serve unsullied the brilliancy of knighthood, religion was to be entrusted with the keys of honour. The novice-knight, viewing his future dignity through the medium of mortification and penance, very naturally endued it with some portion of venerableness and pious awe.

"Austere fasts, whole nights passed in prayer with a priest and the sponsors chosen for the occasion, the sacraments of penitence and the eucharist received with devotion, baths typical of the purity indispensible in the order of chivalry, white garments, worn in imitation of the Neophytes as a symbol of the same purity, a sincere confession of all faults of his former life, a serious attention to sermons in which the principal articles of the Christian faith and morals were explained,— were preliminaries of that ceremony, by which the novice was about to be girded with the sword of a knight. After having fulfilled all these duties, entering into a church, he advanced towards the altar with his sword depending by a scarf from his neck. He then presented it to the officiating priest, who pronounced on it his blessing, and replaced it. The novice then, with clasped hands, went and fell upon his knees before the knight or lady who was to arm him. This august scene took place in a church or chapel; and not unfrequently in the hall or court of a palace, or even in the open fields. The baron to whom the novice presented his sword, questioned him respecting the purpose for which he desired to enter into the order, and whether his vows had any other aim than the support and honour of religion and chivalry? To this the novice made the proper replies, and the knight, after having received his oath, consented to grant his request. Immediately he was invested by the knights, or ladies or damsels present, with all the exterior marks of chivalry. These were given successively, and nearly in the following order :-his spurs, beginning with the left; his hauberk, or coat of mail-cuirass-brassards-gauntlets-and lastly was buckled on his sword. When the knight, who was to confer the order upon him, arose from his seat or throne, and gave him the accolade-most commonly three blows on the neck or shoulder with the naked sword, and sometimes one blow on the cheek with the palm of the hand. By this they pretended to warn him of those sufferings, which he was to prepare himself to bear with patient firmness, if he desired to maintain his high station with dignity. While in the act of giving the accolade, the baron pronounced the following words-'I create thee knight in the name of God, St. Michael, and St. George.' The helmet, buckler, and lance, were now given; after which, mounting and caracolling his steed, brandishing his lance, and glittering his sword, the new knight paraded about amidst the acclamations of the people."

"The most frequent occasions of creating knights, not to speak of those arising from the contingencies of war, were the festivals of the church, especially Easter-proclamations of peace-the consecration or coronation of kings-the birth or baptism of sovereign princes-the days on which those princes themselves received the honours of knighthood, or the investiture of some great fief-or their entry into the principal cities of their realms."

According to their vows, the knights undertook a weighty business at their investiture; for, besides being obliged to combat for any dame, or damsel, who might imagine herself injured and claim the protection of their valour, they compelled themselves to defend the purity of the church's faith against all antagonists. This might have been no easy matter, even then, had they been very conscientious about it; but we shall find, as we go on, that neither the faith or property of the church was secure against their own contempt and rapacity.

With respect to their manners, virtues, &c. as being the most curious part of the most extraordinary of pictures, we may venture to be more circumstantial than on any other point. In all barbarous ages, men abide closely by all distinctions of rank and precedence; and it was not otherwise in the times of chivalry. The knights appropriated to themselves the most costly apparel and arms; and did not permit even their squires to assume the same dress as themselves. Their mantles were composed of scarlet, or cloth of gold, lined with vair or ermin; the squires wore silver cloth, and the less expensive furs; while the dress of the people consisted of woollen stuffs, of the most common manufacture and colour. So great was the attention, in short, which they paid to these matters, that when the knights chose to dress in damask silks, the squires were obliged to confine themselves to satin; and if, at any time, the squires were permitted damasks, then the knights were seen in robes of velvet stiff with gold. Even in their armour and arms, the knights were careful to distinguish themselves from their squires, the latter being only allowed a slight cuirass, a sword and buckler; while a tough and weighty lance, a hauberk, or double coat of linked mail, rendered the former nearly invulnerable. This being considered, it was certainly humane to make it a point of honour, that no knight should attack a squire. Over their armour the knights wore a coat of arms, which, according to Du Cange, was generally of cloth of gold, with the arms of the knight embroidered on it in brilliant colours. The common people bore no other arms, even in battle, than a kind of knife, which they generally wore depending from their girdle.

