Transcriber’s Notes:
Underscores “_” before and after a word or phrase indicate _italics_
in the original text.
Small capitals have been converted to SOLID capitals.
Illustrations have been moved so they do not break up paragraphs.
Old or antiquated spellings have been preserved.
Typographical and punctuation errors have been silently corrected.
THE TOURNAMENT
UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME
THE ARMOURER AND HIS CRAFT. BY CHARLES FFOULKES
DECORATIVE IRONWORK. BY CHARLES FFOULKES
OLD PASTE. BY A. BERESFORD RYLEY
[Illustration: A COURSE OF GERMAN _GESTECH_.]
THE
TOURNAMENT
ITS PERIODS AND PHASES
BY
R. COLTMAN CLEPHAN, F.S.A.
WITH A PREFACE BY
CHARLES J. FFOULKES
CURATOR OF THE ARMOURIES AT THE TOWER
WITH A FRONTISPIECE IN COLOUR
AND 23 OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS
METHUEN & CO. LTD.
36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
LONDON
_First Published in 1919_
PREFACE
Those students of arms and armour who have Mr. Clephan’s work on
_Defensive Armour, Weapons and Engines of War_ in their libraries will
expect to find valuable material for study when they find his name
as author of a work on the Tournament. And in this they will surely
not be disappointed. It is perhaps a novel experience for one who has
for some years seriously meditated such a work himself to be asked to
introduce the work of another; but in the study of arms and armour all
men are brothers, and I take leave to say that we of this brotherhood
know little of the jealousies and divisions of opinion which beset the
student in other historical details. The perusal of Mr. Clephan’s work
has shown me that it would have been impossible to undertake such a
project without unattainable leisure, tireless energy, deep research
and very real devotion to the subject. Mr. Clephan has dealt with the
subject from a wide European point of view, and has amassed a vast
amount of information from German sources which has, up till now, been
denied to those unskilled in that language; and, with his copious notes
and references, has made this material available for study, for which
alone we must ever be deeply indebted to him.
The Tournament, as practised in Germany and towards the close of the
sixteenth century in England, France and Italy, must have been a
rather dull performance, as the minute regulations and the cumbersome
equipment precluded that dash and intrepid onslaught which make the
descriptions by Froissart and other writers of his time such excellent
reading. Even the gorgeous displays of Henry VIII leave us rather cold
when we find that the king invariably won, and that the queen could
stop the tilting at her pleasure, which was presumably when her lord
had had sufficient entertainment. We have only to note that the suit in
the Tower made for Henry VIII to fight on foot in the lists weighs 93
lbs., to realize that no man could be strenuous or energetic in this
equipment; and when we find that the horse in the sixteenth century
joust had to carry a dead weight of 340 lbs., it will be manifest that
he could only amble gently along the tilt, and could not dash headlong
down the lists, as the artist would have us believe. The whole subject
of arms and armour teems with such disillusioning; but to the earnest
student these are taken with grace, because they are born of facts
quarried out of masses of written and printed records with years of
incessant perseverance and devotion.
After the pioneer work of Meyrick and Hewitt, the interest in arms
and armour died down for over half a century, but in the last ten or
fifteen years it has revived, and its resurrection may be traced to
writers who, like Lord Dillon and Mr. Clephan, have striven to give
us a real insight into the military life of nations, rather than
highly-coloured fantasies which have no foundation in fact. If Mr.
Clephan’s researches cause us to modify our views on certain aspects
of the Tournament, I feel quite certain that all who have previously
written on these lines will admit the new light he has brought to bear.
The audience he directly appeals to is small, but they will yield to
students in no other branch of history or art in their keen devotion to
their subject; and I trust I may conclude, in their name, by wishing
Mr. Clephan every success in the work before us, and, if I may enter
into the spirit of his subject, “Good jousting.”
CHARLES FFOULKES
OFFICE OF THE ARMOURIES
H. M. TOWER OF LONDON
_29 August, 1917_
INTRODUCTION
Most of us owe our early impressions of the tournament to the
delightful account of the “Gentle and Joyous Passage of Arms” of Ashby
de la Zouche, in the county of Leicester, given by Sir Walter Scott in
his fine romance _Ivanhoe_. But that eminent novelist, in presenting
to his readers the picture of a _pas d’armes_ of the times of the
lion-hearted Richard, took a poet’s licence by describing a jousting
and _mêlée_ such as belonged, in many details, to a time later than
Richard’s by some two and a half centuries. The knightly armour of the
reign of King Richard was of chain-mail, while that of the times of
Henry VI was, of course, a complete harness of plate. The first-named
equipment is thus described by Sainte-Palaye: “_Une lance forte et
dificile à rompre, un haubert ou haubergeon, c’est à dire, une double
cotte de mailles, tissues de fer, à l’epreuve de l’épée, étoient les
armes assignées aux Chevaliers._”[1]
Sir Walter’s account is thus hopelessly misleading in regard to its
period, though admirably worked out in many other respects. There are
ancient romances of great historic value, in that they give nearly
contemporaneous details of the tournament of the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries, and represent many features which may be regarded
as correct in the light of a close comparison with other records. That
of _Petit Jehan de Saintré_, written by Anthoine de la Sale, in 1459,
is one of these, and we owe much enlightenment to it.
There is great confusion among the works of chroniclers in regard to
the dates of many tournaments, and often it is impossible to reconcile
their statements. The differences are, however, usually but slight.
Mr. ffoulkes, in his Preface to this work, draws attention to the large
amount of fable and exaggeration so often interwoven in many accounts
given of the tournament, and to the necessity for presenting the
subject historically in its true light. In order to do this one must
discard much that has been written concerning it throughout the ages
and go back to original information, carefully sifted and compared, in
order to arrive at some degree of truth.
