BAXXER. 



BAXQTJETTE. 



sent U> two brave tea* in hii stead, with hi* banner of arm* billetted 

 of gold and aurchaixd with a donoette. 



" John la Fiu Mannadne, esteemed by princes and dukes, and Ml 

 other penooi acquainted with him : on his banner was the resemblance 

 of a fees and three popinjays, distinguished by white and red. 



" And Maurice de Berkelee, who wan present at thw expedition, had 

 a banner red aa blood, with eraelete and a white chevron, with a label 

 of anr*. because bis father was liring. 



But Alexander de Baflleol, erer attentive to do good, had a white 

 banner and shield, with a red shield voided." 



Thua the poet and herald goes through the entire boat, presenting 

 u with a view, nearly completo, of the whole chivalry of England u it 

 atood in the reign of King Edward I. 



When the English army i iini1 to be made up of contribution* from 

 the feudal tenant*, the private banner would disappear, and only the 

 mtfrrt* 1 . the regal, or the religious banner be unfurled. But in the 

 army of the Parliament the private banner again made iU appearance. 

 flonnrimee it was decorated, as in earlier periods, with the arnmri.il 

 inaignU of the captain who displayed it ; but in general the devices 

 partook more of the character of the impresses which had come into 

 fashion in the reign of Elizabeth, by which some moral sentiment was 

 ought to be expressed. Thus Captain Thomas Saint Nicholas, of Kent, 

 had a scroll on which was written, ' Dabitur victoria Sanctis.' Captain 

 Copley displayed a banner, on which was wrought the figure of an 

 armed knight on a bay charger, with the words, 'Xay! but aa a 

 Captain of the Lord of Hosts am I come !' A contemporary has left 

 an account of these banners : it is a curious picture of the spirit of the 

 times. It is printed in the work known by the title of ' Sir John 

 Prestwich 1 . Res Publics.; 



Banners with inscriptions, or intelligible devices, afford so ready a 

 means of Hi<Biing a sentiment or feeling among a multitude, that they 

 have been used in all popular insurrections. The five wounds, the 

 crucifix, and other devices of the same class, were exhibited on banners 

 in the insurrections in favour of the Old Religion. And in indictments 

 for treasons in the Middle Ages, there U scarcely one which does not 

 enumerate among the overt acts, that the party had marched with 

 banners displayed. 



The early sovereigns of England are represented on their seals, the 

 moat authentic representations which we have of them, as knights on 

 horseback bearing little banners. But it appears, by the illuminations 

 of early manuscripts, that distinguished persons were attended by one 

 who carried his banner ; and this was, no doubt, from the beginning the 

 usual practice. In later times it was certainly so. In 1361, King 

 Edward III. granted two hundred marks annual fee to Sir Guy de 

 Bryan, as a reward for having borne his banner discreetly at the siege 

 of Calais. Lord Boteler, of Sudeley, in the reign of Henry VI., had a 

 grant of one hundred pounds nnnl fee, as due to his office of ban- 

 nerer. This was probable the same office with that which was called 

 the Standard-Bearer of England, which was held in the reign of King 

 Henry VIII. by Sir Anthony Browne, Knight of the Garter and Master 

 of the Horse. Inferior persons who were allowed to bear a banner in 

 the field had also their banner-bearers. 



The standard which was in use in the llth and 12th centuries was 

 too large to be wielded by any one hand. The French antiquaries have 

 traced it to Italy, and describe it thus : The drapery floated from 

 near the top of a mast or tall tree, which was fixed in a scaffold resting 

 on a oar drawn by oxen. The oxen were covered with housings of 

 akin, adorned with devices and cyphers of the reigning prince. At 

 the foot of the tree a priest celebrated mass every day; while ten 

 knighU, attended by as many trumpets, kept watch upon the scaffold 

 night and day. Such an Inconvenient machine was in use in the 

 English armies ; and at the battle in the reign of Stephen, called the 

 Battle of the Standard, one of this kind was in the field. The pole 

 was the mast of a vessel, and it was decorated with various religious 

 symbols, and with the banners of Saint Peter, Saint John of Beverley, 

 and Saint Wilfred. 



The chief use of the standard and of other banners in military affaire 

 must in all times have been to serve as a rallying point to soldiers of 

 whatever class who composed the army. But they constituted, in tliu 

 middle ages, as now, the telegraphic language of war. A banner hung 

 out from a besieged fortress was as much a sign that a parley was 

 desired in the reign of King Edward I. as now. When a fortress was 

 taken, the banners of England were placed in some conspicuous port of 

 it Vessels at sea displayed then, as now, the national or royal banner, 

 and sometimes the banner of its commander. A ln-i.il<I. \. ii.-n 

 an embassy, carried a banner of the prince whom he served ; and the 

 drapery of a trumpet was in early times, as now, the pennon-quorree of 



In all pageants, banners have aided the splendour of the scone : at 

 touroauu-nU, at coronations, or funerals, banners wore exhibited in 

 great profusion. 



