariorum et sagittariorum
adversus Christianos et Catholicos exerceri de cetero sub anathemate
prohibemus[222]." This denunciation was renewed under Innocent III.;
but by this time Richard Cœur-de-Lion and Philippe Auguste had
sanctioned the use of the arm, and the cross-bow was triumphant. Both
Guillaume le Breton and Guiart place the introduction of the weapon at
the close of the twelfth century; and both tell us that Richard was the
first to adopt it, and that Philip followed his example. Describing the
siege of the castle of Boves, Brito says[223]:--
"Francigenis nostris illis ignota diebus
Res erat omnino quid balistarius arcus
Quid balista foret, nec habebat in agmine toto
Rex, quemquam sciret armis qui talibus uti."
And again, writing of the death of Richard I., he makes Atropos speak
thus[224]:--
"Hac volo, non alia Richardum morte perire.
Ut qui Francigenis balistæ primitus usum
Tradidit, ipse sui rem primitus experiatur,
Quamque alios docuit, in se vim sentiat artis."
Guiart has this similar passage:--
"Ainsi fina par le quarrel[225],
Qu' Anglois tindrent à deshonneste,
Li roís Richart, qui d'arbaleste
Aporta premier l'us en France.
De son art ot mal chevance."--_Chron. Métr._, l. 2644.
The form of the arbalest of this time may be seen in our woodcut,
No. 50. It was bent by placing the foot in the loop or "stirrup" at
the extremity, and then drawing the cord upwards with the hands.
At a later period, the bow was made much stronger, and of steel,
then requiring mechanical contrivances to bend it. The arrow of the
cross-bow was shorter and stouter than that of the long-bow. As may
be seen in our woodcut, No. 50, it was feathered; a particular which
is noticed in the _Roman de Garin_:--
"Volent piles plusque pluie par prés,
Et les saiettes et _carriax_ empennés."
This name of Carriaux (quadrelli or quarrels) was given to these
missiles from the four-sided (or pyramidal) form of the head. Thus
Guillaume le Breton, speaking of the death of Richard the First:--
"----Quadratæ cuspidis una
Pendet arundo."
From an ordinance of Theobald, count of Champagne, in the next century
(1256), we learn that the provision of quarrels for a cross-bow was
fifty: "Chascun de la commune dou Neufchastel qui aura vaillant xx.
livres, aura arbaleste en son hostel et quarraus jusqu'à cinquante."
The arrow of the arbalest is sometimes called _vireton_, from the
French _virer_, on account of its rotary flight. Compare the classical
_verutum_, a javelin which owed its name to a similar property. Though
the English appear to have used the cross-bow from near the close of
the twelfth to the end of the thirteenth century, in the succeeding age
the long-bow obtained a signal triumph over its rival.
In the hands of a stout soldiery, indeed, the long-bow is a much
superior weapon; for a dozen arrows may be discharged while the
arbalester is winding up his instrument and fixing a single quarrel:
and the long-bow being a vertical arm, permits a close array, which
cannot be attained with the horizontal cross-bow: again, the long-bow
is a weapon of very light carriage, while its rival, with its thick
bow of steel and its apparatus for bending, is both ponderous and
unwieldy: the size of the quarrels also permitted only eighteen of
them to be brought by each man into the field, ("et auront trousses
empanées et cirées de dix-huit traits du moins:" Ordinance of Charles
VII. of France), while the English archer carried "twenty-four
Scotchmen under his belt." "Les arbalestriers Gennevois," says
Froissart, "commencèrent à traire, et ces archers d'Angleterre firent
voler ces sagettes de grand' façon, qui entrèrent et descendirent si
ouniement sur ces Gennevois que ce sembloit neige. Les Gennevois,
qui n'avoient pas appris à trouver tels archers que sont ceux
d'Angleterre, quand ils sentirent ces sagettes qui leur perçoient
bras, têtes et banlèvre, furent tantôt desconfits[226]." But to
handle the long-bow thus effectively, required a race strong in sinew
and practised in their art: to wind up and discharge a cross-bow was
the feat of a boy.
The Greek fire, still discountenanced among the Christian states
of the West, was in frequent use with the enemies of the Cross in
the East. All the accounts of the Crusades contain instances of its
employment. Of the tubes from which it was discharged we have already
spoken. In the _Bibliothèque des Croisades_ of M. Reinaud[227], we
have the account of a variety of this incendiary agent, from the
pen of an Arabian historian of the Third Crusade, Ibn Alatir. "When
Acre was besieged by the Christians," he tells us, "there came into
the town a man of Damascus, to assist in its defence. He began by
casting upon the towers erected by the besiegers, pots filled with
naptha and other ingredients. These not being alight, fell harmlessly
among the Christians, who laughed at and jeered the Mussulmans for
their seeming failure. Meanwhile, the man of Damascus waited till
the mixture had diffused itself over every part of the tower. Then,
casting forth a lighted missile, in an instant the tower was in
flames, and so rapid and so extensive was the combustion, that the
Christians had no time to descend: men, arms, all was consumed."
From a curious passage of Wace we learn what were the weapons employed
by the peasantry when driven to revolt against their lords. In
describing the insurrection of the "vilains" under Richard the Second,
duke of Normandy, he makes these "bachelers de bele juvente" exclaim:--
"A machues è à grant peus,
A sajetes et as tineus,
As arcs, as haches, as gisarmes,
Et as pierres ki n'ara armes,
Od la grant genz ke nous avum,
Des chevaliers nus desfendum."--_Rom. de Rou_, l. 6043.
The _peus_, or _pieux_, were pikes; the _tineus_ were poles used
to carry the grape-tubs at the vintage, which, when converted into
instruments of war, we may suppose were armed with heads of iron. The
idea of contention by throwing stones is by no means a mere poetical
fancy of our author. Froissart even tells us of a victory achieved
by this means. A band of French knights and nobles going to attack
a section of the Free Companies, these latter posted themselves on
a hill, and being well provided with stones, "cast them so forcibly
upon those who approached, that they broke their bassinets, however
strong they might be, and wounded and maimed the men-at-arms to such
an extent, that none either could or dared to advance further, however
good his shield might be, (tant bien targé qu'il fut). And this first
division was so thoroughly crushed that never again could it do good
service." Reinforcements arriving to the Companies, a more regular
onset was made: "Que vous ferois-je long parlement? De celle besogne
dont vous oyez parler, les François en eurent pour lors le pieur[228]."
