Bayard: the Good Knight Without Fear and Without Reproach Part 2

When these two knights had finished, next came the lord of Bellabre, and against him a Scotch man-at-arms, named the Captain David of Fougas, and these likewise did with their three jousts of the lance all that it was possible for gentlemen to do. Thus, two by two, all the company went through the same contest.

This jousting with the lance was one of the most popular exercises for knights of that day, and the proper use of this weapon was one of the most important accomplishments for a warrior. We shall often notice, in the accounts of Bayard's adventures on the field of battle, how extremely expert he was with his lance. The supreme triumph with this weapon was to use such skill and force as to break the lance shaft--made of ash or sycamore--into as many pieces as possible; in fact, to "s.h.i.+ver" it completely, and thus break as many lances as possible. The tilting lance was often made hollow, and was from 12 to 15 feet long; but the lance used with the object of unhorsing instead of splintering was much stronger, heavier, and thicker in the stem, and instead of a pointed head had a "coronal," which was blunt.

The first part of the tournament having come to an end, then followed the battle of the swords. According to the rules, this began with Bayard, who, on the third stroke he gave, broke his sword into two pieces, but he made such good use of the stump that he went through the number of strokes commanded, and did his duty so well that no man could have done better.

After this came the others according to their order, and for the rest of that day there was such a succession of vigorous fighting that the two judges declared "never had there been finer lance work or contests with the sword." When the evening came they retired to young Bayard's lodging, where a great supper was prepared, to which came many ladies, for within ten miles round all those of Picardy, or the greater number, had come to see this fine tournament. After the supper there were dances and other entertainments, and the company was so well amused that it struck one hour after midnight before they broke up. It was late next morning before they woke up, and you may believe that they were never weary of praising Messire de Bayard, as much for his skill at arms as for his good hospitality.

The next morning, in order to complete that which had begun so well, all the soldiers a.s.sembled at the dwelling of their Captain Louis d'Ars, where Bayard had already arrived, having come to invite him to dinner at his lodging, in company with the ladies of the previous evening. First they all went to hear Ma.s.s, and when that was over, "you should have seen the young gentlemen taking the ladies' arms, and with much pleasant talk leading them to Bayard's lodging, where if they had supped well the night before, at dinner they did still better." There was no lingering after this meal, and towards two o'clock all those who were to take part in the second day's tournament retired to arm themselves and make ready to fight. The combatants all approached on horseback, and gravely went round to salute the company before the contest began.

It was Bayard's place to begin, and against him came a gentleman from Hainault, Hannotin de Sucker, of great repute. They fought with their lances, one on each side of the barrier, and gave such tremendous strokes that the lances were soon broken to pieces; after this they took their battle-axes, which each of them had hanging by their sides, and dealt each other great and terrible blows. This appears to us an extremely rough form of entertainment, but we must remember that these knights were clad in armour, and so thoroughly covered up from head to foot that there was not supposed to be a place where a pin could pierce between the joints of the armour. Under the helmet a smaller close-fitting steel cap was often worn.

This fierce contest went on until Bayard gave his opponent a blow near the ear, which caused him to waver, and worse still, to fall on his knees, when, pursuing his success, the victor charged again over the barrier, and caused Hannotin to kiss the ground.

When the judges saw this they cried, "Hola! Hola! that is enough; now you may retire." After these two came Bellabre and Arnaulton of Pierre Forade, a gentleman of Gascony, who did wonders with their lances until they were both broken; and then they came to the battle-axes, but Bellabre broke his, after which the judges parted them. After these two came Tardieu and David the Scotchman, and they did their duty very well. So did others in turn, so that it was seven o'clock before it was all finished and, for a small tournament, the lookers-on never saw better jousting in their lives.

When all was over, each man went to his lodging to disarm and change; then they all came to Bayard's lodging, where the banquet was ready, and there were also the two judges, the lords of Ars and of St. Quentin, and all the ladies. After supper it had to be decided and declared by the judges who should have the prizes. Some of the gentlemen most experienced in arms were asked to give their opinion "on their faith," and afterwards the ladies on their conscience, without favouring one more than another. At last it was agreed that, although each one had done his duty well, yet in their judgment during the two days Messire de Bayard had done best of all; wherefore they left it to him, as the knight who had gained the prizes, to give his presents where it seemed good to him. There was a discussion between the judges as to who should p.r.o.nounce sentence, but the Captain Louis d'Ars persuaded the lord of St. Quentin to do so.

