THE ENGLISH IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.

179

had chimneys; in most the fire was placed on a large stone hearth in the middle of the floor, called a reredosse, and, unless when a hole in the roof was made for it, the smoke found its way out through the rafters. There was a little ledge round the hearth, to prevent the ashes and blazing sticks from falling about.

5. The entertainments of the nobles were conducted with much pomp and stateliness. The lord of the mansion sat in state at the head of the long, clumsy, oaken board, and his guests were seated on each side, according to their rank. The table was loaded with capacious pewter dishes of venison, poultry, wild fowls, and fish. dressed in different fashions; roasted cranes and stewed porpoises being favorite dishes. The tables were decorated with castles made of pastry, and tigers of jelly.

6. Ale, beer, and wine were plentifully furnished, and handed to the company in pewter or wooden cups. The feast was enlivened by singers, minstrels, and dances. But the entertainment was not conducted according to our notions of delicacy and cleanliness. Overhead were the perches for hawks, and under foot the pavement was crowded with dogs, gnawing the bones that were thrown to them.

7. In some houses, while the company sat at one end of the hall, the servants dressed the dinner at the other end. This, upon coinmon occasions, was plain enough; an enormous dish of salt fish, and huge joints of beef, with a little garnish of cabbage, formed the every-day dinner of many a noble baron.

8. When he and his guests had eaten what they chose, the serving-men took their share, and what remained was given to the poor, who, at the hour of dinner, stood in crowds about the gates to receive it. It had now become the fashion in great families to have four meals a day.

9. These were the breakfast at seven o'clock, dinner at ten, supper at four, and livery between eight and nine; the last of these was a collation of cakes and mulled wine, taken in the bedchamber, just before going to rest.

CHAPTER CII.

Domestic Habits of the English in the Fifteenth Century, continued. State of Learning.- Whittington, Lord Mayor.

1. AFTER this description of the furniture of the hall, we shall not expect to find that the accommodations for sleeping were very comfortable. A poor person of the present day would excite the compassion of the benevolent, if he was as meanly lodged as was the richest nobleman in the reign of Henry V.; a flock bed and a

entertainments? 7. What of cooking, and dishes? 8, 9. What were the hours for

meals

180 THE ENGLISH IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.

chaff bolster were then considered extraordinary luxuries; while soft pillows were made only for sick people.

2. The beds of the middle classes were straw pallets, covered with a sheet, and a log of wood for a bolster, with a blanket and coverlet, like those now used for horse-cloths. As for servants, it was very seldom they had any sheets at all to keep the hard straw from hurting them, and the sleeping in night-clothes was an extravagance they did not indulge in.

3. As field sports, such as hunting and hawking, were the chief delight of the nobles, they had no idea of going to London for amusement, as their successors do now-a-days. Yet many of them had houses there, which they occupied when they were summoned thither by the king, or attended parliament, or went there for any other public occasion.

4. These houses were called inns; as "Derby Inn," or " Furnival's Inn," from the names of the owners. The common method of building houses in towns, was to make every story project beyond the one below it: so that in narrow streets the top stories almost met.

5. Learning was very little esteemed at this period. Most of the valuable places in the church were bestowed on illiterate men or foreigners, through the papal influence, while the best scholars in the kingdom were left to languish in want and obscurity. These were sometimes obliged to beg their bread from door to door, with

CH.--1, 2. What is said of the lodging? 3. What is said of the residence of the Bobles? 4. What was the style of building houses? 5. What is said of the state of learn

THE MAID OF ORLEANS.-1428.

181

written certificates given them by the officers of the colleges in which they had studied.

6. Two of these learned beggars arrived one day at the castle of a nobleman, and presented their recommendations, for charity. From these he learned that they had a taste for poetry, whereupon he ordered his servants to take them to a draw-well, and, after putting each of them into a bucket, to let them down alternately into the water till they should make some verses upon the buckets.

7. After they had endured this discipline for some time, to the great entertainment of the baron and his company, they made out to compose some stanzas, and were set at liberty. There were doubtless impostors among the learned beggars then, as among the shipwrecked and burnt-out beggars now; and the two we have mentioned probably belonged to this class; for such treatment would otherwise have been very inconsistent with the hospitality which was so universal at that day.

8. We have all heard the pleasant story of Whittington and his cat. As to the cat, the historian cannot vouch for her existence; but Whittington himself was a real person, and was actually "Lord Mayor of London" in the reign of Henry V. He was a very munificent personage, and many of the charitable institutions founded by him exist to this day.

CHAPTER CIII.

Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans.

