The History of Chivalry Volume I Part 3

The most honorable squire was he that was attached to the person of his lord; he was called the squire of the body, and was in truth for the time the only military youth of the cla.s.s: every squire, however, became in turn by seniority the martial squire. He accompanied his lord into the field of battle, carrying his shield and armour, while the page usually bore the helmet.[62] He held the stirrup, and a.s.sisted the knight to arm.

There was always a line of squires in the rear of a line of knights; the young cavaliers supplying their lords with weapons, a.s.sisting them to rise when overthrown, and receiving their prisoners.[63] The banner of the banneret and baron was displayed by the squire. The pennon of the knight was also waved by him when his leader was only a knight, and conducted so many men-at-arms, and other va.s.sals, that, to give dignity and importance to his command, he removed his pennon from his own lance to that of his attendant. We can readily believe the historians of ancient days, that it was right pleasant to witness the seemly pride and generous emulation with which the squires of the baron, the banneret, and the knight displayed the various ensigns of their master's chivalry.

[Sidenote: Gallantry.]

But whatever were the cla.s.s of duties to which the candidate for chivalry was attached, he never forgot that he was also the squire of dames. During his course of a valet he had been taught to play with love, and as years advanced, nature became his tutor. Since the knights were bound by oath to defend the feebler s.e.x, so the principle was felt in all its force and spirit by him who aspired to chivalric honours. Hence proceeded the qualities of kindness, gentleness, and courtesy. The minstrels in the castle harped of love as well as of war, and from them (for all young men had not, like Sir Ipomydon, clerks for their tutors) the squire learnt to express his pa.s.sion in verse. This was an important feature of chivalric education, for among the courtesies of love, the present of books from knights to ladies was not forgotten, and it more often happened than monkish austerity approved of, that a volume, bound in sacred guise, contained, not a series of hymns to the Virgin Mary, but a variety of amatory effusions to a terrestrial mistress.[64] Love was mixed in the mind of the young squire with images of war, and he, therefore, thought that his mistress, like honour, could only be gained through difficulties and dangers; and from this feeling proceeded the romance of his pa.s.sion.

But while no obstacle, except the maiden's disinclination, was in his way, he sang, he danced, he played on musical instruments, and practised all the arts common to all ages and nations to win the fair. In Chaucer, we have a delightful picture of the manners of the squire:--

"Singing he was or floyting all the day, He was as fresh as is the month of May.[65]

He could songs make, and well endite, Just and eke dance, and well pourtraie and write; So hote he loved, that by nighterdale (night time) He slept no more than doth the nightingale."

[Sidenote: Martial exercises.]

Military exercises were mingled with the anxieties of love. He practised every mode by which strength and activity could be given to the body. He learnt to endure hunger and thirst; to disregard the seasons' changes, and like the Roman youths in the Campus Martius, when covered with dust, he plunged into the stream that watered the domains of his lord. He accustomed himself to wield the sword, to thrust the lance, to strike with the axe, and to wear armour. The most favourite exercise was that which was called the Quintain: for it was particularly calculated to practise the eye and hand in giving a right direction to the lance. A half figure of a man, armed with sword and buckler, was placed on a post, and turned on a pivot, so that if the a.s.sailant with his lance hit him not on the middle of the breast but on the extremities, he made the figure turn round, and strike him an ill-aimed blow, much to the merriment of the spectators. The game of the Quintain was sometimes played by hanging a shield upon a staff fixed in the ground, and the skilful squire riding apace struck the shield in such a manner as to detach it from its ligatures.[66]

[Sidenote: Horsemanship.]

But of all the exercises of chivalry, none was thought so important as horsemanship.

"Wel could he sit on horse and fair ride,"

is Chaucer's praise of his young squire. Horsemanship was considered the peculiar science of men of gentle blood. That Braggadochio had not been trained in chivalry was apparent from his bad riding. Even his valiant courser chafed and foamed, for he disdained to bear any base burthen.[67]

Notions of religion were blended with those of arms in the mind of the squire, for his sword was blessed by the priest, and delivered to him at the altar. As he advanced to manhood he left to younger squires most of the domestic duties of his station. Without losing his t.i.tle of squire he became also called a bachelor, a word also used to designate a young unmarried knight. He went on military expeditions. The squire in Chaucer, though but twenty years old, had

"Sometime been in chevauchee, In Flanders, in Artois, and in Picardy."

