PART II

.

FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND TO THE END OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY.

For the period now to be examined, namely, from about the year 1066 to the close of the twelfth century, our chief evidences are still the illuminations of manuscripts, the writings of chroniclers and poets, tapestry-pictures, ivory carvings and metal chasings. The valuable testimonies of the graves are lost to us; but a new source of information is opened to our inquiries in the royal and baronial seals, which from the second half of the eleventh century appear in great abundance wherever the feudal system is in vogue. Among these various evidences, there are two which, for our particular purpose, are especially valuable,--the Bayeux tapestry and the Chronicle of Robert Wace. There seems to be no reasonable doubt of this tapestry having been embroidered at the close of the eleventh century; and whoever has carefully examined it, will be at once convinced that it was wrought, not by courtly ladies, but by the ruder hands of the ordinary tapestry-workers. Curious analogy is found in the decorations of _subsellæ_ of a somewhat later date[152]. The especial value of the Chronicle of the Dukes of Normandy is in the minuteness with which Wace delights to describe the incidents of knightly achievement. Taking his crude facts from William of Jumièges and Dudo of St. Quentin, he fills up their outlines with unwearying elaboration. Not content with drily noting the gathering of a host or the issue of an onslaught, he tells us how the levies came into the camp "by twos, and by threes, and by fours, and by fives," and with what weapons they contended, the material of their staves, and the length and breadth of their blades. He himself lived so near the time of which he writes, and the changes in the interval were so few, that his descriptions have, in most instances, the exactness of those of an eye-witness. The incidents of Duke William's Conquest of England he learns from the lips of his own father, who lived probably in the eleventh century:--

"---- jo oï dire à mon pere: Bien m'en sovint, maiz varlet ere." _Roman de Rou_, l. 11564.

We must still, however, keep in view that Wace, like all writers and illuminators of the middle-ages, does not hesitate to fill up his pictures from the scenes around him; so that, while we concede him a large measure of authority, especially for the events near his own time, we must on some occasions withhold our confidence, when his testimony is not in accordance with evidence which is strictly cotemporary.

With the feudal system was introduced a scheme of military rank which was altogether distinct from social position. Esquire, knight, and banneret had no necessary connection with prince, baron, or private person. The heir of a crown might be but an esquire; a fortunate soldier often became a knight. The esquire was the aspirant to knightly honours, and patiently served his apprenticeship to arms in the court of his prince or the hall of some neighbouring baron. At the age of twenty-one he was eligible to knighthood: he became, if he had property enough to support the dignity, a knight-bachelor: "s'il a bien de quoi maintenir l'estat de chevalerie; car aultrement ne lui est honneur, et vault mieulx estre bon escuyer que ung poure chevalier[153]." In the field, the knight's contingent was led under a Pennon, a flag that differed from the square Banner of the banneret in being pointed at the fly. The dignity of the Knight Banneret required a retinue of at least fifty men-at-arms with their followers, so that it could only be enjoyed by the rich. The chronicles of the middle-ages are full of examples in which the knight who has distinguished himself on the field of battle declines this dignity on the plea of inadequate funds. When accepted, the Pennon of the knight was often at once converted on the spot into a Banner; as in the instance recorded by Olivier de la Marche:--"Si bailla le Roi d'Armes (de la Toison d'Or) un couteau au Duc (de Bourgogne), et prit le pennon en ses mains, et le bon Duc, sans oster le gantelet de la main senestre, fit un tour autour de sa main de la queue du pennon, et de l'autre main coupa ledit pennon et demeura quarré; et la Banniere faite[154]." Froissart offers several similar instances.

The feudal Levy was conducted on the very simple principle, that they who held the land should defend the land, and contribute to the king's army in proportion to the extent of their holdings. Those who could not serve in person, as clerics and ladies, were bound to furnish substitutes. The various contingents due from the vassals were carefully recorded in rolls; and in the _Milice Française_ of Père Daniel is preserved a curious note of such a roll, of the time of Philippe Auguste, in which the contributors to the host are arranged in the following order: archbishops, bishops, abbots, dukes, earls, barons, castellans, vavassors, knights-banneret, and knights[155]. The usual time of service at this period was forty days: any further attendance was voluntary, and was probably much dependent on the prospect of booty.

That knight and esquire were not necessarily of gentle blood, might be proved by numerous ancient evidences: one or two may suffice. Matthew Paris, under the year 1250, tells us that the king "gave a charter of the liberty of warren in the land of Saint Alban's to a certain knight named Geoffry, although not descended from noble or knightly ancestors." This knight had obtained the privilege "from having married the sister of the king's clerk, John Maunsell." The "lady's name was Clarissa, and she was the daughter of a country priest, but exalted herself in her pride above her station, to the derision of all." Froissart, in the fourteenth century, gives us the history of Jacques le Gris, the bosom-friend of the Earl of Alençon,--"qui n'étoit pas de trop haute affaire, mais un écuyer de basse lignée qui s'étoit avancé, ainsi que fortune en avance plusieurs; et quand ils sont tous élevés et ils cuident être au plus sûr, fortune les retourne en la boue et les met plus has que elle ne les a eus de commencement[156]."

