MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE TIME.
[Sidenote: The nobles.]
[Sidenote: Their mode of life.]
In the days when Margaret of Anjou lived, the kings, princes, nobles,
and knights who flourished in the realms of England and France, though
they were, relatively to the mass of the people, far more wealthy,
proud, and powerful than their successors are at the present day,
still lived in many respects in a very rude and barbarous manner. They
enjoyed very few of the benefits and privileges which all classes
enjoy in the age in which we live. They had very few books, and very
little advantage of instruction to enable them to read those that they
had. There were no good roads by which they could travel comfortably
from place to place, and no wheeled carriages. They lived in castles,
very strongly built indeed, and very grand and picturesque sometimes
in external appearance, but very illy furnished and comfortless
within. The artisans were skillful in fabricating splendid caparisons
for the horses, and costly suits of glittering armor for the men, and
the architects could construct grand cathedrals, and ornament them
with sculptures and columns which are the wonder of the present age.
But in respect to all the ordinary means and appliances of daily life,
even the most wealthy and powerful nobles lived in a very barbarous
way.
[Sidenote: Retainers of the nobles.]
The mass of the common people were held in a state of abject
submission to the will of the chieftains, very much in the condition
of slaves, being compelled to toil in the cultivation of their
masters' lands, or to go out as soldiers to fight in their quarrels,
without receiving any compensation. The great ambition of every noble
and knight was to have as many of these retainers as possible under
his command. The only limit to the number which each chieftain could
assemble was his power of feeding them. For in those days men could be
more easily found to fight than to engage in any other employment, and
there were great numbers always ready to follow any commander who was
able to maintain them.
[Sidenote: Their courts.]
Each great noble lived in state in his castle, like a prince or a
petty king. Those of the highest class had their privy councilors,
treasurers, marshals, constables, stewards, secretaries, heralds,
pursuivants, pages, guards, trumpeters--in short, all the various
officers that were to be found in the court of the sovereign. To these
were added whole bands of minstrels, mimics, jugglers, tumblers,
rope-dancers, and buffoons. Besides these, there was always attached
to each great castle a large company of priests and monks, who
performed divine service according to the usages of those times, in a
gorgeously-decorated chapel built for this purpose within the castle
walls.
[Sidenote: Great power of the nobles.]
Thus the whole country was divided, as it were, into a vast number of
separate jurisdictions, each with an earl, or a baron, or a duke at
the head of it, who ruled with an almost absolute sway in every thing
that related to the internal management of his province, while,
however, he recognized a certain general dominion over all on the part
of the king. Such being the state of the case, it is not surprising
that the nobles were often powerful enough, as will appear in the
course of this narrative, to band together and set up and put down
kings at their pleasure.
[Sidenote: The Earl of Warwick.]
Perhaps the most powerful of all the great nobles who flourished
during the time of Margaret of Anjou was the Earl of Warwick. So great
was his influence in deciding between the rival claims of different
pretenders to the crown, that he is known in history by the title of
the _King-maker_. His wealth was so enormous that it was said that the
body of retainers that he maintained amounted sometimes in number to
thirty thousand men.
[Sidenote: Amusements of the nobility.]
The employments, and even the amusements of these great barons and
nobles, were all military. They looked down with great disdain upon
all the useful pursuits of art and industry, regarding them as only
fit occupations for serfs and slaves. Their business was going to war,
either independently against each other, or, under the command of the
king, against some common enemy. When they were not engaged in any of
these wars they amused themselves and the people of their courts with
tournaments, and mock combats and encounters of all kinds, which they
arranged in open grounds contiguous to their castles with great pomp
and parade.
[Sidenote: Courts of justice.]
[Sidenote: Quarrels among the nobles.]