In the manufacture of arms, the steel of Poitou had already become
celebrated. John, monk of Marmoustier, who lived in the middle of
the twelfth century, in describing the knighting of Geoffry, duke
of Normandy, tells us that he had a lance of ash, armed with a head
of Poitou steel. Malmesbury distinguishes also Lorraine. "At the
siege of Antioch," he says, "Godfrey of Bouillon, with a Lorrainian
sword, cut asunder a Turk who had demanded single combat, so that one
half of the man lay panting on the ground, while the other half was
carried off by the horse at full speed; so firmly did the unbeliever
keep his seat. Another also, who attacked him, he clave asunder
from the neck to the groin; nor did the dreadful stroke stop here,
but cut entirely through the saddle and the backbone of the horse."
Hungary had at a very early period enjoyed a celebrity for its weapon
manufacture. Charlemagne, writing to Offa of Mercia, offering him
presents for his churches, adds: "And for your own acceptance I send
a belt, a Hungarian sword, and two silk mantles[229]." The method of
hardening steel, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, by immersion,
when red hot, in cold water, may be seen in Theophilus Presbyter,
lib. iii. cap. 19.
The FLAGS AND STANDARDS in use during this period were the prince's
standards, the banner, the pennon, and the small lance-flag or
streamer. The consecrated standard of William I., bestowed by the
Pope, appears to be represented on the ninth plate of the Bayeux
tapestry, where it is figured of a square form and ensigned with
a cross. It was carried near the person of William throughout the
day by the knight Toustain: "Turstinus, filius Rollonis _vexillum
Normannorum_ portavit[230]."
"Et quant li Dus tournout, tournout;
E quant arestout, arestout."--_Wace_, l. 13,807.
It was also used to indicate any danger into which the leader might
have fallen. Thus, when Philip Augustus was unhorsed at the battle of
Bovines, Rigord tells us that his standard-bearer signified the king's
peril by depressing the Royal Standard several times over the spot.
The Dragon-standard, of which we have seen some examples in our first
division, is still found among the Germans and the English. We have
already observed its exact form in the pictures of Harold in the
Bayeux tapestry. It accompanied the hosts of Richard Cœur-de-Lion.
Richard of Devizes, in recording the attack upon the "Griffones" at
Messina, says: "The king of England proceeded in arms: the terrible
standard of the Dragon is borne in front; while, behind the king,
the sound of the trumpet excites the army[231]." Hoveden, under
date 1191, tells us that Richard "delivered _his Dragon_ (_Draconem
suum_) to be borne by Peter de Pratellis." Guillaume le Breton, in
the _Philippidos_, gives to the Emperor Otho a standard formed of a
dragon and an eagle.
"Erigit in carro palum, paloque Draconem
Implicat, ut possit procul hinc atque inde videri,
Hauriat et ventos cauda tumefactus et alis,
Dentibus horrescens rictusque patentis hiatu,
Quem super aurata volucer Jovis imminet ala."
Guiart has a similar passage; adding that the Dragon of the emperor--
"Vers France ot la gueule baée,
Pour le réaume chalengier,
Come s'il deust tout mangier.
Cis Dragons soustint la Bannière
Des connoissances l'emperiere,
Qu'il porte au bel et à loré.
Desus ot un Aigle doré:
C'est _signe de guerre cuisant_."
The Car-standard, or Carrocium, of the English king Stephen has already
been noticed in the sketch of the battle of Cuton Moor, (p. 107.) The
Carrocio of the Milanese was still regarded as their Palladium.
Banners were carried by knights banneret, by the Church Advocati, and
by the Town troops, or Communitates Parochiarum. The knight's banner,
as we have already seen, was square; and, as soon as heraldic devices
became settled, was ensigned with the bearing of the leader to whom
it belonged. Its especial use was to muster and to rally the troops
of the banneret:--
"Cil treis orent treis gunfanuns,
A ralier lur cumpaingnuns."--_Rom. de Rou_, i. 337.
Bishops and abbots appointed knights to defend their possessions,
to lead their contingent, and to fight under their banner. These
advocati in time made their office hereditary. The Counts of Vexin
were the _avoués_ of the Abbey of St. Denis, and the lands of Vexin
coming into the possession of the kings of France, these monarchs
acquired the office of bannerers of the abbey. Thus the plain red
flag of St. Denis became, under the name of the Oriflamme, the most
distinguished banner of the French monarchy.
"L'Oriflamme est une Banniere,
Aucun poi plus forte que guimple:
De cendal roujoyant et simple,
Sans pourctraiture d'autre affaire."--_G. Guiart._
It was Louis le Gros who united the county of Vexin to the crown of
France[232].
A very curious variety of the knightly banner occurs on the twelfth
plate of the Bayeux tapestry; the flag is semicircular, is ensigned
with a bird within a bordure, and has a fringe at the edge. Mr.
Worsaae has suggested that this bird, which appears on the Norman
side, may be the Raven of the Old-Northmen, retained by their
descendants in honour of the deeds of their forefathers.
The banners of the communal troops bore the effigies of Saints,
each parish gathering round the flag on which its particular saint
was portrayed. This usage was as old as the time of Louis VI. of
France: "Tunc ergo communitas in Francia popularis instituta est a
præsulibus, ut presbyteri commitarentur Regi ad obsidionem vel pugnam
cum Vexillis et parochianis omnibus[233]."
The word Gonfanon, Guntfano, so frequently occurring in the writings
of this period, seems to be indifferently applied to the leader's
standard, the knightly banner, and the lance-flag. It has been
derived from the German _kunden_, indicare, and _Fahne_, vexillum; or
from _Fahne_ and the Old-Scandinavian _Gunna_, prœlium. Mr. Kemble
inclines to the latter derivation; see glossary to _Beowulf_, in v.
_Guth_. A capitulary of Charles the Bald gives the name of Gonfanon
to the banner of the Church vassals: "Let our envoys (missi nostri)
see that the troops of every bishop, abbot, and abbess, march forth
properly equipped, and with their Gonfalonier (cum Guntfannonario)."
The standard sent by the pope to William the Conqueror is by Wace
named a gonfanon:--
"L'Apostoile
Un gonfanon li envéia."--_Line_ 11,450.
