CHIVALRY. 



33.3 



hivalry. break their lances upon, was called by the Italians and 

 ''"Y"'* Spaniards, Sariciiio, and Sarazino, so closely were these 

 two ideas c miected. 



Now, in the first place, this argument, if well founded, 

 would bring the origin of chivalry down to a period 

 posterior to the Crusades; for till they took place, it is 

 hardly to be supposed that a word borrowed from those 

 against whom the Christians were engaged, would be 

 employed. In illustration of this remark, it may be obser- 

 red, that after the Crusades, the phrase Jeu Sarrazionois 

 was in general use, to t xpress any sharp engagement ; 

 and allusions to the Saracens became very common in 

 the romances of that period. 



In the second place, Sarazino was by no means a com- 

 mon name for the image, <-n which the knights broke 

 their lance 1 - ; nor were images of men, commonly used 

 for this purpose, (if we may credit the testimony cf 

 Matthew Paris), in the early days of chivalry ; for that 

 author informs us, that the image of a peacock, the bird 

 served up at the most solemn feasts of chivalry, and by 

 which the most sacred vows were taken, was employed 

 on this occasion. 



But lastly, even if we grant that the wooden image was 

 generally called Sarazino. thi-. by no means proves the po- 

 ition of VVarburton: it is certainly much mure natural to 

 suppose, that the name of thai enemy against whom the 

 knights in real warfare were to be employed, was given 

 to the wooden image out of contempt or detestation, 

 than that it was thus bestowed, because the institution 

 of chivalry was borrowed from the Saracens. 



The traces of the eastern origin of chivalry, besides 

 being derivi d directly from Arabia and Persia, are sup- 

 posed to be found in the early periods of Spanish histo- 

 ry, immediately alter the conquest of that country by 

 the Saracens. But these traces are very indistinct and 

 feeble. The Moriscoes, or song romances of Spain, bear 

 but a faint restmblance to the romances of chivalry : 

 the Fiestas de lot canat may be compared with more 

 propriety to the Gothic tournaments; but the resem- 

 blance is not juch as would justify the inference, that the 

 latter was derived from the former. 



After all, however, the points of resemblance between 

 the chivalry, of the East and the West are very few, and 

 consist in circumstances of the smallest importance, and 

 of the least characteristic peculiarity. A fonduess for 

 feats of arms, and amusements which discovered and gra- 

 tified that fondness, may be traced in the history and 

 romance* of the East ; but the master spirit of European 

 ehiv dry, the point of honour, courtesy of manners, and, 

 above all, attentive and respectful gallantry, must not be 

 (Ought fur among the eastern nations. 



If we examine thr manners and customs of the Scan- 

 dinavian nations, in order to ascertain what traces and 

 i? the resemblances of chivalry they afford, we shail discover 

 many m< re of its peculiai features, than the manners and 

 customs nf the eastern nations presented. The age at 

 which the Scandinavian yi.uth became their own mas- 

 ters, .ind authorised to engage in war, and the manner 

 in which this ceremony wait performed, coincide with the 

 institutions of chivalry. At the age ol fifteen, they were 

 presented with a sword, a buckler, and a lance, and from 

 that perod they became m-mberH of the state. The he- 

 roes of chirairy gave names to their swords; this, too, 

 was done by the ancient Scandinavian heroes. Tin.- to - 

 low K t a age, from the E<idt, pr.ves that the amuse- 

 ment* ot the Scandinavians wt re ol the same warlike 

 character as tho-e in winch the knights of chivalry en- 

 gaged : But teil me, how do tiie heroes divert theni- 

 elve* wheu they trc uot drinking >. Every day," repUe 



Trace* of 



hivalry 



Scandiua 

 Tiaoi. 



Har, " as soon as they hare drest themselves, they take Chivalry, 

 their arms, and, entering the lists, fight till they cut one > ~""Y~~" 

 another in pieces." And Isidore, in his Chronicle, says, 

 that, in his time, " the Goths were extremely fond of 

 fighting, of handling their arms, and throwing their darts ; 

 and that it was their daily practice to divert themselves 

 with mock-fighting." 



But as the grand characteristics of chivalry were the 

 points of honour and gallantry united to war, it is ne- 

 cessary to attend to these features in the Scandinavian 

 tribes. Among them, nothing was deemed so insulting' 

 as to call a man " niding," or infamous ; " for ht who 

 had received so deep a stain, without endeavouring to 

 wash it out with the blood of his adversary, would have 

 lost much more than the life he was so desirous to save. 

 Banished by public indignation from the society of men, 

 degraded from his quality of citizen, and scarcely regard- 

 ed as a human creature, he bad nothing left for it, but 

 a shameful and insecure flight :" (Mallet, i. 219.) That 

 feeling of honour, which renders life but a secondary ob- 

 ject, by making character dearer than life, which marked 

 the age of chivalry, and which has descended from it to 

 modern times, is here strongly and justly painted, a* 

 forming a leading and conspicuous feature in the man- 

 ners and principles of the Scandinavians. Nor were the 

 women less sensible of the value and importance of ho- 

 nour than the men ; they were early and regularly taught 

 to despise such as spent their lives in idleness and obscu- 

 rity ; to prize and reward the valiant, and to shun the 

 cowardly. Such also were the ladies in the age of chi- 

 valry. 



A delicate and respectful gallantry, even in the days 

 of Tacitus, marked the Gothic nations ; and was deem- 

 ed a necessary appendage, as it was almost always the 

 proof of enterprise and valour. If the knights of chi- 

 valry, for the sake of their favourite ladies, went in 

 quest of adventures, and sought victory and renown in 

 foreign l<.nU.-, and in the midst of difficulty and danger, 

 so also did the Scandinavian heroes. The ode of Reg- 

 ner Lodbrot, so renowned in Scandinavian story, pre- 

 sents us with an instance of gallantry very similar t 

 those which are found in the romances of chivalry, and 

 which we know to have been inculcated by the spirit of 

 that institution. A Swedish princess was forcibly de- 

 tained by one of her father's captains in an impregnable 

 fortress. He that should rescue the lady, was promised 

 by her father her hand in marriage. Regner undertook 

 and succeeded in the enterprize, and obtained the lady. 

 In the song of chivalry, written by Harold the Valiant, 

 which, as Wartou justly observe*, has the romantic air 

 of a set of stanzas composed by a provincial Troubadour, 

 he enumerates and describes all the different feats f va- 

 lour and enterprise, which he had performed lor the pur- 

 pose of obtaining the favour of his mistress. 



As respect for the female sex is one of the principal 

 points of resemblance between the manners of the Scan- 

 dinavian nations and the institutions ot chivalry, it may 

 further be remarked, that, accoiding to tne testimony of 

 SaJvian, the Goths, when they became masti rs of the 

 R man province-, not only abstained from violating the 

 chastity of the women, but, by their example, and the 

 serenity of their di cipline, rendered the Romano them- 

 .<ve^ chaste. To protect the chastity ot the women 

 was one of the principal articles in the vow that was ta- 

 ken by a knight, when be was admitted into the order of 

 chivalry. 



There are still one or two other circumstances of in- 

 ferior importance, and of a detchvd nature, by means, 

 of which the nmuutrs oi the bcuuuuuviuu tribes may be 



