which disposed the heart to all noble feelings, CHAP. V. was not universal in its influence, and we ac cordingly read of ladies who were deformed by the mood of envy and detraction. "Then was the lady of the house She thought to warn him privily, Of thy looking, I rede', thou blynne2.' Without deserving every dell: But the encheson he perceived well. Down he looked and thought great shame, Still he sat, and said no more, He thought to dwell no longer there." 1 Council. Romance of Sir Ipomydon. 2 Cease. 3 Occasion. * Full of frowardness, each mis-saying or reviling, as Ellis renders the passage. + Lai le Fraine. CHAP. V. Nobleness valric cha of the chi racter. But the subject need not be pursued further; for it is woman, as formed by chivalric principles, and not as uninfluenced by that noble spirit whose lineaments it is my purpose to pourtray. That lofty consideration in which she was held had, as we have seen, a remoter origin than the days of chivalry, and to that elevation much of her moral dignity may be ascribed. But chivalry saved her from being altogether oppressed into slavery and degradation under the tyranny of feudalism. That odious system endeavoured to bring under its sway even the very affections of the heart; for not only no woman of rank and estate could marry without the consent of her sovereign, but in some countries she was obliged to accept a husband at his nomination, unless for a large pecuniary payment he restored her to the privileges of her sex. By preserving woman in her noble state of moral dignity, chivalry prevented the harsh exercise of feudal rights. A sovereign who prided himself on his knighthood could never offend the inclinations of one of that sex which by his principles he was bound to protect and cherish. Chivalry hung out the heart-stirring hope that beauty was the reward of bravery. A valiant, but landless knight was often hailed by the whole martial fraternity of his country as worthy the hand of a noble heiress, and the king could not in every case bestow her on some minion of his court. CHAP. V. Woman was sustained in her proud elevation by the virtues which chivalry required of her; and man paid homage to her mind as well as to her beauty. She was not the mere subject of pleasure, taken up or thrown aside as passion or caprice suggested, but being the fountain of honour, her image was always blended with the fairest visions of his fancy, and the respectful consideration which she, therefore, met with, showed she was not an unworthy awarder of fame. Fixed by the gallant warriors of chivalry in a nobler station than that which had been assigned to her by the polite nations of antiquity, all the graceful qualities of her nature blossomed into beauty, and the chastening influence of feminine gentleness and tenderness was, for the first time in his history, experienced by man. 258 CHAP. VI. TOURNAMENTS AND JOUSTS. Beauty of Chivalric Sports......Their Superiority to those of Greece and Rome......Origin of Tournaments........ Reasons for holding them......Practice in Arms........ Courtesy......By whom they were held......Qualifications for Tourneying......Ceremonies of the Tournament...... Arrival of the Knights......Publication of their Names ......Reasons for it......Disguised Knights......The Lists......Ladies the Judges of the Tournament...... Delicate Courtesy at Tournaments......Morning of the Sports......Knights led by Ladies, who imitated the Dress of Knights......Nature of tourneying Weapons ......Knights wore Ladies' Favours...... The Preparation ......The Encounter...... What Lance Strokes won the Prize......Conclusion of the Sports......The Festival ......Delivery of the Prize......Knights thanked by Ladies.......The Ball......Liberality...... Tournaments opposed by the Popes......The Opposition unjust.............. The Joust......Description of the Joust to the Utterance......Joust between a Scotch and an English Knight......Jousting for Love of the Ladies......A singular Instance of it......Joust between a French and an English Squire......Admirable Skill of Jousters...... Singular Questions regarding Jousts......An Earl of Warwick......Celebrated Joust at St. Inglebertes'...... Joust between Lord Scales and the Bastard of Bur gundy...... The Romance of Jousts......The Passage of Arms......Use of Tournaments and Jousts. VI. Beauty of ALL our most delightful imaginings of chivalry CHAP. are associated with the tournament. We see in fancy's mirror the gay and graceful knight dis- chivalric playing on his plumed steed the nobleness of sports, his bearing, and the lady of his affections smiling upon his gallant skill, while the admiring people in rude and hearty joy shout their loud acclaims. Those who were illustrious for ancestral or newly acquired renown met in the listed plain. The fierceness of war was mellowed into elegance, and even feudalism abated something of its sternness, when called on to perform tendance on the ladies and damsels who graced the scene. Baronial pomp, knightly gallantry, woman's beauty, gay caparisons, rich attire, and feudal pageantry, throng the mind in wild and splendid confusion, when we hear the herald's trumpet-clang summoning the knights to achievement. It was in the tourna- Superiority nament especially that the chivalric nations of Greece and Europe asserted their superior claims to gracefulness and humanity; for though the Greeks might vaunt their Olympic games, yet in them woman's favour did not bestow the garland, and though matrons mingled with senators in the to those of Rome. |