Note 138, page 33, col. 2. The chief a cross-bow held. The cross-bow was some time laid aside in obedience to a decree of the second Lateran council held in 1139. | Artem illam mortiferam et Deo odibilem ballistariorum adversus christianos et catholicos exercere de catero sub anathemate prohibemus.» This weapon was again introduced into our armies by Richard 1, who being slain with a quarrel shot from one of them, at the siege of the castle of Chaluz in Normandy, it was considered as a judgment from heaven inflicted upon him for his impiety. Guilliaume le Breton relating the death of this king, puts the following into the mouth of Atropos : Hác volo, non aliá Richardum morte perire Grose. Note 139, page 34, col. 1. Who, kneeling by the trebuchet. From the trebuchet they discharged many stones at once by a sling. It acted by means of a great weight fastened to the short arm of a lever, which being let fall, raised the end of the long arm with a great velocity. A man is represented kneeling to load one of these in an ivory carving, supposed to be of the age of Edward II.-Grose. mist longuement et cousterent grans deniers. Si y fist Note 145, page 34, col. 2. A moving tower the men of Orleans wheel. The following extract from the history of Edward III by Joshua Barnes will convey a full idea of these moving towers:-«Now the earl of Darby had layn before Reule more than nine weeks, in which time he had made two vast belfroys or bastilles of massy timber, with three stages of floors; each of the belfroys running on four huge wheels, bound about with thick hoops of iron; and the sides and other parts that any ways respected the town were covered with raw hides, thick laid, to defend the engines from fire and shot. In every one of these stages were placed an hundred archers, and between the two bastilles there were two hundred men with pick-axes and mattocks. From these six stages six hundred archers shot so fiercely all together, that no man could appear at his defence without a sufficient punishment: so that the belfreys being brought upon wheels by the strength of men, over a part of the Quarrels, or carreaux, were so called from their ditch which was purposely made plain and level by the Leads, which were square pyramids of iron. Note 140, page 34, col. 1. He in the groove the feather'd quarrel placed. Note 144, page 34, col. 2. From some huge martinet. faggots and earth and stones cast upon them, the two hundred pioneers plyed their work so well under the protection of these engines, that they made a considerable breach through the walls of the town.>> Note 146, page 34, col. 2. Of archers, through the opening, shot their shafts. The archers and cross-bowmen from the upper stories in the moveable towers essayed to drive away the garrison from the parapets, and on a proper opportunity to let fall a bridge, by that means to enter the town. In the bottom story was often a large ram.-Grose. Note 147, page 34, col. 2. And from the arbalist the fire-tipt dart. Against the moveable tower there were many modes of defence. The chief was to break up the ground over which it was to pass, or by undermining it to overthrow it. Attempts were likewise made to set it on fire, to prevent which it was covered with raw hides, or coated over with alum.-Grose. Note 148, page 35, col. 1. The bridge reclines. Το These bridges are described by Rollin in the account of the moving towers which he gives from Vegetius:Le lendemain vindrent deux maistres engingneurs au « The moving towers are made of an assemblage of due de Normandie, qui dirent que, si on leur vouloit li-beams and strong planks, not unlike a house. vrer boys et ouvriers, ilz feroient quatre eschauffaulx et secure them against the fires thrown by the besieged, hauls que on meneroit aux murs du chastel, et seroient they are covered with raw hides, or with pieces of cloth si haulz qlz surmonteroient les murs. Le duc commanda qiz le feissent, et fist prendre tous les charpentiers du pays, et payer largement. Si furent faitz ces quatre eschauffaulx en quatre grosses nefz, mais on y made of hair. Their height is in proportion to their base. They are sometimes thirty feet square, and sometimes forty or fifty. They are higher than the walls or even towers of the city. They are supported upon several wheels, according to mechanic principles, covering his forces, flocks about the Virgin. The by the means of which the machine is easily made to English double the storm upon the thickest of the move, how great soever it may be. The town is in troops. The Virgin fighting in the foremost ranks and great danger if this tower can approach the walls; for encouraging her men to do well was shot through the it has stairs from one story to another, and includes arm with an arrow; she, nothing amazed, takes the different methods of