The History of Chivalry Volume I Part 13

[Sidenote: Tale of Jane of Mountfort.]

But the most interesting of all the heroines of chivalry was Jane Countess of Mountfort, who, as Froissart says, had the courage of a man and the heart of a lion. She was a worthy descendant of those German women whom Tacitus describes as mixing with the warriors, administering refreshment, and exhorting them to valour. About the year 1341, the right to the duchy of Bretagne was disputed between the Earl of Mountfort and Charles of Blois. The question turned on certain points of inheritance which the earl dreaded the court of Paris would decide in favor of his rival, who was a relation of the French king. He, therefore, sought another alliance, and repairing to England, he performed homage for the duchy to Edward III.[264] His next steps were directed to Paris, but his journeys were not so secretly taken as he expected; for on presenting himself before King Philip he was charged with having acknowleged the sovereignty of the English monarch. The earl pretended that his journey to England had only related to his private affairs, but the king did not credit his story, and in distrust of his purposes he ordered him to remain in Paris. Mountfort, equally suspicious of his sovereign's honor, effected his escape from the city in the guise of a merchant. He went to Brittany, and took his station in the castle of Nantes. The decision of the court at Paris was adverse to his claims; and the successful candidate, Charles of Blois, levied an army, and pursued his former rival, who was taken in his retreat, conveyed to Paris, and lodged in the Louvre.

To those who did not know the n.o.ble spirit of his countess the cause of the Mountfort family seemed hopeless. She was at Rennes when he was taken prisoner, and although she had great sorrow in her heart, yet she valiantly recomforted her friends and soldiers, and showing them her little son John, she said, 'Sirs, be not too sore abashed of the earl my lord, whom you have lost, (he was but a man): behold my little child, who shall be by the grace of G.o.d his restorer, and he shall advance you all, and I have riches enough: you shall not lack; and I trust that I shall prosper in such wise that you shall be all recomforted.'[265] All her friends and soldiers vowed to die in her service; and she then went to her other fortresses and towns, replenis.h.i.+ng them with warlike stores and provisions, and exhibiting her little son to the people, in order to rouse the allegiance of the friends of her family. She stationed herself in Hennebon, a town seated near the sh.o.r.es of Brittany.[266]

In the following summer Charles of Blois was aided by the whole puissance of France in his attempt to make himself complete master of Brittany; but so able were the dispositions of the countess, that, instead of sweeping over the whole country as they expected, they were detained before Rennes, and it was not till after much labour that they won it. The countess, in the mean while, had sent one of her knights, Sir Amery of Clysson, into England, desiring royal succour, on condition that the Earl of Mountfort's son and heir should marry a daughter of the king, who was to be adorned with the highly splendid t.i.tle, the d.u.c.h.ess of Brittany. Edward III., always anxious to strengthen his power in France, accepted the alliance, and ordered one of his n.o.blest knights of prowess, Sir Walter Manny, to join the valiant countess with three thousand archers. Charles of Blois, after the capture of Rennes, was counselled to lay siege to Hennebon; but before he reached that town Jane de Mountfort was apprised of his purpose, and she commanded the watch-bell to be sounded, and every man to be armed, and standing at his post. When Sir Charles and the Frenchmen came near the town, they pitched their tents; but many of their gay and valorous spirits went skirmis.h.i.+ng to the barriers. Some of the cavaliers of Hennebon did not suffer them to brandish their swords in the air; and it was only the shades of night that separated those preluders of battle.

The next day the Frenchmen spent in council, and it was resolved that a general a.s.sault should be made on the barriers. Accordingly, on the third morning they fiercely pressed to the outward works of the town, and continued the a.s.sault till noon, when they retired with diminished forces.

