(1843) Dresses and Decorations of The Middle Ages (Volume 1)
(1843) Dresses and Decorations of The Middle Ages (Volume 1)
(1843) Dresses and Decorations of The Middle Ages (Volume 1)
HyC
•#/il/.-?7
^.M0. 6 .^
'*"
m Hill
resses anti Decorations
of tlje ffltmt ages bv
mrp g>J)atu jf. &. a.
Honfcon
WILLIAM PICKERING
1843
A
A
syrce, the origin of the more modern word sark), which was generally of
linen of breeches (in Anglo-Saxon bruc, pi. brec, the origin of the modern
;
name) which appear also to have been commonly of linen and of a tunic of ;
woollen or linen (called rooc, or roc), which descended to the knee, and was
;
bound round the body with a girdle. Over this was thrown a mantle (mentel), a
short cloak which was fastened at the breast or on the shoulders with brooches.
On the legs were worn hose (hos) which joined the breeches a little below the
knee, which were frequently bound round with fillets, called hose-bendas (hose-
bands ), scanc-beagas (leg-encirclers), scanc-bendas (leg-bands), scanc-gegirr/au
(leg-clothings). The form of the shoes, as represented in the manuscripts, is
nearly uniform they cover the foot to the ancle, are tied with a thong, having
;
an opening down the instep, and are generally painted black, except in the
case of princes and great persons, who have them frequently gilt or covered
with gold. That gloves were not unknown to the Anglo-Saxons, is proved
by the circumstance that the name (glof) occurs in the earliest Anglo-Saxon
poetry.
The formof the articles of dress was the same for all classes of society, dif-
fering only by the richness of the material or by the greater profusion of
ornament. The leg-bands were used chiefly when the wearer was engaged in
the more active pursuits of life, and particularly in travelling and in war. Rich
* The initial letter is from the remarkable manuscript in the British Museum (MS. Cotton. Nero
D. IV.), commonly known by the title of the Durham Book, written and illuminated in the latter years
of the seventh century in the isle of Lindisfarne.
INTRODUCTION,
people, when in full dress, or on ceremonial occasions, wore a more ample
tunic, descending to the feet. The
sleeve of the tunic, between the elbow and
the wrist, appears to be puckered up, and confined above the hand by a bracelet.
Labourers and peasants appear frequently without hose, and sometimes without
shoes. In the Illustrations of Prudentius, and in the twelve pictures of The
Seasons, we see all these articles of Anglo-Saxon costume in most of the dif-
ferent ranks of society. Among the latter, in the illustrations of the month
of April, the persons seated at the festival wear the large ceremonial tunic. In
the second subject from Prudentius the soldier's mantle appears to be orna-
mented by jagging at the border, somewhat like the fashion which became so
prevalent in the time of Richard II. In the illuminations, the Anglo-Saxons
appear generally without hat, except when full armed for war or travelling.
They also contradict the assertion which has been made that the Anglo-Saxons
universally wore long flowing hair, for it is there generally cut short.
The dress of the Anglo-Saxon ladies cannot be described with the same
precision as that of the men. The outer vest was a large flowing tunic, which
among persons of high rank was made of richly ornamented stuffs ; the Anglo-
Saxon cyrtel is supposed to have been a shorter tunic, under this, and next to
the skin was probably the syrce. The mantle of the ladies was also much
larger than that of the men, and hung down before and behind. The head
is generally covered with a long piece of silk or linen, which is also wrapped
round the neck. The shoes appear to have been the same for both sexes.
During the Anglo-Saxon period the common dress of the ecclesiastics does
not appear to have differed much from that of the laity. The ceremonial
robes resembled those of a later period, except that the mitre was not yet in
use. The tonsure was received among the Anglo-Saxon clergy early, though
not without considerable opposition.
In the illuminations, the only addition to the dress of the warrior is his cap
or hat, a kind of Phrygian bonnet, generally crested at the top. Perhaps the
military tunic was made
of thicker and less penetrable materials than that of
the civil costume. Mail was probably only used by chieftains. The arms
were an oval or round convex shield, made of wood, covered with leather, with
the umbo and rim of iron a sword ; and a spear, or an axe. The heads of the
;
Saxon battle-axes are frequently found in England, and have received from
antiquaries the inaccurate name of celts. The Danes brought into more
general use a double-bladed axe, which was long afterwards known by the
name of the Danish axe. The bow does not appear to have been used with
much effect among the Anglo-Saxons. It may also be observed that the Anglo-
Saxons always fought on foot.
are, with a few exceptions, exceedingly rude and incorrect. The specimens
given in the present work are much superior to those which are found in the
INTRODUCTION,
greater number of contemporary manuscripts. The general style of Anglo-
Saxon ornament resembles that which is commonly named Byzantine borders :
and initials in books are not dissimilar from those found in the earlier Greek
Ecclesiastical manuscripts. The borders of leaves in books are sometimes
painted in a sort of mosaic work, and executed with considerable beauty.
While costume and the arts of life had remained uniform among the Anglo-
Saxons, they had on the contrary undergone a great change on the Continent.
Numerous and great political revolutions, and an extensive intercourse with
the Arabs and other foreign nations, had brought many modifications even
into the dress of the people, particularly of the higher classes. The Normans,
when they had settled in Neustria, adopted the costume and language of the
Franks.
The costume of the Anglo-Normans and Anglo-Saxons differed most widely
(at the time of the Conquest) in the military dress. The Anglo-Norman
soldiers were covered with the h (tube re or halberc, a tunic of mail, either
ringed, or net-work, or quilted. This article of dress was probably borrowed
from the Arabs. It appears in our plate of Spanish Warriors of the eleventh
century, who (with the exception of the round shield) are dressed exactly like
the Normans in the Bayeux Tapestry. To the neck of this tunic was attached
a cowl, which covered the head, and over which was placed the conical helm,
with the long nasal guard descending in front. The shield of the Normans
was long and kite-shaped, and often bore the figure of a dragon, lion, or some
other device. The Norman lance had a flag attached to it, and was called a
gonfanon. The bow and the sling were also formidable instruments in the
lands of the Norman soldiers.
1 Before the end of the eleventh century, several
changes had been made in the form and construction of defensive armour, and
it sustained continual alterations during the twelfth century. The cowl of
mail was preserved, but the helmet underwent a series of changes ; the nasal
defence was thrown away at the beginning of the twelfth century, and a pointed
iron cap was adopted ; and towards the latter part of the same century the
helmet took first the form of a high cone, which afterwards subsided into a
flat-topped cap of steel, fastened under the chin with an iron hoop. A long
tunic was frequently worn under the hauberc, and the latter was partly covered
with a surcoat, an article of dress supposed to have been borrowed from the
Saracens during the crusades. The kite-shaped shield continued in use till
after the middle of the twelfth century, after which it became shortened in form
till it took nearly the form of a triangle, being semicylindrical instead of flat,
INTRODUCTION.
At first Anglo-Normans differed not widely from
the civil costume of the
that of the Anglo-Saxons. They wore
the same tunic and mantle, and nearly
the same shoes and leg-bands, but the mantle was attached with cords and
tassels. The Anglo-Normans wore long pantaloons with feet to them, which
they called chausses. The head is sometimes covered with a flat round cap.
Towards the end of the century, the tunic was made fuller and longer, so that
it sometimes trailed on the ground. The shoes were also constructed dif-
ferently, and were profusely ornamented, as was every part of the dress.
Knights and people of fashion wore long pointed shoes, which were sometimes
turned up at the points. In travelling a cape, which covered the head, was
added to the dress. The mantle, throughout the twelfth century, was very
richly decorated. Under Henry II, a shorter mantle was introduced, from
which it is said that thatmonarch took the name of Court-manteau. The
pointed Phrygian cap was the most usual covering of the head in all classes
of society, except when the cape was worn. The middle and lower classes of
society wore a short tunic with sleeves, and chausses, with shoes, or sometimes
short boots.
Under the Anglo-Normans the costume of the ladies was far more splendid
and varied than under the Anglo-Saxons. Instead of the flowing tunic of the
latter, the Norman dames wore a robe which was laced close, so as to show
the form of the body. The head-covering was arranged more gracefully, and
was thrown partly over the shoulders and back it was called a couvre-chef. :
The hair of the ladies appears to have been frequently platted in two or more
divisions, which hung down behind or before. Our information relating to
the changes of fashion among the ladies during the twelfth century is defective.
Towards the middle of the century, singular long hanging sleeves were in
fashion, examples of which will be seen in our plate of Female Costumes.
This fashion appears to have been soon laid aside. The religious satirists,
throughout the twelfth century, inveigh bitterly against the vanity, extrava-
gance, and coquetry of the female sex. At the end of the century, Alexander
Neckam, one of the best of the early Anglo-Latin poets, has the following
lines on the ladies of his time, in which he accuses them of covering themselves
with gold and gems, of painting their eyes (as is still done in the east), of
perforating their ears in order to hang them with jewels, of fasting and bleeding
themselves in order to look pale, of tightening their waists and breasts in order
to mend their shape, and of colouring their hair to give it a yellow tint
The most remarkable article in the dress of ecclesiastics during this period,
is the newly introduced mitre. At
was very low, resembling a stunted
first it
and the twelfth century may be considered as the most brilliant period of the
arts in England during the Middle Ages. The drawings in manuscripts are
generally spirited, and the outline tolerably correct, but they are much less
highly coloured than at a subsequent period. The favourite kind of ornament
during the twelfth century was scroll-work with foliage, which, in the initials,
&c. of manuscripts, as well as in enamelled articles, vests, church-windows,
&c. is often extremely elegant.
