_Of Chivalrous Customs--Education--Grades--Services on the Reception of a
Knight--On Tournaments--Jousts--Combats at Outrance--Passages of Arms--The
Round Table--Privileges of Knighthood--Duties of Knighthood._
Although the customs which I am about to detail at once grew gradually up
under the various circumstances of different centuries, and were for the
most part unknown to the infancy of Chivalry, I think it right to notice
here the principal peculiarities of the institution, rather than to
interrupt the course of my narrative afterward, when the history of
knighthood may be traced continuously down to its final extinction.
We have already seen that each individual member of the order possessed
the power of admitting any other person to its honours without restraint;
but it did not by any means follow that all previous trial and education
was dispensed with. Very soon after the first institution of Chivalry
every one became covetous of the distinction, and it naturally followed
that the object of each boy's aspirations, the aim of every young man's
ambition, was one day to be a knight. Those, however, who had already
received the order, were scrupulously careful to admit none within its
fellowship who might disgrace the sword that dubbed them; and knighthood
gradually became as much the reward of a long and tedious education, as
the bonnet of the doctor or the stole of the clerk.
The feudal system had now reached its acme; and each individual lord,
within his own domain, assumed the state and importance of a prince. With
the vain spirit of ostentatious imitation which unhappily is common to all
climes and all centuries, the great feudatories of the crown copied the
household of the sovereign, and the petty barons imitated them. Each had
his crowd of officers, and squires, and pages, and varlets. Even the
monasteries and the abbeys affected the same pomp and ceremonial, so that
we find the abbot of St. Denis riding[12] forth accompanied by his
chamberlain and marshal, whose offices were held as feoffs.
The manor or the castle of each feudal chieftain, however, soon became the
school of Chivalry, and any noble youth whose parents were either dead or
too poor to educate him to the art of war was willingly received in the
dwelling of a neighbouring baron, who took care that his pupil should be
instructed in all military exercises, glad to attach to his own person as
large a body of armed retainers as his circumstances would permit.
Till they reached the age of seven years the youths, afterward destined to
arms, were left to the care of the females of the household, who taught
them the first principles of religion and of Chivalry. They were then in
general sent from home, those fathers even, who possessed the means of
conducting their education themselves, preferring to intrust it to some
other noble knight who could be biassed[13] by no parental tenderness to
spare the young aspirant to Chivalry any of those trials and hardships
absolutely necessary to prepare him for his after-career.
On entering the household of another knight, the first place filled by the
youths, then fresh from all the soft kindnesses of home, was that of page
or varlet, which, though it implied every sort of attendance on the person
of their new lord, was held as honourable, not degrading.
Here they still remained[14] much among the women of the family, who
undertook to complete their knowledge of their duty to God and their lady,
instilling into their infant minds that refined and mystic idea of love,
which was so peculiar a trait in the Chivalry of old. In the mean while
the rest of their days were passed in the service of their lord,
accompanying him in his excursions, serving him at table, pouring out his
drink; all of which offices being shared in by the children and young
relations of the baron himself,[15] were reckoned, as I have said, highly
honourable, and formed the first step in the ascent to Chivalry.
At the same time infinite pains were bestowed upon the education of these
pages. They were taught all sorts of gymnastic exercises which could
strengthen the body; and, by continually mingling with the guests of the
castle, receiving them on their arrival, offering them every sort of
service, and listening respectfully to the conversation of their elders,
they acquired that peculiar grace of manner which, under the name of
courtesy, formed a principal perfection in the character of the true
knight.
At fourteen the page was usually admitted to the higher grade of squire,
and exchanged his short dagger for the manly sword. This, however, was
made a religious ceremony; and the weapon which he was in future to wear
was laid upon the altar, from whence it was taken by the priest,[16] and
after several benedictions, was hung over the shoulder of the new squire,
with many a sage caution and instruction as to its use.
