afford abundant evidence of the trouble and confusion caused by the free companies of France during the temporary cessation of hostilities which occasionally occurred. As we may imagine, when their pay ceased, and when, as was very often the case at a later period, justs and tournaments were forbidden by the intervention of the Church, or the more peaceably inclined among kings and princes, these knights and squires were put to the greatest inconveniences and shifts for subsistence. The case of such has been somewhere well depicted in the following lines :

"Listen, gentles, while I tell

How this knight in fortune fell.
Land and vineyards had he none;
Justs and war his living won.
Well on horseback could he prance;
Boldly could he break a lance;
Well he knew each warlike use,
But there came a time of truce.
Peaceful was the land around;
Nowhere heard a trumpet sound.
Rust the shield and falchion hid;
Just and tournay were forbid.
All his means of living gone;
Ermine mantle had he none;
And in pawn had long been laid
Cap and mantle of brocade.
Harness rich, and charger stout,

All were ate and drunken out." (1)

While speaking of the origin and progress of chivalry, we have developed, though merely incidentally, somewhat of the general nature and spirit of the institution itself. This subject, however, requires a further investigation, inasmuch as a right understanding of it is necessary to a due appreciation of the effects which chivalry produced upon the age in which it prevailed. Valour, love, and religion, are generally said to be the three leading features of the knightly character; but if all which contributed to true knighthood is (1) Quoted by Sir Walter Scott," Essay on Chivalry."

(2) In the beautiful introduction to the first canto of Marmion, the genius of Chivalry is represented as surrounded by pure love, mystery, honour, attention, fear, courtesy, faith, and valour :

"Warm'd

INTRODUCTION.

xvii to be included in this threefold category, the terms must be taken in a most comprehensive sense: under valour must be included loyalty, generosity, a love of independence; not merely a stout heart in meeting dangers when dangers arise, but a decided inclination to court danger wherever it might be found the love of danger, not perhaps for its own sake, but for the glory of surmounting it. To do honour to his knighthood by some gallant deed was the first thought of every one on whom that distinction was conferred; indeed he was scarcely considered to have deserved the name of a knight who performed no signal feat of arms the very first time his banner was displayed. If no more fitting opportunity presented itself, the knight was required to go abroad in search of adventures; diligently to inquire where there were wrongs to be redressed, or a cause in which his strength and prowess might be shown.

It was this roaming tendency after adventure, induced by

"Warm'd by such names, well may we then,

Though dwindled sons of little men,

Essay to break a feeble lance

In the fair fields of old romance;

Or seek the moated castle's cell,

Where long through talisman and spell,
While tyrants ruled and damsels wept,

Thy genius, Chivalry, hath slept;

There sound the harpings of the north,

Till he awake and sally forth.

On venturous quest to prick again

In all his arms, with all his train,

Shield, lance and brand, and plume and scarf,
Fay, giant, dragon, squire, and dwarf,
And wizard with his wand of might,
And errant maid on palfrey white.
Around the Genius weave their spells,
Pure love who scarce his passion tells:
Mystery, half veil'd and half reveal'd;
And Honour, with his spotless shield;
Attention with fix'd eye; and Fear,
That loves the tale she shrinks to hear;
And gentle Courtesy; and Faith

Unchanged by sufferings, time or death;
And Valour, lion-mettled lord,

Leaning upon his own good sword."-Marmion.

the desire of glory, that probably more than any other cause deprived patriotism' of such a place as at first sight we might reasonably suppose it would have occupied among knightly virtues. Instead of patriotism, personal freedom was fostered, together with a bold determination to carry out every engagement which had been entered into, and to ensure success in any undertaking wherein honour and character were at stake.

Love was the second ingredient in this singular admixture, and, perhaps, not the least essential of all its component qualities. Without its devotion to the fair sex, chivalry would have lost a very abundant portion of its life and spirit. Its very motto was, "For God and for the Ladies ;" and the true knight never drew his sword with more animation, or with a better assurance of success, than when he fought for the accomplishment of some vow which he had. made to her whose love he was anxious to obtain. It was, we may almost say, a rule of the order, that every youthful aspirant to chivalrous distinction should select some fair object for the concentration of his affections; whose cause he was to advocate, whose honour and good name he was ever ready to protect; whose smiles and caresses would enliven the intervals of his more arduous service, and the thought of whom made danger sweet and victory more glorious. Indeed, a knight, squire, or page, without such an empress of his heart, was looked upon as a poor helpless being, and, in the common phraseology of the times, compared to a horse

