Chapter IV: Part I (3)

A donation of the Anglo-Saxon king Ethelbert affords another example:--"Missurum etiam argenteum, scapton aureum, item _sellam cum freno aureo gemmis exornatam_, speculum argenteum, armilaisia oloserica, camisiam ornatam prædicto monasterio gratanter obtuli[132]."

As it was an occasional practice to bury the horse of the hero in the same grave with his master, the metal portions of the fitments have been preserved to our time. Examples of stirrups may be seen in the _Annaler for Nordisk Oldkyndighed_, in Worsaae's Copenhagen Museum, and in _Die Gräber der Liven_: all these are of a single piece, having a loop for the attachment of the leather. The bits are of two kinds,--snaffles with rings at the sides, and snaffles with long cheeks. The example here given is from a Kentish barrow opened by the Earl of Londesborough. A similar one is in the Livonian collection of the British Museum. Compare also the York volume of the Archæological Institute, page 29; Worsaae's Copenhagen Museum, pp. 70, 95 and 96; and M. Troyon's paper in the _Archæologia_, vol. xxxv. p. 396, and Plate XVIII. The snaffle with cheeks was found among the Wilbraham relics[133], and occurs also in the Selzen Cemetery[134]. A very curious variety, in which the snaffle is of iron, while the cheeks are of bronze richly foliated, was discovered in an old fort at Lough Fea, in Ireland, and is engraved in the third volume of the Archæological Journal. In a tumulus opened in Denmark were found the remains of a bridle which had been covered with thin plates of silver.

A good example of the Anglo-Saxon Saddle, seen without the rider, occurs in Cotton MS., Claudius, B. iv.; which has been engraved by Strutt in the _Horda_. See also our cut from Cleopatra, C. viii. (page 77) where the breastplate, crupper, and single girth are very clearly made out.

The Spur of this period consisted of a single goad, sometimes of a lozenge form, sometimes a plain spike. The shanks were straight. The following illustration of the lozenge goad is from the bronze monument of Rudolf von Schwaben, in the Cathedral of Merseburg, a work of the eleventh century[135]. A very similar example, dug up in railway excavations near Nottingham, has lately been added to the Tower collection. This is of iron. Compare the Swiss specimen engraved by M. Troyon in vol. xxxv. of the _Archæologia_, Plate XVII. This also has a lozenge goad, but the neck of the spur is much longer. A Livonian example in the British Museum has the goad in the form of a plain quadrangular spike. The conical spike is seen among the Danish relics figured on pages 70 and 95 of Mr. Worsaae's "Copenhagen Museum." A very curious variety was found in the excavations of the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Linton Heath, and is figured in the eleventh volume of the Archæological Journal. The buckles in this specimen, instead of being attached to the strap, form part of the spur itself; being contrived at the ends of the shanks.

Among the many curious usages revealed by the examination of the ancient tombs, not the least singular is the practice of burying the equestrian warrior with a single spur. This fact has been noticed, not alone among the pagan Northmen, but as late as the thirteenth century; and it does not rest on the doubtful evidence of careless observers, but has been vouched by the testimony of skilful and practised archæologists. It has been further remarked that the spur, in all such cases, is attached to the left heel. M. Troyon, in his excavations in the Colline de Chavannes, Canton de Vaud[136], found three spurs, all of different sizes, which he therefore concludes "ont appartenu chacun à des cavaliers différents." At Bel-Air, near Lausanne, this gentleman found an interment where a single spur had been fixed to the left heel of the entombed warrior. And in a note to his interesting memoir on the exploration of the Colline de Chavannes, he says: "J'ai retrouvé quelquefois des éperons dans des tombes antiques, mais le mort n'en portait jamais qu'un seul, qui était fixé au pied gauche." The similar instance which has been noticed in an interment of the thirteenth century is that recorded in the fourth volume of the Archæological Journal, page 59. A knight of the Brougham family, found buried in the chancel of the church at Brougham, in Westmoreland, had a single iron spur "round the left heel." "No spur was found upon the right heel." This knight presented the further singularity of having been buried cross-legged[137].

