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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Manners, Custom and Dress During the Middle
+Ages and During the Renaissance Period, by Paul Lacroix
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Manners, Custom and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period
+
+Author: Paul Lacroix
+
+Release Date: February 4, 2004 [EBook #10940]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CUSTOM AND DRESS, MIDDLE AGES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration: The Queen of Sheba before Solomon
+
+(_Costume of 15th century_.)
+
+Fac-simile of a miniature from the _Breviary_ of the Cardinal Grimani,
+attributed to Memling. Bibl. of S. Marc, Venice. (From a copy in the
+possession of M. Ambroise Firmin-Didot.)
+
+The King inclines his sceptre towards the Queen indicating his
+appreciation of her person and her gifts; five ladies attend the Queen and
+five of the King's courtiers stand on his right hand.]
+
+
+
+Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages, and During the
+Renaissance Period.
+
+By Paul Lacroix
+(Bibliophile Jacob),
+Curator of the Imperial Library of the Arsenal, Paris.
+
+Illustrated with
+Nineteen Chromolithographic Prints by F. Kellerhoven
+and upwards of
+_Four Hundred Engravings on Wood_.
+
+
+
+
+Preface.
+
+
+
+The several successive editions of "The Arts of the Middle Ages and Period
+of the Renaissance" sufficiently testify to its appreciation by the
+public. The object of that work was to introduce the reader to a branch of
+learning to which access had hitherto appeared only permitted to the
+scientific. That attempt, which was a bold one, succeeded too well not to
+induce us to push our researches further. In fact, art alone cannot
+acquaint us entirely with an epoch. "The arts, considered in their
+generality, are the true expressions of society. They tell us its tastes,
+its ideas, and its character." We thus spoke in the preface to our first
+work, and we find nothing to modify in this opinion. Art must be the
+faithful expression of a society, since it represents it by its works as
+it has created them--undeniable witnesses of its spirit and manners for
+future generations. But it must be acknowledged that art is only the
+consequence of the ideas which it expresses; it is the fruit of
+civilisation, not its origin. To understand the Middle Ages and the
+Renaissance, it is necessary to go back to the source of its art, and to
+know the life of our fathers; these are two inseparable things, which
+entwine one another, and become complete one by the other.
+
+The Manners and Customs of the Middle Ages:--this subject is of the
+greatest interest, not only to the man of science, but to the man of the
+world also. In it, too, "we retrace not only one single period, but two
+periods quite distinct one from the other." In the first, the public and
+private customs offer a curious mixture of barbarism and civilisation. We
+find barbarian, Roman, and Christian customs and character in presence of
+each other, mixed up in the same society, and very often in the same
+individuals. Everywhere the most adverse and opposite tendencies display
+themselves. What an ardent struggle during that long period! and how full,
+too, of emotion is its picture! Society tends to reconstitute itself in
+every aspect. She wants to create, so to say, from every side, property,
+authority, justice, &c., &c., in a word, everything which can establish
+the basis of public life; and this new order of things must be established
+by means of the elements supplied at once by the barbarian, Roman, and
+Christian world--a prodigious creation, the working of which occupied the
+whole of the Middle Ages. Hardly does modern society, civilised by
+Christianity, reach the fullness of its power, than it divides itself to
+follow different paths. Ancient art and literature resuscitates because
+custom _insensibly_ takes that direction. Under that influence, everything
+is modified both in private and public life. The history of the human race
+does not present a subject more vast or more interesting. It is a subject
+we have chosen to succeed our first book, and which will be followed by a
+similar study on the various aspects of Religious and Military Life.
+
+This work, devoted to the vivid and faithful description of the Manners
+and Customs of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, answers fully to the
+requirements of contemporary times. We are, in fact, no longer content
+with the chronological narration and simple nomenclatures which formerly
+were considered sufficient for education. We no longer imagine that the
+history of our institutions has less interest than that of our wars, nor
+that the annals of the humbler classes are irrelevant to those of the
+privileged orders. We go further still. What is above all sought for in
+historical works nowadays is the physiognomy, the inmost character of past
+generations. "How did our fathers live?" is a daily question. "What
+institutions had they? What were their political rights? Can you not
+place before us their pastimes, their hunting parties, their meals, and
+all sorts of scenes, sad or gay, which composed their home life? We should
+like to follow them in public and private occupations, and to know their
+manner of living hourly, as we know our own."
+
+In a high order of ideas, what great facts serve as a foundation to our
+history and that of the modern world! We have first royalty, which, weak
+and debased under the Merovingians, rises and establishes itself
+energetically under Pepin and Charlemagne, to degenerate under Louis le
+Debonnaire and Charles le Chauve. After having dared a second time to
+found the Empire of the Caesars, it quickly sees its sovereignty replaced
+by feudal rights, and all its rights usurped by the nobles, and has to
+struggle for many centuries to recover its rights one by one.
+
+Feudalism, evidently of Germanic origin, will also attract our attention,
+and we shall draw a rapid outline of this legislation, which, barbarian at
+the onset, becomes by degrees subject to the rules of moral progress. We
+shall ascertain that military service is the essence itself of the "fief,"
+and that thence springs feudal right. On our way we shall protest against
+civil wars, and shall welcome emancipation and the formation of the
+communes. Following the thousand details of the life of the people, we
+shall see the slave become serf, and the serf become peasant. We shall
+assist at the dispensation of justice by royalty and nobility, at the
+solemn sittings of parliaments, and we shall see the complicated details
+of a strict ceremonial, which formed an integral part of the law, develop
+themselves before us. The counters of dealers, fairs and markets,
+manufactures, commerce, and industry, also merit our attention; we must
+search deeply into corporations of workmen and tradesmen, examining their
+statutes, and initiating ourselves into their business. Fashion and dress
+are also a manifestation of public and private customs; for that reason we
+must give them particular attention.
+
+And to accomplish the work we have undertaken, we are lucky to have the
+conscientious studies of our old associates in the great work of the
+Middle Ages and the Renaissance to assist us: such as those of Emile
+Begin, Elzear Blaze, Depping, Benjamin Guerard, Le Roux de Lincy, H.
+Martin, Mary-Lafon, Francisque Michel, A. Monteil, Rabutau, Ferdinand
+Sere, Horace de Viel-Castel, A. de la Villegille, Vallet de Viriville.
+
+As in the volume of the Arts of the Middle Ages, engraving and
+chromo-lithography will come to our assistance by reproducing, by means of
+strict fac-similes, the rarest engravings of the fifteenth and sixteenth
+centuries, and the most precious miniatures of the manuscripts preserved
+in the principal libraries of France and Europe. Here again we have the
+aid of the eminent artist, M. Kellerhoven, who quite recently found means
+of reproducing with so much fidelity the gems of Italian painting.
+
+Paul Lacroix
+(Bibliophile Jacob).
+
+
+
+
+Table of Contents.
+
+
+Condition of Persons and Lands
+
+
+ Disorganization of the West at the Beginning of the Middle
+ Ages.--Mixture of Roman, Germanic, and Gallic Institutions.--Fusion
+ organized under Charlemagne.--Royal Authority.--Position of the Great
+ Feudalists.--Division of the Territory and Prerogatives attached to
+ Landed Possessions.--Freeman and Tenants.--The Laeti, the Colon, the
+ Serf, and the Labourer, who may be called the Origin of the Modern Lower
+ Classes.--Formation of Communities.--Right of Mortmain.
+
+
+Privileges and Rights (Feudal and Municipal)
+
+
+ Elements of Feudalism.--Rights of Treasure-trove, Sporting,
+ Safe-Conducts, Ransom, Disinheritance, &c.--Immunity of the
+ Feudalists.--Dues from the Nobles to their Sovereign.--Law and
+ University Dues.--Curious Exactions resulting from the Universal System
+ of Dues.--Struggles to enfranchise the Classes subjected to
+ Dues.--Feudal Spirit and Citizen Spirit.--Resuscitation of the System of
+ Ancient Municipalities in Italy, Germany, and France.--Municipal
+ Institutions and Associations.--The Community.--The Middle-Class Cities
+ (_Cites Bourgeoises_).--Origin of National Unity.
+
+
+Private Life in the Castles, the Towns, and the Rural Districts
+
+
+ The Merovingian Castles.--Pastimes of the Nobles: Hunting,
+ War.--Domestic Arrangements.--Private Life of Charlemagne.--Domestic
+ Habits under the Carlovingians.--Influence of Chivalry.--Simplicity of
+ the Court of Philip Augustus not imitated by his Successors.--Princely
+ Life of the Fifteenth Century.--The bringing up of Latour Landry, a
+ Noble of Anjou.--Varlets, Pages, Esquires, Maids of Honour.--Opulence of
+ the Bourgeoisie.--"Le Menagier de Paris."--Ancient Dwellings.--State of
+ Rustics at various Periods.--"Rustic Sayings," by Noel du Fail.
+
+
+Food and Cookery
+
+
+ History of Bread.--Vegetables and Plants used in
+ Cooking.--Fruits.--Butchers' Meat.--Poultry, Game.--Milk, Butter,
+ Cheese, and Eggs.--Fish and Shellfish.--Beverages: Beer, Cider, Wine,
+ Sweet Wine, Refreshing Drinks, Brandy.--Cookery.--Soups, Boiled Food,
+ Pies, Stews, Salads, Roasts, Grills.--Seasoning, Truffles, Sugar,
+ Verjuice.--Sweets, Desserts, Pastry,--Meals and Feasts.--Rules of
+ Serving at Table from the Fifteenth to the Sixteenth Centuries.
+
+
+Hunting
+
+
+ Venery and Hawking.--Origin of Aix-la-Chapelle.--Gaston Phoebus and his
+ Book.--The Presiding Deities of Sportsmen.--Sporting Societies and
+ Brotherhoods.--Sporting Kings: Charlemagne, Louis IX., Louis XI.,
+ Charles VIII., Louis XII., Francis I., &c.--Treatise on
+ Venery.--Sporting Popes.--Origin of Hawking.--Training Birds.--Hawking
+ Retinues.--Book of King Modus.--Technical Terms used in
+ Hawking.--Persons who have excelled in this kind of Sport.--Fowling.
+
+
+Games and Pastimes
+
+
+ Games of the Ancient Greeks and Romans.--Games of the Circus.--Animal
+ Combats.--Daring of King Pepin.--The King's Lions.--Blind Men's
+ Fights.--Cockneys of Paris.--Champ de Mars.--Cours Plenieres and Cours
+ Couronnees.--Jugglers, Tumblers, and
+ Minstrels.--Rope-dancers.--Fireworks.--Gymnastics.--Cards and
+ Dice.--Chess, Marbles, and Billiards.--La Soule, La Pirouette,
+ &c.--Small Games for Private Society.--History of Dancing.--Ballet des
+ Ardents.--The "Orchesographie" (Art of Dancing) of Thoinot Arbeau.--List
+ of Dances.
+
+
+Commerce
+
+
+ State of Commerce after the Fall of the Roman Empire; its Revival under
+ the Frankish Kings; its Prosperity under Charlemagne; its Decline down
+ to the Time of the Crusaders.--The Levant Trade of the
+ East.--Flourishing State of the Towns of Provence and
+ Languedoc.--Establishment of Fairs.--Fairs of Landit, Champagne,
+ Beaucaire, and Lyons.--Weights and Measures.--Commercial Flanders.--Laws
+ of Maritime Commerce.--Consular Laws.--Banks and Bills of
+ Exchange.--French Settlements on the Coast of Africa.--Consequences of
+ the Discovery of America.
+
+
+Guilds and Trade Corporations
+
+
+ Uncertain Origin of Corporations.--Ancient Industrial Associations.--The
+ Germanic Guild.--Colleges.--Teutonic Associations.--The Paris Company
+ for the Transit of Merchandise by Water.--Corporations properly so
+ called.--Etienne Boileau's "Book of Trades," or the First Code of
+ Regulations.--The Laws governing Trades.--Public and Private
+ Organization of Trades Corporations and other Communities.--Energy of
+ the Corporations.--Masters, Journeymen, Supernumeraries, and
+ Apprentices.--Religious Festivals and Trade Societies.--Trade Unions.
+
+
+Taxes, Money, and Finance
+
+
+ Taxes under the Roman Rule.--Money Exactions of the Merovingian
+ Kings.--Varieties of Money.--Financial Laws under Charlemagne.--Missi
+ Dominici.--Increase of Taxes owing to the Crusades.--Organization of
+ Finances by Louis IX.--Extortions of Philip lo Bel.--Pecuniary
+ Embarrassment of his Successors.--Charles V. re-establishes Order in
+ Finances.--Disasters of France under Charles VI., Charles VII., and
+ Jacques Coeur.--Changes in Taxation from Louis XI. to Francis I.--The
+ Great Financiers.--Florimond Robertet.
+
+
+Law and the Administration of Justice
+
+
+ The Family the Origin of Government.--Origin of Supreme Power amongst
+ the Franks.--The Legislation of Barbarism humanised by
+ Christianity.--Right of Justice inherent to the Right of Property.--The
+ Laws under Charlemagne.--Judicial Forms.--Witnesses.--Duels,
+ &c.--Organization of Royal Justice under St. Louis.--The Chatelet and
+ the Provost of Paris.--Jurisdiction of Parliament, its Duties and its
+ Responsibilities.--The Bailiwicks.--Struggles between Parliament and the
+ Chatelet.--Codification of the Customs and Usages.--Official
+ Cupidity.--Comparison between the Parliament and the Chatelet.
+
+
+Secret Tribunals
+
+
+ The Old Man of the Mountain and his Followers in Syria.--The Castle of
+ Alamond, Paradise of Assassins.--Charlemagne the Founder of Secret
+ Tribunals amongst the Saxons.--The Holy Vehme.--Organization of the
+ Tribunal of the _Terre Rouge_, and Modes adopted in its
+ Procedures.--Condemnations and Execution of Sentences.--The Truth
+ respecting the Free Judges of Westphalia.--Duration and Fall of the
+ Vehmie Tribunal.--Council of Ten, in Venice; its Code and Secret
+ Decisions.--End of the Council of Ten.
+
+
+Punishments
+
+
+ Refinements of Penal Cruelty.--Tortures for different Purposes.--Water,
+ Screw-boards, and the Rack.--The Executioner.--Female
+ Executioners.--Tortures.--Amende Honorable.--Torture of Fire, Real and
+ Feigned.--Auto-da-fe.--Red-hot Brazier or
+ Basin.--Beheading.--Quartering.--The Wheel.--Garotting.--Hanging.--The
+ Whip.--The Pillory.--The
+ Arquebuse.--Tickling.--Flaying.--Drowning.--Imprisonment.--Regulations
+ of Prisons.--The Iron Cage.--"The Leads" of Venice.
+
+
+Jews
+
+
+ Dispersion of the Jews.--Jewish Quarters in the Mediaeval Towns.--The
+ _Ghetto_ of Rome.--Ancient Prague.--The _Giudecca_ of Venice.--Condition
+ of the Jews; Animosity of the People against them; Vexations Treatment
+ and Severity of the Sovereigns.--The Jews of Lincoln.--The Jews of
+ Blois.--Mission of the _Pastoureaux_.--Extermination of the Jews.--The
+ Price at which the Jews purchased Indulgences.--Marks set upon
+ them.--Wealth, Knowledge, Industry, and Financial Aptitude of the
+ Jews.--Regulations respecting Usury as practised by the
+ Jews.--Attachment of the Jews to their Religion.
+
+
+Gipsies, Tramps, Beggars, and Cours des Miracles
+
+
+ First Appearance of Gipsies in the West.--Gipsies in Paris.--Manners and
+ Customs of these Wandering Tribes.--Tricks of Captain Charles.--Gipsies
+ expelled by Royal Edict.--Language of Gipsies.--The Kingdom of
+ Slang.--The Great Coesre, Chief of the Vagrants; his Vassals and
+ Subjects.--Divisions of the Slang People; its Decay, and the Causes
+ thereof.--Cours des Miracles.--The Camp of Rogues.--Cunning Language, or
+ Slang.--Foreign Rogues, Thieves, and Pickpockets.
+
+
+Ceremonials
+
+
+ Origin of Modern Ceremonial.--Uncertainty of French Ceremonial up to the
+ End of the Sixteenth Century.--Consecration of the Kings of
+ France.--Coronation of the Emperors of Germany.--Consecration of the
+ Doges of Venice.--Marriage of the Doge with the Sea.--State Entries of
+ Sovereigns.--An Account of the Entry of Isabel of Bavaria into
+ Paris.--Seats of Justice.--Visits of Ceremony between Persons of
+ Rank.--Mourning.--Social Courtesies.--Popular Demonstrations and
+ National Commemorations--New Year's Day.--Local Festivals.--_Vins
+ d'Honneur_.--Processions of Trades.
+
+
+Costumes
+
+
+ Influence of Ancient Costume.--Costume in the Fifteenth
+ Century.--Hair.--Costumes in the Time of Charlemagne.--Origin of Modern
+ National Dress.--Head-dresses and Beards: Time of St. Louis.--Progress
+ of Dress: Trousers, Hose, Shoes, Coats, Surcoats, Capes.--Changes in the
+ Fashions of Shoes and Hoods.--_Livree_.--Cloaks and Capes.--Edicts
+ against Extravagant Fashions.--Female Dress: Gowns, Bonnets,
+ Head-dresses, &c.--Disappearance of Ancient Dress.--Tight-fitting
+ Gowns.--General Character of Dress under Francis I.--Uniformity of
+ Dress.
+
+
+
+
+
+Table of Illustrations.
+
+
+
+I. Chromolithographs.
+
+
+1. The Queen of Sheba before Solomon. Fac-simile of a Miniature from the
+Breviary of Cardinal Grimani, attributed to Memling. Costumes of the
+Fifteenth Century.
+
+2. The Court of Marie of Anjou, Wife of Charles VII. Fac-simile of a
+Miniature from the "Douze Perilz d'Enfer." Costumes of the Fifteenth
+Century.
+
+3. Louis XII. leaving Alexandria, on the 24th April, 1507, to chastise the
+City of Genoa. From a Miniature in the "Voyage de Genes" of Jean Marot.
+
+4. A Young Mother's Retinue. Miniature from a Latin "Terence" of Charles
+VI. Costumes of the Fourteenth Century.
+
+5. Table Service of a Lady of Quality. Fac-simile of a Miniature in the
+"Roman de Renaud de Montauban." Costumes of the Fifteenth Century.
+
+6. Ladies Hunting. From a Miniature in a Manuscript Copy of "Ovid's
+Epistles." Costumes of the Fifteenth Century.
+
+7. A Court Fool. Fac-simile of a Miniature in a Manuscript of the
+Fifteenth Century.
+
+8. The Chess-players. After a Miniature of the "Three Ages of Man." (End
+of the Fifteenth Century.)
+
+9. Martyrdom of SS. Crispin and Crepinien. From a Window in the Hopital
+des Quinze-Vingts (Fifteenth Century).
+
+10. Settlement of Accounts by the Brotherhood of Charite-Dieu, Rouen, in
+1466. A Miniature from the "Livre des Comptes" of this Society (Fifteenth
+Century).
+
+11. Decapitation of Guillaume de Pommiers and his Confessor at Bordeaux in
+1377 ("Chroniques de Froissart").
+
+12. The Jews' Passover. Fac-simile of a Miniature in a Missal of the
+Fifteenth Century of the School of Van Eyck.
+
+13. Entry of Charles VII. into Paris. A Miniature from the "Chroniques
+d'Enguerrand de Monstrelet." Costumes of the Sixteenth Century.
+
+14. St. Catherine surrounded by the Doctors of Alexandria. A Miniature
+from the Breviary of Cardinal Grimani, attributed to Memling. Costumes of
+the Fifteenth Century.
+
+15. Italian Lace-work, in Gold-thread. The Cypher and Arms of Henri III.
+(Sixteenth Century).
+
+
+
+II. Engravings.
+
+
+Aigues-Mortes, Ramparts of the Town of
+Alms Bag, Fifteenth Century
+Amende honorable before the Tribunal
+America, Discovery of
+Anne of Brittany and the Ladies of her Court
+Archer, in Fighting Dress, Fifteenth Century
+Armourer
+Arms of Louis XI. and Charlotte of Savoy
+Arms, Various, Fifteenth Century
+
+Bailiwick
+Bailliage, or Tribunal of the King's Bailiff,
+ Sixteenth Century
+Baker, The, Sixteenth Century
+Balancing, Feats of, Thirteenth Century
+Ballet, Representation of a, before Henri
+ III. and his Court
+Banner of the Coopers of Bayonne
+ " " La Rochelle
+ " Corporation of Bakers of Arras
+ " " Bakers of Paris
+ " " Boot and Shoe
+ Makers of Issoudun
+ " Corporation of Publichouse-keepers of Montmedy
+ " Corporation of Publichouse-keepers of Tonnerre
+ " Drapers of Caen
+ " Harness-makers of Paris
+ " Nail-makers of Paris
+ " Pastrycooks of Caen
+ " " La Rochelle
+ " " Tonnerre
+ " Tanners of Vie
+ " Tilers of Paris
+ " Weavers of Toulon
+ " Wheelwrights of Paris
+Banquet, Grand, at the Court of France
+Barber
+Barnacle Geese
+Barrister, Fifteenth Century
+Basin-maker
+Bastille, The
+Bears and other Beasts, how they may be
+ caught with a Dart
+Beggar playing the Fiddle
+Beheading
+Bell and Canon Caster
+Bird-catching, Fourteenth Century
+Bird-piping, Fourteenth Century
+Blind and Poor Sick of St. John, Fifteenth
+ Century
+Bob Apple, The Game of
+Bootmaker's Apprentice working at a Trial-piece,
+ Thirteenth Century
+Bourbon, Constable de, Trial of, before the
+ Peers of France
+Bourgeois, Thirteenth Century
+Brandenburg, Marquis of
+Brewer, The, Sixteenth Century
+Brotherhood of Death, Member of the
+Burgess of Ghent and his Wife, from a
+ Window of the Fifteenth Century
+Burgess at Meals
+Burgesses with Hoods, Fourteenth Century
+Burning Ballet, The
+Butcher, The, Sixteenth Century
+Butler at his Duties
+
+Cards for a Game of Piquet, Sixteenth Century
+Carlovingian King in his Palace
+Carpenter, Fifteenth Century
+Carpenter's Apprentice working at a Trial-piece,
+ Fifteenth Century
+Cast to allure Beasts
+Castle of Alamond, The
+Cat-o'-nine-tails
+Celtic Monument (the Holy Ox)
+Chamber of Accounts, Hotel of the
+Chandeliers in Bronze, Fourteenth Century
+Charlemagne, The Emperor
+ " Coronation of
+ " Dalmatica and Sandals of
+ " receiving the Oath of Fidelity
+ from one of his great Barons
+ " Portrait of
+Charles, eldest Son of King Pepin, receiving
+ the News of the Death of his Father
+Charles V. and the Emperor Charles IV.,
+ Interview between
+Chateau-Gaillard aux Andelys
+Chatelet, The Great
+Cheeses, The Manufacture of, Sixteenth
+ Century
+Chilperic, Tomb of, Eleventh Century
+Clasp-maker
+Cloth to approach Beasts, How to carry a
+Cloth-worker
+Coins, Gold Merovingian, 628-638
+ " Gold, Sixth and Seventh Centuries
+ " " Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries
+ " Gold and Silver, Thirteenth Century
+ " " Fifteenth and Sixteenth
+ Centuries
+ " Silver, Eighth to Eleventh Centuries
+Cologne, View of, Sixteenth Century
+Comb in Ivory, Sixteenth Century
+Combat of a Knight with a Dog, Thirteenth
+ Century
+Companion Carpenter, Fifteenth Century
+Cook, The, Sixteenth Century
+Coppersmith, The, Sixteenth Century
+Corn-threshing and Bread-making, Sixteenth
+ Century
+Costume of Emperors at their Coronation
+ since the Time of Charlemagne
+ " King Childebert, Seventh Century
+ " King Clovis, Sixth Century
+ " Saints in the Sixth to Eighth
+ Century
+ " Prelates, Eighth to Tenth Century
+ " a Scholar of the Carlovingian
+ Period
+
+Costume of a Scholar, Ninth Century
+ " a Bishop or Abbot, Ninth Century
+ " Charles the Simple, Tenth Century
+ " Louis le Jeune
+ " a Princess
+ " William Malgeneste, the King's Huntsman
+ " an English Servant, Fourteenth Century
+ " Philip the Good
+ " Charles V., King of France
+ " Jeanne de Bourbon
+ " Charlotte of Savoy
+ " Mary of Burgundy
+ " the Ladies of the Court of Catherine de Medicis
+ " a Gentleman of the French Court, Sixteenth Century
+ " the German Bourgeoisie, Sixteenth Century
+Costumes, Italian, Fifteenth Century
+Costumes of the Thirteenth Century
+ " the Common People, Fourteenth Century
+ " a rich Bourgeoise, of a Peasant-woman, and of a Lady of the
+ Nobility, Fourteenth Century
+ " a Young Nobleman and of a Bourgeois, Fourteenth Century
+ " a Bourgeois or Merchant, of a Nobleman, and of a Lady of the Court
+ or rich Bourgeoise, Fifteenth Century
+ " a Mechanic's Wife and a rich Bourgeois, Fifteenth Century
+ " Young Noblemen of the Court of Charles VIII
+ " a Nobleman, a Bourgeois, and a Noble Lady, of the time of Louis
+ XII
+ " a rich Bourgeoise and a Nobleman, time of Francis I
+Counter-seal of the Butchers of Bruges in 1356
+Country Life
+Cour des Miracles of Paris
+Court Fool
+ " of Love in Provence, Fourteenth Century
+ " of the Nobles, The
+ " Supreme, presided over by the King
+ " of a Baron, The
+ " Inferior, in the Great Bailiwick
+Courtiers amassing Riches at the Expense of the Poor, Fourteenth Century
+Courts of Love in Provence, Allegorical Scene of, Thirteenth Century
+Craftsmen, Fourteenth Century
+Cultivation of Fruit, Fifteenth Century
+ " Grain, and Manufacture of Barley and Oat Bread
+
+
+Dance called "La Gaillarde"
+ " of Fools, Thirteenth Century
+ " by Torchlight
+Dancers on Christmas Night
+David playing on the Lyre
+Dealer in Eggs, Sixteenth Century
+Deer, Appearance of, and how to hunt them with Dogs
+Deputies of the Burghers of Ghent, Fourteenth Century
+Dice-maker
+Distribution of Bread, Meat, and Wine
+Doge of Venice, Costume of the, before the Sixteenth Century
+ " in Ceremonial Costume of the Sixteenth Century
+ " Procession of the
+Dog-kennel, Fifteenth Century
+Dogs, Diseases of, and their Cure, Fourteenth Century
+Dortmund, View of, Sixteenth Century
+_Drille_, or _Narquois_, Fifteenth Century
+Drinkers of the North, The Great
+Druggist
+Dues on Wine
+Dyer
+
+
+Edict, Promulgation of an
+Elder and Juror, Ceremonial Dress of an
+Elder and Jurors of the Tanners of Ghent
+Eloy, St., Signature of
+Empalement
+Entry of Louis XI. into Paris
+Equestrian Performances, Thirteenth Century
+Estrapade, The, or Question Extraordinary
+Executions
+Exhibitor of Strange Animals
+
+
+Falcon, How to train a New, Fourteenth Century
+ " How to bathe a New
+Falconer, Dress of the, Thirteenth Century
+ " German, Sixteenth Century
+Falconers, Thirteenth Century
+ " dressing their Birds, Fourteenth Century
+Falconry, Art of, King Modus teaching the, Fourteenth Century
+ " Varlets of, Fourteenth Century
+Families, The, and the Barbarians
+Fight between a Horse and Dogs, Thirteenth Century
+Fireworks on the Water
+Fish, Conveyance of, by Water and Land
+Flemish Peasants, Fifteenth Century
+Franc, Silver, Henry IV.
+Franks, Fourth to Eighth Century
+ " King or Chief of the, Ninth Century
+ " King of the, dictating the Salic Law
+Fredegonde giving orders to assassinate Sigebert, from a Window of the
+ Fifteenth Century
+Free Judges
+Funeral Token
+
+Gallo-Roman Costumes
+Gaston Phoebus teaching the Art of Venery
+German Beggars
+ " Knights, Fifteenth Century
+ " Soldiers, Sixth to Twelfth Century
+ " Sportsman, Sixteenth Century
+Ghent, Civic Guard of
+Gibbet of Montfaucon, The
+Gipsies Fortune-telling
+ " on the March
+Gipsy Encampment
+ " Family, A
+ " who used to wash his Hands in Molten Lead
+Goldbeater
+Goldsmith
+Goldsmiths of Ghent, Names and Titles of some of the Members
+ of the Corporation of, Fifteenth Century
+ " Group of, Seventeenth Century.
+Grain-measurers of Ghent, Arms of the
+Grape, Treading the
+Grocer and Druggist, Shop of a, Seventeenth Century
+
+Hanging to Music
+Hare, How to allure the
+Hatter
+Hawking, Lady setting out, Fourteenth Century
+Hawks, Young, how to make them fly, Fourteenth Century
+Hay-carriers, Sixteenth Century
+Herald, Fourteenth Century
+Heralds, Lodge of the
+Heron-hawking, Fourteenth Century
+Hostelry, Interior of an, Sixteenth Century
+Hotel des Ursins, Paris, Fourteenth Century
+Hunting-meal
+
+Imperial Procession
+Infant Richard, The, crucified by the Jews at Pontoise
+Irmensul and Crodon, Idols of the Ancient Saxons
+Iron Cage
+Issue de Table, The
+Italian Beggar
+ " Jew, Fourteenth Century
+ " Kitchen, Interior of
+ " Nobleman, Fifteenth Century
+
+Jacques Coeur, Amende honorable of, before
+ Charles VII
+ " House of, at Bourges
+Jean Jouvenel des Ursins, Provost of Paris, and Michelle de Vitry, his
+ Wife (Reign of Charles VI.)
+Jerusalem, View and Plan of
+Jew, Legend of a, calling the Devil from a Vessel of Blood
+Jewish Ceremony before the Ark
+ " Conspiracy in France
+ " Procession
+Jews taking the Blood from Christian Children
+ " of Cologne burnt alive, The
+ " Expulsion of the, in the Reign of the Emperor Hadrian
+ " Secret Meeting of the
+John the Baptist, Decapitation of
+John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, Assassination of
+Judge, Fifteenth Century
+Judicial Duel, The
+Jugglers exhibiting Monkeys and Bears, Thirteenth Century
+ " performing in Public, Thirteenth Century
+
+King-at-Arms presenting the Sword to the Duc de Bourbon
+King's Court, The, or Grand Council, Fifteenth Century
+Kitchen, Interior of a, Sixteenth Century.
+ " and Table Utensils
+Knife-handles in Ivory, Sixteenth Century
+Knight in War-harness
+Knight and his Lady, Fourteenth Century
+Knights and Men-at-Arms of the Reign of Louis le Gros
+
+Labouring Colons, Twelfth Century
+Lambert of Liege, St., Chimes of the Clock of
+Landgrave of Thuringia and his Wife
+Lawyer, Sixteenth Century
+Leopard, Hunting with the, Sixteenth Century
+Lubeck and its Harbour, View of, Sixteenth Century
+
+Maidservants, Dress of, Thirteenth Century
+Mallet, Louis de, Admiral of France
+Mark's Place, St., Venice, Sixteenth Century
+Marseilles and its Harbour, View and Plan of, Sixteenth Century
+Measurers of Corn, Paris, Sixteenth Century
+Measuring Salt
+Merchant Vessel in a Storm
+Merchants and Lion-keepers at Constantinople
+Merchants of Rouen, Medal to commemorate the Association of the
+Merchants of Rouen, Painting commemorative of the Union of, Seventeenth
+ Century
+Merchants or Tradesmen, Fourteenth Century
+Metals, The Extraction of
+Miller, The, Sixteenth Century
+Mint, The, Sixteenth Century
+Musician accompanying the Dancing
+
+New-born Child, The
+Nicholas Flamel, and Pernelle, his Wife, from a Painting of the Fifteenth
+ Century
+Nobility, Costumes of the, from the Seventh to the Ninth century
+" Ladies of the, in the Ninth Century
+Noble Ladies and Children, Dress of, Fourteenth Century
+Noble Lady and Maid of Honour, Fourteenth Century
+Noble of Provence, Fifteenth Century
+Nobleman hunting
+Nogent-le-Rotrou, Tower of the Castle of
+Nut-crackers, Sixteenth Century
+
+Occupations of the Peasants
+Officers of the Table and of the Chamber of the Imperial Court
+Oil, the Manufacture of, Sixteenth Century
+Old Man of the Mountain, The
+Olifant, or Hunting-horn, Fourteenth Century
+" " details of
+Orphaus, Gallois, and Family of the Grand Coesre, Fifteenth Century
+
+Palace, The, Sixteenth Century
+Palace of the Doges, Interior Court of the
+Paris, View of
+Partridges, Way to catch
+Paying Toll on passing a Bridge
+Peasant Dances at the May Feasts
+Pheasant-fowling, Fourteenth Century
+Philippe le Bel in War-dress
+Pillory, View of the, in the Market-place of Paris, Sixteenth Century
+Pin and Needle Maker
+Ploughmen. Fac-simile of a Miniature in very ancient Anglo-Saxon Manuscript
+Pond Fisherman, The
+Pont aux Changeurs, View of the ancient
+Pork-butcher, The, Fourteenth Century
+Poulterer, The, Sixteenth Century
+Poultry-dealer, The
+Powder-horn, Sixteenth Century
+Provost's Prison, The
+Provostship of the Merchants of Paris, Assembly of the, Sixteenth Century
+Punishment by Fire, The
+Purse or Leather Bag, with Knife or Dagger, Fifteenth Century
+
+Receiver of Taxes, The
+Remy, St., Bishop of Rheirns, begging of Clovis the restitution of the
+ Sacred Vase, Fifteenth Century
+River Fishermen, The, Sixteenth Century
+Roi de l'Epinette, Entry of the, at Lille
+Roman Soldiers, Sixth to Twelfth Century
+Royal Costume
+_Ruffes_ and _Millards_, Fifteenth Century
+
+Sainte-Genevieve, Front of the Church of the Abbey of
+Sale by Town-Crier
+Salt-cellar, enamelled, Sixteenth Century
+Sandal or Buskin of Charlemagne
+Saxony, Duke of
+Sbirro, Chief of
+Seal of the Bateliers of Bruges in 1356
+" Corporation of Carpenters of St. Trond (Belgium)
+" Corporation of Clothworkers of Bruges
+" Corporation of Fullers of St. Trond
+" Corporation of Joiners of Bruges
+" " Shoemakers of St. Trond
+" Corporation of Wool-weavers of Hasselt
+" Free Count Hans Vollmar von Twern
+" Free Count Heinrich Beckmann
+" " Herman Loseckin
+" " Johann Croppe
+" King Chilperic
+" United Trades of Ghent, Fifteenth Century
+Seat of Justice held by Philippe de Valois
+Secret Tribunal, Execution of the Sentences of the
+Semur, Tower of the Castle of
+Serf or Vassal, Tenth Century
+Serjeants-at-Arms, Fourteenth Century
+Shepherds celebrating the Birth of the Messiah
+Shoemaker
+Shops under Covered Market, Fifteenth Century
+Shout and blow Horns, How to
+Simon, Martyrdom of, at Trent
+Slaves or Serfs, Sixth to Twelfth Century
+Somersaults
+Sport with Dogs, Fourteenth Century
+Spring-board, The
+Spur-maker
+Squirrels, Way to catch
+Stag, How to kill and cut up a, Fifteenth Century
+Staircase of the Office of the Goldsmiths of Rouen, Fifteenth Century
+Stall of Carved Wood, Fifteenth Century
+Standards of the Church and the Empire
+State Banquet, Sixteenth Century
+Stoertebeck, Execution of
+Styli, Fourteenth Century
+Swineherd
+Swiss Grand Provost
+Sword-dance to the Sound of the Bagpipe, Fourteenth Century
+Sword-maker
+
+Table of a Baron, Thirteenth Century
+Tailor
+Talebot the Hunchback
+Tinman
+Tithe of Beer, Fifteenth Century
+Token of the Corporation of Carpenters of Antwerp
+Token of the Corporation of Carpenters of Maestricht
+Toll under the Bridges of Paris
+Toll on Markets, levied by a Cleric, Fifteenth Century
+Torture of the Wheel, Demons applying the
+Tournaments in Honour of the Entry of Queen Isabel into Paris
+Tower of the Temple, Paris
+Trade on the Seaports of the Levant, Fifteenth Century
+Transport of Merchandise on the Backs of Camels
+
+University of Paris, Fellows of the, haranguing the Emperor Charles IV.
+
+Varlet or Squire carrying a Halberd, Fifteenth Century
+View of Alexandria, Sixteenth Century
+Village Feast, Sixteenth Century
+Village pillaged by Soldiers
+Villain, the Covetous and Avaricious
+Villain, the Egotistical and Envious
+Villain or Peasant, Fifteenth Century
+Villain receiving his Lord's Orders
+Vine, Culture of the
+Vintagers, The, Thirteenth Century
+Votive Altar of the Nautes Parisiens
+
+Water Torture, The
+Weight in Brass of the Fish-market at Mans, Sixteenth Century
+Whale Fishing
+William, Duke of Normandy, Eleventh Century
+Winegrower, The
+Wire-worker
+Wolves, how they may be caught with a Snare
+Woman under the Safeguard of Knighthood, Fifteenth Century
+Women of the Court, Sixth to Tenth Century
+Woodcock, Mode of catching a, Fourteenth Century
+
+
+
+
+
+Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages, and During the
+Renaissance Period.
+
+
+
+
+Condition of Persons and Lands.
+
+
+
+ Disorganization of the West at the Beginning of the Middle
+ Ages.--Mixture of Roman, Germanic, and Gallic Institutions.--Fusion
+ organized under Charlemagne.--Royal Authority.--Position of the Great
+ Feudalists.--Division of the Territory and Prerogatives attached to
+ Landed Possessions.--Freemen and Tenants.--The Laeti, the Colon, the
+ Serf, and the Labourer, who may be called the Origin of the Modern Lower
+ Classes.--Formation of Communities.--Right of Mortmain.
+
+
+The period known as the Middle Ages, says the learned Benjamin Guerard, is
+the produce of Pagan civilisation, of Germanic barbarism, and of
+Christianity. It began in 476, on the fall of Agustulus, and ended in
+1453, at the taking of Constantinople by Mahomet II., and consequently the
+fall of two empires, that of the West and that of the East, marks its
+duration. Its first act, which was due to the Germans, was the destruction
+of political unity, and this was destined to be afterwards replaced by
+religions unity. Then we find a multitude of scattered and disorderly
+influences growing on the ruins of central power. The yoke of imperial
+dominion was broken by the barbarians; but the populace, far from
+acquiring liberty, fell to the lowest degrees of servitude. Instead of one
+despot, it found thousands of tyrants, and it was but slowly and with
+much trouble that it succeeded in freeing itself from feudalism. Nothing
+could be more strangely troubled than the West at the time of the
+dissolution of the Empire of the Caesars; nothing more diverse or more
+discordant than the interests, the institutions, and the state of society,
+which were delivered to the Germans (Figs. 1 and 2). In fact, it would be
+impossible in the whole pages of history to find a society formed of more
+heterogeneous or incompatible elements. On the one side might be placed
+the Goths, Burgundians, Vandals, Germans, Franks, Saxons, and Lombards,
+nations, or more strictly hordes, accustomed to rough and successful
+warfare, and, on the other, the Romans, including those people who by long
+servitude to Roman dominion had become closely allied with their
+conquerors (Fig. 3). There were, on both sides, freemen, freedmen, colons,
+and slaves; different ranks and degrees being, however, observable both in
+freedom and servitude. This hierarchical principle applied itself even to
+the land, which was divided into freeholds, tributary lands, lands of the
+nobility, and servile lands, thus constituting the freeholds, the
+benefices, the fiefs, and the tenures. It may be added that the customs,
+and to a certain degree the laws, varied according to the masters of the
+country, so that it can hardly be wondered at that everywhere diversity
+and inequality were to be found, and, as a consequence, that anarchy and
+confusion ruled supreme.
+
+[Illustration: Figs. 1 and 2.--Costumes of the Franks from the Fourth to
+the Eighth Centuries, collected by H. de Vielcastel, from original
+Documents in the great Libraries of Europe.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 3.--Costumes of Roman Soldiers. Fig. 4.--Costume of
+German Soldiers. From Miniatures on different Manuscripts, from the Sixth
+to the Twelfth Centuries.]
+
+The Germans (Fig. 4) had brought with them over the Rhine none of the
+heroic virtues attributed to them by Tacitus when he wrote their history,
+with the evident intention of making a satire on his countrymen. Amongst
+the degenerate Romans whom those ferocious Germans had subjugated,
+civilisation was reconstituted on the ruins of vices common in the early
+history of a new society by the adoption of a series of loose and
+dissolute habits, both by the conquerors and the conquered.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 5.--Costumes of Slaves or Serfs, from the Sixth to the
+Twelfth Centuries, collected by H. de Vielcastel, from original Documents
+in the great Libraries of Europe.]
+
+In fact, the conquerors contributed the worse share (Fig. 5); for, whilst
+exercising the low and debasing instincts of their former barbarism, they
+undertook the work of social reconstruction with a sort of natural and
+innate servitude. To them, liberty, the desire for which caused them to
+brave the greatest dangers, was simply the right of doing evil--of obeying
+their ardent thirst for plunder. Long ago, in the depths of their forests,
+they had adopted the curious institution of vassalage. When they came to
+the West to create States, instead of reducing personal power, every step
+in their social edifice, from the top to the bottom, was made to depend on
+individual superiority. To bow to a superior was their first political
+principle; and on that principle feudalism was one day to find its base.
+
+Servitude was in fact to be found in all conditions and ranks, equally in
+the palace of the sovereign as in the dwellings of his subjects. The
+vassal who was waited on at his own table by a varlet, himself served at
+the table of his lord; the nobles treated each other likewise, according
+to their rank; and all the exactions which each submitted to from his
+superiors, and required to be paid to him by those below him, were looked
+upon not as onerous duties, but as rights and honours. The sentiment of
+dignity and of personal independence, which has become, so to say, the
+soul of modern society, did not exist at all, or at least but very
+slightly, amongst the Germans. If we could doubt the fact, we have but to
+remember that these men, so proud, so indifferent to suffering or death,
+would often think little of staking their liberty in gambling, in the hope
+that if successful their gain might afford them the means of gratifying
+some brutal passion.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 6.--King or Chief of Franks armed with the Seramasax,
+from a Miniature of the Ninth Century, drawn by H. de Vielcastel.]
+
+When the Franks took root in Gaul, their dress and institutions were
+adopted by the Roman society (Fig. 6). This had the most disastrous
+influence in every point of view, and it is easy to prove that
+civilisation did not emerge from this chaos until by degrees the Teutonic
+spirit disappeared from the world. As long as this spirit reigned, neither
+private nor public liberty existed. Individual patriotism only extended as
+far as the border of a man's family, and the nation became broken up into
+clans. Gaul soon found itself parcelled off into domains which were
+almost independent of one another. It was thus that Germanic genius became
+developed.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 7.--The King of the Franks, in the midst of the
+Military Chiefs who formed his _Treuste_, or armed Court, dictates the
+Salic Law (Code of the Barbaric Laws).--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the
+"Chronicles of St. Denis," a Manuscript of the Fourteenth Century (Library
+of the Arsenal).]
+
+The advantages of acting together for mutual protection first established
+itself in families. If any one suffered from an act of violence, he laid
+the matter before his relatives for them jointly to seek reparation. The
+question was then settled between the families of the offended person and
+the offender, all of whom were equally associated in the object of
+vindicating a cause which interested them alone, without recognising any
+established authority, and without appealing to the law. If the parties
+had sought the protection or advice of men of power, the quarrel might at
+once take a wider scope, and tend to kindle a feud between two nobles. In
+any case the King only interfered when the safety of his person or the
+interests of his dominions were threatened.
+
+Penalties and punishments were almost always to be averted by a money
+payment. A son, for instance, instead of avenging the death of his
+father, received from the murderer a certain indemnity in specie,
+according to legal tariff; and the law was thus satisfied.
+
+The tariff of indemnities or compensations to be paid for each crime
+formed the basis of the code of laws amongst the principal tribes of
+Franks, a code essentially barbarian, and called the Salic law, or law of
+the Salians (Fig. 7). Such, however, was the spirit of inequality among
+the German races, that it became an established principle for justice to
+be subservient to the rank of individuals. The more powerful a man was,
+the more he was protected by the law; the lower his rank, the less the law
+protected him.
+
+The life of a Frank, by right, was worth twice that of a Roman; the life
+of a servant of the King was worth three times that of an ordinary
+individual who did not possess that protecting tie. On the other hand,
+punishment was the more prompt and rigorous according to the inferiority
+of position of the culprit. In case of theft, for instance, a person of
+importance was brought before the King's tribunal, and as it respected the
+rank held by the accused in the social hierarchy, little or no punishment
+was awarded. In the case of the same crime by a poor man, on the contrary,
+the ordinary judge gave immediate sentence, and he was seized and hung on
+the spot.
+
+Inasmuch as no political institutions amongst the Germans were nobler or
+more just than those of the Franks and the other barbaric races, we cannot
+accept the creed of certain historians who have represented the Germans as
+the true regenerators of society in Europe. The two sources of modern
+civilisation are indisputably Pagan antiquity and Christianity.
+
+After the fall of the Merovingian kings great progress was made in the
+political and social state of nations. These kings, who were but chiefs of
+undisciplined bands, were unable to assume a regal character, properly so
+called. Their authority was more personal than territorial, for incessant
+changes were made in the boundaries of their conquered dominions. It was
+therefore with good reason that they styled themselves kings of the
+Franks, and not kings of France.
+
+Charlemagne was the first who recognised that social union, so admirable
+an example of which was furnished by Roman organization, and who was able,
+with the very elements of confusion and disorder to which he succeeded, to
+unite, direct, and consolidate diverging and opposite forces, to establish
+and regulate public administrations, to found and build towns, and to
+form and reconstruct almost a new world (Fig. 8). We hear of him assigning
+to each his place, creating for all a common interest, making of a crowd
+of small and scattered peoples a great and powerful nation; in a word,
+rekindling the beacon of ancient civilisation. When he died, after a most
+active and glorious reign of forty-five years, he left an immense empire
+in the most perfect state of peace (Fig. 9). But this magnificent
+inheritance was unfortunately destined to pass into unworthy or impotent
+hands, so that society soon fell back into anarchy and confusion. The
+nobles, in their turn invested with power, were continually at war, and
+gradually weakened the royal authority--the power of the kingdom--by their
+endless disputes with the Crown and with one another.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 8.--Charles, eldest Son of King Pepin, receives the
+News of the Death of his Father and the Great Feudalists offer him the
+Crown.--Costumes of the Court of Burgundy in the Fifteenth
+Century.--Fac-simile of a Miniature of the "History of the Emperors"
+(Library of the Arsenal).]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 9. Portrait of Charlemagne, whom the Song of Roland
+names the King with the Grizzly Beard.--Fac-simile of an Engraving of the
+End of the Sixteenth Century.]
+
+The revolution in society which took place under the Carlovingian dynasty
+had for its especial object that of rendering territorial what was
+formerly personal, and, as it were, of destroying personality in matters
+of government.
+
+The usurpation of lands by the great having been thus limited by the
+influence of the lesser holders, everybody tried to become the holder of
+land. Its possession then formed the basis of social position, and, as a
+consequence, individual servitude became lessened, and society assumed a
+more stable condition. The ancient laws of wandering tribes fell into
+disuse; and at the same time many distinctions of caste and race
+disappeared, as they were incompatible with the new order of things. As
+there were no more Salians, Ripuarians, nor Visigoths among the free men,
+so there were no more colons, laeti, nor slaves amongst those deprived of
+liberty.
+
+[Illustrations: Figs. 10 and 11.--Present State of the Feudal Castle of
+Chateau-Gaillard aux Andelys, which was considered one of the strongest
+Castles of France in the Middle Ages, and was rebuilt in the Twelfth
+Century by Richard Coeur de Lion.]
+
+Heads of families, on becoming attached to the soil, naturally had other
+wants and other customs than those which they had delighted in when they
+were only the chiefs of wandering adventurers. The strength of their
+followers was not now so important to them as the security of their
+castles. Fortresses took the place of armed bodies; and at this time,
+every one who wished to keep what he had, entrenched himself to the best
+of his ability at his own residence. The banks of rivers, elevated
+positions, and all inaccessible heights, were occupied by towers and
+castles, surrounded by ditches, which served as strongholds to the lords
+of the soil. (Figs. 10 and 11). These places of defence soon became points
+for attack. Out of danger at home, many of the nobles kept watch like
+birds of prey on the surrounding country, and were always ready to fall,
+not only upon their enemies, but also on their neighbours, in the hope
+either of robbing them when off their guard, or of obtaining a ransom for
+any unwary traveller who might fall into their hands. Everywhere society
+was in ambuscade, and waged civil war--individual against
+individual--without peace or mercy. Such was the reign of feudalism. It is
+unnecessary to point out how this system of perpetual petty warfare tended
+to reduce the power of centralisation, and how royalty itself was
+weakened towards the end of the second dynasty. When the descendants of
+Hugh Capet wished to restore their power by giving it a larger basis, they
+were obliged to attack, one after the other, all these strongholds, and
+practically to re-annex each fief, city, and province held by these petty
+monarchs, in order to force their owners to recognise the sovereignty of
+the King. Centuries of war and negotiations became necessary before the
+kingdom of France could be, as it were, reformed.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 12.--Knights and Men-at-arms, cased in Mail, in the
+Reign of Louis le Gros, from a Miniature in a Psalter written towards the
+End of the Twelfth Century.]
+
+The corporations and the citizens had great weight in restoring the
+monarchical power, as well as in forming French nationality; but by far
+the best influence brought to bear in the Middle Ages was that of
+Christianity. The doctrine of one origin and of one final destiny being
+common to all men of all classes constantly acted as a strong inducement
+for thinking that all should be equally free. Religious equality paved the
+way for political equality, and as all Christians were brothers before
+God, the tendency was for them to become, as citizens, equal also in law.
+
+This transformation, however, was but slow, and followed concurrently the
+progress made in the security of property. At the onset, the slave only
+possessed his life, and this was but imperfectly guaranteed to him by the
+laws of charity; laws which, however, year by year became of greater
+power. He afterwards became _colon_, or labourer (Figs. 13 and 14),
+working for himself under certain conditions and tenures, paying fines, or
+services, which, it is true, were often very extortionate. At this time he
+was considered to belong to the domain on which he was born, and he was at
+least sure that that soil would not be taken from him, and that in giving
+part of his time to his master, he was at liberty to enjoy the rest
+according to his fancy. The farmer afterwards became proprietor of the
+soil he cultivated, and master, not only of himself, but of his lands;
+certain trivial obligations or fines being all that was required of him,
+and these daily grew less, and at last disappeared altogether. Having thus
+obtained a footing in society, he soon began to take a place in provincial
+assemblies; and he made the last bound on the road of social progress,
+when the vote of his fellow-electors sent him to represent them in the
+parliament of the kingdom. Thus the people who had begun by excessive
+servitude, gradually climbed to power.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 13.--Labouring Colons (Twelfth Century), after a
+Miniature in a Manuscript of the Ste. Chapelle, of the National Library of
+Paris.]
+
+We will now describe more in detail the various conditions of persons of
+the Middle Ages.
+
+The King, who held his rights by birth, and not by election, enjoyed
+relatively an absolute authority, proportioned according to the power of
+his abilities, to the extent of his dominions, and to the devotion of his
+vassals. Invested with a power which for a long time resembled the command
+of a general of an army, he had at first no other ministers than the
+officers to whom he gave full power to act in the provinces, and who
+decided arbitrarily in the name of, and representing, the King, on all
+questions of administration. One minister alone approached the King, and
+that was the chancellor, who verified, sealed, and dispatched all royal
+decrees and orders.
+
+As early, however, as the seventh century, a few officers of state
+appeared, who were specially attached to the King's person or household; a
+count of the palace, who examined and directed the suits brought before
+the throne; a mayor of the palace, who at one time raised himself from the
+administration of the royal property to the supreme power; an
+arch-chaplain, who presided over ecclesiastical affairs; a lord of the
+bedchamber, charged with the treasure of the chamber; and a count of the
+stables, charged with the superintendence of the stables.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 14.--Labouring Colons (Twelfth Century), after a
+Miniature in a Manuscript of the Ste. Chapelle, of the National Library of
+Paris.]
+
+For all important affairs, the King generally consulted the grandees of
+his court; but as in the five or six first centuries of monarchy in France
+the royal residence was not permanent, it is probable the Council of State
+was composed in part of the officers who followed the King, and in part of
+the noblemen who came to visit him, or resided near the place he happened
+to be inhabiting. It was only under the Capetians that the Royal Council
+took a permanent footing, or even assembled at stated periods.
+
+In ordinary times, that is to say, when he was not engaged in war, the
+King had few around him besides his family, his personal attendants, and
+the ministers charged with the dispatch of affairs. As he changed from
+one of his abodes to another he only held his court on the great festivals
+of the year.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 15.--The Lords and Barons prove their Nobility by
+hanging their Banners and exposing their Coats-of-arms at the Windows of
+the Lodge of the Heralds.--After a Miniature of the "Tournaments of King
+Rene" (Fifteenth Century), MSS. of the National Library of Paris.]
+
+Up to the thirteenth century, there was, strictly speaking, no taxation
+and no public treasury. The King received, through special officers
+appointed for the purpose, tributes either in money or in kind, which
+were most variable, but often very heavy, and drawn almost exclusively
+from his personal and private properties. In cases of emergency only, he
+appealed to his vassals for pecuniary aid. A great number of the grandees,
+who lived far from the court, either in state offices or on their own
+fiefs, had establishments similar to that of the King. Numerous and
+considerable privileges elevated them above other free men. The offices
+and fiefs having become hereditary, the order of nobility followed as a
+consequence; and it then became highly necessary for families to keep
+their genealogical histories, not only to gratify their pride, but also to
+give them the necessary titles for the feudal advantages they derived by
+birth. (Fig. 15). Without this right of inheritance, society, which was
+still unsettled in the Middle Ages, would soon have been dissolved. This
+great principle, sacred in the eyes both of great and small, maintained
+feudalism, and in so doing it maintained itself amidst all the chaos and
+confusion of repeated revolutions and social disturbances.
+
+We have already stated, and we cannot sufficiently insist upon this
+important point, that from the day on which the adventurous habits of the
+chiefs of Germanic origin gave place to the desire for territorial
+possessions, the part played by the land increased insensibly towards
+defining the position of the persons holding it. Domains became small
+kingdoms, over which the lord assumed the most absolute and arbitrary
+rights. A rule was soon established, that the nobility was inherent to the
+soil, and consequently that the land ought to transmit to its possessors
+the rights of nobility.
+
+This privilege was so much accepted, that the long tenure of a fief ended
+by ennobling the commoner. Subsequently, by a sort of compensation which
+naturally followed, lands on which rent had hitherto been paid became free
+and noble on passing to the possession of a noble. At last, however, the
+contrary rule prevailed, which caused the lands not to change quality in
+changing owners: the noble could still possess the labourers's lands
+without losing his nobility, but the labourer could be proprietor of a
+fief without thereby becoming a noble.
+
+To the _comites_, who, according to Tacitus, attached themselves to the
+fortunes of the Germanic chiefs, succeeded the Merovingian _leudes_, whose
+assembly formed the King's Council. These _leudes_ were persons of great
+importance owing to the number of their vassals, and although they
+composed his ordinary Council, they did not hesitate at times to declare
+themselves openly opposed to his will.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 16.--Knight in War-harness, after a Miniature in a
+Psalter written and illuminated under Louis le Gros.]
+
+The name of _leudes_ was abandoned under the second of the then French
+dynasties, and replaced by that of _fideles_, which, in truth soon became
+a common designation of both the vassals of the Crown and those of the
+nobility.
+
+Under the kings of the third dynasty, the kingdom was divided into about
+one hundred and fifty domains, which were called great fiefs of the crown,
+and which were possessed in hereditary right by the members of the highest
+nobility, placed immediately under the royal sovereignty and dependence.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 17.--King Charlemagne receiving the Oath of Fidelity
+and Homage from one of his great Feudatories or High Barons.--Fac-simile
+of a Miniature in Cameo, of the "Chronicles of St. Denis." Manuscript of
+the Fourteenth Century (Library of the Arsenal).]
+
+Vassals emanating directly from the King, were then generally designated
+by the title of _barons_, and mostly possessed strongholds. The other
+nobles indiscriminately ranked as _chevaliers_ or _cnights_, a generic
+title, to which was added that of _banneret_, The fiefs of _hauberk_ were
+bound to supply the sovereign with a certain number of knights covered
+with coats of mail, and completely armed. All knights were mounted in war
+(Fig. 16); but knights who were made so in consequence of their high birth
+must not be confounded with those who became knights by some great feat in
+arms in the house of a prince or high noble, nor with the members of the
+different orders of chivalry which were successively instituted, such as
+the Knights of the Star, the Genet, the Golden Fleece, Saint-Esprit, St.
+John of Jerusalem, &c. Originally, the possession of a benefice or fief
+meant no more than the privilege of enjoying the profits derived from the
+land, a concession which made the holder dependent upon the proprietor. He
+was in fact his "man," to whom he owed homage (Fig. 17), service in case
+of war, and assistance in any suit the proprietor might have before the
+King's tribunal. The chiefs of German bands at first recompensed their
+companions in arms by giving them fiefs of parts of the territory which
+they had conquered; but later on, everything was equally given to be held
+in fief, namely, dignities, offices, rights, and incomes or titles.
+
+It is important to remark (and it is in this alone that feudalism shows
+its social bearing), that if the vassal owed obedience and devotion to his
+lord, the lord in exchange owed protection to the vassal. The rank of
+"free man" did not necessarily require the possession of land; but the
+position of free men who did not hold fiefs was extremely delicate and
+often painful, for they were by natural right dependent upon those on
+whose domain they resided. In fact, the greater part of these nobles
+without lands became by choice the King's men, and remained attached to
+his service. If this failed them, they took lands on lease, so as to
+support themselves and their families, and to avoid falling into absolute
+servitude. In the event of a change of proprietor, they changed with the
+land into new hands. Nevertheless, it was not uncommon for them to be so
+reduced as to sell their freedom; but in such cases, they reserved the
+right, should better times come, of re-purchasing their liberty by paying
+one-fifth more than the sum for which they had sold it.
+
+We thus see that in olden times, as also later, freedom was more or less
+the natural consequence of the possession of wealth or power on the part
+of individuals or families who considered themselves free in the midst of
+general dependence. During the tenth century, indeed, if not impossible,
+it was at least difficult to find a single inhabitant of the kingdom of
+France who was not "the man" of some one, and who was either tied by rules
+of a liberal order, or else was under the most servile obligations.
+
+The property of the free men was originally the "_aleu_," which was under
+the jurisdiction of the royal magistrates. The _aleu_ gradually lost the
+greater part of its franchise, and became liable to the common charges due
+on lands which were not freehold.
+
+In ancient times, all landed property of a certain extent was composed of
+two distinct parts: one occupied by the owner, constituted the domain or
+manor; the other, divided between persons who were more or less dependent,
+formed what were called _tenures_. These _tenures_ were again divided
+according to the position of those who occupied them: if they were
+possessed by free men, who took the name of vassals, they were called
+benefices or fiefs; if they were let to laeti, colons, or serfs, they were
+then called colonies or demesnes.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 18.--Ploughmen.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in a very
+ancient Anglo-Saxon Manuscript published by Shaw, with legend "God Spede
+ye Plough, and send us Korne enow."]
+
+The _laeti_ occupied a rank between the colon and the serf. They had less
+liberty than the colon, over whom the proprietor only had an indirect and
+very limited power. The colon only served the land, whilst the laeti,
+whether agriculturists or servants, served both the land and the owner
+(Fig. 18). They nevertheless enjoyed the right of possession, and of
+defending themselves, or prosecuting by law. The serf, on the contrary,
+had neither city, tribunal, nor family. The laeti had, besides, the power
+of purchasing their liberty when they had amassed sufficient for the
+purpose.
+
+_Serfs_ occupied the lowest position in the social ladder (Fig. 19). They
+succeeded to slaves, thus making, thanks to Christianity, a step towards
+liberty. Although the civil laws barely protected them, those of the
+Church continually stepped in and defended them from arbitrary despotism.
+The time came when they had no direct masters, and when the almost
+absolute dependence of serfs was changed by the nobles requiring them to
+farm the land and pay tithes and fees. And lastly, they became farmers,
+and regular taxes took the place of tithes and fees.
+
+The colons, laeti, and serfs, all of whom were more or less tillers of the
+soil, were, so to speak, the ancestors of "the people" of modern times;
+those who remained devoted to agriculture were the ancestors of our
+peasants; and those who gave themselves up to trades and commerce in the
+towns, were the originators of the middle classes.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 19.--Serf or Vassal of Tenth Century, from
+Miniatures in the "Dialogues of St. Gregory," Manuscript No. 9917 (Royal
+Library of Brussels).]
+
+As early as the commencement of the third royal dynasty we find in the
+rural districts, as well as in the towns, a great number of free men: and
+as the charters concerning the condition of lands and persons became more
+and more extended, the tyranny of the great was reduced, and servitude
+decreased. During the following centuries, the establishment of civic
+bodies and the springing up of the middle classes (Fig. 20) made the
+acquisition of liberty more easy and more general. Nevertheless, this
+liberty was rather theoretical than practical; for if the nobles granted
+it nominally, they gave it at the cost of excessive fines, and the
+community, which purchased at a high price the right of
+self-administration, did not get rid of any of the feudal charges imposed
+upon it.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 20.--Bourgeois at the End of Thirteenth
+Century.--Fac-simile of Miniature in Manuscript No. 6820, in the National
+Library of Paris.]
+
+Fortunately for the progress of liberty, the civic bodies, as if they had
+been providentially warned of the future in store for them, never
+hesitated to accept from their lords, civil or ecclesiastical, conditions,
+onerous though they were, which enabled them to exist in the interior of
+the cities to which they belonged. They formed a sort of small state,
+almost independent for private affairs, subject to the absolute power of
+the King, and more or less tied by their customs or agreements with the
+local nobles. They held public assemblies and elected magistrates, whose
+powers embraced both the administration of civil and criminal justice,
+police, finance, and the militia. They generally had fixed and written
+laws. Protected by ramparts, each possessed a town-hall (_hotel de
+ville_), a seal, a treasury, and a watch-tower, and it could arm a certain
+number of men, either for its own defence or for the service of the noble
+or sovereign under whom it held its rights.
+
+In no case could a community such as this exist without the sanction of
+the King, who placed it under the safeguard of the Crown. At first the
+kings, blinded by a covetous policy, only seemed to see in the issue of
+these charters an excellent pretext for extorting money. If they consented
+to recognise them, and even to help them against their lords, it was on
+account of the enormous sacrifices made by the towns. Later on, however,
+they affected, on the contrary, the greatest generosity towards the
+vassals who wished to incorporate themselves, when they had understood
+that these institutions might become powerful auxiliaries against the
+great titulary feudalists; but from the reign of Louis XI., when the power
+of the nobles was much diminished, and no longer inspired any terror to
+royalty, the kings turned against their former allies, the middle classes,
+and deprived them successively of all the prerogatives which could
+prejudice the rights of the Crown.
+
+The middle classes, it is true, acquired considerable influence afterwards
+by participation in the general and provincial councils. After having
+victoriously struggled against the clergy and nobility, in the assemblies
+of the three states or orders, they ended by defeating royalty itself.
+
+Louis le Gros, in whose orders the style or title of _bourgeois_ first
+appears (1134), is generally looked upon as the founder of the franchise
+of communities in France; but it is proved that a certain number of
+communities or corporations were already formally constituted, before his
+accession to the throne.
+
+The title of bourgeois was not, however, given exclusively to inhabitants
+of cities. It often happened that the nobles, with the intention of
+improving and enriching their domains, opened a kind of asylum, under the
+attractive title of _Free Towns_, or _New Towns_, where they offered, to
+all wishing to establish themselves, lands, houses, and a more or less
+extended share of privileges, rights, and liberties. These congregations,
+or families, soon became boroughs, and the inhabitants, though
+agriculturists, took the name of bourgeois.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 21.--Costume of a Vilain or Peasant, Fifteenth
+Century, from a Miniature of "La Danse Macabre," Manuscript 7310 of the
+National Library of Paris.]
+
+There was also a third kind of bourgeois, whose influence on the extension
+of royal power was not less than that of the others. There were free
+men who, under the title of bourgeois of the King _(bourgeois du Roy_),
+kept their liberty by virtue of letters of protection given them by the
+King, although they were established on lands of nobles whose inhabitants
+were deprived of liberty. Further, when a _vilain_--that is to say, the
+serf, of a noble--bought a lease of land in a royal borough, it was an
+established custom that after having lived there a year and a day without
+being reclaimed by his lord and master, he became a bourgeois of the King
+and a free man. In consequence of this the serfs and vilains (Fig. 21)
+emigrated from all parts, in order to profit by these advantages, to such
+a degree, that the lands of the nobles became deserted by all the serfs of
+different degrees, and were in danger of remaining uncultivated. The
+nobility, in the interests of their properties, and to arrest this
+increasing emigration, devoted themselves to improving the condition of
+persons placed under their dependence, and attempted to create on their
+domains _boroughs_ analogous to those of royalty. But however liberal
+these ameliorations might appear to be, it was difficult for the nobles
+not only to concede privileges equal to those emanating from the throne,
+but also to ensure equal protection to those they thus enfranchised. In
+spite of this, however, the result was that a double current of
+enfranchisement was established, which resulted in the daily diminution of
+the miserable order of serfs, and which, whilst it emancipated the lower
+orders, had the immediate result of giving increased weight and power to
+royalty, both in its own domains and in those of the nobility and their
+vassals.
+
+These social revolutions did not, of course, operate suddenly, nor did
+they at once abolish former institutions, for we still find, that after
+the establishment of communities and corporations, several orders of
+servitude remained.
+
+At the close of the thirteenth century, on the authority of Philippe de
+Beaumanoir, the celebrated editor of "Coutumes de Beauvoisis," there were
+three states or orders amongst the laity, namely, the nobleman (Fig. 22),
+the free man, and the serf. All noblemen were free, but all free men were
+not necessarily noblemen. Generally, nobility descended from the father
+and franchise from the mother. But according to many other customs of
+France, the child, as a general rule, succeeded to the lower rank of his
+parents. There were two orders of serfs: one rigorously held in the
+absolute dependence of his lord, to such a degree that the latter could
+appropriate during his life, or after death if he chose, all he possessed;
+he could imprison him, ill-treat him as he thought proper, without having
+to answer to any one but God; the other, though held equally in bondage,
+was more liberally treated, for "unless he was guilty of some evil-doing,
+the lord could ask of him nothing during his life but the fees, rents, or
+fines which he owed on account of his servitude." If one of the latter
+class of serfs married a free woman, everything which he possessed became
+the property of his lord. The same was the case when he died, for he could
+not transmit any of his goods to his children, and was only allowed to
+dispose by will of a sum of about five sous, or about twenty-five francs
+of modern money.
+
+As early as the fourteenth century, serfdom or servitude no longer existed
+except in "mortmain," of which we still have to speak.
+
+[Illustration: The Court of Mary of Anjou, Wife of Charles VII.
+
+Her chaplain the learned Robert Blondel presents her with the allegorical
+Treatise of the "_Twelve Perils of Hell_." Which he composed for her
+(1455). Fac-simile of a miniature from this work. Bibl. de l'Arsenal,
+Paris.]
+
+_Mortmain_ consisted of the privation of the right of freely disposing
+of one's person or goods. He who had not the power of going where he
+would, of giving or selling, of leaving by will or transferring his
+property, fixed or movable, as he thought best, was called a man of
+mortmain.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 22.--Italian Nobleman of the Fifteenth Century. From a
+Playing-card engraved on Copper about 1460 (Cabinet des Estampes, National
+Library of Paris).]
+
+This name was apparently chosen because the hand, "considered the symbol
+of power and the instrument of donation," was deprived of movement,
+paralysed, in fact struck as by death. It was also nearly in this sense,
+that men of the Church were also called men of mortmain, because they
+were equally forbidden to dispose, either in life, or by will after death,
+of anything belonging to them.
+
+There were two kinds of mortmain: real and personal; one concerning land,
+and the other concerning the person; that is to say, land held in mortmain
+did not change quality, whatever might be the position of the person who
+occupied it, and a "man of mortmain" did not cease to suffer the
+inconveniences of his position on whatever land he went to establish
+himself.
+
+The mortmains were generally subject to the greater share of feudal
+obligations formerly imposed on serfs; these were particularly to work for
+a certain time for their lord without receiving any wages, or else to pay
+him the _tax_ when it was due, on certain definite occasions, as for
+example, when he married, when he gave a dower to his daughter, when he
+was taken prisoner of war, when he went to the Holy Land, &c., &c. What
+particularly characterized the condition of mortmains was, that the lords
+had the right to take all their goods when they died without issue, or
+when the children held a separate household; and that they could not
+dispose of anything they possessed, either by will or gift, beyond a
+certain sum.
+
+The noble who franchised mortmains, imposed on them in almost all cases
+very heavy conditions, consisting of fees, labours, and fines of all
+sorts. In fact, a mortmain person, to be free, not only required to be
+franchised by his own lord, but also by all the nobles on whom he was
+dependent, as well as by the sovereign. If a noble franchised without the
+consent of his superiors, he incurred a fine, as it was considered a
+dismemberment or depreciation of the fief.
+
+As early as the end of the fourteenth century, the rigorous laws of
+mortmain began to fall into disuse in the provinces; though if the name
+began to disappear, the condition itself continued to exist. The free men,
+whether they belonged to the middle class or to the peasantry, were
+nevertheless still subject to pay fines or obligations to their lords of
+such a nature that they must be considered to have been practically in the
+same position as mortmains. In fact, this custom had been so deeply rooted
+into social habits by feudalism, that to make it disappear totally at the
+end of the eighteenth century, it required three decrees of the National
+Convention (July 17 and October 2, 1793; and 8 Ventose, year II.--that is,
+March 2, 1794).
+
+It is only just to state, that twelve or fourteen years earlier, Louis
+XVI. had done all in his power towards the same purpose, by suppressing
+mortmain, both real or personal, on the lands of the Crown, and personal
+mortmain (i.e. the right of following mortmains out of their original
+districts) all over the kingdom.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 23.--Alms Bag taken from some Tapestry in Orleans,
+Fifteenth Century.]
+
+
+
+
+Privileges and Rights. Feudal and Municipal.
+
+
+
+ Elements of Feudalism.--Rights of Treasure-trove, Sporting, Safe
+ Conducts, Ransom, Disinheritance, &c.--Immunity of the Feudalists.--Dues
+ from the Nobles to their Sovereign.--Law and University Dues.--Curious
+ Exactions resulting from the Universal System of Dues.--Struggles to
+ Enfranchise the Classes subjected to Dues.--Feudal Spirit and Citizen
+ Spirit.--Resuscitation of the System of Ancient Municipalities in Italy,
+ Germany, and France.--Municipal Institutions and Associations.--The
+ Community.--The Middle-Class Cities (_Cites Bourgeoises_).--Origin of
+ National Unity.
+
+
+So as to understand the numerous charges, dues, and servitudes, often as
+quaint as iniquitous and vexations, which weighed on the lower orders
+during the Middle Ages, we must remember how the upper class, who assumed
+to itself the privilege of oppression on lands and persons under the
+feudal System, was constituted.
+
+The Roman nobles, heirs to their fathers' agricultural dominions,
+succeeded for the most part in preserving through the successive invasions
+of the barbarians, the influence attached to the prestige of birth and
+wealth; they still possessed the greater part of the land and owned as
+vassals the rural populations. The Grerman nobles, on the contrary, had
+not such extended landed properties, but they appropriated all the
+strongest positions. The dukes, counts, and marquises were generally of
+German origin. The Roman race, mixed with the blood of the various nations
+it had subdued, was the first to infuse itself into ancient Society, and
+only furnished barons of a secondary order.
+
+These heterogeneous elements, brought together, with the object of common
+dominion, constituted a body who found life and motion only in the
+traditions of Rome and ancient Germany. From these two historical sources,
+as is very judiciously pointed out by M. Mary-Lafon, issued all the habits
+of the new society, and particularly the rights and privileges assumed by
+the nobility.
+
+These rights and privileges, which we are about to pass summarily in
+review, were numerous, and often curious: amongst them may be mentioned
+the rights of treasure-trove, the rights of wreck, the rights of
+establishing fairs or markets, rights of marque, of sporting, &c.
+
+The rights of treasure-trove were those which gave full power to dukes and
+counts over all minerals found on their properties. It was in asserting
+this right that the famous Richard Coeur de Lion, King of England, met his
+death. Adhemar, Viscount of Limoges, had discovered in a field a treasure,
+of which, no doubt, public report exaggerated the value, for it was said
+to be large enough to model in pure gold, and life-size, a Roman emperor
+and the members of his family, at table. Adhemar was a vassal of the Duke
+of Guienne, and, as a matter of course, set aside what was considered the
+sovereign's share in his discovery; but Richard, refusing to concede any
+part of his privilege, claimed the whole treasure. On the refusal of the
+viscount to give it up he appeared under arms before the gates of the
+Castle of Chalus, where he supposed that the treasure was hidden. On
+seeing the royal standard, the garrison offered to open the gates. "No,"
+answered Richard, "since you have forced me to unfurl my banner, I shall
+only enter by the breach, and you shall all be hung on the battlements."
+The siege commenced, and did not at first seem to favour the English, for
+the besieged made a noble stand. One evening, as his troops were
+assaulting the place, in order to witness the scene, Richard was sitting
+at a short distance on a piece of rock, protected with a target--that is,
+a large shield covered with leather and blades of iron--which two archers
+held over him. Impatient to see the result of the assault, Richard pushed
+down the shield, and that moment decided his fate (1199). An archer of
+Chalus, who had recognised him and was watching from the top of the
+rampart, sent a bolt from a crossbow, which hit him full in the chest. The
+wound, however, would perhaps not have been mortal, but, shortly after,
+having carried the place by storm, and in his delight at finding the
+treasure almost intact, he gave himself up madly to degrading orgies,
+during which he had already dissipated the greater part of his treasure,
+and died of his wound twelve days later; first having, however, graciously
+pardoned the bowman who caused his death.
+
+The right of shipwrecks, which the nobles of seaboard countries rarely
+renounced, and of which they were the more jealous from the fact that they
+had continually to dispute them with their vassals and neighbours, was the
+pitiless and barbaric right of appropriating the contents of ships
+happening to be wrecked on their shores.
+
+[Illustration: Figs. 24 and 25.--Varlet or Squire carrying a Halberd with
+a thick Blade; and Archer, in Fighting Dress, drawing the String of his
+Crossbow with a double-handled Winch.--From the Miniatures of the
+"Jouvencel," and the "Chroniques" of Froissart, Manuscripts of the
+Fifteenth Century (Imperial Library of Paris).]
+
+When the feudal nobles granted to their vassals the right of assembling on
+certain days, in order to hold fairs and markets, they never neglected to
+reserve to themselves some tax on each head of cattle, as well as on the
+various articles brought in and put up for sale. As these fairs and
+markets never failed to attract a great number of buyers and sellers, this
+formed a very lucrative tax for the noble (Fig. 26).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 26.--Flemish Peasants at the Cattle Market.--Miniature
+of the "Chroniques de Hainaut." Manuscripts of the Fifteenth Century, vol.
+ii. fol. 204 (Library of the Dukes of Burgundy, Brussels).]
+
+The right of _marque_, or reprisal, was a most barbarous custom. A famous
+example is given of it. In 1022, William the Pious, Count of Angouleme,
+before starting for a pilgrimage to Rome, made his three brothers, who
+were his vassals, swear to live in honourable peace and good friendship.
+But, notwithstanding their oath, two of the brothers, having invited the
+third to the Easter festivities, seized him at night in his bed, put out
+his eyes so that he might not find the way to his castle, and cut out his
+tongue so that he might not name the authors of this horrible treatment.
+The voice of God, however, denounced them, and the Count of Angouleme,
+shuddering with horror, referred the case to his sovereign, the Duke of
+Aquitaine, William IV., who immediately came, and by fire and sword
+exercised his right of _marque_ on the lands of the two brothers, leaving
+them nothing but their lives and limbs, after having first put out their
+eyes and cut out their tongues, so as to inflict on them the penalty of
+retaliation.
+
+The right of sporting or hunting was of all prerogatives that dearest to,
+and most valued by the nobles. Not only were the severest and even
+cruellest penalties imposed on "vilains" who dared to kill the smallest
+head of game, but quarrels frequently arose between nobles of different
+degrees on the subject, some pretending to have a feudal privilege of
+hunting on the lands of others (Fig. 27). From this tyrannical exercise of
+the right of hunting, which the least powerful of the nobles only
+submitted to with the most violent and bitter feelings, sprung those old
+and familiar ballads, which indicate the popular sentiment on the subject.
+In some of these songs the inveterate hunters are condemned, by the order
+of Fairies or of the Fates, either to follow a phantom stag for
+everlasting, or to hunt, like King Artus, in the clouds and to catch a fly
+every hundred years.
+
+The right of jurisdiction, which gave judicial power to the dukes and
+counts in cases arising in their domains, had no appeal save to the King
+himself, and this was even often contested by the nobles, as for instance,
+in the unhappy case of Enguerrand de Coucy. Enguerrand had ordered three
+young Flemish noblemen, who were scholars at the Abbey of "St. Nicholas
+des Bois," to be seized and hung, because, not knowing that they were on
+the domain of the Lord of Coucy, they had killed a few rabbits with
+arrows. St. Louis called the case before him. Enguerrand answered to the
+call, but only to dispute the King's right, and to claim the judgment of
+his peers. The King, without taking any notice of the remonstrance,
+ordered Enguerrand to be locked up in the big tower of the Louvre, and was
+nearly applying the law of _retaliation_ to his case. Eventually he
+granted him letters of pardon, after condemning him to build three
+chapels, where masses were continually to be said for the three victims;
+to give the forest where the young scholars had been found hunting, to the
+Abbey of "St. Nicholas des Bois;" to lose on all his estates the rights of
+jurisdiction and sporting; to serve three years in the Holy Land; and to
+pay to the King a fine of 12,500 pounds tournois. It must be remembered
+that Louis IX., although most generous in cases relating simply to private
+interests, was one of the most stubborn defenders of royal prerogatives.
+
+A right which feudalists had the greatest interest in observing, and
+causing to be respected, because they themselves might with their
+wandering habits require it at any moment, was that of _safe convoy_, or
+_guidance_. This right was so powerful, that it even applied itself to the
+lower orders, and its violation was considered the most odious crime;
+thus, in the thirteenth century, the King of Aragon was severely abused by
+all persons and all classes, because in spite of this right he caused a
+Jew to be burned so as not to have to pay a debt which the man claimed of
+him.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 27.--Nobleman in Hunting Costume, preceded by his
+Servant, trying to find the Scent of a Stag.--From a Miniature in the Book
+of Gaston Phoebus ("Des Deduitz de la Chasse des Bestes
+Sauvaiges").--Manuscript of the Fourteenth Century (National Library of
+Paris).]
+
+The right of "the Crown" should also be mentioned, which consisted of a
+circle of gold ornamented in various fashions, according to the different
+degrees of feudal monarchy, which vassals had to present to their lord on
+the day of his investiture. The right of seal was a fee or fine they had
+to pay for the charters which their lord caused to be delivered to them.
+
+The duty of _aubaine_ was the fine or due paid by merchants, either in
+kind or money, to the feudal chief, when they passed near his castle,
+landed in his ports, or exposed goods for sale in his markets.
+
+The nobles of second order possessed among their privileges that of
+wearing spurs of silver or gold according to their rank of knighthood; the
+right of receiving double rations when prisoners of war; the right of
+claiming a year's delay when a creditor wished to seize their land; and
+the right of never having to submit to torture after trial, unless they
+were condemned to death for the crime they had committed. If a great baron
+for serious offences confiscated the goods of a noble who was his vassal,
+the latter had a right to keep his palfrey, the horse of his squire,
+various pieces of his harness and armour, his bed, his silk robe, his
+wife's bed, one of her dresses, her ring, her cloth stomacher, &c.
+
+The nobles alone possessed the right of having seats of honour in churches
+and in chapels (Fig. 28), and to erect therein funereal monuments, and we
+know that they maintained this right so rigorously and with so much
+effrontery, that fatal quarrels at times arose on questions of precedence.
+The epitaphs, the placing of tombs, the position of a monument, were all
+subjects for conflicts or lawsuits. The nobles enjoyed also the right of
+_disinheritance_, that is to say, of claiming the goods of a person dying
+on their lands who had no direct heir; the right of claiming a tax when a
+fief or domain changed hands; the right of _common oven_, or requiring
+vassals to make use of the mill, the oven, or the press of the lord. At
+the time of the vintage, no peasant might sell his wine until the nobles
+had sold theirs. Everything was a source of privilege for the nobles.
+Kings and councils waived the necessity of their studying, in order to be
+received as bachelors of universities. If a noble was made a prisoner of
+war, his life was saved by his nobility, and his ransom had practically to
+be raised by the "vilains" of his domains. The nobles were also exempted
+from serving in the militia, nor were they obliged to lodge soldiers, &c.
+They had a thousand pretexts for establishing taxes on their vassals, who
+were generally considered "taxable and to be worked at will." Thus in the
+domain of Montignac, the Count of Perigord claimed among other things as
+follows: "for every case of censure or complaint brought before him, 10
+deniers; for a quarrel in which blood was shed, 60 sols; if blood was not
+shed, 7 sols; for use of ovens, the sixteenth loaf of each baking; for the
+sale of corn in the domain, 43 setiers: besides these, 6 setiers of rye,
+161 setiers of oats, 3 setiers of beans, 1 pound of wax, 8 capons, 17
+hens, and 37 loads of wine." There were a multitude of other rights due to
+him, including the provostship fees, the fees on deeds, the tolls and
+furnaces of towns, the taxes on salt, on leather, corn, nuts; fees for the
+right of fishing; for the right of sporting, which last gave the lord a
+certain part or quarter of the game killed, and, in addition, the _dime_
+or tenth part of all the corn, wine, &c., &c.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 28.--Jean Jouvenel des Ursins, Provost of the
+Merchants of Paris, and Michelle de Vitry, his Wife, in the Reign of
+Charles VI.--Fragment of a Picture of the Period, which was in the Chapel
+of the Ursinus, and is now in the Versailles Museum.]
+
+This worthy noble gathered in besides all this, during the religious
+festivals of the year, certain tributes in money on the estate of
+Montignac alone, amounting to as much as 20,000 pounds tournois. One can
+judge by this rough sketch, of the income he must have had, both in good
+and bad years, from his other domains in the rich county of Perigord.
+
+It must not be imagined that this was an exceptional case; all over the
+feudal territory the same state of things existed, and each lord farmed
+both his lands and the persons whom feudal right had placed under his
+dependence.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 29.--Dues on Wines, granted to the Chapter of Tournai
+by King Chilperic.--From the Windows of the Cathedral of Tournai,
+Fifteenth Century.]
+
+To add to these already excessive rates and taxes, there were endless
+dues, under all shapes and names, claimed by the ecclesiastical lords
+(Figs. 29 and 30). And not only did the nobility make without scruple
+these enormous exactions, but the Crown supported them in avenging any
+act, however opposed to all sense of justice; so that the nobles were
+really placed above the great law of equality, without which the
+continuance of social order seemed normally impossible.
+
+The history of the city of Toulouse gives us a significant example on
+this subject.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 30.--The Bishop of Tournai receiving the Tithe of Beer
+granted by King Chilperic.--From the Windows of the Cathedral of Tournai,
+Fifteenth Century.]
+
+On Easter Day, 1335, some students of the university, who had passed the
+night of the anniversary of the resurrection of our Saviour in drinking,
+left the table half intoxicated, and ran about the town during the hours
+of service, beating pans and cauldrons, and making such a noise and
+disturbance, that the indignant preachers were obliged to stop in the
+middle of their discourses, and claimed the intervention of the municipal
+authorities of Toulouse. One of these, the lord of Gaure, went out of
+church with five sergeants, and tried himself to arrest the most turbulent
+of the band. But as he was seizing him by the body, one of his comrades
+gave the lord a blow with a dagger, which cut off his nose, lips, and
+part of his chin. This occurrence aroused the whole town. Toulouse had
+been insulted in the person of its first magistrate, and claimed
+vengeance. The author of the deed, named Aimeri de Berenger, was seized,
+judged, condemned, and beheaded, and his body was suspended on the
+_spikes_ of the Chateau Narbonnais.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 31.--Fellows of the University of Paris haranguing the
+Emperor Charles IV. in 1377.--From a Miniature of the Manuscript of the
+"Chroniques de St. Denis," No. 8395 (National Library of Paris).]
+
+Toulouse had to pay dearly for the respect shown to its municipal dignity.
+The parents of the student presented a petition to the King against the
+city, for having dared to execute a noble and to hang his body on a
+gibbet, in opposition to the sacred right which this noble had of
+appealing to the judgment of his peers. The Parliament of Paris finally
+decided the matter with the inflexible partiality to the rights of rank,
+and confiscated all the goods of the inhabitants, forced the principal
+magistrates to go on their knees before the house of Aimeri de Berenger,
+and ask pardon; themselves to take down the body of the victim, and to
+have it publicly and honourably buried in the burial-ground of the
+Daurade. Such was the sentence and humiliation to which one of the first
+towns of the south was subjected, for having practised immediate justice
+on a noble, whilst it would certainly have suffered no vindication, if the
+culprit condemned to death had belonged to the middle or lower orders.
+
+We must nevertheless remember that heavy dues fell upon the privileged
+class themselves to a certain degree, and that if they taxed their poor
+vassals without mercy, they had in their turn often to reckon with their
+superiors in the feudal hierarchy.
+
+_Albere_, or right of shelter, was the principal charge imposed upon the
+noble. When a great baron visited his lands, his tenants were not only
+obliged to give him and his followers shelter, but also provisions and
+food, the nature and quality of which were all arranged beforehand with
+the most extraordinary minuteness. The lesser nobles took advantage
+sometimes of the power they possessed to repurchase this obligation; but
+the rich, on the contrary, were most anxious to seize the occasion of
+proudly displaying before their sovereign all the pomp in their power, at
+the risk even of mortgaging their revenues for several years, and of
+ruining their vassals. History is full of stories bearing witness to the
+extravagant prodigalities of certain nobles on such occasions.
+
+Payments in kind fell generally on the abbeys, up to 1158. That of St.
+Denis, which was very rich in lands, was charged with supplying the house
+and table of the King. This tax, which became heavier and heavier,
+eventually fell on the Parisians, who only succeeded in ridding themselves
+of it in 1374, when Charles V. made all the bourgeois of Paris noble. In
+the twelfth century, all furniture made of wood or iron which was found in
+the house of the Bishop at his death, became the property of the King. But
+in the fourteenth century, the abbots of St. Denis, St. Germain des Pres,
+St. Genevieve (Fig. 32), and a few priories in the neighbourhood of Paris,
+were only required to present the sovereign with two horse-loads of
+produce annually, so as to keep up the old system of fines.
+
+This system of rents and dues of all kinds was so much the basis of social
+organization in the Middle Ages, that it sometimes happened that the lower
+orders benefited by it.
+
+Thus the bed of the Bishop of Paris belonged, after his death, to the poor
+invalids of the Hotel Dieu. The canons were also bound to leave theirs to
+that hospital, as an atonement for the sins which they had committed. The
+Bishops of Paris were required to give two very sumptuous repasts to
+their chapters at the feasts of St. Eloi and St. Paul. The holy men of
+St. Martin were obliged, annually, on the 10th of November, to offer to
+the first President of the Court of Parliament, two square caps, and to
+the first usher, a writing-desk and a pair of gloves. The executioner too
+received, from various monastic communities of the capital, bread,
+bottles of wine, and pigs' heads; and even criminals who were taken to
+Montfaucon to be hung had the right to claim bread and wine from the nuns
+of St. Catherine and the Filles Dieux, as they passed those establishments
+on their way to the gibbet.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 32.--Front of the Ancient Church of the Abbey of
+Sainte-Genevieve, in Paris, founded by Clovis, and rebuilt from the
+Eleventh to Thirteenth Centuries.--State of the Building before its
+Destruction at the End of the Last Century.]
+
+Fines were levied everywhere, at all times, and for all sorts of reasons.
+Under the name of _epices_, the magistrates, judges, reporters, and
+counsel, who had at first only received sweetmeats and preserves as
+voluntary offerings, eventually exacted substantial tribute in current
+coin. Scholars who wished to take rank in the University sent some small
+pies, costing ten sols, to each examiner. Students in philosophy or
+theology gave two suppers to the president, eight to the other masters,
+besides presenting them with sweetmeats, &c. It would be an endless task
+to relate all the fines due by apprentices and companions before they
+could reach mastership in their various crafts, nor have we yet mentioned
+certain fines, which, from their strange or ridiculous nature, prove to
+what a pitch of folly men may be led under the influence of tyranny,
+vanity, or caprice.
+
+Thus, we read of vassals descending to the humiliating occupation of
+beating the water of the moat of the castle, in order to stop the noise of
+the frogs, during the illness of the mistress; we elsewhere find that at
+times the lord required of them to hop on one leg, to kiss the latch of
+the castle-gate, or to go through some drunken play in his presence, or
+sing a somewhat broad song before the lady.
+
+At Tulle, all the rustics who had married during the year were bound to
+appear on the Puy or Mont St. Clair. At twelve o'clock precisely, three
+children came out of the hospital, one beating a drum violently, the other
+two carrying a pot full of dirt; a herald called the names of the
+bride-grooms, and those who were absent or were unable to assist in
+breaking the pot by throwing stones at it, paid a fine.
+
+At Perigueux, the young couples had to give the consuls a pincushion of
+embossed leather or cloth of different colours; a woman marrying a second
+time was required to present them with an earthen pot containing twelve
+sticks of different woods; a woman marrying for the third time, a barrel
+of cinders passed thirteen times through the sieve, and thirteen spoons
+made of wood of fruit-trees; and, lastly, one coming to the altar for the
+fifth time was obliged to bring with her a small tub containing the
+excrement of a white hen!
+
+"The people of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period were literally
+tied down with taxes and dues of all sorts," says M. Mary-Lafon. "If a few
+gleams of liberty reached them, it was only from a distance, and more in
+the hope of the future than as regarded the present. As an example of the
+way people were treated, a certain Lord of Laguene, spoken of in the old
+chronicles of the south, may be mentioned. Every year, this cunning baron
+assembled his tenants in the village square. A large maypole was planted,
+and on the top was attached a wren. The lord, pointing to the little bird,
+declared solemnly, that if any 'vilain' succeeded in piercing him with an
+arrow he should be exempt from that year's dues. The vilains shot away,
+but, to the great merriment of their lord, never hit, and so had to
+continue paying the dues."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 33.--Ramparts of the Town of Aigues-Mortes, one of the
+Municipalities of Languedoc.]
+
+One can easily understand how such a system, legalised by law, hampered
+the efforts for freedom, which a sense of human dignity was constantly
+raising in the bosoms of the oppressed. The struggle was long, often
+bloody, and at times it seemed almost hopeless, for on both sides it was
+felt that the contest was between two principles which were incompatible,
+and one of which must necessarily end by annihilating the other. Any
+compromise between the complete slavery and the personal freedom of the
+lower orders, could only be a respite to enable these implacable
+adversaries to reinforce themselves, so as to resume with more vigour than
+ever this desperate combat, the issue of which was so long to remain
+doubtful.
+
+[Illustration: Louis IV Leaving Alexandria on the 24th of April 1507 To
+chastise the city of Genoa.
+
+From a miniature by Jean Marot. No 5091, Bibl. nat'le de Paris.]
+
+These efforts to obtain individual liberty displayed themselves more
+particularly in towns; but although they became almost universal in the
+west, they had not the same importance or character everywhere. The feudal
+system had not everywhere produced the same consequences. Thus, whilst in
+ancient Gaul it had absorbed all social vitality, we find that in Germany,
+the place of its origin, the Teutonic institutions of older date gave a
+comparative freedom to the labourers. In southern countries again we find
+the same beneficial effect from the Roman rule.
+
+On that long area of land reaching from the southern slope of the Cevennes
+to the Apennines, the hand of the barbarian had weighed much less heavily
+than on the rest of Europe. In those favoured provinces where Roman
+organization had outlived Roman patronage, it seems as if ancient
+splendour had never ceased to exist, and the elegance of customs
+re-flourished amidst the ruins. There, a sort of urban aristocracy always
+continued, as a balance against the nobles, and the counsel of elected
+_prud'hommes_, the syndics, jurors or _capitouls_, who in the towns
+replaced the Roman _honorati_ and _curiales_, still were considered by
+kings and princes as holding some position in the state. The municipal
+body, larger, more open than the old "ward," no longer formed a
+corporation of unwilling aristocrats enchained to privileges which ruined
+them. The principal cities on the Italian coast had already amassed
+enormous wealth by commerce, and displayed the most remarkable ardour,
+activity, and power. The Eternal City, which was disputed by emperors,
+popes, and barons of the Roman States, bestirred itself at times to snatch
+at the ancient phantom of republicanism; and this phantom was destined
+soon to change into reality, and another Rome, or rather a new Carthage,
+the lovely Venice, arose free and independent from the waves of the
+Adriatic (Fig. 34).
+
+In Lombardy, so thickly colonised by the German conquerors, feudalism, on
+the contrary, weighed heavily; but there, too, the cities were populous
+and energetic, and the struggle for supremacy continued for centuries in
+an uncompromising manner between the people and the nobles, between the
+Guelphs and the Ghibellines.
+
+In the north and east of the Gallic territory, the instinct of resistance
+did not exist any the less, though perhaps it was more intermittent. In
+fact, in these regions we find ambitious nobles forestalling the action of
+the King, and in order to attach towns to themselves and their houses,
+suppressing the most obnoxious of the taxes, and at the same time
+granting legal guarantees. For this the Counts of Flanders became
+celebrated, and the famous Heribert de Vermandois was noted for being so
+exacting in his demands with the great, and yet so popular with the small.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 34.--View of St. Mark's Place, Venice, Sixteenth
+Century, after Cesare Vecellio.]
+
+The eleventh century, during which feudal power rose to its height, was
+also the period when a reaction set in of the townspeople against the
+nobility. The spirit of the city revived with that of the bourgeois (a
+name derived from the Teutonic word _burg_, habitation) and infused a
+feeling of opposition to the system which followed the conquest of the
+Teutons. "But," says M. Henri Martin, "what reappeared was not the Roman
+municipality of the Empire, stained by servitude, although surrounded with
+glittering pomp and gorgeous arts, but it was something coarse and almost
+semi-barbarous in form, though strong and generous at core, and which, as
+far as the difference of the times would allow, rather reminds us of the
+small republics which existed previous to the Roman Empire."
+
+Two strong impulses, originating from two totally dissimilar centres of
+action, irresistibly propelled this great social revolution, with its
+various and endless aspects, affecting all central Europe, and being more
+or less felt in the west, the north, and the south. On one side, the Greek
+and Latin partiality for ancient corporations, modified by a democratic
+element, and an innate feeling of opposition characteristic of barbaric
+tribes; and on the other, the free spirit and equality of the old Celtic
+tribes rising suddenly against the military hierarchy, which was the
+offspring of conquest. Europe was roused by the double current of ideas
+which simultaneously urged her on to a new state of civilisation, and more
+particularly to a new organization of city life.
+
+Italy was naturally destined to be the country where the new trials of
+social regeneration were to be made; but she presented the greatest
+possible variety of customs, laws, and governments, including Emperor,
+Pope, bishops, and feudal princes. In Tuscany and Liguria, the march
+towards liberty was continued almost without effort; whilst in Lombardy,
+on the contrary, the feudal resistance was very powerful. Everywhere,
+however, cities became more or less completely enfranchised, though some
+more rapidly than others. In Sicily, feudalism swayed over the countries;
+but in the greater part of the peninsula, the democratic spirit of the
+cities influenced the enfranchisement of the rural population. The feudal
+caste was in fact dissolved; the barons were transformed into patricians
+of the noble towns which gave their republican magistrates the old title
+of consuls. The Teutonic Emperor in vain sought to seize and turn to his
+own interest the sovereignty of the people, who had shaken off the yokes
+of his vassals: the signal of war was immediately given by the newly
+enfranchised masses; and the imperial eagle was obliged to fly before the
+banners of the besieged cities. Happy indeed might the cities of Italy
+have been had they not forgotten, in their prosperity, that union alone
+could give them the possibility of maintaining that liberty which they so
+freely risked in continual quarrels amongst one another!
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 35.--William, Duke of Normandy, accompanied by
+Eustatius, Count of Boulogne, and followed by his Knights in
+arms.--Military Dress of the Eleventh Century, from Bayeux Tapestry said
+to have been worked by Queen Matilda.]
+
+The Italian movement was immediately felt on the other side of the Alps.
+In Provence, Septimanie, and Aquitaine, we find, in the eleventh century,
+cities which enjoyed considerable freedom. Under the name of communities
+and universities, which meant that all citizens were part of the one body,
+they jointly interfered in the general affairs of the kingdom to which
+they belonged. Their magistrates were treated on a footing of equality
+with the feudal nobility, and although the latter at first would only
+recognise them as "good men" or notables, the consuls knew how to make a
+position for themselves in the hierarchy. If the consulate, which was a
+powerful expression of the most prominent system of independence, did no
+succeed in suppressing feudalism in Provence as in Italy, it at least so
+transformed it, that it deprived it of its most unjust and insupportable
+elements. At Toulouse, for instance (where the consuls were by exception
+called _capitouls_, that is to say, heads of the chapters or councils of
+the city), the lord of the country seemed less a feudal prince in his
+capital, than an honorary magistrate of the bourgeoisie. Avignon added to
+her consuls two _podestats_ (from the Latin _potestas_, power). At
+Marseilles, the University of the high city was ruled by a republic under
+the presidency of the Count of Provence, although the lower city was still
+under the sovereignty of a viscount. Perigueux, which was divided into two
+communities, "the great and the small fraternity," took up arms to resist
+the authority of the Counts of Perigord; and Arles under its _podestats_
+was governed for some time as a free and imperial town. Amongst the
+constitutions which were established by the cities, from the eleventh to
+the sixteenth centuries, we find admirable examples of administration and
+government, so that one is struck with admiration at the efforts of
+intelligence and patriotism, often uselessly lavished on such small
+political arenas. The consulate, which nominally at least found its origin
+in the ancient grandeur of southern regions, did not spread itself beyond
+Lyons. In the centre of France, at Poictiers, Tours, Moulin, &c., the
+urban progress only manifested itself in efforts which were feeble and
+easily suppressed; but in the north, on the contrary, in the provinces
+between the Seine and the Rhine, and even between the Seine and the Loire,
+the system of franchise took footing and became recognised. In some
+places, the revolution was effected without difficulty, but in others it
+gave rise to the most determined struggles. In Normandy, for instance,
+under the active and intelligent government of the dukes of the race of
+Roll or Rollon, the middle class was rich and even warlike. It had access
+to the councils of the duchy; and when it was contemplated to invade
+England, the Duke William (Fig. 35) found support from the middle class,
+both in money and men. The case was the same in Flanders, where the towns
+of Ghent (Fig. 36), of Bruges, of Ypres, after being enfranchised but a
+short time developed with great rapidity. But in the other counties of
+western France, the greater part of the towns were still much oppressed by
+the counts and bishops. If some obtained certain franchises, these
+privileges were their ultimate ruin, owing to the ill faith of their
+nobles. A town between the Loire and the Seine gave the signal which
+caused the regeneration of the North. The inhabitants of Mans formed a
+community or association, and took an oath that they would obtain and
+maintain certain rights. They rebelled about 1070, and forced the count
+and his noble vassals to grant them the freedom which they had sworn to
+obtain, though William of Normandy very soon restored the rebel city to
+order, and dissolved the presumptuous community. However, the example soon
+bore fruit. Cambrai rose in its turn and proclaimed the "Commune," and
+although its bishop, aided by treason and by the Count of Hainault,
+reduced it to obedience, it only seemed to succumb for a time, to renew
+the struggle with greater success at a subsequent period.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 36.--Civic Guard of Ghent (Brotherhood of St.
+Sebastian), from a painting on the Wall of the Chapel of St. John and St.
+Paul, Ghent, near the Gate of Bruges.]
+
+We have just mentioned the Commune; but we must not mistake the true
+meaning of this word, which, under a Latin form (_communitas_), expresses
+originally a Germanic idea, and in its new form a Christian mode of
+living. Societies of mutual defence, guilds, &c., had never disappeared
+from Germanic and Celtic countries; and, indeed, knighthood itself was
+but a brotherhood of Christian warriors. The societies of the _Paix de
+Dieu_, and of the _Treve de Dieu_, were encouraged by the clergy in order
+to stop the bloody quarrels of the nobility, and formed in reality great
+religious guilds. This idea of a body of persons taking some common oath
+to one another, of which feudalism gave so striking an example, could not
+fail to influence the minds of the rustics and the lower classes, and they
+only wanted the opportunity which the idea of the Commune at once gave
+them of imitating their superiors.
+
+They too took oaths, and possessed their bodies and souls in "common;"
+they seized, by force of strategy, the ramparts of their towns; they
+elected mayors, aldermen, and jurors, who were charged to watch over the
+interests of their association. They swore to spare neither their goods,
+their labour, nor their blood, in order to free themselves; and not
+content with defending themselves behind barricades or chains which closed
+the streets, they boldly took the offensive against the proud feudal
+chiefs before whom their fathers had trembled, and they forced the nobles,
+who now saw themselves threatened by this armed multitude, to acknowledge
+their franchise by a solemn covenant.