In fact, numerous exceptional cases might be adduced on almost every point of knightly usage, and to chronicle the whole would be a labour of many pages. A detail of such usages (the education of the varlets, the probation of the knights, the ceremonies of investiture, and the institutions of the various brotherhoods) is by no means within the province of this work. A large amount of information on these points will be found in the _Mémoires sur l'ancienne Chevalerie_ of St. Palaye, and in the various works of Ducange; from whose pages numerous references will lead the more critical investigator to a wide range of valuable authorities. An able sketch of the Feudal System, as it existed in Italy, appears in the first volume of Sismondi's _Républiques Italiennes au Moyen-âge_, p. 80, sq.

Besides the feudal troops already noticed, there was a more general levy, when any pressing danger menaced the state. Thus, in 1124, Louis le Gros met the threatened invasion of the Emperor Henry V. by raising an army of more than 200,000 men[157]. And under Philippe le Bel, we have an ordinance calling upon all his subjects, "noble and non-noble, of whatsoever condition they be, between the ages of eighteen and sixty," to be ready to take the field. A similar provision was found in England. The _Posse Comitatûs_, which was under the command of the sheriffs of the various counties, included every freeman capable of bearing arms between the ages of fifteen and sixty. In 1181, Henry II. fixed an assize of arms, by which all his subjects, being freemen, were bound to be in readiness for the defence of the realm, "Whosoever holds one knight's fee shall have a coat-of-fence (_loricam_), a helmet (_cassidem_), a shield, and a lance; and every knight as many coats, helmets, shields, and lances, as he shall have knights' fees in his domain. Every free layman, having in rent or chattels the value of sixteen marks, shall have a coat-of-fence, helmet, shield and lance. Every free layman having in chattels ten marks, shall have a haubergeon (_halbergellum_), iron cap and lance (_capelet ferri et lanceam_). All burgesses and the whole community of freemen shall have each a 'wambais,' iron cap, and lance. On the death of any one having these arms, they shall remain to his heir. Any one having more arms than required by this assize, shall sell or give them, or so alienate them, that they may be employed in the king's service. No Jew shall have in his custody any coat-of-fence or haubergeon (_loricam vel halbergellum_), but shall sell it or give it, or in other manner so dispose of it that it shall remain to the king's use. No man shall carry arms out of the kingdom, or sell arms to be so carried. None but a freeman to be admitted to take the oath of arms (_et præcepit rex, quod nullus reciperetur ad sacramentum armorum nisi liber homo_[158])." In this curious document it will be remarked that the old national weapon, the axe, is altogether omitted; and the bow, which afterwards became so effective an arm among the infantry of this country, is equally unnoticed. The extensive levy indicated in these passages was clearly that of the so-called _Arrière-ban_, the _Milice des Communes_, or _Communitates Parochiarum_; troops who marched under the banners of their respective parishes. For in an ordinance of Charles VI. of France, in 1411, we find the _ban_ and _arrière-ban_ very exactly defined:--"Mandons et convoquons par devant nous, tous noz hommes et vassaulx tenant de nous, tant en fiefs qu'en arrière-fiefs: et aussi des gens des bonnes villes de notre royaume qui out accoustumé d'eulx armer par forme et manière de arrière-ban[159]."

As the vassals were not always disposed to exchange hawk and hound for lance and destrier, and as kings found themselves but ill-served by barons who had become almost as powerful as themselves, a plan was devised, by which both were relieved from this embarrassment of feudal relations. The vassal compounded by a money-payment called Scutage for the service due to his lord; and the lord, with the proceeds of this shield-tax, obtained the aid of foreign soldiery. Henry II. in England, and Philip Augustus in France, employed these mercenaries, who were called Coterelli, Rutarii, Bascli, and Brabantiones, names derived from their condition or country[160]. William the Conqueror, Wace tells us, had mercenary troops mixed with his feudal followers:--

"De mainte terre out soldéiers: Cels por terre, cels por déniers."--_Rom. de Rou_, l. 13797.

Again:--

"Dunc vindrent soldéirs à lui: Et uns è uns, è dui è dui, E quatre è quatre, è cinc è sis, E set è wit, è nof è dis: E li Dus toz les reteneit: Mult lor donout è prameteit.

* * * * *

Alquanz soldées demandoent, Livreisuns è duns covetoent."--_Line_ 11544.