It could not be expected that such powerful and warlike chieftains as
these could be kept much under the control of law by the ordinary
machinery of courts of justice. There were, of course, laws and courts
of justice in those days, but they were administered chiefly upon the
common people, for the repression of common crimes. The nobles, in
their quarrels and contentions with each other, were accustomed to
settle the questions that arose in other ways. Sometimes they did this
by marshaling their troops and fighting each other in regular
campaigns, during which they laid siege to castles, and ravaged
villages and fields, as in times of public war. Sometimes, when the
power of the king was sufficient to prevent such outbreaks as these,
the parties to the quarrel were summoned to settle the dispute by
single combat in the presence of the king and his court, as well as of
a vast multitude of assembled spectators. These single combats were
the origin of the modern custom of dueling.
[Sidenote: Dueling.]
At the present day, the settlement of disputes by a private combat
between the parties to it is made a crime by the laws of the land. It
is justly considered a barbarous and senseless practice. The man who
provokes another to a duel and then kills him in the fight, instead of
acquiring any glory by the deed, has to bear, for the rest of his
life, both in his own conscience and in the opinion of mankind, the
mark and stain of murder. And when, in defiance of law, and of the
opinions and wishes of all good men, any two disputants who have
become involved in a quarrel are rendered so desperate by their angry
passions as to desire to satisfy them by this mode, they are obliged
to resort to all sorts of manoeuvres and stratagems to conceal the
crime which they are about to commit, and to avoid the interference of
their friends or of the officers of the law.
[Illustration: Ordeal Combat.]
[Sidenote: The ancient trial by combat.]
[Sidenote: Old representation of it.]
In the days, however, of the semi-savage knights and barons who
flourished so luxuriantly in the times of which we are writing, the
settlement of a dispute by single combat between the two parties to it
was an openly recognized and perfectly legitimate mode of arbitration,
and the trial of the question was conducted with forms and ceremonies
even more strict and more solemn than those which governed the
proceedings in regular courts of justice.
The engraving on the preceding page is a sort of rude emblematic
representation of such a trial, copied from a drawing in an ancient
manuscript. We see the combatants in the foreground, with the judges
and spectators behind.
[Sidenote: Henry Bolingbroke.]
It was to a public and solemn combat of this kind that Richard the
Second summoned his cousin Henry Bolingbroke, and his enemy, as
related in the last chapter. In that instance the combat was not
fought, the king having taken the case into his own hands, and
condemned both the parties before the contest was begun. But in
multitudes of other cases the trial was carried through to its
consummation in the death of one party, and the triumph and acquittal
of the other.
[Sidenote: Arrangements made.]
[Sidenote: Guards.]
Very many detailed and full accounts of these combats have come down
to us in the writings of the ancient chroniclers. I will here give a
description of one of them, as an example of this mode of trial, which
was fought in the public square in front of King Richard the Second's
palace, the king himself, all the principal nobles of the court, and a
great crowd of other persons being provided with seats around the area
as spectators of the fight. The nobles and knights were all dressed
in complete armor; and heralds, and squires, and guards were stationed
in great numbers to regulate the proceedings. It was on a bright
morning in June when the combat was fought, and the whole aspect of
the scene was that of a grand and joyful spectacle on a gala day.
[Sidenote: Great concourse of people.]
It was estimated that more people from the surrounding country came to
London on the occasion of this duel than at the time of the coronation
of the king. It took place about three years after the coronation.
[Sidenote: The parties.]
The parties to the combat were John Anneslie, a knight, and Thomas
Katrington, a squire. Anneslie, the knight, was the complainant and
the challenger. Katrington, the squire, was the defendant. The
circumstances of the case were as follows.
[Sidenote: Nature of the quarrel.]
[Sidenote: Castle lost.]
Katrington, the squire, was governor of a castle in Normandy. The
castle belonged to a certain English knight who afterward died, and
his estate descended to Anneslie, the complainant in this quarrel. If
the squire had successfully defended the castle from the French who
attacked it, then it would have descended with the other property to
Anneslie. But he did not. When the French came and laid siege to the
castle, Katrington surrendered it, and so it was lost. He maintained
that he had not a sufficient force to defend it, and that he had no
alternative but to surrender. Anneslie, on the other hand, alleged
that he might have defended it, and that he would have done so if he
had been faithful to his trust; but that he had been _bribed_ by the
French to give it up. This Katrington denied; so Anneslie, who was
very angry at the loss of the castle, challenged him to single combat
to try the question.