Love was the inspirer of his chivalry: for he

"Bore him well, as of so little s.p.a.ce, In hope to stonden in his lady's grace."[68]

[Sidenote: Importance of squires in battles.]

[Sidenote: Particularly at the battle of Bovines.]

For the squire, instead of being merely the servant of the knight, often periled himself in his defence. When the knight was impetuous beyond the well-tempered bravery of chivalry, the admirer of his might followed him so close, and adventured himself so jeopardously, as to cover him with his shield.[69] A valiant knight, Ernalton of Saint Colombe, was on the point of being discomfited by a squire called Guillonet, of Salynges; but when the squire of Sir Ernalton saw his master almost at utterance, he went to him, and took his axe out of his hands, and said, "Ernalton, go your way, and rest you; ye can no longer fight;" and then with the axe he went to the hostile squire, says Froissart, and gave him such a stroke on the head that he was astonied, and had nigh fallen to the earth. He recovered himself, and aimed a blow at his antagonist, which would have been fatal, but that the squire slipped under it, and, throwing his arms round Guillonet, wrestled, and finally threw him. The victor exclaimed that he would slay his prostrate foe, unless he would yield himself to his master.

The name of his master was asked: "Ernalton of Saint Colombe," returned the squire, "with whom thou hast fought all this season." Guillonet seeing the dagger raised to strike him, yielded him to render his body prisoner at Lourde within fifteen days after, rescue or no rescue.[70] The squires were brought into the _melee_ of knights, at the famous battle of Bovines, on the 27th of July, 1214. The force of Philip Augustus was far inferior in number to that of the united Germans and Flemish; and, in order to prevent them from surrounding him, he lengthened his line by placing the squires at the two extremities of the knights. The mail-clad chivalry of the emperor Otho were indignant at such soldiers daring to front them; but the young warriors were not dismayed by haughty looks and contumelious speeches, and their active daring mainly contributed to the gaining of the victory, the most considerable one that France had ever obtained.[71]

[Sidenote: Preparations for knighthood.]

Seldom before the age of twenty-one was a squire admitted to the full dignity of chivalry. Chaucer's squire was twenty, and had achieved feats of arms. St. Louis particularly commanded that the honour of knighthood should not be conferred upon any man under the age of twenty-one. As the time approached for the completing and crowning of his character, his religious duties became more strictly enforced. Knighthood was a.s.similated, as much as possible, to the clerical state, and prayer, confession, and fasting were necessary for the candidate for both. The squire had his sponsors, the emblems of spiritual regeneration were applied to him, and the ceremonies of inauguration commenced by considering him a new man. He went into a bath, and then was placed in a bed. They were symbolical, the bath of purity of soul, and the bed of the rest which he was hereafter to enjoy in paradise. In the middle ages people generally reposed naked[72], and it was not till after he had slept that the neophyte was clad with a shirt. This white dress was considered symbolical of the purity of his new character. A red garment was thrown over him to mark his resolution to shed his blood in the cause of Heaven.

The vigil of arms was a necessary preliminary to knighthood. The night before his inauguration he pa.s.sed in a church, armed from head to foot[73], and engaged in prayer and religious meditation. One of the last acts of preparation was the shaving of his head to make its appearance resemble that of the ecclesiastical tonsure. To part with hair was always regarded in the church as a symbol of servitude to G.o.d.[74]

[Sidenote: The inauguration.]

The ceremony of inauguration was generally performed in a church, or hall of a castle, on the occasion of some great religious or civic festival.

The candidate advanced to the altar, and, taking his sword from the scarf to which it was appended, he presented it to the priest, who laid it upon the altar, praying that Heaven would bless it, and that it might serve for a protection of the church, of widows, and orphans, and of all the servants of G.o.d against the tyrannies of pagans and other deceivers, in whose eyes he mercifully hoped that it would appear as an instrument of terror. The young soldier took his oaths of chivalry; he solemnly swore to defend the church, to attack the wicked, to respect the priesthood, to protect women and the poor, to preserve the country in tranquillity, and to shed his blood, even to its last drop, in behalf of his brethren. The priest then re-delivered the sword to him with the a.s.surance that, as it had received G.o.d's blessing, he who wielded it would prevail against all enemies and the adversaries of the church. He then exhorted him to gird his sword upon his strong thigh, that with it he might exercise the power of equity to destroy the hopes of the profane, to fight for G.o.d's church, and defend his faithful people, and to repel and destroy the hosts of the wicked, whether they were heretics or pagans. Finally, the soldier in chivalry was exhorted to defend widows and orphans, and to restore and preserve the desolate, to revenge the wronged, to confirm the virtuous; and he was a.s.sured that by performing these high duties he would attain heavenly joys.[75]