Besides the troops enumerated above, the King's Body-guard became a corps of some celebrity at the close of the twelfth century. Philip Augustus is said to have instituted this corps in the Holy Land, to protect his person from the machinations of the Old Man of the Mountain; and in imitation of his ally, Richard of England embodied a similar force. The _Servientes armorum, Sergens d'armes_, or _Sergens à maces_, were armed _cap-à-pie_, and besides their distinctive weapon, the mace, carried a bow and arrows[161], and of course a sword. In the fourteenth century they had a lance[162]. In the beginning of the fifteenth century, as we learn from the curious incised stones[163] formerly placed in the church of their brotherhood, St. Catherine-du-val, at Paris, and now preserved in the Church of St. Denis, the _sergens d'armes_ were still clad in complete armour, their weapons being a mace and sword. The number of these guards at their first institution is not clear, but in the time of Louis VI. of France they were _reduced_ to a hundred. It must be borne in mind that the name of _serviens_ or _sergent_, as applied to military persons, had a much wider signification than this of a body-guard. It often included all beneath the dignity of a knight.

The Archers in the army of William the Conqueror fulfilled those duties of preliminary fight which at a later period fell to the lot of the musquetiers, and in our own day have passed to the cannonier. The Norman bowmen are the first of the invading troops to set foot on English soil:--

"Li archiers sunt primiers iessuz: El terrain sunt primiers venuz. Dunc a chescun son arc tendu, Couire et archaiz el lez pendu. Tuit furent rez è tuit tondu, De cors dras furent tuit vestu."--_Rom. de Rou_, l. 11626.

These shaven and shorn, short-coated archers, with their quivers hung at their side, are exactly reproduced in the Bayeux tapestry (Plates XIII., XV., and XVI.):--

"La gent à pié fu bien armée: Chescun porta arc et espée. Sor lor testes orent chapels, A lor piez liez lor panels. Alquanz unt bones coiriés, K'il unt à lor ventre liés. Plusors orent vestu gambais, Couires orent ceinz et archais.

* * * * *

Cil a pié aloient avant Serréement, lors ars portant."--_Line_ 12805.

From this curious passage it appears that the archers of William were not a particular and distinctly organized corps, but that _all the foot_ were armed with the bow. The caps and boots are clearly portrayed in the Bayeux tapestry; and from this valuable monument we obtain an exact confirmation of the statement of Wace, that some of the archers were clad in armour. See Plate XIII. We must observe also, that the advantage of a close formation was thoroughly appreciated at this day. The serried order of the foot noted above was also adopted by the cavalry:--

"Cil à cheval è cil à pié Tindrent lor eire è lor compas, Serréement lor petit pas, Ke l'un l'altre ne trespassout, Ne n'aprismout ne n'esloignout. Tuit aloent serréement, E tuit aloent fièrement."--_Line_ 12825.

In Plate XIII. of the Bayeux tapestry, we find an archer who carries his quiver, not "el lez pendu," but slung at his back, so that the arrows present themselves at the right shoulder. In Plate XVI. we have a mounted archer joining a group of knights in the chase of the discomfited Saxons; from which we may venture to infer, that on the rout of an enemy it was the practice of such bowmen as could obtain horses, to act with the cavalry in the pursuit of the flying foe.

[Illustration: GREAT SEAL OF WILLIAM RUFUS.

No. 26.]

If the Norman archers were for the most part clad in "cors dras," the horsemen were fully furnished in the choicest military equipment of the day:--

"Dunc issirent li Chevalier, Tuit armé è tuit haubergié[164]: Escu al col, healme lacié: Ensemble vindrent al gravier[165], Chescun armé sor son destrier. Tuit orent ceintes les espées, El plain vindrent lances levées. Li Barunz orent gonfanons, Li chevaliers orent penons."--_Rom. de Rou_, l. 11639.

"Chevaliers ont haubers è branz, Chauces de fer, helmes luizanz, Escuz as cols, as mains lor lances."--_Line_ 12813.

In the south, military science was already so far advanced that a Code for the discipline of troops had been established. The rules laid down by the Emperor Frederic for the control of his army in Italy in 1158, have been preserved by Radevicus of Frisinga[166], and are given by Sismondi[167].

Wherever the feudal system had taken root, a similar arming and similar tactics prevailed. The military

"Chevals quistrent et armes à la guise franchoise, Quer lor semblout è plus riche è plus cortoise."

But in the border-nations of Europe, where the old liberties of Celt and Teuton still lingered, the fashions of war were very different. In Ireland, in Scotland, in Wales, and in the Scandinavian North, the heroes were by no means clad in the pattern of the Bayeux tapestry. From Giraldus Cambrensis we learn that the Irish in the twelfth century wore no body-armour. In riding they used neither saddle nor spur. Their shields were circular, and painted red. Helmets they had none. Their weapons were a short spear, javelins, and an axe. The axes, which they had derived from the Norwegians and Ostmen, were excellently well steeled. "They make use of but one hand when they strike with the axe, extending the thumb along the handle to direct the blow; from which neither the helmet can defend the head, nor the iron folds of the armour the body; whence it has happened in our time that the whole thigh of a soldier, though cased in well-tempered armour, hath been lopped off by a single blow, the limb falling on one side of the horse, and the expiring body on the other. They are also expert beyond all other nations in casting stones in battle, when other weapons fail them, to the great detriment of their enemies[168]." The bow not being in use among the Irish of this time, and consequently there being nothing to oppose to the distant attack of the Norman archers, the havoc made by these latter troops was terrific; so that Giraldus, in his chapter, "Qualiter Hibernica gens sit expugnanda," recommends that in all attacks upon them, bowmen should be mixed with the heavy-armed force.