The trumpet was sounded to command silence, and St. Quentin said: "My lords who are here a.s.sembled, and especially those who have been in the Tourney of which Messire Pierre Bayard has given the prizes for two days ... we would have you know that after due inquiry of the virtuous and brave gentlemen who were present and saw the contests, and of the n.o.ble ladies here present ... we have found that although each one has very well and honestly done his duty, yet the common voice is that the lord of Bayard has done best in these two days; wherefore the lords and ladies leave to him the honour of giving the prizes where it seems good to him." Then he added: "My lord of Bayard, decide where you will give them." The young knight blushed modestly and was quite troubled. Then he said:

"My lord, I do not know why this honour should come to me, for I think that others have deserved it more than I. But as it pleases the lords and ladies that I should be judge, I hope that the gentlemen, my companions, will not be displeased if I give the prize for the first day to my lord of Bellabre, and for the second day to the Captain David of Scotland." He therefore gave the gold bracelet to his friend Bellabre, and the diamond to the Scotch Captain David, and his decision was greatly applauded. There was again feasting and dancing afterwards, and the ladies could not say enough in praise of their gallant young host. We may imagine the penniless condition in which all this extravagant generosity left him, but his extreme liberality appears to have been one great feature of his character which made him beloved through life by all who had to do with him.

He never could see one of his companions thrown without giving him another horse; if he had a crown left, every one shared it. He never refused the request of any man if he could possibly grant it, and in his gifts was always gentle and courteous. His chronicler makes a special point of his piety from early youth; the first thing when he rose in the morning was always a prayer to G.o.d, as he had promised his mother.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LOUIS XII KING of FRANCE _from a medallion_.]

CHAPTER III

During two years Bayard remained with the garrison at Aire, and made great progress in all warlike training. At the end of this time, in the year 1494, Charles VIII. undertook his first expedition to Italy, and as the company of the Count de Ligny was commanded to join him, young Bayard looked forward with great delight to his first taste of real warfare.

The young King of France, in his eager desire for military glory, forsook the wise policy of his father, Louis XI., and resolved to claim the kingdom of Naples, in a.s.sertion of the rights bequeathed to him by Rene of Anjou.

In order to prevent any opposition from Spain he yielded to King Ferdinand the provinces of Roussillon and Cerdagne, and on the same principle gave up to the Emperor Maximilian, Artois and Franche-Comte. Having made these real sacrifices as the price of a doubtful neutrality, he set forth on his wild dreams of conquest at a distance, which could be of no permanent advantage to him.

Charles VIII. had soon collected a magnificent army and crossed the Alps in August 1494; it was composed of lances, archers, cross-bow men, Swiss mercenaries, and arquebusiers. These last used a kind of hand-gun which had only been in common use for about twenty years, since the battle of Morat.

The arquebus had a contrivance, suggested by the trigger of the cross-bow, to convey at once the burning match to the trigger. Before that the match had been held in the hand in using the hand-gun as well as the hand-cannon.

Many of these arquebusiers were on horseback. Besides a number of small pieces of artillery, the French army had 140 big cannons. The use of these fire-arms in war had been gradually increasing since the days when Louis XI. made such use of his "bombards" in the wars in Flanders.

When we read of the wonderful success which at first attended the French army, we must remember how greatly superior it was to the troops which opposed it in Italy, which were mostly bands of adventurers collected by mercenary leaders, named Condottieri, who fought for gain rather than for glory, and had no special zeal or loyalty for the prince who employed them.

The soldiers in their pay were, for the time being, their own personal property, and their great desire was to save them "to fight another day,"

while it was not to their interest to kill the men of another band (who might be on the same side next time), and they only sought to make prisoners for the sake of their ransom. The impetuosity and real warlike spirit of the French was a new and alarming thing in Italy, which had been so long accustomed to the mere show of war.

Charles pa.s.sed as a conqueror through Pisa and Florence to Rome, then victorious at Capua, he entered Naples in triumph. During the spring months of 1495, spoilt by his easy victory, he gave himself up to pleasure in that fair southern land, idly dreaming of distant conquest. His success awakened the jealous alarm of Europe, and a formidable league was formed against him by all the Italian States, the Emperor Maximilian, and the Kings of Spain and England. Suddenly roused to a sense of his danger, Charles VIII. left his new kingdom in the charge of his cousin, Gilbert de Montpensier, with a few thousand men, and hastily set forth on his homeward way. He left garrisons in various conquered cities, and his army consisted of barely 10,000 men. They crossed the Apennines with great labour and difficulty, to find their pa.s.sage barred by the confederates on the Emilian plain near the village of Fornovo.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Battle of Forvono.]