His exercises now became more robust than they had ever been before; and,
if we are to believe the old biographer of the celebrated Boucicaut, they
were far more fatiguing than any man of the present age could endure. To
spring upon horseback armed at all pieces, without putting a foot in the
stirrup; to cast somersets in heavy armour[17] for the purpose of
strengthening the arms; to leap upon the shoulders of a horseman from
behind, without other hold than one hand laid upon his shoulder--such, and
many others, were the daily exercises of the young noble, besides regular
instruction in riding and managing his arms. Though it would seem at first
that few constitutions could undergo for any length of time such violent
exertions, we must remember the effects produced--we must call to mind
that these very men in their after-life, are found bearing a weight, that
few persons of the present times could lift, through the heat of a whole
summer's day, under the burning sun of Palestine. We must remember the
mighty feats of strength that these men performed; and, when we see a
Boemond fighting from noon to sunset cased from head to foot in thick
iron, or in long after-days a Guise swimming against a torrent armed
cap-a-pie, we must naturally conclude that no ordinary course of training
could produce such vigour and hardihood.
Several degrees of squires or esquires are mentioned in the ancient
chronicles; and it is difficult to distinguish which class included the
young noble--which was filled by an inferior race. That there was a
distinction is evident; for in the life of Bayard[18] we find an old
squire mentioned more than once, from whom he received instructions, but
who never appears to have aspired to any higher degree. Nevertheless it is
equally certain that many services which we should consider menial, were
performed by the squires of the highest race about the persons of their
lords. Nor was this confined to what might be considered military
services; for we learn that they not only held the stirrup for their lord
to mount, and then followed, carrying his helm, his lance, his shield, or
his gauntlets; but they continued to serve him at table, to clean his
armour, to dress his horses, and to fulfil a thousand other avocations, in
which they were aided, it is true, by the _gros varlets_ or common
servants, but which they still had their share in accomplishing with their
own hands.[19] The highest class of esquires, however, was evidently the
_écuyer d'honneur_, who, from the manner of Froissart's mention of many at
the court of the Count de Foix, appears to have had in charge the
reception and entertainment of guests and strangers.
The squires of course had often more important duties to perform. It was
for them to follow their lords to the battle-field; and, while the
knights, formed in a long line, fought hand to hand against their equals,
the squires remained watching eagerly the conflict, and ready to drag
their master from the _mêlée_, to cover him if he fell, to supply him with
fresh arms, and, in short, to lend him every aid; without, however,
presuming to take an active part against the adverse knights, with whose
class it was forbidden for a squire to engage.
St. Palaye limits to these defensive operations the services of the
squires in the field of battle,[20] and it is possible that the strict
laws of Chivalry might justify such a restriction. Nevertheless there can
be no earthly doubt that they were often much more actively engaged, even
in the purest days of Chivalry. In all the wars between Richard Coeur de
Lion and Philip Augustus,[21] we find them often fighting bravely; and at
the battle of Bovine, a squire had nearly taken the life of the famous
Count de Boulogne.
These services in the field perfected the aspirant to Chivalry in the
knowledge of his profession; and the trials of skill which, on the day
that preceded a tournament, were permitted to squires, in the lists, gave
him an opportunity of distinguishing himself in the eyes of the people,
and of gaining a name among the heralds and chroniclers of knightly deeds.
If a noble squire had conducted himself well during the period of his
service, it seldom occurred that his lord refused to bestow upon him the
honour of knighthood at the age of twenty-one; and sometimes, if he had
been distinguished by any great or gallant feat, or by uniform talent and
courage,[22] he was admitted into the order before he had reached that
age. This, nevertheless, was rare, except in the case of sovereign
princes; and, on the contrary, it occasionally happened that a knight who
did not choose to part so soon with a favourite squire would delay on
various pretences a ceremony which almost always caused some separation
between the young knight and his ancient master.[23]
The squire, however, had always the right to claim the knighthood from the
hand of another, if his lord unjustly refused to bestow it; and that high
sense of honour which was their great characteristic prevented the knights
thus applied to from ever refusing, when the aspirant was fully justified
in his claim.