The year 1200 is not a striking division in the history of costume or art, for
the first years of the thirteenth century must be considered as a continuation
of the last years of the twelfth. The armour of the reign of King John was
nearly the same as that of the reign of Richard I. In the course of the
thirteenth century the quilted armour, then prevalent, began to be superseded
by chain mail, which also had been borrowed from the Saracens. A new
weapon came also into use, called the martel-de-Jer, a pointed hammer, used
for breaking the links of the armour. The helmet took the form of a barrel,
and towards the end of the century it was surmounted bv a heraldic crest. In
— ; : ;
INTRODUCTION,
the time of Edward I the aillettes, for the shoulders, are said to have been
introduced ; although in one of our illustrations in the present volume, of a
much earlier period, a cross appears in the situation occupied by the aillette.
Our plate of Knights Fighting is taken from a foreign MS., which may
account for some apparent anomalies, particularly the kite-shaped shields,
which were not used in England at this period.
Several new and rich stuffs were introduced early in the thirteenth century,
brought generally from the east. The siclaton, which preserved its Arabic
name, is supposed to have been a sort of fine silky woollen; the baudequin, a
rich silk woven with gold, is said to have taken its name from Baldak, or
Bagdad. Siclaton, or Siglaton, was chiefly employed in a super-tunic, or
outward gown, which was known by the name of the stuff, and is frequently
mentioned in the earlier poets it was worn indiscriminatelv by persons of
:
both sexes. Besides these, there were a great variety of costly furs, silks, &c.
and we now find mention of velvet. Among the stuffs mentioned in the reign
of Edward I. are sendel (which appears to have come from India or Persia),
sarcenet (which is said to have derived its name from the Saracens), tiretain,
or tartan, a woollen cloth of a scarlet colour (its name derived by some writers
from Tyre), gauze (said to have been manufactured at Gaza in Palestine),
and burnet.
The ladies of the time of most strongly distinguished from
Henry III. are
those of the previous reigns bv their head-dresses. The hair was now gathered
up, and confined in a caul or net of gold thread. The arrangement and shape
of this caul appear, during the thirteenth century, to have been varied in
almost every possible manner. From the satirists of the reign of Edward I,
itwould appear that it was then sometimes bound up in the shape of horns, a
fashion which became more famous at a later period these horns are alluded :
to by the writer of the Roman de la Rose and a Latin song of the reign of ;
Edward I speaks of
The head was still covered with the head-cloth, or kerchief (couvre-chef )
and the neck was enveloped with a wimple. In the Anglo-Norman romance
of Tristan, composed probably in the reign of Henry III, the following des-
cription is given of the dress of Iseult
" La roine out de soie dras, " The queen had clothes of silk,
Aporte furent de Baudas They were brought from Baldak ;
Forre furent de blanc hermine : They were furred with white ermine.
Mantel, bliault, tot li traine. The mantle, the bliault, all train after her.
Sor ses espaules sont si crin Her locks on her shoulders are
Bende a ligne sor or fin. Banded in line on fine gold.
Un cercle d'or out sor son chief.' She had a circle of gold on her head.
The bliault was a robe which fitted close about the body. One innovation
;
I N T It O D U C T 1 X.
during this century, which appears
have prevailed most iii the reign of
to
Edward I., was the long train of the ladies' robes, which dragged on the ground
behind them, and tailed not to excite the remarks of contemporary satirists.
A song of the reign of Edward I. compares the women of his time to pies, and
among other points of resemblance, says,
" La pie ad longe cowe " The pie has a long tail
Que pend en la bowe, Which hangs in the mud.
]iur la pesnuncie on account of its weigh) ;
The male attire appears not to have undergone so many changes during
this was composed of equally
century as the costume of the ladies, although it
rich materials. Under Henry III. the men in general wore breeches and
hose, and over them a long tunic, open in front, sometimes as high as the
waist. Over these they wore the siclaton. Writers of the time speak of a
fanciful, apparently jagged, mantle, named a cointise, which was used perhaps
in place of the siclaton. The shoes were long-toed, and among the rich they
were very richly embroidered in fret-work. On the head people sometimes
wore cowls, at other times round caps and hats, and, when on horseback, a coif
attached under the chin. Under Edward I, we find no change in the general
character of the dress but the fret-work is transferred to the hose, which are
:
richly ornamented. The chief alteration in the dress of the lower orders
(which had remained nearly the same since the time of the Conquest), was the
addition of a coarse outer garment resembling the modern smock-frock.
The only remarkable change in the ecclesiastical costume was the introduc-
tion of the different dresses of the many newly established orders of monks.
In artist ical skill, the earlier years of the thirteenth century partake of the
character of the twelfth. The illuminations of the middle and latter part of
the century are less correct in outline, and deficient in spirit, but more ela-
borately and richly coloured. Ornamental design was becoming gradually
so varied and fantastic, that it is not easy to describe its characteristics in
limited phraseology.
The reign of Edward II. has nothing very decided in the character of its cos-
tume — it may be considered as a period of transition between the reign of
Edward I. and that of Edward III. much the same
The male dress continued
as in the preceding reign, except that towards the end of this reign it began
to be distinguished by the accumulation of finery which became so obnoxious
to the reforming lollards in the latter part of this century. At the end of the
reign of Edward II. and more universally in the beginning of that of Edward
— ; :
INTRODUCTION.
III. the long garments of nobles and knights were changed for a shorter and
closer vest which was distinguished by the name of a cotte-liardie, from the
sleeves of which hung long slips of cloth and over the whole was worn a
;
large flowing mantle, buttoned over the shoulder, the edges frequently jagged,
or, as it was then termed, (lagged, and cut into the form of leaves, &c. This
mantle was in general thrown over the back so as to leave the front of the
body uncovered. The cotte-hard/e was richly embroidered, and the whole
costume was composed of the most costly materials and of the gayest colours
the " paynted hoodes" and " gay cotes" were the subject of many a popular
rhyme. To was added a profusion of jewellery and
the richness of the dress ;
to increase the variety of colour, party-coloured dresses were now brought into
use. The shape of the cap or hat, which was sometimes made of beaver,
was frequently changed one of its peculiarities, now first observed, was the
;
addition of a feather.
The middle classes of society soon began to vie with the courtiers in the
extravagance of their apparel, and sumptuary laws were first enacted in the
reign of the third Edward, and were frequently repeated in succeeding times.
The reign of Richard II. was that in which the extravagance, which these
laws were intended to repress, was carried to the greatest excess. A host of
contemporary writers inveigh bitterly against the vain foppery of the times.
The writer of the remarkable alliterative poem on the Deposition of Richard
II. describes these costly fashions as the immediate causes of most of the mis-
*****
And if the elbows were
Or passing the knee, it
only down to the heels,
was not accounted."
INTRODUCTION.
He says that the clergy ought to,
And drive out the dagges and all the Dutch cotes,
And set them aside, and turn them all to scorn."
Some idea of the costume of this time will be given by our plate of Courtiers
of the time of Richard II., especially of the dogging of the edges of the
mantle, or rather of the gown, for that was the name by which this part of the
dress was now designated. Many of the fashions of this reign appear to have
been brought from German}-, which is probably the meaning- of the term Dutch
coats given to them in the foregoing lines.
The is thus described by a contemporary writer
rest of the dress
:— " Their
hoods are small, tied under the chin, and buttoned like those of the women,
but set with gold, silver, and precious stones. Their lirripipes or tippets pass
round the neck, and hang down before to the feet, all jagged. They have
another garment of silk which they call a pedtock. Their hose are of two
colours (
party-coloured), or pied with more, which they tie to the paltocks,
with white latchets called herlots, without any breeches. Their girdles are
of gold and silver, and some of them worth twenty marks. Their shoes and
pattens are snouted and piked more than a finger long, bending upwards, which
they call crakowes, resembling the claws of devils, and fastened to the knees
with chains of gold and silver."
Several articles of dress at this period were common to both sexes. Another
contemporary moralist (printed in the Reliquiae Antiquse, vol. i. p. 41.) gives
the following account of the dress of the men and women of the reign of Richard
II.
— " Thus the devil farith with men and women first he stirreth them to
:
pappe and pamper their flesh, desiring delicious meats and drinks, and so to
hop on the pilar (of the devil's temptation) with their horns, locks, garlands
of gold and of rich pearls, cauls, fillets, and wimples, and riddled gowns, and
rockets, colars, laces, jackes, paltokes, with their long crakowes, and thus the
devil beareth them up upon the pillar, to teach them to fly above other simple
folk, and saith that they shall not hurt themselves, but he lieth falsely, for
unless they are as sorry therefor as ever they were glad, they shall leap down
from the pillar into the pit of hell."
The female costume in the first half of the fourteenth century differed little
from that of the preceding age the ladies still wore the same style of coiffure,
;
the kerehef, and the gorget about the neck. The gorget and kerchef are seen
in the figures on our plate of A Royal Repast. In the reign of Edward III.
the dress of the ladies made the same advances as that of the other sex. The
cotte-hardie, sometimes with and sometimes without the long slips at the elbows,
was worn by the women as well as by the men. Sometimes, instead of this vest,
the ladies wore a tight gown or kirtlc, very long, with long or short sleeves,
ami not un frequently with the same long slips at the elbows. At a later
period a kind of spencer or waist-coat came into fashion, worn over the gown,
reaching to the hips, and bordered with rich furs. This waist-coat came into
more general use towards the latter part of the century. The hair was still
— ; — —
INTRODUCTION,
bound up in a caul of fret or net-work. Chaucer's account of the Wife of Bath
is a good picture of a well-dressed dame of the reign of Richard II.
Many of the gay female fashions of the reign of Richard II. are said to have
been introduced by Queen Anne of Bohemia. A similar revolution was in the
same age effected in France by the love of splendour and gaiety which was
the characteristic of Queen Anne of Austria.