attack. At bottom it has a ram to arrow in one hand and her sword in the other, 'This batter the wall, and on the middle story a draw-bridge is a favour!' says she, let us go on! they cannot made of two beams with rails of basket-work, which escape the hand of GOD!'» lets down easily upon the wall of a city, when within the reach of it. The besiegers pass upon this bridge, to make themselves masters of the wall. Upon the higher stories are soldiers armed with partisans and missive weapons, who keep a perpetual discharge upon the works. When affairs are in this posture, a place seldom held out long: for what can they hope who have nothing to confide in but the height of their ramparts, when they see others suddenly appear which command them?» The towers or belfreys of modern times rarely exceeded three or four stages or stories. Note 149, page 35, col. 1. The brass-winged darts. Chapelain has dilated this exclamation of the Maid into a ridiculous speech. Quoy! valeureux Guerriers! quoy! dans vostre avantage Note 152, page 36, col. 1. Was Glacidas. L. iii. Mon I can make nothing English of this name. strelet calls him Clacedas and Clasendas. Daniel says the principal leaders of the English were Suffolk, Talbot, These darts were called viretons, from their whirling Scales, Fastolffe, « et un nommè Glacidas ou Clacidas, about in the air. Note 150, page 35, col. 2. When grappling with his monstrous enemy. « And here, with leave bespoken to recite a grand fable, though dignified by our best poets, while Brutus on a certain festival day, solemnly kept on that shore where he first lauded, was with the people in great jollity and mirth, a crew of these savages breaking in among them, began on the sudden another sort of game than at such meeting was expected. But at length by many hands overcome, Goemagog the hugest, in height twelve cubits, is reserved alive, that with him Corineus, who desired nothing more, might try his strength; whom in a wrestle the giant catching aloft with a terrible hug broke three of his ribs: nevertheless Corineus enraged heaving him up by main force and on his shoulders bearing him to the next high rock, threw him headlong all shattered into the sea, and left his name on the cliff, called ever since Langoemagog, which is to say, the giant's leap.»-Milton. The expression brute vastness is taken from the same work of Milton, where he relates the death of Morindus: « Well fitted to such a beastial cruelty was his end; for hearing of a huge monster that from the Irish sea infested the coast, and in the pride of his strength foolishly attempting to set manly valour against a brute vastness, when his weapons were all in vain, by that horrible mouth he was catched up and devoured.»> Note 151, page 36, col. 1. This is a favour! The tournelles adjoining to the bridge was kept by Glacidas (one of the most resolute captains among the English), having well encouraged his men to defend themselves and to fight for their lives. dont le mérite suppléant à la naissance l'avoit fait parvenir aux prémieres charges de l'armée.» The importance attached to a second name is well exemplified by an extract in Selden, relating to « the creation of Robert earle of Glocester natural sonne to he seold his sone to her spousing avonge, Sire, quoth this maid tho, that is a vaire name As who seith all his life and of greate fame Ae wat sbold his sonne hote thanne and be that of him come, The king understood that the maid ne sede no outrage, Selden's Titles of Honor. Note 153, page 36, col. 1. «The skirmish begins at nine of the clock in the morning, and the ladders are planted. A storm of English arrows falls upon our men with such violence as they recoiled. How now! saith the Virgin, have we begun so well to end so ill? let us charge! they are our own, seeing God is on our side!' so every one re-sented itself was the outer hallium, or bailey, separated Seeking the inner court. On entering the outer gate, the next part that pre 1 from the inner ballium by a strong embattled wall and charged with the weight of this multitude, sinks into towered gate. the water with a fearful cry, carrying all this multitude with it.-De Serres. Note 154, page 36, col. 2. The engines shower'd their sheets of liquid fire. When the Black Prince attacked the castle of Romorantin, there was slain hard by him an English esquire named Jacob Bernard, whereat the prince was so displeased, that he took his most solemn oath, and sware by his father's soul not to leave the siege, till he had the castle and all within at his mercy. Then the assault was renewed much hotter than ever, till at last the prince saw there was no likelihood of prevailing that way. Wherefore presently he gave order to raise certain engines, wherewith they cast combustible matter enflamed after the manner of wild fire into the base court so fast and in such quantities, that at last the whole court seemed to be one huge fire. Whereupon the excessive heat prevailed so, that it took hold of the roof of a great tower, which was covered with reed, and so began to spread over all the castle. Now therefore when these valiant captains within saw, that of necessity they must either submit entirely to the prince's courtesy, or perish by the most merciless of elements, they all together came down and yielded themselves absolutely to his grace.»