In the case of manners, it would seem that the more virtuous the institutions of chivalry required a knight to be, the more vicious he was in reality. Let us consult the beau ideal of a true knight, and afterwards introduce the real personage as a commentary upon the text.

"The knight, as soon as admitted to the dignity of the order, being exempt from every vice and defect, must unite in himself all virtues and perfections, and add to them a profound veneration for women. Let him be gay, careful to do nothing that may tarnish his purity, circumspect in his behaviour, valorous, loyal, gracious, mild,

humble, discreet, and as free from stain in mind as person: let him take up the cudgels for his newly acquired honour, delight in knightly exercises, follow arms without consideration of life or fortune; and, at the first tournament in which he shall be engaged, let him push his prowess to the utmost to obtain the prize. If he come off victor at the first tourney in which he bears a buckler, he is thenceforth raised to a new rank, assumes the title of bachelor, and becomes the object of admiration and fame." "But it sufficeth not to have been victor at the tournament: on his return to his castle, on his putting on the weeds of peace, he must be as distinguished by his courteousness and generosity, as by valour and intrepidity in the field. If rich, let him share his wealth with poorer knights; let him unlock his wardrobe, and distribute his superfluous garments amongst the minstrels-for such is the profession of arms :"the thunder of battle in the field; the fountain of joyousness in the hall !"-Extrait des Poësies Provençales, vol. 2.

Another Provençal piece will complete the picture of perfect knighthood. It is a Tenson, or dispute between three Troubadours. The business is, to choose from amongst as many knights, the most worthy; and each of the poets displays his reasons for preferring his favourite to the other two. One of these lords is esteemed for his integrity and justice; another, animated by a steady courage, is ever prepared to defend or avenge his subjects; the third, liberal and magnificent, distinguishes himself by the use he makes of his riches, in maintaining open court for all comers, and scattering his bounty with a free hand. These three qualities united,-equity, valour, and generosity, would therefore have formed a perfect knight; and, in fact, they comprehend all the obligations, which, for the benefit of humanity, chivalry imposed on those who submitted to its ordinances. Being the judge of his peers, and the protector of his vassals, it was the duty of a knight to award impartial justice to the former; and to defend the latter from their enemies, and, as a common father, assist and support them in their wants and misfortunes.

"He was likewise expected to soften the dignity or fierceness of his character, by a mild, modest, and courteous manner, and to keep his word sacred and inviolate."

Here chivalry appears in the splendour of its virtues, awakening our enthusiasm, and appealing to our best ideas of justice and excellence; and we do not doubt that many knights proposed this fine model to themselves, and acted up to it, as far as the weakness of humanity permitted. But the generality were far from regarding purity of sentiment and manners as essential to a member of chivalry. Courage, and a certain species of rude devotion, were the only qualities that maintained any thing like a general sway; every other knightly excel

lence vanished before untoward circumstances, and left the rough soldier to the guidance of his natural propensities. St. Palaye, in drawing a picture of the knights-errant, gives us but too much reason to think them vicious and unprincipled. Their wandering through desert and retired places, in search of adventures, sometimes brought them into temptations which they could not resist; nor could their oath, or the tablets of record,* restrain them within the pale of virtue.

"But without confining ourselves, says the author, to these adventurers, it is certain that even the regular knights paid but small regard to either religion or the state. They had made a vow to defend, maintain, and exalt both; they had been honoured by the church with the title of viscount, &c. yet never ceased to abuse their authority, to the prejudice even of those who had placed themselves under their protection. Under the name of patrons, they were real oppressors, seizing upon the property of those very ecclesiastics for whose defence they pretended to wear arms."

ment.