+
+It does not follow that everywhere the Commune was established by means of
+insurrection, for it was obtained after all sorts of struggles; and
+franchises were sold in some places for gold, and in others granted by a
+more or less voluntary liberality. Everywhere the object was the same;
+everywhere they struggled or negotiated to upset, by a written
+constitution or charter, the violence and arbitrary rule under which they
+had so long suffered, and to replace by an annual and fixed rent, under
+the protection of an independent and impartial law, the unlimited
+exactions and disguised plundering so long made by the nobility and
+royalty. Circumstanced as they were, what other means had they to attain
+this end but ramparts and gates, a common treasury, a permanent military
+force, and magistrates who were both administrators, judges, and captains?
+The hotel de ville, or mansion-house, immediately became a sort of civic
+temple, where the banner of the Commune, the emblems of unity, and the
+seal which sanctioned the municipal acts were preserved. Then arose the
+watch-towers, where the watchmen were unceasingly posted night and day,
+and whence the alarm signal was ever ready to issue its powerful sounds
+when danger threatened the city. These watch-towers, the monuments of
+liberty, became as necessary for the burghers as the clock-towers of
+their cathedrals, whose brilliant peals and joyous chimes gave zest to the
+popular feasts (Fig. 37). The mansion-houses built in Flanders from the
+fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, under municipal influence, are
+marvels of architecture.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 37.--Chimes of the Clock of St. Lambert of Liege.]
+
+Who is there who could thoroughly describe or even appreciate all the
+happy or unhappy vicissitudes relating to the establishment of the
+Communes? We read of the Commune of Cambrai, four times created, four
+times destroyed, and which was continually at war with the Bishops; the
+Commune of Beauvais, sustained on the contrary by the diocesan prelate
+against two nobles who possessed feudal rights over it; Laon, a commune
+bought for money from the bishop, afterwards confirmed by the King, and
+then violated by fraud and treachery, and eventually buried in the blood
+of its defenders. We read also of St. Quentin, where the Count of
+Vermandois and his vassals voluntarily swore to maintain the right of the
+bourgeois, and scrupulously respected their oath. In many other localities
+the feudal dignitaries took alarm simply at the name of Commune, and
+whereas they would not agree to the very best arrangements under this
+terrible designation, they did not hesitate to adopt them when called
+either the "laws of friendship," the "peace of God," or the "institutions
+of peace." At Lisle, for instance, the bourgeois magistrates took the name
+of _appeasers_, or watchers over friendship. At Aire, in Artois, the
+members of friendship mutually, not only helped one another against the
+enemy, but also assisted one another in distress.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 38.--The Deputies of the burghers of Ghent, in revolt
+against their Sovereign Louis II., Count of Flanders, come to beg him to
+pardon them, and to return to their Town. 1397--Miniature from Froissart,
+No. 2644 (National Library of Paris)]
+
+Amiens deserves the first place amongst the cities which dearly purchased
+their privileges. The most terrible and sanguinary war was sustained by
+the bourgeois against their count and lord of the manor, assisted by King
+Louis le Gros, who had under similar circumstances just taken the part of
+the nobles of Laon.
+
+From Amiens, which, having been triumphant, became a perfect municipal
+republic, the example propagated itself throughout the rest of Picardy,
+the Isle of France, Normandy, Brittany, and Burgundy, and by degrees,
+without any revolutionary shocks, reached the region of Lyons, where the
+consulate, a characteristic institution of southern Communes, ended.
+
+From Flanders, also, the movement spread in the direction of the German
+Empire; and there, too, the struggle was animated, and victorious against
+the aristocracy, until at last the great system of enfranchisement
+prevailed; and the cities of the west and south formed a confederation
+against the nobles, whilst those in the north formed the famous Teutonic
+Hanse, so celebrated for its maritime commerce.
+
+The centre of France slowly followed the movement; but its progress was
+considerably delayed by the close influence of royalty, which sometimes
+conceded large franchises, and sometimes suppressed the least claims to
+independence. The kings, who willingly favoured Communes on the properties
+of their neighbours, did not so much care to see them forming on their own
+estates; unless the exceptional position and importance of any town
+required a wise exercise of tolerance. Thus Orleans, situated in the heart
+of the royal domains, was roughly repulsed in its first movement; whilst
+Mantes, which was on the frontier of the Duchy of Normandy, and still
+under the King of England, had but to ask in order to receive its
+franchise from the King of France.
+
+It was particularly in the royal domains that cities were to be found,
+which, although they did not possess the complete independence of
+communes, had a certain amount of liberty and civil guarantees. They had
+neither the right of war, the watch-tower, nor the exclusive jurisdiction
+over their elected magistrates, for the bailiffs and the royal provosts
+represented the sovereign amongst them (Fig. 39).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 39.--Bailliage, or Tribunal of the King's
+Bailiff.--Fac-simile of an Engraving on Wood in the Work of Josse
+Damhoudere, "Praxis Rerum Civilium." (Antwerp, 1557, in 4to.).]
+
+In Paris, less than anywhere, could the kings consent to the organization
+of an independent political System, although that city succeeded in
+creating for itself a municipal existence. The middle-class influence
+originated in a Gallo-Roman corporation. The Company of _Nautes_ or "the
+Corporation of the Water Trade," formed a centre round which were
+successively attached various bodies of different trades. Gradually a
+strong concourse of civic powers was established, which succeeded in
+electing a municipal council, composed of a provost of merchants, four
+aldermen, and twenty-six councillors of the town. This council afterwards
+succeeded in overstepping the royal influence at difficult times, and was
+destined to play a prominent part in history.
+
+There also sprang up a lower order of towns or boroughs than these
+bourgeois cities, which were especially under the Crown. Not having
+sufficient strength to claim a great amount of liberty, they were obliged
+to be satisfied with a few privileges, conceded to them by the nobles, for
+the most part with a political end. These were the Free Towns or New Towns
+which we have already named.
+
+However it came about, it is certain that although during the tenth
+century feudal power was almost supreme in Europe, as early as the twelfth
+century the municipal system had gained great weight, and was constantly
+progressing until the policy of the kingdom became developed on a more and
+more extended basis, so that it was then necessary for it to give up its
+primitive nature, and to participate in the great movement of
+consolidisation and national unity. In this way the position of the large
+towns in the state relatively lost their individual position, and became
+somewhat analogous, as compared with the kingdom at large, to that
+formerly held by bourgeois in the cities. Friendly ties arose between
+provinces; and distinct and rival interests were effaced by the general
+aspiration towards common objects. The towns were admitted to the states
+general, and the citizens of various regions mixed as representatives of
+the _Tiers Etat_. Three orders thus met, who were destined to struggle for
+predominance in the future.
+
+We must call attention to the fact that, as M. Henri Martin says, by an
+apparent contradiction, the fall of the Communes declared itself in
+inverse ratio to the progress of the _Tiers Etat_. By degrees, as the
+government became more settled from the great fiefs being absorbed by the
+Crown, and as parliament and other courts of appeal which emanated from
+the middle class extended their high judiciary and military authority, so
+the central power, organized under monarchical form, must necessarily have
+been less disposed to tolerate the local independence of the Communes. The
+State replaced the Commune for everything concerning justice, war, and
+administration. No doubt some valuable privileges were lost; but that was
+only an accidental circumstance, for a great social revolution was
+produced, which cleared off at once all the relics of the old age; and
+when the work of reconstruction terminated, homage was rendered to the
+venerable name of "Commune," which became uniformly applied to all towns,
+boroughs, or villages into which the new spirit of the same municipal
+system was infused.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 40.--Various Arms of the Fifteenth Century.]
+
+
+
+
+Private Life in the Castles, the Towns, and the Rural Districts.
+
+
+
+ The Merovingian Castles.--Pastimes of the Nobles; Hunting,
+ War.--Domestic Arrangements.--Private Life of Charlemagne.--Domestic
+ Habits under the Carlovingians.--Influence of Chivalry.--Simplicity of
+ the Court of Philip Angustus not imitated by his Successors.--Princely
+ Life of the Fifteenth Century.--The bringing up of Latour Landry, a
+ Noble of Anjou.--Varlets, Pages, Esquires, Maids of Honour.--Opulence of
+ the Bourgeoisie.--"Le Menagier de Paris."--Ancient Dwellings.--State of
+ Rustics at various Periods.--"Rustic Sayings," by Noel du Fail.
+
+
+Augustin Thierry, taking Gregory of Tours, the Merovingian Herodotus, as
+an authority, thus describes a royal domain under the first royal dynasty
+of France:--
+
+"This dwelling in no way possessed the military aspect of the chateau of
+the Middle Ages; it was a large building surrounded with porticos of Roman
+architecture, sometimes built of carefully polished and sculptured wood,
+which in no way was wanting in elegance. Around the main body of the
+building were arranged the dwellings of the officers of the palace, either
+foreigners or Romans, and those of the chiefs of companies, who, according
+to Germanic custom, had placed themselves and their warriors under the
+King, that is to say, under a special engagement of vassalage and
+fidelity. Other houses, of less imposing appearance, were occupied by a
+great number of families, who worked at all sorts of trades, such as
+jewellery, the making of arms, weaving, currying, the embroidering of silk
+and gold, cotton, &c.
+
+"Farm-buildings, paddocks, cow-houses, sheepfolds, barns, the houses of
+agriculturists, and the cabins of the serfs, completed the royal village,
+which perfectly resembled, although on a larger scale, the villages of
+ancient Germany. There was something too in the position of these
+dwellings which resembled the scenery beyond the Rhine; the greater number
+of them were on the borders, and some few in the centre of great forests,
+which have since been partly destroyed, and the remains of which we so
+much admire."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 41.--St. Remy, Bishop of Rheims, begging of Clovis the
+restitution of the Sacred Vase taken by the Franks in the Pillage of
+Soissons.--Costumes of the Court of Burgundy in the Fifteenth
+Century.--Fac-simile of a Miniature on a Manuscript of the "History of the
+Emperors" (Library of the Arsenal).]
+
+Although historical documents are not very explicit respecting those
+remote times, it is only sufficient to study carefully a very small
+portion of the territory in order to form some idea of the manners and
+customs of the Franks; for in the royal domain we find the existence of
+all classes, from the sovereign himself down to the humblest slave. As
+regards the private life, however, of the different classes in this
+elementary form of society, we have but approximate and very imperfect
+notions.
+
+It is clear, however, that as early as the beginning of the Merovingian
+race, there was much more luxury and comfort among the upper classes than
+is generally supposed. All the gold and silver furniture, all the jewels,
+and all the rich stuffs which the Gallo-Romans had amassed in their
+sumptuous dwellings, had not been destroyed by the barbarians. The Frank
+Kings had appropriated the greater part; and the rest had fallen into the
+hands of the chiefs of companies in the division of spoil. A well-known
+anecdote, namely, that concerning the Vase of Soissons (Fig. 41), which
+King Clovis wished to preserve, and which a soldier broke with an axe,
+proves that many gems of ancient art must have disappeared, owing to the
+ignorance and brutality of the conquerors; although it is equally certain
+that the latter soon adopted the tastes and customs of the native
+population. At first, they appropriated everything that flattered their
+pride and sensuality. This is how the material remains of the civilisation
+of the Gauls were preserved in the royal and noble residences, the
+churches, and the monasteries. Gregory of Tours informs us, that when
+Fredegonde, wife of Chilperic, gave the hand of her daughter Rigouthe to
+the son of the Gothic king, fifty chariots were required to carry away all
+the valuable objects which composed the princess's dower. A strange family
+scene, related by the same historian, gives us an idea of the private
+habits of the court of that terrible queen of the Franks. "The mother and
+daughter had frequent quarrels, which sometimes ended in the most violent
+encounters. Fredegonde said one day to Rigouthe, 'Why do you continually
+trouble me? Here are the goods of your father, take them and do as you
+like with them.' And conducting her to a room where she locked up her
+treasures, she opened a large box filled with valuables. After having
+pulled out a great number of jewels which she gave to her daughter, she
+said, 'I am tired; put your own hands in the box, and take what you find.'
+Rigouthe bent down to reach the objects placed at the bottom of the box;
+upon which Fredegonde immediately lowered the lid on her daughter, and
+pressed upon it with so much force that the eyes began to start out of the
+princess's head. A maid began screaming, 'Help! my mistress is being
+murdered by her mother!' and Rigouthe was saved from an untimely end." It
+is further related that this was only one of the minor crimes attributed
+by history to Fredegonde _the Terrible_, who always carried a dagger or
+poison about with her.
+
+Amongst the Franks, as amongst all barbaric populations, hunting was the
+pastime preferred when war was not being waged. The Merovingian nobles
+were therefore determined hunters, and it frequently happened that hunting
+occupied whole weeks, and took them far from their homes and families. But
+when the season or other circumstances prevented them from waging war
+against men or beasts, they only cared for feasting and gambling. To these
+occupations they gave themselves up, with a determination and wildness
+well worthy of those semi-civilised times. It was the custom for invited
+guests to appear armed at the feasts, which were the more frequent,
+inasmuch as they were necessarily accompanied with religious ceremonies.
+It often happened that these long repasts, followed by games of chance,
+were stained with blood, either in private quarrels or in a general
+_melee_. One can easily imagine the tumult which must have arisen in a
+numerous assembly when the hot wine and other fermented drinks, such as
+beer, &c., had excited every one to the highest pitch of unchecked
+merriment.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 42.--Costumes of the Women of the Court from the Sixth
+to the Tenth Centuries, from Documents collected by H. de Vielcastel, in
+the great Libraries of Europe.]
+
+Some of the Merovingian kings listened to the advice of the ministers of
+the Catholic religion, and tried to reform these noisy excesses, and
+themselves abandoned the evil custom. For this purpose they received at
+their tables bishops, who blessed the assembly at the commencement of the
+meal, and were charged besides to recite chapters of holy writ, or to
+sing hymns out of the divine service, so as to edify and occupy the minds
+of the guests.
+
+Gregory of Tours bears witness to the happy influence of the presence of
+bishops at the tables of the Frank kings and nobles; he relates, too, that
+Chilperic, who was very proud of his theological and secular knowledge,
+liked, when dining, to discuss, or rather to pronounce authoritatively his
+opinion on questions of grammar, before his companions in arms, who, for
+the most part, neither knew how to read nor write; he even went as far as
+to order three ancient Greek letters to be added to the Latin alphabet.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 43.--Queen Fredegonde, seated on her Throne, gives
+orders to two young Men of Terouanne to assassinate Sigebert, King of
+Austrasia.--Window in the Cathedral of Tournai, Fifteenth Century.]
+
+The private properties of the Frank kings were immense, and produced
+enormous revenues. These monarchs had palaces in almost all the large
+towns; at Bourges, Chalons-sur-Saone, Chalons-sur-Marne, Dijon, Etampes,
+Metz, Langres, Mayence, Rheims, Soissons, Tours, Toulouse, Treves,
+Valenciennes, Worms, &c. In Paris, they occupied the vast residence now
+known as the _Thermes de Julien_ (Hotel de Cluny), which then extended
+from the hill of St. Genevieve as far as the Seine; but they frequently
+left it for their numerous villas in the neighbourhood, on which occasions
+they were always accompanied by their treasury.
+
+All these residences were built on the same plan. High walls surrounded
+the palace. The Roman _atrium_, preserved under the name of _proaulium_
+(_preau_, ante-court), was placed in front of the _salutorium_ (hall of
+reception), where visitors were received. The _consistorium_, or great
+circular hall surrounded with seats, served for legislation, councils,
+public assemblies, and other solemnities, at which the kings displayed
+their royal pomp.
+
+The _trichorium_, or dining-room, was generally the largest hall in the
+palace; two rows of columns divided it into three parts; one for the royal
+family, one for the officers of the household, and the third for the
+guests, who were always very numerous. No person of rank visiting the King
+could leave without sitting at his table, or at least draining a cup to
+his health. The King's hospitality was magnificent, especially on great
+religious festivals such as Christmas and Easter.
+
+The royal apartments were divided into winter and summer rooms. In order
+to regulate the temperature hot or cold water was used, according to the
+season; this circulated in the pipes of the _hypocauste_, or the
+subterranean furnace which warmed the baths. The rooms with chimneys were
+called _epicaustoria_ (stoves), and it was the custom hermetically to
+close these when any one wished to be anointed with ointments and aromatic
+essences. In the same manner as the Gallo-Roman houses, the palaces of the
+Frank kings and principal nobles of ecclesiastical or military order had
+_thermes_, or bath-rooms: to the _thermes_ were attached a _colymbum_, or
+washhouse, a gymnasium for bodily exercise, and a _hypodrome_, or covered
+gallery for exercise, which must not be confounded with the _hippodrome_,
+a circus where horse-races took place.
+
+Sometimes after the repast, in the interval between two games of dice, the
+nobles listened to a bard, who sang the brilliant deeds of their ancestors
+in their native tongue.
+
+Under the government of Charlemagne, the private life of his subjects
+seems to have been less rough and coarse, although they did not entirely
+give up their turbulent pleasures. Science and letters, for a long time
+buried in monasteries, reappeared like beautiful exiles at the imperial
+court, and social life thereby gained a little charm and softness.
+Charlemagne had created in his palace, under the direction of Alcuin, a
+sort of academy called the "School of the Palace," which followed him
+everywhere. The intellectual exercises of this school generally brought
+together all the members of the imperial family, as well as all the
+persons of the household. Charlemagne, in fact, was himself one of the
+most attentive followers of the lessons given by Alcuin. He was indeed the
+principal interlocutor and discourser at the discussions, which were on
+all subjects, religions, literary, and philosophical.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 44.--Costumes of the Nobility from the Seventh to the
+Ninth Centuries, from Documents gathered by H. de Vielcastel from the
+great Libraries of Europe.]
+
+Charlemagne took as much pains with the administration of his palace as he
+did with that of his States. In his "Capitulaires," a work he wrote on
+legislature, we find him descending to the minutest details in that
+respect. For instance, he not only interested himself in his warlike and
+hunting equipages, but also in his kitchen and pleasure gardens. He
+insisted upon knowing every year the number of his oxen, horses, and
+goats; he calculated the produce of the sale of fruits gathered in his
+orchards, which were not required for the use of his house; he had a
+return of the number of fish caught in his ponds; he pointed out the
+shrubs best calculated for ornamenting his garden, and the vegetables
+which were required for his table, &c.
+
+The Emperor generally assumed the greatest simplicity in his dress. His
+daily attire consisted of a linen shirt and drawers, and a woollen tunic
+fastened with a silk belt. Over this tunic he threw a cloak of blue stuff,
+very long behind and before, but very short on each side, thus giving
+freedom to his arms to use his sword, which he always wore. On his feet he
+wore bands of stuffs of various colours, crossed over one another, and
+covering his legs also. In winter, when he travelled or hunted on
+horseback, he threw over his shoulders a covering of otter or sheepskin.
+The changes in fashion which the custom of the times necessitated, but to
+which he would never submit personally, induced him to issue several
+strenuous orders, which, however, in reality had hardly any effect.
+
+He was most simple as regards his food and drink, and made a habit of
+having pious or historical works read to him during his repasts. He
+devoted the morning, which with him began in summer at sunrise, and in
+winter earlier, to the political administration of his empire. He dined at
+twelve with his family; the dukes and chiefs of various nations first
+waited on him, and then took their places at the table, and were waited on
+in their turn by the counts, prefects, and superior officers of the court,
+who dined after them. When these had finished the different chiefs of the
+household sat down, and they were succeeded lastly by servants of the
+lower order, who often did not dine till midnight, and had to content
+themselves with what was left. When occasion required, however, this
+powerful Emperor knew how to maintain the pomp and dignity of his station;
+but as soon as he had done what was necessary, either for some great
+religious festival or otherwise, he returned, as if by instinct, to his
+dear and native simplicity.
+
+It must be understood that the simple tastes of Charlemagne were not
+always shared by the princes and princesses of his family, nor by the
+magnates of his court (Fig. 45). Poets and historians have handed down to
+us descriptions of hunts, feasts, and ceremonies, at which a truly Asiatic
+splendour was displayed. Eginhard, however, assures us that the sons and
+daughters of the King were brought up under their father's eye in liberal
+studios; that, to save them from the vice of idleness, Charlemagne
+required his sons to devote themselves to all bodily exercises, such as
+horsemanship, handling of arms, &c., and his daughters to do needlework
+and to spin. From what is recorded, however, of the frivolous habits and
+irregular morals of these princesses, it is evident that they but
+imperfectly realised the end of their education.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 45.--Costumes of the Ladies of the Nobility in the
+Ninth Century, from a Miniature in the Bible of Charles the Bold (National
+Library of Paris).]
+
+Science and letters, which for a time were brought into prominence by
+Charlemagne and also by his son Louis, who was very learned and was
+considered skilful in translating and expounding Scripture, were, however,
+after the death of these two kings, for a long time banished to the
+seclusion of the cloisters, owing to the hostile rivalry of their
+successors, which favoured the attacks of the Norman pirates. All the
+monuments and relics of the Gallo-Roman civilisation, which the great
+Emperor had collected, disappeared in the civil wars, or were gradually
+destroyed by the devastations of the northerners.
+
+The vast empire which Charlemagne had formed became gradually split up, so
+that from a dread of social destruction, in order to protect churches and
+monasteries, as well as castles and homesteads, from the attacks of
+internal as well as foreign enemies, towers and impregnable fortresses
+began to rise in all parts of Europe, and particularly in France.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 46.--Towers of the Castle of Semur, and of the Castle
+of Nogent-le-Rotrou (Present Condition).--Specimens of Towers of the
+Thirteenth Century.]
+
+During the first period of feudalism, that is to say from the middle of
+the ninth to the middle of the twelfth centuries, the inhabitants of
+castles had little time to devote to the pleasures of private life. They
+had not only to be continually under arms for the endless quarrels of the
+King and the great chiefs; but they had also to oppose the Normans on one
+side, and the Saracens on the other, who, being masters of the Spanish
+peninsula, spread like the rising tide in the southern counties of
+Languedoc and Provence. It is true that the Carlovingian warriors obtained
+a handsome and rich reward for these long and sanguinary efforts, for at
+last they seized upon the provinces and districts which had been
+originally entrusted to their charge, and the origin of their feudal
+possession was soon so far forgotten, that their descendants pretended
+that they held the lands, which they had really usurped regardless of
+their oath, from heaven and their swords. It is needless to say, that at
+that time the domestic life in these castles must have been dull and
+monotonous; although, according to M. Guizot, the loneliness which was the
+resuit of this rough and laborious life, became by degrees the pioneer of
+civilisation.
+
+"When the owner of the fief left his castle, his wife remained there,
+though in a totally different position from that which women generally
+held. She remained as mistress, representing her husband, and was charged
+with the defence and honour of the fief. This high and exalted position,
+in the centre of domestic life, often gave to women an opportunity of
+displaying dignity, courage, virtue, and intelligence, which would
+otherwise have remained hidden, and, no doubt, contributed greatly to
+their moral development, and to the general improvement of their
+condition.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 47.--Woman under the Safeguard of Knighthood,
+allegorical Scene.--Costume of the End of the Fifteenth Century, from a
+Miniature in a Latin Psalm Book (Manuscript No. 175, National Library of
+Paris).]
+
+"The importance of children, and particularly of the eldest son, was
+greater in feudal houses than elsewhere.... The eldest son of the noble
+was, in the eyes of his father and of all his followers, a prince and
+heir-presumptive, and the hope and glory of the dynasty. These feelings,
+and the domestic pride and affection of the various members one to
+another, united to give families much energy and power..... Add to this
+the influence of Christian ideas, and it will be understood how this
+lonely, dull, and hard castle life was, nevertheless, favourable to the
+development of domestic society, and to that improvement in the condition
+of women which plays such a great part in the history of our
+civilisation."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 48.--Court of Love in Provence in the Fourteenth
+Century (Manuscript of the National Library of Paris).]
+
+Whatever opinion may be formed of chivalry, it is impossible to deny the
+influence which this institution exercised on private life in the Middle
+Ages. It considerably modified custom, by bringing the stronger sex to
+respect and defend the weaker. These warriors, who were both simple and
+externally rough and coarse, required association and intercourse with
+women to soften them (Fig. 47). In taking women and helpless widows under
+their protection, they were necessarily more and more thrown in contact
+with them. A deep feeling of veneration for woman, inspired by
+Christianity, and, above all, by the worship of the Virgin Mary, ran
+throughout the songs of the troubadours, and produced a sort of
+sentimental reverence for the gentle sex, which culminated in the
+authority which women had in the courts of love (Fig. 48).
+
+We have now reached the reign of Philip Augustus, that is to say, the end
+of the twelfth century. This epoch is remarkable, not only for its
+political history, but also for its effect on civilisation. Christianity
+had then considerably influenced the world; arts, sciences, and letters,
+animated by its influence, again began to appear, and to add charms to the
+leisure of private life. The castles were naturally the first to be
+affected by this poetical and intellectual regeneration, although it has
+been too much the custom to exaggerate the ignorance of those who
+inhabited them. We are too apt to consider the warriors of the Middle Ages
+as totally devoid of knowledge, and as hardly able to sign their names, as
+far as the kings and princes are concerned. This is quite an error; for
+many of the knights composed poems which exhibit evidence of their high
+literary culture.
+
+It was, in fact, the epoch of troubadours, who might be called
+professional poets and actors, who went from country to country, and from
+castle to castle, relating stories of good King Artus of Brittany and of
+the Knights of the Round Table; repeating historical poems of the great
+Emperor Charlemagne and his followers. These minstrels were always
+accompanied by jugglers and instrumentalists, who formed a travelling
+troop (Fig. 49), having no other mission than to amuse and instruct their
+feudal hosts. After singing a few fragments of epics, or after the lively
+recital of some ancient fable, the jugglers would display their art or
+skill in gymnastic feats or conjuring, which were the more appreciated by
+the spectators, in that the latter were more or less able to compete with
+them. These wandering troops acted small comedies, taken from incidents of
+the times. Sometimes, too, the instrumentalists formed an orchestra, and
+dancing commenced. It may be here remarked that dancing at this epoch
+consisted of a number of persons forming large circles, and turning to the
+time of the music or the rhythm of the song. At least the dances of the
+nobles are thus represented in the MSS. of the Middle Ages. To these
+amusements were added games of calculation and chance, the fashion for
+which had much increased, and particularly such games as backgammon,
+draughts, and chess, to which certain knights devoted all their leisure.
+
+From the reign of Philip Augustus, a remarkable change seems to have taken
+place in the private life of kings, princes, and nobles. Although his
+domains and revenues had always been on the increase, this monarch never
+displayed, in ordinary circumstances at least, much magnificence. The
+accounts of his private expenses for the years 1202 and 1203 have been
+preserved, which enable us to discover some curious details bearing
+witness to the extreme simplicity of the court at that period. The
+household of the King or royal family was still very small: one
+chancellor, one chaplain, a squire, a butler, a few Knights of the Temple,
+and some sergeants-at-arms were the only officers of the palace. The king
+and princes of his household only changed apparel three times during the
+year.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 49.--King David playing on the Lyre, surrounded by
+four Musicians.--Costumes of the Thirteenth Century (from a Miniature in a
+Manuscript Psalter in the Imperial Library, Paris).]
+
+The children of the King slept in sheets of serge, and their nurses were
+dressed in gowns of dark-coloured woollen stuff, called _brunette_. The
+royal cloak, which was of scarlet, was jewelled, but the King only wore it
+on great ceremonies. At the same time enormous expenses were incurred for
+implements of war, arrows, helmets with visors, chariots, and for the
+men-at-arms whom the King kept in his pay.
+
+Louis IX. personally kept up almost similar habits. The Sire de Joinville
+tells us in his "Chronicles," that the holy King on his return from his
+first crusade, in order to repair the damage done to his treasury by the
+failure of this expedition, would no longer wear costly furs nor robes of
+scarlet, and contented himself with common stuffs trimmed with hare-skin.
+He nevertheless did not diminish the officers of his household, which had
+already become numerous; and being no doubt convinced that royalty
+required magnificence, he surrounded himself with as much pomp as the
+times permitted.
+
+Under the two Philips, his successors, this magnificence increased, and
+descended to the great vassals, who were soon imitated by the knights
+"bannerets." There seemed to be a danger of luxury becoming so great, and
+so general in all classes of feudal society, that in 1294 an order of the
+King was issued, regulating in the minutest details the expenses of each
+person according to his rank in the State, or the fortune which he could
+prove. But this law had the fate of all such enactments, and was either
+easily evaded, or was only partially enforced, and that with great
+difficulty. Another futile attempt to put it in practice was made in 1306,
+when the splendour of dress, of equipages, and of table had become still
+greater and more ruinous, and had descended progressively to the bourgeois
+and merchants.
+
+It must be stated in praise of Philip le Bel (Fig. 50) that,
+notwithstanding the failure of his attempts to arrest the progress of
+luxury, he was not satisfied with making laws against the extravagances of
+his subjects, for we find that he studied a strict economy in his own
+household, which recalled the austere times of Philip Augustus. Thus, in
+the curious regulations relating to the domestic arrangements of the
+palace, the Queen, Jeanne de Navarre, was only allowed two ladies and
+three maids of honour in her suite, and she is said to have had only two
+four-horse carriages, one for herself and the other for these ladies. In
+another place these regulations require that a butler, specially
+appointed, "should buy all the cloth and furs for the king, take charge of
+the key of the cupboards where these are kept, know the quantity given to
+the tailors to make clothes, and check the accounts when the tailors send
+in their claims for the price of their work."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 50.--King Philip le Bel in War-dress, on the Occasion
+of his entering Paris in 1304, after having conquered the Communes of
+Flanders.--Equestrian Statue placed in Notre Dame, Paris, and destroyed in
+1772.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut from Thevet's "Cosmographie Universelle,"
+1575.]
+
+After the death of the pious Jeanne de Navarre, to whom perhaps we must
+attribute the wise measures of her husband, Philip le Bel, the expenses of
+the royal household materially increased, especially on the occasions of
+the marriages of the three young sons of the King, from 1305 to 1307.
+Gold, diamonds, pearls, and precious stones were employed profusely, both
+for the King's garments and for those of the members of the royal family.
+The accounts of 1307 mention considerable sums paid for carpets,
+counterpanes, robes, worked linen, &c. A chariot of state, ornamented and
+covered with paintings, and gilded like the back of an altar, is also
+mentioned, and must have been a great change to the heavy vehicles used
+for travelling in those days.
+
+Down to the reign of St. Louis the furniture of castles had preserved a
+character of primitive simplicity which did not, however, lack grandeur.
+The stone remained uncovered in most of the halls, or else it was whitened
+with mortar and ornamented with moulded roses and leaves, coloured in
+distemper. Against the wall, and also against the pillars supporting the
+arches, arms and armour of all sorts were hung, arranged in suits, and
+interspersed with banners and pennants or emblazoned standards. In the
+great middle hall, or dining-room, there was a long massive oak table,
+with benches and stools of the same wood. At the end of this table, there
+was a large arm-chair, overhung with a canopy of golden or silken stuff,
+which was occupied by the owner of the castle, and only relinquished by
+him in favour of his superior or sovereign. Often the walls of the hall of
+state were hung with tapestry, representing groves with cattle, heroes of
+ancient history, or events in the romance of chivalry. The floor was
+generally paved with hard stone, or covered with enamelled tiles. It was
+carefully strewn with scented herbs in summer, and straw in winter. Philip
+Augustus ordered that the Hotel Dieu of Paris should receive the herbs and
+straw which was daily removed from the floors of his palace. It was only
+very much later that this troublesome system was replaced by mats and
+carpets.
+
+The bedrooms were generally at the top of the towers, and had little else
+by way of furniture, besides a very large bed, with or without curtains, a
+box in which clothes were kept, and which also served as a seat, and a
+_priedieu_ chair, which sometimes contained prayer and other books of
+devotion. These lofty rooms, whose thick walls kept out the heat in
+summer, and the cold in winter, were only lighted by a small window or
+loophole, closed with a square of oiled paper or of thin horn.
+
+A great change took place in the abodes of the nobility in the fourteenth
+and fifteenth centuries (Fig. 51). We find, for instance, in Sauval's
+"History and Researches of the Antiquities of the City of Paris," that the
+abodes of the kings of the first dynasty had been transformed into
+Palaces of Justice by Philip le Bel; the same author also gives us a vivid
+description of the Chateau du Louvre, and the Hotel St. Paul, which the
+kings inhabited when their court was in the capital. But even without
+examining into all the royal abodes, it will suffice to give an account of
+the Hotel de Boheme, which, after having been the home of the Sires de
+Nesles, of Queen Blanche of Castille, and other great persons, was given
+by Charles VI., in 1388, to his brother, the famous Duke Louis of Orleans.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 51.--The Knight and his Lady.--Costumes of the Court
+of Burgundy in the Fourteenth Century; Furnished Chamber.--Miniature in
+"Othea," Poem by Christine de Pisan (Brussels Library).]
+
+"I shall not attempt," says Sauval, "to speak of the cellars and
+wine-cellars, the bakehouses, the fruiteries, the salt-stores, the
+fur-rooms, the porters' lodges, the stores, the guard-rooms, the
+wood-yard, or the glass-stores; nor of the servants; nor of the place
+where _hypocras_ was made; neither shall I describe the tapestry-room, the
+linen-room, nor the laundry; nor, indeed, any of the various conveniences
+which were then to be found in the yards of that palace as well as in the
+other abodes of the princes and nobles.
+
+"I shall simply remark, that amongst the many suites of rooms which
+composed it, two occupied the two first stories of the main building; the
+first was raised some few steps above the ground-floor of the court, and
+was occupied by Valentine de Milan; and her husband, Louis of Orleans,
+generally occupied the second. Each of these suites of rooms consisted of
+a great hall, a chamber of state, a large chamber, a wardrobe, some
+closets, and a chapel. The windows of the halls were thirteen and a half
+feet[A] high by four and a half wide. The state chambers were eight
+'toises,' that is, about fifty feet and a half long. The duke and
+duchess's chambers were six 'toises' by three, that is, about thirty-six
+feet by eighteen; the others were seven toises and a half square, all
+lighted by long and narrow windows of wirework with trellis-work of iron;
+the wainscots and the ceilings were made of Irish wood, the same as at the
+Louvre."
+
+[Footnote A: French feet.]
+
+In this palace there was a room used by the duke, hung with cloth of gold,
+bordered with vermilion velvet embroidered with roses; the duchess had a
+room hung with vermilion satin embroidered with crossbows, which were on
+her coat of arms; that of the Duke of Burgundy was hung with cloth of gold
+embroidered with windmills. There were, besides, eight carpets of glossy
+texture, with gold flowers; one representing "The Seven Virtues and the
+Seven Vices;" another the history of Charlemagne; another that of St.
+Louis. There were also cushions of cloth of gold, twenty-four pieces of
+vermilion leather of Aragon, and four carpets of Aragon leather, "to be
+placed on the floor of rooms in summer." The favourite arm-chair of the
+princess is thus described in an inventory:--"A chamber chair with four
+supports, painted in fine vermilion, the seat and arms of which are
+covered with vermilion morocco, or cordovan, worked and stamped with
+designs representing the sun, birds, and other devices, bordered with
+fringes of silk and studded with nails."
+
+Among the ornamental furniture were--"A large vase of massive silver, for
+holding sugar-plums or sweetmeats, shaped like a square table, supported
+by four satyrs, also of silver; a fine wooden casket, covered with
+vermilion cordovan, nailed, and bordered with a narrow gilt band, shutting
+with a key."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 52.--Bronze Chandeliers of the Fourteenth Century
+(Collection of M. Ach. Jubinal).]
+
+In the daily life of Louis of Orleans and his wife, everything
+corresponded with the luxury of their house. Thus, for the amusement of
+their children, two little books of pictures were made, illuminated with
+gold, azure, and vermilion, and covered with vermilion leather of Cordova,
+which cost sixty _sols parisis, i.e. four hundred francs. But it was in
+the custom of New Year's gifts that the duke and duchess displayed truly
+royal magnificence, as we find described in the accounts of their
+expenses. For instance, in 1388 they paid four hundred francs of gold for
+sheets of silk to give to those who received the New Year's gifts from the
+King and Queen. In 1402, one hundred pounds (tournois) were given to Jehan
+Taienne, goldsmith, for six silver cups presented to Jacques de Poschin,
+the Duke's squire. To the Sire de la Tremouille Valentine gives "a cup and
+basin of gold;" to Queen Isabella, "a golden image of St. John,
+surrounded with nine rubies, one sapphire, and twenty-one pearls;" to
+Mademoiselle de Luxembourg, "another small golden sacred image, surrounded
+with pearls;" and lastly, in an account of 1394, headed, "Portion of gold
+and silver jewels bought by Madame la Duchesse d'Orleans as a New Year's
+gift," we find "a clasp of gold, studded with one large ruby and six large
+pearls, given to the King; three paternosters for the King's daughters,
+and two large diamonds for the Dukes of Burgundy and Berry."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 53.--Styli used in writing in the Fourteenth Century.]
+
+Such were the habits in private life of the royal princes under Charles
+VI.; and it can easily be shown that the example of royalty was followed
+not only by the court, but also in the remotest provinces. The great
+tenants or vassals of the crown each possessed several splendid mansions
+in their fiefs; the Dukes of Burgundy, at Souvigny, at Moulins, and at
+Bourbon l'Archambault; the Counts of Champagne, at Troyes; the Dukes of
+Burgundy, at Dijon; and all the smaller nobles made a point of imitating
+their superiors. From the fifteenth to the sixteenth centuries, the
+provinces which now compose France were studded with castles, which were
+as remarkable for their interior, architecture as for the richness of
+their furniture; and it may be asserted that the luxury which was
+displayed in the dwellings of the nobility was the evidence, if not the
+resuit, of a great social revolution in the manners and customs of private
+life.
+
+At the end of the fourteenth century there lived a much-respected noble of
+Anjou, named Geoffroy de Latour-Landry, who had three daughters. In his
+old age, he resolved that, considering the dangers which might surround
+them in consequence of their inexperience and beauty, he would compose for
+their use a code of admonitions which might guide them in the various
+circumstances of life.
+
+[Illustration: A Young Mother's Retinue
+
+Representing the Parisian costumes at the end of the fourteenth century.
+Fac-simile of a miniature from the latin _Terence_ of King Charles VI.
+From a manuscript in the Bibl. de l'Arsenal.]
+
+This book of domestic maxims is most curious and instructive, from the
+details which it contains respecting the manners and customs, mode of
+conduct, and fashions of the nobility of the period (Fig. 54). The author
+mostly illustrates each of his precepts by examples from the life of
+contemporary personages.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 54.--Dress of Noble Ladies and Children in the
+Fourteenth Century.--Miniature in the "Merveilles du Monde" (Manuscript,
+National Library of Paris).]
+
+The first advice the knight gives his daughters is, to begin the day with
+prayer; and, in order to give greater weight to his counsel, he relates
+the following anecdote: "A noble had two daughters; the one was pious,
+always saying her prayers with devotion, and regularly attending the
+services of the church; she married an honest man, and was most happy. The
+other, on the contrary, was satisfied with hearing low mass, and hurrying
+once or twice through the Lord's Prayer, after which she went off to
+indulge herself with sweetmeats. She complained of headaches, and required
+careful diet. She married a most excellent knight; but, one evening,
+taking advantage of her husband being asleep, she shut herself up in one
+of the rooms of the palace, and in company with the people of the
+household began eating and drinking in the most riotous and excessive
+manner. The knight awoke; and, surprised not to find his wife by his side,
+got up, and, armed with a stick, betook himself to the scene of festivity.
+He struck one of the domestics with such force that he broke his stick in
+pieces, and one of the fragments flew into the lady's eye and put it out.
+This caused her husband to take a dislike to her, and he soon placed his
+affections elsewhere."
+
+"My pretty daughters," the moralising parent proceeds, "be courteous and
+meek, for nothing is more beautiful, nothing so secures the favour of God
+and the love of others. Be then courteous to great and small; speak gently
+with them.... I have seen a great lady take off her cap and bow to a
+simple ironmonger. One of her followers seemed astonished. 'I prefer,' she
+said, 'to have been too courteous towards that man, than to have been
+guilty of the least incivility to a knight.'"
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 55.--Noble Lady and Maid of Honour, and two Burgesses
+with Hoods (Fourteenth Century), from a Miniature in the "Merveilles du
+Monde" (Manuscript in the Imperial Library of Paris).]
+
+Latour-Landry also advised his daughters to avoid outrageous fashions in
+dress. "Do not be hasty in copying the dress of foreign women. I will
+relate a story on this subject respecting a bourgeoise of Guyenne and the
+Sire de Beaumanoir. The lady said to him, 'Cousin, I come from Brittany,
+where I saw my fine cousin, your wife, who was not so well dressed as the
+ladies of Guyenne and many other places. The borders of her dress and of
+her bonnet are not in fashion.' The Sire answered, 'Since you find fault
+with the dress and cap of my wife, and as they do not suit you, I shall
+take care in future that they are changed; but I shall be careful not to
+choose them similar to yours.... Understand, madam, that I wish her to be
+dressed according to the fashion of the good ladies of France and this
+country, and not like those of England. It was these last who first
+introduced into Brittany the large borders, the bodices opened on the
+hips, and the hanging sleeves. I remember the time, and saw it myself, and
+I have little respect for women who adopt these fashions.'"
+
+Respecting the high head-dresses "which cause women to resemble stags who
+are obliged to lower their heads to enter a wood," the knight relates what
+took place in 1392 at the fete of St. Marguerite. "There was a young and
+pretty woman there, quite differently dressed from the others; every one
+stared at her as if she had been a wild beast. One respectable lady
+approached her and said, 'My friend, what do you call that fashion?' She
+answered, 'It is called the "gibbet dress."' 'Indeed; but that is not a
+fine name!' answered the old lady. Very soon the name of 'gibbet dress'
+got known all round the room, and every one laughed at the foolish
+creature who was thus bedecked." This head-dress did in fact owe its name
+to its summit, which resembled a gibbet.
+
+These extracts from the work of this honest knight, suffice to prove that
+the customs of French society had, as early as the end of the fourteenth
+century, taken a decided character which was to remain subject only to
+modifications introduced at various historical periods.
+
+Amongst the customs which contributed most to the softening and elegance
+of the feudal class, we must cite that of sending into the service of the
+sovereign for some years all the youths of both sexes, under the names of
+varlets, pages, squires, and maids of honour. No noble, of whatever wealth
+or power, ever thought of depriving his family of this apprenticeship and
+its accompanying chivalric education.
+
+Up to the end of the twelfth century, the number of domestic officers
+attached to a castle was very limited; we have seen, for instance, that
+Philip Augustus contented himself with a few servants, and his queen with
+two or three maids of honour. Under Louis IX. this household was much
+increased, and under Philippe le Bel and his sons the royal household had
+become so considerable as to constitute quite a large assemblage of young
+men and women. Under Charles VI., the household of Queen Isabella of
+Bavaria alone amounted to forty-five persons, without counting the
+almoner, the chaplains, and clerks of the chapel, who must have been very
+numerous, since the sums paid to them amounted to the large amount of four
+hundred and sixty francs of gold per annum.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 56.--Court of the Ladies of Queen Anne of Brittany,
+Miniature representing this lady weeping on account of the absence of her
+husband during the Italian war.--Manuscript of the "Epistres Envoyees au
+Roi" (Sixteenth Century), obtained by the Coislin Fund for the Library of
+St. Germain des Pres in Paris, now in the Library of St. Petersburg.]
+
+
+Under Charles VIII., Louis XII., and Francis I., the service of the young
+nobility, which was called "apprenticeship of honour or virtue," had
+taken a much wider range; for the first families of the French nobility
+were most eager to get their children admitted into the royal household,
+either to attend on the King or Queen, or at any rate on one of the
+princes of the royal blood. Anne of Brittany particularly gave special
+attention to her female attendants (Fig. 56). "She was the first," says
+Brantome in his work on "Illustrious Women," "who began to form the great
+court of ladies which has descended to our days; for she had a
+considerable retinue both of adult ladies and young girls. She never
+refused to receive any one; on the contrary, she inquired of the gentlemen
+of the court if they had any daughters, ascertained who they were, and
+asked for them." It was thus that the Admiral de Graville (Fig. 57)
+confided to the good Queen the education of his daughter Anne, who at this
+school of the Court of Ladies became one of the most distinguished women
+of her day. The same Queen, as Duchess of Brittany, created a company of
+one hundred Breton gentlemen, who accompanied her everywhere. "They never
+failed," says the author of "Illustrious Women," "when she went to mass or
+took a walk, to await her return on the little terrace of Blois, which is
+still called the _Perche aux Bretons_. She gave it this name herself; for
+when she saw them she said, 'There are my Bretons on the perch waiting for
+me.'"
+
+We must not forget that this queen, who became successively the wife of
+Charles VIII. and of Louis XII., had taken care to establish a strict
+discipline amongst the young men and women who composed her court. She
+rightly considered herself the guardian of the honour of the former, and
+of the virtue of the latter; therefore, as long as she lived, her court
+was renowned for purity and politeness, noble and refined gallantry, and
+was never allowed to degenerate into imprudent amusements or licentious
+and culpable intrigues.
+
+Unfortunately, the moral influence of this worthy princess died with her.
+Although the court of France continued to gather around it almost every
+sort of elegance, and although it continued during the whole of the
+sixteenth century the most polished of European courts, notwithstanding
+the great external and civil wars, yet it afforded at the same time a sad
+example of laxity of morals, which had a most baneful influence on public
+habits; so much so that vice and corruption descended from class to class,
+and contaminated all orders of society. If we wished to make
+investigations into the private life of the lower orders in those times,
+we should not succeed as we have been able to do with that of the upper
+classes; for we have scarcely any data to throw light upon their sad and
+obscure history. Bourgeois and peasants were, as we have already shown,
+long included together with the miserable class of serfs, a herd of human
+beings without individuality, without significance, who from their birth
+to their death, whether isolated or collectively, were the "property" of
+their masters. What must have been the private life of this degraded
+multitude, bowed down under the most tyrannical and humiliating
+dependence, we can scarcely imagine; it was in fact but a purely material
+existence, which has left scarcely any trace in history.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 57.--Louis de Mallet, Lord of Graville, Admiral of
+France, 1487, in Costume of War and Tournament, from an Engraving of the
+Sixteenth Century (National Library of Paris, Cabinet des Estampes).]
+
+Many centuries elapsed before the dawn of liberty could penetrate the
+social strata of this multitude, thus oppressed and denuded of all power
+of action. The development was slow, painful, and dearly bought, but at
+last it took place; first of all towns sprang up, and with them, or rather
+by their influence, the inhabitants became possessed of social life. The
+agricultural population took its social position many generations later.
+
+As we have already seen, the great movement for the creation of communes
+and bourgeoisies only dates from the unsettled period ranging from the
+eleventh to the thirteenth centuries, and simultaneously we see the
+bourgeois appear, already rich and luxurious, parading on all occasions
+their personal opulence. Their private life could only be an imitation of
+that in the chateaux; by degrees as wealth strengthened and improved their
+condition, and rendered them independent, we find them trying to procure
+luxuries equal or analogous to those enjoyed by the upper classes, and
+which appeared to them the height of material happiness. In all times the
+small have imitated the great. It was in vain that the great obstinately
+threatened, by the exercise of their prerogatives, to try and crush this
+tendency to equality which alarmed them, by issuing pecuniary edicts,
+summary laws, coercive regulations, and penal ordinances; by the force of
+circumstances the arbitrary restrictions which the nobility laid upon the
+lower classes gradually disappeared, and the power of wealth displayed
+itself in spite of all their efforts to suppress it. In fact, occasions
+were not wanting in which the bourgeois class was able to refute the
+charge of unworthiness with which the nobles sought to stamp it. When
+taking a place in the council of the King, or employed in the
+administration of the provinces, many of its members distinguished
+themselves by firmness and wisdom; when called upon to assist in the
+national defence, they gave their blood and their gold with noble
+self-denial; and lastly, they did not fail to prove themselves possessed
+of those high and delicate sentiments of which the nobility alone claimed
+the hereditary possession.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 58.--Burgess of Ghent and his Wife, in ceremonial
+Attire, kneeling in Church, from a painted Window belonging to a Chapel in
+that Town (Fifteenth Century).]
+
+"The bourgeois," says Arnaud de Marveil, one of the most famous
+troubadours of the thirteenth century, "have divers sorts of merits: some
+distinguish themselves by deeds of honour, others are by nature noble and
+behave accordingly. There are others thoroughly brave, courteous, frank,
+and jovial, who, although poor, find means to please by graceful speech,
+frequenting courts, and making themselves agreeable there; these, well
+versed in courtesy and politeness, appear in noble attire, and figure
+conspicuously at the tournaments and military games, proving themselves
+good judges and good company."
+
+Down to the thirteenth century, however rich their fathers or husbands
+might be, the women of the bourgeoisie were not permitted, without
+incurring a fine, to use the ornaments and stuffs exclusively reserved for
+the nobility. During the reigns of Philip Augustus and Louis IX., although
+these arbitrary laws were not positively abolished, a heavy blow was
+inflicted on them by the marks of confidence, esteem, and honour which
+these monarchs found pleasure in bestowing on the bourgeoisie. We find the
+first of these kings, when on the point of starting for a crusade,
+choosing six from amongst the principal members of the _parloir aux
+bourgeois_ (it was thus that the first Hotel de Ville, situated in the
+corner of the Place de la Greve, was named) to be attached to the Council
+of Regency, to whom he specially confided his will and the royal treasure.
+His grandson made a point of following his grandsire's example, and Louis
+IX. showed the same appreciation for the new element which the Parisian
+bourgeoisie was about to establish in political life by making the
+bourgeois Etienne Boileau one of his principal ministers of police, and
+the bourgeois Jean Sarrazin his chamberlain.
+
+Under these circumstances, the whole bourgeoisie gloried in the marks of
+distinction conferred upon their representatives, and during the following
+reign, the ladies of this class, proud of their immense fortunes, but
+above all proud of the municipal powers held by their families, bedecked
+themselves, regardless of expense, with costly furs and rich stuffs,
+notwithstanding that they were forbidden by law to do so.
+
+Then came an outcry on the part of the nobles; and we read as follows, in
+an edict of Philippe le Bel, who inclined less to the bourgeoisie than to
+the nobles, and who did not spare the former in matters of taxation:--"No
+bourgeois shall have a chariot nor wear gold, precious stones, or crowns
+of gold or silver. Bourgeois, not being either prelates nor dignitaries of
+state, shall not have tapers of wax. A bourgeois possessing two thousand
+pounds (tournois) or more, may order for himself a dress of twelve sous
+six deniers, and for his wife one worth sixteen sous at the most." The
+sou, which was but nominal money, may be reckoned as representing twenty
+francs, and the denier one franc, but allowance must be made for the
+enormous difference in the value of silver, which would make twenty francs
+in the thirteenth century represent upwards of two hundred francs of
+present currency.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 59.--The new-born Child, from a Miniature in the
+"Histoire de la Belle Helaine" (Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century,
+National Library of Paris).]
+
+But these regulations as to the mode of living were so little or so
+carelessly observed, that all the successors of Philippe le Bel thought it
+necessary to re-enact them, and, indeed, Charles VII., one century later,
+was obliged to censure the excess of luxury in dress by an edict which
+was, however, no better enforced than the rest. "It has been shown to the
+said lord" (the King Charles VII.), "that of all nations of the habitable
+globe there are none so changeable, outrageous, and excessive in their
+manner of dress, as the French nation, and there is no possibility of
+discovering by their dress the state or calling of persons, be they
+princes, nobles, bourgeois, or working men, because all are allowed to
+dress as they think proper, whether in gold or silver, silk or wool,
+without any regard to their calling."
+
+At the end of the thirteenth century, a rich merchant of Valenciennes went
+to the court of the King of France wearing a cloak of furs covered with
+gold and pearls; seeing that no one offered him a cushion, he proudly sat
+on his cloak. On leaving he did not attempt to take up the cloak; and on a
+servant calling his attention to the fact he remarked, "It is not the
+custom in my country for people to carry away their cushions with them."
+
+Respecting a journey made by Philippe le Bel and his wife Jeanne de
+Navarre to the towns of Bruges and Ghent, the historian Jean Mayer relates
+that Jeanne, on seeing the costly array of the bourgeois of those two rich
+cities, exclaimed, "I thought I was the only queen here, but I see more
+than six hundred!"
+
+In spite of the laws, the Parisian bourgeoisie soon rivalled the Flemish
+in the brilliancy of their dress. Thus, in the second half of the
+fourteenth century, the famous Christine de Pisan relates that, having
+gone to visit the wife of a merchant during her confinement, it was not
+without some amazement that she saw the sumptuous furniture of the
+apartment in which this woman lay in bed (Fig. 59). The walls were hung
+with precious tapestry of Cyprus, on which the initials and motto of the
+lady were embroidered; the sheets were of fine linen of Rheims, and had
+cost more than three hundred pounds; the quilt was a new invention of silk
+and silver tissue; the carpet was like gold. The lady wore an elegant
+dress of crimson silk, and rested her head and arms on pillows, ornamented
+with buttons of oriental pearls. It should be remarked that this lady was
+not the wife of a large merchant, such as those of Venice and Genoa, but
+of a simple retail dealer, who was not above selling articles for four
+sous; such being the case, we need not be surprised that Christine should
+have considered the anecdote "worthy of being immortalised in a book."
+
+It must not, however, be assumed that the sole aim of the bourgeoisie was
+that of making a haughty and pompous display. This is refuted by the
+testimony of the "Menagier de Paris," a curious anonymous work, the author
+of which must have been an educated and enlightened bourgeois.
+
+The "Menagier," which was first published by the Baron Jerome Pichon, is a
+collection of counsels addressed by a husband to his young wife, as to her
+conduct in society, in the world, and in the management of her household.
+The first part is devoted to developing the mind of the young housewife;
+and the second relates to the arrangements necessary for the welfare of
+her house. It must be remembered that the comparatively trifling duties
+relating to the comforts of private life, which devolved on the wife, were
+not so numerous in those days as they are now; but on the other hand they
+required an amount of practical knowledge on the part of the housewife
+which she can nowadays dispense with. Under this head the "Menagier" is
+full of information.
+
+After having spoken of the prayers which a Christian woman should say
+morning and evening, the author discusses the great question of dress,
+which has ever been of supreme importance in the eyes of the female sex:
+"Know, dear sister," (the friendly name he gives his young wife), "that in
+the choice of your apparel you must always consider the rank of your
+parents and mine, as also the state of my fortune. Be respectably dressed,
+without devoting too much study to it, without too much plunging into new
+fashions. Before leaving your room, see that the collar of your gown be
+well adjusted and is not put on crooked."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 60.--Sculptured Comb, in Ivory, of the Sixteenth
+Century (Sauvageot Collection)]
+
+Then he dilates on the characters of women, which are too often wilful and
+unmanageable; on this point, for he is not less profuse in examples than
+the Chevalier de Latour-Landry, he relates an amusing anecdote, worthy of
+being repeated and remembered.
+
+"I have heard the bailiff of Tournay relate, that he had found himself
+several times at table with men long married, and that he had wagered with
+them the price of a dinner under the following conditions: the company
+was to visit the abode of each of the husbands successively, and any one
+who had a wife obedient enough immediately, without contradicting or
+making any remark, to consent to count up to four, would win the bet; but,
+on the other hand, those whose wives showed temper, laughed, or refused to
+obey, would lose. Under these conditions the company gaily adjourned to
+the abode of Robin, whose wife, called Marie, had a high opinion of
+herself. The husband said before all, 'Marie, repeat after me what I shall
+say.' 'Willingly, sire.' 'Marie, say, "One, two, three!"' But by this time
+Marie was out of patience, and said, 'And seven, and twelve, and fourteen!
+Why, you are making a fool of me!' So that husband lost his wager.
+
+"The company next went to the house of Maitre Jean, whose wife, Agnescat
+well knew how to play the lady. Jean said, 'Repeat after me, one!' 'And
+two!' answered Agnescat disdainfully; so he lost his wager. Tassin then
+tried, and said to dame Tassin, 'Count one!' 'Go upstairs!' she answered,
+'if you want to teach counting, I am not a child.' Another said, 'Go away
+with you; you must have lost your senses,' or similar words, which made
+the husbands lose their wagers. Those, on the contrary, who had
+well-behaved wives gained their wager and went away joyful."
+
+This amusing quotation suffices to show that the author of the "Menagier
+de Paris" wished to adopt a jocose style, with a view to enliven the
+seriousness of the subject he was advocating.
+
+The part of his work in which he discusses the administration of the house
+is not less worthy of attention. One of the most curious chapters of the
+work is that in which he points out the manner in which the young
+bourgeoise is to behave towards persons in her service. Rich people in
+those days, in whatever station of life, were obliged to keep a numerous
+retinue of servants. It is curious to find that so far back as the period
+to which we allude, there was in Paris a kind of servants' registry
+office, where situations were found for servant-maids from the country.
+The bourgeois gave up the entire management of the servants to his wife;
+but, on account of her extreme youth, the author of the work in question
+recommends his wife only to engage servants who shall have been chosen by
+Dame Agnes, the nun whom he had placed with her as a kind of governess or
+companion.
+
+"Before engaging them," he says, "know whence they come; in what houses
+they have been; if they have acquaintances in town, and if they are
+steady. Discover what they are capable of doing; and ascertain that they
+are not greedy, or inclined to drink. If they come from another country,
+try to find out why they left it; for, generally, it is not without some
+serious reason that a woman decides upon a change of abode. When you have
+engaged a maid, do not permit her to take the slightest liberty with you,
+nor allow her to speak disrespectfully to you. If, on the contrary, she be
+quiet in her demeanour, honest, modest, and shows herself amenable to
+reproof, treat her as if she were your daughter.
+
+"Superintend the work to be done; and choose among your servants those
+qualified for each special department. If you order a thing to be done
+immediately, do not be satisfied with the following answers: 'It shall be
+done presently, or to-morrow early;' otherwise, be sure that you will have
+to repeat your orders."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 61.--Dress of Maidservants in the Thirteenth
+Century.--Miniature in a Manuscript of the National Library of Paris.]
+
+To these severe instructions upon the management of servants, the
+bourgeois adds a few words respecting their morality. He recommends that
+they be not permitted to use coarse or indecent language, or to insult one
+another (Fig. 61). Although he is of opinion that necessary time should be
+given to servants at their meals, he does not approve of their remaining
+drinking and talking too long at table: concerning which practice he
+quotes a proverb in use at that time: "Quand varlet presche a table et
+cheval paist en gue, il est temps qu'on l'en oste: assez y a este;" which
+means, that when a servant talks at table and a horse feeds near a
+watering-place it is time he should be removed; he has been there long
+enough.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 62.--Hotel des Ursins, Paris, built during the
+Fourteenth Century, restored in the Sixteenth, and now destroyed.--State
+of the North Front at the End of the last Century.]
+
+The manner in which the author concludes his instruction proves his
+kindness of heart, as well as his benevolence: "If one of your servants
+fall sick, it is your duty, setting everything else aside, to see to his
+being cured."
+
+It was thus that a bourgeois of the fifteenth century expressed himself;
+and as it is clear that he could only have been inspired to dictate his
+theoretical teachings by the practical experience which he must have
+gained for the most part among the middle class to which he belonged, we
+must conclude that in those days the bourgeoisie possessed considerable
+knowledge of moral dignity and social propriety.
+
+It must be added that by the side of the merchant and working
+bourgeoisie--who, above all, owed their greatness to the high functions of
+the municipality--the parliamentary bourgeoisie had raised itself to
+power, and that from the fourteenth century it played a considerable part
+in the State, holding at several royal courts at different periods, and at
+last, almost hereditarily, the highest magisterial positions. The very
+character of these great offices of president, or of parliamentary
+counsel, barristers, &c., proves that the holders must have had no small
+amount of intellectual culture. In this way a refined taste was created
+among this class, which the protection of kings, princes, and lords had
+alone hitherto encouraged. We find, for example, the Grosliers at Lyons,
+the De Thous and Seguiers in Paris, regardless of their bourgeois origin,
+becoming judicious and zealous patrons of poets, scholars, and artists.
+
+A description of Paris, published in the middle of the fifteenth century,
+describes amongst the most splendid residences of the capital the hotels
+of Juvenal des Ursins (Fig. 62), of Bureau de Dampmartin, of Guillaume
+Seguin, of Mille Baillet, of Martin Double, and particularly that of
+Jacques Duchie, situated in the Rue des Prouvaires, in which were
+collected at great cost collections of all kinds of arms, musical
+instruments, rare birds, tapestry, and works of art. In each church in
+Paris, and there were upwards of a hundred, the principal chapels were
+founded by celebrated families of the ancient bourgeoisie, who had left
+money for one or more masses to be said daily for the repose of the souls
+of their deceased members. In the burial-grounds, and principally in that
+of the Innocents, the monuments of these families of Parisian bourgeoisie
+were of the most expensive character, and were inscribed with epitaphs in
+which the living vainly tried to immortalise the deeds of the deceased.
+Every one has heard of the celebrated tomb of Nicholas Flamel and Pernelle
+his wife (Fig. 63), the cross of Bureau, the epitaph of Yolande Bailly,
+who died in 1514, at the age of eighty-eight, and who "saw, or might have
+seen, two hundred and ninety-five children descended from her."
+
+In fact, the religious institutions of Paris afford much curious and
+interesting information relative to the history of the bourgeoisie. For
+instance, Jean Alais, who levied a tax of one denier on each basket of
+fish brought to market, and thereby amassed an enormous fortune, left the
+whole of it at his death for the purpose of erecting a chapel called St.
+Agnes, which soon after became the church of St. Eustace. He further
+directed that, by way of expiation, his body should be thrown into the
+sewer which drained the offal from the market, and covered with a large
+stone; this sewer up to the end of the last century was still called Pont
+Alais.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 63.--Nicholas Flamel and Pernelle, his Wife, from a
+Painting executed at the End of the Fifteenth Century, under the Vaults of
+the Cemetery of the Innocents, in Paris.]
+
+Very often when citizens made gifts during their lifetime to churches or
+parishes, the donors reserved to themselves certain privileges which were
+calculated to cause the motives which had actuated them to be open to
+criticism. Thus, in 1304, the daughters of Nicholas Arrode, formerly
+provost of the merchants, presented to the church of St.
+Jacques-la-Boucherie the house and grounds which they inhabited, but one
+of them reserved the right of having a key of the church that she might
+go in whenever she pleased. Guillaume Haussecuel, in 1405, bought a
+similar right for the sum of eighteen _sols parisis_ per annum (equal to
+twenty-five francs); and Alain and his wife, whose house was close to two
+chapels of the church, undertook not to build so as in any way to shut out
+the light from one of the chapels on condition that they might open a
+small window into the chapel, and so be enabled to hear the service
+without leaving their room.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 64.--Country Life--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in a folio
+Edition of Virgil, published at Lyons in 1517.]
+
+We thus see that the bourgeoisie, especially of Paris, gradually took a
+more prominent position in history, and became so grasping after power
+that it ventured, at a period which does not concern us here, to aspire to
+every sort of distinction, and to secure an important social standing.
+What had been the exception during the sixteenth century became the rule
+two centuries later.
+
+We will now take a glance at the agricultural population (Fig. 64), who,
+as we have already stated, were only emancipated from serfdom at the end
+of the eighteenth century.
+
+But whatever might have been formerly the civil condition of the rural
+population, everything leads us to suppose that there were no special
+changes in their private and domestic means of existence from a
+comparatively remote period down to almost the present time.
+
+A small poem of the thirteenth century, entitled, "De l'Oustillement au
+Vilain," gives a clear though rough sketch of the domestic state of the
+peasantry. Strange as it may seem, it must be acknowledged that, with a
+few exceptions resulting from the progress of time, it would not be
+difficult, even at the present day, to find the exact type maintained in
+the country districts farthest away from the capital and large towns; at
+all events, they were faithfully represented at the time of the revolution
+of 1789.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 65.--Sedentary Occupations of the
+Peasauts.--Fac-simile from an Engraving on Wood, attributed to Holbein, in
+the "Cosmographie" of Munster (Basle, 1552, folio).]
+
+We gather from this poem, which must be considered an authentic and most
+interesting document, that the _manse_ or dwelling of the villain
+comprised three distinct buildings; the first for the corn, the second for
+the hay and straw, the third for the man and his family. In this rustic
+abode a fire of vine branches and faggots sparkled in a large chimney
+furnished with an iron pot-hanger, a tripod, a shovel, large fire-irons, a
+cauldron and a meat-hook. Next to the fireplace was an oven, and in close
+proximity to this an enormous bedstead, on which the villain, his wife,
+his children, and even the stranger who asked for hospitality, could all
+be easily accommodated; a kneading trough, a table, a bench, a cheese
+cupboard, a jug, and a few baskets made up the rest of the furniture. The
+villain also possessed other utensils, such as a ladder, a mortar, a
+hand-mill--for every one then was obliged to grind his own corn; a mallet,
+some nails, some gimlets, fishing lines, hooks, and baskets, &c.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 66.--Villains before going to Work receiving their
+Lord's Orders.--Miniature in the "Proprietaire des Choses."--Manuscript of
+the Fifteenth Century (Library of the Arsenal, in Paris).]
+
+His working implements were a plough, a scythe, a spade, a hoe, large
+shears, a knife and a sharpening stone; he had also a waggon, with harness
+for several horses, so as to be able to accomplish the different tasks
+required of him under feudal rights, either by his proper lord, or by the
+sovereign; for the villain was liable to be called upon to undertake
+every kind of work of this sort.
+
+His dress consisted of a blouse of cloth or skin fastened by a leather
+belt round the waist, an overcoat or mantle of thick woollen stuff, which
+fell from his shoulders to half-way down his legs; shoes or large boots,
+short woollen trousers, and from his belt there hung his wallet and a
+sheath for his knife (Figs. 66 and 71). He generally went bareheaded, but
+in cold weather or in rain he wore a sort of hat of similar stuff to his
+coat, or one of felt with a broad brim. He seldom wore _mouffles_, or
+padded gloves, except when engaged in hedging.
+
+A small kitchen-garden, which he cultivated himself, was usually attached
+to the cottage, which was guarded by a large watch-dog. There was also a
+shed for the cows, whose milk contributed to the sustenance of the
+establishment; and on the thatched roof of this and his cottage the wild
+cats hunted the rats and mice. The family were never idle, even in the bad
+season, and the children were taught from infancy to work by the side of
+their parents (Fig. 65).
+
+If, then, we find so much resemblance between the abodes of the villains
+of the thirteenth century and those of the inhabitants of the poorest
+communes of France in the present day, we may fairly infer that there must
+be a great deal which is analogous between the inhabitants themselves of
+the two periods; for in the chateaux as well as in the towns we find the
+material condition of the dwellings modifying itself conjointly with that
+of the moral condition of the inhabitants.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 67.--The egotistical and envious Villain.--From a
+Miniature in "Proverbes et Adages, &c.," Manuscript of the La Valliere
+Fund, in the National Library of Paris, with this legend:
+
+ "Attrapez y sont les plus fins:
+ Qui trop embrasse mal estraint."
+
+ ("The cleverest burn their fingers at it,
+ And those who grasp all may lose all.")
+]
+
+Another little poem entitled, "On the Twenty-four Kinds of Villains,"
+composed about the same period as the one above referred to, gives us a
+graphic description of the varieties of character among the feudal
+peasants. One example is given of a man who will not tell a traveller the
+way, but merely in a surly way answers, "You know it better than I" (Fig.
+67). Another, sitting at his door on a Sunday, laughs at those passing by,
+and says to himself when he sees a gentleman going hawking with a bird on
+his wrist, "Ah! that bird will eat a hen to-day, and our children could
+all feast upon it!" Another is described as a sort of madman who equally
+despises God, the saints, the Church, and the nobility. His neighbour is
+an honest simpleton, who, stopping in admiration before the doorway of
+Notre Dame in Paris in order to admire the statues of Pepin, Charlemagne,
+and their successors, has his pocket picked of his purse. Another villain
+is supposed to make trade of pleading the cause of others before "Messire
+le Bailli;" he is very eloquent in trying to show that in the time of
+their ancestors the cows had a free right of pasture in such and such a
+meadow, or the sheep on such and such a ridge; then there is the miser,
+and the speculator, who converts all his possessions into ready money, so
+as to purchase grain against a bad season; but of course the harvest turns
+out to be excellent, and he does not make a farthing, but runs away to
+conceal his ruin and rage. There is also the villain who leaves his plough
+to become a poacher. There are many other curious examples which
+altogether tend to prove that there has been but little change in the
+villager class since the first periods of History.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 68.--The covetous and avaricious Villain.--From a
+Miniature in "Proverbes et Adages, &c," Manuscript in the National Library
+of Paris, with this legend:
+
+ "Je suis icy levant les yeulx
+ Eu ce haut lieu des attendens,
+ En convoitant pour avoir mieulx
+ Prendre la lune avec les dens."
+
+ ("Even on this lofty height
+ We yet look higher,
+ As nothing will satisfy us
+ But to clutch the moon.")
+]
+
+Notwithstanding the miseries to which they were generally subject, the
+rural population had their days of rest and amusement, which were then
+much more numerous than at present. At that period the festivals of the
+Church were frequent and rigidly kept, and as each of them was the pretext
+for a forced holiday from manual labour, the peasants thought of nothing,
+after church, but of amusing themselves; they drank, talked, sang,
+danced, and, above all, laughed, for the laugh of our forefathers quite
+rivalled the Homeric laugh, and burst forth with a noisy joviality (Fig.
+69).
+
+The "wakes," or evening parties, which are still the custom in most of the
+French provinces, and which are of very ancient origin, formed important
+events in the private lives of the peasants. It was at these that the
+strange legends and vulgar superstitions, which so long fed the minds of
+the ignorant classes, were mostly created and propagated. It was there
+that those extraordinary and terrible fairy tales were related, as well as
+those of magicians, witches, spirits, &c. It was there that the matrons,
+whose great age justified their experience, insisted on proving, by absurd
+tales, that they knew all the marvellous secrets for causing happiness or
+for curing sickness. Consequently, in those days the most enlightened
+rustic never for a moment doubted the truth of witchcraft.
+
+In fact, one of the first efforts at printing was applied to reproducing
+the most ridiculous stories under the title of the "Evangile des Conuilles
+ou Quenouilles," and which had been previously circulated in manuscript,
+and had obtained implicit belief. The author of this remarkable collection
+asserts that the matrons in his neighbourhood had deputed him to put
+together in writing the sayings suitable for all conditions of rural life
+which were believed in by them and were announced at the wakes. The
+absurdities and childish follies which he has dared to register under
+their dictation are almost incredible.
+
+The "Evangile des Quenouilles," which was as much believed in as Holy
+Writ, tells us, amongst other secrets which it contains for the advantage
+of the reader, that a girl wishing to know the Christian name of her
+future husband, has but to stretch the first thread she spins in the
+morning across the doorway; and that the first man who passes and touches
+the thread will necessarily have the same name as the man she is destined
+to marry.
+
+Another of the stories in this book was, that if a woman, on leaving off
+work on Saturday night, left her distaff loaded, she might be sure that
+the thread she would obtain from it during the following week would only
+produce linen of bad quality, which could not be bleached; this was
+considered to be proved by the fact that the Germans wore dark-brown
+coloured shirts, and it was known that the women never unloaded their
+distaffs from Saturday to Monday.
+
+Should a woman enter a cow-house to milk her cows without saying "God and
+St. Bridget bless you!" she was thought to run the risk of the cows
+kicking and breaking the milk-pail and spilling the milk.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 69.--Village Feast.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut of the
+"Sandrin ou Verd Galant," facetious Work of the End of the Sixteenth
+Century (edition of 1609).]
+
+This silly nonsense, compiled like oracles, was printed as late as 1493.
+Eighty years later a gentleman of Brittany, named Noel du Fail, Lord of
+Herissaye, councillor in the Parliament of Rennes, published, under the
+title of "Rustic and Amusing Discourses," a work intended to counteract
+the influence of the famous "Evangile des Quenouilles." This new work was
+a simple and true sketch of country habits, and proved the elegance and
+artless simplicity of the author, as well as his accuracy of observation.
+He begins thus: "Occasionally, having to retire into the country more
+conveniently and uninterruptedly to finish some business, on a particular
+holiday, as I was walking I came to a neighbouring village, where the
+greater part of the old and young men were assembled, in groups of
+separate ages, for, according to the proverb, 'Each seeks his like.' The
+young were practising the bow, jumping, wrestling, running races, and
+playing other games. The old were looking on, some sitting under an oak,
+with their legs crossed, and their hats lowered over their eyes, others
+leaning on their elbows criticizing every performance, and refreshing the
+memory of their own youth, and taking a lively interest in seeing the
+gambols of the young people."
+
+The author states that on questioning one of the peasants to ascertain who
+was the cleverest person present, the following dialogue took place: "The
+one you see leaning on his elbow, hitting his boots, which have white
+strings, with a hazel stick, is called Anselme; he is one of the rich ones
+of the village, he is a good workman, and not a bad writer for the flat
+country; and the one you see by his side, with his thumb in his belt,
+hanging from which is a large game bag, containing spectacles and an old
+prayer book, is called Pasquier, one of the greatest wits within a day's
+journey--nay, were I to say two I should not be lying. Anyhow, he is
+certainly the readiest of the whole company to open his purse to give
+drink to his companions." "And that one," I asked, "with the large
+Milanese cap on his head, who holds an old book?" "That one," he answered,
+"who is scratching the end of his nose with one hand and his beard with
+the other?" "That one," I replied, "and who has turned towards us?" "Why,"
+said he, "that is Roger Bontemps, a merry careless fellow, who up to the
+age of fifty kept the parish school; but changing his first trade he has
+become a wine-grower. However, he cannot resist the feast days, when he
+brings us his old books, and reads to us as long as we choose, such works
+as the 'Calondrier des Bergers,' 'Fables d'Esope,' 'Le Roman de la Rose,'
+'Matheolus,' 'Alain Chartier,' 'Les Vigiles du feu Roy Charles,' 'Les deux
+Grebans,' and others. Neither, with his old habit of warbling, can he help
+singing on Sundays in the choir; and he is called Huguet. The other
+sitting near him, looking over his shoulder into his book, and wearing a
+sealskin belt with a yellow buckle, is another rich peasant of the
+village, not a bad villain, named Lubin, who also lives at home, and is
+called the little old man of the neighbourhood."
+
+After this artistic sketch, the author dilates on the goodman Anselme. He
+says: "This good man possessed a moderate amount of knowledge, was a
+goodish grammarian, a musician, somewhat of a sophist, and rather given to
+picking holes in others." Some of Anselme's conversation is also given,
+and after beginning by describing in glowing terms the bygone days which
+he and his contemporaries had seen, and which he stated to be very
+different to the present, he goes on to say, "I must own, my good old
+friends, that I look back with pleasure on our young days; at all events
+the mode of doing things in those days was very superior and better in
+every way to that of the present.... O happy days! O fortunate times when
+our fathers and grandfathers, whom may God absolve, were still among us!"
+As he said this, he would raise the rim of his hat. He contented himself
+as to dress with a good coat of thick wool, well lined according to the
+fashion; and for feast days and other important occasions, one of thick
+cloth, lined with some old gabardine.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 70.--The Shepherds celebrating the Birth of the
+Messiah by Songs and Dances.--Fifteenth Century.--Fac-simile of an
+Engraving on Wood, from a Book of Hours, printed by Anthony Verard.]
+
+"So we see," says M. Le Roux de Lincy, "at the end of the fifteenth
+century that the old peasants complained of the changes in the village
+customs, and of the luxury which every one wished to display in his
+furniture or apparel. On this point it seems that there has been little
+or no change. We read that, from the time of Homer down to that of the
+excellent author of 'Rustic Discourses,' and even later, the old people
+found fault with the manners of the present generation and extolled those
+of their forefathers, which they themselves had criticized in their own
+youth."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 71.--Purse or Leather Bag, with Knife or Dagger of the
+Fifteenth Century.]
+
+
+
+
+Food and Cookery.
+
+
+
+ History of Bread.--Vegetables and Plants used in
+ Cooking.--Fruits.--Butchers' Meat.--Poultry, Game.--Milk, Butter,
+ Cheese, and Eggs.--Fish and Shellfish.--Beverages, Beer, Cider, Wine,
+ Sweet Wine, Refreshing Drinks, Brandy.--Cookery.--Soups, Boiled Food,
+ Pies, Stews, Salads, Roasts, Grills.--Seasoning, Truffles, Sugar,
+ Verjuice.--Sweets, Desserts, Pastry.--Meals and Feasts.--Rules of
+ Serving at Table from the Fifteenth to the Sixteenth Centuries.
+
+
+"The private life of a people," says Legrand d'Aussy, who had studied that
+of the French from a gastronomic point of view only, "from the foundation
+of monarchy down to the eighteenth century, must, like that of mankind
+generally, commence with obtaining the first and most pressing of its
+requirements. Not satisfied with providing food for his support, man has
+endeavoured to add to his food something which pleased his taste. He does
+not wait to be hungry, but he anticipates that feeling, and aggravates it
+by condiments and seasonings. In a word his greediness has created on this
+score a very complicated and wide-spread science, which, amongst nations
+which are considered civilised, has become most important, and is
+designated the culinary art."
+
+At all times the people of every country have strained the nature of the
+soil on which they lived by forcing it to produce that which it seemed
+destined ever to refuse them. Such food as human industry was unable to
+obtain from any particular soil or from any particular climate, commerce
+undertook to bring from the country which produced it. This caused
+Rabelais to say that the stomach was the father and master of industry.
+
+We will rapidly glance over the alimentary matters which our forefathers
+obtained from the animal and vegetable kingdom, and then trace the
+progress of culinary art, and examine the rules of feasts and such matters
+as belong to the epicurean customs of the Middle Ages.
+
+
+
+Aliments.
+
+
+Bread.--The Gauls, who principally inhabited deep and thick forests, fed
+on herbs and fruits, and particularly on acorns. It is even possible that
+the veneration in which they held the oak had no other origin. This
+primitive food continued in use, at least in times of famine, up to the
+eighth century, and we find in the regulations of St. Chrodegand that if,
+in consequence of a bad year, the acorn or beech-nut became scarce, it was
+the bishop's duty to provide something to make up for it. Eight centuries
+later, when Rene du Bellay, Bishop of Mans, came to report to Francis I.
+the fearful poverty of his diocese, he informed the king that the
+inhabitants in many places were reduced to subsisting on acorn bread.
+
+[Illustration: Figs. 72 and 73.--Corn-threshing and
+Bread-making.--Miniatures from the Calendar of a Book of
+Hours.--Manuscript of the Sixteenth Century.]
+
+In the earliest times bread was cooked under the embers. The use of ovens
+was introduced into Europe by the Romans, who had found them in Egypt.
+But, notwithstanding this importation, the old system of cooking was long
+after employed, for in the tenth century Raimbold, abbot of the monastery
+of St. Thierry, near Rheims, ordered in his will that on the day of his
+death bread cooked under the embers--_panes subcinericios_--should be
+given to his monks. By feudal law the lord was bound to bake the bread of
+his vassals, for which they were taxed, but the latter often preferred to
+cook their flour at home in the embers of their own hearths, rather than
+to carry it to the public oven.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 74.--The Miller.--From an Engraving of the Sixteenth
+Century, by J. Amman.]
+
+It must be stated that the custom of leavening the dough by the addition
+of a ferment was not universally adopted amongst the ancients. For this
+reason, as the dough without leaven could only produce a heavy and
+indigestible bread, they were careful, in order to secure their loaves
+being thoroughly cooked, to make them very thin. These loaves served as
+plates for cutting up the other food upon, and when they thus became
+saturated with the sauce and gravy they were eaten as cakes. The use of
+the _tourteaux_ (small crusty loaves), which were at first called
+_tranchoirs_ and subsequently _tailloirs_, remained long in fashion even
+at the most splendid banquets. Thus, in 1336, the Dauphin of Vienna,
+Humbert II., had, besides the small white bread, four small loaves to
+serve as _tranchoirs_ at table. The "Menagier de Paris" mentions "_des
+pains de tranchouers_ half a foot in diameter, and four fingers deep," and
+Froissart the historian also speaks of _tailloirs_.
+
+It would be difficult to point out the exact period at which leavening
+bread was adopted in Europe, but we can assert that in the Middle Ages it
+was anything but general. Yeast, which, according to Pliny, was already
+known to the Gauls, was reserved for pastry, and it was only at the end of
+the sixteenth century that the bakers of Paris used it for bread.
+
+At first the trades of miller and baker were carried on by the same person
+(Figs. 74 and 75). The man who undertook the grinding of the grain had
+ovens near his mill, which he let to his lord to bake bread, when he did
+not confine his business to persons who sent him their corn to grind.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 75.--The Baker.--From an Engraving of the Sixteenth
+Century, by J. Amman.]
+
+At a later period public bakers established themselves, who not only baked
+the loaves which were brought to them already kneaded, but also made bread
+which they sold by weight; and this system was in existence until very
+recently in the provinces.
+
+Charlemagne, in his "Capitulaires" (statutes), fixed the number of bakers
+in each city according to the population, and St. Louis relieved them, as
+well as the millers, from taking their turn at the watch, so that they
+might have no pretext for stopping or neglecting their work, which he
+considered of public utility. Nevertheless bakers as a body never became
+rich or powerful (Figs. 76 and 77). It is pretty generally believed that
+the name of _boulanger_ (baker) originated from the fact that the shape
+of the loaves made at one time was very like that of a round ball. But
+loaves varied so much in form, quality, and consequently in name, that in
+his "Dictionary of Obscure Words" the learned Du Cange specifies at least
+twenty sorts made during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and amongst
+them may be mentioned the court loaf, the pope's loaf, the knight's loaf,
+the squire's loaf, the peer's loaf, the varlet's loaf, &c.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 76.--Banner of the Corporation of Bakers of Paris.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 77.--Banner of the Corporation, of Bakers of Arras.]
+
+The most celebrated bread was the white bread of Chailly or Chilly, a
+village four leagues (ten miles) south of Paris, which necessarily
+appeared at all the tables of the _elite_ of the fourteenth century. The
+_pain mollet_, or soft bread made with milk and butter, although much in
+use before this, only became fashionable on the arrival of Marie de
+Medicis in France (1600), on account of this Tuscan princess finding it so
+much to her taste that she would eat no other.
+
+The ordinary market bread of Paris comprised the _rousset bread_, made of
+meslin, and employed for soup; the _bourgeoisie bread_; and the _chaland_
+or _customer's bread_, which last was a general name given to all
+descriptions which were sent daily from the neighbouring villages to the
+capital. Amongst the best known varieties we will only mention the
+_Corbeil bread_, the _dog bread_, the _bread of two colours_, which last
+was composed of alternate layers of wheat and rye, and was used by persons
+of small means; there was also the _Gonesse bread_, which has maintained
+its reputation to this day.
+
+The "table loaves," which in the provinces were served at the tables of
+the rich, were of such a convenient size that one of them would suffice
+for a man of ordinary appetite, even after the crust was cut off, which it
+was considered polite to offer to the ladies, who soaked it in their soup.
+For the servants an inferior bread was baked, called "common bread."
+
+In many counties they sprinkled the bread, before putting it into the
+oven, with powdered linseed, a custom which still exists. They usually
+added salt to the flour, excepting in certain localities, especially in
+Paris, where, on account of its price, they only mixed it with the
+expensive qualities.
+
+The wheats which were long most esteemed for baking purposes, were those
+of Brie, Champagne, and Bassigny; while those of the Dauphine were held of
+little value, because they were said to contain so many tares and
+worthless grains, that the bread made from them produced headache and
+other ailments.
+
+An ancient chronicle of the time of Charlemagne makes mention of a bread
+twice baked, or biscuit. This bread was very hard, and easier to keep than
+any other description. It was also used, as now, for provisioning ships,
+or towns threatened with a siege, as well as in religious houses. At a
+later period, delicate biscuits were made of a sort of dry and crumbling
+pastry which retained the original name. As early as the sixteenth
+century, Rheims had earned a great renown for these articles of food.
+
+Bread made with barley, oats, or millet was always ranked as coarse food,
+to which the poor only had recourse in years of want (Fig. 78). Barley
+bread was, besides, used as a kind of punishment, and monks who had
+committed any serious offence against discipline were condemned to live on
+it for a certain period.
+
+Rye bread was held of very little value, although in certain provinces,
+such as Lyonnais, Forez, and Auvergne, it was very generally used among
+the country people, and contributed, says Bruyerin Champier in his
+treatise "De re Cibaria," to "preserve beauty and freshness amongst
+women." At a later period, the doctors of Paris frequently ordered the use
+of bread made half of wheat and half of rye as a means "of preserving the
+health." Black wheat, or buck wheat, which was introduced into Europe by
+the Moors and Saracens when they conquered Spain, quickly spread to the
+northern provinces, especially to Flanders, where, by its easy culture and
+almost certain yield, it averted much suffering from the inhabitants, who
+were continually being threatened with famine.
+
+It was only later that maize, or Turkey wheat, was cultivated in the
+south, and that rice came into use; but these two kinds of grain, both
+equally useless for bread, were employed the one for fattening poultry,
+and the other for making cakes, which, however, were little appreciated.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 78.--Cultivation of Grain in use amongst the Peasants,
+and the Manufacture of Barley and Oat Bread.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in
+an edition of Virgil published at Lyons in 1517.]
+
+Vegetables and Plants Used in Cooking.--From the most ancient historical
+documents we find that at the very earliest period of the French monarchy,
+fresh and dried vegetables were the ordinary food of the population. Pliny
+and Columella attribute a Gallic origin to certain roots, and among them
+onions and parsnips, which the Romans cultivated in their gardens for use
+at their tables.
+
+It is evident, however, that vegetables were never considered as being
+capable of forming solid nutriment, since they were almost exclusively
+used by monastic communities when under vows of extreme abstinence.
+
+A statute of Charlemagne, in which the useful plants which the emperor
+desired should be cultivated in his domains are detailed, shows us that at
+that period the greater part of our cooking vegetables were in use, for we
+find mentioned in it, fennel, garlic, parsley, shallot, onions,
+watercress, endive, lettuce, beetroot, cabbage, leeks, carrots,
+artichokes; besides long-beans, broad-beans, peas or Italian vetches, and
+lentils.
+
+In the thirteenth century, the plants fit for cooking went under the
+general appellation of _aigrun_, and amongst them, at a later date, were
+ranked oranges, lemons, and other acid fruits. St. Louis added to this
+category even fruits with hard rinds, such as walnuts, filberts, and
+chestnuts; and when the guild of the fruiterers of Paris received its
+statutes in 1608, they were still called "vendors of fruits and _aigrun_."
+
+The vegetables and cooking-plants noticed in the "Menagier de Paris,"
+which dates from the fourteenth century, and in the treatise "De
+Obsoniis," of Platina (the name adopted by the Italian Bartholomew
+Sacchi), which dates from the fifteenth century, do not lead us to suppose
+that alimentary horticulture had made much progress since the time of
+Charlemagne. Moreover, we are astonished to find the thistle placed
+amongst choice dishes; though it cannot be the common thistle that is
+meant, but probably this somewhat general appellation refers to the
+vegetable-marrow, which is still found on the tables of the higher
+classes, or perhaps the artichoke, which we know to be only a kind of
+thistle developed by cultivation, and which at that period had been
+recently imported.
+
+About the same date melons begin to appear; but the management of this
+vegetable fruit was not much known. It was so imperfectly cultivated in
+the northern provinces, that, in the middle of the sixteenth century,
+Bruyerin Champier speaks of the Languedocians as alone knowing how to
+produce excellent _sucrins_--"thus called," say both Charles Estienne and
+Liebault in the "Maison Rustique," "because gardeners watered them with
+honeyed or sweetened water." The water-melons have never been cultivated
+but in the south.
+
+Cabbages, the alimentary reputation of which dates from the remotest
+times, were already of several kinds, most of which have descended to us;
+amongst them may be mentioned the apple-headed, the Roman, the white, the
+common white head, the Easter cabbage, &c.; but the one held in the
+highest estimation was the famous cabbage of Senlis, whose leaves, says an
+ancient author, when opened, exhaled a smell more agreeable than musk or
+amber. This species no doubt fell into disuse when the plan of employing
+aromatic herbs in cooking, which was so much in repute by our ancestors,
+was abandoned.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 79.--Coat-of-arms of the Grain-measurers of Ghent, on
+their Ceremonial Banner, dated 1568.]
+
+By a strange coincidence, at the same period as marjoram, carraway seed,
+sweet basil, coriander, lavender, and rosemary were used to add their
+pungent flavour to sauces and hashes, on the same tables might be found
+herbs of the coldest and most insipid kinds, such as mallows, some kinds
+of mosses, &c.
+
+Cucumber, though rather in request, was supposed to be an unwholesome
+vegetable, because it was said that the inhabitants of Forez, who ate much
+of it, were subject to periodical fevers, which might really have been
+caused by noxious emanation from the ponds with which that country
+abounded. Lentils, now considered so wholesome, were also long looked upon
+as a doubtful vegetable; according to Liebault, they were difficult to
+digest and otherwise injurious; they inflamed the inside, affected the
+sight, and brought on the nightmare, &c. On the other hand, small fresh
+beans, especially those sold at Landit fair, were used in the most
+delicate repasts; peas passed as a royal dish in the sixteenth century,
+when the custom was to eat them with salt pork.
+
+Turnips were also most esteemed by the Parisians. "This vegetable is to
+them," says Charles Estienne, "what large radishes are to the Limousins."
+The best were supposed to come from Maisons, Vaugirard, and Aubervilliers.
+Lastly, there were four kinds of lettuces grown in France, according to
+Liebault, in 1574: the small, the common, the curled, and the Roman: the
+seed of the last-named was sent to France by Francois Rabelais when he was
+in Rome with Cardinal du Bellay in 1537; and the salad made from it
+consequently received the name of Roman salad, which it has ever since
+retained. In fact, our ancestors much appreciated salads, for there was
+not a banquet without at least three or four different kinds.
+
+Fruits.--Western Europe was originally very poor in fruits, and it only
+improved by foreign importations, mostly from Asia by the Romans. The
+apricot came from Armenia, the pistachio-nuts and plums from Syria, the
+peach and nut from Persia, the cherry from Cerasus, the lemon from Media,
+the filbert from the Hellespont, and chestnuts from Castana, a town of
+Magnesia. We are also indebted to Asia for almonds; the pomegranate,
+according to some, came from Africa, to others from Cyprus; the quince
+from Cydon in Crete; the olive, fig, pear, and apple, from Greece.
+
+The statutes of Charlemagne show us that almost all these fruits were
+reared in his gardens, and that some of them were of several kinds or
+varieties.
+
+A considerable period, however, elapsed before the finest and more
+luscious productions of the garden became as it were almost forced on
+nature by artificial means. Thus in the sixteenth century we find
+Rabelais, Charles Estienne, and La Framboisiere, physician to Henry IV.,
+praising the Corbeil peach, which was only an inferior and almost wild
+sort, and describing it as having "_dry_ and _solid_ flesh, not adhering
+to the stone." The culture of this fruit, which was not larger than a
+damask plum, had then, according to Champier, only just been introduced
+into France. It must be remarked here that Jacques Coythier, physician to
+Louis XI., in order to curry favour with his master, who was very fond of
+new fruits, took as his crest an apricot-tree, from which he was jokingly
+called Abri-Coythier.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 80.--Cultivation of Fruit, from a Miniature of the
+"Proprietaire de Choses" (Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century, in the
+Library of the Arsenal of Paris).]
+
+It must be owned that great progress has been made in the culture of the
+plum, the pear, and the apple. Champier says that the best plums are the
+_royale_, the _perdrigon_, and the _damas_ of Tours; Olivier de Serres
+mentions eighteen kinds--amongst which, however, we do not find the
+celebrated Reine Claude (greengage), which owes its name to the daughter
+of Louis XII., first wife of Francis I.
+
+Of pears, the most esteemed in the thirteenth century were the
+_hastiveau_, which was an early sort, and no doubt the golden pear now
+called St. Jean, the _caillou_ or _chaillou_, a hard pear, which came from
+Cailloux in Burgundy and _l'angoisse_ (agony), so called on account of its
+bitterness--which, however, totally disappeared in cooking. In the
+sixteenth century the palm is given to the _cuisse dame_, or _madame_; the
+_bon chretien_, brought, it is said, by St. Francois de Paule to Louis
+XI.; the _bergamote_, which came from Bergamo, in Lombardy; the
+_tant-bonne_, so named from its aroma; and the _caillou rosat_, our
+rosewater pear.
+
+Amongst apples, the _blandureau_ (hard white) of Auvergne, the _rouveau_,
+and the _paradis_ of Provence, are of oldest repute. This reminds us of
+the couplet by the author of the "Street Cries of Paris," thirteenth
+century:--
+
+ "Primes ai pommes de rouviau,
+ Et d'Auvergne le blanc duriau."
+
+ ("Give me first the russet apple,
+ And the hard white fruit of Auvergne.")
+
+The quince, which was so generally cultivated in the Middle Ages, was
+looked upon as the most useful of all fruits. Not only did it form the
+basis of the farmers' dried preserves of Orleans, called _cotignac_, a
+sort of marmalade, but it was also used for seasoning meat. The Portugal
+quince was the most esteemed; and the cotignac of Orleans had such a
+reputation, that boxes of this fruit were always given to kings, queens,
+and princes on entering the towns of France. It was the first offering
+made to Joan of Arc on her bringing reinforcements into Orleans during the
+English siege.
+
+Several sorts of cherries were known, but these did not prevent the small
+wild or wood cherry from being appreciated at the tables of the citizens;
+whilst the _cornouille_, or wild cornelian cherry, was hardly touched,
+excepting by the peasants; thence came the proverbial expression, more
+particularly in use at Orleans, when a person made a silly remark, "He has
+eaten cornelians," _i.e._, he speaks like a rustic.
+
+In the thirteenth century, chestnuts from Lombardy were hawked in the
+streets; but, in the sixteenth century, the chestnuts of the Lyonnais and
+Auvergne were substituted, and were to be found on the royal table. Four
+different sorts of figs, in equal estimation, were brought from
+Marseilles, Nismes, Saint-Andeol, and Pont Saint-Esprit; and in Provence,
+filberts were to be had in such profusion that they supplied from there
+all the tables of the kingdom.
+
+The Portuguese claim the honour of having introduced oranges from China;
+however, in an account of the house of Humbert, Dauphin of Viennois, in
+1333, that is, long before the expeditions of the Portuguese to India,
+mention is made of a sum of money being paid for transplanting
+orange-trees.
+
+[Illustration: Figs. 81 and 82.--Culture of the Vine and Treading the
+Grape.--Miniatures taken from the Calendar of a Prayer-Book, in
+Manuscript, of the Sixteenth Century.]
+
+In the time of Bruyerin Champier, physician to Henry II., raspberries were
+still completely wild; the same author states that wood strawberries had
+only just at that time been introduced into gardens, "by which," he says,
+"they had attained a larger size, though they at the same time lost their
+quality."
+
+The vine, acclimatised and propagated by the Gauls, ever since the
+followers of Brennus had brought it from Italy, five hundred years before
+the Christian era, never ceased to be productive, and even to constitute
+the natural wealth of the country (Fig. 81 and 82). In the sixteenth
+century, Liebault enumerated nineteen sorts of grapes, and Olivier de
+Serres twenty-four, amongst which, notwithstanding the eccentricities of
+the ancient names, we believe that we can trace the greater part of those
+plants which are now cultivated in France. For instance, it is known that
+the excellent vines of Thomery, near Fontainebleau, which yield in
+abundance the most beautiful table grape which art and care can produce,
+were already in use in the reign of Henry IV. (Fig. 83).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 83.--The Winegrower, drawn and engraved in the
+Sixteenth Century, by J. Amman.]
+
+In the time of the Gauls the custom of drying grapes by exposing them to
+the sun, or to a certain amount of artificial heat, was already known; and
+very soon after, the same means were adopted for preserving plums, an
+industry in which then, as now, the people of Tours and Rheims excelled.
+Drying apples in an oven was also the custom, and formed a delicacy which
+was reserved for winter and spring banquets. Dried fruits were also
+brought from abroad, as mentioned in the "Book of Street Cries in
+Paris:"--
+
+ "Figues de Melites sans fin,
+ J'ai roisin d'outre mer, roisin."
+
+ ("Figs from Malta without end,
+ And grapes from over the sea.")
+
+Butchers' Meat.--According to Strabo, the Gauls were great eaters of meat,
+especially of pork, whether fresh or salted. "Gaul," says he, "feeds so
+many flocks, and, above all, so many pigs, that it supplies not only Rome,
+but all Italy, with grease and salt meat." The second chapter of the Salic
+law, comprising nineteen articles, relates entirely to penalties for
+pig-stealing; and in the laws of the Visigoths we find four articles on
+the same subject.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 84.--Swineherd.
+
+Illustration: Fig 85.--A Burgess at Meals.
+
+Miniatures from the Calendar of a Book of Hours.--Manuscript of the
+Sixteenth Century.]
+
+In those remote days, in which the land was still covered with enormous
+forests of oak, great facilities were offered for breeding pigs, whose
+special liking for acorns is well known. Thus the bishops, princes, and
+lords caused numerous droves of pigs to be fed on their domains, both for
+the purpose of supplying their own tables as well as for the fairs and
+markets. At a subsequent period, it became the custom for each household,
+whether in town or country, to rear and fatten a pig, which was killed and
+salted at a stated period of the year; and this custom still exists in
+many provinces. In Paris, for instance, there was scarcely a bourgeois who
+had not two or three young pigs. During the day these unsightly creatures
+were allowed to roam in the streets; which, however, they helped to keep
+clean by eating up the refuse of all sorts which was thrown out of the
+houses. One of the sons of Louis le Gros, while passing, on the 2nd of
+October, 1131, in the Rue du Martroi, between the Hotel de Ville and the
+church of St. Gervais, fractured his skull by a fall from his horse,
+caused by a pig running between that animal's legs. This accident led to
+the first order being issued by the provosts, to the effect that breeding
+pigs within the town was forbidden. Custom, however, deep-rooted for
+centuries, resisted this order, and many others on the same subject which
+followed it: for we find, under Francis I., a license was issued to the
+executioner, empowering him to capture all the stray pigs which he could
+find in Paris, and to take them to the Hotel Dieu, when he should receive
+either five sous in silver or the head of the animal.
+
+It is said that the holy men of St. Antoine, in virtue of the privilege
+attached to the popular legend of their patron, who was generally
+represented with a pig, objected to this order, and long after maintained
+the exclusive right of allowing their pigs to roam in the streets of the
+capital.
+
+The obstinate determination with which every one tried to evade the
+administrative laws on this subject, is explained, in fact, by the general
+taste of the French nation for pork. This taste appears somewhat strange
+at a time when this kind of food was supposed to engender leprosy, a
+disease with which France was at that time overrun.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 86.--Stall of Carved Wood (Fifteenth Century),
+representing the Proverb, "Margaritas ante Porcos," "Throwing Pearls
+before Swine," from Rouen Cathedral.]
+
+Pigs' meat made up generally the greater part of the domestic banquets.
+There was no great feast at which hams, sausages, and black puddings were
+not served in profusion on all the tables; and as Easter Day, which
+brought to a close the prolonged fastings of Lent, was one of the great
+feasts, this food formed the most important dish on that occasion. It is
+possible that the necessity for providing for the consumption of that day
+originated the celebrated ham fair, which was and is still held annually
+on the Thursday of Passion Week in front of Notre-Dame, where the dealers
+from all parts of France, and especially from Normandy and Lower
+Brittany, assembled with their swine.
+
+Sanitary measures were taken in Paris and in the various towns in order to
+prevent the evil effects likely to arise from the enormous consumption of
+pork; public officers, called _languayeurs_, were ordered to examine the
+animals to ensure that they had not white ulcers under the tongue, these
+being considered the signs that their flesh was in a condition to
+communicate leprosy to those who partook of it.
+
+For a long time the retail sale of pork was confined to the butchers, like
+that of other meat. Salt or fresh pork was at one time always sold raw,
+though at a later period some retailers, who carried on business
+principally among the lowest orders of the people, took to selling cooked
+pork and sausages. They were named _charcuitiers_ or _saucissiers_. This
+new trade, which was most lucrative, was adopted by so many people that
+parliament was forced to limit the number of _charcuitiers_, who at last
+formed a corporation, and received their statutes, which were confirmed by
+the King in 1475.
+
+Amongst the privileges attached to their calling was that of selling red
+herrings and sea-fish in Lent, during which time the sale of pork was
+strictly forbidden. Although they had the exclusive monopoly of selling
+cooked pork, they were at first forbidden to buy their meat of any one but
+of the butchers, who alone had the right of killing pigs; and it was only
+in 1513 that the _charcuitiers_ were allowed to purchase at market and
+sell the meat raw, in opposition to the butchers, who in consequence
+gradually gave up killing and selling pork (Fig. 87).
+
+Although the consumption of butchers' meat was not so great in the Middle
+Ages as it is now, the trade of a butcher, to which extraordinary
+privileges were attached, was nevertheless one of the industries which
+realised the greatest profits.
+
+We know what an important part the butchers played in the municipal
+history of France, as also of Belgium; and we also know how great their
+political influence was, especially in the fifteenth century.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 87.--The Pork-butcher (_Charcutier_).--Fac-simile of
+a Miniature in a Charter of the Abbey of Solignac (Fourteenth Century).]