The times chosen for conferring knighthood were generally either those of
great military ceremony,[24] as after tournaments, _cours plénières_, the
muster or _monstre_, as it was called, of the army, or on days
consecrated by the church to some peculiar solemnity, as Easter-day, the
day of Pentecost, or even Christmas-day.[25]
This was, nevertheless, by no means imperative; for we have already seen
that knighthood was often conferred on any particular emergency, and even
on the field of battle.[26] On these occasions the forms were of course
abridged to suit the necessity of the case, but the knighthood was not the
less valid or esteemed.
The more public and solemn the ceremony could be made, the more it
appeared to the taste of the nobles of the middle ages. Nor was the pomp
and display without its use, raising and dignifying the order in the eyes
of the people, and impressing deeply upon the mind of the young knight the
duties which he had voluntarily taken upon himself. We all know how much
remembrance depends upon external circumstance, and it is ever well to
give our feelings some fixed resting-place in the waste of life, that in
after-years memory may lead us back and refresh the resolutions and bright
designs of youth by the aid of the striking scenes and solemn moments in
which those designs and resolutions were first called into activity.
Nothing could be better calculated to make a profound impression on the
mind than the ceremonies of a knight's reception in the mature times of
Chivalry.
On the day appointed,[27] all the knights and nobles at that time in the
city where the solemnity was to be performed, with the bishops and clergy,
each covered with the appropriate vestments of his order, the knight in
his coat-of-arms, and the bishop in his stole, conducted the aspirant to
the principal church of the place. There, after the high mass had been
chanted, the novice approached the altar and presented the sword to the
bishop or priest, who, taking it from his hand, blessed and consecrated it
to the service of religion and virtue.
It often happened that the bishop himself then solemnly warned the youth
of the difficulties and requisites of the order to which he aspired. "He
who seeks to be a knight,"--said the Bishop of Valenciennes to the young
Count of Ostrevant on one of these occasions,[28] "he who wishes to be a
knight should have great qualities. He must be of noble birth, liberal in
gifts, high in courage, strong in danger, secret in council, patient in
difficulties, powerful against enemies, prudent in his deeds. He must also
swear to observe the following rules: To undertake nothing without having
heard mass fasting; to spare neither his blood nor his life in defence of
the Catholic faith; to give aid to all widows and orphans; to undertake no
war without just cause; to favour no injustice, but to protect the
innocent and oppressed; to be humble in all things; to seek the welfare of
those placed under him; never to violate the rights of his sovereign, and
to live irreprehensibly before God and man."
The bishop, then taking his joined hands in his own, placed them on the
missal, and received his oath to follow the statutes laid down to him,
after which his father advancing dubbed him a knight.
At other times it occurred, that when the sword had been blessed, the
novice[29] carried it to the knight who was to be his godfather in
Chivalry, and kneeling before him plighted his vow to him. After this the
other knights, and often the ladies present, advanced, and completely
armed the youth, sometimes beginning with one piece of the armour,
sometimes another. St. Palaye declares that the spurs were always buckled
on before the rest, but in the history of Geoffrey, Duke of Normandy, we
find the corslet and the greaves mentioned first, and the spear and sword
last.
After having been armed, the novice still remained upon his knees before
his godfather in arms, who then, rising from his seat, bestowed upon him
the _accolade_, as it was called, which consisted generally of three blows
of the naked sword upon the neck or shoulder. Sometimes it was performed
by a blow given with the palm of the hand upon the cheek of the novice,
which was always accompanied by some words, signifying that the ceremony
was complete, and the squire had now become a knight.
The words which accompanied the accolade were generally, when the kings of
France bestowed the honour, "In the name of God, St. Michael, and St.
George, I make thee knight; be loyal, bold, and true."