The young warrior afterwards advanced to the supreme lord in the a.s.sembly, and knelt before him with clasped hands;--an att.i.tude copied from feudal manners, and the only circ.u.mstance of feudality in the whole ceremony. The lord then questioned him whether his vows had any objects distinct from the wish to maintain religion and chivalry. The soldier having answered in the negative, the ceremony was permitted to advance. He was invested with all the exterior marks of chivalry. The knights and ladies of the court attended on him, and delivered to him the various pieces of his harness.[76] The armour varied with the military customs of different periods and of different countries, but some matters were of permanent usage. The spurs were always put on first, and the sword was belted on last. The concluding sign of being dubbed or adopted into the order of knighthood was a slight blow[77] given by the lord to the cavalier, and called the accolade, from the part of the body, the neck, whereon it was struck. The lord then proclaimed him a knight in the name of G.o.d and the saints, and such cavaliers as were present embraced their newly-made brother. The priest exhorted him to go forth like a man, and observe the ordinances of heaven. Impressed with the solemnity of the scene, all the other knights renewed in a few brief and energetic sentences their vows of chivalry; and while the hall was gleaming with drawn swords, the man of G.o.d again took up the word, blessing him who had newly undertaken, and those who had been long engaged in holy warfare, and praying that all the hosts of the enemies of heaven might be destroyed by Christian chivalry.

The a.s.sembly then dispersed. The new knight, on leaving the hall, vaulted on his steed, and showed his skill in the management of the lance, that the admiring people might know that a cavalier had been elected for their protection. He distributed largesses among the servants and minstrels of the castle, for whoso received so great a gift as the order of chivalry honoured not his order if he gave not after his ability. The remainder of the day was pa.s.sed in congratulation and festivity.[78]

Many of the most virtuous affections of the heart wound themselves round that important circ.u.mstance in a man's life, his admission into knighthood. He always regarded with filial piety the cavalier who invested him with the order. He never would take him prisoner if they were ranged on opposite sides, and he would have forfeited all t.i.tle to chivalric honours if he had couched his lance against him.

[Sidenote: Squires anxious to be knighted by great characters.]

A n.o.ble aspirant to chivalry would only receive the accolade from a warrior, whose fame had excited his emulation, or sometimes the feelings of feudal attachment prevailed over the higher and sterner sense of chivalry. In expectation of a battle, the Earl of Buckingham called forth a gentle squire of Savoy, and said, "Sir, if G.o.d be pleased, I think we shall this day have a battle; therefore I wish that you would become a knight." The squire excused himself by saying, "Sir, G.o.d thank you for the n.o.bleness that ye would put me unto; but, Sir, I will never be knight without I am made by the hands of my natural lord, the Earl of Savoy."[79]

A very singular tribute was paid to bravery during the famous battle of Homildon Hill. When the cloth-yard arrows of the English yeomen were piercing the opposite line through and through, Sir John Swinton exhorted the Scotsmen not to stand like deer to be shot at, but to indulge their ancient courage and meet their enemy hand to hand. His wish, however, was echoed only by one man, Adam Gordon, and between their families a mortal feud existed. Generously forgetting the hatred which each house bore to the other, Gordon knelt before Swinton, and solicited to be knighted by so brave a man. The accolade was given, and the two friends, like companions in arms, gallantly charged the English. If a kindred spirit had animated the whole of the Scottish line the fate of the day might have been reversed; but the two n.o.ble knights were only supported by about an hundred men-at-arms devoted to all their enterprises; and they all perished.[80]

[Sidenote: Knights made in battle-field.]

[Sidenote: Inconvenience of this.]