"I have shewn, in the beginning of these memoirs, what were the lessons inculcated on the minds of the youth who were devoted to chivalry, and therefore the fruits they produced will not excite astonishA completely superstitious creed seemed to be the sole rule of their conduct. They understood nothing farther than those exterior practices commanded by the priests, as ignorant, most commonly, as those whose consciences they governed. But being scrupulously exact in the performance of these frivolous practices, they believed themselves authorized by this regularity, and a few donations made to the churches and monks, to violate every law of religion and humanity. Knights who were polluted with crimes, flattered themselves with possessing an easy way of expiating their sins, by taking advantage of the first opportunity to go in pilgrimage to the Holy Land, or on some expedition against infidels or heretics. If this remedy should be out of their power, they did not doubt being able to elude the divine vengeance, when, at the end of their days, quitting the helmet for the cassock, they wrapped themselves in the mantle of some monastic order; nay, were frequently satisfied with ordering, at the moment of death, that their remains should be clothed with those venerated garments."+

* A knight's oath was composed of twenty-six articles; among which, the most curious, perhaps, was that by which he was compelled, on returning from an expedition or enterprize, to render a faithful account of his adventures, whether honourable or not. These relations were inscribed in the books of the heralds, or officers at arms; and served to support the courage, or console the misfortunes of young adventurers; as well as to keep up, according to St. Palaye's notion, a love of truth in the breasts of the knights.

† An anecdote of the valiant Stephen Vignolles, surnamed Lahire, will place before us the exact form which religion had assumed in the

"Our ancient knights likewise mingled gallantry in such a manner with their religion, that I shall easily be pardoned for never mentioning them apart. And if their Christianity was nothing more than a deplorable mass of superstition, we are not to form a higher idea of their amusements with the dames and damsels, of their conversations, and of the endless recitals, made by them and their squires, of their exploits in battle and war. Although the ladies commonly enjoyed in their company the recreations of the chace, is it to be credited that they were constantly to be entertained by discourses on dogs and birds—i. e. of falconry and hunting-with which they were sometimes amused; and in which the knights indulged themselves in explaining the nature of birds and animals, their qualities and peculiarities, the methods of preserving the race, &c.? In those days the principal merit of a knight consisted in being brave, gay, handsome, and amorous. When it had been said that he could discourse equally well of birds, dogs, arms, and love-when this eulogy upon his mind and genius had been pronounced, imagination could add nothing to the picture.

"They never spoke of love without defining the character and essence of the true and perfect passion, and were soon lost in a labyrinth of speculative questions, upon the most delicious, or terrible situations in which a sincere and tender heart could be placed; upon the most amiable or odious qualities of a mistress, &c. The false subtleties which each employed to defend his positions were sometimes supported by the most indecent declamations against women-sometimes by pompous common-places in their favour, which had been a thousand times refuted. These lovers of the golden age of gallantry-who seem to have taken from the Scotists, rather than from Plato, their ideas and definitions of love-this species of enthusiasts boasted of being enamoured of the virtues, talents, and graces of their dames-of finding in these the only source of the happiness of their lives-and of merely aspiring to maintain, exalt, and spread abroad in all places, their reputation and glory.-Yet this metaphysical love, this vast field in which the most intellectual of these devoted servitors of the dames exercised their wit, had not banished from their conversation, the most obscene images, allusions, and equivoques. Indecency, indeed, was carried as far as it would go, in all the writings, and more especially in the poetry of the times; and this by the most noble personages then

minds of these warriors :-" He was proceeding in company with the Count de Dunois, to raise the siege of Montargis, in 1427. Drawing near the camp (of the English) Lahire fell in with a chaplain, of whom he requested immediate absolution. The priest bade him confess his sins. Lahire replied that there was no time for confession, but that he had been guilty of all the usual sins of a soldier. Upon this the chaplain granted him absolution; and Lahire, clasping his hands together, made the following prayer in his Gascon jargon. "God, I beg of thee that thou wouldest this day do as much for Lahire, as thou wouldest Lahire should do for thee, if he were God, and thou wert Lahire!" And he believed himself, says the historian, to have prayed very properly.