CHAPTER XV.

_Fate of the Orders of the Temple and St. John--The Templars abandon all

Hopes of recovering Jerusalem--Mingle in European Politics--Offend Philip

the Fair--Are persecuted--Charges against them--The Order destroyed--The

Knights of St. John pursue the Purpose of defending Christendom--Settle in

Rhodes--Siege of Rhodes--Gallant Defence--The Island taken--The Knights

remove to Malta--Siege of Malta--La Valette--Defence of St. Elmo--

Gallantry of the Garrison--The Whole Turkish Army attempt to storm the

Castle--The Attack repelled--Arrival of Succour--The Siege raised--The

Progress of Chivalry independent of the Crusades--Chivalrous

Exploits--Beneficial Tendency of Chivalry--Corruption of the Age not

attributable to Chivalry--Decline of the Institution--In Germany, England,

France--Its Extinction._

From the period of the fall of Acre crusades were only spoken of; but the

spirit of Chivalry was perhaps not the less active, though it had taken

another course: nor did it lose in purity by being directed, moderated,

and deprived of the ferocity which always follows fanaticism. The Holy

Land had become a place of vice and debauchery, as well as a theatre for

the display of great deeds and noble resolution; and we find, that however

orderly and regular any army was on its departure from Europe, it soon

acquired all the habits of immorality and improvidence which seemed some

inherent quality of that unhappy climate. This was peculiarly apparent in

the two Orders of the Hospital and the Temple, the rules of which were

particularly calculated to guard against luxury of every kind; yet, the

one, till its extinction and both, during their sojourn in Palestine, were

the receptacle of more depravity and crimes than perhaps any other body of

men could produce. After the capture of Acre the knights of these two

Orders retreated to Cyprus; and when some ineffectual efforts had been

made to excite a new crusade for the recovery of Palestine, the Templars

retired from that country, and, spreading themselves throughout their

vast possessions in Europe, seem really to have abandoned all thought of

fighting any more for the sepulchre. With the rest of Europe they spoke of

fresh expeditions, it is true; but in the mean while they gave themselves

up to the luxury, pride, and ambition which, if it was not the real cause

of their downfall, at least furnished the excuse. Philip the Fair of

France, on his accession to the throne, showed great favour to the

Templars,[880] and held out hopes that he would attempt to establish the

Order once more in the land which had given it birth. But the Templars

were now deeply occupied in the politics of Europe itself: their haughty

Grand Master was almost equal to a king in power, and would fain have made

kings his slaves. In the disputes between Philip and Boniface VIII., the

Templars took the part of the Pope, and treated the monarch, in his own

realm, with insolent contempt; but they knew not the character of him

whose wrath they roused. Philip was at once vindictive and avaricious, and

the destruction of the Templars offered the gratification of both

passions: he was also calm, bold, cunning, and remorseless; and from the

vengeance of such a man it was difficult to escape. The vices of the

Templars were notorious,[881] and on these it was easy to graft crimes of

a deeper die. Reports, rumours, accusations, circulated rapidly through

Europe; and Philip, resolved upon crushing the unhappy Order, took care

that on the very first vacancy his creature, Bertrand de Got, Archbishop

of Bourdeaux,[882] should be elevated to the papal throne. Before he

suffered the ambitious prelate to be elected, he bound him to grant five

conditions, four of which were explained to him previously, but the fifth

was to be kept in secrecy till after his elevation. Bertrand pledged

himself to all these terms; and as soon as he had received the triple

crown, was informed that the last dreadful condition was the destruction

of the Order of the Temple. He hesitated, but was forced to consent; and

after various stratagems to inveigle all the principal Templars into

France, Philip caused them suddenly to be arrested throughout his

dominions,[883] and had them arraigned of idolatry, immorality, extortion,

and treason, together with crimes whose very name must not soil this page.

Mixed with a multitude of charges, both false and absurd, were various

others too notorious to be confuted by the body, and many which could be

proved against individuals. Several members of the Order confessed some of

the crimes laid to their charge, and many more were afterward induced to

do so by torture; but at a subsequent period of the trial, when the whole

of the papal authority was used to give the proceeding the character of a

regular legal inquisition, a number of individuals confessed, on the

promise of pardon, different offences, sufficient to justify rigorous

punishment against themselves, and to implicate deeply the institution to

which they belonged. James de Mollay, however, the Grand Master, firmly

denied every charge, and defended himself and his brethren with a calm and

dignified resolution that nothing could shake.

It would be useless as well as painful to dwell upon all the particulars

of their trial, where space is not allowed to investigate minutely the

facts: it is sufficient to say, that the great body of the Templars in

France were sentenced to be imprisoned for life, and a multitude were

burned at the stake, where they showed that heroic firmness which they had

ever evinced in the field of battle. Their large possessions were of

course confiscated. In Spain, their aid against the Moors was too

necessary to permit of similar rigour, and they were generally acquitted

in that country. In England, the same persecutions were carried on, but

with somewhat of a milder course: and the last blow was put to the whole

by a council held at Vienne, which formally dissolved the Order, and

transferred its estates to the Hospitallers. James de Mollay and the Grand

Prior of France were the last victims, and were publicly burned in Paris

for crimes that beyond doubt they did not commit. To suppose that the

Templars were guilty of the specific offences attributed to them would be

to suppose them a congregation of madmen; but to believe they were a

religious or a virtuous Order would be to charge all Europe with a general

and purposeless conspiracy.

In the mean while, the Knights Hospitallers confined themselves to the

objects for which they were originally instituted; and, that they might

always be prepared to fight against the enemies of Christendom, they

obtained a cession of the island of Rhodes, from which they expelled the

Turks. Here they continued for many years, a stumblingblock in the way of

Moslem conquest; but at length, the chancellor of the Order, named

d'Amaral,[884] disappointed of the dignity of Grand Master, in revenge, it

is said, invited the Turks to the siege, and gave them the plan of the

island with its fortifications. Soliman II. instantly led an army against

it; but the gallant knights resisted with a determined courage, that drove

the imperious sultaun almost to madness. He commanded his celebrated

general, Mustapha, to be slain with arrows,[885] attributing to him the

misfortune of the siege; and at length had begun to withdraw his forces,

when a more favourable point of attack was discovered, and the knights

were ultimately obliged to capitulate. The city of Rhodes was by this time

reduced to a mere heap of stones, and at one period of the siege, the

Grand Master himself remained thirty-four days in the trenches, without

ever sitting down to food, or taking repose, but such as he could gain

upon an uncovered mattress at the foot of the wall. So noble a defence

well merited an honourable fate; and even after their surrender, the

knights were the objects of admiration and praise to all Europe, though

Europe had suffered them to fall without aid. The sultaun, before he

allowed the Order to transfer itself to Candia, which had been stipulated

by the treaty, requested to see the Grand Master: and to console him for

his loss, he said, "The conquest and the fall of empires are but the

sports of fortune." He then strove to win the gallant knight who had so

well defended his post to the Ottoman service, holding out to him the most

magnificent offers, and showing what little cause he had to remain

attached to the Christians,[886] who had abandoned him; but Villiers

replied, that he thanked him for his generous proposals, yet that he

should be unworthy of such a prince's good opinion if he could accept

them.

Before the Order of St. John could fix upon any determinate plan of

proceeding, it was more than once threatened with a complete separation,

by various divisions in its councils.

At length motives, partly political, partly generous, induced the emperor

Charles V. to offer the island of Malta to the Hospitallers. This proposal

was soon accepted,[887] and after various negotiations the territory was

delivered up to the knights, who took full possession on the 26th of

October, 1530. Thirty-five years had scarcely passed, when the Order of

St. John, which was now known by the name of the Order of Malta, was

assailed in its new possession by an army composed of thirty thousand

veteran Turkish soldiers. The news of this armament's approach had long

before reached the island, and every preparation had been made to render

its efforts ineffectual. The whole of the open country was soon in the

hands of the Turks, and they resolved to begin the siege by the attack of

a small fort, situated at the end of a tongue of land which separated the

two ports. The safety of the island and the Order depended upon the castle

of St. Elmo--a fact which the Turkish admiral well knew, and the cannonade

that he soon opened upon the fortress was tremendous and incessant. The

knights who had been thrown into that post soon began to demand succour;

but the Grand Master, La Valette, treated their request with indignation,

and speedily sent fresh troops to take the place of those whom fear had

rendered weak.

A noble emulation reigned among the Hospitallers, and they contended only

which should fly to the perilous service. A sortie was made from the fort,

and the Turks were driven back from their position; but the forces of the

Moslems were soon increased by the arrival of the famous Dragut; and the

succour which the viceroy of Sicily had promised to the knights did not

appear. After the coming of Dragut, the siege of St. Elmo was pressed with

redoubled ardour. A ravelin was surprised, and a lodgment effected; and

the cavalier, which formed one of the principal fortifications, had nearly

been taken. Day after day, night after night, new efforts were made on

either part; and the cannon of the Turks never ceased to play upon the

walls of the fort, while, at the same time, the ravelin which they had

captured was gradually raised till it overtopped the parapet. The whole of

the outer defences were now exposed: the garrison could only advance by

means of trenches and a subterranean approach; and to cut off even these

communications with the parapet, the pacha threw across a bridge from the

ravelin, covering it with earth to defend it from fire.

After this, the mine and the sap both went on at once; but the hardness of

the rock was in favour of the besieged, and by a sortie the bridge was

burnt.[888] In a wonderfully short time it was reconstructed; and the

terrible fire from the Turkish lines not only swept away hundreds of the

besieged, but ruined the defences and dismounted the artillery. In this

state the knights sent a messenger to the Grand Master, representing their

situation, showing that the recruits they received only drained the

garrison of the town, without protracting the resistance of a place that

could stand no longer, and threatening to cut their way through the enemy,

if boats did not come to take them off. La Valette knew too well their

situation; but he knew also, that if St. Elmo were abandoned, the viceroy

of Sicily would never sail to the relief of Malta; and he sent three

commissioners to examine the state of the fort, and to persuade the

garrison to hold out to the last. Two of these officers saw that the place

was truly untenable, but the third declared it might still be maintained;

and, on his return, offered to throw himself into it with what volunteers

he could raise. La Valette instantly accepted the proposal, and wrote a

cold and bitter note to the refractory knights in St. Elmo, telling them

that others were willing to take their place. "Come back, my brethren," he

said, "you will be here more in safety; and, on our part, we shall feel

more tranquil concerning the defence of St. Elmo, on the preservation of

which depends the safety of the island and of the Order."

