king at arms. The regulations that follow are these: The two barons on whose parts the tournament is undertaken, shall be at their lodges (pavilions) two days before the commencement of the sports, when each of them shall cause his arms to be attached' to his pavilion, and set up his banner in the front of his parade; and all those who wish to be admitted as combatants on either side, must in like manner set up their arms and bauners before the parades allotted to them. Upon the evening of the same day they shall show themselves in their stations, and expose their helmets to view at the windows of their pavilions; and then " they may depart to make merry, dance, and live well." On the morrow the champions shall be at their parades by the hour of ten in the morning, to await the commands of the lord of the parade, and the governor, who are the speakers of the tournament; at this meeting the prizes of honour shall be determined.

In the document before us, it is said, that he who shall beet resist the strokes of his adversary, and return them with most adroitness on the party of Clarencieux, shall receive a very rich sword, and he who shall perform in like manner the best on the part of Norroys, shall be rewarded with an helmet equally valuable.

On the morning of the day appointed for the tournament, the arms, banners, and helmets of all the combatants shall be exposed at their stations, and the speakers present at the place of combat by ten of the clock, where they shall examine the arms and approve or reject them at their pleasure; the examination being finished, and the arms returned to the owners, the baron who is the challenger, shall then cause his banner to be placed at the beginning of the parade, and the blazon of his arms to be nailed to the roof of the pavilion :2 his example is to be followed by the baron on the opposite side, and all the knights of either party who are not in their stations before the nailing up of the arms, shall forfeit their privileges, and not be permitted to tourney.

The kings at arms and the heralds are then commanded by the speakers to go from pavilion to pavilion, crying aloud, "To achievement, knights and esquires,to achievement;"3 being the notice, I presume, for them to arm themselves; and soon afterwards the company of heralds shall repeat the former ceremony, having the same authority, saying, "Come forth, knights and esquires, come forth:"1 and when the two barons have taken their places in the lists, each of them facing his own parade, the champions on both parties shall arrange themselves, every one by the side of his banner; and then two cords shall be stretched between them, and remain in that position until it shall please the speakers to command the commencement of the sports. The combatants shall each of them be armed with a pointless sword having the edges rebated, and with a baston, or truncheon, hanging from their saddles, and they may use either the one or the other so long as the speakers shall give them permission, by repeating the sentence, " Laisseir les aler," Let them go on. After they have sufficiently performed their exercises, the speakers are to call to the heralds, and order them to "ployer vos baniers," fold up the banners, which is the signal for the conclusion of the tournament. The banners being rolled up, the knights and the esquires are permitted to return to their dwellings.

XXI—PAGES AND PERQUISITES OF THE KINGS AT ARMS, &c.

Every knight or esquire performing in the tournament, was permitted to have one page, armed, within the lists, but without a truncheon or any other defensive weapon, to wait upon him and give him his sword, or truncheon, as occasion might require; and also in case of any accident happening to his armour, to amend the same. In after times, three servitors were allowed for this purpose.

The laws of the tournament permitted any one of the combatants to unhelm himself at pleasure, if he was incommoded by the heat; none being suffered to assault him in any way, until he had replaced his helmet at the command of the speakers.

The kings at arms, and the heralds who proclaimed the tournament, had the privilege of wearing the blazon of arms of those by whom the sport was instituted; besides which they were entitled to six ells of scarlet cloth as their fee, and had all their expenses defrayed during the continuation of the tournament: by the law of arms they had a right to the helmet of every knight when he made his first essay at the tournament, which became their perquisite as soon as the sports were concluded; they also claimed every one of them six crowns as nail money, for affixing the blazon of arms to the pavilions. The kings at arms held the bauncrs of the two chief barons on the day of the tournament, and the other heralds the banners of their confederates according to their rank.

