. 20 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
his mistress, or which the latter spontaneously 
presented to him. This custom of giving' and 
wearing favours was kept up until the middle 
of the seventeenth century. Various changes 
of fashion took place with respect to the objects 
which were thus presented as pledges of regard ; 
and if Bayard, the “ knight without fear and 
without reproach,” obtained from the lady of his 
heart a pair of elegant bracelets and a silken 
purse—the favoured knight of a more recent 
age received from the hand of his mistress the 
less costly gift of a simple flower. The presents 
given in this manner by ladies to their favourite 
champions were soon converted into emprises , 
or devices, and were worn on those parts of the 
dress or armour which an adversary was obliged 
to touch when he challenged the possessor of 
the emprise to single combat. 
In France during the middle ages, flowers 
were much employed as emblems of love and 
gallantry. At the banquet given in celebration 
of the marriage of Charles the Bold, Duke of 
Burgundy, with the English Princess Margaret, 
several ingenious automata were introduced— 
among others was a large unicorn, bearing on 
