Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/508

 496 CHIVALRY as had come into the possession or under the direct protection of the church. Elsewhere the strong hand was the only law. In time the spirit of the church began to spread beyond the cloister, and here and there a brave and hu- mane man would take upon himself the task of protecting the weak and redressing the wrongs of the injured. Women, being the weakest and most liable to suffer wrong, nat- urally first claimed this protection ; and so to courage was added courtesy and refinement, and at least in theory chastity and temper- ance, as essential to the character of these self- appointed champions. These naturally asso- ciated themselves for mutual aid and protec- tion. The church was eager to aid and be aid- ed by this growing institution ; and so it early took upon itself a religious form. France was the country in which the new civilization first gained strength ; and here the institution of chivalry first took form. From France the in- stitution spread to England, Spain, southern Germany, and southern Italy. Ethnologically the order belonged to that branch of the Teu- tonic family which had overrun these countries, which then mainly constituted Christendom. The crusades suddenly melted all Christendom into a sort of body politic, of which chivalry and the church became the notable character- istics. The decrees of the famous council of Clermont (1095), which sanctioned the first crusade, indicate the importance which the in- stitution of chivalry had then attained. This council, after confirming and extending the " truce of God " (see TBEOE OF GOD), formally recognized the institution of chivalry by decree- ing u that every person of noble birth, on at- taining 12 years of age, should take a solemn oath before the bishop of his diocese to defend to the uttermost the oppressed, the widows and orphans; that women of noble birth, both married and single, should enjoy his special eare; and that nothing should be wanting in him to render travelling safe and to destroy the evils of tyranny." In this decree all the ame- nities of chivalry were sanctioned by the civil and ecclesiastical power. It will be noted that, unlike the church, which in theory at least rec- ognizes the right of all men to all her privi- leges and immunities, chivalry had nothing to do with any except those of gentle birth ; but by the decree of the council every male per- son of such birth was from childhood enrolled as a candidate for the order. The training of the chevaliers, or, as we usually style them, the knights, grew into an elaborate system of education, admirably adapted to its purpose. Except for 'those who should enter the church, there was no career but that of arms. Every noble youth was to be trained as a soldier. This training was seldom carried on at home. Youths of the highest rank were usually edu- cated at the court of the sovereign or at the castle of some neighboring lord. The impor- tance of a noble was measured to a great extent by the number of his followers. The castle of every noble of wealth and repute be- came a kind of school for the training of the sons of his friends and neighbors. The educa- tion of the boy began at the age of 8 or 10. He was taught the rules of courtesy and the mys- teries of hunting, and trained in riding and the use of the weapons fitting his age and strength, and was styled a valet or page. At the age of 14 he was held fit to become an esquire or squire, that is, a shield-bearer, and to accom- pany his master to the battle field, rather as a spectator than as a combatant. At 21, and sometimes earlier, he might become a knight. The full induction to the order was sometimes made on the battle field, when the forms were few and brief; but when the rank of the candidate and the circumstances per- mitted, the induction was accompanied by elaborate religious rites, at the close of which he received from the investing knight the acco- lade, or three blows with the flat of the sword, with the words, "In the name of God, of St. Michael, and of St. George, I dub thee knight ; be brave, bold, and loyal." Originally every knight had the right to confer the dignity, but in course of time this came to be restricted to sovereign princes, and to the commander of a royal army in the field. Only a small portion of the squires became knights, although all were entitled to claim the honor. The knight required several horses, a squire or two, and a number of attendants. Unless he had consid- erable estates, or had won renown for valor and skill sufficient to gain for him a large guer- don, he would not be able to defray all these expenses; and so most of them remained squires, attached to the service of some prince or baron, or not unfrequently in a state of in- dependence, hiring out their own military services, and those of such men-at-arms as they could gather around them, to any one who was able to pay their price. These squires must be distinguished from those others who were the attendants of knights, and undergoing training for the order of knighthood. Not a few of the stoutest soldiers of chivalry were never more than squires, and a brave squire not unfrequently had under his control a large band of followers. He was entitled to lead these to the field un- der his own banner. The especial standard of a squire was the pennoncel, a long, narrow triangular flag, in distinction from the forked or s wallow -tailed ensign of a knight, which re- sembled two pennoncels united at the base or flag staff, and the square pennon of the bar- ons or great feudatories. Every knight had the right to ask of his sovereign or immediate commander in the field the privilege to use the square pennon. This request was granted if he had won renown at arms, and had a suffi- cient number of followers, which later became fixed at not less than 30 lances, with the re- quisite number of men-at-arms. The com- mander took the forked flag, cut off the points, and returned it thus transformed into the square pennon. The knight then became a