The ceremonies of inauguration which have been described were gone through when knighthood was conferred on great and public occasions of festivity, but they often gave place to the power of rank and circ.u.mstances. Princes were exempted from the laborious offices of page and squire. Men were often adopted into chivalry on the eve of a battle, as it was considered that a sense of their new honours would inspire their gallantry. Once during the war of our Black Prince in Spain, more than three hundred soldiers raised their pennons; many of them had been squires, but in one case the distinction was entirely complimentary, for Peter the Cruel, who could boast neither chivalric qualities nor chivalric services, was dubbed. There was scarcely a battle in the middle ages which was not preceded or followed by a large promotion of men to the honour of knighthood. Sometimes, indeed, they were regularly educated squires, but more frequently the mere contingency of the moment was regarded, and soldiers distinguished only for their bravery and ungraced by the gentle virtues of chivalry were knighted. We often read of certain squires being made cavaliers and raising their pennons, but very often no pennons were raised, that is to say, the men who were knighted were not able to summon round their lances a single man-at-arms; hence it ocurred that the world was overspread with poor knights, some of whom brought chivalry into disgrace by depredations and violence; others wandered about the world in quest of adventures, and let out their swords to their richer brethren. In the romance of Partenopex of Blois, there is a picture of a knight of this last cla.s.s.

"So riding, they o'ertake an errant knight, Well hors'd, and large of limb, Sir Gaudwin hight, He nor of castle nor of land was lord, Houseless he reap'd the harvest of the sword; And now, not more on fame than profit bent, Rode with blithe heart unto the tournament; For cowardice he held it deadly sin, And sure his mind and bearing were akin, The face an index to the soul within; It seem'd that he, such pomp his train bewray'd, Had shap'd a goodly fortune by his blade; His knaves were point device, in livery dight, With sumpter nags, and tents for shelter in the night."

[Sidenote: Knights of Mines.]

Cavaliers sometimes took their t.i.tle from the place where they were knighted: a very distinguished honor was to be called a Knight of the Mines, which was to be obtained by achieving feats of arms in the subterranean process of a siege. The mines were the scenes of knightly valour; they were lighted up by torches; trumpets and other war instruments resounded, and the general affair of the siege was suspended, while the knights tried their prowess; the singularity of the mode of combat giving a zest to the encounters. No prisoners could be taken, as a board, breast high, placed in the pa.s.sage by mutual consent, divided the warriors. Swords or short battle-axes were the only weapons used.

In the year 1388, the castle of Vertueill, in Poictou, then held by the English, was besieged by the Duke of Bourbon. Its walls raised on a lofty rock were not within the play of the battering ram, and therefore the tedious operation of the mine was resorted to: both parties frequently met and fought in the excavated chambers, and a battle of swords was one day carried on between Regnaud de Montferrand, the squire of the castle, and the Duke of Bourbon, each being ignorant of the name and quality of the other. At length the cry "Bourbon, Bourbon! Our Lady!" shouted by the attendants of the Duke, in their eager joy at the fray, struck the ears of the squire, and arrested his hand. He withdrew some paces, and enquired whether the duke were present: when they a.s.sured him of the fact, he requested to receive the honour of knighthood in the mine, from the hands of the duke, and offering to deliver up the castle to him in return for the distinction, and from respect for the honour and valour he found in him. Never was a castle in the pride of its strength and power gained by easier means. The keys were delivered to the Duke of Bourbon by Regnaud de Montferrand, and the honor of knighthood, with a goodly courser and a large golden girdle, were bestowed on the squire in return.[81]

[Sidenote: General ceremonies of degradation.]

Such were the various ceremonies of chivalric inauguration. Those of degradation should be noticed. What the offences were which were punishable by degradation it is impossible to specify. If a knight offended against the rules of the order of chivalry he was degraded, inasmuch as he was despised by his brother knights; and as honour was the life-blood of chivalry, he dreaded contempt more than the sword. Still, however, there were occasions when a knight might be formally deprived of his distinctions. The ceremony of degradation generally took place after sentence, and previous to the execution of a legal judgment against him.[82] Sometimes his sword was broken over his head, and his spurs were chopped off; and, to make the bitterness of insult a part of the punishment, these actions were performed by a person of low condition; but at other times the forms of degradation were very elaborate. The knight who was to be degraded was in the first instance armed by his brother knights from head to foot, as if he had been going to the battle-field; they then conducted him to a high stage, raised in a church, where the king and his court, the clergy, and the people, were a.s.sembled; thirty priests sung such psalms as were used at burials; at the end of every psalm they took from him a piece of armour. First, they removed his helmet, the defence of disloyal eyes, then his cuira.s.s on the right side, as the protector of a corrupt heart; then his cuira.s.s on the left side, as from a member consenting, and thus with the rest; and when any piece of armour was cast upon the ground, the king of arms and heralds cried, "Behold the harness of a disloyal and miscreant knight!" A basin of gold or silver full of warm water was then brought upon the stage, and a herald holding it up, demanded the knight's name. The pursuivants answered that which in truth was his designation. Then the chief king of arms said, "That is not true, for he is a miscreant and false traitor, and hath transgressed the ordinances of knighthood." The chaplains answered, "Let us give him his right name." The trumpets sounded a few notes, supposed to express the demand, "what shall be done with him?" The king, or his chief officer, who was present replied, "Let him with dishonour and shame be banished from my kingdom as a vile and infamous man, that hath offended against the honour of knighthood." The heralds immediately cast the warm water upon the face of the disgraced knight, as though he were newly baptized, saying, "Henceforth thou shalt be called by thy right name, Traitor." Then the king, with twelve other knights, put upon them mourning garments, declaring sorrow, and thrust the degraded knight from the stage: by the buffettings of the people he was driven to the altar, where he was put into a coffin, and the burial-service of the church was solemnly read over him.[83]