Shame rose in the bosom of the knights; and, mortified at the very idea of

having proposed to yield a place that others were willing to maintain,

they now sent to implore permission to stay.

La Valette well knew, from the first, that such would be their conduct;

but, before granting their request, he replied, that he ever preferred new

troops who were obedient, to veterans who took upon themselves to resist

the will of their commanders: and it was only on the most humble apologies

and entreaties that he allowed them, as a favour, to remain in the post of

peril. From the 17th of June to the 14th of July, this little fort[889]

had held out against all the efforts of the Turkish army, whose loss had

been already immense. Enraged at so obstinate a resistance, the pacha now

determined to attack the rock on which it stood, with all his forces; and

the Grand Master, perceiving the design by the Turkish movements, took

care to send full supplies to the garrison. Among other things thus

received were a number of hoops covered with tow, and imbued with every

sort of inflammable matter. For the two days preceding the assault, the

cannon of the Turkish fleet and camp kept up an incessant fire upon the

place, which left not a vestige of the fortifications above the surface of

the rock. On the third morning the Turks rushed over the fosse which they

had nearly filled, and at the given signal mounted to storm. The walls of

the place were gone, but a living wall of veteran soldiers presented

itself, each knight being supported by three inferior men. With dauntless

valour the Turks threw themselves upon the pikes that opposed them; and

after the lances had been shivered and the swords broken, they were seen

struggling with their adversaries, and striving to end the contest with

the dagger. A terrible fire of musketry and artillery was kept up; and the

Christians, on their part, hurled down upon the swarms of Turks that

rushed in unceasing multitudes from below the flaming hoops, which

sometimes linking two or three of the enemy together, set fire to the

light and floating dresses of the east, and enveloped many in a horrible

death. Still, however, the Turks rushed on, thousands after thousands, and

still the gallant little band of Christians repelled all their efforts,

and maintained possession of the height.

From the walls of the town, and from the castle of St. Angelo, the

dreadful struggle for St. Elmo was clearly beheld; and the Christian

people and the knights, watching the wavering current of the fight, felt

perhaps more painfully all the anxious horror of the scene, than those

whose whole thoughts and feelings were occupied in the actual combat. La

Valette himself stood on the walls of St. Angelo, not spending his time in

useless anticipations, but scanning eagerly every motion of the enemy, and

turning the artillery of the fortress in that direction where it might

prove of the most immediate benefit. At length he beheld a body of Turks

scaling a rampart, from which the attention of the besieged had been

called by a furious attack on the other side.[890] Their ladders were

placed, and still the defenders of St. Elmo did not perceive them--they

began their ascent--they reached the top of the rampart--but at that

moment the Grand Master opened a murderous fire upon them from the

citadel, and swept them from the post they had gained. The cavalier was

next attacked; but here also the Turks were met by those destructive hoops

of fire which caused more dread in their ranks than all the other efforts

of the Christians. Wherever they fell confusion followed; and at the end

of a tremendous fight of nine hours, the Moslems were obliged to sound a

retreat.

A change of operations now took place; means were used to cut off the

communication with the town; and, after holding out some time longer, the

fort of St. Elmo was taken, the last knight of its noble garrison dying in

the breach. The whole force of the Turks was thenceforth turned towards

the city; and a slow but certain progress was made, notwithstanding all

the efforts of the Grand Master and his devoted companions. In vain he

wrote to the viceroy of Sicily; no succour arrived for many days. The town

was almost reduced to extremity. The bastion of St. Catherine was scaled,

and remained some time in the hands of the infidels, who would have

maintained it longer, had not La Valette himself rushed to the spot; and,

after receiving a severe wound, succeeded in dislodging the assailants.

A small succour came at length under the command of Don Juan de Cardonna;

but this was overbalanced by the junction of the viceroy of Algiers with

the attacking force. The bulwark of all Christendom was being swept away,

while Christian kings stood looking on, and once more saw the knights of

St. John falling man by man before the infidels, without stretching forth

a hand to save them.

A large army had, in the mean while, been assembled in Sicily, under the

pretence of assisting Malta; and at last the soldiers clamoured so loudly

to be led to the glorious service for which they had been enrolled, that

the vacillating viceroy after innumerable delays was forced to yield to

their wishes, and set sail for the scene of conflict.[891] The island was

reached in safety, the troops disembarked; and though the Turks still

possessed the advantage of numbers, a panic seized them, and they fled.

Joy and triumph succeeded to danger and dread, and the name of La Valette

and his companions, remains embalmed among the memories of the noble and

great.

This was the last important event in the history of the Order of St. John;

and since that day, it has gradually descended to later years, blending

itself with modern institutions till its distinctive character has been

lost, and the knights of Malta are reckoned among the past.

It does not seem necessary to trace the other military fraternities which

originated in the crusades to their close; but something more must be said

concerning the progress of Chivalry in Europe, and the effect that it had

upon society in general. The Holy Wars were, indeed, the greatest efforts

of knighthood; but during the intervals between each expedition beyond the

seas, and that which followed, and often during the time of preparation,

the knight found plenty of occupation for his sword in his own country.

The strife with the Moors in Spain bore entirely the aspect of the

crusades, but the sanguinary conflicts between France and England offered

continual occasions both for the display of knightly valour and of

knightly generosity. The bitterest national enmity existed between the two

countries--they were ever engaged in struggling against each other; and

yet we find, through the whole, that mutual courtesy when the battle was

over, and in the times of truce that frank co-operation, or that rivalry

in noble efforts, which belonged so peculiarly to Chivalry. Occasionally,

it is true, a cruel and bloodthirsty warrior would stain his successes

with ungenerous rigour--for where is the institution which has ever been

powerful enough to root out the evil spot from the heart of man? But the

great tone of all the wars of Chivalry was valour in the field and

courtesy in the hall. Deeds were often done in the heat of blood which

general barbarism of manners alone would excuse; and most of the men whom

we are inclined to love and to admire have left some blot on that page of

history which records their lives. But to judge of the spirit of the

Order, we must not look to those instances where the habits of the age

mixed up a vast portion of evil with the general character of the knight,

but we must turn our eyes upon those splendid examples where chivalrous

feeling reached its height, did away all the savage cruelty of the time,

and raised human actions almost to sublimity.

Remarking these instances, and seeing what the spirit of Chivalry could

produce in its perfection, we may judge what the society of that day would

have been without it: we may trace truly the effect it had in civilizing

the world, and we may comprehend the noble legacy it left to after-years.

Had Chivalry not existed, all the vices which we behold in that period of

the world's history would have been immensely increased; for there would

have been no counteracting incitement. The immorality of those times would

have been a thousand degrees more gross, for passion would have wanted the

only principle of refinement; the ferocity of the brave would have shown

itself in darker scenes of bloodshed, for no courtesy would have tempered

it with gentleness. Even religion would have longer remained obscured, for

the measures taken to darken it, by those whose interest it was to make it

a means of rule, would have been but faintly opposed, had not Chivalry, by

softening the manners of the age, and promoting general communication

between man and man, gradually done away darkness and admitted light.

Because knights were superstitious, it has been supposed that superstition

was apart of knighthood; but this was not at all the case. The gross

errors grafted by the Roman church on the pure doctrine of salvation often

taught the knight cruelty, and disgraced Chivalry, by making it the means

of persecution; but the tendency of the Order itself was to purify and

refine, and the civilization thereby given to the world in general

ultimately produced its effect in doing away superstition. The libertinism

of society in the middle ages has also been wrongly attributed to

knighthood, and thus the most beneficial institutions are too often

confounded with the vices that spring up around them. That the fundamental

doctrine of Chivalry, if I may so express myself, was decidedly opposed to

every infraction of morality, is susceptible of proof. In all authors who

have collected the precepts of Chivalry, we find sobriety and continence

enjoined as among the first duties of a knight: and female chastity was so

particularly esteemed, that we are told by the Chevalier de la Tour, if a

lady of doubtful virtue presented herself in company with the good,

whatever were her rank, the knights would cause her to give place to those

of unsullied fame. From every thing that I can read or hear, I am inclined

to believe that the virtues of the knights of old arose in the Order of

Chivalry alone, and that their faults belonged to the age in which they

lived.[892]

In common with all human institutions, Chivalry presents a new aspect in

every page of the book of history. Sometimes it is severe and stern;

sometimes light and gay; but the qualities of valour, courtesy, and

enthusiasm shine out at every period of its existence.

At the battle of Crecy, Edward the Black Prince, then fourteen years of

age, fought for his knightly spurs; and his father, King Edward III., from

a mound near the mill, beheld his gallant son surrounded on every side by

enemies. The companions of the young hero sent to the king for succour,

alleging the dangerous situation of the Prince of Wales; on which Edward

demanded, "Is he dead, or overthrown, or so wounded that he cannot

continue to fight?" And on being informed that his son still lived, he

added, "Return to him, and to those who sent you, and tell them, whatever

happens, to seek no aid from me so long as my son be in life. Further say,

that I command them to let the boy well win his spurs; for, please God,

the day shall be his, and the honour shall rest with him."[893]

In this instance, Edward required no more from his child than he was

willing in his own person to endure. No one ever evinced more chivalrous

courage than that monarch himself; and in the skirmish under the walls of

Calais, he fought hand to hand with the famous De Ribaumont, who brought

him twice upon his knee, but was at length vanquished by the king. After

the battle, Edward entertained his prisoners in the town; and when supper

was concluded the victorious monarch approached his adversary, took the

chaplet of rich pearls from his own brow, placed it on the head of De

Ribaumont, and said, "Sir Eustace, I give this wreath to you, as the best

of this day's combatants, and I beg you to wear it a year for my love. I

know that you are gay and gallant, and willingly find yourselves where

ladies are. Tell them, then, wherever you may be, that I gave you this

token; and, moreover, I free you from your prison. Go to-morrow, if it

please you."[894]

Such was the character of knighthood; and whether we read anecdotes like

the above, or trace in the rolls of history the feats of an Edward the

Black Prince, of a Duguesclin, of a Talbot, a Henry, or a Bayard, we find

the same spirit; varied, indeed, according to the mind of the individual,

but raising all his virtues to the highest pitch of perfection, and

restraining all his faults as much as human errors can be restrained.