He gives it also to the barons and more powerful captains:--
"N'i a riche home ne baron
Ki n'ait lez lui son gonfanon;
U gonfanon u autre enseigne,
U il se maisnie[234] restraigne."
In the following passages, it is the lance-flag:--
"Les lances bessent, o sont li gonfanon."--_Rom. de Garin._
"Baisse la lance ou li gonfanon pent."--_Rom. d'Aubery._
"Moult si siest bien au col la lance au gonfanon."
_Rom. de Duguesclin._
The Pennon, as we have before seen, (p. 95,) was the flag of those
knights who had not attained to the dignity of banneret. It appears
to have terminated in a point or points, but its exact form at this
period has not been ascertained. It probably differed in nothing but
its size from the lance-flags seen in the Bayeux tapestry and on the
seals and other monuments of the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
Wace, however, in the following passage, seems to use the word in a
more general sense; for it is the Vicomte du Cotentin, lieutenant of
the duke of Normandy, of whom he is speaking:--
"Les li fist un penun porter,
U lur gent pussent recuvrer."--_Rom. de Rou_, l. 7839.
If these various flags were found sufficient to keep together the
troops of an ordinary expedition; in large armaments such as those
of the Crusades, the want of some more general distinction must
soon have been felt. Hoveden therefore tells us, under the year
1188, that the leaders against the Saracens, "for the purpose of
recognising their various nations, adopted distinguishing signs
for themselves and their people. For the king of France and his
people wore red crosses; the king of England and his people, white
crosses; while Philip, earl of Flanders, and his followers, wore
green crosses." The existence of a mode of recognition among troops
at this period is confirmed by the passage of Wace in which he names
the "cognoissances" of the Norman host and their allies:--
"E tuit orent fet cognoissances,
Ke Normant altre conéust,
Et k'entreposture n'éust.
Ke Normant altre ne férist,
Ne Franceiz altre n'océist."--_Line_ 12,816.
The particular nature of the sign of recognition intended by the
chronicler, it is in vain now to inquire. The note of M. Pluquet on
the passage gives "Signes de convention."
The Lance-flag is found throughout the period now under notice. Many
examples occur in the Bayeux tapestry, and in the royal and baronial
seals of the time. The usual device upon it is a cross, a square, a
number of rounds, or stripes of different colours; or the streamer is
of a single tint. It is dentated in two or more cuts, and sometimes
fringed at the edge. See our engraved examples.
The Musical Instruments used in war were the horn, the trumpet, and a
variety of the latter called the _graisle_. Wace mentions all these
in his account of the battle of Hastings:--
"Dez ke li dous ost[235] s'entrevirent,
Grant noise è grant temulte firent.
Mult oïssiez graisles soner,
E boisines è cors corner."--_Line_ 13,135.
The horn of battle of this period is very clearly figured on folio 25
of Harleian MS. 603, a work of the close of the eleventh century. It
is of the common semicircular form. The trumpet (boisine: buccina) is
found, though in a monument of somewhat later date, on the inscribed
slab of "Godefrey le Troumpour," now preserved in the library of the
London Guildhall[236]. Compare also our woodcut, No. 73. The graisle
(from _gracilis_) was, as its name indicates, of a slender form; its
exact fashion has not been ascertained.
The Horse-furniture presents some new features; especially in the
arming of the steed in chain-mail, a practice which appears to have
originated towards the close of the twelfth century. Wace indeed
tells us that William Fitz-Osbert, at the field of Hastings, rode a
steed thus accoutred:--
"Vint Willame li filz Osber,
Son cheval tot covert de fer."--_Line_ 12,627.
But we may well believe that it was rather the necessity of a rhyme
to "Osber" than the usage of the period, that gives us this iron
horse at so early a date. Wace, writing in the second half of the
twelfth century, appears merely to have availed himself of the usual
license of middle-age authorities: to depict a past generation in
the lineaments of his own. The practice of arming the horse does not
seem to have become general till towards the close of the thirteenth
century. A pictorial example of the trapper of chain-mail will be
found in our woodcut, No. 86. The Saddle had a high pommel and
cantle, as may be seen in our engravings of the royal seals of this
period. In many examples of the Bayeux tapestry they form volutes,
(viewed laterally,) exactly like the sides of an Ionic capital. The
saddle-cloth does not appear in this tapestry, but it is found on the
second seal of Henry I., on the seal of King Stephen, and on that of
Louis VII. of France. In these examples it is quite plain; but later
it acquires an ornamental character, as in the seal of Conan, duke of
Britanny, c. 1165, (woodcut 41). It is of a more enriched pattern in
the Great Seal of Henry II., here given.
[Illustration: SECOND SEAL OF KING HENRY II.
No. 44.]
From Wace we learn that the girths and breastplate were named, in the
"Romance" of that day, _cingles_ and _poitrail_:--
"Li peitral del cheval rompi,
E li dui cengles altresi."--_Rom. de Rou_, l. 14,674.
This poitrail has generally, in the period under examination,
pendants attached to it, in the form of rounds,--perhaps grelots. See
woodcuts 1, 25, 28 and 29.
Roman monuments offer similar examples, as in Trajan's Column, the
Pillar of Antonine, and other remains, where the pendants are bells,
crescents, trefoils, rounds, and guttæ. Such collars are found
also in the paintings of the Ajunta Caves, where bells and rounds
alternate. This monument is assigned to the first century of our era.
In the curious Spanish manuscript, dated 1109, in the British Museum,
Addit. MSS., 11,695, the circular pendants occur, attached not only
to the poitrail, but to the saddle (fol. 223). The Bits used for the
war-horse have long cheeks, which are often of an ogee form. The rein
is generally quite plain, though sometimes ornamented with studs, as
in examples in the manuscript last cited.
The Spur was still of a single goad, and fastened by a single
strap. The form of the goad offers some variety: it is leaf-shaped,
conical, lozenge-shaped, and sometimes consists of a ball from which
springs a short spike. A variety is fashioned into a sort of button,
having a slender spike in the centre. The first three kinds are seen
in the Bayeux tapestry and many of the seals of the period. The
ball-and-spike spur is well shewn in the effigies of Henry II. and
Richard I. at Fontevraud, figured by Stothard in his "Monuments." The
last variety may be seen in Addit. MS. 11,695, fol. 223. The shank of
the spur is sometimes straight, as in Anglo-Saxon times: sometimes
curved. The curved form appears in the sculptured effigies of King
Henry II. and Richard I. The spur of Richard the First seems to have
been attached to the strap by rivets.