However highly his steed might be prized by the Northern warrior, it was not alone in feats of horsemanship that he was required to excel. The youthful Grymr, in the old poem of "Karl and Grymr," "as he grew up, was accustomed to make his sword ruddy in the warlike play of shields; to climb the mountains; to wrestle; to play well the game of chess; to study the science of the stars; to throw the stone; and to practise such other sports as were held in estimation."

Olaff Trygvason, according to an old Norwegian chronicle quoted by Pontoppidan, "could climb the rock of Smalserhorn, and fix his shield on the top; he could walk round the outside of a boat upon the oars, while the men were rowing; he could play with three darts, throwing them into the air alternately, and always keeping two of them up: he was ambidexter, and could cast two darts at once with equal force; and he was so famous a bowman that none could equal him." At a little later date, Kali, an earl of the Orkneys, boasts of his acquirements:--"I know," says he, "nine several arts. I am skilful at the game of chess, I can engrave runic letters, I am expert at my book, I can handle the tools of the smith, I can traverse the snow on wooden skates, I excel in shooting with the bow, I ply the oar with address, I can sing to the harp, and I compose verses[138]."

In the tenth century, Richard, duke of Normandy

"---- sout en Daneiz, en Normant[139] parler:
Une chartre sout lire, è li parz deviser:
Li pere l'out bien fet duire è doutriner.
De tables è d'eschez sout compaignon mater:
Bien sout paistre[140] un oisel è livrer è porter:
En bois sout cointement è berser[141] è vener.
As talevas[142] se sout bien couvrir è moler[143],
Mestre pié destre avant è entre d'els dobler:
Talons sout remuer è retraire è noxer,
Saillir deverz senestre è treget[144] tost geter:
C'est un colp damageux ki ne s'en seit garder,
Mais l'en ne s'i deit lungement demorer."
_Roman de Rou_, vol. i. p. 126.

Of the STANDARDS in use at this period, the notices that have reached us are neither numerous nor clear. In Asser's "Life of King Alfred" we read, that the Christian English gained a signal victory over the pagan Danes in Devon, slaying their king, and capturing "among other things, the standard called Raven; and they say that the three sisters of Hingwar and Hubba, daughters of Lodobroch, wove that flag and got it ready in one day[145]. They say, moreover, that in every battle, wherever that flag went before them, if they were to gain the victory, a live crow would appear flying on the middle of the flag; but if they were doomed to be defeated, it would hang down motionless. And this was often proved to be so." (Sub an. 878.) The Danish chronicles and sagas, however, make no mention of this Raven standard. Mr. Worsaae ("Danes in England") gives the engraving of a coin of Anlaf, on which he recognises the national device, and finds it again in that figure of a bird on one of the flags of the Bayeux tapestry; "for it is very natural," he says, "that the Scandinavian vikings, or Normans, who had achieved such famous conquests under Odin's Raven, should continue to preserve this sign," &c.

Ancient evidences are not agreed as to the Anglo-Saxon standard used at the battle of Hastings. William of Poitiers describes it as "memorabile vexillum Heraldi, hominis armati imaginem intextam habens ex auro purissimo." Malmesbury follows him: "vexillum--quod erat in hominis pugnantis figura, auro et lapidibus arte sumptuosa contextum."

In the Bayeux tapestry this design does not appear, but the old Dragon Standard, derived by the Northern nations from the Romans. And it will be observed that the dragon of Harold is not a picture painted on a flag; but, like the Roman _draco_, a figure fixed by the head to a staff, with its body and tail floating away into the air. Compare the representations on the Trajan and Antonine columns, and in the Bayeux tapestry. The dragon is found also among the continental Saxons. Of Witikind we are told: "Hic arripiens Signum, quod apud eo habebatur sacrum, leonis atque _draconis_ et desuper aquilæ volantis insignitum effigie[146]," &c. And this device of a dragon appears to have been in use till at length displaced by the more exact distinctions of hereditary heraldry.

