The History of Chivalry Volume I Part 20

There was nothing chivalric in the character and conduct of his brother and successor King John, or he would not have suffered the foreign possessions of England's crown to be wrested from it. In the reign of Henry III. the flame of chivalry was kept alive by some English knights, who a.s.sisted the Emperor in his Milanese wars, and whose prowess was the most distinguished of the day. The crusades to the Holy Land were not altogether forgotten; but the page of our history is marked with the peculiar disgrace that English knights a.s.sisted the French in their inhuman war on the Albigenses.

[Sidenote: Edward I.]

[Sidenote: His gallantry at a tournament.]

There was much of the chivalric character in Edward I. He was a diligent reader of the ancient romances; and, as soon as he was invested with knighthood, he went to foreign courts, in order that he might display his prowess.[393] For the sake of acquiring military fame, he exposed his person in the Holy Land, and, during his journey homeward, though ill and forespent with travel, he displayed remarkable heroism at a tournament in Savoy.[394] The challenger was the Count of Chalons; but if pontifical authority could have destroyed chivalry, the knights never would have met.

The pope feared that some hostility was menaced, and earnestly dissuaded Edward from the tournament. He warned him of his danger: he exhorted him, as a son of the church, to decline these encounters, which the church had forbidden; and he added, that as Edward now was king, he might decline the challenge, as kings were not wont to risk their persons in these perilous shocks. But most of these reasons were so many stimulants of his courage: the more danger, the greater share of honour, and it was beneath the gallantry of his bearing to have thrown his rank as a shield before his knighthood. Followed by a thousand men-at-arms, and archers on horseback and on foot, Edward pressed his bounding steed upon the chosen plain, and the Count of Chalons met him with equal spirit, and nearly twice the number of companions. The English king soon found that no lofty courtesy, no love of chivalric exercises, had influenced the French lord. The graceful tournament soon became a deadly fray. The cause of honour triumphed, and the knights of Chalons were either slain or driven from the field. After many cavaliers on each side had been disabled, the lords of either host encountered. Their lances met and shivered; and if Chalons had been a courteous knight, he would have pa.s.sed to the other end of the plain, and seized a new lance to continue his emprise; but, maddened at his weapon failing, he threw himself upon Edward, endeavouring to crush him by his prodigious weight. At that moment Edward's horse started forwards, and the Count was thrown on the ground. His companions raised him; but he was so much bruised by the fall that he cried for mercy. His conduct had put him without the pale of chivalry, and Edward, therefore, treated him like a base-born churl. He beat him with the flat part of his sword; and, refusing to take him as his prisoner, he compelled him to surrender himself to a man of mean condition.[395]

[Sidenote: His unchivalric cruelties.]

[Sidenote: He possessed no knightly courtesy.]

Edward's love of chivalric exercises was imitated by his n.o.bility.

Tournaments and jousts were held in various parts of the country; and Kenilworth is particularly marked as famous for its Round Table, to which knights from every nation flocked.[396] In his Scotch wars, therefore, his armies were not deficient in chivalric bravery. At the battle of Falkirk the strength of the Scots was foot, as that of the English was horse; and the repeated charges of Edward's chivalry decided the fate of that memorable day. In his Welsh wars he had sullied his reputation for knightly generosity by making a public exhibition of the head of his worsted foe, Llewelyn ap Gryffyth, the last sovereign of Wales[397]; and his well-known conduct to Wallace betrayed such an absence of all n.o.bleness of mind, that he forfeited his claims to knightly consideration.

The beautiful parts, the embellishments of chivalry, were subservient to his ambition. Before his second war in Scotland he vowed, in Wesminster Abbey, by G.o.d, and also by two swans which were introduced into the a.s.sembly with great pomp and splendour, that he would punish the Scottish nation for their breach of faith, and for the death of Comyn. Nor did any of the courtesies of chivalry grace Edward: the queen of Bruce and her ladies fell into his power, and in defiance of all chivalric gallantry, he treated them as prisoners. There was something peculiarly ferocious in his treatment of the Countess of Buchan, who was also his captive. Her offence was, that she had crowned Bruce. Edward exclaimed, with the deliberation of malignity, "As she has not used the sword, she shall not perish by the sword; but for her lawless conspiracy, she shall be shut up in a stone and iron chamber, circular as the crown she gave; and at Berwick she shall be suspended in the open air, a spectacle to travellers, and for her everlasting infamy."[398] And the English Tamerlane did not relent.[399]

[Sidenote: Picture of ancient manners.]

The close of the reign of Edward I. is remarkable for a very splendid scene ill.u.s.trative of the ancient mode of creating knights, and of the chivalric manners of our forefathers. Before his last and fatal journey to Scotland, Edward caused proclamation to be made throughout England, that all persons who were ent.i.tled to the honour of knighthood by custom of hereditary succession, or who had estates sufficient to support the dignity, should, at the next feast of Pentecost, repair to Westminster, and that to every one would be delivered out of the King's wardrobe, at the King's expence, the festive and inauguratory dress of a knight.