It would be endless to detail all those marvels which Chivalry at various

times effected; nor have I space to dwell upon Crecy, or Poitiers, or

Agincourt. With respect to those great battles, where England was so

eminently triumphant, it is sufficient to point out the extraordinary

fact, that though the glory rested with the British, no disgrace attached

to their enemies. Each knight in the French armies did every thing that

personal valour could do to win the field; and the honour to England

consists not so much in having conquered, as in having conquered such

opponents. For long, however, it appears that the French commanders were

inferior to the English in skill, and that their forces were destitute of

that unity which alone secures success. At length, the son of a nobleman

of Brittany, who had been much neglected in his early years, began to make

head against the English. From his infancy Bertrand Duguesclin had shown

the most persevering passion for arms, which had been always repressed;

till at a tournament--from the neighbourhood of which he had been

purposely sent away--he appeared in disguise, defeated all that

encountered him, and was only discovered by refusing to meet his own

father. From that hour Duguesclin rose in the estimation of the world; and

after opposing, with considerable success, Edward the Black Prince

himself, on the death of that noble commander he delivered the greater

part of France from the domination of the English.

One of the favourite schemes of Duguesclin was to restore to Chivalry its

ancient simplicity, and he strove by every means to enforce the more

severe and salutary laws by which it had been originally governed. Of

course, an institution which had vast privileges and obligations was not

without rewards and punishments; and many of these were revived by

Duguesclin after he had become Constable of France.

The custom of cutting the tablecloth with a knife or dagger before a

knight who had in any way degraded himself[895] is said, by some, to have

been brought into use by Duguesclin, though others affirm that he only

renewed an ancient habit. Much more severe inflictions, also, were

destined for those who had dishonoured the Order to which they belonged by

cowardice, treachery, or any other unmanly crime. The criminal, condemned

to be stripped of his knighthood, was placed upon a scaffold, in the sight

of the populace, while his armour was broken to pieces before his face.

His shield reversed, with the coat-of-arms effaced, was dragged through

the dirt, while the heralds proclaimed aloud his crime and his sentence.

The king-at-arms then thrice demanded his name; and at each time, when the

pursuivant replied, the king added, "A faithless and disloyal traitor!" A

basin[896] of hot water was poured upon the culprit's head, to wash away

the very memory of his knighthood; and, being drawn on a hurdle to the

church, he was covered with a pall, while the funeral prayers were

pronounced over him, as one dead to honour and to fame.

Notwithstanding every means taken to uphold it, Chivalry gradually

declined from the beginning of the fourteenth century. In England the long

civil wars between the houses of York and Lancaster called into action a

thousand principles opposed to knightly courtesy and generosity. Many

flashes of the chivalrous spirit blazed up from time to time, it is true;

but the general character of those contentions was base and interested

treachery on all parts.

The mean and avaricious spirit which seized upon Henry VII. in his latter

years of course had its effect on his court and country; and the infamous

extortions of his creatures Empson and Dudley, the ruin which they brought

upon many of the nobility, and the disgust and terror which their tyranny

spread through the land, served to check all those pageants and exercises

which kept alive the sinking flame of Chivalry. Henry VIII., in the vigour

of his youth, made vast efforts to give back to knighthood its ancient

splendour; but the spirit had been as much injured as the external form,

and though he could renew the one, he could not recall the other. The

wavering tyranny of his old age also did more to extinguish the last

sparks of knightly feeling, than his youth had done to revive the pomp of

Chivalry. Then came the Reformation, and a new enthusiasm grew up through

the land.

In Germany the reign of the Emperor Maximilian was the last in which

Chivalry can be said to have existed. Charles V. reduced all things to

calculation, and though the name of knighthood remained, it soon became

nothing but a sound.

The land which had given birth to the institution cherished it long; and

there its efforts were continually reawakened even in its decline. During

the unhappy reign of Charles VI., France, torn by factions, each

struggling for the sceptre of the insane monarch, saw Chivalry employed

for the purposes of ambition alone. While all parties turned their arms

against their fellow-countrymen, a stranger seized on the power for which

they fought, and the English house of Lancaster seated itself on the

throne of France. Charles VII. succeeded to a heritage of wars; but,

apparently reckless, from the desperate state of his dominions, he yielded

himself wholly to pleasure, without striking a blow for the recovery of

his kingdom, till Joan of Arc recalled him to glory and himself. From that

moment Chivalry again revived, and no period of French history presents

knighthood under a brighter aspect than during the wars of Charles VII. At

the same time, however, an institution was founded which soon changed the

character of Chivalry, and in the end reduced it to a name.

The inconveniences attached to the knightly mode of warfare were many and

striking; order and discipline were out of the question; and though

courage did much, Charles VII. saw that courage well directed would do

infinitely more. To establish, therefore, a body over which he might have

some control, he raised a company of _gen-d'armerie_, which soon by its

courage and its success drew into its own rank all the great and noble of

the kingdom. Thus came a great change over the Order; knights became mere

soldiers, and Chivalry was used as a machine. Louis XI. contributed still

more to do away Chivalry, by depressing the nobility and founding a

standing army of mercenary troops. Charles VIII. and Louis XII., by

romantic wars in Italy, renewed the fire of the waning institution; and

Francis I., the most chivalrous of kings, beheld it blaze up under his

reign like the last flash of an expiring flame. He, however unwittingly

aided to extinguish it entirely, and by extending knighthood to civilians,

deprived it of its original character. The pomps and pageants, the

exercises and the games, which had accompanied the Order from its early

days, were now less frequent: popes had censured them as vain and cruel,

and many kings had discountenanced them as expensive and dangerous: but

the death of Henry II., from a wound received at a tournament, put an end

to them in France; and from that time all the external ceremonies of

Chivalry were confined to the reception of a knight into any of the royal

Orders.

The distinctive spirit also had by this time greatly merged into other

feelings. The valour was as much the quality of the simple soldier as of

the knight; the courtesy had spread to society in general, and had become

politeness; the gallantry had lost its refinement, and had deteriorated

into debauchery. Faint traces of the lost institution appeared from time

to time, especially in the wars of Henry IV. and the League. The artful

and vicious policy of Catherine de Medicis did much to destroy it; the

filthy effeminacy of Henry III. weakened it, in common with all noble

feelings; and the iron rod of Richelieu struck at it as a remnant of the

feudal power. Still a bright blaze of its daring valour shone out in

Condé, a touch of its noble simplicity appeared in Turenne, but the false

brilliancy of Louis XIV. completed its downfall; and Chivalry is only to

be seen by its general effects on society.

Thus things fleet by us; and in reading of all the great and mighty deeds

of which this book has given a slight and imperfect sketch, and looking on

the multitudes of men who have toiled and struggled through dangers,

difficulties, and horrors for the word GLORY, the empty echo of renown, or

perhaps a worse reward, I rise as from a phantasmagoria where a world of

strange and glittering figures have been passing before my eyes, changing

with the rapidity of light, and each leaving an impression for memory,

though the whole was but the shadow of a shade.

NOTES.

NOTE I.--CHAP. I.

Menestrier enters into a disquisition on the subject of the two

interpretations given to the word _miles_, which would have interrupted

the thread of my discourse too much to permit of its introduction in the

text. I subjoin it here, however, as a good guide for those who may be

inclined to pursue the subject further.

"Il ne faut pas donc confondre le titre d'ancienne noblesse, ou de

noblesse militaire, avec la dignité de chevalier, par l'équivoque du terme

Latin _miles_, qui convient à l'un et à l'autre; ce que n'ont pas assez

observé quelques autheurs, qui n'ont pas fait reflexion que dans la

plûpart des actes écrits en langue Latine, ce mot signifie également ces

deux différentes choses.

* * * * *

"L'Empereur Frederic avoir déjà? distingué ces deux espèces de Chevalerie,

lors qu'il fit une ordonnance à Naples, l'an 1232, que personne ne se

presentât pour recevoir l'ordre de Chevalerie, s'il n'estoit d'une

ancienne race militaire, ou d'ancienne Chevalerie. _Ad militarem honorem

nullus accedat, qui non sit de genere militum_; L'une de ces Chevaleries

est donc _genus militare_, race de Chevalerie; l'autre _militaris honor_,

honneur de Chevalerie, qui n'ont esté confonduës que par quelques

autheurs, qui, écrivans de cette matière sans l'entendre, n'ont fait que

l'embroüiller, au lieu de la developper.

"Roger, Roy de Sicile et de Naples, fit une ordonnance, que nul ne pût

recevoir l'ordre de Chevalerie, s'il n'estoit de race militaire. _Sancimus

itaque, et tale proponimus edictum, ut quicumque novam militiam

acceperit_, il l'appelle nouvelle Chevalerie, pour la distinguer de celle

de la naissance, _sive quocumque tempore arripuerit, contra regni

beatitudinem, pacem, atque integritatem, à militiæ nomine, et professione

penitùs decidat, nisi fortè à militari genere per successionem duxit

prosapiam_."--Menestrier; Preuves, chap. 1.

NOTE II.--CHAP. II.

St. Palaye, in the body of his admirable essays upon Chivalry, names the

day preceding that of the tournament as the one on which squires were

permitted to joust with each other: but in a note he has the following

passage, which shows that in this, as in almost every other respect, the

customs of chivalry varied very much at different epochs.

"Les usages out varié par rapport aux tournois, suivant les divers temps

de la Chevalerie. Dans les commencements les plus anciens chevaliers

joutoient entre eux, et le lendemain de cette joute les nouveaux

chevaliers s'exerçoient dans d'autres tournois, auxquels les anciens

chevaliers se faisoient un plaisir d'assister en qualité de spectateurs.

La coutume changea depuis: ce fut la veille des grands tournois que les

jeunes chevaliers s'essayerent les uns contre les autres, et l'on permit

aux écuyers de se mêler avec eux. Ceux-ci étoient récompensés par l'ordre

de la Chevalerie, lorsqu'ils se distinguoient dans ces sortes de combats.

Ce mélange de chevaliers et d'écuyers introduisit dans la suite divers

abus dans la Chevalerie, et la fit bientôt dégénérer, comme le remarque M.