The lords of France rallied their soldiers, and urged the a.s.sault anew; but they that were within defended themselves right valiantly. The countess herself, clad in mail, and mounted on a goodly courser, rode from street to street, exhorting her people to defend their posts; and if in the din of battle her woman's voice was sometimes drowned, nothing could mar her cheering smiles, which lighted the flame of n.o.ble chevisance in every gallant breast. She caused damsels and other women to cut short their kirtels, and carry stones and pots full of lime to the walls, to be cast upon the enemy. She then mounted a tower, and espied that the Frenchman's camp was deserted. Her resolution was immediately taken: she drew around her three hundred of her best knights, and, grasping a targe and spear, and mounting again her good steed, she quitted the town by a gate which the enemy had overlooked. At the head of her gallant troop she made a short circuit, and then dashed into the Frenchmen's lodgings. When the a.s.sailants, reverting their eyes, saw their tents on fire, and heard cries of terror from a few boys and varlets in the camp, they quickly returned to their lodgings to stop the conflagration. The countess and her n.o.ble band could not cope with so vast a force, and her retreat to the city being cut off, she took the road to the castle of Brest, where she was received with great joy. For five days the good soldiers of Hennebon wist not of the fate of their right valiant lady; but on the sixth morning they saw her golden banners glittering in the rising sun, and a hill in the distance crowned by a n.o.ble troop of five hundred lances, which her beauty and her just cause had drawn to her side at Brest. With the gay curvetting pace of gallant cavaliers progressing to a tournament, they gallantly held on their way to the town, smiling defiance to the martial front of the French, and entered Hennebon amidst the flourishes of their own trumpets, and the exulting cries of the people.

But the siege was advanced by the French with such courage, and their engines so dreadfully injured the walls, that the soldiers of Hennebon were in time discomfited. All except the countess were anxious to yield the town upon honourable terms; but she hoped for succour from Edward; and while her knights and men-at-arms sullenly guarded the walls which fronted the enemy, a solitary warder paced the ramparts that looked towards England. One day the members of her council were on the point of compelling her to submit, when, casting her eyes on the sea, whereon she had so often gazed in vain, she saw a dark ma.s.s rising out of the horizon.

Her smile of fearful joy, before she discovered that it was the English fleet, excited the attention of her friends. They all rushed to the window, but her sight was the most piercing, for her heart was the most deeply anxious, and she was the first to exclaim, "I see the succours of England coming!" The joyful news quickly spread, the walls of Hennebon were crowded with the townsfolk, and the English fleet entered the harbour. When the soldiers landed, she went to them with great reverence, and feasted them right hospitably. She lodged the knights and others in the castle and in the town, where she dressed up halls and chambers for them; and the next day she made them a great feast at dinner. The exploits of Sir Walter Manny and his archers will be more appropriately related in another place. The siege of Hennebon was raised, and it is not unworthy of notice as a trait of manners, that on one occasion of valiancy on the part of the English, the countess descended from the castle with a glad cheer, and went and kissed Sir Walter Manny and his companions, one after another, two or three times, like a valiant lady.[267]

After some time a truce was concluded between Sir Charles of Blois and the Countess of Mountfort, their aiders and a.s.sisters; and the countess, on the invitation of Edward III., took s.h.i.+p for England, accompanied by the Earls of Richmond, Pembroke, Salisbury, Suffolk, Oxford, the barons Stamford, Spenser, Bourchier, and divers other knights of England, and their companies. When they were off Guernsey they were approached by Sir Loyes of Spain and his fleet. At first the countess supposed it was with a friendly purpose, for Sir Loyes, as the ally of Sir Charles of Blois, was virtually bound by the treaty: but she was soon a.s.sured of his unchivalric purpose. The mariners cried to the knights, "Sirs, arm yourselves quickly, for these Genoese and Spaniards will soon attack you."

All in a moment the Englishmen sounded their trumpets, and reared their standards with the great banner of St. George, and marshalled themselves on the decks of the s.h.i.+ps, the archers, as on land, being in front.

"Looking far forth into the ocean wide, A goodly s.h.i.+p with banners bravely dight, And flag in her top-gallant I espied, Through the main sea making her merry flight; Fair blew the wind into her bosom right, And the heavens look'd lovely all the while, That she did seem to dance as in delight, And at her own felicity did smile."[268]

[Sidenote: A.D. 1345.]