Sometimes to the blow were joined the words,[30] "Bear this blow and never
bear another," and sometimes was added the more Christian admonition to
humility, "Remember that the Saviour of the world was buffeted and
scoffed."[31]
Whatever was its origin the custom was a curious one, and bore a strong
resemblance to the ceremony of manumission among the Romans, who, on
freeing a slave, struck him a slight blow, which Claudian happily enough
terms _felicem injuriam_. I do not, however, intend to insinuate that the
one custom was derived from the other, though, perhaps, the fact of a serf
becoming free if his lord struck him with any instrument,[32] except such
as were employed in his actual labour, may have been, in some degree, a
vestige of the Roman law in this respect, which we know descended entire
to many of the barbarous nations.
However that may be, after having submitted to the blow which ended his
servitude as a squire, the new knight was decorated with his casque, which
had hitherto been held beside him, and then proceeding to the door of the
church, or of the castle, where his knighthood had been bestowed, he
sprang upon his horse and showed himself armed in the principal places of
the city, while the heralds proclaimed his name and vaunted his
prowess.[33]
As long vigils, fast, prayers, and confessions had preceded and
accompanied the admission of the new knight, festivals, banquets, and
tournaments followed.[34] The banquets and the festivals, as common to all
ages, though differing in each, I will pass over: suffice it, that one of
the strictest laws of Chivalry forbade gluttony and intemperance.
The tournament, as a purely chivalrous institution, I must mention; though
so much has been already written on the subject, that I could have wished
to pass it over in silence. The most complete description ever given of a
tournament is to be found in the writings of one whose words are pictures;
and if I dared but copy into this place the account of the passage of arms
in Ivanhoe, I should be enabled to give a far better idea of what such a
scene really was, than all the antiquarian researches in my power will
afford.
All military nations, from the earliest antiquity, have known and
practised various athletic games in imitation of warfare; and we of course
find among the Franks various exercises of the kind from the very first
records which we have of that people. Nithard,[35] however, gives an
elaborate picture of these mock-fights as practised in the reigns
succeeding Charlemagne; and we find but little resemblance to the
tournament. Four equal bands of Saxons, Gascons, Austrasians, and
Armoricans (or Britons,[36] as they are there called) met together in an
open place, and, while the populace stood round as spectators, pursued
each other, in turn, brandishing their arms, and seeming fiercely to seek
the destruction of their adversaries. When this had proceeded for some
time, Louis and Charles (the two monarchs in whose history the description
is given) suddenly rushed into the field with all their choice companions,
and, with quivering lances and loud cries, followed, now one, now another,
of the parties, who took care to fly before their horses.
The first authentic mention of a tournament[37] is to be found in the
Chronicle of Tours, which records the death of Geoffrey de Priuli in 1066;
adding the words _qui torneamenta invenit_--who invented tournaments. From
the appearance[38] of these exercises in Germany[39] about the same time,
we may conclude that this date is pretty nearly correct; and that if
tournaments were not absolutely invented at that precise period, they were
then first regulated by distinct laws.
In England[40] they did not appear till several years later, when the
Norman manners introduced after the conquest had completely superseded the
customs of the Saxons.
Thus much has seemed necessary to me to say concerning the origin of
tournaments, as there are so many common fables on the subject which give
far greater antiquity to the exercise than that which it is entitled to
claim.
The ceremonies and the splendour of the tournament of course differed in
different ages and different countries; but the general principle was the
same. It was a chivalrous game, originally instituted for practising those
exercises, and acquiring that skill which was likely to be useful in
knightly warfare.
A tournament was usually given upon the occasion of any great meeting, for
either military or political purposes. Sometimes it was the king himself
who sent his heralds through the land to announce to all noblemen and
ladies, that on a certain day he would hold a grand tournament, where all
brave knights might try their prowess. At other times a tournament was
determined on by a body of independent knights; and messengers were often
sent into distant countries to invite all gallant gentlemen to honour the
passage of arms.