The Welsh also retained their old mode of warfare:--

"Gens Wallensis habet hoc naturale per omnes Indigenas, primis proprium quod servat ab annis,"

says Guillaume le Breton. "They are lightly armed," writes Giraldus Cambrensis, "so that their agility may not be impeded; they are clad in haubergeons (_loricis minoribus_), have a handful of arrows, long lances, helmets, and shields, but rarely appear with iron greaves (_ocreis ferreis_). Fleet and generous steeds, which their country produces, bear their leaders to battle, but the greater part of the people are obliged to march on foot over marshes and uneven ground. Those who are mounted, according to opportunity of time and place, both for the retreat and advance, easily become infantry. Those of the foot-soldiers who have not bare feet, wear shoes made of raw hide, sewn up in a barbarous fashion. The people of Gwentland are more accustomed to war, more famous for valour, and more expert in archery, than those of any other part of Wales. The following examples prove the truth of this assertion. In the last assault of Abergavenny Castle, which happened in our days, two soldiers passing over a bridge to a tower built on a mound of earth, in order to take the Welsh in the rear, their archers, who perceived them, discharged their arrows, penetrating an oaken gate which was four fingers thick: in memory of which deed, the arrows are still preserved sticking in the gate, with their iron piles seen on the other side.... Their bows are made of wild elm, unpolished, rude, and uncouth, but strong; not calculated to shoot an arrow to a great distance, but to inflict very severe wounds in closer fight[169]." Guillaume le Breton, in describing the Welsh troops who accompanied Richard Cœur-de-Lion into France, deprives them of defensive armour altogether:--

"Nec soleis plantas, caligis nec crura gravantur: Frigus docta pati, nulli oneratur ab armis, Nec munit thorace latus, nec casside frontem[170]."

But he allows them a greater variety of weapons on this occasion than is found in the account of Giraldus:--

"Clavam cum jaculo, venabula, gesa, bipennem, Arcum cum pharetris, nodosaque tela vel hastam."

The _gesa_ of this passage is the often-mentioned _guisarme_. The _nodosa tela_ is not so clear, but may have been a dart with a ball at the end; the object of which ball was to arrest the javelin when, sliding through the hand, it had inflicted its wound, so that it might be employed afresh. Such weapons were used by the ancient Egyptians[171], and are still employed in the manner mentioned above by the Nubians and Ababdeh.

Hoveden, describing the battle of Lincoln in 1141, and the disposition of the Earl of Chester's army, says: "On the flank, there was a great multitude of Welshmen, better provided with daring than with arms."

In Scotland, two leading influences were at work. The highlanders adhered to their old habits and their old arms with a pertinacity which has not been extinguished even in our own day. The round shield ornamented with knot-work subsisted to the field of Culloden, and the dagger with its hilt of the same pattern, is still in vogue. But in the south of Scotland the fashions of France and of England had made great inroads; especially advanced by the crowds of discontented nobles of Saxon and of Norman blood, who sought in the court of the Scottish king solace for their misfortunes, or revenge for their wrongs. Thus in the seal of Alexander I. (1107-1124,) we find that monarch wearing the hauberk with tunic and the nasal helmet, and armed with lance and kite-shield, exactly as seen in the monuments of his more southern cotemporaries. This equipment, however, was only found among the leaders of their hosts, and even they did not always think fit to adopt the new fashion. Thus, at the battle of the Standard, in 1138, the Earl of Strathearne exclaims:--"I wear no armour, yet they who do will not advance beyond me this day."

[Illustration: FROM THE GREAT SEAL OF ALEXANDER I., KING OF SCOTLAND.

No. 27.]

This Battle of the Standard, so called from the _Carrocium_, or Car-standard, which was brought into the field by the English, affords us a good insight into the warfare of the Scots of this day. Let us remember, however, that it is an English chronicler who records the fight. Roger of Hoveden tells us that the bishop[172] who accompanied the English army, addressing the troops previous to the engagement, said of the Scots: "They know not how to arm themselves for battle; whereas you, during the time of peace, prepare yourselves for war, in order that in battle you may not experience the doubtful contingencies of warfare.... But now, the enemy _advancing in disorder_, warns me to close my address, and rushing on _with a straggling front_, gives me great reason for gladness." At the end of his speech, "all the troops of the English answered, 'Amen, Amen.'"

