Chapter V: H. S (8)

There is nothing specifically of an Oriental origin in their religious vocabulary, and the words _Devla_ (God), _Bang_ (devil) or _Trushul_ (Cross), in spite of some remote similarity, must be taken as later adaptations, and not as remnants of an old Sky-worship or Serpent-worship. In general their beliefs, customs, tales, &c. belong to the common stock of general folklore, and many of their symbolical expressions find their exact counterpart in Rumanian and modern Greek, and often read as if they were direct translations from these languages. Although they love their children, it sometimes happens that a Gipsy mother will hold her child by the legs and beat the father with it. In Rumania and Turkey among the settled Gipsies a good number are carriers and bricklayers; and the women take their full share in every kind of work, no matter how hard it may be. The nomadic Gipsies carry on the ancient craft of coppersmiths, or workers in metal; they also make sieves and traps, but in the East they are seldom farriers or horse-dealers. They are far-famed for their music, in which art they are unsurpassed. The Gipsy musicians belong mostly to the class who originally were serfs. They were retained at the courts of the boyars for their special talent in reciting old ballads and love songs and their deftness in playing, notably the guitar and the fiddle. The former was used as an accompaniment to the singing of either love ditties and popular songs or more especially in recital or heroic ballads and epic songs; the latter for dances and other amusements. They were the troubadours and minstrels of eastern Europe; the largest collection of Rumanian popular ballads and songs was gathered by G. Dem. Teodorescu from a Gipsy minstrel, Petre Sholkan; and not a few of the songs of the guslars among the Servians and other Slavonic nations in the Balkans come also from the Gipsies. They have also retained the ancient tunes and airs, from the dreamy "doina" of the Rumanian to the fiery "czardas" of the Hungarian or the stately "hora" of the Bulgarian. Liszt went so far as to ascribe to the Gipsies the origin of the Hungarian national music. This is an exaggeration, as seen by the comparison of the Gipsy music in other parts of south-east Europe; but they undoubtedly have given the most faithful expression to the national temperament. Equally famous is the Gipsy woman for her knowledge of occult practices. She is the real witch; she knows charms to injure the enemy or to help a friend. She can break the charm if made by others. But neither in the one case nor in the other, and in fact as little as in their songs, do they use the Gipsy language. It is either the local language of the natives as in the case of charms, or a slightly Romanized form of Greek, Rumanian or Slavonic. The old Gipsy woman is also known for her skill in palmistry and fortune-telling by means of a special set of cards, the well-known Tarok of the Gipsies. They have also a large stock of fairy tales resembling in each country the local fairy tales, in Greece agreeing with the Greek, and in Rumania with the Rumanian fairy tales. It is doubtful, however, whether they have contributed to the dissemination of these tales throughout Europe, for a large number of Gipsy tales can be shown to have been known in Europe long before the appearance of the Gipsies, and others are so much like those of other nations that the borrowing may be by the Gipsy from the Greek, Slav or Rumanian. It is, however, possible that playing-cards might have been introduced to Europe through the Gipsies. The oldest reference to cards is found in the Chronicle of Nicolaus of Cavellazzo, who says that the cards were first brought into Viterbo in 1379 from the land of the Saracens, probably from Asia Minor or the Balkans. They spread very quickly, but no one has been able as yet to trace definitely the source whence they were first brought. Without entering here into the history of the playing-cards and of the different forms of the faces and of the symbolical meaning of the different designs, one may assume safely that the cards, before they were used for mere pastime or for gambling, may originally have had a mystical meaning and been used as _sortes_ in various combinations. To this very day the oldest form is known by the hitherto unexplained name of Tarock, played in Bologna at the beginning of the 15th century and retained by the French under the form Tarot, connected direct with the Gipsies, "Le Tarot des Bohemiens." It was noted above that the oldest chronicler (Presbyter) who describes the appearance of the Gipsies in 1416 in Germany knows them by their Italian name "Cianos," so evidently he must have known of their existence in Italy previous to any date recorded hitherto anywhere, and it is therefore not impossible that coming from Italy they brought with them also their book of divination.

_Physical Characteristics._--As a race they are of small stature varying in colour from the dark tan of the Arab to the whitish hue of the Servian and the Pole. In fact there are some white-coloured Gipsies, especially in Servia and Dalmatia, and these are often not easily distinguishable from the native peoples, except that they are more lithe and sinewy, better proportioned and more agile in their movements than the thick-set Slavs and the mixed race of the Rumanians. By one feature, however, they are easily distinguishable and recognize one another, viz. by the lustre of their eyes and the whiteness of their teeth. Some are well built; others have the features of a mongrel race, due no doubt to intermarriage with outcasts of other races. The women age very quickly and the mortality among the Gipsies is great, especially among children; among adults it is chiefly due to pulmonary diseases. They love display and Oriental showiness, bright-coloured dresses, ornaments, bangles, &c.; red and green are the colours mostly favoured by the Gipsies in the East. Along with a showy handkerchief or some shining gold coins round their necks, they will wear torn petticoats and no covering on their feet. And even after they have been assimilated and have forgotten their own language they still retain some of the prominent features of their character, such as the love of inordinate display and gorgeous dress; and their moral defects not only remain for a long time as glaring as among those who live the life of vagrants, but even become more pronounced. The Gipsy of to-day is no longer what his forefathers have been. The assimilation with the nations in the near East and the steps taken for the suppression of vagrancy in the West, combine to denationalize the Gipsy and to make "Romani Chib" a thing of the past.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The scientific study of the Gipsy language and its
origin, as well as the critical history of the Gipsy race, dates (with
the notable exception of Grellmann) almost entirely from Pott's
researches in 1844.