The spot fixed upon for the lists was usually in the immediate
neighbourhood of some abbey or castle, where the shields of the
various[41] cavaliers who purposed combating were exposed to view for
several days previous to the meeting. A herald was also placed beneath the
cloisters to answer all questions concerning the champions, and to receive
all complaints against any individual knight. If, upon investigation, the
kings of arms and judges of the field found that a just accusation was
laid against one[42] of the knights proposing to appear, a peremptory
command excluded him from the lists; and if he dared in despite thereof to
present himself, he was driven forth with blows and ignominy.
Round about the field appointed for the spectacle were raised galleries,
scaffoldings, tents,[43] and pavilions, decorated with all the
magnificence of a luxurious age. Banners and scutcheons, and bandrols,
silks and cloth of gold, covered the galleries and floated round the
field; while all that rich garments and precious stones, beauty and youth,
could do to outshine the inanimate part of the scene, was to be found
among the spectators. Here too was seen the venerable age of Chivalry--all
those old knights whose limbs were no longer competent to bear the weight
of arms, surrounding the field to view the prowess of their children and
judge the deeds of the day. Heralds and pursuivants, in the gay and
many-coloured garments which they peculiarly affected, fluttered over the
field, and bands of warlike music were stationed near to animate the
contest and to salute the victors.
The knights, as they appeared in the lists, were greeted by the heralds
and the people[44] according to their renown; but the approbation of the
female part of the spectators was the great stimulus to all the Chivalry
of the field. Each knight, as a part of his duty, either felt or feigned
himself in love; and it was upon these occasions that his lady might
descend from the high state to which the mystic adoration of the day had
raised her, and bestow upon her favoured champion a glove, a riband, a
bracelet,[45] a jewel, which, borne on his crest through the
hard-contested field, was the chief object of his care, and the great
excitement to his valour.
Often, too, in the midst of the combat, if accident or misfortune deprived
the favoured knight of the gage of his lady's affection, her admiration or
her pity won her to supply another token, sent by a page or squire, to
raise again her lover's resolution, and animate him to new exertions.
The old romance of Perce-forest gives a curious picture of the effects
visible after a tournament, by the eagerness with which the fair
spectators had encouraged the knights. "At the close of the tournament,"
says the writer, "the ladies were so stripped of their ornaments, that the
greater part of them were bareheaded. Thus they went their ways with their
hair floating on their shoulders more glossy than fine gold; and with
their robes without the sleeves, for they had given to the knights to
decorate themselves, wimples and hoods, mantles and shifts, sleeves and
bodies. When they found themselves undressed to such a pitch, they were at
first quite ashamed; but as soon as they saw every one was in the same
state, they began to laugh at the whole adventure, for they had all
bestowed their jewels and their clothes upon the knights with so good a
will, that they had not perceived that they uncovered themselves."
This is probably an exaggerated account of the enthusiasm which the events
of a tournament excited in the bosom of the fair ladies of that day: but
still, no doubt can be entertained, that they not only decorated their
knights before the tournament with some token of their approbation, but in
the case of its loss, often sent him even a part of their dress in the
midst of the conflict.
The other spectators, also, though animated by less thrilling interests,
took no small share in the feelings and hopes of the different parties.
Each blow of the lance or sword, struck well and home, was greeted with
loud acclamations; and valour met with both its incitement and its reward,
in the expecting silence and the thundering plaudits with which each good
champion's movements were waited for and seen.
In the mean while, without giving encouragement to any particular knight,
the heralds strove to animate all by various quaint and characteristic
exclamations, such as "The love of ladies!" "Death to the horses!" "Honour
to the brave!" "Glory to be won by blood and sweat!" "Praise to the sons
of the brave!"