Corporations also had their banners, and the several trading com- 

 panies, who still keep them. The author of ' The Rite* an. i 

 of the Church at Durham 'says that, on Corpus Chri.ti Day. tin- 

 bailiff of the town did stand In the tolbooUi, and did call all thu 

 occupations that were inhabitant within the town, every occupation in 

 iu degree, to bring forth their banners, with all their lights apper- 

 taining to their several banners, and to repair to the Abbey Church 



door. Every banner did stand a-row in iti decree from the Abbey 

 Church door to Windisholl-gate ; on the west side of the way did nil 

 the banners stand, and on the east side of the way all the torches stood 

 pertaining to the said banners " (p. 182). The further use of them on 

 that day is described by Naogeorgus : 



' In vlUafte, the hu.bin 

 With BUT craMS. In 



t their corn do ride. 



i, and Sir John, their priest, bsslds; 



Who, la a bif about his neck doth bear the blessed bread, 

 And often time* he down alight*, and Goipel loud doth read. 

 Thin lurclr keept the corn from wind and rain, anil from the blut, 

 Buch faith the Pope hath taught, and ret the PapUU hold it fast." 



When the drapery of the banner was allowed to float in the air, it 

 was usually either square or extended out to a considerable lengt ! 

 divided at the extremity, so as to form what is called the swallow-toiled 

 banner. The banner of William Rufus was of this form ; that of his 

 father has the appearance of being three shreds, each attached singly 

 to the pole. - 



We refer, for other particulars, to Sir Samuel Meyrick's work on 

 'Ancient Armour;' and to the 'Roll of Carlavcrock,' translated and 

 published with many useful notes by Sir Harris Nicolas, which, bettor 

 than any other single piece, illustrates this subject of banners. 



BANNERET, a name of dignity, now nearly if not entirely extinct. 

 It denoted a degree which was above that expressed by the word mile* 

 or tni;iht, and below that expressed by the word bant or baron. Milled, 

 speaking of English dignities, says that the banneret was the last 

 among the greatest, and the first of the second rank. Edmondsou 

 (' Body of Heraldry ') says the order was instituted in 784, but gives no 

 authority ; it is more generally believed o have been first created in 

 England by Edward I. Many writs of the early kings of England run 

 to the earls, barons, bannerets, and knights. When the order of 

 baronet was instituted, on order with which we must be careful not to 

 confound the banneret, precedence wa given to the baronet above all 

 bannerets, except those who were made in the field, under the banner, 

 the king being present. 



This clause in the baronet's patent brings before us one mode in 

 which the banneret was created. He was a knight so created in the 

 field, and it is believed that this honour wag conferred usually as 

 a reward for some particular sen-ice. Thus, in the fifteenth of King 

 Edward HI., John de Copeland was made a banneret for his sen 

 taking David Bruce, King of Scotland, at the battle of Durham. John 

 Chandoe, a name which continually occurs in the history of the wars 

 of the Black Prince, and who performed many signal act* of valour, 

 was created a banneret by the Black Prince and Don Pedro of Castile. 

 It is in the reign of Edward III. that we hear most of the diy: 

 banneret Reginald de Cobharn and William de la Pole were by him 

 created bannerets. In this last instance the creation was not in the 

 field, nor for military services, for De la Pole was a merchant of Hull, 

 and his services consisted in supplying the king with money for his 

 continental expeditious. We hare therefore here on instance of a 

 second mode by which a banneret might be created, that U, by patent- 

 grant from the king. Milles mentions a third mode, which prevailed 

 also on the continent. When the king intended to create a banneret, 

 the person about to receive the dignity presented the sovereign with a 

 swallow-tailed banner rolled round the staff; the kiiiq unrolled it, and, 

 cutting off the ends, delivered it a bimniire quarrfe to the n< 

 who was thenceforth entitled to use the banner of higher dignity. 

 Sometimes the grant of the dignity was followed by the grant of 

 means by which to support it. This was the cose with some of those 

 above-mentioned. De la Pole received a munificent gift ; the manor 

 of Burstwick, in Holdemuw, and 500 marks, annual fee, issuing out of 

 the port of Hull. (Dugdale's ' Baronage,' vol. ii.) 



The rank of the banneret is well understood, but what par- 

 ticular privilege he enjoyed above other knights is not now known, 

 beyond being allowed to bear onus with supporters. It WOK a personal 

 honour in England, though in France it was hereditary; ami 

 De la Pole's patent it is expressed that the grant was mode to him to 

 enable him and his heirs the better to support his dignity. But thu 

 patent was perhaps irregular, as it seems to h.iv<- In c n surrendered. 

 No catalogue has been formed of persons admitted into this order, and 

 it is presumed that they were few. The institution of the-.. 

 baronets probably contributed greatly to the abuliti.m of the bai 

 The knight* of the Order of the Bath in modern times a]<; 

 nearest to the bannerets of former days. In the civil wars, ( 

 John Smith, who rescued the king's staml.ml at tin? UittU- nf K.lgeliill, 

 was created a banneret, and he was the last ; he was killed in the 

 skirmish at Alregford, in Hampshire. 



It remains to be observed that the French antiquaries since Pasquier 

 have represented the banneret as having been so called aa being a 

 knight entitled to bear a banner in the field; or. in other words, a 

 knight whose quota of men to bo furnished to the king's army for i In- 

 lands he held of him were of that number (it is uncertain what) lii. h 

 constituted of itself a body of men snlliciunt to have thi-ir own leader. 

 In Kngland it is In ' were few tenant* bringing any cv 



ablu number of i: of the rank of tl > 



HAN'.U'KTTK is a term applied in fortification to the step or 

 small terrace of earth, mode on the rampart, and against the parapet 

 of a work, to enable the defenders to fire over its crest. The uj>i -r 