Accordingly, at the time and place appointed, there was a fair and gallant show of three hundred young gentlemen, sons of earls, barons, and knights, and among these aspirants to chivalry were distributed in ample measure, according to their different ranks, purple, fine linen, furs, and mantles embroidered with gold. The royal palace, though magnificently s.p.a.cious, could not accommodate all these young esquires with their retinue of yeomen and pages. Many of them repaired to the New Temple, where, cutting down the trees and levelling the walls of the garden, they set up their tents and pavilions in brave emulation of actual war. They performed their vigils in the Temple church, while the Prince of Wales, by command of the King his father, pa.s.sed the night in prayer in Westminster Abbey.

On the following day, the King invested his son with the military belt, and a.s.signed to him the duchy of Aquitaine. The Prince, being knighted, went to the Abbey that he might confer the like military honor on his companions. So close was the press of spectators round the high altar, that two knights were stifled, and several fainted, though each was supported by three knights of experienced prowess. The Prince, accompanied by his father and the chief n.o.bility, at length reached the altar, and his guards made a pa.s.sage for his friends to receive knighthood at his hands.

After he had dubbed and embraced them all, his attendants introduced two swans covered with golden nets, which were adorned and embossed with studs of gold. This was the most joyous part of the ceremony in the eyes of the people, and their rude and joyous shouts drowned the clangor of the trumpets. The King, as before stated, vowed by heaven and the swans that he would go to Scotland; and even if he should die in the enterprise, he would avenge the death of Comyn and the violated faith of the Scots. He then adjured the Prince and the n.o.bles, and his band of knights by their fealty and chivalry, that if he should die in his journey to Scotland, they would carry his body forwards, and never bury it till his son had established his dominion. Every heart a.s.sented to this high resolve, and the ceremony closed. The knights were feasted that day at the royal palace; and while they were quaffing muscadel in honour of chivalry and the ladies, the minstrels in their songs reminded them of their duty to pledge themselves before the swans to perform some rare feats of arms. The Prince vowed that he would never rest two nights in one place until he had performed his father's high behests; and the other knights made various fantastic vows for the promotion of the same object.[400]

[Sidenote: Edward II.]

[Sidenote: Chivalric circ.u.mstances in the battle of Bannockburn.]

The defeat of the English chivalry at the battle of Bannockburn, (24th June, 1315,) was the most remarkable circ.u.mstance in the reign of Edward II. On the preceding day, Douglas[401] and Sir Robert Keith, marshal of Scotland, were dispatched by Robert Bruce from the main body of his army to descry whether the enemy was approaching.

"And soon the great host have they seen, Where shields shining were so sheen, And basinets burnished bright, That gave against the sun great light.

They saw so fele[402] brawdyne[403] baners, Standards, and pennons, and spears, And so fele[402] knights upon steeds, All flaming in their weeds.

And so fele[404] bataills[405], and so broad, And too so great room as they rode That the maist host, and the stoutest Of Christendom, and the greatest Should be abaysit[406], for to see Their foes into such quant.i.ty."

The Bruce, vol. ii. p. 111.

The English vanguard, commanded by the Earls of Gloucester and Hereford, soon came in general sight. The appearance of Edward's army is described by Barbour in a rich chivalric style.

"The sun was bright, and shined clear, And armouris that burnished were, So blomyt[407], with the sun's beam, That all the land was in a leme[408], Banners right fairly flawinand[409], And pensels to the wind wawand."[410]

Barbour, xi. 188-193.

Bruce was riding on a palfrey and marshalling his men, when Sir Henry de Bohun started from the opposite host, and careered his horse against him.

Sir Henry was a fierce rather than a gallant knight, or he would not have pressed his war-steed upon a foe who was riding on a palfrey.[411] But his want of chivalric gallantry was justly punished.

"And when Glosyter and Hertfurd were, With their battle approaching near, Before them all there come riding, With helm on head and spear in hand, Sir Henry Boune, the worthy, That was a wight knight, and a hardy; And to the Earl of Hertfurd cousin; Armed in arms good and fine; Come on a steed, a bow-shot nere, Before all other that there were.

And knew the King, for that he saw Him so range his men in row; And by the crown, that was set Also upon his bacinet, And towards him he went on haste.

And the King so apertly Saw him come, forth all his feres[412]

In hy[413] to him the horse he steers.

And when Sir Henry saw the King Come on forouting abaysing,[414]

To him he rode in full great hy[415]

He thought that he should well lightly Win him and have him at his will, Since he him horsed saw so ill.

Sprent[416] they came unto a ling,[417]

Sir Henry missed the n.o.ble king.

And he, that in his stirrups stood, With the axe, that was hard and good, With so great mayn[418] reached him a dint, That neither hat nor helm might stynt, The hewy dusche[419] that he him gave, That near the head to the harness clave.

The hand-axe shaft fruschyt[420] in tow; And he down to the yird gan go All flatlyngs[421], for him failed might.

This was the first stroke of the fight."

Barbour, vol. ii. p. 122.