+
+The existence of the great slaughter-house of Paris dates back to the most
+remote period of monarchy. The parish church of the corporation of
+butchers, namely, that of St. Pierre aux Boeufs in the city, on the front
+of which were two sculptured oxen, existed before the tenth century. A
+Celtic monument was discovered on the site of the ancient part of Paris,
+with a bas-relief representing a wild bull carrying three cranes standing
+among oak branches. Archaeology has chosen to recognise in this sculpture a
+Druidical allegory, which has descended to us in the shape of the
+triumphal car of the Prize Ox (Fig. 88). The butchers who, for centuries
+at least in France, only killed sheep and pigs, proved themselves most
+jealous of their privileges, and admitted no strangers into their
+corporation. The proprietorship of stalls at the markets, and the right of
+being admitted as a master butcher at the age of seven years and a day,
+belonged exclusively to the male descendants of a few rich and powerful
+families. The Kings of France alone, on their accession, could create a
+new master butcher. Since the middle of the fourteenth century the "Grande
+Boucherie" was the seat of an important jurisdiction, composed of a mayor,
+a master, a proctor, and an attorney; it also had a judicial council
+before which the butchers could bring up all their cases, and an appeal
+from which could only be considered by Parliament. Besides this court,
+which had to decide cases of misbehaviour on the part of the apprentices,
+and all their appeals against their masters, the corporation had a counsel
+in Parliament, as also one at the Chatelet, who were specially attached to
+the interests of the butchers, and were in their pay.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 88.--The Holy Ox.--Celtic Monument found in Paris
+under the Choir of Notre-Dame in 1711, and preserved in the Musee de Cluny
+et des Thermes.]
+
+Although bound, at all events with their money, to follow the calling of
+their fathers, we find many descendants of ancient butchers' families of
+Paris, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, abandoning their stalls
+to fill high places in the state, and even at court. It must not be
+concluded that the rich butchers in those days occupied themselves with
+the minor details of their trade; the greater number employed servants who
+cut up and retailed the meat, and they themselves simply kept the
+accounts, and were engaged in dealing through factors or foremen for the
+purchase of beasts for their stalls (Fig. 89). One can form an opinion of
+the wealth of some of these tradesmen by reading the enumeration made by
+an old chronicler of the property and income of Guillaume de Saint-Yon,
+one of the principal master butchers in 1370. "He was proprietor of three
+stalls, in which meat was weekly sold to the amount of 200 _livres
+parisis_ (the livre being equivalent to 24 francs at least), with an
+average profit of ten to fifteen per cent.; he had an income of 600
+_livres parisis_; he possessed besides his family house in Paris, four
+country-houses, well supplied with furniture and agricultural implements,
+drinking-cups, vases, cups of silver, and cups of onyx with silver feet,
+valued at 100 francs or more each. His wife had jewels, belts, purses, and
+trinkets, to the value of upwards of 1,000 gold francs (the gold franc was
+worth 24 livres); long and short gowns trimmed with fur; and three mantles
+of grey fur. Guillaume de Saint-Yon had generally in his storehouses 300
+ox-hides, worth 24 francs each at least; 800 measures of fat, worth 3-1/2
+sols each; in his sheds, he had 800 sheep worth 100 sols each; in his
+safes 500 or 600 silver florins of ready money (the florin was worth 12
+francs, which must be multiplied five times to estimate its value in
+present currency), and his household furniture was valued at 12,000
+florins. He gave a dowry of 2,000 florins to his two nieces, and spent
+3,000 florins in rebuilding his Paris house; and lastly, as if he had been
+a noble, he used a silver seal."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 89.--The Butcher and his Servant, drawn and engraved
+by J. Amman (Sixteenth Century).]
+
+We find in the "Menagier de Paris" curious statistics respecting the
+various butchers' shops of the capital, and the daily sale in each at the
+period referred to. This sale, without counting the households of the
+King, the Queen, and the royal family, which were specially provisioned,
+amounted to 26,624 oxen, 162,760 sheep, 27,456 pigs, and 15,912 calves
+per annum; to which must be added not only the smoked and salted flesh of
+200 or 300 pigs, which were sold at the fair in Holy Week, but also 6,420
+sheep, 823 oxen, 832 calves, and 624 pigs, which, according to the
+"Menagier," were used in the royal and princely households.
+
+Sometimes the meat was sent to market already cut up, but the slaughter of
+beasts was more frequently done in the butchers' shops in the town; for
+they only killed from day to day, according to the demand. Besides the
+butchers' there were tripe shops, where the feet, kidneys, &c., were sold.
+
+[Illustration: Figs. 90 and 91.--Seal and Counter-Seal of the Butchers of
+Bruges in 1356, from an impression on green wax, preserved in the archives
+of that town.]
+
+According to Bruyerin Champier, during the sixteenth century the most
+celebrated sheep in France were those of Berri and Limousin; and of all
+butchers' meat, veal was reckoned the best. In fact, calves intended for
+the tables of the upper classes were fed in a special manner: they were
+allowed for six months, or even for a year, nothing but milk, which made
+their flesh most tender and delicate. Contrary to the present taste, kid
+was more appreciated than lamb, which caused the _rotisseurs_ frequently
+to attach the tail of a kid to a lamb, so as to deceive the customer and
+sell him a less expensive meat at the higher price. This was the origin of
+the proverb which described a cheat as "a dealer in goat by halves."
+
+In other places butchers were far from acquiring the same importance which
+they did in France and Belgium (Figs. 90 and 91), where much more meat was
+consumed than in Spain, Italy, or even in Germany. Nevertheless, in
+almost all countries there were certain regulations, sometimes eccentric,
+but almost always rigidly enforced, to ensure a supply of meat of the best
+quality and in a healthy state. In England, for instance, butchers were
+only allowed to kill bulls after they had been baited with dogs, no doubt
+with the view of making the flesh more tender. At Mans, it was laid down
+in the trade regulations, that "no butcher shall be so bold as to sell
+meat unless it shall have been previously seen alive by two or three
+persons, who will testify to it on oath; and, anyhow, they shall not sell
+it until the persons shall have declared it wholesome," &c.
+
+To the many regulations affecting the interests of the public must be
+added that forbidding butchers to sell meat on days when abstinence from
+animal food was ordered by the Church. These regulations applied less to
+the vendors than to the consumers, who, by disobeying them, were liable to
+fine or imprisonment, or to severe corporal punishment by the whip or in
+the pillory. We find that Clement Marot was imprisoned and nearly burned
+alive for having eaten pork in Lent. In 1534, Guillaume des Moulins, Count
+of Brie, asked permission for his mother, who was then eighty years of
+age, to cease fasting; the Bishop of Paris only granted dispensation on
+condition that the old lady should take her meals in secret and out of
+sight of every one, and should still fast on Fridays. "In a certain town,"
+says Brantome, "there had been a procession in Lent. A woman, who had
+assisted at it barefooted, went home to dine off a quarter of lamb and a
+ham. The smell got into the street; the house was entered. The fact being
+established, the woman was taken, and condemned to walk through the town
+with her quarter of lamb on the spit over her shoulder, and the ham hung
+round her neck." This species of severity increased during the times of
+religious dissensions. Erasmus says, "He who has eaten pork instead of
+fish is taken to the torture like a parricide." An edict of Henry II,
+1549, forbade the sale of meat in Lent to persons who should not be
+furnished with a doctor's certificate. Charles IX forbade the sale of meat
+to the Huguenots; and it was ordered that the privilege of selling meat
+during the time of abstinence should belong exclusively to the hospitals.
+Orders were given to those who retailed meat to take the address of every
+purchaser, although he had presented a medical certificate, so that the
+necessity for his eating meat might be verified. Subsequently, the medical
+certificate required to be endorsed by the priest, specifying what
+quantity of meat was required. Even in these cases the use of butchers'
+meat alone was granted, pork, poultry, and game being strictly forbidden.
+
+Poultry.--A monk of the Abbey of Cluny once went on a visit to his
+relations. On arriving he asked for food; but as it was a fast day he was
+told there was nothing in the house but fish. Perceiving some chickens in
+the yard, he took a stick and killed one, and brought it to his relations,
+saying, "This is the fish which I shall eat to-day." "Eh, but, my son,"
+they said, "have you dispensation from fasting on a Friday?" "No," he
+answered; "but poultry is not flesh; fish and fowls were created at the
+same time; they have a common origin, as the hymn which I sing in the
+service teaches me."
+
+This simple legend belongs to the tenth century; and notwithstanding that
+the opinion of this Benedictine monk may appear strange nowadays, yet it
+must be acknowledged that he was only conforming himself to the opinions
+laid down by certain theologians. In 817, the Council of Aix-la-Chapelle
+decided that such delicate nourishment could scarcely be called
+mortification as understood by the teaching of the Church. In consequence
+of this an order was issued forbidding the monks to eat poultry, except
+during four days at Easter and four at Christmas. But this prohibition in
+no way changed the established custom of certain parts of Christendom, and
+the faithful persisted in believing that poultry and fish were identical
+in the eyes of the Church, and accordingly continued to eat them
+indiscriminately. We also see, in the middle of the thirteenth century,
+St. Thomas Aquinas, who was considered an authority in questions of dogma
+and of faith, ranking poultry amongst species of aquatic origin.
+
+Eventually, this palpable error was abandoned; but when the Church forbade
+Christians the use of poultry on fast days, it made an exception, out of
+consideration for the ancient prejudice, in favour of teal, widgeon,
+moor-hens, and also two or three kinds of small amphibious quadrupeds.
+Hence probably arose the general and absurd beliefs concerning the origin
+of teal, which some said sprung from the rotten wood of old ships, others
+from the fruits of a tree, or the gum on fir-trees, whilst others thought
+they came from a fresh-water shell analogous to that of the oyster and
+mussel.
+
+As far back as modern history can be traced, we find that a similar mode
+of fattening poultry was employed then as now, and was one which the Gauls
+must have learnt from the Romans. Amongst the charges in the households
+of the kings of France one item was that which concerned the
+poultry-house, and which, according to an edict of St. Louis in 1261,
+bears the name of _poulaillier_. At a subsequent period this name was
+given to breeders and dealers in poultry (Fig. 92).
+
+The "Menagier" tells as that, as is the present practice, chickens were
+fattened by depriving them of light and liberty, and gorging them with
+succulent food. Amongst the poultry yards in repute at that time, the
+author mentions that of Hesdin, a property of the Dukes of Luxemburg, in
+Artois; that of the King, at the Hotel Saint-Pol, Rue Saint-Antoine,
+Paris; that of Master Hugues Aubriot, provost of Paris; and that of
+Charlot, no doubt a bourgeois of that name, who also gave his name to an
+ancient street in that quarter called the Marais.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 92.--The Poulterer, drawn and engraved in the
+Sixteenth Century, by J. Amman.]
+
+_Capons_ are frequently mentioned in poems of the twelfth and thirteenth
+centuries; but the name of the _poularde_ does not occur until the
+sixteenth.
+
+We know that under the Roman rule, the Gauls carried on a considerable
+trade in fattened geese. This trade ceased when Gaul passed to new
+masters; but the breeding of geese continued to be carefully attended to.
+For many centuries geese were more highly prized than any other
+description of poultry, and Charlemagne ordered that his domains should
+be well stocked with flocks of geese, which were driven to feed in the
+fields, like flocks of sheep. There was an old proverb, "Who eats the
+king's goose returns the feathers in a hundred years." This bird was
+considered a great delicacy by the working classes and bourgeoisie. The
+_rotisseurs_ (Fig. 94) had hardly anything in their shops but geese, and,
+therefore, when they were united in a company, they received the name of
+_oyers_, or _oyeurs_. The street in which they were established, with
+their spits always loaded with juicy roasts, was called Rue des _Oues_
+(geese), and this street, when it ceased to be frequented by the _oyers_,
+became by corruption Rue Auxours.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 93.--Barnacle Geese.--Fac-simile of an Engraving on
+Wood, from the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster, folio, Basle, 1552.]
+
+There is every reason for believing that the domestication of the wild
+duck is of quite recent date. The attempt having succeeded, it was wished
+to follow it up by the naturalisation in the poultry-yard of two other
+sorts of aquatic birds, namely, the sheldrake (_tadorna_) and the moorhen,
+but without success. Some attribute the introduction of turkeys into
+France and Europe to Jacques Coeur, treasurer to Charles VII., whose
+commercial connections with the East were very extensive; others assert
+that it is due to King Rene, Count of Provence; but according to the best
+authorities these birds were first brought into France in the time of
+Francis I. by Admiral Philippe de Chabot, and Bruyerin Champier asserts
+that they were not known until even later. It was at about the same period
+that guinea-fowls were brought from the coast of Africa by Portuguese
+merchants; and the travelling naturalist, Pierre Belon, who wrote in the
+year 1555, asserts that in his time "they had already so multiplied in the
+houses of the nobles that they had become quite common."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 94.--The Poultry-dealer.--Fac-simile of an Engraving
+on Wood, after Cesare Vecellio.]
+
+The pea-fowl played an important part in the chivalric banquets of the
+Middle Ages (Fig. 95). According to old poets the flesh of this noble bird
+is "food for the brave." A poet of the thirteenth century says, "that
+thieves have as much taste for falsehood as a hungry man has for the flesh
+of the peacock." In the fourteenth century poultry-yards were still
+stocked with these birds; but the turkey and the pheasant gradually
+replaced them, as their flesh was considered somewhat hard and stringy.
+This is proved by the fact that in 1581, "La Nouvelle Coutume du
+Bourbonnois" only reckons the value of these beautiful birds at two sous
+and a half, or about three francs of present currency.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 95.--State Banquet.--Serving the Peacock.--Fac-simile
+of a Woodcut in an edition of Virgil, folio, published at Lyons in 1517.]
+
+Game.--Our forefathers included among the birds which now constitute
+feathered game the heron, the crane, the crow, the swan, the stork, the
+cormorant, and the bittern. These supplied the best tables, especially the
+first three, which were looked upon as exquisite food, fit even for
+royalty, and were reckoned as thorough French delicacies. There were at
+that time heronries, as at a later period there were pheasantries. People
+also ate birds of prey, and only rejected those which fed on carrion.
+
+Swans, which were much appreciated, were very common on all the principal
+rivers of France, especially in the north; a small island below Paris had
+taken its name from these birds, and has maintained it ever since. It was
+proverbially said that the Charente was bordered with swans, and for this
+same reason Valenciennes was called _Val des Cygnes_, or the Swan Valley.
+
+Some authors make it appear that for a long time young game was avoided
+owing to the little nourishment it contained and its indigestibility, and
+assert that it was only when some French ambassadors returned from Venice
+that the French learnt that young partridges and leverets were exquisite,
+and quite fit to appear at the most sumptuous banquets. The "Menagier"
+gives not only various receipts for cooking them, but also for dressing
+chickens, when game was out of season, so as to make them taste like young
+partridges.
+
+There was a time when they fattened pheasants as they did capons; it was a
+secret, says Liebault, only known to the poultry dealers; but although
+they were much appreciated, the pullet was more so, and realised as much
+as two crowns each (this does not mean the gold crown, but a current coin
+worth three livres). Plovers, which sometimes came from Beauce in
+cart-loads, were much relished; they were roasted without being drawn, as
+also were turtle-doves and larks; "for," says an ancient author, "larks
+only eat small pebbles and sand, doves grains of juniper and scented
+herbs, and plovers feed on air." At a later period the same honour was
+conferred on woodcocks.
+
+Thrushes, starlings, blackbirds, quail, and partridges were in equal
+repute according to the season. The _bec-figue_, a small bird like a
+nightingale, was so much esteemed in Provence that there were feasts at
+which that bird alone was served, prepared in various ways; but of all
+birds used for the table none could be compared to the young cuckoo taken
+just as it was full fledged.
+
+As far as we can ascertain, the Gauls had a dislike to the flesh of
+rabbits, and they did not even hunt them, for according to Strabo,
+Southern Gaul was infested with these mischievous animals, which destroyed
+the growing crops, and even the barks of the trees. There was considerable
+change in this respect a few centuries later, for every one in town or
+country reared domesticated rabbits, and the wild ones formed an article
+of food which was much in request. In order to ascertain whether a rabbit
+is young, Strabo tells us we should feel the first joint of the fore-leg,
+when we shall find a small bone free and movable. This method is adopted
+in all kitchens in the present day. Hares were preferred to rabbits,
+provided they were young; for an old French proverb says, "An old hare and
+an old goose are food for the devil."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 96.--"The way to skin and cut up a Stag."--Fac-simile
+of a Miniature of "Phoebus, and his Staff for hunting Wild Animals"
+(Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century, National Library of Paris).]
+
+The hedgehog and squirrel were also eaten. As for roe and red deer, they
+were, according to Dr. Bruyerin Ohampier, morsels fit for kings and rich
+people (Fig. 96). The doctor speaks of "fried slices of the young horn of
+the stag" as the daintiest of food, and the "Menagier de Paris" shows how,
+as early as the fourteenth century, beef was dished up like bear's-flesh
+venison, for the use of kitchens in countries where the black bear did not
+exist. This proves that bear's flesh was in those days considered good
+food.
+
+Milk, Butter, Eggs, and Cheese.--These articles of food, the first which
+nature gave to man, were not always and everywhere uniformly permitted or
+prohibited by the Church on fast days. The faithful were for several
+centuries left to their own judgment on the subject. In fact, there is
+nothing extraordinary in eggs being eaten in Lent without scruple,
+considering that some theologians maintained that the hens which laid them
+were animals of aquatic extraction.
+
+It appears, however, that butter, either from prejudice or mere custom,
+was only used on fast days in its fresh state, and was not allowed to be
+used for cooking purposes. At first, and especially amongst the monks, the
+dishes were prepared with oil; but as in some countries oil was apt to
+become very expensive, and the supply even to fail totally, animal fat or
+lard had to be substituted. At a subsequent period the Church authorised
+the use of butter and milk; but on this point, the discipline varied much.
+In the fourteenth century, Charles V., King of France, having asked Pope
+Gregory XI. for a dispensation to use milk and butter on fast days, in
+consequence of the bad state of his health, brought on owing to an attempt
+having been made to poison him, the supreme Pontiff required a certificate
+from a physician and from the King's confessor. He even then only granted
+the dispensation after imposing on that Christian king the repetition of a
+certain number of prayers and the performance of certain pious deeds. In
+defiance of the severity of ecclesiastical authority, we find, in the
+"Journal of a Bourgeois of Paris," that in the unhappy reign of Charles
+VI. (1420), "for want of oil, butter was eaten in Lent the same as on
+ordinary non-fast days."
+
+In 1491, Queen Anne, Duchess of Brittany, in order to obtain permission
+from the Pope to eat butter in Lent, represented that Brittany did not
+produce oil, neither did it import it from southern countries. Many
+northern provinces adopted necessity as the law, and, having no oil, used
+butter; and thence originated that famous toast with slices of bread and
+butter, which formed such an important part of Flemish food. These papal
+dispensations were, however, only earned at the price of prayers and alms,
+and this was the origin of the _troncs pour le beurre_, that is, "alms-box
+for butter," which are still to be seen in some of the Flemish churches.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 97.--The Manufacture of Oil, drawn and engraved by J.
+Amman in the Sixteenth Century.]
+
+It is not known when butter was first salted in order to preserve it or to
+send it to distant places; but this process, which is so simple and so
+natural, dates, no doubt, from very ancient times; it was particularly
+practised by the Normans and Bretons, who enclosed the butter in large
+earthenware jars, for in the statutes which were given to the fruiterers
+of Paris in 1412, mention is made of salt butter in earthenware jars.
+Lorraine only exported butter in such jars. The fresh butter most in
+request for the table in Paris, was that made at Vanvres, which in the
+month of May the people ate every morning mixed with garlic.
+
+The consumption of butter was greatest in Flanders. "I am surprised," says
+Bruyerin Champier, speaking of that country, "that they have not yet tried
+to turn it into drink; in France it is mockingly called _beurriere;_ and
+when any one has to travel in that country, he is advised to take a knife
+with him if he wishes to taste the good rolls of butter."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 98.--A Dealer in Eggs.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut, after
+Cesare Vecellio, Sixteenth Century.]
+
+It is not necessary to state that milk and cheese followed the fortunes of
+butter in the Catholic world, the same as eggs followed those of poultry.
+But butter having been declared lawful by the Church, a claim was put in
+for eggs (Fig. 98), and Pope Julius III. granted this dispensation to all
+Christendom, although certain private churches did not at once choose to
+profit by this favour. The Greeks had always been more rigid on these
+points of discipline than the people of the West. It is to the prohibition
+of eggs in Lent that the origin of "Easter eggs" must be traced. These
+were hardened by boiling them in a madder bath, and were brought to
+receive the blessing of the priest on Good Friday, and were then eaten on
+the following Sunday as a sign of rejoicing.
+
+Ancient Gaul was celebrated for some of its home-made cheeses. Pliny
+praises those of Nismes, and of Mount Lozere, in Gevaudau; Martial
+mentions those of Toulouse, &c. A simple anecdote, handed down by the monk
+of St. Gall, who wrote in the ninth century, proves to us that the
+traditions with regard to cheeses were not lost in the time of
+Charlemagne: "The Emperor, in one of his travels, alighted suddenly, and
+without being expected, at the house of a bishop. It was on a Friday. The
+prelate had no fish, and did not dare to set meat before the prince. He
+therefore offered him what he had got, some boiled corn and green cheese.
+Charles ate of the cheese; but taking the green part to be bad, he took
+care to remove it with his knife. The Bishop, seeing this, took the
+liberty of telling his guest that this was the best part. The Emperor,
+tasting it, found that the bishop was right; and consequently ordered him
+to send him annually two cases of similar cheese to Aix-la-Chapelle. The
+Bishop answered, that he could easily send cheeses, but he could not be
+sure of sending them in proper condition, because it was only by opening
+them that you could be sure of the dealer not having deceived you in the
+quality of the cheese. 'Well,' said the Emperor, 'before sending them, cut
+them through the middle, so as to see if they are what I want; you will
+only have to join the two halves again by means of a wooden peg, and you
+can then put the whole into a case.'"
+
+Under the kings of the third French dynasty, a cheese was made at the
+village of Chaillot, near Paris, which was much appreciated in the
+capital. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the cheeses of Champagne
+and of Brie, which are still manufactured, were equally popular, and were
+hawked in the streets, according to the "Book of Street-Cries in Paris,"--
+
+ "J'ai bon fromage de Champaigne;
+ Or i a fromage de Brie!"
+
+ ("Buy my cheese from Champagne,
+ And my cheese from Brie!")
+
+Eustache Deschamps went so far as to say that cheese was the only good
+thing which could possibly come from Brie.
+
+The "Menagier de Paris" praises several kinds of cheeses, the names of
+which it would now be difficult to trace, owing to their frequent changes
+during four hundred years; but, according to the Gallic author of this
+collection, a cheese to be presentable at table, was required to possess
+certain qualities (in proverbial Latin, "Non Argus, nee Helena, nee Maria
+Magdalena," &c.), thus expressed in French rhyme:--
+
+ "Non mie (pas) blanc comme Helaine,
+ Non mie (pas) plourant comme Magdelaine,
+ Non Argus (a cent yeux), mais du tout avugle (aveugle)
+ Et aussi pesant comme un bugle (boeuf),
+ Contre le pouce soit rebelle,
+ Et qu'il ait ligneuse cotelle (epaisse croute)
+ Sans yeux, sans plourer, non pas blanc,
+ Tigneulx, rebelle, bien pesant."
+
+ ("Neither-white like Helena,
+ Nor weeping as Magdelena,
+ Neither Argus, nor yet quite blind,
+ And having too a thickish rind,
+ Resisting somewhat to the touch,
+ And as a bull should weigh as much;
+ Not eyeless, weeping, nor quite white,
+ But firm, resisting, not too light.")
+
+In 1509, Platina, although an Italian, in speaking of good cheeses,
+mentions those of Chauny, in Picardy, and of Brehemont, in Touraine;
+Charles Estienne praises those of Craponne, in Auvergne, the _angelots_ of
+Normandy, and the cheeses made from fresh cream which the peasant-women of
+Montreuil and Vincennes brought to Paris in small wickerwork baskets, and
+which were eaten sprinkled with sugar. The same author names also the
+_rougerets_ of Lyons, which were always much esteemed; but, above all the
+cheeses of Europe, he places the round or cylindrical ones of Auvergne,
+which were only made by very clean and healthy children of fourteen years
+of age. Olivier de Serres advises those who wish to have good cheeses to
+boil the milk before churning it, a plan which is in use at Lodi and
+Parma, "where cheeses are made which are acknowledged by all the world to
+be excellent."
+
+The parmesan, which this celebrated agriculturist cites as an example,
+only became the fashion in France on the return of Charles VIII. from his
+expedition to Naples. Much was thought at that time of a cheese brought
+from Turkey in bladders, and of different varieties produced in Holland
+and Zetland. A few of these foreign products were eaten in stews and in
+pastry, others were toasted and sprinkled with sugar and powdered
+cinnamon.
+
+"Le Roman de Claris," a manuscript which belongs to the commencement of
+the fourteenth century, says that in a town winch was taken by storm the
+following stores were found:--:
+
+ "Maint bon tonnel de vin,
+ Maint bon bacon (cochon), maint fromage a rostir."
+
+ ("Many a ton of wine,
+ Many a slice of good bacon, plenty of good roasted cheese.")
+
+[Illustration: Table Service of a Lady of Quality
+
+Fac-simile of a miniature from the Romance of Renaud de Montauban, a ms.
+of fifteenth century Bibl. de l'Arsenal]
+
+[Illustration: Ladies Hunting
+
+Costumes of the fifteenth century. From a miniature in a ms. copy of
+_Ovid's Epistles_. No 7231 _bis._ Bibl. nat'le de Paris.]
+
+Besides cheese and butter, the Normans, who had a great many cows in their
+rich pastures, made a sort of fermenting liquor from the butter-milk,
+which they called _serat_, by boiling the milk with onions and garlic, and
+letting it cool in closed vessels.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 99.--Manufacture of Cheeses in
+Switzerland.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the "Cosmographie Universelle" of
+Munster, folio, Basle, 1549.]
+
+If the author of the "Menagier" is to be believed, the women who sold milk
+by retail in the towns were well acquainted with the method of increasing
+its quantity at the expense of its quality. He describes how his
+_froumentee_, which consists of a sort of soup, is made, and states that
+when he sends his cook to make her purchases at the milk market held in
+the neighbourhood of the Rues de la Savonnerie, des Ecrivains, and de la
+Vieille-Monnaie, he enjoins her particularly "to get very fresh cow's
+milk, and to tell the person who sells it not to do so if she has put
+water to it; for, unless it be quite fresh, or if there be water in it, it
+will turn."
+
+Fish and Shellfish.--Freshwater fish, which was much more abundant in
+former days than now, was the ordinary food of those who lived on the
+borders of lakes, ponds, or rivers, or who, at all events, were not so far
+distant but that they could procure it fresh. There was of course much
+diversity at different periods and in different countries as regards the
+estimation in which the various kinds of fish were held. Thus Ausone, who
+was a native of Bordeaux, spoke highly of the delicacy of the perch, and
+asserted that shad, pike, and tench should be left to the lower orders; an
+opinion which was subsequently contradicted by the inhabitants of other
+parts of Gaul, and even by the countrymen of the Latin poet Gregory of
+Tours, who loudly praised the Geneva trout. But a time arrived when the
+higher classes preferred the freshwater fish of Orchies in Flanders, and
+even those of the Lyonnais. Thus we see in the thirteenth century the
+barbel of Saint-Florentin held in great estimation, whereas two hundred
+years later a man who was of no use, or a nonentity, was said to resemble
+a barbel, "which is neither good for roasting nor boiling."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 100.--The Pond Fisherman.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut of
+the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster, folio, Basle, 1549.]
+
+In a collection of vulgar proverbs of the twelfth century mention is made,
+amongst the fish most in demand, besides the barbel of Saint-Florentin
+above referred to, of the eels of Maine, the pike of Chalons, the lampreys
+of Nantes, the trout of Andeli, and the dace of Aise. The "Menagier" adds
+several others to the above list, including blay, shad, roach, and
+gudgeon, but, above all, the carp, which was supposed to be a native of
+Southern Europe, and which must have been naturalised at a much later
+period in the northern waters (Figs. 100, 101, and 102).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 101.--The River Fisherman, designed and engraved, in
+the Sixteenth Century, by J. Amman.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 102.--Conveyance of Fish by Water and
+Land.--Fac-simile of an Engraving in the Royal Statutes of the Provostship
+of Merchants, 1528.]
+
+The most ancient documents bear witness that the natives of the sea-coasts
+of Europe, and particularly of the Mediterranean, fed on the same fish as
+at present: there were, however, a few other sea-fish, which were also
+used for food, but which have since been abandoned. Our ancestors were,
+not difficult to please: they had good teeth, and their palates, having
+become accustomed to the flesh of the cormorant, heron, and crane, without
+difficulty appreciated the delicacy of the nauseous sea-dog, the porpoise,
+and even the whale, which, when salted, furnished to a great extent all
+the markets of Europe.
+
+The trade in salted sea-fish only began in Paris in the twelfth century,
+when a company of merchants was instituted, or rather re-established, on
+the principle of the ancient association of Nantes. This association had
+existed from the period of the foundation under the Gauls of Lutetia, the
+city of fluvial commerce (Fig. 103), and it is mentioned in the letters
+patent of Louis VII. (1170). One of the first cargoes which this company
+brought in its boats was that of salted herrings from the coast of
+Normandy. These herrings became a necessary food during Lent, and
+
+ "Sor et blanc harene fres pouldre (couvert de sel)!"
+
+ ("Herrings smoked, fresh, and salted!")
+
+was the cry of the retailers in the streets of Paris, where this fish
+became a permanent article of consumption to an extent which can be
+appreciated from the fact that Saint Louis gave annually nearly seventy
+thousand herrings to the hospitals, plague-houses, and monasteries.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 103.--A Votive Altar of the Nantes Parisiens, or the
+Company for the Commercial Navigation of the Seine, erected in Lutelia
+during the reign of Tiberius.--Fragments of this Altar, which were
+discovered in 1711 under the Choir of the Church of Notre-Dame, are
+preserved in the Museums of Cluny and the Palais des Thermes.]
+
+The profit derived from the sale of herrings at that time was so great
+that it soon became a special trade; it was, in fact, the regular practice
+of the Middle Ages for persons engaged in any branch of industry to unite
+together and form themselves into a corporation. Other speculators
+conceived the idea of bringing fresh fish to Paris by means of relays of
+posting conveyances placed along the road, and they called themselves
+_forains_. Laws were made to distinguish the rights of each of these
+trades, and to prevent any quarrel in the competition. In these laws, all
+sea-fish were comprised under three names, the fresh, the salted, and the
+smoked (_sor_). Louis IX. in an edict divides the dealers into two
+classes, namely, the sellers of fresh fish, and the sellers of salt or
+smoked fish. Besides salt and fresh herrings, an enormous amount of salted
+mackerel, which was almost as much used, was brought from the sea-coast,
+in addition to flat-fish, gurnets, skate, fresh and salted whiting and
+codfish.
+
+In an old document of the thirteenth century about fifty kinds of fish are
+enumerated which were retailed in the markets of the kingdom; and a
+century later the "Menagier" gives receipts for cooking forty kinds,
+amongst which appears, under the name of _craspois_, the salted flesh of
+the whale, which was also called _le lard de careme_. This coarse food,
+which was sent from the northern seas in enormous slices, was only eaten
+by the lower orders, for, according to a writer of the sixteenth century,
+"were it cooked even for twenty-four hours it would still be very hard and
+indigestible."
+
+The "Proverbes" of the thirteenth century, which mention the freshwater
+fish then in vogue, also names the sea-fish most preferred, and whence
+they came, namely, the shad from Bordeaux, the congers from La Rochelle,
+the sturgeon from Blaye, the fresh herrings from Fecamp, and the
+cuttle-fish from Coutances. At a later period the conger was not eaten
+from its being supposed to produce the plague. The turbot, John-dory,
+skate and sole, which were very dear, were reserved for the rich. The
+fishermen fed on the sea-dragon. A great quantity of the small sea
+crayfish were brought into market; and in certain countries these were
+called _sante_, because the doctors recommended them to invalids or those
+in consumption; on the other hand, freshwater crayfish were not much
+esteemed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, excepting for their
+eggs, which were prepared with spice. It is well known that pond frogs
+were a favourite food of the Gauls and Franks; they were never out of
+fashion in the rural districts, and were served at the best tables,
+dressed with green sauce; at the same period, and especially during Lent,
+snails, which were served in pyramid-shaped dishes, were much appreciated;
+so much so that nobles and bourgeois cultivated snail beds, somewhat
+resembling our oyster beds of the present day.
+
+The inhabitants of the coast at all periods ate various kinds of
+shell-fish, which were called in Italy sea-fruit; but it was only towards
+the twelfth century that the idea was entertained of bringing oysters to
+Paris, and mussels were not known there until much later. It is notorious
+that Henry IV. was a great oyster-eater. Sully relates that when he was
+created a duke "the king came, without being expected, to take his seat at
+the reception banquet, but as there was much delay in going to dinner, he
+began by eating some _huitres de chasse_, which he found very fresh."
+
+By _huitres de chasse_ were meant those oysters which were brought by the
+_chasse-marees_, carriers who brought the fresh fish from the coast to
+Paris at great speed.
+
+Beverages.--Beer is not only one of the oldest fermenting beverages used
+by man, but it is also the one which was most in vogue in the Middle Ages.
+If we refer to the tales of the Greek historians, we find that the
+Gauls--who, like the Egyptians, attributed the discovery of this
+refreshing drink to their god Osiris--had two sorts of beer: one called
+_zythus_, made with honey and intended for the rich; the other called
+_corma_, in which there was no honey, and which was made for the poor. But
+Pliny asserts that beer in Gallie was called _cerevisia_, and the grain
+employed for making it _brasce_. This testimony seems true, as from
+_brasce_ or _brasse_ comes the name _brasseur_ (brewer), and from
+_cerevisia, cervoise_, the generic name by which beer was known for
+centuries, and which only lately fell into disuse.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 104.--The Great Drinkers of the North.--Fac-simile of
+a Woodcut of the "Histoires des Pays Septentrionaux," by Olaus Magnus,
+16mo., Antwerp, 1560.]
+
+
+After a great famine, Domitian ordered all the vines in Gaul to be
+uprooted so as to make room for corn. This rigorous measure must have
+caused beer to become even more general, and, although two centuries later
+Probus allowed vines to be replanted, the use of beverages made from grain
+became an established custom; but in time, whilst the people still only
+drank _cervoise_, those who were able to afford it bought wine and drank
+it alternately with beer.
+
+However, as by degrees the vineyards increased in all places having a
+suitable soil and climate, the use of beer was almost entirely given up,
+so that in central Gaul wine became so common and cheap that all could
+drink it. In the northern provinces, where the vine would not grow, beer
+naturally continued to be the national beverage (Fig. 104).
+
+In the time of Charlemagne, for instance, we find the Emperor wisely
+ordered that persons knowing how to brew should be attached to each of his
+farms. Everywhere the monastic houses possessed breweries; but as early as
+the reign of St. Louis there were only a very few breweries in Paris
+itself, and, in spite of all the privileges granted to their corporation,
+even these were soon obliged to leave the capital, where there ceased to
+be any demand for the produce of their industry. They reappeared in 1428,
+probably in consequence of the political and commercial relations which
+had become established between Paris and the rich towns of the Flemish
+bourgeoisie; and then, either on account of the dearness of wine, or the
+caprice of fashion, the consumption of beer again became so general in
+France that, according to the "Journal d'un Bourgeois de Paris," it
+produced to the revenue two-thirds more than wine. It must be understood,
+however, that in times of scarcity, as in the years 1415 and 1482, brewing
+was temporarily stopped, and even forbidden altogether, on account of the
+quantity of grain which was thereby withdrawn from the food supply of the
+people (Fig. 105).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 105.--The Brewer, designed and engraved, in the
+Sixteenth. Century, by J. Amman.]
+
+Under the Romans, the real _cervoise_, or beer, was made with barley; but,
+at a later period, all sorts of grain was indiscriminately used; and it
+was only towards the end of the sixteenth century that adding the flower
+or seed of hops to the oats or barley, which formed the basis of this
+beverage, was thought of.
+
+Estienne Boileau's "Book of Trades," edited in the thirteenth century,
+shows us that, besides the _cervoise_, another sort of beer was known,
+which was called _godale_. This name, we should imagine, was derived from
+the two German words _god ael_, which mean "good beer," and was of a
+stronger description than the ordinary _cervoise_; this idea is proved by
+the Picards and Flemish people calling it "double beer." In any case, it
+is from the word _godale_ that the familiar expression of _godailler_ (to
+tipple) is derived.
+
+In fact, there is hardly any sort of mixture or ingredient which has not
+been used in the making of beer, according to the fashions of the
+different periods. When, on the return from the Crusades, the use of spice
+had become the fashion, beverages as well as the food were loaded with it.
+Allspice, juniper, resin, apples, bread-crumbs, sage, lavender, gentian,
+cinnamon, and laurel were each thrown into it. The English sugared it, and
+the Germans salted it, and at times they even went so far as to put darnel
+into it, at the risk of rendering the mixture poisonous.
+
+The object of these various mixtures was naturally to obtain
+high-flavoured beers, which became so much in fashion, that to describe
+the want of merit of persons, or the lack of value in anything, no simile
+was more common than to compare them to "small beer." Nevertheless, more
+delicate and less blunted palates were to be found which could appreciate
+beer sweetened simply with honey, or scented with ambergris or
+raspberries. It is possible, however, that these compositions refer to
+mixtures in which beer, the produce of fermented grain, was confounded
+with hydromel, or fermented honey. Both these primitive drinks claim an
+origin equally remote, which is buried in the most distant periods of
+history, and they have been used in all parts of the world, being
+mentioned in the oldest historical records, in the Bible, the Edda, and in
+the sacred books of India. In the thirteenth century, hydromel, which then
+bore the name of _borgerafre, borgeraste_, or _bochet_, was composed of
+one part of honey to twelve parts of water, scented with herbs, and
+allowed to ferment for a month or six weeks. This beverage, which in the
+customs and statutes of the order of Cluny is termed _potus dulcissimus_
+(the sweetest beverage), and which must have been both agreeable in taste
+and smell, was specially appreciated by the monks, who feasted on it on
+the great anniversaries of the Church. Besides this, an inferior quality
+of _bochet_ was made for the consumption of the lower orders and peasants,
+out of the honeycomb after the honey had been drained away, or with the
+scum which rose during the fermentation of the better qualities.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 106.--The Vintagers, after a Miniature of the "Dialogues
+de Saint Gregoire" (Thirteenth Century).--Manuscript of the Royal Library
+of Brussels.]
+
+Cider (in Latin _sicera_) and perry can also both claim a very ancient
+origin, since they are mentioned by Pliny. It does not appear, however,
+that the Gauls were acquainted with them. The first historical mention of
+them is made with reference to a repast which Thierry II., King of
+Burgundy and Orleans (596-613), son of Childebert, and grandson of Queen
+Brunehaut, gave to St. Colomban, in which both cider and wine were used.
+In the thirteenth century, a Latin poet (Guillaume le Breton) says that
+the inhabitants of the Auge and of Normandy made cider their daily drink;
+but it is not likely that this beverage was sent away from the localities
+where it was made; for, besides the fact that the "Menagier" only very
+curtly mentions a drink made of apples, we know that in the fifteenth
+century the Parisians were satisfied with pouring water on apples, and
+steeping them, so as to extract a sort of half-sour, half-sweet drink
+called _depense_. Besides this, Paulmier de Grandmesnil, a Norman by
+birth, a famous doctor, and the author of a Latin treatise on wine and
+cider (1588), asserts that half a century before, cider was very scarce at
+Rouen, and that in all the districts of Caux the people only drank beer.
+Duperron adds that the Normans brought cider from Biscay, when their crops
+of apples failed.
+
+By whom and at what period the vine was naturalised in Gaul has been a
+long-disputed question, which, in spite of the most careful research,
+remains unsolved. The most plausible opinion is that which attributes the
+honour of having imported the vine to the Phoenician colony who founded
+Marseilles.
+
+Pliny makes mention of several wines of the Gauls as being highly
+esteemed. He nevertheless reproaches the vine-growers of Marseilles,
+Beziers, and Narbonne with doctoring their wines, and with infusing
+various drugs into them, which rendered them disagreeable and even
+unwholesome (Fig. 106). Dioscorides, however, approved of the custom in
+use among the Allobroges, of mixing resin with their wines to preserve
+them and prevent them from turning sour, as the temperature of their
+country was not warm enough thoroughly to ripen the grape.
+
+Rooted up by order of Domitian in 92, as stated above, the vine only
+reappeared in Gaul under Protus, who revoked, in 282, the imperial edict
+of his predecessor; after which period the Gallic wines soon recovered
+their ancient celebrity. Under the dominion of the Franks, who held wine
+in great favour, vineyard property was one of those which the barbaric
+laws protected with the greatest care. We find in the code of the Salians
+and in that of the Visigoths very severe penalties for uprooting a vine or
+stealing a bunch of grapes. The cultivation of the vine became general,
+and kings themselves planted them, even in the gardens of their city
+palaces. In 1160, there was still in Paris, near the Louvre, a vineyard of
+such an extent, that Louis VII. could annually present six hogsheads of
+wine made from it to the rector of St. Nicholas. Philip Augustus possessed
+about twenty vineyards of excellent quality in various parts of his
+kingdom.
+
+The culture of the vine having thus developed, the wine trade acquired an
+enormous importance in France. Gascony, Aunis, and Saintonge sent their
+wines to Flanders; Guyenne sent hers to England. Froissart writes that, in
+1372, a merchant fleet of quite two hundred sail came from London to
+Bordeaux for wine. This flourishing trade received a severe blow in the
+sixteenth century; for an awful famine having invaded France in 1566,
+Charles IX. did not hesitate to repeat the acts of Domitian, and to order
+all the vines to be uprooted and their place to be sown with corn;
+fortunately Henry III. soon after modified this edict by simply
+recommending the governors of the provinces to see that "the ploughs were
+not being neglected in their districts on account of the excessive
+cultivation of the vine."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 107.--Interior of an Hostelry.--Fac-simile of a
+Woodcut in a folio edition of Virgil, published at Lyons in 1517.]
+
+Although the trade of a wine-merchant is one of the oldest established in
+Paris, it does not follow that the retail sale of wine was exclusively
+carried on by special tradesmen. On the contrary, for a long time the
+owner of the vineyard retailed the wine which he had not been able to sell
+in the cask. A broom, a laurel-wreath, or some other sign of the sort hung
+over a door, denoted that any one passing could purchase or drink wine
+within. When the wine-growers did not have the quality and price of their
+wine announced in the village or town by the public crier, they placed a
+man before the door of their cellar, who enticed the public to enter and
+taste the new wines. Other proprietors, instead of selling for people to
+take away in their own vessels, established a tavern in some room of their
+house, where they retailed drink (Fig. 107). The monks, who made wine
+extensively, also opened these taverns in the monasteries, as they only
+consumed part of their wine themselves; and this system was universally
+adopted by wine-growers, and even by the king and the nobles. The latter,
+however, had this advantage, that, whilst they were retailing their wines,
+no one in the district was allowed to enter into competition with them.
+This prescriptive right, which was called _droit de ban-vin_, was still in
+force in the seventeenth century.
+
+Saint Louis granted special statutes to the wine-merchants in 1264; but it
+was only three centuries later that they formed a society, which was
+divided into four classes, namely, hotel-keepers, publichouse-keepers,
+tavern proprietors, and dealers in wine _a pot_, that is, sold to people
+to take away with them. Hotel-keepers, also called _aubergistes_,
+accommodated travellers, and also put up horses and carriages. The dealers
+_a pot_ sold wine which could not be drunk on their premises. There was
+generally a sort of window in their door through which the empty pot was
+passed, to be returned filled: hence the expression, still in use in the
+eighteenth century, _vente a huis coupe_ (sale through a cut door).
+Publichouse-keepers supplied drink as well as _nappe et assiette_
+(tablecloth and plate), which meant that refreshments were also served.
+And lastly, the _taverniers_ sold wine to be drunk on the premises, but
+without the right of supplying bread or meat to their customers (Figs 108
+and 109).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 108.--Banner of the Corporation of the
+Publichouse-keepers of Montmedy.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 109.--Banner of the Corporation of the
+Publichouse-keepers of Tonnerre.]
+
+The wines of France in most request from the ninth to the thirteenth
+centuries were those of Macon, Cahors, Rheims, Choisy, Montargis, Marne,
+Meulan, and Orleanais. Amongst the latter there was one which was much
+appreciated by Henry I., and of which he kept a store, to stimulate his
+courage when he joined his army. The little fable of the Battle of Wines,
+composed in the thirteenth century by Henri d'Andelys, mentions a number
+of wines which have to this day maintained their reputation: for instance,
+the Beaune, in Burgundy; the Saint-Emilion, in Gruyenne; the Chablis,
+Epernay, Sezanne, in Champagne, &c. But he places above all, with good
+reason, according to the taste of those days, the Saint-Pourcain of
+Auvergne, which was then most expensive and in great request. Another
+French poet, in describing the luxurious habits of a young man of fashion,
+says that he drank nothing but Saint-Pourcain; and in a poem composed by
+Jean Bruyant, secretary of the Chatelet of Paris, in 1332, we find
+
+ "Du saint-pourcain
+ Que l'on met en son sein pour sain."
+
+ ("Saint-Pourcain wine, which you imbibe for the good of your health.")
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 110.--Banner of the Coopers of Bayonne.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 111.--Banner of the Coopers of La Rochelle.]
+
+Towards 1400, the vineyards of Ai became celebrated for Champagne as those
+of Beaune were for Burgundy; and it is then that we find, according to the
+testimony of the learned Paulmier de Grandmesnil, kings and queens making
+champagne their favourite beverage. Tradition has it that Francis I.,
+Charles Quint, Henry VIII., and Pope Leon X. all possessed vineyards in
+Champagne at the same time. Burgundy, that pure and pleasant wine, was not
+despised, and it was in its honour that Erasmus said, "Happy province! she
+may well call herself the mother of men, since she produces such milk."
+Nevertheless, the above-mentioned physician, Paulmier, preferred to
+burgundy, "if not perhaps for their flavour, yet for their wholesomeness,
+the vines of the _Ile de France_ or _vins francais_, which agree, he says,
+with scholars, invalids, the bourgeois, and all other persons who do not
+devote themselves to manual labour; for they do not parch the blood, like
+the wines of Gascony, nor fly to the head like those of Orleans and
+Chateau-Thierry; nor do they cause obstructions like those of Bordeaux."
+This is also the opinion of Baccius, who in his Latin treatise on the
+natural history of wines (1596) asserts that the wines of Paris "are in no
+way inferior to those of any other district of the kingdom." These thin
+and sour wines, so much esteemed in the first periods of monarchy and so
+long abandoned, first lost favour in the reign of Francis I., who
+preferred the strong and stimulating productions of the South.
+
+Notwithstanding the great number of excellent wines made in their own
+country, the French imported from other lands. In the thirteenth century,
+in the "Battle of Wines" we find those of Aquila, Spain, and, above all,
+those of Cyprus, spoken of in high terms. A century later, Eustace
+Deschamps praised the Rhine wines, and those of Greece, Malmsey, and
+Grenache. In an edict of Charles VI. mention is also made of the muscatel,
+rosette, and the wine of Lieppe. Generally, the Malmsey which was drunk in
+France was an artificial preparation, which had neither the colour nor
+taste of the Cyprian wine. Olivier de Serres tells us that in his time it
+was made with water, honey, clary juice, beer grounds, and brandy. At
+first the same name was used for the natural wine, mulled and spiced,
+which was produced in the island of Madeira from the grapes which the
+Portuguese brought there from Cyprus in 1420.
+
+The reputation which this wine acquired in Europe induced Francis I. to
+import some vines from Greece, and he planted fifty acres with them near
+Fontainebleau. It was at first considered that this plant was succeeding
+so well, that "there were hopes," says Olivier de Serres, "that France
+would soon be able to furnish her own Malmsey and Greek wines, instead of
+having to import them from abroad." It is evident, however, that they soon
+gave up this delusion, and that for want of the genuine wine they returned
+to artificial beverages, such as _vin cuit_, or cooked wine, which had at
+all times been cleverly prepared by boiling down new wine and adding
+various aromatic herbs to it.
+
+Many wines were made under the name of _herbes_, which were merely
+infusions of wormwood, myrtle, hyssop, rosemary, &c., mixed with sweetened
+wine and flavoured with honey. The most celebrated of these beverages
+bore the pretentious name of "nectar;" those composed of spices, Asiatic
+aromatics, and honey, were generally called "white wine," a name
+indiscriminately applied to liquors having for their bases some slightly
+coloured wine, as well as to the hypocras, which was often composed of a
+mixture of foreign liqueurs. This hypocras plays a prominent part in the
+romances of chivalry, and was considered a drink of honour, being always
+offered to kings, princes, and nobles on their solemn entry into a town.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 112.--Butler at his Duties.--Fac-simile from a Woodcut
+in the "Cosmographie Universelle," of Munster, folio, Basle, 1549.]
+
+The name of wine was also given to drinks composed of the juices of
+certain fruits, and in which grapes were in no way used. These were the
+cherry, the currant, the raspberry, and the pomegranate wines; also the
+_more_, made with the mulberry, which was so extolled by the poets of the
+thirteenth century. We must also mention the sour wines, which were made
+by pouring water on the refuse grapes after the wine had been extracted;
+also the drinks made from filberts, milk of almonds, the syrups of
+apricots and strawberries, and cherry and raspberry waters, all of which
+were refreshing, and were principally used in summer; and, lastly,
+_tisane_, sold by the confectioners of Paris, and made hot or cold, with
+prepared barley, dried grapes, plums, dates, gum, or liquorice. This
+_tisane_ may be considered as the origin of that drink which is now sold
+to the poor at a sous a glass, and which most assuredly has not much
+improved since olden times.
+
+It was about the thirteenth century that brandy first became known in
+France; but it does not appear that it was recognised as a liqueur before
+the sixteenth. The celebrated physician Arnauld de Villeneuve, who wrote
+at the end of the thirteenth century, to whom credit has wrongly been
+given for inventing brandy, employed it as one of his remedies, and thus
+expresses himself about it: "Who would have believed that we could have
+derived from wine a liquor which neither resembles it in nature, colour,
+or effect?.... This _eau de vin_ is called by some _eau de vie_, and justly
+so, since it prolongs life.... It prolongs health, dissipates superfluous
+matters, revives the spirits, and preserves youth. Alone, or added to some
+other proper remedy, it cures colic, dropsy, paralysis, ague, gravel, &c."
+
+At a period when so many doctors, alchemists, and other learned men made
+it their principal occupation to try to discover that marvellous golden
+fluid which was to free the human race of all its original infirmities,
+the discovery of such an elixir could not fail to attract the attention of
+all such manufacturers of panaceas. It was, therefore, under the name of
+_eau d'or_ (_aqua auri_) that brandy first became known to the world; a
+name improperly given to it, implying as it did that it was of mineral
+origin, whereas its beautiful golden colour was caused by the addition of
+spices. At a later period, when it lost its repute as a medicine, they
+actually sprinkled it with pure gold leaves, and at the same time that it
+ceased to be exclusively considered as a remedy, it became a favourite
+beverage. It was also employed in distilleries, especially as the basis of
+various strengthening and exciting liqueurs, most of which have descended
+to us, some coming from monasteries and others from chateaux, where they
+had been manufactured.
+
+
+
+The Kitchen.
+
+
+Soups, broths, and stews, &c.--The French word _potage_ must originally
+have signified a soup composed of vegetables and herbs from the kitchen
+garden, but from the remotest times it was applied to soups in general.
+
+As the Gauls, according to Athenaeus, generally ate their meat boiled, we
+must presume that they made soup with the water in which it was cooked. It
+is related that one day Gregory of Tours was sitting at the table of King
+Chilperic, when the latter offered him a soup specially made in his honour
+from chicken. The poems of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries mention
+soups made of peas, of bacon, of vegetables, and of groats. In the
+southern provinces there were soups made of almonds, and of olive oil.
+When Du Gueselin went out to fight the English knight William of
+Blancbourg in single combat, he first ate three sorts of soup made with
+wine, "in honour of the three persons in the Holy Trinity."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 113.--Interior of a Kitchen of the Sixteenth
+Century.--Fac-simile from a Woodcut in the "Calendarium Romanum" of Jean
+Staeffler, folio, Tubingen, 1518.]
+
+We find in the "Menagier," amongst a long list of the common soups the
+receipts for which are given, soup made of "dried peas and the water in
+which bacon has been boiled," and, in Lent, "salted-whale water;"
+watercress soup, cabbage soup, cheese soup, and _gramose_ soup, which was
+prepared by adding stewed meat to the water in which meat had already been
+boiled, and adding beaten eggs and verjuice; and, lastly, the _souppe
+despourvue_, which was rapidly made at the hotels, for unexpected
+travellers, and was a sort of soup made from the odds and ends of the
+larder. In those days there is no doubt but that hot soup formed an
+indispensable part of the daily meals, and that each person took it at
+least twice a day, according to the old proverb:--
+
+ "Soupe la soir, soupe le matin,
+ C'est l'ordinaire du bon chretien."
+
+ ("Soup in the evening, and soup in the morning,
+ Is the everyday food of a good Christian.")
+
+The cooking apparatus of that period consisted of a whole glittering array
+of cauldrons, saucepans, kettles, and vessels of red and yellow copper,
+which hardly sufficed for all the rich soups for which France was so
+famous. Thence the old proverb, "En France sont les grands soupiers."
+
+But besides these soups, which were in fact looked upon as "common, and
+without spice," a number of dishes were served under the generic name of
+soup, which constituted the principal luxuries at the great tables in the
+fourteenth century, but which do not altogether bear out the names under
+which we find them. For instance, there was haricot mutton, a sort of
+stew; thin chicken broth; veal broth with herbs; soup made of veal, roe,
+stag, wild boar, pork, hare and rabbit soup flavoured with green peas, &c.
+
+The greater number of these soups were very rich, very expensive, several
+being served at the same time; and in order to please the eye as well as
+the taste they were generally made of various colours, sweetened with
+sugar, and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and aromatic herbs, such as
+marjoram, sage, thyme, sweet basil, savoury, &c.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 114.--Coppersmith, designed and engraved in the
+Sixteenth Century by J. Amman.]
+
+These descriptions of soups were perfect luxuries, and were taken instead
+of sweets. As a proof of this we must refer to the famous _soupe doree_,
+the description of which is given by Taillevent, head cook of Charles
+VII., in the following words, "Toast slices of bread, throw them into a
+jelly made of sugar, white wine, yolk of egg, and rosewater; when they are
+well soaked fry them, then throw them again into the rosewater and
+sprinkle them with sugar and saffron."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 115.--Kitchen and Table Uensils:--
+
+ 1, Carving-knife (Sixteenth Century);
+ 2, Chalice or Cup, with Cover (Fourteenth Century);
+ 3, Doubled-handled Pot, in Copper (Ninth Century);
+ 4, Metal Boiler, or Tin Pot, taken from "L'Histoire de la Belle Helaine"
+ (Fifteenth Century);
+ 5, Knife (Sixteenth Century);
+ 6, Pot, with Handles (Fourteenth Century);
+ 7, Copper Boiler, taken from "L'Histoire de la Belle Helaine" (Fifteenth
+ Century);
+ 8, Ewer, with Handle, in Oriental Fashion (Ninth Century);
+ 9, Pitcher, sculptured, from among the Decorations of the Church of St.
+ Benedict, Paris (Fifteenth Century);
+ 10, Two-branched Candlestick (Sixteenth Century);
+ 11, Cauldron (Fifteenth Century).
+]
+
+It is possible that even now this kind of soup might find some favour;
+but we cannot say the same for those made with mustard, hemp-seed, millet,
+verjuice, and a number of others much in repute at that period; for we see
+in Rabelais that the French were the greatest soup eaters in the world,
+and boasted to be the inventors of seventy sorts.
+
+We have already remarked that broths were in use at the remotest periods,
+for, from the time that the practice of boiling various meats was first
+adopted, it must have been discovered that the water in which they were so
+boiled became savoury and nourishing. "In the time of the great King
+Francis I.," says Noel du Fail, in his "Contes d'Eutrapel," "in many
+places the saucepan was put on to the table, on which there was only one
+other large dish, of beef, mutton, veal, and bacon, garnished with a large
+bunch of cooked herbs, the whole of which mixture composed a porridge, and
+a real restorer and elixir of life. From this came the adage, 'The soup in
+the great pot and the dainties in the hotch-potch.'"
+
+At one time they made what they imagined to be strengthening broths for
+invalids, though their virtue must have been somewhat delusive, for, after
+having boiled down various materials in a close kettle and at a slow fire,
+they then distilled from this, and the water thus obtained was
+administered as a sovereign remedy. The common sense of Bernard Palissy
+did not fail to make him see this absurdity, and to protest against this
+ridiculous custom: "Take a capon," he says, "a partridge, or anything
+else, cook it well, and then if you smell the broth you will find it very
+good, and if you taste it you will find it has plenty of flavour; so much
+so that you will feel that it contains something to invigorate you. Distil
+this, on the contrary, and take the water then collected and taste it, and
+you will find it insipid, and without smell except that of burning. This
+should convince you that your restorer does not give that nourishment to
+the weak body for which you recommend it as a means of making good blood,
+and restoring and strengthening the spirits."
+
+The taste for broths made of flour was formerly almost universal in France
+and over the whole of Europe; it is spoken of repeatedly in the histories
+and annals of monasteries; and we know that the Normans, who made it their
+principal nutriment, were surnamed _bouilleux_. They were indeed almost
+like the Romans who in olden times, before their wars with eastern
+nations, gave up making bread, and ate their corn simply boiled in water.
+
+In the fourteenth century the broths and soups were made with
+millet-flour and mixed wheats. The pure wheat flour was steeped in milk
+seasoned with sugar, saffron, honey, sweet wine or aromatic herbs, and
+sometimes butter, fat, and yolks of eggs were added. It was on account of
+this that the bread of the ancients so much resembled cakes, and it was
+also from this fact that the art of the pastrycook took its rise.
+
+Wheat made into gruel for a long time was an important ingredient in
+cooking, being the basis of a famous preparation called _fromentee_, which
+was a _bouillie_ of milk, made creamy by the addition of yolks of eggs,
+and which served as a liquor in which to roast meats and fish. There were,
+besides, several sorts of _fromentee_, all equally esteemed, and
+Taillevent recommended the following receipt, which differs from the one
+above given:--"First boil your wheat in water, then put into it the juice
+or gravy of fat meat, or, if you like it better, milk of almonds, and by
+this means you will make a soup fit for fasts, because it dissolves
+slowly, is of slow digestion and nourishes much. In this way, too, you can
+make _ordiat_, or barley soup, which is more generally approved than the
+said _fromentee_."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 116.--Interior of a Kitchen.--Fac-simile from a
+Woodcut in the "Calendarium Romanum" of J. Staeffler, folio, Tubingen,
+1518.]
+
+Semolina, vermicelli, macaroni, &c., which were called Italian because
+they originally came from that country, have been in use in France longer
+than is generally supposed. They were first introduced after the
+expedition of Charles VIII. into Italy, and the conquest of the kingdom of
+Naples; that is, in the reign of Louis XII., or the first years of the
+sixteenth century.
+
+Pies, Stews, Roasts, Salads, &c.--Pastry made with fat, which might be
+supposed to have been the invention of modern kitchens, was in great
+repute amongst our ancestors. The manufacture of sweet and savoury pastry
+was intrusted to the care of the good _menagiers_ of all ranks and
+conditions, and to the corporation of pastrycooks, who obtained their
+statutes only in the middle of the sixteenth century; the united skill of
+these, both in Paris and in the provinces, multiplied the different sorts
+of tarts and meat pies to a very great extent. So much was this the case
+that these ingenious productions became a special art, worthy of rivalling
+even cookery itself (Figs. 117, 118, and 130). One of the earliest known
+receipts for making pies is that of Gaces de la Bigne, first chaplain of
+Kings John, Charles V., and Charles VI. We find it in a sporting poem, and
+it deserves to be quoted verbatim as a record of the royal kitchen of the
+fourteenth century. It will be observed on perusing it that nothing was
+spared either in pastry or in cookery, and that expense was not considered
+when it was a question of satisfying the appetite.
+
+ "Trois perdriaulx gros et reffais
+ Au milieu du pate me mets;
+ Mais gardes bien que tu ne failles
+ A moi prendre six grosses cailles,
+ De quoi tu les apuyeras.
+ Et puis apres tu me prendras
+ Une douzaine d'alouetes
+ Qu'environ les cailles me mettes,
+ Et puis pendras de ces maches
+ Et de ces petits oiseles:
+ Selon ce que tu en auras,
+ Le pate m'en billeteras.
+ Or te fault faire pourveance
+ D'un pen de lart, sans point de rance,
+ Que tu tailleras comme de:
+ S'en sera le paste pouldre.
+ S tu le veux de bonne guise,
+ Du vertjus la grappe y soit mise,
+ D'un bien peu de sel soit pouldre ...
+ ... Fay mettre des oeufs en la paste,
+ Les croutes un peu rudement
+ Faictes de flour de pur froment ...
+ ... N'y mets espices ni fromaige ...
+ Au four bien a point chaud le met,
+ Qui de cendre ait l'atre bien net;
+ E quand sera bien a point cuit,
+ I n'est si bon mangier, ce cuit."
+
+ ("Put me in the middle of the pie three young partridges large and fat;
+ But take good care not to fail to take six fine quail to put by their
+ side.
+ After that you must take a dozen skylarks, which round the quail you must
+ place;
+ And then you must take some thrushes and such other little birds as you
+ can get to garnish the pie.
+ Further, you must provide yourself with a little bacon, which must not be
+ in the least rank (reasty), and you must cut it into pieces of the size
+ of a die, and sprinkle them into the pie.
+ If you want it to be in quite good form, you must put some sour grapes in
+ and a very little salt ...
+ ... Have eggs put into the paste, and the crust made rather hard of the
+ flour of pure wheat.
+ Put in neither spice nor cheese ...
+ Put it into the oven just at the proper heat,
+ The bottom of which must be quite free from ashes;
+ And when it is baked enough, isn't that a dish to feast on!")
+
+From this period all treatises on cookery are full of the same kind of
+receipts for making "pies of young chickens, of fresh venison, of veal, of
+eels, of bream and salmon, of young rabbits, of pigeons, of small birds,
+of geese, and of _narrois_" (a mixture of cod's liver and hashed fish). We
+may mention also the small pies, which were made of minced beef and
+raisins, similar to our mince pies, and which were hawked in the streets
+of Paris, until their sale was forbidden, because the trade encouraged
+greediness on the one hand and laziness on the other.
+
+Ancient pastries, owing to their shapes, received the name of _tourte_ or
+_tarte_, from the Latin _torta_, a large hunch of bread. This name was
+afterwards exclusively used for hot pies, whether they contained
+vegetables, meat, or fish. But towards the end of the fourteenth century
+_tourte_ and _tarte_ was applied to pastry containing, herbs, fruits, or
+preserves, and _pate_ to those containing any kind of meat, game, or fish.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 117.--Banner of the Corporation of Pastrycooks of
+Caen.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 118.--Banner of the Corporation of Pastrycooks of
+Bordeaux.]
+
+It was only in the course of the sixteenth century that the name of
+_potage_ ceased to be applied to stews, whose number equalled their
+variety, for on a bill of fare of a banquet of that period we find more
+than fifty different sorts of _potages_ mentioned. The greater number of
+these dishes have disappeared from our books on cookery, having gone out
+of fashion; but there are two stews which were popular during many
+centuries, and which have maintained their reputation, although they do
+not now exactly represent what they formerly did. The _pot-pourri_, which
+was composed of veal, beef, mutton, bacon, and vegetables, and the
+_galimafree_, a fricassee of poultry, sprinkled with verjuice, flavoured
+with spices, and surrounded by a sauce composed of vinegar, bread crumbs,
+cinnamon, ginger, &c. (Fig. 119).
+
+The highest aim of the cooks of the Taillevent school was to make dishes
+not only palatable, but also pleasing to the eye. These masters in the art
+of cooking might be said to be both sculptors and painters, so much did
+they decorate their works, their object being to surprise or amuse the
+guests by concealing the real nature of the disbes. Froissart, speaking of
+a repast given in his time, says that there were a number of "dishes so
+curious and disguised that it was impossible to guess what they were." For
+instance, the bill of fare above referred to mentions a lion and a sun
+made of white chicken, a pink jelly, with diamond-shaped points; and, as
+if the object of cookery was to disguise food and deceive epicures,
+Taillevent facetiously gives us a receipt for making fried or roast butter
+and for cooking eggs on the spit.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 119.--Interior of Italian Kitchen.--Fac-simile of a
+Woodcut in the Book on Cookery of Christoforo di Messisburgo, "Banchetti
+compositioni di Vivende," 4to., Ferrara, 1549.]
+
+The roasts were as numerous as the stews. A treatise of the fourteenth
+century names about thirty, beginning with a sirloin of beef, which must
+have been one of the most common, and ending with a swan, which appeared
+on table in full plumage. This last was the triumph of cookery, inasmuch
+as it presented this magnificent bird to the eyes of the astonished guests
+just as if he were living and swimming. His beak was gilt, his body
+silvered, resting 'on a mass of brown pastry, painted green in order to
+represent a grass field. Eight banners of silk were placed round, and a
+cloth of the same material served as a carpet for the whole dish, which
+towered above the other appointments of the table.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 120.--Hunting-Meal.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the
+Manuscript of the "Livre du Roy Modus" (National Library of Paris).]
+
+The peacock, which was as much thought of then as it is little valued now,
+was similarly arrayed, and was brought to table amidst a flourish of
+trumpets and the applause of all present. The modes of preparing other
+roasts much resembled the present system in their simplicity, with this
+difference, that strong meats were first boiled to render them tender, and
+no roast was ever handed over to the skill of the carver without first
+being thoroughly basted with orange juice and rose water, and covered with
+sugar and powdered spices.
+
+We must not forget to mention the broiled dishes, the invention of which
+is attributed to hunters, and which Rabelais continually refers to as
+acting as stimulants and irresistibly exciting the thirst for wine at the
+sumptuous feasts of those voracious heroes (Fig. 120).
+
+The custom of introducing salads after roasts was already established in
+the fifteenth century. However, a salad, of whatever sort, was never
+brought to table in its natural state; for, besides the raw herbs, dressed
+in the same manner as in our days, it contained several mixtures, such as
+cooked vegetables, and the crests, livers, or brains of poultry. After the
+salads fish was served; sometimes fried, sometimes sliced with eggs or
+reduced to a sort of pulp, which was called _carpee_ or _charpie_, and
+sometimes it was boiled in water or wine, with strong seasoning. Near the
+salads, in the course of the dinner, dishes of eggs prepared in various
+ways were generally served. Many of these are now in use, such as the
+poached egg, the hard-boiled egg, egg sauce, &c.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 121.--Shop of a Grocer and Druggist, from a Stamp of Vriese
+(Seventeenth Century).]
+
+Seasonings.--We have already stated that the taste for spices much
+increased in Europe after the Crusades; and in this rapid historical
+sketch of the food of the French people in the Middle Ages it must have
+been observed to what an extent this taste had become developed in France
+(Fig. 121). This was the origin of sauces, all, or almost all, of which
+were highly spiced, and were generally used with boiled, roast, or grilled
+meats. A few of these sauces, such as the yellow, the green, and the
+_cameline_, became so necessary in cooking that numerous persons took to
+manufacturing them by wholesale, and they were hawked in the streets of
+Paris.
+
+These sauce-criers were first called _saulciers_, then
+_vinaigriers-moustardiers_, and when Louis XII. united them in a body, as
+their business had considerably increased, they were termed
+_sauciers-moutardiers-vinaigriers_, distillers of brandy and spirits of
+wine, and _buffetiers_ (from _buffet_, a sideboard).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 122.--The Cook, drawn and engraved, in the Sixteenth
+Century, by J. Amman.]
+
+But very soon the corporation became divided, no doubt from the force of
+circumstances; and on one side we find the distillers, and on the other
+the master-cooks and cooks, or _porte-chapes_, as they were called,
+because, when they carried on their business of cooking, they covered
+their dishes with a _chape_, that is, a cope or tin cover (Fig. 122), so
+as to keep them warm.
+
+The list of sauces of the fourteenth century, given by the "Menagier de
+Paris," is most complicated; but, on examining the receipts, it becomes
+clear that the variety of those preparations, intended to sharpen the
+appetite, resulted principally from the spicy ingredients with which they
+were flavoured; and it is here worthy of remark that pepper, in these days
+exclusively obtained from America, was known and generally used long
+before the time of Columbus. It is mentioned in a document, of the time
+of Clotaire III. (660); and it is clear, therefore, that before the
+discovery of the New World pepper and spices were imported into Europe
+from the East.
+
+Mustard, which was an ingredient in so many dishes, was cultivated and
+manufactured in the thirteenth century in the neighbourhood of Dijon and
+Angers.
+
+According to a popular adage, garlic was the medicine (_theriaque_) of
+peasants; town-people for a long time greatly appreciated _aillee_, which
+was a sauce made of garlic, and sold ready prepared in the streets of
+Paris.
+
+The custom of using anchovies as a flavouring is also very ancient. This
+was also done with _botargue_ and _cavial_, two sorts of side-dishes,
+which consisted of fishes' eggs, chiefly mullet and sturgeon, properly
+salted or dried, and mixed with fresh or pickled olives. The olives for
+the use of the lower orders were brought from Languedoc and Provence,
+whereas those for the rich were imported from Spain and some from Syria.
+It was also from the south of France that the rest of the kingdom was
+supplied with olive oil, for which, to this day, those provinces have
+preserved their renown; but as early as the twelfth and thirteenth
+centuries oil of walnuts was brought from the centre of France to Paris,
+and this, although cheaper, was superseded by oil extracted from the
+poppy.
+
+Truffles, though known and esteemed by the ancients, disappeared from the
+gastronomie collection of our forefathers. It was only in the fourteenth
+century that they were again introduced, but evidently without a knowledge
+of their culinary qualities, since, after being preserved in vinegar, they
+were soaked in hot water, and afterwards served up in butter. We may also
+here mention sorrel and the common mushroom, which were used in cooking
+during the Middle Ages.
+
+On the strength of the old proverb, "Sugar has never spoiled sauce," sugar
+was put into all sauces which were not _piquantes_, and generally some
+perfumed water was added to them, such as rose-water. This was made in
+great quantities by exposing to the sun a basin full of water, covered
+over by another basin of glass, under which was a little vase containing
+rose-leaves. This rose-water was added to all stews, pastries, and
+beverages. It is very doubtful as to the period at which white lump sugar
+became known in the West. However, in an account of the house of the
+Dauphin Viennois (1333) mention is made of "white sugar;" and the author
+of the "Menagier de Paris" frequently speaks of this white sugar, which,
+before the discovery, or rather colonisation, of America, was brought,
+ready refined, from the Grecian islands, and especially from Candia.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 123.--The _Issue de Table_.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut
+in the Treatise of Christoforo di Messisburgo, "Banchetti compositioni di
+Vivende," 4to., Ferrara, 1549.]
+
+Verjuice, or green juice, which, with vinegar, formed the essential basis
+of sauces, and is now extracted from a species of green grape, which never
+ripens, was originally the juice of sorrel; another sort was extracted by
+pounding the green blades of wheat. Vinegar was originally merely soured
+wine, as the word _vin-aigre_ denotes. The mode of manufacturing it by
+artificial means, in order to render the taste more pungent and the
+quality better, is very ancient. It is needless to state that it was
+scented by the infusion of herbs or flowers--roses, elder, cloves, &c.;
+but it was not much before the sixteenth century that it was used for
+pickling herbs or fruits and vegetables, such as gherkins, onions,
+cucumber, purslain, &c.
+
+Salt, which from the remotest periods was the condiment _par excellence_,
+and the trade in which had been free up to the fourteenth century, became,
+from that period, the subject of repeated taxation. The levying of these
+taxes was a frequent cause of tumult amongst the people, who saw with
+marked displeasure the exigencies of the excise gradually raising the
+price of an article of primary necessity. We have already mentioned times
+during which the price of salt was so exorbitant that the rich alone could
+put it in their bread. Thus, in the reign of Francis I., it was almost as
+dear as Indian spices.
+
+Sweet Dishes, Desserts, &c.--In the fourteenth century, the first courses
+of a repast were called _mets_ or _assiettes_; the last, "_entremets,
+dorures, issue de table, desserte_, and _boule-hors_."
+
+The dessert consisted generally of baked pears, medlars, pealed walnuts,
+figs, dates, peaches, grapes, filberts, spices, and white or red
+sugar-plums.
+
+At the _issue de table_ wafers or some other light pastry were introduced,
+which were eaten with the hypocras wine. The _boute-hors,_ which was
+served when the guests, after having washed their hands and said grace,
+had passed into the drawing-room, consisted of spices, different from
+those which had appeared at dessert, and intended specially to assist the
+digestion; and for this object they must have been much needed,
+considering that a repast lasted several hours. Whilst eating these spices
+they drank Grenache, Malmsey, or aromatic wines (Fig. 123).
+
+It was only at the banquets and great repeats that sweet dishes and
+_dorures_ appeared, and they seem to have been introduced for the purpose
+of exhibiting the power of the imagination and the talent in execution of
+the master-cook.
+
+The _dorures_ consisted of jellies of all sorts and colours; swans,
+peacocks, bitterns, and herons, on gala feasts, were served in full
+feather on a raised platform in the middle of the table, and hence the
+name of "raised dishes." As for the side-dishes, properly so called, the
+long list collected in the "Menagier" shows us that they were served at
+table indiscriminately, for stuffed chickens at times followed hashed
+porpoise in sauce, lark pies succeeded lamb sausages, and pike's-eggs
+fritters appeared after orange preserve.
+
+At a later period the luxury of side-dishes consisted in the quantity and
+in the variety of the pastry; Rabelais names sixteen different sorts at
+one repast; Taillevent mentions pastry called _covered pastry,
+Bourbonnaise pastry, double-faced pastry, pear pastry_, and _apple
+pastry_; Platina speaks of the _white pastry_ with quince, elder flowers,
+rice, roses, chestnuts, &c. The fashion of having pastry is, however, of
+very ancient date, for in the book of the "Proverbs" of the thirteenth
+century, we find that the pies of Dourlens and the pastry of Chartres were
+then in great celebrity.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 124.--The Table of a Baron, as laid out in the
+Thirteenth Century.--Miniature from the "Histoire de St. Graal"
+(Manuscript from the Imperial Library, Paris).]
+
+In a charter of Robert le Bouillon, Bishop of Amiens, in 1311, mention is
+made of a cake composed of puff flaky paste; these cakes, however, are
+less ancient than the firm pastry called bean cake, or king's cake, which,
+from the earliest days of monarchy, appeared on all the tables, not only
+at the feast of the Epiphany, but also on every festive occasion.
+
+Amongst the dry and sweet pastries from the small oven which appeared at
+the _issue de table_, the first to be noticed were those made of almonds,
+nuts, &c., and such choice morsels, which were very expensive; then came
+the cream or cheesecakes, the _petits choux_, made of butter and eggs; the
+_echaudes_, of which the people were very fond, and St. Louis even
+allowed the bakers to cook them on Sundays and feast days for the poor;
+wafers, which are older than the thirteenth century; and lastly the
+_oublies_, which, under the names of _nieules, esterets_, and
+_supplications_, gave rise to such an extensive trade that a corporation
+was established in Paris, called the _oublayeurs, oublayers,_ or
+_oublieux_, whose statutes directed that none should be admitted to
+exercise the trade unless he was able to make in one day 500 large
+_oublies_, 300 _supplications_, and 200 _esterets_.
+
+
+
+Repasts and Feasts.
+
+
+We have had to treat elsewhere of the rules and regulations of the repasts
+under the Merovingian and Carlovingian kings. We have also spoken of the
+table service of the thirteenth century (see chapter on "Private Life").
+The earliest author who has left us any documents on this curious subject
+is that excellent bourgeois to whom we owe the "Menagier de Paris." He
+describes, for instance, in its fullest details, a repast which was given
+in the fourteenth century by the Abbe de Lagny, to the Bishop of Paris,
+the President of the Parliament, the King's attorney and advocate, and
+other members of his council, in all sixteen guests. We find from this
+account that "my lord of Paris, occupying the place of honour, was, in
+consequence of his rank, served on covered dishes by three of his squires,
+as was the custom for the King, the royal princes, the dukes, and peers;
+that Master President, who was seated by the side of the bishop, was also
+served by one of his own servants, but on uncovered dishes, and the other
+guests were seated at table according to the order indicated by their
+titles or charges."
+
+The bill of fare of this feast, which was given on a fast-day, is the more
+worthy of attention, in that it proves to us what numerous resources
+cookery already possessed. This was especially the case as regards fish,
+notwithstanding that the transport of fresh sea-fish was so difficult,
+owing to the bad state of the roads.
+
+First, a quarter of a pint of Grenache was given to each guest on sitting
+down, then "hot _eschaudes_, roast apples with white sugar-plums upon
+them, roasted figs, sorrel and watercress, and rosemary."
+
+"Soups.--A rich soup, composed of six trout, six tenches, white herring,
+freshwater eels, salted twenty-four hours, and three whiting, soaked
+twelve hours; almonds, ginger, saffron, cinnamon powder and sweetmeats.
+
+"Salt-Water Fish.--Soles, gurnets, congers, turbots, and salmon.
+
+"Fresh-Water Fish.--_Lux faudis_ (pike with roe), carps from the Marne,
+breams.
+
+"Side-Dishes.--Lampreys _a la boee_, orange-apples (one for each guest),
+porpoise with sauce, mackerel, soles, bream, and shad _a la cameline_,
+with verjuice, rice and fried almonds upon them; sugar and apples.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 125.--Officers of the Table and of the Chamber of the
+Imperial Court: Cup-bearer, Cook, Barber, and Tailor, from a Picture in
+the "Triomphe de Maximilien T.," engraved by J. Resch, Burgmayer, and
+others (1512), from Drawings by Albert Durer.]
+
+"Dessert.--Stewed fruit with white and vermilion sugar-plums; figs, dates,
+grapes, and filberts.
+
+"Hypocras for _issue de table_, with _oublies_ and _supplications_.
+
+"Wines and spices compose the _baute-hors_."
+
+To this fasting repast we give by way of contrast the bill of fare at the
+nuptial feast of Master Helye, "to which forty guests were bidden on a
+Tuesday in May, a 'day of flesh.'"
+
+"Soups.--Capons with white sauce, ornamented with pomegranate and crimson
+sweetmeats.
+
+"Roasts.--Quarter of roe-deer, goslings, young chickens, and sauces of
+orange, cameline, and verjuice.
+
+"Side-Dishes.--Jellies of crayfish and loach; young rabbits and pork.
+
+"Dessert.--_Froumentee_ and venison.
+
+"Issue.--Hypocras.
+
+"Boute-Hors.--Wine and spices."
+
+The clever editor of the "Menagier de Paris," M. le Baron Jerome Pichon,
+after giving us this curious account of the mode of living of the citizens
+of that day, thus sums up the whole arrangements for the table in the
+fourteenth century: "The different provisions necessary for food are
+usually entrusted to the squires of the kitchen, and were chosen,
+purchased, and paid for by one or more of these officials, assisted by the
+cooks. The dishes prepared by the cooks were placed, by the help of the
+esquires, on dressers in the kitchen until the moment of serving. Thence
+they were carried to the tables. Let us imagine a vast hall hung with
+tapestries and other brilliant stuffs. The tables are covered with fringed
+table-cloths, and strewn with odoriferous herbs; one of them, called the
+Great Table, is reserved for the persons of distinction. The guests are
+taken to their seats by two butlers, who bring them water to wash. The
+Great Table is laid out by a butler, with silver salt-cellars (Figs. 126
+and 127), golden goblets with lids for the high personages, spoons and
+silver drinking cups. The guests eat at least certain dishes on
+_tranchoirs_, or large slices of thick bread, afterwards thrown into vases
+called _couloueres_ (drainers). For the other tables the salt is placed on
+pieces of bread, scooped out for that purpose by the intendants, who are
+called _porte-chappes._ In the hall is a dresser covered with plate and
+various kinds of wine. Two squires standing near this dresser give the
+guests clean spoons, pour out what wine they ask for, and remove the
+silver when used; two other squires superintend the conveyance of wine to
+the dresser; a varlet placed under their orders is occupied with nothing
+but drawing wine from the casks." At that time wine was not bottled, and
+they drew directly from the cask the amount necessary for the day's
+consumption. "The dishes, consisting of three, four, five, and even six
+courses, called _mets_ or _assiettes_, are brought in by varlets and two
+of the principal squires, and in certain wedding-feasts the bridegroom
+walked in front of them. The dishes are placed on the table by an
+_asseeur_ (placer), assisted by two servants. The latter take away the
+remains at the conclusion of the course, and hand them over to the
+squires of the kitchen who have charge of them. After the _mets_ or
+_assiettes_ the table-cloths are changed, and the _entremets_ are then
+brought in. This course is the most brilliant of the repast, and at some
+of the princely banquets the dishes are made to imitate a sort of
+theatrical representation. It is composed of sweet dishes, of coloured
+jellies of swans, of peacocks, or of pheasants adorned with their
+feathers, having the beak and feet gilt, and placed on the middle of the
+table on a sort of pedestal. To the _entremets_, a course which does not
+appear on all bills of fare, succeeds the dessert. The _issue_, or exit
+from table, is mostly composed of hypocras and a sort of _oublie_ called
+_mestier_; or, in summer, when hypocras is out of season on account of its
+strength, of apples, cheeses, and sometimes of pastries and sweetmeats.
+The _boute-hors_ (wines and spices) end the repast. The guests then wash
+their hands, say grace, and pass into the _chambre de parement_ or
+drawing-room. The servants then sit down and dine after their masters.
+They subsequently bring the guests wine and _epices de chambre_, after
+which each retires home."
+
+[Illustration: Figs. 126 and 127.--Sides of an Enamelled Salt-cellar, with
+six facings representing the Labours of Hercules, made at Limoges, by
+Pierre Raymond, for Francis I.]
+
+But all the pomp and magnificence of the feasts of this period would have
+appeared paltry a century later, when royal banquets were managed by
+Taillevent, head cook to Charles VII. The historian of French cookery,
+Legrand d'Aussy, thus desoribes a great feast given in 1455 by the Count
+of Anjou, third son of Louis II., King of Sicily:--
+
+"On the table was placed a centre-piece, which represented a green lawn,
+surrounded with large peacocks' feathers and green branches, to which were
+tied violets and other sweet-smelling flowers. In the middle of this lawn
+a fortress was placed, covered with silver. This was hollow, and formed a
+sort of cage, in which several live birds were shut up, their tufts and
+feet being gilt. On its tower, which was gilt, three banners were placed,
+one bearing the arms of the count, the two others those of Mesdemoiselles
+de Chateaubrun and de Villequier, in whose honour the feast was given.
+
+"The first course consisted of a civet of hare, a quarter of stag which
+had been a night in salt, a stuffed chicken, and a loin of veal. The two
+last dishes were covered with a German sauce, with gilt sugar-plums, and
+pomegranate seeds.... At each end, outside the green lawn, was an enormous
+pie, surmounted with smaller pies, which formed a crown. The crust of the
+large ones was silvered all round and gilt at the top; each contained a
+whole roe-deer, a gosling, three capons, six chickens, ten pigeons, one
+young rabbit, and, no doubt to serve as seasoning or stuffing, a minced
+loin of veal, two pounds of fat, and twenty-six hard-boiled eggs, covered
+with saffron and flavoured with cloves. For the three following courses,
+there was a roe-deer, a pig, a sturgeon cooked in parsley and vinegar, and
+covered with powdered ginger; a kid, two goslings, twelve chickens, as
+many pigeons, six young rabbits, two herons, a leveret, a fat capon
+stuffed, four chickens covered with yolks of eggs and sprinkled with
+powder _de Duc_ (spice), a wild boar, some wafers (_darioles_), and stars;
+a jelly, part white and part red, representing the crests of the three
+above-mentioned persons; cream with _Duc_ powder, covered with fennel
+seeds preserved in sugar; a white cream, cheese in slices, and
+strawberries; and, lastly, plums stewed in rose-water. Besides these four
+courses, there was a fifth, entirely composed of the prepared wines then
+in vogue, and of preserves. These consisted of fruits and various sweet
+pastries. The pastries represented stags and swans, to the necks of which
+were suspended the arms of the Count of Anjou and those of the two young
+ladies."
+
+In great houses, dinner was announced by the sound of the hunting-horn;
+this is what Froissard calls _corner l'assiette,_ but which was at an
+earlier period called _corner l'eau_, because it was the custom to wash
+the hands before sitting down to table as well as on leaving the
+dining-room.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 128.--Knife-handles in Sculptured Ivory, Sixteenth
+Century (Collection of M. Becker, of Frankfort).]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 129.--Nut-crackers, in Boxwood, Sixteenth Century
+(Collection of M. Achille Jubinal).]
+
+For these ablutions scented water, and especially rose-water, was used,
+brought in ewers of precious and delicately wrought metals, by pages or
+squires, who handed them to the ladies in silver basins. It was at about
+this period, that is, in the times of chivalry, that the custom of placing
+the guests by couples was introduced, generally a gentleman and lady, each
+couple having but one cup and one plate; hence the expression, to eat from
+the same plate.
+
+Historians relate that in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, at
+certain gala feasts, the dishes were brought in by servants in full
+armour, mounted on caparisoned horses; but this is a custom exclusively
+attached to chivalry. As early as those days, powerful and ingenious
+machines were in use, which lowered from the story above, or raised from
+that below, ready-served tables, which were made to disappear after use as
+if by enchantment.
+
+At that period the table service of the wealthy required a considerable
+staff of retainers and varlets; and, at a later period, this number was
+much increased. Thus, for instance, when Louis of Orleans went on a
+diplomatic mission to Germany from his brother Charles VI., this prince,
+in order that France might be worthily represented abroad, raised the
+number of his household to more than two hundred and fifty persons, of
+whom about one hundred were retainers and table attendants. Olivier de la
+Marche, who, in his "Memoires," gives the most minute details of the
+ceremonial of the court of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, tells us
+that the table service was as extensive as in the other great princely
+houses.
+
+This extravagant and ruinous pomp fell into disuse during the reigns of
+Louis XI., Charles VIII., and Louis XII., but reappeared in that of
+Francis I. This prince, after his first wars in Italy, imported the
+cookery and the gastronomic luxury of that country, where the art of good
+living, especially in Venice, Florence, and Rome, had reached the highest
+degree of refinement and magnificence. Henry II. and Francis II.
+maintained the magnificence of their royal tables; but after them,
+notwithstanding the soft effeminacy of the manners at court, the continued
+wars which Henry III. and Charles IX. had to sustain in their own states
+against the Protestants and the League necessitated a considerable economy
+in the households and tables of those kings.
+
+"It was only by fits and starts," says Brantome, "that one was well fed
+during this reign, for very often circumstances prevented the proper
+preparation of the repasts; a thing much disliked by the courtiers, who
+prefer open table to be kept at both court and with the army, because it
+then costs them nothing." Henry IV. was neither fastidious nor greedy; we
+must therefore come down to the reign of Louis XIII. to find a vestige of
+the splendour of the banquets of Francis I.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 130.--Grand Ceremonial Banquet at the Court of France
+in the Fourteenth Century, archaeological Restoration from Miniatures and
+Narratives of the Period.
+
+From the "Dictionnaire du Mobilier Francais" of M. Viollet-Leduc.]
+
+From the establishment of the Franks in Gaul down to the fifteenth century
+inclusive, there were but two meals a day; people dined at ten o'clock in
+the morning, and supped at four in the afternoon. In the sixteenth century
+they put back dinner one hour and supper three hours, to which many people
+objected. Hence the old proverb:--
+
+ "Lever a six, diner a dix,
+ Souper a six, coucher a dix,
+ Fait vivre l'homme dix fois dix."
+
+ ("To rise at six, dine at ten,
+ Sup at six, to bed at ten,
+ Makes man live ten times ten.")
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 131.--Banner of the Corporation of Pastrycooks of
+Tonnerre.]
+
+
+
+
+Hunting.
+
+
+
+ Venery and Hawking.--Origin of Aix-la-Chapelle.--Gaston Phoebus and his
+ Book.--The Presiding Deities of Sportsmen.--Sporting Societies and
+ Brotherhoods.--Sporting Kings: Charlemagne, Louis IX., Louis XI.,
+ Charles VIII., Louis XII., Francis I., &c.--Treatise on
+ Venery.--Sporting Popes.--Origin of Hawking.--Training Birds.--Hawking
+ Retinues.--Book of King Modus.--Technical Terms used in
+ Hawking.--Persons who have excelled in this kind of Sport.--Fowling.
+
+
+By the general term hunting is included the three distinct branches of an
+art, or it may be called a science, which dates its origin from the
+earliest times, but which was particularly esteemed in the Middle Ages,
+and was especially cultivated in the glorious days of chivalry.
+
+_Venery_, which is the earliest, is defined by M. Elzear Blaze as "the
+science of snaring, taking, or killing one particular animal from amongst
+a herd." _Hawking_ came next. This was not only the art of hunting with
+the falcon, but that of training birds of prey to hunt feathered game.
+Lastly, _l'oisellerie_ (fowling), which, according to the author of
+several well-known works on the subject we are discussing, had originally
+no other object than that of protecting the crops and fruits from birds
+and other animals whose nature it was to feed on them.
+
+Venery will be first considered. Sportsmen always pride themselves in
+placing Xenophon, the general, philosopher, and historian, at the head of
+sporting writers, although his treatise on the chase (translated from the
+Greek into Latin under the title of "De Venatione"), which gives excellent
+advice respecting the training of dogs, only speaks of traps and nets for
+capturing wild animals. Amongst the Greeks Arrian and Oppian, and amongst
+the Romans, Gratius Faliscus and Nemesianus, wrote on the same subject.
+Their works, however, except in a few isolated or scattered passages, do
+not contain anything about venery properly so called, and the first
+historical information on the subject is to be found in the records of the
+seventh century.
+
+Long after that period, however, they still hunted, as it were, at random,
+attacking the first animal they met. The sports of Charlemagne, for
+instance, were almost always of this description. On some occasions they
+killed animals of all sorts by thousands, after having tracked and driven
+them into an enclosure composed of cloths or nets.
+
+This illustrious Emperor, although usually at war in all parts of Europe,
+never missed an opportunity of hunting: so much so that it might be said
+that he rested himself by galloping through the forests. He was on these
+occasions not only followed by a large number of huntsmen and attendants
+of his household, but he was accompanied by his wife and daughters,
+mounted on magnificent coursers, and surrounded by a numerous and elegant
+court, who vied with each other in displaying their skill and courage in
+attacking the fiercest animals.
+
+It is even stated that Aix-la-Chapelle owes its origin to a hunting
+adventure of Charlemagne. The Emperor one day while chasing a stag
+required to cross a brook which came in his path, but immediately his
+horse had set his foot in the water he pulled it out again and began to
+limp as if it were hurt. His noble rider dismounted, and on feeling the
+foot found it was quite hot. This induced him to put his hand into the
+water, which he found to be almost boiling. On that very spot therefore he
+caused a chapel to be erected, in the shape of a horse's hoof. The town
+was afterwards built, and to this day the spring of hot mineral water is
+enclosed under a rotunda, the shape of which reminds one of the old legend
+of Charlemagne and his horse.
+
+The sons of Charlemagne also held hunting in much esteem, and by degrees
+the art of venery was introduced and carried to great perfection. It was
+not, however, until the end of the thirteenth century that an anonymous
+author conceived the idea of writing its principal precepts in an
+instructive poem, called "Le Dict de la Chace du Cerf." In 1328 another
+anonymous writer composed the "Livre du Roy Modus," which contains the
+rules for hunting all furred animals, from the stag to the hare. Then
+followed other poets and writers of French prose, such as Gace de la Vigne
+(1359), Gaston Phoebus (1387), and Hardouin, lord of Fontaine-Guerin
+(1394). None of these, however, wrote exclusively on venery, but described
+the different sports known in their day. Towards 1340, Alphonse XI., king
+of Castile, caused a book on hunting to be compiled for his use; but it
+was not so popular as the instruction of Gaston Phoebus (Fig. 132). If
+hunting with hounds is known everywhere by the French name of the chase,
+it is because the honour of having organized it into a system, if not of
+having originated it, is due to the early French sporting authors, who
+were able to form a code of rules for it. This also accounts for so many
+of the technical terms now in use in venery being of French origin, as
+they are no others than those adopted by these ancient authors, whose
+works, so to speak, have perpetuated them.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 132.--Gaston Phoebus teaching the Art of
+Venery.--Fac-simile of a Miniature of "Phoebus and his Staff for Hunting
+Wild Animals and Birds of Prey" (Manuscript, Fifteenth Century, National
+Library of Paris)]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 133.--"How to carry a Cloth to approach
+Beasts."--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the Manuscript of Phoebus
+(Fifteenth Century).]
+
+The curious miniatures which accompany the text in the original manuscript
+of Gaston Phoebus, and which have been reproduced in nearly all the
+ancient copies of this celebrated manuscript, give most distinct and
+graphic ideas of the various modes of hunting. We find, for instance, that
+the use of an artificial cow for approaching wild-fowl was understood at
+that time, the only difference being that a model was used more like a
+horse than a cow (Fig. 133); we also see sportsmen shooting at bears, wild
+boars, stags, and such live animals with arrows having sharp iron points,
+intended to enter deep into the flesh, notwithstanding the thickness of
+the fur and the creature's hard skin. In the case of the hare, however,
+the missile had a heavy, massive end, probably made of lead, which stunned
+him without piercing his body (Fig. 134). In other cases the sportsman is
+represented with a crossbow seated in a cart, all covered up with boughs,
+by which plan he was supposed to approach the prey without alarming it
+any more than a swinging branch would do (Fig. 135).
+
+Gaston Phoebus is known to have been one of the bravest knights of his
+time; and, after fighting, he considered hunting as his greatest delight.
+Somewhat ingenuously he writes of himself as a hunter, "that he doubts
+having any superior." Like all his contemporaries, he is eloquent as to
+the moral effect of his favourite pastime. "By hunting," he says, "one
+avoids the sin of indolence; and, according to our faith, he who avoids
+the seven mortal sins will be saved; therefore the good sportsman will be
+saved."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 134.--"How to allure the Hare."--Fac-simile of a
+Miniature in the Manuscript of Phoebus (Fifteenth Century).]
+
+From the earliest ages sportsmen placed themselves under the protection of
+some special deity. Among the Greeks and Romans it was Diana and Phoebe.
+The Gauls, who had adopted the greater number of the gods and goddesses of
+Rome, invoked the moon when they sallied forth to war or to the chase;
+but, as soon as they penetrated the sacred obscurity of the forests, they
+appealed more particularly to the goddess _Ardhuina_, whose name, of
+unknown origin, has probably since been applied to the immense
+well-stocked forests of Ardenne or Ardennes. They erected in the depths of
+the woods monstrous stone figures in honour of this goddess, such as the
+heads of stags on the bodies of men or women; and, to propitiate her
+during the chase, they hung round these idols the feet, the skins, and the
+horns of the beasts they killed. Cernunnos, who was always represented
+with a human head surmounted by stags' horns, had an altar even in
+Lutetia, which was, no doubt, in consequence of the great woods which
+skirted the banks of the Seine.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 135.--"How to take a Cart to allure
+Beasts."--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the Manuscript of Phoebus
+(Fifteenth Century).]
+
+The Gallic Cernunnos, which we also find among the Romans, since Ovid
+mentions the votary stags' horns, continued to be worshipped to a certain
+extent after the establishment of the Christian religion. In the fifth
+century, Germain, an intrepid hunter, who afterwards became Bishop of
+Auxerre, possessed not far from his residence an oak of enormous diameter,
+a thorough Cernunnos, which he hung with the skins and other portions of
+animals he had killed in the chase. In some countries, where the Cernunnos
+remained an object of veneration, everybody bedecked it in the same way.
+The largest oak to be found in the district was chosen on which to suspend
+the trophies both of warriors and of hunters; and, at a more recent
+period, sportsmen used to hang outside their doors stags' heads, boars'
+feet, birds of prey, and other trophies, a custom which evidently was a
+relic of the one referred to.
+
+On pagan idolatry being abandoned, hunters used to have a presiding
+genius or protector, whom they selected from amongst the saints most in
+renown. Some chose St. Germain d'Auxerre, who had himself been a
+sportsman; others St. Martin, who had been a soldier before he became
+Bishop of Tours. Eventually they all agreed to place themselves under the
+patronage of St. Hubert, Bishop of Liege, a renowned hunter of the eighth
+century. This saint devoted himself to a religious life, after one day
+haying encountered a miraculous stag whilst hunting in the woods, which
+appeared to him as bearing between his horns a luminous image of our
+Saviour. At first the feast of St. Hubert was celebrated four times a
+year, namely, at the anniversaries of his conversion and death, and on the
+two occasions on which his relics were exhibited. At the celebration of
+each of these feasts a large number of sportsmen in "fine apparel" came
+from great distances with their horses and dogs. There was, in fact, no
+magnificence or pomp deemed too imposing to be displayed, both by the
+kings and nobles, in honour of the patron-saint of hunting (Fig. 136).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 136.--"How to shout and blow Horns."--Fac-simile of a
+Miniature in the Manuscript of Phoebus (Fifteenth Century).]
+
+[Illustration: Ladies Hunting
+
+Costumes of the fifteenth century. From a miniature in a ms. copy of
+_Ovid's Epistles_ No 7234 _bis._ Bibl. nat'le de Paris.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 137.--German Sportsman, drawn and engraved by J.
+Amman in the Sixteenth Century.]
+
+Hunters and sportsmen in those days formed brotherhoods, which had their
+rank defined at public ceremonials, and especially in processions. In
+1455, Gerard, Duke of Cleves and Burgrave of Ravensberg, created the order
+of the Knights of St. Hubert, into which those of noble blood only were
+admitted. The insignia consisted of a gold or silver chain formed of
+hunting horns, to which was hung a small likeness of the patron-saint in
+the act of doing homage to our Saviour's image as it shone on the head of
+a stag. It was popularly believed that the Knights of St. Hubert had the
+power of curing madness, which, for some unknown reason, never showed
+itself in a pack of hounds. This, however, was not the only superstitious
+belief attached to the noble and adventurous occupations of the followers
+of St. Hubert. Amongst a number of old legends, which mostly belong to
+Germany (Fig. 137), mention is made of hunters who sold their souls to the
+devil in exchange for some enchanted arrow which never missed its aim, and
+which reached game at extraordinary distances. Mention is also made in
+these legends of various animals which, on being pursued by the hunters,
+were miraculously saved by throwing themselves into the arms of some
+saint, or by running into some holy sanctuary. There were besides knights
+who, having hunted all their lives, believed that they were to continue
+the same occupation in another world. An account is given in history of
+the apparition of a fiery phantom to Charles IX. in the forest of Lyons,
+and also the ominous meeting of Henry IV. with the terrible _grand-veneur_
+in the forest of Fontainebleau. We may account for these strange tales
+from the fact that hunting formerly constituted a sort of freemasonry,
+with its mysterious rites and its secret language. The initiated used
+particular signs of recognition amongst themselves, and they also had
+lucky and unlucky numbers, emblematical colours, &c.
+
+The more dangerous the sport the more it was indulged in by military men.
+The Chronicles of the Monk of Saint-Gall describe an adventure which
+befell Charlemagne on the occasion of his setting out with his huntsmen
+and hounds in order to chase an enormous bear which was the terror of the
+Vosges. The bear, after having disabled numerous dogs and hunters, found
+himself face to face with the Emperor, who alone dared to stand up before
+him. A fierce combat ensued on the summit of a rock, in which both were
+locked together in a fatal embrace. The contest ended by the death of the
+bear, Charles striking him with his dagger and hurling him down the
+precipice. On this the hills resounded with the cry of "Vive Charles le
+Grand!" from the numerous huntsmen and others who had assembled; and it is
+said that this was the first occasion on which the companions of the
+intrepid monarch gave him the title of _Grand_ (Magnus), so from that time
+King Charles became King _Charlemagne_.
+
+This prince was most jealous of his rights of hunting, which he would
+waive to no one. For a long time he refused permission to the monks of the
+Abbey of St. Denis, whom he nevertheless held in great esteem, to have
+some stags killed which were destroying their forests. It was only on
+condition that the flesh of these animals would serve as food to the monks
+of inferior order, and that their hides should be used for binding the
+missals, that he eventually granted them permission to kill the offending
+animals (Fig. 138).
+
+If we pass from the ninth to the thirteenth century, we find that Louis
+IX., king of France, was as keen a sportsman and as brave a warrior as any
+of his ancestors. He was, indeed, as fond of hunting as of war, and during
+his first crusade an opportunity occurred to him of hunting the lion. "As
+soon as he began to know the country of Cesarea," says Joinville, "the
+King set to work with his people to hunt lions, so that they captured
+many; but in doing so they incurred great bodily danger. The mode of
+taking them was this: They pursued them on the swiftest horses. When they
+came near one they shot a bolt or arrow at him, and the animal, feeling
+himself wounded, ran at the first person he could see, who immediately
+turned his horse's head and fled as fast as he could. During his flight he
+dropped a portion of his clothing, which the lion caught up and tore,
+thinking it was the person who had injured him; and whilst the lion was
+thus engaged the hunters again approached the infuriated animal and shot
+more bolts and arrows at him. Soon the lion left the cloth and madly
+rushed at some other hunter, who adopted the same strategy as before. This
+was repeated until the animal succumbed, becoming exhausted by the wounds
+he had received."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 138.--"Nature and Appearance of Deer, and how they can
+be hunted with Dogs."--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the "Livre du Roy
+Modus"--Manuscript of the Fourteenth Century (National Library of Paris)]
+
+Notwithstanding the passion which this king had for hunting, he was the
+first to grant leave to the bourgeoisie to enjoy the sport. The condition
+he made with them was that they should always give a haunch of any animal
+killed to the lord of the soil. It is to this that we must trace the
+origin of giving the animal's foot to the huntsman or to the person who
+has the lead of the hunting party.