(1) Almost every battle of any importance during the times of chivalry presents a singular admixture of men-at-arms, knights and squires from different countries, not always regulated by the alliances which at the time might chance to prevail; war was a profession, and warriors lived or failed by their adventures, somewhat in the same manner as men now live or fail by their business speculations. For the sake of gain, individuals and bodies of troops were hired by those who required their services, and such would of course lead to the result we have mentioned, and tend to banish patriotism from its proper position in the character. In the turbulent times of Henry the Second, the best troops in his army were not his own countrymen, but Walloons and Brabanters.

without a bridle; to a ship without a rudder; and a sword without a hilt. Cervantes says, "A knight without a mistress is like a tree without leaves or fruit, or like a body without a soul." The well-known conversation between the little page Jean de Saintre and the Dame des Belles Cousines,1 presents a lively, and, we are bound to believe, an accurate description of the requirements of chivalry on this interesting topic.

Nor is it to be wondered at that gallantry formed so essential a feature in the character of good knighthood. From his earliest years, the knight, as we have already

(1) The Dame des Belles Cousines having cast her eyes upon a little page, Jean de Saintre, demanded of him on whom his affections were set. The poor boy replied that the first object of his love was his lady mother, and the next his sister Jacqueline. "We do not talk now," said the lady, "of the affection due to your mother and sister, but I desire to know the name of the lady whom you love par amours." "In faith, madam," said the page, "I love no one par amours." "Ah! false gentleman, and traitor to the laws of chivalry," returned the lady, "dare you say that you love no lady? Well may we perceive your falsehood and craven spirit by such an avowal. Whence were derived the great valour and the high achievement of Lancelot, of Gawair, of Tristrem, of Giron the Courteous, and of other heroes of the Round-table?-whence those of Panthus, and of so many other valiant knights and squires of this realm, whose names I could enumerate?-whence their exaltation, except from their animating desire to maintain themselves in the graces and favour of their ladies?" At this the simple page, to avoid further reproaches, replied, that his lady and love, par amours, was Matheline de Coucy, a child of ten years old. When the Dame des Belles Cousines had sufficiently expressed her amusement at the reply, she proceeded to lecture her young pupil on the subject, and to explain to him the principles on which his choice should be regulated. "Matheline," said the lady, "is a pretty girl, and of high rank and better lineage than appertains to you. But what good, what profit, what honour, what comfort, and what counsel for advancing you in the ranks of chivalry can you derive from such a choice? Sir, you should choose a lady of high and noble blood, who has the talent and means to counsel and aid you at your need, and her you ought to serve so truly and love so loyally, that she must be compelled to acknowledge the true and honourable affection which you bear to her. For, believe me, there is no lady, however cruel and haughty, but through length of faithful service will be brought to acknowledge and reward loyal affection with some portion of pity, compassion, or mercy." The lecture is continued at some length upon the seven mortal sins, and the way in which the true amorous knight may eschew commission of them. And when poor little Saintre, in despair, asked, "How is it possible for me to find a lady such as you describe?" His preceptress made him this reply: "And why should you not find her? Are you not gentle born? Are you not a fine and proper youth? Have you not eyes to look on her-ears to hear her-a tongue to plead your cause to her-hands to serve her-feet to move at her bidding-body and heart to accomplish loyally her commands? And having all these, can you doubt to adventure yourself in the service of any lady whatsoever?"

observed, was brought up at the castle of some great lord or baron, and great lords and barons in those days were little sovereigns, and their castles the courts where all the beauty of the age assembled ; where politeness, civility, courtesy—in short, every thing that favoured gallantry and love, was scrupulously cared for and maintained. Nature would have done violence to her own principles if the circumstance of the opposite sexes, thus brought together under all the excitements of court splendour and martial exercises, had not fostered love, and awakened within the female bosom the conscious possession of a power which was to yield only to the long and well-tried service of her generous assailant. The old romances abound with instances of the most wild, whimsical, and extravagant conditions which were not unfrequently required to be complied with before the full surrender of her heart and hand could be made by the favoured fair one to her devoted admirer.

Instances there are also in which the lover's patience has been exhausted by the vanity and cold-heartedness of the service imposed upon him. At the court of one of the German emperors, while some ladies and gallants of the court were looking into a den where two lions were confined, one of them purposely let her glove fall within the palisade which enclosed the animals, and commanded her lover, as a true knight, to fetch it out for her. He did not hesitate to obey, but jumped over the enclosure, threw his mantle towards the animals as they sprang at him, snatched up the glove, and regained the outside of the palisade. But when in safety, he proclaimed aloud that what he had achieved was done for the sake of his own reputation, and not for that of a false lady, who could, for her sport and cold-blooded vanity, force a brave man on a deed so desperate.1

In many cases, though certainly not in that just quoted,

(1) See Appendix. p. xxxix.