Jan. 1. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



11 



vernment, and commenced, I believe, under the 

 auspices of M. Guizot, namely, the Documens ine- 

 dits sur VHistoire de France^ the following passage 

 attracted my notice : 



*' II (M. de Brequigny) a prouve par des litres 

 authentiques et inconnus jusqu'a present, qu'Eustaclie 

 de St. Pierre, dont on a si fort vante le devouement 

 pour les habitans de Calais, fut seduit par Edouard, et 

 qu'il re5ut de ce prince des pensions et des possessions 

 fort peu de temps apres la prise de cette place, aux 

 conditions d'y maintenir le bon ordre, et de la conserver 

 a I'Angleterre." — See Lettres de Rois, Sfc, vol. i. Pre- 

 face, p. cix. 



The above statement is founded on a memoir 

 read before the Academic des Belles-Lettres by 

 M. de Brequigny, respecting the researches made 

 by him in London (see Mem. de TAcad. des Belles- 

 Lettres, torn, xxxvii.). 



Lingard throws a doubt over the matter. He 

 says : 



" Froissart has dramatised this incident with con- 

 siderable effect ; but, I fear, with little attention to 

 truth . . . Even in Froissart there is nothing to prove 

 that Etlward designed to put these men to death. On 

 the contrary, he takes notice that the King's refusal of 

 mercy was accompanied with a wink to his attendants, 

 which, if it meant anything, must have meant that |ie 

 was not acting seriously." — Lingard, Srd edit. 1825, 

 vol. iv. p. 79., note 85. 



Again, in Hume : 



" The story of the six burgesses of Calais, like all 

 extraordinary stories, is somewhat to be suspected ; and 

 so much the more, as Avesbury, who is particular in 

 his narrative of the surrender of Calais, says nothing of 

 it, and, on the contrary, extols in general the King's 

 generosity and lenity to the inhabitants." — Hume, Svo, 

 1807, vol. ii., note h. 



Both Hume and Lingard mention that Edward 

 expelled the natives of Calais, and repeopled the 

 place with Englishmen ; but they say nothing as 

 to Eustache de St. Pierre becoming a pensioner of 

 the King's " aux conditions d'y maintenir le bon 

 ordre, et de la conserver a I'Angleterre." 



Chateaubriand {Etudes Hist., 1831, 8vo., tome 

 iv. p. 104.) gives Froissart's narrative, by which 

 he abides, at the same time complaining of the 

 " esprit de denigrement" which he says prevailed 

 towards the end of the last century in regard to 

 heroic actions. 



Regarding Queen Philippa's share in the trans- 

 action above referred to, M. de Brequigny says : 



" La reine, qu'on suppose avoir ete si touchee du 

 malheur des six bourgeois dont elle venalt de sauver la 

 vie, ne laissa pas d'obtenir, peu de jours apres, la con- 

 fiscation des maisons que Jean d'Acre, Tun d'eux, avait 

 possedees dans Calais." 



Miss Strickland {Lives of Queens, 1st edit., vol.ii. 

 p. 3.3&-.) likewise gives the story as related by 

 Proissart, but mentions the fact of Queen Philippa 



taking possession of Jean d' Acre's property, and 

 the doubt cast upon Eustache's loyalty ; but she 

 would appear to justify him by reason of King 

 Philip's abandoning the brave Calaisiens to their 

 fate. However this may be, documents exist 

 proving that the inhabitants of Calais were in- 

 demnified for their losses ; and whether or not the 

 family of Eustache de St. Pierre approved his 

 conduct, so much is certain, that, on the death of 

 the latter, the property which had been granted 

 to him by King Edward was confiscated, because 

 they would not acknowledge their allegiance to 

 the English. 



I wish to ask whether this new light thrown on 

 the subject, through M. de Brequigny's labours, 

 has been hitherto noticed, for it would appear the 

 story should be re-written. Philip S. King. 



DEVIZES, ORIGIN OF: A QUESTION FOR THE 

 HERALDS. 



I will put the following case as briefly as I can. 



Throughout the mediaeval ages, the word devise 

 formed the generic term for every species of em- 

 blazonment. Thus we have " Devises Heroiques, 

 par Claude Paradin, Lyons, 1557 ; " " Devises et 

 Emblems d' Amour moralises, par Flamen ; " " 2'he 

 Paradise of Dainty Devices, 1576;" '■^Minerva 

 Britannica, or a Garden of Heroical Devices fur- 

 nished and adorned with Emblems and Impressas 

 of Sundry Natives, newly devised, moralised, and 

 published by Henry Peachum, 1612 ;" and lastly, 

 Henry Estienne's " discourse of hieroglyphs, sym- 

 bols, gryphs, emblems, enigmas, sentences, para- 

 bles, reverses of medals, arms, blazons, cimiers, 

 cyphers, and rebus," which learned discourse, be 

 it observed, is entitled The Art of making Devises^ 

 1646. As an additional proof that device included 

 the motto, take the following : 



" Henry III. commanded to be written by way of 

 device in his chamber at Woodstock, ' Qui non dat 

 quod amat non accipit ille quod optat ;' " 



quoted by Sir Eger. Brydges. Here I must stop, 

 though I could add many illustrations ; and go on- 

 to observe, that whereas all the explanations which 

 I have ever met with, of the unique appellation of 

 " Castrum Divisarum," or the castle of Devises, are 

 totally un-historic, if not ridiculous, I crave the 

 attention of all whom it may concern to a new 

 solution of the difficulty. 



First, then, in order to clear the way, I would 

 observe, that if, as commonly stated, the name 

 had signified a frontier fort, would it not have 

 been called the castle of the division [singular] 

 rather than the castle of the divided districts ? 

 In other words, why make it a plural term ? 



Secondly. If, as I surmise, the Italian word 

 divisa bore at the time of the Conquest its present 

 meaning of " device," in greater force than the 