Ecclesiastics appear to have rivalled the laity in their love of finery. The
splendour of the sacerdotal garments of ceremony was perhaps at its greatest
height in the latter part of the twelfth and earlier part of the thirteenth cen-
turies : but we can hardly imagine a dress much more rich than that repre-
sented in our plate of An incised Slab of the date 1353. Chaucer has touched
with great effect the worldly vanity of the monkish orders. His monk had
* * * *
Ful fetise was hire cloke, as I was ware.
Of smale corall aboute hire arm she bare
A pair of bedes, gauded all with grene ;
Chaucer's description of his pilgrims is our best authority for the costumes of
the different orders of society in the time of Richard II. His own portrait.
given in one of our plates, may be considered a good example of the ordinarv
costume of the time.
—
INTRODUCTION.
would require a volume to give a minute aceount of all the changes in the
It
military costume of our forefathers during the fourteenth century. One of the
most remarkable innovations was the introduction of plate armour, winch began
to be used extensively in the reign of Edward II. The construction of the
whole armour becomes more complicated. The helmet, in the reign of Edward
II. takes the form of an egg, more or less pointed at the top. The neck was
covered by a guard of chain, called a camau. Crested helmets were used chiefly
in tournaments. Aillettes are more universally worn. The shield takes the
shape most commonly represented in our coats-of-arms, and sometimes flat
is
or " pair of plates," with an apron only, of mail. In the time of Richard II.
many fantastical alterations were made in the form of defensive armour, in
accordance with the general taste of that period ;
particularly in the helmet
and visor, the latter being frequently shaped like a beak.
Ornamental design, during this century, was so varied that it would be
scarcely possible to give a comprehensive account of it. The styles of draw-
ings in illuminated manuscripts are extremely unequal, some beautiful specimens
being found among much that is very inferior. The writings of manuscripts is
less handsome, but more flowing, than in the preceding centuries. The initial
letters frequently possess great elegance. The ornamental works we have
given in our plates are not of English workmanship.
After the accession of Henry IV., various attempts were made to reform the
extravagant fashions and expensive apparel of the preceding reign, and new
and severe sumptuary laws were repeatedly enacted, but with very partial
success. The dagged and slashed garments were especially forbidden, and all
garments " cut in the form of letters, rose-leaves, and posies of various kinds,
or any such like devices." Among
new names of articles of apparel which
the T
became common during Henry IV. and V. was a long tunic called a
the reigns of
houp-pelande, which appears to have been most commonly of scarlet a cloak of ;
scarlet cloth and camlet called a heuke ; and an outer garment of fur named
a pilche. The general character of the dress appears however to have partaken
largely of the fashions of the reign of RichardII., and the satirists continue to
speak of the long pukes or sleeves, sweeping on the ground, and best fitted, as
they said, for thieves who wanted a convenient receptacle for stolen goods.
One of the " abusions" condemned by the poet Occleve was,
c
—
INTRODUCTION.
— "a robe of scarlet
Twelve yards wide, with pendant sleeves down
On the ground, and the furrure thereon set
Amounting unto twenty pounds or bet.''
For which, as he said, if the wearer paid, he would have " no good'' left,
With the reign of Henry VI., we come to a new period of the history of cos-
tume. The male dresses of this reign are again distinguished by every species
of extravagance, and are almost infinitely varied. Among the principal charac-
teristics were long tight hose, with feet, and sometimes short boots or buskins,
sometimes boots reaching to the middle of the thigh, called galoches ; or very
long toed shoes, with high fronts and backs that turn over each way with a ;
jacket, or doublet cut short at the shoulders, and apparently an under vest of
which the sleeves pass through the arm-holes of the jacket. The mantle
appears in every fantastic variety of form, as well as the hat or cap, which is
but the jacket was cut shorter, and was much stuffed and padded, and the
sleeves cut open in slits, so as to show the rich shirts. The cap was sometimes
made in a form nearly resembling that of the modern hat. The mantle appears
now to have been less frequently worn.
The extravagance in dress of the fifteenth century appears at no period more
remarkable than during the reign of Henry VII. Men of fashion wore very
broad-brimmed hats or caps, with a profusion of large feathers. The sleeve of
the jacket or purpoint is formed of two or more slips, attached to each other
by points or laces, leaving openings through which the embroidered shirt is
seen protruding. The upper part of the hose is sometimes slashed and puffed.
The mantle is sometimes elegantly bordered, or dagged sometimes it is made ;
of a square form, reaching hardly to the thighs, but with long square sleeves
which nearly touch the ground, and holes through which the arms pass. But
the most remarkable characteristic of the latter part of the fifteenth century is
the ridiculous broadness of the toes of the shoes, which suddenly usurps the
place of the long pointed toes of the preceding reigns. An old French writer,
Paradin, describing the manners of this century, says that at first " the men
wore shoes with a point before, half a foot long the richer and more eminent ;
personages wore them a foot, and princes two feet long, which was the most
ridiculous thing that ever was seen and when men became tired of these
;
pointed shoes, which were called poulaines, the}' adopted others in their place
which were named duck-bills, having a bill or beak before, of four or five fingers
INTRODUCTION.
in length. Afterwards, assuming a contrary fashion, they wore shoes so very
broad in front as to exceed the measure of a good foot." Our plates from the
Roman de la Rose will give the besl idea of the male costume of the reign of
Henry VII.
The female costume also went through many changes during the fifteenth
century. In the earlier years of the century the dress of the ladies differs little
from that of the reign of Richard II., except in the head-dress. The hair is
still gathered into a gold caul, hut is stretched out laterally like two barrel-
ends, and is flattened at the top, and appears sometimes to lie crowned with a
garland, or covered with a kerchief or veil. This fashion seems not to have
Lasted very long, and we soon meet with the horn-shaped head-dresses, a fashion
which, in some form or other, had certainly existed more than a century
before.* The horned head-dresses of the fifteenth century appear first in the
shape of a heart, or of a broad mitre placed sideways on the head. This fashion
appears to have been brought from France; at first it was very flat, as in the
figures in our plates of the Birth of St. Edmund and Christine de Pisan. In
the latter plate we see another kind of horned head-dress, which appeared in
England a little later, resembling in some degree two butterflies' wings it ;
will be seen more strongly developed in the plate of the Lad// of the Tourna-
ment It was succeeded about the middle of the century by the high tower or
steeple-shaped head-dress, which had generally a long veil or kerchief hanging
down behind. The cotte-hardie continued to be worn, and was laced very
tight, in The common dress of the
order to give a small waist to the wearer.
ladies through the reigns of Henry V. and VI. was a very long gown trailing
on the ground, with hanging sleeves like those of the men. Under Henry VI.
the train of the gown was first made of an extravagant length, and soon pro-
voked the criticisms of the satirists, who also accuse the ladies of this time of
having their dress open so low before and behind as to expose to view the naked
back and breast to an indecent extent. Towards the end of Henry's reign,
and in that of his successor, the steeple head-dresses were worn of an extraor-
dinary height. A French moralist, who wrote soon after the middle of the
century, gives us some curious traits of contemporary manners: entering upon
the subject of clothes, he says, " One manner of spoiling and abusing one's
vestments is, as to the form, which as regards women I consider in four parts.
The first is in the head, which used to be horned, but is now mitred in these
parts of France .... And now these mitres are in the shape of chimneys, . . .
and the more beautiful and younger the wearers are, the higher chimneys they
carry. . . . The battlements to combat God above are the fine works of silk, the
beautiful figures, the gold, the silver, the pearles, sometimes precious stones,
and rich embroidery. . . . The lances are the great forked pins ; the arrows are
"
In addition to other allusions to the early use of the horned head-dress, which has been too hastilj
stated not to have existed before the period to which we are now treating, we may point out an early
French satirical poem, probably of the end of the thirteenth century, on the subject entitled 1), s ( 'or-
loose that one may see the flesh completely through it. The third evil is in
the tail. They make them such long tails, that I see in them four great evils.
The first is useless waste. What is the use of that great heap of cloth and fur
and of which drags on the ground, and is often the cause of the loss of
silk
the robe, and of the time which must be employed to clean these long tails,
as well as of the patience of the servants ? . . . The fourth evil is when they
cause to be made for their feet shoes which are so small that they can scarcely
walk in them, whereby they have frequently their feet lamed, sore, and full of
corns."
Under Richard III. a new head-dress came into fashion, the hair being-
confined in a lower cap of gold net, projecting horizontally from the back of
the head, and covered with a kerchief. In the reign of Henry VII., the gown
appears and less tightly laced the sleeves full, sometimes slashed, and
fuller, ;
otherwise ornamented. The hair is now suffered to escape from under the
cap or caul, and to hang loosely over the back. There appears, however,
towards the end of the century, and in the beginning of the next, to have been
no exclusive form of head-dress among the fair sex, for we meet with an infinite
variety in the pictures of the time.
The most prominent alterations in defensive armour in the first half of the
fifteenth century, are the introduction of the panache or upright plume on the
helmet, some changes in the form of the helmet itself; the absence of the jupon
and and the addition of a skirt of horizontal bands of steel to the
surcoat,
Large hanging sleeves of cloth are also sometimes worn
globular breast-plate.
with the armour. Under Henry VI. the armour was highly ornamented,
frequently remarkable for the fantastic forms given to the different parts of
the suit, were now introduced. Hand-guns
of which several additional ones
were added arms of soldiers towards the middle of the century.
to the offensive
From this time forward, the armour of the nobility was made more and more
splendid and costly. Elbow and knee pieces, in particular, take very fantastic
forms.
The love of splendour naturally carried with it a taste for ornamental work
* It was the fashion in this century to pluck out the hair round the forehead, so as to make it
appear larger.
