defend. The novice had to watch his arms in a cause he had professed himself a Saracen for the church or chapel, or at least on hallowed ground, temporary purpose of obtaining entrance into the the night before he had received the honour of palace of the Amial Gaudifer. "And when Sir knighthood. He was made to assume a white dress, Huon passed the third gate, he remembered him of in imitation of the neophytes of the church. Fast the lie he had spoken to obtain entrance into the and confession were added to vigils; the purification first. Alas! said the knight, what but destruction of the bath was imposed on the military acolyte, in can betide one who has so foully falsified and denied imitation of the initiatory rite of Christianity; and his faith towards Him who has done so much for he was attended by godfathers, who became security me!" His mode of repentance was truly chivalfor his performing his military vows, as sponsors rous. When he came to the gate of the last intehad formerly appeared for him at baptism. In all rior enclosure of the castle, he said to the warder, points of ceremonial, the investiture of Chivalry was "Pagan, accursed be thou of God, open the gate.' brought to resemble, as nearly as possible, the ad- When he entered the hall where the pagan monarch ministrations of the sacraments of the church. The was seated in full state, he struck off, without ceremoceremony itself was performed, where circumstan-ny, the head of the pagan lord who sat next in rank to ces would admit, in a church or cathedral, and the him, exclaiming at the same time with a loud voice, weapons with which the young warrior was invest- 'God, thou hast given me grace well to commence ed were previously blessed by the priest. The oath my emprise; may our Redeemer grant me to bring of Chivalry bound the knight to defend the rights of it to an honourable conclusion!" Many such pasthe holy church, and to respect religious persons sages might be quoted to show the outrageous naand institutions, and to obey the precepts of the ture of the zeal which was supposed to actuate a gospel. Nay, more, so intimate was the union Christian knight. But it is needless to ransack betwixt chivalry and religion esteemed to be, that works of fiction for this purpose. The real history of the several gradations of the former were seriously the Crusades, founded on the spirit of Chivalry, and considered as parallel to those of the church, and on the restless and intolerant zeal which was blendthe knight was supposed to resemble the bishop in ed by the churchmen with this military establishrank, duties, and privileges, while the squire and ment, are an authentic and fatal proof of the same page corresponded to the priest and deacon. At what facts. The hair-brained and adventurous character period this infusion of religious ceremonial into an of these enterprises, not less than the promised parorder purely military first commenced, and when it dons, indulgences, and remissions of the churca, became complete and perfect, would be a curious but rendered them dear to the warriors of the middle a difficult subject of investigation. Down to the ages; the idea of re-establishing the Christian rereign of Charlemagne, and somewhat lower, the in-ligion in the Holy Land, and wresting the tomb of vestiture was of a nature purely civil; but long be- Christ from the infidels, made kings, princes, and fore the time of the crusades, it had assumed the nobles, blind to its hazards; and they rushed, army religious character we have described. after army, to Palestine, in the true spirit of Chivalry, whose faithful professors felt themselves the rather called upon to undertake an adventure, from the peculiar dangers which surrounded it, and the numbers who had fallen in previous attempts. The effect which this union of religious and military zeal was likely to produce in every other case, save that of defensive war, could not but be unfavourable to the purity of the former. The knight, whose profession was war, being solemnly enlisted in the service of the gospel of peace, regarded infidels and heretics of every description as the enemies whom, as God's own soldier, he was called upon to attack and slay wherever he could meet with them, without demanding or waiting for any other cause of quarrel than the difference of religious faith. The duties of morality were indeed formally imposed on him by the oath of his order, as well as that of defending the church, and extirpating heresy and misbelief. But, in all ages, it has been usual for men to compound with their consciences for breaches of the moral code of religion, by a double portion of zeal for its abstract doctrines. In the middle ages, this course might be pursued on systera: for the church allowed an exploit done on the infidels as a merit which night obliterate the guilt of the most atrocious crimes. The genius alike of the age and of the order tended to render the zeal of the professors of Chivalry fierce, burning, and intolerant. If an infidel, says a great authority, impugn the doctrines of the Christian faith before a churchman, he should reply to him by argument; but a knight should render no other reason to the infidel than six inches of his falchion thrust into his accursed bowels. Even courtesy, and the respect due to ladies of high degree, gave way when they chanced to be infidels. The renowned Sir Bevis of Hamptoun, being invited by the fair Princess Josiane to come to her bower, replies, to the Paynims who brought the mes sage, "I will ne gou one foot on ground This intemperate zeal for religion the knights were