As a rule, illuminations in MSS. must not be estimated at their
face value, for, besides being often fantastic, they are rarely
contemporaneous with the events they portray; and the narrations of
chroniclers were mostly written some time after the events in question,
and often introduce details which really belong to a later age. Thus
the illustrated _Froissart_ in the British Museum,[2] which dates from
about the end of the fifteenth century, pictures a joust at the tilt at
the _pas d’armes_ held at St. Inglevert in the year 1389, a tournament
described in our chapter IV; but a tilt or barrier placed between the
combatants, along which they rode in opposite directions, was first
employed about the end of the first quarter of the century following.
Such anachronisms are very common in records of the tournament, so that
care and discrimination are required in their interpretation.
The works of Meyrick and Hewitt are of great historical value, and they
afford much information carefully gathered from original documents.
This information has been copiously made use of by more recent authors
with but a scant or even no acknowledgment. It should be remembered,
however, that these eminent and devoted historians were pioneers, so
to speak, and much has been learnt of the tournament since their day;
yet their labours form excellent foundations for the building up of a
scientific superstructure.
The admirable version of _Freydal_, by Querin von Leitner, pictures
the jousts of the Emperor Maximilian I, especially those of the last
quarter of the fifteenth century. It presents a veritable mine of
information concerning the tournament of that period, placing the
technique of the subject on a sound basis. Even this account, however,
is hardly contemporaneous.
The interest in the subject flagged for a season, and until some
quarter of a century ago but little more was heard of it. It was
Wendelin Boeheim, in his _Waffenkunde_, who set the ball rolling again;
and since his book was written a number of learned papers have appeared
in England and Germany dealing with the tournament, though in French
literature the subject has received but little attention. Among such
papers those by Viscount Dillon, published in _Archæologia_ and the
_Archæological Journal_, are very important. This writer has corrected
many mistakes made by the earlier authors and persistently handed down
from one generation to another. Most of the writers would appear to
have regarded as gospel truths all statements made by Meyrick. These
mistakes are most difficult to eradicate from our literature, for their
correction has been made in publications such as those mentioned above,
which are unfortunately only read by a select few.
All these learned books and scattered papers treat the subject more or
less sectionally, and, so far as I know, there has been no work of any
importance published which attempts to deal with the subject as a whole
from start to finish. This manifest want I have endeavoured to supply
in the present volume.
My position for many years, up to the date of the war, as an official
of the Verein für Historische Waffenkunde, gave me access to a mass of
original information concerning what may be fitly termed the German
period. Such information is not readily got at, and much of it has
been embodied in the present volume. It is to such sources that we
must turn for many details, more particularly for those of a technical
nature. These records, however, mainly relate to tournaments of the
last quarter of the fifteenth century (after the Burgundian Chronicles
cease), to the whole of the sixteenth, and so up to the time when the
institution fell into desuetude.
My thanks are due to Mr. Basil Anderton, M.A., the Public Librarian of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, for reading over parts of my MS. and for drawing
attention to many books bearing on the subject of the tournament; to
Mr. Charles J. ffoulkes, B.LITT., F.S.A., Curator of the Armouries of
the Tower of London; to Mr. Frederick Walter Dendy, D.C.L., and Mr.
Samuel T. Meynell, for some valuable suggestions; and to the University
of Cambridge for the loan of books.
R. COLTMAN CLEPHAN
TYNEMOUTH,
NORTHUMBERLAND
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _Mémoires sur L’Ancienne Chevalerie_, l. 289.
[2] Harl. MS. 4379.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE v
INTRODUCTION vii
BIBLIOGRAPHY xix
OUTLINE OF PRINCIPAL CONTENTS—
CHAPTER I
Origin of the Tournament—Its definition—Rules made _anno_
1066—Derivation of the word—The Behourd—The Joust: Its
origin and definition—The Round Table game—Round Table
held in 1252—Edward III revives the traditional Table
glories of King Arthur—Actual Table at Winchester—Its
history—Round Table held in 1389—Definition of the
game—The Quintain—Its definition—Running at the
Ring—Judicial duels properly classed with the Tournament 1
CHAPTER II
Jousts of peace—_Joutes à outrance_—The term
“_À outrance_”—Mediæval chronicles and
chroniclers—Body-armour of the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries—Brasses and effigies—Tournaments in the
reign of King Stephen—Their introduction into England
and France—Description of the Martial Sports of
London by William Fitzstephen—William Rufus—The
knight-errant—Tournaments of the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries—Royal Edicts and Papal Bulls
issued against them—Tournaments controlled by Royal
Ordinances—Fees payable to the Crown—Tournament
near Alençon—Philip Augustus sends a challenge to
Richard of England—Tournament held at Brackley in
1250—Five authorized Lists in England—Form and
decoration of Lists—The duties of varlets—Officials
of Lists—The coronal of the lance—The routine of an
early Tournament—Prizes—Tournaments in 1236, 1247 and
1248—Interdictions by the Church—Tournament at Rochester
in 1251—Another in 1253—Tournament at Chalòns in
1247—Jousting at Blei in 1256—Round Tables at Warwick
and Kenilworth—Hardyng’s poem on the last-named—The