The well-known custom mentioned by Plot, of the inhabitants of Burford, in Oxfordshire, carrying the figure of a dragon yearly "up and down the town in great Jollity, to which they added the Picture of a Giant," in memory of a victory over Ethelbald, king of Mercia, in which this prince lost his "Banner, whereon was depicted a Golden Dragon;" seems entitled to greater consideration than most of the customs of old times. The Dragon Standard of the Anglo-Saxons is a fact substantiated by many monuments; and the portraying a vanquished enemy under the lineaments of a hideous giant, is a practice which has had the sanction of all times and all nations.

A very curious kind of flag occurs in the Anglo-Saxon manuscript of _Prudentius_ in the Tenison Library. It is suspended from a horizontal bar near the spear-head, after the manner of a sail looped up to its yard, and from the side hangs a kind of fringe. It decreases below, presenting altogether a triangular form, and seems to be the same object as that figured by Mr. Worsaae, from a coin of Anlaf, in his "Danes in England."

The celebrated _Carrocio_ or Car Standard of the Italians appears to have been invented during the war between the Milanese and the Emperor Conrad, about 1035, by Heribert, the archbishop of Milan. This car had four wheels, and was drawn by four yoke of oxen, caparisoned in red. The chariot itself was red: in the midst of it was a tall red mast, surmounted by a golden globe, and bearing the banner of the city: beneath the banner was a large crucifix, of which "the extended arms appeared to bless the troops." A kind of platform in front of the _carrocium_ was occupied by a company of chosen heroes, elected for its especial defence; while, on a similar platform behind, the trumpets of the army contributed by their inspiriting strains to give confidence to all around. Before leaving the city, mass was solemnised upon the platform of the chariot, and not unfrequently a chaplain was assigned to accompany it into the field of battle, and to give absolution to the wounded. This device of the Milanese was soon imitated by others of the Italian cities, and with all it was held to be in the last degree humiliating to abandon the _carrocio_ to the enemy[147]. Other origins have, however, been given to the Car Standard. It has been attributed to the Saracens; and the monk Egidius ascribes its invention to the Duke of Louvain, who caused the banner which had been embroidered by the Queen of England to be placed in a superb chariot drawn by four oxen. The Italians have a large balance of evidence on their side.

Of the various kinds of "GYNS" in use, the notices are not very distinct. And a chief source of the vagueness arises from the circumstance that, as the earliest chroniclers wrote in Latin, they applied the names of Roman engines to instruments which probably differed both in form and principle from their ancient prototypes. Tacitus, indeed, tells us that the barbarians borrowed these engines from those of the Romans; deserters or prisoners from whose ranks taught to the Northmen the art of their construction. But there seems good reason to believe that the motive principle of the classic periers, _torsion_, was no longer in use among the middle-age engineers: their instruments consisting of a lever furnished at one extremity with a sling and at the other with a heavy weight; the sudden liberation of the latter contributing the force necessary to propel the stone from the sling. See this subject fully discussed in the second volume of the _Études sur l'Artillerie_ of the Emperor of the French; and compare the evidences furnished by monuments of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, given in later pages of this work.

In 585, we learn from Gregory of Tours, that the Battering Ram and the Testudo were employed by the Burgundians in the siege of Comminges[148]. This Tortoise, or screen for the propellers of the Ram, is described by the translator of Vegecius in 1408 under the name of the "Snayle or Welke[149]:" "For, righte as the snaile hath his hous over hym where he walkethe or resteth, and oute of his hous he shetethe his hede whan he wolle, and draweth hym inne a-yene, so doth this gynne." In the ninth century we obtain considerable light on this subject from the curious description of the Siege of Paris, written in Latin verse by Abbo, a monk of St. Germain-des-Prez, who was an eye-witness of the events he records. He names the Musculus and the Pluteus, both of which were contrivances to shelter the besiegers while at work; the Balista and Mangana, machines for casting large stones; the Catapulta, which cast both stones and darts; the Terebra, a spiked beam for boring into the walls; and the Falarica, a gyn throwing darts to which burning substances were affixed; a terrible instrument in those days, when the roofs of houses were almost invariably covered with thatch.

The Moveable Towers formed of wood, in imitation of those of the Romans, and placed by the walls of city or castle in order to bring the assailants to a level with the defenders, are first mentioned in medieval annals under the eleventh century; but they play no conspicuous part in the military history of these days till the succeeding century, when their employment appears to have been frequent. In 1025, Eudes, comte de Chartres, is said to have used the Moveable Tower in besieging the Castle of Montbrol, near Tours; and so high was it, that it overtopped the keep-tower of the fortress[150].