Le Laboureur. Les écuyers usurpèrent successivement et par degrés les

honneurs et les distinctions qui n'appartenoient qu'aux chevaliers, et

peu-à-peu ils se confondirent avec eux."--_Note on St. Palaye._

This note is perfectly just in the statement that in after-times the

distinctions between knights and squires were not so strictly maintained

as in the early days of Chivalry. At the famous jousts between the French

and English at Chateau Joscelin, as related by Froissart, we find the

squires opposed to the knights upon perfectly equal terms. The limits of

this book are too narrow to admit of many long quotations; but the passage

will be found well worthy the trouble of seeking, in the sixty fourth

chapter of the second book of the admirable Froissart.

NOTE III.--CHAP. II.

To show the manner in which reports of all kinds were spread and collected

even as late as the days of Edward III., I have subjoined the following

extract from Froissart, giving an account of his reception at the court of

the Count de Foix. It also affords a _naive_ picture of that curious

simplicity of manners which formed one very singular and interesting trait

in the Chivalry of old.

"_Comment Messire Jean Froissart enquéroit diligemment comment les

Guerres s'étoient portées par toutes les parties de la France._

"Je me suis longuement tenu à parler des besognes des lointaines marches,

mais les prochaines, tant qu'à maintenant, m'ont été si fraîches, et si

nouvelles, et si inclinants à ma plaisance, que pour ce les ai mises

arrière. Mais, pourtant, ne séjournoient pas les vaillants hommes, qui se

désiroient à avancer ens [dans] on [le] royaume de Castille et de

Portugal, et bien autant en Gascogne et en Rouergue, en Quersin [Quercy],

en Auvergne, en Limousin, et en Toulousain, et en Bigorre; mais visoient

et subtilloient [imaginoient] tous les jours l'un sur l'autre comment ils

se pussent trouver en parti de fait d'armes, pour prendre, embler

[enlever], et écheller villes, et châteaux, et forteresses. Et pour ce, je

sire Jean Froissart, qui me suis ensoingné [étudié] et occupé de dicter et

écrire cette histoire, à la requête et contemplation de haut prince et

renommé Messire Guy de Châtillon, Comte de Blois, Seigneur d'Avesnes, de

Beaumont, de Scoonhort, et de la Gende, mon bon et souverain maître et

seigneur; considérai en moi-même, que nulle espérance n'étoit que aucuns

faits d'armes se fissent ès parties de Picardie et de Flandre, puisque

paix y étoit, et point ne voulois être oiseux; car je savois bien que

encore au temps à venir, et quand je serai mort, sera cette haute et noble

histoire en grand cours, et y prendront tous nobles et vaillants hommes

plaisance et exemple de bien faire; et entrementes [pendant] que j'avois,

Dieu merci, sens, mémoire, et bonne souvenance de toutes les choses

passées, engin [esprit] clair et aigu pour concevoir tous les faits dont

je pourrois être informé, touchants à ma principale matière, âge, corps et

membres pour souffrir peine, me avisai que je ne voulois mie séjourner de

non poursieure [poursuivre] ma matière; et pour savoir la vérité des

lointaines besognes sans se que j'y envoyasse aucune autre personne en

lieu de moi, pris voie et achoison [occasion] raisonnable d'aller devers

haut prince et redouté seigneur, Messire Gaston, Comte de Foix et de Berne

[Béarn]; et bien sçavois que si je pouvois venir en son hôtel, et là être

à loisir, je ne pourrois mieux cheoir au monde, pour être informé de

toutes nouvelles; car là sont et fréquentent volontiers tous chevaliers et

écuyers étranges, pour la noblesse d'icelui haut prince. Et tout ainsi,

comme je l'imaginai, il m'en advint; et remontrai ce, et le voyage que je

voulois faire, a mon très cher et redouté seigneur, Monseigneur le Comte

de Blois, lequel me bailla ses lettres de familiarité adressants au Comte

de Foix. Et tant travaillai et chevauchai en quérant de tout côtés

nouvelles, que, par la grace de Dieu, sans péril et sans dommage, je vins

en son chatel, a Ortais [Orthez], au pays de Béarn, le jour de Sainte

Catherine, que on compta pour lors en l'an de grace mil trois cent

quatre-vingt et huit; lequel comte de Foix, si très tôt comme il me vit,

me fit bonne chère, et me dit en riant en bon François: que bien il me

connoissoit, et si ne m'avoit oncques mais vu, mais plusieurs fois avoit

ouï parler de moi. Si me retint de son hôtel et tout aise, avec le bon

moyen des lettres que je lui avois apportées, tant que il m'y plut à être;

et la fus informé de la greigneur [majeure] partie des besognes qui

étoient avenues au royaume de Castille, au royaume de Portugal, au royaume

de Navarre, au royaume d'Aragon, et au royaume d'Angleterre, au pays de

Bordelois, et en toute la Gascogne; et je même, quand je lui demandois

aucune chose, il le me disoit moult volontiers; et me disoit bien que

l'histoire que je avois fait et poursuivois seroit, au temps à venir, plus

recommandée que mille autres: 'Raison pourquoi,' disoit-il, 'beau maître:

puis cinquante ans en ça sont avenus plus de faits d'armes et de

merveilles au monde qu'il n'étoit trois cents ans en devant.'

"Ainsi fus-je en l'hôtel du noble Comte de Foix, recueilli et nourri à ma

plaisance. Ce étoit ce que je désirois à enquerre toutes nouvelles

touchants à ma matière: et je avois prêts à la main barons, chevaliers, et

écuyers, qui m'en informoient, et le gentil Comte de Foix aussi. Si vous

voudrois éclaircir par beau langage tout ce dont je fus adonc informé,

pour rengrosser notre matiere, et pour exemplier les bons qui se désirent

à avancer par armes. Car si ci-dessus j'ai prologué grands faits d'armes,

prises et assauts de villes et de châteaux, batailles adressées et durs

rencontres, encore en trouverez vous ensuivant grand, foison, desquelles

et desquels, par la grace de Dieu, je ferai bonne et juste

narration."--_Froissart_, book iii. chap. 1.

NOTE IV.--CHAP. II.

As the Brotherhood of Arms was one of the most curious customs of

Chivalry, I have extracted from the Notes on St. Palaye, and from the

Disquisitions of Ducange, some passages which will give a fuller view of

its real character and ceremonies than seemed necessary in the body of

this work.

The Notes on St. Palaye also show to how late a period the custom

descended and here let me say, that of all the treatises on Chivalry

which I possess, there is none in which I have found the real spirit of

knighthood so completely displayed, as in the Essays of Lucurne de St.

Palaye, with the elegant and profound observations of M. Charles Nodier.

"Les Anglois, assemblés peu avant la bataille de Pontvalain, tiennent

conseil pour déliberer comment ils attaqueroient le connétable Duguesclin.

Hue de Carvalai, l'un d'entre eux, ouvre son avis en ces termes: 'Se

m'aist dieux, Bertran est le meilleur chevalier qui regne à present; il

est duc, comte et connestable, et a esté long-temps mon compaignon en

Espaigne, où je trouvay en luy honneur, largesse et amistié si

habundamment et avecques ce hardement, fierté vasselage et emprise, qu'il

n'a homme jusques en Calabre qui sceut que j'amasse autant à veoir ne

accompaigner de jour ou de nuit pour moy aventurer à vivre ou à mourir ne

fust ce qu'il guerrie, Monseigneur le prince. Car en ce cas je dois mettre

poyne de le nuyre et grever comme mon ennemi. Si vous diray mon

advis.'--(_Hist. De Bert. Duguesclin_, publiée par Menard, p. 407.)

"Boucicaut, passant à son retour d'Espagne par le Comte de Foix, se trouva

plusieurs fois à boire et à manger avec des Anglois. Comme ils jugèrent a

des abstinences particulieres qu'ils lui virent faire dans ses repas,

qu'il avoit voué quelque entreprise d'armes, ils lui dirent que s'il ne

demandoit autre chose on auroit bien-tôt trouvé qui le delivreroit;

Boucicaut leur répondit: 'Voirement estoit-ce pour combattre à oultrance,

mais qu'il avoit compaignon; c'estoit un chevalier nomme Messire Regnault

de Roye, sans lequel il ne pouvoit rien faire, et toutes fois s'il y avoit

aucun d'eulx qui voulussent la bataille, il leur octroyoit et que à leur

volente prissent jour tant que il l'eust faict à sçavoir à son

compaignon.'--(_Histoire du Maréchal de Boucicaut_, publiée par Godefroi,

p. 51.)

"Lorsque le prince de Galles eut déclare la guerre au roi Henri de

Castille, il manda à tous les Anglois qui etoient alors au service de ce

prince de le quitter pour se rendre auprès de lui. Hue de Carvalai, qui

étoit du nombre, obligé de se sêparer de Bertrand, vint lui faire ses

adieux: 'Gentil sire, lui dit-il, il nous convient de partir nous avons

esté ensemble par bonne compaignie, comme preudomme, et avons toujours eu

du vostre à nostre voulente que oncques n'y ot noise ne tançon, tant des

avoirs conquestez que des joyaulx donnez, ne oncques n'en demandasmes

part, si pense bien que j'ay plus reçeu que vous, dont je suis vostre

tenu. Et pour ce vous pris que nous en comptons ensemble. Et ce que je

vous devray, je vous paieray ou assigneray. Si dist Bertran, ce c'est

qu'un sermon, je n'ay point pensé à ce comte, ne ne sçay que ce puet

monter. Je ne sçay se vous me devez, ou si je vous doy. Or soit tout

quitte puisque vient au departir. Mais se de cy en avant nous acreons l'un

à l'autre, nous ferons nouvelle depte et le convendra escripre. Il n'y a

que du bien faire, raison donne que vous (suiviez) vostre-maistre. Ainsi

le doibt faire tout preudomme. Bonne amour fist l'amour de nous et aussi

en fera la departie: dont me poise qu'il convient que elle soit. Lors le

baisa Bertran et tous ses compagnons aussi: moult fut piteuse la

departie.'--(_Histoire de Bertrand Duguesclin_, publiée par Ménard, c.

xxiv., p. 248 et 249.)