It would occupy too much space to enter into all the details of the
tournament, or to notice all the laws by which it was governed. Every care
was taken that the various knights should meet upon equal terms; and many
a precaution was made use of to prevent accidents, and to render the
sports both innocent and useful. But no regulations could be found
sufficient to guard against the dangerous consequences of such furious
amusements; and Ducange gives a long list of princes and nobles who lost
their lives in these fatal exercises. The church often interfered, though
in vain, to put them down; and many monarchs forbade them in their
dominions; but the pomp with which they were accompanied, and the
excitement they afforded to a people fond of every mental stimulus,
rendered them far more permanent than might have been expected.
The weapons in tournaments were, in almost all cases, restrained to
blunted swords and headless spears, daggers, and battle-axes; but, as may
well be imagined, these were not to be used without danger; so that even
those festivals that passed by without the absolute death of any of the
champions, left, nevertheless, many to drag out a maimed and miserable
existence, or to die after a long and weary sickness. And yet the very
peril of the sport gave to it an all-powerful interest, which we can best
conceive, at present, from our feelings at some deep and thrilling
tragedy.
After the excitement, and the expectation, and the suspense, and the
eagerness, came the triumph and the prize--and the chosen queen of the
field bestowed upon the champion whose feats were counted best, that
reward, the value of which consisted more in the honour than the thing
itself. Sometimes it was a jewel,[46] sometimes a coronet[47] of flowers
or of laurel; but in all cases the award implied a right to one kiss from
the lips of the lady appointed to bestow the prize. It seems to have been
as frequent a practice to assign this prize on the field, as in the
chateau[48] or palace whither the court retired after the sports were
concluded; and we often find that the female part of the spectators were
called to decide upon the merits of the several champions, and to declare
the victor[49] as well as confer the reward. Mirth and festivity ever
closed the day of the tournament, and song and sports brought in the
night.
Every thing that could interest or amuse a barbarous age was collected on
the spot where one of these meetings was held. The minstrel or
_menestrier_, the juggler, the saltimbank, the story-teller, were present
in the hall to soothe or to entertain; but still the foundation of tale
and song was Chivalry;--the objects of all praise were noble deeds and
heroic actions; and the very voice of love and tenderness, instead of
seducing to sloth and effeminacy, was heard prompting to activity, to
enterprise, and to honour--to the defence of virtue, and the search for
glory.
It may be here necessary to remark, that there were several sorts of
tournaments, which differed essentially from each other; but I shall not
pause upon these any longer than merely to point out the particular
differences between them. The joust, which was certainly a kind of
tournament, was always confined to two persons, though these persons
encountered each other with blunted arms.[50]
The combat at outrance was, in fact, a duel, and only differed from the
trial by battle in being voluntary, while the other was enforced by law.
This contest was often the event of private quarrels, but was, by no
means, always so; and, to use the language of Ducange, "though mortal, it
took place ordinarily between persons who most frequently did not know
each other, or, at least, had no particular misunderstanding, but who
sought alone to show forth their courage, generosity, and skill in arms."
Sometimes, however, the combat at outrance was undertaken by a number of
knights[51] together, and often much blood was thus shed, without cause.
The _pas d'armes_ or passage of arms, differed from general tournaments,
inasmuch as a certain number of knights fixed their shields and tents in a
particular pass, or spot of ground, which they declared their intention to
defend against all comers.[52] The space before their tents was generally
listed in, as for a tournament; and, during the time fixed for the defence
of the passage, the same concourse of spectators, heralds, and minstrels
were assembled.
The round table was another distinct sort of tournament,[53] held in a
circular amphitheatre, wherein the knights invited jousted against each
other. The origin of this festival, which was held, I believe, for the
last time by Edward III., is attributed to Roger Mortimer,[54] who, on
receiving knighthood, feasted a hundred knights and a hundred ladies at a
round table. The mornings were spent in chivalrous games, the prize of
which was a golden lion, and the evenings in banquets and festivities.
This course of entertainments continued three days with the most princely
splendour; after which Mortimer, having won the prize himself, conducted
his guests to Warwick, and dismissed them.