+
+Louis XI., however, did not at all act in this liberal manner, and
+although it might have been supposed that the incessant wars and political
+intrigues in which he was constantly engaged would have given him no time
+for amusements of this kind, yet he was, nevertheless, the keenest
+sportsman of his day. This tyrant of the Castle of Plessis-les-Tours, who
+was always miserly, except in matters of hunting, in which he was most
+lavish, forbade even the higher classes to hunt under penalty of hanging.
+To ensure the execution of his severe orders, he had all the castles as
+well as the cottages searched, and any net, engine, or sporting arm found
+was immediately destroyed. His only son, the heir to the throne, was not
+exempted from these laws. Shut up in the Castle of Amboise, he had no
+permission to leave it, for it was the will of the King that the young
+prince should remain ignorant of the noble exercises of chivalry. One day
+the Dauphin prayed his governor, M. du Bouchage, with so much earnestness
+to give him an idea of hunting, that this noble consented to make an
+excursion into the neighbouring wood with him. The King, however, managed
+to find it out, and Du Bouchage had great difficulty in keeping his head
+on his shoulders.
+
+One of the best ways of pleasing Louis XI. was to offer him some present
+relating to his favourite pastime, either pointers, hounds, falcons, or
+varlets who were adepts in the art of venery or hawking (Figs. 139 and
+140). When the cunning monarch became old and infirm, in order to make his
+enemies believe that he was still young and vigorous, he sent messengers
+everywhere, even to the most remote countries, to purchase horses, dogs,
+and falcons, for which, according to Comines, he paid large sums (Fig.
+141).
+
+On his death, the young prince, Charles VIII., succeeded him, and he seems
+to have had an innate taste for hunting, and soon made up for lost time
+and the privation to which his father had subjected him. He hunted daily,
+and generously allowed the nobles to do the same. It is scarcely necessary
+to say that these were not slow in indulging in the privilege thus
+restored to them, and which was one of their most ancient pastimes and
+occupations; for it must be remembered that, in those days of small
+intellectual culture, hunting must have been a great, if not at times the
+only, resource against idleness and the monotony of country life.
+
+Everything which related to sport again became the fashion amongst the
+youth of the nobility, and their chief occupation when not engaged in war.
+They continued as formerly to invent every sort of sporting device. For
+example, they obtained from other countries traps, engines, and
+hunting-weapons; they introduced into France at great expense foreign
+animals, which they took great pains in naturalising as game or in
+training as auxiliaries in hunting. After having imported the reindeer
+from Lapland, which did not succeed in their temperate climate, and the
+pheasant from Tartary, with which they stocked the woods, they imported
+with greater success the panther and the leopard from Africa, which were
+used for furred game as the hawk was for feathered game. The mode of
+hunting with these animals was as follows: The sportsmen, preceded by
+their dogs, rode across country, each with a leopard sitting behind him on
+his saddle. When the dogs had started the game the leopard jumped off the
+saddle and sprang after it, and as soon as it was caught the hunters threw
+the leopard a piece of raw flesh, for which he gave up the prey and
+remounted behind his master (Fig. 142)
+
+Louis XI., Charles VIII., and Louis XII. often hunted thus. The leopards,
+which formed a part of the royal venery, were kept in an enclosure of the
+Castle of Amboise, which still exists near the gate _des Lions_, so
+called, no doubt, on account of these sporting and carnivorous animals
+being mistaken for lions by the common people. There, were, however,
+always lions in the menageries of the kings of France.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 139.--"The Way to catch Squirrels on the Ground in the
+Woods"--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the Manuscript of the "Livre du Roy
+Modus" (Fourteenth Century)]
+
+Francis I. was quite as fond of hunting as any of his predecessors. His
+innate taste for sport was increased during his travels in Italy, where he
+lived with princes who displayed great splendour in their hunting
+equipages. He even acquired the name of the _Father of Sportsmen_. His
+_netting_ establishment alone, consisted of one captain, one lieutenant,
+twelve mounted huntsmen, six varlets to attend the bloodhounds; six
+whips, who had under their charge sixty hounds; and one hundred bowmen on
+foot, carrying large stakes for fixing the nets and tents, which were
+carried by fifty six-horsed chariots. He was much pleased when ladies
+followed the chase; and amongst those who were most inclined to share its
+pleasures, its toils, and even its perils, was Catherine de Medicis, then
+Dauphine, who was distinguished for her agility and her graceful
+appearance on horseback, and who became a thorough sportswoman.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 140.-"The Way of catching Partridges with an Osier
+Net-Work Apparatus"--Fac-simile of a Miniature in "Livre du Roy Modus."]
+
+The taste for hunting having become very general, and the art being
+considered as the most noble occupation to which persons could devote
+themselves, it is not surprising to find sporting works composed by
+writers of the greatest renown and of the highest rank. The learned
+William Bude, whom Erasmus called the _wonder of France_, dedicated to the
+children of Francis I. the second book of his "Philologie," which contains
+a treatise on stag-hunting. This treatise, originally written in Latin,
+was afterwards translated into French by order of Charles IX., who was
+acknowledged to be one of the boldest and most scientific hunters of his
+time. An extraordinary feat, which has never been imitated by any one, is
+recorded of him, and that was, that alone, on horseback and without dogs,
+he hunted down a stag. The "Chasse Royale," the authorship of which is
+attributed to him, is replete with scientific information.
+"Wolf-hunting," a work by the celebrated Clamorgan, and "Yenery," by Du
+Fouilloux, were dedicated to Charles IX., and a great number of special
+treatises on such subjects appeared in his reign.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 141.--"Kennel in which Dogs should live, and how they
+should be kept."--Fac-simile of a Miniature in Manuscript of Phoebus
+(Fifteenth Century).]
+
+His brother, the effeminate Henry III., disliked hunting, as he considered
+it too fatiguing and too dangerous.
+
+On the other hand, according to Sully, Henry IV., _le Bearnais_, who
+learned hunting in early youth in the Pyrenees, "loved all kinds of sport,
+and, above all, the most fatiguing and adventurous pursuits, such as those
+after wolves, bears, and boars." He never missed a chance of hunting,
+"even when in face of an enemy. If he knew a stag to be near, he found
+time to hunt it," and we find in the "Memoirs of Sully " that the King
+hunted the day after the famous battle of Ivry.
+
+One day, when he was only King of Navarre, he invited the ladies of Pau to
+come and see a bear-hunt. Happily they refused, for on that occasion their
+nerves would have been put to a serious test. Two bears killed two of the
+horses, and several bowmen were hugged to death by the ferocious animals.
+Another bear, although pierced in several places, and having six or seven
+pike-heads in his body, charged eight men who were stationed on the top of
+a rock, and the whole of them with the bear were all dashed to pieces down
+the precipice. The only point in which Louis XIII. resembled his father
+was his love of the chase, for during his reign hunting continued in
+France, as well as in other countries, to be a favourite royal pastime.
+
+We have remarked that St. Germain d'Auxerre, who at a certain period was
+the patron of sportsmen, made hunting his habitual relaxation. He devoted
+himself to it with great keenness in his youth, before he became bishop,
+that is, when he was Duke of Auxerre and general of the troops of the
+provinces. Subsequently, when against his will he was raised to the
+episcopal dignity, not only did he give up all pleasures, but he devoted
+himself to the strictest religious life. Unfortunately, in those days, all
+church-men did not understand, as he did, that the duties of their holy
+vocation were not consistent with these pastimes, for, in the year 507, we
+find that councils and synods forbade priests to hunt. In spite of this,
+however, the ancient historians relate that several noble prelates,
+yielding to the customs of the times, indulged in hunting the stag and
+flying the falcon.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 142.--Hunting with the Leopard, from a Stamp of Jean
+Stradan (Sixteenth Century).]
+
+It is related in history that some of the most illustrious popes were also
+great lovers of the chase, namely, Julius II, Leo X., and, previously to
+them, Pius II, who, before becoming Pope, amongst other literary and
+scientific works, wrote a Latin treatise on venery under his Christian
+names, AEneas Silvius. It is easy to understand how it happened that sports
+formerly possessed such attractions for ecclesiastical dignitaries. In
+early life they acquired the tastes and habits of people of their rank,
+and they were accordingly extremely jealous of the rights of chase in
+their domains. Although Pope Clement V., in his celebrated "Institutions,"
+called "Clementines," had formally forbidden the monks to hunt, there were
+few who did not evade the canonical prohibition by pursuing furred game,
+and that without considering that they were violating the laws of the
+Church. The papal edict permitted the monks and priests to hunt under
+certain circumstances, and especially where rabbits or beasts of prey
+increased so much as to damage the crops. It can easily be imagined that
+such would always be the case at a period when the people were so strictly
+forbidden to destroy game; and therefore hunting was practised at all
+seasons in the woods and fields in the vicinity of each abbey. The jealous
+peasants, not themselves having the right of hunting, and who continually
+saw _Master Abbot_ passing on his hunting excursions, said, with malice,
+that "the monks never forgot to pray for the success of the litters and
+nests (_pro pullis et nidis_), in order that game might always be
+abundant."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 143.--"How Wolves may be caught with a
+Snare."--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the Manuscript of Phoebus (Fifteenth
+Century).]
+
+If venery, as a regular science, dates from a comparatively recent
+period, it is not so with falconry, the first traces of which are lost in
+obscure antiquity. This kind of sport, which had become a most learned and
+complicated art, was the delight of the nobles of the Middle Ages and
+during the Renaissance period. It was in such esteem that a nobleman or
+his lady never appeared in public without a hawk on the wrist as a mark of
+dignity (Fig. 147). Even bishops and abbots entered the churches with
+their hunting birds, which they placed on the steps of the altar itself
+during the service.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 144.--"How Bears and other Beasts may be caught with a
+Dart."--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the Manuscript of Phoebus (Fifteenth
+Century).]
+
+The bird, like the sword, was a distinctive mark which was inseparable
+from the person of gentle birth, who frequently even went to war with the
+falcon on his wrist. During the battle he would make his squire hold the
+bird, which he replaced on his gauntlet when the fight was over. In fact,
+it was forbidden by the laws of chivalry for persons to give up their
+birds, even as a ransom, should they be made prisoners; in which case they
+had to let the noble birds fly, in order that they might not share their
+captivity.
+
+The falcon to a certain degree partook of his owner's nobility; he was,
+moreover, considered a noble bird by the laws of falconry, as were all
+birds of prey which could be trained for purposes of sport. All other
+birds, without distinction, were declared _ignoble_, and no exception was
+made to this rule by the naturalists of the Middle Ages, even in favour of
+the strongest and most magnificent, such as the eagle and vulture.
+According to this capricious classification, they considered the
+sparrow-hawk, which was the smallest of the hunting-birds, to rank higher
+than the eagle. The nickname of this diminutive sporting bird was often
+applied to a country-gentleman, who, not being able to afford to keep
+falcons, used the sparrow-hawk to capture partridges and quail.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 145.--Olifant, or Hunting-horn, in Ivory (Fourteenth
+Century).--From an Original existing in England.]
+
+It was customary for gentlemen of all classes, whether sportsmen or not,
+to possess birds of some kind, "to keep up their rank," as the saying then
+was. Only the richest nobles, however, were expected to keep a regular
+falconry, that is, a collection of birds suited for taking all kinds of
+game, such as the hare, the kite, the heron, &c., as each sport not only
+required special birds, but a particular and distinctive retinue and
+establishment.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 146.--Details Hunting-horn of the Fourteenth
+Century.--From the Original in an English Collection.]
+
+Besides the cost of falcons, which was often very great (for they were
+brought from the most distant countries, such as Sweden, Iceland, Turkey,
+and Morocco), their rearing and training involved considerable outlay, as
+may be more readily understood from the illustrations (Figs. 148 to 155),
+showing some of the principal details of the long and difficult education
+which had to be given them.
+
+To succeed in making the falcon obey the whistle, the voice, and the signs
+of the falconer was the highest aim of the art, and it was only by the
+exercise of much patience that the desired resuit was obtained. All birds
+of prey, when used for sport, received the generic name of _falcon_; and
+amongst them were to be found the gerfalcon, the saker-hawk, the lanner,
+the merlin, and the sparrow-hawk. The male birds were smaller than the
+females, and were called _tiercelet_--this name, however, more
+particularly applied to the gosshawk or the largest kind of male hawk,
+whereas the males of the above mentioned were called _laneret, sacret,
+emouchet._ Generally the male birds were used for partridges and quail,
+and the female birds for the hare, the heron, and crane. _Oiseaux de
+poing_, or _hand-birds,_ was the name given to the gosshawk, common hawk,
+the gerfalcon, and the merlin, because they returned to the hand of their
+master after having pursued game. The lanner, sparrow-hawk, and saker-hawk
+were called _oiseaux de leure_, from the fact that it was always necessary
+to entice them back again.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 147.--A Noble of Provence (Fifteenth
+Century).--Bonnart's "Costumes from the Tenth to the Sixteenth Century."]
+
+The lure was an imitation of a bird, made of red cloth, that it might be
+more easily seen from a distance. It was stuffed so that the falcon could
+settle easily on it, and furnished with the wings of a partridge, duck, or
+heron, according to circumstances. The falconer swung his mock bird like a
+sling, and whistled as he did so, and the falcon, accustomed to find a
+piece of flesh attached to the lure, flew down in order to obtain it, and
+was thus secured.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 148.--King Modus teaching the Art of
+Falconry.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the Manuscript of "Livre du Roy
+Modus" (Fourteenth Century).]
+
+The trainers of birds divided them into two kinds, namely, the _niais_ or
+simple bird, which had been taken from the nest, and the wild bird
+(_hagard_) captured when full-grown. The education of the former was
+naturally very much the easier, but they succeeded in taming both classes,
+and even the most rebellious were at last subdued by depriving them of
+sleep, by keeping away the light from them, by coaxing them with the
+voice, by patting them, by giving them choice food, &c.
+
+Regardless of his original habits, the bird was first accustomed to have
+no fear of men, horses, and dogs. He was afterwards fastened to a string
+by one leg, and, being allowed to fly a short distance, was recalled to
+the lure, where he always found a dainty bit of food. After he had been
+thus exercised for several months, a wounded partridge was let loose that
+he might catch it near the falconer, who immediately took it from him
+before he could tear it to pieces. When he appeared sufficiently tame, a
+quail or partridge, previously stripped of a few feathers so as to prevent
+it flying properly, was put in his way as before. If he was wanted for
+hunting hares, a stuffed hare was dragged before him, inside of which was
+a live chicken, whose head and liver was his reward if he did his work
+well. Then they tried him with a hare whose fore-leg was broken in order
+to ensure his being quickly caught. For the kite, they placed two hawks
+together on the same perch, so as to accustom them peaceably to live and
+hunt together, for if they fought with one another, as strange birds were
+apt to do, instead of attacking the kite, the sport would of course have
+failed. At first a hen of the colour of a kite was given them to fight
+with. When they had mastered this, a real kite was used, which was tied to
+a string and his claws and beak were filed so as to prevent him from
+wounding the young untrained falcons. The moment they had secured their
+prey, they were called off it and given chickens' flesh to eat on the
+lure. The same System was adopted for hunting the heron or crane (Fig.
+159).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 149.--Falconers dressing their Birds.--Fac-simile of a
+Miniature in the Manuscript of "Livre du Roy Modus" (Fourteenth Century).]
+
+It will be seen that, in order to train birds, it was necessary for a
+large number of the various kinds of game to be kept on the premises, and
+for each branch of sport a regular establishment was required. In
+falconry, as in venery, great care was taken to secure that a bird should
+continue at one object of prey until he had secured it, that is to say, it
+was most essential to teach it not to leave the game he was after in order
+to pursue another which might come in his way.
+
+To establish a falconry, therefore, not only was a very large poultry-yard
+required, but also a considerable staff of huntsmen, falconers, and whips,
+besides a number of horses and dogs of all sorts, which were either used
+for starting the game for the hawks, or for running it down when it was
+forced to ground by the birds.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 150.--Varlets of Falconry.--Fac-simile of a Miniature
+in the Manuscript of "Livre du Roy Modus" (Fourteenth Century).]
+
+A well-trained falcon was a bird of great value, and was the finest
+present that could be made to a lady, to a nobleman, or to the King
+himself, by any one who had received a favour. For instance, the King of
+France received six birds from the Abbot of St. Hubert as a token of
+gratitude for the protection granted by him to the abbey. The King of
+Denmark sent him several as a gracious offering in the month of April; the
+Grand Master of Malta in the month of May. At court, in those days, the
+reception of falcons either in public or in private was a great business,
+and the first trial of any new birds formed a topic of conversation among
+the courtiers for some time after.
+
+The arrival at court of a hawk-dealer from some distant country was also a
+great event. It is said that Louis XI. gave orders that watch should be
+kept night and day to seize any falcons consigned to the Duke of Brittany
+from Turkey. The plan succeeded, and the birds thus stolen were brought
+to the King, who exclaimed, "By our holy Lady of Clery! what will the Duke
+Francis and his Bretons do? They will be very angry at the good trick I
+have played them."
+
+European princes vied with each other in extravagance as regards falconry;
+but this was nothing in comparison to the magnificence displayed in
+oriental establishments. The Count de Nevers, son of Philip the Bold, Duke
+of Burgundy, having been made prisoner at the battle of Nicopolis, was
+presented to the Sultan Bajazet, who showed him his hunting establishment
+consisting of seven thousand falconers and as many huntsmen. The Duke of
+Burgundy, on hearing this, sent twelve white hawks, which were very scarce
+birds, as a present to Bajazet. The Sultan was so pleased with them that
+he sent him back his son in exchange.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 151.--"How to train a New Falcon."--Fac-simile of a
+Miniature in the Manuscript of "Livre du Roy Modus" (Fourteenth Century).]
+
+
+The "Livre du Roy Modus" gives the most minute and curious details on the
+noble science of hawking. For instance, it tells us that the _nobility_ of
+the falcon was held in such respect that their utensils, trappings, or
+feeding-dishes were never used for other birds. The glove on which they
+were accustomed to alight was frequently elaborately embroidered in gold,
+and was never used except for birds of their own species. In the private
+establishments the leather hoods, which were put on their heads to prevent
+them seeing, were embroidered with gold and pearls and surmounted with the
+feathers of birds of paradise. Each bird wore on his legs two little bells
+with his owner's crest upon them; the noise made by these was very
+distinct, and could be heard even when the bird was too high in the air
+to be seen, for they were not made to sound in unison; they generally came
+from Italy, Milan especially being celebrated for their manufacture.
+Straps were also fastened to the falcon's legs, by means of which he was
+attached to the perch; at the end of this strap was a brass or gold ring
+with the owner's name engraved upon it. In the royal establishments each
+ring bore on one side, "I belong to the king," and on the other the name
+of the Grand Falconer. This was a necessary precaution, for the birds
+frequently strayed, and, if captured, they could thus be recognised and
+returned. The ownership of a falcon was considered sacred, and, by an
+ancient barbaric law, the stealer of a falcon was condemned to a very
+curious punishment. The unfortunate thief was obliged to allow the falcon
+to eat six ounces of the flesh of his breast, unless he could pay a heavy
+fine to the owner and another to the king.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 152.--Falconers.--Fac-simile from a Miniature in
+Manuscript of the Thirteenth Century, which treats of the "Cour de Jaime,
+Roi de Maiorque."]
+
+A man thoroughly acquainted with the mode of training hawks was in high
+esteem everywhere. If he was a freeman, the nobles outbid each other as to
+who should secure his services; if he was a serf, his master kept him as a
+rare treasure, only parted with him as a most magnificent present, or sold
+him for a considerable sum. Like the clever huntsman, a good falconer
+(Fig. 156) was bound to be a man of varied information on natural history,
+the veterinary art, and the chase; but the profession generally ran in
+families, and the son added his own experience to the lessons of his
+father. There were also special schools of venery and falconry, the most
+renowned being of course in the royal household.
+
+The office of Grand Falconer of France, the origin of which dates from
+1250, was one of the highest in the kingdom. The Marechal de Fleuranges
+says, in his curious "Memoirs"--"The Grand Falconer, whose salary is four
+thousand florins" (the golden florin was worth then twelve or fifteen
+francs, and this amount must represent upwards of eighty thousand francs
+of present currency), "has fifty gentlemen under him, the salary of each
+being from five to six thousand livres. He has also fifty assistant
+falconers at two hundred livres each, all chosen by himself. His
+establishment consists of three hundred birds; he has the right to hunt
+wherever he pleases in the kingdom; he levies a tax on all bird-dealers,
+who are forbidden, under penalty of the confiscation of their stock, from
+selling a single bird in any town or at court without his sanction." The
+Grand Falconer was chief at all the hunts or hawking meetings; in public
+ceremonies he always appeared with the bird on his wrist, as an emblem of
+his rank; and the King, whilst hawking, could not let loose his bird until
+after the Grand Falconer had slipped his.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 153.--"How to bathe a New Falcon."--Fac-simile of a
+Miniature in the Manuscript of "Livre du Roy Modus" (Fourteenth Century).]
+
+Falconry, like venery, had a distinctive and professional vocabulary,
+which it was necessary for every one who joined in hawking to understand,
+unless he wished to be looked upon as an ignorant yeoman. "Flying the hawk
+is a royal pastime," says the Jesuit Claude Binet, "and it is to talk
+royally to talk of the flight of birds. Every one speaks of it, but few
+speak well. Many speak so ignorantly as to excite pity among their
+hearers. Sometimes one says the _hand_ of the bird instead of saying the
+_talon_, sometimes the _talon_ instead of the _claw_, sometimes the _claw_
+instead of the _nail_" &c.
+
+The fourteenth century was the great epoch of falconry. There were then so
+many nobles who hawked, that in the rooms of inns there were perches made
+under the large mantel-pieces on which to place the birds while the
+sportsmen were at dinner. Histories of the period are full of
+characteristic anecdotes, which prove the enthusiasm which was created by
+hawking in those who devoted themselves to it.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 154.--"How to make Young Hawks fly."--Fac-simile of a
+Miniature in the Manuscript of "Livre du Roy Modus" (Fourteenth Century).]
+
+Emperors and kings were as keen as others for this kind of sport. As early
+as the tenth century the Emperor Henry I. had acquired the soubriquet of
+"the Bird-catcher," from the fact of his giving much more attention to his
+birds than to his subjects. His example was followed by one of his
+successors, the Emperor Henry VI., who was reckoned the first falconer of
+his time. When his father, the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (Red-beard),
+died in the Holy Land, in 1189, the Archdukes, Electors of the Empire,
+went out to meet the prince so as to proclaim him Emperor of Germany. They
+found him, surrounded by dogs, horses, and birds, ready to go hunting.
+"The day is fine," he said; "allow us to put off serious affairs until
+to-morrow."
+
+Two centuries later we find at the court of France the same ardour for
+hawking and the same admiration for the performances of falcons. The
+Constable Bertrand du Guesclin gave two hawks to King Charles VI.; and
+the Count de Tancarville, whilst witnessing a combat between these noble
+birds and a crane which had been powerful enough to keep two greyhounds at
+bay, exclaimed, "I would not give up the pleasure which I feel for a
+thousand florins!"
+
+The court-poet, William Cretin, although he was Canon of the holy chapel
+of Vincennes, was as passionately fond of hawking as his good master Louis
+XII. He thus describes the pleasure he felt in seeing a heron succumb to
+the vigorous attack of the falcons:--
+
+ "Qui auroit la mort aux dents,
+ Il revivroit d'avour un tel passe-temps!"
+
+ ("He who is about to die
+ Would live again with such amusement.")
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 155.--Lady setting out Hawking.--Fac-simile of a
+Miniature in the Manuscript of "Livre du Roy Modus" (Fourteenth.
+Century).]
+
+At a hunting party given by Louis XII. to the Archduke Maximilian, Mary of
+Burgundy, the Archduke's wife, was killed by a fall from her horse. The
+King presented his best falcons to the Archduke with a view to divert his
+mind and to turn his attention from the sad event, and one of the
+historians tells us that the bereaved husband was soon consoled: "The
+partridges, herons, wild ducks, and quails which he was enabled to take on
+his journey home by means of the King's present, materially lessening his
+sorrow."
+
+Falconry, after having been in much esteem for centuries, at last became
+amenable to the same law which affects all great institutions, and, having
+reached the height of its glory, it was destined to decay. Although the
+art disappeared completely under Louis the Great, who only liked
+stag-kunting, and who, by drawing all the nobility to court, disorganized
+country life, no greater adept had ever been known than King Louis XIII.
+His first favourite and Grand Falconer was Albert de Luynes, whom he made
+prime minister and constable. Even in the Tuileries gardens, on his way to
+mass at the convent of the Feuillants, this prince amused himself by
+catching linnets and wrens with noisy magpies trained to pursue small
+birds.
+
+It was during this reign that some ingenious person discovered that the
+words LOUIS TREIZIEME, ROY DE FRANCE ET DE NAVARRE, exactly gave this
+anagram, ROY TRES-RARE, ESTIME DIEU DE LA FAUCONNERIE. It was also at this
+time that Charles d'Arcussia, the last author who wrote a technical work
+on falconry, after praising his majesty for devoting himself so thoroughly
+to the divine sport, compared the King's birds to domestic angels, and the
+carnivorous birds which they destroyed he likened to the devil. From this
+he argued that the sport was like the angel Gabriel destroying the demon
+Asmodeus. He also added, in his dedication to the King, "As the nature of
+angels is above that of men, so is that of these birds above all other
+animals."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 156.--Dress of the Falconer (Thirteenth
+Century).--Sculpture of the Cathedral of Rouen.]
+
+At that time certain religious or rather superstitious ceremonies were in
+use for blessing the water with which the falcons were sprinkled before
+hunting, and supplications were addressed to the eagles that they might
+not molest them. The following words were used: "I adjure you, O eagles!
+by the true God, by the holy God, by the most blessed Virgin Mary, by the
+nine orders of angels, by the holy prophets, by the twelve apostles,
+&c.... to leave the field clear to our birds, and not to molest them: in
+the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." It was at
+this time that, in order to recover a lost bird, the Sire de la
+Brizardiere, a professional necromancer, proposed beating the owner of the
+bird with birch-rods until he bled, and of making a charm with the blood,
+which was reckoned infallible.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 157.--Diseases of Dogs and their Cure.--Fac-simile of
+a Miniature in the Manuscript of Phoebus (Fourteenth Century).]
+
+Elzear Blaze expressed his astonishment that the ladies should not have
+used their influence to prevent falconry from falling into disuse. The
+chase, he considered, gave them an active part in an interesting and
+animated scene, which only required easy and graceful movements on their
+part, and to which no danger was attached. "The ladies knowing," he says,
+"how to fly a bird, how to call him back, and how to encourage him with
+their voice, being familiar with him from having continually carried him
+on their wrist, and often even from having broken him in themselves, the
+honour of hunting belongs to them by right. Besides, it brings out to
+advantage their grace and dexterity as they gallop amongst the sportsmen,
+followed by their pages and varlets and a whole herd of horses and dogs."
+
+The question of precedence and of superiority had, at every period, been
+pretty evenly balanced between venery and falconry, each having its own
+staunch supporters. Thus, in the "Livre du Roy Modus," two ladies contend
+in verse (for the subject was considered too exalted to be treated of in
+simple prose), the one for the superiority of the birds, the other for the
+superiority of dogs. Their controversy is at length terminated by a
+celebrated huntsman and falconer, who decides in favour of venery, for the
+somewhat remarkable reason that those who pursue it enjoy oral and ocular
+pleasure at the same time. In an ancient Treatise by Gace de la Vigne, in
+which the same question occupies no fewer than ten thousand verses, the
+King (unnamed) ends the dispute by ordering that in future they shall be
+termed pleasures of dogs and pleasures of birds, so that there may be no
+superiority on one side or the other (Fig. 160). The court-poet, William
+Cretin, who was in great renown during the reigns of Louis XII. and
+Francis I., having asked two ladies to discuss the same subject in verse,
+does not hesitate, on the contrary, to place falconry above venery.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 158.--German Falconer, designed and engraved, in the
+Sixteenth Century, by J. Amman.]
+
+It may fairly be asserted that venery and falconry have taken a position
+of some importance in history; and in support of this theory it will
+suffice to mention a few facts borrowed from the annals of the chase.
+
+The King of Navarre, Charles the Bad, had sworn to be faithful to the
+alliance made between himself and King Edward III. of England; but the
+English troops having been beaten by Du Guesclin, Charles saw that it was
+to his advantage to turn to the side of the King of France. In order not
+to appear to break his oath, he managed to be taken prisoner by the French
+whilst out hunting, and thus he sacrificed his honour to his personal
+interests. It was also due to a hunting party that Henry III., another
+King of Navarre, who was afterwards Henry IV., escaped from Paris, on the
+3rd February, 1576, and fled to Senlis, where his friends of the Reformed
+religion came to join him.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 159.--Heron-hawking.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the
+Manuscript of the "Livre du Roy Modus" (Fourteenth Century).]
+
+Hunting formed a principal entertainment when public festivals were
+celebrated, and it was frequently accompanied with great magnificence. At
+the entry of Isabel of Bavaria into Paris, a sort of stag hunt was
+performed, when "the streets," according to a popular story of the time,
+"were full to profusion of hares, rabbits, and goslings." Again, at the
+solemn entry of Louis XI. into Paris, a representation of a doe hunt took
+place near the fountain St. Innocent; "after which the queen received a
+present of a magnificent stag, made of confectionery, and having the royal
+arms hung round its neck." At the memorable festival given at Lille, in
+1453, by the Duke of Burgundy, a very curious performance took place. "At
+one end of the table," says the historian Mathieu de Coucy, "a heron was
+started, which was hunted as if by falconers and sportsmen; and presently
+from the other end of the table a falcon was slipped, which hovered over
+the heron. In a few minutes another falcon was started from the other side
+of the table, which attacked the heron so fiercely that he brought him
+down in the middle of the hall. After the performance was over and the
+heron was killed, it was served up at the dinner-table."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 160.--Sport with Dogs.--"How the Wild Boar is hunted
+by means of Dogs."--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the Manuscript of the
+"Livre du Roy Modus" (Fourteenth Century).]
+
+We shall conclude this chapter with a few words on bird-fowling, a kind of
+sport which was almost disdained in the Middle Ages. The anonymous author
+of the "Livre du Roy Modus" called it, in the fourteenth century, the
+pastime of the poor, "because the poor, who can neither keep hounds nor
+falcons to hunt or to fly, take much pleasure in it, particularly as it
+serves at the same time as a means of subsistence to many of them."
+
+In this book, which was for a long time the authority in matters of sport
+generally, we find that nearly all the methods and contrivances now
+employed for bird-fowling were known and in use in the Middle Ages, in
+addition to some which have since fallen into disuse. We accordingly read
+in the "Roy Modus" a description of the drag-net, the mirror, the
+screech-owl, the bird-pipe (Fig. 161), the traps, the springs, &c., the
+use of all of which is now well understood. At that time, when falcons
+were so much required, it was necessary that people should be employed to
+catch them when young; and the author of this book speaks of nets of
+various sorts, and the pronged piece of wood in the middle of which a
+screech-owl or some other bird was placed in order to attract the falcons
+(Fig. 162).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 161.--Bird-piping.--"The Manner of Catching Birds by
+piping."--Fac-simile of Miniature in the Manuscript of the "Livre du Roy
+Modus" (Fourteenth Century).]
+
+Two methods were in use in those days for catching the woodcook and
+pheasant, which deserve to be mentioned. "The pheasants," says "King
+Modus," "are of such a nature that the male bird cannot bear the company
+of another." Taking advantage of this weakness, the plan of placing a
+mirror, which balanced a sort of wicker cage or coop, was adopted. The
+pheasant, thinking he saw his fellow, attacked him, struck against the
+glass and brought down the coop, in which he had leisure to reflect on his
+jealousy (Fig. 163).
+
+Woodcocks, which are, says the author, "the most silly birds," were caught
+in this way. The bird-fowler was covered from head to foot with clothes of
+the colour of dead leaves, only having two little holes for his eyes. When
+he saw one he knelt down noiselessly, and supported his arms on two
+sticks, so as to keep perfectly still. When the bird was not looking
+towards him he cautiously approached it on his knees, holding in his hands
+two little dry sticks covered with red cloth, which he gently waved so as
+to divert the bird's attention from himself. In this way he gradually got
+near enough to pass a noose, which he kept ready at the end of a stick,
+round the bird's neck (Fig. 164).
+
+However ingenious these tricks may appear, they are eclipsed by one we
+find recorded in the "Ixeuticon," a very elegant Latin poem, by Angelis de
+Barga, written two centuries later. In order to catch a large number of
+starlings, this author assures us, it is only necessary to have two or
+three in a cage, and, when a flight of these birds is seen passing, to
+liberate them with a very long twine attached to their claws. The twine
+must be covered with bird-lime, and, as the released birds instantly join
+their friends, all those they come near get glued to the twine and fall
+together to the ground.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 162.--Bird-catching with a Machine like a Long
+Arm.--Fac-simile of Miniature in the Manuscript of the "Livre du Roy
+Modus" (Fourteenth Century).]
+
+As at the present time, the object of bird-fowling was twofold, namely, to
+procure game for food and to capture birds to be kept either for their
+voice or for fancy as pets. The trade in the latter was so important, at
+least in Paris, that the bird-catchers formed a numerous corporation
+having its statutes and privileges.
+
+The Pont au Change (then covered on each side with houses and shops
+occupied by goldsmiths and money-changers) was the place where these
+people carried on their trade; and they had the privilege of hanging
+their cages against the houses, even without the sanction of the
+proprietors. This curious right was granted to them by Charles VI. in
+1402, in return for which they were bound to "provide four hundred birds"
+whenever a king was crowned, "and an equal number when the queen made her
+first entry into her good town of Paris." The goldsmiths and
+money-changers, however, finding that this became a nuisance, and that it
+injured their trade, tried to get it abolished. They applied to the
+authorities to protect their rights, urging that the approaches to their
+shops, the rents of which they paid regularly, were continually obstructed
+by a crowd of purchasers and dealers in birds. The case was brought
+several times before parliament, which only confirmed the orders of the
+kings of France and the ancient privileges of the bird-catchers. At the
+end of the sixteenth century the quarrel became so bitter that the
+goldsmiths and changers took to "throwing down the cages and birds and
+trampling them under foot," and even assaulted and openly ill-treated the
+poor bird-dealers. But a degree of parliament again justified the sale of
+birds on the Pont an Change, by condemning the ring-leader,
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 163.--Pheasant Fowling.--"Showing how to catch
+Pheasants."--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the Manuscript of the "Livre du
+Roy Modus" (Fourteenth Century).]
+
+Pierre Filacier, the master goldsmith who had commenced the proceedings
+against the bird-catchers, to pay a double fine, namely, twenty crowns to
+the plaintiffs and ten to the King.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 164.--The Mode of catching a Woodcock.--Fac-simile of
+a Miniature in the Manuscript of the "Livre du Roy Modus" (Fourteenth
+Century).]
+
+It is satisfactory to observe that at that period measures were taken to
+preserve nests and to prevent bird-fowling from the 15th of March to the
+15th of August. Besides this, it was necessary to have an express
+permission from the King himself to give persons the right of catching
+birds on the King's domains. Before any one could sell birds it was
+required for him to have been received as a master bird-catcher. The
+recognised bird-catchers, therefore, had no opponents except dealers from
+other countries, who brought canary-birds, parrots, and other foreign
+specimens into Paris. These dealers were, however, obliged to conform to
+strict rules. They were required on their arrival to exhibit their birds
+from ten to twelve o'clock on the marble stone in the palace yard on the
+days when parliament sat, in order that the masters and governors of the
+King's aviary, and, after them, the presidents and councillors, might have
+the first choice before other people of anything they wished to buy. They
+were, besides, bound to part the male and female birds in separate cages
+with tickets on them, so that purchasers might not be deceived; and, in
+case of dispute on this point, some sworn inspectors were appointed as
+arbitrators.
+
+No doubt, emboldened by the victory which they had achieved over the
+goldsmiths of the Pont an Change, the bird-dealers of Paris attempted to
+forbid any bourgeois of the town from breeding canaries or any sort of
+cage birds. The bourgeois resented this, and brought their case before the
+Marshals of France. They urged that it was easy for them to breed
+canaries, and it was also a pleasure for their wives and daughters to
+teach them, whereas those bought on the Pont an Change were old and
+difficult to educate. This appeal was favourably received, and an order
+from the tribunal of the Marshals of France permitted the bourgeois to
+breed canaries, but it forbade the sale of them, which it was considered
+would interfere with the trade of the master-fowlers of the town,
+faubourgs, and suburbs of Paris.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 165.--Powder-horn.--Work of the Sixteenth Century
+(Artillery Museum of Brussels).]
+
+
+
+
+Games and Pastimes.
+
+
+
+ Games of the Ancient Greeks and Romans.--Games of the Circus.--Animal
+ Combats.--Daring of King Pepin.--The King's Lions.--Blind Men's
+ Fights.--Cockneys of Paris.--Champ de Mars.--Cours Plenieres and Cours
+ Couronnees.--Jugglers, Tumblers, and
+ Minstrels.--Rope-dancers.--Fireworks.--Gymnastics.--Cards and
+ Dice.--Chess, Marbles, and Billiards.--La Soule, La Pirouette,
+ &c.--Small Games for Private Society.--History of Dancing.--Ballet des
+ Ardents.--The "Orchesographie" (Art of Dancing) of Thoinot Arbeau.--List
+ of Dances.
+
+
+People of all countries and at all periods have been fond of public
+amusements, and have indulged in games and pastimes with a view to make
+time pass agreeably. These amusements have continually varied, according
+to the character of each nation, and according to the capricious changes
+of fashion. Since the learned antiquarian, J. Meursius, has devoted a
+large volume to describing the games of the ancient Greeks ("De Ludis
+Graecorum"), and Rabelais has collected a list of two hundred and twenty
+games which were in fashion at different times at the court of his gay
+master, it will be easily understood that a description of all the games
+and pastimes which have ever been in use by different nations, and
+particularly by the French, would form an encyclopaedia of some size.
+
+We shall give a rapid sketch of the different kinds of games and pastimes
+which were most in fashion during the Middle Ages and to the end of the
+sixteenth century--omitting, however, the religious festivals, which
+belong to a different category; the public festivals, which will come
+under the chapter on Ceremonials; the tournaments and tilting matches and
+other sports of warriors, which belong to Chivalry; and, lastly, the
+scenic and literary representations, which specially belong to the history
+of the stage.
+
+We shall, therefore, limit ourselves here to giving in a condensed form a
+few historical details of certain court amusements, and a short
+description of the games of skill and of chance, and also of dancing.
+
+The Romans, especially during the times of the emperors, had a passionate
+love for performances in the circus and amphitheatre, as well as for
+chariot races, horse races, foot races, combats of animals, and feats of
+strength and agility. The daily life of the Roman people may be summed up
+as consisting of taking their food and enjoying games in the circus
+(_panem et circenses_). A taste for similar amusements was common to the
+Gauls as well as to the whole Roman Empire; and, were historians silent on
+the subject, we need no further information than that which is to be
+gathered from the ruins of the numerous amphitheatres, which are to be
+found at every centre of Roman occupation. The circus disappeared on the
+establishment of the Christian religion, for the bishops condemned it as a
+profane and sanguinary vestige of Paganism, and, no doubt, this led to the
+cessation of combats between man and beast. They continued, however, to
+pit wild or savage animals against one another, and to train dogs to fight
+with lions, tigers, bears, and bulls; otherwise it would be difficult to
+explain the restoration by King Chilperic (A.D. 577) of the circuses and
+arenas at Paris and Soissons. The remains of one of these circuses was not
+long ago discovered in Paris whilst they were engaged in laying the
+foundations for a new street, on the west side of the hill of St.
+Genevieve, a short distance from the old palace of the Caesars, known by
+the name of the Thermes of Julian.
+
+Gregory of Tours states that Chilperic revived the ancient games of the
+circus, but that Gaul had ceased to be famous for good athletes and
+race-horses, although animal combats continued to take place for the
+amusement of the kings. One day King Pepin halted, with the principal
+officers of his army, at the Abbey of Ferrieres, and witnessed a fight
+between a lion and a bull. The bull was of enormous size and extraordinary
+strength, but nevertheless the lion overcame him; whereupon Pepin, who was
+surnamed the Short, turned to his officers, who used to joke him about his
+short stature, and said to them, "Make the lion loose his hold of the
+bull, or kill him." No one dared to undertake so perilous a task, and some
+said aloud that the man who would measure his strength with a lion must be
+mad. Upon this, Pepin sprang into the arena sword in hand, and with two
+blows cut off the heads of the lion and the bull. "What do you think of
+that?" he said to his astonished officers. "Am I not fit to be your
+master? Size cannot compare with courage. Remember what little David did
+to the Giant Goliath."
+
+Eight hundred years later there were occasional animal combats at the
+court of Francis I. "A fine lady," says Brantome, "went to see the King's
+lions, in company with a gentleman who much admired her. She suddenly let
+her glove drop, and it fell into the lions' den. 'I beg of you,' she said,
+in the calmest way, to her admirer, 'to go amongst the lions and bring me
+back my glove.' The gentleman made no remark, but, without even drawing
+his sword, went into the den and gave himself up silently to death to
+please the lady. The lions did not move, and he was able to leave their
+den without a scratch and return the lady her missing glove. 'Here is your
+glove, madam,' he coldly said to her who evidently valued his life at so
+small a price; 'see if you can find any one else who would do the same as
+I have done for you.' So saying he left her, and never afterwards looked
+at or even spoke to her."
+
+It has been imagined that the kings of France only kept lions as living
+symbols of royalty. In 1333 Philippe de Valois bought a barn in the Rue
+Froidmantel, near the Chateau du Louvre, where he established a menagerie
+for his lions, bears, leopards, and other wild beasts. This royal
+menagerie still existed in the reigns of Charles VIII. and Francis I.
+Charles V. and his successors had an establishment of lions in the
+quadrangle of the Grand Hotel de St. Paul, on the very spot which was
+subsequently the site of the Rue des Lions St. Paul.
+
+These wild beasts were sometimes employed in the combats, and were pitted
+against bulls and dogs in the presence of the King and his court. It was
+after one of these combats that Charles IX., excited by the sanguinary
+spectacle, wished to enter the arena alone in order to attack a lion which
+had torn some of his best dogs to pieces, and it was only with great
+difficulty that the audacious sovereign was dissuaded from his foolish
+purpose. Henry III. had no disposition to imitate his brother's example;
+for dreaming one night that his lions were devouring him, he had them all
+killed the next day.
+
+The love for hunting wild animals, such as the wolf, bear, and boar (see
+chapter on Hunting), from an early date took the place of the animal
+combats as far as the court and the nobles were concerned. The people were
+therefore deprived of the spectacle of the combats which had had so much
+charm for them; and as they could not resort to the alternative of the
+chase, they treated themselves to a feeble imitation of the games of the
+circus in such amusements as setting dogs to worry old horses or donkeys,
+&c. (Fig. 166). Bull-fights, nevertheless, continued in the southern
+provinces of France, as also in Spain.
+
+At village feasts not only did wrestling matches take place, but also
+queer kinds of combats with sticks or birch boughs. Two men, blindfolded,
+each armed with a stick, and holding in his hand a rope fastened to a
+stake, entered the arena, and went round and round trying to strike at a
+fat goose or a pig which was also let loose with them. It can easily be
+imagined that the greater number of the blows fell like hail on one or
+other of the principal actors in this blind combat, amidst shouts of
+laughter from the spectators.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 166.--Fight between a Horse and Dogs.--Fac-simile of a
+Manuscript in the British Museum (Thirteenth Century).]
+
+Nothing amused our ancestors more than these blind encounters; even kings
+took part at these burlesque representations. At Mid-Lent annually they
+attended with their court at the Quinze-Vingts, in Paris, in order to see
+blindfold persons, armed from head to foot, fighting with a lance or
+stick. This amusement was quite sufficient to attract all Paris. In 1425,
+on the last day of August, the inhabitants of the capital crowded their
+windows to witness the procession of four blind men, clothed in full
+armour, like knights going to a tournament, and preceded by two men, one
+playing the hautbois and the other bearing a banner on which a pig was
+painted. These four champions on the next day attacked a pig, which was to
+become the property of the one who killed it. The lists were situated in
+the court of the Hotel d'Armagnac, the present site of the Palais Royal. A
+great crowd attended the encounter. The blind men, armed with all sorts of
+weapons, belaboured each other so furiously that the game would have ended
+fatally to one or more of them had they not been separated and made to
+divide the pig which they had all so well earned.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 167.--Merchants and Lion-keepers at Constantinople.--Fac-simile of
+an Engraving on Wood from the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Thevet: folio,
+1575.]
+
+The people of the Middle Ages had an insatiable love of sight-seeing; they
+came great distances, from all parts, to witness any amusing exhibition.
+They would suffer any amount of privation or fatigue to indulge this
+feeling, and they gave themselves up to it so heartily that it became a
+solace to them in their greatest sorrows, and they laughed with that
+hearty laugh which may be said to be one of their natural characteristics.
+In all public processions in the open air the crowd (or rather, as we
+might say, the Cockneys of Paris), in their anxiety to see everything that
+was to be seen, would frequently obstruct all the public avenues, and so
+prevent the procession from passing along. In consequence of this the
+Provosts of Paris on these occasions distributed hundreds of stout sticks
+amongst the sergeants, who used them freely on the shoulders of the most
+obstinate sight-seers (see chapter on Ceremonials). There was no religious
+procession, no parish fair, no municipal feast, and no parade or review of
+troops, which did not bring together crowds of people, whose ears and eyes
+were wide open, if only to hear the sound of the trumpet, or to see a "dog
+rush past with a frying-pan tied to his tail."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 168.--Free Distribution of Bread, Meat, and Wine to the
+People.--Reduced Copy of a Woodcut of the Solemn Entry of Charles V and
+Pope Clement VII into Bologna, in 1530.]
+
+This curiosity of the French was particularly exhibited when the kings of
+the first royal dynasty held their _Champs de Mars_, the kings of the
+second dynasty their _Cours Plenieres_, and the kings of the third dynasty
+their _Cours Couronnees._ In these assemblies, where the King gathered
+together all his principal vassals once or twice a year, to hold personal
+communication with them, and to strengthen his power by ensuring their
+feudal services, large quantities of food and fermented liquors were
+publicly distributed among the people (Fig. 168). The populace were always
+most enthusiastic spectators of military displays, of court ceremonies,
+and, above all, of the various amusements which royalty provided for them
+at great cost in those days: and it was on these state occasions that
+jugglers, tumblers, and minstrels displayed their talents. The _Champ de
+Mars_ was one of the principal fetes of the year, and was held sometimes
+in the centre of some large town, sometimes in a royal domain, and
+sometimes in the open country. Bishop Gregory of Tours describes one which
+was given in his diocese during the reign of Chilperic, at the Easter
+festivals, at which we may be sure that the games of the circus,
+re-established by Chilperic, excited the greatest interest. Charlemagne
+also held _Champs de Mars_, but called them _Cours Royales,_ at which he
+appeared dressed in cloth of gold studded all over with pearls and
+precious stones. Under the third dynasty King Robert celebrated court days
+with the same magnificence, and the people were admitted to the palace
+during the royal banquet to witness the King sitting amongst his great
+officers of state. The _Cours Plenieres_, which were always held at
+Christmas, Twelfth-day, Easter, and on the day of Pentecost, were not less
+brilliant during the reigns of Robert's successors. Louis IX. himself,
+notwithstanding his natural shyness and his taste for simplicity, was
+noted for the display he made on state occasions. In 1350, Philippe de
+Valois wore his crown at the _Cours Plenieres_, and from that time they
+were called _Cours Couronnees_. The kings of jugglers were the privileged
+performers, and their feats and the other amusements, which continued on
+each occasion for several days, were provided for at the sovereign's sole
+expense.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 169.--Feats in Balancing.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in a Manuscript
+in the Bodleian Library at Oxford (Thirteenth Century).]
+
+These kings of jugglers exercised a supreme authority over the art of
+jugglery and over all the members of this jovial fraternity. It must not
+be imagined that these jugglers merely recited snatches from tales and
+fables in rhyme; this was the least of their talents. The cleverest of
+them played all sorts of musical instruments, sung songs, and repeated by
+heart a multitude of stories, after the example of their reputed
+forefather, King Borgabed, or Bedabie, who, according to these
+troubadours, was King of Great Britain at the time that Alexander the
+Great was King of Macedonia. The jugglers of a lower order especially
+excelled in tumbling and in tricks of legerdemain (Figs. 169 and 170).
+They threw wonderful somersaults, they leaped through hoops placed at
+certain distances from one another, they played with knives, slings,
+baskets, brass balls, and earthenware plates, and they walked on their
+hands with their feet in the air or with their heads turned downwards so
+as to look through their legs backwards. These acrobatic feats were even
+practised by women. According to a legend, the daughter of Herodias was a
+renowned acrobat, and on a bas-relief in the Cathedral of Rouen we find
+this Jewish dancer turning somersaults before Herod, so as to fascinate
+him, and thus obtain the decapitation of John the Baptist.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 170.--Sword-dance to the sound of the Bagpipe.--Fac-simile of a
+Manuscript in the British Museum (Fourteenth Century).]
+
+"The jugglers," adds M. de Labedolliere, in his clever work on "The
+Private Life of the French," "often led about bears, monkeys, and other
+animals, which they taught to dance or to fight (Figs. 171 and 172). A
+manuscript in the National Library represents a banquet, and around the
+table, so as to amuse the guests, performances of animals are going on,
+such as monkeys riding on horseback, a bear feigning to be dead, a goat
+playing the harp, and dogs walking on their hind legs." We find the same
+grotesque figures on sculptures, on the capitals of churches, on the
+illuminated margins of manuscripts of theology, and on prayer-books, which
+seems to indicate that jugglers were the associates of painters and
+illuminators, even if they themselves were not the writers and
+illuminators of the manuscripts. "Jugglery," M. de Labedolliere goes on to
+say, "at that time embraced poetry, music, dancing, sleight of hand,
+conjuring, wrestling, boxing, and the training of animals. Its humblest
+practitioners were the mimics or grimacers, in many-coloured garments, and
+brazen-faced mountebanks, who provoked laughter at the expense of
+decency."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 171.--Jugglers exhibiting Monkeys and
+Bears.--Fac-simile of a Manuscript in the British Museum (Thirteenth
+Century).]
+
+At first, and down to the thirteenth century, the profession of a juggler
+was a most lucrative one. There was no public or private feast of any
+importance without the profession being represented. Their mimicry and
+acrobatic feats were less thought of than their long poems or lays of wars
+and adventures, which they recited in doggerel rhyme to the accompaniment
+of a stringed instrument. The doors of the chateaux were always open to
+them, and they had a place assigned to them at all feasts. They were the
+principal attraction at the _Cours Plenieres_, and, according to the
+testimony of one of their poets, they frequently retired from business
+loaded with presents, such as riding-horses, carriage-horses, jewels,
+cloaks, fur robes, clothing of violet or scarlet cloth, and, above all,
+with large sums of money. They loved to recall with pride the heroic
+memory of one of their own calling, the brave Norman, Taillefer, who,
+before the battle of Hastings, advanced alone on horseback between the two
+armies about to commence the engagement, and drew off the attention of the
+English by singing them the song of Roland. He then began juggling, and
+taking his lance by the hilt, he threw it into the air and caught it by
+the point as it fell; then, drawing his sword, he spun it several times
+over his head, and caught it in a similar way as it fell. After these
+skilful exercises, during which the enemy were gaping in mute
+astonishment, he forced his charger through the English ranks, and caused
+great havoc before he fell, positively riddled with wounds.
+
+Notwithstanding this noble instance, not to belie the old proverb,
+jugglers were never received into the order of knighthood. They were,
+after a time, as much abused as they had before been extolled. Their
+licentious lives reflected itself in their obscene language. Their
+pantomimes, like their songs, showed that they were the votaries of the
+lowest vices. The lower orders laughed at their coarseness, and were
+amused at their juggleries; but the nobility were disgusted with them, and
+they were absolutely excluded from the presence of ladies and girls in the
+chateaux and houses of the bourgeoisie. We see in the tale of "Le Jugleor"
+that they acquired ill fame everywhere, inasmuch as they were addicted to
+every sort of vice. The clergy, and St. Bernard especially, denounced them
+and held them up to public contempt. St. Bernard spoke thus of them in one
+of his sermons written in the middle of the twelfth century: "A man fond
+of jugglers will soon enough possess a wife whose name is Poverty. If it
+happens that the tricks of jugglers are forced upon your notice, endeavour
+to avoid them, and think of other things. The tricks of jugglers never
+please God."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 172.--Equestrian Performances.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in an
+English Manuscript of the Thirteenth Century.]
+
+From this remark we may understand their fall as well as the disrepute in
+which they were held at that time, and we are not surprised to find in an
+old edition of the "Memoires du Sire de Joinville" this passage, which is,
+perhaps, an interpolation from a contemporary document: "St. Louis drove
+from his kingdom all tumblers and players of sleight of hand, through whom
+many evil habits and tastes had become engendered in the people." A
+troubadour's story of this period shows that the jugglers wandered about
+the country with their trained animals nearly starved; they were half
+naked, and were often without anything on their heads, without coats,
+without shoes, and always without money. The lower orders welcomed them,
+and continued to admire and idolize them for their clever tricks (Fig.
+173), but the bourgeois class, following the example of the nobility,
+turned their backs upon them. In 1345 Guillaume de Gourmont, Provost of
+Paris, forbad their singing or relating obscene stories, under penalty of
+fine and imprisonment.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 173.--Jugglers performing in public.--From a Miniature
+of the Manuscript of "Guarin de Loherane" (Thirteenth Century).--Library
+of the Arsenal, Paris.]
+
+Having been associated together as a confraternity since 1331, they lived
+huddled together in one street of Paris, which took the name of _Rue des
+Jougleurs_. It was at this period that the Church and Hospital of St.
+Julian were founded through the exertions of Jacques Goure, a native of
+Pistoia, and of Huet le Lorrain, who were both jugglers. The newly formed
+brotherhood at once undertook to subscribe to this good work, and each
+member did so according to his means. Their aid to the cost of the two
+buildings was sixty livres, and they were both erected in the Rue St.
+Martin, and placed under the protection of St. Julian the Martyr. The
+chapel was consecrated on the last Sunday in September, 1335, and on the
+front of it there were three figures, one representing a troubadour, one a
+minstrel, and one a juggler, each with his various instruments.
+
+The bad repute into which jugglers had fallen did not prevent the kings of
+France from attaching buffoons, or fools, as they were generally called,
+to their households, who were often more or less deformed dwarfs, and who,
+to all intents and purposes, were jugglers. They were allowed to indulge
+in every sort of impertinence and waggery in order to excite the
+risibility of their masters (Figs. 174 and 175). These buffoons or fools
+were an institution at court until the time of Louis XIV., and several,
+such as Caillette, Triboulet, and Brusquet, are better known in history
+than many of the statesmen and soldiers who were their contemporaries.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 174.--Dance of Fools.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in
+Manuscript of the Thirteenth Century in the Bodleian Library of Oxford.]
+
+At the end of the fourteenth century the brotherhood of jugglers divided
+itself into two distinct classes, the jugglers proper and the tumblers.
+The former continued to recite serious or amusing poetry, to sing
+love-songs, to play comic interludes, either singly or in concert, in the
+streets or in the houses, accompanying themselves or being accompanied by
+all sorts of musical instruments. The tumblers, on the other hand, devoted
+themselves exclusively to feats of agility or of skill, the exhibition of
+trained animals, the making of comic grimaces, and tight-rope dancing.
+
+[Illustration: A Court-Fool, of the 15th Century.
+
+Fac-simile of a miniature from a ms. in the Bibl. de l'Arsenal, Th. lat.,
+no 125.]
+
+The art of rope dancing is very ancient; it was patronised by the
+Franks, who looked upon it as a marvellous effort of human genius. The
+most remarkable rope-dancers of that time were of Indian origin. All
+performers in this art came originally from the East, although they
+afterwards trained pupils in the countries through which they passed,
+recruiting themselves chiefly from the mixed tribe of jugglers. According
+to a document quoted by the learned Foncemagne, rope-dancers appeared as
+early as 1327 at the entertainments given at state banquets by the kings
+of France. But long before that time they are mentioned in the poems of
+troubadours as the necessary auxiliaries of any feast given by the
+nobility, or even by the monasteries. From the fourteenth to the end of
+the sixteenth century they were never absent from any public ceremonial,
+and it was at the state entries of kings and queens, princes and
+princesses, that they were especially called upon to display their
+talents.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 175.--Court Fool.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the
+"Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: folio (Basle, 1552).]
+
+One of the most extraordinary examples of the daring of these tumblers is
+to be found in the records of the entry of Queen Isabel of Bavaria into
+Paris, in 1385 (see chapter on Ceremonials); and, indeed, all the
+chronicles of the fifteenth century are full of anecdotes of their doings.
+Mathieu de Coucy, who wrote a history of the time of Charles VII., relates
+some very curious details respecting a show which took place at Milan, and
+which astonished the whole of Europe:--"The Duke of Milan ordered a rope
+to be stretched across his palace, about one hundred and fifty feet from
+the ground, and of equal length. On to this a Portuguese mounted, walked
+straight along, going backwards and forwards, and dancing to the sound of
+the tambourine. He also hung from the rope with his head downwards, and
+went through all sorts of tricks. The ladies who were looking on could not
+help hiding their eyes in their handkerchiefs, from fear lest they should
+see him overbalance and fall and kill himself." The chronicler of Charles
+XII., Jean d'Arton, tells us of a not less remarkable feat, performed on
+the occasion of the obsequies of Duke Pierre de Bourbon, which were
+celebrated at Moulins, in the month of October, 1503, in the presence of
+the king and the court. "Amongst other performances was that of a German
+tight-rope dancer, named Georges Menustre, a very young man, who had a
+thick rope stretched across from the highest part of the tower of the
+Castle of Macon to the windows of the steeple of the Church of the
+Jacobites. The height of this from the ground was twenty-five fathoms, and
+the distance from the castle to the steeple some two hundred and fifty
+paces. On two evenings in succession he walked along this rope, and on the
+second occasion when he started from the tower of the castle his feat was
+witnessed by the king and upwards of thirty thousand persons. He performed
+all sorts of graceful tricks, such as dancing grotesque dances to music
+and hanging to the rope by his feet and by his teeth. Although so strange
+and marvellous, these feats were nevertheless actually performed, unless
+human sight had been deceived by magic. A female dancer also performed in
+a novel way, cutting capers, throwing somersaults, and performing graceful
+Moorish and other remarkable and peculiar dances." Such was their manner
+of celebrating a funeral.
+
+In the sixteenth century these dancers and tumblers became so numerous
+that they were to be met with everywhere, in the provinces as well as in
+the towns. Many of them were Bohemians or Zingari. They travelled in
+companies, sometimes on foot, sometimes on horseback, and sometimes with
+some sort of a conveyance containing the accessories of their craft and a
+travelling theatre. But people began to tire of these sorts of
+entertainments, the more so as they were required to pay for them, and
+they naturally preferred the public rejoicings, which cost them nothing.
+They were particularly fond of illuminations and fireworks, which are of
+much later origin than the invention of gunpowder; although the Saracens,
+at the time of the Crusades, used a Greek fire for illuminations, which
+considerably alarmed the Crusaders when they first witnessed its effects.
+Regular fireworks appear to have been invented in Italy, where the
+pyrotechnic art has retained its superiority to this day, and where the
+inhabitants are as enthusiastic as ever for this sort of amusement, and
+consider it, in fact, inseparable from every religious, private, or public
+festival. This Italian invention was first introduced into the Low
+Countries by the Spaniards, where it found many admirers, and it made its
+appearance in France with the Italian artists who established themselves
+in that country in the reigns of Charles VIII., Louis XII., and Francis I.
+Fireworks could not fail to be attractive at the Court of the Valois, to
+which Catherine de Medicis had introduced the manners and customs of
+Italy. The French, who up to that time had only been accustomed to the
+illuminations of St. John's Day and of the first Sunday in Lent, received
+those fireworks with great enthusiasm, and they soon became a regular part
+of the programme for public festivals (Fig. 176).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 176.--Fireworks on the Water, with an Imitation of a
+Naval Combat.--Fac-simile of an Engraving on Copper of the "Pyrotechnie"
+of Hanzelet le Lorrain: 4to (Pont-a-Mousson, 1630).]
+
+We have hitherto only described the sports engaged in for the amusement of
+the spectators; we have still to describe those in which the actors took
+greater pleasure than even the spectators themselves. These were specially
+the games of strength and skill as well as dancing, with a notice of which
+we shall conclude this chapter. There were, besides, the various games of
+chance and the games of fun and humour. Most of the bourgeois and the
+villagers played a variety of games of agility, many of which have
+descended to our times, and are still to be found at our schools and
+colleges. Wrestling, running races, the game of bars, high and wide
+jumping, leap-frog, blind-man's buff, games of ball of all sorts,
+gymnastics, and all exercises which strengthened the body or added to the
+suppleness of the limbs, were long in use among the youth of the nobility
+(Figs. 177 and 178). The Lord of Fleuranges, in his memoirs written at the
+court of Francis I., recounts numerous exercises to which he devoted
+himself during his childhood and youth, and which were then looked upon as
+a necessary part of the education of chivalry. The nobles in this way
+acquired a taste for physical exercises, and took naturally to combats,
+tournaments, and hunting, and subsequently their services in the
+battle-field gave them plenty of opportunities to gratify the taste thus
+developed in them. These were not, however, sufficient for their
+insatiable activity; when they could not do anything else, they played at
+tennis and such games at all hours of the day; and these pastimes had so
+much attraction for nobles of all ages that they not unfrequently
+sacrificed their health in consequence of overtaxing their strength. In
+1506 the King of Castile, Philippe le Beau, died of pleurisy, from a
+severe cold which he caught while playing tennis.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 177.--Somersaults.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in
+"Exercises in Leaping and Vaulting," by A. Tuccaro: 4to (Paris, 1599).]
+
+Tennis also became the favourite game amongst the bourgeois in the towns,
+and tennis-courts were built in all parts, of such spacious proportions
+and so well adapted for spectators, that they were often converted into
+theatres. Their game of billiards resembled the modern one only in name,
+for it was played on a level piece of ground with wooden balls which were
+struck with hooked sticks and mallets. It was in great repute in the
+fourteenth century, for in 1396 Marshal de Boucicault, who was considered
+one of the best players of his time, won at it six hundred francs (or more
+than twenty-eight thousand francs of present currency). At the beginning
+of the following century the Duke Louis d'Orleans ordered _billes et
+billars_ to be bought for the sum of eleven sols six deniers tournois
+(about fifteen francs of our money), that he might amuse himself with
+them. There were several games of the same sort, which were not less
+popular. Skittles; _la Soule_ or _Soulette_, which consisted of a large
+ball of hay covered over with leather, the possession of which was
+contested for by two opposing sides of players; Football; open Tennis;
+Shuttlecock, &c. It was Charles V. who first thought of giving a more
+serious and useful character to the games of the people, and who, in a
+celebrated edict forbidding games of chance, encouraged the establishment
+of companies of archers and bowmen. These companies, to which was
+subsequently added that of the arquebusiers, outlived political
+revolutions, and are still extant, especially in the northern provinces of
+France.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 178.--The Spring-board.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in
+"Exercises in Leaping and Vaulting," by A. Tuccaro: 4to (Paris, 1599).]
+
+At all times and in all countries the games of chance were the most
+popular, although they were forbidden both by ecclesiastical and royal
+authority. New laws were continually being enacted against them, and
+especially against those in which dice were used, though with little
+avail. "Dice shall not be made in the kingdom," says the law of 1256; and
+"those who are discovered using them, and frequenting taverns and bad
+places, will be looked upon as suspicions characters." A law of 1291
+repeats, "That games with dice be forbidden." Nevertheless, though these
+prohibitions were frequently renewed, people continued to disregard them
+and to lose much money at such games. The law of 1396 is aimed
+particularly against loaded dice, which must have been contemporary with
+the origin of dice themselves, for no games ever gave rise to a greater
+amount of roguery than those of this description. They were, however,
+publicly sold in spite of all the laws to the contrary; for, in the "Dit
+du Mercier," the dealer offers his merchandise thus:--
+
+ "J'ay dez de plus, j'ay dez de moins,
+ De Paris, de Chartres, de Rains."
+
+ ("I have heavy dice, I have light dice,
+ From Paris, from Chartres, and from Rains.")
+
+It has been said that the game of dice was at first called the _game of
+God_, because the regulation of lottery was one of God's prerogatives; but
+this derivation is purely imaginary. What appears more likely is, that
+dice were first forbidden by the Church, and then by the civil
+authorities, on account of the fearful oaths which were so apt to be
+uttered by those players who had a run of ill luck. Nothing was commoner
+than for people to ruin themselves at this game. The poems of troubadours
+are full of imprecations against the fatal chance of dice; many
+troubadours, such as Guillaume Magret and Gaucelm Faydit, lost their
+fortunes at it, and their lives in consequence. Rutebeuf exclaims, in one
+of his satires, "Dice rob me of all my clothes, dice kill me, dice watch
+me, dice track me, dice attack me, and dice defy me." The blasphemies of
+the gamblers did not always remain unpunished. "Philip Augustus," says
+Bigord, in his Latin history of this king, "carried his aversion for oaths
+to such an extent, that if any one, whether knight or of any other rank,
+let one slip from his lips in the presence of the sovereign, even by
+mistake, he was ordered to be immediately thrown into the river." Louis
+XII., who was somewhat less severe, contented himself with having a hole
+bored with a hot iron through the blasphemer's tongue.
+
+[Illustration: Figs. 179 and 180.--French Cards for a Game of Piquet,
+early Sixteenth Century.--Collection of the National Library of Paris.]
+
+The work "On the Manner of playing with Dice," has handed down to us the
+technical terms used in these games, which varied as much in practice as
+in name. They sometimes played with three dice, sometimes with six;
+different games were also in fashion, and in some the cast of the dice
+alone decided. The games of cards were also most numerous, but it is not
+our intention to give the origin of them here. It is sufficient to name a
+few of the most popular ones in France, which were, Flux, Prime, Sequence,
+Triomphe, Piquet, Trente-et-un, Passe-dix, Condemnade, Lansquenet,
+Marriage, Gay, or J'ai, Malcontent, Here, &c. (Figs. 179 and 180). All
+these games, which were as much forbidden as dice, were played in taverns
+as well as at court; and, just as there were loaded dice, so were there
+also false cards, prepared by rogues for cheating. The greater number of
+the games of cards formerly did not require the least skill on the part of
+the players, chance alone deciding. The game of _Tables_, however,
+required skill and calculation, for under this head were comprised all the
+games which were played on a board, and particularly chess, draughts, and
+backgammon. The invention of the game of chess has been attributed to the
+Assyrians, and there can be no doubt but that it came from the East, and
+reached Gaul about the beginning of the ninth century, although it was not
+extensively known till about the twelfth. The annals of chivalry
+continually speak of the barons playing at these games, and especially at
+chess. Historians also mention chess, and show that it was played with
+the same zest in the camp of the Saracens as in that of the Crusaders. We
+must not be surprised if chess shared the prohibition laid upon dice, for
+those who were ignorant of its ingenious combinations ranked it amongst
+games of chance. The Council of Paris, in 1212, therefore condemned chess
+for the same reasons as dice, and it was specially forbidden to church
+people, who had begun to make it their habitual pastime. The royal edict
+of 1254 was equally unjust with regard to this game. "We strictly forbid,"
+says Louis IX., "any person to play at dice, tables, or chess." This pious
+king set himself against these games, which he looked upon as inventions
+of the devil. After the fatal day of Mansorah, in 1249, the King, who was
+still in Egypt with the remnants of his army, asked what his brother, the
+Comte d'Anjou, was doing. "He was told," says Joinville, "that he was
+playing at tables with his Royal Highness Gaultier de Nemours. The King
+was highly incensed against his brother, and, though most feeble from the
+effects of his illness, went to him, and taking the dice and the tables,
+had them thrown into the sea." Nevertheless Louis IX. received as a
+present from the _Vieux de la Montagne_, chief of the Ismalians, a
+chessboard made of gold and rock crystal, the pieces being of precious
+metals beautifully worked. It has been asserted, but incorrectly, that
+this chessboard was the one preserved in the Musee de Cluny, after having
+long formed part of the treasures of the Kings of France.
+
+Amongst the games comprised under the name of _tables_, it is sufficient
+to mention that of draughts, which was formerly played with dice and with
+the same men as were used for chess; also the game of _honchet_, or
+_jonchees_, that is, bones or spillikins, games which required pieces or
+men in the same way as chess, but which required more quickness of hand
+than of intelligence; and _epingles_, or push-pin, which was played in a
+similar manner to the _honchets_, and was the great amusement of the small
+pages in the houses of the nobility. When they had not epingles, honchets,
+or draughtsmen to play with, they used their fingers instead, and played a
+game which is still most popular amongst the Italian people, called the
+_morra_, and which was as much in vogue with the ancient Romans as it is
+among the modern Italians. It consisted of suddenly raising as many
+fingers as had been shown by one's adversary, and gave rise to a great
+amount of amusement among the players and lookers-on. The games played by
+girls were, of course, different from those in use among boys. The latter
+played at marbles, _luettes_, peg or humming tops, quoits, _fouquet,
+merelles_, and a number of other games, many of which are now unknown. The
+girls, it is almost needless to say, from the earliest times played with
+dolls. _Briche_, a game in which a brick and a small stick was used, were
+also a favourite. _Martiaus_, or small quoits, wolf or fox, blind man's
+buff, hide and seek, quoits, &c., were all girls' games. The greater part
+of these amusements were enlivened by a chorus, which all the girls sang
+together, or by dialogues sung or chanted in unison.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 181.--Allegorical Scene of one of the Courts of Love
+in Provence--In the First Compartment, the God of Love, Cupid, is sitting
+on the Stump of a Laurel-tree, wounding with his Darts those who do him
+homage, the Second Compartment represents the Love Vows of Men and
+Women.--From the Cover of a Looking-glass, carved in Ivory, of the end of
+the Thirteenth Century.]
+
+[Illustration: The Chess-Players.
+
+After a miniature of "_The Three Ages of Man_", a ms. of the fifteenth
+century attributed to Estienne Porchier. (Bibl. of M. Ambroise
+Firmin-Didot.)
+
+The scene is laid in one of the saloons of the castle of
+Plessis-les-Tours, the residence of Louis XI; in the player to the right,
+the features of the king are recognisable.]
+
+If children had their games, which for many generations continued
+comparatively unchanged, so the dames and the young ladies had theirs,
+consisting of gallantry and politeness, which only disappeared with those
+harmless assemblies in which the two sexes vied with each other in
+urbanity, friendly roguishness, and wit. It would require long antiquarian
+researches to discover the origin and mode of playing many of these
+pastimes, such as _des oes, des trois anes, des accords bigarres, du
+jardin madame, de la fricade, du feiseau, de la mick_, and a number of
+others which are named but not described in the records of the times. The
+game _a l'oreille,_ the invention of which is attributed to the troubadour
+Guillaume Adhemar, the _jeu des Valentines,_ or the game of lovers, and
+the numerous games of forfeits, which have come down to us from the Courts
+of Love of the Middle Ages, we find to be somewhat deprived of their
+original simplicity in the way they are now played in country-houses in
+the winter and at village festivals in the summer. But the Courts of Love
+are no longer in existence gravely to superintend all these diversions
+(Fig. 181).
+
+Amongst the amusements which time has not obliterated, but which, on the
+contrary, seem destined to be of longer duration than monuments of stone
+and brass, we must name dancing, which was certainly one of the principal
+amusements of society, and which has come down to us through all
+religions, all customs, all people, and all ages, preserving at the same
+time much of its original character. Dancing appears, at each period of
+the world's history, to have been alternately religions and profane,
+lively and solemn, frivolous and severe. Though dancing was as common an
+amusement formerly as it is now, there was this essential difference
+between the two periods, namely, that certain people, such as the Romans,
+were very fond of seeing dancing, but did not join in it themselves.
+Tiberius drove the dancers out of Rome, and Domitian dismissed certain
+senators from their seats in the senate who had degraded themselves by
+dancing; and there seems to be no doubt that the Romans, from the conquest
+of Julius Caesar, did not themselves patronise the art. There were a
+number of professional dancers in Gaul, as well as in the other provinces
+of the Roman Empire, who were hired to dance at feasts, and who
+endeavoured to do their best to make their art as popular as possible. The
+lightheartedness of the Gauls, their natural gaiety, their love for
+violent exercise and for pleasures of all sorts, made them delight in
+dancing, and indulge in it with great energy; and thus, notwithstanding
+the repugnance of the Roman aristocracy and the prohibitions and anathemas
+of councils and synods, dancing has always been one of the favourite
+pastimes of the Gauls and the French.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 182.--Dancers on Christmas Night punished for their
+Impiety, and condemned to dance for a whole Year (Legend of the Fifteenth
+Century).--Fac-simile of a Woodcut by P. Wohlgemuth, in the "Liber
+Chronicorum Mundi:" folio (Nuremberg, 1493).]
+
+Leuce Carin, a writer of doubtful authority, states that in the early
+history of Christianity the faithful danced, or rather stamped, in
+measured time during religions ceremonials, gesticulating and distorting
+themselves. This is, however, a mistake. The only thing approaching to it
+was the slight trace of the ancient Pagan dances which remained in the
+feast of the first Sunday in Lent, and which probably belonged to the
+religious ceremonies of the Druids. At nightfall fires were lighted in
+public places, and numbers of people danced madly round them. Rioting and
+disorderly conduct often resulted from this popular feast, and the
+magistrates were obliged to interfere in order to suppress it. The church,
+too, did not close her eyes to the abuses which this feast engendered,
+although episcopal admonitions were not always listened to (Fig. 182). We
+see, in the records of one of the most recent Councils of Narbonne, that
+the custom of dancing in the churches and in the cemeteries on certain
+feasts had not been abolished in some parts of the Languedoc at the end of
+the sixteenth century.
+
+Dancing was at all times forbidden by the Catholic Church on account of
+its tendency to corrupt the morals, and for centuries ecclesiastical
+authority was strenuously opposed to it; but, on the other hand, it could
+not complain of want of encouragement from the civil power. When King
+Childebert, in 554, forbade all dances in his domains, he was only induced
+to do so by the influence of the bishops. We have but little information
+respecting the dances of this period, and it would be impossible
+accurately to determine as to the justice of their being forbidden. They
+were certainly no longer those war-dances which the Franks had brought
+with them, and which antiquarians have mentioned under the name of
+_Pyrrhichienne_ dances. In any case, war-dances reappeared at the
+commencement of chivalry; for, when a new knight was elected, all the
+knights in full armour performed evolutions, either on foot or on
+horseback, to the sound of military music, and the populace danced round
+them. It has been said that this was the origin of court ballets, and La
+Colombiere, in his "Theatre d'Honneur et de Chevalerie," relates that this
+ancient dance of the knights was kept up by the Spaniards, who called it
+the _Moresque_.
+
+The Middle Ages was the great epoch for dancing, especially in France.
+There were an endless number of dancing festivals, and, from reading the
+old poets and romancers, one might imagine that the French had never
+anything better to do than to dance, and that at all hours of the day and
+night. A curious argument in favour of the practical utility of dancing is
+suggested by Jean Tabourot in his "Orchesographie," published at Langres
+in 1588, under the name of Thoinot Arbeau. He says, "Dancing is practised
+in order to see whether lovers are healthy and suitable for one another:
+at the end of a dance the gentlemen are permitted to kiss their
+mistresses, in order that they may ascertain if they have an agreeable
+breath. In this matter, besides many other good results which follow from
+dancing, it becomes necessary for the good governing of society." Such was
+the doctrine of the Courts of Love, which stoutly took up the defence of
+dancing against the clergy. In those days, as soon as the two sexes were
+assembled in sufficient numbers, before or after the feasts, the balls
+began, and men and women took each other by the hand and commenced the
+performance in regular steps (Fig. 183). The author of the poem of
+Provence, called "Flamenca," thus allegorically describes these
+amusements: "Youth and Gaiety opened the ball, accompanied by their sister
+Bravery; Cowardice, confused, went of her own accord and hid herself." The
+troubadours mention a great number of dances, without describing them; no
+doubt they were so familiar that they thought a description of them
+needless. They often speak of the _danse au virlet_, a kind of round
+dance, during the performance of which each person in turn sang a verse,
+the chorus being repeated by all. In the code of the Courts of Love,
+entitled "Arresta Amorum," that is, the decrees of love, the _pas de
+Brabant_ is mentioned, in which each gentleman bent his knee before his
+lady; and also the _danse au chapelet_, at the end of which each dancer
+kissed his lady. Romances of chivalry frequently mention that knights used
+to dance with the dames and young ladies without taking off their helmets
+and coats of mail. Although this costume was hardly fitted for the
+purpose, we find, in the romance of "Perceforet," that, after a repast,
+whilst the tables were being removed, everything was prepared for a ball,
+and that although the knights made no change in their accoutrements, yet
+the ladies went and made fresh toilettes. "Then," says the old novelist,
+"the young knights and the young ladies began to play their instruments
+and to have the dance." From this custom may be traced the origin of the
+ancient Gallic proverb, "_Apres la panse vient la danse_" ("After the
+feast comes the dance"). Sometimes a minstrel sang songs to the
+accompaniment of the harp, and the young ladies danced in couples and
+repeated at intervals the minstrel's songs. Sometimes the torch-dance was
+performed; in this each performer bore in his hand a long lighted taper,
+and endeavoured to prevent his neighbours from blowing it out, which each
+one tried to do if possible (Fig. 184). This dance, which was in use up to
+the end of the sixteenth century at court, was generally reserved for
+weddings.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 183.--Peasant Dances at the May Feasts.--Fac-simile
+of a Miniature in a Prayer-book of the Fifteenth Century, in the National
+Library of Paris.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 184.--Dance by Torchlight, a Scene at the Court of
+Burgundy.--From a Painting on Wood of 1463, belonging to M. H. Casterman,
+of Tournai (Belgium).]
+
+Dancing lost much of its simplicity and harmlessness when masquerades were
+introduced, these being the first examples of the ballet. These
+masquerades, which soon after their introduction became passionately
+indulged in at court under Charles VI., were, at first, only allowed
+during Carnival, and on particular occasions called _Charivaris_, and they
+were usually made the pretext for the practice of the most licentious
+follies. These masquerades had a most unfortunate inauguration by the
+catastrophe which rendered the madness of Charles VI. incurable, and which
+is described in history under the name of the _Burning Ballet_. It was on
+the 29th of January, 1393, that this ballet made famous the festival held
+in the Royal Palace of St. Paul in Paris, on the occasion of the marriage
+of one of the maids of honour of Queen Isabel of Bavaria with a gentleman
+of Vermandois. The bride was a widow, and the second nuptials were deemed
+a fitting occasion for the Charivaris.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 185.--The Burning Ballet.--Fac-simile of a Miniature
+in the Manuscript of the "Chroniques" of Froissart (Fifteenth Century), in
+the National Library of Paris.]
+
+A gentleman from Normandy, named Hugonin de Grensay, thought he could
+create a sensation by having a dance of wild men to please the ladies. "He
+admitted to his plot," says Froissart, "the king and four of the principal
+nobles of the court. These all had themselves sewn up in close-fitting
+linen garments covered with resin on which a quantity of tow was glued,
+and in this guise they appeared in the middle of the ball. The king was
+alone, but the other four were chained together. They jumped about like
+madmen, uttered wild cries, and made all sorts of eccentric gestures. No
+one knew who these hideous objects were, but the Duke of Orleans
+determined to find out, so he took a candle and imprudently approached too
+near one of the men. The tow caught fire, and the flames enveloped him
+and the other three who were chained to him in a moment." "They were
+burning for nearly an hour like torches," says a chronicler. "The king had
+the good fortune to escape the peril, because the Duchesse de Berry, his
+aunt, recognised him, and had the presence of mind to envelop him in her
+train" (Fig. 185). Such a calamity, one would have thought, might have
+been sufficient to disgust people with masquerades, but they were none the
+less in favour at court for many years afterwards; and, two centuries
+later, the author of the "Orchesographie" thus writes on the subject:
+"Kings and princes give dances and masquerades for amusement and in order
+to afford a joyful welcome to foreign nobles; we also practise the same
+amusements on the celebration of marriages." In no country in the world
+was dancing practised with more grace and elegance than in France. Foreign
+dances of every kind were introduced, and, after being remodelled and
+brought to as great perfection as possible, they were often returned to
+the countries from which they had been imported under almost a new
+character.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 186.--Musicians accompanying the Dancing.--Fac-simile
+of a Wood Engraving in the "Orchesographie" of Thoinot Arbeau (Jehan
+Tabourot): 4to (Langres, 1588).]
+
+In 1548, the dances of the Bearnais, which were much admired at the court
+of the Comtes de Foix, especially those called the _danse mauresque_ and
+the _danse des sauvages_, were introduced at the court of France, and
+excited great merriment. So popular did they become, that with a little
+modification they soon were considered essentially French. The German
+dances, which were distinguished by the rapidity of their movements, were
+also thoroughly established at the court of France. Italian, Milanese,
+Spanish, and Piedmontese dances were in fashion in France before the
+expedition of Charles VIII. into Italy: and when this king, followed by
+his youthful nobility, passed over the mountains to march to the conquest
+of Naples, he found everywhere in the towns that welcomed him, and in
+which balls and masquerades were given in honour of his visit, the dance
+_a la mode de France_, which consisted of a sort of medley of the dances
+of all countries. Some hundreds of these dances have been enumerated in
+the fifth book of the "Pantagruel" of Rabelais, and in various humorous
+works of those who succeeded him. They owed their success to the singing
+with which they were generally accompanied, or to the postures,
+pantomimes, or drolleries with which they were supplemented for the
+amusement of the spectators. A few, and amongst others that of the _five
+steps_ and that of the _three faces_, are mentioned in the "History of the
+Queen of Navarre."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 187.--The Dance called "La Gaillarde."--Fac-simile of
+Wood Engravings from the "Orchesographie" of Thoinot Arbeau (Jehan
+Tabourot): 4to (Langres, 1588).]
+
+Dances were divided into two distinct classes--_danses basses_, or common
+and regular dances, which did not admit of jumping, violent movements, or
+extraordinary contortions--and the _danses par haut_, which were
+irregular, and comprised all sorts of antics and buffoonery. The regular
+French dance was a _basse_ dance, called the _gaillarde_; it was
+accompanied by the sound of the hautbois and tambourine, and originally it
+was danced with great form and state. This is the dance which Jean
+Tabouret has described; it began with the two performers standing opposite
+to each other, advancing, bowing, and retiring. "These advancings and
+retirings were done in steps to the time of the music, and continued until
+the instrumental accompaniment stopped; then the gentleman made his bow
+to the lady, took her by the hand, thanked her, and led her to her seat."
+The _tourdion_ was similar to the _gaillarde_, only faster, and was
+accompanied with more action. Each province of France had its national
+dance, such as the _bourree_ of Auvergne, the _trioris_ of Brittany, the
+_branles_ of Poitou, and the _valses_ of Lorraine, which constituted a
+very agreeable pastime, and one in which the French excelled all other
+nations. This art, "so ancient, so honourable, and so profitable," to use
+the words of Jean Tabourot, was long in esteem in the highest social
+circles, and the old men liked to display their agility, and the dames and
+young ladies to find a temperate exercise calculated to contribute to
+their health as well as to their amusement.
+
+The sixteenth century was the great era of dancing in all the courts of
+Europe; but under the Valois, the art had more charm and prestige at the
+court of France than anywhere else. The Queen-mother, Catherine,
+surrounded by a crowd of pretty young ladies, who composed what she called
+her _flying squadron_, presided at these exciting dances. A certain
+Balthazar de Beaujoyeux was master of her ballets, and they danced at the
+Castle of Blois the night before the Duc de Guise was assassinated under
+the eyes of Henry III., just as they had danced at the Chateau of the
+Tuileries the day after St. Bartholomew's Day.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 188.--The Game of Bob Apple, or Swinging
+Apple.--Manuscript of the Fourteenth Century, in the British Museum.]
+
+
+
+
+Commerce.
+
+
+
+ State of Commerce after the Fall of the Roman. Empire.--Its Revival
+ under the Frankish Kings.--Its Prosperity under Charlemagne.--Its
+ Decline down to the Time of the Crusaders.--The Levant Trade of the
+ East.--Flourishing State of the Towns of Provence and
+ Languedoc.--Establishment of Fairs.--Fairs of Landit, Champagne,
+ Beaucaire, and Lyons.--Weights and Measures.--Commercial Flanders. Laws
+ of Maritime Commerce.--Consular Laws.--Banks and Bills of
+ Exchange.--French. Settlements on the Coast of Africa.--Consequences of
+ the Discovery of America.
+
+
+"Commerce in the Middle Ages," says M. Charles Grandmaison, "differed but
+little from that of a more remote period. It was essentially a local and
+limited traffic, rather inland than maritime, for long and perilous sea
+voyages only commenced towards the end of the fifteenth century, or about
+the time when Columbus discovered America."
+
+On the fall of the Roman Empire, commerce was rendered insecure, and,
+indeed, it was almost completely put a stop to by the barbarian invasions,
+and all facility of communication between different nations, and even
+between towns of the same country, was interrupted. In those times of
+social confusion, there were periods of such poverty and distress, that
+for want of money commerce was reduced to the simple exchange of the
+positive necessaries of life. When order was a little restored, and
+society and the minds of people became more composed, we see commerce
+recovering its position; and France was, perhaps, the first country in
+Europe in which this happy change took place. Those famous cities of Gaul,
+which ancient authors describe to us as so rich and so industrious,
+quickly recovered their former prosperity, and the friendly relations
+which were established between the kings of the Franks and the Eastern
+Empire encouraged the Gallic cities in cultivating a commerce, which was
+at that time the most important and most extensive in the world.
+
+Marseilles, the ancient Phoenician colony, once the rival and then the
+successor to Carthage, was undoubtedly at the head of the commercial
+cities of France. Next to her came Arles, which supplied ship-builders and
+seamen to the fleet of Provence; and Narbonne, which admitted into its
+harbour ships from Spain, Sicily, and Africa, until, in consequence of the
+Aude having changed its course, it was obliged to relinquish the greater
+part of its maritime commerce in favour of Montpellier.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 189.--View of Alexandria in Egypt, in the Sixteenth
+Century.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the Travels of P. Belon,
+"Observations de Plusieurs Singularitez," &c.: 4to (Paris, 1588).]
+
+Commerce maintained frequent communications with the East; it sought its
+supplies on the coast of Syria, and especially at Alexandria, in Egypt,
+which was a kind of depot for goods obtained from the rich countries lying
+beyond the Red Sea (Figs. 189 and 190). The Frank navigators imported from
+these countries, groceries, linen, Egyptian paper, pearls, perfumes, and a
+thousand other rare and choice articles. In exchange they offered chiefly
+the precious metals in bars rather than coined, and it is probable that at
+this period they also exported iron, wines, oil, and wax. The agricultural
+produce and manufactures of Gaul had not sufficiently developed to
+provide anything more than what was required for the producers themselves.
+Industry was as yet, if not purely domestic, confined to monasteries and
+to the houses of the nobility; and even the kings employed women or serf
+workmen to manufacture the coarse stuffs with which they clothed
+themselves and their households. We may add, that the bad state of the
+roads, the little security they offered to travellers, the extortions of
+all kinds to which foreign merchants were subjected, and above all the
+iniquitous System of fines and tolls which each landowner thought right to
+exact, before letting merchandise pass through his domains, all created
+insuperable obstacles to the development of commerce.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 190.--Transport of Merchandise on the Backs of
+Camels.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the "Cosmographie Universelle," of
+Thevet: folio, 1575.]
+
+The Frank kings on several occasions evinced a desire that communications
+favourable to trade should be re-established in their dominions. We find,
+for instance, Chilperic making treaties with Eastern emperors in favour
+of the merchants of Agde and Marseilles, Queen Brunehaut making viaducts
+worthy of the Romans, and which still bear her name, and Dagobert opening
+at St. Denis free fairs--that is to say, free, or nearly so, from all
+tolls and taxes--to which goods, both agricultural and manufactured, were
+sent from every corner of Europe and the known world, to be afterwards
+distributed through the towns and provinces by the enterprise of internal
+commerce.
+
+After the reign of Dagobert, commerce again declined without positively
+ceasing, for the revolution, which transferred the power of the kings to
+the mayors of the palace was not of a nature to exhaust the resources of
+public prosperity; and a charter of 710 proves that the merchants of
+Saxony, England, Normandy, and even Hungary, still flocked to the fairs of
+St. Denis.
+
+Under the powerful and administrative hand of Charlemagne, the roads being
+better kept up, and the rivers being made more navigable, commerce became
+safe and more general; the coasts were protected from piratical
+incursions; lighthouses were erected at dangerous points, to prevent
+shipwrecks; and treaties of commerce with foreign nations, including even
+the most distant, guaranteed the liberty and security of French traders
+abroad.
+
+Under the weak successors of this monarch, notwithstanding their many
+efforts, commerce was again subjected to all sorts of injustice and
+extortions, and all its safeguards were rapidly destroyed. The Moors in
+the south, and the Normans in the north, appeared to desire to destroy
+everything which came in their way, and already Marseilles, in 838, was
+taken and pillaged by the Greeks. The constant altercations between the
+sons of Louis le Debonnaire and their unfortunate father, their jealousies
+amongst themselves, and their fratricidal wars, increased the measure of
+public calamity, so that soon, overrun by foreign enemies and destroyed by
+her own sons, France became a vast field of disorder and desolation.
+
+The Church, which alone possessed some social influence, never ceased to
+use its authority in endeavouring to remedy this miserable state of
+things; but episcopal edicts, papal anathemas, and decrees of councils,
+had only a partial effect at this unhappy period. At any moment
+agricultural and commercial operations were liable to be interrupted, if
+not completely ruined, by the violence of a wild and rapacious soldiery;
+at every step the roads, often impassable, were intercepted by toll-bars
+for some due of a vexatious nature, besides being continually infested by
+bands of brigands, who carried off the merchandise and murdered those few
+merchants who were so bold as to attempt to continue their business. It
+was the Church, occupied as she was with the interests of civilisation,
+who again assisted commerce to emerge from the state of annihilation into
+which it had fallen; and the "Peace or Truce of God," established in 1041,
+endeavoured to stop at least the internal wars of feudalism, and it
+succeeded, at any rate for a time, in arresting these disorders. This was
+all that could be done at that period, and the Church accomplished it, by
+taking the high hand; and with as much unselfishness as energy and
+courage, she regulated society, which had been abandoned by the civil
+power from sheer impotence and want of administrative capability.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 191.--Trade on the Seaports of the Levant.--After a
+Miniature in a Manuscript of the Travels of Marco Polo (Fifteenth
+Century), Library of the Arsenal of Paris.]
+
+At all events, thanks to ecclesiastical foresight, which increased the
+number of fairs and markets at the gates of abbeys and convents, the first
+step was made towards the general resuscitation of commerce. Indeed, the
+Church may be said to have largely contributed to develop the spirit of
+progress and liberty, whence were to spring societies and nationalities,
+and, in a word, modern organization.
+
+The Eastern commerce furnished the first elements of that trading activity
+which showed itself on the borders of the Mediterranean, and we find the
+ancient towns of Provence and Languedoc springing up again by the aide of
+the republics of Amalfi, Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, which had become the
+rich depots of all maritime trade.
+
+At first, as we have already stated, the wares of India came to Europe
+through the Greek port of Alexandria, or through Constantinople. The
+Crusades, which had facilitated the relations with Eastern countries,
+developed a taste in the West for their indigenous productions, gave a
+fresh vigour to this foreign commerce, and rendered it more productive by
+removing the stumbling blocks which had arrested its progress (Fig. 191).
+
+The conquest of Palestine by the Crusaders had first opened all the towns
+and harbours of this wealthy region to Western traders, and many of them
+were able permanently to establish themselves there, with all sorts of
+privileges and exemptions from taxes, which were gladly offered to them by
+the nobles who had transferred feudal power to Mussulman territories.
+
+Ocean commerce assumed from this moment proportions hitherto unknown.
+Notwithstanding the papal bulls and decrees, which forbade Christians from
+having any connection with infidels, the voice of interest was more
+listened to than that of the Church (Fig. 192), and traders did not fear
+to disobey the political and religions orders which forbade them to carry
+arms and slaves to the enemies of the faith.
+
+It was easy to foretell, from the very first, that the military occupation
+of the Holy Land would not be permanent. In consequence of this,
+therefore, the nearer the loss of this fine conquest seemed to be, the
+greater were the efforts made by the maritime towns of the West to
+re-establish, on a more solid and lasting basis, a commercial alliance
+with Egypt, the country which they selected to replace Palestine, in a
+mercantile point of view. Marseilles was the greatest supporter of this
+intercourse with Egypt; and in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries she
+reached a very high position, which she owed to her shipowners and
+traders. In the fourteenth century, however, the princes of the house of
+Anjou ruined her like the rest of Provence, in the great and fruitless
+efforts which they made to recover the kingdom of Naples; and it was not
+until the reign of Louis XI. that the old Phoenician city recovered its
+maritime and commercial prosperity (Fig. 193).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 192.--Merchant Vessel in a Storm.--Fac-simile of a
+Woodcut in the "Grand Kalendrier et Compost des Bergers," in folio:
+printed at Troyes, about 1490, by Nicolas de Rouge.[*]
+
+ [Footnote *: "Mortal man, living in the world, is compared to a vessel
+ on perilous seas, bearing rich merchandise, by which, if it can come to
+ harbour, the merchant will be rendered rich and happy. The ship from the
+ commencement to the end of its voyage is in great peril of being lost or
+ taken by an enemy, for the seas are always beset with perils. So is the
+ body of man during its sojourn in the world. The merchandise he bears is
+ his soul, his virtues, and his good deeds. The harbour is paradise, and
+ he who reaches that haven is made supremely rich. The sea is the world,
+ full of vices and sins, and in which all, during their passage through
+ life, are in peril and danger of losing body and soul and of being
+ drowned in the infernal sea, from which God in His grace keep us!
+ Amen."]
+]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 193.--View and Plan of Marseilles and its Harbour, in
+the Sixteenth Century.--From a Copper-plate in the Collection of G. Bruin,
+in folio: "Theatre des Citez du Monde."]
+
+Languedoc, depressed, and for a time nearly ruined in the thirteenth
+century by the effect of the wars of the Albigenses, was enabled,
+subsequently, to recover itself. Beziers, Agde, Narbonne, and especially
+Montpellier, so quickly established important trading connections with all
+the ports of the Mediterranean, that at the end of the fourteenth century
+consuls were appointed at each of these towns, in order to protect and
+direct their transmarine commerce. A traveller of the twelfth century,
+Benjamin de Tudele, relates that in these ports, which were afterwards
+called the stepping stones to the Levant, every language in the world
+might be heard.
+
+Toulouse was soon on a par with the towns of Lower Languedoc, and the
+Garonne poured into the markets, not only the produce of Guienne, and of
+the western parts of France, but also those of Flanders, Normandy, and
+England. We may observe, however, that Bordeaux, although placed in a most
+advantageous position, at the mouth of the river, only possessed, when
+under the English dominion, a very limited commerce, principally confined
+to the export of wines to Great Britain in exchange for corn, oil, &c.
+
+La Rochelle, on the same coast, was much more flourishing at this period,
+owing to the numerous coasters which carried the wines of Aunis and
+Saintonge, and the salt of Brouage to Flanders, the Netherlands, and the
+north of Germany. Vitre already had its silk manufactories in the
+fifteenth century, and Nantes gave promise of her future greatness as a
+depot of maritime commerce. It was about this time also that the fisheries
+became a new industry, in which Bayonne and a few villages on the
+sea-coast took the lead, some being especially engaged in whaling, and
+others in the cod and herring fisheries (Fig. 194).
+
+Long before this, Normandy had depended on other branches of trade for its
+commercial prosperity. Its fabrics of woollen stuffs, its arms and
+cutlery, besides the agricultural productions of its fertile and
+well-cultivated soil, each furnished material for export on a large scale.
+
+The towns of Rouen and Caen were especially manufacturing cities, and were
+very rich. This was the case with Rouen particularly, which was situated
+on the Seine, and was at that time an extensive depot for provisions and
+other merchandise which was sent down the river for export, or was
+imported for future internal consumption. Already Paris, the abode of
+kings, and the metropolis of government, began to foreshadow the immense
+development which it was destined to undergo, by becoming the centre of
+commercial affairs, and by daily adding to its labouring and mercantile
+population (Figs. 195 and 196).
+
+It was, however, outside the walls of Paris that commerce, which needed
+liberty as well as protection, at first progressed most rapidly. The
+northern provinces had early united manufacturing industry with traffic,
+and this double source of local prosperity was the origin of their
+enormous wealth. Ghent and Bruges in the Low Countries, and Beauvais and
+Arras, were celebrated for their manufacture of cloths, carpets, and
+serge, and Cambrai for its fine cloths. The artizans and merchants of
+these industrious cities then established their powerful corporations,
+whose unwearied energy gave rise to that commercial freedom so favourable
+to trade.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 194. Whale-Fishing. Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the
+"Cosmographie Universelle" of Thevet, in folio: Paris, 1574.]
+
+More important than the woollen manufactures--for the greater part of the
+wool used was brought from England--was the manufacture of flax, inasmuch
+as it encouraged agriculture, the raw material being produced in France.
+This first flourished in the north-east of France, and spread slowly to
+Picardy, to Beauvois, and Brittany. The central countries, with the
+exception of Bruges, whose cloth manufactories were already celebrated in
+the fifteenth century, remained essentially agricultural; and their
+principal towns were merely depots for imported goods. The institution of
+fairs, however, rendered, it is true, this commerce of some of the towns
+as wide-spread as it was productive. In the Middle Ages religious feasts
+and ceremonials almost always gave rise to fairs, which commerce was not
+slow in multiplying as much as possible. The merchants naturally came to
+exhibit their goods where the largest concourse of people afforded the
+greatest promise of their readily disposing of them. As early as the first
+dynasty of Merovingian kings, temporary and periodical markets of this
+kind existed; but, except at St. Denis, articles of local consumption only
+were brought to them. The reasons for this were, the heavy taxes which
+were levied by the feudal lords on all merchandise exhibited for sale, and
+the danger which foreign merchants ran of being plundered on their way, or
+even at the fair itself. These causes for a long time delayed the progress
+of an institution which was afterwards destined to become so useful and
+beneficial to all classes of the community.
+
+We have several times mentioned the famous fair of Landit, which is
+supposed to have been established by Charlemagne, but which no doubt was a
+sort of revival of the fairs of St. Denis, founded by Dagobert, and which
+for a time had fallen into disuse in the midst of the general ruin which
+preceded that emperor's reign. This fair of Landit was renowned over the
+whole of Europe, and attracted merchants from all countries. It was held
+in the month of June, and only lasted fifteen days. Goods of all sorts,
+both of home and foreign manufacture, were sold, but the sale of parchment
+was the principal object of the fair, to purchase a supply of which the
+University of Paris regularly went in procession. On account of its
+special character, this fair was of less general importance than the six
+others, which from the twelfth century were held at Troyes, Provins,
+Lagny-sur-Marne, Rheims, and Bar-sur-Aube. These infused so much
+commercial vitality into the province of Champagne, that the nobles for
+the most part shook off the prejudice which forbad their entering into any
+sort of trading association.
+
+Fairs multiplied in the centre and in the south of France simultaneously.
+Those of Puy-en-Velay, now the capital of the Haute-Loire, are looked upon
+as the most ancient, and they preserved their old reputation and attracted
+a considerable concourse of people, which was also increased by the
+pilgrimages then made to Notre-Dame du Puy. These fairs, which were more
+of a religious than of a commercial character, were then of less
+importance as regards trade than those held at Beaucaire. This town rose
+to great repute in the thirteenth century, and, with the Lyons market,
+became at that time the largest centre of commerce in the southern
+provinces. Placed at the junction of the Saone and the Rhone, Lyons owed
+its commercial development to the proximity of Marseilles and the towns of
+Italy. Its four annual fairs were always much frequented, and when the
+kings of France transferred to it the privileges of the fairs of
+Champagne, and transplanted to within its walls the silk manufactories
+formerly established at Tours, Lyons really became the second city of
+France.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 195.--Measurers of Corn in Paris.
+
+Fig. 196.--Hay Carriers.
+
+Fac-simile of Woodcuts from the "Royal Orders concerning the Jurisdiction
+of the Company of Merchants and Shrievalty in the City of Paris," in small
+folio goth.: Jacques Nyverd, 1528.]
+
+It may be asserted as an established fact that the gradual extension of
+the power of the king, produced by the fall of feudalism, was favourable
+to the extension of commerce. As early as the reign of Louis IX. many laws
+and regulations prove that the kings were alive to the importance of
+trade. Among the chief enactments was one which led to the formation of
+the harbour of Aigues-Mortes on the Mediterranean; another to the
+publication of the book of "Weights and Measures," by Etienne Boileau, a
+work in which the ancient statutes of the various trades were arranged and
+codified; and a third to the enactment made in the very year of this
+king's death, to guarantee the security of vendors, and, at the same time,
+to ensure purchasers against fraud. All these bear undoubted witness that
+an enlightened policy in favour of commerce had already sprung up.