:
INTRODUCTION.
and the fine arts. The hitter were cultivated after the middle of the century
with greater success than at any former period. Artists of first rate talent
were employed in adorning manuscripts with deli, ate miniatures; and many
of those now preserved are gems of art. The best school of miniature- was
that of Flanders. The most elegant initial letters during this period are found
inmanuscripts executed in Italy. Cups, and similar articles, were also at this
time ornamented in exquisite taste by excellent artificers. Several remarkal.le
examples will he found in the present volume.
With the reign of Henry VIII. we enter upon an entirely new period of
costume and of art, differing in every possible respect from the ages which
preceded. The splendour and extravagance of the feudal baronage was
expiring-, and the gorgeous pageantry of the Romish Church was on the point
of disappearing from our island. Wblsey was the last representative of the
proud Romish prelacy* The common male costume of the higher orders and
gentry during this reign, may be best conceived by a reference to our plate
of the Earl of Surrey, It consisted of a full skirted jacket or doublet, with
large sleeves to the wrist, with a short full coat over it, having frequently
loose hanging sleeves. To this was often added a broad collar of fur. A
brimmed cap, with an ostrich feather, close hose, and square-toed shoes, an
embroidered shirt, showing itself at the breast, and in ruffles at the wrists,
complete the dress. The upper part of the hose, were now slashed, puffed
and embroidered, and appear as distinct from the lower part, or stockings.
The gowns of the higher orders were very costly in material and ornament
merchants and others wore them of the same form as those of our masters of
arts in the universities at the present day. Under Edward VI. and Mary
the cap was often replaced by a small round bonnet, worn on one side of the
head ; the shoes took nearly their present form ; the puffed hose (called trunk-
hose) continued in use; but the doublet was lengthened considerably in the
skirts. This costume continued in use, with different changes in the details,
till the time of Charles I. ; the principal difference was in the enormous
breeches, stuffed with hair like wool-sacks, which remained in fashion during
nearly the whole of the reigns of Elizabeth and James I.
The different articles of female costume were the same in the reign of
Henry VIII. as in the latter part of the preceding century, hut from this time
forward they went through so many changes of form and material, that we
could give no satisfactory description of them within moderate limits. The
dresses of ladies of rank were rendered costly by the addition of a great
quantity of jewels. Most readers will be familiar with the dress of Queen
Elizabeth, and the ladies of her court. One of its most remarkable charac-
:
INTRODUCTION.
teristics was the large ruff about the neck, which was common to all classes of
society.
Earlv in this century complete suits of defensive armour began to be less in
use, except at tournaments and for ceremonious occasions, and then it was
embossed and engraved in the most splendid and expensive manner. A fine
example of embossed armour is given in our plate of Francis the First.
Puffed and ribbed armour came into fashion in the reign of Henry VIII.
Pistols (or dags), pikes, and long musquets, were among the weapons in com-
mon use. In Elizabeth's reign, the armour was confined to the body and head,
with the arms partly or wholly covered, but seldom descended below the hips.
Among offensive weapons, we now find a considerable variety of different
fire-arms. The increased use of fire-arms rendered defensive armour more
and more unfashionable, till at last it was reduced to a simple breast-plate and
helmet
The first half of the sixteenth century, the age of the Renaissance, and of
the great masters in painting and carving, was a splendid period for even-
species of ornament and embellishment, distinguished by an infinite variety in
style and character, and by beauty of execution. In the plates and cuts at
the end of our work, we have given a few specimens of ornamented articles of
this age, which will form the best illustration.
Esq. Keeper of the Printed Books and Hexrv Josi, Esq. Keeper of the Prints,
;
VOL. I.
1. Title.
'2. King Alfred's Jewel, and the Ring of King Athelwulf.
3. Illustrations of Prudentius.
4. Cross from Mount Athos.
Cut. Side of a Cross.
7. Spanish Warriors.
Cuts. Jongleurs, and a Shield and Sword.
8. Clovis I.
Cuts. Ornamental Pavement, from the Musee des Monumens Francais. Musical Instruments, from
the Cathedral at Chartres.
9. Clotilda.
Cut. Chess-men of the twelfth century, from the British Museum, and the Museum at Paris.
19. Candlesticks.
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
24. A Chalice.
Cut. A Font of Pisjoia.
f
cEl)c ifottrrcmtlj Ccnturp.
_ T\i 1 - - ? --- - - - - -
msm >3*£C+EJLl-EU
KING ALFRED'S JEWEL.
pened one day that this swain's wife heated her oven, and the King
sat thereby, warming himself by the fire, the family not knowing
that he was the King. Then was the evil woman suddenly stirred
up, and said to the King in angry mood, Turn thou the loaves,
'
that they burn not ; for I see daily that thou art a great eater.' He
was quickly obedient to the evil woman, because he needs must."
The Jewel which is connected so remarkably with this story, is now pre-
served in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. It is two inches and five
eighths long, of gold, and containing within the inscription given above, a
coloured vitreous paste representing, apparently, a male figure, holding in each
hand what appears to be a sceptre (though probably only intended as orna-
ments), and covered with a crystal. Much unimportant discussion has arisen
concerning the person thus represented. Hound the outer edge is a purfied
border of filli<n ee work.
-
—
a date is such, and our acquaintance with the processes of art employed at
that period so limited, that the assertion can scarcely be made with confidence.
The most ancient specimen of what to all appearance is a true enamelled
work is the ring of Athelwulf, the father of Alfred, preserved in the British
Museum, and engraved on the accompanying plate. It exhibits the more
ordinary process of the early enamellers, who chiselled out cavities on the face
of the plate, to be filled by the fused pigment, leaving at intervals thin lines of
metal, which, when the work was perfected, served as outlines to detach the
variously coloured parts of the design. In Alfred's Jewel, and a very few
other instances, this result produced by thin disconnected fillets of metal,
is
merely attached to the surface of the plate on which the colour is laid and ;
the coloured substance with which the lodgements thus formed are filled,
seems to be rather a vitreous paste, than a true enamel. The comparison
of a remarkable specimen recently discovered in London, and represented
in Archteologia, vol. xxix. pi. x. is in no small degree interesting ; both are
possibly productions of the artificers, whom Alfred is said to have brought
to England. The reverse of Alfred's Jewel presents, on a matted ground,
a kind of flower, with three branches ; it is flat, and from that circumstance it
has been concluded that the ornament was destined to be worn attached to a
collar ; but as the design would in that case have been seen reversed, some
other intention must be sought, which, from our slender acquaintance with the
personal ornaments of the Anglo-Saxon times, is not obvious.
Our initial letter is taken from a magnificent manuscript bible in Latin,
and now preserved in the British Museum, MS. Additional. No. 10,546. It
is a very large folio volume, consisting of four hundred and forty-nine leaves
of extremely fine vellum, written in a beautiful and distinct minuscule letter,
in double columns. It is embellished with four large paintings, and numerous
richly ornamented initial letters. On the reverse of the last leaf are some
Latin verses, stating that this noble volume was made under the superintend-
ence of Alcuin, to be presented by him to Charlemagne :
This Bible was bought by the British Museum 1836 for the sum of
in
seven hundred and fifty pounds. A full and history of it by Sir
description
Frederick Madden, will be found in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1836.
Date, about the 9tl« Century.
ILLUSTRATIONS OF l'RLDFNTILS.
gorical writing made them prefer, above the rest of the poems, his Psychoma-
chia, in which is described an imaginary battle between the \ irtues and the
Vices, the combatants being all clothed in human attributes. In the course
of the engagement, Patience is attacked by Anger, whom she defeats by the
resistance of her impenetrable armour,
After the defeat of Anger, Patience marches unhurt through the hostile
— — — —
The second drawing refers to line 631 of the poem. The Virtues having
obtained the victory, Peace makes her appearance, and drives away Fear,
and Labour, and Force. This is the subject of the illumination in the
middle of our plate,
The Virtues now approach, triumphantly, the citadel, where another deadly
contest ensues between Concord and Discord. The approach to the city is
the subject of the third drawing on our plate,
Our initial (or rather our two initials, for it represents two letters, S and I,
a common occurrence in the earlier manuscripts) is taken from a fragment
of a Latin Bible, preserved with some other fragments in the British Museum.
The manuscript, from which was stolen at the begining of the last century,
it
is in the Royal Library at Paris, and was written for Charles le Chauve. It
is to be lamented that the fragment, which is in the Harleian Library, has not
been restored to the manuscript.
8
A" /
CROSS FROM MOUNT ATIIOS.
E F ( ) R E the
Christian era,
Mount Athos
was celebrated
for the length
of its shadow
(ingenti tellu-
rem proximus
umbra vestit.
Stat.), which
was said to
reach as far as
•** ;t>
the isle of Lem-
nos, for the
multitude of its
hares (quot le-
pores in Atho.
Ovid.), and for
ha vino- been the
scene of one of
the most won-
derful exploits
of Xerxes, who
in his invasion
of Greece is
which generally accompany them (MS. Harl. No. 2821.). Its illuminations
are richly gilt on purple vellum, and consist chiefly of figures of the Evangelists,
with one or two similar subjects, and ornamental initials. Some blank leaves
(as far as regards writing) are covered with elegant mosaics, which remind us
sometimes of the patterns found in Roman tesselated pavements. The canons
at the commencement of the volume are written between columns supporting
semi-circular arches, which we may be justified in considering as authentic
specimens of the architectural ideas of the age. The capitals of the columns
are especially curious and the columns themselves probably show us the
;
to have been copied from one another, or from the same original. One of
these stands next to the volume just mentioned on the shelves of the Harleian
Library, where it is marked as MS. Harl. No. 2820. It is nearly of the same
date, and is equally curious, containing similar illuminations and mosaics,
though somewhat ruder in their style of execution. On the outside of this
volume is a relic of its ancient binding, an early carving in ivory in high
relief, representing the crucifixion, surrounded by four compartments, containing
the angel, eagle, and two animals, emblematical of the four evangelists," and
thus alluding to the contents of the book. .We may point out as another
example, the manuscript of the Gospels preserved in the Cottonian Library,
Tiberius A. II., said to have belonged to King Athelstan.