lance—Roll of purchases for the tournament held at
Windsor Park in 1278—_Statuta de armis_, dating towards
the end of the thirteenth century—Penalties for breaking
the rules—Effigies of Edmund Crouchback and William
de Valence—Effigy of Geoffrey de Mandeville—Knightly
panoply of the period—The age of mail—Chain-mail—The
hauberk and gambeson—Bards and trappers—Transition to
plate-armour gradual 9
CHAPTER III
The fourteenth century—The introduction of
firearms—Romances of Richard Cœur de Lion, Sir
Ferumbras, Roman du roy Miliades Meliadus, and others—The
Froissart plates—Hefner’s _Tratchten_—Carter’s
_Painting and Sculpture_—Froissart’s _Chronicle_—Royal
jousts—Proclamation of tournaments—The issue of
safe-conducts—“Tornies, justes,” etc., forbidden in
1302—Tournament at Condé in 1327—Royal jousts at
Cheapside in 1330—“Great justes” at Dunstable in
1341—Royal tournament at London in 1342—To cry a
tourney—Round Table at Windsor in 1344—Actual Table
at Winchester—Order of the Garter—Jousts to be held
annually at Lincoln—Round Table at Windsor in 1345, and
many jousts at other places—Great wardrobe account—Round
Table at Lichfield—White hoods—Verse from Chaucer’s
“Knight’s Tale”—Romance of Perce Forest—“Kerchief of
pleasance”—“Roiall justes” held in 1358, 1359, and in 1362
—Jousts at Mons and Rennes—Sir Nicholas Dagworth—His
brass in Blickling Church—His armour—Armour of
the Black Prince—Feat of arms at Toury—Tournament
at Cambray in 1385—Duel at Montereau in 1387—Much
jousting with pointed lances between cavaliers of
France and England during the long wars between the two
countries—_Pas d’armes_ at Nantes—Combat _à outrance_
near Vannes—Jousts at Paris in 1385—Realistic tournament
at Paris—Feat of arms at Entença—Deed of arms at
Bordeaux in 1389—Marshal de Boucicaut’s exploits in
the lists—_Pas d’armes_ at St. Ingelbert—The _rôles_
of Tenans and Venants—Monkish chronicles—Royal
tournament at London in 1390—Caxton’s remarks on the
same—Another tournament proclaimed by King Richard
II—The espinette—Body-armour of the fourteenth
century—Crests—The Cap of Maintenance—The shield—Fatal
accident in the lists to the young Earl of Pembroke in
1390—Jousting in Scotland in 1398 23
CHAPTER IV
The fifteenth century—The tourney milder—Body-armour
strengthened—Milan the chief seat of manufacture—Less
costly armour made in Germany—Maximilian imports Italian
smiths, and Germany gradually becomes the chief centre
of the industry—Ameliorations in the tourney—The
tilt—Jousting without the tilt—The vamplate—Special
harness for the lists—The lance-rest—The queue—Jousting
lances and lance-heads—Barriers—Reinforcing pieces—The
_kolbenturnier_—The _kolben_ or baston—Crests—Hours
of the tourney—Lists often artificially lighted—The
tournament in Germany—Training of the chargers—Their
chests protected by a mattress—Spurs and saddles—The
tournament at Aix and in Burgundy—The _Chronicles_
of St. Remy, Monstrelet, Chastelain and De la
Marche—Bibliothèque de Bourgogne—Ashmolean MSS.—The
Order of the Golden Fleece—Cottonian MSS.—Life of
Richard Beauchamp—Roman de Saintré—_Tournois du Roi
René_—Statutes of Lord Typtofte, 1466—Confusion in
the terms employed by chroniclers in descriptions of
the tourney—_A Scharmützel_—Description of a _pas
d’armes_—_Chapitres d’armes_—Manner of adjudging
prizes—French ordinance against duels with the
English—“Solemne justs” attempted in 1400, but which
proved abortive—Challenge of an esquire of Arragon
in 1400—Deed of arms near Bordeaux in 1402—The Duc
d’Orleans sends a challenge to Henry IV of England—Deeds
of arms at Valentia—Exploits in the lists of Richard
Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick—Three Portuguese fight three
Frenchmen in 1415—Subterranean combats in 1420—_Statutes
d’armes, temp._ Henry V—Jousts in the reign of Henry
V—Duel at Arras in 1425—The _bec de faucon_—Tournament
at Brussels in 1428—_Pas d’armes_ at Arras in 1430—Early
mention of the tilt—Passage of arms at Arras in 1435—Sir
John Astley’s fight on foot in 1442 38
CHAPTER V
_Pas d’armes_ at _L’Arbre de Charlemagne_, Dijon, in 1443,
at which there was jousting at the tilt, and reinforcing
pieces were employed—The lists—The challenges—A few
of the encounters—The _chapitres d’armes_—Various
Harleian MSS.—Picture of a King of Arms proclaiming
a tournament—Combat, at Ghent, between Jehan de
Boniface and Jacques de Lalain in 1445—Definitions of
an esquire—The duties of a King of Arms—Additional
or reinforcing pieces—Small set of reinforcing pieces
in the Wallace Collection—Feat of arms at Edinburgh
in 1448—Distinction made in the dress of a knight
and that of an esquire—Armour of the fifteenth
century—Brass of Sir John Wylcotes and that in South
Kelsey Church—Hoveringham effigy—Collar of SS.—Gothic
armour—The Beauchamp effigy its finest type—Great
armour-smiths of the fifteenth century—Enrichment
of armour—Paper by Viscount Dillon, printed in
_Archæologia_, on a MS. collection of ordinances of
chivalry of the fifteenth century—“Abilment for Justes of
the Pees”—“To Crie a Justus of Pees”—“The comyng into
the felde”—“To arme a man”—Combats on foot—Jousting at
the tilt—Definition of terms—The _Pas de la Pélerine_ in
1446—Feat of arms at Arras between Philippe de Ternant
and Galiot de Baltasin in the same year—The lists—The
first joust of the Comte de Charolais at Brussels in
1452—Tournament at Brussels in the same year—Jousting
now frequently combined with masques, mummeries and
pageants—Example of this in 1453—Tournament in
celebration of the coronation of Edward IV—_Pas d’armes_
held by Edward IV in 1467, at which the Bastard of
Burgundy took part—The lists—Ashmolean MS.—Costly
pageant, combined with jousting and the tourney, in
celebration of the marriage of Charles the Bold with
Margaret of York (L’Arbre d’Or)—Jousts held at Paris in
1468—Royal jousts in honour of the marriage of Richard
Duke of York in 1477—Royal jousts and fêtes at Greenwich
in the reign of Henry VII—Caxton’s epilogue—Tapestry at