+
+Philippe le Bel issued several prohibitory enactments also in the interest
+of home commerce and local industry, which Louis X. confirmed. Philippe le
+Long attempted even to outdo the judicious efforts of Louis XI., and
+tried, though unsuccessfully, to establish a uniformity in the weights and
+measures throughout the kingdom; a reform, however, which was never
+accomplished until the revolution of 1789. It is difficult to credit how
+many different weights and measures were in use at that time, each one
+varying according to local custom or the choice of the lord of the soil,
+who probably in some way profited by the confusion which this uncertain
+state of things must have produced. The fraud and errors to which this led
+may easily be imagined, particularly in the intercourse between one part
+of the country and another. The feudal stamp is here thoroughly exhibited;
+as M. Charles de Grandmaison remarks, "Nothing is fixed, nothing is
+uniform, everything is special and arbitrary, settled by the lord of the
+soil by virtue of his right of _justesse_, by which he undertook the
+regulation and superintendence of the weights and measures in use in his
+lordship."
+
+Measures of length and contents often differed much from one another,
+although they might be similarly named, and it would require very
+complicated comparative tables approximately to fix their value. The _pied
+de roi_ was from ten to twelve inches, and was the least varying measure.
+The fathom differed much in different parts, and in the attempt to
+determine the relations between the innumerable measures of contents which
+we find recorded--a knowledge of which must have been necessary for the
+commerce of the period--we are stopped by a labyrinth of incomprehensible
+calculations, which it is impossible to determine with any degree of
+certainty.
+
+The weights were more uniform and less uncertain. The pound was everywhere
+in use, but it was not everywhere of the same standard (Fig. 201). For
+instance, at Paris it weighed sixteen ounces, whereas at Lyons it only
+weighed fourteen; and in weighing silk fifteen ounces to the pound was
+the rule. At Toulouse and in Upper Languedoc the pound was only thirteen
+and a half ounces; at Marseilles, thirteen ounces; and at other places it
+even fell to twelve ounces. There was in Paris a public scale called
+_poids du roi_; but this scale, though a most important means of revenue,
+was a great hindrance to retail trade.
+
+In spite of these petty and irritating impediments, the commerce of France
+extended throughout the whole world.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 197.--View of Lubeck and its Harbour (Sixteenth
+Century).--From a Copper-plate in the Work of P. Bertius, "Commentaria
+Rerum Germanicarum," in 4to: Amsterdam, 1616.]
+
+The compass--known in Italy as early as the twelfth century, but little
+used until the fourteenth--enabled the mercantile navy to discover new
+routes, and it was thus that true maritime commerce may be said regularly
+to have begun. The sailors of the Mediterranean, with the help of this
+little instrument, dared to pass the Straits of Gibraltar, and to venture
+on the ocean. From that moment commercial intercourse, which had
+previously only existed by land, and that with great difficulty, was
+permanently established between the northern and southern harbours of
+Europe.
+
+Flanders was the central port for merchant vessels, which arrived in great
+numbers from the Mediterranean, and Bruges became the principal depot.
+The Teutonic league, the origin of which dates from the thirteenth
+century, and which formed the most powerful confederacy recorded in
+history, also sent innumerable vessels from its harbours of Lubeck (Fig.
+197) and Hamburg. These carried the merchandise of the northern countries
+into Flanders, and this rich province, which excelled in every branch of
+industry, and especially in those relating to metals and weaving, became
+the great market of Europe (Fig. 198).
+
+The commercial movement, formerly limited to the shores of the
+Mediterranean, extended to all parts, and gradually became universal. The
+northern states shared in it, and England, which for a long time kept
+aloof from a stage on which it was destined to play the first part, began
+to give indications of its future commercial greatness. The number of
+transactions increased as the facility for carrying them on became
+greater. Consumption being extended, production progressively followed,
+and so commerce went on gaining strength as it widened its sphere.
+Everything, in fact, seemed to contribute to its expansion. The downfall
+of the feudal system and the establishment in each country of a central
+power, more or less strong and respected, enabled it to extend its
+operations by land with a degree of security hitherto unknown; and, at the
+same time, international legislation came in to protect maritime trade,
+which was still exposed to great dangers. The sea, which was open freely
+to the whole human race, gave robbers comparatively easy means of
+following their nefarious practices, and with less fear of punishment than
+they could obtain on the shore of civilised countries. For this reason
+piracy continued its depredations long after the enactment of severe laws
+for its suppression.
+
+This maritime legislation did not wait for the sixteenth century to come
+into existence. Maritime law was promulgated more or less in the twelfth
+century, but the troubles and agitations which weakened and disorganized
+empires during that period of the Middle Ages, deprived it of its power
+and efficiency. The _Code des Rhodiens_ dates as far back as 1167; the
+_Code de la Mer_, which became a sort of recognised text-book, dates from
+the same period; the _Lois d'Oleron_ is anterior to the twelfth century,
+and ruled the western coasts of France, being also adopted in Flanders and
+in England; Venice dated her most ancient law on maritime rights from
+1255, and the Statutes of Marseilles date from 1254.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 198.--Execution of the celebrated pirate Stoertebeck
+and his seventy accomplices, in 1402, at Hamburg.--From a popular Picture
+of the end of the Sixteenth Century (Hamburg Library).]
+
+The period of the establishment of commercial law and justice
+corresponds with that of the introduction of national and universal codes
+of law and consular jurisdiction. These may be said to have originated in
+the sixth century in the laws of the Visigoths, which empowered foreign
+traders to be judged by delegates from their own countries. The Venetians
+had consuls in the Greek empire as early as the tenth century, and we may
+fairly presume that the French had consuls in Palestine during the reign
+of Charlemagne. In the thirteenth century the towns of Italy had consular
+agents in France; and Marseilles had them in Savoy, in Arles, and in
+Genoa. Thus traders of each country were always sure of finding justice,
+assistance, and protection in all the centres of European commerce.
+
+Numerous facilities for barter were added to these advantages. Merchants,
+who at first travelled with their merchandise, and who afterwards merely
+sent a factor as their representative, finally consigned it to foreign
+agents. Communication by correspondence in this way became more general,
+and paper replaced parchment as being less rare and less expensive. The
+introduction of Arabic figures, which were more convenient than the Roman
+numerals for making calculations, the establishment of banks, of which the
+most ancient was in operation in Venice as early as the twelfth century,
+the invention of bills of exchange, attributed to the Jews, and generally
+in use in the thirteenth century, the establishment of insurance against
+the risks and perils of sea and land, and lastly, the formation of trading
+companies, or what are now called partnerships, all tended to give
+expansion and activity to commerce, whereby public and private wealth was
+increased in spite of obstacles which routine, envy, and ill-will
+persistently raised against great commercial enterprises.
+
+For a long time the French, through indolence or antipathy--for it was
+more to their liking to be occupied with arms and chivalry than with
+matters of interest and profit--took but a feeble part in the trade which
+was carried on so successfully on their own territory. The nobles were
+ashamed to mix in commerce, considering it unworthy of them, and the
+bourgeois, for want of liberal feeling and expansiveness in their ideas,
+were satisfied with appropriating merely local trade. Foreign commerce,
+even of the most lucrative description, was handed over to foreigners, and
+especially to Jews, who were often banished from the kingdom and as
+frequently ransomed, though universally despised and hated.
+Notwithstanding this, they succeeded in rising to wealth under the stigma
+of shame and infamy, and the immense gains which they realised by means of
+usury reconciled them to, and consoled them for, the ill-treatment to
+which they were subjected.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 199.--Discovery of America, 12th of May,
+1492.--Columbus erects the Cross and baptizes the Isle of Guanahani (now
+Cat Island, one of the Bahamas) by the Christian Name of St.
+Salvador.--From a Stamp engraved on Copper by Th. de Bry, in the
+Collection of "Grands Voyages," in folio, 1590.]
+
+At a very early period, and especially when the Jews had been absolutely
+expelled, the advantage of exclusively trading with and securing the rich
+profits from France had attracted the Italians, who were frequently only
+Jews in disguise, concealing themselves as to their character under the
+generic name of Lombards. It was under this name that the French kings
+gave them on different occasions various privileges, when they frequented
+the fairs of Champagne and came to establish themselves in the inland and
+seaport towns. These Italians constituted the great corporation of
+money-changers in Paris, and hoarded in their coffers all the coin of the
+kingdom, and in this way caused a perpetual variation in the value of
+money, by which they themselves benefited.
+
+In the sixteenth century the wars of Italy rather changed matters, and we
+find royal and important concessions increasing in favour of Castilians
+and other Spaniards, whom the people maliciously called _negroes_, and who
+had emigrated in order to engage in commerce and manufactures in
+Saintonge, Normandy, Burgundy, Agenois, and Languedoc.
+
+About the time of Louis XI., the French, becoming more alive to their true
+interests, began to manage their own affairs, following the suggestions
+and advice of the King, whose democratic instincts prompted him to
+encourage and favour the bourgeois. This result was also attributable to
+the state of peace and security which then began to exist in the kingdom,
+impoverished and distracted as it had been by a hundred years of domestic
+and foreign warfare.
+
+From 1365 to 1382 factories and warehouses were founded by Norman
+navigators on the western coast of Africa, in Senegal and Guinea. Numerous
+fleets of merchantmen, of great size for those days, were employed in
+transporting cloth, grain of all kinds, knives, brandy, salt, and other
+merchandise, which were bartered for leather, ivory, gum, amber, and gold
+dust. Considerable profits were realised by the shipowners and merchants,
+who, like Jacques Coeur, employed ships for the purpose of carrying on
+these large and lucrative commercial operations. These facts sufficiently
+testify the condition of France at this period, and prove that this, like
+other branches of human industry, was arrested in its expansion by the
+political troubles which followed in the fourteenth and fifteenth
+centuries.
+
+Fortunately these social troubles were not universal, and it was just at
+the period when France was struggling and had become exhausted and
+impoverished that the Portuguese extended their discoveries on the same
+coast of Africa, and soon after succeeded in rounding the Cape of Good
+Hope, and opening a new maritime road to India, a country which was always
+attractive from the commercial advantages which it offered.
+
+Some years after, Christopher Columbus, the Genoese, more daring and more
+fortunate still, guided by the compass and impelled by his own genius,
+discovered a new continent, the fourth continent of the world (Fig. 199).
+This unexpected event, the greatest and most remarkable of the age,
+necessarily enlarged the field for produce as well as for consumption to
+an enormous extent, and naturally added, not only to the variety and
+quantity of exchangeable wares, but also to the production of the precious
+metals, and brought about a complete revolution in the laws of the whole
+civilised world.
+
+Maritime commerce immediately acquired an extraordinary development, and
+merchants, forsaking the harbours of the Mediterranean, and even those of
+the Levant, which then seemed to them scarcely worthy of notice, sent
+their vessels by thousands upon the ocean in pursuit of the wonderful
+riches of the New World. The day of caravans and coasting had passed;
+Venice had lost its splendour; the sway of the Mediterranean was over; the
+commerce of the world was suddenly transferred from the active and
+industrious towns of that sea, which had so long monopolized it, to the
+Western nations, to the Portuguese and Spaniards first, and then to the
+Dutch and English.
+
+France, absorbed in, and almost ruined by civil war, and above all by
+religious dissensions, only played a subordinate part in this commercial
+and pacific revolution, although it has been said that the sailors of
+Dieppe and Honfleur really discovered America before Columbus.
+Nevertheless the kings of France, Louis XII., Francis I., and Henry II.,
+tried to establish and encourage transatlantic voyages, and to create, in
+the interest of French commerce, colonies on the coasts of the New World,
+from Florida and Virginia to Canada.
+
+But these colonies had but a precarious and transitory existence;
+fisheries alone succeeded, and French commerce continued insignificant,
+circumscribed, and domestic, notwithstanding the increasing requirements
+of luxury at court. This luxury contented itself with the use of the
+merchandise which arrived from the Low Countries, Spain, and Italy.
+National industry did all in its power to surmount this ignominious
+condition; she specially turned her attention to the manufacture of silks
+and of stuffs tissued with gold and silver. The only practical attempt of
+the government in the sixteenth century to protect commerce and
+manufactures was to forbid the import of foreign merchandise, and to
+endeavour to oppose the progress of luxury by rigid enactments.
+
+Certainly the government of that time little understood the advantages
+which a country derived from commerce when it forbade the higher classes
+from engaging in mercantile pursuits under penalty of having their
+privileges of nobility withdrawn from them. In the face of the examples of
+Italy, Genoa, Venice, and especially of Florence, where the nobles were
+all traders or sons of traders, the kings of the line of Valois thought
+proper to make this enactment. The desire seemed to be to make the
+merchant class a separate class, stationary, and consisting exclusively of
+bourgeois, shut up in their counting-houses, and prevented in every way
+from participating in public life. The merchants became indignant at this
+banishment, and, in order to employ their leisure, they plunged with all
+their energy into the sanguinary struggles of Reform and of the League.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 200.--Medal to commemorate the Association of the
+Merchants of the City of Rouen.]
+
+It was not until the reign of Henry IV. that they again confined
+themselves to their occupations as merchants, when Sully published the
+political suggestions of his master for renewing commercial prosperity.
+From this time a new era commenced in the commercial destiny of France.
+Commerce, fostered and protected by statesmen, sought to extend its
+operations with greater freedom and power. Companies were formed at Paris,
+Marseilles, Lyons, and Rouen to carry French merchandise all over the
+world, and the rules of the mercantile associations, in spite of the
+routine and jealousies which guided the trade corporations, became the
+code which afterwards regulated commerce (Fig. 200).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 201.--Standard Weight in Brass of the Fish-market at
+Mans: Sign of the Syren (End of the Sixteenth Century).]
+
+
+
+
+Guilds and Trade Corporations.
+
+
+
+ Uncertain Origin of Corporations.--Ancient Industrial Associations.--The
+ Germanic Guild.--Colleges.--Teutonic Associations.--The Paris Company
+ for the Transit of Merchandise by Water.--Corporations properly so
+ called.--Etienne Boileau's "Book of Trades," or the First Code of
+ Regulations.--The Laws governing Trades.--Public and Private
+ Organization of Trade Corporations and other Communities.--Energy of the
+ Corporations.--Masters, Journeymen, Supernumeraries, and
+ Apprentices.--Religious Festivals and Trade Societies.--Trade Unions.
+
+
+Learned authorities have frequently discussed, without agreeing, on the
+question of the origin of the Corporations of the Middle Ages. It may be
+admitted, we think _a priori_, that associations of artisans were as
+ancient as the trades themselves. It may readily be imagined that the
+numerous members of the industrial classes, having to maintain and defend
+their common rights and common interests, would have sought to establish
+mutual fraternal associations among themselves. The deeper we dive into
+ancient history the clearer we perceive traces, more or less distinct, of
+these kinds of associations. To cite only two examples, which may serve to
+some extent as an historical parallel to the analogous institutions of the
+present day, we may mention the Roman _Colleges_, which were really
+leagues of artisans following the same calling; and the Scandinavian
+guilds, whose object was to assimilate the different branches of industry
+and trade, either of a city or of some particular district.
+
+Indeed, brotherhoods amongst the labouring classes always existed under
+the German conquerors from the moment when Europe, so long divided into
+Roman provinces, shook off the yoke of subjection to Rome, although she
+still adhered to the laws and customs of the nation which had held her in
+subjection for so many generations. We can, however, only regard the few
+traces which remain of these brotherhoods as evidence of their having
+once existed, and not as indicative of their having been in a flourishing
+state. In the fifth century, the Hermit Ampelius, in his "Legends of the
+Saints," mentions _Consuls_ or Chiefs of Locksmiths. The Corporation of
+Goldsmiths is spoken of as existing in the first dynasty of the French
+kings. Bakers are named collectively in 630 in the laws of Dagobert, which
+seems to show that they formed a sort of trade union at that remote
+period. We also see Charlemagne, in several of his statutes, taking steps
+in order that the number of persons engaged in providing food of different
+kinds should everywhere be adequate to provide for the necessities of
+consumption, which would tend to show a general organization of that most
+important branch of industry. In Lombardy colleges of artisans were
+established at an early period, and were, no doubt, on the model of the
+Roman ones. Ravenna, in 943, possessed a College of Fishermen; and ten
+years later the records of that town mention a _Chief of the Corporation
+of Traders_, and, in 1001, a _Chief of the Corporation of Butchers_.
+France at the same time kept up a remembrance of the institutions of Roman
+Gaul, and the ancient colleges of trades still formed associations and
+companies in Paris and in the larger towns. In 1061 King Philip I. granted
+certain privileges to Master Chandlers and Oilmen. The ancient customs of
+the butchers are mentioned as early as the time of Louis VII., 1162. The
+same king granted to the wife of Ives Laccobre and her heirs the
+collectorship of the dues which were payable by tanners, purse-makers,
+curriers, and shoemakers. Under Philip Augustus similar concessions became
+more frequent, and it is evident that at that time trade was beginning to
+take root and to require special and particular administration. This led
+to regulations being drawn up for each trade, to which Philip Augustus
+gave his sanction. In 1182 he confirmed the statutes of the butchers, and
+the furriers and drapers also obtained favourable concessions from him.
+
+According to the learned Augustin Thierry, corporations, like civic
+communities, were engrafted on previously existing guilds, such as on the
+colleges or corporations of workmen, which were of Roman origin. In the
+_guild_, which signifies a banquet at common expense, there was a mutual
+assurance against misfortunes and injuries of all sorts, such as fire and
+shipwreck, and also against all lawsuits incurred for offences and crimes,
+even though they were proved against the accused. Each of these
+associations was placed under the patronage of a god or of a hero, and
+had its compulsory statutes; each had its chief or president chosen from
+among the members, and a common treasury supplied by annual contributions.
+Roman colleges, as we have already stated, were established with a more
+special purpose, and were more exclusively confined to the peculiar trade
+to which they belonged; but these, equally with the guilds, possessed a
+common exchequer, enjoyed equal rights and privileges, elected their own
+presidents, and celebrated in common their sacrifices, festivals, and
+banquets. We have, therefore, good reason for agreeing in the opinion of
+the celebrated historian, who considers that in the establishment of a
+corporation "the guild should be to a certain degree the motive power, and
+the Roman college, with its organization, the material which should be
+used to bring it into existence."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 202.--Craftsmen in the Fourteenth Century--Fac-simile
+of a Miniature of a Manuscript in the Library of Brussels.]
+
+It is certain, however, that during several centuries corporations were
+either dissolved or hidden from public notice, for they almost entirely
+disappeared from the historic records during the partial return to
+barbarism, when the production of objects of daily necessity and the
+preparation of food were entrusted to slaves under the eye of their
+master. Not till the twelfth century did they again begin to flourish,
+and, as might be supposed, it was Italy which gave the signal for the
+resuscitation of the institutions whose birthplace had been Rome, and
+which barbarism had allowed to fall into decay. Brotherhoods of artisans
+were also founded at an early period in the north of Gaul, whence they
+rapidly spread beyond the Rhine. Under the Emperor Henry I., that is,
+during the tenth century, the ordinary condition of artisans in Germany
+was still serfdom; but two centuries later the greater number of trades in
+most of the large towns of the empire had congregated together in colleges
+or bodies under the name of unions (_Einnungen_ or _Innungen_) (Fig. 202),
+as, for example, at Gozlar, at Wuerzburg, at Brunswick, &c. These colleges,
+however, were not established without much difficulty and without the
+energetic resistance of the ruling powers, inasmuch as they often raised
+their pretensions so high as to wish to substitute their authority for the
+senatorial law, and thus to grasp the government of the cities. The
+thirteenth century witnessed obstinate and sanguinary feuds between these
+two parties, each of which was alternately victorious. Whichever had the
+upper hand took advantage of the opportunity to carry out the most cruel
+reprisals against its defeated opponents. The Emperors Frederick II. and
+Henry VII. tried to put an end to these strifes by abolishing the
+corporations of workmen, but these powerful associations fearlessly
+opposed the imperial authority. In France the organization of communities
+of artisans, an organization which in many ways was connected with the
+commercial movement, but which must not be confounded with it, did not
+give rise to any political difficulty. It seems not even to have met with
+any opposition from the feudal powers, who no doubt found it an easy
+pretext for levying additional rates and taxes.
+
+The most ancient of these corporations was the Parisian _Hanse_, or
+corporation of the bourgeois for canal navigation, which probably dates
+its origin back to the college of Parisian _Nautes_, existing before the
+Roman conquest. This mercantile association held its meetings in the
+island of Lutetia, on the very spot where the church of Notre-Dame was
+afterwards built. From the earliest days of monarchy tradesmen constituted
+entirely the bourgeois of the towns (Fig. 203). Above them were the
+nobility or clergy, beneath them the artisans. Hence we can understand how
+the bourgeois, who during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were a
+distinct section of the community, became at last the important commercial
+body itself. The kings invariably treated them with favour. Louis VI.
+granted them new rights, Louis VII. confirmed their ancient privileges,
+and Philip Augustus increased them. The Parisian Hanse succeeded in
+monopolising all the commerce which was carried on by water on the Seine
+and the Yonne between Mantes and Auxerre. No merchandise coming up or down
+the stream in boats could be disembarked in the interior of Paris without
+becoming, as it were, the property of the corporation, which, through its
+agents, superintended its measurement and its sale in bulk, and, up to a
+certain point, its sale by retail. No foreign merchant was permitted to
+send his goods to Paris without first obtaining _lettres de Hanse_,
+whereby he had associated with him a bourgeois of the town, who acted as
+his guarantee, and who shared in his profits.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 203.--Merchants or Tradesmen of the Fourteenth
+Century.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in a Manuscript of the Library at
+Brussels.]
+
+There were associations of the same kind in most of the commercial towns
+situated on the banks of rivers and on the sea-coast, as, for example, at
+Rouen, Arles, Marseilles, Narbonne, Toulouse, Ratisbon, Augsburg, and
+Utrecht. Sometimes neighbouring towns, such as the great manufacturing
+cities of Flanders, agreed together and entered into a leagued bond, which
+gave them greater power, and constituted an offensive and defensive
+compact (Fig. 204). A typical example of this last institution is that of
+the commercial association of the _Hanseatic Towns_ of Germany, which were
+grouped together to the number of eighty around their four capitals, viz.,
+Lubeck, Cologne, Dantzic, and Brunswick.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 204.--Seal of the United Trades of Ghent (End of the
+Fifteenth Century).]
+
+Although, as we have already seen, previous to the thirteenth century many
+of the corporations of artisans had been authorised by several of the
+kings of France to make special laws whereby they might govern themselves,
+it was really only from the reign of St. Louis that the first general
+measures of administration and police relating to these communities can be
+dated. The King appointed Etienne Boileau, a rich bourgeois, provost of
+the capital in 1261, to set to work to establish order, wise
+administration, and "good faith" in the commerce of Paris. To this end he
+ascertained from the verbal testimony of the senior members of each
+corporation the customs and usages of the various crafts, which for the
+most part up to that time had not been committed to writing. He arranged
+and probably amended them in many ways, and thus composed the famous "Book
+of Trades," which, as M. Depping, the able editor of this valuable
+compilation, first published in 1837, says, "has the advantage of being to
+a great extent the genuine production of the corporations themselves, and
+not a list of rules established and framed by the municipal or judicial
+authorities." From that time corporations gradually introduced themselves
+into the order of society. The royal decrees in their favour were
+multiplied, and the regulations with regard to mechanical trades daily
+improved, not only in Paris and in the provinces, and also abroad, both in
+the south and in the north of Europe, especially in Italy, Germany,
+England, and the Low Countries (Figs. 205 to 213).
+
+Etienne Boileau's "Book of Trades" contained the rules of one hundred
+different trade associations. It must be observed, however, that several
+of the most important trades, such as the butchers, tanners, glaziers,
+&c., were omitted, either because they neglected to be registered at the
+Chatelet, where the inquiry superintended by Boileau was made, or because
+some private interest induced them to keep aloof from this registration,
+which probably imposed some sort of fine and a tax upon them. In the
+following century the number of trade associations considerably increased,
+and wonderfully so during the reigns of the last of the Valois and the
+first of the Bourbons.
+
+The historian of the antiquities of Paris, Henry Sauval, enumerated no
+fewer than fifteen hundred and fifty-one trade associations in the capital
+alone in the middle of the seventeenth century. It must be remarked,
+however, that the societies of artisans were much subdivided owing to the
+simple fact that each craft could only practise its own special work.
+Thus, in Boileau's book, we find four different corporations of
+_patenotriers_, or makers of chaplets, six of hatters, six of weavers, &c.
+
+Besides these societies of artisans, there were in Paris a few privileged
+corporations, which occupied a more important position, and were known
+under the name of _Corps des Marchands_. Their number at first frequently
+varied, but finally it was settled at six, and they were termed _les Six
+Corps_. They comprised the drapers, which always took precedence of the
+five others, the grocers, the mercers, the furriers, the hatters, and the
+goldsmiths. These five for a long time disputed the question of
+precedence, and finally they decided the matter by lot, as they were not
+able to agree in any other way.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 205.--Seal of the Corporation of Carpenters of St.
+Trond (Belgium)--From an Impression preserved in the Archives of that Town
+(1481).]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 206.--Seal of the Corporation of Shoemakers of St.
+Trond, from a Map of 1481, preserved in the Archives of that Town.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 207.--Seal of the Corporation of Wool-weavers of
+Hasselt (Belgium), from a Parchment Title-deed of June 25, 1574.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 208.--Seal of the Corporation of Clothworkers of
+Bruges (1356).--From an Impression preserved in the Archives of that
+Town.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 209.--Seal of the Corporation of Fullers of St. Trond
+(about 1350).--From an Impression preserved in the Archives of that Town.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 210.--Seal of the Corporation of Joiners of Bruges
+(1356).--From an Impression preserved in the Archives of that Town.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 211.--Token of the Corporation of Carpenters of
+Maestricht.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 212.--Token of the Corporation of Carpenters of
+Antwerp.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 213.--Funeral Token of the Corporation of Carpenters
+of Maestricht.]
+
+
+Trades.
+
+Fac-simile of Engravings on Wood, designed and engraved by J. Amman, in
+the Sixteenth Century.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 214.--Cloth-worker.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 215.--Tailor.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 216.--Hatter.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 217.--Dyer.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 218.--Druggist]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 219.--Barber]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 220.--Goldsmith]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 221.--Goldbeater]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 222.--Pin and Needle Maker.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 223.--Clasp-maker.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 224.--Wire-worker.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 225.--Dice-maker.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 226.--Sword-maker.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 227.--Armourer.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 228.--Spur-maker.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 229.--Shoemaker.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 230.--Basin-maker.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 231.--Tinman.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 232.--Coppersmith.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 233.--Bell and Cannon Caster.]
+
+Apart from the privilege which these six bodies of merchants exclusively
+enjoyed of being called upon to appear, though at their own expense, in
+the civic processions and at the public ceremonials, and to carry the
+canopy over the heads of kings, queens, or princes on their state entry
+into the capital (Fig. 234), it would be difficult to specify the nature
+of the privileges which were granted to them, and of which they were so
+jealous. It is clear, however, that these six bodies were imbued with a
+kind of aristocratic spirit which made them place trading much above
+handicraft in their own class, and set a high value on their calling as
+merchants. Thus contemporary historians tell us that any merchant who
+compromised the dignity of the company "fell into the class of the lower
+orders;" that mercers boasted of excluding from their body the
+upholsterers, "who were but artisans;" that hatters, who were admitted
+into the _Six Corps_ to replace one of the other trades, became in
+consequence "merchants instead of artisans, which they had been up to that
+time."
+
+Notwithstanding the statutes so carefully compiled and revised by Etienne
+Boileau and his successors, and in spite of the numerous arbitrary rules
+which the sovereigns, the magistrates, and the corporations themselves
+strenuously endeavoured to frame, order and unity were far from governing
+the commerce and industry of Paris during the Middle Ages, and what took
+place in Paris generally repeated itself elsewhere. Serious disputes
+continually arose between the authorities and those amenable to their
+jurisdiction, and between the various crafts themselves, notwithstanding
+the relation which they bore to each other from the similarity of their
+employments.
+
+In fact in this, as in many other matters, social disorder often emanated
+from the powers whose duty it was in the first instance to have repressed
+it. Thus, at the time when Philip Augustus extended the boundaries of his
+capital so as to include the boroughs in it, which until then had been
+separated from the city, the lay and clerical lords, under whose feudal
+dominion those districts had hitherto been placed, naturally insisted upon
+preserving all their rights. So forcibly did they do this that the King
+was obliged to recognise their claims; and in several boroughs, including
+the Bourg l'Abbe, the Beau Bourg, the Bourg St. Germain, and the Bourg
+Auxerrois, &c., there were trade associations completely distinct from and
+independent of those of ancient Paris. If we simply limit our examination
+to that of the condition of the trade associations which held their
+authority immediately from royalty, we still see that the causes of
+confusion were by no means trifling; for the majority of the high officers
+of the crown, acting as delegates of the royal authority, were always
+disputing amongst themselves the right of superintending, protecting,
+judging, punishing, and, above all, of exacting tribute from the members
+of the various trades. The King granted to various officers the privilege
+of arbitrarily disposing of the freedom of each trade for their own
+profit, and thereby gave them power over all the merchants and craftsmen
+who were officially connected with them, not only in Paris, but also
+throughout the whole kingdom. Thus the lord chamberlain had jurisdiction
+over the drapers, mercers, furriers, shoemakers, tailors, and other
+dealers in articles of wearing apparel; the barbers were governed by the
+king's varlet and barber; the head baker was governor over the bakers; and
+the head butler over the wine merchants.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 234.--Group of Goldsmiths preceding the _Chasse de St.
+Marcel_ in the Reign of Louis XIII.--From a Copper-plate of the Period
+(Cabinet of Stamps in the National Library of Paris).]
+
+These state officers granted freedoms to artisans, or, in other words,
+they gave them the right to exercise such and such a craft with assistants
+or companions, exacting for the performance of this trifling act a very
+considerable tax. And, as they preferred receiving their revenues without
+the annoyance of having direct communication with their humble subjects,
+they appointed deputies, who were authorised to collect them in their
+names.
+
+The most celebrated of these deputies were the _rois des merciers_, who
+lived on the fat of the land in complete idleness, and who were surrounded
+by a mercantile court, which appeared in all its splendour at the trade
+festivals.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 235.--Banner of the Corporation of the United Boot and
+Shoe Makers of Issoudun.]
+
+The great officers of the crown exercised in their own interests, and
+without a thought for the public advantage, a complete magisterial
+jurisdiction over all crafts; they adjudicated in disputes arising between
+masters and men, decided quarrels, visited, either personally or through
+their deputies, the houses of the merchants, in order to discover frauds
+or infractions in the rules of the trade, and levied fines accordingly. We
+must remember that the collectors of court dues had always to contend for
+the free exercise of their jurisdiction against the provost of Paris, who
+considered their acquisitions of authority as interfering with his
+personal prerogatives, and who therefore persistently opposed them on all
+occasions. For instance, if the head baker ordered an artisan of the same
+trade to be imprisoned in the Chatelet, the high provost, who was governor
+of the prison, released him immediately; and, in retaliation, if the high
+provost punished a baker, the chief baker warmly espoused his
+subordinate's cause. At other times the artisans, if they were
+dissatisfied with the deputy appointed by the great officer of the crown,
+whose dependents they were, would refuse to recognise his authority. In
+this way constant quarrels and interminable lawsuits occurred, and it is
+easy to understand the disorder which must have arisen from such a state
+of things. By degrees, however, and in consequence of the new tendencies
+of royalty, which were simply directed to the diminution of feudal power,
+the numerous jurisdictions relating to the various trades gradually
+returned to the hand of the municipal provostship; and this concentration
+of power had the best results, as well for the public good as for that of
+the corporations themselves.
+
+Having examined into corporations collectively and also into their general
+administration, we will now turn to consider their internal organization.
+It was only after long and difficult struggles that these trade
+associations succeeded in taking a definite and established position;
+without, however, succeeding at any time in organizing themselves as one
+body on the same basis and with the same privileges. Therefore, in
+pointing out the influential character of these institutions generally, we
+must omit various matters specially connected with individual
+associations, which it would be impossible to mention in this brief
+sketch.
+
+In the fourteenth century, the period when the communities of crafts were
+at the height of their development and power, no association of artisans
+could legally exist without a license either from the king, the lord, the
+prince, the abbot, the bailiff, or the mayor of the district in which it
+proposed to establish itself.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 236.--Banner of the Tilers of Paris, with the
+Armorial Bearings of the Corporation.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 237.--Banner of the Nail-makers of Paris, with
+Armorial Bearings of the Corporation.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 238.--Banner of the Harness-makers of Paris, with the
+Armorial Bearings of the Corporation.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 239.--Banner of the Wheelwrights of Paris, with the
+Armoral Bearings of the Corporation.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 240.--Banner of the Tanners of Vie, with the Patron
+Saint of the Corporation.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 241.--Banner of the Weavers of Poulon, with the Patron
+Saint of the Corporation.]
+
+These communities had their statutes and privileges; they were
+distinguished at public ceremonials by their _liveries_ or special dress,
+as well as by their arms and banners (Figs. 235 to 241). They possessed
+the right freely to discuss their general interests, and at meetings
+composed of all their members they might modify their statutes, provided
+that such changes were confirmed by the King or by the authorities. It was
+also necessary that these meetings, at which the royal delegates were
+present, should be duly authorised; and, lastly, so as to render the
+communication between members more easy, and to facilitate everything
+which concerned the interests of the craft, artisans of the same trade
+usually resided in the same quarter of the town, and even in the same
+street. The names of many streets in Paris and other towns of France
+testify to this custom, which still partially exists in the towns of
+Germany and Italy.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 242.--Ceremonial Dress of an Elder and a Juror of the
+Corporation of Old Shoemakers of Ghent.]
+
+The communities of artisans had, to a certain extent, the character and
+position of private individuals. They had the power in their corporate
+capacity of holding and administrating property, of defending or bringing
+actions at law, of accepting inheritances, &c.; they disbursed from a
+common treasury, which was supplied by legacies, donations, fines, and
+periodical subscriptions.
+
+These communities exercised in addition, through their jurors, a
+magisterial authority, and even, under some circumstances, a criminal
+jurisdiction over their members. For a long time they strove to extend
+this last power or to keep it independent of municipal control and the
+supreme courts, by which it was curtailed to that of exercising a simple
+police authority strictly confined to persons or things relating to the
+craft. They carefully watched for any infractions of the rules of the
+trade. They acted as arbitrators between master and man, particularly in
+quarrels when the parties had had recourse to violence. The functions of
+this kind of domestic magistracy were exercised by officers known under
+various names, such as _kings, masters, elders, guards, syndics_, and
+_jurors_, who were besides charged to visit the workshops at any hour they
+pleased in order to see that the laws concerning the articles of
+workmanship were observed. They also received the taxes for the benefit of
+the association; and, lastly, they examined the apprentices and installed
+masters into their office (Fig. 242).
+
+The jurors, or syndics, as they were more usually called, and whose number
+varied according to the importance of numerical force of the corporation,
+were generally elected by the majority of votes of their fellow-workmen,
+though sometimes the choice of these was entirely in the hands of the
+great officers of state. It was not unfrequent to find women amongst the
+dignitaries of the arts and crafts; and the professional tribunals, which
+decided every question relative to the community and its members, were
+often held by an equal number of masters and associate craftsmen. The
+jealous, exclusive, and inflexible spirit of caste, which in the Middle
+Ages is to be seen almost everywhere, formed one of the principal features
+of industrial associations. The admission of new members was surrounded
+with conditions calculated to restrict the number of associates and to
+discourage candidates. The sons of masters alone enjoyed hereditary
+privileges, in consequence of which they were always allowed to be
+admitted without being subjected to the tyrannical yoke of the
+association.
+
+[Illustration: Martyrdom of SS. Crispin and Crepinien.
+
+From a window in the Hopital des Quinze-Vingts (Fifteenth Century).]
+
+Generally the members of a corporation were divided into three distinct
+classes--the masters, the paid assistants or companions, and the
+apprentices. Apprenticeship, from which the sons of masters were often
+exempted, began between the ages of twelve and seventeen years, and
+lasted from two to five years. In most of the trades the master could only
+receive one apprentice in his house besides his own son. Tanners, dyers,
+and goldsmiths were allowed one of their relatives in addition, or a
+second apprentice if they had no relation willing to learn their trade;
+and although some commoner trades, such as butchers and bakers, were
+allowed an unlimited number of apprentices, the custom of restriction had
+become a sort of general law, with the object of limiting the number of
+masters and workmen to the requirements of the public. The position of
+paid assistant or companion was required to be held in many trades for a
+certain length of time before promotion to mastership could be obtained.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 243.--Bootmaker's Apprentice working at a
+Trial-piece.--From a Window of the Thirteenth Century, published by
+Messrs. Cahier and Martin]
+
+When apprentices or companions wished to become masters, they were called
+_aspirants_, and were subjected to successive examinations. They were
+particularly required to prove their ability by executing what was termed
+a _chef-d'oeuvre_, which consisted in fabricating a perfect specimen of
+whatever craft they practised. The execution of the _chef-d'oeuvre_ gave
+rise to many technical formalities, which were at times most frivolous.
+The aspirant in certain cases had to pass a technical examination, as,
+for instance, the barber in forging and polishing lancets; the wool-weaver
+in making and adjusting the different parts of his loom; and during the
+period of executing the _chef-d'oeuvre,_ which often extended over several
+months, the aspirant was deprived of all communication with his fellows.
+He had to work at the office of the association, which was called the
+_bureau_, under the eyes of the jurors or syndics, who, often after an
+angry debate, issued their judgment upon the merits of the work and the
+capability of the workman (Figs. 243 and 244).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 244.--Carpenter's Apprentice working at a
+Trial-piece.--From one of the Stalls called _Misericordes_, in Rouen
+Cathedral (Fifteenth Century).]
+
+On his admission the aspirant had first to take again the oath of
+allegiance to the King before the provost or civil deputy, although he had
+already done so on commencing his apprenticeship. He then had to pay a
+duty or fee, which was divided between the sovereign or lord and the
+brotherhood, from which fee the sons of masters always obtained a
+considerable abatement. Often, too, the husbands of the daughters of
+masters were exempted from paying the duties. A few masters, such as the
+goldsmiths and the cloth-workers, had besides to pay a sum of money by way
+of guarantee, which remained in the funds of the craft as long as they
+carried on the trade. After these forms had been complied with, the
+masters acquired the exclusive privilege of freely exercising their
+profession. There were, however, certain exceptions to this rule, for a
+king on his coronation, a prince or princess of the royal blood at the
+time of his or her marriage, and, in certain towns, the bishop on his
+installation, had the right of creating one or more masters in each trade,
+and these received their licence without going through any of the usual
+formalities.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 245.--Staircase of the Office of the Goldsmiths of
+Rouen (Fifteenth Century). The Shield which the Lion holds with his Paw
+shows the Arms of the Goldsmiths of Rouen. (Present Condition).]
+
+A widower or widow might generally continue the craft of the deceased wife
+or husband who had acquired the freedom, and which thus became the
+inheritance of the survivor. The condition, however, was that he or she
+did not contract a second marriage with any one who did not belong to the
+craft. Masters lost their rights directly they worked for any other master
+and received wages. Certain freedoms, too, were only available in the
+towns in which they had been obtained. In more than one craft, when a
+family holding the freedom became extinct, their premises and tools became
+the property of the corporation, subject to an indemnity payable to the
+next of kin.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 246.--Shops under Covered Market (Goldsmith, Dealer in
+Stuffs, and Shoemaker).--From a Miniature in Aristotle's "Ethics and
+Politics," translated by Nicholas Oresme (Manuscript of the Fifteenth
+Century, Library of Rouen).]
+
+At times, and particularly in those trades where the aspirants were not
+required to produce a _chef-d'oeuvre_, the installation of masters was
+accompanied with extraordinary ceremonies, which no doubt originally
+possessed some symbolical meaning, but which, having lost their true
+signification, became singular, and appeared even ludicrous. Thus with the
+bakers, after four years' apprenticeship, the candidate on purchasing the
+freedom from the King, issued from his door, escorted by all the other
+bakers of the town, bearing a new pot filled with walnuts and wafers. On
+arriving before the chief of the corporation, he said to him, "Master, I
+have accomplished my four years; here is my pot filled with walnuts and
+wafers." The assistants in the ceremony having vouched for the truth of
+this statement, the candidate broke the pot against the wall, and the
+chief solemnly pronounced his admission, which was inaugurated by the
+older masters emptying a number of tankards of wine or beer at the expense
+of their new brother. The ceremony was also of a jovial character in the
+case of the millwrights, who only admitted the candidate after he had
+received a caning on the shoulders from the last-elected brother.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 247.--Fac-simile of the first six Lines on the Copper
+Tablet on which was engraved, from the year 1470, the Names and Titles of
+those who were elected Members of the Corporation of Goldsmiths of Ghent.]
+
+The statutes of the corporations, which had the force of law on account of
+being approved and accepted by royal authority, almost always detailed
+with the greatest precision the conditions of labour. They fixed the hours
+and days for working, the size of the articles to be made, the quality of
+the stuffs used in their manufacture, and even the price at which they
+were to be sold (Fig. 246). Night labour was pretty generally forbidden,
+as likely to produce only imperfect work. We nevertheless find that
+carpenters were permitted to make coffins and other funeral articles by
+night. On the eve of religious feasts the shops were shut earlier than
+usual, that is to say, at three o'clock, and were not opened on the next
+day, with the exception of those of pastrycooks, whose assistance was
+especially required on feast days, and who sold curious varieties of cakes
+and sweetmeats. Notwithstanding the strictness of the rules and the
+administrative laws of each trade, which were intended to secure good
+faith and loyalty between the various members, it is unnecessary to state
+that they were frequently violated. The fines which were then imposed on
+delinquents constituted an important source of revenue, not only to the
+corporations themselves, but also to the town treasury. The penally,
+however, was not always a pecuniary one, for as late as the fifteenth
+century we have instances of artisans being condemned to death simply for
+having adulterated their articles of trade.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 248.--Elder and Jurors of the Tanners of the Town of
+Ghent in Ceremonial Dress.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in a Manuscript of
+the Fifteenth Century.]
+
+This deception was looked upon as of the nature of robbery, which we know
+to have been for a long time punishable by death. Robbery on the part of
+merchants found no indulgence nor pardon in those days, and the whole
+corporation demanded immediate and exemplary justice.
+
+According to the statutes, which generally tended to prevent frauds and
+falsifications, in most crafts the masters were bound to put their
+trade-mark on their goods, or some particular sign which was to be a
+guarantee for the purchaser and one means of identifying the culprit in
+the event of complaints arising on account of the bad quality or bad
+workmanship of the articles sold.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 249.--Companion Carpenter.--Fragment of a Woodcut of
+the Fifteenth Century, after a Drawing by Wohlgemueth for the "Chronique de
+Nuremberg."]
+
+Besides taking various steps to maintain professional integrity, the
+framers of the various statutes, as a safeguard to the public interests,
+undertook also to inculcate morality and good feeling amongst their
+members. A youth could not be admitted unless he could prove his
+legitimacy of birth by his baptismal register; and, to obtain the freedom,
+he was bound to bear an irreproachable character. Artisans exposed
+themselves to a reprimand, and even to bodily chastisement, from the
+corporation, for even associating with, and certainly for working or
+drinking with those who had been expelled. Licentiousness and misconduct
+of any kind rendered them liable to be deprived of their mastership. In
+some trade associations all the members were bound to solemnize the day of
+the decease of a brother, to assist at his funeral, and to follow him to
+the grave. In another community the slightest indecent or discourteous
+word was punishable by a fine. A new master could not establish himself in
+the same street as his former master, except at a distance, which was
+determined by the statutes; and, further, no member was allowed to ask for
+or attract customers when the latter were nearer the shop of his neighbour
+than of his own.
+
+In the Middle Ages religion placed its stamp on every occupation and
+calling, and corporations were careful to maintain this characteristic
+feature. Each was under the patronage of some saint, who was considered
+the special protector of the craft; each possessed a shrine or chapel in
+some church of the quarter where the trade was located, and some even kept
+chaplains at their own expense for the celebration of masses which were
+daily said for the souls of the good deceased members of the craft. These
+associations, animated by Christian charity, took upon them to invoke the
+blessings of heaven on all members of the fraternity, and to assist those
+who were either laid by through sickness or want of work, and to take care
+of the widows and to help the orphans of the less prosperous craftsmen.
+They also gave alms to the poor, and presented the broken meat left at
+their banquets to the hospitals.
+
+Under the name of _garcons_, or _compagnons de devoir_ (this surname was
+at first specially applied to carpenters and masons, who from a very
+ancient date formed an important association, which was partly secret, and
+from which Freemasonry traces its origin) (Fig. 250), the companions,
+notwithstanding that they belonged to the community of their own special
+craft, also formed distinct corporations among themselves with a view to
+mutual assistance. They made a point of visiting any foreign workman on
+his arrival in their town, supplied his first requirements, found him
+work, and, when work was wanting, the oldest companion gave up his place
+to him. These associations of companionship, however, soon failed to carry
+out the noble object for which they were instituted. After a time the
+meeting together of the fraternity was but a pretext for intemperance and
+debauchery, and at times their tumultuous processions and indecent
+masquerades occasioned much disorder in the cities. The facilities which
+these numerous associations possessed of extending and mutually
+co-operating with one another also led to coalitions among them for the
+purpose of securing any advantage which they desired to possess. Sometimes
+open violence was resorted to to obtain their exorbitant and unjust
+demands, which greatly excited the industrious classes, and eventually
+induced the authorities to interfere. Lastly, these brotherhoods gave rise
+to many violent quarrels, which ended in blows and too often in bloodshed,
+between workmen of the same craft, who took different views on debateable
+points. The decrees of parliament, the edicts of sovereigns, and the
+decisions of councils, as early as at the end of the fifteenth century and
+throughout the whole of the sixteenth, severely proscribed the doings of
+these brotherhoods, but these interdictions were never duly and rigidly
+enforced, and the authorities themselves often tolerated infractions of
+the law, and thus license was given to every kind of abuse.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 250.--Carpenters.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the
+"Chroniques de Hainaut," Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century, in the
+Burgundy Library, Brussels.]
+
+We have frequently mentioned in the course of this volume the political
+part played by the corporations during the Middle Ages. We know the active
+and important part taken by trades of all descriptions, in France in the
+great movement of the formation of communities. The spirit of fraternal
+association which constituted the strength of the corporations (Fig. 251),
+and which exhibited itself so conspicuously in every act of their public
+and private life, resisted during several centuries the individual and
+collective attacks made on it by craftsmen themselves. These rich and
+powerful corporations began to decline from the moment they ceased to be
+united, and they were dissolved by law at the beginning of the revolution
+of 1789, an act which necessarily dealt a heavy blow to industry and
+commerce.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 251.--Painting commemorative of the Union of the
+Merchants of Rouen at the End of the Seventeenth Century.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 252.--Banner of the Drapers of Caen.]
+
+
+
+
+Taxes, Money, and Finance.
+
+
+
+ Taxes under the Roman Rule.--Money Exactions of the Merovingian
+ Kings.--Varieties of Money.--Financial Laws under Charlemagne.--Missi
+ Dominici.--Increase of Taxes owing to the Crusades.--Organization of
+ Finances by Louis IX.--Extortions of Philip le Bel.--Pecuniary
+ Embarrassaient of his Successors.--Charles V. re-establishes Order in
+ Finances.--Disasters of France under Charles VI., Charles VII., and
+ Jacques Coeur.--Changes in Taxation from Louis XI. to Francis I.--The
+ great Financiers.--Florimond Robertet.
+
+
+If we believe Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War, the Gauls were
+groaning in his time under the pressure of taxation, and struggled hard to
+remove it. Rome lightened their burden; but the fiscal system of the
+metropolis imperceptibly took root in all the Roman provinces. There was
+an arbitrary personal tax, called the poll tax, and a land tax which was
+named _cens_, calculated according to the area of the holding. Besides
+these, there were taxes on articles of consumption, on salt, on the import
+and export of all articles of merchandise, on sales by auction; also on
+marriages, on burials, and on houses. There were also legacy and
+succession duties, and taxes on slaves, according to their number. Tolls
+on highways were also created; and the treasury went so far as to tax the
+hearth. Hence the origin of the name, _feu_, which was afterwards applied
+to each household or family group assembled in the same house or sitting
+before the same fire. A number of other taxes sprung up, called
+_sordides_, from which the nobility and the government functionaries were
+exempt.
+
+This ruinous system of taxation, rendered still more insupportable by the
+exactions of the proconsuls, and the violence of their subordinates, went
+on increasing down to the time of the fall of the Roman Empire. The Middle
+Ages gave birth to a new order of things. The municipal administration,
+composed in great part of Gallo-Roman citizens, did not perceptibly
+deviate from the customs established for five centuries, but each invading
+nation by degrees introduced new habits and ideas into the countries they
+subdued. The Germans and Franks, having become masters of part of Gaul,
+established themselves on the lands which they had divided between them.
+The great domains, with their revenues which had belonged to the emperors,
+naturally became the property of the barbarian chiefs, and served to
+defray the expenses of their houses or their courts. These chiefs, at each
+general assembly of the _Leudes_, or great vassals, received presents of
+money, of arms, of horses, and of various objects of home or of foreign
+manufacture. For a long time these gifts were voluntary. The territorial
+fief, which was given to those soldlers who had deserved it by their
+military services, involved from the holders a personal service to the
+King. They had to attend him on his journeys, to follow him to war, and to
+defend him under all circumstances. The fief was entirely exempt from
+taxes. Many misdeeds--even robberies and other crimes, which were
+ordinarily punishable by death--were pardonable on payment of a
+proportionate fine, and oaths, in many cases, might be absolved in the
+same way. Thus a large revenue was received, which was generally divided
+equally between the State, the procurator fiscal, and the King.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 253.--The Extraction of Metals.--Fac-simile of a
+Woodcut in the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster, folio: Basle, 1552.]
+
+War, which was almost constant in those turbulent times, furnished the
+barbarian kings with occasional resources, which were usually much more
+important than the ordinary supplies from taxation. The first chiefs of
+the Visigoths, the Ostrogoths, and the Franks, sought means of
+replenishing their treasuries by their victorious arms. Alaric, Totila,
+and Clovis thus amassed enormous wealth, without troubling themselves to
+place the government finances on a satisfactory basis. We see, however, a
+semblance of financial organization in the institutions of Alaric and his
+successors. Subsequently, the great Theodoric, who had studied the
+administrative theories of the Byzantine Court, exercised his genius in
+endeavouring to work out an accurate system of finance, which was adopted
+in Italy.
+
+Gregory of Tours, a writer of the sixteenth century, relates in several
+passages of his "History of the Franks," that they exhibited the same
+repugnance to compulsory taxation as the Germans of the time of Tacitus.
+The _Leudes_ considered that they owed nothing to the treasury, and to
+force them to submit to taxation was not an easy matter. About the year
+465, Childeric I., father of Clovis, lost his crown for wishing all
+classes to submit to taxation equally. In 673, Childeric II., King of
+Austrasia, had one of these _Leudes_, named Bodillon, flogged with rods
+for daring to reproach him with the injustice of certain taxes. He,
+however, was afterwards assassinated by this same Bodillon, and the
+_Leudes_ maintained their right of immunity. A century before the _Leudes_
+were already quarrelling with royalty on account of the taxes, which they
+refused to pay, and they sacrificed Queen Brunehaut because she attempted
+to enrich the treasury with the confiscated property of a few nobles who
+had rebelled against her authority. The wealth of the Frank kings, which
+was always very great, was a continual object of envy, and on one occasion
+Chilperic I., King of Soissons, having the _Leudes_ in league with him,
+laid his hands on the wealth amassed by his father, Clotaire I., which was
+kept in the Palace of Braine. He was, nevertheless, obliged to share his
+spoil with his brothers and their followers, who came in arms to force him
+to refund what he had taken. Chilperic (Fig. 254) was so much in awe of
+these _Leudes_ that he did not ask them for money. His wife, the
+much-feared Fredegonde, did not, however, exempt them more than Brunehaut
+had done; and her judges or ministers, Audon and Mummius, having met with
+an insurmountable resistance in endeavouring to force taxation on the
+nobles, nearly lost their lives in consequence.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 254.--Tomb of Chilperic.--Sculpture of the Eleventh
+Century, in the Abbey of St. Denis.]
+
+The custom of numbering the population, such as was carried on in Rome
+through the censors, appears to have been observed under the Merovingian
+kings. At the request of the Bishop of Poitiers, Childebert gave orders to
+amend the census taken under Sigebert, King of Austrasia. It is a most
+curious document mentioned by Gregory of Tours. "The ancient division," he
+says, "had been one so unequal, owing to the subdivision of properties and
+other changes which time had made in the condition of the taxpayers, that
+the poor, the orphans, and the helpless classes generally alone bore the
+real burden of taxation." Florentius, comptroller of the King's household,
+and Romulfus, count of the palace, remedied this abuse. After a closer
+examination of the changes which had taken place, they relieved the
+taxpayers who were too heavily rated and placed the burden on those who
+could better afford it.
+
+This direct taxation continued on this plan until the time of the kings of
+the second dynasty. The Franks, who had not the privilege of exemption,
+paid a poll tax and a house tax; about a tenth was charged on the produce
+of highly cultivated lands, a little more on that of lands of an inferior
+description, and a certain measure, a _cruche_, of wine on the produce of
+every half acre of vineyard. There were assessors and royal agents charged
+with levying such taxes and regulating the farming of them. In spite of
+this precaution, however, an edict of Clovis II., in the year 615,
+censures the mode of imposing rates and taxes; it orders that they shall
+only be levied in the places where they have been authorised, and forbade
+their being used under any pretext whatever for any other object than that
+for which they were imposed.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 255.--Signature of St. Eloy (Eligius), Financier and
+Minister to Dagobert I.; from the Charter of Foundation of the Abbey of
+Solignac (Mabillon, "Da Re Diplomatica").]
+
+Under the Merovingians specie was not in common use, although the precious
+metals were abundant among the Gauls, as their mines of gold and silver
+were not yet exhausted. Money was rarely coined, except on great
+occasions, such as a coronation, the birth of an heir to the throne, the
+marriage of a prince, or the commemoration of a decisive victory. It is
+even probable that each time that money was used in large sums the pound
+or the _sou_ of gold was represented more by ingots of metal than by
+stamped coin. The third of the _sou_ of gold, which was coined on state
+occasions, seems to have been used only as a commemorative medal, to be
+distributed amongst the great officers of state, and this circumstance
+explains their extreme rarity. The general character of the coinage,
+whether of gold, silver, or of the baser metals, of the Burgundian,
+Austrasian, and Frank kings, differs little from what it had been at the
+time of the last of the Roman emperors, though the _Angel bearing the
+cross_ gradually replaced the _Renommee victorieuse_ formerly stamped on
+the coins. Christian monograms and symbols of the Trinity were often
+intermingled with the initials of the sovereign. It also became common to
+combine in a monogram letters thought to be sacred or lucky, such as C, M,
+S, T, &c.; also to introduce the names of places, which, perhaps, have
+since disappeared, as well as some particular mark or sign special to each
+mint. Some of these are very difficult to understand, and present a number
+of problems which have yet to be solved (Figs. 256 to 259). Unfortunately,
+the names of places on Merovingian coins to the number of about nine
+hundred, have rarely been studied by coin collectors, expert both as
+geographers and linguists. We find, for example, one hundred distinct
+mints, and, up to the present time, have not been able to determine where
+the greater number of them were situated.
+
+[Illustration: Merovingian Gold Coins, Struck by St. Eloy, Moneyer to
+Dagobert I. (628-638).
+
+Fig. 256.--Parisinna Ceve Fit.. Head of Dagobert with double diadem of
+pearls, hair hanging down the back of the neck. _Rev._, Dagobertvs Rex.
+Cross; above, omega; under the arms of the cross, Eligi.
+
+Fig. 257.--Parissin. Civ. Head of Clovis II., with diadem of pearls, hair
+braided and hanging down the back of the neck. _Rev._, Chlodovevs Rex.
+Cross with anchor; under the arms of the cross, Eligi.
+
+Fig. 258.--Parisivs Fit. Head of King. _Rev._, Eligivs Mone. Cross; above,
+omega; under, a ball.
+
+Fig. 259.--Mon. Palati. Head of King. _Rev._, Scolare. I. A. Cross with
+anchor; under the arms of the cross, Eligi. ]
+
+From the time that Clovis became a Christian, he loaded the Church with
+favours, and it soon possessed considerable revenues, and enjoyed many
+valuable immunities. The sons of Clovis contested these privileges; but
+the Church resisted for a time, though she was eventually obliged to give
+way to the iron hand of Charles Martel. In 732 this great military
+chieftain, after his struggle with Rainfroy, and after his brilliant
+victories over the Saxons, the Bavarians, the Swiss, and the Saracens,
+stripped the clergy of their landed possessions, in order to distribute
+them amongst his _Leudes_, who by this means he secured as his creatures,
+and who were, therefore, ever willing and eager to serve him in arms.
+
+On ascending the throne, King Pepin, who wanted to pacify the Church,
+endeavoured as far as possible to obliterate the recollection of the
+wrongs of which his father had been guilty towards her; he ordered the
+_dimes_ and the _nones_ (tenth and ninth denier levied on the value of
+lands) to be placed to the account of the possessors of each
+ecclesiastical domain, on their under-taking to repair the buildings
+(churches, chateaux, abbeys, and presbyteries), and to restore to the
+owners the properties on which they held mortgages. The nobles long
+resented this, and it required the authority and the example of
+Charlemagne to soothe the contending parties, and to make Church and State
+act in harmony.
+
+Charlemagne renounced the arbitrary rights established by the Mayors of
+the Palace, and retained only those which long usage had legitimatised. He
+registered them clearly in a code called the _Capitulaires_, into which he
+introduced the ancient laws of the Ripuaires, the Burgundians, and the
+Franks, arranging them so as to suit the organization and requirements of
+his vast empire. From that time each freeman subscribed to the military
+service according to the amount of his possessions. The great vassal, or
+fiscal judge, was no longer allowed to practise extortion on those
+citizens appointed to defend the State. Freemen could legally refuse all
+servile or obligatory work imposed on them by the nobles, and the amount
+of labour to be performed by the serfs was lessened. Without absolutely
+abolishing the authority of local customs in matters of finance, or
+penalties which had been illegally exacted, they were suspended by laws
+decided at the _Champs de Mai_, by the Counts and by the _Leudes_, in
+presence of the Emperor. Arbitrary taxes were abolished, as they were no
+longer required. Food, and any articles of consumption, and military
+munitions, were exempted from taxation; and the revenues derived from
+tolls on road gates, on bridges, and on city gates, &c., were applied to
+the purposes for which they were imposed, namely, to the repair of the
+roads, the bridges, and the fortified enclosures. The _heriban_, a fine of
+sixty sols--which in those days would amount to more than 6,000
+francs--was imposed on any holder of a fief who refused military service,
+and each noble was obliged to pay this for every one of his vassals who
+was absent when summoned to the King's banner. These fines must have
+produced considerable sums. A special law exempted ecclesiastics from
+bearing arms, and Charlemagne decreed that their possessions should be
+sacred and untouched, and everything was done to ensure the payment of the
+indemnity--_dime_ and _none_--which was due to them.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 260.--Toll on Markets levied by a Cleric.--From one of
+the Painted Windows of the Cathedral of Tournay (Fifteenth Century).]
+
+Charlemagne also superintended the coining and circulation of money. He
+directed that the silver sou should exactly contain the twenty-second part
+by weight of the pound. He also directed that money should only be coined
+in the Imperial palaces. He forbade the circulation of spurious coin; he
+ordered base coiners to be severely punished, and imposed heavy fines upon
+those who refused to accept the coin in legal circulation. The tithe due
+to the Church (Fig. 260), which was imposed at the National Assembly in
+779, and disbursed by the diocesan bishops, gave rise to many complaints
+and much opposition. This tithe was in addition to that paid to the King,
+which was of itself sufficiently heavy. The right of claiming the two
+tithes, however, had a common origin, so that the sovereign defended his
+own rights in protecting those of the Church. This is set forth in the
+text of the _Capitulaires_, from the year 794 to 829. "What had originally
+been only a voluntary and pious offering of a few of the faithful," says
+the author of the "Histoire Financiere de la France," "became thus a
+perpetual tax upon agriculture, custom rather than law enforcing its
+payment; and a tithe which was at first limited to the produce of the
+soil, soon extended itself to cattle and other live stock."
+
+Royal delegates (_missi dominici_), who were invested with complex
+functions, and with very extensive power, travelled through the empire
+exercising legal jurisdiction over all matters of importance. They
+assembled all the _placites_, or provincial authorities, and inquired
+particularly into the collection of the public revenue. During their
+tours, which took place four times a year, they either personally annulled
+unjust sentences, or submitted them to the Emperor. They denounced any
+irregularities on the part of the Counts, punished the negligences of
+their assessors, and often, in order to replace unworthy judges, they had
+to resort to a system of election of assessors, chosen from among the
+people. They verified the returns for the census; superintended the
+keeping up of the royal domains; corrected frauds in matters of taxation;
+and punished usurers as much as base coiners, for at that time money was
+not considered a commercial article, nor was it thought right that a
+money-lender should be allowed to carry on a trade which required a
+remuneration proportionate to the risk which he incurred.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 261.--Sale by Town-Crier. _Preco_, the Crier, blowing
+a trumpet; _Subhastator_, public officer charged with the sale. In the
+background is seen another sale, by the Bellman.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut
+in the Work of Josse Damhoudere, "Praxis Rerum Civilium," 4to: Antwerp,
+1557.]
+
+These _missi dominici_ were too much hated by the great vassals to outlive
+the introduction of the feudal system. Their royal masters, as they
+themselves gradually lost a part of their own privileges and power, could
+not sustain the authority of these officers. Dukes, counts, and barons,
+having become magistrates, arbitrarily levied new taxes, imposed new
+fines, and appropriated the King's tributes to such an extent that,
+towards the end of the tenth century, the laws of Charlemagne had no
+longer any weight. We then find a number of new taxes levied for the
+benefit of the nobles, the very names of which have fallen into disuse
+with the feudal claims which they represented. Among these new taxes were
+those of _escorte_ and _entree_, of _mortmain_, of _lods et ventes_, of
+_relief_, the _champarts_, the _taille_, the _fouage_, and the various
+fees for wine-pressing, grinding, baking, &c., all of which were payable
+without prejudice to the tithes due to the King and the Church. However,
+as the royal tithe was hardly ever paid, the kings were obliged to look to
+other means for replenishing their treasuries; and coining false money was
+a common practice. Unfortunately each great vassal vied with the kings in
+this, and to such an extent, that the enormous quantity of bad money
+coined during the ninth century completed the public ruin, and made this a
+sad period of social chaos. The freeman was no longer distinguishable from
+the villain, nor the villain from the serf. Serfdom was general; men found
+themselves, as it were, slaves, in possession of land which they laboured
+at with the sweat of their brow, only to cultivate for the benefit of
+others. The towns even--with the exception of a few privileged cities, as
+Florence, Paris, Lyons, Rheims, Metz, Strasburg, Marseilles, Hamburg,
+Frankfort, and Milan--were under the dominion of some ecclesiastical or
+lay lord, and only enjoyed liberty of a more or less limited character.
+
+Towards the end of the eleventh century, under Philip I., the enthusiasm
+for Crusades became general, and, as all the nobles joined in the holy
+mission of freeing the tomb of Jesus Christ from the hands of the
+infidels, large sums of money were required to defray the costs. New taxes
+were accordingly imposed; but, as these did not produce enough at once,
+large sums were raised by the sale of some of the feudal rights. Certain
+franchises were in this way sold by the nobles to the boroughs, towns, and
+abbeys, though, in not a few instances, these very privileges had been
+formerly plundered from the places to which they were now sold. Fines were
+exacted from any person declining to go to Palestine; and foreign
+merchants--especially the Jews--were required to subscribe large sums. A
+number of the nobles holding fiefs were reduced to the lowest expedients
+with a view to raising money, and even sold their estates at a low price,
+or mortgaged them to the very Jews whom they taxed so heavily. Every town
+in which the spirit of Gallo-Roman municipality was preserved took
+advantage of these circumstances to extend its liberties. Each monarch,
+too, found this a favourable opportunity to add new fiefs to the crown,
+and to recall as many great vassals as possible under his dominion. It
+was at this period that communities arose, and that the first charters of
+freedom which were obligatory and binding contracts between the King and
+the people, date their origin. Besides the annual fines due to the King
+and the feudal lords, and in addition to the general subsidies, such as
+the quit-rent and the tithes, these communities had to provide for the
+repair of the walls or ramparts, for the paving of the streets, the
+cleaning of the pits, the watch on the city gates, and the various
+expenses of local administration.
+
+Louis le Gros endeavoured to make a re-arrangement of the taxes, and to
+establish them on a definite basis. By his orders a new register of the
+lands throughout the kingdom was commenced, but various calamities caused
+this useful measure to be suspended. In 1149, Louis le Jeune, in
+consequence of a disaster which had befallen the Crusaders, did what none
+of his predecessors had dared to attempt: he exacted from all his subjects
+a sol per pound on their income. This tax, which amounted to a twentieth
+part of income, was paid even by the Church, which, for example's sake,
+did not take advantage of its immunities. Forty years later, at a council,
+or _great parliament_, called by Philip Augustus, a new crusade was
+decided upon; and, under the name of Saladin's tithe, an annual tax was
+imposed on all property, whether landed or personal, of all who did not
+take up the cross to go to the Holy Land. The nobility, however, so
+violently resisted this, that the King was obliged to substitute for it a
+general tax, which, although it was still more productive, was less
+offensive in its mode of collection.
+
+On returning to France in 1191, Philip Augustus rated and taxed every
+one--nobility, bourgeois, and clergy--in order to prosecute the great wars
+in which he was engaged, and to provide for the first paid troops ever
+known in France. He began by confirming the enormous confiscations of the
+properties of the Jews, who had been banished from the kingdom, and
+afterwards sold a temporary permission to some of the richest of them to
+return.
+
+The Jews at that time were the only possessors of available funds, as they
+were the only people who trafficked, and who lent money on interest. On
+this account the Government were glad to recall them, so as to have at
+hand a valuable resource which it could always make use of. As the King
+could not on his own authority levy taxes upon the vassals of feudal
+lords, on emergencies he convoked the barons, who discussed financial
+matters with the King, and, when the sum required was settled, an order
+of assessment was issued, and the barons undertook the collection of the
+taxes. The assessment was always fixed higher than was required for the
+King's wants, and the barons, having paid the King what was due to him,
+retained the surplus, which they divided amongst themselves.
+
+The creation of a public revenue, raised by the contributions of all
+classes of society, with a definite sum to be kept in reserve, thus dates
+from the reign of Philip Augustus. The annual income of the State at that
+time amounted to 36,000 marks, or 72,000 pounds' weight of silver--about
+sixteen or seventeen million francs of present currency. The treasury,
+which was kept in the great tower of the temple (Fig. 262), was under the
+custody of seven bourgeois of Paris, and a king's clerk kept a register of
+receipts and disbursements. This treasury must have been well filled at
+the death of Philip Augustus, for that monarch's legacies were very
+considerable. One of his last wishes deserves to be mentioned: and this
+was a formal order, which he gave to Louis VIII., to employ a certain sum,
+left him for that purpose, solely and entirely for the defence of the
+kingdom.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 262.--The Tower of the Temple, in Paris.--From an
+Engraving of the Topography of Paris, in the Cabinet des Estampes, of the
+National Library.]
+
+[Illustration: Gold Coins of the Sixth and Seventh Centuries.
+
+Fig. 263.--Merovee, Son of Chilperic I.
+
+Fig. 264.--Dagobert I.
+
+Fig. 265.--Clotaire III.]
+
+[Illustration: Silver Coins from the Eighth to the Eleventh Centures.
+
+Fig 266.--Pepin the Short.
+
+Fig. 267.--Charlemagne.
+
+Fig. 268.--Henri I.]
+
+[Illustration: Gold and Silver Coins of the Thirteenth Century.
+
+Fig. 269.--Gold Florin of Louis IX.
+
+Fig. 270.--Silver Gros of Tours.--Philip III.]
+
+When Louis IX., in 1242, at Taillebourg and at Saintes, had defeated the
+great vassals who had rebelled against him, he hastened to regulate the
+taxes by means of a special code which bore the name of the
+_Etablissements_. The taxes thus imposed fell upon the whole population,
+and even lands belonging to the Church, houses which the nobles did not
+themselves occupy, rural properties and leased holdings, were all
+subjected to them. There were, however, two different kinds of rates, one
+called the _occupation_ rate, and the other the rate of _exploitation_;
+and they were both collected according to a register, kept in the most
+regular and systematic manner possible. Ancient custom had maintained a
+tax exceptionally in the following cases: when a noble dubbed his son a
+knight, or gave his daughter in marriage, when he had to pay a ransom,
+and when he set out on a campaign against the enemies of the Church, or
+for the defence of the country. These taxes were called _l'aide aux quatre
+cas_. At this period despotism too often overruled custom, and the good
+King Louis IX., by granting legal power to custom, tried to bring it back
+to the true principles of justice and humanity. He was, however, none the
+less jealous of his own personal privileges, especially as regarded
+coining (Figs. 263 to 270). He insisted that coining should be exclusively
+carried on in his palace, as in the times of the Carlovingian kings, and
+he required every coin to be made of a definite standard of weight, which
+he himself fixed. In this way he secured the exclusive control over the
+mint. For the various localities, towns, or counties directly under the
+crown, Louis IX. settled the mode of levying taxes. Men of integrity were
+elected by the vote of the General Assembly, consisting of the three
+orders--namely, of the nobility, the clergy, and the _tiers etat_--to
+assess the taxation of each individual; and these assessors themselves
+were taxed by four of their own number. The custom of levying proprietary
+subsidies in each small feudal jurisdiction could not be abolished,
+notwithstanding the King's desire to do so, owing to the power still held
+by the nobles. Nobles were forbidden to levy a rate under any
+consideration, without previously holding a meeting of the vassals and
+their tenants. The tolls on roads, bridges (Fig. 271), fairs, and markets,
+and the harbour dues were kept up, notwithstanding their obstruction to
+commerce, with the exception that free passage was given to corn passing
+from one province to another. The exemptions from taxes which had been
+dearly bought were removed; and the nobles were bound not to divert the
+revenue received from tolls for any purposes other than those for which
+they were legitimately intended. The nobles were also required to guard
+the roads "from sunrise to sunset," and they were made responsible for
+robberies committed upon travellers within their domains.
+
+Louis IX., by refunding the value of goods which had been stolen through
+the carelessness of his officers, himself showed an example of the respect
+due to the law. Those charged with collecting the King's dues, as well as
+the mayors whose duty it was to take custody of the money contributed, and
+to receive the taxes on various articles of consumption, worked under the
+eye of officials appointed by the King, who exercised a financial
+jurisdiction which developed later into the department or office called
+the Chamber of Accounts. A tax, somewhat similar to the tithe on funds,
+was imposed for the benefit of the nobles on property held by corporations
+or under charter, in order to compensate the treasury for the loss of the
+succession duties. This tax represented about the fifth part of the value
+of the estate. To cover the enormous expenses of the two crusades, Louis
+IX., however, was obliged to levy two new taxes, called _decimes_, from
+his already overburdened people. It does not, however, appear that this
+excessive taxation alienated the affection of his subjects. Their minds
+were entirely taken up with the pilgrimages to the East, and the pious
+monarch, notwithstanding his fruitless sacrifices and his disastrous
+expeditions, earned for himself the title of _Prince of Peace and of
+Justice_.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 271.--Paying Toll on passing a Bridge.--From a Painted
+Window in the Cathedral of Tournay (Fifteenth Century).]
+
+From the time of Louis IX. down to that of Philippe le Bel, who was the
+most extravagant of kings, and at the same time the most ingenious in
+raising funds for the State treasury, the financial movement of Europe
+took root, and eventually became centralised in Italy. In Florence was
+presented an example of the concentration of the most complete municipal
+privileges which a great flourishing city could desire. Pisa, Genoa, and
+Venice attracted a part of the European commerce towards the Adriatic and
+the Mediterranean. Everywhere the Jews and Lombards--already well
+initiated into the mysterious System of credit, and accustomed to lend
+money--started banks and pawn establishments, where jewels, diamonds,
+glittering arms, and paraphernalia of all kinds were deposited by princes
+and nobles as security for loans (Fig. 272).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 272.--View of the ancient Pont aux Changeurs.--From an
+Engraving of the Topography of Paris, in the Cabinet des Estampes, of the
+National Library.]
+
+The tax collectors (_maltotiers_, a name derived from the Italian _mala
+tolta_, unjust tax), receivers, or farmers of taxes, paid dearly for
+exercising their calling, which was always a dishonourable one, and was at
+times exercised with a great amount of harshness and even of cruelty. The
+treasury required a certain number of _deniers, oboles_, or _pittes_ (a
+small coin varying in value in each province) to be paid by these men for
+each bank operation they effected, and for every pound in value of
+merchandise they sold, for they and the Jews were permitted to carry on
+trades of all kinds without being subject to any kind of rates, taxes,
+work, military service, or municipal dues.
+
+Philippe le Bel, owing to his interminable wars against the King of
+Castille, and against England, Germany, and Flanders, was frequently so
+embarrassed as to be obliged to resort to extraordinary subsidies in order
+to carry them on. In 1295, he called upon his subjects for a forced loan,
+and soon after he shamelessly required them to pay the one-hundredth part
+of their incomes, and after but a short interval he demanded another
+fiftieth part. The king assumed the exclusive right to debase the value of
+the coinage, which caused him to be commonly called the _base coiner_, and
+no sovereign ever coined a greater quantity of base money. He changed the
+standard or name of current coin with a view to counterbalance the
+mischief arising from the illicit coinage of the nobles, and especially to
+baffle the base traffic of the Jews and Lombards, who occasionally would
+obtain possession of a great part of the coin, and mutilate each piece
+before restoring it to circulation; in this way they upset the whole
+monetary economy of the realm, and secured immense profits to themselves
+(Figs. 273 to 278).
+
+In 1303, the _aide au leur_, which was afterwards called the _aide de
+l'ost,_ or the army tax, was invented by Philippe le Bel for raising an
+army without opening his purse. It was levied without distinction upon
+dukes, counts, barons, ladies, damsels, archbishops, bishops, abbots,
+chapters, colleges, and, in fact, upon all classes, whether noble or not.
+Nobles were bound to furnish one knight mounted, equipped, and in full
+armour, for every five hundred marks of land which they possessed; those
+who were not nobles had to furnish six foot-soldiers for every hundred
+households. By another enactment of this king the privilege was granted of
+paying money instead of complying with these demands for men, and a sum of
+100 livres--about 10,000 francs of present currency--was exacted for each
+armed knight; and two sols--about ten francs per diem--for each soldier
+which any one failed to furnish. An outcry was raised throughout France at
+this proceeding, and rebellions broke out in several provinces: in Paris
+the mob destroyed the house of Stephen Barbette, master of the mint, and
+insulted the King in his palace. It was necessary to enforce the royal
+authority with vigour, and, after considerable difficulty, peace was at
+last restored, and Philip learned, though too late, that in matters of
+taxation the people should first be consulted. In 1313, for the first
+time, the bourgeoisie, syndics, or deputies of communities, under the name
+of _tiers etat_--third order of the state--were called to exercise the
+right of freely voting the assistance or subsidy which it pleased the King
+to ask of them. After this memorable occasion an edict was issued ordering
+a levy of six deniers in the pound on every sort of merchandise sold in
+the kingdom. Paris paid this without hesitation, whereas in the provinces
+there was much discontented murmuring. But the following year, the King
+having tried to raise the six deniers voted by the assembly of 1313 to
+twelve, the clergy, nobility, and _tiers etat_ combined to resist the
+extortions of the government. Philippe le Bel died, after having yielded
+to the opposition of his indignant subjects, and in his last moments he
+recommended his son to exercise moderation in taxing and honesty in
+coining.
+
+[Illustration: Gold Coins of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries.
+
+Fig. 273.--Masse d'Or. Philip IV.
+
+Fig. 274.--Small Aignel d'Or. Charles IV.
+
+Fig. 275.--Large Aignel d'Or. John the Good.
+
+Fig. 276.--Franc a Cheval d'Or. Charles V.
+
+Fig. 277.--Ecu d'Or. Philip VI.
+
+Fig. 278.--Salut d'Or. Charles VI.]
+
+On the accession of Louis X., in 1315, war against the Flemish was
+imminent, although the royal treasury was absolutely empty. The King
+unfortunately, in spite of his father's advice, attempted systematically
+to tamper with the coinage, and he also commenced the exaction of fresh
+taxes, to the great exasperation of his subjects. He was obliged, through
+fear of a general rebellion, to do away with the tithe established for the
+support of the army, and to sacrifice the superintendent of finances,
+Enguerrand de Marigny, to the public indignation which was felt against
+him. This man, without being allowed to defend himself, was tried by an
+extraordinary commission of parliament for embezzling the public money,
+was condemned to death, and was hung on the gibbet of Montfaucon. Not
+daring to risk a convocation of the States-General of the kingdom, Louis
+X. ordered the seneschals to convoke the provincial assemblies, and thus
+obtained a few subsidies, which he promised to refund out of the revenues
+of his domains. The clergy even allowed themselves to be taxed, and closed
+their eyes to the misappropriation of the funds, which were supposed to be
+held in reserve for a new crusade. Taxes giving commercial franchise and
+of exchange were levied, which were paid by the Jews, Lombards, Tuscans,
+and other Italians; judiciary offices were sold by auction; the trading
+class purchased letters of nobility, as they had already done under
+Philippe le Bel; and, more than this, the enfranchisement of serfs, which
+had commenced in 1298, was continued on the payment of a tax, which varied
+according to the means of each individual. In consequence of this system,
+personal servitude was almost entirely abolished under Philippe de Long,
+brother of Louis X.
+
+Each province, under the reign of this rapacious and necessitous monarch,
+demanded some concession from the crown, and almost always obtained it at
+a money value. Normandy and Burgundy, which were dreaded more than any
+other province on account of their turbulence, received remarkable
+concessions. The base coin was withdrawn from circulation, and Louis X.
+attempted to forbid the right of coinage to those who broke the wise laws
+of St. Louis. The idea of bills of exchange arose at this period.
+
+Thanks to the peace concluded with Flanders, on which occasion that
+country paid into the hands of the sovereign thirty thousand florins in
+gold for arrears of taxes, and, above all, owing to the rules of economy
+and order, from which Philip V., surnamed the Long, never deviated, the
+attitude of France became completely altered. We find the King initiating
+reform by reducing the expenses of his household. He convened round his
+person a great council, which met monthly to examine and discuss matters
+of public interest; he allowed only one national treasury for the
+reception of the State revenues; he required the treasurers to make a
+half-yearly statement of their accounts, and a daily journal of receipts
+and disbursements; he forbad clerks of the treasury to make entries either
+of receipts or expenditure, however trifling, without the authority and
+supervision of accountants, whom he also compelled to assist at the
+checking of sums received or paid by the money-changers (Fig. 279). The
+farming of the crown lands, the King's taxes, the stamp registration, and
+the gaol duties were sold by auction, subject to certain regulations with
+regard to guarantee. The bailiffs and seneschals sent in their accounts to
+Paris annually, they were not allowed to absent themselves without the
+King's permission, and they were formally forbidden, under pain of
+confiscation, or even a severer penalty, to speculate with the public
+money. The operations of the treasury were at this period always involved
+in the greatest mystery.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 279.--Hotel of the Chamber of Accounts in the
+Courtyard of the Palace in Paris. From a Woodcut of the "Cosmographie
+Universelle" of Munster, in folio: Basle, 1552.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 280.--Measuring Salt.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut of the
+"Ordonnances de la Prevoste des Marchands de Paris," in folio: 1500.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 281.--Toll under the Bridges of Paris.--Fac-simile of
+a Woodcut of the "Ordonnances de la Prevoste des Marchands de Paris," in
+folio: 1500.]
+
+The establishment of a central mint for the whole kingdom, the expulsion
+of the money-dealers, who were mostly of Italian origin, and the
+confiscation of their goods if it was discovered that they had acted
+falsely, signalised the accession of Charles le Bel in 1332. This
+beginning was welcomed as most auspicious, but before long the export
+duties, especially on grain, wine, hay, cattle, leather, and salt, became
+a source of legitimate complaint (Figs. 280 and 281).
+
+Philip VI., surnamed _de Valois_, a more astute politician than his
+predecessor, felt the necessity of gaining the affections of the people by
+sparing their private fortunes. In order to establish the public revenue
+on a firm basis, he assembled, in 1330, the States-General, composed of
+barons, prelates, and deputies from the principal towns, and then, hoping
+to awe the financial agents, he authorised the arrest of the overseer,
+Pierre de Montigny, whose property was confiscated and sold, producing to
+the treasury the enormous sum of 1,200,000 livres, or upwards of
+100,000,000 francs of present currency. The long and terrible war which
+the King was forced to carry on against the English, and which ended in
+the treaty of Bretigny in 1361, gave rise to the introduction of taxation
+of extreme severity. The dues on ecclesiastical properties were renewed
+and maintained for several years; all beverages sold in towns were taxed,
+and from four to six deniers in the pound were levied upon the value of
+all merchandise sold in any part of the kingdom. The salt tax, which
+Philippe le Bel had established, and which his successor, Louis X.,
+immediately abolished at the unanimous wish of the people, was again
+levied by Philip VI., and this king, having caused the salt produced in
+his domains to be sold, "gave great offence to all classes of the
+community." It was on account of this that Edward III., King of England,
+facetiously called him the author of the _Salic_ law. Philippe de Valois,
+when he first ascended the throne, coined his money according to the
+standard weight of St. Louis, but in a short time he more or less alloyed
+it. This he did secretly, in order to be able to withdraw the pieces of
+full weight from circulation and to replace them with others having less
+pure metal in them, and whose weight was made up by an extra amount of
+alloy. In this dishonest way a considerable sum was added to the coffers
+of the state.
+
+King John, on succeeding his father in 1350, found the treasury empty and
+the resources of the kingdom exhausted. He was nevertheless obliged to
+provide means to continue the war against the English, who continually
+harassed the French on their own territory. The tax on merchandise not
+being sufficient for this war, the payment of public debts contracted by
+the government was suspended, and the State was thus obliged to admit its
+insolvency. The mint taxes, called _seigneuriage_, were pushed to the
+utmost limits, and the King levied them on the new coin, which he
+increased at will by largely alloying the gold with base metals. The
+duties on exported and imported goods were increased, notwithstanding the
+complaints that commerce was declining. These financial expedients would
+not have been tolerated by the people had not the King taken the
+precaution to have them approved by the States-General of the provincial
+states, which he annually assembled. In 1355 the States-General were
+convoked, and the King, who had to maintain thirty thousand soldiers,
+asked them to provide for this annual expenditure, estimated at 5,000,000
+_livres parisis_, about 300,000,000 francs of present currency. The
+States-General, animated by a generous feeling of patriotism, "ordered a
+tax of eight deniers in the pound on the sale and transfer of all goods
+and articles of merchandise, with the exception of inheritances, which was
+to be payable by the vendors, of whatever rank they might be, whether
+ecclesiastics, nobles, or others, and also a salt tax to be levied
+throughout the whole kingdom of France." The King promised as long as this
+assistance lasted to levy no other subsidy and to coin good and sterling
+money--i.e., _deniers_ of fine gold, _white_, or silver coin, coin of
+_billon_, or mixed metal, and _deniers_ and _mailles_ of copper. The
+assembly appointed travelling agents and three inspectors or
+superintendents, who had under them two receivers and a considerable
+number of sub-collectors, whose duties were defined with scrupulous
+minuteness. The King at this time renounced the right of seizin, his dues
+over property, inherited or conveyed by sale, exchange, gift, or will, his
+right of demanding war levies by proclamation, and of issuing forced
+loans, the despotic character of which offended everybody. The following
+year, the tax of eight deniers having been found insufficient and
+expensive in its collection, the assembly substituted for it a property
+and income tax, varying according to the property and income of each
+individual.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 282.--The Courtiers amassing Riches at the Expense of
+the Poor.--From a Miniature in the 'Tresor of Brunetto Latini, Manuscript
+of the Fourteenth Century, in the Library of the Arsenal, Paris.]
+
+The finances were, notwithstanding these additions, in a low and
+unsatisfactory condition, which became worse and worse from the fatal day
+of Poitiers, when King John fell into the hands of the English. The
+States-General were summoned by the Dauphin, and, seeing the desperate
+condition in which the country was placed, all classes freely opened their
+purses. The nobility, who had already given their blood, gave the produce
+of all their feudal dues besides. The church paid a tenth and a half, and
+the bourgeois showed the most noble unselfishness, and rose as one man to
+find means to resist the common enemy. The ransom of the King had been
+fixed at three millions of _ecus d'or,_ nearly a thousand million francs,
+payable in six years, and the peace of Bretigny was concluded by the
+cession of a third of the territory of France. There was, however, cause
+for congratulation in this result, for "France was reduced to its utmost
+extremity," says a chronicler, "and had not something led to a reaction,
+she must have perished irretrievably."
+
+King John, grateful for the love and devotion shown to him by his subjects
+under these trying circumstances, returned from captivity with the solemn
+intention of lightening the burdens which pressed upon them, and in
+consequence be began by spontaneously reducing the enormous wages which
+the tax-gatherers had hitherto received, and by abolishing the tolls on
+highways. He also sold to the Jews, at a very high price, the right of
+remaining in the kingdom and of exercising any trade in it, and by this
+means he obtained a large sum of money. He solemnly promised never again
+to debase the coin, and he endeavoured to make an equitable division of
+the taxes. Unfortunately it was impossible to do without a public revenue,
+and it was necessary that the royal ransom should be paid off within six
+years. The people, from whom taxes might be always extorted at pleasure,
+paid a good share of this, for the fifth of the three millions of _ecus
+d'or_ was realised from the tax on salt, the thirteenth part from the
+duty on the sale of fermented liquors, and twelve deniers per pound from
+the tax on the value of all provisions sold and resold within the kingdom.
+Commerce was subjected to a new tax called _imposition foraine_, a measure
+most detrimental to the trade and manufactures of the country, which were
+continually struggling under the pitiless oppression of the treasury.
+Royal despotism was not always able to shelter itself under the sanction
+of the general and provincial councils, and a few provinces, which
+forcibly protested against this excise duty, were treated on the same
+footing as foreign states with relation to the transit of merchandise from
+them. Other provinces compounded for this tax, and in this way, owing to
+the different arrangements in different places, a complicated system of
+exemptions and prohibitions existed which although most prejudicial to all
+industry, remained in force to a great extent until 1789.
+
+When Charles V.--surnamed the Wise--ascended the throne in 1364, France,
+ruined by the disasters of the war, by the weight of taxation, by the
+reduction in her commerce, and by the want of internal security, exhibited
+everywhere a picture of misery and desolation; in addition to which,
+famine and various epidemics were constantly breaking out in various parts
+of the kingdom. Besides this, the country was incessantly overrun by gangs
+of plunderers, who called themselves _ecorcheurs, routiers, tardvenus_,
+&c., and who were more dreaded by the country people even than the English
+had been. Charles V., who was celebrated for his justice and for his
+economical and provident habits, was alone capable of establishing order
+in the midst of such general confusion. Supported by the vote of the
+Assembly held at Compiegne in 1367, he remitted a moiety of the salt tax
+and diminished the number of the treasury agents, reduced their wages, and
+curtailed their privileges. He inquired into all cases of embezzlement, so
+as to put a stop to fraud; and he insisted that the accounts of the public
+expenditure in its several departments should be annually audited. He
+protected commerce, facilitated exchanges, and reduced, as far as
+possible, the rates and taxes on woven articles and manufactured goods. He
+permitted Jews to hold funded property, and invited foreign merchants to
+trade with the country. For the first time he required all gold and silver
+articles to be stamped, and called in all the old gold and silver coins,
+in order that by a new and uniform issue the value of money might no
+longer be fictitious or variable. For more than a century coins had so
+often changed in name, value, and standard weight, that in an edict of
+King John we read, "It was difficult for a man when paying money in the
+ordinary course to know what he was about from one day to another."
+
+The recommencement of hostilities between England and France in 1370
+unfortunately interrupted the progressive and regular course of these
+financial improvements. The States-General, to whom the King was obliged
+to appeal for assistance in order to carry on the war, decided that salt
+should be taxed one sol per pound, wine by wholesale a thirteenth of its
+value, and by retail a fourth; that a _fouage_, or hearth tax, of six
+francs should be established in towns, and of two francs in the
+country,[*] and that a duty should be levied in walled towns on the
+entrance of all wine. The produce of the salt tax was devoted to the
+special use of the King. Each district farmed its excise and its salt tax,
+under the superintendence of clerks appointed by the King, who regulated
+the assessment and the fines, and who adjudicated in the first instance in
+all cases of dispute. Tax-gatherers were chosen by the inhabitants of each
+locality, but the chief officers of finance, four in number, were
+appointed by the King. This administrative organization, created on a
+sound basis, marked the establishment of a complete financial system. The
+Assembly, which thus transferred the administration of all matters of
+taxation from the people at large to the King, did not consist of a
+combination of the three estates, but simply of persons of
+position--namely, prelates, nobles, and bourgeois of Paris, in addition to
+the leading magistrates of the kingdom.
+
+ [Footnote *: This is the origin of the saying "smoke farthing."]
+
+The following extract from the accounts of the 15th November, 1372, is
+interesting, inasmuch as it represents the actual budget of France under
+Charles V.:--
+
+ Article 18. Assigned for the payment of men at arms ...... 50,000 francs.
+ " 19. For payment of men at arms and crossbowmen
+ newly formed .............................. 42,000 "
+ " " For sea purposes ............................. 8,000 "
+ " 20. For the King's palace ........................ 6,000 "
+ " " To place in the King's coffers................ 5,000 "
+ " 21. It pleases the King that the receiver-general
+ should have monthly for matters that daily
+ arise in the chamber ...................... 10,000 "
+ " " For the payment of debts ..................... 10,000 "
+
+ Total ..................... 131,000 "
+
+[Illustration: Settlement of Accounts by the Brothers of Cherite-Dieu of
+the Recovery of Roles
+
+A miniature from the "_Livre des Comptes_" of the Society (Fifteenth
+Century).]
+
+Thus, for the year, 131,000 francs in _ecus d'or_ representing in
+present money about 12,000,000 francs, were appropriated to the expenses
+of the State, out of which the sum of 5,000 francs, equal to 275,000
+francs of present money, was devoted to what we may call the _Civil List_.
+
+On the death of Charles V., in 1380, his eldest son Charles, who was a
+minor, was put under the guardianship of his uncles, and one of these, the
+Duke d'Anjou, assumed the regency by force. He seized upon the royal
+treasury, which was concealed in the Castle of Melun, and also upon all
+the savings of the deceased king; and, instead of applying them to
+alleviate the general burden of taxation, he levied a duty for the first
+time on the common food of the people. Immediately there arose a general
+outcry of indignation, and a formidable expression of resistance was made
+in Paris and in the large towns. Mob orators loudly proclaimed the public
+rights thus trampled upon by the regent and the King's uncles; the
+expression of the feelings of the masses began to take the shape of open
+revolt, when the council of the regency made an appearance of giving way,
+and the new taxes were suppressed, or, at all events, partially abandoned.
+The success of the insurrectionary movement, however, caused increased
+concessions to be demanded by the people. The Jews and tax-collectors were
+attacked. Some of the latter were hung or assassinated, and their
+registers torn up; and many of the former were ill-treated and banished,
+notwithstanding the price they had paid for living in the kingdom.
+
+The assembly of the States, which was summoned by the King's uncles to
+meet in Paris, sided with the people, and, in consequence, the regent and
+his brother pretended to acknowledge the justice of the claims which were
+made upon them in the name of the people, and, on their withdrawing the
+taxes, order was for a time restored. No sooner, however, was this the
+case than, in spite of the solemn promises made by the council of regency,
+the taxes were suddenly reimposed, and the right of farming them was sold
+to persons who exacted them in the most brutal manner. A sanguinary
+revolt, called that of the _Maillotins_, burst forth in Paris; and the
+capital remained for some time in the power of the people, or rather of
+the bourgeois, who led the mob on to act for them (1381-1382). The towns
+of Rouen, Rheims, Troyes, Orleans, and Blois, many places in Beauvoise, in
+Champagne, and in Normandy, followed the example of the Parisians, and it
+is impossible to say to what a length the revolt would have reached had it
+not been for the victory over the Flemish at Rosebecque. This victory
+enabled the King's uncles to re-enter Paris in 1383, and to re-establish
+the royal authority, at the same time making the _Maillotins_ and their
+accomplices pay dearly for their conduct. The excise duties, the hearth
+tax, the salt tax, and various other imposts which had been abolished or
+suspended, were re-established; the taxes on wine, beer, and other
+fermented liquors was lowered; bread was taxed twelve deniers per pound,
+and the duty on salt was fixed at the excessive rate of twenty francs in
+gold--about 1,200 francs of present money--per hogshead of sixty
+hundredweight. Certain concessions and compromises were made exceptionally
+in favour of Artois, Dauphine, Poitou, and Saintonge, in consideration of
+the voluntary contributions which those provinces had made.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 283.--Assassination of the Duke of Burgundy, John the
+Fearless, on the Bridge of Montereau, in 1419.--Fac-simile of a Miniature
+in the "Chronicles" of Monstrelet, Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century, in
+the Library of the Arsenal of Paris.]
+
+Emboldened by the success of their exacting and arbitrary rule, the Dukes
+of Anjou, Burgundy, and Berry, under pretext of requiring money for war
+expenses, again increased the taxes from the year 1385 to 1388; and the
+salt tax was raised to forty golden francs, about 24,000 francs of present
+money, per hogshead. The ecclesiastics paid a half decime to the King, and
+several decimes to the Pope, but these did not prevent a forced loan being
+ordered. Happily, Charles VI. about this period attained his majority, and
+assumed his position as king; and his uncle, the Duke of Bourbon, who was
+called to the direction of affairs, re-established comparative order in
+financial matters; but soon after the King's brother, the Duke of Orleans,
+seized the reins of government, and, jointly with his sister-in-law,
+Isabel of Bavaria, increased the taxation far beyond that imposed by the
+Duke d'Anjou. The Duke of Burgundy, called John the Fearless, in order to
+gratify his personal hatred to his cousin, Louis of Orleans, made himself
+the instrument of the strong popular feeling by assassinating that prince
+as he was returning from an entertainment. The tragical death of the Duke
+of Orleans no more alleviated the ills of France than did that of the Duke
+of Burgundy sixteen years later--for he in his turn was the victim of a
+conspiracy, and was assassinated on the bridge of Montereau in the
+presence of the Dauphin (Fig. 283). The marriage of Isabel of France with
+the young king Richard of England, the ransom of the Christian prisoners
+in the East, the money required by the Emperor of Constantinople to stop
+the invasions of the Turks into Europe, the pay of the French army, which
+was now permanent, each necessarily required fresh subsidies, and money
+had to be raised in some way or other from the French people. Distress was
+at its height, and though the people were groaning under oppression, they
+continued to pay not only the increased taxes on provisions and
+merchandise, and an additional general tax, but to submit to the most
+outrageous confiscations and robbery of the public money from the public
+treasuries. The State Assemblies held at Auxerre and Paris in 1412 and
+1413, denounced the extravagance and maladministration of the treasurers,
+the generals, the excisemen, the receivers of royal dues, and of all those
+who took part in the direction of the finances; though they nevertheless
+voted the taxes, and promulgated most severe regulations with respect to
+their collection. To meet emergencies, which were now becoming chronic,
+extraordinary taxes were established, the non-payment of which involved
+the immediate imprisonment of the defaulter; and the debasement of the
+coinage, and the alienation of certain parts of the kingdom, were
+authorised in the name of the King, who had been insane for more than
+fifteen years. The incessant revolts of the bourgeois, the reappearance of
+the English on the soil of France, the ambitious rivalry of Queen Isabel
+of Bavaria leagued with the Duke of Burgundy against the Dauphin, who had
+been made regent, at last, in 1420, brought about the humiliating treaty
+of Troyes, by which Henry V., king of England, was to become king of
+France on the death of Charles VI.
+
+This treaty of Troyes became the cause of, and the pretext for, a vast
+amount of extortion being practised upon the unfortunate inhabitants of
+the conquered country. Henry V., who had already made several exactions
+from Normandy before he had obtained by force the throne of France, did
+not spare the other provinces, and, whilst proclaiming his good intentions
+towards his future subjects, he added a new general impost, in the shape
+of a forced loan, to the taxes which already weighed so heavily on the
+people. He also issued a new coinage, maintained many of the taxes,
+especially those on salt and on liquors, even after he had announced his
+intention of abolishing them.
+
+At the same time the Dauphin Charles, surnamed _Roi de Bourges_, because
+he had retired with his court and retinue into the centre of the kingdom
+(1422), was sadly in want of money. He alienated the State revenues, he
+levied excise duties and subsidies in the provinces which remained
+faithful to his cause, and he borrowed largely from those members of the
+Church and the nobility who manifested a generous pity for the sad destiny
+of the King and the monarchy. Many persons, however, instead of
+sacrificing themselves for their king and country, made conditions with
+him, taking advantage of his position. The heir to the throne was obliged
+in many points to give way, either to a noble whose services he bargained
+for, or to a town or an abbey whose aid he sought. At times he bought over
+influential bodies, such as universities and other corporation, by
+granting exemptions from, or privileges in, matters of taxation, &c. So
+much was this the case that it may be said that Charles VII. treated by
+private contract for the recovery of the inheritances of his fathers. The
+towns of Paris and Rouen, as well as the provinces of Brittany, Languedoc,
+Normandy, and Guyenne, only returned to their allegiance to the King on
+conditions more or less advantageous to themselves. Burgundy, Picardy, and
+Flanders--which were removed from the kingdom of Charles VII. at the
+treaty of peace of Arras in 1435--cordially adopted the financial system
+inaugurated by the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 284.--The House of Jacques Coeur at Bourges, now
+converted into the Hotel de Ville.]
+
+Charles VII. reconquered his kingdom by a good and wise policy as much as
+by arms. He, doubtless, had cause to be thankful for the valeur and
+devotion of his officers, but he principally owed the success of his cause
+to one man, namely, his treasurer, the famous Jacques Coeur, who possessed
+the faculty of always supplying money to his master, and at the same time
+of enriching himself (Fig. 284). Thus it was that Charles VII., whose
+finances had been restored by the genius of Jacques Coeur, was at last
+able to re-enter his capital triumphantly, to emancipate Guyenne,
+Normandy, and the banks of the Loire from the English yoke, to reattach to
+the crown a portion of its former possessions, or to open the way for
+their early return, to remove bold usurpers from high places in the State,
+and to bring about a real alleviation of those evils which his subjects
+had so courageously borne. He suppressed the fraud and extortion carried
+on under the name of justice, put a stop to the sale of offices, abolished
+a number of rates illegally levied, required that the receivers' accounts
+should be sent in biennially, and whilst regulating the taxation, he
+devoted its proceeds entirely to the maintenance and pay of the army. From
+that time taxation, once feudal and arbitrary, became a fixed royal due,
+which was the surest means of preventing the pillage and the excesses of
+the soldiery to which the country people had been subjected for many
+years. Important triumphs of freedom were thus obtained over the
+tyrannical supremacy of the great vassals; but in the midst of all this
+improvement we cannot but regret that the assessors, who, from the time of
+their creation by St. Louis, had been elected by the towns or the
+corporations, now became the nominees of the crown.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 285.--_Amende honorable_ of Jacques Coeur before
+Charles VII.--Fac-simile of a Miniature of the "Chroniques" of Monstrelet,
+Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century, in the National Library of Paris.]
+
+Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, taxed his subjects but little:
+"Therefore," says Philippe de Commines, "they became very wealthy, and
+lived in much comfort." But Louis XI did not imitate him. His first care
+was to reinstate that great merchant, that clever financier, Jacques
+Coeur, to whom, as much as to Joan of Arc, the kingdom owed its freedom,
+and whom Charles VII., for the most contemptible reasons, had had the
+weakness to allow to be judicially condemned Louis XI. would have been
+very glad to entrust the care of his finances to another Jacques Coeur;
+for being sadly in want of money, he ran through his father's earnings,
+and, to refill his coffers, he increased taxation, imposed a duty on the
+importation of wines, and levied a tax on those holding offices, &c. A
+revolution broke out in consequence, which was only quenched in the blood
+of the insurgents. In this manner he continued, by force of arms, to
+increase and strengthen his own regal power at the expense of feudalism.
+
+He soon found himself opposed by the _Ligue du Bien Public_, formed by the
+great vassals ostensibly to get rid of the pecuniary burden which
+oppressed the people, but really with the secret intention of restoring
+feudalism and lessening the King's power. He was not powerful enough
+openly to resist this, and appeared to give way by allowing the leagued
+nobles immense privileges, and himself consenting to the control of a sort
+of council of "thirty-six notables appointed to superintend matters of
+finance." Far from acknowledging himself vanquished, however, he
+immediately set to work to cause division among his enemies, so as to be
+able to overcome them. He accordingly showed favour towards the bourgeois,
+whom he had already flattered, by granting new privileges, and abolishing
+or reducing certain vexatious taxes of which they complained. The
+thirty-six notables appointed to control his financial management reformed
+nothing. They were timid and docile under the cunning eye of the King, and
+practically assisted him in his designs; for in a very few years the taxes
+were increased from 1,800,000 ecus--about 45,000,000 francs of present
+money--to 3,600,000 ecus--about 95,000,000 francs. Towards the end of the
+reign they exceeded 4,700,000 ecus--130,000,000 francs of present money.
+Louis XI. wasted nothing on luxury and pleasure; he lived parsimoniously,
+but he maintained 110,000 men under arms, and was ready to make the
+greatest sacrifices whenever there was a necessity for augmenting the
+territory of the kingdom, or for establishing national unity. At his
+death, on the 25th of August, 1483, he left a kingdom considerably
+increased in area, but financialty almost ruined.