In the east of Europe, the Greek Fire had been known as early as the year 673; when, according to the historians of the Lower Empire, Callinicus, the philosopher, taught the use of it to the Greeks. He himself had probably derived the knowledge of this composition from the Arabians; for, though powder acting by _detonation_ (and consequently cannon) appears to have been first produced in Europe, and that not earlier than the beginning of the fourteenth century, the Asiatics had the use of powder that would _fuse_ at a very early date. The Greek Fire was discharged from tubes, which could be turned in any direction. The Princess Anna Comnena, in the _Alexiad_, describes its use, as it was employed by the Emperor Alexis against the Pisans, from tubes fixed at the prow of his vessels:--"They (the Pisans) were astonished to see fire, which by its nature ascends, directed against them, at the will of their enemy, downwards and on each side." The receipt for the composition of the Greek Fire may be found in the Treatise of Marcus Grecus. The terrors of these early fire-mixtures were enhanced by the belief that not only they, but the flames kindled by them, were inextinguishable by water: "de quibus fit incendarium quod ab aqua non extinguitur[151]." The Greek Fire did not, however, reach the west of Europe till a much later period. It was objected against its use, that such an agent was contrary to the spirit of religion and the nobleness of chivalry: it was felt that a weapon which could be used alike by the weak and the strong, by the humble and the powerful, might become a dangerous rival to the knightly lance and panoply.

PLATE XXV.

GREAT SEAL OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.]

FOOTNOTES:

[3] De Bello Goth., lib. ii. c. 25.

[4] See Archæologia, vol. xxxvi. p. 78.

[5] Bk. ii.

[6] Lib. ii. c. 27.

[7] Vol. i. p. 508, ed. Baluz.

[8] Life of Charlemagne, bk. ii.

[9] Laws of the Visigoths.

[10] Capit. of Charlemagne.

[11] Lib, iii. c. 74.

[12] Saxons in England, vol. ii. p. 138.

[13] Ib., p. 164.

[14] Ib., p. 145.

[15] Ib., p. 149.

[16] Codex diplom. Ævi Sax., no. 956.

[17] c. 14.

[18] Malmesb., ad an. 1041.

[19] Saxons in England, ii. 395.

[20] Lib. i. cap. 120.

[21] _découvertes et retroussés._

[22] _femmes enragées._

[23] Lib. ii.

[24] Lib. iii.

[25] Roger of Hoveden, _sub an._ 1055.

[26] "Quum ex captivis quæreret Cæsar, quamobrem Ariovistus prœlio non decertaret, hunc reperiebat causam: quod apud Germanos ea consuetudo esset, ut matresfamilias eorum sortibus et vaticinationibus declararent, utrum prœlium committi ex usu esset, necne: eas ita dicere, non esse fas Germanos superare, si ante novam lunam prœlio contendissent."--_Bell. Gall._, lib. i.

[27] Agathias.

[28] Lib. ii. c. 37.

[29] Epist. Greg. Papæ ad Childebert. Apud Scrip, rer. Franc., iv. 17.

[30] Holy things.

[31] Chalice.

[32] Ships.

[33] Gale.

[34] Chron. of Battle Abbey; Ordericus Vitalis; Wace.

[35] Heimsk., iii. 161.

[36] "in the midst."

[37] "Thor, aid!" or perhaps Tyr, the Mars of the Northmen. See Kemble's _Saxons in England_, i. 350; and Thierry's _Conquête de l'Ang. par les Normands_, sub an. 912-997.

[38] Hamon-aux-Dents, seigneur de Thorigny, of which place the church is dedicated to S. Amand.

[39] Moustaches.

[40] See also Malmesbury, bk. iii., sub an. 1066.

[41] The particular localities where the spears and other weapons have been found are mentioned in the Description of the engravings.

[42] "Saxon Obsequies," by the Hon. R. C. Neville.

[43] Collectanea Antiqua, vol. iii.

[44] La Normandie Souterraine.