"Duguesclin tomba dans la suite au pouvoir des Anglois, qui le retinrent

long-temps prisonnier. Après avoir enfin obtenu sa liberté sous parole

d'acquitter sa rançon, Carvalai, son ancien frère d'armes, qu'il avoit

retrouvé, et qui pendant quelque temps lui tint bonne compagnie, voulut

lui parler encore du compte qu'ils avoient à regler ensemble. 'Bertran,

dit-il à son ami, avant que de se separer nous avons esté compagnons ou

pays d'Espangne par de la de prisons, et d'avoir (c'est-à-dire en société

tant pour les prisonniers que pour le butin que nous aurions) dont je ne

comptay oncques à vous et sçay bien de pieça que je suis vostre tenu

(redevable, en reste avec vous) dont je vouldray avoir advis: mais de tout

le moins je vous aideray ici de trente mille doubles d'or. Je ne sçay, dit

Bertran, comment il va du compte, mais que de la bonne compagnie; ne je

n'en vueil point compter; mais se j'ay mestier je vous prieray. Adonc

baisierent li uns l'autre au departir.'--(_Ibid_, p. 306.)

"L'adoption en frere se trouue auoir esté pratiquée en deux manieres par

les peuples étrangers, que les Grecs el les Latins qualifient

ordinairement du nom de Barbares. Car parmay ceux dont les moeurs et les

façons d'agir ressentoient effectiuement quelque chose de rude et

d'inhumain, elle se faisoit en se piquant reciproquement les veines, et

beuuant le sang les vns des autres. Baudoüin Comte de Flandres et Empereur

de Constantinople reproche cette detestable coûtume aux Grecs mémes, non

qu'ils en vsassent entre eux: mais parce que dans les alliances qu'ils

contractoient auec les peuples barbares, pour s'accommoder à leurs

manieres d'agir, ils estoient obligez de suiure leurs vsages, et de faire

ce qu'ils faisoient ordinairement en de semblables occasions. _Hæc est_,

ce dit-il, _quæ spurcissimo gentilium ritu pro fraterna societate,

sanguinibus alternis ebibitis, cum infidelibus sæpe ausa est amicitias

firmare ferales_. L'Empereur Frederic I. auoit fait auparauant ce mesme

reproche aux Grecs, ainsi que nous apprenons de Nicetas. Mais ce que les

Grecs firent par necessité, nos François qui estoient resserrez dans

Constantinople, et attaquez par dehors de toutes parts, furent contraints

de le faire, et de subire la meme loy, en s'accommodant au temps, pour se

parer des insultes de leurs ennemis. C'est ce que le Sire de Joinuille dit

en ces termes: A iceluy Cheualier oüi dire, et comme il le disoit au Roy,

que l'Empereur de Constantinople, et ses gens, se allierent vne fois d'vn

Roy, qu'on appelloit le Roy des Comains, pour auoir leur aide, pour

conquerir l'Empereur de Grece, qui auoit nom Vataiche. Et disoit iceluy

Cheualier, que le Roy du peuple des Comains pour auoir seurte et fiance

fraternel l'vn l'autre, qu'il faillit qu'ils et chascun de leur gens d'vns

part et d'autre se fissent saigner, et que de leur sang ils donnassent à

boire l'vn à l'autre, en signe de fraternité, disans qu'ils estoient

frere, et d'vn sang, et ainsi le conuint faire entre nos gens, el les gens

d'iceluy Roy, et meslérent de leur sang auec du vin, et en beuuoient l'vn

à l'autre, et disoient lors qu'ils estoient freres d'vn sang. Georges

Pachymeres raconte la méme chose des Comains. Et Alberic en l'an 1187,

nous fait assez voir que cette coûtume eut pareillement cours parmy les

Sarazins, écriuant que la funeste alliance que le Comte de Tripoly

contracta auec le Sultan des Sarazins, se fit auec cette cérémonie, et

qu'ils y bûrent du sang l'vn de l'autre.

* * * * *

"Cette fraternité se contractoit encore par l'attouchement des armes, en

les faisant toucher reciproquement les vnes aux autres. Cette coûtume

estoit particuliere aux Anglois, auant que les Normans se rendissent

maîtres de l'Angleterre, principalement lorsque des communautez entieres

faisoient entre eux vne alliance fraternelle, en vsans de cette maniere,

au lieu du changement reciproque des armes, qui n'auroit pas pû s'executer

si facilement.

* * * * *

"Mais entre tant de cerémonies qui se sont obseruées pour contracter vne

fraternite, celle qui a esté pratiquée par les peuples Chrétiens, est la

plus plausible et la plus raisonnable: car pour abolir et pour éteindre

entierement les superstitions qui les accompagnoient, et qui tenoient du

paganisme, ils en ont introduit vne autre plus sainte et plus pieuse en la

contractant dans l'Eglise, deuant le Prétre, et en faisant reciter

quelques prieres ou oraisons, nous en auons la formule dans

_l'Euchologium_."

NOTE V.--CHAP. III.

The fear of Robert Guiscard was no chimera; for, after having raised

himself from indigence to power and authority, he opposed successfully the

whole force of two great monarchies, and defeated alternately the emperors

of the east and the west.

One of the most pointed accounts of this extraordinary freebooter which I

have met with I subjoin, from the _Melanges Curieux_.

"Robertus Wischardi de Normania exiens, vir pauper, miles tamen, ingenio

et probitate suâ Apuliam, Calabriam suæ ditioni submisit, et Insulam

Siciliam de manu Ismaelitarum liberavit, Rotgeriumque fratrem suum ejusdem

Insulæ Comitem appellavit. Demum mare transiens, Durachium urbem nobilem

cepit, Dalmatiamque et Bulgariam super Alexium Imperatorem acquisivit:

insuper eum ter bello fugavit, et Romanum, Henricum semel ab urbe fugere

compulit, Pontificemque Romanum, quem ceperat, ab eo liberavit. Qui cum

innumerabilia penè fecisset probitatis indicia, hoc de illo constans

habetur, quod nisi morte præoccupatus fuisset, filium suum Boamundum

Imperatorem faceret, se verò Regem Persarum, ut sæpè dicebat,

constitueret, viamque Hieroso, lymorum destructâ paganitate Francis

aperiret. Nunquam victus est quanquam sæpè pugnaverit. Venetos, qui contra

eum omni virtute sua convenerant cum stolo suo ita profligavit, ut nec

fuga, nec pelagus illis esset auxilio. Nec fuit terrarum locus ita

remotus, in quo rumor, fama, timor Wischardi per omnium ferê ora non

volitaret. Et ut verius de ec dici potest, nulli Regum aut Imperatorum

Wischardus secundus extitit."--_Pere l'Abbe._

NOTE VI.--CHAP. III.

This cry was not the only cry of arms which the crusaders used in the Holy

Land. Though it was the general battle-cry of the whole army, and each

leader made use of it occasionally when he wanted to animate the whole

host, by rousing up their old enthusiasm; yet when he sought to bring

round him his own vassals, he used the appropriate shout of his family.

Thus we find, by Raimond d'Agiles, that the battle-cry of Raimond de St.

Giles was "_Toulouse!_"

The best general account of the old cry of arms which I have met with is

given by Ducange.

"Le cry d'armes n'est autre chose qu'vne clameur conceuë en deux ou trois

paroles, prononcée au commencement ou au fort du combat et de la mêlée,

par un chef, ou par tous les soldats ensemble, suivant les rencontres et

les occasions: lequel cry d'armes estoit particulier au general de l'armée

ou au chef de chaque troupe.

* * * * *

"Les François que se trouuérent à la premiere conquéte de la Terre Sainte

avoient pour cry general ces mots, _Adjuua Deus_, ainsi que nous apprenons

de Foucher de Chartres, et d'vn autre ancien Auteur ou bien, _Eia Deus

adiuua nos_, suivant l'Histoire de Hierusalem. Raymond d'Agiles rapporte

la cause et l'origine de ce cry à la vision de Pierre Barthelemy, qui

trouua la sainte Lance au temps que les Turcs assiegeoient la ville

d'Antioche sur les nostre: car durant ce siége S. André luy estant apparu

plusieurs fois, il luy enjoignit de persuader aux Chrétiens d'auoir

recours à Dieu dans les fatigues du siége, et de la faim qu'ils

enduroient, et de prendre dans les combats pour cry d'armes ces mots

_Deus adjuua, et sit signum clamoris vestri, Devs adjuva, et reuera Deus

adjuvabit vos_ qui sont les paroles de S. Andre, Roderic Archeuesque de

Tolede dit qu'au siége et à la prise de Cordouë sur les Sarrazins

d'Espagne, les Chrétiens crierent aussi _Deus adjuva_. Ils ajoustoient

quelquefois à ce cry ces mots _Deus vult_, ou pour parler en langage du

temps, et suiuant qu'ils sont enoncez en la Chronique du Mont Cassin,

_Diex el volt_, dont l'origine est rapportée au Concile de Clermont en

Auuergne, où le Pape Urbain II. ayant fait vne forte exhortation pour

porter les princes Chrétiens à prendre les armes pour aller retirer la

Terre Sainte demains des Infidéles, _Ita omnium qui aderant affectus in

vnum concitauit vt omnes acclamarent, Deux volt, Deus volt_. Aprés quoy le

pape ayant rendu graces à Dieu, dit entre autres paroles celle-cy, _Sit

ergo vobis vox ista in rebus bellicis militare signum, quia verbum hoc à

Deo est prolatum, cùm in hostem fiet bellicosi impetus congressio, erit

vni uersis hæc ex parte Dei vna vociferatio Deus vult, Deus vult_. D'où on

recueille pourquoy le cry est appelle Signum Dei dans quelques

Auteurs."--_Ducange, Dissertations sur l'Histoire de St Louis_, Dissert.

xi.

NOTE VII.--CHAP. IV.

I have used the term _Counts Palatine_, from the old writer whose name

stands in the margin. The peculiar position of these Counts Palatine,

under the ever-changing dynasties of early Europe, is a curious and

interesting subject of inquiry, but one too extensive to be fully treated

in this place. I hope, at some future period, to speak of it in a more

comprehensive work. The learned author whose works have furnished me with

the preceding note affords a good view of the original functions of the

Counts of the Palace, or Counts Palatine.

"Sovs la premiere et la seconde race de nos Rois, les comtes faisoient la

fonction dans les prouinces et dans les villes capitales du royaume, non

seulement de gouuerneurs, mais encore celle de juges. Leur principal

employ estoit d'y decider les differents et les procés ordinaires de leur

justiciables; et où ils ne pouvoient se transporter sur les lieux, ils

commettoient à cét effet leurs vicomtes et leurs lieutenans. Quant aux

affaires d'importance, et qui meritoient d'estre jugées par la bouche du

prince, nos mémes rois auoient des comtes dans leurs palais, et prés de

leurs personnes, ausquels ils en commettoient la connoissance et le

jugement, qui estoient nommez ordinairement, acause de cét illustre

employ, Comtes du Palais, ou Comtes Palatins.

