Part 77 (1/2)
THE CASTLE AS A FORTRESS
Defense formed the primary purpose of the castle. Until the introduction of gunpowder and cannon, the only siege engines employed were those known in ancient times. They included machines for hurling heavy stones and iron bolts, battering rams, and movable towers, from which the besiegers crossed over to the walls. Such engines could best be used on firm, level ground. Consequently, a castle would often be erected on a high cliff or hill, or on an island, or in the center of a swamp. A castle without such natural defenses would be surrounded by a deep ditch (the ”moat”), usually filled with water. If the besiegers could not batter down or undermine the ma.s.sive walls, they adopted the slower method of a blockade and tried to starve the garrison into surrendering. But ordinarily a well-built, well- provisioned castle was impregnable. Behind its frowning battlements even a petty lord could defy a royal army.
[Ill.u.s.tration: CHaTEAU GAILLARD (RESTORED) The finest of all medieval castles. Located on a high hill overlooking the Seine about twenty miles from Rouen. Built by Richard the Lion hearted within a twelvemonth (1197-1198 AD) and by him called Saucy Castle. It was captured a few years later by the French king Philip Augustus and was dismantled early in the seventeenth century. The castle consisted of three distinct series of fortifications, besides the keep which in this case was merely a strong tower.]
A CASTLE DESCRIBED
A visitor to a medieval castle crossed the drawbridge over the moat and approached the narrow doorway, which was protected by a tower on each side. If he was admitted, the iron grating (”portcullis”) rose slowly on its creaking pulleys, the heavy, wooden doors swung open, and he found himself in the courtyard commanded by the great central tower (”keep”), where the lord and his family lived, especially in time of war. At the summit of the keep rose a platform whence the sentinel surveyed the country far and wide; below, two stories underground, lay the prison, dark, damp, and dirty. As the visitor walked about the court-yard, he came upon the hall, used as the lord's residence in time of peace, the armory, the chapel, the kitchens, and the stables. A s.p.a.cious castle might contain, in fact, all the buildings necessary for the support of the lord's servants and soldiers.
[Ill.u.s.tration: KING AND JESTER From a ma.n.u.script of the early fifteenth century.]
THE CASTLE AS A RESIDENCE
The medieval castle formed a good fortress, but a poor home. Its small rooms, lighted only by narrow windows, heated only by fireplaces, badly ventilated, and provided with little furniture, must have been indeed cheerless. Toward the close of the feudal period, when life became more luxurious, the castle began to look less like a dungeon. Windows were widened and provided with panes of painted gla.s.s, walls were hung with costly tapestries, and floors were covered with thick Oriental rugs. The n.o.bles became attached to their castle homes and often took their names from those of their estates.
AMUs.e.m.e.nTS OF THE n.o.bLES
Life within the castle was very dull. There were some games, especially chess, which the n.o.bles learned from the Moslems. Banqueting, however, formed the chief indoor amus.e.m.e.nt. The lord and his retainers sat down to a gluttonous feast and, as they ate and drank, watched the pranks of a professional jester or listened to the songs and music of ministrels or, it may be, heard with wonder the tales of far-off countries brought by some returning traveler. Outside castle walls a common sport was hunting in the forests and game preserves attached to every estate. Deer, bears, and wild boars were hunted with hounds; for smaller animals trained hawks, or falcons, were employed. But the n.o.bles, as we have just seen, found in fighting their chief outdoor occupation and pastime. ”To play a great game” was their description of a battle.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FALCONRY From a ma.n.u.script of the thirteenth century in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.]
154. KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY
APPRENTICEs.h.i.+P OF THE KNIGHT
The prevalence of warfare in feudal times made the use of arms a profession requiring special training. A n.o.bleman's son served for a number of years, first as a page, then as a squire, in his father's castle or in that of some other lord. He learned to manage a horse, to climb a scaling ladder, to wield sword, battle-ax, and lance. He also waited on the lord's table, a.s.sisted him at his toilet, followed him in the chase, and attended him in battle. This apprentices.h.i.+p usually lasted from five to seven years.