expected to maintain at every risk, however imminent. Like the early Christians, they were prohited from acquiescing, even by silence, in the rites of idolatry, although death should be the consequence of their interrupting them. In the fine romance of Huon of Bourdeaux, that champion is represented as having failed in duty to God and his faith, be It was after the conquest of the Holy Land that the union between temporal and spiritual Chivalry (for such was the term sometimes given to monastic establishments) became perfect, by the institution of the two celebrated military orders of monks, the Knights Templar and Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, who, renouncing (at least in terms) the pomp, power, and pleasures of the world, and taking upon themselves the monastic vows of celibacy, purity, and obedience, did not cease to remain soldiers, and directed their whole energy against the Saracens. The history of these orders will be found in its proper place in this work; but their existence is here noticed as illustrating our general proposition concerning the union of devotion and chivalry. A few general remarks will close this part of the subject. The obvious danger of teaching a military body to consider themselves as missionaries of religion, and bound to spread its doctrines, is, that they are sure to employ in its service their swords and lances. The end is held to sanctify the means, and the slaughter of thousands of infidels is regarded as an indifferent, or rather as a meritorious action, providing it may occasion the conversion of the remnant, or the peopling their land with professors of a purer faith. The wars of Charlemagne in Saxony, the massacres of the Albigenses in the south of France, the long-continued wars of Palestine, all served to illustrate the dangers resulting from the doctrine, which inculcated religion not as a check upon the horrors and crimes of war, but as itself its most proper and legitimate cause. The evil may be said to have survived the decay of Chivalry, to have extended itself to the New World, and to have occasioned those horrors with which is was devastated for ages after its first discovery. The Spanish conquerors of South America were not, indeed, knightserrant, but the nature of their enterprises, as well as the mode in which they were conducted, par:ook deeply of the spirit of Chivalry. In no country of Europe had this spirit sunk so deeply and spread so wide as in Spain. The extravagant positions respecting the point of honour, and the romantic summons which Chivalry proclaimed to deeds of danger whose valour his countrymen were to rely in danger should set them an example in observing the duties and precepts of religion,-are circumstances so well qualified to soften, to dignify, and to grace the profession of arms, that we cannot but regret their tendency to degenerate into a ferocious propensity to bigotry, persecution, and intolerance. Such, however, is the fate of all human institutions, which, however fairly framed in theory, are in practice too often corrupted by our evil passions, until the results which flow from them become the very reverse of what was to have been expected and desired. and glory, suited the ardent and somewhat oriental | chastisement and humiliation; that the knight on character of the Spaniards, a people more remarkable for force of imagination, and depth of feeling, than for wit or understanding. Chivalry, in Spain, was embittered by a double proportion of intolerant bigotry, owing to their constant and inveterate wars with the Moorish invaders. The strain of sentiment, therefore, which Chivalry inspired, continued for a long time to mark the manners of Spain after the decay of its positive institutions, as the beams of the sun tinge the horizon after the setting of its orb. The warriors whom she sent to the New World sought and found marvels which resembled those of romance; they achieved deeds of valour against such odds of numbers as are only recorded in the The next ingredient in the spirit of Chivalry, seannals of knight-errantry; and, alas! they followed cond in force only to the religious zeal of its profestheir prototypes in that indifference for human life, sors, and frequently predominating over it, was a which is the usual companion of intolerant zeal. devotion to the female sex, and particularly to Avarice, indeed, brought her more sordid shades to her whom each knight selected as the chief obcomplete the gloomy picture; and avarice was un-ject of his affection, of a nature so extravagant known to the institutions of Chivalry. The same and unbounded as to approach to a sort of idolintolerance, however, which overthrew the altars of atry. the Indians by violence, instead of assailing their errors by reason, and which imputed to them as crimes their ignorance of a religion which had never been preached to them, and their rejection of speculative doctrines of faith propounded by persons whose practice was so ill calculated to recommend them all these may be traced to the spirit of Chivalry, and the military devotion of its profes sors. The original source of this sentiment is to be found, like that of Chivalry itself, in the customs and habits of the northern tribes, who possessed, even in their rudest state, so many honourable and manly distinctions, over all the other nations in the same stage of society. The chaste and temperate habits of these youth, and the opinion that it was dishonourable to hold sexual intercourse until the twentieth year was attained, was in the highest degree favourable not only to the morals and health