,'"'il
THE SEASONS— JANUARY TO JUNE.
IFFERENT ancient manuscript calendars furnish many
curious illuminations illustrating country life among our an-
To the tahles of the different months were frequently
cestors.
added pictures representing the agricultural labours, sports, or
ceremonies which characterized each. The series which we
(jive here are taken from an Anglo-Saxon calendar, written (as it appears) a
few years before the Norman Conquest, and now preserved in the Cottonian
Library, Julius, A. VI. The drawings occupy the foot of the page in each
month, and are remarkable for their spirited style of execution. An Anglo-
Saxon calendar of the tenth century in the same collection, Tiberius, B. V.,
contains a similar set of designs, but larger and ill drawn. These drawings
are very valuable illustrations of the costume and manners of our Saxon
forefathers, and some of them are also curious from their connexion with the
original Anglo-Saxon names of the months.
1. January appears here as the month of ploughing and sowing. Among
the Anglo-Saxons, and indeed long afterwards, horses were not much used in
farming : was only indeed at a very late period that the custom of using
it
them to draw the plough became prevalent. In some parts, even at the present
day, oxen are employed for this purpose. The name given to this month by
the unconverted Saxons was seftera geola, or giula, the second yule or month
which follows Christinas. It then began on what is now Christmas-day, but
which, according to Bede, was called moedre-nacht, or the night of mothers, pro-
bablv from some superstitious ceremonies which were performed on that night.
2. In February the husbandmen are employed in pruning trees, apparently
vines. The Anglo-Saxon name of this month was Sol-monaB, which Bede
interprets the month of cakes, which he says were in this month offered
to their gods. Perhaps the making of pan-
cakes on Shrove Tuesday is a remnant of this
ancient superstition.
3. The month of March was dedicated
because it was at this period of the year that the Anglo-Saxons began to set
out on their longer voyages. In our picture this month is indicated as the
season for cutting down timber. The cart is not unlike those which are still
used by the peasantry in some parts of France. On the right-hand side are
two oxen, yoked, ready to be attached to the cart for, as we have before
;
observed, draught-horses were not used by our early ancestry in the labours
of agriculture.
The initial letter on the preceding page is taken from a manuscript in the
British Museum, written in the tenth century.
THE SEASONS—JULY TO DECEMBER.
shortness of the clay and the severity of the weather put a stop to the labours
of agriculture and the annual crops having now been gathered in, and the
;
In these festivities, the peasantry and lower orders crowded about large fires
made in the open air, as shown in the picture, the ancient representatives of
the bonfires which are still lighted in the earlier part of the month. Acci-
dental circumstances alone have identified these fires with the rejoicing in
remembrance of an historical event (the famous gun-powder plot) ; for there
can be little doubt that the ceremony was one of much more remote antiquity.
The increasing rigour of the season is indicated in the picture by the men
who hasten to the bonfire to warm their hands.
12. December was generally termed midwynter-monaS, or the month in
which was celebrated the pagan festival of mid-winter or Yule (iula, geola),
which held the place of the modern Christmas. In ancient times, yule or
Christmas-day was the point of division of the year, and the month of Decem-
ber was frequently called serra geola, or the first yule month, or before yule,
as January was named the second or after yule month, on account of their
respective position with regard to
the ceremony. The name yule is
SPANISH WARRIORS.
SPANISH WARRIORS.
FROM A M.S. OF THE END OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY.
The figures which form our plate represent Spanish warriors of the latter part
of the eleventh
century, and are
interesting on ac-
count of their re-
markable resem-
blance to the
Anglo - Norman
soldiers on the
celebrated Bay-
eaux Tapestry.
This resemblance
is observable in
the style of draw-
ing, as well as in
the costume. It is
minstrels, or jongleurs, given at the foot of the preceding page. They appear
to be dancing on a kind of wooden stilts. There are many reasons for sup-
shieldand sword belong to a large ill-drawn figure on folio 19-1 the minstrels ;
are from folio 86 and the initial letter from folio 25.
;
-
CLOVIS I. KING OF THE FRANKS.
every appearance of having been sculptured either then or early in the twelfth
century. We have no information as to the character of the four statues
which are destroyed.
The initial at the commencement of the present article is taken from a
largeMS. Bible of the twelfth century, now in the possession of Messrs.
Payne and Fosse, and represents a favourite subject in the illuminations of
that period, the combat between David and the giant Golias. The pavement
at the foot of the same page, from the Musee des Monumens Fran^ais, is also
of the twelfth century.
The two musical instruments represented below are copied from the
sculptures on the portal of the cathedral of Notre Dame at Chartres, and are
of the twelfth century.
--""'
QUEEN CLOTILDA.
which (the mantle, claniys) is thrown in folds over the left arm, and left open
on the right side as high as the shoulder, where it is fastened by a clasp.
Each of the figures holds a sword with both hands across his knee. They
sit on chairs of a square form, with high backs, which are very elegantly
carved. The queens are similarly seated in chairs, and crowned one of :
them holds in her hand a drinking horn, a peculiar attribute of the queens
among the northmen, it being her office to serve the ale to the warriors of her
husband's court. Of the bishops, some arc seated, and others in a standing-
posture. The knights are on horseback ; while the rooks represent warriors
on foot, with the singular kite-shape shield which was used in the twelfth
century : one of them is cut out of a whale's tooth. Sir Frederick Madden,
who has given a detailed and learned account of them, witli many figures,
in one of the volumes of the Arcluvologia, believes that they were made in
Iceland. The originals are now in the British Museum.
The other figure is taken from a chess-man of the same material preserved
in the Cabinet of Antiquities at the Bibliotheque clu Roi in Paris. By
comparison with those in the British Museum it would appear to be a rook.
It represents a foot soldier, resting his kite-shaped shield before him on the
ground. In the Cabinet d' Antiques there are with it four mounted knights,
evidently belonging to the same set, with others which are different. They
were, we believe, formerly in the Tresor abbey of St. Denis, and were
at the
represented as the remains of the " jeu d'echecs du Roi Charlemagne." But
one only of that original set now remains, which is undoubtedly authentic,
and bears a Cufic inscription. The monks seem to have added from time
to time other ancient pieces which fell into their hands, to supply the defects
of the set which had belonged to Charlemagne.
The initial letter at the beginning of the preceding page is taken from an
illuminated Bible of the twelfth century, preserved in the Public Library
at Rouen.
LADIES OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY.
dresses of the ladies at this time were unusually oriental in their character this
;
style was probably introduced by the crusaders, who, among the spoils of the
—
Saracens, must have brought home for their families many of the rich dresses
of the Eastern ladies. The long plaited hair resembles, in some degree,
that of the statue of Queen Clotilda from the church of Corbeil, in France,
represented in one of the plates to the present work.
The cut at the foot of the preceding page is taken from the same manu-
script. The subject of the whole illuminated page, of which this forms the
lower compartment, is the Saviour changing the water into wine at the mar-
riage at Cana. The upper compartment represents the wedding dinner,
with Christ and the other guests at table. Christ is blessing the water, which
he holds in his hand in a large drinking horn, the only vessel for liquids which
appears on the table. In the lower compartment, represented in our cut, the
servants appear taking the water vessels from the cupboard, drawing the
water from the well, and carrying it up stairs into the chamber where the
guests are assembled at dinner. In the band separating the upper compart-
ment from the lower we read in Anglo-Norman the words,
The three bishops on the right hand of our plate are taken from this page.
churchmen below, and the inscription, " These shall be at the left hand of the
Lord God at the judgment,"
This page furnished the two figures on the left hand side of our plate.
In drawing all these figures, the illuminator has shewn considerable skill in
depicting the physiognomical characteristics. On the right hand of God, the
faces of the kings, queens, and higher orders, are dignified and benign; and
all have an air of conscious virtue. The bishops below are unshaven, with
serious countenance, and bearing all the insignia of office, as being entirely
absorbed in the discharge of their pontifical duties. The monks in like
manner are thin and sedate, shewing by their outward appearance that they
kept rigidly the rules of their order. On the other page, at the left hand of
the judgment-seat, the physiognomical character of the faces is entirely changed.
The male heads, especially those which appear to belong to the lower orders,
have features of a diabolical character the faces of the kings and rulers are
;
dark and gloomy those of the queens are particularly effective, exhibiting a
;
singular mixture of pride and voluptuousness. The clergy below are fat and
sleek, with voluptuous and gluttonous looks and some of the ecclesiastical
;
dignitaries, as in the two given in our plate, while they bear their rich garments
as objects of pride and ostentation, are without the principal insignia of their
office, because they neglected their duties, and are very fat, with their faces
closely shaven. From what we know from history of the manners of the
clergy of the age to which these drawings belong, we can hardly avoid
believing that the illuminator intended to depict some of the sleek worldly
ecclesiastics of his time.
The handsome pastoral staff, of the twelfth century, of which the upper
part given on the preceding page, is preserved in the collection of Monsieur
is
taken from a foreign manuscript in the possession of the Hon. Robert Curzon,
Junior. The Manuscript appears to have been written also about the twelfth
century, or perhaps a little earlier.
FIGURES OF ECCLESIASTICS.
FltOM THE SCULPTURES OF THE CATHEDRAL OF CHARTRES.
had passed since the disaster of 1020, in the July of 1506, the tower of the
cathedral was struck by lightning, and the fire committed great ravages, but
the most important and interesting parts of the building were happily saved.