Valenciennes—Joust at Jena in 1487 between Johannes Duke
of Saxony and Cuntz Metzschen—A “Solemne Triumphe” at
Richmond—Collections of armour at Vienna and Dresden 57
CHAPTER VI
Much that is fanciful and unreal written about the
tournament—Scientific writers on the subject—Narrations
of chroniclers—German records—Ashmolean, Harleian and
Cottonian MSS.—Hall, Holinshed and other chroniclers—The
tournament reaches its highest development in the
first half of the fifteenth century—Decline of the
tournament—The introduction of barriers in combats
on foot—The bâton of illegitimacy—The tournament
restricted to cavaliers of noble birth—Prizes—New
forms of jousting—German tournament-books—Harnesses
for the tiltyard made in Germany—The tournament as
practised at the German Courts—The _Freydal_ of
Maximilian—Other works of the kind—Tournament-books
at Sigmaringen and Dresden—Paintings of jousts at
Dresden—Jousting on wooden horses equipped with
mechanical apparatus for charging—Trappers: their
paintings, devices and embroideries—Prices of
knightly armour—Tourney book of Duke William IV of
Bavaria—Other tourney-books—Forms of jousting and
equipment—Bards and saddles—The _Gestech_ in its several
forms—Maximilian I armed for _Hohenzeuggestech_—Two
armours for _Gestech_ at Paris—Harness for the
_Gestech_ in the Wallace Collection, London—Other
examples—The lance, vamplate and coronal—A _Gestech_
at Leipsig in 1489—The frontispiece, which represents
a _Gestech_—_Gestech im Beinharnisch_—Jousting
with pointed lances (_Scharfrennen_)—The lance and
vamplate—Salient features of the forms—Examples of the
armour employed—Realistic representation of a joust
with sharp lances—Maximilian II mounted and armed for
_Scharfrennen_—_Geschiftrennen_—_Geschifttartscherennen_—A
_Rennen_ held at Minden—_Geschiftscheibenrennen_—_Bundrennen_
—_Auzogenrennen_—_Krönlrennen_—_Pfannenrennen_—_Feldrennen_—The
_mêlée_—_Feldturnier_—All these forms defined—Joust at
the tilt—Its inception—The salient features—A joust
at the tilt at Augsburg in 1510—Armour employed—Two
harnesses for this type of joust at Paris—A German
suit dated 1580—_Realgestech_—Three armours in
London for jousting at the tilt—Fatal accident to
Henry II of France in a joust of this kind—Triumph
of Maximilian—Drawings by Hans Burgmaier—Combats
on foot—_Barriers and Foot Combats_: a paper by
Lord Dillon—Armour for foot-fighting—Weapons
employed—The _Fussturnier_—The _Freiturnier_—Armour
employed—_Realgestech_—The _Scharmützel_—The
Karoussel or Carrousel—Permanent lists—Harness for the
tiltyard—Best armours imported from Italy—Interest taken
by Henry VIII in armour-making—German smiths employed
at Greenwich—The iron imported from Innsbruck—Alleged
inferiority of English iron—“Hoasting” armour of
the sixteenth century—Its form slavishly follows
that of the civil dress—Fluted or “Maximilian”
armour—Tonlet armour—Bards—The expression “trapped
and barded”—Some armour for campaigning made much
lighter—“_Pfeifenharnis_”—Its unsuitability—The
enrichment of armour—Armour of the middle of the
century—The “Peasecod-bellied” doublet and breastplate 85
CHAPTER VII
The Chevalier Bayard—His career in the tourney—_Pas
d’armes_ at Westminster in 1501—Dates of chroniclers
unreliable—The term “tourney”—“Solemne Triumph” in
1502—Joust at Naumburg in 1505—An _Auzogenrennen_ in
1512—The kind of shield employed—Tilting at Paris and
Lille in 1513 and 1515—Letters of Safeguard—Curious
rule in foot contests—Charles V engaged in tournaments
in 1518—Tournaments of the reign of Henry VIII—Hall and
Holinshed’s narrations—Jousts at the coronation—The
King jousts incognito—Other combats—Jousts in honour of
Queen Katharine—The tenans and articles of combat—Hall’s
florid account of the meeting—Ashmole MS. No.
1116—Proportion of attaints—Other _pas d’armes_—Jousts
in honour of the Queen of Scotland—Articles of
combat—Field of the Cloth of Gold—Jousting in
England—King Henry ran great risk of losing his life
when jousting in 1524—Henry a successful jouster—Jousts
in 1536 and 1540—The ceremony of the degradation of a
knight—Fights at barriers in 1554—jousting fell into
disuse in England during the reign of Edward VI and that
of Philip and Mary—Efforts made in Elizabeth’s reign
to revive the tournament—Sir Henry Lee the Queen’s
champion—Succeeded by the Earl of Cumberland—Jousts
and barriers in 1558—The _pas d’armes_ in 1559 at
which Henry II of France was fatally injured—Viscount
Dillon’s _Barriers and Foot Combats_—Tournaments at
London in 1570—“Checques” or score-tablets and their
illustration—Articles of combat and prizes—Proportion
of attaints made by the Earl of Oxford—Jousting
in the night in 1572—The duties at a tournament
of a King of Arms and of a Pursuivant—Scoring
“Checques”—Their definition—Rules and regulations
for conducting tournaments in Tudor times—_Romance
of three kings’ sons_—“Ordinaunce of keeping of the
Feelde”—Tournaments and jousts at Westminster in
1581—King Henry IV challenges the Duc de Mayenne to
single combat—A _Scharmützel_—A water quintain in
1585—Fights at barriers in 1606 and 1610—Tournament in
1612—First coming into the tiltyard of Prince Charles
of Wales in 1619—Tournament of the knight of the royal
Amaranthus in 1620—The tournament lingered long in
Germany—The decline of armour—Causes of the gradual
disuse of armour—Armour of the seventeenth century—A
harness belonging to Louis XIV—Plate-armour gradually
disappears—Conclusion—Revivals of the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries—The Eglington tournament in 1839—The
tournament at Brussels in 1905—“Triumph” at Earl’s Court
in 1912—The Judicial Duel 111
CHAPTER VIII
Trial by combat curiously interlinked with common
law—References among Ashmolean, Harleian and Cottonian
MSS.—Introduced into England by the Normans—Unknown to
the Anglo-Saxons—Principle involved—Earlier forms of
ordeal—Found among the laws of nearly all the German
tribes, the Swedes and Lombards—Flourished greatly in