+
+When Anne de Beaujeu, eldest sister of the King, who was a minor, assumed
+the reins of government as regent, an immediate demand was made for
+reparation of the evils to which the finance ministers had subjected the
+unfortunate people. The treasurer-general Olivier le Dain, and the
+attorney-general Jean Doyat, were almost immediately sacrificed to popular
+resentment, six thousand Swiss were subsidised, the pensions granted
+during the previous reign were cancelled, and a fourth part of the taxes
+was removed. Public opinion being thus satisfied, the States-General
+assembled. The bourgeois here showed great practical good sense,
+especially in matters of finance; they proved clearly that the assessment
+was illegal, and that the accounts were fictitious, inasmuch as the latter
+only showed 1,650,000 livres of subsidies, whereas they amounted to three
+times as much. It was satisfactorily established that the excise, the salt
+tax, and the revenues of the public lands amply sufficed for the wants of
+the country and the crown. The young King Charles was only allowed
+1,200,000 livres for his private purse for two years, and 300,000 livres
+for the expenses of the festivities of his coronation. On the Assembly
+being dissolved, the Queen Regent found ample means of pleasing the
+bourgeois and the people generally by breaking through the engagements she
+had entered into in the King's name, by remitting taxation, and finally by
+force of arms destroying the power of the last remaining vassals of the
+crown.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 286.--The Mint.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the
+Translation of the Latin Work of Francis Patricius, "De l'Institution et
+Administration de la Chose Politique:" folio, 1520.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 287.--The receiver of Taxes.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut
+in Damhoudere's "Praxis Rerum Civilium."]
+
+Charles VIII., during a reign of fourteen years, continued to waste the
+public money. His disastrous expedition for the conquest of the kingdom of
+Naples forced him to borrow at the rate of forty-two per cent. A short
+time previous to his death he acknowledged his errors, but continued to
+spend money, without consideration or restraint, in all kinds of
+extravagances, but especially in buildings. During his reign the annual
+expenditure almost invariably doubled the revenue. In 1492 it reached
+7,300,000 francs, about 244,000,000 francs of present money. The deficit
+was made up each year by a general tax, "which was paid neither by the
+nobles nor the Church, but was obtained entirely from the people" (letters
+from the ambassadors of Venice).
+
+When the Duke of Orleans ascended the throne as Louis XII., the people
+were again treated with some consideration. Having chosen George d'Amboise
+as premier and Florimond Robertet as first secretary of the treasury, he
+resolutely pursued a course of strict economy; he refused to demand of his
+subjects the usual tax for celebrating the joyous accession, the taxes
+fell by successive reductions to the sum of 2,600,000 livres, about
+76,000,000 francs of present money, the salt tax was entirely abolished,
+and the question as to what should be the standard measure of this
+important article was legislated upon. The tax-gatherers were forced to
+reside in their respective districts, and to submit their registers to the
+royal commissioners before beginning to collect the tax. By strict
+discipline pillage by soldiers was put a stop to (Fig. 288).
+
+Notwithstanding the resources obtained by the King through mortgaging a
+part of the royal domains, and in spite of the excellent administration of
+Robertet, who almost always managed to pay the public deficit without any
+additional tax, it was necessary in 1513, after several disastrous
+expeditions to Italy, to borrow, on the security of the royal domains,
+400,000 livres, 10,000,000 francs of present money, and to raise from the
+excise and from other dues and taxes the sum of 3,300,000 livres, about
+80,000,000 francs of present money. This caused the nation some distress,
+but it was only temporary, and was not much felt, for commerce, both
+domestic and foreign, much extended at the same time, and the sale of
+collectorships, of titles of nobility, of places in parliament, and of
+nominations to numerous judicial offices, brought in considerable sums to
+the treasury. The higher classes surnamed the king _Le Roitelet_, because
+he was sickly and of small stature, parsimonious and economical. The
+people called him their "father and master," and he has always been styled
+the father of the people ever since.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 288.--A Village pillaged by Soldiers.--Fac-simile of a
+Woodcut in Hamelmann's "Oldenburgisches Chronicon." in folio, 1599.]
+
+In an administrative and financial point of view, the reign of Francis I.
+was not at all a period of revival or of progress. The commencement of a
+sounder System of finance is rather to be dated from that of Charles V.;
+and good financial organization is associated with the names of Jacques
+Coeur, Philip the Good, Charles XI., and Florimond Robertet. As an example
+of this, it may be stated that financiers of that time established taxes
+on registration of all kinds, also on stamps, and on sales, which did not
+before exist in France, and which were borrowed from the Roman emperors.
+We must also give them the credit of having first commenced a public debt,
+under the name of _rentes perpetuelles_, which at that time realised
+eight per cent. During this brilliant and yet disastrous reign the
+additional taxes were enormous, and the sale of offices produced such a
+large revenue that the post of parliamentary counsel realised the sum of
+2,000 golden ecus, or nearly a million francs of present currency. It was
+necessary to obtain money at any price, and from any one who would lend
+it. The ecclesiastics, the nobility, the bourgeois, all gave up their
+plate and their jewels to furnish the mint, which continued to coin money
+of every description, and, in consequence of the discovery of America, and
+the working of the gold and silver mines in that country, the precious
+metals poured into the hands of the money-changers. The country, however,
+was none the more prosperous, and the people often were in want of even
+the commonest necessaries of life. The King and the court swallowed up
+everything, and consumed all the resources of the country on their luxury
+and their wars. The towns, the monasteries, and the corporations, were
+bound to furnish a certain number of troops, either infantry or cavalry.
+By the establishment of a lottery and a bank of deposit, by the monopoly
+of the mines and by the taxes on imports, exports, and manufactured
+articles, enormous sums were realised to the treasury, which, as it was
+being continually drained, required to be as continually replenished.
+Francis I. exhausted every source of credit by his luxury, his caprices,
+and his wars. Jean de Beaune, Baron de Semblancay, the old minister of
+finance, died a victim to false accusations of having misappropriated the
+public funds. Robertet, who was in office with him, and William Bochetel,
+who succeeded him, were more fortunate: they so managed the treasury
+business that, without meeting with any legal difficulty, they were
+enabled to centralise the responsibility in themselves instead of having
+it distributed over sixteen branches in all parts of the kingdom, a system
+which has continued to our day. In those days the office of superintendent
+of finance was usually only a short and rapid road to the gibbet of
+Montfaucon.
+
+[Illustrations: Gold and Silver Coins of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth
+Centuries.
+
+Fig. 289.--Royal d'Or. Charles VII
+Fig. 290.--Ecu d'Argent a la Couronne. Louis XI.
+Fig. 291.--Ecu d'Or a la Couronne. Charles VIII.
+Fig. 292.--Ecu d'Or au Porc-epic. Louis XII.
+Fig. 293.--Teston d'Argent. Francis I.
+Fig. 294.--Teston d'Argent au Croissant. Henry II.
+]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 295.--Silver Franc. Henry IV.]
+
+
+
+
+Law and the Administration of Justice.
+
+
+
+ The Family the Origin of Government.--Origin of Supreme Power amongst
+ the Franks.--The Legislation of Barbarism humanised by
+ Christianity.--Right of Justice inherent to the Bight of Property.--The
+ Laws under Charlemagne.--Judicial Forms.--Witnesses.--Duels, &c.--
+ Organization of Royal Justice under St. Louis.--The Chatelet and the
+ Provost of Paris.--Jurisdiction of Parliament, its Duties and its
+ Responsibilities.--The Bailiwicks. Struggles between Parliament and the
+ Chatelet.--Codification of the Customs and Usages.--Official
+ Cupidity.--Comparison between the Parliament and the Chatelet.
+
+
+Amongst the ancient Celtic and German population, before any Greek or
+Roman innovations had become engrafted on to their customs, everything,
+even political power as well as the rightful possession of lands, appears
+to have been dependent on families. Julius Caesar, in his "Commentaries,"
+tells us that "each year the magistrates and princes assigned portions of
+land to families as well as to associations of individuals having a common
+object whenever they thought proper, and to any extent they chose, though
+in the following year the same authorities compelled them to go and
+establish themselves elsewhere." We again find families (_familiae_) and
+associations of men (_cognationes hominum_) spoken of by Caesar, in the
+barbaric laws, and referred to in the histories of the Middle Ages under
+the names of _genealogiae, faramanni, farae_, &c.; but the extent of the
+relationship (_parentela_) included under the general appellation of
+_families_ varied amongst the Franks, Lombards, Visigoths, and Bavarians.
+Generally, amongst all the people of German origin, the relationship only
+extended to the seventh degree; amongst the Celts it was determined merely
+by a common ancestry, with endless subdivisions of the tribe into distinct
+families. Amongst the Germans, from whom modern Europe has its origin, we
+find only three primary groups; namely, first, the family proper,
+comprising the father, mother, and children, and the collateral relatives
+of all degrees; secondly, the vassals (_ministeriales_) or servants of the
+free class; and, thirdly, the servants (_mansionarii, coloni, liti,
+servi_) of the servile class attached to the family proper (Fig. 296).
+
+Domestic authority was represented by the _mund_, or head of the family,
+also called _rex_ (the king), who exercised a special power over the
+persons and goods of his dependents, a guardianship, in fact, with certain
+rights and prerogatives, and a sort of civil and political responsibility
+attached to it. Thus the head of the family, who was responsible for his
+wife and for those of his children who lived with him, was also
+responsible for his slaves and domestic animals. To such a pitch did these
+primitive people carry their desire that justice should be done in all
+cases of infringement of the law, that the head was held legally
+responsible for any injury which might be done by the bow or the sword of
+any of his dependents, without it being necessary that he should himself
+have handled either of these weapons.
+
+Long before the commencement of the Merovingian era, the family, whose
+sphere of action had at first been an isolated and individual one, became
+incorporated into one great national association, which held official
+meetings at stated periods on the _Malberg_ (Parliament hill). These
+assemblies alone possessed supreme power in its full signification. The
+titles given to certain chiefs of _rex_ (king), _dux_ (duke), _graff_
+(count), _brenn_ (general of the army), only defined the subdivisions of
+that power, and were applied, the last exclusively, to those engaged in
+war, and the others to those possessing judicial and administrative
+functions. The duty of dispensing justice was specially assigned to the
+counts, who had to ascertain the cause of quarrels between parties and to
+inflict penalties. There was a count in each district and in each
+important town; there were, besides, several counts attached to the
+sovereign, under the title of counts of the palace (_comites palatii_), an
+honourable position, which was much sought after and much coveted on
+account of its pecuniary and other contingent advantages. The counts of
+the palace deliberated with the sovereign on all matters and all questions
+of State, and at the same time they were his companions in hunting,
+feasting, and religious exercises; they acted as arbitrators in questions
+of inheritance of the crown; during the minority of princes they exercised
+the same authority as that which the constitution gave to sovereigns who
+were of full age; they confirmed the nominations of the principal
+functionaries and even those of the bishops; they gave their advice on the
+occasion of a proposed alliance between one nation and another, on matters
+connected with treaties of peace or of commerce, on military expeditions,
+or on exchanges of territory, as well as in reference to the marriage of a
+prince, and they incurred no responsibility beyond that naturally attached
+to persons in so distinguished a position among a semi-barbarous
+community. At first the legates (_legati_), and afterwards the King's
+ambassadors (_missi dominici_), the bishops and the dukes or commanders of
+the army were usually selected from the higher court officials, such as
+the counts of the palace, whereas the _ministeriales_, forming the second
+class of the royal officials, filled inferior though very honourable and
+lucrative posts of an administrative and magisterial character.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 296.--The Familles and the Barbarians.--Fac-simile of
+a Woodcut in the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, Basle,
+1552.]
+
+Under the Merovingians the legal principle of power was closely bound up
+with the possession of landed property. The subdivision of that power,
+however, closely followed this union, and the constant ruin of some of the
+nobles rapidly increased the power of others, who absorbed to themselves
+the lost authority of their more unfortunate brethren, so much so that the
+Frank kings perceived that society would soon escape their rule unless
+they speedily found a remedy for this state of things. It was then that
+the _lois Salique_ and _Ripuaire_ appeared, which were subjected to
+successive revisions and gradual or sudden modifications, necessitated by
+political changes or by the increasing exigencies of the prelates and
+nobles. But, far from lessening the supremacy of the King, the national
+customs which were collected in a code extended the limits of the royal
+authority and facilitated its exercise.
+
+In 596, Childebert, in concert with his _leudes_, decided that in future
+the crime of rape should be punished with death, and that the judge of the
+district (_pagus_) in which it had been committed should kill the
+ravisher, and leave his body on the public road. He also enacted that the
+homicide should have the same fate. "It is just," to quote the words of
+the law, "that he who knows how to kill should learn how to die." Robbery,
+attested by seven witnesses, also involved capital punishment, and a judge
+convicted of having let a noble escape, underwent the same punishment that
+would have been inflicted on the criminal. The punishment, however,
+differed according to the station of the delinquent. Thus, for the
+non-observance of Sunday, a Salian paid a fine of fifteen sols, a Roman
+seven and a half sols, a slave three sols, or "his back paid the penalty
+for him." At this early period some important changes in the barbaric code
+had been made: the sentence of death when once given had to be carried
+out, and no arrangements between the interested parties could avert it. A
+crime could no longer be condoned by the payment of money; robbery even,
+which was still leniently regarded at that time, and beyond the Rhine even
+honoured, was pitilessly punished by death. We therefore cannot have more
+striking testimony than this of the abridgment of the privileges of the
+Frankish aristocracy, and of the progress which the sovereign power was
+making towards absolute and uncontrolled authority over cases of life and
+death. By almost imperceptible steps Roman legislation became more humane
+and perfect, Christianity engrafted itself into barbarism, licentiousness
+was considered a crime, crime became an offence against the King and
+society, and it was in one sense by the King's hand that the criminals
+received punishment.
+
+From the time of the baptism of Clovis, the Church had much to do with the
+re-arrangement of the penal code; for instance, marriage with a
+sister-in-law, a mother-in-law, an aunt, or a niece, was forbidden; the
+travelling shows, nocturnal dances, public orgies, formerly permitted at
+feasts, were forbidden as being profane. In the time of Clotaire, the
+prelates sat as members of the supreme council, which was strictly
+speaking the highest court of the land, having the power of reversing the
+decisions of the judges of the lower courts. It pronounced sentence in
+conjunction with the King, and from these decisions there was no appeal.
+The nation had no longer a voice in the election of the magistrates, for
+the assemblies of _Malberg_ did not meet except on extraordinary
+occasions, and all government and judicial business was removed to the
+supreme and often capricious arbitration of the King and his council.
+
+As long as the mayors of the palace of Austrasia, and of that of Burgundy,
+were only temporarily appointed, royal authority never wavered, and the
+sovereign remained supreme judge over his subjects. Suddenly, however,
+after the execution of Brunehaut, who was sacrificed to the hatred of the
+feudal lords, the mayoralty of the palace became a life appointment, and,
+in consequence, the person holding the office became possessed almost of
+supreme power, and the rightful sovereigns from that time practically
+became subject to the authority of the future usurpers of the crown. The
+edict of 615, to which the ecclesiastical and State nobility were parties,
+was in its laws and customs completely at variance with former edicts. In
+resuming their places in the French constitution, the Merovingian kings,
+who had been deprived both of influence and authority, were compelled by
+the Germanic institutions to return to the passive position which their
+predecessors had held in the forests of Germany, but they no longer had,
+like the latter, the prestige of military authority to enable them to keep
+the position of judges or arbitrators. The canons of the Council of Paris,
+which were confirmed by an edict of the King bearing date the 15th of the
+calends of November, 615, upset the political and legal system so firmly
+established in Europe since the fifth century. The royal power was shorn
+of some of its most valuable prerogatives, one of which was that of
+selecting the bishops; lay judges were forbidden to bring an ecclesiastic
+before the tribunals; and the treasury was prohibited from seizing
+intestate estates, with a view to increasing the rates and taxes; and it
+was decreed that Jews should not be employed in collecting the public
+taxes. By these canons the judges and other officers of State were made
+responsible, the benefices which had been withdrawn from the _leudes_ were
+restored, the King was forbidden from granting written orders (_praecepta_)
+for carrying off rich widows, young virgins, and nuns; and the penalty of
+death was ordered to be enforced against those who disobeyed the canons of
+the council. Thence sprung two new species of legislation, one
+ecclesiastical, the other civil, between which royalty, more and more
+curtailed of its authority, was compelled for many centuries to struggle.
+
+Amongst the Germanic nations the right of justice was inherent to landed
+property from the earliest times, and this right had reference to things
+as well as to persons. It was the patronage (_patrocinium_) of the
+proprietor, and this patronage eventually gave origin to feudal
+jurisdictions and to lordly and customary rights in each domain. We may
+infer from this that under the two first dynasties laws were made by
+individuals, and that each lord, so to speak, made his own.
+
+The right of jurisdiction seems to have been so inherent to the right of
+property, that a landed proprietor could always put an end to feuds and
+personal quarrels, could temporarily bring any lawsuit to a close, and, by
+issuing his _ban_, stop the course of the law in his own immediate
+neighbourhood--at least, within a given circumference of his residence.
+This was often done during any family festival, or any civil or religious
+public ceremony. On these occasions, whoever infringed the _ban_ of the
+master, was liable to be brought before his _court_, and to have to pay a
+fine. The lord who was too poor to create a court of sufficient power and
+importance obtained assistance from his lord paramount or relinquished the
+right of justice to him; whence originated the saying, "The fief is one
+thing, and justice another."
+
+The law of the Visigoths speaks of nobles holding local courts, similar to
+those of the official judge, count, or bishop. King Dagobert required the
+public and the private judges to act together. In the law of Lombardy
+landlords are mentioned who, in virtue of the double title of nobles and
+judges, assumed the right of protecting fugitive slaves taking shelter in
+their domains. By an article of the Salie law, the noble is made to answer
+for his vassal before the court of the count. We must hence conclude that
+the landlord's judgment was exercised indiscriminately on the serfs, the
+colons, and the vassals, and a statute of 855 places under his authority
+even the freemen who resided with other persons.
+
+From these various sources we discover a curious fact, which has hitherto
+remained unnoticed by historians--namely, that there existed an
+intermediate legislation between the official court of the count and his
+subordinates and the private courts, which was a kind of court of
+arbitration exercised by the neighbours (_vicini_) without the assistance
+of the judges of the county, and this was invested with a sort of
+authority which rendered its decisions binding.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 297.--The Emperor Charlemagne holding in one hand the
+Globe and in the other the Sword.--After a Miniature in the Registers of
+the University of Paris (Archives of the Minister of Public Instruction of
+the University). The Motto, _In scelus exurgo, sceleris discrimina purgo,
+_ is written on a Scroll round the Sword.]
+
+Private courts, however, were limited in their power. They were neither
+absolutely independent, nor supreme and without appeal. All conducted
+their business much in the same way as the high, middle, and lower courts
+of the Middle Ages; and above all these authorities towered the King's
+jurisdiction. The usurpation of ecclesiastical bishops and abbots--who,
+having become temporal lords, assumed a domestic jurisdiction--was
+curtailed by the authority of the counts, and they were even more obliged
+to give way before that of the _missi dominici_, or the official delegates
+of the monarch. Charles the Bald, notwithstanding his enormous concessions
+to feudalism and to the Church, never gave up his right of final appeal.
+
+During the whole of the Merovingian epoch, the _mahl_ (_mallus_), the
+general and regular assembly of the nation, was held in the month of
+March. Persons of every class met there clad in armour; political,
+commercial, and judicial interests were discussed under the presidency of
+the monarch; but this did not prevent other special assemblies of the
+King's court (_curia regalis_) being held on urgent occasions. This court
+formed a parliament (_parlamentum_), which at first was exclusively
+military, but from the time of Clovis was composed of Franks, Burgundians,
+Gallo-Romans, as well as of feudal lords and ecclesiastics. As, by
+degrees, the feudal System became organized, the convocation of national
+assemblies became more necessary, and the administration of justice more
+complicated. Charlemagne decided that two _mahls_ should be held annually,
+one in the month of May, the other in the autumn, and, in addition, that
+in each county two annual _plaids_ should meet independently of any
+special _mahls_ and _plaids_ which it should please him to convoke. In
+788, the emperor found it necessary to call three general _plaids_, and,
+besides these, he was pleased to summon his great vassals, both clerical
+and lay, to the four principal feasts of the year. It may be asserted that
+the idea of royalty being the central authority in matters of common law
+dates from the reign of Charlemagne (Fig. 297).
+
+The authority of royalty based on law took such deep root from that time
+forth, that it maintained itself erect, notwithstanding the weakness of
+the successors of the great Charles, and the repeated infractions of it by
+the Church and the great vassals of the crown (Fig. 298).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 298.--Carlovingian King in his Palace personifying
+Wisdom appealing to the whole Human Race.--After a Miniature in a
+Manuscript of the Ninth Century in the Burgundian Library of Brussels,
+from a Drawing by Count Horace de Vielcastel.]
+
+The authoritative and responsible action of a tribunal which represented
+society (Fig. 299) thus took the place of the unchecked animosity of
+private feuds and family quarrels, which were often avenged by the use of
+the gibbet, a monument to be found erected at almost every corner. Not
+unfrequently, in those early times, the unchecked passions of a chief of a
+party would be the only reason for inflicting a penalty; often such a
+person would constitute himself sole judge, and, without the advice of any
+one, he would pass sentence, and even, with his own sword or any other
+available instrument, he would act as his own executioner. The tribunal
+thus formed denounced duelling, the pitiless warfare between man and man,
+and between family and family, and its first care was to protect, not each
+individual man's life, which was impossible in those days of blind
+barbarism, but at least his dwelling. Imperceptibly, the sanctuary of a
+man's house extended, first to towns of refuge, and then to certain public
+places, such as the church, the _mahlum_, or place of national assemblies,
+the market, the tavern, &c. It was next required that the accused, whether
+guilty or not, should remain unharmed from the time of the crime being
+committed until the day on which judgment was passed.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 299.--The Court of the Nobles.--Fac-simile of a
+Miniature in an old Poetical Romance of Chivalry, Manuscript of the
+Thirteenth Century, in the Library of the Arsenal of Paris.]
+
+This right of revenge, besides being thus circumscribed as to locality,
+was also subject to certain rules as to time. Sunday and the principal
+feasts of the year, such as Advent, Christmas week, and from that time to
+the Epiphany, from the Ascension to the Day of Pentecost, certain vigils,
+&c., were all occasions upon which the right of revenge could not be
+exercised. "The power of the King," says a clever and learned writer,
+"partook to a certain degree of that of God and of the Saints; it was his
+province to calm human passions; by the moral power of his seal and his
+hand he extended peace over all the great lines of communication, through
+the forests, along the principal rivers, the highways and the byways, &c.
+The _Treve du Dieu_ in 1035, was the logical application of these humane
+principles."
+
+We must not suppose that justice in those days was dispensed without
+formalities, and that there were no regular intervals between the various
+steps to be gone through before final judgment was given, and in
+consequence of which some guarantee was afforded that the decisions
+arrived at were carefully considered. No one was tried without having been
+previously summoned to appear before the tribunal. Under the
+Carlovingians, as in previous times, the periods when judicial courts were
+held were regulated by the moon. Preference was given to the day on which
+it entered the first quarter, or during the full moon; the summonses were
+returnable by moons or quarter moons--that is, every seventh day. The
+summons was issued four times, after which, if the accused did not appear,
+he lost the right of counterplea, or was nonsuited. The Salic law allowed
+but two summonses before a count, which had to be issued at an interval of
+forty nights the one from the other. The third, which summoned the accused
+before the King, was issued fourteen nights later, and if he had not put
+in an appearance before sunset on the fourteenth day, he was placed _hors
+de sa parole_, his goods were confiscated, and he forfeited the privilege
+of any kind of refuge.
+
+Among the Visigoths justice was equally absolute from the count to the
+tithe-gatherer. Each magistrate had his tribunal and his special
+jurisdiction. These judges called to their assistance assessors or
+colleagues, either _rachimbourgs_, who were selected from freemen; or
+provosts, or _echevins_ (_scabini_), whose appointment was of an official
+and permanent character. The scabins created by Charlemagne were the first
+elected magistrates. They numbered seven for each bench. They alone
+prepared the cases and arranged as to the sentence. The count or his
+delegate alone presided at the tribunal, and pronounced the judgment.
+Every vassal enjoyed the right of appeal to the sovereign, who, with his
+court, alone decided the quarrels between ecclesiastics and nobles, and
+between private individuals who were specially under the royal protection.
+Criminal business was specially referred to the sovereign, the _missi_, or
+the Count Palatine. Final appeal lay with the Count Palatine in all cases
+in which the public peace was endangered, such as in revolts or in armed
+encounters.
+
+As early as the time of the invasion, the Franks, Bavarians, and
+Visigoths, when investigating cases, began by an inquiry, and, previously
+to having recourse to trials before a judge, they examined witnesses on
+oath. Then, he who swore to the matter was believed, and acquitted
+accordingly. This system was no doubt flattering to human veracity, but,
+unfortunately, it gave rise to abuses; which it was thought would be
+avoided by calling the family and friends of the accused to take an oath,
+and it was then administered by requiring them to place their hands on the
+crucifix, on some relics, or on the consecrated Host. These witnesses, who
+were called _conjuratores_, came to attest before the judges not the fact
+itself, but the veracity of the person who invoked their testimony.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 300.--The Judicial Duel. The Plaintiff opening his
+Case before the Judge.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the "Ceremonies des
+Gages des Batailles," Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century in the National
+Library of Paris.]
+
+The number and respectability of the _conjuratores_ varied according to
+the importance of the case in dispute. Gregory of Tours relates, that King
+Gontran being suspicious as to the legitimacy of the child who afterwards
+became Clotaire II., his mother, Fredegonde, called in the impartial
+testimony of certain nobles. These, to the number of three hundred, with
+three bishops at their head (_tribus episcopis et trecentis viris
+optimis_), swore, or, as we say, made an affidavit, and the queen was
+declared innocent.
+
+The laws of the Burgundians and of the Anglians were more severe than
+those of the Germanic race, for they granted to the disputants trial by
+combat. After having employed the ordeal of red-hot iron, and of scalding
+water, the Franks adopted the judicial duel (Fig. 300). This was imposed
+first upon the disputing parties, then on the witnesses, and sometimes
+even on the judges themselves. Dating from the reign of the Emperor Otho
+the Great in 967, the judicial duel, which had been at first restricted to
+the most serious cases, was had recourse to in almost all suits that were
+brought before the courts. Neither women, old men, children, nor infirm
+persons were exempted. When a person could not himself fight he had to
+provide a champion, whose sole business was to take in hand the quarrels
+of others.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 301.--Judicial Duel.--Combat of a Knight with a
+Dog.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the Romance of "Macaire," of the
+Thirteenth Century (Library of the Arsenal of Paris).]
+
+Ecclesiastics were obliged, in the same maimer, to fight by deputy. The
+champion or substitute required, of course, to be paid beforehand. If the
+legend of the Dog of Montargis is to be believed, the judicial duel seems
+to have been resorted to even against an animal (Fig. 301).
+
+In the twelfth century Europe was divided, so to speak, into two vast
+judicial zones: the one, Southern, Gallo-Roman, and Visigoth; the other,
+Northern and Western, half Germanic and half Scandinavian, Anglian, or
+Saxon. Christianity established common ties between these different
+legislations, and imperceptibly softened their native coarseness, although
+they retained the elements of their pagan and barbaric origin. Sentences
+were not as yet given in writing: they were entrusted to the memory of the
+judges who had issued them; and when a question or dispute arose between
+the interested parties as to the terms of the decision which had been
+pronounced, an inquiry was held, and the court issued a second decision,
+called a _recordatum_.
+
+As long as the King's court was a movable one, the King carried about with
+him the original text of the law in rolls (_rotuli_). It was in
+consequence of the seizure of a number of these by the English, during the
+reign of Philip Augustus in 1194, that the idea was suggested of
+preserving the text of all the laws as state archives, and of opening
+authentic registers of decisions in civil and criminal cases. As early as
+the time of Charles the Bald, the inconvenience was felt of the high court
+of the count being movable from place to place, and having no special
+locality where instructions might be given as to modes of procedure, for
+the hearing of witnesses, and for keeping the accused in custody, &c. A
+former statute provided for this probable difficulty, but there seems to
+be no proof that previous to the twelfth century any fixed courts of
+justice had been established. The Kings, and likewise the counts, held
+courts in the open air at the entrance to the palace (Fig. 302), or in
+some other public place--under a large tree, for instance, as St. Louis
+did in the wood of Vincennes.
+
+M. Desmaze, in his valuable researches on the history of the Parliament of
+Paris, says--"In 1191, Philip Augustus, before starting for Palestine,
+established bailiwicks, which held their assizes once a month; during
+their sitting they heard all those who had complaints to make, and gave
+summary judgment. The bailiff's assize was held at stated periods from
+time to time, and at a fixed place; it was composed of five judges, the
+King deciding the number and quality of the persons who were to take part
+in the deliberations of the court for each session. The royal court only
+sat when it pleased the King to order it; it accompanied the King wherever
+he went, so that it had no settled place of residence."
+
+Louis IX. ordered that the courts of the nobles should be consolidated
+with the King's court, and succeeded in carrying out this reform. The
+bailiffs who were the direct delegates of the sovereign power, assumed an
+authority before which even the feudal lord was obliged to bend, because
+this authority was supported by the people, who were at that time
+organized in corporations, and these corporations were again bound
+together in communes. Under the bailiffs a system was developed, the
+principles of which more nearly resembled the Roman legislation than the
+right of custom, which it nevertheless respected, and the judicial trial
+by duel completely disappeared. Inquiries and appeals were much resorted
+to in all kinds of proceedings, and Louis IX. succeeded in controlling the
+power of ecclesiastical courts, which had been much abused in reference to
+excommunication. He also suppressed the arbitrary and ruinous
+confiscations which the nobles had unjustly made on their vassals.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 302.--The Palace as it was in the Sixteenth
+Century.--After an Engraving of that Period, National Library of Paris
+(Cabinet des Estampes).]
+
+The edict of 1276 very clearly established the jurisdiction of parliaments
+and bailiwicks; it defined the important duties of the bailiffs, and at
+the same time specified the mode in which proceedings should be taken; it
+also regulated the duties of counsel, _maitres des requetes_, auditors,
+and advocates.
+
+To the bailiwicks already in existence Louis IX. added the four great
+assizes of Vermandois, of Sens, of Saint-Pierre-le-Moustier, and of Macon,
+"to act as courts of final appeal from the judgment of the nobles."
+Philippe le Bel went still further, for, in 1287, he invited "all those
+who possess temporal authority in the kingdom of France to appoint, for
+the purpose of exercising civil jurisdiction, a bailiff, a provost, and
+some serjeants, who were to be laymen, and not ecclesiastics, and if there
+should be ecclesiastics in the said offices, to remove them." He ordered,
+besides, that all those who had cases pending before the court of the King
+and the secular judges of the kingdom should be furnished with lay
+attorneys; though the chapters, as well as the abbeys and convents, were
+allowed to be represented by canons. M. Desmaze adds, "This really
+amounted to excluding ecclesiastics from judicial offices, not only from
+the courts of the King, but also from those of the nobles, and from every
+place in which any temporal jurisdiction existed."
+
+At the time of his accession, Hugh Capet was Count of Paris, and as such
+was invested with judicial powers, which he resigned in 987, on the
+understanding that his county of Paris, after the decease of the male
+heirs of his brother Eudes, should return to the crown. In 1032, a new
+magistrate was created, called the Provost of Paris, whose duty it was to
+give assistance to the bourgeois in arresting persons for debt. This
+functionary combined in his own person the financial and political chief
+of the capital, he was also the head of the nobility of the county, he was
+independent of the governor, and was placed above the bailiffs and
+seneschals. He was the senior of the urban magistracy and police, leader
+of the municipal troops, and, in a word, the prefect (_praefectus urbis_),
+as he was called under the Emperor Aurelian, or the first magistrate of
+Lutetia, as he was still called under Clotaire in 663. Assessors were
+associated with the provost, and together they formed a tribunal, which
+was afterwards known as the Chatelet (Fig. 303), because they assembled in
+that fortress, the building of which is attributed to Julius Caesar. The
+functions of this tribunal did not differ much from those of the royal
+_chatellenies:_ its jurisdiction embraced quarrels between individuals,
+assaults, revolts, disputes between the universities and the students, and
+improper conduct generally (_ribaudailles_), in consequence of which the
+provost acquired the popular surname of _Roi des Ribauds_. At first his
+judgment was final, but very soon those under his jurisdiction were
+allowed to appeal to Parliament, and that court was obliged to have
+certain cases sent back for judgment from the Chatelet. This was, however,
+done only in a few very important instances, notwithstanding frequent
+appeals being made to its supreme arbitration.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 303.--The Great Chatelet of Paris.--Principal Front
+opposite the Pont-au-Change.--Fac-simile of an Engraving on Copper by
+Merian, in the "Topographia Galliae" of Zeller.]
+
+In addition to the courts of the counts and bailiffs established in
+certain of the large towns, aldermanic or magisterial courts existed,
+which rather resembled the Chatelet of Paris. Thus the _capiloulat_ of
+Toulouse, the senior alderman of Metz, and the burgomaster of Strasburg
+and Brussels, possessed in each of these towns a tribunal, which judged
+without appeal, and united the several functions of a civil, criminal, and
+simple police court. Several places in the north of France had provosts
+who held courts whose duties were various, but who were principally
+charged with the maintenance of public order, and with suppressing
+disputes and conflicts arising from the privileges granted to the trade
+corporations, whose importance, especially in Flanders, had much increased
+since the twelfth century.
+
+"On his return from abroad, Louis IX. took his seat upon the bench, and
+administered justice, by the side of the good provost of Paris." This
+provost was no other than the learned Estienne Boileau, out of respect to
+whom the provostship was declared a _charge de magistrature_. The increase
+of business which fell to the provost's office, especially after the
+boundaries of Paris were extended by Philip Augustus, caused him to be
+released from the duty of collecting the public taxes. He was authorised
+to furnish himself with competent assistants, who were employed with
+matters of minor detail, and he was allowed the assistance of _juges
+auditeurs_. "We order that they shall be eight in number," says an edict
+of Philippe le Bel, of February, 1324, "four of them being ecclesiastics
+and four laymen, and that they shall assemble at the Chatelet two days in
+the week, to take into consideration the suits and causes in concert with
+our provost...." In 1343, the provost's court was composed of one King's
+attorney, one civil commissioner, two King's counsel, eight councillors,
+and one criminal commissioner, whose sittings took place daily at the
+Chatelet.
+
+From the year 1340 this tribunal had to adjudicate in reference to all the
+affairs of the university, and from the 6th of October, 1380, to all those
+of the salt-fish market, which were no less numerous, so that its
+importance increased considerably. Unfortunately, numerous abuses were
+introduced into this municipal jurisdiction. In 1313 and 1320, the
+officers of the Chatelet were suspended, on account of the extortions
+which they were guilty of, and the King ordered an inquiry to be made into
+the matter. The provost and two councillors of the Parliament sat upon it,
+and Philip de Valois, adopting its decisions, prescribed fresh statutes,
+which were naturally framed in such a way as to show the distrust in which
+the Chatelet was then held. To these the officers of the Chatelet promised
+on oath to submit. The ignorance and immorality of the lay officers, who
+had been substituted for the clerical, caused much disturbance. Parliament
+authorised two of its principal members to examine the officers of the
+Chatelet. Twenty years later, on the receipt of fresh complaints,
+Parliament decided that three qualified councillors, chosen from its own
+body, should proceed with the King's attorney to the Chatelet, so as to
+reform the abuses and informalities of that court.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 304.--The King's Court, or Grand Council.--Fac-simile
+of a Miniature in the "Chroniques" of Froissart, Manuscript of the
+Fifteenth Century (formerly in the possession of Charles V), in the
+Library of the Arsenal, Paris.]
+
+In the time of Philippe le Bel there existed in reality but one
+Parliament, and that was the _King's Court_. Its action was at once
+political, administrative, financial, and judicial, and was necessarily,
+therefore, of a most complicated character. Philippe le Bel made it
+exclusively a judicial court, defined the territorial limit of its power,
+and gave it as a judicial body privileges tending to strengthen its
+independence and to raise its dignity. He assigned political functions to
+the Great Council (_Conseil d'Etat_); financial matters to the chamber of
+accounts; and the hearing of cases of heresy, wills, legacies, and dowries
+to the prelates. But in opposition to the wise edict of 1295, he
+determined that Jews should be excluded from Parliament, and prelates from
+the palace of justice; by which latter proceeding he was depriving justice
+of the abilities of the most worthy representatives of the Gallican
+Church. But Philippe le Bel and his successors, while incessantly
+quarrelling either with the aristocracy or with the clergy, wanted the
+great judicial bodies which issued the edicts, and the urban or municipal
+magistrates--which, being subject to re-election, were principally
+recruited from among the bourgeois--to be a common centre of opposition to
+any attempt at usurpation of power, whether on the part of the Church, the
+nobility, or the crown.
+
+The Great Days of Troyes (_dies magni Trecenses_), the assizes of the
+ancient counts of Champagne, and the exchequer of Normandy, were also
+organized by Philipe le Bel; and, further, he authorised the maintenance
+of a Parliament at Toulouse, a court which he solemnly opened in person on
+the 10th of January, 1302. In times of war the Parliament of Paris sat
+once a year, in times of peace twice. There were, according to
+circumstances, during the year two, three, or four sittings of the
+exchequer of Normandy, and two of the Great Days of Troyes, tribunals
+which were annexed to the Parliament of Paris, and generally presided over
+by one of its delegates, and sometimes even by the supreme head of that
+high court. At the King's council (Fig. 304) it was decided whether a case
+should be reserved for the Parliament of Paris, or passed on either to the
+exchequer or to the Great Days of Troyes.
+
+As that advanced reformer, Philippe le Bel, died before the institutions
+he had established had taken root, for many years, even down to the time
+of Louis XI., a continual conflict for supremacy was waged between the
+Parliament of Paris and the various courts of the kingdom--between the
+counts and the Parliament, and between the latter and the King, which,
+without lessening the dignity of the crown, gradually tended to increase
+the influence which the judges possessed. Immediately on the accession of
+Louis le Hutin, in 1314, a reaction commenced--the higher clergy
+re-entered Parliament; but Philippe le Long took care that the laity
+should be in a majority, and did not allow that in his council of State
+the titled councillors should be more numerous than the lawyers. The
+latter succeeded in completely carrying the day on account of the services
+they rendered, and the influence which their knowledge of the laws of the
+country gave them. As for centuries the sword had ruled the gown, so,
+since the emancipation of the bourgeois, the lawyers had become masters of
+the administrative and judicial world; and, notwithstanding the fact that
+they were still kept in a somewhat inferior position to the peers and
+barons, their opinion alone predominated, and their decision frequently at
+once settled the most important questions.
+
+An edict issued at Val Notre-Dame on the 11th of March, 1344, increased
+the number of members of Parliament, which from that time consisted of
+three presidents, fifteen clerical councillors, fifteen lay councillors,
+twenty-four clergymen and sixteen laymen of the Court of Inquiry, and five
+clergymen and sixteen laymen of the Court of Petitions. The King filled up
+the vacant seats on the recommendation of the Chancellor and of the
+Parliament. The reporters were enjoined to write the decisions and
+sentences which were given by the court "in large letters, and far apart,
+so that they might be more easily read." The duties of police in the
+courts, the keeping of the doors, and the internal arrangements generally
+for those attending the courts and the Parliament, were entrusted to the
+ushers, "who divided among themselves the gratuities which were given them
+by virtue of their office." Before an advocate was admitted to plead he
+was required to take oath and to be inscribed on the register.
+
+The Parliament as then established was somewhat similar in its character
+to that of the old national representative government under the Germans
+and Franks. For centuries it protected the King against the undue
+interference of the spiritual power, it defended the people against
+despotism, but it often lacked independence and political wisdom, and it
+was not always remarkable for its correct appreciation of men and things.
+This tribunal, although supreme over all public affairs, sometimes wavered
+before the threats of a minister or of a court favourite, succumbed to the
+influence of intrigues, and adapted itself to the prejudices of the times.
+We see it, in moments of error and of blindness, both condemning eminent
+statesmen and leading citizens, such as Jacques Coeur and Robertet, and
+handing over to the executioner distinguished men of learning and science
+in advance of the times in which they lived, because they were falsely
+accused of witchcraft, and also doing the same towards unfortunate
+maniacs who fancied they had dealings with the devil.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 305.--Trial of the Constable de Bourbon before the
+Peers of France (1523).--From an Engraving in "La Monarchie Francoise" of
+Montfaucon.]
+
+In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries all the members of Parliament
+formed part of the council of State, which was divided into the Smaller
+Council and the Greater Council. The Greater Council only assembled in
+cases of urgency and for extraordinary and very important purposes, the
+Smaller Council assembled every month, and its decisions were registered.
+From this arose the custom of making a similar registration in Parliament,
+confirming the decisions after they had been formally arrived at. The most
+ancient edict placed on the register of the Parliament of Paris dates from
+the year 1334, and is of a very important character. It concerns a
+question of royal authority, and decides that in spiritual matters the
+right of supremacy does not belong more to the Pope than to the King.
+Consequently Philippe de Valois ordered "his friends and vassals who shall
+attend the next Parliament and the keepers of the accounts, that for the
+perpetual record of so memorable a decision, it shall be registered in the
+Chambers of Parliament and kept for reference in the Treasury of the
+Charters." From that time "cases of complaint and other matters relating
+to benefices have no longer been discussed before the ecclesiastical
+judges, but before Parliament or some other secular court."
+
+During the captivity of King John in England, royal authority having
+considerably declined, the powers of Parliament and other bodies of the
+magistracy so increased, that under Charles VI. the Parliament of Paris
+was bold enough to assert that a royal edict should not become law until
+it had been registered in Parliament. This bold and certainly novel
+proceeding the kings nevertheless did not altogether oppose, as they
+foresaw that the time would come when it might afford them the means of
+repudiating a treaty extorted from them under difficult circumstances
+(Fig. 306).
+
+The close connection which existed between the various Parliaments and
+their political functions--for they had occasion incessantly to interfere
+between the acts of the government and the respective pretensions of the
+provinces or of the three orders--naturally increased the importance of
+this supreme magistracy. More than once the kings had cause to repent
+having rendered it so powerful, and this was the case especially with the
+Parliament of Paris. In this difficulty it is interesting to note how the
+kings acted. They imperceptibly curtailed the various powers of the other
+courts of justice, they circumscribed the power of the Parliament of
+Paris, and proportionately enlarged the jurisdiction of the great
+bailiwicks, as also that of the Chatelet. The provost of Paris was an
+auxiliary as well as a support to the royal power, which nevertheless held
+him in its grasp. The Chatelet was also a centre of action and of
+strength, which counteracted in certain cases parliamentary opposition.
+Thence arose the most implacable rivalries and dissensions between these
+various parties.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 306.--Promulgation of an Edict.--Fac-simile of a
+Miniature in "Anciennetes des Juifs," (French Translation from Josephus),
+Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century, executed for the Duke of Burgundy
+(Library of the Arsenal of Paris.)]
+
+It is curious to notice with what ingenuity and how readily Parliament
+took advantage of the most trifling circumstances or of charges based upon
+the very slightest grounds to summon the officers of the Chatelet before
+its bar on suspicion of prevarication or of outrages against religion,
+morals, or the laws. Often were these officers and the provost himself
+summoned to appear and make _amende honourable_ before the assembly,
+notwithstanding which they retained their offices. More than once an
+officer of the Chatelet was condemned to death and executed, but the King
+always annulled that part of the sentence which had reference to the
+confiscation of the goods of the condemned, thus proving that in reality
+the condemnation had been unjust, although for grave reasons the royal
+authority had been unable to save the victim from the avenging power of
+Parliament. Hugues Aubriot, the provost, was thus condemned to
+imprisonment for life on the most trivial grounds, and he would have
+undergone capital punishment if Charles V. had abandoned him at the time
+of his trial. During the English occupation, in the disastrous reign of
+Charles VI., the Chatelet of Paris, which took part with the people, gave
+proof of extraordinary energy and of great force of character. The blood
+of many of its members was shed on the scaffold, and this circumstance
+must ever remain a reproach to the judges and to those who executed their
+cruel sentences, and a lasting crown of glory to the martyrs themselves.
+
+An edict of King John, issued after his return from London in 1363, a
+short time before his death, clearly defined the duties of Parliament.
+They were to try cases which concerned peers of France, and such prelates,
+chapters, barons, corporations, and councils as had the privilege of
+appealing to the supreme court; and to hear cases relating to estates, and
+appeals from the provost of Paris, the bailiffs, seneschals, and other
+judges (Fig. 307). It disregarded minor matters, but took cognizance of
+all judicial debates which concerned religion, the King, or the State. We
+must remark here that advocates were only allowed to speak twice in the
+same cause, and that they were subjected to fine, or at least to
+remonstrance, if they were tedious or indulged in needless repetition in
+their replies, and especially if they did not keep carefully to the facts
+of the case. After pleading they were permitted to give a summary in
+writing of "the principal points of importance as well as their clients'
+grounds of defence." Charles V. confirmed these orders and regulations
+with respect to advocates, and added others which were no less important,
+among which we find a provision for giving "legal assistance to poor and
+destitute persons who go to law." These regulations of Charles also
+limited the time in which officers of justice were to get through their
+business under a certain penalty; they also proclaimed that the King
+should no longer hear minor causes, and that, whatever might be the rules
+of the court, they forbad the presidents from deferring their judgment or
+from retarding the regular course of justice. Charles VI., before he
+became insane, contributed no less than his father to the establishment on
+a better footing of the supreme court of the kingdom, as well as that of
+the Chatelet and the bailiwicks.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 307.--Bailiwick.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the
+"Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, Basle, 1552.]
+
+In the fifteenth century, the Parliament of Paris was so organized as not
+to require material change till 1789. There were noble, clerical, and lay
+councillors, honorary members, and _maitres de requete_, only four of whom
+sat; a first president, who was supreme head of the Parliament, a master
+of the great chamber of pleas, and three presidents of the chamber, all of
+whom were nominated for life. There were fifteen masters (_maistres_) or
+clerical councillors, and fifteen who were laymen, and these were annually
+approved by the King on the opening of the session. An attorney-general,
+several advocates-general, and deputies, who formed a committee or
+college, constituted the active part of this court, round which were
+grouped consulting advocates (_consiliarii_), pleading advocates
+(_proponentes_), advocates who were mere listeners (_audientes_), ushers
+and serjeants, whose chief, on his appointment, became a member of the
+nobility.
+
+The official costume of the first president resembled that of the ancient
+barons and knights. He wore a scarlet gown lined with ermine, and a black
+silk cap ornamented with tassels. In winter he wore a scarlet mantle lined
+with ermine over his gown, on which his crest was worked on a shield. This
+mantle was fastened to the left shoulder by three gold cords, in order to
+leave the sword-side free, because the ancient knights and barons always
+sat in court wearing their swords. Amongst the archives of the mayoralty
+of London, we find in the "account of the entry of Henry V., King of
+England, into Paris" (on the 1st of December, 1420), that "the first
+president was in royal dress (_estoit en habit roial_), the first usher
+preceding him, and wearing a fur cap; the church dignitaries wore blue
+robes and hoods, and all the others in the procession scarlet robes and
+hoods." This imposing dress, in perfect harmony with the dignity of the
+office of those who wore them, degenerated towards the fifteenth century.
+So much was this the case, that an order of Francis I. forbad the judges
+from wearing pink "slashed hose" or other "rakish garments."
+
+In the early times of monarchy, the judicial functions were performed
+gratuitously; but it was the custom to give presents to the judges,
+consisting of sweetmeats, spices, sugar-plums, and preserves, until at a
+subsequent period, 1498, when, as the judges "preferred money to
+sweetmeats," says the Chancellor Etienne Pasquier, the money value of the
+spices, &c., was fixed by law and made compulsory. In the bills of
+expenses preserved among the national archives, we find that the first
+president of the Parliament of Paris received a thousand _livres parisis_
+annually, representing upwards of one hundred thousand francs at the
+present rate of money; the three presidents of the chamber five hundred
+livres, equal to fifty thousand francs; and the other nobles of the said
+Parliament five _sols parisis_, or six sols three deniers--about
+twenty-five francs--per day for the days only on which they sat. They
+received, besides, two mantles annually. The prelates, princes, and barons
+who were chosen by the King received no salaries--_ils ne prennent nuls
+guaiges_ (law of 27th January, 1367). The seneschals and high bailiffs,
+like the presidents of the chambers, received five hundred livres--fifty
+thousand francs. They and the bailiffs of inferior rank were expressly
+forbidden from receiving money or fees from the parties in any suit, but
+they were allowed to accept on one day refreshment and bottles of wine.
+The salaries were paid monthly; but this was not always done regularly;
+sometimes the King was to blame for this, and sometimes it was owing to
+the ill-nature of the chiefs of finance, or of the receivers and payers.
+When the blame rested with the King, the Parliament humbly remonstrated or
+closed the court. When, on the contrary, an officer of finance did not pay
+the salaries, Parliament sent him the bailiff's usher, and put him under
+certain penalties until he had done so. The question of salaries was
+frequently arising. On the 9th of February, 1369, "the court having been
+requested to serve without any remuneration for one Parliament, on the
+understanding that the King would make up for it another time, the nobles
+of the court replied, after private deliberation, that they were ready to
+do the King's pleasure, but could not do so properly without receiving
+their salaries" (Register of the Parliament of Paris).
+
+At the commencement of the fifteenth century, the scale of remuneration
+was not increased. In 1411 it was raised for the whole Parliament to
+twenty-five thousand livres, which, calculated according to the present
+rate, amounted to nearly a million francs. In consequence of financial
+difficulties and the general distress, the unpleasant question in
+reference to claims for payment of salaries was renewed, with threats that
+the course of justice would be interrupted if they were not paid or not
+promised. On the 2nd of October, 1419, two councillors and one usher were
+sent to the house of one of the chiefs of finance, with orders to demand
+payment of the salaries of the court. In October, 1430, the government
+owed the magistrates two years of arrears. After useless appeals to the
+Regent, and to the Bishop of Therouanne, the then Chancellor of France,
+the Parliament sent two of its members to the King at Rouen, who obtained,
+after much difficulty, "one month's pay, on the understanding that the
+Parliament should hold its sittings in the month of April." In the month
+of July, 1431, there was another deputation to the King, "in order to lay
+before him the necessities of the court, and that it had for some time
+been prorogued, and was still prorogued, on account of the non-payment of
+salaries." After two months of repeated remonstrance, the deputies only
+bringing back promises, the court assumed a menacing aspect; and on the
+11th of January, 1437, it pointed out to the chancellor the evil which
+would arise if Parliament ceased to hold its sittings; and this time the
+chancellor announced that the salaries would be paid, though six months
+passed without any resuit or any practical step being taken in the matter.
+This state of affairs grew worse until the year 1443, when the King was
+obliged to plead with the Parliament in the character of an insolvent
+debtor, and, in order to obtain remission of part of his debt to the
+members, to guarantee to them a part of the salt duties.
+
+Charles VII, after having reconquered his states, hastened to restore
+order. He first occupied himself with the System of justice, the
+Parliament, the Chatelet, and the bailiwicks; and in April, 1453, in
+concert with the princes, the prelates, the council of State, the judges,
+and others in authority, he framed a general law, in one hundred and
+twenty-five articles, which was considered as the great charter of
+Parliament (Fig. 308). According to the terms of these articles, "the
+councillors are to sit after dinner, to get through the minor causes.
+Prisoners are to be examined without delay, and to hold no communication
+with any one, unless by special permission. The cases are to be carefully
+gone through in their proper order; for courts are instructed to do
+justice as promptly for the poor as for the rich, as it is a greater
+hardship for the poor to be kept waiting than the rich." The fees of
+attorneys were taxed and reduced in amount. Those of advocates were
+reduced "to such moderation and fairness, that there should be no cause
+for complaint." The judgments by commissary were forbidden. The bailiffs
+and seneschals were directed to reside within their districts. The
+councillors were ordered to abstain from all communication with the
+parties in private, and consultations between themselves were to be held
+in secret. The judgments given in lawsuits were inscribed in a register,
+and submitted every two months to the presidents, who, if necessary,
+called the reporters to account for any neglect of duty. The reporter was
+ordered to draw attention to any point of difficulty arising in a suit,
+and the execution of sentences or judgments was entrusted to the ushers of
+the court.
+
+In 1454 the King, in consequence of a difficulty in paying the regular
+instalments of the usual salaries of the Parliament, created "after-dinner
+fees" (_des gages d'apres dinees_) of five sols parisis--more than ten
+francs of our money--per day, payable to those councillors who should hold
+a second hearing. Matters did not improve much, however; nothing seemed to
+proceed satisfactorily, and members of Parliament, deprived of their
+salaries, were compelled to contract a loan, in order to commence
+proceedings against the treasury for the non-payment of the amount due to
+them. In 1493, the annual salaries of Parliament were raised to the sum of
+40,630 livres, equal to about 1,100,000 francs.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 308.--Supreme Court, presided over by the King, who is
+in the act of issuing a Decree which is being registered by the
+Usher.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in Camareu of the "Information des
+Rois," Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century, in the Library of the Arsenal
+of Paris.]
+
+The first president received 4 livres, 22 solis parisis--about 140
+francs--per day; a clerical councillor 25 sols parisis--about 40
+francs--and a lay councillor 20 sols--about 32 francs. This was an
+increase of a fifth on the preceding year. Charles VIII., in thus
+improving the remuneration of the members of the first court of the
+kingdom, reminded them of their duties, which had been too long neglected;
+he told them "that of all the cardinal virtues justice was the most noble
+and most important;" and he pointed out to them the line of conduct they
+were to pursue. The councillors were to be present daily in their
+respective chambers, from St. Martin's day to Easter, before seven o'clock
+in the morning; and from Easter to the closing of Parliament, immediately
+after six o'clock, without intermission, under penalty of punishment.
+Strict silence was enforced upon them during the debates; and they were
+forbidden to occupy themselves with anything which did not concern the
+case under discussion. Amidst a mass of other points upon which directions
+are given, we notice the following: the necessity of keeping secret the
+matters in course of deliberation; the prohibition to councillors from
+receiving, either directly or indirectly, anything in the shape of a
+douceur from the parties in any suit; and the forbidding all attorneys
+from receiving any bribe or claiming more than the actual expenses of a
+journey and other just charges.
+
+The great charter of the Parliament, promulgated in April, 1453, was thus
+amended, confirmed, and completed, by this code of Charles VIII., with a
+wisdom which cannot be too highly extolled.
+
+The magistrature of the supreme courts had been less favoured during the
+preceding reign. Louis XI., that cautious and crafty reformer, after
+having forbidden ecclesiastical judges to examine cases referring to the
+revenues of vacant benefices, remodelled the secular courts, but he
+ruthlessly destroyed anything which offended him personally. For this
+reason, as he himself said, he limited the power of the Parliaments of
+Paris and Toulouse, by establishing, to their prejudice, several other
+courts of justice, and by favouring the Chatelet, where he was sure always
+to find those who would act with him against the aristocracy. The
+Parliament would not give way willingly, nor without the most determined
+opposition. It was obliged, however, at last to succumb, and to pass
+certain edicts which were most repugnant to it. On the death of Louis XI.,
+however, it took its revenge, and called those who had been his favourites
+and principal agents to answer a criminal charge, for no other reason than
+that they had exposed themselves to the resentment of the supreme court.
+
+The Chatelet, in its judicial functions, was inferior to the Parliament,
+nevertheless it acquired, through its provost, who represented the
+bourgeois of Paris, considerable importance in the eyes of the supreme
+court. In fact, for two centuries the provost held the privilege of ruling
+the capital, both politically and financially, of commanding the citizen
+militia, and of being chief magistrate of the city. In the court of
+audiences, a canopy was erected, under which he sat, a distinction which
+no other magistrate enjoyed, and which appears to have been exclusively
+granted to him because he sat in the place of _Monsieur Saint Loys_ (Saint
+Louis), _dispensing justice to the good people of the City of Paris_. When
+the provost was installed, he was solemnly escorted, wearing his cap, to
+the great chamber of Parliament, accompanied by four councillors.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 309.--The Court of a Baron.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut
+in the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, Basle, 1552.]
+
+After the ceremony of installation he gave his horse to the president, who
+had come to receive him. His dress consisted of a short robe, with mantle,
+collar turned down, sword, and hat with feathers; he also carried a staff
+of office, profusely ornamented with silver. Thus attired he attended
+Parliament, and assisted at the levees of the sovereign, where he took up
+his position on the lowest step of the throne, below the great
+Chamberlain. Every day, excepting at the vintage time, he was required to
+be present at the Chatelet, either personally or by deputy, punctually at
+nine in the morning. There he received the list of the prisoners who had
+been arrested the day before; after that he visited the prisons, settled
+business of various kinds, and then inspected the town. His jurisdiction
+extended to several courts, which were presided over by eight deputies or
+judges appointed by him, and who were created officers of the Chatelet by
+Louis XII. in 1498. Subsequently, these received their appointments direct
+from the King. Two auditing judges, one king's attorney, one registrar,
+and some bailiffs, completed the provost's staff.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 310.--Sergeants-at-Arms of the Fourteenth Century,
+carved in Stone.--From the Church of St. Catherine du Val des Ecoliers, in
+Paris.]
+
+The bailiffs at the Chatelet were divided into five classes: the _king's
+sergeant-at-arms,_ the _sergeants de la douzaine_, the _sergeants of the
+mace_, or _foot sergeants,_ the _sergeants fieffes_, and the _mounted
+sergeants_. The establishment of these officers dated from the beginning
+of the fourteenth century, and they were originally appointed by the
+provost, but afterwards by the King himself. The King's sergeants-at-arms
+(Fig. 310) formed his body-guard; they were not under the jurisdiction of
+the high constable, but of the ordinary judges, which proves that they
+were in civil employ. The sergeants _de la douzaine_ were twelve in
+number, as their name implies, all of whom were in the service of the
+provost; the foot sergeants, who were civilians, were gradually increased
+to the number of two hundred and twenty as early as the middle of the
+fifteenth century. They acted only in the interior of the capital, and
+guarded the city, the suburbs, and the surrounding districts, whereas the
+mounted sergeants had "to watch over the safety of the rural parishes, and
+to act throughout the whole extent of the provost's jurisdiction, and of
+that of the viscount of Paris."
+
+In the midst of the changes of the Middle Ages, especially after the
+communes became free, all those kings who felt the importance of a strict
+system of justice, particularly St. Louis, Philippe le Bel, and Charles
+VIII., had seen the necessity of compiling a record of local customs. An
+edict of 1453 orders that "the custom shall be registered in writing, so
+as to be examined by the members of the great council of the Parliament."
+Nevertheless, this important work was never properly carried out, and to
+Louis XII. is due the honour of introducing a customary or usage law, and
+at the same time of correcting the various modes of procedure, upon which
+customs and usages had been based, and which had become singularly
+antiquated since the edict of 1302.
+
+No monarch showed more favour to Parliament than Louis XII. During his
+reign of seventeen years we never find complaints from the magistracy for
+not having been paid punctually. But in contrast with this, on the
+accession of Francis I., the court complained of not having been paid its
+first quarter's salary. From that moment claims were perpetually being
+made; there were continually delays, or absolute refusals; the members
+were expecting "remuneration for their services, in order absolutely to
+enable them to support their families and households." We can thus judge
+of the state of the various minor courts, which, being less powerful than
+the supreme tribunals, and especially than that of Paris, were quite
+unable to get their murmurings even listened to by the proper authorities.
+This sad state of things continued, and, in fact, grew worse, until the
+assembly of the League, when Mayenne, the chief of the leaguers, in order
+to gratify the Parliament, promised to double the salaries, although he
+was unable to fulfil his promise.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 311.--Inferior Court in the Great Bailiwick. Adoption
+of Orphan Children.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in J. Damhoudere's "Refuge et
+Garand des Pupilles, Orphelins:" Antwerp, J. Bellere, 1557.]
+
+Towards the end of the sixteenth century the highest French tribunal was
+represented by nine superior courts--namely, the Parliament of Bordeaux,
+created on the 9th of June, 1642; the Parliament of Brittany, which
+replaced the ancient _Grands-Jours,_ in March, 1553, and sat alternately
+at Nantes and at Rennes; the Parliament of the Dauphine, established at
+Grenoble in 1451 to replace the Delphinal Council; the Parliament of
+Burgundy, established at Dijon in 1477, which took the place of the
+_Grands-Jours_ at Beaune; the movable Parliament of Dombes, created in
+1528, and consisting at the same time of a court of excise and a chamber
+of accounts; the Parliament of Normandy, established by Louis XII. in
+April, 1504, intended to replace the Exchequer of Rouen, and the ancient
+ducal council of the province; the Parliament of Provence, founded at Aix
+in July, 1501; the Parliament of Toulouse, created in 1301; and the
+Parliament of Paris, which took precedence of all the others, both on
+account of its origin, its antiquity, the extent of its jurisdiction, the
+number of its prerogatives, and the importance of its decrees. In 1551,
+Henry II. created, besides these, an inferior court in each bailiwick, the
+duties of which were to hear, on appeal, all matters in which sums of less
+than two hundred livres were involved (Fig. 311). There existed, besides,
+a branch of the _Grands-Jours,_ occasionally sitting at Poitiers, Bayeux,
+and at some other central towns, in order to suppress the excesses which
+at times arose from religious dissensions and political controversy.
+
+The Parliament of Paris--or _Great French Parliament_, as it was called by
+Philip V. and Charles V., in edicts of the 17th of November, 1318, and of
+the 8th of October, 1371--was divided into four principal chambers: the
+Grand Chamber, the Chamber of Inquiry, the Criminal Chamber, and the
+Chamber of Appeal. It was composed of ordinary councillors, both clerical
+and lay; of honorary councillors, some of whom were ecclesiastics, and
+others members of the nobility; of masters of inquiry; and of a
+considerable number of officers of all ranks (Figs. 312 to 314). It had at
+times as many as twenty-four presidents, one hundred and eighty-two
+councillors, four knights of honour, four masters of records; a public
+prosecutor's office was also attached, consisting of the king's counsel,
+an attorney-general and deputies, thus forming an assembly of from fifteen
+to twenty persons, called a _college_. Amongst the inferior officers we
+may mention twenty-six ushers, four receivers-general of trust money,
+three commissioners for the receipt of goods which had been seized under
+distress, one treasurer and paymaster, three controllers, one physician,
+two surgeons, two apothecaries, one matron, one receiver of fines, one
+inspector of estates, several keepers of refreshment establishments, who
+resided within the precincts of the palace, sixty or eighty notaries, four
+or five hundred advocates, two hundred attorneys, besides registers and
+deputy registers. Down to the reign of Charles VI. (1380--1422) members of
+Parliament held their appointment by commissions granted by the King, and
+renewed eaeh session. From Charles VI. to Francis I. these appointments
+became royal charges; but from that time, owing to the office being so
+often prostituted for reward, it got more and more into disrepute.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 312.--Judge.--From a Drawing in "Proverbes, Adages,
+&c.," Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century, in the Imperial Library of
+Paris.]
+
+Louis XI. made the office of member of the Parliament of Paris a
+permanent one, and Francis I. continued this privilege. In 1580 the
+supreme magistracy poured 140,000,000 francs, which now would be worth
+fifteen or twenty times as much, into the State treasury, so as to enable
+members to sit permanently _sur les fleurs de lis_, and to obtain
+hereditary privileges. The hereditary transmission of office from father
+to son dealt a heavy blow at the popularity of the parliamentary body,
+which had already deeply suffered through shameful abuses, the enormity of
+the fees, the ignorance of some of the members, and the dissolute habits
+of many others.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 313.--Lawyer.--From the "Danse des Morts" of Basle,
+engraved by Merian: in 4to, Frankfort, 1596.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 314.--Barrister.--From a Woodout in the "Danse
+Macabre:" Guyot's edition, 1490.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 315.--Assembly of the Provostship of the Merchants of
+Paris.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in "Ordonnances Royaux de la Jurisdiction
+de la Prevote des Marchands et Eschevinage de la Ville de Paris:" in small
+folio, goth. edition of Paris, Jacques Nyverd, 1528.]
+
+The Chatelet, on the contrary, was less involved in intrigue, less
+occupied with politics, and was daily engaged in adjudicating in cases of
+litigation, and thus it rendered innumerable services in promoting the
+public welfare, and maintained, and even increased, the respect which it
+had enjoyed from the commencement of its existence. In 1498, Louis XII.
+required that the provost should possess the title of doctor _in utroque
+jure_, and that his officers, whom he made to hold their appointments for
+life, should be chosen from amongst the most distinguished counsellors at
+law. This excellent arrangement bore its fruits. As early as 1510, the
+"Usages of the City, Provosty, and Viscounty of Paris," were published _in
+extenso_, and were then received with much ceremony at a solemn audience
+held on the 8th of March in the episcopal palace, and were deposited among
+the archives of the Chatelet (Fig. 315).
+
+The Parliament held a very different line of policy from that adopted by
+the Chatelet, which only took a political part in the religious troubles
+of Protestantism and the League with a view to serve and defend the cause
+of the people. In spite of its fits of personal animosity, and its
+rebellious freaks, Parliament remained almost invariably attached to the
+side of the King and the court. It always leaned to the absolute
+maintenance of things as they were, instead of following progress and
+changes which time necessitated. It was for severe measures, for
+intimidation more than for gentleness and toleration, and it yielded
+sooner or later to the injunctions and admonitions of the King, although,
+at the same time, it often disapproved the acts which it was asked to
+sanction.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 316.--Seal of King Chilperic, found in his Tomb at
+Tournay in 1654.]
+
+
+
+
+Secret Tribunals.
+
+
+
+ The Old Man of the Mountain and his Followers in Syria.--The Castle of
+ Alamond, Paradise of Assassins.--Charlemagne the Founder of Secret
+ Tribunals amongst the Saxons.--The Holy Vehme.--Organization of the
+ Tribunal of the _Terre Rouge_, and Modes adopted in its
+ Procedures.--Condemnations and Execution of Sentences.--The Truth
+ respecting the Free Judges of Westphalia.--Duration and Fall of the
+ Vehmic Tribunal.--Council of Ten in Venice; its Code and Secret
+ Decisions.--End of the Council of Ten.
+
+
+During the Middle Ages, human life was generally held in small respect;
+various judicial institutions--if not altogether secret, at least more or
+less enveloped in mystery--were remarkable for being founded on the
+monstrous right of issuing the most severe sentences with closed doors,
+and of executing these sentences with inflexible rigour on individuals who
+had not been allowed the slightest chance of defending themselves.
+
+While passing judgment in secret, they often openly dealt blows as
+unexpected and terrible as they were fatal. Therefore, the most innocent
+and the most daring trembled at the very name of the _Free Judges of the
+Terre-Rouge,_ an institution which adopted Westphalia as the special, or
+rather as the central, region of its authority; the _Council of Ten_
+exercised their power in Venice and the states of the republic; and the
+_Assassins_ of Syria, in the time of St. Louis, made more than one
+invasion into Christian Europe. We must nevertheless acknowledge that,
+terrible as these mysterious institutions were, the general credulity, the
+gross ignorance of the masses, and the love of the marvellous, helped not
+a little to render them even more outrageous and alarming than they really
+were.
+
+Marco Polo, the celebrated Venetian traveller of the thirteenth century,
+says, "We will speak of the Old Man of the Mountain. This prince was named
+Alaodin. He had a lovely garden full of all manner of trees and fruits, in
+a beautiful valley, surrounded by high hills; and all round these
+plantations were various palaces and pavilions, decorated with works of
+art in gold, with paintings, and with furniture of silk. Therein were to
+be seen rivulets of wine, as well as milk, honey, and gentle streams of
+limpid water. He had placed therein damsels of transcendent beauty and
+endowed with great charms, who were taught to sing and to play all manner
+of instruments; they were dressed in silk and gold, and continually walked
+in these gardens and palaces. The reasons for which the Old Man had these
+palaces built were the following. Mahomet having said that those who
+should obey his will should go to paradise, and there find all kinds of
+luxuries, this prince wished it to be believed that he was the prophet and
+companion of Mahomet, and that he had the power of sending whom he chose
+to paradise. No one could succeed in entering the garden, because an
+impregnable castle had been built at the entrance of the valley, and it
+could only be approached by a covered and secret way. The Old Man had in
+his court some young men from ten to twenty years of age, chosen from
+those inhabitants of the hills who seemed to him capable of bearing arms,
+and who were bold and courageous. From time to time he administered a
+certain drink to ten or twelve of these young men, which sent them to
+sleep, and when they were in deep stupor, he had them carried into the
+garden. When they awoke, they saw all we have described: they were
+surrounded by the young damsels, who sang, played instruments together,
+caressed them, played all sorts of games, and presented them with the most
+exquisite wines and meats (Fig. 317). So that these young men, satiated
+with such pleasures, did not doubt that they were in paradise, and would
+willingly have never gone out of it again.
+
+"At the end of four or five days, the Old Man sent them to sleep again,
+and had them removed from the garden in the same way in which they had
+been brought in. He then called them before him, and asked them where they
+had been. 'By your grace, lord,' they answered, 'we have been in
+paradise.' And then they related, in the presence of everybody, what they
+had seen there. This tale excited the astonishment of all those who heard
+it, and the desire that they might be equally fortunate. The Old Man would
+then formally announce to those who were present, as follows: 'Thus saith
+the law of our prophet, He causes all who fight for their Lord to enter
+into paradise; if you obey me you shall enjoy that happiness.' By such
+words and plans this prince had so accustomed them to believe in him, that
+he whom he ordered to die for his service considered himself lucky. All
+the nobles or other enemies of the Old Man of the Mountain were put to
+death by the assassins in his service; for none of them feared death,
+provided he complied with the orders and wishes of his lord. However
+powerful a man might be, therefore, if he was an enemy of the Old Man's,
+he was sure to meet with an untimely end."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 317.--The Castle of Alamond and its
+Enchantments.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in "Marco Polo's Travels,"
+Manuscript of the Fifteenth. Century, in the Library of the Arsenal of
+Paris.]
+
+In his story, which we translate literally from the original, written in
+ancient French, the venerable traveller attributes the origin of this
+singular system of exercising power over the minds of persons to a prince
+who in reality did but keep up a tradition of his family; for the Alaodin
+herein mentioned is no other than a successor of the famous Hassan, son of
+Ali, who, in the middle of the eleventh century, took advantage of the
+wars which devastated Asia to create himself a kingdom, comprising the
+three provinces of Turkistan, Djebel, and Syria. Hassan had embraced the
+doctrine of the Ishmaelian sect, who pretended to explain allegorically
+all the precepts of the Mahometan religion, and who did away with public
+worship, and originated a creed which was altogether philosophical. He
+made himself the chief exponent of this doctrine, which, by its very
+simplicity, was sure to attract to him many people of simple and sincere
+minds. Attacked by the troops of the Sultan Sindgar, he defended himself
+vigorously and not unsuccessfully; but, fearing lest he should fall in an
+unequal and protracted struggle against an adversary more powerful than
+himself, he had recourse to cunning so as to obtain peace. He entranced,
+or fascinated probably, by means analogous to those related by Marco Polo,
+a slave, who had the daring, during Sindgar's sleep, to stick a sharp
+dagger in the ground by the side of the Sultan's head. On waking, Sindgar
+was much alarmed. A few days after, Hassan wrote to him, "If one had not
+good intentions towards the Sultan, one might have driven the dagger,
+which was stuck in the earth by his head, into his bosom." The Sultan
+Sindgar then made peace with the chief of the Ishmaelians, whose dynasty
+lasted for one hundred and seventy years.
+
+The Castle of Alamond, built on the confines of Persia, on the top of a
+high mountain surrounded with trees, after having been the usual residence
+of Hassan, became that of his successors. As in the native language the
+same word means both _prince_ and _old man_, the Crusaders who had heard
+the word pronounced confounded the two, and gave the name of _Old Man of
+the Mountain_ to the Ishmaelian prince at that time inhabiting the Castle
+of Alamond, a name which has remained famous in history since the period
+when the Sire de Joinville published his "Memoires."
+
+Ancient authors call the subjects of Hassan, _Haschichini, Heississini,
+Assissini, Assassini_, various forms of the same expression, which, in
+fact, has passed into French with a signification which recalls the
+sanguinary exploits of the Ishmaelians. In seeking for the etymology of
+this name, one must suppose that Haschichini is the Latin transformation
+of the Arabic word Hachychy, the name of the sect of which we are
+speaking, because the ecstacies during which they believed themselves
+removed to paradise were produced by means of _haschisch_ or _haschischa_.
+We know that this inebriating preparation, extracted from hemp, really
+produces the most strange and delicious hallucinations on those who use
+it. All travellers who have visited the East agree in saying that its
+effects are very superior to those of opium. We evidently must attribute
+to some ecstatic vision the supposed existence of the enchanted gardens,
+which Marco Polo described from popular tales, and which, of course, never
+existed but in the imagination of the young men, who were either mentally
+excited after fasting and prayer, or intoxicated by the haschischa, and
+consequently for a time lulled in dreams of celestial bliss which they
+imagined awaited them under the guidance of Hassan and his descendants.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 318.--The Old Man of the Mountain giving Orders to his
+Followers.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the "Travels of Marco Polo,"
+Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century (Library of the Arsenal of Paris).]
+
+The Haschischini, whom certain contemporary historians describe to us as
+infatuated by the hope of some future boundless felicity, owe their
+melancholy celebrity solely to the blind obedience with which they
+executed the orders of their chiefs, and to the coolness with which they
+sought the favourable moment for fulfilling their sanguinary missions
+(Fig. 318). The Old Man of the Mountain (the master of daggers, _magister
+cultellorum_, as he is also called by the chronicler Jacques de Vintry),
+was almost continually at war with the Mussulman princes who reigned from
+the banks of the Nile to the borders of the Caspian Sea. He continually
+opposed them with the steel of his fanatical emissaries; at times, also,
+making a traffic and merchandise of murder, he treated for a money payment
+with the sultans or emirs, who were desirous of ridding themselves of an
+enemy. The Ishmaelians thus put to death a number of princes and Mahometan
+nobles; but, at the time of the Crusades, religious zeal having incited
+them against the Christians, they found more than one notable victim in
+the ranks of the Crusaders. Conrad, Marquis of Montferrat, was
+assassinated by them; the great Salah-Eddin (Saladin) himself narrowly
+escaped them; Richard Coeur de Lion and Philip Augustus were pointed out
+to the assassins by the Old Man, who subsequently, on hearing of the
+immense preparations which Louis IX. was making for the Holy War, had the
+daring to send two of his followers to France, and even into Paris, with
+orders to kill that monarch in the midst of his court. This king, after
+having again escaped, during his sojourn in Palestine, from the murderous
+attempts of the savage messengers of the Prince of Alamond, succeeded, by
+his courage, his firmness, and his virtues, in inspiring these fanatics
+with so much respect, that their chief, looking upon him as protected by
+heaven, asked for his friendship, and offered him presents, amongst which
+was a magnificent set of chessmen, in crystal, ornamented with gold and
+amber.
+
+The successors of Hassan, simultaneously attacked by the Moguls under
+Houlayon, and by the Egyptians commanded by the Sultan Bibars, were
+conquered and dispossessed of their States towards the middle of the
+thirteenth century; but, long after, the Ishmaelians, either because their
+chiefs sought to recover their power, or because they had placed their
+daggers at the disposal of some foreign foe, continued notorious in
+history. At last the sect became extinct, or, at least, retired into
+obscurity, and renounced its murderous profession, which had for so long
+made its members such objects of terror.
+
+We have thus seen how a legion of fanatics in the East made themselves the
+blind and formidable tools of a religious and political chieftain, who was
+no less ambitious than revengeful. If we now turn our attention to
+Germany, we shall here find, almost at the same period, a local
+institution which, although very different from the sanguinary court of
+the Old Man of the Mountain, was of an equally terrible and mysterious
+character. We must not, however, look at it from the same point of view,
+for, having been founded with the object of furthering and defending the
+establishment of a regular social state, which had been approved and
+sanctioned by the sovereigns, and recognised by the Church, it at times
+rendered great service to the cause of justice and humanity at a period
+when might usurped right, and when the excesses and the crimes of
+shameless evil-doers, and of petty tyrants, entrenched in their
+impregnable strongholds, were but too often made lawful from the simple
+fact that there was no power to oppose them.
+
+The secret tribunal of Westphalia, which held its sittings and passed
+sentence in private, and which carried out its decrees on the spot, and
+whose rules, laws, and actions were enveloped in deep mystery, must
+unquestionably be looked upon as one of the most remarkable institutions
+of the Middle Ages.
+
+[Illustration: Figs. 319 and 320.--Hermensul or Irmensul and Crodon, Idols
+of the Ancient Saxons.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the "Annales Circuli
+Westphaliae," by Herman Stangefol: in 4to, 1656.--The Idol Hermensul
+appears to have presided over Executive Justice, the attributes of which
+it holds in its hands.]
+
+It would be difficult to state exactly at what period this formidable
+institution was established. A few writers, and amongst these Sebastian
+Munster, wish us to believe that it was founded by Charlemagne himself.
+They affirm that this monarch, having subjugated the Saxons to his sway,
+and having forced them to be baptized, created a secret tribunal, the
+duties of which were to watch over them, in order that they might not
+return to the errors of Paganism. However, the Saxons were incorrigible,
+and, although Christians, they still carried on the worship of their idols
+(Figs. 319 and 320); and, for this reason, it is said by these authorities
+that the laws of the tribunal of Westphalia were founded by Charlemagne.
+It is well known that from the ninth to the thirteenth century, all that
+part of Germany between the Rhine and the Weser suffered under the most
+complete anarchy. In consequence of this, and of the increase of crime
+which remained unpunished, energetic men established a rigorous
+jurisdiction, which, to a certain extent, suppressed these barbarous
+disorders, and gave some assurance to social intercourse; but the very
+mystery which gave weight to the institution was the cause of its origin
+being unknown. It is only mentioned, and then cursorily, in historical
+documents towards the early part of the fifteenth century. This court of
+judicature received the name of _Femgericht_, or _Vehmgericht_, which
+means Vehmic tribunal. The origin of the word _Fem_, _Vehm_, or _Fam_,
+which has given rise to many scientific discussions, still remains in
+doubt. The most generally accepted opinion is, that it is derived from a
+Latin expression--_vemi_ (_vae mihi_), "woe is me!"
+
+The special dominion over which the Vehmic tribunal reigned supreme was
+Westphalia, and the country which was subjected to its laws was designated
+as the _Terre Rouge_. There was no assembly of this tribunal beyond the
+limits of this Terre Rouge, but it would be quite impossible to define
+these limits with any accuracy. However, the free judges, assuming the
+right of suppressing certain crimes committed beyond their territory, on
+more than one occasion summoned persons living in various parts of
+Germany, and even in provinces far from Westphalia, to appear before them.
+We do not know all the localities wherein the Vehmic tribunal sat; but the
+most celebrated of them, and the one which served as a model for all the
+rest, held its sittings under a lime-tree, in front of the castle-gate of
+Dortmund (Fig. 321). There the chapters-general of the association usually
+assembled; and, on certain occasions, several thousands of the free judges
+were to be seen there.
+
+Each tribunal was composed of an unlimited number of free judges, under
+the presidency of a free count, who was charged with the higher
+administration of Vehmic justice. A _free county_ generally comprised
+several free tribunals, or _friestuhle_. The free count, who was chosen by
+the prince of the territory in which the tribunal sat, had two courts, one
+secret, the other public. The public assizes, which took place at least
+three times a year, were announced fourteen days beforehand, and any
+person living within the _county_, and who was summoned before the free
+count, was bound to appear, and to answer all questions which might be put
+to him. It was required that the free judges (who are generally mentioned
+as _femnoten_--that is to say, _sages_--and who are, besides, denoted by
+writers of the time by the most honourable epithets: such as, "serious
+men," "very pious," "of very pure morals," "lovers of justice," &c.)
+should be persons who had been born in lawful wedlock, and on German soil;
+they were not allowed to belong to any religions order, or to have ever
+themselves been summoned before the Vehmic tribunal. They were nominated
+by the free counts, but subject to the approval of their sovereigns. They
+were not allowed to sit as judges before having been initiated into the
+mysteries of the tribunals.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 321.--View of the Town of Dortmund in the Sixteenth
+Century.--From an Engraving on Copper in P. Bertius's "Theatrum
+Geographicum."]
+
+The initiation of a free judge was accompanied by extraordinary
+formalities. The candidate appeared bareheaded; he knelt down, and,
+placing two fingers of his right hand on his naked sword and on a rope,
+he took oath to adhere to the laws and customs of the holy tribunal, to
+devote his five senses to it, and not to allow himself to be allured
+therefrom either by silver, gold, or even precious stones; to forward the
+interests of the tribunal "above everything illumined by the sun, and all
+that the rain reaches;" and to defend them "against everything which is
+between heaven and earth." The candidate was then given the sign by which
+members of the association recognised each other. This sign has remained
+unknown; and nothing, even in the deeds of the Vehmic archives, leads one
+even to guess what it was, and every hypothesis on this subject must be
+looked upon as uncertain or erroneous. By one of the fundamental statutes
+of the Terre Rouge, a member convicted of betraying the secrets of the
+order was condemned to the most cruel punishment; but we have every reason
+for asserting that this sentence was never carried out, or even issued
+against a free judge.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 322.--The Landgrave of Thuringia and his
+Wife.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the Collection of the Minnesinger,
+Manuscript of the Fourteenth Century.]
+
+In one case alone during the fourteenth century, was an accusation of
+this sort made, and that proved to be groundless.
+
+It would have been considered the height of treason to have given a
+relation, or a friend, the slightest hint that he was being pursued, or
+that he had been condemned by the Holy Vehme, in order that he might seek
+refuge by flight. And in consequence of this, there was a general mistrust
+of any one belonging to the tribunal, so much so that "a brother," says a
+German writer, "often feared his brother, and hospitality was no longer
+possible."
+
+The functions of free judges consisted in going about the country seeking
+out crimes, denouncing them, and inflicting immediate punishment on any
+evil-doer caught in the act (Figs. 323 and 324). The free judges might
+assemble provided there were at least seven in number to constitute a
+tribunal; but we hear of as many as three hundred assisting at a meeting.
+
+[Illustration: Figs. 323 and 324.--Free Judges.--Fac-simile of two
+Woodcuts in the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, 1552.]
+
+It has been erroneously stated that the sittings of the Vehmic tribunals
+were held at night in the depths of forests, or in subterranean places;
+but it appears that all criminal business was first heard in public, and
+could only be subjected to a secret judgment when the accused had failed
+either publicly to justify himself or to appear in person.
+
+When three free judges caught a malefactor in the very act, they could
+seize him, judge him, and inflict the penalty on the spot. In other cases,
+when a tribunal considered that it should pursue an individual, it
+summoned him to appear before it. The summons had to be written, without
+erasures, on a large sheet of vellum, and to bear at least seven
+seals--that of the free count, and those of six free judges; and these
+seals generally represented either a man in full armour holding a sword,
+or a simple sword blade, or other analagous emblems (Figs. 325 to 327).
+Two free judges delivered the summons personally where a member of the
+association was concerned; but if the summons affected an individual who
+was not of the Vehmic order, a sworn messenger bore it, and placed it in
+the very hands of the person, or slipped it into his house. The time given
+for putting in an appearance was originally six weeks and three days at
+least, but at a later period this time was shortened. The writ of summons
+was repeated three times, and each time bore a greater number of seals of
+free judges, so as to verify the legality of the instrument. The accused,
+whether guilty or not, was liable to a fine for not answering the first
+summons, unless he could prove that it was impossible for him to have done
+so. If he failed to appear on the third summons, he was finally condemned
+_en corps et en honneur_.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 325.--Seal of Herman Loseckin, Free Count of Medebach,
+in 1410.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 326.--Seal of the Free Count, Hans Vollmar von Twern,
+at Freyenhagen, in 1476-1499.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 327.--Seal of Johann Croppe, Free Count of Kogelnberg,
+in 1413.]
+
+We have but imperfect information as to the formalities in use in the
+Vehmic tribunals. But we know that the sittings were invested with a
+certain solemnity and pomp. A naked sword--emblematical of justice, and
+recalling our Saviour's cross in the shape of its handle--and a
+rope--emblematical of the punishment deserved by the guilty--were placed
+on the table before the president. The judges were bareheaded, with bare
+hands, and each wore a cloak over his shoulder, and carried no arms of any
+sort.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 328.--The Duke of Saxony and the Marquis of
+Brandenburg.--From the "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum sive Tabula veteris
+Geographiae," in folio. Engraved by Wieriex, after Gerard de Jode.]
+
+The plaintiff and the defendant were each allowed to produce thirty
+witnesses. The defendant could either defend himself, or entrust his case
+to an advocate whom he brought with him. At first, any free judge being
+defendant in a suit, enjoyed the privilege of justifying himself on oath;
+but it having been discovered that this privilege was abused, all persons,
+of whatever station, were compelled to be confronted with the other side.
+The witnesses, who were subpoened by either accuser or accused, had to
+give their evidence according to the truth, dispassionately and
+voluntarily. In the event of the accused not succeeding in bringing
+sufficient testimony to clear himself, the prosecutor claimed a verdict in
+his favour from the free count presiding at the tribunal, who appointed
+one of the free judges to declare it. In case the free judge did not feel
+satisfied as to the guilt, he could, by making oath, temporarily divest
+himself of his office, which devolved upon a second, a third, or even a
+fourth free judge. If four free judges were unable to decide, the matter
+was referred to another sitting; for judgment had to be pronounced by the
+appointed free judge at the sitting.
+
+The various penalties for different crimes were left to the decision of
+the tribunal. The rules are silent on the subject, and simply state that
+the culprits will be punished "according to the authority of the secret
+bench." The _royale, i.e._ capital punishment, was strictly applied in all
+serious cases, and the manner of execution most in use was hanging (Figs.
+329, 330).
+
+A person accused who did not appear after the third summons, was out-lawed
+by a terrible sentence, which deprived him of all rights, of common peace,
+and forbad him the company of all Christians; by the wording of this
+sentence, his wife was looked upon as a widow, his children as orphans;
+his neck was abandoned to the birds of the air, and his body to the beasts
+of the field, "but his soul was recommended to God." At the expiration of
+one year and a day, if the culprit had not appeared, or had not
+established his common rights, all his goods were confiscated, and
+appropriated by the King or Emperor. When the condemnation referred to a
+prince, a town, or a corporation (for the accusations of the tribunal
+frequently were issued against groups of individuals), it caused the loss
+of all honour, authority, and privileges. The free count, in pronouncing
+the sentence, threw the rope, which was before him, on to the ground; the
+free judges spat upon it, and the name of the culprit was inscribed on the
+book of blood. The sentence was kept secret; the prosecutor alone was
+informed of it by a written notice, which was sealed with seven seals.
+When the condemned was present, the execution took place immediately, and,
+according to the custom of the Middle Ages, its carrying out was deputed
+to the youngest of the free judges. The members of the Vehmic association
+enjoyed the privilege of being hung seven feet higher than those who were
+not associates.
+
+The Vehmic judgments were, however, liable to be appealed against: the
+accused might, at the sitting, appeal either to what was termed the
+imperial chamber, a general chapter of the association, which assembled at
+Dortmund, or (and this was the more frequent custom) to the emperor, or
+ruler of the country, whether he were king, prince, duke, or bishop,
+provided that these authorities belonged to the association. The revision
+of the judgment could only be entrusted to members of the tribunal, who,
+in their turn, could only act in Westphalia. The condemned might also
+appeal to the lieutenant-general of the emperor, or to the grand master of
+the Holy Vehme, a title which, from the remotest times, was given to the
+Archbishop of Cologne. There are even instances of appeals having been
+made to the councils and to the Popes, although the Vehmic association
+never had any communication or intercourse with the court of Rome. We must
+not forget a very curious privilege which, in certain cases, was left to
+the culprit as a last resource; he might appeal to the emperor, and
+solicit an order which required the execution of the sentence to be
+applied after a delay _of one hundred years, six weeks, and one day_.
+
+[Illustration: Figs. 329 and 330.--Execution of the Sentences of the
+Secret Tribunal.--Fac-simile of Woodcuts in the "Cosmographie Universelle"
+of Munster: in folio, Basle, 1552.]
+
+The chapter-general of the association was generally summoned once a year
+by the emperor or his lieutenant, and assembled either at Dortmund or
+Arensberg, in order to receive the returns of causes judged by the various
+Vehmic tribunals; to hear the changes which had taken place among the
+members of the order; to receive the free judges; to hear appeals; and,
+lastly, to decide upon reforms to be introduced into the rules. These
+reforms usually had reference to the connection of imperial authority with
+the members of the secret jurisdiction, and were generally suggested by
+the emperors, who were jealous of the increasing power of the association.
+
+From what we have shown, on the authority of authentic documents, we
+understand how untrue is the tradition, or rather the popular idea, that
+the _Secret Tribunal_ was an assembly of bloodthirsty judges, secretly
+perpetrating acts of mere cruelty, without any but arbitrary laws. It is
+clear, on the contrary, that it was a regular institution, having, it is
+true, a most mysterious and complex organization, but simply acting in
+virtue of legal prescriptions, which were rigorously laid down, and
+arranged in a sort of code which did honour to the wisdom of those who had
+created it.
+
+It was towards the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the
+fifteenth centuries that the Vehmic jurisdiction reached its highest
+degree of power; its name was only pronounced in a whisper and with
+trembling; its orders were received with immediate submission, and its
+chastisements always fell upon the guilty and those who resisted its
+authority. There cannot be a doubt but that the Westphalian tribunal
+prevented many great crimes and public misfortunes by putting a wholesome
+check on the nobles, who were ever ready to place themselves above all
+human authority; and by punishing, with pitiless severity, the audacity of
+bandits, who would otherwise have been encouraged to commit the most
+daring acts with almost the certainty of escaping with impunity. But the
+Holy Vehme, blinded by the terror it inspired, was not long without
+displaying the most extravagant assumption of power, and digressing from
+the strict path to which its action should have been confined. It summoned
+before its tribunals princes, who openly denied its authority, and cities,
+which did not condescend to answer to its behests. In the fifteenth
+century, the free judges were composed of men who could not be called of
+unimpeachable integrity; many persons of doubtful morals having been
+raised to the dignity by party influence and by money. The partiality and
+the spirit of revenge which at times prompted their judgments, were
+complained of; they were accused of being open to corruption; and this
+accusation appears to have been but too well founded. It is known that,
+according to a feudal practice established in the Vehmic system, every
+new free judge was obliged to make a present to the free count who had
+admitted him into the order; and the free counts did not hesitate to make
+this an important source of revenue to themselves by admitting, according
+to an historian, "many people as _judges_ who, in reality, deserved to be
+_judged_."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 331.--View of Cologne in the Sixteenth Century.--From
+a Copper-plate in the "Theatrum Geographicum" of P. Bertius. The three
+large stars represent, it is supposed, the Three Persons of the Trinity,
+and the seven small ones the Electors of the Empire.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 332.--German Knights (Fifteenth Century).--From a
+Plate in the "Life of the Emperor Maximilian," engraved by Burgmayer, from
+Drawings by Albert Durer.]
+
+Owing to the most flagrant and most insolent abuses of power, the ancient
+authority of the institution became gradually more and more shaken. On one
+occasion, for instance, in answer to a summons issued by the Imperial
+Tribunal against some free judges, the tribunal of the Terre-Rouge had the
+daring to summon the Emperor Frederick III. before it to answer for this
+want of respect. On another occasion, a certain free count, jealous of one
+of his associates, hung him with his own hands while out on a hunting
+excursion, alleging that his rank of free judge authorised him to execute
+summary justice. From that time there was a perpetual cry of horror and
+indignation against a judicial institution which thus interpreted its
+duties, and before long the State undertook the suppression of these
+secret tribunals. The first idea of this was formed by the electors of the
+empire at the diet of Treves in 1512. The Archbishop of Cologne succeeded,
+however, in parrying the blow, by convoking the chapter-general of the
+order, on the plea of the necessity of reform. But, besides being
+essentially corrupt, the Holy Vehme had really run its course, and it
+gradually became effete as, by degrees, a better organized and more
+defined social and political state succeeded to the confused anarchy of
+the Middle Ages, and as the princes and free towns adopted the custom of
+dispensing justice either in person or through regular tribunals. Its
+proceedings, becoming more and more summary and rigorous, daily gave rise
+to feelings of greater and greater abhorrence. The common saying over all
+Germany was, "They first hang you, and afterwards inquire into your
+innocence." On all sides opposition arose against the jurisdiction of the
+free judges. Princes, bishops, cities, and citizens, agreed instinctively
+to counteract this worn-out and degenerate institution. The struggle was
+long and tedious. During the last convulsions of the expiring Holy Vehme,
+there was more than one sanguinary episode, both on the side of the free
+judges themselves, as well as on that of their adversaries. Occasionally
+the secret tribunal broke out into fresh signs of life, and proclaimed its
+existence by some terrible execution; and at times, also, its members paid
+dearly for their acts. On one occasion, in 1570, fourteen free judges,
+whom Kaspar Schwitz, Count of Oettingen, caused to be seized, were already
+tied up in bags, and about to be drowned, when the mob, pitying their
+fate, asked for and obtained their reprieve.
+
+The death-blow to the Vehmic tribunal was struck by its own hand. It
+condenmed summarily, and executed without regular procedure, an inhabitant
+of Munster, who used to scandalize the town by his profligacy. He was
+arrested at night, led to a small wood, where the free judges awaited him,
+and condemned to death without being allowed an advocate; and, after being
+refused a respite even of a few hours, that he might make his peace with
+heaven, he was confessed by a monk, and his head was severed from his
+body by the executioner on the spot.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 333.--Interior Court of the Palace of the Doges of
+Venice: Buildings in which are the Cells and _the Leads_.--From Cesare
+Vecellio.]
+
+Dating from this tragical event, which excited universal indignation, the
+authority of the free judges gradually declined, and, at last, the
+institution became almost defunct, and merely confined itself to
+occasionally adjudicating in simple civil matters.
+
+We must not omit to mention the Council of Ten of Venice when speaking on
+the subject of arbitrary executions and of tyrannical and implacable
+justice. In some respects it was more notorious than the Vehmic tribunal,
+exercising as it did a no less mysterious power, and inspiring equal
+terror, though in other countries.
+
+This secret tribunal was created after a revolt which burst on the
+republic of Venice on the 15th of June, 1310. At first it was only
+instituted for two months, but, after various successive prorogations, it
+was confirmed for five years, on the 31st of January, 1311. In 1316 it was
+again appointed for five years; on the 2nd of May, 1327, for ten years
+more; and at last was established permanently. In the fifteenth century
+the authority of the Council of Ten was consolidated and rendered more
+energetic by the creation of the Inquisitors of State. These were three in
+number, elected by the Council of Ten; and the citizens on whom the votes
+fell could not refuse the functions which were thus spontaneously, and
+often unexpectedly, assigned to them. The authority of Inquisitors of
+State was declared to be "unlimited."
+
+In order to show the power and mode of action of this terrible tribunal,
+it is perhaps better to make a few extracts from the code of rules which
+it established for itself in June, 1454.
+
+This document--several manuscript copies of which are to be found in the
+public libraries of Paris--says, "The inquisitors may proceed against any
+person whomsoever, no rank giving the right of exemption from their
+jurisdiction. They may pronounce any sentence, even that of death; only
+their final sentences must be passed unanimously. They shall have complete
+charge of the prisons and _the leads_ (Fig. 333). They may draw at sight
+from the treasury of the Council of Ten, without having to give any
+account of the use made of the funds placed in their hands.
+
+"The proceedings of the tribunal shall always be secret; its members shall
+wear no distinctive badge. No open arrests shall be made. The chief of the
+bailiffs (_sbirri_) shall avoid making domiciliary arrests, but he shall
+try to seize the culprit unawares, away from his home, and so securely get
+him under _the leads_ of the Palace of the Doges. When the tribunal shall
+deem the death of any person necessary, the execution shall never be
+public; the condemned shall be drowned at night in the Orfano Canal.
+
+"The tribunal shall authorise the generals commanding in Cyprus or in
+Candia, in the event of its being for the welfare of the Republic, to
+cause any patrician or other influential person in either of those
+Venetian provinces to disappear, or to be assassinated secretly, if such a
+measure should conscientiously appear to them indispensable; but they
+shall be answerable before God for it.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 334.--Member of the Brotherhood of Death, whose duty
+it was to accompany those sentenced to death.--From Cesare Vecellio.]
+
+"If any workman shall practise in a foreign land any art or craft to the
+detriment of the Republic, he shall be ordered to return to his country;
+and should he not obey, all his nearest relatives shall be imprisoned, in
+order that his affection for them may bring him to obedience. Should he
+still persist in his disobedience, secret measures shall be taken to put
+him to death, wherever he may be.
+
+"If a Venetian noble reveal to the tribunal propositions which have been
+made to him by some foreign ambassador, the agent, excepting it should be
+the ambassador himself, shall be immediately carried off and drowned.
+
+"If a patrician having committed any misdeed shall take refuge under the
+protection of a foreign ambassador, he shall be put to death forthwith.
+
+"If any noble in full senate take upon himself to question the authority
+of the Council of Ten, and persist in attacking it, he shall be allowed to
+speak without interruption; immediately afterwards he shall be arrested,
+and instructions as to his trial shall be given, so that he may be judged
+by the ordinary tribunals; and, if this does not succeed in preventing his
+proceedings, he shall be put to death secretly.
+
+"In case of a complaint against one of the heads of the Council of Ten,
+the instructions shall be made secretly, and, in case of sentence of
+death, poison shall be the agent selected.
+
+"Should any dissatisfied noble speak ill of the Government, he shall first
+be forbidden to appear in the councils and public places for two years.
+Should he not obey, or should he repeat the offence after the two years,
+he shall be drowned as incorrigible...." &c.
+
+One can easily understand that in order to carry out these laws the most
+careful measures were taken to organize a system of espionage. The nobles
+were subjected to a rigorous supervision; the privacy of letters was not
+respected; an ambassador was never lost sight of, and his smallest acts
+were narrowly watched. Any one who dared to throw obstacles in the way of
+the spies employed by the Council of Ten, was put on the rack, and "made
+afterwards to receive the punishment which the State inquisitors might
+consider befitting." Whole pages of the secret statutes bear witness that
+lying and fraud formed the basis of all the diplomatic relations of the
+Venetian Government. Nevertheless the Council of Ten, which was solely
+instituted with the view of watching over the safety of the Republic,
+could not inter-meddle in civil cases, and its members were forbidden to
+hold any sort of communication with foreigners.
+
+[Illustration: Figs. 335 and 336.--Chiefs of Sbirri, in the Secret
+Service of the Council of Ten.--From Cesare Vecellio.]
+
+The list of names of Venetian nobles and distinguished persons who became
+victims to the suspicions tyranny of the Council of Ten, and of the State
+inquisitors, would be very long and of little interest. We may mention a
+few, however. We find that in 1385, Peter Justiniani, and, in 1388,
+Stephen Monalesco, were punished for holding secret transactions with the
+Lord of Padua; in 1413, John Nogarola, for having tried to set fire to
+Verona; in 1471, Borromeo Memo, for having uttered defamatory speeches
+against the Podestat of Padua. Not only was this Borromeo Memo punished,
+but three witnesses of the crime which was imputed to him were condemned
+to a year's imprisonment and three years' banishment, for not having
+denounced the deed "between evening and morning." In 1457 we find the
+Council of Ten attacking the Doge himself, by requiring the abdication of
+Francis Foscari. A century earlier it had caused the Doge, Marino Faliero,
+who was convicted of having taken part in a plot to destroy the influence
+of the nobility, to be executed on the very staircase of the ducal palace,
+where allegiance to the Republic was usually sworn.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 337.--Doge of Venice. Costume before the Sixteenth
+Century. From Cesare Vecellio.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 338.--Doge of Venice in Ceremonial Costume of the
+Sixteenth Century. From Cesare Vecellio.]
+
+Like the Holy Vehme, the Council of Ten compromised its authority by the
+abuse of power. In 1540, unknown to the Senate, and in spite of the
+well-prescribed limit of its authority, it concluded a treaty with the
+Turkish Sultan, Soliman II. The Senate at first concealed its indignation
+at this abuse of power, but, in 1582, it took measures so as considerably
+to restrain the powers of the Council of Ten, which, from that date, only
+existed in name.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 339.--Seal of the Free Count Heinrich Beckmann, of
+Medebach. (1520--1533).]
+
+
+
+
+Punishments.
+
+
+
+ Refinements of Penal Cruelty.--Tortures for different Purposes.--Water,
+ Screw-boards, and the Rack.--The Executioner.--Female
+ Executioners.--Tortures.--Amende Honorable.--Torture of Fire, Real and
+ Feigned.--Auto-da-fe.--Red-hot Brazier or
+ Basin.--Beheading.--Quartering.--Wheel.--Garotte.--Hanging.--The
+ Whip.--The Pillory.--The
+ Arquebuse.--Tickling.--Flaying.--Drowning.--Imprisonment.--Regulations
+ of Prisons.--The Iron Cage.--The Leads of Venice.
+
+
+"It is very sad," says the learned M. de Villegille, "to observe the
+infinite variety of tortures which have existed since the beginning of the
+world. It is, in fact, difficult to realise the amount of ingenuity
+exercised by men in inventing new tortures, in order to give themselves
+the satisfaction of seeing their fellow-creatures agonizing in the most
+awful sufferings."