[Sidenote: Ceremonies in England.]

The English customs regarding degradation are minutely stated by Stowe in the case of an English knight, Sir Andrew Harcley, Earl of Carlisle who (in the time of Edward II.) was deprived of his knighthood, previously to his suffering the penalties of the law for a treasonable correspondence with Robert Bruce. "He was led to the bar as an earl, worthily apparelled, with his sword girt about him, horsed, booted, and spurred, and unto him Sir Anthony Lucy (his judge) spoke in this manner: 'Sir Andrew,' quoth he, 'the king for thy valiant service hath done thee great honour, and made thee Earl of Carlisle, since which time thou as a traitor to thy lord, the king, led his people, that should have helped him at the battle of Heighland, away by the county of Copland, and through the earldom of Lancaster, by which means our lord the king was discomfited there of the Scots, through thy treason and falseness; whereas, if thou haddest come betimes, he hadde had the victory, and this treason thou committed for the great sum of gold and silver that thou received of James Douglas, a Scot, the king's enemy. Our lord the king wills, therefore, that the order of knighthood, by the which thou received all the honour and worship upon thy body, be brought to nought, and thy state undone, that other knights of lower degree may after thee beware, and take example truly to serve.' Then commanded he to hew his spurs from his heels, then to break his sword over his head, which the king had given him to keep and defend his land therewith, when he made him earl. After this, he let unclothe him of his furred tabard, and of his hood, of his coat of arms, and also of his girdle; and when this was done, Sir Anthony said unto him, 'Andrew,' quoth he, 'now art thou no knight, but a knave; and for thy treason the king wills that thou shalt be hanged and drawn, and thy head smitten off from thy body, and burned before thee, and thy body quartered, and thy head being smitten off, afterwards to be set upon London bridge, and thy four quarters shall be sent into four good towns of England, that all others may beware by thee;' and as Sir Anthony Lucy had said, so was it done in all things, on the last day of October."[84]

CHAP. III.

THE EQUIPMENT.

_Beauty of the chivalric Equipment ... The Lance ... The Pennon ...

The Axe, Maule, and Martel ... The Sword ... Fondness of the Knight for it ... Swords in Romances ... The Shield ... Various sorts of Mail ... Mail ... Mail and Plate ... Plate Harness ... The Scarf ...

Surcoats ... Armorial Bearings ... Surcoats of the Military Orders ...

The Dagger of Mercy ... Story of its Use ... Value of Enquiries into ancient Armour ... A precise Knowledge unattainable ... Its general Features interesting ... The broad Lines of the Subject ... Excellence of Italian Armour ... Armour of the Squire, &c. ... Allegories made on Armour ... The Horse of the Knight._

The fierce equipage of war deserves a fuller consideration than was given to it in the last chapter. The horse whereon the knight dashed to the perilous encounter should be described, the weapons by which he established the honour of his fame and the n.o.bleness of his mistress's beauty deserve something more than a general notice. Never was military costume more splendid and graceful than in the days which are emphatically called "the days of the shield and the lance." What can modern warfare present in comparison with the bright and glittering scene of a goodly company of gentle knights p.r.i.c.king on the plain with nodding plumes, emblazoned shields, silken pennons streaming in the wind, and the scarf, that beautiful token of lady-love, crossing the strong and polished steel cuira.s.s.

[Sidenote: The lance.]

The lance was the chief offensive weapon of the knight: its staff was commonly formed from the ash-tree.