"At the same instant the Scots raised the shout of their country, and the cries of 'Albany, Albany!' ascended to the heavens. But the cries were soon drowned in the dreadful crash and the loud din of the blows. When the ranks of the Men of Lothian, who had obtained from the king of Scotland, though reluctantly on his part, the glory of striking the first blow, hurling their darts and presenting their lances of extraordinary length, bore down upon the English knights encased in armour, striking, as it were, against a wall of iron, they found them impenetrable. The archers of King Stephen, mingling among the cavalry, poured their arrows like a cloud upon them, piercing those who were not protected by armour. Meanwhile the whole of the Normans and English stood in one dense phalanx around the standard, perfectly immoveable. The chief commander of the Men of Lothian fell slain, on which the whole of his men took to flight. On seeing this, the main body of the Scots, which was contending with the greatest valour in another part of the field, was alarmed and fled. Next, the king's troop, which King David had formed of several clans, as soon as it perceived this, began to drop off: at first, man by man, afterwards in bodies; the king standing firm, and being at last left almost alone. The king's friends seeing this, forced him to mount his horse and take to flight. But Henry, his valiant son, not heeding the example of his men, but solely intent on glory and valour, bravely charged the enemy's line, and shook it by the wondrous vigour of his onset. For his troop was the only one mounted on horseback, and consisted of _English and Normans who formed a part of his father's household_. His horsemen, however, were not long able to continue their attacks against soldiers on foot, cased in armour, and standing immoveable in close and dense ranks; but, with their lances broken, and their horses wounded, were compelled to fly. Rumour says that many thousands of the Scots were slain on that field, besides those who, being taken in the woods and standing corn, were put to death. Accordingly, the English and Normans happily gained the victory, and with a very small effusion of blood." The standard which gave to this battle of Cuton Moor its popular name, was formed of a mast placed on a car, having at its summit a silver pix containing the Host, and beneath, three banners, those of St. Peter, St. John of Beverley, and St. Wilfrid of Ripon.

The equipment of the Scandinavian heroes in the twelfth century has come down to us in several cotemporary writings. The author of the _Speculum Regale_, an Icelandic chronicle of this period, instructs his son in his military duties: when combating on foot, he is to wear his heavy armour, namely, a byrnie, or thick panzar[173] (_thungann pannzara_), a strong shield (_skiold_) or buckler (_buklara_), and a heavy sword. For naval actions the best weapons are long spears, and for defence, panzars made of soft and well-dyed linen cloth, together with good helmets (_hialmar_), pendant steel caps (_hangandi stálhufur_), and broad shields[174]. The directions for a knight's equipment are more minute: Let the horseman use this dress: first, hose made of soft and well-prepared linen cloth, which should reach to the breeches-belt (_broka-belltis_); then, above them, good mail-hose (_bryn-hosur_), of such a height that they may be fastened with a double string. Next, let him put on a good pair of breeches (_bryn-brækur_), made of strong linen; on which must be fastened knee-caps made of thick iron and fixed with strong nails. The upper part of the body should first be clothed in a soft linen panzar (_blautann panzara_), which should reach to the middle of the thigh; over this a good breast-defence (_briost biorg_), of iron, extending from the bosom to the breeches belt; above that a good byrnie, and over all a good panzar of the same length as the tunic, but without sleeves. Let him have two swords,--one girded round him, the other hung at his saddle-bow; and a good dagger (_bryn-knif_). He must have a good helm, made of tried steel, and provided with all defence for the face (_met allri andlitz biaurg_); and a good and thick shield suspended from his neck, especially furnished with a strong handle. Lastly, let him have a good and sharp spear of tried steel furnished with a strong shaft[175]. It will be remarked that the body is here clothed in four different garments, one over the other; which appear to be the _tunic_, reaching to mid-thigh; the breast-defence of iron (whether formed in a single piece, or of several smaller plates, does not appear); the _hauberk_ of the chain-mail, and the _gambeson_, a quilted coat, made in this instance without sleeves. Besides the weapons named above, the axe was still in favour among the Northern warriors. By the ancient laws of Helsingia, every youth on attaining the age of eighteen, was bound to furnish himself with five kinds of warlike equipment: a sword, an axe, a helmet (_jernhatt_), a shield, and a byrnie or a gambeson. A spirited passage of Giraldus Cambrensis brings the Norwegian troops vividly before us. Describing their attack upon Dublin, about 1172, he has: "A navibus igitur certatim erumpentibus, duce Johanne, agnomine _the wode_, quod Latine sonat insano vel vehementi, viri bellicosi Danico more undique ferro vestiti, alii loricis longis, alii laminis ferreis arte consutis, clipeis quoque rotundis et rubris, circulariter ferro munitis, homines tam animis ferrei quàm armis, ordinatis turmis, ad portam orientalem muros invadunt." The round painted shields edged with metal will bring to remembrance the similar defences of the Anglo-Saxons; and in the laminated cuirass we see another instance of the _jazerant_ armour worn by Charlemagne. In King Sverrer's _Saga_, written towards the close of the twelfth century, by the abbot of Thingore in Iceland, and others, from the narrative of the king himself, we have a curious passage: "Sverrer was habited in a good byrnie, above it a strong gambeson (_panzara_), and over all a red surcote (_raudan hiup_[176]). With these he had a wide steel hat (_vida stálhufu_), similar to those worn by the Germans; and beneath it a mail cap (_brynkollu_), and a 'panzara-hufu.' By his side hung a sword, and a spear was in his hand[177]." From this description it seems clear that those singular broad-rimmed helmets found occasionally in monuments of the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, and more frequently in later times; of which examples occur among the sculptures of the tomb of Aymer de Valence, in Westminster Abbey, and on the great seal of Henry III., king of Spain; were introduced into the north and west of Europe through Germany; the Germans, on their part, probably deriving them from the Italians; to whom this form of headpiece had come down from the well-known _petasus_ of classic times. The _panzara-hufu_ was probably a quilted coif worn under the steel hat. Compare Willemin, vol. i., Plate CXLIII.; and see our woodcut, No. 56.

