389 



most of the jugglers themselves led respectable lives, their contact with the 

 latter, who were nearly all thieves and drunkards, told very much against 

 them. This, beyond all doubt, was one of the causes which brought about the 

 decadence of romance as a branch of literature. 



The last features of importance in this branch of literature were the cycle 

 of the Crusades and a few romances which appealed more especially to the 

 pride of certain noble families which had been made famous by the wars 



Fig. 314 The Arming of a Knight after the Ceremonial instituted by King Arthur. Fac-similo 

 of a Miniature from Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century. In the Burgundy Library, 

 Brussels. 



beyond the seas. These romances, "Helias," the "Enfances Godefroi," the 

 "Chetifs," and " Antioch and Jerusalem" (the latter two being merely 

 extracts from the same poem), were recited in all the chateaux of France ; and 

 the jugglers, proud of having won a fresh popularity, thought they could 

 dispense with a musical accompaniment, and got rid of their instrument- 