of the ancient Germans, but must have contributed greatly to place their females in that dignified and respectable rank which they held in society. Nothing tends so much to blunt the feelings, to harden the heart, and to destroy the imagination, as the worship of the Vaga Venus in early youth. Wherever women have been considered as the early, willing, and accommodating slaves of the voluptuousness of the other sex, their character has become degraded, and they have sunk into domestic drudges and bondswomen among the poor, the captives of a harem among the more wealthy. On the other hand, the meu, easily and early cloyed with indulgences, which soon lose their poignancy when the senses only are interested, become first indifferent, then harsh and brutal, to the unfortunate slaves of their pleasures. The sated lover, and perhaps it is the most brutal part of humanity,-is soon converted into the capricious tyrant, like the successful seducer of the modern poet. The religion of the knights, like that of the times, was debased by superstition. Each champion had his favourite saint, to whom he addressed himself upon special occasions of danger, and to whom, after the influence of his lady's eyes, he was wont to ascribe the honour of his conquest. St. Michael, the leader of banded Seraphim, and the personal antagonist of Satan,-St. George, St. James, and St. Martin, all of whom popular faith had invested with the honours of Chivalry,-were frequently selected as the appropriate champions of the militant adventurers yet on earth. The knights used their names adjected to their own, as their insignia, watch-word, or signal for battle. Edward III., fighting valiantly in a night skirmish before the gates of Calais, was heard to accompany each blow he struck with the invocation of his tutelar saints, Ha! Saint Edward! ha! St. George! But the Virgin Mary, to whom their superstition ascribed the qualities of youth, beauty, and sweetness, which they prized in their terrestrial mistresses, was an especial object of the devotion of the followers of Chivalry, as of all other good Catholics. Tournaments were undertaken, and feats of arms performed in her honour, as in that of an earthly mistress; and the veneration with which she was regarded seems CRABBE'S Borough, p. 213. occasionally to have partaken of the character of Habitual indulgence seeks change of objects to reromantic affection. She was often held to return lieve satiety. Hence polygamy, and all its brutalthis love by singular marks of her favour and pro-izing consequences, which were happily unknown to tection. During an expedition of the Christians to the coast of Africa, Froissart informs us that a large black dog was frequently seen in their camp, which barked furiously whenever the infidels approached it by night, and rendered such service to the Christian adventurers by its vigilance, that with one consent they named it "The Dog of our Lady." "Hard! with their fears and terrors to behold our Gothic ancestors. The virtuous and manly restraints imposed on their youth were highly calculated to exalt the character of both sexes, and especially to raise the females in their own eyes and those of their lovers. They were led to regard themselves, not as the passive slaves of pleasure, but as the objects of a prolonged and respectful affection, which could only be finally gratified when their But although, as is incidental to human institu- lovers had attained the age of mature reason, and tions, the mixture of devotion in the military cha-were capable to govern and to defend the family racter of the knight degenerated into brutal intole- which should arise around them. With the young rance and superstition in its practical effects, nothing man imagination and sentiment combined to heighcould be more beautiful and praiseworthy than the ten his ideas of a pleasure which nature instructed theory on which it was grounded. That the soldier him to seek, and which the wise laws of his coundrawing the sword in defence of his country and its try prevented him from prematurely aspiring to liberties, or of the oppressed innocence of damsels, share. To a youth so situated, the maiden on whom widows, and orphans, or in support of religious he placed his affections became an object of awe as rights, for which those to whom they belonged were well as of affection; the passion which he indulged disqualified by their profession to combat in person, for her was of a nature as timid and pure as engros-that he should blend with all the feelings which sing and powerful; the minds of the parties became these offices inspired, a deep sense of devotion, ex-united before the joining of their hands, and a alting him above the advantage and even the fame moral union preceded the mere intercourse of the which he himself might derive from victory, and sexes. giving diginity to defeat itself, as a lesson of divine The marriages formed under these wise auspices mony, that she divorced her husband on account of his having raised his hand against her person. And such were the rights of a northern mater familias, that the divorce and a division of goods immediately took place between the husband and wife, although the violence of which Thordisa complained was occasioned by her own attempt to murder a guest. were, in general, happy and affectionate. Adultery was infrequent, and punished with the utmost rigour; nor could she who had undergone the penalty of such a crime find a second husband, however distinguished by beauty, birth, or wealth. (Taciti Germania.) The awe and devotion with which the lover had regarded his