I. _Collections of Documents, &c._--Lists of older publications
appeared in the books of Pott, Miklosich and the archduke Joseph; Pott
adds a critical appreciation of the scientific value of the books
enumerated. See also _Verzeichnis von Werken und Aufsatzen ... uber
die Geschichte und Sprache der Zigeuner, &c._, 248 entries (Leipzig,
1886); J. Tipray, "Adalekok a cziganyokrol szolo irodalomhoz," in
_Magyar Konyvszemle_ (Budapest, 1877); Ch. G. Leland, _A Collection of
Cuttings ... relating to Gypsies_ (1874-1891), bequeathed by him to
the British Museum. See also the _Orientalischer Jahresbericht_, ed.
Muller (Berlin, 1887 ff.).

II. _History._--(a) The first appearance of the Gipsies in Europe.
Sources: A. F. Oefelius, _Rerum Boicarum scriptores, &c._ (Augsburg,
1763); M. Freher, _Andreae Presbyteri ... chronicon de ducibus
Bavariae ..._ (1602); S. Munster, _Cosmographia ... &c._ (Basel,
1545); J. Thurmaier, _Annalium Boiorum libri septem_, ed. T. Zieglerus
(Ingolstad, 1554); M. Crusius, _Annales Suevici, &c._ (Frankfurt,
1595-1596), _Schwabische Chronik ..._ (Frankfurt, 1733); A. Krantz,
_Saxonia_ (Cologne, 1520); Simon Simeon, _Itineraria, &c._, ed. J.
Nasmith (Cambridge, 1778). (b) Origin and spread of the Gipsies: H. M.
G. Grellmann, _Die Zigeuner, &c._ (1st ed., Dessau and Leipzig, 1783;
2nd ed., Gottingen, 1787); English by M. Roper (London, 1787; 2nd ed.,
London, 1807), entitled _Dissertation on the Gipsies, &c._; Carl von
Heister, _Ethnographische ... Notizen uber die Zigeuner_ (Konigsberg,
1842), a third and greatly improved edition of Grellmann and the best
book of its kind up to that date; A. F. Pott, _Die Zigeuner in Europa
und Asien_ (2 vols., Halle, 1844-1845), the first scholarly work with
complete and critical bibliography, detailed grammar, etymological
dictionary and important texts; C. Hopf, _Die Einwanderung der
Zigeuner in Europa_ (Gotha, 1870); F. von Miklosich, "Beitrage zur
Kenntnis der Zigeuner-Mundarten," i.-iv., in _Sitzungsber. d. Wiener
Akad. d. Wissenschaften_ (Vienna, 1874-1878), "Uber die Mundarten und
die Wanderungen der Zigeuner Europas," i.-xii., in _Denkschriften d.
Wiener Akad. d. Wissenschaften_ (1872-1880); M. J. de Goeje, _Bijdrage
tot de geschiedenis der Zigeuners_ (Amsterdam, 1875), English
translation by MacRitchie, _Account of the Gipsies of India_ (London,
1886); Zedler, _Universal-Lexicon_, vol. lxii., s.v. "Zigeuner," pp.
520-544 containing a rich bibliography; many publications of P.
Bataillard from 1844 to 1885; A. Colocci, _Storia d' un popolo
errante_, with illustrations, map and Gipsy-Ital. and Ital.-Gipsy
glossaries (Turin, 1889); F. H. Groome, "The Gypsies," in E.
Magnusson, _National Life and Thought_ (1891), and art. "Gipsies" in
_Encyclopaedia Britannica_ (9th ed., 1879); C. Amero, _Bohemiens,
Tsiganes et Gypsies_ (Paris, 1895); M. Kogalnitschan, _Esquisse sur
l'histoire, les moeurs et la langue des Cigains_ (Berlin, 1837; German
trans., Stuttgart, 1840)--valuable more for the historical part than
for the linguistic; J. Czacki, _Dziela_, vol. iii. (1844-1845)--for
historic data about Gipsies in Poland; I. Kopernicki and J. Moyer,
_Charakterystyka fizyczna ludrosci galicyjskiej_ (1876)--for the
history and customs of Galician gipsies; _Ungarische statistische
Mitteilungen_, vol. ix. (Budapest, 1895), containing the best
statistical information on the Gipsies; V. Dittrich, A _nagy-idai
cziganyok_ (Budapest, 1898); T. H. Schwicker, "Die Zigeuner in Ungarn
u. Siebenburgen," in vol. xii. of _Die Volker Osterreich-Ungarns_
(Vienna, 1883), and in _Mitteilungen d. K. K. geographischen
Gesellschaft_ (Vienna, 1896); Dr J. Polek, _Die Zigeuner in der
Bukowina_ (Czernowitz, 1908); Ficker, "Die Zigeuner der Bukowina," in
_Statist. Monatschrift_, v. 6, _Hundert Jahre 1775-1875: Zigeuner in
d. Bukowina_ (Vienna, 1875), _Die Volkerstamme der osterr.-ungar.
Monarchie, &c._ (Vienna, 1869); V. S. Morwood, _Our Gipsies_ (London,
1885); D. MacRitchie, _Scottish Gypsies under the Stewarts_
(Edinburgh, 1894); F. A. Coelho, "Os Ciganos de Portugal," in _Bol.
Soc. Geog._ (Lisbon, 1892); A. Dumbarton, _Gypsy Life in the Mysore
Jungle_ (London, 1902).