France—The Grand Assize—Enclosures or lists—The custom
never took deep root in England—Civil cases usually
connected with disputes concerning land—Actual number
of judicial duels small in England—Persons excused
from battle—Women not exempt—Early ordinances—Trial
by combat in civil cases—Trial by combat in criminal
cases—Picture of a legal duel, _temp._ Henry III—Rules
and ordinances for conducting judicial combats in
France, temp. Philip IV—The lists—Judicial duels
defined—Singular duel between two Jews—Reported duel
between a man and a dog—Knightly duel in 1380—Legal
duel _temp._ Richard II—Duel between Jean de Carouge and
Jacques le Gris in 1386, as described by Froissart and
others—Duel, in 1398, between the Dukes of Hereford and
Norfolk—Trial by combat in Germany—Rules of procedure
there—Duels in Germany between men and their wives—Duel
with spiked shields—Duel with spiked clubs—With
shields, swords and daggers—With _bec de faucons_—With
two-handed swords—Rules and regulations, _temp._
Richard II, by Thomas Duke of Gloucester, Constable
of England—Rules for judicial combats in the reign
of Richard III—Judicial duel at Quesnoy in 1405—An
English duel in 1415—Knightly trial by combat at Arras
in 1431—Duel stayed in 1446—Fight at Smithfields
same year—Interesting duel fought at Valenciennes,
in 1455, with knotted clubs—Course of procedure,
_temp._ Henry VIII—Picture of a judicial duel—Duel in
France in 1547—The “coup de Jarnac”—Judicial duel in
1548—Irregular duel in the lists at Sedan—Catalogue of
judicial duels in England—Trial by combat became rare
_temp._ Elizabeth—Strong influences brought to bear
against the practice—Treatises against duels—A duel
ordered in 1571, which proved abortive—Reports of duels
in 1602 and 1631—The king’s declaration against duels in
1658—The law for judicial combats practically in abeyance
until early in the nineteenth century—Duel ordered in
1817, which proved abortive—The law repealed in 1818 146
APPENDICES
A. THE ASHMOLEAN MSS. RELATING TO THE TOURNEY 169
B. THE HARLEIAN MSS. ” ” ” 173
C. THE COTTONIAN MSS. ” ” ” 177
D. THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN BY THE EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN I
AS TO THE SELECTION OF PLATES FOR ”FREYDAL” 178
E. THE ASHMOLEAN MSS. RELATING TO JUDICIAL COMBATS 179
F. THE HARLEIAN MSS. ” ” ” 181
G. THE COTTONIAN MSS. ” ” ” 182
H. LETTER FROM THOMAS DUKE OF GLOUCESTER 184
INDEX 189
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
A Course of German _Gestech_ _Frontispiece_
PLATE FACING PAGE
I. Combat on Foot between Sir Richard Beauchamp }
and Sir Pandolf Malatesta (1) } 52
The Tapestry at Valenciennes (2) }
II. The Beauchamp Effigy 66
III. Maximilian I engaged in _Hohenzeuggestech_ 90
IV. Two Harnesses for the German Joust or _Gestech_.
At Paris 94
V. Harness for _Scharfrennen_. At Dresden 98
VI. Maximilian II armed for _Scharfrennen_. At Paris 102
VII. _Geschifttartscherennen_ 106
VIII. A _Scharfrennen_ at Minden in 1545 (1) }
} 110
A Joust at the Tilt at Augsburg in 1510 (2) }
IX. A Harness for the German Joust. Wallace Collection (1) }
Suit in the Wallace Collection for Jousting } 116
at the Tilt (2) }
X. German Armour for Jousting at the Tilt. At Dresden (1) }
} 120
An Armour for _Freiturnier_. At Dresden (2) }
XI. Harnesses for Jousting at the Tilt. At Paris (1) }
} 128
Field Harness of Anne de Montmorency (2) }
XII. The Comte de Charolais, as represented }
at Brussels in 1905 (1) } 144
Jean de Clѐves, as represented at Brussels in 1905 (2) }
PAGE
Scoring “Cheques.” In text 127
MS. Ashmole, No. 845, fol. 167 128
” ” ” 166 132
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” XI. Copy of a Survey made of what remained of the
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” XVII. On the Peaceable Justs, or Tiltings, of the
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” XVII. Copy of a Roll of Purchases made for the
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” XXIX. Some Observations on Judicial Duels, as
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” XXXI. Observations on the Institution of the Most
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” XXXI. Account of the Ceremonial of the Marriage of
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” LI. A Letter of Sir Henry Lee, 1590, on the trial
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” LVII. On a MS. Collection of Ordinances of Chivalry
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” ” IV. Illustrations of Mediæval Manners and Costumes
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” ” XV. Notice of a German Tilting-saddle of the
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” ” XXI. Tilting-helm of the Fifteenth Century in the
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By John Hewitt.
” ” XLVI. The Pasguard, Garde de Cou, Brech-Rand,
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” ” LV. Tilting in Tudor Times. By Viscount Dillon,
Hon. M.A. Oxon., F.S.A.
” ” LV. Additional Notes Illustrative of Tilting in
Tudor Times. By the same.
” ” LXI. Barriers and Foot Combats. By the same.
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” The Armouries of the Tower of London.
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” ” The Grand Tournament, by James Bulkeley. 1840.
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ffoulkes, Charles. The Armourer and his Craft.
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Origines Des Chevaliers, Armoiries et Heravx. Par Claude Favchet.
Pisan, Christine de. Le Livre Des Fais et Bonnes Meurs Du Sage Roy
Charles.
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MS. in the Record Office.
Romances. Roman de Rou.
” Richard Cœur de Lion.
” Sir Ferumbras.
” Du Roy Miliadus.
” D’Alexandre.
” Pétit Jehan de Saintré. Par Antoine de la Sale. 1459.
” Of Three King’s Sons. _Circa_ 1500. Harl. MS. 326,
fol. 113.
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” ” August.
” ” That at Veste Coburg.