destined bride during the years in which the German youth were enjoined celibacy, became regard and affection in the husband We have traced the ideas of the Gothic tribes on towards the sharer of his labours and the mistress this important point the more at length, because of his household. The matron maintained that rank they show, that the character of veneration, sancin society which love had assigned to the maiden. tity, and inviolability, attached to the female chaNo one then, says the Roman historian, dared to ri-racter, together with the important part assigned to dicule the sacred union of marriage, or to term an them in society, were brought with them from their infringement of its laws a compliance with the man-native forests, and had existence long before the ners of the age. The German wife, once married, chivalrous institutions in which they made so reseldom endeavoured to form a second union, but markable a feature. They easily became amalgacontinued, in honoured widowhood, to direct and mated in a system so well fitted to adopt whatever manage the family of her deceased husband. This was romantic and enthusiastic in manners or sentihabitual subjection of sensuality to sentiment, ment. Amid the various duties of knighthood, these plain, simple, virtuous, and temperate man- that of protecting the female sex, respecting their ners of the German women, placed the females in persons, and redressing their wrongs, becoming that high rank of society which the sex occupies the champion of their cause, and the chastiser when its conduct is estimable, and from which it as of those by whom they were injured, was representcertainly declines in ages or climates prone to luxu-ed as one of the principal objects of the institution. rious indulgence. The superintendence of the do- Their oath bound the new-made knights to defend mestic affairs was assigned to the German women, the cause of all women without exception; and the a duty in which the men seldom interfered, unless most pressing way of conjuring them to grant a when rendered by age or wounds incapable of war- boon, was to implore it in the name of God and the fare. They were capable of exercising the supreme ladies. The cause of a distressed lady was, in many authority in their tribe, and of holding the honours instances, preferable to that even of the country to of the priesthood. But the influence of the women in which the knight belonged. Thus, the Captal de a German tribe, as well as their duties in war, will be Buche, though an English subject, did not hesitate best understood from the words of Tacitus. It is to unite his troops with those of the Compte de Foix, the principal incitement to the courage of the Ger- to relieve the ladies in a French town, where they mans, that in battle their separate troops or columns were besieged and threatened with violence by the are not arranged promiscuously as chance directs, insurgent peasantry. The looks, the words, the but consist each of a united family, or clan, with its sign of a lady, were accounted to make knights at relatives. Their most precious pledges are placed time of need perform double their usual deeds of in the vicinity, whence may be heard the cries of strength and valour. At tournaments and in comtheir females, the wailings of their infants, whom each bats, the voices of the ladies were heard like those accounts the most sacred witnesses and the dear- of the German females in former battles, calling on est eulogists of his valour. The wounded repair to the knights to remember their fame, and exert their mothers and spouses, who hesitate not to num- themselves to the uttermost. "Think, gentle ber their wounds, and to suck the blood that flows knights," was their cry, "upon the wool of your from them. The females carry refreshment to breasts, the nerve of your arms, the love you cherish those engaged in the contest, and encourage them in your hearts, and do valiantly, for ladies behold by their exhortations. It is related, that armies, you." The corresponding shouts of the combatwhen disordered, and about to give way, have re- ants were, "Love of ladies! Death of warriors! newed the contest, at the instance of the women; On, valiant knights, for you fight under fair eyes." moved by the earnestness of their entreaties, their exposed bosoms, and the danger of approaching captivity;-a doom which they dread more on account of their females than even on their own ;insomuch, that these German estates are most effectually bound to obedience, among the number of whose hostages there are noble damsels as well as men. They deem, indeed, that there resides in the female sex something sacred and capable of presaging the future; nor do they scorn their advice or neglect their responses. In the time of Vespasian we have seen Velleda long hold the rank of a deity in most of the German states; and, in former times, they venerated Aurinia and other females; neither, however, from mere flattery, nor yet in the character of actual goddesses." Where the honour or love of a lady was at stake, the fairest prize was held out to the victorious knight, and champions from every quarter were sure to hasten to combat in a cause so popular. Chaucer, when he describes the assembly of the knights who came with Arcite and Palemon to fight for the love of the fair Emilie, describes the manners of his age in the following lines, essence. "For every knight that loved chivalry, And would his thankes have a passant name, The tales and Sagas of the north, in which females often act the most distinguished part, might It is needless to multiply