The Prussians in the twelfth century differ but little in their appearance from the Anglo-Saxon warrior of the preceding age. They wear the tunic, reaching to the knees, and belted at the waist; but, in lieu of leg-bands, have tight hose. They have spears little exceeding their own height, and the shield they carry is a mean between the kite and the pear-shape. We derive these particulars from the curious figures of the bronze doors of Gnesen Cathedral, given by Mr. Nesbitt in the ninth volume of the Archæological Journal, (p. 345); the subject represented being the Legend of Saint Adalbert. Hartknoch (_De Rebus Prussicis_) tells us that the arms of the Prussians were clubs, swords, arrows, spears and shields, and their dress consisted of a short tunic of linen or undyed woollen cloth, tight linen chausses reaching to the heels, and shoes of raw hide or bark.

Throughout the period which we are now investigating, the Clergy not unfrequently appear in knightly equipment at siege and battle. But in order to avoid an infringement of _the letter_ of the canons, which forbade them to stain their hands with human blood, they armed themselves with the mace or bâton. At the battle of Hastings, Odo, bishop of Bayeux,--

"Un haubergeon aveit vestu De sor une chemise blanche: Lé fut li cors, juste la manche. Sor un cheval tot blanc séeit: Tote la gent le congnoisseit: Un baston teneit en son poing."--_Rom. de Rou_, l. 13254.

In the disorders of Stephen's reign, the prelates appear to have been still more frequently trespassers on the canons of the Church; for the author of the _Gesta Stephani_ exclaims, "The bishops, the bishops themselves, I blush to say it,--not all of them, but many, bound in iron, and completely furnished with arms, were accustomed to mount war-horses with the perverters of their country, to participate in their prey." Everyone will remember the answer attributed to Richard Cœur-de-Lion, who, when the pope required him to release from captivity his spiritual "son," the bishop of Beauvais, sent back the hauberk in which the prelate had been taken, adding, in the words of the history of Joseph: "This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no." The monk of St. Edmund's, Jocelin of Brakelond, tells us under the year 1193: "Our abbot, who was styled 'the Magnanimous Abbot,' went to the siege of Windsor, where he appeared in armour, with _other abbots_ of England, having his own banner, and retaining many knights at heavy charges; being more remarkable there for his counsel than for his piety. But we cloister-folks thought this act rather dangerous, fearing the consequence, that some future abbot might be compelled to attend in person on any warlike expedition."

On other occasions, however, the clergy fulfilled in the field duties more in harmony with their peaceful calling,--attending the wounded or consoling the dying. At the battle of Hastings, the Norman priests gathered together on a hillock, where, during the contest, they offered up prayers for their companions:--

"Li proveire è li ordené En som un tertre sunt monté, Por Dex préier è por orer."--_Wace_, l. 13081.

And frequent injunctions forbade these holy men from joining in military exploits. Among the decrees of the synod of Westminster, promulgated in 1175, we read: "Whoever would appear to belong to the clergy, let them not take up arms, nor yet go about in armour. If they despise this injunction, let them be mulcted with the loss of their proper rank[178]."

The TACTICS of this period are pretty clearly exemplified by the proceedings of Duke William at the field of Hastings. The army was divided into three corps:--

"Normanz orent treiz cumpaignies, Por assaillir en treiz parties."

The hired troops were placed in the first division, to bear the brunt of the fight:--

"Li Boilogneiz é li Pohiers[179] Aureiz, è _toz mes soldéiers_."

The second consisted of the Poitevins and Bretons,

"E del Maine toz li Barons."

The third corps was the largest:--

"E poiz li tiers ki plus grant tint."

And this, led by William himself, appears to have held the position of a reserve:--

"E jo, od totes mes granz genz, Et od amiz et od parenz, Me cumbatrai par la grant presse, U la bataille iert plus engresse[180]."

The battle was opened by the archers:--

"Cil a piè aloient avant Serréement, lor ars portant."