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THE TOURNAMENT
CHAPTER I
It is impossible to trace the beginnings of these martial exercises,
mention of which first appears in history in chronicles of the eleventh
century; but they doubtless grew out of earlier forms of the rough
games and sports engaged in by the noble youth of the period as
practice for actual warfare.
Du Cange in his _Glossarium_, under the heading “Torneamentum,” cites
Roger de Hoveden, who defines tournaments as being military exercises
carried out in a spirit of comradeship, being practice for war and a
display of personal prowess.[3] Their chief distinction from other
exercises of a kindred nature lies in the fact that they were actual
contests on horseback, carried out within certain limitations, of many
cavaliers who divided themselves into contending troops or parties,
which fought against each other like opposing armies.
Mention of rules for observance in the conducting of these martial
games is made by more than one chronicler of the period as having been
framed in the year 1066, by a French Seigneur, Geoffroi de Preuilli of
Anjou, and it is stated that he had invented them and even been killed
in one of them;[4] and the very names “_tourneamentum_” and “_tournoi_”
would imply a French origin. These designations would seem to have
been derived from “_tournier_,” to wheel round; though Claude Fauchet,
writing in the last quarter of the sixteenth century,[5] expresses the
opinion that the word “_tournoi_” came about from the cavaliers running
par tour, that is by turns at the quintain: “_fut premièrement appellé
Tournoy pource que les Cheualiers ŷ coururent par tour; rompans
premièrement leur bois et lances contre vne Quintaine...._”
Military games of a similar nature are often stated to have been
practised in Germany earlier than this, and Favine in _Theatre of
Honour and Knighthood_[6] prints a list of rules and ordinances for
observance at a “tournament” to be held at Magdeburg, as having been
issued by the Emperor of Germany Henry I, surnamed the Fowler, 876-936,
a century and a half earlier than the date of the promulgation of
the rules of Pruilli. The German text, however, bears the impress
of a later period than early in the tenth century, and this view is
expressed by Claude Fauchet, who gives the rules, which are curious
enough for insertion here; and he mentions the authority from which
Favine drew his statement.[7]
“_Sebastien Munster au troisiesme liure de sa
Geografie, certifie que Henry premier de ce nom viuant
enuiron l’an VCCCCXXXVI fit publier vn Tournoy, pour
tenir en la ville de Magdebourg qui est en Saxe,
lequel fut le premier, ＆ tenu l’an VCCCCXXXVIII.
Le mesme Munster recite douze articles de loix de Tournoy_:—
1. _Qui fera quelque chose contre la Foy._
2. _Qui aura fait quelque chose contre le sacré
Empire, et la Cesarce Majesté._
3. _Qui aura trahy son Seigneur, ou sans cause iceluy
delaisse fuyant en vne bataille: tué, ou meurdry ces
compagnons._
4. _Qui aura outragé fille, ou femme, de fait ou de
parolles._
5. _Qui aura falcifié vn seel, ou fait vn faux
serment. Qui aura esté declaré infame, ＆ tenu pour tel._
6. _Qui en repost (c’est secrettement ＆ en cachette)
aura meurdry sa femme. Qui d’aide ou de conseil, aura
cósenty la mort de son Seigneur._
7. _Qui aura pillé les Eglises, femmes vefues, ou
orphelins: ou retenu ce qui leur appartenoit._
8. _Qui avant esté offensé par aucun, ne le poursuit
par guerre, ou en Iustice; ains secrettement ＆ par
feu ou rapines. Qui gaste les bledz ＆ vignes dont le
public est substanté._
9. _Qui mettra nouuelles impositions sans le sceu
de l’Empereur: ou ie croy qu’il entéd parler d’vn
Seigneur qui surchargera sa terre._
10. _Qui aura cómis adultere, ou rauy vierges ＆ pucelles._
11. _Qui fait marchandise pour reuendre._
12. _Qui ne pourra prouuer sa race de quatre grands
peres, soit battu ＆ chassé du Tournoy._”
Jousts and Tournaments were classed under the heading of _Hastiludia_
or spear-play: as also was the behourd or buhurt, _Bohordicum_ in
Mediæval Latin,[8] a military exercise of a similar nature; though
in what respect it differed from the joust or tournament is nowhere
stated. That it was an exercise with lance and shield is clearly shown
in a passage in _Concilium Albiense_.[9]
That the behourd was practised continuously for long after the
introduction of the joust and tournament is known by the fact of the
issue of royal edicts for the prohibition of these exercises, as late
as the reign of King Edward I.[10]
The origin of the joust does not appear to be less ancient than that
of the tourney itself,[11] which it gradually almost supplanted; and
it may have been suggested by the quintain. William of Malmesbury
thus defines it:—Justa, jouste. _Monomachia ludicra, hastiludium
singulare._[12] The Bayeux tapestry shows a kind of combat with spears.
The terms “tourney” and “joust” are often confounded with each other,
but they are sharply different, the former being a battle in miniature,
an armed contest of courtesy on horseback, troop against troop; while
the other is a single combat of mounted cavaliers, run with lances
in the lists; though jousting was by no means confined to these
enclosures; indeed, such contests were sometimes run in the open street
or square of a town. Jousts were often included with the tourney,
though frequently held independently; and as the lance was the weapon
of the former so was the sword greatly that of the latter. The lance
was to be directed at the body only, otherwise it was considered foul
play. The joust more especially was run in honour of ladies. These
martial games were much practised in all the countries of chivalry.
The chroniclers are vague in their definitions of the Round Table
game, the _Tabula Rotunda_, or as Matthew Paris calls it “_Mensa
Rotunda_.”[13] He expressly distinguishes it from the tournament,
though in what respect it differs from it he does not enlighten us. He
describes a _tabula rotunda_, held at the Abbey of Wallenden in the
year 1252, which was attended by a great number of cavaliers, both
English and foreign, and states that on the fourth day of the meeting
a knight named Arnold de Montigney was pierced in the throat by a
lance “_which had not been blunted as it ought to have been_.” The
lance-head remained in the wound and death soon followed. We see from
this incident that already in the middle of the thirteenth century it
was customary to joust with blunted or rebated lances! In 1279 (8 Ed.