The Caltrop, or _tribulus_, an instrument derived from classic
times, was in use, but not of frequent employment. Anna Comnena
tells us that the Emperor Alexis strewed them in the path of the
French cavalry; and at a later period, we read of knights fixing
their spurs point upwards in the way of their advancing enemy, after
the manner of caltrops: but this cruel device appears to have been
practised very rarely, and we may venture to believe that it was
generally discountenanced as beneath the dignity and generosity of
true chivalry. At a later period, caltrops were used to strew over
the slope of a breach, to impede the advance of a storming party.
From a very curious passage in the _Roman de Rou_, we learn that the
knight sometimes went to battle _tied to his saddle_:--
"Li reis aveit un soldéier,
Brun out nom, novel chevalier.
Sor son cheval sist noblement,
Apareillié mult richement.
A sa sele fu atachiez,
E par li coisses fu liez," &c.--_Line_ 16,064.
However strange such a device may appear, the mention of it by other
ancient writers forbids us to regard it as a mere vagary of the poet.
Matthew Paris, under the year 1243, recounting the irruption of the
Tartars into Europe, says: "They have horses, not large, but very
strong, and that require but little food, and they bind themselves
firmly on their backs." And, in the fifteenth century, the writer of
the life of Earl Richard of Warwick tells us that, at a justing-match,
his hero was obliged to dismount from his horse, because some of his
adversaries had accused him of being tied in his saddle.
For the Horse itself, Spain appears to have been in the highest favour
for the purity of its breed. Walter Giffard had brought from Gallicia
the steed on which Duke William rode at the field of Hastings:--
"Sun boen cheval fist demander.
Ne poeit l'en meillor trover.
D'Espaigne li out envéié
Un Reis, par mult grant amistié.
Armes ne presse ne dotast,
Se sis Sires l'esperonast.
Galtier Giffart l'out amené,
Ki à Saint Jame aveit esté."--_Rom. de Rou_, l. 12,673.
And in the well-known passage of the Monk of Marmoustier, where he
describes the knighting of Geoffry, duke of Normandy, we are told
that the young hero was "mounted upon a Spanish horse, which had been
presented by the king."
How the horses of the knights were conveyed in ships and disembarked
from the vessels, is curiously shewn in the ninth and tenth plates of
the Bayeux tapestry.
Of the ENGINES employed in sieges, all those mentioned in our first
division appear to have been still in use. The ancient Vinea (Cat or
Sow) is frequently mentioned, and the moveable Tower, or _Beffroi_,
becomes a prominent feature in all the great siege operations of this
century. William of Malmesbury has left us an excellent description of
these two contrivances in his account of the siege of Jerusalem[237]:--
"There was one engine which we call the Sow, the ancients, Vinea;
because the machine, which is constructed of slight timbers, the roof
covered with boards and wicker-work, and the sides defended with
undressed hides, protects those who are within; who, after the manner
of a sow, proceed to undermine the foundations of the walls. There
was another, which, for want of timber, was but a moderate-sized
tower, constructed after the manner of houses. They call it
Berefreid[238]. This was intended to equal the walls in height. And
now the fourteenth day of July arrived, when some began to undermine
the wall with the Sows, others to move forward the Tower. To do
this more conveniently, they took it toward the works in separate
pieces[239], and putting it together again at such a distance as to
be out of bowshot, advanced it on wheels nearly close to the wall.
Meantime the slingers with stones, the archers with arrows, and the
crossbow-men with bolts, each intent on his own department, began
to press forward and dislodge their opponents from the ramparts.
Soldiers, too, unmatched in courage, ascend the Tower, waging nearly
equal war against the enemy with missile weapons and with stones.
Nor indeed were our foes at all remiss, but trusting their whole
security to their valour, they poured down boiling grease and oil
upon the Tower, and slung stones on the soldiers, rejoicing in the
completion of their desires by the destruction of multitudes. During
the whole of that day the battle was such that neither party seemed
to think they had been worsted. On the following, the business was
decided: for the Franks, becoming more experienced from the event
of the attack of the preceding day, threw faggots flaming with oil
on a tower adjoining the wall, and on those who defended it; which,
blazing by the action of the wind, first seized the timber, and then
the stones, and drove off the garrison. Moreover, the beams which
the Turks had left hanging down from the walls, in order that, being
forcibly drawn back, they might, by their recoil, batter the Tower
in pieces, in case it should advance too near, were by the Franks
dragged to them, by cutting away the ropes; and being placed from
the engine to the wall, and covered with hurdles, they formed a
bridge of communication from the Tower to the ramparts. Thus what the
infidels had contrived for their defence, became the means of their
destruction; for then the enemy, dismayed by the smoking masses of
flame, and by the courage of our soldiers, began to give way. These,
advancing on the wall, and thence into the city, manifested the
excess of their joy by the strenuousness of their exertions."
William of Tyre mentions also the use of the beffroi at the
siege of Jerusalem; adding that the side towards the city was so
constructed that a portion of it might be let down, after the manner
of a drawbridge, thus enabling the assailants to enter upon the
walls[240]. Philippe Auguste frequently employed this engine. At the
siege of Château-Roux, in Berry,--
"Cratibus et lignis rudibus _Belfragia_ surgunt
Turribus alta magis et mœnibus."--_Philippidos_, lib. ii.
And again, at the siege of Radepont, in Normandy: "Erectis in
circuitu _Turribus_ ligneis _ambulatoriis_, aliisque tormentis quam
plurimis viriliter impugnavit et cœpit[241]."
King Richard I. constructed also in Sicily a wooden tower, which
he afterwards carried with him to the Holy Land. After forcing the
city of Messina, "the king," says Richard of Devizes, "having but
little confidence in the natives, built a new wooden tower of great
strength and height by the walls of the city, which, to the reproach
of the Griffones, (Greeks,) he called _Mate-griffun_," (sub an.
1190). In 1191, "the king of England, about to leave Sicily, caused
the tower which he had built to be taken down, and stowed the whole
of the materials in his ships, to take along with him." And "on the
third day after his arrival at the siege of Acre," continues Richard
of Devizes, "the king caused his wooden tower, which he had named
'Mate-griffun' when it was made in Sicily, to be built and set up;
and before the dawn of the fourth day the machine stood erect by the
walls of Acre, and from its height looked down upon the city beneath.