III. _Linguistic._--[Armenia], F. N. Finck, "Die Sprache der
armenischen Zigeuner," in _Memoires de l'Acad. Imp. des Sciences_,
viii. (St Petersburg, 1907). [Austria-Hungary], R. von Sowa, _Die
Mundart der slovakischen Zigeuner_ (Gottingen, 1887), and _Die
mahrische Mundart der Romsprache_ (Vienna, 1893); A. J. Puchmayer,
_Romani Cib_ (Prague, 1821); P. Josef Jesina, _Romani Cib_ (in Czech,
1880; in German, 1886); G. Ihnatko, _Czigany nyelvtan_ (Losoncon,
1877); A. Kalina, _La Langue des Tsiganes slovaques_ (Posen, 1882);
the archduke Joseph, _Czigany nyelvtan_ (Budapest, 1888); H. von
Wlislocki, _Die Sprache der transsilvanischen Zigeuner_ (Leipzig,
1884). [Brazil], A. T. de Mello Moraes, _Os ciganos no Brazil_ (Rio de
Janeiro, 1886). [France, the Basques], A. Baudrimont, _Vocabulaire de
la langue des Bohemiens habitant les pays basques-francais_ (Bordeaux,
1862). [Germany], R. Pischel, _Beitrage zur Kenntnis der deutschen
Zigeuner_ (Halle, 1894); R. von Sowa, "Worterbuch des Dialekts der
deutschen Zigeuner," in _Abhandlungen f. d. Kunde d. Morgenlandes_,
xi. 1, very valuable (Leipzig, 1898); F. N. Finck, _Lehrbuch des
Dialekts der deutschen Zigeuner_--very valuable (Marburg, 1903).
[Great Britain, &c.], Ch. G. Leland, _The English Gipsies and their
Language_ (London and New York, 1873; 2nd ed., 1874), _The Gipsies of
Russia, Austria, England, America, &c._ (London, 1882)--the validity
of Leland's conclusions is often doubtful; B. C. Smart and H. J.
Crofton, _The Dialect of the English Gypsies_ (2nd ed., London, 1875);
G. Borrow, _Romano lavo-lil_ (London, 1874, 1905), _Lavengro_, ed. F.
H. Groome (London, 1899). [Rumania], B. Constantinescu, _Probe de
Limba si literatura Tiganilor din Romania_ (Bucharest, 1878). [Russia,
Bessarabia], O. Boethlingk, _Uber die Sprache der Zigeuner in
Russland_ (St Petersburg, 1852; supplement, 1854). [Russia, Caucasus],
K. Badganian, _Cygany. Neskoliko slovu o narecijahu zakavkazskihu
cyganu_ (St Petersburg, 1887); Istomin, _Ciganskij Jazyku_ (1900).
[Spain], G. H. Borrow, _The Zincali, or an Account of the Gipsies of
Spain_ (London, 1841, and numerous later editions); R. Campuzano,
_Origen ... de los Gitanos, y diccionario de su dialecto_ (2nd ed.,
Madrid, 1857); A. de C., _Diccionario del dialecto gitano, &c._
(Barcelona, 1851); M. de Sales y Guindale, _Historia, costumbres y
dialecto de los Gitanos_ (Madrid, 1870); M. de Sales, _El Gitanismo_
(Madrid, 1870); J. Tineo Rebolledo, _"A Chipicalli" la lengua gitana:
diccionario gitano-espanol_ (Granada, 1900). [Turkey], A. G. Paspati,
_Etudes sur les Tchinghianes, ou Bohemiens de l'empire ottoman_
(Constantinople, 1870), with grammar, vocabulary, tales and French
glossary; very important. [General], John Sampson, "Gypsy Language and
Origin," in _Journ. Gypsy Lore Soc._ vol. i. (2nd ser., Liverpool,
1907); J. A. Decourdemanche, _Grammaire du Tchingane, &c._ (Paris,
1908)--fantastic in some of its philology; F. Kluge, _Rotwelsche
Quellen_ (Strassburg, 1901); L. Gunther, _Das Rotwelsch des deutschen
Gauners_ (Leipzig, 1905), for the influence of Gipsy on argot; L.
Besses, _Diccionario de argot espanol_ (Barcelona); G. A. Grierson,
_The Pi'saca Languages of North-Western India_ (London, 1906), for
parallels in Indian dialects; G. Borrow, _Criscote e majaro Lucas ...
El evangelio segun S. Lucas ..._ (London, 1837; 2nd ed., 1872)--this
is the only complete translation of any one of the gospels into Gipsy.
For older fragments of such translations, see Pott ii. 464-521.

IV. _Folklore, Tales, Songs, &c._--Many songs and tales are found in
the books enumerated above, where they are mostly accompanied by
literal translations. See also Ch. G. Leland, E. H. Palmer and T.
Tuckey, _English Gipsy Songs in Romany, with Metrical English
Translation_ (London, 1875); G. Smith, _Gipsy Life, &c._ (London,
1880); M. Rosenfeld, _Lieder der Zigeuner_ (1882); Ch. G. Leland, _The
Gypsies_ (Boston, Mass., 1882), _Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune-Telling_
(London, 1891); H. von Wlislocki, _Marchen und Sagen der
transsilvanischen Zigeuner_ (Berlin, 1886)--containing 63 tales, very
freely translated; _Volksdichtungen der siebenburgischen und
sudungarischen Zigeuner_ (Vienna, 1890)--songs, ballads, charms,
proverbs and 100 tales; _Vom wandernden Zigeunervolke_ (Hamburg,
1890); _Wesen und Wirkungskreis der Zauberfrauen bei den
siebenburgischen Zigeuner_ (1891); "Aus dem inneren Leben der
Zigeuner," in _Ethnologische Mitteilungen_ (Berlin, 1892); R. Pischel,
_Bericht uber Wlislocki vom wandernden Zigeunervolke_ (Gottingen,
1890)--a strong criticism of Wlislocki's method, &c.; F. H. Groome,
_Gypsy Folk-Tales_ (London, 1899), with historical introduction and a
complete and trustworthy collection of 76 gipsy tales from many
countries; Katada, _Contes gitanos_ (Logrono, 1907); M. Gaster,
_Zigeunermarchen aus Rumanien_ (1881); "Tiganii, &c.," in _Revista
pentru Istorie, &c._, i. p. 469 ff. (Bucharest, 1883); "Gypsy
Fairy-Tales" in _Folklore_. The _Journal of the Gipsy-Lore Society_
(Edinburgh, 1888-1892) was revived in Liverpool in 1907.