[Sidenote: Reason for this mode of trial.]
It is plain that this was a very absurd way of attempting to ascertain
whether Katrington had or had not been bribed; but, as the affair had
occurred some years before, and in another country, and as, moreover,
the giving and receiving of bribes are facts always very difficult to
be proved by ordinary evidence, it was decided by the government of
the king that this was a proper case for the trial by combat, and both
parties were ordered to prepare for the fight. The day, too, was
fixed, and the place--the public square opposite the king's
palace--was appointed. As the time drew nigh, the whole country for
many miles around was excited to the highest pitch of interest and
expectation.
[Sidenote: The company assemble.]
[Sidenote: The combatants appear.]
At the place where the combat was to be fought a large space was
railed in by a very substantial barricade. The barricade was made very
strong, so as to resist the utmost possible pressure of the crowd.
Elevated seats, commanding a full view of the lists, as the area
railed in was called, were erected for the use of the king and the
nobles of the court, and all other necessary preparations were made.
When the hour arrived on the appointed day, the king and the nobles
came in great state and took their places. The whole square, with the
exception of the lists and proper avenues of approach, which were kept
open by the men-at-arms, had long since been filled with an immense
crowd of people from the surrounding country. At length, after a brief
period of expectation, the challenger, Anneslie, was seen coming along
one of the approaches, mounted on a horse splendidly caparisoned, and
attended by several knights and squires, his friends, all completely
armed.
[Sidenote: The horse excluded.]
He stopped when he reached the railing and dismounted from his horse.
It was against the laws of the combat for either party to enter the
lists mounted. If a horse went within the inclosure he was forfeited
by that act to a certain public officer called the high constable of
England, who was responsible for the regularity and order of the
proceedings.
Anneslie, having thus dismounted from his horse with the assistance of
his attendants, walked into the lists all armed and equipped for the
fight. His squires attended him. He walked there to and fro a few
minutes, and then a herald, blowing a trumpet, summoned the accused to
appear.
[Sidenote: Summons to the accused.]
"Thomas Katrington! Thomas Katrington!" he cried out in a loud voice,
"come and appear, to save the action for which Sir John Anneslie,
knight, hath publicly and by writing appealed thee!"
[Sidenote: Appearance of Katrington.]
Three times the herald proclaimed this summons. At the third time
Katrington appeared.
He came, as Anneslie had come, mounted upon a war-horse splendidly
caparisoned, and with his arms embroidered on the trappings. He was
attended by his friends, the representatives of the seconds of the
modern duel. The two stopped at the entrance of the lists, and
dismounting, passed into the lists on foot. Every body being now
intent on the combatants, the horse for the moment was let go, and,
being eager to follow his master, he ran up and down along the
railing, reaching his head and neck over as far as he could, and
trying to get over. At length he was taken and led away; but the lord
high constable said at once that he should claim him for having
entered the lists.
[Sidenote: Horse's head forfeited.]
"At least," said he, "I shall claim his head and neck, and as much of
him as was over the railing."
[Sidenote: The pleadings.]
The combatants now stood confronting each other within the lists. A
written document was produced, which had been prepared, as was said,
by consent of both parties, containing a statement of the charge made
against Katrington, namely, that of treason, in having betrayed to the
enemy for money a castle intrusted to his charge, and his reply. The
herald read this document with a loud voice, in order that all the
assembly, or as many as possible, might hear it. As soon as it was
read, Katrington began to take exceptions to some passages in it. The
Duke of Lancaster, who seemed to preside on the occasion, put an end
to his criticisms at once, saying that he had already agreed to the
paper, and that now, if he made any difficulty about it, and refused
to fight, he should be adjudged guilty of the treason, and should at
once be led out to execution.
[Sidenote: Katrington is ready.]
Katrington then said that he was ready to fight his antagonist, not
only on the points raised in the document which had been read, but on
any and all other points whatever that might be laid to his charge.
He had entire confidence, he said, that the justice of his cause would
secure him the victory.