And by sunrise were thereon archers casting missiles without ceasing
against the Turks and Thracians."
The name _Mate-griffon_ appears to be derived from the favourite game
of the courtly in these days; "donner eschec et mat" being equivalent
to the "check-mate" of our modern chess-players. Ordericus Vitalis
has a passage curiously illustrative of this subject: "Castrum
condere cœpit, quod Mataputenam, id est, devincens meretricem, pro
despectu Haduissæ Comitissæ, nuncupavit[242]."
In 1160, the Emperor Frederick besieging Crema, in Italy, employed
the beffroi, filling it with chosen troops. He placed crossbowmen
on the upper story, in order that, shooting down upon the walls,
they might clear the parapet of its defenders; while, from the lower
stage, soldiers of tried boldness might fix their drawbridges on the
wall, and advance to the capture of the city[243].
At this same city of Crema, in 1159, occurred an act of patriotism,
admirable from the resolution which inspired it, though terrible
in its consequences. The emperor advanced a Beffroi towards the
beleaguered city, in front of which he placed the youthful hostages
whom he had obtained from the unhappy Cremans, in hopes of thus
forcing the inhabitants to a capitulation. But the citizens,
regardless of all save their liberty, continued to ply their engines
against the tower, though every stone that was cast forth fell in
death among their children[244].
The siege of Ancona, in 1174, offers another instance of heroism in
connection with the belfragium, more pleasing in its circumstances.
The besieged had been successful in their endeavours to beat back the
towers and scatter their occupants; but as these latter still kept up
a steady discharge of missiles from a short distance, no one dared
venture beyond the walls to set fire to the deserted structures. At
last a widow named STAMURA, seizing a torch, advanced into the plain,
and regardless of the storm of bolts and arrows that fell around her,
steadily achieved the task she had undertaken, and having set the
towers in flames, returned in safety to the city[245].
The siege of Ancona is further remarkable for the employment by the
citizens of divers; who succeeded in capturing several of the vessels
engaged in blockading the port. Taking advantage of a strong wind
blowing from the sea, the divers contrived to cut the cables of seven
of the Venetian ships, which then drifted helplessly ashore[246].
The _Vinea_ mentioned in a foregoing extract from Malmesbury, was
called also the Cat. Thus Vegetius: "Vineas dixerunt veteres, quas
nunc militari barbaricoque usu Cattos vocant[247]." Guillaume le
Breton also mentions this machine and its use:--
"Huc faciunt reptare Catum, tectique sub illo
Suffodiunt murum."--_Philipp._, lib. vii.
While, from the Monk of Vau-de-Cernay we learn that the contrivance
was of small dimensions: "Machinam quandam parvam, quæ lingua vulgari
Catus dicitur, faciebat duci ad suffodiendum murum[248]." There
were, however, varieties of the Cat, one of which was used to oppose
the besiegers in the beffroi. Thus Radevicus: "Magnaque audacia,
super muros et in suis machinis quos Cattas appellant, operiuntur,
et cum (oppugnatores) admoverentur pontes, ipsi eos vel occuparent,
vel dejicerent, murumque scalis ascendere nitentes vario modo
deterrent[249]." And another kind was employed by the assailants in
crossing the ditch[250].
The Battering-ram, according to Richard of Devizes, was employed by
Cœur-de-Lion at the siege of Messina: "In the meantime, the king
with his troops approached the gates of the city, which he instantly
forced by the application of the Battering-ram, and entering within,
took possession of every part, even to Tancred's palace and the
lodgings of the French around their king's quarters, which he spared
out of respect to the king."
Among the stone-throwing machines, the Mangona and the Mangonella
are discriminated as casting, the former large, the latter smaller
stones. The monk Abbo has already, in his account of the siege of
Paris in 886, mentioned the
"Mangana----
Saxa quibus jaciunt _ingentia_."
Guillaume le Breton, in the _Philippidos_, tells us:--
"Interea grossos Petraria mittit ab intus
Assidue lapides, Mangonellusque _minores_."
Among the effects recorded of these great projectiles, we may cite
the account of Otto of Frisinga, who tells us that when the Emperor
Frederic attacked Tortona in 1155, a stone was cast from one of the
periers of such magnitude, that, falling before the door of the
cathedral, where three of the principal citizens were in deliberation
on the best means of defending the city, it killed them all[251].
The term _mangonneaux_ is sometimes applied to the stones or other
missiles discharged by the instrument. From the name _mangona_
our word _gun_ appears to be derived: a supposition that seems
strengthened by the fact that the earliest "gonnes," like the
mangonæ, were employed to cast stones.
The terrors of the balistæ were occasionally aggravated by their
being made the instruments of a special vengeance. Thus Malmesbury
informs us that, at the siege of Antioch in 1097, the Turks,
irritated by losses sustained from the besieging Crusaders, "wreaked
their indignation on the Syrian and Armenian inhabitants of the city;
throwing, by means of their balistæ and petraries, the heads of those
whom they had slain into the camp of the Franks, that by such means
they might lacerate their feelings." A somewhat similar incident is
reported by Froissart in his account of the siege of Thun l'Evêque in
1327[252]; so that these cruelties do not appear to be mere tales of
credulous pilgrims, or inventions of monkish chroniclers.
Forts of wood were of occasional employment, the materials of which
were transported from place to place, so that the structure might be
speedily raised. Wace gives us a description of that brought over by
William the Conqueror, and built up at Hastings:--
"Donc ont des nés mairrien[253] geté,
A la terre l'ont traïné,
Trestut percié è tut dolé:
Li cheviles tutes dolées
Orent _en granz bariz_ portées:
Ainz ke il fust bien avespré,
En ont un chastelet fermé."--_Line_ 11,658.
Mines were in use both by Richard I. and Philippe Auguste. At the siege
of Acre in 1191, Richard attacked the city with archers and balistæ:
"But more important than these," adds Devizes, "were the miners, making
themselves a way beneath the ground, sapping the foundation of the
walls, while soldiers bearing shields, having planted ladders, sought
an entrance over the ramparts." The French king employed the mine at
the siege of the Castle of Boves, as we learn from William the Breton.