V. _Legal Status._--A few of the books in which the legal status of
the Gipsies (either alone or in conjunction with "vagrants") is
treated from a juridical point of view are here mentioned, also the
history of the trial in 1726. J. B. Weissenbruch, _Ausfuhrliche
Relation von der famosen Zigeuner-Diebes-Mord und Rauber_ (Frankfurt
and Leipzig, 1727); A. Ch. Thomasius, _Tractatio juridica de
vagabundo, &c._ (Leipzig, 1731); F. Ch. B. Ave-Lallemant, _Das
deutsche Gaunertum, &c._ (Leipzig, 1858-1862); V. de Rochas, _Les
Parias de France et d'Espagne_ (Paris, 1876); P. Chuchul, _Zum Kampfe
gegen Landstreicher und Bettler_ (Kassel, 1881); R. Breithaupt, _Die
Zigeuner und der deutsche Staat_ (Wurzburg, 1907); G. Steinhausen,
_Geschichte der deutschen Kultur_ (Leipzig and Vienna, 1904).
(M. G.)

GIRAFFE, a corruption of _Zarafah_, the Arabic name for the tallest of all mammals, and the typical representative of the family _Giraffidae_, the distinctive characters of which are given in the article PECORA, where the systematic position of the group is indicated. The classic term "camelopard," probably introduced when these animals were brought from North Africa to the Roman amphitheatre, has fallen into complete disuse.

In common with the okapi, giraffes have skin-covered horns on the head, but in these animals, which form the genus _Giraffa_, these appendages are present in both sexes; and there is often an unpaired one in advance of the pair on the forehead. Among other characteristics of these animals may be noticed the great length of the neck and limbs, the complete absence of lateral toes and the long and tufted tail. The tongue is remarkable for its great length, measuring about 17 in. in the dead animal, and for its great elasticity and power of muscular contraction while living. It is covered with numerous large papillae, and forms, like the trunk of the elephant, an admirable organ for the examination and prehension of food. Giraffes are inhabitants of open country, and owing to their length of neck and long flexible tongues are enabled to browse on tall trees, mimosas being favourites. To drink or graze they are obliged to straddle the fore-legs apart; but they seldom feed on grass and are capable of going long without water. When standing among mimosas they so harmonize with their surroundings that they are difficult of detection. Formerly giraffes were found in large herds, but persecution has reduced their number and led to their extermination from many districts. Although in late Tertiary times widely spread over southern Europe and India, giraffes are now confined to Africa south of the Sahara.

Apart from the distinct Somali giraffe (_Giraffa reticulata_), characterized by its deep liver-red colour marked with a very coarse network of fine white lines, there are numerous local forms of the ordinary giraffe (_Giraffa camelopardalis_). The northern races, such as the Nubian _G. c. typica_ and the Kordofan _G. c. antiquorum_, are characterized by the large frontal horn of the bulls, the white legs, the network type of coloration and the pale tint. The latter feature is specially developed in the Nigerian _G. c. peralta_, which is likewise of the northern type. The Baringo _G. c. rothschildi_ also has a large frontal horn and white legs, but the spots in the bulls are very dark and those of the females jagged. In the Kilimanjaro _G. c. tippelskirchi_ the frontal horn is often developed in the bulls, but the legs are frequently spotted to the fetlocks. Farther south the frontal horn tends to disappear more or less completely, as in the Angola _G. c. angolensis_, the Transvaal _G. c. wardi_ and the Cape _G. c. capensis_, while the legs are fully spotted and the colour-pattern on the body (especially in the last-named) is more of a blotched type, that is to say, consists of dark blotches on a fawn ground, instead of a network of light lines on a dark ground.

For details, see a paper on the subspecies of _Giraffa
camelopardalis_, by R. Lydekker in the _Proceedings of the Zoological
Society of London_ for 1904. (R. L.*)

GIRALDI, GIGLIO GREGORIO [LILIUS GREGORIUS GYRALDUS] (1479-1552), Italian scholar and poet, was born on the 14th of June 1479, at Ferrara, where he early distinguished himself by his talents and acquirements. On the completion of his literary course he removed to Naples, where he lived on familiar terms with Jovianus Pontanus and Sannazaro; and subsequently to Lombardy, where he enjoyed the favour of the Mirandola family. At Milan in 1507 he studied Greek under Chalcondylas; and shortly afterwards, at Modena, he became tutor to Ercole (afterwards Cardinal) Rangone. About the year 1514 he removed to Rome, where, under Clement VII., he held the office of apostolic protonotary; but having in the sack of that city (1527), which almost coincided with the death of his patron Cardinal Rangone, lost all his property, he returned in poverty once more to Mirandola, whence again he was driven by the troubles consequent on the assassination of the reigning prince in 1533. The rest of his life was one long struggle with ill-health, poverty and neglect; and he is alluded to with sorrowful regret by Montaigne in one of his _Essais_ (i. 34), as having, like Sebastian Castalio, ended his days in utter destitution. He died at Ferrara in February 1552; and his epitaph makes touching and graceful allusion to the sadness of his end. Giraldi was a man of very extensive erudition; and numerous testimonies to his profundity and accuracy have been given both by contemporary and by later scholars. His _Historia de diis gentium_ marked a distinctly forward step in the systematic study of classical mythology; and by his treatises _De annis et mensibus_, and on the _Calendarium Romanum et Graecum_, he contributed to bring about the reform of the calendar, which was ultimately effected by Pope Gregory XIII. His _Progymnasma adversus literas et literatos_ deserves mention at least among the curiosities of literature; and among his other works to which reference is still occasionally made are _Historiae poetarum Graecorum ac Latinorum_; _De poetis suorum temporum_; and _De sepultura ac vario sepeliendi ritu_. Giraldi was also an elegant Latin poet.