The charge of the horse, as is well known, was preceded by the feat of Taillefer, to whom the duke had accorded the privilege of striking the first blow. The charge of the knights was at this time, and long after, made in a single line, or _en haie_, as it was called; the attack in squadrons being a much later practice. The Normans acted against their opponents as well by the weight of the horse as by dint of weapons. One knight--

"Assalt Engleiz o grant vigor Od la petrine du destrier: En fist maint li jor tresbuchier, Et od l'espée, al redrecier, Véissiez bien Baron aidier."--_Line_ 13491.

Another--

"----un Engleis ad encuntré, Od li cheval l'a si hurté, Ke mult tost l'a acraventé, Et od li piez tot défolé[181]."--_Line_ 13544.

Spare horses and arms are provided for distinguished leaders:--

"Li Dus fist chevals demander: Plusors en fist très li[182] mener. Chescun out à l'arçon devant Une espée bone pendant. E cil ki li chevals menerent Lances acérées porterent."--_Line_ 12699.

In the crusades, the European knights occasionally, though very rarely, contended on foot; and the Princess Anna Comnena remarks that the French men-at-arms, so terrible on horseback, are little dangerous when dismounted[183].

To disorder the enemy's ranks by a simulated flight appears to have been a favourite stratagem of the Normans. Duke William Sans-peur used this device against the Germans before Rouen:--

"Li Normanz par voisdie[184] s'en alerent fuiant, Por fere desevrer cels ki vindrent devant; Et Alemanz desrengent, si vont esperonant: As portes de Roen la vindrent randonant[185]." _Wace_, l. 3972.

The similar incident of the battle of Hastings is in the recollection of all:--

"Normanz aperchurent è virent Ke Engleiz si se desfendirent E si sunt fort por els desfendre, Peti poeint sor els prendre: Privéement unt cunseillié, Et entrels unt aparaillié, Ke des Engleiz s'esluignereient, E de fuir semblant fereient."--_Line_ 13311.

Another device of Duke William on this eventful day was to assail the English by a downward flight of arrows, for he had found that the shields of his opponents had secured them from the effects of a direct attack: "Docuit etiam dux Willielmus viros sagittarios ut non in hostem directe, sed in aëra sursum sagittas emitterent cuneum hostilem sagittis cæcarent: quod Anglis magno fuit detrimento[186]."

War-cries were still in vogue, and saintly relics and emblems were regarded with a veneration commensurate with the power of the Church and the confiding credulity of the soldiery. The sacred symbol of the Cross is seen constantly on the shields of the knights; and one of the barons of Rufus, on departing for the Crusades, tells the king that his shield, his helmet, his saddle, and his horses, shall all be marked with this holy device[187]. It was even found useful to enrol mock-saints in the armies contending against the enemies of the faith. Thus, in the contest between the Saracens in Sicily and Count Roger, about the year 1070, Saint George mounted on a white horse is seen to issue from the Christian ranks, and head the onslaught on the unbelievers:--"Apparuit quidem eques splendidus in armis, equo albo insidens, album vexillum in summitate hastilis alligatum ferens, et desuper, splendidem crucem et quasi a nostrâ acie progrediens. Quo viso nostri hilariores effecti Deum Sanctumque Georgium ingeminando ipsum præcedentem promptissimè sunt secuti[188]." It is perhaps unnecessary to say that the narrator of this incident gives it in implicit belief of the saintly character of the splendid knight.

Not saints alone, but necromancers were occasionally attached to military expeditions. Such an auxiliary, according to Wace, accompanied Duke William in his expedition to England:--

"Un clers esteit al Duc venuz Ainz ke de Some fust méuz: D'Astronomie, ço diseit, E de nigromancie saveit: Por devinéor se teneit, De plusurs choses sortisseit."--_Line_ 11673.

Having predicted a safe voyage to William, and the prediction having been fulfilled, the duke remembered him of his _nigromancien_, and desired that search might be made for this learned clerk. But the poor fellow had himself been drowned in the passage:--

"En mer esteit, ço dist, néiez, Et en un nef perilliez."

On which the duke wisely remarks:--

"Malement devina de mei, Ki ne sout deviner de sei."

Adding:--

"Fol est ki se fie en devin, Ki d'altrui ovre set la fin, E terme ne set de sa vie: D'altrui prend garde è sei s'oblie."

[Illustration: GREAT SEAL OF KING HENRY THE FIRST.

No. 28.]

In examining the BODY-ARMOUR of the period under review, though we find some change in the adaptations of the old fabrics,--of the quilted-work, of the interlinked chain-mail, of the scale and jazerant,--there appears to be only one piece which is entirely new,--the so-called _Plastron de fer_, a breastplate that was worn beneath the gambeson or other armour that formed a general covering for the body. In a preceding passage from the _Speculum Regale_, we have read of a breast-defence of iron, extending from the throat to the waist, which may have been the breastplate in question. But a passage of Guillaume le Breton more exactly defines this contrivance. In the encounter between Richard Cœur-de-Lion (then earl of Poitou), and Guillaume des Barres:--

"Utraque per clipeos ad corpora fraxinus ibat, Gambesumque audax forat et thoraca trilicem Disjicit: ardenti nimium prorumpere tandem _Vix obstat ferro fabricata patena recocto_, Qua bene munierat pectus sibi cautus uterque." _Philippidos_, lib. iii.