In 153<), the tower was again fired by lightning. Another fire was caused in
1(374 by the imprudence of one of the watchmen. The last, and one of the
most deplorable of the modern disasters of the Cathedral of Chartrcs, was the
great fire which was caused by accident, on the 4th of June, 183(5, when some
workmen were employed in the tower. This calamity destroyed many impor-
tant portions of the cathedral, but it spared some of the more ancient and
ornamental parts. Among these not the least important arc the interesting
sculptures of the portals, which, beside their excellence as works of art, are
extremely valuable as specimens of the costume, &c. of the period. It is from
amono" these statues that we have taken the three figures of ecclesiastics repre-
sented on our plate ; and the woodcuts below represent a portion of the Alb
and of the Episcopal Shoes.
The first of these figures represents an archbishop, and is singular on
account of the form given to the mitre, which bears a close resemblance to the
tiara seen on the head of the pope in an illumination given by Gerbertus (De
Cantu et Musica Sacra, torn. i. last plate). The archbishop is giving his
blessing with his right hand, whilst in his other hand he holds the crosier, the
URING
the twelfth
century,
the bish-
ops and
higher ec-
clesiastics
combined
in them-
selves the
double
character
of tempo-
ral barons
and minis-
ters of the
church.
What was
then called the church, was a vast power which
political
country, and to clear away the greatest obstacle to peace, he found the church
opposed to him. Becket, the man whom Henry had raised almost from the
dust, and whom he had loaded with favours, became the instrument of the
church in thwarting his measures, and in destroying the work which the king
had been so long labouring at.
Becket was undoubtedly a very great man ; we can only now see his
character through the interested eulogies of his most zealous admirers and
fellow ecclesiastics, but from all we can learn his private life was dignified and
amiable. But we can hardly excuse him in public for being singularly proud
and overbearing, from being intractable, unconciliating, and even vengeful.
Thomas Becket was born at London, about the year 1117, on the feast of
St. Thomas, from which circumstance he received his christian name. He
inherited from his parents a mixture of English and Saracenic blood, his
father being a London citizen who had been in Palestine and had there
married a converted Arabian maiden. The son, after being educated in
Merton College, Oxford, was received into the household of Theobald Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, and owed to him his first advancement. After being
introduced by him to King Henry in the earlier part of his reign, he became
a great favourite with that monarch, who gave him all his confidence. He
was with that king in his wars in France, and distinguished himself by
his military skill, and personal strength and courage. His attachment to his
royal master continued unbroken until after he had obtained the archbishopric
of Canterbury, the highest object of his ambition. He then found that he
must choose between two masters, for church and state were not only different
but opposite services, and he determined in the favour of the one in the ranks
of which he had now obtained so high a place. This step was soon followed
by an open breach with the king, and from that time we find the one con-
tinually opposing himself to the plans of the other, until, at the end of 1164,
the prelate was obliged to fly from England and take refuge in France, where
he remained till 1170, when his temporary reconcilement with the king
enabled him to return to his native country, where he soon afterwards sealed
the cause in which he had fought so obstinately by his death.
While in France, Becket resided first at Sens, where he attended for a short
time on the pope, and afterward at the abbey of Pontigny. It is at the former
place that the ceremonial vestments of this celebrated martyr are preserved.
ROBES OF THOMAS BECKET.
that the strings are comparatively modern. In the margin of the preceding
page the two examples of the Apparel of the Amice preserved at Sens are
represented complete ; a portion of each is given on our plate on a scale one
than the dimensions of the originals.
fifth less
The mode in which the long hair of the archangel is plaited, or bound up, is
remarkable. The shield also is of a very primitive form.
The other wood-cut represents a very elegant cover of a book, taken from
one of the sculptures of the Cathedral of Chartres. These early designs of
book-covers are interesting, for few of the covers themselves have been pre-
served. They were frequently adorned with rich metals and valuable stones,
ORNAMENT ON CHASUBLE.
ORNAMENT OF THE CHASUBLE,
AT SENS.
HE subject
of the pre-
sent engrav-
ing is ano-
ther of the
vestments preserved in the
Cathedral of Sens, and said
to have been worn by Thomas
Becket, archbishop of Canter-
bury : it is represented as
Becket's Chasuble, and the
character of the design with
which it was adorned can
leave no doubt of its having
Vx/A // .: , ^ A \
AN ARCHBISHOP.
the ring, which was properly placed on the middle, appears here on the
second finger. He wears boots, caligcc, highly embroidered, which reached
to the knees. Behind the mitre we perceive distinctly the two vittce or infulce,
hanging down one on each side. The two marks which generally distinguish
the archbishop from the bishop, are the pall (pallium ), or narrow label, run-
ning round the shoulders and hanging down before and behind, made of
white wool, spotted with purple crosses and the crosier, or staff headed
;
with a cross, which he held instead of the hooked pastoral staff of the inferior
prelate.
The subject below is taken from a roll on vellum of the latter end of the
taken from a MS. of the twelfth century, in the Royal Library at Paris ; and
is of that narrow kite-like form which prevailed from the time of the Norman
conquest till at least the reign of Henry II. of England. The form of the
shield then underwent a gradual change very similar to that experienced by
the gothic window
at a later period the bow became wider and wider, and
;
the arch flatter, until at last it took the form which is still given to it in coats
of arms. The shield at the bottom of the present page is copied from a sculp-
ture on the portal of the cathedral of Notre Dame at Chartres, executed in
the twelfth century, and is much broader in shape, than the example given
above.
The Initial Letter is taken from MS. Arundel, No. 91 (in the British
Museum), and belongs to the same period as the King and Knight.
CORONATION SPOON.
and God's miraculous interference he converted the consul, upon which the
superior magistrate Luxurius ordered them both to be enclosed in a sack and
thrown into the sea. At the top of the letter we see first, the victim offering
up the sacrifice, and then riding over the precipice, while St. Csesarius is
looking on with pity. To the right Csesarius appears to be addressing the
pagans. The figures in the lower part of the stem of the letter probably
represents Csesarius before Leontius. At the bottom, the men of Luxurius
are throwing the two Christians into the sea, both enclosed in one sack.
Dale the :..
T.ESTICES.
CANDLESTICKS OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY.
spike on the place which had been originally intended to support a lamp.
It is difficult to say at what period the candlesticks with sockets first came
into use. The oldest examples known are of the time of Edward III. But
—— ; ;
Our Initial Letter is taken from a very magnificent Latin Bible of the
twelfth century, MS. Harl. No. 2803, which formerly belonged to the church
of St. Mary in the suburbs of the city of Worms : it there forms the first letter
of the first chapter of Isaiah. The inscription on the label is taken from the
same chapter, v. 10, 11 :
Audite verbum Domini, principes Sodomorum, auribus
percipite legem Dei nostri, populus Gomorra. Quo mihi multitudinem victima-
rum vestrarum, dicit Dominusl plenus sum, §c.
"
WILLIAM LONGUESPEE, FIRST EARL OF SALISBURY
in our plate. The volume from which they are taken, a fine manu-
script of the middle or latter half of the thirteenth century (MS.
Reg. "20 D, I.), is well fitted for knightly eyes as well as knightly
ears ; for it contains a large mass of the romantic history, adorned
with a profusion of warlike pictures. In the margin, no less than in the text,
the heroes of Thebes and Troy, and other worthies of ancient story, are
represented combating with all the arms and attributes of medieval knights.
Our wood-cuts represent some of the instruments used, during the middle
ages, in carrying on sieges. In the one at the head of the next page, taken
from the manuscript just described, whilst a party are preparing to attempt
the breach which has been made in the tower, others are raised by means of a
wooden machine to fight on an equality with the soldiers on the walls. On the
other side of the picture, similar expedients are adopted to raise the men in
the ships. The other two cuts are taken from MS. Reg. 16 G, VI. a chro-
nicle of France written at the end of the fourteenth century. One of them
represents a machine used for throwing great stones at the walls, or into the
castle while in the other we see the assailants, under cover of a kind of shed
;
which has been moved by wheels up to the walls, and which the besieged are
attempting to destroy with stones and Greek fire, undermining the tower.
This instrument was called, perhaps under different forms, by the different
names of, a sow, a vine, or a cat. The latter name was also given sometimes
to a machine for throwing stones.
The warlike machines used during the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth
centuries, seem to have been extremely numerous and complicated, and the
knowledge of them was probably brought from the east. Many descriptions
of these machines arc found in the old chronicles. Their names were ijenc-
rally in the feminine gender; and William of Tudela, in his account of the
war against the Albigenses, mentions, among others used by Simon de .Mont-
fort, the ill neighbour (la mechante voisine), the lady, and the queen, —
;
Montfort, son of the preceding, and so famous in our barons' wars of the
thirteenth century, who introduced most of these machines into England. At
the siege of Rochester, garrisoned by the partisans of the king (Hen. III.),
he used against the castle a machine which threw stones of the weight of
upwards of a hundred pounds.
The initial letter at the beginning of the present article is taken from a
MS. in the Royal Library at Paris, of the thirteenth century.
BURIAL OF EDWARD THE
CONFESSOR.
public life to end her days in the tranquillity of a monastery. She died in
1295, in the convent of the nuns of St. Clair, which she had herself founded
in the faubourg Saint-Marcel.
The old historians relate several anecdotes of Margaret's courage and con-
stancy under the severe which she was exposed in the expedition to
trials to
the East. When she was shut up in Damietta, closely besieged by the
Saracens, and intelligence arrived that the king had been defeated and made
prisoner by his enemies, the queen sent all her attendants out of the room except
one aged knight to whose guard she was intrusted (she was near her time
of giving birth to her child) she fell on her knees before him and begged
:
he would give his word to perform a request she had to make and, as soon ;
as he had promised to do this, she said, " Sir, what I have to request, on the
faith which you have pledged, is, that if Damietta should be taken by the
Saracens, you will immediately cut off my head, that I may not fall alive into
the hands of the infidels." The knight answered with great sang-froid, " You
shall be obeyed — I had already thought of doing so."
i'V, f Jjtw
ij
PASTORAL STAFF OF THE ABBEY OF LYS.
the countess de Moeurs, abbess of that religious house, and the intimate friend
of the illustrious princess who founded it. Another, very similar to the one
in our plate, is also preserved at Versailles, and is said to have been carried
by an abbess at the funeral of queen Blanche, in 1253.