quotations on a subject so also be quoted as proofs of the rank which they held trite and well known. The defence of the female in society. We find them separating the most des- sex in general, the regard due to their honour, the perate frays by their presence, their commands, or subservience paid to their commands, the reverent their mantles, which they threw over the levelled awe and courtesy, which, in their presence, forbear weapons of the combatants. Nor were their rights all unseemly words and actions, were so blended less extensive than their authority. In the Eyrbig-with the institution of Chivalry, as to form its very gia-Saga we are informed, that Thordisa, the mother of the celebrated Pontiff Snorro, and wife of Biarko of Helgafels, received a blow from her husband. The provocation was strong, for the matron had, in the husband's house and at his table, attempted to stab his guest Eyalf Graie, on account of his having slain one of her relations. Yet so little did this provocation justify the offence, that, in the presence of the comitia, or public assembly of the tribe, Thordisa invoked witnesses to bear testi But it was not enough that the "very perfect, gentle knight," should reverence the fair sex in general. It was essential to his character that he should select, as his proper choice, "a lady and a love," to be the polar star of his thoughts, the mistress of his affections, and the directress of his actions. In her service, he was to observe the duties of loyalty, faith, secrecy, and reverence. Without such an emperess of his heart, a knight, in the phrase of the times, was a ship without a rudder, a horse without a bri- |ing to her doctrine, sufficient to forfeit the chivalrous dle, a sword without a hilt; a being, in short, devoid of that ruling guidance and intelligence, which ought to inspire his bravery, and direct his actions. The Dame des Belles Cousines, having cast her eyes upon the little Jean de Saintre, then a page of honour at court, demanded of him the name of his mistress and his love, on whom his affections were fixed. The poor boy, thus pressed, replied, that the first object of his love was the lady his mother, and the next his sister Jacqueline. Jouvencel," replied the inquisitive lady, who had her own reasons for not being contented with this simple answer, we do not now talk of the affection due to your mother and sister; I desire to know the name of the lady whom you love par amours." In faith, madam," said the poor page, to whom the mysteries of chivalry, as well as of love, were yet unknown, "I love no one par amours. 'Ah, false gentleman, and traitor to the laws of chivalry," returned the lady, 99 66 66 we 'dare you say that you love no lady? well man lover the favour of his lady. It seems, however, that the greater part of her charge concerning incontinence is levelled against such as haunted the receptacles of open vice; and that she reserved an exception (of which, in the course of the history, she made liberal use) in favour of the intercourse which, in all love, honour, and secrecy, might take place, when the favoured and faithful knight had obtained, by long service, the boon of amorous mercy from the lady whom he loved par amours. The last en couragement which the Dame des Belles Cousines held out to Saintré, in order to excite his ambition, and induce him to fix his passion upon a lady of elevated birth, rank, and sentiment, is also worthy of being quoted, since it shows that it was the prerogative of Chivalry to abrogate the distinctions of rank, and elevate the hopes of the knight, whose sole patrimony was his arms and valour, to the high-born and princely dame, before whom he carved as a sewer. "How is it possible for me," replied poor Saintrê, after having heard out the unmerciful long lecture of the Dame des Belles Cousines, "to find a lady, such as you describe, who will accept of my service, and requite the affection of such a one as I am?""And why should you not find her?" answered the lady preceptress. Are you not gently born? Are you not a fair and proper youth? Have you not eves 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?" perceive your falsehood and craven spirit by avowal. Whence were derived the great valour and the high achievements of Lancelot, of Gawain, 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 had I time,-whence the exaltation of many whom I myself have known to arise to high dignity and renown-except from their animating desire to maintain themselves in the grace and favour of their ladies, without which mainspring to exertion and valour, they must have remained unknown and insignificant? And do you, coward page, now dare to aver, that you have no lady, and desire to have In these extracts are painted the actual manners none? Hence, false heart that thou art." To avoid of the age of Chivalry. The necessity of the perfect these bitter reproaches, the simple page named as knight having a mistress, whom he loved par his lady and love, par amours, Matheline de Coucy, amours, the duty of dedicating his time to obey her a child of ten years old. The answer of the Dame commands, however capricious, and his strength to des Belles Cousines, after she had indulged in the execute extravagant feats of valour, which might mirth which his answer prompted, instructed him redound to her praise,-for all that was done for her how to place his affections more advantageously; sake, and under her auspices, was counted her and as the former part of the quotation may show merit, as the victories of their generals were ascribed the reader how essential it was to the profession of to the Roman Emperors,-was not a wit less nechivalry, that every one of its professors should elect cessary to complete the character of a good knight a lady of his affections, that which follows explains than the Dame des Belles Cousines represented it. the principles on which his choice should be regula- It was the especial pride of each distinguished ted. 