His _Opera omnia_ were published at Leiden in 1696.

GIRALDI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (1504-1573), surnamed CYNTHIUS, CINTHIO or CINTIO, Italian novelist and poet, born at Ferrara in November 1504, was educated at the university of his native town, where in 1525 he became professor of natural philosophy, and, twelve years afterwards, succeeded Celio Calcagnini in the chair of belles-lettres. Between 1542 and 1560 he acted as private secretary, first to Ercole II. and afterwards to Alphonso II. of Este; but having, in connexion with a literary quarrel in which he had got involved, lost the favour of his patron in the latter year, he removed to Mondovi, where he remained as a teacher of literature till 1568. Subsequently, on the invitation of the senate of Milan, he occupied the chair of rhetoric at Pavia till 1573, when, in search of health, he returned to his native town, where on the 30th of December he died. Besides an epic entitled _Ercole_ (1557), in twenty-six cantos, Giraldi wrote nine tragedies, the best known of which, _Orbecche_, was produced in 1541. The sanguinary and disgusting character of the plot of this play, and the general poverty of its style, are, in the opinion of many of its critics, almost fully redeemed by occasional bursts of genuine and impassioned poetry; of one scene in the third act in particular it has even been affirmed that, if it alone were sufficient to decide the question, the _Orbecche_ would be the finest play in the world. Of the prose works of Giraldi the most important is the _Hecatommithi_ or _Ecatomiti_, a collection of tales told somewhat after the manner of Boccaccio, but still more closely resembling the novels of Giraldi's contemporary Bandello, only much inferior in workmanship to the productions of either author in vigour, liveliness and local colour. Something, but not much, however, may be said in favour of their professed claim to represent a higher standard of morality. Originally published at Monteregale, Sicily, in 1565, they were frequently reprinted in Italy, while a French translation by Chappuys appeared in 1583 and one in Spanish in 1590. They have a peculiar interest to students of English literature, as having furnished, whether directly or indirectly, the plots of _Measure for Measure_ and _Othello_. That of the latter, which is to be found in the _Hecatommithi_ (iii. 7), is conjectured to have reached Shakespeare through the French translation; while that of the former (_Hecat._ viii. 5) is probably to be traced to Whetstone's _Promos and Cassandra_ (1578), an adaptation of Cinthio's story, and to his _Heptamerone_ (1582), which contains a direct English translation. To Giraldi also must be attributed the plot of Beaumont and Fletcher's _Custom of the Country_.

GIRALDUS CAMBRENSIS (1146?-1220), medieval historian, also called GERALD DE BARRI, was born in Pembrokeshire. He was the son of William de Barri and Augharat, a daughter of Gerald, the ancestors of the Fitzgeralds and the Welsh princess, Nesta, formerly mistress of King Henry I. Falling under the influence of his uncle, David Fitzgerald, bishop of St David's, he determined to enter the church. He studied at Paris, and his works show that he had applied himself closely to the study of the Latin poets. In 1172 he was appointed to collect tithe in Wales, and showed such vigour that he was made archdeacon. In 1176 an attempt was made to elect him bishop of St David's, but Henry II. was unwilling to see any one with powerful native connexions a bishop in Wales. In 1180, after another visit to Paris, he was appointed commissiary to the bishop of St David's, who had ceased to reside. But Giraldus threw up his post, indignant at the indifference of the bishop to the welfare of his see. In 1184 he was made one of the king's chaplains, and was elected to accompany Prince John on his voyage to Ireland. While there he wrote a _Topographia Hibernica_, which is full of information, and a strongly prejudiced history of the conquest, the _Expugnatio Hibernica_. In 1186 he read his work with great applause before the masters and scholars of Oxford. In 1188 he was sent into Wales with the primate Baldwin to preach the Third Crusade. Giraldus declares that the mission was highly successful; in any case it gave him the material for his _Itinerarium Cambrense_, which is, after the _Expugnatio_, his best known work. He accompanied the archbishop, who intended him to be the historian of the Crusade, to the continent, with the intention of going to the Holy Land. But in 1189 he was sent back to Wales by the king, who knew his influence was great, to keep order among his countrymen. Soon after he was absolved from his crusading vow. According to his own statements, which often tend to exaggeration, he was offered both the sees of Bangor and Llandaff, but refused them. From 1192 to 1198 he lived in retirement at Lincoln and devoted himself to literature. It is probably during this period that he wrote the _Gemma ecclesiastica_ (discussing disputed points of doctrine, ritual, &c.) and the _Vita S. Remigii_. In 1198 he was elected bishop of St David's. But Hubert Walter, the archbishop of Canterbury, was determined to have in that position no Welshman who would dispute the metropolitan pretensions of the English primates. The king, for political reasons, supported Hubert Walter. For four years Giraldus exerted himself to get his election confirmed, and to vindicate the independence of St David's from Canterbury. He went three times to Rome. He wrote the _De jure Meneviensis ecclesiae_ in support of the claims of his diocese. He made alliances with the princes of North and South Wales. He called a general synod of his diocese. He was accused of stirring up rebellion among the Welsh, and the justiciar proceeded against him. At length in 1202 the pope annulled all previous elections, and ordered a new one. The prior of Llanthony was finally elected. Gerald was immediately reconciled to the king and archbishop; the utmost favour was shown to him; even the expenses of his unsuccessful election were paid. He spent the rest of his life in retirement, though there was some talk of his being made a cardinal. He certainly survived John.