The fine generousness of chivalry was very n.o.bly displayed in another circ.u.mstance which preceded the great battle. It was a main object with the English to throw succours into the castle of Stirling; and Edward, therefore, commanded Sir Robert Clifford and eight hundred hors.e.m.e.n to make a circuit by the low grounds to the east, and approach the castle.

Bruce, in antic.i.p.ation of the Englishmen's purpose, had charged Randolph who commanded his left wing to prevent Stirling from being relieved; and when he saw the English troops holding on their gallant course unchecked, he cried, "A rose has fallen from thy chaplet, Randolph,"[422] and bitterly reproached him for his want of vigilance. Nothing but the utmost desperateness of valour could efface this shame; and gathering round him a few hundred bold spirits, the Scottish General advanced against the English. Clifford, in his pride of chivalry, thought that he could soon disperse a band of lightly armed troops of foot-soldiers, who were now being marshalled into a circle with their spears resting on the ground, the points protruded on every side. The English charged, but the resistance was more gallant than what they had foreseen. Still, however, the Scots seemed gradually sinking under the force of numbers; and Douglas, who saw the peril, requested the King's permission to go and join him. "You shall not move from your ground," cried the King: "let Randolph extricate himself as he best may. I will not alter my order of battle, and lose the advantage of my position." But Douglas reiterated his request, and wrung leave from the King. He flew to the a.s.sistance of his friend.

But before he reached him he saw that the English were falling into disorder, and that the perseverance of Randolph had prevailed over their impetuous courage. "Halt," cried Douglas, like a generous knight, "these brave men have repulsed the enemy; let us not diminish their glory by sharing it."

Of the battle of Bannockburn itself little need be said by me, because there was not much chivalric character about it. Some historians describe the defeat of the English as having been princ.i.p.ally occasioned by the Scottish cavalry throwing the rear of their archers into confusion. Others affirm that Bruce, seeing the inadequacy of his own cavalry to cope with that of the English, formed the battles or divisions of his army entirely of foot-soldiers, and dug trenches before his line, slightly covering them with turf and hurdles. The gallant knights of England, with the sun streaming on their burnished helms and gilt shields, advanced to charge the bristled front of the Scots: but the turf sunk beneath the pressure of their horses' feet, and men and their steeds lay at the mercy of their enemy. One or other of these circ.u.mstances turned the event of the battle, and the Scotch reserve being judiciously brought up, completed the victory. In every way the generalship of Bruce was admirable: but the fate of the battle reflects nothing on the personal character of the English chivalry; for they were not worsted in an encounter of lance to lance, and horse to horse. The bravery of one English knight must not pa.s.s unrecorded. Sir Giles D'Argentyn, upon seeing some of his friends around him pause in alarm, cried that he was not used to fly, and spurring his war-steed into the thickest of the press, gallantly perished. Nor was this a solitary instance of courage; and even Edward seemed for a moment to be inspired with the fire of the Plantagenets. He dashed into the enemy's lines, and was by force drawn away by the Earl of Pembroke, when courage was evidently unavailing.[423]

[Sidenote: Singular effect of chivalry in his reign.]

Though the chivalric character was only for one moment of his life sustained by Edward II., yet it was too deeply fixed in the national mind to die on account of its neglect by any particular monarch. There is a singular circ.u.mstance on record ill.u.s.trative of the power of this feeling.

During his war with the barons, which his system of unprincipled favouritism had provoked, one of the lords refused the Queen the hospitality of his castle. This act of individual insult had general consequences. Disgusted with a cause which was blended with so much uncourtesy, barons and knights immediately flocked round the standard of the King; his arms completely triumphed, and the Spencers were recalled.[424]

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] The History of Italy, from the Fall of the Western Empire to the Commencement of the Wars of the French Revolution. By George Perceval, Esq. 2 vols. 8vo. 1825.

[2] A third volume was added in the year 1781, which also bears the t.i.tle "Memoires sur l'ancienne Chevalerie;" though more than half of the volume relates to the sport of hunting, which is a baronial or feudal rather than a chivalric subject.

[3] The Troubadour, &c. By L. E. L., author of The Improvisatrice. 12mo.

[4] Jean Froissart, called Sir Jean Froissart, (the t.i.tle, Sir, being in the middle ages common to all who were either in the holy orders of the church or in the holy order of knighthood,) was born at Valenciennes in the year 1337, and died in 1397.

[5] The Prologue of Froissart--Lord Berners' translation.

[6] I subjoin Schultens' Latin version of the Arabic pa.s.sage in Bohadin, vita et res gestae Saladini, c. 127. p. 209. "Cupere Anglum ut Almalichus Aladilus sororem ipsius in matrimonium duceret (eam e Sicilia cujus functo domino nupta fuerat, sec.u.m avexerat frater, quum insulam illam trajiceret)."

[7] Reiske's Latin version of Abulfeda is this:--"Illuc commeabant Francorum pacis causa legati, eam offerentes conditionem, ut Malec-al-Adel, frater Sultani sororem Regis Angliae in matrimonium, et Hierosolymas in regnum acciperet." Abulfeda, vol. iv. p. 111.

[8] Tacitus Germania, sec. 6. Caesar de Bello Gallico, lib. i. s. 48.