'Matheline," said the lady, "is indeed a pretty champion, to maintain, against all others, the supe girl, and of high rank, and better lineage than aprior worth, beauty, and accomplishments of his pertains to you. But what good, what profit, what honour, what advantage, what comfort, what aid, what council for advancing you in the ranks of chivalry, can you derive from such a choice? Sir, you ought to 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, 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. In this manner, you will attain the praise of a worthy knight; and till you follow such a course, I would not give an apple for you or your achievements." The lady then proceeds to lecture the acolyte of Chivalry at considerable length on the seven mortal sins, and the way in which the true amorous knight may eschew cominission of them. Still, however, the saving grace inculcated in her sermon was fidelity and secrecy in the service of the mistress whom he should love par amours. She proves, by the aid of quotations from the Scripture, the fathers of the church, and the ancient philosophers, that the true and faithful lover can never fall into the crimes of Pride, Anger, Envy, Sloth, or Gluttony. From each of these his true faith is held to warrant and defend him. Nay, so pure was the nature of the flame which she recommended, that she maintained it to be inconsistent even with the seventh sin of Chambering and Wantonness, to which it might seem too nearly allied. The least dishonest thought or action was, accord lady; to bear her picture from court to court, and support, with lance and sword, her superiority to all other dames, abroad or at home. To break a spear for the love of their ladies, was a challenge courte ously given, and gently accepted, among all true followers of Chivalry; and history and romance are alike filled with the tilts and tournaments which took place upon this argument, which was ever ready and ever acceptable. Indeed, whatever the subject of the tournament had been, the lists were never closed until a solemn course had been made in honour of the ladies. There were knights yet more adventurous, who sought to distinguish themselves by singular and uncommon feats of arms in honour of their mistresses; and such was usually the cause of the whimsical and extravagant vows of arms which we have subsequently to notice. To combat against extravagant odds, to fight amid the press of armed knights without some essential part of their armour, to do some deed of audacious valour in face of friend and foe, were the services by which the knights strove to recommend themselves, or which their mistresses (very justly so called) imposed on them as proofs of their affection. On such occasions, the favoured knight, as he wore the colours and badge of the lady of his affections, usually exerted his ingenuity in inventing some device or cognisance which might express their love, either openly, as boasting of it in the eye of the world, or in such mysterious mode of indication as should only be understood by the beloved person, if circumstances did not permit an avowal of his passion. Among the earliest instances of the use of the English language at the court of the Norman monarchs, is the distich painted in the shield of Edward III. under the figure of a white swan, being the device which that warlike monarch wore at a tourney at Windsor. "Ha! hat the white swan, By God his soul, I am thy man." The choice of these devices was a very serious matter; and the usurpation of such as any knight had previously used and adopted, was often the foundation of a regular quarrel, of which many instances occur in Froissart and other writers. The ladies, bound as they were in honour to requite the passion of their knights, were wont, on such occasions, to dignify them by the present of a scarf, riband, or glove, which was to be worn in the press of battle and tournament. These marks of favour they displayed on their helmets, and they were accounted the best incentives to deeds of valour. The custom appears to have prevailed in France to a late period, though polluted with the grossness so often mixed with the affected refinement and gallantry of that nation. In the attack made by the Duke of Buckingham upon the Isle of Rhe, fayours were found on the persons of many of the French soldiers who fell at the skirmish on the landing; but for the manner in which they were disposed, we are compelled to refer to Howel and Wilson. mals 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 duel so desperate. And, with the applause of all that were present, he renounced her love for ever. This, however, was an uncommon circumstance. In general, the lady was supposed to have her lover's character as much at heart as her own, and to mean by pushing him upon enterprises of hazard, only to give him an opportunity of meriting her good graces, which she could not with honour confer upon one undistinguished by deeds of chivalry. An affecting instance is given by Godscroft. At the time when the Scotch were struggling to recover their country from the usurpation of Edward I., the Castle of Douglas was repeatedly garrisoned by the English, and these garrisons were as frequently