Never was battle more fiercely contested than on that Monday, 6th July, when the French succeeded in breaking through the host of their enemies.

The actual fighting lasted little more than an hour, amid a scene of the wildest confusion, which was increased by a storm of thunder and lightning, with rain falling in torrents. We are told that Bayard, the Good Knight, who had accompanied the King through the whole campaign, distinguished himself in the first charge at the head of de Ligny's company, and had two horses killed under him, then continued fighting on foot, and in the thick of the battle he took the standard of the hors.e.m.e.n opposing him, and covered himself with glory. The King, hearing afterwards of his gallant deed, sent him a present of five hundred crowns. Charles could appreciate a kindred spirit as he too fought with splendid courage on that eventful day.

The French camp, with all its rich treasures of armour, gorgeous clothing, rare tapestries and plate, was looted; but Charles VIII. and the greater part of his army, with all the artillery, made good their pa.s.sage through an overwhelming host of foes and raised the siege of Novara, where Lodovico Sforza was besieging the Duke of Orleans.

The French King was soon to receive news of the defeat and destruction of the small army he had left to hold Naples, and the death of the gallant Viceroy, Gilbert de Montpensier. Such was the sad ending of the first of those glorious and fatal expeditions to Italy, in which four kings wasted in vain so much treasure and so many precious lives. Charles VIII. did not long survive this bitter disappointment. He died at Amboise on 7th April 1498, at the age of twenty-eight. As he left no children he was succeeded by his cousin, the Duke of Orleans, under the name of Louis XII. Louis XII.

was crowned on the 1st of July 1498.

If there was one trait of character which, more than any other, distinguished Bayard the Good Knight, it was his absolute loyalty towards the lord he served, and his undying grat.i.tude for any kindness which he had received. He never forgot those six happy months he had spent at the Court of Savoy when he first went there to take up the profession of arms as a young lad of thirteen. It was not by his own choice that he left the service of his earliest master, who in a fit of generosity had presented his favourite page to the King, in the hope that by so doing he would best further the career of Bayard.

But Charles I., Duke of Savoy, did not live to see this, for he had died in 1490, and the d.u.c.h.ess, his widow, had left Chambery and retired to her dower house in the pleasant town of Carignano, in Piedmont, about seventeen miles to the south of Turin. This lady, Blanche Paleologus, had been a most kind friend to young Bayard, and when she heard that he was stationed in the neighbourhood, she invited him to visit her, and received him with the utmost courtesy, treating him as if he were a member of her family. She was greatly beloved and honoured in Carignano, where she was lady suzerain, and where there may still be seen, in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, a splendid monument to her memory.

We may imagine the satisfaction with which the good d.u.c.h.ess found that her page of bygone days had blossomed out into a valiant and famous knight, and they must both have had much to hear and tell of all that had happened since they parted. Here Bayard also met with another friend, the young lady who had been one of the maids-of-honour of the d.u.c.h.ess at Chambery and who had won the boyish affection of the Good Knight. If the young folks had been able to follow their inclinations it is probable that in time to come, when they were of suitable age, marriage would have followed, so the "Loyal Servitor" tells us in his chronicle. But circ.u.mstances parted them, as Bayard went to the King's Court, and the fair maiden was married later to a very good and honourable gentleman, the Seigneur de Frussasco (or Fluxas), who was governor of the household to the d.u.c.h.ess of Savoy, a man of wealth and high position.

We have a simple, touching story of the delight with which the lady of Frussasco welcomed her dear friend, the Good Knight, of their eager talk about old times, and their high ideal of honour and duty. She told him how she had followed the story of his achievements, from his first joust with Messire Claude de Vauldray, his tournament at Aire in Picardy, and the honour which he received on the day of Fornovo, which had spread his fame throughout France and Italy, and she gave him so much praise and honour that the poor gentleman blushed for very shame.

Then the lady said to him: "Monseigneur de Bayard, my friend, this is the great house in which you were first brought up; would it not be well for you to distinguish yourself here as you have done so n.o.bly elsewhere?"

The Good Knight made answer: "Madame, you know how from my youth I have always loved and honoured you, and I hold you to be so wise and so kind that you would only advise me for my good. Tell me, therefore, if you please, what you would have me do to give pleasure to my good mistress, the d.u.c.h.ess Blanche, to you above all, and to the rest of the n.o.ble company here at this time?"

Then the lady of Frussasco said: "It seems to me, my lord of Bayard, that you would do well to arrange some tournament in this town for the honour of Madame of Savoy, who will be very grateful to you. You have here in the neighbourhood many French gentlemen, your companions, and there are other gentlemen of this country who I am a.s.sured would all most willingly join you."