* * * * *

"Il y a lieu de croire que dans la premiere race de nos Rois, et méme dans

le commencement de la seconde, la charge de Comte du Palais n'estoit

exercée que par vn seul, qui jugeoit les differens, assisté de quelques

Conseillers Palatins, qui sont appellez Scabini Palatii, Echeuins du

Palais, dans la Chronique de S. Vincent de Wlturne.

* * * * *

"On ne peut pas toutefois disconuenir qu'il n'y ait eu en méme temps

plusieurs Comtes du Palais. Car Eguinard en vne de ses Epîtres, dit en

termes exprés qu'Adalard et Geboïn estoient Comtes du Palais en méme

temps. Et vn titre de Louys le Debonnaire de l'an 938, qui se lit aux

Antiquitez de l'Abbaye de Fulde est souscrit de ce Gebawinus, ou Gebuinus,

et de Ruadbertus, qui y prennent qualité de Comtes du Palais."

NOTE VIII.--CHAP. VI.

The habit of carrying a small wallet when bound on a pilgrimage is one of

the oldest customs of the Christian world. This part of the pilgrim's

dress was called afterward an _aumoniere_, and served either as a

receptacle for containing the alms received on the journey, or, when worn

by the rich, as a repository for those they intended to give away. The

curious fact of Charlemagne having borne one of these wallets to Rome, and

of its having been buried with him, is mentioned in the XVth Dissertation

on Joinville.

"Cassian traitant des habits et des vétemens des anciens Moines d'Egypte,

dit qu'ils se reuetoient d'vn habit fait de peaux de chevre, que l'on

appelloit Melotes, et qu'ils portoient ordinairement l'escarcelle et le

baton. Les termes de cét Auteur ne sont pas toutefois bien clairs, en cét

endroit-là: _Vltimus est habitus eorum pellis Caprina, quæ Melotes, vel

pera appellatur, et baculus._ Car il n'est pas probable que cét habit de

peaux de cheure ait esté appellé Pera. Ce qui a donné sujet à quelques

Commentateurs de restituer Penula. Neantmoins Isidore et Papias, comme

aussi Ælfric dans son Glossaire Saxon, ont écrit aprés Cassian, que

Melotis, estoit la méme chose que Pera. Quant à moy j'estime que Cassian a

entendu dire que ces Moines, outre ce vétement fait de peaux, auoient

encore coûtume de porter vn petit sachet, et vn baton, dont ils se

seruoient durant leurs pelerinages. Ce qui ce peut aisement concilier, en

restituant le mot appellatur, on le sousentendant, aprés Melotes. Tant y a

que Cassian parle du baton des Moines au Chapitre suiuant; et dans l'vne

de ses Collations, il fait assez, voir que lorsqu'ils entreprenoient

quelque voyage, ils prenoient l'vn et l'autre: Cum accepissemus peram et

baculum, vt ibi moris est Monachis vniuersis iter agentibus. Le Moine

d'Angouléme ecrit que le corps de Charlemagne, apres sa mort, fut inhumé

auec tous ses habits imperiaux, et que pardessus on y posa l'escarcelle

d'or, dont les pelerins se seruent ordinairement, et qu'il auoit coûtume

de porter lorsqu'il alloit à Rom: et super vestimentis Imperialibus pera

peregrinalis aurea posita est, quam Romam portare solitus erat. D'où il

resulte que le baton et l'escarcelle ont toûjours esté la marque

particuliere des Pelerins, ou comme parle Guillaume de Malmesbury Solatia

et indicia itineris.

"Les Pelerins de la Terre Sainte, auant que d'entreprendre leurs

pelerinages, alloient rcecuoir l'escarcelle et le bourdon des mains des

Prestres dans l'Eglise.

* * * * *

"Et cela s'est pratiqué mémes par nos Rois, lorsqu'ils ont voulu

entreprendre ces longs et facheux voyages d'outremer. Car aprés auoir

chargé leurs épaules de la figure de la Croix, ils auoient coûtume de

venir en l'Abbaye de S. Denys, et là, aprés la celébration de la messe,

ils receuoient des mains de quelque Prelat le baton de Pelerin et

l'escarcelle, et memes l'Oriflamme, ensuite dequoy ils prenoient conge de

S. Denys, Patron du Royaume."

NOTE IX.--CHAP. VII.

The pretence of the Count of Toulouse for resisting the claims of Boemond

to the possession of Antioch was, that he had vowed to the emperor Alexius

to deliver up all conquests to him alone. This was but a specious

covering for his own avarice. The terms in which Baldric mentions the

cession of Antioch to Boemond are as follows; and it will be seen that

much more notice was taken of Alexius than that contemptible usurper

deserved.

"Locuti sunt igitur ad invicem Christianorum duces, et sponte sua Boamundo

subintulerunt: Vides quo in articulo res nostra posita sit. Si civitatem

ergo istam vel prece vel pretio, nobis etiam juvantibus poteris obtinere,

nos eam tibi unanimiter concedimus: salvo in omnibus quod Imperatori, te

collaudante, fecimus sacramento. Si ergo Imperator nobis adjutor

advenerit, juratasque pactiones custodierit, perjuri vivere nolumus: sed

quod pace tua dictum sit, nos illi eam concedimus: sin autem, tuæ semper

sit subdite potestati. _Ex Historia Hierosolymitana Baldrici, Episcopi

Dolensis._"

NOTE X.--CHAP. X.

Even in the days of Ducange the form and colour of the Oriflamme, or

standard borne to battle before the kings of France, was so far forgotten,

that the learned antiquary bestowed no small research to ascertain its

texture and appearance. His erudition never left any thing in uncertainty;

but though he proved the particular banner called the Oriflamme to have

been red; yet Guillaume Guiart mentions one of fine azure, which was

carried before Philip Augustus to the siege of Acre. Ducange speaks of the

Oriflamme as follows:

"Pour commencer par la recherche du nom d'Oriflamme, la plûpart des

Ecriuains estiment, qu'on le doit tirer de sa matiere, de sa couleur, et

de se forme. Quant à sa figure, il est hors de doute qu'elle estoit faite

comme les bannieres de nos Eglises, que l'on porte ordinairement aux

processions, qui sont quarrees, fenduës en diuers endroits par le bas,

ornees de franges, et attacheés par le haut à vn baton de trauers, qui les

tient etenduës, et est soûtenu d'vne forme de pique. Ils ajoûtent que sa

matiere estoit de soye, ou de tafetas, sa couleur rouge, et tirant sur

celle du feu, et de la sandaraque, à laquelle Pline attribue celle de la

flamme. Il est vray que pour la couleur, tous les Ecriuains conuiennent

qu'elle estoit rouge. Guillaume le Breton en sa Philippide, la decrit

ainsi:

'Ast Regi satis est tenues crispare per auras

Vexillum simplex, cendato simplice textum,

Splendoris rubei, Letania qualiter vti

Ecclesiana solet, certis ex more diebus

Quod cum flamma habeat vulgariter aurea nomen

Omnibus in bellis habet omnia signa preire.'

"Guillaume Guiart en son Histoire de France, en la vie de Philippes

Auguste, a ainsi traduit ces vers:

'Oriflamme est vne banniere,

Aucune poi plus forte qui quimple,

De cendal roujoiant et simple,

Sans pourtraiture d'autre affaire.'

* * * * *

"L'Oriflamme estoit l'enseigne particuliere de l'Abbe et du Monastere de

S. Denys, qu'ils faisoient porter dans leurs guerres par leur Auoüe Car

c'estoit-là la principale fonction des Auoüez, qui en qualite de

defenseurs et de protecteurs des Monasteres et des Eglises, entreprenoient

la conduit de leurs vassaux pour la defense de leurs droits, et portoient

leurs enseignes à la guerre: d'où vient qu'ils sont ordinairement

appellez, les porte-enseignes des Eglise, signiferi Ecclesiarum, comme

j'espere justifier ailleurs Les Comtes du Vexin et de Pontoise auoient ce

titre dans le Monastere de S. Denys, dont ils estoient les Auoüez, et les

protecteurs, et en cette qualite ils portoient l'Oriflamme dans les

guerres qui s'entreprenoient pour la defense de ses biens.

* * * * *

"Il faut donc tenir pour constant que Louys le Gros fut le premier de nos

Rois, qui en qualite de Comte du Vexin tira l'Oriflamme de dessus l'autel

de l'Eglise de S. Denys, et la fit porter dans ses armees, comme la

principale enseigne du Protecteur de son Royaume, et dont il inuoquoit le

secours dans son cry d'armes.

* * * * *

"Il est arriue dans la suite que nos Rois, qui estoient entrez dans les

droits de ces Comtes, s'en sont seruis, pour leurs guerres particulieres,

comme estant la banniere qui portoit le nom du Protecteur de leur Royaume,

ainsi que j'ay remarque, la tirans, de dessus l'autel de l'Eglise S.

Denys, auec les memes ceremonies, et les memes prieres, que l'on auoit

accoûteme d'observer, lorsqu'on la mettoit entre les mains des Comtes du

Vexin pour les guerres particulieres de ce Monastere. Ces ceremonies sont

ainsi decrites par Raoul de Presle, au Traite dont je viens de parler en

cestermes: Premierement la procession vous vient à l'encontre jusques à

l'issuë du Cloistre, et apres la procession, atteints les benoists corps

Saints de Monsieur S. Denys, et ses Compagnons, et mis sur l'autel en

grande reuerence, et aussi le corps de Monsieur S. Louys, et puis est mise

cette banniere ploise sur les corporaux, où est consacre le corps de N. S.

Jesus Christ, lequel vous receuez dignement apres la celebration de la

Messe: si fait celuy lequel vous auez esleu à bailler, comme au plus prud

homme et vaillant Cheualier; et ce fait, le baisez en la bouche, et luy

baillez, et la tient en ses mains par grande reuerence, afin que les

Barons assistans le puissent baiser comme reliques et choses dignes, et en

luy baillant pour le porter, luy faites faire serment solemnel de le

porter et garder en grande reuerence, et à l'honneur de vous et de vostre

Royaume.

* * * * *

NOTE XI.--CHAP. XIII.