[45] Das germanische Todtenlager bei Selzen in der Provinz Rheinhessen.

[46] Afbildninger fra det Kongelige Museum for Nordiske Oldsager i Kjöbenhavn.

[47] See the examples engraved in the Archæologia, vol. xxxv. p. 78.

[48] "Fairford Graves."

[49] Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. p. 353, sq., ed. 1854.

[50] See the Abbé Cochet's work, p. 283.

[51] Archæol., vol. xxxv.

[52] Journal of Archæol. Association, vol. iii.

[53] Ibid.

[54] Apud Bongars, p. 241.

[55] Normand. Souterr., p. 369.

[56] Kemble, Codex Dipl., No. 979.

[57] In quoting illuminated manuscripts, we shall be careful to give the Collection and the folio; but, where not expressed to the contrary, beg it to be understood that the place of deposit is the British Museum.

[58] See Henault, 1655; and Chiflet, _Anastasis Childerici Primi_.

[59] See Cochet, Lindenschmit, and the Transactions of the Luxembourg Society, vol. viii. p. 45.

[60] Saxon Obsequies.

[61] Landulphi senioris Mediolanens.--Hist. Rer. Ital., tom. iv. p. 79.

[62] Lib. iii. Ep. 3.

[63] Collect. Antiq., vol. iii.

[64] Ibid.

[65] Glossary to "Beowulf."

[66] Primeval Antiq. of Denmark, p. 49.

[67] Atla-Quida, vol. ii. p. 370.

[68] Vol. i. p. 186.

[69] Saxons in England, ii. 100.

[70] Manual of the Society of Northern Antiquaries of Copenhagen.

[71] Worsaae's Antiq. of Denmark.

[72] Worsaae's "Danes in England."

[73] For a fuller account of this transaction, and of other notable deeds of our hero-smith, see the Völundar Quida of the Edda Sæmundar, and the Wilkina Saga (c. 21, sq.); also Grimm's Heldensage, p. 14, and Teut. Mythol., 221.

[74] Kemble's "Saxons in England," p. 280.

[75] _Normandie Souterraine_, p. 44.

[76] Boys' Hist. of Sandwich. The charter is given in Mr. Kemble's _Codex Diplom. Ævi Sax._, iv. 23.

[77] Stothard, Pl. XIX.

[78] Northern.

[79] blade.

[80] long-handled.

[81] must hold it.

[82] From _ira_.

[83] The passage which has furnished these lines is further curious, as it would seem to shew that the _Fraternitas Armorum_ was not confined to the knightly order. These two English guisarmiers enter the field of Hastings under a similar compact to triumph or fall together:--

"Dous Engleiz vit mult orguillos,
Ki s'esteient acumpaignié
Por ço ke bien erent preisié.
Ensemble debveient aler:
Li uns debveit l'altre garder:
En lor cols aveient levées
Dui gisarmes lunges è lées."

[84] Cap. 23. sect. 4.

[85] weapons.

[86] javelin.

[87] iron headpieces.

[88] Wilson's "Memorials of Edinburgh," vol. ii. p. 3; from the Borough Records.

[89] We are indebted to Mr. Westwood for this curious drawing.

[90] Abbé Cochet, p. 237.

[91] Figured in _Collect. Antiq._, ii. 245, and at p. 101 of the Illustrated Catalogue of Mr. Roach Smith's Museum.

[92] Titulo de Vulneribus, n. 2.

[93] _Normandie Souterraine_, pp. 285, 351, 385.

[94] See Archæol. Journal, vol. vi. p. 181; and Wilson's "Archæology of Scotland," p. 393.

[95] pikes.

[96] forks.

[97] bâtons.

[98] Ap. Duchesne, p. 201.

[99] _Mil. Fran._, i. 7.

[100] See Wilkinson's Egyptians, vol. i. p. 357, ed. 1854.

[101] See Layard's Nineveh, p. 332, ed. 1852.

[102] Ante: page 54.

[103] Hist. Franc., lib. viii. c. 29.

[104] Ibid., lib. iv. c. 46.