"If it is your wish," replied the Good Knight, "it shall be done. You are the one lady in this world who has first conquered my heart by your grace and kindness.... I pray of you that you will give me one of the under-sleeves from your dress, as I have need of it."[1] The lady gave it him, and he put it into the sleeve of his doublet without a word.

[Footnote 1: This was fastened with a little lacing under the hanging sleeve, and was the usual favour asked for and worn by the knight on his helmet.]

The d.u.c.h.ess Blanche was never weary of talking with the Good Knight, who had always been so great a favourite of hers. But Bayard could not sleep all that night, for his mind was full of plans for carrying out the request of his lady. When the morning came he sent a trumpeter round to all the towns of the neighbourhood where there were garrisons, to make known to the gentlemen that if they would make their way within four days, on the next Sunday, to the town of Carignano, in the costume of men-at-arms, he would give a prize, which was the cuff of his lady, from whence hung a ruby of the value of a hundred ducats, to him who should be victorious in three encounters with the lance, without a barrier, and twelve turns with the sword.

On the appointed day, about an hour after noon, the Good Knight was at his place in the ranks, armed at all points, with three or four of his companions, but only those were with him who were prepared to take part in the coming contest. Bayard began first, and against him came the lord of Rovastre, a gallant gentleman who bore the ensign of the Duke Philibert of Savoy. He was a very hardy and skilful knight, who gave a fine thrust with his lance to begin with, but the Good Knight gave him such a blow on the broad band, which protected his right arm, that he disarmed him, and caused his lance to fly in five or six pieces. The lord of Rovastre regained his band and tilted with the second lance, with which he did his duty thoroughly ... but the Good Knight struck him on the visor, and carried off his plume of feathers (panache) and made him tremble, although he kept his seat on horseback. At the third lance the lord of Rovastre missed his aim, and Bayard broke his lance, which went to pieces.

After them came Mondragon and the lord of Chevron, who did their tilting so well that everybody applauded. Then came two others, and so on until all the company were satisfied.

The lances being broken it was now time for the contest with swords; but the Good Knight had only struck two blows when he broke his own, and sent that of his opponent flying out of his hand. The gracious d.u.c.h.ess requested the lord of Frussasco to invite all the gentlemen who had taken part in the tournament to supper. After supper the hautboys sounded, and the minstrels began to tune up in the gallery, but before the dancing began, it was decided to award the prize to him who had gained it. The lords of Grammont and Frussasco were the judges, and they asked all the company--gentlemen, ladies, and the combatants themselves--and they were all of opinion that the Good Knight himself, by right of arms, had gained the prize. But when they presented it to him he said that he did not deserve it, but that if he had done anything well, Madame de Frussasco was the cause, as she had lent him her sleeve, and that it was her place to give the prize as she chose.

The lady, who was well versed in the laws of honour and chivalry, humbly thanked the Good Knight for the honour which he had done her, and said: "As M. de Bayard has shown me this courtesy I will keep the sleeve all my life for love of him, while as for the ruby, I advise that it should be given to M. de Mondragon, for he is considered to have done the next best."

This was accomplished as she wished, to the content of all, and the d.u.c.h.ess Blanche rejoiced greatly in the success of the Good Knight, who had begun his career in her household. The Good Knight took leave of his n.o.ble mistress, the lady of Savoy, telling her that he owed her service and obedience next to the King, his sovereign lord. Then he said farewell to the lady who had been his first love, and they parted with much regret, but their warm friends.h.i.+p lasted till death. We do not hear that they ever met again, but not a year pa.s.sed without presents being sent from one to the other.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LUDOVICO SFORZA DUKE of MILAN _from a medallion_.]

CHAPTER IV

While the French army felt such absolute security of their dominion in Italy as to suffer the young captains to join in amus.e.m.e.nts, the fugitive Duke Lodovico Sforza of Milan, who had lost his duchy by treachery, was watching events and preparing to return.

When Lodovico arrived he was received with acclamation, and entered Milan in triumph.

If this sudden revolution took all Italy by surprise, we can understand the dismay of Louis XII., who found that he had all his work to do over again.

For not only had Milan rebelled, but all the other towns which he had conquered.

King Louis sent the Sire de Ligny as his chief general, and as a matter of course the Good Knight went with him. I must tell you the story of an adventure he had. He was in a garrison about twenty miles from Milan with other young men-at-arms, and they were constantly making small expeditions.