Villehardouin is undoubtedly the best authority for all the particulars of

the siege of Constantinople. Nicetas was extravagantly prejudiced; and

though the emperor Baldwin, in his letters to the Pope, was as frank as

any man in his situation could be, it was but natural that he should

endeavour to show the causes of the warfare in the most favourable point

of view--that he should represent the conduct of himself and his

companions with every advantage--in fact that he should see the events

which raised him to the throne through a peculiar medium, and represent

them tinged with the same colours that they presented to his own eyes.

Villehardouin wrote without many of these disadvantages. He did not belong

to the pillaged and conquered class, like Nicetas, nor did he write to

excuse himself in the eyes of the Pope. He had his prejudices, of course,

like other men, but these prejudices were greatly prevented from affecting

his history by the frank simplicity of chivalrous manners, which no one

possessed in greater purity than he did himself.

In two points Philippe Mouskes gives a different account of the affairs of

Constantinople from Villehardouin. In the first place, he states that

Alexius Angelus, the brother of Isaac, commanded his nephew to be drowned;

but that by entreaties the prince moved those persons who were charged

with the cruel order. In the next place, he says that Murzuphlis caused

Alexius the younger to be poisoned.

In regard to the destruction of the monuments of art committed by the

Latins, Nicetas gives a melancholy, though somewhat bombastic account. The

famous works destroyed were as follows, according to his statement:

A colossal Juno, from the forum of Constantine, the head of which was so

large that four horses could scarcely draw it from the spot where it stood

to the palace.

The statue of Paris, presenting the apple to Venus.

An immense bronze pyramid, crowned by a female figure, which turned with

the wind.

The colossal statue of Bellerophon, in bronze, which was broken down, and

cast into the furnace. Under the inner nail of the horse's hind foot, on

the left side, was found a seal, wrapped in a woollen cloth.

A figure of Hercules, by Lysimachus, of such vast dimensions that the

circumference of the thumb was equal in measurement to the waist of an

ordinary man. From the attitude of this statue, as described by Nicetas,

it is not improbable that it served as a model for that piece of

sculpture, the only part of which that remains is the famous _Torso_.

The Ass and his Driver, cast by order of Augustus, after the battle of

Actium, in commemoration of his having discovered the position of Antony

through the means of a peasant and his beast, the one bearing the name of

_Fortunate_, and the other that of _Conqueror_.

The Wolf suckling the twins of Rome; the Gladiator in combat with a Lion;

the Hippopotamus; the Sphynxes: and the famous Eagle fighting with a

Serpent; all underwent the same fate, as well as the beautiful statue of

Helen, which Nicetas speaks of as the perfection of statuary.

Added to these were the exquisite figure on the race-course, and a group,

wherein a monster, somewhat resembling a bull, was represented engaged in

deadly conflict with a serpent. Each appeared expiring under the efforts

of the other; the snake crushed between the teeth of the monster, and the

bull tainted to the heart by the venom of the reptile: no bad emblem of

the struggle between the bold and furious valour of the Latins and the

poisonous treachery of the Greeks themselves.

NOTE XII.--CHAP. XIV.

That St. Louis was threatened with the torture is an undoubted fact though

what that sort of torture was which Joinville calls _les Bernicles_ is not

so clear. Ducange fancies that it was the _Cippus_ of the ancients: and

whether it was or not, the resolution of the monarch in resisting showed

not a little fortitude. I subjoin Ducange's observations.

"Le Sire de Joinville dit que le Sultan de Babylone, ou son Conseil fit

faire au Roy des propositions peu raisonables, croyant qu'il y

consentiroit pour obtenir sa deliurance, et celle de ceux de sa suite, qui

auoient este faits prisonniers auec luy en la bataille de Massoure. Et sur

ce que le Roy refusa absolument d'y donner les mains, il le voulut

intimider; et le menaça de luy faire souffrir de grands tourmens. Mathieu

Paris: Cùm frequenter à Saracenis cumterribilibus comminationibus

sollicitaretur Rex vt Damiatam redderet, et noluit vlla ratione,

postularunt summam sibi pecuniæ persolui sine diminutione, vel diuturno

cruciatu vsque ad mortem torqueretur. Ce tourment est appelle par le Sire

de Jouinville les Bernicles, lequel il decrit en ces termes. Et voyans les

Sarazins que le Roy ne vouloit obtemperer à leur demandes, ils le

menacerent de le mettre en Bernicles: qui est le plus grief tourment

qu'ils puissent faire à nully: Et sont deux grans tisons de bois, qui sont

entretenans au chef. Et quant ils veulent y mettre aucun, ils le couschent

sur le couste entre ces dieux tisons, et luy font passer les jambes à

trauers de grosses cheuilles: puis couschent la piece de bois, qui est

là-dessus, et font asseoir vn homme dessus les tisons. Dont il auient

qu'il ne demeure à celuy qui est là cousche point demy pied d'ossemens,

qu'il ne soit tout desrompu et escache. Et pour pis luy faire, au bout des

trois jours luy remettent les jambes, qui sont grosses et enflees, dedens

celles bernicles, et la rebrisent derechief, qui est vne chose moult

cruelle à qui sauroit entendre: et la lient à gros nerfs de boeuf par la

teste, de peur qu'il ne se remuë là dedans.

THE END.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] La Père Menestrier, Ordres de Chevalerie; Jouvencel; Favin Théâtre.

[2] Fabliau de l'ordene de Chevalerie dans les fabliaux de Le Grand

d'Aussi.

[3] Tacit. de Mor. Germ.

[4] Marculfus.

[5] Menestrier de la Chevalerie et ses preuves, page 230.

[6] Tacitus de Morib. German.

[7] Eginhard Ann.

[8] See note I.

[9] Charles Nodier on St. Palaye.

[10] Ordene de Chevalerie Fabliaux.

[11] Charles Nodier.

[12] Felibien, Hist. St. Denis.

[13] Coutumes de Beauvoisis.

[14] St. Palaye.

[15] Vie de Bayard.

[16] Favin Théâtre.

[17] Vie de Boucicaut, Coll. Pelitot et Momerque.

[18] Vie de Bayard.

[19] Froissart.

[20] St. Palaye, liv. i.

[21] Guillaume Guiart.; Guill, Amoric.; Rigord; Philipeid.

[22] Brantome.

[23] See note II.

[24] Charles Nodier's Annotations on St. Palaye.

[25] Ducange, Dissert. xxii. Menestrier, chap. 2; St. Palaye.

[26] Roman de Garin, Fabliaux, vol. ii.

[27] Menestrier, chap. 2. and 9.

[28] Menestrier, chap. 9.

[29] St. Palaye.

[30] Hartknoch, lib. ii. c. 1.

[31] Existing Orders of Knighthood.

[32] Cappefigue.

[33] Menestrier, ix.; St. Palaye.

[34] Adré Favin Théât.

[35] Nithard, lib. iii.

[36] _Britannarum_ is the word.

[37] Ducange apud Chron. Tur. an. 1066.

[38] Munster. Geogr. lib. iii.

[39] Ducange, in his sixth dissertation, has satisfactorily overturned the

assertion made by Modius, that tournaments were known in Germany at a much

earlier period than here stated.

[40] Ducange, Dissert. vii.

[41] Menestrier Origine.

[42] Favin Théâtre.

[43] St. Palaye.

[44] St. Palaye.

[45] Vie de Bayard.

[46] Vie de Bayard.

[47] Olivier de la Marche.

[48] Ducange, Dissert. vi.

[49] St. Palaye.

[50] Ducange, Dissert. vii.

[51] Mat. Paris, Ann. 1241.

[52] Colombiere.

[53] Menestrier, vi.

[54] Mat. Westmonas., page 409.

[55] Should any one be tempted to investigate further, he will find the

subject discussed at length in the seventh dissertation of Ducange. See

also the _Chronique de Molinet_.

[56] St. Palaye; Ribeiro, lib. x.

[57] Menestrier.

[58] Ordonances des Rois de France, ann. 1294.

[59] Pasquier Recherches.

[60] Vie de Bayard sur Jean d'Arces.

[61] See note III.

[62] Colombiere.

[63] La Colombiere.

[64] Froissart Olivier de la Marche.

[65] See the "Voeu du Heron and the Voeu du Paon." cited in St. Palaye.

[66] See note IV.

[67] Ducange, Dissert, xxi.

[68] Monstrelet.

[69] Juvenal des Ursius.

[70] Hardouin de la Jaille.

[71] See deed between Du Guesclin and Clisson. Ducange, Dissert, xxi.

[72] Ducange, Gloss. Lat. Mutare Armas.

[73] See the Chevalier de la Tour, as cited by St. Palaye.

[74] Vertot.

[75] Sharon Turner.

[76] William of Jumieges, lib. iv.

[77] Eginhard. Annal.

[78] Mabillon.

[79] William of Tyre, lib. i.

[80] Voltaire, Essai sur les Moeurs.

[81] Guibert de Nogent.

[82] Will. Tyr. lib. i.

[83] Mills mentions one from Manuel VII. to Pope Gregory VII., and Guibert

of Nogent speaks of another which, though he cautiously avoids naming the

emperor who wrote it, lest he should mislead from want of correct

information, could only have been sent, under some of the circumstances he

mentions, by Isaac Comnenus. Mills supposes it to have been the same with

a letter written by Alexius, though it differs in many parts from the

usual version of that epistle. Probably, however, this opinion is correct,

as a letter is stated to have been addressed to Robert of Flanders, who

was in his extreme youth in the time of Isaac Comnenus.

[84] Murator. Script. Ital.

[85] Albert of Aix; William of Tyre.

[86] Ibid.

[87] Robert, lib. i.

[88] Guib. Nogent, lib. ii.

[89] Hist. Hieros. abrev. Jacob. Vit. lib. i.

[90] Will. Tyr. lib. i.; Albert. Chron. Hieros.

[91] Will. Tyr.; Hist. Hieros.; Jacob. Vit. lib. i.

[92] Will. Tyr. lib. i.

[93] Albert. Aquensis; Hist. Hieros.; Jacobi Vitr.; Will. Tyr.

[94] See note V.

[95] William of Tyre says that he was wandering from place to place under

the protection of Guiscard. This opinion I have adopted, although Albert

of Aix declares that Peter joined him at Rome.

[96] Will. of Malmsbury.

[97] Mills.

[98] Will. Tyr. lib. i.

[99] Guibertus; Gesta Dei.

[100] A. D. 1095.

[101] Mills, chap. ii.

[102] Will. Tyr. lib. i.