And in this gallant trim the English fleet bore down upon the superior force of their ungenerous foe. The arrows of the one side, and the cross-bows of the other, did murderous execution; and when the lords, knights, and squires came together, the battle was so dreadful that it furnished matter of song to the minstrels of England and France for years afterwards. The countess that day was worth the bravest knight; she had the heart of a lion, and, with a sharp glaive in her hand, she fought fiercely. They contended till it became so dark that one could scarcely know another. The fleets then separated, the men remaining in their harness, intending to renew the battle next morning. But at midnight a tempest arose so horrible that every one thought the end of the world was approaching; and those very cavaliers who, a few hours before, had gallantly courted death, would now have abandoned their chivalry and their cause, if a safe landing could have been effected.[269] The battle was not renewed the next day; the English fleet sailed to Brittany; the troops landed near Vannes, which they immediately besieged, the countess being always foremost in the press. Soon afterwards Edward III. went to France, in the contest for whose throne the affairs of Brittany were lost, and the n.o.ble Countess of Mountfort disappeared from the scene[270], while her husband escaped from prison only to die of a fever at Hennebon.[271]

[Sidenote: And of Marzia.]

A few years after this beautiful display of the chivalric character of woman in France, the gloom of war in Italy was illuminated by a n.o.ble trait of female heroism. Marzia, a lady of the family of the Ubaldini, so celebrated for its virtue and n.o.ble gestes, was the wife of Francesco d'Ordelaffi, lord of Forli, the only prince in Romagna who maintained his independence against the tyranny of the papal power. Knowing her firmness and spirit, he entrusted the defence of the town of Cesena to his wife, while he himself maintained the more important position of Forli. In the beginning of the year 1357, Marzia tore herself from her husband, and, throwing aside the gorgeous robe of peaceful power, donned the casque and the cuira.s.s. She stationed herself in Cesena with two hundred soldiers, equipped like knights, and the same number of ordinary troops. She was accompanied also by her son and daughter, and that sage counsellor of the Ordelaffi family, Sgariglino de Petragudula. An army ten times more numerous than all the defenders of Cesena soon beleaguered the place. At the end of April some of the terrified burgesses opened the gates of the lower part of the town to the enemy; but in that moment of peril Marzia remembered that her husband had declared that, unless the pope would treat with him on honourable terms, he would sustain a siege in every one of his castles, and when he had lost them he would defend the walls of Forli, and then its streets, its squares, his palace, and the last tower of his palace, rather than give his consent to surrender that which was his own.

Marzia retreated into the upper part of the town with such of the soldiers and citizens who continued faithful to her. She now discovered that Sgariglino had been a traitor. Justice then had her due, and the head of him whom no feelings of honour or gallantry could preserve in the path of virtue was rolled from the battlements among the besieging army. Marzia relied entirely on her own wisdom and courage; she took on herself all the duties of governor and captain, and, wearing her cuira.s.s both by night and day, she braved all those hards.h.i.+ps which, in former moments of happiness and ease, she would have thought herself incapable of supporting. But the besiegers smiled with indifference at her courage, for their miners were slowly and surely effecting her ruin. She was compelled to retreat to the citadel with four hundred soldiers and citizens, who vowed to be faithful to death. The miners persevered, and at length the citadel almost hung in air. The father of Marzia at that moment reached Cesena, and his pa.s.sage had been facilitated by the legate. He entreated his heroic daughter to surrender, as bravery had accomplished its utmost, and still the besiegers were gradually prevailing. Her reply was simple and firm,--that her husband had given her a duty to perform, and that she must obey, without forming any opinion on the nature of his command. Her heroism was not supported by the people, for they unanimously declared the folly of further resistance. Compelled, then, to surrender, she herself opened the negociations; and so skilfully did she act, so much dreaded was the despair to which she might be tempted, that she obtained from the legate a treaty, whereby it was agreed that all the soldiers who had bravely supported her might return home with their arms and equipments. On the 21st of June she opened the gate of the citadel: she disdained to ask any favour for herself; and the legate, untouched by any chivalric sympathy for female heroism, cast her and her children into prison.[272]

[Sidenote: Chivalric t.i.tles of ladies.]

