CHAP, v.] 



CHIVALRY. 



167 



The difficulty caused by the excess of armour is 

 strongly shown by two incidents which occurred in this 

 action. The Count of Boulogne, wh commandeJ the 

 right wing of the allied army, fought with great obsti- 

 nacy. At the commencement of the action he had 

 drawn up a body of chosen infantry pikemen into a 

 hollow battalion, two deep, in a circular formation, in 

 the centre of which he took up his position. In the 

 front of this circle, which bristled with pikes in every 

 direction, an opening was made when he wished to 

 charge. From time to time, as he became exhausted, ho 

 retreated to the circle, which gave him an entrance, and 

 protected him from the hostile horsemen, while he took 

 off his helmet, and recovered his breath. 



Thft other incident is that of two bodies of hostile 

 knights, or gendarmerie, while fighting against each 

 other, stopping, as if by mutual consent, in the midst of 

 the struggle, and all relieving themselves of their 

 helmets to get fresh air, and to obtain rest.^ 



It could not take long, under these circumstances, for 

 the infantry to begin again to hold their proper relative 

 position, and the fact of the hollow circle of the Count of 

 Boulogne successfully serving as a place of refuge to him 

 from the attacks of the heavy cavalry, speaks volumes 

 as to the steadiness and discipline of his chosen pike- 

 men. 



At this battle, also, we see that Philip Augustus had 

 a body of infantry, somewhat of a regular character, 

 called " sergents d'arrms" The infantry levies of the 

 communes were also distinguished by the name of " ser- 

 gents." These troops were of a much better quality, 

 and of a higher rank than the ordinary rabble that formed 

 the foot-soldiers of the feudal armies, and were com- 

 manded by nobles. The name serviens, or sergentjS, is 

 sometimes used to signify a bodyguard only, but is also 

 often applied to the whole body of the soldiery under 

 the rank of knight, but particularly all those who fought 

 behind the knights in the second rank. 



^ Daniel, Milice Fran9aise, i. 214, 215. 