[103] Robertus Monachus, lib. i.

[104] I have followed as nearly as possible the account of Robertus

Monachus, who was present. Having found in no book of any authenticity the

speech attributed by more modern writers to Peter the Hermit, I have

rejected it entirely as supposititious. Neither Robert, nor Albertus

Aquensis, nor William of Tyre, nor Guibert of Nogent, nor James of Vitry,

the most authentic historians of the crusade, some of whom were present at

the council of Clermont, and most of whom lived at the time, even mention

the appearance of Peter at that assembly. That he might be there, I do not

attempt to deny, but that he addressed the people I believe utterly

unfounded.

[105] See note VI.

[106] Robertus Monachus.

[107] Fulcher of Chartres; Guibert of Nogent; William of Tyre.

[108] See note VII.

[109] Guibert of Nogent.

[110] Fulcher of Chartres; William of Tyre.

[111] Guibert; Gesta Dei.

[112] Albert. Aquensis; Will. Tyr.; Guibert.

[113] Albert of Aix.

[114] See Ducange in Sig. Cruc.

[115] Albert of Aix; James of Vitry; Robert the Monk; Guibert.

[116] Fulcher.

[117] Albert of Aix; William of Tyre. Mills follows this opinion; Guibert

of Nogent and James of Vitry are opposed to it, and Fulcher gives a

different account also.

[118] Fulcher; Will. Tyr.; Albert Aquen.

[119] Will. Tyr.

[120] Albert of Aix; William of Tyre.

[121] Albert of Aix.

[122] Guibert.

[123] Albert of Aix.

[124] Ibid.

[125] Guibert.

[126] Baldric.

[127] Albert of Aix.

[128] Guibert of Nogent, lib. ii.; Albert of Aix, lib. i.; Orderic Vital,

lib. ix. Mills says it was the French and Normans who thus advanced into

the country, but the great majority of writers is against him.

[129] Albert of Aix; William of Tyre.

[130] Robert the Monk; William of Tyre; Guibert of Nogent; Albert of Aix.

[131] Robert the Monk; Guibert of Nogent.

[132] William of Tyre; Albert of Aix.

[133] Robert the Monk; Guibert of Nogent.

[134] Ibid.

[135] William of Tyre; Albert of Aix.

[136] Albert. Aquensis; William of Tyre.

[137] Albert of Aix.

[138] Robertus Monachus, lib. i.

[139] Guibert of Nogent.

[140] Guibert of Nogent.

[141] See note VIII.

[142] Will. Malmsbury.

[143] Will. of Tyre; Albert of Aix.

[144] Albert of Aix.

[145] Guibert of Nogent.

[146] Guibert; Will. Tyr.

[147] Albert of Aix.

[148] William of Tyre.

[149] Albert of Aix.

[150] Albert. Aquensis.

[151] Will Tyr.; Albert. Aquens.

[152] Guibert.

[153] Fulcher; Guibert; Will. Tyr.; Albert.

[154] I have taken perhaps more pains than was necessary to investigate

this part of the crusaders' proceedings, which I found nearly as much

confused in the writings of Mills as in those of the contemporary authors.

Some assert that the whole mass of the western crusaders proceeded in one

body through Italy; but finding that Fulcher, who accompanied Robert of

Normandy and Stephen of Blois, never mentions Hugh of Vermandois; that

Guibert speaks of that prince's departure first; that the Archbishop of

Tyre marks the divisions distinctly, and that he certainly embarked at a

different port in Italy from the rest, I have been led to conclude, that

though probably looking up to Hugh as the brother of their sovereign, the

three great leaders proceeded separately on their march. Robertus Monachus

is evidently mistaken altogether, as he joins the Count of Toulouse with

the army of Hugh, when we know from Raimond d'Agiles that that nobleman

conducted his troops through Sclavonia.

[155] Albert of Aix; William of Tyre.

[156] Guibert.

[157] Ibid. lib. ii.

[158] Will. Tyr. lib. ii.

[159] Albert of Aix; William of Tyre.

[160] Albert of Aix.

[161] Guibert.

[162] Albert of Aix; Robertus Monachus; Will. Tyr.

[163] Will. Tyr.; Rob. Mon.; Guibert; Albert. Aquens.

[164] Albert of Aix.

[165] Mills, in speaking of this interview, does not distinguish between

the coat-of-arms and the mantle or pallium. They were, however, very

different, and never, that I know of, worn together. The coat-of-arms was

usually extremely small; and the form may be gathered from the anecdote of

an ancient baron, who, not readily finding his coat-of-arms, seized the

cloth of a banner, made a slit in the centre with his sword, and passing

his head through the aperture, thus went to battle. These customs however

often changed, and we find many instances of the coat-of-arms being worn

long. The mantle was the garb of peace, and was even more richly decorated

than the coat-of-arms. Another peaceful habiliment was the common surcoat,

which differed totally from the tunic worn over the armour, having large

sleeves and cuffs, as we find from the notes upon Joinville. The size of

this garment may be very nearly ascertained from the same account, which

mentions 736 ermines having been used in one surcoat worn by the king of

France. See Joinville by Ducange.

For the use of the pallium, or mantle, see St. Palaye--notes on the Fourth

Part.

[166] I have not chosen to represent this interview in the colours with

which Mills has painted it. The princess Anna, from whom he took his view

of the subject, can in no degree be depended upon. Her object was to

represent her father as a dignified monarch, receiving with cold pomp a

train of barbarous warriors; but the truth was, that Alexius was in no

slight measure terrified at Godfrey and his host, and sought by every

means to cajole him into compliance with his wishes. Almost every other

historian declares that the crusaders were received with the utmost

condescension and courtesy. Robert of Paris, one of Godfrey's noble

followers, did indeed seat himself on the throne of Alexius, and replied

to Baldwin's remonstrance by a braggart boast, for which the emperor only

reproved him by a contemptuous sneer. This, however, would, if any thing,

prove that the pride and haughtiness was on the part of the crusaders

rather than on that of the imperial court.

[167] Albert of Aix; William of Tyre.

[168] Albert of Aix.

[169] Vertot.

[170] Robert the Monk.

[171] Gerusalemme, cant. i.

[172] What the relationship exactly was I have not been able to discover.

Mills does not satisfy me that the mother of Tancred was the sister of

Robert Guiscard. The expressions of Ralph of Caen on the subject appear to

be obscure.

[173] Albert of Aix.

[174] St. Palaye.

[175] Mills, chap. 3.

[176] Fulcher.

[177] Raoul de Caen.

[178] William of Tyre.

[179] Raoul de Caen; William of Tyre; Albert of Aix; Guibert.

[180] Orderic. Vital. lib. ix.

[181] Boemond had inherited all his father's hatred to the Greek

sovereigns, and had waged many a bloody and successful war against Alexius

himself.

[182] Will. Tyr.; Albert. Aquens.

[183] Raoul de Caen; Guibert.

[184] Alexiad par Ducange.

[185] Guibert, lib. iii.

[186] Radulph. Cad. cap. 11.

[187] Radulph. Cadom. cap. 12.

[188] Albertus Aquensis says that Tancred took with him the whole army.

William of Tyre follows the same opinion, as well as Guibert. Orderic

Vital declares that when the troops were passing, Tancred dressed himself

as a common soldier, and passed among the crowd; but Radulphus Cadomensis

(or Raoul of Caen, as the French translate his name), who was his

companion and friend in after-years, makes no mention of his having taken

with him any part of the forces he commanded, merely stating, that in his

eagerness to pass before he was discovered, he aided to row the boat

himself.

[189] Raimond d'Agiles.

[190] Ibid.

[191] Raimond d'Agiles; Will. Tyr.; Guibert.

[192] Guibert; Albert of Aix.

[193] Will. Tyr.

[194] Guibert.

[195] Raimond d'Agiles.

[196] Guibert; Raimond; Will Tyr.

[197] Alexiad.

[198] Raimond d'Agiles; Albert of Aix.

[199] Raimond d'Agiles expressly states that the army of the Count of

Toulouse, which he accompanied to the Holy Land, did not join the other

crusaders till they were under the walls of Nice. Mills is therefore wrong

in writing that the Provençals joined the other soldiers of the Cross

before their arrival at Nice, and then let them march on again before

them.

[200] Guibert, lib. ii.

[201] Orderic Vital.

[202] Guibert.

[203] William of Tyre; Albert of Aix.

[204] Fulcher.

[205] Albert of Aix; Fulcher.

[206] Will. Tyr.

[207] Raimond d'Agiles; Guibert.

[208] All authors, those who were present as well as those who wrote from

the accounts of others, differ entirely among themselves concerning the

dispositions of the siege. Fulcher, who accompanied the Duke of Normandy,

says that that chief attacked the south; Raimond of Agiles, who was

present also, says that the south was the post of the Count of Toulouse. I

have, however, adopted the account of Raimond, who appears to me to have

paid more attention to the operations of the war than Fulcher.

[209] Fulcher.

[210] Ibid.

[211] The word used is _loricati_; and Ducange, who seldom makes a

positive assertion without the most perfect certainty, states, in the

observations on Joinville, that we may always translate the word

_loricatus_, a knight, "et quand on voit dans les auteurs Latins le terme

de loricati il se doit entendre des Chevaliers."--_Ducange, Observ. sur

l'Hist. de St. Louis_, page 50.

[212] Guibert.

[213] Albert of Aix, lib. ii.

[214] Albert.

[215] Ibid.

[216] Albert; Raimond d'Agiles; Guibert.

[217] Albert.

[218] Raimond.

[219] Albert.

[220] Guibert.

[221] Guibert; Albert of Aix.

[222] Raimond d'Agiles; Fulcher; Albert of Aix; Robert. Mon.

[223] Robert. Mon.

[224] Fulcher.

[225] Guibert; Raimond d'Agiles.

[226] Albert of Aix.

[227] Fulcher.

[228] Idun; Albert of Aix.

[229] Albert of Aix.

[230] The Philippide.

[231] Albert of Aix.

[232] Fulcher.

[233] Raimond d'Agiles; Albert of Aix; Guibert.

[234] Will. Tyr.

[235] Albert of Aix.

[236] Guibert; Albert.

[237] William of Tyre; Raimond.

[238] Raimond de Agiles.

[239] William of Tyre; Raimond de Agiles; Guibert de Nogent.

[240] Fulcher, cap. 4; William of Tyre.