I) a Round Table was held by Roger Earl of Mortimer, at his castle
of Kenilworth, which is thus described in _Historia Prioratus de
Wigmore_[14]:—“He (Mortimer) invited a hundred knights and as many
ladies to an hastilude at Kenilworth, which he celebrated for three
days at a vast expense. Then he began the round table; and the golden
lion, the prize for the triumphant knight, was awarded to him.” Dugdale
states that the reason for the institution itself was to assert the
principle of equality and to avoid questions of precedence among the
knights.
In some “Observations on the Institution of the Most Noble Order of
the Garter,” printed in _Archæologia_ of the year 1846,[15] it is
stated that in 1343, King Edward III in imitation of King Arthur, the
traditional founder of British Chivalry, bent on reviving the fabled
glories of a by-gone age, determined to hold a Round Table at Windsor
on the 19th of January, 1344. The intended meeting was proclaimed
by heralds of the king, in France, Scotland, Burgundy, Hainault,
Flanders, Brabant, and in the German Empire, offering safe-conducts to
all foreign knights and esquires wishful to take part in it.[16] King
Edward fixed the number of the tenans at forty, enrolling the bravest
in the land; and he appointed that a “Feast” should be kept from year
to year at Windsor on every following St. George’s Day. Walsingham,
writing about half a century after Froissart, states that in 1344 the
King began to build a house in Windsor Park, which should be called the
“Round Table”; that it was circular in form, and 200 feet in diameter.
It is also stated that a circular table, made of wood, was constructed
at Windsor sometime before 1356; and that the Prior of Merton was
paid L26-13-4 for 52 oaks, taken from his woods near Reading, for the
material.[17] Walsingham relates that Philip of France, jealous of the
fame of our king, had a table made on the Windsor model.
Matthew of Westminster chronicles that a round table was held in 1352,
which had a fatal ending.
There is an actual round table of ancient provenance hanging on the
eastern wall of the hall of the royal palace at Winchester, the reputed
“painted table of Arthur,” and there are some remarks concerning
it in the Winchester volume of the Archæological Institute, 1846,
telling all that is known concerning it. The hall itself may have been
standing in the reign of Henry III; and in the sixteenth century, and
probably long before, a round table was an appendage to it; but as to
the approximate date of its make there is no reliable evidence. The
earliest historic reference to the table is by Hardyng, late in the
reign of Henry VI or early in that of Edward IV, who alludes to it as
“hanging yet” at Winchester; and Paulus Jovius tells us that the table
was shown to the emperor Charles V in 1520, when it had been newly
painted for the “last” time, but that the marginal names had been
restored unskilfully. In the reign of Henry VIII a sum of _L66-16-11_
was expended in repairing the “_aula regis infra castrum de Wynchestre,
et le Round tabyll ibidem_.” John Lesley, bishop of Ross, said that he
saw the table not long before 1578, and that the names of the knights
were inscribed on its circumference; and a Spanish writer, who was
present at the marriage of Philip and Mary, thus describes the painting
on the table:—
“_Lors du mariage de Philip II. avec la reine Marie,
on montrait encore à Hunscrit la table ronde fabriquée
par Merlin: elle se composait de 25 compartemens
teintés en blank et en vert, lesquels se terminaient
en pointe au milieu, et allaient s’elargissant jusqu’à
la circonférence, et dans chaque division étaient
écrits le nom du cavalier et celui du roi. L’un de ces
compartemens appelé place de Judas, ou siége périlleux,
restait toujours vide._”
The forms of the lettering and general decoration of the table point to
a date in the reign of Henry VII or early in that of Henry VIII, but
this, of course, only applies to the painted enrichment. Whatever may
be the date of this table and its painting, they are both undoubtedly
of considerable antiquity, probably from five to six centuries old.
The _fête d’armes_ held by Boucicaut at St. Ingelbert in 1389 (which
is described in Chapter III), is called in the account of the meeting
a “table-ronde”; and the text would imply that the holding of a round
table meant a _hastilude_ at which the challengers or tenans kept open
house to all comers, as well as meeting them in combat in the lists;
and the institution is thus coupled with the banquet. The passage runs:—
“_Ainsi feit là son appareil moult grandement
et très-honnorablement messire Boucicaut, et feit
faire provisions de très-bon vins, et de tous vivres
largement, et à plain, et de tout ce qu’il convient si
plantureusement comme ‘pour tenir table rond à tout
venans’ tout le dict temps durant, et tout aux propres
despens de Boucicaut._”[18]
The same lavish hospitality was extended here as at Kenilworth in 1279,
Windsor in 1344.
It is clear from various records that the tenans at a round table of
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries sometimes fought under the
names of King Arthur’s knights, indeed, “Sir Galehos” appears among the
names of the knights inscribed on the actual round table at Winchester;
and they also sometimes adopted the names of other legendary heroes,
for at a round table held at Valenciennes in 1344, at which the prize
was a peacock, victory was achieved by a band of cavaliers which fought
under the names of King Alexander’s knights.[19] The accounts given of
King Edward’s tournament at Windsor, and that of the later Boucicaut’s
_pas d’armes_, both of which are called round tables, may be said to
define sufficiently what a “Round Table” of the fourteenth century
really was; and we fail to find any material difference from other
meetings of the kind and period.
Favine in _Theatre of Honour and Knighthood_[20] refers to “_Hastiludia
Rotunda_” as being practice for cavaliers “to sit well their horses,
to keepe themselues fast in their saddles and stirups. For, if any man
fell, and his Horse upon him, at these encounterings with their lances,
lightly worse did befall him before he could any way get forth of the
Preasse. But others came to heauior fortune, their liues expyring in
the place, being trod and trampled on by others”—but all this would
apply to the ordinary _mêlée_. This form of tourney was much in favour
during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, but we hear no more of
round tables after that.
