1 793- hints on chivalry. 3^9 



lefs dangerous to those who (hould be wounded. 

 This was the prelude to the grand tournament, in 

 which the most active knights were to tilt be- 

 fore an immense crowd of spectators. Those equer- 

 ries who signalized themselves most in the first 

 tournament, and who had carried off the prize, some- 

 times obtained the lionour of contending in the se- 

 cond with the more illustrious knights, receiving 

 at the same time the order of knighthood ; for this 

 was one of the steps by which the equerries ascend- 

 ed this temple of honour. This was the most effec- 

 tual reward which could be offered on important 

 and dangerous occasions, to redouble the courage of 

 the combatants. The age of twenty-one was the 

 time at which young men, after so many proofs of 

 their courage and tryal of their (kill, could be ad- 

 miiicd into the order of chivalry ; but this rule was 

 not always observed. 



Ceremonies on the creation of a knight. 

 It win be necefsary for us now to inquire what 

 were the ceremonies instituted for the creation of 

 a knight. Austere fasts, nights spent in prayer 

 with a priest and their relations in the public chur- 

 ches or in private chapels ; the sacrament of peni- 

 tence and the eucharist received with devotion; bread, 

 which signified the purity necefsary to the state of 

 chivalry ; white garments, which marked the same 

 purity ; a sincere confefsion of all the faults of their 

 lives ; a serious attention paid to sermons explaining 

 the principal articles of the faith, and of Christian 

 duty, were the preliminaries of the ceremony by 

 which tlie novice was to be invested with the word 

 of chivalry. After performing these duties, he en- 