CONFERRING OF KNIGHTHOOD
When the young n.o.ble became of age, he might be made a knight, if he deserved the honor and could afford the expense. The ceremony of conferring knighthood was often most elaborate. The candidate fasted, took a bath--the symbol of purification--and pa.s.sed the eve of his admission in prayer. Next morning he confessed his sins, went to Ma.s.s, and listened to a sermon on the duties of knighthood. This ended, his father, or the n.o.ble who had brought him up, girded him with a sword and gave him the ”accolade,” that is, a blow on the neck or shoulder, at the same time saying, ”Be thou a good knight.” Then the youth, clad in s.h.i.+ning armor and wearing golden spurs, mounted his horse and exhibited his skill in warlike exercises. If a squire for valorous conduct received knighthood on the battlefield, the accolade by stroke of the sword formed the only ceremony.
CHIVALRY
In course of time, as manners softened and Christian teachings began to affect feudal society, knighthood developed into chivalry. The Church, which opposed the warlike excesses of feudalism, took the knight under her wing and bade him be always a true soldier of Christ. To the rude virtues of fidelity to one's lord and bravery in battle, the Church added others.
The ”good knight” was he who respected his sworn word, who never took an unfair advantage of another, who defended women, widows, and orphans against their oppressors, and who sought to make justice and right prevail in the world. Chivalry thus marked the union of pagan and Christian virtues, of Christianity and the profession of arms.
THE CHIVALRIC CODE
Needless to say, the ”good knight” appears rather in romance than in sober history. Such a one was Sir Lancelot, in the stories of King Arthur and the Round Table. [12] As Sir Lancelot lies in death, a former companion addresses him in words which sum up the best in the chivalric code: ”'Thou wert the courtliest knight that ever bare s.h.i.+eld; and thou wert the truest friend to thy lover that ever bestrode horse; and thou wert the truest lover among sinful men that ever loved woman; and thou wert the kindest man that ever struck with sword; and thou wert the goodliest person that ever came among press of knights; and thou wert the meekest man, and the gentlest, that ever ate in hall among ladies; and thou wert the sternest knight to thy mortal foe that ever put spear in the rest.'” [13]
JOUSTS AND TOURNAMENTS
The all-absorbing pa.s.sion for fighting led to the invention of mimic warfare in the shape of jousts and tournaments. [14] These exercises formed the medieval equivalent of the Greek athletic games and the Roman gladiatorial shows. The joust was a contest between two knights; the tournament, between two bands of knights. The contests took place in a railed-off s.p.a.ce, called the ”lists,” about which the spectators gathered.
Each knight wore upon his helmet the scarf or color of his lady and fought with her eyes upon him. Victory went to the one who unhorsed his opponent or broke in the proper manner the greatest number of lances. The beaten knight forfeited horse and armor and had to pay a ransom to the conqueror.
Sometimes he lost his life, especially when the partic.i.p.ants fought with real weapons and not with blunted lances and pointless swords. The Church now and then tried to stop these performances, but they remained universally popular until the close of the Middle Ages.
INFLUENCE OF CHIVALRY
Chivalry arose with feudalism, formed, in fact, the religion of feudalism, and pa.s.sed away only when the changed conditions of society made feudalism an anachronism. [15] While chivalry lasted, it produced some improvement in manners, particularly by insisting on the notion of personal honor and by fostering greater regard for women (though only for those of the upper cla.s.s). Our modern notion of the conduct befitting a ”gentleman” goes back to the old chivalric code. Chivalry expressed, however, simply the sentiments of the warlike n.o.bles. It was an aristocratic ideal. The knight despised and did his best to keep in subjection the toiling peasantry, upon whose backs rested the real burden of feudal society.