The works of Giraldus are partly polemical and partly historical. His value as a historian is marred by his violent party spirit; some of his historical tracts, such as the _Liber de instructione principum_ and the _Vita Galfridi Archiepiscopi Eborecensis_, seem to have been designed as political pamphlets. Henry II., Hubert Walter and William Longchamp, the chancellor of Richard I., are the objects of his worst invectives. His own pretensions to the see of St David are the motive of many of his misrepresentations. But he is one of the most vivid and witty of our medieval historians.

See the Rolls edition of his works, ed. J. S. Brewer, J. F. Dimock and
G. F. Warner in 8 vols. (London, 1861-1891), some of which have
valuable introductions.

GIRANDOLE (from the Ital. _girandola_), an ornamental branched candlestick of several lights. It came into use about the second half of the 17th century, and was commonly made and used in pairs. It has always been, comparatively speaking, a luxurious appliance for lighting, and in the great 18th-century period of French house decoration the famous _ciseleurs_ designed some exceedingly beautiful examples. A great variety of metals has been used for the purpose--sometimes, as in the case of the candlestick, girandoles have been made in hard woods. Gilded bronze has been a very frequent medium, but for table purposes silver is still the favourite material.

GIRARD, JEAN BAPTISTE [known as "Le Pere Girard" or "Le Pere Gregoire"] (1765-1850), French-Swiss educationalist, was born at Fribourg and educated for the priesthood at Lucerne. He was the fifth child in a family of fourteen, and his gift for teaching was early shown at home in helping his mother with the younger children; and after passing through his noviciate he spent some time as an instructor in convents, notably at Wurzburg (1785-1788). Then for ten years he was busy with religious duty. In 1798, full of Kantian ideas, he published an essay outlining a scheme of national Swiss education; and in 1804 he began his career as a public teacher, first in the elementary school at Fribourg (1805-1823), then (being driven away by Jesuit hostility) in the gymnasium at Lucerne till 1834, when he retired to Fribourg and devoted himself with the production of his books on education, _De l'enseignement regulier de la langue maternelle_ (1834, 9th ed. 1894; Eng. trans. by Lord Ebrington, _The Mother Tongue_, 1847), and _Cours educatif_ (1844-1846). Father Girard's reputation and influence as an enthusiast in the cause of education became potent not only in Switzerland, where he was hailed as a second Pestalozzi, but in other countries. He had a genius for teaching, his method of stimulating the intelligence of the children at Fribourg and interesting them actively in learning, and not merely cramming them with rules and facts, being warmly praised by the Swiss educationalist Francois Naville (1784-1846) in his treatise on public education (1832). His undogmatic method and his Liberal Christianity brought him into conflict with the Jesuits, but his aim was, in all his teaching, to introduce the moral idea into the minds of his pupils by familiarizing them with the right or wrong working of the facts he brought to their attention, and thus to elevate character all through the educational curriculum.

GIRARD, PHILIPPE HENRI DE (1775-1845), French mechanician, was born at Lourmarin, Vaucluse, on the 1st of February 1775. He is chiefly known in connexion with flax-spinning machinery. Napoleon having in 1810 decreed a reward of one million francs to the inventor of the best machine for spinning flax, Girard succeeded in producing what was required. But he never received the promised reward, although in 1853, after his death, a comparatively small pension was voted to his heirs, and having relied on the money to pay the expenses of his invention he got into serious financial difficulties. He was obliged, in 1815, to abandon the flax mills he had established in France, and at the invitation of the emperor of Austria founded a flax mill and a factory for his machines at Hirtenberg. In 1825, at the invitation of the emperor Alexander I. of Russia, he went to Poland, and erected near Warsaw a flax manufactory, round which grew up a village which received the name of Girardow. In 1818 he built a steamer to run on the Danube. He did not return to Paris till 1844, where he still found some of his old creditors ready to press their claims, and he died in that city on the 26th of August 1845. He was also the author of numerous minor inventions.