The original is double the size in which it is represented on our
plate. The head is cut out of a solid block of rock crystal. The
staff is blue, seme with hVurs-de-lys, emblematical of the name of
the abbey and of its royal foundation, being the armorial bearings of
France. It is covered in its whole length by a thick tube of rock
by knobs of red jasper.
crystal, divided into eight pieces The staff
diminishes towards the bottom, where it terminates in a spike of
silver >/\\t, as represented by the cut in the margin of our page. The
name and arms of Blanche de Castile are expressed by the castle
with six turrets, which surmounts the royal crown formed by nine
fleurs-de-lys alternately with nine parsley leaves.
The other pastoral staff, to which we have alluded, has also a head of rock
; ; —
crystal, resembling that of the abbess of Lys in design, but the crockets are of
silver, and the staff is of the same material, seme with thistles. The archi-
tectural decoration beneath the head is remarkably rich and the staff on ;
its thickness is adorned with very elegant niellos. It was, perhaps, the
pastoral staff of the abbess of Maubuisson, in which abbey queen Blanche was
buried.
The crozier or pastoral staff (the latter is the term properly applied to the
an abbot, abbess, or bishop, in contradistinction to an archbishop) was
staff of
carried only in particular and solemn processions. Fosbrook (British Mon-
achism, p. 145.) observes that there were established rules indicating on what
occasions and at what moment it was to be carried or laid aside. The
regulations composed for the abbey of Abingdon (one of the first in England
where the Benedictine rule was introduced) orders that the abbot should not
carry the staff (baculum) when celebrating mass for the dead, or at matins in
going to the altar, or in reading the Gospel. " He shall enter the choir with
the convent in processions, but by no means carry his staff through the midst
of the choir ; his chaplain on the left hand shall take it upon entering the
choir, and carry it to its usual place."
Our initial letter is taken from a manuscript in the Arundel Collection in
the British Museum (No. 157), containing a richly illuminated calendar,
psalter, Hours of the Virgin, and other similar works, and said to be of the
earlier part of the thirteenth century. It furnishes us with some interesting
examples of ancient musical instruments. In the manuscript it forms the
Psalm Exultate Deo ; the musicians are performing on
initial to the instru-
ments intended to represent those mentioned in the opening lines,
A CHALICE.
IW
\ chapter is the diseases of women subsequent to child-birth.
The doctor is examining the breast of the patient. In the humorous figure
above, the illuminator has amused himself with a little satire against the
monkish orders, as he has again done in another initial which is given in
the present work, where a monk is indulging in solitary and large potations
in the cellar of the monastery.
5a.te th.e 'beginning, of
LADIES PLAYING OX THE HARP AXD ORG AX.
damsels who attended festivals and parties of pleasure to amuse the guests l>v
their performances. She has on her head a characteristic crown or garland
of flowers. The instrument on which she is playing with one hand, while
she moves the bellows with the other, was very common in Italy at this period.
A similar organ is represented in the celebrated picture of St. Cecilia bv
Raphael.
In our initial letter, we come again to the costume and mode of thinking of
the west. It is taken from a fine manuscript of the beginning of the fourteenth
century (MS. Sloane, No. 2 135), containing the once popular poem by
Gamier de Met/, entitled the limine (Ik Monde; and represents the three
classes or castes of society acknowledged by the Middle Ages in England.
France, and Germany, — the knight or soldier, the clerk or scholar, and the
; ;
A ROYAL REPAST.
FROM "QUEEN MARY'S PSALTER."
illuminations at the heads of the pages 3, the Psalter and Litany, in Latin,
;
which occupy the greater part of the book, and each page of which has a
drawing in the margin at the foot. These last mentioned drawings form two
distinct series, the first consisting chiefly of burlesque designs and illustrations
of natural history, fables, sports and pastimes, &c, and the second series
formed of pictures illustrative of the lives of the saints.
The history of this manuscript is somewhat curious. In the unsettled times
of the Reformation, it was on the point of being carried over to the continent,
but it was seized at the Custom House, and presented to Queen Mary, who
had then (1553) newly come to the throne. A contemporary inscription at
the end of the volume states this circumstance :
Pictures of feasts are not uncommon in ancient manuscripts, and form \ cm-
interesting illustrations of domestic life in former days. The subject on our
plate is made up from two drawings in the series of pictures of sacred history
in the earlier part of the volume of which we have
just been speakino-, the
party at table being furnished by one, while the minstrel on one side, and the
attendant bringing in the cup on the opposite side, are taken from the other.
The figures in the group below are taken from the burlesque series of
drawings at the feet of the pages of the Psalter. One of the most important
parts of a rich entertainment was the minstrels and "jogelours" who attended
toamuse the guests. Sometimes the minstrel chanted to the harp the ancient
romances of chivalry, the national stories, or the exploits of the master of the
feast or of his family. The harper beside the table seems to be occupied
n this manner. When the guests were merry at their drinking, the minstrels
sang laughable stories, called fabliaux, which were frequently of the grossest
description. Great numbers of these fabliaux are still preserved. The
jogelours (joculatores) at the same time, or at intervals, excited the mirth
of the company by mimicry of every description and often by indecent
;
Denis, was described and represented by the late Mr. Kerrich, in Archaeo-
logia, vol. xviii. plate xvi. ; having been selected on account of the interest
which attached itself to that personage, as brother of Margaret, the second
queen of Edward I. On his father's demise, Etampes became the portion of
Charles, the second son, 1327 the barony was elevated by Charles le
and in
Bel, who had espoused Jeanne, the elder sister of the Comte d'Etampes, to a
county. Another of his sisters married the Duke of Brabant, who being, in
1333, at variance with the Earl of Flanders, Charles took the field to aid the
cause of his brother-in-law. Three years after he joined the expedition on
the side of Jean II. Comte d'Auxerre, against Eudes IV. Duke of Burgundy ;
and fell campaign at the siege of Pimorain, Sept. 5, 1336, being about
in that
thirty years of age by his wife Marie, daughter of Ferdinand, lord of Lara,
;
leres, which in the sculpture are but imperfectly defined. His head, which is
of striking character, is encircled by a coronal of roses, possibly appropriate to
his rank as a count and peer of France but the positive assertion that such
;
is the fact is but insufficiently warranted by the knowledge that has been
attained in regard to such usages at the period. The helm, as usually the
case with monumental effigies in France, is not exhibited, the mail is dropped
on the neck, and the undivided gloves of mail slipped back from the hands,
so as to allow the quilted gamboison to be seen, which served as a protection
against the weight of the hauberk, or prevented the rings of which that de-
fence was composed, being by a blow forced into the flesh. The gamboison
appears also just below the skirt of the hauberk, over which is worn a loose
sleeveless surcoat, reaching to the knees. In several effigies of earlier date
the adoption of plate armour is indicated by the occurrence of greaves ; but
here the legs are protected only by chausses de mailles. One peculiarity
must not be overlooked, as throwing some light on the nature of the defences,
which was the intention to represent by parallel rows of rings placed edge-
it
wise. has been conjectured that these were formed by sewing upon cloth
It
noticed here that the inner surface of the hauberk, where it is perceptible at
the neck and hands, presents exactly the same appearance as the exterior.
It is therefore obvious that whether a conventional mode of representing
interlaced mail were or were not here intended, some other mode of explaining
the formation of such defences must be sought, for had there existed a ground-
work of cloth or leather, it must have been visible on the inner surface. This
peculiarity is uniformly the same in French and other continental effigies of
the earlier period.
The chased ornaments, which form the minor decorations of the costume, are
finished with a care and taste, that has rarely been surpassed. The pomel of
the sword is composed of a scutcheon embraced by two little figures of boys,
elegantly designed the ornaments of the guige, and sword belt and buckle,
:
are finely chiselled the tongue of the last passes through the mouth of a lion's
;
head, quaintly adapted to the purpose ; the transverse ornaments of the belt,
called bars, terminate at either end in two tonsured heads of ecclesiastics ; and
the spurs are formed with the short prick issuing from a plain round ball. It
occasion :
'
Sire Hue le fer, ly Despencer,
tresnoble justice,
( he es) a tort lyvre a mort,
a trop male guise.
Sire Henri, pur veir le dv,
fitz le cuens de Leycestre,
Autrea assez, come vus orrez,
par le cuens de Gloucestre."
Wrights Political Songs, p. 126.
;; ; —
;
He afterwards returned during a short time to the cause of his old confederates,
but he remained unshaken in his fidelity to the crown through the reign of
Edward I.
The son of this Gilbert, also named Gilbert de Clare, was the last male
heir of the family, and is the person represented in our engraving. He com-
manded the front of the English army at the disastrous battle of Bannockburn,
in 1313, and was slain on the field. In the Political Songs, p. 262, is printed
a curious Latin song on this nobleman's death, in which he is said to have
perished by the treason or cowardice of his household retainers, who ran
away when they saw him in danger : it represents him as engaged almost
alone against the overwhelming forces of the enemy :
The few knights who were with him fell by his side :
This Gilbert, as it has been just observed, was the last of the male line of the
Clares Earls of Gloucester ; but he had three sisters, the descendents of one
of whom intermarried with the royal line of the Plantagenets, and through
them was derived the claims of the house of York to the throne of England.
The windows were probably executed not many years after the death of
Gilbert de Clare on the field of Bannockburn, and our engraving may be
considered as a good and authentic example of the armour of that period, or
of the beginning of the reign of Edward III.