[Sidenote: Singular oath administered.]
The next proceeding in this strange ceremony was singular enough. It
was the solemn administering of an oath to each of the combatants, by
which oath they severally swore that the cause in which they were to
fight was true, and that they did not deal in any witchcraft or magic
art, by which they expected to gain the victory over their adversary;
and also, that they had not about their persons any herb or stone, or
charm of any kind, by which they hoped to obtain any advantage.
After this oath had been administered, time was allowed for the
combatants to say their prayers. This ceremony they performed
apparently in a very devout manner, and then the battle began.
[Sidenote: The battle.]
The combatants fought first with spears, then with swords, and
finally, coming to very close quarters, with daggers. Anneslie seemed
to gain the advantage. He succeeded in disarming Katrington of one
after another of his weapons, and finally threw him down. When
Katrington was down, Anneslie attempted to throw himself upon him, in
order to crush him with the weight of his heavy iron armor. But he
was exhausted by the heat and by the exertion which he had made, and
the perspiration running down from his forehead under his helmet
blinded his eyes, so that he could not see exactly where Katrington
was, and, instead of falling upon him, he came down upon the ground at
a little distance away. Katrington then contrived to make his way to
Anneslie and to get upon him, thus pressing him down to the ground
with his weight. The combatants lay thus a few minutes locked together
on the ground, and struggling with each other as well as their heavy
and cumbrous armor would permit, Katrington being all the time
uppermost, when the king at length gave orders that the contest should
cease and that the men should be separated.
[Sidenote: The proceedings arrested by the king.]
In obedience to these orders, some men came to rescue Anneslie by
taking Katrington off from him. But Anneslie begged them not to
interfere. And when the men had taken Katrington off, he urged them to
place him back upon him again as he was before, for he said he himself
was not hurt at all, and he had no doubt that he should gain the
victory if they would leave him alone. The men, however, having the
king's order for what they were doing, paid no heed to Anneslie's
requests, but proceeded to lead Katrington away.
[Sidenote: Katrington's condition.]
They found that he was so weak and exhausted that he could not stand.
They led him to a chair, and then, taking off his helmet, they tried
to revive him by bathing his face and giving him some wine.
[Sidenote: Anneslie's request to the king.]
In the mean time, Anneslie, finding that Katrington was taken away,
allowed himself to be lifted up. When set upon his feet, he walked
along toward the part of the inclosure which was near the king's seat,
and begged the king to allow the combat to proceed. He said he was
sure that he should obtain the victory if they would but permit him to
continue the combat to the end. Finally the king and nobles gave their
consent, and ordered that Anneslie should be placed upon the ground
again, and Katrington upon him, in the same position, as nearly as
possible, as before.
But on going again to Katrington with a view of executing this decree,
they found that he was in such a condition as to preclude the
possibility of it. He had fainted and fallen down out of his chair in
a deadly swoon. He seemed not to be wounded, but to be utterly
exhausted by the heat, the weight of his armor, and the extreme
violence of the exertion which he had made. His friends raised him up
again, and proceeded to unbuckle and take off his armor. Relieved
from this burden, he began to come to himself. He opened his eyes and
looked around, staring with a wild, bewildered, and ghastly look,
which moved the pity of all the beholders, that is, of all but
Anneslie. He, on leaving the king, came to where poor Katrington was
sitting, and, full of rage and hate, began to taunt and revile him,
calling him traitor, and false, perjured villain, and daring him to
come out again into the area and finish the fight.
[Sidenote: Anneslie's rage.]
To this Katrington made no answer, but stared wildly about with a
crazed look, as if he did not know where he was or what they were
doing to him.
[Sidenote: The termination of the trial.]
So the farther prosecution of the combat was relinquished. Anneslie
was declared the victor, and poor Katrington was deemed to be proved,
by his defeat, guilty of the treason which had been charged against
him. He was borne away by his friends, and put into his bed. He
continued delirious all that night, and the next morning at nine
o'clock he died.
* * * * *
Thus was this combat fought, as the ancient historian says, to the
great rejoicing of the common people and the discouragement of
traitors!