+
+In entering upon the subject of ancient modes of punishment, we must first
+speak of the torture, which, according to the received phrase, might be
+either _previous_ or _preparatory: previous_, when it consisted of a
+torture which the condemned had to endure previous to capital punishment;
+and _preparatory_, when it was applied in order to elicit from the culprit
+an avowal of his crime, or of that of his accomplices. It was also called
+_ordinary_, or _extraordinary_, according to the duration or violence with
+which it was inflicted. In some cases the torture lasted five or six
+consecutive hours; in others, it rarely exceeded an hour. Hippolyte de
+Marsillis, the learned and venerable jurisconsult of Bologna, who lived at
+the beginning of the fifteenth century, mentions fourteen ways of
+inflicting torture. The compression of the limbs by special instruments,
+or by ropes only; injection of water, vinegar, or oil, into the body of
+the accused; application of hot pitch, and starvation, were the processes
+most in use. Other means, which were more or less applied according to the
+fancy of the magistrate and the tormentor or executioner, were remarkable
+for their singular atrocities. For instance, placing hot eggs under the
+arm-pits; introducing dice between the skin and flesh; tying lighted
+candles to the fingers, so that they might be consumed simultaneously with
+the wax; letting water trickle drop by drop from a great height on the
+stomach; and also the custom, which was, according to writers on criminal
+matters, an indescribable torture, of watering the feet with salt water
+and allowing goats to lick them. However, every country had special
+customs as to the manner of applying torture.
+
+In France, too, the torture varied according to the provinces, or rather
+according to the parliaments. For instance, in Brittany the culprit, tied
+in an iron chair, was gradually brought near a blazing furnace. In
+Normandy, one thumb was squeezed in a screw in the ordinary, and both
+thumbs in the extraordinary torture. At Autun, after high boots made of
+spongy leather had been placed on the culprit's feet, he was tied on to a
+table near a large fire, and a quantity of boiling water was poured on the
+boots, which penetrated the leather, ate away the flesh, and even
+dissolved the bones of the victim.
+
+At Orleans, for the ordinary torture the accused was stripped half naked,
+and his hands were tightly tied behind his back, with a ring fixed between
+them. Then by means of a rope fastened to this ring, they raised the poor
+man, who had a weight of one hundred and eighty pounds attached to his
+feet, a certain height from the ground. For the extraordinary torture,
+which then took the name of _estrapade_, they raised the victim, with two
+hundred and fifty pounds attached to his feet, to the ceiling by means of
+a capstan; he was then allowed to fall several times successively by jerks
+to the level of the ground, by which means his arms and legs were
+completely dislocated (Fig. 340).
+
+At Avignon, the ordinary torture consisted in hanging the accused by the
+wrists, with a heavy iron ball at each foot; for the extraordinary
+torture, which was then much in use in Italy under the name of _veglia_,
+the body was stretched horizontally by means of ropes passing through
+rings riveted into the wall, and attached to the four limbs, the only
+support given to the culprit being the point of a stake cut in a diamond
+shape, which just touched the end of the back-bone. A doctor and a surgeon
+were always present, feeling the pulse at the temples of the patient, so
+as to be able to judge of the moment when he could not any longer bear the
+pain.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 340.--The Estrapade, or Question
+Extraordinary.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the Work of J. Millaeus,
+"Praxis Criminis Persequendi." folio, Paris, 1541.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 341.--The Water Torture.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in
+J. Damhoudere's "Praxis Rerum Criminalium:" in 4to, Antwerp, 1556.]
+
+At that moment he was untied, hot fomentations were used to revive him,
+restoratives were administered, and, as soon as he had recovered a little
+strength, he was again put to the torture, which went on thus for six
+consecutive hours.
+
+In Paris, for a long time, the _water torture_ was in use; this was the
+most easily borne, and the least dangerous. A person undergoing it was
+tied to a board which was supported horizontally on two trestles. By means
+of a horn, acting as a funnel, and whilst his nose was being pinched, so
+as to force him to swallow, they slowly poured four _coquemars_ (about
+nine pints) of water into his mouth; this was for the ordinary torture.
+For the extraordinary, double that quantity was poured in (Fig. 341). When
+the torture was ended, the victim was untied, "and taken to be warmed in
+the kitchen," says the old text.
+
+At a later period, the _brodequins_ were preferred. For this torture, the
+victim was placed in a sitting posture on a massive bench, with strong
+narrow boards fixed inside and outside of each leg, which were tightly
+bound together with strong rope; wedges were then driven in between the
+centre boards with a mallet; four wedges in the ordinary and eight in the
+extraordinary torture. Not unfrequently during the latter operation the
+bones of the legs were literally burst.
+
+The _brodequins_ which were often used for ordinary torture were stockings
+of parchment, into which it was easy enough to get the feet when it was
+wet, but which, on being held near the fire, shrunk so considerably that
+it caused insufferable agony to the wearer.
+
+Whatever manner of torture was applied, the accused, before undergoing it,
+was forced to remain eight or ten hours without eating. Damhoudere, in his
+famous technical work, called "Practique et Enchiridion des Causes
+Criminelles" (1544), also recommends that the hair should be carefully
+shaved from the bodies of persons about to undergo examination by torture,
+for fear of their concealing some countercharm which would render them
+insensible to bodily pain. The same author also recommends, as a rule,
+when there are several persons "to be placed on the rack" for the same
+deed, to begin with those from whom it would be most probable that
+confession would be first extorted. Thus, for instance, when a man and a
+woman were to suffer one after the other, he recommended that the woman be
+first tortured, as being the weaker of the two; when a father and son were
+concerned, the son should be tortured in presence of the father, "who
+naturally fears more for his son than for himself." We thereby see that
+the judges were adepts in the art of adding moral to physical tortures.
+The barbarous custom of punishment by torture was on several occasions
+condemned by the Church. As early as 866, we find, from Pope Nicholas V.'s
+letter to the Bulgarians, that their custom of torturing the accused was
+considered contrary to divine as well as to human law: "For," says he, "a
+confession should be voluntary, and not forced. By means of the torture,
+an innocent man may suffer to the utmost without making any avowal; and,
+in such a case, what a crime for the judge! Or the person may be subdued
+by pain, and may acknowledge himself guilty, although he be not so, which
+throws an equally great sin upon the judge."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 342.--Type of Executioner in the Decapitation of John
+the Baptist (Thirteenth Century).--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the
+Psalm-book of St. Louis. Manuscript preserved in the Musee des
+Souverains.]
+
+After having endured the _previous_ torture, the different phases of which
+were carried out by special tormentors or executioners, the condemned was
+at last handed over to the _maistre des haultes oeuvres_--that is to say,
+the _executioner_--whose special mission was that of sending culprits to
+another world (Fig. 342).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 343.--Swiss Grand Provost (Fifteenth Century).--From a
+Painting in the "Danse des Morts" of Basle, engraved by Merian.]
+
+The executioner did not hold the same position in all countries. For
+whereas in France, Italy, and Spain, a certain amount of odium was
+attached to this terrible craft, in Germany, on the contrary, successfully
+carrying out a certain number of capital sentences was rewarded by titles
+and the privileges of nobility (Fig. 343). At Reutlingen, in Suabia, the
+last of the councillors admitted into the tribunal had to carry out the
+sentence with his own hand. In Franconia, this painful duty fell upon the
+councillor who had last taken a wife.
+
+In France, the executioner, otherwise called the _King's Sworn Tormentor,_
+was the lowest of the officers of justice. His letters of appointment,
+which he received from the King, had, nevertheless, to be registered in
+Parliament; but, after having put the seal on them, it is said that the
+chancellor threw them under the table, in token of contempt. The
+executioner was generally forbidden to live within the precincts of the
+city, unless it was on the grounds where the pillory was situated; and, in
+some cases, so that he might not be mistaken amongst the people, he was
+forced to wear a particular coat, either of red or yellow. On the other
+hand, his duties ensured him certain privileges. In Paris, he possessed
+the right of _havage_, which consisted in taking all that he could hold in
+his hand from every load of grain which was brought into market; however,
+in order that the grain might be preserved from ignominious contact, he
+levied his tax with a wooden spoon. He enjoyed many similar rights over
+most articles of consumption, independently of benefiting by several taxes
+or fines, such as the toll on the Petit-Pont, the tax on foreign traders,
+on boats arriving with fish, on dealers in herrings, watercress, &c.; and
+the fine of five sous which was levied on stray pigs (see previous
+chapter), &c. And, lastly, besides the personal property of the condemned,
+he received the rents from the shops and stalls surrounding the pillory,
+in which the retail fish trade was carried on.
+
+It appears that, in consequence of the receipts from these various duties
+forming a considerable source of revenue, the prestige of wealth by
+degrees dissipated the unfavourable impressions traditionally attached to
+the duties of executioner. At least, we have authority for supposing this,
+when, for instance, in 1418, we see the Paris executioner, who was then
+captain of the bourgeois militia, coming in that capacity to touch the
+hand of the Duke of Burgundy, on the occasion of his solemn entry into
+Paris with Queen Isabel of Bavaria. We may add that popular belief
+generally ascribed to the executioner a certain practical knowledge of
+medicine, which was supposed inherent in the profession itself; and the
+acquaintance with certain methods of cure unknown to doctors, was
+attributed to him; people went to buy from him the fat of culprits who had
+been hung, which was supposed to be a marvellous panacea. We may also
+remark that, in our day, the proficiency of the executioner in setting
+dislocated limbs is still proverbial in many countries.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 344.--Amende Honorable before the
+Tribunal.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in J. Damhoudere's "Praxis Rerum
+Criminalium:" in 4to, Antwerp, 1556.]
+
+More than once during the thirteenth century the duties of the executioner
+were performed by women, but only in those cases in which their own sex
+was concerned; for it is expressly stated in an order of St. Louis, that
+persons convicted of blasphemy shall be beaten with birch rods, "the men
+by men, and the women by women only, without the presence of men." This,
+however, was not long tolerated, for we know that a period soon arrived
+when women were exempted from a duty so little adapted to their physical
+weakness and moral sensitiveness.
+
+The learned writer on criminal cases, Josse Damhoudere, whom we have
+already mentioned, and whom we shall take as our special guide in the
+enumeration of the various tortures, specifies thirteen ways in which the
+executioner "carries out his executions," and places them in the following
+order:--"Fire"--"the sword"--"mechanical force"--"quartering"--"the
+wheel"--"the fork"--"the gibbet"--"drawing"--"spiking"--"cutting off the
+ears"--"dismembering"--"flogging or beating"--and the "pillory."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 345.--The Punishment by Fire.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut
+of the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, Basle, 1552.]
+
+But before entering upon the details of this revolting subject, we must
+state that, whatever punishment was inflicted upon a culprit, it was very
+rare that its execution had not been preceded by the _amende honorable_,
+which, in certain cases, constituted a distinct punishment, but which
+generally was but the prelude to the torture itself. The _amende
+honorable_ which was called _simple_ or _short_, took place without the
+assistance of the executioner in the council chamber, where the condemned,
+bareheaded and kneeling, had to state that "he had falsely said or done
+something against the authority of the King or the honour of some person"
+(Fig. 344). For the _amende honorable in figuris_--that is to say, in
+public--the condemned, in his shirt, barefooted, the rope round his neck,
+followed by the executioner, and holding in his hand a wax taper, with a
+weight, which was definitely specified in the sentence which had been
+passed upon him, but which was generally of two or four pounds,
+prostrated himself at the door of a church, where in a loud voice he had
+to confess his sin, and to beg the pardon of God and man.
+
+When a criminal had been condemned to be burnt, a stake was erected on the
+spot specially designed for the execution, and round it a pile was
+prepared, composed of alternate layers of straw and wood, and rising to
+about the height of a man. Care was taken to leave a free space round the
+stake for the victim, and also a passage by which to lead him to it.
+Having been stripped of his clothes, and dressed in a shirt smeared with
+sulphur, he had to walk to the centre of the pile through a narrow
+opening, and was then tightly bound to the stake with ropes and chains.
+After this, faggots and straw were thrown into the empty space through
+which he had passed to the stake, until he was entirely covered by them;
+the pile was then fired on all sides at once (Fig. 345).
+
+Sometimes, the sentence was that the culprit should only be delivered to
+the flames after having been previously strangled. In this case, the dead
+corpse was then immediately placed where the victim would otherwise have
+been placed alive, and the punishment lost much of its horror. It often
+happened that the executioner, in order to shorten the sufferings of the
+condemned, whilst he prepared the pile, placed a large and pointed iron
+bar amongst the faggots and opposite the stake breast high, so that,
+directly the fire was lighted, the bar was quickly pushed against the
+victim, giving a mortal blow to the unfortunate wretch, who would
+otherwise have been slowly devoured by the flames. If, according to the
+wording of the sentence, the ashes of the criminal were to be scattered to
+the winds, as soon as it was possible to approach the centre of the
+burning pile, a few ashes were taken in a shovel and sprinkled in the air.
+
+They were not satisfied with burning the living, they also delivered to
+the flames the bodies of those who had died a natural death before their
+execution could be carried out, as if an anticipated death should not be
+allowed to save them from the punishment which they had deserved. It also
+happened in certain cases, where a person's guilt was only proved after
+his decease, that his body was disinterred, and carried to the stake to be
+burnt.
+
+The punishment by fire was always inflicted in cases of heresy, or
+blasphemy. The Spanish Inquisition made such a constant and cruel use of
+it, that the expression _auto-da-fe_ (act of faith), strangely perverted
+from its original meaning, was the only one employed to denote the
+punishment itself. In France, in the beginning of the fourteenth century,
+fifty-nine Templars were burned at the same time for the crimes of heresy
+and witchcraft. And three years later, on the 18th March, 1314, Jacques
+Molay, and a few other dignitaries of the Order of the Templars, also
+perished in the flames at the extremity of the island of Notre Dame, on
+the very spot where the equestrian statue of Henry IV. now stands.
+
+Every one is acquainted with the fact that judges were found iniquitous
+enough to condemn Joan of Arc to death by fire as a witch and a heretic.
+Her execution, which took place in the market-place of Rouen, is
+remarkable from a circumstance which is little known, and which had never
+taken place on any other occasion. When it was supposed that the fire
+which surrounded the young heroine on all sides had reached her and no
+doubt suffocated her, although sufficient time had not elapsed for it to
+consume her body, a part of the blazing wood was withdrawn, "in order to
+remove any doubts from the people," and when the crowd had satisfied
+themselves by seeing her in the middle of the pile, "chained to the post
+and quite dead, the executioner replaced the fire...." It should be stated
+in reference to this point, that Joan having been accused of witchcraft,
+there was a general belief among the people that the flames would be
+harmless to her, and that she would be seen emerging from her pile
+unscathed.
+
+The sentence of punishment by fire did not absolutely imply death at the
+stake, for there was a punishment of this description which was specially
+reserved for base coiners, and which consisted in hurling the criminals
+into a cauldron of scalding water or oil.
+
+We must include in the category of punishment by fire certain penalties,
+which were, so to speak, but the preliminaries of a more severe
+punishment, such as the sulphur-fire, in which the hands of parricides, or
+of criminals accused of high treason, were burned. We must also add
+various punishments which, if they did not involve death, were none the
+less cruel, such as the red-hot brazier, _bassin ardent_, which was passed
+backwards and forwards before the eyes of the culprit, until they were
+destroyed by the scorching heat; and the process of branding various marks
+on the flesh, as an ineffaceable stigma, the use of which has been
+continued to the present day.
+
+In certain countries decapitation was performed with an axe; but in
+France, it was carried out usually by means of a two-handed sword or
+glave of justice, which was furnished to the executioner for that purpose
+(Fig. 346). We find it recorded that in 1476, sixty sous parisis were paid
+to the executioner of Paris "for having bought a large _espee a feuille_,"
+used for beheading the condemned, and "for having the old sword done up,
+which was damaged, and had become notched whilst carrying out the sentence
+of justice upon Messire Louis de Luxembourg."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 346.--Beheading.--Fac-simile of a Miniature on Wood in
+the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, Basle, 1552.]
+
+Originally, decapitation was indiscriminately inflicted on all criminals
+condemned to death; at a later period, however, it became the particular
+privilege of the nobility, who submitted to it without any feeling of
+degradation. The victim--unless the sentence prescribed that he should be
+blindfolded as an ignominious aggravation of the penalty--was allowed to
+choose whether he would have his eyes covered or not. He knelt down on the
+scaffold, placed his head on the block, and gave himself up to the
+executioner (Fig. 347). The skill of the executioner was generally such
+that the head was almost invariably severed from the body at the first
+blow. Nevertheless, skill and practice at times failed, for cases are on
+record where as many as eleven blows were dealt, and at times it happened
+that the sword broke. It was no doubt the desire to avoid this mischance
+that led to the invention of the mechanical instrument, now known under
+the name of the _guillotine_, which is merely an improvement on a
+complicated machine which was much more ancient than is generally
+supposed. As early as the sixteenth century the modern guillotine already
+existed in Scotland under the name of the _Maiden_, and English historians
+relate that Lord Morton, regent of Scotland during the minority of James
+VI., had it constructed after a model of a similar machine, which had long
+been in use at Halifax, in Yorkshire. They add, and popular tradition also
+has invented an analogous tale in France, that this Lord Morton, who was
+the inventor or the first to introduce this kind of punishment, was
+himself the first to experience it. The guillotine is, besides, very
+accurately described in the "Chronicles of Jean d'Auton," in an account of
+an execution which took place at Genoa at the beginning of the sixteenth
+century. Two German engravings, executed about 1550 by Pencz and
+Aldegrever, also represent an instrument of death almost identical with
+the guillotine; and the same instrument is to be found on a bas-relief of
+that period, which is still existing in one of the halls of the Tribunal
+of Luneburg, in Hanover.
+
+[Illustration: Decapitation of Guillaume de Pommiers.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 347.--Public Executions.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in
+the Latin Work of J. Millaeus, "Praxis Criminis Persequendi:" small folio,
+Parisis, Simon de Colines, 1541.]
+
+And his Confessor, at Bordeaux in 1377, by order of the King of England's
+Lieutenant. _Froissart's Chronicles._ No. 2644, Bibl. nat'le de Paris.]
+
+Possibly the invention of such a machine was prompted by the desire to
+curtail the physical sufferings of the victim, instead of prolonging them,
+as under the ancient system. It is, however, difficult to believe that the
+mediaeval judges were actuated by any humane feelings, when we find that,
+in order to reconcile a respect for _propriety_ with a due compliance with
+the ends of justice, the punishment of burying alive was resorted to for
+women, who could not with decency be hung up to the gibbets. In 1460, a
+woman named Perette, accused of theft and of receiving stolen goods, was
+condemned by the Provost of Paris to be "buried alive before the gallows,"
+and the sentence was literally carried out.
+
+_Quartering_ may in truth be considered the most horrible penalty invented
+by judicial cruelty. This punishment really dates from the remotest ages,
+but it was scarcely ever inflicted in more modern times, except on
+regicides, who were looked upon as having committed the worst of crimes.
+In almost all cases, the victim had previously to undergo various
+accessory tortures: sometimes his right hand was cut off, and the
+mutilated stump was burnt in a cauldron of sulphur; sometimes his arms,
+thighs, or breasts were lacerated with red-hot pincers, and hot oil,
+pitch, or molten lead was poured into the wounds.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 348.--Demons applying the Torture of the
+Wheel.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the "Grand Kalendrier ou Compost des
+Bergers:" small folio, Troyes, Nicholas le Rouge, 1529.]
+
+After these horrible preliminaries, a rope was attached to each of the
+limbs of the criminal, one being bound round each leg from the foot to the
+knee, and round each arm from the wrist to the elbow. These ropes were
+then fastened to four bars, to each of which a strong horse was harnessed,
+as if for towing a barge. These horses were first made to give short
+jerks; and when the agony had elicited heart-rending cries from the
+unfortunate man, who felt his limbs being dislocated without being broken,
+the four horses were all suddenly urged on with the whip in different
+directions, and thus all the limbs were strained at one moment. If the
+tendons and ligaments still resisted the combined efforts of the four
+horses, the executioner assisted, and made several cuts with a hatchet on
+each joint. When at last--for this horrible torture often lasted several
+hours--each horse had drawn out a limb, they were collected and placed
+near the hideous trunk, which often still showed signs of life, and the
+whole were burned together. Sometimes the sentence was, that the body
+should be hung to the gibbet, and that the limbs should be displayed on
+the gates of the town, or sent to four principal towns in the extremities
+of the kingdom. When this was done, "an inscription was placed on each of
+the limbs, which stated the reason of its being thus exposed."
+
+The _wheel_ is the name applied to a torture of very ancient origin, but
+which was applied during the Middle Ages to quite a different torture from
+that used in olden times. The modern instrument might indeed have been
+called the cross, for it only served for the public exhibition of the body
+of the criminal whose limbs had been previously broken alive. This
+torture, which does not date earlier than the days of Francis I., is thus
+described:--The victim was first tied on his back to two joists forming a
+St. Andrew's cross, each of his limbs being stretched out on its arms. Two
+places were hollowed out under each limb, about a foot apart, in order
+that the joints alone might touch the wood. The executioner then dealt a
+heavy blow over each hollow with a square iron bar, about two inches broad
+and rounded at the handle, thus breaking each limb in two places. To the
+eight blows required for this, the executioner generally added two or
+three on the chest, which were called _coups de grace_, and which ended
+this horrible execution. It was only after death that the broken body was
+placed on a wheel, which was turned round on a pivot. Sometimes, however,
+the sentence ordered that the condemned should be strangled before being
+broken, which was done in such cases by the instantaneous twist of a rope
+round the neck.
+
+Strangling, thus carried out, was called _garotting_. This method is still
+in use in Spain, and is specially reserved for the nobility. The victim is
+seated on a scaffold, his head leaning against a beam and his neck grasped
+by an iron collar, which the executioner suddenly tightens from behind by
+means of a screw.
+
+For several centuries, and down to the Revolution, hanging was the most
+common mode of execution in France; consequently, in every town, and
+almost in every village, there was a permanent gibbet, which, owing to the
+custom of leaving the bodies to hang till they crumbled into dust, was
+very rarely without having some corpses or skeletons attached to it. These
+gibbets, which were called _fourches patibulaires_ or _justices_, because
+they represented the authority of the law, were generally composed of
+pillars of stone, joined at their summit by wooden traverses, to which the
+bodies of criminals were tied by ropes or chains. The gallows, the pillars
+of which varied in number according to the will of the authorities, were
+always placed by the side of frequented roads, and on an eminence.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 349.--The Gibbet of Montfaucon.--From an Engraving of
+the Topography of Paris, in the Collection of Engravings of the National
+Library.]
+
+According to prescribed rule, the gallows of Paris, which played such an
+important part in the political as well as the criminal history of that
+city, were erected on a height north of the town, near the high road
+leading into Germany. Montfaucon, originally the name of the hill, soon
+became that of the gallows itself. This celebrated place of execution
+consisted of a heavy mass of masonry, composed of ten or twelve layers of
+rough stones, and formed an enclosure of forty feet by twenty-five or
+thirty. At the upper part there was a platform, which was reached by a
+stone staircase, the entrance to which was closed by a massive door (Fig.
+349). On three sides of this platform rested sixteen square pillars, about
+thirty feet high, made of blocks of stone a foot thick. These pillars were
+joined to one another by double bars of wood, which were fastened into
+them, and bore iron chains three feet and a half long, to which the
+criminals were suspended. Underneath, half-way between these and the
+platform, other bars were placed for the same purpose. Long and solid
+ladders riveted to the pillars enabled the executioner and his assistants
+to lead up criminals, or to carry up corpses destined to be hung there.
+Lastly, the centre of the structure was occupied by a deep pit, the
+hideous receptacle of the decaying remains of the criminals.
+
+One can easily imagine the strange and melancholy aspect of this
+monumental gibbet if one thinks of the number of corpses continually
+attached to it, and which were feasted upon by thousands of crows. On one
+occasion only it was necessary to replace _fifty-two_ chains, which were
+useless; and the accounts of the city of Paris prove that the expense of
+executions was more heavy than that of the maintenance of the gibbet, a
+fact easy to be understood if one recalls to mind the frequency of capital
+sentences during the Middle Ages. Montfaucon was used not only for
+executions, but also for exposing corpses which were brought there from
+various places of execution in every part of the country. The mutilated
+remains of criminals who had been boiled, quartered, or beheaded, were
+also hung there, enclosed in sacks of leather or wickerwork. They often
+remained hanging for a considerable time, as in the case of Pierre des
+Essarts, who had been beheaded in 1413, and whose remains were handed over
+to his family for Christian burial after having hung on Montfaucon for
+three years.
+
+The criminal condemned to be hanged was generally taken to the place of
+execution sitting or standing in a waggon, with his back to the horses,
+his confessor by his side, and the executioner behind him. He bore three
+ropes round his neck; two the size of the little finger, and called
+_tortouses_, each of which had a slip-knot; the third, called the _jet_,
+was only used to pull the victim off the ladder, and so to launch him into
+eternity (Fig. 350). When the cart arrived at the foot of the gallows, the
+executioner first ascended the ladder backwards, drawing the culprit after
+him by means of the ropes, and forcing him to keep pace with him; on
+arriving at the top, he quickly fastened the two _tortouses_ to the arm of
+the gibbet, and by a jerk of his knee he turned the culprit off the
+ladder, still holding the _jet_ in his own hand. He then placed his feet
+on the tied hands of the condemned, and suspending himself by his hands to
+the gibbet, he finished off his victim by repeated jerks, thus ensuring
+complete strangulation.
+
+When the words "shall be hung until death doth ensue" are to be found in
+a sentence, it must not be supposed that they were used merely as a form,
+for in certain cases the judge ordered that the sentence should be only
+carried out as far as would prove to the culprit the awful sensation of
+hanging. In such cases, the victim was simply suspended by ropes passing
+under the arm-pits, a kind of exhibition which was not free from danger
+when it was too prolonged, for the weight of the body so tightened the
+rope round the chest that the circulation might be stopped. Many culprits,
+after hanging thus an hour, when brought down, were dead, or only survived
+this painful process a short time.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 350.--Hanging to Music. (A Minstrel condemned to the
+Gallows obtained permission that one of his companions should accompany
+him to his execution, and play his favourite instrument on the ladder of
+the Gallows.)--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in Michault's "Doctrinal du Temps
+Present:" small folio, goth., Bruges, about 1490.]
+
+We have seen elsewhere (chapter on _Privileges and Rights, Feudal and
+Municipal_) that, when the criminal passed before the convent of the
+_Filles-Dieu_, the nuns of that establishment were bound to bring him out
+a glass of wine and three pieces of bread, and this was called _le dernier
+morceau des patients._ It was hardly ever refused, and an immense crowd
+assisted at this sad meal. After this the procession went forward, and on
+arriving near the gallows, another halt was made at the foot of a stone
+cross, in order that the culprit might receive the religions exhortations
+of his confessor. The moment the execution was over, the confessor and
+the officers of justice returned to the Chatelet, where a repast provided
+by the town awaited them.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 351.--View of the Pillory in the Market-place of Paris
+in the Sixteenth Century, after a Drawing by an unknown Artist of 1670.]
+
+Sometimes the criminals, in consequence of a peculiar wording of the
+sentence, were taken to Montfaucon, whether dead or alive, on a ladder
+fastened behind a cart. This was an aggravation of the penalty, which was
+called _trainer sur la claie_.
+
+The penalty of the lash was inflicted in two ways: first, under the
+_custode_, that is to say within the prison, and by the hand of the gaoler
+himself, in which case it was simply a correction; and secondly, in
+public, when its administration became ignominious as well as painful. In
+the latter case the criminal was paraded about the town, stripped to the
+waist, and at each crossway he received a certain number of blows on the
+shoulders, given by the public executioner with a cane or a knotted rope.
+
+When it was only required to stamp a culprit with infamy he was put into
+the _pillory_, which was generally a kind of scaffold furnished with
+chains and iron collars, and bearing on its front the arms of the feudal
+lord. In Paris, this name was given to a round isolated tower built in the
+centre of the market. The tower was sixty feet high, and had large
+openings in its thick walls, and a horizontal wheel was provided, which
+was capable of turning on a pivot. This wheel was pierced with several
+holes, made so as to hold the hands and head of the culprit, who, on
+passing and repassing before the eyes of the crowd, came in full view, and
+was subjected to their hootings (Fig. 351). The pillories were always
+situated in the most frequented places, such as markets, crossways, &c.
+
+Notwithstanding the long and dreadful enumeration we have just made of
+mediaeval punishments, we are far from having exhausted the subject; for we
+have not spoken of several more or less atrocious punishments, which were
+in use at various times and in various countries; such as the _Pain of the
+Cross_, specially employed against the Jews; the _Arquebusade_, which was
+well adapted for carrying out prompt justice on soldiers; the
+_Chatouillement_, which resulted in death after the most intense tortures;
+the _Pal_ (Fig. 352), _flaying alive_, and, lastly, _drowning_, a kind of
+death frequently employed in France. Hence the common expression, _gens de
+sac et de corde_, which was derived from the sack into which persons were
+tied who were condemned to die by immersion.... But we will now turn away
+from these horrible scenes, and consider the several methods of penal
+sequestration and prison arrangements.
+
+It is unnecessary to state that in barbarous times the cruel and pitiless
+feeling which induced legislators to increase the horrors of tortures,
+also contributed to the aggravation of the fate of prisoners. Each
+administrator of the law had his private gaol, which was entirely under
+his will and control (Fig. 353). Law or custom did not prescribe any
+fixed rules for the internal government of prisons. There can be little
+doubt, however, that these prisons were as small as they were unhealthy,
+if we may judge from that in the Rue de la Tannerie, which was the
+property of the provost, the merchants, and the aldermen of Paris in 1383.
+Although this dungeon was only eleven feet long by seven feet wide, from
+ten to twenty prisoners were often immured in it at the same time.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 352.--Empalement.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the
+"Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, Basle, 1552.]
+
+Paris alone contained twenty-five or thirty special prisons, without
+counting the _vade in pace_ of the various religious communities. The most
+important were the Grand Chatelet, the Petit Chatelet, the Bastille, the
+Conciergerie, and the For-l'Eveque, the ancient seat of the ecclesiastical
+jurisdiction of the Bishop of Paris. Nearly all these places of
+confinement contained subterranean cells, which were almost entirely
+deprived of air and light. As examples of these may be mentioned the
+_Chartres basses_ of the Petit Chatelet, where, under the reign of Charles
+VI., it was proved that no man could pass an entire day without being
+suffocated; and the fearful cells excavated thirty feet below the surface
+of the earth, in the gaol of the Abbey of Saint Germain des Pres, the roof
+of which was so low that a man of middle height could not stand up in
+them, and where the straw of the prisoners' beds floated upon the stagnant
+water which had oozed through the walls.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 353.--The Provost's Prison.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut
+in J. Damhoudere's "Praxis Rerum Civilium."]
+
+The Grand Chatelet was one of the most ancient prisons of Paris, and
+probably the one which held the greatest number of prisoners. By a curious
+and arbitrary custom, prisoners were compelled to pay a gaol fee on
+entering and going out of this prison, which varied according to their
+rank, and which was established by a law of the year 1425. We learn from
+this enactment the names by which the various places of confinement
+composing this spacious municipal prison were known. A prisoner who was
+confined in the _Beauvoir, La Mate_ or _La Salle_, had the right of
+"having a bed brought from his own house," and only had to pay the _droit
+de place_ to the gaoler; any one who was placed in the _Boucherie_, in the
+_Beaumont_, or in the _Griseche_, "which are closed prisons," had to pay
+four deniers "_pour place_;" any one who was confined in the _Beauvais_,
+"lies on mats or on layers of rushes or straw" (_gist sur nates ou sur
+couche de feurre ou de paille_); if he preferred, he might be placed _au
+Puis_, in the _Gourdaine_, in the _Bercueil_, or in the _Oubliette_, where
+he did not pay more than in the _Fosse_. For this, no doubt, the smallest
+charge was made. Sometimes, however, the prisoner was left between two
+doors ("_entre deux huis_"), and he then paid much less than he would in
+the _Barbarie_ or in the _Gloriette_. The exact meaning of these curious
+names is no longer intelligible to us, notwithstanding the terror which
+they formerly created, but their very strangeness gives us reason to
+suppose that the prison system was at that time subjected to the most
+odious refinement of the basest cruelty.
+
+From various reliable sources we learn that there was a place in the Grand
+Chatelet, called the _Chausse d'Hypocras_, in which the prisoners had
+their feet continually in water, and where they could neither stand up nor
+lie down; and a cell, called _Fin d'aise_, which was a horrible receptacle
+of filth, vermin, and reptiles; as to the _Fosse_, no staircase being
+attached to it, the prisoners were lowered down into it by means of a rope
+and pulley.
+
+By the law of 1425, the gaoler was not permitted to put more than _two or
+three_ persons in the same bed. He was bound to give "bread and water" to
+the poor prisoners who had no means of subsistence; and, lastly, he was
+enjoined "to keep the large stone basin, which was on the pavement, full
+of water, so that prisoners might get it whenever they wished." In order
+to defray his expenses, he levied on the prisoners various charges for
+attendance and for bedding, and he was authorised to detain in prison any
+person who failed to pay him. The power of compelling payment of these
+charges continued even after a judge's order for the release of a prisoner
+had been issued.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 354.--The Bastille.--From an ancient Engraving of the
+Topography of Paris, in the Collection of Engravings of the National
+Library.]
+
+The subterranean cells of the Bastille (Fig. 354) did not differ much from
+those of the Chatelet. There were several, the bottoms of which were
+formed like a sugar-loaf upside down, thus neither allowing the prisoner
+to stand up, nor even to adopt a tolerable position sitting or lying down.
+It was in these that King Louis XI., who seemed to have a partiality for
+filthy dungeons, placed the two young sons of the Duke de Nemours
+(beheaded in 1477), ordering, besides, that they should be taken out twice
+a week and beaten with birch rods, and, as a supreme measure of atrocity,
+he had one of their teeth extracted every three months. It was Louis XI.,
+too, who, in 1476, ordered the famous _iron cage_, to be erected in one of
+the towers of the Bastille, in which Guillaume, Bishop of Verdun, was
+incarcerated for fourteen years.
+
+The Chateau de Loches also possessed one of these cages, which received
+the name of _Cage de Balue_, because the Cardinal Jean de la Balue was
+imprisoned in it. Philippe de Commines, in his "Memoires," declares that
+he himself had a taste of it for eight months. Before the invention of
+cages, Louis XI. ordered very heavy chains to be made, which were fastened
+to the feet of the prisoners, and attached to large iron balls, called,
+according to Commines, the King's little daughters (_les fillettes du
+roy_).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 355.--Movable Iron Cage.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in
+the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster, in folio, Basle, 1552.]
+
+The prison known by the name of The Leads of Venice is of so notorious a
+character that its mere mention is sufficient, without its being necessary
+for us to describe it. To the subject of voluntary seclusions, to which
+certain pious persons submitted themselves as acts of extreme religious
+devotion, it will only be necessary to allude here, and to remark that
+there are examples of this confinement having been ordered by legal
+authority. In 1485, Renee de Vermandois, the widow of a squire, had been
+condemned to be burnt for adultery and for murdering her husband; but, on
+letters of remission from the King, Parliament commuted the sentence
+pronounced by the Provost of Paris, and ordered that Renee de Vermandois
+should be "shut up within the walls of the cemetery of the
+Saints-Innocents, in a small house, built at her expense, that she might
+therein do penance and end her days." In conformity with this sentence,
+the culprit having been conducted with much pomp to the cell which had
+been prepared for her, the door was locked by means of two keys, one of
+which remained in the hands of the churchwarden (_marguillier_) of the
+Church of the Innocents, and the other was deposited at the office of the
+Parliament. The prisoner received her food from public charity, and it is
+said that she became an object of veneration and respect by the whole
+town.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 356.--Cat-o'-nine-tails.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in
+the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster.]
+
+
+
+
+Jews.
+
+
+
+ Dispersion of the Jews.--Jewish Quarters in the Mediaeval Towns.--The
+ _Ghetto_ of Rome.--Ancient Prague.--The _Giudecca_ of Venice.--Condition
+ of the Jews.--Animosity of the People against them--Severity and
+ vexatious Treatment of the Sovereigns.--The Jews of Lincoln.--The Jews
+ of Blois.--Mission of the _Pastoureaux_.--Extermination of the
+ Jews.--The Price at which the Jews purchased Indulgences.--Marks set
+ upon them.--Wealth, Knowledge, Industry, and Financial Aptitude of the
+ Jews.--Regulations respecting Usury as practised by the
+ Jews.--Attachment of the Jews to their Religion.
+
+
+A painful and gloomy history commences for the Jewish race from the day
+when the Romans seized upon Jerusalem and expelled its unfortunate
+inhabitants, a race so essentially homogeneous, strong, patient, and
+religious, and dating its origin from the remotest period of the
+patriarchal ages. The Jews, proud of the title of "the People of God,"
+were scattered, proscribed, and received universal reprobation (Fig. 357),
+notwithstanding that their annals, collected under divine inspiration by
+Moses and the sacred writers, had furnished a glorious prologue to the
+annals of all modern nations, and had given to the world the holy and
+divine history of Christ, who, by establishing the Gospel, was to become
+the regenerator of the whole human family.
+
+Their Temple is destroyed, and the crowd which had once pressed beneath
+its portico as the flock of the living God has become a miserable tribe,
+restless and unquiet in the present, but full of hope as regards the
+future. The Jewish _nation_ exists nowhere, nevertheless, the Jewish
+_people_ are to be found everywhere. They are wanderers upon the face of
+the earth, continually pursued, threatened, and persecuted. It would seem
+as if the existence of the offspring of Israel is perpetuated simply to
+present to Christian eyes a clear and awful warning of the Divine
+vengeance, a special, and at the same time an overwhelming example of the
+vicissitudes which God alone can determine in the life of a people.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 357.--Expulsion of the Jews in the Reign of the
+Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 135): "How Heraclius turned the Jews out of
+Jerusalem."--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the "Histoire des Empereurs,"
+Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century, in the Library of the Arsenal,
+Paris.]
+
+M. Depping, an historian of this race so long accursed, after having been
+for centuries blessed and favoured by God, says, "A Jewish community in an
+European town during the Middle Ages resembled a colony on an island or on
+a distant coast. Isolated from the rest of the population, it generally
+occupied a district or street which was separated from the town or
+borough. The Jews, like a troop of lepers, were thrust away and huddled
+together into the most uncomfortable and most unhealthy quarter of the
+city, as miserable as it vas disgusting. There, in ill-constructed houses,
+this poor and numerous population was amassed; in some cases high walls
+enclosed the small and dark narrow streets of the quarter occupied by this
+branded race, which prevented its extension, though, at the same time, it
+often protected the inhabitants from the fury of the populace."
+
+In order to form a just appreciation of what the Jewish quarters were like
+in the mediaeval towns, one must visit the _Ghetto_ of Rome or ancient
+Prague. The latter place especially has, in all respects, preserved its
+antique appearance. We must picture to ourselves a large enclosure of
+wretched houses, irregularly built, divided by small streets with no
+attempt at uniformity. The principal thoroughfare is lined with stalls, in
+which are sold not only old clothes, furniture, and utensils, but also new
+and glittering articles. The inhabitants of this enclosure can, without
+crossing its limits, procure everything necessary to material life. This
+quarter contains the old synagogue, a square building begrimed with the
+dirt of ages, and so covered with dirt and moss that the stone of which it
+is built is scarcely visible. The building, which is as mournful as a
+prison, has only narrow loopholes by way of windows, and a door so low
+that one must stoop to enter it. A dark passage leads to the interior,
+into which air and light can scarcely penetrate. A few lamps contend with
+the darkness, and lighted fires serve to modify a little the icy
+temperature of this cellar. Here and there pillars seem to support a roof
+which is too high and too darkened for the eye of the visitor to
+distinguish. On the sides are dark and damp recesses, where women assist
+at the celebration of worship, which is always carried on, according to
+ancient custom, with much wailing and strange gestures of the body. The
+book of the law which is in use is no less venerable than the edifice in
+which it is contained. It appears that this synagogue has never undergone
+the slightest repairs or changes for many centuries. The successive
+generations who have prayed in this ancient temple rest under thousands
+of sepulchral stones, in a cemetery which is of the same date as the
+synagogue, and is about a league in circumference.
+
+Paris has never possessed, properly speaking, a regular _Jewish quarter_;
+it is true that the Israelites settled down in the neighbourhood of the
+markets, and in certain narrow streets, which at some period or other took
+the name of _Juiverie_ or _Vieille Juiverie (Old Jewry_); but they were
+never distinct from the rest of the population; they only had a separate
+cemetery, at the bottom or rather on the slope of the hill of
+Sainte-Genevieve. On the other hand, most of the towns of France and of
+Europe had their _Jewry_. In certain countries, the colonies of Jews
+enjoyed a share of immunities and protections, thus rendering their life a
+little less precarious, and their occupations of a rather more settled
+character.
+
+In Spain and in Portugal, the Jews, in consequence of their having been on
+several occasions useful to the kings of those two countries, were allowed
+to carry on their trade, and to engage in money speculations, outside
+their own quarters; a few were elevated to positions of responsibility,
+and some were even tolerated at court.
+
+In the southern towns of France, which they enriched by commerce and
+taxes, and where they formed considerable communities, the Jews enjoyed
+the protection of the nobles. We find them in Languedoc and Provence
+buying and selling property like Christians, a privilege which was not
+permitted to them elsewhere: this is proved by charters of contracts made
+during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, which bear the signature of
+certain Jews in Hebrew characters. On Papal lands, at Avignon, at
+Carpentras, and at Cavaillon, they had _bailes_, or consuls of their
+nation. The Jews of Rousillon during the Spanish rule (fifteenth century)
+were governed by two syndics and a scribe, elected by the community. The
+latter levied the taxes due to the King of Aragon. In Burgundy they
+cultivated the vines, which was rather singular, for the Jews generally
+preferred towns where they could form groups more compact, and more
+capable of mutual assistance. The name of _Sabath_, given to a vineyard in
+the neighbourhood of Macon, still points out the position of their
+synagogue. The hamlet of _Mouys_, a dependency of the communes of Prissey,
+owes its name to a rich Israelite, Moses, who had received that land as an
+indemnity for money lent to the Count Gerfroy de Macon, which the latter
+had been unable to repay. In Vienna, where the Israelites had a special
+quarter, still called _the Jews'_
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 358.--Jews taking the Blood from Christian Children,
+for their Mystic Rites.--From a Pen-and-ink Drawing, illuminated, in the
+Book of the Cabala of Abraham the Jew (Library of the Arsenal, Paris).]
+
+_Square_, a special judge named by the duke was set over them. Exempted
+from the city rates, they paid a special poil tax, and they contributed,
+but on the same footing as Christian vassals, to extraordinary rates, war
+taxes, and travelling expenses of the nobles, &c. This community even
+became so rich that it eventually held mortgages on the greater part of
+the houses of the town.
+
+In Venice also, the Jews had their quarter--the _Giudecca_--which is still
+one of the darkest in the town; but they did not much care about such
+trifling inconveniences, as the republic allowed them to bank, that is, to
+lend money at interest; and although they were driven out on several
+occasions, they always found means to return and recommence their
+operations. When they were authorised to establish themselves in the towns
+of the Adriatic, their presence did not fail to annoy the Christian
+merchants, whose rivals they were; but neither in Venice nor in the
+Italian republics had they to fear court intrigues, nor the hatred of
+corporations of trades, which were so powerful in France and in Germany.
+
+It was in the north of Europe that the animosity against the Jews was
+greatest. The Christian population continually threatened the Jewish
+quarters, which public opinion pointed to as haunts and sinks of iniquity.
+The Jews were believed to be much more amenable to the doctrines of the
+Talmud than to the laws of Moses. However secret they may have kept their
+learning, a portion of its tenets transpired, which was supposed to
+inculcate the right to pillage and murder Christians; and it is to the
+vague knowledge of these odious prescriptions of the Talmud that we must
+attribute the readiness with which the most atrocious accusations against
+the Jews were always welcomed.
+
+Besides this, the public mind in those days of bigotry was naturally
+filled with a deep antipathy against the Jewish deicides. When monks and
+priests came annually in Holy week to relate from the pulpit to their
+hearers the revolting details of the Passion, resentment was kindled in
+the hearts of the Christians against the descendants of the judges and
+executioners of the Saviour. And when, on going out of the churches,
+excited by the sermons they had just heard, the faithful saw in pictures,
+in the cemeteries, and elsewhere, representations of the mystery of the
+death of our Saviour, in which the Jews played so odious a part, there was
+scarcely a spectator who did not feel an increased hatred against the
+condemned race. Hence it was that in many towns, even when the authorities
+did not compel them to do so, the Israelites found it prudent to shut
+themselves up in their own quarter, and even in their own houses, during
+the whole of Passion week; for, in consequence of the public feeling
+roused during those days of mourning and penance, a false rumour was quite
+sufficient to give the people a pretext for offering violence to the Jews.
+
+In fact, from the earliest days of Christianity, a certain number of
+accusations were always being made, sometimes in one country, sometimes in
+another, against the Israelites, which always ended in bringing down the
+same misfortunes on their heads. The most common, and most easily credited
+report, was that which attributed to them the murder of some Christian
+child, said to be sacrificed in Passion week in token of their hatred of
+Christ; and in the event of this terrible accusation being once uttered,
+and maintained by popular opinion, it never failed to spread with
+remarkable swiftness. In such cases, popular fury, not being on all
+occasions satisfied with the tardiness of judicial forms, vented itself
+upon the first Jews who had the misfortune to fall into the hands of their
+enemies. As soon as the disturbance was heard the Jewish quarter was
+closed; fathers and mothers barricaded themselves in with their children,
+concealed whatever riches they possessed, and listened tremblingly to the
+clamour of the multitude which was about to besiege them.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 359.--Secret Meeting of the Jews at the Rabbi's
+House.--Fac-simile of a Miniature of the "Pelerinage de la Vie Humaine,"
+Manuscript of the Fourteenth Century, in the National Library of Paris.]
+
+In 1255, in Lincoln, the report was suddenly spread that a child of the
+name of Hughes had been enticed into the Jewish quarter, and there
+scourged, crucified, and pierced with lances, in the presence of all the
+Israelites of the district, who were convoked and assembled to take part
+in this horrible barbarity. The King and Queen of England, on their return
+from a journey to Scotland, arrived in Lincoln at the very time when the
+inhabitants were so much agitated by this mysterious announcement. The
+people called for vengeance. An order was issued to the bailiffs and
+officers of the King to deliver the murderer into the hands of justice,
+and the quarter in which the Jews had shut themselves up, so as to avoid
+the public animosity, was immediately invaded by armed men. The rabbi, in
+whose house the child was supposed to have been tortured, was seized, and
+at once condemned to be tied to the tail of a horse, and dragged through
+the streets of the town. After this, his mangled body, which was only half
+dead, was hung (Fig. 359). Many of the Jews ran away and hid themselves in
+all parts of the kingdom, and those who had the misfortune to be caught
+were thrown into chains and led to London. Orders were given in the
+provinces to imprison all the Israelites who were accused or even
+suspected of having taken any part, whether actively or indirectly, in the
+murder of the Lincoln child; and suspicion made rapid strides in those
+days. In a short space of time, eighteen Israelites in London shared the
+fate of the rabbi of their community in Lincoln. Some Dominican monks, who
+were charitable and courageous enough to interfere in favour of the
+wretched prisoners, brought down odium on their own heads, and were
+accused of having allowed themselves to be corrupted by the money of the
+Jews. Seventy-one prisoners were retained in the dungeons of London, and
+seemed inevitably fated to die, when the king's brother, Richard, came to
+their aid, by asserting his right over all the Jews of the kingdom--a
+right which the King had pledged to him for a loan of 5,000 silver marks.
+The unfortunate prisoners were therefore saved, thanks to Richard's desire
+to protect his securities. History does not tell what their liberty cost
+them; but we must hope that a sense of justice alone guided the English
+prince, and that the Jews found other means besides money by which to show
+their gratitude.
+
+There is scarcely a country in Europe which cannot recount similar tales.
+In 1171, we find the murder of a child at Orleans, or Blois, causing
+capital punishment to be inflicted on several Jews. Imputations of this
+horrible character were continually renewed during the Middle Ages, and
+were of very ancient origin; for we hear of them in the times of Honorius
+and Theodosius the younger; we find them reproduced with equal vehemence
+in 1475 at Trent, where a furious mob was excited against the Jews, who
+were accused of having destroyed a child twenty-nine months old named
+Simon. The tale of the martyrdom of this child was circulated widely, and
+woodcut representations of it were freely distributed, which necessarily
+increased, especially in Germany, the horror which was aroused in the
+minds of Christians against the accursed nation (Fig. 361).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 360.--The Infant Richard crucified by the Jews, at
+Pontoise.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut, with Figures by Wohlgemuth, in the
+"Liber Chronicarum Mundi:" large folio, Nuremberg, 1493.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 361.--Martyrdom of Simon at Trent.--Fac-simile,
+reduced, of a Woodcut of Wohlgemuth, in the "Liber Chronicarum Mundi:"
+large folio, Nuremberg, 1493.]
+
+The Jews gave cause for other accusations calculated to keep up this
+hatred; such as the desecration of the consecrated host, the mutilation of
+the crucifix. Tradition informs us of a miracle which took place in Paris
+in 1290, in the Rue des Jardins, when a Jew dared to mutilate and boil a
+consecrated host. This miracle was commemorated by the erection of a
+chapel on the spot, which was afterwards replaced by the church and
+convent of the Billettes. In 1370, the people of Brussels were startled in
+consequence of the statements of a Jewess, who accused her co-religionists
+of having made her carry a pyx full of stolen hosts to the Jews of
+Cologne, for the purpose of submitting them to the most horrible
+profanations. The woman added, that the Jews having pierced these hosts
+with sticks and knives, such a quantity of blood poured from them that the
+culprits were struck with terror, and concealed themselves in their
+quarter. The Jews were all imprisoned, tortured, and burnt alive (Fig.
+362). In order to perpetuate the memory of the miracle of the bleeding
+hosts, an annual procession took place, which was the origin of the great
+kermesse, or annual fair.
+
+In the event of any unforeseen misfortune, or any great catastrophe
+occurring amongst Christians, the odium was frequently cast on the Jews.
+If the Crusaders met with reverses in Asia, fanatics formed themselves
+into bands, who, under the name of _Pastoureaux_, spread over the country,
+killing and robbing not only the Jews, but many Christians also. In the
+event of any general sickness, and especially during the prevalence of
+epidemics, the Jews were accused of having poisoned the water of fountains
+and pits, and the people massacred them in consequence. Thousands perished
+in this way when the black plague made ravages in Europe in the fourteenth
+century. The sovereigns, who were tardy in suppressing these sanguinary
+proceedings, never thought of indemnifying the Jewish families which so
+unjustly suffered.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 362.--The Jews of Cologne burnt alive.--From a Woodcut
+in the "Liber Chronicarum Mundi:" large folio, Nuremberg, 1493.]
+
+In fact, it was then most religiously believed that, by despising and
+holding the Jewish nation under the yoke, banished as it was from Judaea
+for the murder of Jesus Christ, the will of the Almighty was being carried
+out, so much so that the greater number of kings and princes looked upon
+themselves as absolute masters over the Jews who lived under their
+protection. All feudal lords spoke with scorn of _their Jews_; they
+allowed them to establish themselves on their lands, but on the condition
+that as they became the subjects and property of their lord, the latter
+should draw his best income from them.
+
+We have shown by an instance borrowed from the history of England that the
+Jews were often mortgaged by the kings like land. This was not all, for
+the Jews who inhabited Great Britain during the reign of Henry III., in
+the middle of the thirteenth century, were not only obliged to
+acknowledge, by voluntarily contributing large sums of money, the service
+the King's brother had rendered them in clearing them from the imputation
+of having had any participation in the murder of the child Richard, but
+the loan on mortgage, for which they were the material and passive
+security, became the cause of odious extortions from them. The King had
+pledged them to the Earl of Cornwall for 5,000 marks, but they themselves
+had to repay the royal loan by means of enormous taxes. When they had
+succeeded in cancelling the King's debt to his brother, that necessitous
+monarch again mortgaged them, but on this occasion to his son Edward. Soon
+after, the son having rebelled against his father, the latter took back
+his Jews, and having assembled six elders from each of their communities,
+he told them that he required 20,000 silver marks, and ordered them to pay
+him that sum at two stated periods. The payments were rigorously exacted;
+those who were behind-hand were imprisoned, and the debtor who was in
+arrear for the second payment was sued for the whole sum. On the King's
+death his successor continued the same system of tyranny against the Jews.
+In 1279 they were charged with having issued counterfeit coin, and on this
+vague or imaginary accusation two hundred and eighty men and women were
+put to death in London alone. In the counties there were also numerous
+executions, and many innocent persons were thrown into dungeons; and, at
+last, in 1290 King Edward, who wished to enrich himself by taking
+possession of their properties, banished the Jews from his kingdom. A
+short time before this, the English people had offered to pay an annual
+fine to the King on condition of his expelling the Jews from the country;
+but the Jews outbid them, and thus obtained the repeal of the edict of
+banishment. However, on this last occasion there was no mercy shown, and
+the Jews, sixteen thousand in number, were expelled from England, and the
+King seized upon their goods.
+
+At the same period Philippe le Bel of France gave the example of this
+system of persecuting the Jews, but, instead of confiscating all their
+goods, he was satisfied with taking one-fifth; his subjects, therefore,
+almost accused him of generosity.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 363.--Jewish Conspiracy in France.--From a Miniature
+in the "Pelerinage de la Vie Humaine" (Imperial Library, Paris).]
+
+The Jews often took the precaution of purchasing certain rights and
+franchises from their sovereign or from the feudal lord under whose sway
+they lived; but generally these were one-sided bargains, for not being
+protected by common rights, and only forming a very small part of the
+population, they could nowhere depend upon promises or privileges which
+had been made to them, even though they had purchased them with their own
+money.
+
+To the uncertainty and annoyance of a life which was continually being
+threatened, was added a number of vexatious and personal insults, even in
+ordinary times, and when they enjoyed a kind of normal tolerance. They
+were almost everywhere obliged to wear a visible mark on their dress,
+such as a patch of gaudy colour attached to the shoulder or chest, in
+order to prevent their being mistaken for Christians. By this or some
+other means they were continually subject to insults from the people, and
+only succeeded in ridding themselves of it by paying the most enormous
+fines. Nothing was spared to humiliate and insult them. At Toulouse they
+were forced to send a representative to the cathedral on every Good
+Friday, that he might there publicly receive a box on the ears. At
+Beziers, during Passion week, the mob assumed the right of attacking the
+Jews' houses with stones. The Jews bought off this right in 1160 by paying
+a certain sum to the Vicomte de Beziers, and by promising an annual
+poll-tax to him and to his successors. A Jew, passing on the road of
+Etampes, beneath the tower of Montlhery, had to pay an obole; if he had in
+his possession a Hebrew book, he paid four deniers; and, if he carried his
+lamp with him, two oboles. At Chateauneuf-sur-Loire a Jew on passing had
+to pay twelve deniers and a Jewess six. It has been said that there were
+various ancient rates levied upon Jews, in which they were treated like
+cattle, but this requires authentication. During the Carnival in Rome they
+were forced to run in the lists, amidst the jeers of the populace. This
+public outrage was stopped at a subsequent period by a tax of 300 ecus,
+which a deputation from the Ghetto presented on their knees to the
+magistrates of the city, at the same time thanking them for their
+protection.
+
+When Pope Martin IV. arrived at the Council of Constance, in 1417, the
+Jewish community, which was as numerous as it was powerful in that old
+city, came in great state to present him with the book of the law (Fig.
+364). The holy father received the Jews kindly, and prayed God to open
+their eyes and bring them back into the bosom of his church. We know, too,
+how charitable the popes were to the Jews.
+
+In the face of the distressing position they occupied, it may be asked
+what powerful motive induced the Jews to live amongst nations who almost
+invariably treated them as enemies, and to remain at the mercy of
+sovereigns whose sole object was to oppress, plunder, and subject them to
+all kinds of vexations? To understand this it is sufficient to remember
+that, in their peculiar aptness for earning and hoarding money, they
+found, or at least hoped to find, a means of compensation whereby they
+might be led to forget the servitude to which they were subjected.
+
+There existed amongst them, and especially in the southern countries,
+some very learned men, who devoted themselves principally to medicine; and
+in order to avoid having to struggle against insuperable prejudice, they
+were careful to disguise their nationality and religion in the exercise of
+that art.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 364.--The Jewish Procession going to meet the Pope at
+the Council of Constance, in 1417.--After a Miniature in the Manuscript
+Chronicle of Ulrie de Reichental, in the Library of the Mansion-house of
+Basle, in Switzerland.]
+
+They pretended, in order not to arouse the suspicion of their patients, to
+be practitioners from Lombardy or Spain, or even from Arabia; whether they
+were really clever, or only made a pretence of being so, in an art which
+was then very much a compound of quackery and imposture, it is difficult
+to say, but they acquired wealth as well as renown in its practice. But
+there was another science, to the study of which they applied themselves
+with the utmost ardour and perseverance, and for which they possessed in a
+marvellous degree the necessary qualities to insure success, and that
+science was the science of finance. In matters having reference to the
+recovering of arrears of taxes, to contracts for the sale of goods and
+produce of industry, to turning a royalty to account, to making hazardous
+commercial enterprises lucrative, or to the accumulating of large sums of
+money for the use of sovereigns or poor nobles, the Jews were always at
+hand, and might invariably be reckoned upon. They created capital, for
+they always had funds to dispose of, even in the midst of the most
+terrible public calamities, and, when all other means were exhausted, when
+all expedients for filling empty purses had been resorted to without
+success, the Jews were called in. Often, in consequence of the envy which
+they excited from being known to possess hoards of gold, they were exposed
+to many dangers, which they nevertheless faced, buoying themselves up with
+the insatiable love of gain.
+
+Few Christians in the Middle Ages were given to speculation, and they were
+especially ignorant of financial matters, as demanding interest on loans
+was almost always looked upon as usury, and, consequently, such dealings
+were stigmatized as disgraceful. The Jews were far from sharing these
+high-minded scruples, and they took advantage of the ignorance of
+Christians by devoting themselves as much as possible to enterprises and
+speculations, which were at all times the distinguishing occupation of
+their race. For this reason we find the Jews, who were engaged in the
+export trade from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries, doing a most
+excellent business, even in the commercial towns of the Mediterranean. We
+can, to a certain extent, in speaking of the intercourse of the Jews with
+the Christians of the Middle Ages, apply what Lady Montague remarked as
+late as 1717, when comparing the Jews of Turkey with the Mussulmans: "The
+former," she says, "have monopolized all the commerce of the empire,
+thanks to the close ties which exist amongst them, and to the laziness and
+want of industry of the Turks. No bargain is made without their
+connivance. They are the physicians and stewards of all the nobility. It
+is easy to conceive the unity which this gives to a nation which never
+despises the smallest profits. They have found means of rendering
+themselves so useful, that they are certain of protection at court,
+whoever the ruling minister may be. Many of them are enormously rich, but
+they are careful to make but little outward display, although living in
+the greatest possible luxury."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 365.--Costume of an Italian Jew of the Fourteenth
+Century.--From a Painting by Sano di Pietro, preserved in the Academy of
+the Fine Arts, at Sienna.]
+
+[Illustration: The Jews' Passover.
+
+Fac-simile of a miniature from a missel of fifteenth century ornamented
+with paintings of the School of Van Eyck. Bibl. de l'Arsenal, Th. lat., no
+199.]
+
+The condition of the Jews in the East was never so precarious nor so
+difficult as it was in the West. From the Councils of Paris, in 615, down
+to the end of the fifteenth century, the nobles and the civil and
+ecclesiastical authorities excluded the Jews from administrative
+positions; but it continually happened that a positive want of money,
+against which the Jews were ever ready to provide, caused a repeal or
+modification of these arbitrary measures. Moreover, Christians did not
+feel any scruple in parting with their most valued treasures, and giving
+them as pledges to the Jews for a loan of money when they were in need of
+it. This plan of lending on pledge, or usury, belonged specially to the
+Jews in Europe during the Middle Ages, and was both the cause of their
+prosperity and of their misfortune. Of their prosperity, because they
+cleverly contrived to become possessors of all the coin; and of their
+misfortune, because their usurious demands became so detrimental to the
+public welfare, and were often exacted with such unscrupulous severity,
+that people not unfrequently became exasperated, and acts of violence were
+committed, which as often fell upon the innocent as upon the guilty. The
+greater number of the acts of banishment were those for which no other
+motive was assigned, or, at all events, no other pretext was made, than
+the usury practised by these strangers in the provinces and in the towns
+in which they were permitted to reside. When the Christians heard that
+these rapacious guests had harshly pressed and entirely stripped certain
+poor debtors, when they learned that the debtors, ruined by usury, were
+still kept prisoners in the house of their pitiless creditors, general
+indignation often manifested itself by personal attacks. This feeling was
+frequently shared by the authorities themselves, who, instead of
+dispensing equal justice to the strangers and to the citizens, according
+to the spirit of the law, often decided with partiality, and even with
+resentment, and in some cases abandoned the Jews to the fury of the
+people.
+
+The people's feelings of hatred against the sordid avarice of the Jews was
+continually kept up by ballads which were sung, and legends which were
+related, in the public streets of the cities and in the cottages of the
+villages--ballads and legends in which usurers were depicted in hideous
+colours (Fig. 366). The most celebrated of these popular compositions was
+evidently that which must have furnished the idea to Shakespeare of the
+_Merchant of Venice_, for in this old English drama mention is made of a
+bargain struck between a Jew and a Christian, who borrows money of him, on
+condition that, if he cannot refund it on a certain day, the lender shall
+have the right of cutting a pound of flesh from his body. All the evil
+which the people said and thought of the Jews during the Middle Ages seems
+concentrated in the Shylock of the English poet.
+
+The rate of interest for loans was, nevertheless, everywhere settled by
+law, and at all times. This rate varied according to the scarcity of
+gold, and was always high enough to give a very ample profit to the
+lenders, although they too often required a very much higher rate. In
+truth, the small security offered by those borrowing, and the arbitrary
+manner in which debts were at times cancelled, increased the risks of the
+lender and the normal difficulties of obtaining a loan. We find
+everywhere, in all ancient legislations, a mass of rules on the rate of
+pecuniary interest to be allowed to the Jews.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 366.--Legend of the Jew calling the Devil from a
+Vessel of Blood.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in Boaistuau's "Histoires
+Prodigieuses:" in 4to, Paris, Annet Briere, 1560.]
+
+In some countries, especially in England, precautionary measures were
+taken for regulating the compacts entered into between Christians and
+Jews. One of the departments of the Exchequer received the register of
+these compacts, which thus acquired a legal value. However, it was not
+unfrequent for the kings of England to grant, of their own free will,
+letters of release to persons owing money to Jews; and these letters,
+which were often equivalent to the cancelling of the entire debt, were
+even at times actually purchased from the sovereign. Mention of sums
+received by the royal treasury for the liberation of debtors, or for
+enabling them to recover their mortgaged lands without payment, may still
+be found in the registers of the Exchequer of London; at the same time,
+Jews, on the other hand, also paid the King large sums, in order that he
+might allow justice to take its course against powerful debtors who were
+in arrear, and who could not be induced to pay. We thus see that if the
+Jews practised usury, the Christians, and especially kings and powerful
+nobles, defrauded the Jews in every way, and were too often disposed to
+sell to them the smallest concessions at a great price. Indeed, Christians
+often went so far as to persecute them, in order to obtain the greatest
+possible amount from them; and the Jews of the Middle Ages put up with
+anything provided they could enrich themselves.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 367.--View and Plan of Jerusalem.--Fac-simile of a
+Woodout in the "Liber Chronicarum Mundi" large folio, Nuremberg, 1493.]
+
+It must not be supposed, however, that, great as were their capabilities,
+the Jews exclusively devoted themselves to financial matters. When they
+were permitted to trade they were well satisfied to become artisans or
+agriculturists. In Spain they proved themselves most industrious, and that
+kingdom suffered a great loss in consequence of their being expelled from
+it. In whatever country they established themselves, the Jews carried on
+most of the mechanical and manual industries with cleverness and success;
+but they could not hope to become landed proprietors in countries where
+they were in such bad odour, and where the possession of land, far from
+offering them any security, could not fail to excite the envy of their
+enemies.
+
+If, as is the case, Oriental people are of a serious turn of mind, it is
+easy to understand that the Jews should have been still more so, since
+they were always objects of hatred and abhorrence. We find a touching
+allegory in the Talmud. Each time that a human being is created God orders
+his angels to bring a soul before his throne, and orders this soul to go
+and inhabit the body which is about to be born on earth. The soul is
+grieved, and supplicates the Supreme Being to spare it that painful trial,
+in which it only sees sorrow and affliction. This allegory may be suitably
+applied to a people who have only to expect contempt, mistrust, and
+hatred, everywhere. The Israelites, therefore, clung enthusiastically to
+the hope of the advent of a Messiah who should bring back to them the
+happy days of the land of promise, and they looked upon their absence from
+Palestine as only a passing exile. "But," the Christians said to them,
+"this Messiah has long since come." "Alas!" they answered, "if He had
+appeared on earth should we still be miserable?" Fulbert, Bishop of
+Chartres, preached three sermons to undeceive the Jews, by endeavouring to
+prove to them that their Messiah was no other than Jesus Christ; but he
+preached to the winds, for the Jews remained obstinately attached to their
+illusion that the Messiah was yet to come.
+
+In any case, the Jews, who mixed up the mysteries and absurdities of the
+Talmud with the ancient laws and numerous rules of the religion of their
+ancestors, found in the practice of their national customs, and in the
+celebration of their mysterious ceremonies, the sweetest emotions,
+especially when they could devote themselves to them in the peaceful
+retirement of the Ghetto; for, in all the countries in which they lived
+scattered and isolated amongst Christians, they were careful to conceal
+their worship and to conduct their ceremonial as secretly as possible.
+
+The clergy, in striving to convert the Jews, repeatedly had conferences
+with the rabbis of a controversial character, which often led to quarrels,
+and aggravated the lot of the Jewish community. If Catholic proselystism
+succeeded in completely detaching a few individuals or a few families from
+the Israelitish creed, these ardent converts rekindled the horror of the
+people against their former co-religionists by revealing some of the
+precepts of the Talmud. Sometimes the conversion of whole masses of Jews
+was effected, but this happened much less through conviction on their part
+than through the fear of exile, plunder, or execution.
+
+These pretended conversions, however, did not always protect them from
+danger. In Spain the Inquisition kept a close watch on converted Jews,
+and, if they were not true to their new faith, severe punishment was
+inflicted upon them. In 1506, the inhabitants of Abrantes, a town of
+Portugal, massacred all the baptized Jews. Manoel, a king of Portugal,
+forbad the converts from selling their goods and leaving his dominions.
+The Church excluded them from ecclesiastical dignities, and, when they
+succeeded in obtaining civil employments, they were received with
+distrust. In France the Parliaments tried, with a show of justice, to
+prevent converted Jews from being reproached for their former condition;
+but Louis XII., during his pressing wants, did not scruple to exact a
+special tax from them. And, in 1611, we again find that they were unjustly
+denounced, and under the form of a _Remonstrance to the King and the
+Parliament of Provence, on account of the great family alliances of the
+new converts_, an appeal was made for the most cruel reprisals against
+this unfortunate race, "which deserved only to be banished and their goods
+confiscated."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 368.--Jewish Ceremony before the Ark.--Fac-simile of a woodcut
+printed at Troyes.]
+
+
+
+
+Gipsies, Tramps, Beggars, and Cours des Miracles.
+
+
+
+ First Appearance of Gipsies in the West.--Gipsies in Paris.--Manners and
+ Customs of these Wandering Tribes.--Tricks of Captain Charles.--Gipsies
+ expelled by Royal Edict.--Language of Gipsies.--The Kingdom of
+ Slang.--The Great Coesre, Chief of the Vagrants; his Vassals and
+ Subjects.--Divisions of the Slang People; its Decay and the Causes
+ thereof.--Cours des Miracles.--The Camp of Rognes.--Cunning Language, or
+ Slang.--Foreign Rogues, Thieves, and Pickpockets.
+
+
+In the year 1417 the inhabitants of the countries situated near the mouth
+of the Elbe were disturbed by the arrival of strangers, whose manners and
+appearance were far from pre-possessing. These strange travellers took a
+course thence towards the Teutonic Hanse, starting from Luneburg: they
+subsequently proceeded to Hamburg, and then, going from east to west along
+the Baltic, they visited the free towns of Lubeck, Wismar, Rostock,
+Stralsund, and Greifswald.
+
+These new visitors, known in Europe under the names of _Zingari, Cigani,
+Gipsies, Gitanos, Egyptians_, or _Bohemians_, but who, in their own
+language, called themselves _Romi_, or _gens maries_, numbered about three
+hundred men and women, besides the children, who were very numerous. They
+divided themselves into seven bands, all of which followed the same track.
+Very dirty, excessively ugly, and remarkable for their dark complexions,
+these people had for their leaders a duke and a count, as they were
+called, who were superbly dressed, and to whom they acknowledged
+allegiance. Some of them rode on horseback, whilst others went on foot.
+The women and children travelled on beasts of burden and in waggons (Fig.
+369). If we are to believe their own story, their wandering life was
+caused by their return to Paganism after having been previously converted
+to the Christian faith, and, as a punishment for their sin, they were to
+continue their adventurous course for a period of seven years. They showed
+letters of recommendation from various princes, among others from
+Sigismund, King of the Romans, and these letters, whether authentic or
+false, procured for them a welcome wherever they went. They encamped in
+the fields at night, because the habit they indulged in of stealing
+everything for which they had a fancy, caused them to fear being disturbed
+in the towns. It was not long, however, before many of them were arrested
+and put to death for theft, when the rest speedily decamped.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 369.--Gipsies on the March.--Fifteenth Century Piece
+of old Tapestry in the Chateau d'Effiat, contributed by M.A. Jubinal.]
+
+In the course of the following year we find them at Meissen, in Saxony,
+whence they were driven out on account of the robberies and disturbances
+they committed; and then in Switzerland, where they passed through the
+countries of the Grisons, the cantons of Appenzell, and Zurich, stopping
+in Argovie. Chroniclers who mention them at that time speak of their
+chief, Michel, as Duke of Egypt, and relate that these strangers, calling
+themselves Egyptians, pretended that they were driven from their country
+by the Sultan of Turkey, and condemned to wander for seven years in want
+and misery. These chroniclers add that they were very honest people, who
+scrupulously followed all the practices of the Christian religion; that
+they were poorly clad, but that they had gold and silver in abundance;
+that they lived well, and paid for everything they had; and that, at the
+end of seven years, they went away to return home, as they said. However,
+whether because a considerable number remained on the road, or because
+they had been reinforced by others of the same tribe during the year, a
+troop of fifty men, accompanied by a number of hideous women and filthy
+children, made their appearance in the neighbourhood of Augsburg. These
+vagabonds gave out that they were exiles from Lower Egypt, and pretended
+to know the art of predicting coming events. It was soon found out that
+they were much less versed in divination and in the occult sciences than
+in the arts of plundering, roguery, and cheating.
+
+In the following year a similar horde, calling themselves Saracens,
+appeared at Sisteron, in Provence; and on the 18th. of July, 1422, a
+chronicler of Bologna mentions the arrival in that town of a troop of
+foreigners, commanded by a certain Andre, Duke of Egypt, and composed of
+at least one hundred persons, including women and children. They encamped
+inside and outside the gate _di Galiera_, with the exception of the duke,
+who lodged at the inn _del Re_. During the fifteen days which they spent
+at Bologna a number of the people of the town went to see them, and
+especially to see "the wife of the duke," who, it was said, knew how to
+foretell future events, and to tell what was to happen to people, what
+their fortunes would be, the number of their children, if they were good
+or bad, and many other things (Fig. 370). Few men, however, left the house
+of the so-called Duke of Egypt without having their purses stolen, and but
+few women escaped without having the skirts of their dresses cut. The
+Egyptian women walked about the town in groups of six or seven, and whilst
+some were talking to the townspeople, telling them their fortunes, or
+bartering in shops, one of their number would lay her hands on anything
+which was within reach. So many robberies were committed in this way, that
+the magistrates of the town and the ecclesiastical authorities forbad the
+inhabitants from visiting the Egyptians' camp, or from having any
+intercourse with them, under penalty of excommunication and of a fine of
+fifty livres. Besides this, by a strange application of the laws of
+retaliation, those who had been robbed by these foreigners were permitted
+to rob them to the extent of the value of the things stolen. In
+consequence of this, the Bolognians entered a stable in which several of
+the Egyptians' horses were kept, and took out one of the finest of them.
+In order to recover him the Egyptians agreed to restore what they had
+taken, and the restitution was made. But perceiving that they could no
+longer do any good for themselves in this province, they struck their
+tents and started for Rome, to which city they said they were bound to go,
+not only in order to accomplish a pilgrimage imposed upon them by the
+Sultan, who had expelled them from their own land, but especially to
+obtain letters of absolution from the Holy Father.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 370.--Gipsies Fortune-telling.--Fac-simile of a
+Woodcut in the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, Basle,
+1552.]
+
+In 1422 the band left Italy, and we find them at Basle and in Suabia.
+Then, besides the imperial passports, of which they had up to that time
+alone boasted, they pretended to have in their possession bulls which they
+stated that they had obtained from the Pope. They also modified their
+original tale, and stated that they were descendants of the Egyptians who
+refused hospitality to the Holy Virgin and to St. Joseph during their
+flight into Egypt: they also declared that, in consequence of this crime,
+God had doomed their race to perpetual misery and exile.
+
+Five years later we find them in the neighbourhood of Paris. "The Sunday
+after the middle of August," says "The Journal of a Bourgeois of Paris,"
+"there came to Paris twelve so-called pilgrims, that is to say, a duke, a
+count, and ten men, all on horseback; they said that they were very good
+Christians, and that they came from Lower Egypt; ... and on the 29th of
+August, the anniversary of the beheading of St. John, the rest of the band
+made their appearance. These, however, were not allowed to enter Paris,
+but, by order of the provost, were lodged in the Chapel of St. Denis. They
+did not number more than one hundred and twenty, including women and
+children. They stated that, when they left their own country, they
+numbered from a thousand to twelve hundred, but that the rest had died on
+the road..... Whilst they were at the chapel never was such a concourse of
+people collected, even at the blessing of the fair of Landit, as went from
+Paris, St. Denis, and elsewhere, to see these strangers. Almost all of
+them had their ears pierced, and in each one or two silver rings, which in
+their country, they said, was a mark of nobility. The men were very
+swarthy, with curly hair; the women were very ugly, and extremely dark,
+with long black hair, like a horse's tail; their only garment being an old
+rug tied round the shoulder by a strip of cloth or a bit of rope (Fig.
+371). Amongst them were several fortune-tellers, who, by looking into
+people's hands, told them what had happened or what was to happen to them,
+and by this means often did a good deal to sow discord in families. What
+was worse, either by magic, by Satanic agency, or by sleight of hand, they
+managed to empty people's purses whilst talking to them.... So, at least,
+every one said. At last accounts respecting them reached the ears of the
+Bishop of Paris. He went to them with a Franciscan friar, called Le Petit
+Jacobin, who, by the bishop's order, delivered an earnest address to them,
+and excommunicated all those who had anything to do with them, or who had
+their fortunes told. He further advised the gipsies to go away, and, on
+the festival of Notre-Dame, they departed for Pontoise."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 371.--A Gipsy Family.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the
+"Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, Basle, 1552.]
+
+Here, again, the gipsies somewhat varied their story. They said that they
+were originally Christians; but that, in consequence of an invasion by the
+Saracens, they had been forced to renounce their religion; that, at a
+subsequent period, powerful monarchs had come to free them from the yoke
+of the infidels, and had decreed that, as a punishment to them for having
+renounced the Christian faith, they should not be allowed to return to
+their country before they had obtained permission from the Pope. They
+stated that the Holy Father, to whom they had gone to confess their sins,
+had then ordered them to wander about the world for seven years, without
+sleeping in beds, at the same time giving direction to every bishop and
+every priest whom they met to offer them ten livres; a direction which the
+abbots and bishops were in no hurry to obey. These strange pilgrims stated
+that they had been only five years on the road when they arrived in Paris.
+
+Enough has been said to show that, although the object of their long
+pilgrimage was ostensibly a pious one, the Egyptians or gipsies were not
+very slow in giving to the people whom they visited a true estimate of
+their questionable honesty, and we do not think it would be particularly
+interesting to follow step by step the track of this odious band, which
+from this period made its appearance sometimes in one country and
+sometimes in another, not only in the north but in the south, and
+especially in the centre of Europe. Suffice it to say that their quarrels
+with the authorities, or the inhabitants of the countries which had the
+misfortune to be periodically visited by them, have left numerous traces
+in history.
+
+On the 7th of November, 1453, from sixty to eighty gipsies, coming from
+Courtisolles, arrived at the entrance of the town of Cheppe, near
+Chalons-sur-Marne. The strangers, many of whom carried "javelins, darts,
+and other implements of war," having asked for hospitality, the mayor of
+the town informed them "that it was not long since some of the same
+company, or others very like them, had been lodged in the town, and had
+been guilty of various acts of theft." The gipsies persisted in their
+demands, the indignation of the people was aroused, and they were soon
+obliged to resume their journey. During their unwilling retreat, they were
+pursued by many of the inhabitants of the town, one of whom killed a gipsy
+named Martin de la Barre: the murderer, however, obtained the King's
+pardon.
+
+In 1532, at Pleinpalais, a suburb of Geneva, some rascals from among a
+band of gipsies, consisting of upwards of three hundred in number, fell
+upon several of the officers who were stationed to prevent their entering
+the town. The citizens hurried up to the scene of disturbance. The gipsies
+retired to the monastery of the Augustin friars, in which they fortified
+themselves: the bourgeois besieged them, and would have committed summary
+justice on them, but the authorities interfered, and some twenty of the
+vagrants were arrested, but they sued for mercy, and were discharged.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 372.--Gipsy Encampment.--Fac-simile of a Copper-plate
+by Callot.]
+
+In 1632, the inhabitants of Viarme, in the Department of Lot-et-Garonne,
+made an onslaught upon a troop of gipsies who wanted to take up their
+quarters in that town. The whole of them were killed, with the exception
+of their chief, who was taken prisoner and brought before the Parliament
+of Bordeaux, and ordered to be hung. Twenty-one years before this, the
+mayor and magistrates of Bordeaux gave orders to the soldiers of the watch
+to arrest a gipsy chief, who, having shut himself up in the tower of
+Veyrines, at Merignac, ransacked the surrounding country. On the 21st of
+July, 1622, the same magistrates ordered the gipsies to leave the parish
+of Eysines within twenty-four hours, under penalty of the lash.
+
+It was not often that the gipsies used violence or openly resisted
+authority; they more frequently had recourse to artifice and cunning in
+order to attain their end. A certain Captain Charles acquired a great
+reputation amongst them for the clever trickeries which he continually
+conceived, and which his troop undertook to carry out. A chronicler of the
+time says, that by means of certain herbs which he gave to a half-starved
+horse, he made him into a fat and sleek animal; the horse was then sold at
+one of the neighbouring fairs or markets, but the purchaser detected the
+fraud within a week, for the horse soon became thin again, and usually
+sickened and died.
+
+Tallemant des Reaux relates that, on one occasion, Captain Charles and his
+attendants took up their quarters in a village, the cure of which being
+rich and parsimonious, was much disliked by his parishioners. The cure
+never left his house, and the gipsies could not, therefore, get an
+opportunity to rob him. In this difficulty, they pretended that one of
+them had committed a crime, and had been condemned to be hung a quarter of
+a league from the village, where they betook themselves with all their
+goods. The man, at the foot of the gibbet, asked for a confessor, and they
+went to fetch the cure. He, at first, refused to go, but his parishioners
+compelled him. During his absence some gipsies entered his house, took
+five hundred ecus from his strong box, and quickly rejoined the troop. As
+soon as the rascal saw them returning, he said that he appealed to the
+king of _la petite Egypte_, upon which the captain exclaimed, "Ah! the
+traitor! I expected he would appeal." Immediately they packed up, secured
+the prisoner, and were far enough away from the scene before the cure
+re-entered his house.
+
+Tallemant relates another good trick. Near Roye, in Picardy, a gipsy who
+had stolen a sheep offered it to a butcher for one hundred sous (about
+sixty francs of our money), but the butcher declined to give more than
+four livres for it. The butcher then went away; whereupon the gipsy pulled
+the sheep from a sack into which he had put it, and substituted for it a
+child belonging to his tribe. He then ran after the butcher, and said,
+"Give me five livres, and you shall have the sack into the bargain." The
+butcher paid him the money, and went away. When he got home he opened the
+sack, and was much astonished when he saw a little boy jump out of it,
+who, in an instant, caught up the sack and ran off. "Never was a poor man
+so thoroughly hoaxed as this butcher," says Tallemant des Reaux.
+
+The gipsies had thousands of other tricks in stock as good as the ones we
+have just related, in proof of which we have but to refer to the testimony
+of one of their own tribe, who, under the name of Pechon de Ruby,
+published, towards the close of the sixteenth century, "La Vie Genereuse
+des Mattois, Guex, Bohemiens, et Cagoux." "When they want to leave a place
+where they have been stopping, they set out in an opposite direction to
+that in which they are going, and after travelling about half a league
+they take their right course. They possess the best and most accurate
+maps, in which are laid down not only all the towns, villages, and rivers,
+but also the houses of the gentry and others; and they fix upon places of
+rendezvous every ten days, at twenty leagues from the point from whence
+they set out.... The captain hands over to each of the chiefs three or
+four families to take charge of, and these small bands take different
+cross-roads towards the place of rendezvous. Those who are well armed and
+mounted he sends off with a good almanac, on which are marked all the
+fairs, and they continually change their dress and their horses. When they
+take up their quarters in any village they steal very little in its
+immediate vicinity, but in the neighbouring parishes they rob and plunder
+in the most daring manner. If they find a sum of money they give notice to
+the captain, and make a rapid flight from the place. They coin counterfeit
+money, and put it into circulation. They play at all sorts of games; they
+buy all sorts of horses; whether sound or unsound, provided they can
+manage to pay for them in their own base coin. When they buy food they pay
+for it in good money the first time, as they are held in such distrust;
+but, when they are about to leave a neighbourhood, they again buy
+something, for which they tender false coin, receiving the change in good
+money. In harvest time all doors are shut against them; nevertheless they
+contrive, by means of picklocks and other instruments, to effect an
+entrance into houses, when they steal linen, cloaks, silver, and any other
+movable article which they can lay their hands on. They give a strict
+account of everything to their captain, who takes his share of all they
+get, except of what they earn by fortune-telling. They are very clever at
+making a good bargain; when they know of a rich merchant being in the
+place, they disguise themselves, enter into communications with him, and
+swindle him, ... after which they change their clothes, have their horses
+shod the reverse way, and the shoes covered with some soft material lest
+they should be heard, and gallop away."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 373.--The Gipsy who used to wash his Hands in Molten
+Lead.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the "Histoires Merveilleuses" of Pierre
+Boaistuau: in 4to, 1560.]
+
+In the "Histoire Generale des Larrons" we read that the vagabonds called
+gipsies sometimes played tricks with goblets, sometimes danced on the
+tight-rope, turned double-somersaults, and performed other feats (Fig.
+373), which proves that these adventurers adopted all kinds of methods of
+gaining a livelihood, highway robbery not excepted. We must not,
+therefore, be surprised if in almost all countries very severe police
+measures were taken against this dangerous race, though we must admit that
+these measures sometimes partook of a barbarous character.
+
+After having forbidden them, with a threat of six years at the galleys, to
+sojourn in Spain, Charles V. ordered them to leave Flanders under penalty
+of death. In 1545, a gipsy who had infringed the sentence of banishment
+was condemned by the Court of Utrecht to be flogged till the blood
+appeared, to have his nostrils slit, his hair removed, his beard shaved
+off, and to be banished for life. "We can form some idea," says the German
+historian Grellman, "of the miserable condition of the gipsies from the
+following facts: many of them, and especially the women, have been burned
+by their own request, in order to end their miserable state of existence;
+and we can give the case of a gipsy who, having been arrested, flogged,
+and conducted to the frontier, with the threat that if he reappeared in
+the country he would be hanged, resolutely returned after three successive
+and similar threats, at three different places, and implored that the
+capital sentence might be carried out, in order that he might be released
+from a life of such misery. These unfortunate people," continues the
+historian, "were not even looked upon as human beings, for, during a
+hunting party, consisting of members of a small German court, the huntsmen
+had no scruple whatever in killing a gipsy woman who was suckling her
+child, just as they would have done any wild beast which came in their
+way."
+
+M. Francisque Michel says, "Amongst the questions which arise from a
+consideration of the existence of this remarkable people, is one which,
+although neglected, is nevertheless of considerable interest, namely, how,
+with a strange language, unlike any used in Europe, the gipsies could make
+themselves understood by the people amongst whom they made their
+appearance for the first time: newly arrived in the west, they could have
+none of those interpreters who are only to be found amongst a
+long-established people, and who have political and commercial intercourse
+with other nations. Where, then, did the gipsies obtain interpreters? The
+answer seems to us to be clear. Receiving into their ranks all those whom
+crime, the fear of punishment, an uneasy conscience, or the charm of a
+roaming life, continually threw in their path, they made use of them
+either to find their way into countries of which they were ignorant, or to
+commit robberies which would otherwise have been impracticable. Themselves
+adepts in all sorts of bad practices, they were not slow to form an
+alliance with profligate characters who sometimes worked in concert with
+them, and sometimes alone, and who always framed the model for their own
+organization from that of the gipsies."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 374.--Orphans, _Callots_, and the Family of the Grand
+Coesre.--From painted Hangings and Tapestry from the Town of Rheims,
+executed during the Fifteenth Century.]
+
+This alliance--governed by statutes, the honour of compiling which has
+been given to a certain Ragot, who styled himself captain--was composed of
+_matois_, or sharpers; of _mercelots_, or hawkers, who were very little
+better than the former; of _gueux_, or dishonest beggars, and of a host of
+other swindlers, constituting the order or hierarchy of the _Argot_, or
+Slang people. Their chief was called the _Grand Coesre_, "a vagabond
+broken to all the tricks of his trade," says M. Francisque Michel, and who
+frequently ended his days on the rack or the gibbet. History has furnished
+us with the story of a "miserable cripple" who used to sit in a wooden
+bowl, and who, after having been Grand Coesre for three years, was broken
+alive on the wheel at Bordeaux for his crimes. He was called _Roi de
+Tunes_ (Tunis), and was drawn about by two large dogs. One of his
+successors, the Grand Coesre surnamed Anacreon, who suffered from the same
+infirmity, namely, that of a cripple, rode about Paris on a donkey
+begging. He generally held his court on the Port-au-Foin, where he sat on
+his throne dressed in a mantle made of a thousand pieces. The Grand Coesre
+had a lieutenant in each province called _cagou_, whose business it was to
+initiate apprentices in the secrets of the craft, and who looked after,
+in different localities, those whom the chief had entrusted to his care.
+He gave an account of the property he received in thus exercising his
+stewardship, and of the money as well as of the clothing which he took
+from the _Argotiers_ who refused to recognise his authority. As a
+remuneration for their duties, the cagoux were exempt from all tribute to
+their chief; they received their share of the property taken from persons
+whom they had ordered to be robbed, and they were free to beg in any way
+they pleased. After the cagoux came the _archisuppots_, who, being
+recruited from the lowest dregs of the clergy and others who had been in a
+better position, were, so to speak, the teachers of the law. To them was
+intrusted the duty of instructing the less experienced rogues, and of
+determining the language of Slang; and, as a reward for their good and
+loyal services, they had the right of begging without paying any fees to
+their chiefs.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 375.--The Blind and the Poor Sick of St. John.--From
+painted Hangings and Tapestry in the Town of Rheims, executed during the
+Fifteenth Century.]
+
+The Grand Coesre levied a tax of twenty-four sous per annum upon the young
+rogues, who went about the streets pretending to shed tears (Fig. 374), as
+"helpless orphans," in order to excite public sympathy. The _marcandiers_
+had to pay an ecu; they were tramps clothed in a tolerably good doublet,
+who passed themselves off as merchants ruined by war, by fire, or by
+having been robbed on the highway. The _malingreux_ had to pay forty sous;
+they were covered with sores, most of which were self-inflicted, or they
+pretended to have swellings of some kind, and stated that they were about
+to undertake a pilgrimage to St. Meen, in Brittany, in order to be cured.
+The _pietres_, or lame rogues, paid half an ecu, and walked with crutches.
+The _sabouleux_, who were commonly called the _poor sick of St. John_,
+were in the habit of frequenting fairs and markets, or the vicinity of
+churches; there, smeared with blood and appearing as if foaming at the
+mouth by means of a piece of soap they had placed in it, they struggled on
+the ground as if in a fit, and in this way realised a considerable amount
+of alms. These consequently paid the largest fees to the Coesre (Fig.
+375).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 376.--The _Ruffes_ and the _Millards_.--From painted
+Hangings and Tapestry of Rheims, executed about the Fifteenth Century.]
+
+Besides these, there were the _callots_, who were either affected with a
+scurfy disease or pretended to be so, and who were contributors to the
+civil list of their chief to the amount of sevens sous; as also the
+_coquillards_, or pretended pilgrims of St. James or St. Michael; and the
+_hubins_, who, according to the forged certificate which they carried with
+them, were going to, or returning from, St. Hubert, after having been
+bitten by a mad dog. The _polissons_ paid two ecus to the Coesre, but they
+earned a considerable amount, especially in winter; for benevolent people,
+touched with their destitution and half-nakedness, gave them sometimes a
+doublet, sometimes a shirt, or some other article of clothing, which of
+course they immediately sold. The _francs mitoux_, who were never taxed
+above five sous, were sickly members of the fraternity, or at all events
+pretended to be such; they tied their arms above the elbow so as to stop
+the pulse, and fell down apparently fainting on the public footpaths. We
+must also mention the _ruffes_ and the _millards_, who went into the
+country in groups begging (Fig. 376). The _capons_ were cut-purses, who
+hardly ever left the towns, and who laid hands on everything within their
+reach. The _courtauds de boutanche_ pretended to be workmen, and were to
+be met with everywhere with the tools of their craft on their back, though
+they never used them. The _convertis_ pretended to have been impressed by
+the exhortations of some excellent preacher, and made a public profession
+of faith; they afterwards stationed themselves at church doors, as
+recently converted Catholics, and in this way received liberal
+contributions.
+
+Lastly, we must mention the _drilles_, the _narquois_, or the people of
+the _petite flambe_, who for the most part were old pensioners, and who
+begged in the streets from house to house, with their swords at their
+sides (Fig. 377). These, who at times lived a racketing and luxurious
+life, at last rebelled against the Grand Coesre, and would no longer be
+reckoned among his subjects--a step which gave a considerable shock to the
+Argotic monarchy.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 377.--The _Drille_ or _Narquois_.--From painted
+Hangings from the Town of Rheims (Fifteenth Century).]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 378.--Perspective View of Paris in 1607.--Fac-simile
+of a Copper-plate by Leonard Gaultier. (Collection of M. Guenebault,
+Paris.)]
+
+There was another cause which greatly contributed to diminish the power
+as well as the prestige of this eccentric sovereign, and this was, that
+the cut-purses, the night-prowlers and wood-thieves, not finding
+sufficient means of livelihood in their own department, and seeing that
+the Argotiers, on the contrary, were always in a more luxurious position,
+tried to amalgamate robbery with mendicity, which raised an outcry amongst
+these sections of their community. The archisuppots and the cagoux at
+first declined such an alliance, but eventually they were obliged to admit
+all, with the exception of the wood-thieves, who were altogether excluded.
+In the seventeenth century, therefore, in order to become a thorough
+Argotier, it was necessary not only to solicit alms like any mere beggar,
+but also to possess the dexterity of the cut-purse and the thief. These
+arts were to be learned in the places which served as the habitual
+rendezvous of the very dregs of society, and which were generally known as
+the _Cours des Miracles_. These houses, or rather resorts, had been so
+called, if we are to believe a writer of the early part of the seventeenth
+century, "Because rogues ... and others, who have all day been cripples,
+maimed, dropsical, and beset with every sort of bodily ailment, come home
+at night, carrying under their arms a sirloin of beef, a joint of veal, or
+a leg of mutton, not forgetting to hang a bottle of wine to their belt,
+and, on entering the court, they throw aside their crutches, resume their
+healthy and lusty appearance, and, in imitation of the ancient
+Bacchanalian revelries, dance all kinds of dances with their trophies in
+their hands, whilst the host is preparing their suppers. Can there be a
+greater _miracle_ than is to be seen in this court, where the maimed walk
+upright?"
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 379.--_Cour des Miracles_ of Paris. Talebot the
+Hunchback, a celebrated Scamp during the Seventeenth Century.--From an old
+Engraving in the Collection of Engravings in the National Library of
+Paris.]
+
+In Paris there were several _Cours des Miracles_, but the most celebrated
+was that which, from the time of Sauval, the singular historian of the
+"Antiquities of Paris," to the middle of the seventeenth century,
+preserved this generic name _par excellence_, and which exists to this day
+(Fig. 379). He says, "It is a place of considerable size, and is in an
+unhealthy, muddy, and irregular blind alley. Formerly it was situated on
+the outskirts of Paris, now it is in one of the worst built, dirtiest, and
+most out-of-the-way quarters of the town, between the Rue Montorgueil, the
+convent of the Filles-Dieu, and the Rue Neuve-Saint-Sauveur. To get there
+one must wander through narrow, close, and by-streets; and in order to
+enter it, one must descend a somewhat winding and rugged declivity. In
+this place I found a mud house, half buried, very shaky from old age and
+rottenness, and only eight metres square; but in which, nevertheless,
+some fifty families are living, who have the charge of a large number of
+children, many of whom are stolen or illegitimate.... I was assured that
+upwards of five hundred large families occupy that and other houses
+adjoining.... Large as this court is, it was formerly even bigger....
+Here, without any care for the future, every one enjoys the present; and
+eats in the evening what he has earned during the day with so much
+trouble, and often with so many blows; for it is one of the fundamental
+rules of the Cour des Miracles never to lay by anything for the morrow.
+Every one who lives there indulges in the utmost licentiousness; both
+religion and law are utterly ignored.... It is true that outwardly they
+appear to acknowledge a God; for they have set up in a niche an image of
+God the Father, which they have stolen from some church, and before which
+they come daily to offer up certain prayers; but this is only because they
+superstitiously imagine that by this means they are released from the
+necessity of performing the duties of Christians to their pastor and their
+parish, and are even absolved from the sin of entering a church for the
+purpose of robbery and purse-cutting."
+
+Paris, the capital of the kingdom of rogues, was not the only town which
+possessed a Cour des Miracles, for we find here and there, especially at
+Lyons and Bordeaux, some traces of these privileged resorts of rogues and
+thieves, which then flourished under the sceptre of the Grand Coesre.
+Sauval states, on the testimony of people worthy of credit, that at
+Sainte-Anne d'Auray, the most holy place of pilgrimage in Brittany, under
+the superintendence of the order of reformed Carmelite friars, there was a
+large field called the _Rogue's Field_. This was covered with mud huts;
+and here the Grand Coesre resorted annually on the principal solemn
+festivals, with his officers and subjects, in order "to hold his council
+of state," that is to say, in order to settle and arrange respecting
+robbery. At these _state_ meetings, which were not always held at
+Sainte-Anne d'Auray, all the subjects of the Grand Coesre were present,
+and paid homage to their lord and master. Some came and paid him the
+tribute which was required of them by the statutes of the craft; others
+rendered him an account of what they had done, and what they had earned
+during the year. When they had executed their work badly, he ordered them
+to be punished, either corporally or pecuniarily, according to the gravity
+of their offences. When he had not himself properly governed his people,
+he was dethroned, and a successor was appointed by acclamation.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 380.--Beggar playing the Fiddle, and his Wife
+accompanying him with the Bones.--From an old Engraving of the Seventeenth
+Century.]
+
+At these assemblies, as well as in the Cours des Miracles, French was not
+spoken, but a strange and artificial language was used called _jargon_,
+_langue matoise, narquois_, &c. This language, which is still in use under
+the name of _argot_, or slang, had for the most part been borrowed from
+the jargon or slang of the lower orders. To a considerable extent,
+according to the learned philologist of this mysterious language, M.
+Francisque Michel, it was composed of French words lengthened or
+abbreviated; of proverbial expressions; of words expressing the symbols of
+things instead of the things themselves; of terms either intentionally or
+unintentionally altered from their true meaning; and of words which
+resembled other words in sound, but which had not the same signification.
+Thus, for mouth, they said _pantiere_, from _pain_ (bread), which they put
+into it; the arms were _lyans_ (binders); an ox was a _cornant_ (horned);
+a purse, a _fouille_, or _fouillouse_; a cock, a _horloge_, or timepiece;
+the legs, _des quilles_ (nine-pins); a sou, a _rond_, or round thing; the
+eyes, _des luisants_ (sparklers), &c. In jargon several words were also
+taken from the ancient language of the gipsies, which testifies to the
+part which these vagabonds played in the formation of the Argotic
+community. For example, a shirt was called _lime_; a chambermaid,
+_limogere;_ sheets, _limans_--words all derived from the gipsy word
+_lima_, a shirt: they called an ecu, a _rusquin_ or _rougesme_, from
+_rujia_, the common word for money; a rich man, _rupin_; a house, _turne_;
+a knife, _chourin_, from _rup, turna_, and _chori_, which, in the gipsy
+tongue, mean respectively silver, castle, and knife.
+
+From what we have related about rogues and the Cours des Miracles, one
+might perhaps be tempted to suppose that France was specially privileged;
+but it was not so, for Italy was far worse in this respect. The rogues
+were called by the Italians _bianti_, or _ceretani_, and were subdivided
+into more than forty classes, the various characteristics of which have
+been described by a certain Rafael Frianoro. It is not necessary to state
+that the analogue of more than one of these classes is to be found in the
+short description we have given of the Argotic kingdom in France. We will
+therefore only mention those which were more especially Italian. It must
+not be forgotten that in the southern countries, where religions
+superstition was more marked than elsewhere, the numerous family of rogues
+had no difficulty in practising every description of imposture, inasmuch
+as they trusted to the various manifestations of religions feeling to
+effect their purposes. Thus the _affrati_, in order to obtain more alms
+and offerings, went about in the garb of monks and priests, even saying
+mass, and pretending that it was the first time they had exercised their
+sacred office. So the _morghigeri_ walked behind a donkey, carrying a bell
+and a lamp, with their string of beads in their hands, and asking how they
+were to pay for the bell, which they were always "just going to buy." The
+_felsi_ pretended that they were divinely inspired and endowed with the
+gift of second sight, and announced that there were hidden treasures in
+certain houses under the guardianship of evil spirits. They asserted that
+these treasures could not be discovered without danger, except by means of
+fastings and offerings, which they and their brethren could alone make, in
+consideration of which they entered into a bargain, and received a certain
+sum of money from the owners. The _accatosi_ deserve mention on account of
+the cleverness with which they contrived to assume the appearance of
+captives recently escaped from slavery. Shaking the chains with which they
+said they had been bound, jabbering unintelligible words, telling
+heart-rending tales of their sufferings and privations, and showing the
+marks of blows which they had received, they went on their knees, begging
+for money that they might buy off their brethren or their friends, whom
+they said they had left in the hands of the Saracens or the Turks, We must
+mention, also, the _allacrimanti_, or weepers, who owed their name to the
+facility which they possessed of shedding tears at will; and the
+_testatori_, who, pretending to be seriously ill and about to die,
+extorted money from all those to whom they promised to leave their
+fortunes, though, of course, they had not a son to leave behind them. We
+must not forget the _protobianti_ (master rogues), who made no scruple of
+exciting compassion from their own comrades (Fig. 381), nor the
+_vergognosi_, who, notwithstanding their poverty, wished to be thought
+rich, and considered that assistance was due to them from the mere fact of
+their being noble. We must here conclude, for it would occupy too much
+time to go through the list of these Italian vagabonds. As for the German
+(Figs. 382 and 383), Spanish, and English rogues, we may simply remark
+that no type exists among them which is not to be met with amongst the
+Argotiers of France or the Bianti of Italy. In giving a description,
+therefore, of the mendicity practised in these two countries during the
+Middle Ages, we are sure to be representing what it was in other parts of
+Europe.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 381.--Italian Beggar.--From an Engraving by Callot.]
+
+[Illustration: Figs. 382 and 383.--German Beggars.--Fac-simile of a
+Woodcut in the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, Basle,
+1552.]
+
+The history of regular robbers and highwaymen during this long period is
+more difficult to describe; it contains only disconnected anecdotes of a
+more or less interesting character. It is probable, moreover, that robbers
+did not always commit their depredations singly, and that they early
+understood the advantages of associating together. The _Tafurs_, or
+_Halegrins_, whom we notice as followers of Godefroy de Bouillon at the
+time of the Crusades, towards the end of the eleventh century, were
+terribly bad characters, and are actually accused by contemporary writers
+of violating tombs, and of living on human flesh. On this account they
+were looked upon with the utmost horror by the infidels, who dreaded more
+their savage ferocity than the valour of the Crusaders. The latter even,
+who had these hordes of Tafurs under their command, were not without
+considerable mistrust of them, and when, during their march through
+Hungary, under the protection of the cross, these miscreants committed
+depredations, Godefroy de Bouillion was obliged to ask pardon for them
+from the king of that country.
+
+An ancient poet has handed down to us a story in verse setting forth the
+exploits of Eustace the monk, who, after having thrown aside his frock,
+embraced the life of a robber, and only abandoned it to become Admiral of
+France under Philip Augustus. He was killed before Sandwich, in 1217. We
+have satisfactory proof that as early as the thirteenth century sharpers
+were very expert masters of their trade, for the ingenious and amusing
+tricks of which they were guilty are quite equal to the most skilled of
+those now recorded in our police reports. In the two following centuries
+the science of the _pince_ and of the _croc_ (pincers and hook), as it was
+then called, alone made progress, and Pathelin (a character in comedy, and
+an incomparable type of craft and dishonesty) never lacked disciples any
+more than Villon did imitators. We know that this charming poet, who was
+at the same time a most expert thief, narrowly escaped hanging on two
+occasions. His contemporaries attributed to him a poem of twelve hundred
+verses, entitled "Les Repues Franches," in which are described the methods
+in use among his companions for procuring wine, bread, meat, and fish,
+without having to pay for them. They form a series of interesting
+stories, the moral of which is to be gathered from the following lines:--
+
+ "C'est bien, disne, quand on eschappe
+ Sans desbourcer pas ung denier,
+ Et dire adieu an tavernier,
+ En torchant son nez a la nappe."