The Quintain (_quintana_) and Running at the Ring (_Ringelrennen_,
_Corso all’ Annello_) were closely allied with the joust, and were
practised in preparation for it; the chief objects for attainment in
the former being a correct aim, to remain steady in the saddle after
impact with the figure, and deftly to get rid of the stump of the
broken lance. The quintain was a more ancient game than the joust, and
indeed, not improbably, it gave rise to it; and being free from the
risk of personal danger, was a sport and pastime of the people. The
game assumed many forms, though it was chiefly a means of practice
with the lance, sword, baston and battle-axe, indulged in by the young
aspirants for knighthood as well as by the citizens and yeomanry. The
original quintain was merely a post set up, against which the strokes
were directed or against a shield hanging from it, with the same
object in view. Later, the post developed into a human figure, usually
fashioned as a Turk or Saracen, who held a wooden sword in his hand.
The objective of the lance was the space between the eyes; and the
figure was placed on a pivot, and so constructed that a misdirected
stroke, that is a hit too much on one side or the other, would cause
it to spin round with great velocity, dealing the tyro a smart blow
with the sword. Another form was a bag of sand, from which the clumsy
operator was apt to receive a buffet as it swung round or to have the
contents expended over his horse and person; and there were other
similar varieties of the game. The water quintain was practised from
a boat, rapidly propelled by rowers; while the player stood at the
bow, his lance couched and directed towards a shield, hung from a post
standing in the water. The quintain continued to be a popular game
right through the seventeenth century, and could be played on foot as
well as on horseback. A picture of a quintain is given on a miniature
in the _Chroniques de Charlemagne_, in the Burgundian Library at
Brussels, and is reproduced by Lacroix in _Military and Religious Life
in the Middle Ages and Renaissance_.
Running or Tilting at the Ring was merely a later form of the quintain.
An upright shaft or post was holed at intervals for the reception
of a rounded bar, socketed into it at right-angles, from which hung
the ring placed on a level with the player’s eye; and the horseman,
couching his lance, rode towards it at full gallop with the object
of transfixing it. When fairly hit the ring became detached by the
action of side springs and remained on the head of the lance. Pluvinal
gives particulars of the game as practised at the beginning of the
seventeenth century; it was much in vogue at the court of Louis XIV.
For running at the ring the lance was much shorter than that employed
in jousting, its length was 10 ft. 7 in. and weight 7 lbs. There is
a specimen at Dresden, tipped with a cone to hold the ring when hit,
and there is naturally no vamplate. It will be realised what excellent
practice these sports afforded for the joust and tourney. Both games
are described in Strutt’s _Sports and Pastimes_. MS., Ashmole 837, fol.
185, furnishes an instance of the game:—
“These persons here vnderwrytten / beinge one the
kinges parte the playntyff / And the other wt therle
of Rutland defendant / dyd Run at ye Rynge iiij course
every man / at wch tyme none toke the Ryng but only Mr
hayward / and Mr Constable beinge wt the defendant /
whome are apoynted when yt shall please his grace / for
them to Rune agayne / he wch shall take the Ring furst
shall have the prysse /
wt the kynges matie wt therle of Rutland
the lord marques of Northampton the lord Fyzewater
therle of Worcester the lord hastynges
therle of wormewood the lord chevers (?Chandos)
the lord admyrall Sr Ambrows Dudley
the lord lyle Sr jorge hayward
the lord Strange Mr norrys
Sr thomas Wroughton Sr William Stafford
Mr Barnaby Sr Anthony Sturley
Mr throughmorton Mr Pownynge
harry nevell Mr Clement paston
Sr harry gates Sr William Cobham
Sr harry Sydney Mr Constable
Mr Chetewood Mr payne (?prynne)
Mr phylpott Mr. warcope
This beinge done came VI one ether partye to the tourney whose
names are hereafter named
The Kynges syd Therle of Rutland
therle of Worcester lord Fyzewater
the lord lysseley Sr Ambrows Dudley
Mr harry nevell Sr George hayward
Mr Sydney Mr pownynges
Sr thomas wroughton Mr paston
Sr harry gates Mr payne (?prynne).”
Probably written by Sir Gilbert Dethick, Garter King of Arms.
Judicial Combats are also properly classed under the general heading
of the Tournament, and these duels, on foot and on horseback, were
fought greatly subject to its rules and regulations. An account of this
singular institution follows after the tournament proper.
FOOTNOTES:
[3] “_Militaria exercitia, quae nullo interveniente odio, sed pro solo
exercitio, atque ostentatione virium._”
[4] “_Torneamentorum repertorum Gaufridum II, Dominum Pruliaci_ (de
Pruilli) _in Andibus agnoscit Chronicon Turonense; Anno 1066. Gaufridus
de Pruliaco, qui Torneamenta invenit, apud Andegavum occiditur._”
Quoted by Du Cange.
[5] _Les Origines des Chevaliers, etc., p. 9._
[6] _Published at Paris in 1619: p. 460._
[7] _L’Origines_, Liv. I, p. 10.
[8] _Bohordicum, nostris Bohourt vel Behourt, Hastiludii species, vel
certe quodvis hastiludii genus._ Lambertus Ardensis. Cited by Du Cange.
[9] II, cap. 16. Cited by Du Cange. _Trepidare quoque quod vulgariter
Biordare dicitur, cum scuto et lancea aliquis Clericus publice non
attentet._
[10] _Ad turniandum et Burdiandum. Ne quis ... turneare, Burdeare,
justas facere, seu alia jacta armorum exercere praeusumat. Budeare apud
Rymer_ (tom 5, p. 223).
[11] The _Mêlée_.
[12] Cited by Du Cange.
[13] _Tabula, seu Mensa Rotunda, Decurstonis, aut hastiludii species._
[14] Cited by Du Cange.
[15] Vol. XXXI, 104.
[16] Rot. Patent, 17 Edw. III, p. 2, m. 2.
[17] Issue Roll of the Exchequer, Mich. 30, Edw. III.
[18] _Le Livre Des Faicts Du Mareschal De Boucicaut_, Chap. XVII.
[19] Menestrier, _Chavalrie ancienne_, Chap. 6. Cited by Hewitt.
[20] Page 492.