CHIVALRY. 



341 



kivalry. ruder ages of chivalry, the person who officiated kissed 

 ^ "V"*' the new knight on the left cheek, when he gave him the 

 belt ; this was called the kiss of peace. Afterwards, an 

 embrace was given instead of the kiss ; and from this 

 circumstance, the term accolade is evidently borrowed. 

 In Spain, the kiss and blow were sometimes given, with 

 these words, " Awake, and sleep not in affairs of knight- 

 hood," or, " God assist you in the performance of your 

 promise." Sometimes, out of honour to the person 

 knighted, as in the case of the Cid, the blow was omit- 

 ted ; and sometimes the blow only was given. In time 

 of war and actual service, the occasions and opportunities 

 for conferring the order of chivalry were very frequent 

 and numerous. When the army entered on hostile terri- 

 tory, during their march, and even sometimes during 

 their retreat ; when it was necessary to force the passage 

 of a river or bridge, before an assault or battle, and at 

 their termination, the honour of knighthood was confer, 

 red on many esquires. It was a point much discussed 

 among knights, and in books of chivalry, whether it was 

 more proper and more honourable to confer knighthood 

 before battle or after it : if it were conferred before bat- 

 tle, it served to rouse and animate the courage of the 

 new knight, who was always placed in the front rank, or 

 in the post of danger, and who considered himself bound 

 to prove that he was worthy of the promotion that he 

 had received. But as it happened, sometimes, that the 

 battle, on the supposed eve of which the knights were 

 made, did not take place, the honour was conferred on 

 those, who neither had distinguished themselves, nor had 

 an opportunity of doing so. * Brantome therefore, and 

 other valiant and experienced chevaliers, were of opinion, 

 that the honour should be conferred after the battle, 

 when the esquire had fhewn himself worthy of obtaining 

 it, and when no circumstance could take place, which 

 could make him be regarded by his fellow knights as a 

 penon of untried valour and merit. 



The ceremony during war, was very short and simple ; 

 the person to be knighted, presented his sword to the 

 person who was to bestow the honour, who returned it 

 to him, giving him at the same time the accolade. Al- 

 though this was esteemed the most honourable knight- 

 hood, yet it is doubtful, whether the rights and privileges 

 conferred, were not merely personal ; and it is certain, 

 that no obligation to take the oath was imposed or nc- 

 essarily implied. 



When the honour of knighthood was bestowed by a 

 overeign, or noble of high rank and great wealth, it 

 was always accompanied with valuable presents ; and in 

 every case, robes of great splendour were bestowed on 

 the new chevalier. When it happened, that he had not 

 fortune adequate to the proper support of his dignity, 

 the sovereign assigned him a sufficient revenue of money 

 or lauds. 



X4|uip- The most important part of the equipments of the 



menu of knight, was his horse: of this animal he had different 



the kniglitj. kinds ; the great horse, or war horse, was employed only 



in actual battle or in feats of arms.f As the knight, when 



fully equipped, was a great weight, it was necessary that 



this k nd of horse should be very strong. All horses 



which exceeded the size of s,ix hands and four Bngers 



were deemed great or rv.ir horses. These horses were 



caparisoned with great splendour, and ornamented with Chivalry.^ 

 housing and saddle cloths, embroidered with different S ~*~Y~" '^ 

 colours, and exhibiting the coat of arms and the tincture 

 of their riders. In the time of Henry I. the war horses Horse?, 

 appear not to have been protected with any armour ; but 

 in the reigu of Richard I., and subsequently, they were 

 covered with a coat of mail, interwoven with iron rings, 

 sewed together with thread ; these horses, when so arm- 

 ed, were called horded horses. As it was against the 

 laws of chivalry to strike a horse at a tournament, the 

 war horses, on these occasions, were covered only with 

 silk or velvet Cards, embroidered with armorial bearings. 

 Sometimes, also, in tournaments, and even when travel- 

 ling on his palfrey, the knight ornamented the crupper 

 and other parts of the harness with little bells. The 

 common gait of horses, used in tilting, was that called 

 ambling, and they were taught this action by the shoes 

 on the hinder feet having a long point projecting from 

 the toe. Besides the great horse, the chevalier had hi* 

 palfrey, his courser, and his bat horse. The palfrey, at 

 has been already stated, he rode on, while proceeding to 

 the battle or tournament ; the courser was employed, 

 where expedition was required, either in affairs of gallan- 

 try, or war ; and his bat horse was designed for carrying 

 such of his arms as were not committed to the charge of 

 his esquire : these generally consisted of a second lance, 

 shield, &c. in case of accident ; the bat horse also carried 

 what little baggage the knight took with him, and was 

 occasionally mounted by one of the esquires. 



It was deemed dishonourable for a knight to ride on a 

 work horse, or a mare ; and one mode of degrading him 

 was to deprive him of his war horse, and oblige him to 

 ride on a work horse ; no other knight would tilt with, 

 or even address one so mounted. A knight was also dis- 

 honoured by being seen riding in any carriage drawn by 

 these common horses. In the days of chivalry, the horses 

 that were rode by knights, whether war horses, palfreys, 

 or coursers, were all entire. The offensive arms of the Arms. 

 knight consisted of a lance, sword, dagger, battle axe, 

 and maces of different kinds ; sometimes he fought with 

 heavy clubs of iron ; but the lance was his distinguishing 

 weapon ; it was longer than the lance now in use, and 

 re>,emblcd that of the Polish cavalry. It was strong aud 

 difficult to be broken, and commonly made of the lime, 

 aspen, or ash : the last kind of woud was preferred. 

 The lances that were used in tilting, had blunt heads, 

 or with a coronet on them : the staves were thick at the 

 but end, near which th.-y had a cavity for the hand ; at 

 the point a banderolle or pennon was fixed. Originally 

 the shaft was plain, but afterwards fluted. As in tilting 

 the knights sometimes dismounted and fought on foot, 

 in these cases, they broke the shaft of their lances, in 

 order that, by shortening it, they might have more com- 

 mand over it, in thrusting at their adversary. The 

 sword used by the knights of Germany was longer than 

 that generally used by the knights of France ; and the 

 former country, in the time of Joinvilk-, was famous for 

 this weapon. There was a particular kind of sword cal- 

 led Iraquemart, that was short, strong, and blunt at the 

 point. In the reign of Saint Louis, King of France, 

 point was sharpened. The handle of the sword was 

 in the form of a cross, and the name of Jesus was fre- 



Tillct relates, that at Kioufossc, in 1339, when the hostile armies were drawn up, several knights were made, in expectation of 

 taut battle. The battle, hem ever, did not take place; and a hare running along the line, during the ceremony, the new made 

 knights, were called, in derision, Knis-hf* nf ike Hare. (Tillet, quoted by St i'alavc, I 8.33.) 



is called by the Lutin writers, dactrarius ; by the French, destrier. It is generally tuppofcd, that it took 

 an.' frnm the circumstance of its having been well trained fur the purposes of war and chivalry, by the hand, (ttextra). But St 

 ralajre > di poed to derive the appellation from another cause. When the knight K^ not in actual battle or corolat.ho was mounU-d 

 on hut palfrey, while his esquire led his war horse in his rigkt hand. 



