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."