-Joshua Barnes. Note 155, page 37, col. 1. I have not rear'd the oriflamme of death. The oriflamme was a standard erected to denote that no quarter would be given. It is said to have been of red silk, adorned and beaten with very broad and fair lilies of gold, and bordered about with gold and vermillion. Le Moyne has given it a suitable escort: Ensuite l'oriflamme ardente et lumineuse, Marche sur un grand char, dont la forme est affreuse. Et de pourpre, d'azur, et de vert emaillez, Dans quelque occasion que le besoin le porte, Luy font une pompeuse et formidable escorte. De leur feu, de leur sang, font peur aux plus hardis, Le char roulant sous eux, il semble au roulement, Philip is said by some historians to have erected the oriflamme at Crecy, where Edward in return raised up his burning dragon, the English signal for massacre. The oriflamime was originally used only in wars against the lufidels, for it was a sacred banner, and believed to have been sent from fleaven. Note 156, page 37, col. 2. Seized on the French-an universal cry. At this woman's voice amidst the sound of war, the combat grows very hot. Our men, greatly encouraged by the Virgin, run headlong to the bastion and force a point thereof; then fire and stones rain so violently, as the English being amazed, forsake their defences: some are slain upon the place, some throw themselves down headlong, and fly to the tower upon the bridge. In the end this brave Glacidas abandons this quarter, and retires into the base court upon the bridge, and after him a great number of his soldiers. The bridge greatly shaken with artillery, tried by fire, and over This circumstance has been magnified into a miracle. «The French, for the most part, draw the institution of the order of St Michael principally from a purpose that Charles had to make it, after the apparition of the archangel upon Orleans bridge, as the tutelary angell of France assisting against the English in 1428.»— Selden's Titles of Honour. The expressions are somewhat curious in the patent of this, L'ordre de Monsieur St Michael Archange. Louis XI instituted it «à la gloire et louange de Dieu nostre createur tout puissant, et reverence de la glorieuse vierge Marie, à l'honneur et reverence de StMichael, premier chevalier, qui par la querelle de Dieu, bataille contre l'ancien enemy de l'humain liguage, et le fit tresbucher de Ciel.>> Note 157, page 37, col. 2. The ascending flames. Les dictes bastiles et fortresses furent presentement arses et demolies jusques en terre, affin que nulles gens de guerre de quelconque pays quilz soient ne si peussent plus loger.-Monstrelet, ii, f. 43. Note 158, page 38, col. 1. Silence itself was dreadful. Un cry, que le besoin on la peur fait jouter, Note 159, page 38, col. 1. On that foul priest. The parliament, when Henry V demanded a supply, entreated him to seize all the ecclesiastical revenues, and couvert them to the use of the crown. The clergy were alarmed, and Chichely, archbishop of Canterbury, endeavoured to divert the blow, by giving occupation to the king, and by persuading him to undertake a war against France. - Hume. The Archbishop of Bourges explained to the king, in the hall of the bishop of Winchester, and in the presence of the dukes of Clarence, Bedford, and Gloucester, brothers to the king, and of the lords of the council, clergy, chivalry, and populace, the objects of his embassy. The archbishop spoke first in Latin, and then in the Walloon language, so eloquently and wisely, that both English and French who heard him were greatly surprised. At the conclusion of his harangue he made offers to the king of a large sum of ready money on his marriage with the princess Catherine, but on condition that he would disband the army he had collected at Southampton, and at the adjacent seaports, to invade France: and that by these means an eternal peace would be established between the two kingdoms. The assembly broke up when the archbishop had ended his speech, and the French ambassadors were kindly entertained at dinner by the king, who then appointed a day for them to receive his answers to their propositions by the mouth of the archbishop of Canterbury. In the course of the archbishop's speech, in which he replied, article by article, to what the archbishop of Bourges had offered, he