[105] See the able work of M. Reinaud and Captain Favé, _Du Feu Grégeois, &c._; and M. Lacabane's paper in the _Biblio. de l'Ecole des Chartes_, Second Series, vol. i.; and the _Etudes sur l'Artillerie_, by the Emperor of the French.

[106] "Und so schwollen Sigurds Seiten, dass seine Panzerringe entzweisprangen;" welches Entzweispringen doch von nebeneinander gehefteten Ringen nicht füglich gesagt werden könnte.--_Wien's kaiserliches Zeughaus._

[107] Lib. vi.

[108] Gesta Regum Franc., cap. 41.

[109] Ibid.

[110] See the Tenison _Prudentius_.

[111] See Strutt, "Dress and Hab.," Pl. XXIX.

[112] It is engraved in vol. ii. of _Collectanea Antiqua_.

[113] Wilkinson's "Ancient Egyptians," p. 287, ed. 1837; vol. i. p. 338, ed. 1854.

[114] See Archæol. Journ., vol. iii. p. 352.

[115] _Trachten des christlichen Mittelalters._ There is also a French version of this admirable work.

[116] Archæology of Scotland, p. 266.

[117] _coup._

[118] _draps._

[119] _yeux._

[120] _visage._

[121] _voulait._

[122] _tomba._

[123] Line 5215.

[124] Thorpe's Analecta, p. 137.

[125] Ibid., p. 128.

[126] Archæol. Journ., vol. xi. p. 98.

[127] Ap. Du Chesne, p. 168.

[128] Archæologia, vol. xix.; and Memoirs, p. 298.

[129] Compare Wilkinson's "Egyptians," i. 349, ed. 1854; Layard's "Monuments of Nineveh," Plate LXXII.; and the wall-painting of the Ajunta Caves, of the first century of our era, a fine copy of which has been placed in the Museum of the East India House. The Chinese still use a large round shield of cane-wicker, behind which they crouch so as to conceal themselves entirely from the view of the enemy.

[130] See Description of Engravings, for the particular localities where they were discovered.

[131] Copenhagen Manual.

[132] Monast. Ang., vol. i. p. 24.

[133] Saxon Obsequies, Plate XXXVIII.

[134] _Todtenlager bei Selzen_, p. 6.

[135] Hefner; _Trachten des christlichen Mittelalters_, Pt. I.

[136] Described in _Archæologia_, vol. xxxv.

[137] For much curious information relating to the practice of interring with the hero his horse, chariot, hawks, hounds, &c., and the discovery of their remains in the graves, see _Archæologia_, vol. xxxiii.; the York volume of the Archæolog. Instit., p. 28; Saxon Obsequies, pl. XXXVIII.; Archæol. Journal, vol. vii. p. 43; Kemble's Saxons in England, vol. i. p. 428; Appendix to Kemble's trans. of "Beowulf;" Wilson's Archæol. of Scotland, pp. 457 and 552; Worsaae's Antiq. of Denmark, p. 100; Bähr's _Die Gräber der Liven_, pl. XVI. Compare also Tacitus, _Germania_, x.; Cæsar, _Bell. Gall._, lib. vi.; and Wilkinson's Anc. Egypt., vol. ii. pp. 270 and 399, ed. 1854.

[138] _Orkneyinga Saga._

[139] That is, in the Romance language.

[140] feed.

[141] use the long-bow.

[142] shield.

[143] contend.

[144] sling.

[145] It is curious to compare these highborn ladies of the ninth century with another fair standard-weaver somewhat nearer our own times. Katherine of Arragon, writing to Wolsey, when the king was campaigning in France, says: "I am horridly busy with making standards, banners, and badges."

[146] Gestor. Sax., lib. i.

[147] Arnulphus Mediol., 1. ii. c. 16; Ricordano Malespina, Hist. Fior., cap. 164; Burchardus, Epistola de excidio urbis Mediolanens., tom. vi.; Hist, Rer. Ital., p. 917.

[148] Lib. vii. c. 37.

[149] Roy. MS. 18, A. xii., f. 105.

[150] _Ap._ Labbæum in Chronolog., lib. ii.; Daniel, _Mil. Fran._, i. 557.

[151] Reinaud et Favé: _Du feu grégeois_, &c., p. 218.