From this account, taken from the History of the Priory of Wigmore,
Menestrier deduces that those exercises called "round tables" were only
tournaments, during which the lord or sovereign giving the festival
entertained his guests at a table which, to prevent all ceremony in
respect to precedence, was in the form of a circle. Perhaps, however, this
institution may have had a different and an earlier origin, though I find
it mentioned in no author previous to the year 1279.[55]
Chivalry, which in its pristine purity knew no reward but honour, soon--as
it became combined with power--appropriated to itself various privileges
which, injuring its simplicity, in the end brought about its fall. In the
first place, the knight was, by the fact of his Chivalry, the judge of all
his equals, and consequently of all his inferiors.[56] He was also, in
most cases, the executor of his own decree, and it would indeed have
required a different nature from humanity to secure such a jurisdiction
from frequent perversion. The knight[57] also took precedence of all
persons who had not received Chivalry, a distinction well calculated to do
away with that humility which was one of knighthood's strictest laws.[58]
Added to this was the right of wearing particular dresses and colours,
gold and jewels, which were restrained to the knightly class, by very
severe ordinances. Scarlet and green were particularly reserved for the
order of knighthood, as well as ermine, minever, and some other furs.
Knights also possessed what was called privilege of clergy, that is to
say, in case of accusation, they could claim to be tried before the
ecclesiastical judge.[59] Their arms were legally forbidden to all other
classes, and the title of Sire, Monseigneur, Sir, Don, &c., were applied
to them alone, till the distinction was lost in the course of time.
Though these privileges changed continually, and it is scarcely possible
to say what age gave birth to any one of them, yet it is evident that
monarchs, after they had seen the immense influence which Chivalry might
have on their own power, and had striven to render it an engine for their
own purposes, took every care to secure all those rights and immunities to
the order which could in some degree balance the hardships, fatigues, and
dangers inevitably attendant upon it, and supply the place of that
enthusiasm which of course grew fainter as the circumstances which
excited it changed, and the objects which it sought were accomplished.
It is probable that there would always have been many men who would have
coveted Chivalry for the sole purpose of doing good and protecting the
innocent; but monarchs sought to increase the number of knights as a means
of defending their realms and extending their power, and, consequently,
they supplied other motives and external honours as an inducement to those
persons of a less exalted mind.
Chivalry was indeed a distinction not to be enjoyed without many and
severe labours. The first thing after receiving knighthood was generally a
long journey[60] into foreign countries, both for the purpose of jousting
with other knights, and for instruction in every sort of chivalrous
knowledge. There the young knight studied carefully the demeanour of every
celebrated champion he met, and strove to glean the excellencies of each.
Thus he learned courtesy and grace, and thus he heard all the famous
exploits of the day which, borne from court to court by these chivalrous
travellers, spread the fame of great deeds from one end of the world to
the other.[61]
It cannot be doubted that this practice of wandering armed through Europe
gave great scope to licentiousness in those who were naturally
ill-disposed; and many a cruelty and many a crime was assuredly committed
by that very order instituted to put down vice and to protect innocence.
To guard against this the laws of Chivalry were most severe;[62] and as
great power was intrusted to the knight, great was the shame and dishonour
if he abused it. The oath taken in the first place was as strictly opposed
to every vice, as any human promise could be, and the first principle of
chivalrous honour was never to violate an engagement. I must here still
repeat the remark, that it was the spirit which constituted the Chivalry,
and as that spirit waned, Chivalry died away.
One of the most curious institutions of Chivalry was that which required a
knight, on his return from any expedition,[63] to give a full and minute
account to the heralds, or officers of arms, of all his adventures during
his absence, without reserve or concealment; telling as well his reverses
and discomfitures, as his honours and success. To do this he was bound by
oath; and the detail thus given was registered by the herald, who by such
relations learned to know and estimate the worth and prowess of each
individual knight. It served also to excite other adventurers to great
deeds in imitation of those who acquired fame and honour; and it afforded
matter of consolation to the unfortunate, who in those registers must ever
have met with mishaps to equal or surpass their own.