GIRARD, STEPHEN (1750-1831), American financier and philanthropist, founder of Girard College in Philadelphia, was born in a suburb of Bordeaux, France, on the 20th of May 1750. He lost the sight of his right eye at the age of eight and had little education. His father was a sea captain, and the son cruised to the West Indies and back during 1764-1773, was licensed captain in 1773, visited New York in 1774, and thence with the assistance of a New York merchant began to trade to and from New Orleans and Port au Prince. In May 1776 he was driven into the port of Philadelphia by a British fleet and settled there as a merchant; in June of the next year he married Mary (Polly) Lum, daughter of a shipbuilder, who, two years later, after Girard's becoming a citizen of Pennsylvania (1778), built for him the "Water Witch," the first of a fleet trading with New Orleans and the West Indies--most of Girard's ships being named after his favourite French authors, such as "Rousseau," "Voltaire," "Helvetius" and "Montesquieu." His beautiful young wife became insane and spent the years from 1790 to her death in 1815 in the Pennsylvania Hospital. In 1810 Girard used about a million dollars deposited by him with the Barings of London for the purchase of shares of the much depreciated stock of the Bank of the United States--a purchase of great assistance to the United States government in bolstering European confidence in its securities. When the Bank was not rechartered the building and the cashier's house in Philadelphia were purchased at a third of the original cost by Girard, who in May 1812 established the Bank of Stephen Girard. He subscribed in 1814 for about 95% of the government's war loan of $5,000,000, of which only $20,000 besides had been taken, and he generously offered at par shares which upon his purchase had gone to a premium. He pursued his business vigorously in person until the 12th of February 1830, when he was injured in the street by a truck; he died on the 26th of December 1831. His public spirit had been shown during his life not only financially but personally; in 1793, during the plague of yellow fever in Philadelphia, he volunteered to act as manager of the wretched hospital at Bush Hill, and with the assistance of Peter Helm had the hospital cleansed and its work systematized; again during the yellow fever epidemic of 1797-1798 he took the lead in relieving the poor and caring for the sick. Even more was his philanthropy shown in his disposition by will of his estate, which was valued at about $7,500,000, and doubtless the greatest fortune accumulated by any individual in America up to that time. Of his fortune he bequeathed $116,000 to various Philadelphia charities, $500,000 to the same city for the improvement of the Delaware water front, $300,000 to Pennsylvania for internal improvements, and the bulk of his estate to Philadelphia, to be used in founding a school or college, in providing a better police system, and in making municipal improvements and lessening taxation. Most of his bequest to the city was to be used for building and maintaining a school "to provide for such a number of poor male white orphan children ... a better education as well as a more comfortable maintenance than they usually receive from the application of the public funds." His will planned most minutely for the erection of this school, giving details as to the windows, doors, walls, &c.; and it contained the following phrase: "I enjoin and require that no ecclesiastic, missionary or minister of any sect whatsoever, shall ever hold or exercise any duty whatsoever in the said college; nor shall any such person ever be admitted for any purpose, or as a visitor, within the premises appropriated to the purposes of the said college.... I desire to keep the tender minds of orphans ... free from the excitements which clashing doctrines and sectarian controversy are so apt to produce." Girard's heirs-at-law contested the will in 1836, and they were greatly helped by a public prejudice aroused by the clause cited; in the Supreme Court of the United States in 1844 Daniel Webster, appearing for the heirs, made a famous plea for the Christian religion, but Justice Joseph Story handed down an opinion adverse to the heirs (_Vidals_ v. _Girard's Executors_). Webster was opposed in this suit by John Sergeant and Horace Binney. Girard specified that those admitted to the college must be white male orphans, of legitimate birth and good character, between the ages of six and ten; that no boy was to be permitted to stay after his eighteenth year; and that as regards admissions preference was to be shown, first to orphans born in Philadelphia, second to orphans born in any other part of Pennsylvania, third to orphans born in New York City, and fourth to orphans born in New Orleans. Work upon the buildings was begun in 1833, and the college was opened on the 1st of January 1848, a technical point of law making instruction conditioned upon the completion of the five buildings, of which the principal one, planned by Thomas Ustick Walter (1804-1887), has been called "the most perfect Greek temple in existence." To a sarcophagus in this main building the remains of Stephen Girard were removed in 1851. In the 40 acres of the college grounds there were in 1909 18 buildings (valued at $3,350,000), 1513 pupils, and a total "population," including students, teachers and all employes, of 1907. The value of the Girard estate in the year 1907 was $35,000,000, of which $550,000 was devoted to other charities than Girard College. The control of the college was under a board chosen by the city councils until 1869, when by act of the legislature it was transferred to trustees appointed by the Common Pleas judges of the city of Philadelphia. The course of training is partly industrial--for a long time graduates were indentured till they came of age--but it is also preparatory to college entrance.

See H. A. Ingram, _The Life and Character of Stephen Girard_
(Philadelphia, 1884), and George P. Rupp, "Stephen Girard--Merchant
and Mariner," in _1848-1898: Semi-Centennial of Girard College_
(Philadelphia, 1898).

GIRARDIN, DELPHINE DE (1804-1855), French author, was born at Aix-la-Chapelle on the 26th of January 1804. Her mother, the well-known Madame Sophie Gay, brought her up in the midst of a brilliant literary society. She published two volumes of miscellaneous pieces, _Essais poetiques_ (1824) and _Nouveaux Essais poetiques_ (1825). A visit to Italy in 1827, during which she was enthusiastically welcomed by the literati of Rome and even crowned in the capitol, was productive of various poems, of which the most ambitious was _Napoline_ (1833). Her marriage in 1831 to Emile de Girardin (see below) opened up a new literary career. The contemporary sketches which she contributed from 1836 to 1839 to the feuilleton of _La Presse_, under the _nom de plume_ of Charles de Launay, were collected under the title of _Lettres parisiennes_ (1843), and obtained a brilliant success. _Contes d'une vieille fille a ses neveux_ (1832), _La Canne de Monsieur de Balzac_ (1836) and _Il ne faut pas jouer avec la douleur_ (1853) are among the best-known of her romances; and her dramatic pieces in prose and verse include _L'Ecole des journalistes_ (1840), _Judith_ (1843), _Cleopatre_ (1847), _Lady Tartufe_ (1853), and the one-act comedies, _C'est la faute du mari_ (1851), _La Joie fait peur_ (1854), _Le Chapeau d'un horloger_ (1854) and _Une Femme qui deteste son mari_, which did not appear till after the author's death. In the literary society of her time Madame Girardin exercised no small personal influence, and among the frequenters of her drawing-room were Theophile Gautier and Balzac, Alfred de Musset and Victor Hugo. She died on the 29th of June 1855. Her collected works were published in six volumes (1860-1861).

See Sainte-Beuve, _Causeries du lundi_, t. iii.; G. de Molenes, "Les
Femmes poetes," in _Revue des deux mondes_ (July 1842); Taxile Delord,
_Les Matinees litteraires_ (1860); _L'Esprit de Madame Girardin, avec
une preface par M. Lamartine_ (1862); G. d'Heilly, _Madame de
Girardin, sa vie et ses oeuvres_ (1868); Imbert de Saint Amand, _Mme
de Girardin_ (1875).