The Initial Letter on the preceding page is taken from a fine Manuscript
in the British Museum (MS. Burney, No. 275), written and illuminated in
the fourteenth century, and further described in our account of the Triumphal
Chair of Don Martin of Arragon. It represents a school, and is curious as a
specimen of the costume of children in the fourteenth century.
sag hbmbs. ommmLAQ wt> *$ mjioa o~ifl«*fB|
INCISED SLAB.
PALAIS DES BEAUX ARTS, PARIS.
but rarely, and are worthy of notice before the fifteenth century.
little
The fine specimen here given was brought from the Abbey of St. Genevieve,
where Millin, who was struck with its beauty, found it neglected and thrown
out into a court adjoining the cloister (Antiqu. Nationales, t. V.) It has for-
tunately suffered little material damage, and is now affixed to the wall in the
exterior court of the Palais des Beaux Arts at Paris. The person commemo-
§MMM
:
he holds the chalice and paten, and his feet reston a dragon, from whose
mouth and tail proceed a rose tree and a vine, forming an elegant diapering
in the field of the central compartment. These Christian symbols thus intro-
duced are evidently allusive to the triumph of Christianity over Paganism and
Infidelity. Over the principal figure, is seen the usual symbolical represen-
tation of the spirit of the deceased received into heaven on either side is a ;
patron whose name he bore St. John the Evangelist, and the Baptist,
saint, ;
holding the Holy Lamb adjoining these are representations of the resurrec-
:
his skill in working the precious metals. St. Michael, and a sainted abbot,
j ^~p
taken formerly appeared at the east end of St. Stephen's Chapel.
On the north side of the altar, the wall was painted with two ranges
of figures : above were represented the three kings making their
offering to the Saviour, who was in the arms of the Virgin Mary ;
offering to the Saviour, who was in the arms of the Virgin Mary ;
The initial letter on the foregoing page is taken from a manuscript of the
fourteenth century, preserved in the British Museum, Bibl. Reg. 6, E. IX.
The throne represented on the present page is taken from the well-known
illuminated manuscript of the Romance of Alexander, in the Bodleian Library
at Oxford.
•/
"^sss? ^^^Jlh
KING RICHARD II.
It is painted on a bright golden ground, and the colours are extremely fresh.
An engraving was made from it by Hollar.
Our Initial Letter is taken from a handsome manuscript in the British
Museum, MS. Sloane, No. 2435, written early in the fourteenth century, or
perhaps at the end of the thirteenth. In the original it begins the chapter of
an old medical book which on the diet and dress proper to each of the
treats
four seasons of the year. The four compartments of the letter represent the
manner of dressing in each season. The first compartment shows the cos-
tume proper for spring, where a light robe is thrown over the tunic, of such
make and materials as to be neither too hot nor too cold, according to the
prescription of the writer, " En printens doit-on ester bien vestu de robes ki
ne soient ne trop caudes ne trop froides, si con de tyretaines de dras de coton
forre d'aigniaus." In the second compartment, or summer, the outer robe is
thrown off, and the tunic alone is left the substances which the author recom-
—
:
mends for this season are of a lighter kind, " En este se doit-on viestir de
robes froides, si con de dras de lin, qui sor tos les autres est plus frois, et de
dras de soie, si con de cendal, de samit, d'estamines." In autumn the same
dress is recommended as in spring, but the outer garment is here left loose
and open, and the cloth is recommended to be a little colder " la ; — A
Septembresce doit-on estre vestus a le maniere dou printens, mais que li drap
soient un po plus caut." The figure in the fourth compartment, closely
muffled up, represents the winter dress " En yver se doit-on vestir de robe
:
de laine bien espese et velue a bone penne de gorpil, car c'est li plus caude
penne c'on puisse trover, u de cas, u de conins, u de lievres, et n'entendes
pas ke ces pennes soient plus caudes l'une de 1' autre, mais quant eles sunt
escaufees cele ki a plus grant poil et plus espes, si tient plus le calor."
The cut below is taken from MS. Harl. No. 2897, of the latter half of the
fourteenth century.
" rj AUH) 2^»
COURTIERS OF THE TIME OF RICHARD II.
" Five days before the first day of May," he says, " when every one ought
to quit sorrow and trouble, a knight whom I love cordially, said to me with
much gentleness, '
Friend, I pray you affectionately, that you will come with
me joyously into Albion ; I intend to go thither shortly.'"
The pavilion which encloses the foregoing page is taken from a MS. of the
PROCESSIONAL CROSS.
about 1360. The stem of the cross is of brass gilt, and is much
inferior to the cross itself in design and execution. It has more of
the Venetian forms in its design, particularly in the niches and in
the gables and foliage of the under part of it.
Our present plate exhibits the front of the cross. The ornament
at the head represents the Resurrection the right arm represents
:
the Virgin with the other two Maries on the other side are three
;
The figures at the end of the present article, which afford good
specimens of the armour of the middle part of the fourteenth century,
are taken from MS. Sloane, No. 34(i, written about the reign of Edward
III. They form part of a very curious series of illustrations of Scripture history,
as set forth in a Latin metrical paraphrase of the bible composed in the twelfth
century by Peter de Riga, which is of frequent occurrence in old manuscripts.
Peter de Riga is Englishman by birth, though he was a
said to have been an
clerk of the church of Rheims In his poem, to which he gave the
in France.
title of Aurora, and which has not yet been printed entire, he dilates on the
-
PROCESSIONAL CROSS. REVERSE.
In the poem entitled The Creed of Piers Ploughman, written about the reign
of Richard II., we have the following description, which may serve to illustrate
this cut
" His cote was of a cloute
That cary was y-called
His hod was ful of holes,
And his heare out
The initial letter at the beginning of this article is taken from MS. Reg. 2
B. VII. so well known by the title of Queen Mary's Psalter. The figures
at the foot of the present page are taken from a no less splendid as well as
celebrated manuscript preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, containing
the French Romance of Alexander the Great. Its shelf mark is Bodley, No.
264, and it was written in the year 1338, as we learn from the following entry
at the end, Romans da boin roi Alixandre, quifu perescript le xviij. jor de De-
cembre, Van m. ccc. xxxviij. The margins of this volume are filled with
grotesque figures and other popular subjects. It was from this manuscript
that Joseph Strutt obtained his most valuable illustrations of ancient English
games and pastimes.
i
b itv
PROCESSIONAL CROSS. REVERSE.
the two Maries appear again at the extremities of the arms of the cross; and
at the bottom is a representation of the administering of the extreme unction.
The figures at the foot of the present page arc taken from a fine manuscript
of the celebrated poem of Piers Ploughman, preserved in the Library of
Trinity College, Cambridge, and written about the end of the reign of Edward
III. or at the beginning of that of Richard II. It gives us a very good idea
of the mode of ploughing with oxen, as well as of the kind of instrument then
used, and of the costume of the husbandman. In one of the
/ beams of the plough is inserted the plough-mell, or mallei,
frequently mentioned in old writings. The drawing is accom-
panied by the old popular distich.
^oT^fyc^to^lgE^b^nc^] ueh
scribe of the fourteenth century. The professed scribes wrote on the vellum while
in quires, and was bound into volumes after being finished. The quire is
it
one page is already written, the other is prepared to receive the writing. In
one hand the writer holds his pen, in the other a scraper, to erase from the
vellum wrong words or letters. On one side of his seat are three ink-horns,
to hold the different coloured inks. The box within the chair contains his
writing implements. The other cut represents king Ahaziah sick in bed, and
waiting the return of his messengers whom he had sent to consult Baalzebub
the god of Ekron, and to know if he were destined to recover (2 Kings, ch. i.)
At the end of the fourteenth century, people had not yet laid aside the custom
of going to bed quite naked.
Our initial letter is taken from a very fine large manuscript volume of the
fourteenth century, in the British Museum (MS. Burney, No. 275), containing
some of the principal scientific treatises of Priscian, Boethius, Euclid, and
Ptolemy. It is full of handsome and interesting illuminated initials. The
one we now give, represents a party of musicians. One is playing on bells,
which appear formerly to have been favourite instruments of ecclesiastical
music. The use of them still remains in our church chimes.' In old manu-
'
B
—
GEOFFREY CHAUCER.
and editor Speght, informs us that there was there a record of his having
been "fined two shillings for beating a Franciscane frier in Fleet Street." In
the records of the reigns of Edward III. and Richard II., we find evidences
of his having held various employments under the government, and entries of
many payments him from the exchequer. In the forty-eighth year of the
to
reign of the first of these monarchs, he had a grant of a pitcher of wine daily
during his life. Two years before this he had been sent by the king as envoy
to Genoa. He returned to England imbued with a taste for the beauties of
the Italian poets — for poetry then flourished in Italy. He died on the twenty-
fifth of October, 1400.
We arc informed by Speght that the epitaph originally inscribed on
Chaucer's monument at Westminster, was as follows :
Although the poet was certainly wrong who called Geoffrey Chaucer a
••
he wrote at the period when our language
well of English undefiled," for
was most corrupted by the introduction of Gallicisms, yet he was certainly the
first writer, since the breaking up of the Anglo-Saxon language, who gave
absolute elegance and smoothness to the English tongue. His ear ami taste
had, indeed, been improved by an acquaintance with the poetry of a softer
— :
Copies of this portrait are found in one or two MSS. of Occleve's book ;
and one of them was engraved to illustrate Tyrwhitt's edition of the Canter-
bury Tales. A different picture, representing the poet on horseback, is
given in Todd's Illustrations of Gower and Chaucer, from a MS. now in
the library of Lord Francis Egerton. In this portrait, the face is good, but
the body remarkably ill proportioned. The one we now give is preserved
is