surprised, and cut to pieces, by the good Lord James of Douglas, who, lying in the mountainous wilds of Cairntable, and favoured by the intelligence which he maintained among his vassals, took opportunity of the slightest relaxation of vigi lance to surprise the fortress. At length, a fair dame of England announced to the numerous suitors who sought her hand, that she would confer it on the man who should keep the perilous Castle of Douglas (so it was called) for a year and a day. The knight who undertook this dangerous task at her request, discharged his duty like a careful soldier for several months, and the lady, relenting at the prospect of his continued absence, sent a letter to recall him, declaring she held his probation as accomplished. In the meantime, however, he had received a defiance from Douglas, threatening him, that, let him use his utmost vigilance, he would recover from him his father's castle before Palm-Sunday. The English knight deemed that he could not in honour leave the castle till this day was past; and on the very eve of Palm-Sunday was surprised and slain with his lady's letter in his pocket, the perusal whereof greatly grieved the good Lord James of Douglas. Sometimes the ladies, in conferring these tokens of their favour, clogged them with the most extravagant and severe conditions. But the lover had this advantage in such cases, that if he ventured to encounter the hazard imposed, and chanced to survive it, he had, according to the fashion of the age, the right of exacting, from the lady, favours corresponding in importance. The annals of Chivalry abound with stories of cruel and cold fair ones, who subjected their lovers to extremes of danger, in hopes that they might get rid of their addresses, but were, upon their unexpected success, caught in their own snare, and, as ladies who would not have their name made the theme of reproach by every minstrel, compelled to recompense the deeds which their champion had achieved in their name. There are instances in which the lover used his right of reprisals with some rigour, as in the well-known fabliau of the three knights and the shift; in which a lady propo- We are left much to our own conjectures on the ses to her three lovers, successively, the task of en- appearance and manners of these haughty beauties, tering, unarmed, into the melée of a tournament, who were wooed with sword and lance, whose faarrayed only in one of her shifts. The perilous pro- yours were bought at the expense of such dear and posal is declined by two of the knights and accepted desperate perils, and who were worshipped, like by the third, who thrusts himself, in the unprotected heathen deities, with human sacrifices. The characstate required, into all the hazards of the tourna-ter of the ladies of the ages of Chivalry was probament, sustains many wounds, and carries off the bly determined by that of the men, to whom it someprize of the day. On the next day the husband of times approached. Most of these heroines were the lady (for she was married) was to give a superb educated to understand the treatment of wounds, banquet to the knights and nobles who had attended not only of the heart, but of the sword; and in rothe tourney. The wounded victor sends the shift mance, at least, the quality of leechcraft (practised back to its owner, with his request, that she would by the Lady Bountifuls of the last generation) was wear it over her rich dress on this solemn occasion, essential to the character of an accomplished prinsoiled and torn as it was, and stained all over with cess. They sometimes trespassed on the province the blood of its late wearer. The lady did not hesi- of their lovers, and actually took up arms. The tate to comply, declaring, that she regarded this Countess de Montfort in Bretagne is celebrated by shift, stained with the blood of her "fair friend, as Froissart for the gallantry with which she defended more precious than if it were of the most costly ma- her castle, when besieged by the English; and the terials." Jaques de Basin, the minstrel, who relates old Prior of Lochleven in Scotland is equally diffuse this curious tale, is at a loss to say whether the palm in the praise of Black Agnes, Countess of March, of true love should be given to the knight or to the who, in the reign of Edward III., held out the cas lady on this remarkable occasion. The husband, tle of Dunbar against the English. She appeared he assures us, had the good sense to seem to per- on the battlements with a white handkerchief in her ceive nothing uncommon in the singular vestment hands, and wiped the walls in derision where they with which his lady was attired, and the rest of the had been struck by stones from the English engines. good company highly admired her courageous re- When Montagu, Earl of Salisbury, brought up to quital of the knight's gallantry. the walls a military engine, like the Roman testudo, called a sow, she exclaimed in rhyme, Sometimes the patience of the lover was worn out by the cold-hearted vanity which thrust him on such perilous enterprises. 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 to her. He did not hesitate to obey, jumped over the enclosure; threw his mantle towards the aniVOL. L-5 L Beware, Montagou, For farrow shall thy sow, A huge rock discharged from the battlements dashed the sow to pieces, and the English soldiers who escaped from its ruins were called by the Countess, in derision, Montagu's pigs. The nature of the conferences between these highminded heroines and their lovers, was somewhat peculiar. Their delectations were in tales of warlike |