The honorary t.i.tles of ladies in days of chivalry favoured this martial spirit in women. The wife of a knight was often called equitissa or militissa, or chevaliere. In France, too, ladies, as ruling over fiefs, having the right of war, judicature, and coining money, could confer the honour of knighthood. But in general the feudal law opposed the chivalry of women, for a woman alone could not hold a fief, it not being supposed that she could head her va.s.sals or accompany her liege lord into the field. The instances, therefore, that are scattered over the middle ages of the brave gestes of women sprang from the spirit of chivalry and not from any other principle of society. They were always praised, and joyfully remembered; and when the direction of war was entirely usurped by men, the world reverted with a melancholy pleasure to the chivalry of womankind.

"Where is the antique glory now become, That whilome wont in women to appeare?

Where be the brave atchievements done by some?

Where be the battles, where the s.h.i.+eld and spear, And all the conquests which them high did rear, That matter made for famous poets verse, And boastful men so oft abasht to hear?

Be they all dead, and laid in doleful hea.r.s.e?

Or do they all sleep, and shall again reverse?"[273]

Though 'meek-eyed women' were 'without fear,' yet this martial disposition was never displayed at the sacrifice of the s.e.x's milder qualities. The same lady who placed a lance in rest was in her castle gentle and courteous, dispensing hospitality, tending the sick, or reading romance in hall and bower. Her heart was as tender as her's who was rocked in pleasure's wanton lap. Spenser's picture of his martial maid, Britomart, in love, represents the whole cla.s.s of chivalric heroines:

"Thenceforth the feather in her lofty crest, Ruffed of love, gan lowly to availe; And her proud portance and her princely gest, With which she erst triumphed, now did quail, Sad, solemn, sour, and full of fancies frail, She woxe yet wist she neither how, nor why; She wist not, silly maid, what she did ail, Yet wist she was not well at ease perdy, Yet thought it was not love, but some melancholy."[274]

There were other points in the character of women in days of chivalry hardly necessary to be noticed as not being peculiar to the times. The artifices and sleights of some of them would beseem more refined ages. To repress the presumption of lovers when circ.u.mstances did not favour an avowal of pa.s.sion, they would reprove the sighs and glances which they pretended to see interchanged between the young squires and maidens of the table; but the admirer of the dame sometimes mistook this demeanour for the sign of a coquettish spirit, and left the lady to lament his dulness.[275] The spirit of chivalry, which disposed the heart to all n.o.ble feelings, was not universal in its influence, and we accordingly read of ladies who were deformed by the mood of envy and detraction.

"Then was the lady of the house A proud dame and malicious, _Hokerfull, iche mis-segging_[276]

Squeamous and eke scorning."[277]

[Sidenote: n.o.bleness of the chivalric character.]

But the subject need not be pursued further; for it is woman, as formed by chivalric principles, and not as uninfluenced by that n.o.ble 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 s.e.x. By preserving woman in her n.o.ble 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 s.e.x 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 n.o.ble heiress, and the king could not in every case bestow her on some minion of his court. 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 pa.s.sion 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 n.o.bler station than that which had been a.s.signed 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.

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 b.a.s.t.a.r.d of Burgundy ... The Romance of Jousts ... The Pa.s.sage of Arms ... Use of Tournaments and Jousts._

[Sidenote: Beauty of chivalric sports.]

[Sidenote: Superiority to those of Greece and Rome.]

All our most delightful imaginings of chivalry are a.s.sociated with the tournament. We see in fancy's mirror the gay and graceful knight displaying on his plumed steed the n.o.bleness of 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 ill.u.s.trious 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 tournament especially that the chivalric nations of Europe a.s.serted 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 Coliseum, and a virgin gave the signal for the commencement of the sports, yet the tortures and death of their fellow-creatures const.i.tuted the amus.e.m.e.nt.