See also Rigord, page 185. The mines of these days were large caverns
in which pillars of wood supported the incumbent mass. The posts being
smeared with pitch and surrounded with combustibles, fire was then
brought, and the stanchions being consumed, the walls fell in. With
the mine came the counter-mine; an example of which occurs in the
description by Guillaume le Breton of the siege of Château-Gaillard;
where the English, countermining against the French, met them in their
works and drove them back with slaughter:--
"Suffodiunt murum. Sed non minus hostis ab illâ
Parte minare studet factoque foramine nostros
Retrò minatores telis compellit abire."--_Philipp._, lib. vii.
Later, challenges were made, to be fought out in the mines, the
combatants contending over a barrier of wood fixed in the midst. And
Upton tells us that the aspirant to knighthood in a besieging army,
no church being at hand, performed in the mine his vigil of arms.
While the besieging force plied their attack by means of the engines
and mines already noticed, they had begun, in imitation of the
ancients, to construct lines of circumvallation; in order at once to
cut off the citizens from all communication with the open country,
and to defend themselves against the sorties of the town. An example
of this may be seen in the siege of Crema by the Emperor Frederic in
1159[254].
Under the general name of Hastilude (spear-play) were in use several
kinds of MILITARY EXERCISES: the joust, the tourney and the behourd.
"Torneamenta, justas, burdeicias, _sive alia_ Hastiluda[255]." The
joust and the tourney were, in their primary sense, mere modes of
attack. The joust was the charge of a single horseman against a
single antagonist. The tourney was the onset of a troop, who, having
made their charge, turned back to acquire the necessary speed for a
fresh attack. At the siege of Rouen--
"Mult voissiez, forment armez, issir Normanz,
Querre tornoiement è joste demandanz,
E joster è férir de lances è de branz."
_Rom. de Rou_, i. p. 209.
Again, at the siege of Mount Saint-Michael,--
"Mult véissiez joster sovent,
E _torneier espessement_
* * * * *
Chescun jor, al flo retraiant,
Vunt chevaliers jostes menant."--_Ibid._, ii. p. 314.
The Behourd (_Bohordicum_) was an exercise with lance and target, of
which the distinctive character has not been ascertained. "Trepidare
quoque, quod vulgariter _biordare_ dicitur, cum _scuto et lancea_
aliquis clericus publicè non attentet[256]."
Military games, whose object was to familiarize the soldier in time of
peace with the usages of war, had been long known. They were practised
in classic times: they were in vogue, as Tacitus tells us, among
the ancient Germans: they were pursued in Germany, as we learn from
Nithard[257], in the ninth century. But that splendid and costly image
of battle called a Tournament is not found earlier than the epoch which
we are now considering. Several nations lay claim to its invention,
but none offer such good proofs as the French. The Chronicle of Tours
expressly says, under the year 1066: "Gaufridus de Pruliaco (Preulli),
qui torneamenta invenit, apud Andegavum occiditur." And the Chronicle
of St. Martin of Tours has a similar passage: "Anno Henrici Imp. VII.
et Philippi Regis VI. fuit proditio apud Andegavum, ubi Gaufridus de
Pruliaco et _alii barones_ occisi sunt. Hic Gaufridus torneamenta
invenit." Matthew Paris, again, names the tournament "conflictus
Gallicus." And Ralph of Coggeshall has: "Dum, more Francorum, cum
hastis vel contis sese cursim equitantes vicissim impeterent."
Tournaments seem to have first obtained favour in England in the
troublous times of Stephen[258]. They were, however, discountenanced
by Henry II., and the young aspirants to military renown were forced
to seek in other lands the opportunity of distinguishing themselves.
"Tyronum exercitiis in Anglia prorsus inhibitis, qui forte armorum
affectantes gloriam exerceri volebant, transfretantes, in terrarum
exercebantur confiniis[259]." Under Richard I. they again began to
flourish, and from that time to the end of the middle ages, though
often discountenanced by kings and churchmen, they enjoyed the highest
favour among all who practised or admired knightly deeds and military
splendour. "After the return of King Richard to England," says Jocelin
of Brakelond, under the year 1194, "licence was granted for holding
tournaments; for which purpose many knights met between Thetford and
St. Edmund's, but the Abbot forbade them. They, however, in spite of
the Abbot, fulfilled their desire. On another occasion, there came
fourscore young men with their followers, sons of noblemen, to have
their revenge at the aforesaid place; which being done, they returned
into the town to put up there. The Abbot hearing of this, ordered
the gates to be locked, and all of them to be kept within. The next
day was the vigil of Peter and Paul the Apostles. Therefore, having
promised that they would not go forth, they all dined with the Abbot on
that day. But, after dinner, the Abbot having retired to his chamber,
they all arose and began to carol and sing, sending into the town for
wine, drinking and then screeching, depriving the Abbot and convent
of their sleep, and doing everything in scorn of the Abbot; spending
the day, until the evening, in this manner, and refusing to desist,
even when the Abbot commanded them. When the evening was come, they
broke open the gates of the town and went forth bodily. The Abbot,
indeed, solemnly excommunicated them all, yet not without having first
consulted Hubert, at that time justiciary; and many of them came,
promising amendment and seeking absolution."
The more regular tournaments, however, were controlled by royal
ordinances. They were restricted in England to five localities:
namely, between Sarum and Wilton, between Warwick and Kenilworth,
between Stamford and Wallingford, between Brakeley and Mixeberg, and
between Blie and Tykehill. And, as nothing in these days could be
done without a fine to the king or a tax to the pope, every earl had
to pay twenty marks for his privilege to appear as a combatant; every
baron, ten; every knight having a landed estate, four; each knight
without such estate, two; and all foreigners were excluded[260].
In France, under Philip Augustus, tournaments appear to have been
held on a large scale, as Père Daniel has remarked, from the incident
of Philip having suddenly procured at an assemblage of this kind,
troops sufficient to repel an unexpected attack on Alençon[261].
It is not within the province (if it were in the limits) of this
work, to give any detailed account of tournaments and their usages;
for at this period and long after, the defensive armour used for the
joust (as shewn by the pictorial monuments of the time) differed in
no respect from that worn in battle[262].