A further evidence of this additional arming of the breast may be derived from the present practice of the East, where quilted coats-of-fence have a lining of iron plates at that part only. In the museum of the United Service Institution may be seen Chinese armours of this construction.

[Illustration: No. 29.]

Though from written testimonies we learn that the fabrics already enumerated were in use, and that the materials of the defences were iron, leather, horn, and various kinds of quilting, it is by no means easy to identify these structures in the pictorial monuments of the day. Nothing perhaps can more strongly mark this fact, than the diversity of interpretation that has been given to the armours in the Bayeux tapestry by some of the latest and most critical investigators of the subject. Von Leber sees in them a contrivance of leather and metal bosses: "ein Lederwamms mit aufgenähten Metallscheiben oder Metallbukeln[189]." M. Allou attires the warrior in a "vêtement particulier formé d'anneaux ou de mailles de fer, ou bien de petites pièces de même métal assemblées à la manière des tuiles ou des écailles de poisson[190]." In the _Bulletin Monumental_ of the Société Française, vol. xi., page 519, we have: "On croit distinguer, d'après l'indication de la broderie, des disques en métal appliqués sur une jaque de cuir." Mr. Kerrich[191] considers the coats marked with rounds as chain-mail. M. de Caumont has remarked that "in the Bayeux tapestry some of the figures are in chain-mail, and others in a kind of armour composed apparently of metallic discs sewn to a leathern _jaque_[192]." In the following we have collected the various modes of indicating the armour in this tapestry, and it must be confessed that to appropriate each is no easy task. It is indeed rather from a comparison with numerous other monuments, than from the testimony of these examples alone, that one is able to form any opinion as to the fabrics intended; and even at last the conclusion _must_ be doubtful, and may be erroneous. From analogous representations of various dates, however, it seems likely that the figures 1 and 2 are intended for interlinked chain-mail; Nos. 3 and 4 for jazerant-work (armour formed of small plates fastened by rivets to a garment of cloth or canvas); Nos. 5 and 6 appear to be plain quilted defences; No. 7 seems only a rude attempt to represent the quilted coif; No. 8 is one of many examples where different markings are used on the same garment. In some instances, the markings copied above are so strangely intermixed in the same dress, that one is led to doubt if, in any case, each differing pattern is intended to represent a different kind of armour.

If from the tapestries we turn to the seals of this period, we shall find a similar difficulty in appropriating the armours represented. The modes of marking the defences are four. One of these is a sort of honeycomb-work, formed by a number of small, shallow, circular apertures, leaving a raised line running round their edges, so as to give a reticulated appearance to the surface. See woodcuts 42 and 43. This texture seems to represent interlinked chain-mail. A second mode consists of a series of lines crossing each other, so as to form a trellis-work of lozenges.

[Illustration: GREAT SEAL OF KING STEPHEN.

No. 30.]

The great seal of King Stephen here given affords an instance of this method. Compare also woodcut No. 41. This, if not another conventional mode of representing interlinked chain-mail, may be intended for quilted armour. A third kind of engraving presents a number of raised half-circles covering the surface of the hauberk. See woodcut No. 26. This, though often described as scale-armour, seems to be no more than the ordinary chain-mail, the difficulty of representing which threw the middle-age artists upon a variety of expedients to obtain a satisfactory result. In the fourth method, lines of half-circles placed contiguously cover the whole exterior of the garment; and that this is another mode of indicating chain-mail is clearly proved by the similar work found on monuments of all kinds, even to the sixteenth century. See woodcut No. 1, fig. 1.

From this glimpse at the seals and tapestries, (and the illuminated manuscripts of the period contribute similar testimony,) we may gather that the artists of this day had no uniform method of depicting the knightly harness; so that, instead of endeavouring to find a different kind of armour for every varying pattern of the limners, we should rather regard the varied patterns of the limners as so many rude attempts to represent a few armours. In the following sketch we have collected some of the methods in use at various times to indicate the ordinary interlinked chain-mail.

[Illustration: No. 31.]

Figure 1 is the most usual, and is found from the twelfth century to the sixteenth. See woodcut No. 1, the seal of King Richard I. Late examples occur in the brass of Sir William Molineux, 1548[193]; in the sculptured effigy of Sir Giles Daubeny in Westminster Abbey; and in the statue of Sir Humfrey Bradburne, on his monument in Ashborne Church, Derbyshire, 1581. Fig. 2 is seen on our woodcuts 32, 37, and 53, from manuscript miniatures: it occurs in sculpture among the effigies of the Temple Church, London. Fig. 3 is of frequent appearance. See woodcut No. 59. The most ancient monumental brass extant, that of Sir John D'Aubernoun, (woodcut 55,) also exhibits this mode of indicating the armour. Fig. 4 occurs in the brass of Sir Richard de Buslingthorpe, c. 1280, figured by Waller,