XXII.—PRELIMINARIES OF THE TOURNAMENT

An illumination to a manuscript romance in the Royal Library,1 entitled St. Graal, written in the thirteenth century, represents the manner in which the two chief barons anciently entered the lists at the commencement of a tournament. The king at arms standing in the midst of the ground holds both the banners, and the instruments of the minstrels are ornamented with the blazonry of the arms.2

The action of the two combatants, who have not yet received their weapons, seems to be that of appealing to heaven in proof of (heir having no charm to protect them, and no inclination to make use of any unlawful means to secure the conquest; which I believe was a ceremony usually practised upon such occasions. In the reign of Henry V. a statute was enacted by the parliament, containing the following regulations relative to the tournaments, which regulations were said to have been established at the request of all the nobility of England.1 The act p:ohibits any combatant from entering the lists with more than three esquires to bear his arms, and wait upon him for that day. In another clause it is said, If any of the great lords, or others Tie:it Mangerie, keep a public table, for such, I presume, is implied by the term, they shall not be allowed any additional esquires, excepting those who trencheront, carve for them. It further specifies, that no knight or esquire, who was appointed to attend in the lists as a servitor, should wear a sword or a dagger,2 or carry a truncheon, or any other weapon excepting a large sword used in the tournament: and that all the combatants who bore lances, should be armed with breastplates, thighpieces, shoulder-pieces, and bacinets, without any other kind of armour. No earl, baron, or knight, might presume to infringe upon the regulations of this statute, under the forfeiture of his horse and his arms, and the pain of imprisonment for a certain space of time, at the pleasure of the governors of the tournament. Another clause, which probably refers to such as were not combatants for the day, runs thus: No one except the great lords, that is to say, earls or barons, shall be anned otherwise than above expressed; nor bear a sword, pointed knife, mace, or other weapon, except the sword for the tournament. In case of transgression, he forfeited his horse, and was obnoxious to imprisonment for one year. If an esquire transgressed the law in any point, he not only lost his horse and his arms, but was sent to prison for three years. But if the knights or esquires in the above cases were possessed of lands, and appeared in arms for the service of their lords, it seems they might recover their horses. The " Roys des harnoys," kings at arms, the heralds, and the minstrels, were commanded not to wear any kind of sharp weapons, but to have the swords without points which belonged to them. Those who caine as spectators on borseback, were strictly forbidden to be armed with any kinl of armour, or to bear any offensive weapons, under the penalty that was appointed to the esquires; and no boy, or man on foot coming for the same purpose, might appear with a sword dagger, cudgel, or lance; they were to be punished with one year's imprisonment in case of disobedience to the statute.

XXIII.—LISTS FOR ORDEAL COMBATS. The lists for the tilts and tournaments resembled those, I doubt not, appointed for the ordeal combats, which, according to the rules established by Thomas, duke of Gloucester, uncle to Richard II., were as follows: "The king shall find the field to fight in, and the lists shall be made and devised by the constable; and it is to be observed, that the list must be sixty paces long and forty paces broad, set up in good order, and the ground within hard, stable, and level, without any great stones or other impediments; also that the lists must be made with one door to the east, and another to the west, and strongly barred about with good bars seven feet high or more, so that a horse may not be able to leap over them."l

XXIV.—RESPECT PAID TO LADIES IN THE TOURNAMENT. After the conclusion of the tournament, the combatants, as we have seen above, returned to their dwellings; but in the evening they met again in some place appropriated for the purpose, where they were joined by the ladies, and others of the nobility who had been spectators of the sports; and the time, we are told, was passed in feasting, dancing, singing, and making merry. But, " after the noble supper and dancing," according to the ancient ordinance above quoted, the speakers of the tournament called together the heralds appointed on both parties, and demanded from them alternately, the names of those who had best performed upon the opposite sides; the double list of names was then presented to the ladies who had been present at the pastime, and the decision was referred to them respecting the awardment of the prizes;2 who selected one name for each party, and, as a peculiar mark of their esteem, the favourite champions received the rewards of their merits from the hands of two young virgins of quality. The statutes and ordinances for justs and tournaments made by John Tiptoft, earl of Wor