In the curious sketch of London in the twelfth century by
Fitzstephen, an eye-witness of the incidents he records, we have a
spirited notice of the military exercises of the young citizens in
these days. "Every Sunday in Lent, after dinner, a company of young
men go into the fields, mounted on war-horses:--
----in equis certamine primis:
each of which
Aptus et in gyros currere doctus equus.
The lay sons of the citizens rush out of the gates in crowds,
equipped with lances and shields (_lanceis et scutis militaribus_);
the more youthful with blunt spears; and they engage in sham fights
and exercise themselves in military combats. When the king happens
to be near the city, most of the courtiers attend, and the varlets
(_ephebi_) of the households of earls and barons who have not yet
attained knighthood, resort thither to try their skill. The hope of
victory animates every one. The spirited horses neigh; their limbs
tremble; they champ the bit; impatient of delay, they fret and paw
the ground. When at length
----sonipedum rapit ungula cursum,
the young riders, having been divided into companies, some pursue
their fellows, but are unable to overtake them; others push their
companions out of the course and gallop beyond them.
"In the Easter holidays they have a game resembling a naval conflict.
A target is fastened to a post in the middle of the river: in the prow
of a boat, driven along by oars and the current, stands a young man who
is to strike the target with his lance: if, in hitting it, he break his
lance and keep his position unmoved, he gains his point, his wish is
fulfilled; but if his lance be not broken by the blow, he is tumbled
into the river and his boat passes by. Two boats, however, are placed
there, one on each side of the target, and in them a number of young
men, to take up the tilter when he emerges from the stream. On the
bridge and in chambers by the river-side, stand the spectators:--
----multum ridere parati.
"During the Summer holidays the young men exercise themselves in
leaping, in archery, wrestling, stone-throwing, casting javelins
beyond a mark, and in fighting with shields."
In the Winter, skaters, "binding under their feet the shin-bones
of some animal, take in their hands poles shod with iron, which at
times they strike against the ice, and are thus carried along with
the rapidity of a bird on the wing, or a bolt discharged from a
cross-bow. Sometimes two of the skaters having by mutual agreement
placed themselves far apart, come together from opposite sides: they
meet, and with their poles strike each other: one or both fall, not
without some bodily hurt: even after their fall, they are carried
along to a great distance from each other by the velocity of the
motion; and whatever part of their heads comes in contact with the
ice, is laid bare to the very skull. Frequently the leg or arm of the
person who falls, if he chance to light on either, is broken. But
youth is an age eager for glory and desirous of victory: thus, in
order to distinguish themselves in real fight, these tyros contend
with so much boldness in counterfeit battle."
Among the exercises glanced at in this sketch of the Londoner's
sportive year, the Quintain is conspicuous. This was especially the
game of the "non-noble," and might be practised either on horseback
or on foot. The more ancient quintain was merely a post or a shield
fixed on a pole, which the tyro attacked in lieu of a living
antagonist. But a new element was soon given to the quintain, which
at once brought it into favour with the populace: it was so contrived
as to inflict summary punishment on the inexpert. To one kind, a bag
of sand was fastened, which, whirling round from the force of the
blow struck at the opposite end, buffeted the tilter who was not
expeditious enough to get out of its way. Others were made in the
form of a Turk, armed with sword and shield; and these, moving on a
pivot as before, inflicted a smart blow on the lagging assailant.
In another variety, a large tub of water was fixed on a post, which
discharged its contents on the person of any clumsy jouster. Other
kinds are described and figured in Strutt's Sports. And in the
little village of Offham, in Kent, may still be seen an example of
the quintain, which is fixed "opposite to the dwelling-house of the
estate, which is bound to keep it up[263]." It now consists of a
post, having a cross-piece moving on a pivot, terminating at one end
with a broad perforated board, and at the other with a pendent log of
wood. The log, however, seems to have been substituted for a "bag of
sand," which is mentioned in old accounts of this relic.
"Besides the practice of feats of arms," says John of Salisbury,
writing in the reign of Henry II., "the young knight should qualify
himself for the duties of his station by a variety of toil and
exemplary abstinence. From the beginning he must learn to labour,
run, carry heavy weights, and bear the sun and dust: he must use
sparing and rustic food: he must accustom himself to live in tents,
or in the open air." Then, turning upon the luxurious and effeminate
knights of his day, he upbraids them in a diatribe which gives us a
singular picture of the manners of this age. "Some," he says, "think
that military glory consists in the display of elegant dress, in
wearing their clothes tight to the body, so binding on their linen
or silken garments that they seem a skin coloured like their flesh.
Sitting softly on their ambling horses, they think themselves so
many Apollos. If you make an army of them, you will have the camp of
Thaïs, not of Hannibal. Each is boldest in the banqueting-hall, but
in the battle every one desires to be the last: they would rather
assail the enemy with arrows than come to close fighting. Returning
home without a scar, they sing triumphantly of their battles, and
boast of the thousand deaths that wandered near their temples. If
diligent idleness can procure any spears, which, being brittle as
hemp, should chance to be broken in the field; if a piece of gold,
minium, or any colour of the rainbow, by any chance or blow should
fall out of their shields; their garrulous tongues would make it an
everlasting memorial. They have the first places at supper. They
feast every day splendidly, if they can afford it, but shun labour
and exercise like a dog or a snake. Whatever is surrounded with
difficulty, they leave to those who serve them. In the meantime, they
so gild their shields, and so adorn their tents, that you would think
each one, not a learner, but a chieftain of war[264]."
[Illustration: PORCHESTER CASTLE, HAMPSHIRE.
Built about 1150.
No. 45.]
[Illustration:
PLATE XLVI.
KNIGHTLY EFFIGY in HASELEY CHURCH, OXFORDSHIRE.]
FOOTNOTES:
[152] The events depicted in the Bayeux tapestry have been carefully
identified and described by M. Lancelot in the _Mémoires de l'Acad. des
Inscrip._, viii. 602. This paper has been reprinted by M. Thierry among
the _Pièces justificatives_ of his _Conquête de l'Angleterre_, vol. i.
[153] Antoine de la Sale, cited by St. Palaye, _Anc. Chevalerie_, i.
118.
[154] Liv. vi. c. 25.
[155] Vol. i. p. 70. See other Rolls of an early date in the _Traité
du Ban_ of the _Sieur de la Roque_.
[156] Sub an. 1386.
[157] Henault, i. 177.
[158] New Rymer, vol. i. p. 37.
[159] Collect, des Ordonnances, viii. 640.