added to some and passed over others of them, so that he was sharply interrupted by the archbishop of Bourges, who exclaimed, « I did not say so, but such were my words.» The conclusion, however, was, that unless the king of France would give, as a marriage portion with his daughter, the duchies of Acquitaine, of Normandy, of Anjou, of Tours, the counties of Ponthieu, Maine, and Poitou, and every other part that had formerly belonged to the English monarchs, the king would not desist from his intended invasion of France, but would despoil the whole of that kingdom which had been unjustly detained from him; and that he should depend on his sword for the accomplishment of the above, and for depriving king Charles of his crown. The king avowed what the archbishop had said, and added, that thus, with God's aid, he would act; and promised it on the word of a king. The archbishop of Bourges then, according to the custom in France, demanded permission to speak, and said, «O king! how canst thou, consistently with honour and justice, thus wish to dethrone and iniquitously destroy the most christian king of the French, our very dear lord and most excellent of all the kings in christendom? O king! with all due reverence and respect, dost thou think that he has offered by me such extent of territory, and so large a sum of money with his daughter in marriage, through any fear of thee, thy subjects or allies? By no means; but, moved by pity and his love of peace, he has made these offers to avoid the shedding of innocent blood, and that Christian people may not be overwhelmed in the miseries of war; for whenever thou shalt make thy promised attempt he will call upon God, the blessed Virgin, and on all the saints, making his appeal to them for the justice of his cause; and with their aid, and the support of his loyal subjects and faithful allies, thou wilt be driven out of his dominions, or thou wilt be made prisoner, or thou wilt there suffer death by orders of that just king whose ambassadors we are. <«<We have now only to intreat of thee that thou wouldst have us safely conducted out of thy realm; and that thou wouldst write to our said king, under thy hand and seal, the answer which thou hast had given to us. >>> The king kindly granted their request, and the ambassadors, having received handsome presents, returned by way of Dover to Calais, and thence to Paris. Monstrelet, vol. iv, p. 129. Within a few days after the expiration of the truce, king Henry, whose preparations were now completed, sent one of his heralds, called Glocester, to Paris, to deliver letters to the king, of which the contents were as ollows: «To the very noble prince Charles, our cousin and adversary of France, Henry by the grace of God, king of England and of France. To give to every one what is their due, is a work of inspiration and wise council, very noble prince, our cousin and adversary. The noble kingdoms of England and France were formerly united, now they are divided. At that time it was customary for each person to exalt his name by glorious victories, and by this single virtue to extol the honour of God, to whom holiness belongs, and to give peace to his church, by subjecting in battle the enemies of the public weal; but alas! good faith among kindred and brotherly love have been perverted, and Lot persecutes Abraham by human imputation; and Dissention, the mother of Anger, has been raised from the dead. « We, however, appeal to the sovereign Judge, who is neither swayed by prayers nor gifts from doing right, that we have, from pure affection, done every thing in our power to preserve the peace; and we must now rely on the sword for regaining what is justly our heritage, and those rights which have from old time belonged to us; and we feel such assurance in our courage, that we will fight till death in the cause of justice. << The written law in the book of Deuteronomy ordains, that before any person commences an attack on a city he shall first offer terms of peace; and although violence has detained from us our rightful inheritances, charity, however, induces us to attempt, by fair means, their recovery; for should justice be denied us, we may then resort to arms. <«< And to avoid having our conscience affected by this matter, we make our personal request to you, and exhort you, by the bowels of Jesus Christ, to follow the dictates of his evangelical doctrine. Friend, restore what thou owest; for such is the will of God to prevent the effusion of the blood of man, who was created in his likeness. Such restitution of rights, cruelly torn from us, and which we have so frequently demanded by our ambassadors, will be agreeable to the supreme God, and secure peace upon earth. « From our love of peace we were inclined to refuse fifty thousand golden crowns lately offered us; for