[Sidenote: Origin of tournaments.]

Our ancestors were so proud of the Trojan descent which their historians deduced for them, that they even regarded the games which aeneas celebrated to the honour of his dead father, Anchises, as the origin of their own knightly joust and tournament. But in those games there was no encounter of two lances as in the joust, and no courteous battle between two parties of warriors, as was the case in the tournament. This learned enthusiasm was needless and absurd; for the knights might have discovered in the nature and tendency of circ.u.mstances, and in the practice of their known and immediate forefathers, sufficient matter of originality. The Romans were wont to exercise themselves in mock combats, and so were the Goths[278]; but it would be difficult to prove any chain of connection between these people. War was an art in the middle ages, and a long and painful education preceded the practice of it. It was the delight as well as the occupation of the world; for fame[279], fortune, and woman's love[280], could only be obtained by gallant bearing. Hence we find that thoughts of war were not abandoned in times of peace, and that some softened images of battle formed the grace of festive solemnities.

[Sidenote: Reasons for holding them.]

[Sidenote: Practice in arms.]

[Sidenote: Courtesy.]

The martial spirit of the world was nourished by such customs, for kings were always eager to hold tourneys for the better training up of soldiers in feats of arms.[281] It was the beneficial nature of tournaments to shed the amenities and courtesies of peace over the horrid front of war. Thus there were rules for conducting these images of battle which no knight could violate without forfeiting his t.i.tle to chivalry. The display of address, with as little danger as possible to life and limb, was the chief character of these encounters, and skill, therefore, in real war, became more esteemed than brute violence. To profit by the mischance of an adversary would, in the tournament, have been considered unknightly; and it followed that even in the most deadly encounters of nations no cavalier would avail himself of any accident happening to his foe.

[Sidenote: By whom they were held.]

Military exercises, when performed by two parties of cavaliers with hurtless weapons, were called tournaments. If the occasion were high and solemn, heralds repaired to different courts, announcing their sovereign's purpose of holding martial exercises at a particular time, and inviting all those who valued their knighthood, and respected dames and maidens, to repair to the appointed city, and prove their chivalry.[282]

In Germany matters were somewhat different, and should be stated. Except in Saxony (which had its own tournaments), the Germans who were ent.i.tled to appear in the tourneying lists were divided into four companies; namely, that of the Rhine--of Bavaria--of Swabia--and of Franconia. The a.s.sembled cavaliers were called the chivalry of the four countries. Each country by rotation held the tournament, and chose its leader or judge of the sports, who appointed three ladies to give the arms to the knights, and three others to distribute the prizes. It was usual for one of the ladies to be a wife, another a widow, and the third a maiden.[283]

[Sidenote: Qualifications for tourneying.]

Originally, in most countries, no person could tourney unless he proved himself to be maternally a knight of gentle birth, by four descents, and displayed a legitimate coat-armour. But this regulation was every where relaxed in favour of hardy knights who could not boast of ancestral honours.[284] In early times, knights, whether bannerets or bachelors, contended in the listed plain; but, subsequently, the squire (both the follower of the knight and the soldier of the third cla.s.s of chivalry) was permitted to joust or tourney with knights.

Safe-conduct through hostile lands was always allowed to those who wished to tourney; and the silence and solitude of the country in those dark times were pleasingly relieved by bands of jolly and amorous cavaliers, with trains of squires and pages, riding apace to court to the tune of a merry roundelay. It was particularly the custom of newly-made knights to attend a tournament in order to show that they deserved their spurs, and to establish their prowess.[285]

Nor did simple knights alone thus progress to the tournament. Kings and princes p.r.i.c.ked over the plain in gallant and graceful array; for though their rank excused them from performing many knightly observances, yet their chivalric spirit disdained the pride of their station, and their souls were inflamed with the n.o.ble desire of ill.u.s.trating their royalty by deeds of high knighthood.