+
+The meaning of this doggrel, which is somewhat broad, may be rendered--"He
+dines well who escapes without paying a penny, and who bids farewell to
+the innkeeper by wiping his nose on the tablecloth."
+
+Side by side with this poem of Yillon we ought to cite one of a later
+period--"La Legende de Maitre Faifeu," versified by Charles Boudigne. This
+Faifeu was a kind of Villon of Anjou, who excelled in all kinds of
+rascality, and who might possibly have taught it even to the gipsies
+themselves. The character of Panurge, in the "Pantagruel," is no other
+than the type of Faifeu, immortalised by the genius of Rabelais. We must
+also mention one of the pamphlets of Guillaume Bouchet, written towards
+the end of the sixteenth century, which gives a very amusing account of
+thieves of every description, and also "L'Histoire Generale des Larrons,"
+in which are related numerous wonderful tales of murders, robberies, and
+other atrocities, which made our admiring ancestors well acquainted with
+the heroes of the Greve and of Montfaucon. It must not be supposed that in
+those days the life of a robber who pursued his occupation with any degree
+of industry and skill was unattended with danger, for the most harmless
+cut-purses were hung without mercy whenever they were caught; the fear,
+however, of this fate did not prevent the _Enfants de la Matte_ from
+performing wonders.
+
+Brantome relates that King Charles IX. had the curiosity to wish to "know
+how the cut-purses performed their arts with so much skill and dexterity,"
+and begged Captain La Chambre to introduce to him, on the occasion of a
+banquet and a ball, the cleverest cut-purses, giving them full liberty to
+exhibit their skill. The captain went to the Cours des Miracles and
+fetched ten of the most expert of these thieves, whom he presented to the
+King. Charles, "after the dinner and the ball had taken place, wished to
+see all the plunder, and found that they had absolutely earned three
+thousand ecus, either in money from purses, or in precious stones, pearls,
+or other jewels; some of the guests even lost their cloaks, at which the
+King thought he should die of laughter." The King allowed them to keep
+what they had thus earned at the expense of his guests; but he forbad them
+"to continue this sort of life," under penalty of being hung, and he had
+them enrolled in the army, in order to recompense them for their clever
+feats. We may safely assert that they made but indifferent soldiers.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 384.--The Exhibitor of strange Animals (Twelfth
+Century Manuscript, Royal Library of Brussels).]
+
+
+
+
+Ceremonials.
+
+
+
+ Origin of Modern Ceremonial.--Uncertainty of French Ceremonial up to the
+ End of the Sixteenth Century.--Consecration of the Kings of
+ France.--Coronation of the Emperors of Germany.--Consecration of the
+ Doges of Venice.--Marriage of the Doge with the Sea.--State Entries of
+ Sovereigns.--An Account of the Entry of Isabel of Bavaria into
+ Paris.--Seats of Justice.--Visits of Ceremony between Persons of
+ rank.--Mourning.--Social Courtesies.--Popular Demonstrations and
+ National Commemorations.--New Year's Day.--Local Festivals.--_Vins
+ d'Honneur._--Processions of Trades.
+
+
+Although society during the Middle Ages was, as a whole, closely cemented
+together, being animated by the same sentiments and imbued with the same
+spirit, it was divided, as we have already stated, into three great
+classes, namely, the clergy, the nobility, and the _liers-etat._ These
+classes, each of which formed a distinct body within the State, carried on
+an existence peculiar to itself, and presented in its collective capacity
+a separate individuality. Hence there was a distinct ceremonial for each
+class. We will not attempt to give in detail the innumerable laws of these
+three kinds of ceremonial; our attention will be directed solely to their
+most characteristic customs, and to their most remarkable and interesting
+aspects taken as a whole. We must altogether lay aside matters relating
+specially to ceremonies of a purely religions character, as they are
+connected more or less with the traditions and customs of the Church, and
+belong to quite a distinct order of things.
+
+"When the Germans, and especially the Franks," says the learned
+paleographer Vallet de Viriville, "had succeeded in establishing their
+own rule in place of that of the Romans, these almost savage nations, and
+the barbarian chiefs who were at their head under the title of kings,
+necessarily borrowed more or less the refined practices relating to
+ceremonial possessed by the people whom they had conquered. The elevation
+of the elected chief or king on the shield and the solemn taking of arms
+in the midst of the tribe seem to be the only traces of public ceremonies
+which we can discover among the Grermans. The marvellous display and the
+imposing splendour of the political hierarchy of the Roman Empire,
+especially in its outward arrangements, must have astonished the minds of
+these uncultivated people. Thus we find the Frank kings becoming
+immediately after a victory the simple and clumsy imitators of the
+civilisation which they had broken up." Clovis on returning to Tours in
+507, after having defeated Alaric, received the titles of _Patrician_ and
+_Consul_ from the Emperor Anastasius, and bedecked himself with the
+purple, the chlamys, and the diadem. The same principle of imitation was
+afterwards exhibited in the internal and external court ceremonial, in
+proportion as it became developed in the royal person. Charlemagne, who
+aimed at everything which could adorn and add strength to a new monarchy,
+established a regular method for the general and special administration of
+his empire, as also for the internal arrangement and discipline of his
+palace. We have already referred to this twofold organization (_vide_
+chapters on Private Life and on Food), but we may here remark that,
+notwithstanding these ancient tendencies to the creation of a fixed
+ceremonial, the trifling rules which made etiquette a science and a law,
+were introduced by degrees, and have only very recently been established
+amongst us.
+
+In 1385, when King Charles VI. married the notorious Isabel of Bavaria,
+then scarcely fourteen years of age, he desired to arrange for her a
+magnificent entry into Paris, the pomp and brilliancy of which should be
+consistent with the rank and illustrious descent of his young bride. He
+therefore begged the old Queen Blanche, widow of Philippe de Valois, to
+preside over the ceremony, and to have it conducted according to the
+custom of olden times. She was consequently obliged, in the absence of any
+fixed rules on the subject, to consult the official records,--that is to
+say, the "Chronique du Monastere de Saint-Denis." The first embodiment of
+rules relating to these matters in use among the nobility, which had
+appeared in France under the title of "Honneurs de la Cour," only goes
+back to the end of the fifteenth century. It appears, however, that even
+then this was not generally admitted among the nobility as the basis of
+ceremonial, for in 1548 we find that nothing had been definitely settled.
+This is evident from the fact that when King Henri III. desired to know
+the rank and order of precedence of the princes of the royal blood, both
+dukes and counts--as also that of the other princes, the barons, the
+nobles of the kingdom, the constables, the marshals of France and the
+admirals, and what position they had held on great public occasions during
+the reigns of his predecessors--he commissioned Jean du Tillet, the civil
+registrar of the Parliament of Paris, to search among the royal archives
+for the various authentic documents which might throw light on this
+question, and serve as a precedent for the future. In fact, it was Henri
+III. who, in 1585, created the office of Grand Master of the Ceremonies of
+France, entrusting it to Guillaume Pot, a noble of Rhodes, which office
+for many generations remained hereditary in his family.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 385.--Herald (Fourteenth Century).--From a Miniature
+in the "Chroniques de Saint-Denis" (Imperial Library of Paris).]
+
+Nevertheless the question of ceremonial, and especially that of
+precedence, had already more than once occupied the attention of
+sovereigns, not only within their own states, but also in relation to
+diplomatic matters. The meetings of councils, at which the ambassadors of
+all the Christian Powers, with the delegates of the Catholic Church, were
+assembled, did not fail to bring this subject up for decision. Pope
+Julius II. in 1504 instructed Pierre de Crassis, his Master of the
+Ceremonies, to publish a decree, determining the rank to be taken by the
+various sovereigns of Europe or by their representatives; but we should
+add that this Papal decree never received the sanction of the parties
+interested, and that the question of precedence, even at the most
+unimportant public ceremonies, was during the whole of the Middle Ages a
+perpetual source of litigation in courts of law, and of quarrels which too
+often ended in bloodshed.
+
+It is right that we should place at the head of political ceremonies those
+having reference to the coronation of sovereigns, which were not only
+political, but owed their supreme importance and dignity to the necessary
+intervention of ecclesiastical authority. We will therefore first speak of
+the consecration and coronation of the kings of France.
+
+Pepin le Bref, son of Charles Martel and founder of the second dynasty,
+was the first of the French kings who was consecrated by the religions
+rite of anointing. But its mode of administration for a long period
+underwent numerous changes, before becoming established by a definite law.
+Thus Pepin, after having been first consecrated in 752 in the Cathedral of
+Boissons, by the Archbishop of Mayence, was again consecrated with his two
+sons Charlemagne and Carloman, in 753, in the Abbey of St. Denis, by Pope
+Stephen III. Charlemagne was twice anointed by the Sovereign Pontiff,
+first as King of Lombardy, and then as Emperor. Louis le Debonnaire, his
+immediate successor, was consecrated at Rheims by Pope Stephen IV. in 816.
+In 877 Louis le Begue received unction and the sceptre, at Compiegne, at
+the hands of the Archbishop of Rheims. Charles le Simple in 893, and
+Robert I. in 922, were consecrated and crowned at Rheims; but the
+coronation of Raoul, in 923, was celebrated in the Abbey of St. Medard de
+Soissons, and that of Louis d'Outremer, in 936, at Laon. From the
+accession of King Lothaire to that of Louis VI. (called Le Gros), the
+consecration of the kings of France sometimes took place in the
+metropolitan church of Rheims, and sometimes in other churches, but more
+frequently in the former. Louis VI. having been consecrated in the
+Cathedral of Orleans, the clergy of Rheims appealed against this supposed
+infraction of custom and their own special privileges. A long discussion
+took place, in which were brought forward the titles which the Church of
+Rheims possessed subsequently to the reign of Clovis to the exclusive
+honour of having kings consecrated in it; and King Louis le Jeune, son of
+Louis le Gros, who was himself consecrated at Rheims, promulgated a
+special decree on this question, in anticipation of the consecration of
+his son, Philippe Auguste. This decree finally settled the rights of this
+ancient church, and at the same time defined the order which was to be
+observed in future at the ceremony of consecration. From that date, down
+to the end of the reign of the Bourbons of the elder line, kings were
+invariably consecrated, according to legal rite, in the metropolitan
+church of Rheims, with the exception of Henry IV., who was crowned at
+Chartres by the bishop of that town, on account of the civil wars which
+then divided his kingdom, and caused the gates of Rheims to be closed
+against him.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 386.--Coronation of Charlemagne.--Fac-simile of a
+Miniature in the "Chroniques de Saint-Denis," Manuscript of the Fourteenth
+Century (Imperial Library of Paris).]
+
+The consecration of the kings of France always took place on a Sunday. On
+the previous day, at the conclusion of evening prayers, the custody of the
+cathedral devolved upon certain royal officers, assisted by the ordinary
+officials. During the evening the monarch came to the church for devotion,
+and "according to his religions feelings, to pass part of the night in
+prayer," an act which was called _la veillee des armes_. A large platform,
+surmounted by a throne, was erected between the chancel and the great
+nave. Upon this assembled, besides the King and his officers of State,
+twelve ecclesiastical peers, together with those prelates whom the King
+might be pleased to invite, and six lay peers, with other officers or
+nobles. At daybreak, the King sent a deputation of barons to the Abbey of
+St. Remi for the holy vial, which was a small glass vessel called
+_ampoule_, from the Latin word _ampulla_, containing the holy oil to be
+used at the royal anointing. According to tradition, this vial was brought
+from heaven by a dove at the time of the consecration of Clovis. Four of
+the nobles remained as hostages at the abbey during the time that the
+Abbot of St. Remi, followed by his monks and escorted by the barons, went
+in procession to the cathedral to place the sacred vessel upon the altar.
+The abbot of St. Denis in France had in a similar manner to bring from
+Rheims with great pomp, and deposit by the side of the holy vial, the
+royal insignia, which were kept in the treasury of his monastery, and had
+been there since the reign of Charlemagne. They consisted of the crown,
+the sword sheathed, the golden spurs, the gilt sceptre, the rod adorned
+with an ivory handle in the form of a hand, the sandals of blue silk,
+embroidered with fleur de lis, the chasuble or _dalmatique_, and the
+_surcot_, or royal mantle, in the shape of a cape without a hood. The
+King, immediately on rising from his bed, entered the cathedral, and
+forthwith took oath to maintain the Catholio faith and the privileges of
+the Church, and to dispense good and impartial justice to his subjects. He
+then walked to the foot of the altar, and divested himself of part of his
+dress, having his head bare, and wearing a tunic with openings on the
+chest, on the shoulders, at the elbows, and in the middle of the back;
+these openings were closed by means of silver aigulets. The Archbishop of
+Rheims then drew the sword from the scabbard and handed it to the King,
+who passed it to the principal officer in attendance. The prelate then
+proceeded with the religious part of the ceremony of consecration, and
+taking a drop of the miraculous oil out of the holy vial by means of a
+gold needle, he mixed it with the holy oil from his own church. This being
+done, and sitting in the posture of consecration, he anointed the King,
+who was kneeling before him, in five different parts of the body, namely,
+on the forehead, on the breast, on the back, on the shoulders, and on the
+joints of the arms. After this the King rose up, and with the assistance
+of his officers, put on his royal robes. The Archbishop handed to him
+successively the ring, the sceptre, and the rod of justice, and lastly
+placed the crown on his head. At this moment the twelve peers formed
+themselves into a group, the lay peers being in the first rank,
+immediately around the sovereign, and raising their hands to the crown,
+they held it for a moment, and then they conducted the King to the throne.
+The consecrating prelate, putting down his mitre, then knelt at the feet
+of the monarch and took the oath of allegiance, his example being followed
+by the other peers and their vassals who were in attendance. At the same
+time, the cry of "_Vive le Roi_!" uttered by the archbishop, was repeated
+three times outside the cathedral by the heralds-at-arms, who shouted it
+to the assembled multitude. The latter replied, "_Noel! Noel! Noel!_" and
+scrambled for the small pieces of money thrown to them by the officers,
+who at the same time cried out, "_Largesse, largesse aux manants_!" Every
+part of this ceremony was accompanied by benedictions and prayers, the
+form of which was read out of the consecration service as ordered by the
+bishop, and the proceedings terminated by the return of the civil and
+religious procession which had composed the _cortege_. When the sovereign
+was married, his wife participated with him in the honours of the
+consecration, the symbolical investiture, and the coronation; but she only
+partook of the homage rendered to the King to a limited degree, which was
+meant to imply that the Queen had a less extended authority and a less
+exalted rank.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 387.--Dalmatica and Sandals of Charlemagne, Insignia
+of the Kings of France at their Coronation, preserved in the Treasury of
+the Abbey of St. Denis.]
+
+The ceremonies which accompanied the accessions of the emperors of Germany
+(Fig. 388) are equally interesting, and were settled by a decree which the
+Emperor Charles IX. promulgated in 1356, at the Diet of Nuremberg.
+According to the terms of this decree--which is still preserved among the
+archives of Frankfort-on-the-Main, and which is known as the _bulle d'or_,
+or golden bull, from the fact of its bearing a seal of pure gold--on the
+death of an emperor, the Archbishop of Mayence summoned, for an appointed
+day, the Prince Electors of the Empire, who, during the whole course of
+the Middle Ages, remained seven in number, "in honour," says the bull, "of
+the seven candlesticks mentioned in the Apocalypse." These Electors--who
+occupied the same position near the Emperor that the twelve peers did in
+relation to the King of France--were the Archbishops of Mayence, of
+Treves, and of Cologne, the King of Bohemia, the Count Palatine of the
+Rhine, the Duke of Saxony, and the Margrave of Brandenburg. On the
+appointed day, the mass of the Holy Spirit was duly solemnized in the
+Church of St. Bartholomew of Frankfort, a town in which not only the
+election of the Emperor, but also his coronation, almost always took
+place, though one might have supposed that Aix-la-Chapelle would have been
+selected for such ceremonies. The Electors attended, and after the service
+was concluded, they retired to the sacristy of the church, accompanied by
+their officers and secretaries, They had thirty days for deliberation, but
+beyond that period they were not allowed "to eat bread or drink water"
+until they had agreed, at least by a majority, to give _a temporal chief
+to the Christian people, that is to say, a King of the Romans, who should
+in due time be promoted to be Emperor_, The newly-elected prince was, in
+fact, at first simply _King of the Romans_, and this title was often borne
+by persons who were merely nominated for the office by the voice of the
+Electors, or by political combinations. In order to be promoted to the
+full measure of power and authority, the King of the Romans had to receive
+both religions consecration and the crown. The ceremonies adopted at this
+solemnity were very analogous to those used at the consecrations of the
+kings of France, as well as to those of installation of all Christian
+princes. The service was celebrated by the Archbishop of Cologne, who
+placed the crown on the head of the sovereign-elect, whom he consecrated
+Emperor. The symbols of his authority were handed to him by the Electors,
+and then he was proclaimed, "_Caesar, most sacred, ever august Majesty,
+Emperor, of the Holy Roman Empire of the nation of Germany_."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 388.--Costume of Emperors at their Coronation since
+the Time of Charlemagne.--From an Engraving in a Work entitled "Insignia
+Sacre Majistatis Caesarum Principum." Frankfort, 1579, in folio.]
+
+The imperial _cortege_ then came out from the Church of St. Bartholomew,
+and went through the town, halting at the town-hall (called the _Roemer_,
+in commemoration of the noble name of Rome), where a splendid banquet,
+prepared in the _Kaysersaal_ (hall of the Caesars), awaited the principal
+performers in this august ceremony.
+
+At the moment that the Emperor set foot on the threshold of the Roemer,
+the Elector of Saxony, Chief Marshal of the Empire, on horseback, galloped
+at full speed towards a heap of oats which was piled up in the middle of
+the square. Holding in one hand a silver measure, and in the other a
+scraper of the same metal, each of which weighed six marks, he filled the
+measure with oats, levelled it with the scraper, and handed it over to the
+hereditary marshal. The rest of the heap was noisily scrambled for by the
+people who had been witnesses of this allegorical performance. Then the
+Count Palatine, as chief seneschal, proceeded to perform his part in the
+ceremony, which consisted of placing before the Emperor, who was sitting
+at table, four silver dishes, each weighing three marks. The King of
+Bohemia, as chief butler, handed to the monarch wine and water in a silver
+cup weighing twelve marks; and then the Margrave of Magdeburg presented to
+him a silver basin of the same weight for washing his hands. The other
+three Electors, or arch-chancellors, provided at their own expense the
+silver baton, weighing twelve marks, suspended to which one of them
+carried the seals of the empire. Lastly, the Emperor, and with him the
+Empress if he was married, the princes, and the Electors, sat down to a
+banquet at separate tables, and were waited upon by their respective
+officers. On another table or stage were placed the Imperial insignia. The
+ceremony was concluded outside by public rejoicings: fountains were set to
+play; wine, beer, and other beverages were distributed; gigantic bonfires
+were made, at which whole oxen were roasted; refreshment tables were set
+out in the open air, at which any one might sit down and partake, and, in
+a word, every bounty as well as every amusement was provided. In this way
+for centuries public fetes were celebrated on these occasions.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 389.--Imperial Procession.--From an Engraving of the
+"Solemn Entry of Charles V. and Clement VII. into Bologna," by L. de
+Cranach, from a Fresco by Brusasorci, of Verona.]
+
+The doges of Venice, as well as the emperors of Germany, and some other
+heads of states, differed from other Christian sovereigns in this respect,
+that, instead of holding their high office by hereditary or divine right,
+they were installed therein by election. At Venice, a conclave, consisting
+of forty electors, appointed by a much more numerous body of men of high
+position, elected the Doge, or president of _the most serene Republic_.
+
+From the day when Laurent Tiepolo, immediately after his election in 1268,
+was spontaneously carried in triumph by the Venetian sailors, it became
+the custom for a similar ovation to take place in honour of any
+newly-elected doge. In order to do this, the workmen of the harbour had
+the new Doge seated in a splendid palanquin, and carried him on their
+shoulders in great pomp round the Piazza San Marco. But another still more
+characteristic ceremony distinguished this magisterial election. On
+Ascension Day, the Doge, entering a magnificent galley, called the
+_Bucentaur_, which was elegantly equipped, and resplendent with gold and
+precious stuffs, crossed the Grand Canal, went outside the town, and
+proceeded in the midst of a nautical _cortege_, escorted by bands of
+music, to the distance of about a league from the town on the Adriatic
+Gulf. Then the Patriarch of Venice gave his blessing to the sea, and the
+Doge, taking the helm, threw a gold ring into the water, saying, "O sea! I
+espouse thee in the name, and in token, of our true and perpetual
+sovereignty." Immediately the waters were strewed with flowers, and the
+shouts of joy, and the clapping of hands of the crowd, were intermingled
+with the strains of instruments of music of all sorts, whilst the glorious
+sky of Venice smiled on the poetic scene.
+
+The greater part of the principal ceremonies of the Middle Ages acquired,
+from various accessory and local circumstances, a character of grandeur
+well fitted to impress the minds of the populace. On these memorable
+occasions the exhibition of some historical memorial, of certain
+traditional symbols, of certain relics, &c., brought to the recollection
+the most celebrated events in national history--events already possessing
+the prestige of antiquity as well as the veneration of the people. Thus,
+as a memorial of the consecration of the kings of Hungary, the actual
+crown of holy King Stephen was used; at the consecration of the kings of
+England, the actual chair of Edward the Confessor was used; at the
+consecration of the emperors of Germany, the imperial insignia actually
+used by Charlemagne formed part of the display; at the consecration of the
+kings of France at a certain period, the hand of justice of St. Louis,
+which has been before alluded to, was produced.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 390.--Standards of the Church and the Empire.--Reduced
+from an Engraving of the "Entry of Charles V. and Clement VII. into
+Bologna," by Lucas de Cranach, from a Fresco by Brusasorci, of Verona.]
+
+After their consecration by the Church and by the spiritual power, the
+sovereigns had simply to take actual possession of their dominions, and,
+so to speak, of their subjects. This positive act of sovereignty was often
+accompanied by another class of ceremonies, called _joyous entry_, or
+_public entry._ These entries, of which numerous accounts have been handed
+down to us by historians, and which for the most part were very varied in
+character, naturally took place in the capital city. We will limit
+ourselves to transcribing the account given by the ancient chronicler,
+Juvenal des Ursins, of the entry into Paris of Queen Isabel of Bavaria,
+wife of Charles VI., which was a curious specimen of the public fetes of
+this kind.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 391.--Grand Procession of the Doge, Venice (Sixteenth
+Century).--Reduced from one of fourteen Engravings representing this
+Ceremony, designed and engraved by J. Amman.]
+
+"In the year 1389, the King was desirous that the Queen should make a
+public entry into Paris, and this he made known to the inhabitants, in
+order that they should make preparations for it. And there were at each
+cross roads divers _histoires_ (historical representations, pictures, or
+tableaux vivants), and fountains sending forth water, wine, and milk. The
+people of Paris in great numbers went out to meet the Queen, with the
+Provost of the Merchants, crying '_Noel!_' The bridge by which she passed
+was covered with blue taffeta, embroidered with golden fleurs-de-lys. A
+man of light weight, dressed in the guise of an angel, came down, by means
+of some well-constructed machinery, from one of the towers of Notre-Dame,
+to the said bridge through an opening in the said blue taffeta, at the
+moment when the Queen was passing, and placed a beautiful crown on her
+head. After he had done this, he withdrew through the said opening by the
+same means, and thus appeared as if he were returning to the skies of his
+own accord. Before the Grand Chastelet there was a splendid court adorned
+with azure tapestry, which was intended to be a representation of the
+_lit-de-justice,_ and it was very large and richly decorated. In the
+middle of it was a very large pure white artificial stag, its horns gilt,
+and its neck encircled with a crown of gold. It was so ingeniously
+constructed that its eyes, horns, mouth, and all its limbs, were put in
+motion by a man who was secreted within its body. Hanging to its neck were
+the King's arms--that is to say, three gold fleur-de-lys on an azure
+shield.... Near the stag there was a large sword, beautiful and bright,
+unsheathed; and when the Queen passed, the stag was made to take the sword
+in the right fore-foot, to hold it out straight, and to brandish it. It
+was reported to the King that the said preparations were made, and he said
+to Savoisy, who was one of those nearest to him, 'Savoisy, I earnestly
+entreat thee to mount a good horse, and I will ride behind thee, and we
+will so dress ourselves that no one will know us, and let us go and see
+the entry of my wife.' And, although Savoisy did all he could to dissuade
+him, the King insisted, and ordered that it should be done. So Savoisy did
+what the King had ordered, and disguised himself as well as he could, and
+mounted on a powerful horse with the King behind him. They went through
+the town, and managed so as to reach the Chastelet at the time the Queen
+was passing. There was a great crowd, and Savoisy placed himself as near
+as he could, and there were sergeants on all sides with thick birch wands,
+who, in order to prevent the crowd from pressing upon and injuring the
+court where the stag was, hit away with their wands as hard as they could.
+Savoisy struggled continually to get nearer and nearer, and the sergeants,
+who neither knew the King nor Savoisy, struck away at them, and the King
+received several very hard and well-directed blows on the shoulders. In
+the evening, in the presence of the ladies, the matter was talked over,
+and they began to joke about it, and even the King himself laughed at the
+blows he had received. The Queen on her entry was seated on a litter, and
+very magnificently dressed, as were also the ladies and maids of honour.
+It was indeed a splendid sight; and if any one wished to describe the
+dresses of the ladies, of the knights and squires, and of those who
+escorted the Queen, it would take a long time to do so. After supper,
+singing and dancing commenced, which continued until daylight. The next
+day there were tournaments and other sports" (Fig. 392).
+
+[Illustration: Entry of Charles the Seventh into Paris
+
+A miniature from _Monstrelet the Chronicles_ in the Bibl. nat. de Paris,
+no 20,861 Costumes of the Sixteenth century.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 392.--Tournaments in honour of the Entry of Queen
+Isabel into Paris--From a Miniature in the "Chroniques" of Froissart,
+Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century (National Library of Paris).]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 393.--Seat of Justice, held by King Philippe de Valois,
+on the 8th April, 1332, for the Trial of Robert, Comte d'Artois.--From a
+Pen-and-ink Sketch in an Original Manuscript (Arch. of the Empire)]
+
+In the course of this simple and graphic description mention has been made
+of the _lit de justice_ (seat of justice). All judicial or legislative
+assemblies at which the King considered it his duty to be present were
+thus designated; when the King came there simply as a looker-on, they were
+more commonly called _plaidoyers_, and, in this case, no change was made
+in the ordinary arrangements; but when the King presided they were called
+_conseils_, and then a special ceremonial was required. In fact, by _lit
+de justice_ (Fig. 393), or _cour des pairs_, we understand a court
+consisting of the high officers of the crown, and of the great executive
+of the State, whose duty it was to determine whether any peer of France
+should be tried on a criminal charge; gravely to deliberate on any
+political matter of special interest; or to register, in the name of the
+absolute sovereignty of the King, any edict of importance. We know the
+prominent, and, we may say, even the fatal, part played by these
+solemnities, which were being continually re-enacted, and on every sort of
+pretext, during the latter days of monarchy. These courts were always held
+with impressive pomp. The sovereign usually summoned to them the princes
+of the blood royal and the officers of his household; the members of the
+Parliament took their seats in scarlet robes, the presidents being habited
+in their caps and their mantles, and the registrars of the court also
+wearing their official dress. The High Chancellor, the First Chamberlain,
+and the Provost of Paris, sat at the King's feet. The Chancellor of
+France, the presidents and councillors of the Parliament, occupied the
+bar, and the ushers of the court were in a kneeling posture.
+
+Having thus mentioned the assemblies of persons of distinction, the
+interviews of sovereigns (Fig. 394), and the reception of
+ambassadors--without describing them in detail, which would involve more
+space than we have at our command--we will enter upon the subject of the
+special ceremonial adopted by the nobility, taking as our guide the
+standard book called "Honneurs de la Cour," compiled at the end of the
+fifteenth century by the celebrated Alienor de Poitiers. In addition to
+her own observations, she gives those of her mother, Isabelle de Souza,
+who herself had but continued the work of another noble lady, Jeanne
+d'Harcourt--married in 1391 to the Count William de Namur--who was
+considered the best authority to be found in the kingdom of France. This
+collection of the customs of the court forms a kind of family diary
+embracing three generations, and extending back over more than a century.
+
+Notwithstanding the curious and interesting character of this book, and
+the authority which it possesses on this subject, we cannot, much to our
+regret, do more than borrow a few passages from it; but these, carefully
+selected, will no doubt suffice to give some idea of the manners and
+customs of the nobility during the fifteenth century, and to illustrate
+the laws of etiquette of which it was the recognised code.
+
+One of the early chapters of the work sets forth this fundamental law of
+French ceremonial, namely, that, "according to the traditions or customs
+of France, women, however exalted their position, be they even king's
+daughters, rank with their husbands." We find on the occasion of the
+marriage of King Charles VII. with Mary of Anjou, in 1413, although
+probably there had never been assembled together so many princes and
+ladies of rank, that at the banquet the ladies alone dined with the Queen,
+"and no gentlemen sat with them." We may remark, whilst on this subject,
+that before the reign of Francis I. it was not customary for the two sexes
+to be associated together in the ordinary intercourse of court life; and
+we have elsewhere remarked (see chapter on Private Life) that this
+departure from ancient custom exerted a considerable influence, not only
+on manners, but also on public affairs.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 394.--Interview of King Charles V. with the Emperor
+Charles IV. in Paris in 1378.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the
+Description of this Interview, Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century, in the
+Library of the Arsenal of Paris.]
+
+The authoress of the "Honneurs de la Cour" specially mentions the respect
+which Queen Mary of Anjou paid to the Duchess of Burgundy when she was at
+Chalons in Champagne in 1445: "The Duchess came with all her retinue, on
+horseback and in carriages, into the courtyard of the mansion where the
+King and Queen were, and there alighted, her first maid of honour acting
+as her train-bearer. M. de Bourbon gave her his right hand, and the
+gentlemen went on in front. In this manner she was conducted to the hall
+which served as the ante-chamber to the Queen's apartment. There she
+stopped, and sent in M. de Crequi to ask the Queen if it was her pleasure
+that she should enter.... When the Duchess came to the door she took the
+train of her dress from the lady who bore it and let it trail on the
+ground, and as she entered she knelt and then adyanced to the middle of
+the room. There she made the same obeisance, and moved straight towards
+the Queen, who was standing close to the foot of her throne. When the
+Duchess had performed a further act of homage, the Queen advanced two or
+three steps, and the Duchess fell on her knees; the Queen then put her
+hand on her shoulder, embraced her, kissed her, and commanded her to
+rise."
+
+The Duchess then went up to Margaret of Scotland, wife of the Dauphin,
+afterwards Louis XI., "who was four or five feet from the Queen," and paid
+her the same honours as she had done to the Queen, although the Dauphine
+appeared to wish to prevent her from absolutely kneeling to her. After
+this she turned towards the Queen of Sicily (Isabelle de Lorraine, wife of
+Rene of Anjou, brother-in-law of the King), "who was two or three feet
+from the Dauphine," and merely bowed to her, and the same to another
+Princess, Madame de Calabre, who was still more distantly connected with
+the blood royal. Then the Queen, and after her the Dauphine, kissed the
+three maids of honour of the Duchess and the wives of the gentlemen. The
+Duchess did the same to the ladies who accompanied the Queen and the
+Dauphine, "but of those of the Queen of Sicily the Duchess kissed none,
+inasmuch as the Queen had not kissed hers. And the Duchess would not walk
+behind the Queen, for she said that the Duke of Burgundy was nearer the
+crown of France than was the King of Sicily, and also that she was
+daughter of the King of Portugal, who was greater than the King of
+Sicily."
+
+Further on, from the details given of a similar reception, we learn that
+etiquette was not at that time regulated by the laws of politeness as now
+understood, inasmuch as the voluntary respect paid by men to the gentle
+sex was influenced much by social rank. Thus, at the time of a visit of
+Louis XI., then Dauphin, to the court of Brussels, to which place he went
+to seek refuge against the anger of his father, the Duchesses of Burgundy,
+of Charolais, and of Cleves, his near relatives, exhibited towards him all
+the tokens of submission and inferiority which he might have received from
+a vassal. The Dauphin, it is true, wished to avoid this homage, and a
+disussion on the subject of "more than a quarter of an hour ensued;" at
+last he took the Duchess of Burgundy by the arm and led her away, in order
+to cut short the ceremonies "about which Madame made so much to do." This,
+however, did not prevent the princesses, on their withdrawing, from
+kneeling to the ground in order to show their respect for the son of the
+King of France.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 395.--The Entry of Louis XI. into Paris.--Fac-simile
+of a Miniature in the "Chroniques" of Monstrelet, Manuscript of the
+Fifteenth Century (Imperial Library of Paris).]
+
+We have already seen that the Duchess of Burgundy, when about to appear
+before the Queen, took her train from her train-bearer in order that she
+might carry it herself. In this she was only conforming to a general
+principle, which was, that in the presence of a superior, a person,
+however high his rank, should not himself receive honours whilst at the
+same time paying them to another. Thus a duke and a duchess amidst their
+court had all the things which were used at their table covered--hence the
+modern expression, _mettre le couvert_ (to lay the cloth)--even the
+wash-hand basin and the _cadenas_, a kind of case in which the cups,
+knives, and other table articles were kept; but when they were
+entertaining a king all these marks of superiority were removed, as a
+matter of etiquette, from the table at which they sat, and were passed on
+as an act of respect to the sovereign present.
+
+The book of Dame Alienor, in a series of articles to which we shall merely
+allude, speaks at great length and enters into detail respecting the
+interior arrangements of the rooms in which princes and other noble
+children were born. The formalities gone through on these occasions were
+as curious as they were complicated; and Dame Alienor regretted to see
+them falling into disuse, "owing to which," she says, "we fear that the
+possessions of the great houses of the nobility are getting too large, as
+every one admits, and chicanery or concealment of birth, so as to make
+away with too many children, is on the increase."
+
+Mourning is the next subject which we shall notice. The King never wore
+black for mourning, not even for his father, but scarlet or violet. The
+Queen wore white, and did not leave her apartments for a whole year. Hence
+the name of _chateau, hotel,_ or _tour de la Reine Blanche_, which many of
+the buildings of the Middle Ages still bear, from the fact that widowed
+queens inhabited them during the first year of their widowhood. On
+occasions of mourning, the various reception rooms of a house were hung
+with black. In deep mourning, such as that for a husband or a father, a
+lady wore neither gloves, jewels, nor silk. The head was covered with a
+low black head-dress, with trailing lappets, called _chaperons,
+barbettes, couvre-chefs_, and _tourets_. A duchess and the wife of a
+knight or a banneret, on going into mourning, stayed in their apartments
+for six weeks; the former, during the whole of this time, when in deep
+mourning, remained lying down all day on a bed covered with a white sheet;
+whereas the latter, at the end of nine days, got up, and until the six
+weeks were over, remained sitting in front of the bed on a black sheet.
+Ladies did not attend the funerals of their husbands, though it was usual
+for them to be present at those of their fathers and mothers. For an elder
+brother, they wore the same mourning as for a father, but they did not lie
+down as above described.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 396.--"How the King-at-Arms presents the Sword to the
+Duke of Bourbon."--From a Miniature in "Tournois du Roi Rene," Manuscript
+of the Fifteenth Century (Imperial Library of Paris).]
+
+In their everyday intercourse with one another, kings, princes, dukes, and
+duchesses called one another _monsieur_ and _madame_, adding the Christian
+name or that of the estate. A superior speaking or writing to an inferior,
+might prefix to his or her title of relationship _beau_ or _belle_; for
+instance, _mon bel oncle, ma belle cousine_. People in a lower sphere of
+life, on being introduced to one another, did not say, "Monsieur Jean, ma
+belle tante"--"Mr. John, allow me to introduce you to my aunt"--but
+simply, "Jean, ma tante." The head of a house had his seat under a canopy
+or _dosseret_ (Fig. 396), which he only relinquished to his sovereign,
+when he had the honour of entertaining him. "Such," says Alienor, in
+conclusion, "are the points of etiquette which are observed in Germany, in
+France, in Naples, in Italy, and in all other civilised countries and
+kingdoms." We may here remark, that etiquette, after having originated in
+France, spread throughout all Christian nations, and when it had become
+naturalised, as it were, amongst the latter, it acquired a settled
+position, which it retained more firmly than it did in France. In this
+latter country, it was only from the seventeenth century, and particularly
+under Louis XIV., that court etiquette really became a science, and almost
+a species of religions observance, whose minutiae were attended to as much
+as if they were sacramental rites, though they were not unfrequently of
+the most childish character, and whose pomp and precision often caused the
+most insufferable annoyance. But notwithstanding the perpetual changes of
+times and customs, the French nation has always been distinguished for
+nobility and dignity, tempered with good sense and elegance.
+
+If we now direct our attention to the _tiers etat_, that class which, to
+quote a celebrated expression, "was destined to become everything, after
+having for a long time been looked upon as nothing," we shall notice that
+there, too, custom and tradition had much to do with ceremonies of all
+kinds. The presence of the middle classes not only gave, as it were, a
+stamp of grandeur to fetes of an aristocratic and religions character,
+but, in addition, the people themselves had a number of ceremonies of
+every description, in which etiquette was not one whit less strict than
+in those of the court. The variety of civic and popular ceremonies is so
+great, that it would require a large volume, illustrated with numerous
+engravings, to explain fully their characteristic features. The simple
+enumeration of the various public fetes, each of which was necessarily
+accompanied by a distinct ceremonial, would take up much time were we to
+attempt to give it even in the shortest manner.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 397.--Entry of the Roi de l'Epinette at Lille, in the
+Sixteenth Century.--From a Miniature in a Manuscript of the Library of
+Rouen.]
+
+Besides the numerous ceremonies which were purely religious, namely, the
+procession of the _Fete-Dieu_, in Rogation week, and the fetes which were
+both of a superstitions and burlesque character, such as _des Fous, de
+l'Ane, des Innocents_, and others of the same kind, so much in vogue
+during the Middle Ages, and which we shall describe more in detail
+hereafter, we should like to mention the military or gymnastic fetes.
+Amongst these were what were called the processions of the _Confreres de
+l'Arquebuse_, the _Archers_, the _Papegaut_, the _roi de l'Epinette_, at
+Lille (Fig. 397), and the _Forestier_ at Bruges. There were also what may
+be termed the fetes peculiar to certain places, such as those of _Behors_,
+of the _Champs Galat_ at Epinal, of the _Laboureurs_ at Montelimar, of
+_Guy l'an neuf_ at Anjou. Also of the fetes of _May_, of the _sheaf_, of
+the _spring_, of the _roses_, of the _fires of St. John_, &c. Then there
+were the historical or commemorative fetes, such as those of the _Geant
+Reuss_ at Dunkerque, of the _Gayant_ at Douai, &c.; also of _Guet de
+Saint-Maxime_ at Riez in Provence, the processions of _Jeanne d'Arc_ at
+Orleans, of _Jeanne Hachette_ at Beauvais; and lastly, the numerous fetes
+of public corporations, such as the _Ecoliers_, the _Nations_, the
+_Universites_; also the _Lendit_, the _Saint-Charlemagne_, the _Baillee
+des roses au Parlement_; the literary fetes of the _Pays et Chambres de
+rhetorique_ of Picardy and Flanders, of the _Clemence Isaure_ at Toulouse,
+and of the _Capitole_ at Rome, &c.; the fetes of the _Serments, Metiers_,
+and _Devoirs_ of the working men's corporation; and lastly, the _Fetes
+Patronales_, called also _Assemblees, Ducasses, Folies, Foires, Kermesses,
+Pardons_, &c.
+
+From this simple enumeration, it can easily be understood what a useless
+task we should impose upon ourselves were we merely to enter upon so wide
+and difficult a subject. Apart from the infinite variety of details
+resulting from the local circumstances under which these ceremonies had
+been instituted, which were everywhere celebrated at fixed periods, a kind
+of general principle regulated and directed their arrangement. Nearly all
+these fetes and public rejoicings, which to a certain extent constituted
+the common basis of popular ceremonial, bore much analogy to one another.
+There are, however, certain peculiarities less known and more striking
+than the rest, which deserve to be mentioned, and we shall then conclude
+this part of our subject.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 398.--Representation of a Ballet before Henri III.
+and his Court, in the Gallery of the Louvre.--Fac-simile of an Engraving
+on Copper of the "Ballet de la Royne," by Balthazar de Beaujoyeulx (folio,
+Paris, Mamert Patisson, 1582.)]
+
+Those rites, ceremonies, and customs, which are the most commonly
+observed, and which most persistently keep their place amongst us, are far
+from being of modern origin. Thus, the custom of jovially celebrating the
+commencement of the new year, or of devoting certain particular days to
+festivity, is still universally followed in every country in the world.
+The practice of sending presents on _New Year's Day_ is to be found among
+civilised nations in the East as well as in our own country. In the Middle
+Ages the intimate friends of princes, and especially of the kings of
+France, received Christmas gifts, for which they considered themselves
+bound to make an ample return. In England these interchanges of generosity
+also take place on Christmas Day. In Russia, on Easter Day, the people, on
+meeting in the street, salute one another by saying "Christ is risen."
+These practices, as well as many others, have no doubt been handed down to
+us from the early ages of Christianity. The same may be said of a vast
+number of customs of a more or less local character, which have been
+observed in various countries for centuries. In former times, at
+Ochsenbach, in Wurtemberg, during the carnival, women held a feast at
+which they were waited upon by men, and, after it was over, they formed
+themselves into a sort of court of plenary indulgence, from which the men
+were uniformly excluded, and sat in judgment on one another. At Ramerupt,
+a small town in Champagne, every year, on the 1st of May, twenty of the
+citizens repaired to the adjoining hamlet of St. Remy, hunting as they
+went along. They were called _the fools of Rameru_, and it was said that
+the greatest fool led the band. The inhabitants of St. Remy were bound to
+receive them gratuitously, and to supply them, as well as their horses and
+dogs, with what they required, to have a mass said for them, to put up
+with all the absurd vagaries of the captain and his troop, and to supply
+them with a _fine and handsome horned ram,_ which was led back in triumph.
+On their return into Ramerupt they set up shouts at the door of the cure,
+the procurator fiscal, and the collector of taxes, and, after the
+invention of gunpowder, fireworks were let off. They then went to the
+market-place, where they danced round the ram, which was decorated with
+ribbons. No doubt this was a relic of the feasts of ancient heathenism.
+
+A more curious ceremony still, whose origin, we think, may be traced to
+the Dionysian feasts of heathenism, has continued to be observed to this
+day at Beziers. It bears the names of the _Feast of Pepezuch_, the
+_Triumph of Beziers,_ or the _Feast of Caritats_ or _Charites_. At the
+bottom of the Rue Francaise at Beziers, a statue is to be seen which,
+notwithstanding the mutilations to which it has been subjected, still
+distinctly bears traces of being an ancient work of the most refined
+period of art. This statue represents Pepezuch, a citizen of Beziers, who,
+according to somewhat questionable tradition, valiantly defended the town
+against the Goths, or, as some say, against the English; its origin,
+therefore, cannot be later than the thirteenth century. On Ascension Day,
+the day of the Feast of Pepezuch, an immense procession went about the
+town. Three remarkable machines were particularly noticeable; the first
+was an enormous wooden camel made to walk by mechanism, and to move its
+limbs and jaws; the second was a galley on wheels fully manned; the third
+consisted of a cart on which a travelling theatre was erected. The consuls
+and other civic authorities, the corporations of trades having the pastors
+walking in front of them, the farriers on horseback, all bearing their
+respective insignia and banners, formed the procession. A double column,
+composed of a division of young men and young women holding white hoops
+decorated with ribbons and many-coloured streamers, was preceded by a
+young girl crowned with flowers, half veiled, and carrying a basket. This
+brilliant procession marched to the sound of music, and, at certain
+distances, the youthful couples of the two sexes halted, in order to
+perform, with the assistance of their hoops, various figures, which were
+called the _Danse des Treilles_. The machines also stopped from time to
+time at various places. The camel was especially made to enter the Church
+of St. Aphrodise, because it was said that the apostle had first come on a
+camel to preach the Gospel in that country, and there to receive the palm
+of martyrdom. On arriving before the statue of Pepezuch the young people
+decorated it with garlands. When the square of the town was reached, the
+theatre was stopped like the ancient car of Thespis, and the actors
+treated the people to a few comical drolleries in imitation of
+Aristophanes. From the galley the youths flung sugar-plums and sweetmeats,
+which the spectators returned in equal profusion. The procession closed
+with a number of men, crowned with green leaves, carrying on their heads
+loaves of bread, which, with other provisions contained in the galley,
+were distributed amongst the poor of the town.
+
+In Germany and in France it was the custom at the public entries of kings,
+princes, and persons of rank, to offer them the wines made in the district
+and commonly sold in the town. At Langres, for instance, these wines were
+put into four pewter vessels called _cimaises_, which are still to be
+seen. They were called the _lion, monkey, sheep_, and _pig_ wines,
+symbolical names, which expressed the different degrees or phases of
+drunkenness which they were supposed to be capable of producing: the lion,
+courage; the monkey, cunning; the sheep, good temper; the pig, bestiality.
+
+We will now conclude by borrowing, from the excellent work of M. Alfred
+Michiels on Dutch and Flemish painting, the abridged description of a
+procession of corporations of trades, which took place at Antwerp in 1520,
+on the Sunday after Ascension Day. "All the corporations of trades were
+present, every member being dressed in his best suit." In front of each
+guild a banner floated; and immediately behind an enormous lighted
+wax-taper was carried. March music was played on long silver trumpets,
+flutes, and drums. The goldsmiths, painters, masons, silk embroiderers,
+sculptors, carpenters, boatmen, fishermen, butchers, curriers, drapers,
+bakers, tailors, and men of every other trade marched two abreast. Then
+came crossbowmen, arquebusiers, archers, &c., some on foot and some on
+horseback. After them came the various monastic orders; and then followed
+a crowd of bourgeois magnificently dressed. A numerous company of widows,
+dressed in white from head to foot, particularly attracted attention; they
+constituted a sort of sisterhood, observing certain rules, and gaining
+their livelihood by various descriptions of manual work. The cathedral
+canons and the other priests walked in the procession in their gorgeous
+silk vestments sparkling with gold. Twenty persons carried on their
+shoulders a huge figure of the Virgin, with the infant Saviour in her
+arms, splendidly decorated. At the end of the procession were chariots and
+ships on wheels. There were various groups in the procession representing
+scenes from the Old and New Testament, such as the _Salutation of the
+Angels_, the _Visitation of the Magi_, who appeared riding on camels, the
+_Flight into Egypt_, and other well-known historical incidents. The last
+machine represented a dragon being led by St. Margaret with a magnificent
+bridle, and was followed by St. George and several brilliantly attired
+knights.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 399.--Sandal and Buskin of Charlemagne.--From the
+Abbey of St. Denis.]
+
+
+
+
+Costumes.
+
+
+
+ Influence of Ancient Costume.--Costume in the Fifth
+ Century.--Hair.--Costumes in the Time of Charlemagne.--Origin of Modern
+ National Dress.--Head-dresses and Beards: Time of St. Louis.--Progress
+ of Dress: Trousers, Hose, Shoes, Coats, Surcoats, Capes.--Changes in the
+ Fashions of Shoes and Hoods.--_Livree_,--Cloaks and Capes.--Edicts
+ against Extravagant Fashions.--Female Dress: Gowns, Bonnets,
+ Head-dresses, &c.--Disappearance of Ancient Dress.--Tight-fitting
+ Gowns.--General Character of Dress under Francis I.--Uniformity of
+ Dress.
+
+
+Long garments alone were worn by the ancients, and up to the period when
+the barbarous tribes of the North made their appearance, or rather, until
+the invasion of the Roman Empire by these wandering nations, male and
+female dress differed but little. The Greeks made scarcely any change in
+their mode of dress for centuries; but the Romans, on becoming masters of
+the world, partially adopted the dress and arms of the people they had
+conquered, where they considered them an improvement on their own,
+although the original style of dress was but little altered (Figs. 400 and
+401).
+
+Roman attire consisted of two garments--the under garment, or _tunic_, and
+the outer garment, or _cloak_; the latter was known under the various
+names of _chlamys, toga_, and _pallium_, but, notwithstanding these
+several appellations, there was scarcely any appreciable distinction
+between them. The simple tunic with sleeves, which answered to our shirt,
+was like the modern blouse in shape, and was called by various names. The
+_chiridota_ was a tunic with long and large sleeves, of Asiatic origin;
+the _manuleata_ was a tunic with long and tight sleeves coming to the
+wrists; the _talaris_ was a tunic reaching to the feet; the _palmata_ was
+a state tunic, embroidered with palms, which ornamentation was often found
+in other parts of dress. The _lacerna_, _loena_, _cucullus_, _chlamys_,
+_sagum_, _paludamentum_, were upper garments, more or less coarse, either
+full or scant, and usually short, and were analogous to our cloaks,
+mantles, &c., and were made both with and without hoods. There were many
+varieties of the tunic and cloak invented by female ingenuity, as well as
+of other articles of dress, which formed elegant accessories to the
+toilet, but there was no essential alteration in the national costume, nor
+was there any change in the shape of the numerous descriptions of shoes.
+The barbarian invasions brought about a revolution in the dress as well as
+in the social state of the people, and it is from the time of these
+invasions that we may date, properly speaking, the history of modern
+dress; for the Roman costume, which was in use at the same time as that of
+the Franks, the Huns, the Vandals, the Goths, &c., was subjected to
+various changes down to the ninth century. These modifications increased
+afterwards to such an extent that, towards the fourteenth century, the
+original type had altogether disappeared.
+
+[Illustration: Figs. 400 and 401.--Gallo-Roman Costumes.--From Bas-reliefs
+discovered in Paris in 1711 underneath the Choir of Notre-Dame.]
+
+It was quite natural that men living in a temperate climate, and bearing
+arms only when in the service of the State, should be satisfied with
+garments which they could wear without wrapping themselves up too closely.
+The northern nations, on the contrary, had early learned to protect
+themselves against the severity of the climate in which they lived. Thus
+the garments known by them as _braies_, and by the Parthians as
+_sarabara_, doubtless gave origin to those which have been respectively
+called by us _chausses, haut-de-chausses, trousses, gregues, culottes,
+pantalons_, &c. These wandering people had other reasons for preferring
+the short and close-fitting garments to those which were long and full,
+and these were their innate pugnacity, which forced them ever to be under
+arms, their habit of dwelling in forests and thickets, their love of the
+chase, and their custom of wearing armour.
+
+The ancient Greeks and Romans always went bareheaded in the towns; but in
+the country, in order to protect themselves from the direct rays of the
+sun, they wore hats much resembling our round hats, made of felt, plaited
+rushes, or straw. Other European nations of the same period also went
+bareheaded, or wore caps made of skins of animals, having no regularity of
+style, and with the shape of which we are but little acquainted.
+
+Shoes, and head-dresses of a definite style, belong to a much more modern
+period, as also do the many varieties of female dress, which have been
+known at all times and in all countries under the general name of _robes_.
+The girdle was only used occasionally, and its adoption depended on
+circumstances; the women used it in the same way as the men, for in those
+days it was never attached to the dress. The great difference in modern
+female costume consists in the fact of the girdle being part of the dress,
+thus giving a long or short waist, according to the requirements of
+fashion. In the same manner, a complete revolution took place in men's
+dress according as loose or tight, long or short sleeves were introduced.
+
+We shall commence our historical sketch from the fifth century, at which
+period we can trace the blending of the Roman with the barbaric
+costume--namely, the combination of the long, shapeless garment with that
+which was worn by the Germans, and which was accompanied by tight-fitting
+braies. Thus, in the recumbent statue which adorned the tomb of Clovis, in
+the Church of the Abbey of St. Genevieve, the King is represented as
+wearing the _tunic_ and the _toga_, but, in addition, Gallo-Roman
+civilization had actually given him tight-fitting braies, somewhat similar
+to what we now call pantaloons. Besides this, his tunic is fastened by a
+belt; which, however, was not a novelty in his time, for the women then
+wore long dresses, fastened at the waist by a girdle. There is nothing
+very remarkable about his shoes, since we find that the shoe, or closed
+sandal, was worn from the remotest periods by nearly all nations (Figs.
+402 and 403).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 402.--Costume of King Clovis (Sixth Century).--From a
+Statue on his Tomb, formerly in the Abbey of St. Genevieve.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 403.--Costume of King Childebert (Seventh
+Century).--From a Statue formerly placed in the Refectory of the Abbey of
+St. Germain-des-Pres.]
+
+The cloak claims an equally ancient origin. The principal thing worthy of
+notice is the amount of ornament with which the Franks enriched their
+girdles and the borders of their tunics and cloaks. This fashion they
+borrowed from the Imperial court, which, having been transferred from Rome
+to Constantinople during the third century, was not slow to adopt the
+luxury of precious stones and other rich decorations commonly in use
+amongst Eastern nations. Following the example of Horace de Vielcastel,
+the learned author of a history of the costumes of France, we may here
+state that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to define the exact
+costume during the time of the early Merovingian periods. The first
+writers who have touched upon this subject have spoken of it very vaguely,
+or not being contemporaries of the times of which they wrote, could only
+describe from tradition or hearsay. Those monuments in which early costume
+is supposed to be represented are almost all of later date, when artists,
+whether sculptors or painters, were not very exact in their delineations
+of costume, and even seemed to imagine that no other style could have
+existed before their time than the one with which they were daily
+familiar. In order to be as accurate as possible, although, after all, we
+can only speak hypothetically, we cannot do better than call to mind, on
+the one hand, what Tacitus says of the Germans, that they "were almost
+naked, excepting for a short and tight garment round their waists, and a
+little square cloak which they threw over the right shoulder," and, on the
+other, to carry ourselves back in imagination to the ancient Roman
+costume. We may notice, moreover, the curious description given of the
+Franks by Sidoine Apollinaire, who says, "They tied up their flaxen or
+light-brown hair above their foreheads, into a kind of tuft, and then made
+it fall behind the head like a horse's tail. The face was clean shaved,
+with the exception of two long moustaches. They wore cloth garments,
+fitting tight to the body and limbs, and a broad belt, to which they hung
+their swords." But this is a sketch made at a time when the Frankish race
+was only known among the Gauls through its marauding tribes, whose raids,
+from time to time, spread terror and dismay throughout the countries which
+they visited. From the moment when the uncultivated tribes of ancient
+Germany formally took possession of the territory which they had withdrawn
+from Roman rule, they showed themselves desirous of adopting the more
+gentle manners of the conquered nation. "In imitation of their chief,"
+says M. Jules Quicherat, the eminent antiquarian, "more than once the
+Franks doffed the war coat and the leather Belt, and assumed the toga of
+Roman dignity. More than once their flaxen hair was shown to advantage by
+flowing over the imperial mantle, and the gold of the knights, the purple
+of the senators and patricians, the triumphal crowns, the fasces, and, in
+short, everything which the Roman Empire invented in order to exhibit its
+grandeur, assisted in adding to that of our ancestors."
+
+[Illustration: Figs. 404 and 405.--Saints in the Costume of the Sixth to
+the Eighth Centuries.--From Miniatures in old Manuscripts of the Royal
+Library of Brussels (Designs by Count H. de Vielcastel).]
+
+One great and characteristic difference between the Romans and the Franks
+should, however, be specially mentioned; namely, in the fashion of wearing
+the hair long, a fashion never adopted by the Romans, and which, during
+the whole of the first dynasty, was a distinguishing mark of kings and
+nobles among the Franks. Agathias, the Greek historian, says, "The hair is
+never cut from the heads of the Frankish kings' sons. From early youth
+their hair falls gracefully over their shoulders, it is parted on the
+forehead, and falls equally on both sides; it is with them a matter to
+which they give special attention." We are told, besides, that they
+sprinkled it with gold-dust, and plaited it in small bands, which they
+ornamented with pearls and precious metals.
+
+Whilst persons of rank were distinguished by their long and flowing hair,
+the people wore theirs more or less short, according to the degree of
+freedom which they possessed, and the serfs had their heads completely
+shaved. It was customary for the noble and free classes to swear by their
+hair, and it was considered the height of politeness to pull out a hair
+and present it to a person. Fredegaire, the chronicler, relates that
+Clovis thus pulled out a hair in order to do honour to St. Germer, Bishop
+of Toulouse, and presented it to him; upon this, the courtiers hastened to
+imitate their sovereign, and the venerable prelate returned home with his
+hand full of hair, delighted at the flattering reception he had met with
+at the court of the Frankish king. Durinig the Merovingian period, the
+greatest insult that could be offered to a freeman was to touch him with a
+razor or scissors. The degradation of kings and princes was carried out in
+a public manner by shaving their heads and sending them into a monastery;
+on their regaining their rights and their authority, their hair was always
+allowed to grow again. We may also conclude that great importance was
+attached to the preservation of the hair even under the kings of the
+second dynasty, for Charlemagne, in his Capitulaires, orders the hair to
+be removed as a punishment in certain crimes.
+
+The Franks, faithful to their ancient custom of wearing the hair long,
+gradually gave up shaving the face. At first, they only left a small tuft
+on the chin, but by degrees they allowed this to increase, and in the
+sixth and seventh centuries freemen adopted the usual form of beard.
+Amongst the clergy, the custom prevailed of shaving the crown of the head,
+in the same way as that adopted by certain monastic orders in the present
+day. Priests for a long time wore beards, but ceased to do so on their
+becoming fashionable amongst the laity (Figs. 406, 407). Painters and
+sculptors therefore commit a serious error in representing the prelates
+and monks of those times with large beards.
+
+As far as the monumental relics of those remote times allow us to judge,
+the dress as worn by Clovis underwent but trifing modifications during the
+first dvnasty; but during the reigns of Pepin and Charlemagne considerable
+changes were effected, which resulted from the intercourse, either of a
+friendly or hostile nature, between the Franks and the southern nations.
+About this time, silk stuffs were introduced into the kingdom, and the
+upper classes, in order to distinguish themselves from the lower, had
+their garments trimmed round with costly furs (see chapter on Commerce).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 406 and 407.--Costume of the Prelates from the Eighth
+to the Tenth Centuries--After Miniatures in the "Missal of St. Gregory,"
+in the National Library of Paris.]
+
+We have before stated (see chapter on Private Life) that Charlemagne, who
+always was very simple in his tastes, strenuously set his face against
+these novel introductions of luxury, which he looked upon as tending to do
+harm. "Of what use are these cloaks?" he said; "in bed they cannot cover
+us, on horseback they can neither protect us from the rain nor the wind,
+and when we are sitting they can neither preserve our legs from the cold
+nor the damp." He himself generally wore a large tunic made of otters'
+skins. On one occasion his courtiers went out hunting with him, clothed in
+splendid garments of southern fashion, which became much torn by the
+briars, and begrimed with the blood of the animals they had killed. "Oh,
+ye foolish men!" he said to them the next day as he showed them his own
+tunic, which a servant had just returned to him in perfect condition,
+after having simply dried it before the fire and rubbed it with his hands.
+"Whose garments are the more valuable and the more useful? mine, for which
+I have only paid a sou (about twenty-two francs of present money), or
+yours, which have cost so much?" From that time, whenever this great king
+entered on a campaign, the officers of his household, even the most rich
+and powerful, did not dare to show themselves in any clothes but those
+made of leather, wool, or cloth; for had they, on such occasions, made
+their appearance dressed in silk and ornaments, he would have sharply
+reproved them and have treated them as cowards, or as effeminate, and
+consequently unfit for the work in which he was about to engage.
+
+Nevertheless, this monarch, who so severely proscribed luxury in daily
+life, made the most magnificent display on the occasions of political or
+religious festivals, when the imperial dignity with which he was invested
+required to be set forth by pompous ceremonial and richness of attire.
+
+During the reign of the other Carlovingian kings, in the midst of
+political troubles, of internal wars, and of social disturbances, they had
+neither time nor inclination for inventing new fashions. Monuments of the
+latter part of the ninth century prove, indeed, that the national dress
+had hardly undergone any change since the time of Charlemagne, and that
+the influence of Roman tradition, especially on festive occasions, was
+still felt in the dress of the nobles (Figs. 408 to 411).
+
+In a miniature of the large MS. Bible given by the canons of Saint-Martin
+of Tours in 869 to Charles the Bald (National Library of Paris), we find
+the King sitting on his throne surrounded by the dignitaries of his court,
+and by soldiers all dressed after the Roman fashion. The monarch wears a
+cloak which seems to be made of cloth of gold, and is attached to the
+shoulder by a strap or ribbon sliding through a clasp; this cloak is
+embroidered in red, on a gold ground; the tunic is of reddish brown, and
+the shoes are light red, worked with gold thread. In the same manuscript
+there is another painting, representing four women listening to the
+discourse of a prophet. From this we discover that the female costume of
+the time consisted of two tunics, the under one being longer but less
+capacious than the other, the sleeves of the former coming down tight to
+the wrists, and being plaited in many folds, whilst those of the latter
+open out, and only reach to the elbow. The lower part, the neck, and the
+borders of the sleeves are trimmed with ornamented bands, the waist is
+encircled by a girdle just above the hips, and a long veil, finely worked,
+and fastened on the head, covers the shoulders and hangs down to the feet,
+completely hiding the hair, so that long plaits falling in front were
+evidently not then in fashion. The under dress of these four women--who
+all wear black shoes, which were probably made of morocco leather--are of
+various colours, whereas the gowns or outer tunics are white.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 408.--Costume of a Scholar of the Carlovingian Period
+(St. Matthew writing his Gospel under the Inspiration of Christ).--From a
+Miniature in a Manuscript of the Ninth Century, in the Burgundian Library,
+Brussels (drawn by Count H. de Vielcastel).]
+
+Notwithstanding that under the Carlovingian dynasty it was always
+considered a shame and a dishonour to have the head shaved, it must not be
+supposed that the upper classes continued to wear the long Merovingian
+style of hair. After the reign of Charlemagne, it was the fashion to shave
+the hair from above the forehead, the parting being thus widened, and the
+hair was so arranged that it should not fall lower than the middle of the
+neck. Under Charles the Bald, whose surname proves that he was not partial
+to long hair, this custom fell into disuse or was abandoned, and men had
+the greater part of their heads shaved, and only kept a sort of cap of
+hair growing on the top of the head. It is at this period that we first
+find the _cowl_ worn. This kind of common head-dress, made from the furs
+of animals or from woollen stuffs, continued to be worn for many
+centuries, and indeed almost to the present day. It was originally only a
+kind of cap, light and very small; but it gradually became extended in
+size, and successively covered the ears, the neck, and lastly even the
+shoulders.
+
+No great change was made in the dress of the two sexes during the tenth
+century. "Nothing was more simple than the head-dress of women," says M.
+Jules Quicherat; "nothing was less studied than their mode of wearing
+their hair; nothing was more simple, and yet finer, than their linen. The
+elegant appearance of their garments recalls that of the Greek and Roman,
+women. Their dresses were at times so tight as to display all the elegance
+of their form, whilst at others they were made so high as completely to
+cover the neck; the latter were called _cottes-hardies_. The
+_cotte-hardie_, which has at all times been part of the dress of French
+women, and which was frequently worn also by men, was a long tunic
+reaching to the heels, fastened in at the waist and closed at the wrists.
+Queens, princesses, and ladies of the nobility wore in addition a long
+cloak lined with ermine, or a tunic with or without sleeves; often, too,
+their dress consisted of two tunics, and of a veil or drapery, which was
+thrown over the head and fell down before and behind, thus entirely
+surrounding the neck."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 409.--Costume of a Scholar.
+
+Fig. 410.--Costume of a Bishop or Abbot.
+
+Fac-similes of Miniatures in a Manuscript of the Ninth Century ("Biblia
+Sacra"), in the Royal Library of Brussels.]
+
+We cannot find that any very decided change was made in dress before the
+end of the eleventh century. The ordinary dress made of thick cloths and
+of coarse woollen stuffs was very strong and durable, and not easily
+spoiled; and it was usual, as we still find in some provinces which adhere
+to old customs, for clothes, especially those worn on festive occasions
+and at ceremonials, to be handed down as heirlooms from father to son, to
+the third or fourth generation. The Normans, who came from Scandinavia
+towards the end of the tenth century, A.D. 970, with their short clothes
+and coats of mail, at first adopted the dress of the French, and continued
+to do so in all its various changes. In the following century, having
+found the Saxons and Britons in England clad in the garb of their
+ancestors, slightly modified by the Roman style of apparel, they began to
+make great changes in their manner of dressing themselves. They more and
+more discarded Roman fashions, and assumed similar costumes to those made
+in France at the same period.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 411.--Costume of Charles the Simple (Tenth
+Century).--From a Miniature in the "Rois de France," by Du Tillet,
+Manuscript of the Sixteenth Century (Imperial Library of Paris).]
+
+Before proceeding further in our history of mediaeval dress, we must
+forestall a remark which will not fail to be made by the reader, and this
+is, that we seem to occupy ourselves exclusively with the dress of kings,
+queens, and other people of note. But we must reply, that though we are
+able to form tolerably accurate notions relative to the dress of the upper
+classes during these remote periods, we do not possess any reliable
+information relative to that of the lower orders, and that the written
+documents, as well as the sculptures and paintings, are almost useless on
+this point. Nevertheless, we may suppose that the dress of the men in the
+lowest ranks of society has always been short and tight, consisting of
+_braies_, or tight drawers, mostly made of leather, of tight tunics, of
+_sayons_ or doublets, and of capes or cloaks of coarse brown woollen. The
+tunic was confined at the waist by a belt, to which the knife, the purse,
+and sometimes the working tools were suspended. The head-dress of the
+people was generally a simple cap made of thick, coarse woollen cloth or
+felt, and often of sheep's skin. During the twelfth century, a person's
+rank or social position was determined by the head-dress. The cap was made
+of velvet for persons of rank, and of common cloth for the poor. The
+_cornette_, which was always an appendage to the cap, was made of cloth,
+with which the cap might be fastened or adjusted on the head. The
+_mortier_, or round cap, dates from the earliest centuries, and was
+altered both in shape and material according to the various changes of
+fashion; but lawyers of high position continued to wear it almost in its
+original shape, and it became like a professional badge for judges and
+advocates.
+
+In the miniatures of that time we find Charles the Good, Count of
+Flanders, who died in 1127, represented with a cap with a point at the
+top, to which a long streamer is attached, and a peak turned up in front.
+A cap very similar, but without the streamer, and with the point turned
+towards the left, is to be seen in a portrait of Geoffroy le Bel, Comte de
+Maine, in 1150. About the same period, Agnes de Baudement is represented
+with a sort of cap made of linen or stuff, with lappets hanging down over
+the shoulders; she is dressed in a robe fastened round the waist, and
+having long bands attached to the sleeves near the wrists. Queen
+Ingeburge, second wife of Philip Augustus, also wore the tight gown,
+fastened at the collar by a round buckle, and two bands of stuff forming a
+kind of necklace; she also used the long cloak, and the closed shoes,
+which had then begun to be made pointed. Robert, Comte de Dreux, who lived
+at the same period, is also dressed almost precisely like the Queen,
+notwithstanding the difference of sex and rank; his robe, however, only
+descends to the instep, and his belt has no hangings in front. The Queen
+is represented with her hair long and flowing, but the count has his cut
+short.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 412.--Costume of King Louis le Jeune--Miniature of
+the "Rois de France," by Du Tillet (Sixteenth Century), in the National
+Library of Paris.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 413.--Royal Costume.--From a Miniature in a Manuscript
+of the Twelfth Century, in the Burgundian Library, Brussels.]
+
+Women, in addition to their head-dress, often wore a broad band, which was
+tied under the chin, and gave the appearance of a kind of frame for the
+face. Both sexes wore coloured bands on their shoes, which were tied round
+the ankles like those of sandals, and showed the shape of the foot.
+
+The beard, which was worn in full at the beginning of the twelfth century,
+was by degrees modified both as to shape and length. At first it was cut
+in a point, and only covered the end of the chin, but the next fashion was
+to wear it so as to join the moustaches. Generally, under Louis le Jeune
+(Fig. 412), moustaches went out of fashion. We next find beards worn only
+by country people, who, according to contemporary historians, desired to
+preserve a "remembrance of their participation in the Crusades." At the
+end of this century, all chins were shaved.
+
+The Crusades also gave rise to the general use of the purse, which was
+suspended to the belt by a cord of silk or cotton, and sometimes by a
+metal chain. At the time of the Holy War, it had become an emblem
+characteristic of pilgrims, who, before starting for Palestine, received
+from the hands of the priest the cross, the pilgrim's staff, and the
+purse.
+
+We now come to the time of Louis IX. (Figs. 414 to 418), of that good king
+who, according to the testimony of his historians, generally dressed with
+the greatest simplicity, but who, notwithstanding his usual modesty and
+economy, did not hesitate on great occasions to submit to the pomp
+required by the regal position which he held. "Sometimes," says the Sire
+de Joinville, "he went into his garden dressed in a camel's-hair coat, a
+surcoat of linsey-woolsey without sleeves, a black silk cloak without a
+hood, and a hat trimmed with peacocks' feathers. At other times he was
+dressed in a coat of blue silk, a surcoat and mantle of scarlet satin, and
+a cotton cap."
+
+The surcoat (_sur-cotte_) was at first a garment worn only by females, but
+it was soon adopted by both sexes: it was originally a large wrapper with
+sleeves, and was thrown over the upper part of the robe (_cotte_), hence
+its name, _sur-cotte._ Very soon it was made without sleeves--doubtless,
+as M. Quicherat remarks, that the under garment, which was made of more
+costly material, might be seen; and then, with the same object, and in
+order that the due motion of the limbs might not be interfered with, the
+surcoat was raised higher above the hips, and the arm-holes were made very
+large.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 414.--Costume of a Princess dressed in a Cloak lined
+with Fur.--From a Miniature of the Thirteenth Century.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 415.--Costume of William Malgeneste, the King's
+Huntsman, as represented on his Tomb, formerly in the Abbey of Long-Pont.]
+
+At the consecration of Louis IX., in 1226, the nobles wore the cap
+(_mortier_) trimmed with fur; the bishops wore the cope and the mitre, and
+carried the crosier. Louis IX., at the age of thirteen, is represented, in
+a picture executed in 1262 (Sainte-Chapelle, Paris), with his hair short,
+and wearing a red velvet cap, a tunic, and over this a cloak open at the
+chest, having long sleeves, which are slit up for the arms to go through;
+this cloak, or surcoat, is trimmed with ermine in front, and has the
+appearance of what we should now call a fur shawl. The young King has long
+hose, and shoes similar in shape to high slippers. In the same painting
+Queen Margaret, his wife, wears a gown with tight bodice opened out on the
+hips, and having long and narrow sleeves; she also has a cloak embroidered
+with fleurs-de-lis, the long sleeves of which are slit up and bordered
+with ermine; a kind of hood, much larger than her head, and over this a
+veil, which passes under the chin without touching the face; the shoes are
+long, and seem to enclose the feet very tightly.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 416.--Costumes of the Thirteenth Century: Tristan and
+the beautiful Yseult.--From a Miniature in the Romance of "Tristan,"
+Manuscript of the Fourteenth Century (Imperial Library of Paris).]
+
+From this period gowns with tight bodices were generally adopted; the
+women wore over them a tight jacket, reaching to a little below the hips,
+often trimmed with fur when the gown was richly ornamented, and itself
+richly ornamented when the gown was plain. They also began to plait the
+hair, which fell down by the side of the face to the neck, and they
+profusely decorated it with pearls or gold or silver ornaments. Jeanne,
+Queen of Navarre, wife of Philippe le Bel, is represented with a pointed
+cap, on the turned-up borders of which the hair clusters in thick curls on
+each side of the face; on the chest is a frill turned down in two points;
+the gown, fastened in front by a row of buttons, has long and tight
+sleeves, with a small slit at the wrists closed by a button; lastly, the
+Queen wears, over all, a sort of second robe in the shape of a cloak, the
+sleeves of which are widely slit in the middle.
+
+At the end of the thirteenth century luxury was at its height at the court
+of France: gold and silver, pearls and precious stones were lavished on
+dress. At the marriage of Philip III., son of St. Louis, the gentlemen
+were dressed in scarlet; the ladies in cloth of gold, embroidered and
+trimmed with gold and silver lace. Massive belts of gold were also worn,
+and chaplets sparkling with the same costly metal. Moreover, this
+magnificence and display (see chapter on Private Life) was not confined to
+the court, for we find that it extended to the bourgeois class, since
+Philippe le Bel, by his edict of 1294, endeavoured to limit this
+extravagance, which in the eyes of the world had an especial tendency to
+obliterate, or at least to conceal, all distinctions of birth, rank, and
+condition. Wealth strove hard at that time to be the sole standard of
+dress.
+
+As we approach the fourteenth century--an epoch of the Middle Ages at
+which, after many changes of fashion, and many struggles against the
+ancient Roman and German traditions, modern national costume seems at last
+to have assumed a settled and normal character--we think it right to
+recapitulate somewhat, with a view to set forth the nature of the various
+elements which were at work from time to time in forming the fashions in
+dress. In order to give more weight to our remarks, we will extract,
+almost word for word, a few pages from the learned and excellent work
+which M. Jules Quicherat has published on this subject.
+
+"Towards the year 1280," he says, "the dress of a man--not of a man as the
+word was then used, which meant _serf_, but of one to whom the exercise of
+human prerogatives was permitted, that is to say, of an ecclesiastic, a
+bourgeois, or a noble--was composed of six indispensable portions: the
+_braies_, or breeches, the stockings, the shoes, the coat, the surcoat, or
+_cotte-hardie,_ and the _chaperon_, or head-dress. To these articles those
+who wished to dress more elegantly added, on the body, a shirt; on the
+shoulders, a mantle; and on the head, a hat, or _fronteau_.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 417.--Costumes of the Common People in the Fourteenth
+Century: Italian Gardener and Woodman.--From two Engravings in the Bonnart
+Collection.]
+
+"The _braies_, or _brayes_, were a kind of drawers, generally knitted,
+sometimes made of woollen stuff or silk, and sometimes even of undressed
+leather. .... Our ancestors derived this part of their dress from the
+ancient Gauls; only the Gallic braies came down to the ankle, whereas
+those of the thirteenth century only reached to the calf. They were
+fastened above the hips by means of a belt called the _braier_.
+
+"By _chausses_ was meant what we now call long stockings or hose. The
+stockings were of the same colour and material as the braies, and were
+kept up by the lower part of the braies being pulled over them, and tied
+with a string.
+
+"The shoes were made of various kinds of leather, the quality of which
+depended on the way in which they were tanned, and were either of common
+leather, or of leather which was similar to that we know as morocco, and
+was called _cordouan_ or _cordua_ (hence the derivation of the word
+_cordouannier_, which has now become _cordonnier_). Shoes were generally
+made pointed; this fashion of the _poulaines_, or Polish points, was
+followed throughout the whole of Europe for nearly three hundred years,
+and, when first introduced, the Church was so scandalized by it that it
+was almost placed in the catalogue of heresies. Subsequently, the taste
+respecting the exaggerated length of the points was somewhat modified, but
+it had become so inveterate that the tendency for pointed shoes returning
+to their former absurd extremes was constantly showing itself. The pointed
+shoes became gradually longer during the struggles which were carried on
+in the reign of Philippe le Bel between Church and State.
+
+"Besides the shoes, there were also the _estiviaux_, thus named from.
+_estiva_ (summer thing), because, being generally made of velvet, brocade,
+or other costly material, they could only be worn in dry weather.
+
+"The coat (_cotte_) corresponded with the tunic of the ancients, it was a
+blouse with tight sleeves. These sleeves were the only part of it which
+were exposed, the rest being completely covered by the surcoats, or
+_cotte-hardie,_ a name the origin of which is obscure. In shape the
+surcoat somewhat resembled a sack, in which, at a later period, large
+slits were made in the arms, as well as over the hips and on the chest,
+through which appeared the rich furs and satins with which it was
+lined.... The ordinary material of the surcoat for the rich was cloth,
+either scarlet, blue, or reddish brown, or two or more of these colours
+mixed together; and for the poor, linsey-woolsey or fustian. The nobles,
+princes, or barons, when holding a court, wore surcoats of a colour to
+match their arms, which were embroidered upon them, but the lesser nobles
+who frequented the houses of the great spoke of themselves as in the robes
+of such and such a noble, because he whose patronage they courted was
+obliged to provide them with surcoats and mantles. These were of their
+patron's favourite colour, and were called the livery (_livree_), on
+account of their distribution (_livraison_), which took place twice a
+year. The word has remained in use ever since, but with a different
+signification; it is, however, so nearly akin to the original meaning that
+its affinity is evident."
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 418.--Costume of English Servants in the Fourteenth
+Century.--From Manuscripts in the British Museum.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 419.--Costume of Philip the Good, with Hood and
+"Cockade."--From a Miniature in a Manuscript of the Period.]
+
+An interesting anecdote relative to this custom is to be found in the
+chronicles of Matthew Paris. When St. Louis, to the dismay of all his
+vassals, and of his inferior servants, had decided to take up the cross,
+he succeeded in associating the nobles of his court with him in his vow by
+a kind of pious fraud. Having had a certain number of mantles prepared for
+Christmas-day, he had a small white cross embroidered on each above the
+right shoulder, and ordered them to be distributed among the nobles on the
+morning of the feast when they were about to go to mass, which was
+celebrated some time before sunrise. Each courtier received the mantle
+given by the King at the door of his room, and put it on in the dark
+without noticing the white cross; but, when the day broke, to his great
+surprise, he saw the emblem worn by his neighbour, without knowing that he
+himself wore it also. "They were surprised and amused," says the English
+historian, "at finding that the King had thus piously entrapped them....
+As it would have been unbecoming, shameful, and even unworthy of them to
+have removed these crosses, they laughed heartily, and said that the good
+King, on starting as a pilgrim-hunter, had found a new method of catching
+men."
+
+"The chaperon," adds M. Quicherat, "was the national head-dress of the
+ancient French, as the _cucullus_, which was its model, was that of the
+Gauls. We can imagine its appearance by its resemblance to the domino now
+worn at masked balls. The shape was much varied during the reign of
+Philippe le Bel, either by the diminution of the cape or by the
+lengthening of the hood, which was always sufficiently long to fall on the
+shoulders. In the first of these changes, the chaperon no longer being
+tied round the neck, required to be held on the head by something more
+solid. For this reason it was set on a pad or roll, which changed it into
+a regular cap. The material was so stitched as to make it take certain
+folds, which were arranged as puffs, as ruffs, or in the shape of a cock's
+comb; this last fashion, called _cockade_, was especially in vogue (Fig.
+419)--hence the origin of the French epithet _coquard_, which would be now
+expressed by the word _dandy_.
+
+"Hats were of various shapes. They were made of different kinds of felt,
+or of otter or goat's skin, or of wool or cotton. The expression _chapeau
+de fleurs_ (hat of flowers), which continually occurs in ancient works,
+did not mean any form of hat, but simply a coronet of forget-me-nots or
+roses, which was an indispensable part of dress for balls or festivities
+down to the reign of Philippe de Valois (1347). Frontlets (_fronteaux_), a
+species of fillet made of silk, covered with gold and precious stones,
+superseded the _chapeau de fleurs_, inasmuch as they had the advantage of
+not fading. They also possessed the merit of being much more costly, and
+were thus the means of establishing in a still more marked manner
+distinctions in the social positions of the wearers.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 420.--Costumes of a rich Bourgeoise, of a
+Peasant-woman, and of a Lady of the Nobility, of the Fourteenth
+Century.--From various painted Windows in the Churches of Moulins
+(Bourbonnais).]
+
+[Illustration: Saint Catherine Surrounded by the Doctors of Alexandria.
+
+A miniature from the _Breviary_ of the cardinal Grimani, attributed to
+Memling.
+
+Bibl. of Saint-Marc, Venice.
+
+(From a copy belonging to M. Ambroise Firmin-Didot.)]
+
+"There were two kinds of mantles; one was open in front, and fell over the
+back, and a strap which crossed the chest held it fixed on the shoulders;
+the other, enveloping the body like a bell, was slit up on the right side,
+and was thrown back over the left arm; it was made with a fur collar, cut
+in the shape of a tippet. This last has been handed down to us, and is
+worn by our judges under the name of _toge_ and _epitoge_.
+
+"It is a very common mistake to suppose that the shirt is an article of
+dress of modern invention; on the contrary, it is one of great antiquity,
+and its coming into general use is the only thing new about it.
+
+"Lastly, we have to mention the _chape_, which was always regarded as a
+necessary article of dress. The _chape_ was the only protection against
+bad weather at a period when umbrellas and covered carriages were unknown.
+It was sometimes called _chape de pluie_, on account of the use to which
+it was applied, and it consisted of a large cape with sleeves, and was
+completely waterproof. It was borne behind a master by his servant, who,
+on account of this service was called a _porte-chape._ It is needless to
+say that the common people carried it themselves, either slung over their
+backs, or folded under the arm."
+
+If we now turn to female attire, we shall find represented in it all the
+component parts of male dress, and almost all of them under the same
+names. It must be remarked, however, that the women's coats and surcoats
+often trailed on the ground; that the hat--which was generally called a
+_couvre-chef,_ and consisted of a frame of wirework covered over with
+stuff which was embroidered or trimmed with lace--was not of a conical
+shape; and, lastly, that the _chaperon_, which was always made with a
+tippet, or _chausse_, never turned over so as to form a cap. We may add
+that the use of the couvre-chef did not continue beyond the middle of the
+fourteenth century, at which time women adopted the custom of wearing any
+kind of head-dress they chose, the hair being kept back by a silken net,
+or _crepine_, attached either to a frontlet, or to a metal fillet, or
+confined by a veil of very light material, called a _mollequin_ (Fig.
+420).
+
+With the aid of our learned guide we have now reached a period (end of the
+thirteenth century) well adapted for this general study of the dress of
+our ancestors, inasmuch as soon afterwards men's dress at least, and
+especially that of young courtiers, became most ridiculously and even
+indecently exaggerated. To such an extent was this the case, that serious
+calamities having befallen the French nation about this time, and its
+fashions having exercised a considerable influence over the whole
+continent of Europe, contemporary historians do not hesitate to regard
+these public misfortunes as a providential chastisement inflicted on
+France for its disgraceful extravagance in dress.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 421.--Costumes of a young Nobleman and of a Bourgeois
+in the Fourteenth Century.--From a painted Window in the Church of
+Saint-Ouen at Rouen, and from a Window at Moulins (Bourbonnais).]
+
+"We must believe that God has permitted this as a just judgment on us for
+our sins," say the monks who edited the "Grande Chronique de St. Denis,"
+in 1346, at the time of the unfortunate battle of Cressy, "although it
+does not belong to us to judge. But what we see we testify to; for pride
+was very great in France, and especially amongst the nobles and others,
+that is to say, pride of nobility, and covetousness. There was also much
+impropriety in dress, and this extended throughout the whole of France.
+Some had their clothes so short and so tight that it required the help of
+two persons to dress and undress them, and whilst they were being
+undressed they appeared as if they were being skinned. Others wore dresses
+plaited over their loins like women; some had chaperons cut out in points
+all round; some had tippets of one cloth, others of another; and some had
+their head-dresses and sleeves reaching to the ground, looking more like
+mountebanks than anything else. Considering all this, it is not surprising
+if God employed the King of England as a scourge to correct the excesses
+of the French people."
+
+And this is not the only testimony to the ridiculous and extravagant
+tastes of this unfortunate period. One writer speaks with indignation of
+the _goats' beards_ (with two points), which seemed to put the last
+finishing touch of ridicule on the already grotesque appearance of even
+the most serious people of that period. Another exclaims against the
+extravagant luxury of jewels, of gold and silver, and against the wearing
+of feathers, which latter then appeared for the first time as accessories
+to both male and female attire. Some censure, and not without reason, the
+absurd fashion of converting the ancient leather girdle, meant to support
+the waist, into a kind of heavy padded band, studded with gilded ornaments
+and precious stones, and apparently invented expressly to encumber the
+person wearing it. Other contemporary writers, and amongst these Pope
+Urban V. and King Charles V. (Fig. 422), inveigh against the _poulaines_,
+which had more than ever come into favour, and which were only considered
+correct in fashion when they were made as a kind of appendix to the foot,
+measuring at least double its length, and ornamented in the most
+fantastical manner. The Pope anathematized this deformity as "a mockery of
+God and the holy Church," and the King forbad craftsmen to make them, and
+his subjects to wear them. All this is as nothing in comparison with the
+profuse extravagance displayed in furs, which was most outrageous and
+ruinous, and of which we could not form an idea were it not for the items
+in certain royal documents, from which we gather that, in order to trim
+two complete suits for King John, no fewer than six hundred and seventy
+martens' skins were used. It is also stated that the Duke of Berry, the
+youngest son of that monarch, purchased nearly ten thousand of these same
+skins from a distant country in the north, in order to trim only five
+mantles and as many surcoats. We read also that a robe made for the Duke
+of Orleans, grandson of the same king, required two thousand seven hundred
+and ninety ermines' skins. It is unnecessary to state, that in consequence
+of this large consumption, skins could only be purchased at the most
+extravagant prices; for example, fifty skins cost about one hundred francs
+(or about six thousand of present currency), showing to what an enormous
+expense those persons were put who desired to keep pace with the luxury of
+the times (Fig. 424).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 422.--Costume of Charles V., King of France.--From a
+Statue formerly in the Church of the Celestins, Paris.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 423.--Costume of Jeanne de Bourbon, Wife of Charles
+V.--From a Statue formerly in the Church of the Celestins, Paris.]
+
+We have already seen that Charles V. used his influence, which was
+unfortunately very limited, in trying to restrain the extravagance of
+fashion. This monarch did more than decree laws against indelicate or
+unseemly and ridiculous dress; he himself never wore anything but the long
+and ample costume, which was most becoming, and which had been adopted in
+the preceding century. His example, it is true, was little followed, but
+it nevertheless had this happy resuit, that the advocates of short and
+tight dresses, as if suddenly seized with instinctive modesty, adopted an
+upper garment, the object of which seemed to be to conceal the absurd
+fashions which they had not the courage to rid themselves of. This heavy
+and ungraceful tunic, called a _housse_, consisted of two broad bands of
+a more or less costly material, which, starting from the neck, fell behind
+and before, thus almost entirely concealing the front and back of the
+person, and only allowing the under garments to be seen through the slits
+which naturally opened on each side of it.
+
+A fact worthy of remark is, that whilst male attire, through a depravity
+of taste, had extended to the utmost limit of extravagance, women's dress,
+on the contrary, owing to a strenuous effort towards a dignified and
+elegant simplicity, became of such a character that it combined all the
+most approved fashions of female costume which had been in use in former
+periods.
+
+The statue of Queen Jeanne de Bourbon, wife of Charles V., formerly placed
+with that of her husband in the Church of the Celestins at Paris, gives
+the most faithful representation of this charming costume, to which our
+artists continually have recourse when they wish to depict any poetical
+scenes of the French Middle Ages (Fig. 423).
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 424.--Costumes of Bourgeois or Merchant, of a
+Nobleman, and of a Lady of the Court or rich Bourgeoise, with the
+Head-dress (_escoffion_) of the Fifteenth Century.--From a Painted Window
+of the Period, at Moulins (Bourbonnais), and from a Painting on Wood of
+the same Period, in the Musee de Cluny.]
+
+This costume, without positively differing in style from that of the
+thirteenth century, inasmuch as it was composed of similar elements, was
+nevertheless to be distinguished by a degree of elegance which hitherto
+had been unknown. The coat, or under garment, which formerly only showed
+itself through awkwardly-contrived openings, now displayed the harmonious
+outlines of the figure to advantage, thanks to the large openings in the
+overcoat. The surcoat, kept back on the shoulders by two narrow bands,
+became a sort of wide and trailing skirt, which majestically draped the
+lower part of the body; and, lastly, the external corset was invented,
+which was a kind of short mantle, falling down before and behind without
+concealing any of the fine outlines of the bust. This new article of
+apparel, which was kept in its place in the middle of the chest by a steel
+busk encased in some rich lace-work, was generally made of fur in winter
+and of silk in summer. If we consult the numerous miniatures in
+manuscripts of this period, in which the gracefulness of the costume was
+heightened by the colours employed, we shall understand what variety and
+what richness of effect could be displayed without departing from the most
+rigid simplicity.
+
+One word more in reference to female head-dress. The fashion of wearing
+false hair continued in great favour during the middle of the fourteenth
+century, and it gave rise to all sorts of ingenious combinations; which,
+however, always admitted of the hair being parted from the forehead to the
+back of the head in two equal masses, and of being plaited or waved over
+the ears. Nets were again adopted, and head-dresses which, whilst
+permitting a display of masses of false hair, hid the horsehair or padded
+puffs. And, lastly, the _escoffion_ appeared--a heavy roll, which, being
+placed on a cap also padded, produced the most clumsy, outrageons, and
+ungraceful shapes (Fig. 424).
+
+At the beginning of the fifteenth century men's dress was still very
+short. It consisted of a kind of tight waistcoat, fastened by tags, and of
+very close-fitting breeches, which displayed the outlines of the figure.
+In order to appear wide at the shoulders artificial pads were worn, called
+_mahoitres_. The hair was allowed to fall on the forehead in locks, which
+covered the eyebrows and eyes. The sleeves were slashed, the shoes armed
+with long metal points, and the conical hat, with turned-up rim, was
+ornamented with gold chains and various jewels. The ladies, during the
+reign of Charles VI., still wore long trains to their dresses, which they
+carried tucked up under their arms, unless they had pages or waiting-maids
+(see chapter on Ceremonials). The tendency, however, was to shorten these
+inconvenient trains, as well as the long hanging and embroidered or
+fringed sleeves. On the other hand, ladies' dresses on becoming shorter
+were trimmed in the most costly manner. Their head-dresses consisted of
+very large rolls, surmounted by a high conical bonnet called a _hennin_,
+the introduction of which into France was attributed to Queen Isabel of
+Bavaria, wife of Charles VI. It was at this period that they began to
+uncover the neck and to wear necklaces.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 425.--Italian Costumes of the Fifteenth Century:
+Notary and Sbirro.--From two Engravings in the Bonnart Collection.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 426.--Costumes of a Mechanic's Wife and a rich
+Bourgeois in the latter part of the Fifteenth Century.--From Windows in
+the Cathedral of Moulins (Bourbonnais).]
+
+Under Louis XI. this costume, already followed and adopted by the greatest
+slaves of fashion, became more general.
+
+"In this year (1487)," says the chronicler Monstrelet, "ladies ceased to
+wear trains, substituting for them trimmings of grebe, of martens' fur, of
+velvet, and of other materials, of about eighteen inches in width; some
+wore on the top of their heads rolls nearly two feet high, shaped like a
+round cap, which closed in above. Others wore them lower, with veils
+hanging from the top, and reaching down to the feet. Others wore unusually
+wide silk bands, with very elegant buckles equally wide, and magnificent
+gold necklaces of various patterns.
+
+"About this time, too, men took to wearing shorter clothes than ever,
+having them made to fit tightly to the body, after the manner of dressing
+monkeys, which was very shameful and immodest; and the sleeves of their
+coats and doublets were slit open so as to show their fine white shirts.
+They wore their hair so long that it concealed their face and even their
+eyes, and on their heads they wore cloth caps nearly a foot or more high.
+They also carried, according to fancy, very splendid gold chains. Knights
+and squires, and even the varlets, wore silk or velvet doublets; and
+almost every one, especially at court, wore poulaines nine inches or more
+in length. They also wore under their doublets large pads (_mahoitres_),
+in order to appear as if they had broad shoulders."
+
+Under Charles VIII. the mantle, trimmed with fur, was open in front, its
+false sleeves being slit up above in order to allow the arms of the under
+coat to pass through. The cap was turned up; the breeches or long hose
+were made tight-fitting. The shoes with poulaines were superseded by a
+kind of large padded shoe of black leather, round or square at the toes,
+and gored over the foot with coloured material, a fashion imported from
+Italy, and which was as much exaggerated in France as the poulaine had
+formerly been. The women continued to wear conical caps (_hennins_) of
+great height, covered with immense veils; their gowns were made with
+tight-fitting bodies, which thus displayed the outlines of the figure
+(Figs. 427 and 428).
+
+Under Louis XII., Queen Anne invented a low head-dress--or rather it was
+invented for her--consisting of strips of velvet or of black or violet
+silk over other bands of white linen, which encircled the face and fell
+down over the back and shoulders; the large sleeves of the dresses had a
+kind of turned-over borders, with trimmings of enormous width. Men adopted
+short tunics, plaited and tight at the waist. The upper part of the
+garments of both men and women was cut in the form of a square over the
+chest and shoulders, as most figures are represented in the pictures of
+Raphael and contemporary painters.
+
+[Illustration: Italian Lacework, in Gold Thread.
+
+The cypher and arms of Henry III. (16th century.)]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 427.--Costume of Charlotte of Savoy, second Wife of
+Louis XI.--From a Picture of the Period formerly in the Castle of
+Bourbon-l'Archambault, M. de Quedeville's Collection, in Paris. The Arms
+of Louis XI. and Charlotte are painted behind the picture.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 428.--Costume of Mary of Burgundy, Daughter of
+Charles the Bold, Wife of Maximilian of Austria (end of the Fifteenth
+Century). From an old Engraving in the Collection of the Imperial Library,
+Paris.]
+
+The introduction of Italian fashions, which in reality did not much differ
+from those which had been already adopted, but which exhibited better
+taste and a greater amount of elegance, dates from the famous expedition
+of Charles VIII. into Italy (Figs. 429 and 430). Full and gathered or
+puffed sleeves, which gave considerable gracefulness to the upper part of
+the body, succeeded to the _mahoitres_, which had been discarded since the
+time of Louis XI. A short and ornamental mantle, a broad-brimmed hat
+covered with feathers, and trunk hose, the ample dimensions of which
+earned for them the name of _trousses_, formed the male attire at the end
+of the fifteenth century. Women wore the bodies of their dresses closely
+fitting to the figure, embroidered, trimmed with lace, and covered with
+gilt ornaments; the sleeves were very large and open, and for the most
+part they still adhered to the heavy and ungraceful head-dress of Queen
+Anne of Brittany. The principal characteristic of female dress at the time
+was its fulness; men's, on the contrary, with the exception of the mantle
+or the upper garment, was usually tight and very scanty.
+
+We find that a distinct separation between ancient and modern dress took
+place as early as the sixteenth century; in fact, our present fashions may
+be said to have taken their origin from about that time. It was during
+this century that men adopted clothes closely fitting to the body;
+overcoats with tight sleeves, felt hats with more or less wide brims, and
+closed shoes and boots. The women also wore their dresses closely fitting
+to the figure, with tight sleeves, low-crowned hats, and richly-trimmed
+petticoats. These garments, which differ altogether from those of
+antiquity, constitute, as it were, the common type from which have since
+arisen the endless varieties of male and female dress; and there is no
+doubt that fashion will thus be continually changing backwards and
+forwards from time to time, sometimes returning to its original model, and
+sometimes departing from it.
+
+[Illustration: Figs. 429 and 430.--Costumes of Young Nobles of the Court
+of Charles VIII., before and after the Expedition into Italy.--From
+Miniatures in two Manuscripts of the Period in the National Library of
+Paris.]
+
+During the sixteenth century, ladies wore the skirts of their dresses,
+which were tight at the waist and open in front, very wide, displaying the
+lower part of a very rich under petticoat, which reached to the ground,
+completely concealing the feet. This, like the sleeves with puffs, which
+fell in circles to the wrists, was altogether an Italian fashion.
+Frequently the hair was turned over in rolls, and adorned with precious
+stones, and was surmounted by a small cap, coquettishly placed either on
+one side or on the top of the head, and ornamented with gold chains,
+jewels, and feathers. The body of the dress was always long, and pointed
+in front. Men wore their coats cut somewhat after the same shape: their
+trunk hose were tight, but round the waist they were puffed out. They wore
+a cloak, which only reached as far as the hips, and was always much
+ornamented; they carried a smooth or ribbed cap on one side of the head,
+and a small upright collar adorned the coat. This collar was replaced,
+after the first half of the sixteenth century, by the high, starched ruff,
+which was kept out by wires; ladies wore it still larger, when it had
+somewhat the appearance of an open fan at the back of the neck.
+
+If we take a retrospective glance at the numerous changes of costume which
+we have endeavoured to describe in this hurried sketch, we shall find that
+amongst European nations, during the Middle Ages, there was but one common
+standard of fashion, which varied from time to time according to the
+particular custom of each country, and according to the peculiarities of
+each race. In Italy, for instance, dress always maintained a certain
+character of grandeur, ever recalling the fact that the influence of
+antiquity was not quite lost. In Germany and Switzerland, garments had
+generally a heavy and massive appearance; in Holland, still more so (Figs.
+436 and 437). England uniformly studied a kind of instinctive elegance and
+propriety. It is a curious fact that Spain invariably partook of the
+heaviness peculiar to Germany, either because the Gothic element still
+prevailed there, or that the Walloon fashions had a special attraction to
+her owing to associations and general usage. France was then, as it is
+now, fickle and capricious, fantastical and wavering, but not from
+indifference, but because she was always ready to borrow from every
+quarter anything which pleased her. She, however, never failed to put her
+own stamp on whatever she adopted, thus making any fashion essentially
+French, even though she had only just borrowed it from Spain, England,
+Germany, or Italy. In all these countries we have seen, and still see,
+entire provinces adhering to some ancient costume, causing them to differ
+altogether in character from the rest of the nation. This is simply owing
+to the fact that the fashions have become obsolete in the neighbouring
+places, for every local costume faithfully and rigorously preserved by any
+community at a distance from the centre of political action or government,
+must have been originally brought there by the nobles of the country. Thus
+the head-dress of Anne of Brittany is still that of the peasant-women of
+Penhoet and of Labrevack, and the _hennin_ of Isabel of Bavaria is still
+the head-dress of Normandy.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 431.--Costumes of a Nobleman or a very rich
+Bourgeois, of a Bourgeois or Merchant, and of a Noble Lady or rich
+Bourgeoise, of the Time of Louis XII.--From Miniatures in Manuscripts of
+the Period, in the Imperial Library of Paris.]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 432.--Costume of a rich Bourgeoise, and of a Noble,
+or Person of Distinction, of the Time of Francis I.--From a Window in the
+Church of St. Ouen at Rouen, by Gaignieres (National Library of Paris).]
+
+Although the subject has reached the limits we have by the very nature of
+this work assigned to it, we think it well to overstep them somewhat, in
+order briefly to indicate the last connecting link between modern fashions
+and those of former periods.
+
+[Illustration: Figs. 433 and 434.--Costumes of the Ladies and Damsels of
+the Court of Catherine de Medicis.--After Cesare Vecellio.]
+
+Under Francis I., the costumes adopted from Italy remained almost
+stationary (Fig. 432). Under Henri II. (Figs. 433 and 434), and especially
+after the death of that prince, the taste for frivolities made immense
+progress, and the style of dress in ordinary use seemed day by day to lose
+the few traces of dignity which it had previously possessed.
+
+Catherine de Medicis had introduced into France the fashion of ruffs, and
+at the beginning of the fourteenth century, Marie de Medicis that of
+small collars. Dresses tight at the waist began to be made very full round
+the hips, by means of large padded rolls, and these were still more
+enlarged, under the name of _vertugadins_ (corrupted from
+_vertu-gardiens),_ by a monstrous arrangement of padded whalebone and
+steel, which subsequently became the ridiculous _paniers_, which were worn
+almost down to the commencement of the present century; and the fashion
+seems likely to come into vogue again.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 435.--Costume of a Gentleman of the French Court, of
+the End of the Sixteenth Century.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the "Livre
+de Poesies," Manuscript dedicated to Henry IV.]
+
+Under the last of the Valois, men's dress was short, the jacket was
+pointed and trimmed round with small peaks, the velvet cap was trimmed
+with aigrettes; the beard was pointed, a pearl hung from the left ear, and
+a small cloak or mantle was carried on the shoulder, which only reached to
+the waist. The use of gloves made of scented leather became universal.
+Ladies wore their dresses long, very full, and very costly, little or no
+change being made in these respects during the reign of Henry IV. At this
+period, the men's high hose were made longer and fuller, especially in
+Spain and the Low Countries, and the fashion of large soft boots, made of
+doeskin or of black morocco, became universal, on account of their being
+so comfortable.
+
+We may remark that the costume of the bourgeois was for a long time
+almost unchanged, even in the towns. Never having adopted either the
+tight-fitting hose or the balloon trousers, they wore an easy jerkin, a
+large cloak, and a felt hat, which the English made conical and with a
+broad brim.
+
+Towards the beginning of the seventeenth century, the high hose which were
+worn by the northern nations, profusely trimmed, was transformed into the
+_culotte_, which was full and open at the knees. A division was thus
+suddenly made between the lower and the upper part of the hose, as if the
+garment which covered the lower limbs had been cut in two, and garters
+were then necessarily invented. The felt hat became over almost the whole
+of Europe a cap, taking the exact form of the head, and having a wide,
+flat brim turned up on one side. High heels were added to boots and shoes,
+which up to that time had been flat and with single soles.... Two
+centuries later, a terrible social agitation took place all over Europe,
+after which male attire became mean, ungraceful, plain and more paltry
+than ever; whereas female dress, the fashions of which were perpetually
+changing from day to day, became graceful and elegant, though too often
+approaching to the extravagant and absurd.
+
+[Illustration: Figs. 436 and 437.--Costumes of the German Bourgeoisie in
+the Middle of the Sixteenth Century.--Drawings attributed to Holbein.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Manners, Custom and Dress During the
+Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period, by Paul Lacroix
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