The spirit of Chivalry, however, led to a thousand deeds and habits not
required nor regulated by any law. Were two armies opposed to each other,
or even encamped in the neighbourhood of each other, though at peace,[64]
the knights would continually issue forth singly from the ranks to
challenge any other champion to come out, and break a lance in honour of
his lady. Often before a castle, or on the eve of a battle, a knight would
vow to some holy saint never to quit the field, or abandon the siege, till
death or victory ended his design. Frequently, too, we find that in the
midst of some great festival, where all the Chivalry of the land was
assembled, a knight would suddenly appear, bearing in his hands[65] a
peacock, a heron, or some other bird. Presenting it in turn to each noble
in the assembly, he would then demand their oath upon that bird to do some
great feat of arms against the enemy. No knight dared to refuse, and the
vow so taken was irrevocable and never broken.
One of the most extraordinary customs of Chivalry, and also one of the
most interesting, was the adoption of a brother in arms.[66]
This custom[67] seems to have taken its rise in England, and was in common
use especially among the Saxons. After the Conquest, however, it rapidly
spread to other nations, and seems to have been a favourite practice with
the crusaders. Esteem and long companionship were the first principles of
this curious sort of alliance, which bound one knight to another by ties
more strict than those of blood itself.
It is true the brotherhood in arms was often contracted but for a time, or
under certain circumstances,[68] which once passed by, the engagement was
at an end; but far oftener it was a bond for life, uniting interests and
feelings, and dividing dangers and successes. The brothers in arms[69] met
all perils together, undertook all adventures in company, shared in the
advantage of every happy enterprise, and partook of the pain or loss of
every misfortune. If the one was attacked in body, in honour, or in
estate, the other sprang forward to defend him. Their wealth and even
their thoughts were in common; so that the news which the one received, or
the design that he formed, he was bound to communicate to the other
without reserve. Even if the one underlay a wager of battle[70] against
any other knight, and was cut off by death before he could discharge
himself thereof, his brother in arms was bound to appear in the lists, in
defence of his honour, on the day appointed.
Sometimes[71] this fraternity of arms was contracted by a solemn deed;
sometimes by a vow ratified by the communion and other ceremonies of the
church. In many cases,[72] however, the only form consisted in the mutual
exchange of arms, which implied the same devotion to each other, and the
same irrevocable engagement.
I have now said sufficient concerning the habits and customs of the
ancient knights, to give a general idea of the rules by which Chivalry was
governed, and the spirit by which it was animated. That spirit waxed
fainter, it is true, as luxury and pomp increased, and as the barbarities
of an early age merged into the softer licentiousness that followed.
But the rules of the order themselves remained unchanged, and did far more
than any other institution to restrain the general incontinence[73] of the
age. Even in those days when chivalrous love was no longer pure, and
chivalrous religion no longer the spring of the noblest morality, the
spirit of the days of old lingered amid the ruins of the falling
institution. An Edward, a Du Guesclin, a Bayard, a Sidney, would rise up
in the midst of corrupted times, and shame the vices of the day by still
showing one more true knight; and even now, when the order has altogether
passed away, we feel and benefit by its good effects.
So complete a change has come over manners and customs, so rapid has been
our late progress, and so many and vast have been the events of latter
years, that to trace the remains of Chivalry in any of our present
feelings or institutions, seems but a theoretical dream. The knights of
old are looked upon as things apart, that have neither kin nor community
with ourselves; their acts are hardly believed; and their very existence
is doubted. Let him who would make historical remembrance more tangible,
and see how nearly the days of Chivalry approach to our own, run his eye
over one short page in the chronology of the world, and he will find that
no more than three centuries have passed since Bayard himself died, a
knight without reproach.