1. It is not often that history presents to us three brothers of such fine qualities, and such superior abilities, as Henry V. and the Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester. The Duke of Bedford was the superior. He equalled the king in valor and wisdom, and excelled him in the excellent virtues of clemency and command of temper. Gloucester, the good Duke Humphrey, as he was called, was a man of high principles and great integrity.

2. The unfortunate King of France did not long survive his conqueror, and immediately upon his death, the dauphin, Charles VII., assumed the title of king. In spite of all his efforts to the contrary, he was fast losing the little territory he had left, when, by one of the most extraordinary circumstances that ever was recorded in history, he was enabled to regain all that his father had lost.

3. The details of the deliverance of France from the English belong more particularly to the history of that country, and you cannot have forgotten the story of the Maid of Orleans, as I there related it to you. I shall here repeat only the leading events in her life. 4. Joan of Arc was a poor peasant girl, who served as the hostler at the inn of a small village in France. The tales told by the trav

ing? 6, 7. Relate the story of the two learned beggars. 8. What is said of Whittington?

CIII.-1. What is said of the Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester? 4. Who was Joan of

182

THE MAID OF ORLEANS.-1428.

ellers who stopped there, of the cruelties practised by the English, made a great impression upon her excitable mind; and her enthusiasm in behalf of her countrymen at last rose to such a pitch as to make her believe that she was appointed by God to be their deliverer.

5. Orleans was the sole town of importance remaining to Charles VII., and this had long been besieged by the English. Just at the moment when its deliverance seemed hopeless, and the fortunes of the French king to be in a desperate condition, Joan presented herself to that monarch, and made known to him what she called her divine commission.

6. The king, glad to avail himself of any expedient to raise the spirits of his countrymen, accepted her offer of service. In a complete suit of armor, and mounted on a war-horse, which her employment at the inn had made her expert in managing, she set off with a small escort of soldiers for Orleans.

7. The report of her coming had gone before her, and the English troops, who believed her all that she declared herself to be, suffered her to pass through their camp without opposition, and to enter the city. A change at once took place in the state of affairs. Taking the command of the troops, she made repeated sallies upon the besiegers, who fled at her approach without making any resistance, for they believed that in contending with her they were fighting against Heaven.

8. The English commander was at length obliged to raise the siege, and thus Joan, who henceforth was called the Maid of Or

Arc?

What did she believe herself appointed to do? 5, 6, 7. Relate the events of her

DEATH OF THE MAID OF ORLEANS.-1431.

183

leans, in part redeemed her promise. The French now became the assailants; many towns were taken, and on every occasion the Maid behaved with the courage of an experienced soldier.

9. Next to the relief of Orleans, the object which Joan had most at heart was that Charles should be crowned at Rheims, the usual place of the coronation of the kings of France. This seemed to be more difficult than her former exploits; for the whole country in the neighborhood of that city was in the possession of the enemy. Here again the general superstition aided her, and she accomplished her object.

10. The ceremony of the coronation being over, Joan announced that her task was finished, and, falling at the king's feet, besought him to permit her to return to her former station. But the king would not consent to this, and constrained her to remain with the troops. He was too poor to make her any substantial return for her services, but, as a token that he was not unmindful of them, he ennobled her family.

11. On the first unexpected turn of fortune, the French commanders had been willing to give all the honor of the successes to Joan; but after a time they became jealous of her fame; and one day when some troops under her command were repulsed near Compiègne, and obliged to retreat into the town, the governor admitted the whole party except poor Joan, who was purposely

shut out.

12. Being thus left alone in the midst of a host of enemies, she was pulled from her horse and made a prisoner. The treatment she received from Bedford is a dreadful blot upon the character of a man whose life had hitherto been more than ordinarily blameless. He caused her to be burned alive in the market-place of Rouen, on the 30th of May, 1431. The spot of this bloody sacrifice is yet marked by a statue of the heroic Maid.

13. Bedford hoped, by her execution as a sorceress, to counteract the influence of superstition on the minds of both French and English. But the effect was very different from what he expected. Her death excited the horror and detestation of the English towards those concerned in it; and the indignation of the French prompted them to yet greater exertions.

14. The duke himself did not long survive his victim. On his death, he was buried at Rouen. When Charles VII. took possession of that city, his courtiers proposed to him to destroy the monument of black marble which had been erected over his grave. No," said Charles, "let him repose in peace, and be thankful that he does repose, for were he to awake, he would make the stoutest of us tremble."

66

life to the raising of the siege of Orleans. 9, 10, 11, 12. Relate the remaining events of her life. 13. What effect did Bedford hope to produce by her death? How were his expectations answered? 14. What more is said of the duke?