being more desirous of peace than riches, we have preferred enjoying the patrimony left us by our venerable ancestors, with our very dear cousin Catherine, your noble daughter, so iniquitously multiplying our treasures, and thus disgracing the honour of our crown, which God forbid! «Given under our privy seal, in our castle of Southampton, the 5th day of the month of August.» Monstrelet, vol. iv, p.137. Note 160, page 38, col. 1. Sure that holy hermit spake. While Henry V lay at the siege of Dreux, an honest hermit, unknown to him, came and told him the great evils he brought upon christendom by his unjust ambition, who usurped the kingdom of France, against all manner of right, and contrary to the will of God; wherefore in his holy name he threatened him with a severe and sudden punishment, if he desisted not from his enterprise. Henry took this exhortation either as an idle whimsey, or a suggestion of the Dauphin's, and was but the more confirmed in his design. But the blow soon followed the threatening; for within some few months after, he was smitten in the fundament with a strange and incurable disease.—Mezeray. Note 161, page 38, col. 1. The hour of vengeance. Supplementum Lucani, Lib. III. I am not conscious of having imitated these lines; but I would not lose the opportunity of quoting so fine a passage from Thomas May, an author to whom I owe some obligations, and who is not remembered as his merits deserve. May himself has imitated Valerius Flaccus, though he has greatly surpassed him : Et pater orantes casorum Tartarus umbras, Note 162, page 38, col. 2. Man unassisted 'gainst the powers of hell. To some, says Speed, it may appear more honourable to our nation, that they were not to be expelled by a human power, but by a divine, extraordinarily revealing itself. The shield was often worn thus: « Among the Frenchmen there was a young lusty esquire of Gascoigne, named William Marchant, who came out among the foremost into the field, well mounted, his shield about his neck, and his spear in his hand. »Barnes. This is frequently alluded to in romance. << Then the knight of the burning sword stept forward, and lifting up his arm as if he would strike Cynocephal on the top of his head, seized with his left hand on the shield, which he pulled to him with so much strength, that plucking it from his neck he brought him to the ground.-Amadis de Greece. Sometimes the shield was laced to the shoulder. The shield of the middle ages must not be confounded with that of the ancients. The knight might easily bear bis small shield around his neck; but the Grecian warrior stood protecting his thighs, and his legs, his breast also and his shoulders with the body of his broad shield. Μηρούς τε κνήμας τε κάτω και στέρνα και ωμους Ασπιδος ευρείης γαστρι καλυψάμενος. ΤΥΡΤΑΙΟΣ. But the most convenient shields were used byCeux qu'on voit demeurer dans les iles Alandes, Qui portent pour parois, des escailles si grandes, When the armies of England and France lay in the plain between Vironfosse and Flemenguere, 1339, Edward sent to demand a day of battle of the French king. «An herald of the duke of Gueldres, being well skilled in the French tongue, was sent on this errand : he rode forth till he came to the French host, where being admitted before the king and his council, he spake aloud these words, Sir, the king of England is here hard by in the fields, and desires to fight you power against power; and if you please to appoint him a day he will not fail to meet you upon the word of a king.' This message being thus delivered, king Philip yielded either to give or take battle two days after, and in token of his acceptance of the news, richly rewarded the herald with furred gowns, and other gifts bestowed on him, as well by himself as others, the princes and lords of his host, and so dismissed him again.»-Barnes. Note 172, page 42, col. 2. And at the third deep sound. Every man was warned to rise from sleep at the first sound of the trumpet; at the second to arm without delay, and at the third to take horse in his due place under the colours.-Barnes. Note 173, page 42, col. 2. To shrive them. Religious ceremonies seem to have preceded all settled engagements at this period. On the night before the battle of Crecy, «King Edward made a supper in his royal pavilion for all his chief barons, lords, and captains: at which he appeared wonderful chearful and pleasant, to the great encouragement of his people. But when they were all dismissed to their several quarters, the king himself retired into his private oratory, and came before the altar, and there prostrated himself to Almighty God, and devoutly prayed, That of his infinite goodness he would vouchsafe to look down on the justice of his cause, and remember his unfeigned endeavours for a reconcilement, altho' they had all |