[160] Madox, Hist. Excheq., 435 seq.; Rigord, sub an. 1183. See also
Du Cange or Adelung.
[161] Statute of Philip IV. sub an. 1285.
[162] Daniel, Mil. Fran., ii. 95.
[163] Figured by Daniel, by Lenoir, by Willemin, and by Guilhermy.
[164] Having hauberks.
[165] The shore.
[166] Lib. i. cap. 25.
[167] Répub. Ital., vol. ii. p. 84.
[168] Topographia Hiberniæ.
[169] Iter Cambriæ, c. 3.
[170] Philippidos, l. 5.
[171] Wilkinson, i. 356, ed. 1854.
[172] Of the Orkneys, says Hoveden; of Durham, according to Wendover.
[173] _Panza_, abdomen, alvus; whence _Panzeria_, lorica quæ ventrem
tegit. Adelung. _Pansière._ Fr.
[174] Cited by Sir Frederic Madden in _Archæologia_, vol. xxiv. p. 259.
[175] Speculum Regale, p. 405.
[176] _Germ._ Iupe; _Fr._ Jupe.
[177] Noregs Konunga Sögor, iv. 298.
[178] Hoveden, sub anno 1175.
[179] Men of Poix, in Picardy.
[180] From _ingruens_.
[181] foulé.
[182] auprès de lui.
[183] Alexiad., bk. v.
[184] par ruse.
[185] charging impetuously.
[186] Henry of Huntingdon.
[187] Ordericus Vitalis, p. 769.
[188] Gaufridus Malaterra, lib. ii. c. 33.
[189] Wien's kaiserliches Zeughaus.
[190] Mem. de la Soc. Royale des Antiq. de France, iv. 277. Nouv. Série.
[191] Collections in British Museum, Add. MSS., No. 6731.
[192] Archæol. Journ., vol. ii. p. 409.
[193] Waller, Part xiii.
[194] Hollis, Part iv. Plate VII.
[195] Vocis etymon a veteri Germanico quidam accersunt, _Wamba_,
venter; vel a Saxonico _Wamb_, quod idem sonat: ita ut _Wambasium_
fuit Ventrale, ventris et pectoris tegmen, quod Germanni _Wammes_
vocant.--Adelung sub v. _Gambeso_.
[196] Plac. Cor., 13 Edw. I.
[197] V^e. Livraison: Bible de St. Martial.
[198] Folio, 73 verso.
[199] _Trachten_, Part I., Plate XII.
[200] _Alexiad_, p. 397.
[201] Raumer's _Hohenstauf_: in Von Leber's _Wien's kaiserliches
Zeughaus_, p. 507.
[202] Add. MSS., 14,789, fol. 10. The date appears in the colophon.
The figures copied in our engraving form part of an illuminated
letter: hence the constrained attitude of Goliath. David has in his
left hand a sling; at his belt is the pouch for the sling-stones.
[203] See page 112.
[204] Paléogr. Univ., Pl. CLXXX.
[205] Alex., lib. xiii. p. 314.
[206] Will. of Malmesbury, Mod. Hist., bk. i.
[207] Eccl. Hist., lib. xi.
[208] Monum. Eff., p. 6.
[209] "Cujus genus avitum ob indignationem Normannorum, radere barbam
contempsit."--Math. Paris, p. 127.
[210] "Recalcitrante Willelmo, cognomento _cum barbâ_."--Math. Paris.
"Cognomento _à la barbe_."--Math. of Westminster.
[211] shaft.
[212] briser.
[213] Hoveden, sub an. 1191.
[214] Blount's "Antient Tenures."
[215] Cap. 23.
[216] Sub an. 1348.
[217] Hist., p. 252.
[218] Waller, part ix.
[219] See Guiart, _Chron. Mét._, pt. ii. v. 10,518, and Froissart,
vol. ii. p. 572, ed. Buchon.
[220] Sub an. 1194.
[221] Laws of Henry I., c. 88.
[222] Cap. 30.
[223] Philippidos, lib. ii.
[224] Philippidos, lib. 5.
[225] Arrow of the cross-bow.
[226] Chron., ed. Buchon, i. 237.
[227] Vol. iv. p. 264.
[228] Chron., i. 547.
[229] Malmesbury, lib. i. c. 4.
[230] Ordericus Vitalis, p. 501.
[231] Sub an. 1190.
[232] Henault, i. 179.
[233] Ord. Vitalis, lib. xi.
[234] His retainers; from _mansio_.
[235] les deux osts.
[236] Engraved in Boutell's Christian Monum., pt. i. p. 100.
[237] Sub anno 1099.
[238] Berfredus, belfredus, beffroi. See Ducange and Adelung.
[239] Compare Froissart, vol. ii. p. 444, ed. Buchon.
[240] Lib. viii. c. 12.
[241] Rigord.
[242] Lib. xii.
[243] Radevicus Frising., lib. ii. c. 59.
[244] Ibid., lib. ii. c. 47.
[245] Boncompagni Obsidio Anconæ, cap. iv. p. 931.
[246] Obsid. Anconæ, c. iv. p. 931.
[247] Lib. iv. c. 15.
[248] Hist. Albig., cap. xlii.
[249] Lib. iv. c. 63.
[250] See Adelung in v. _Catus_.
[251] De Gestis Frid., lib. ii. c. 17.
[252] Vol. i. p. 102.
[253] The timbers.
[254] Radevicus Frising., lib. ii.
[255] Charta Edw. I. apud Prynne, cited by Ducange.
[256] Concilium Albiense, cap. xv.
[257] Lib. iii. p. 27.
[258] See William of Newbury, lib. v. cap. 4.
[259] Newbury. This is confirmed by Hoveden.
[260] Harl. MS. 69.
[261] Milice fran., i. 124.
[262] All that may be desired on this subject will be found in
St. Palaye's _Mémoires sur l'ancienne Chevalerie_, the treatises
of Ménestrier, La Colombière, Honoré de Sainte-Marie, Favin, the
_Thurnierbuch_ of Rüxner and Feyerabend, and of Schlichtegroll,
Champollion's _Tournois du roi René_, Maximilian's Triumph,
Ducange's notes to Joinville and article in Glossary, Adelung in v.
_Torneamentum_, and Strutt's Sports.
[263] Hasted's Kent.
[264] Polycraticus, 181.