GIRARDIN, EMILE DE (1802-1881), French publicist, was born, not in Switzerland in 1806 of unknown parents, but (as was recognized in 1837) in Paris in 1802, the son of General Alexandre de Girardin and of Madame Dupuy, wife of a Parisian advocate. His first publication was a novel, _Emile_, dealing with his birth and early life, and appeared under the name of Girardin in 1827. He became inspector of fine arts under the Martignac ministry just before the revolution of 1830, and was an energetic and passionate journalist. Besides his work on the daily press he issued miscellaneous publications which attained an enormous circulation. His _Journal des connaissances utiles_ had 120,000 subscribers, and the initial edition of his _Almanach de France_ (1834) ran to a million copies. In 1836 he inaugurated cheap journalism in a popular Conservative organ, _La Presse_, the subscription to which was only forty francs a year. This undertaking involved him in a duel with Armand Carrel, the fatal result of which made him refuse satisfaction to later opponents. In 1839 he was excluded from the Chamber of Deputies, to which he had been four times elected, on the plea of his foreign birth, but was admitted in 1842. He resigned early in February 1847, and on the 24th of February 1848 sent a note to Louis Philippe demanding his resignation and the regency of the duchess of Orleans. In the Legislative Assembly he voted with the Mountain. He pressed eagerly in his paper for the election of Prince Louis Napoleon, of whom he afterwards became one of the most violent opponents. In 1856 he sold _La Presse_, only to resume it in 1862, but its vogue was over, and Girardin started a new journal, _La Liberte_, the sale of which was forbidden in the public streets. He supported Emile Ollivier and the Liberal Empire, but plunged into vehement journalism again to advocate war against Prussia. Of his many subsequent enterprises the most successful was the purchase of _Le Petit Journal_, which served to advocate the policy of Thiers, though he himself did not contribute. The crisis of the 16th of May 1877, when Jules Simon fell from power, made him resume his pen to attack MacMahon and the party of reaction in _La France_ and in _Le Petit Journal_. Emile de Girardin married in 1831 Delphine Gay (see above), and after her death in 1855 Guillemette Josephine Brunold, countess von Tieffenbach, widow of Prince Frederick of Nassau. He was divorced from his second wife in 1872.

The long list of his social and political writings includes: _De la
presse periodique au XIX^e, siecle_ (1837); _De l'instruction
publique_ (1838); _Etudes politiques_ (1838); _De la liberte de la
presse et du journalisme_ (1842); _Le Droit au travail au Luxembourg
et a l'Assemblee Nationale_ (2 vols., 1848); _Les Cinquante-deux_
(1849, &c.), a series of articles on current parliamentary questions;
_La Politique universelle, decrets de l'avenir_ (Brussels, 1852); _Le
Condamne du 6 mars_ (1867), an account of his own differences with the
government in 1867 when he was fined 5000 fr. for an article in _La
Liberte; Le Dossier de la guerre_ (1877), a collection of official
documents; _Questions de mon temps, 1836 a 1856_, articles extracted
from the daily and weekly press (12 vols., 1858).

GIRARDON, FRANCOIS (1628-1715), French sculptor, was born at Troyes on the 17th of March 1628. As a boy he had for master a joiner and wood-carver of his native town, named Baudesson, under whom he is said to have worked at the chateau of Liebault, where he attracted the notice of Chancellor Seguier. By the chancellor's influence Girardon was first removed to Paris and placed in the studio of Francois Anguier, and afterwards sent to Rome. In 1652 he was back in France, and seems at once to have addressed himself with something like ignoble subserviency to the task of conciliating the court painter Charles Le Brun. Girardon is reported to have declared himself incapable of composing a group, whether with truth or from motives of policy it is impossible to say. This much is certain, that a very large proportion of his work was carried out from designs by Le Brun, and shows the merits and defects of Le Brun's manner--a great command of ceremonial pomp in presenting his subject, coupled with a large treatment of forms which if it were more expressive might be imposing. The court which Girardon paid to the "premier peintre du roi" was rewarded. An immense quantity of work at Versailles was entrusted to him, and in recognition of the successful execution of four figures for the Bains d'Apollon, Le Brun induced the king to present his protege personally with a purse of 300 louis, as a distinguishing mark of royal favour. In 1650 Girardon was made member of the Academy, in 1659 professor, in 1674 "adjoint au recteur," and finally in 1695 chancellor. Five years before (1690), on the death of Le Brun, he had also been appointed "inspecteur general des ouvrages de sculpture"--a place of power and profit. In 1699 he completed the bronze equestrian statue of Louis XIV., erected by the town of Paris on the Place Louis le Grand. This statue was melted down during the Revolution, and is known to us only by a small bronze model (Louvre) finished by Girardon himself. His Tomb of Richelieu (church of the Sorbonne) was saved from destruction by Alexandre Lenoir, who received a bayonet thrust in protecting the head of the cardinal from mutilation. It is a capital example of Girardon's work, and the theatrical pomp of its style is typical of the funeral sculpture of the reigns of Louis XIV. and Louis XV.; but amongst other important specimens yet remaining may also be cited the Tomb of Louvois (St Eustache), that of Bignon, the king's librarian, executed in 1656 (St Nicolas du Chardonneret), and decorative sculptures in the Galerie d'Apollon and Chambre du roi in the Louvre. Mention should not be omitted of the group, signed and dated 1699, "The Rape of Proserpine" at Versailles, which also contains the "Bull of Apollo." Although chiefly occupied at Paris Girardon never forgot his native Troyes, the museum of which town contains some of his best works, including the marble busts of Louis XIV. and Maria Theresa. In the hotel de ville is still shown a medallion of Louis XIV., and in the church of St Remy a bronze crucifix of some importance--both works by his hand. He died in Paris in 1715.

See Corrard de Breban, _Notice sur la vie et les oeuvres de Girardon_
(1850).

GIRART DE ROUSSILLON, an epic figure of the Carolingian cycle of romance. In the genealogy of romance he is a son of Doon de Mayence, and he appears in different and irreconcilable circumstances in many of the _chansons de geste_. The legend of Girart de Roussillon is contained in a _Vita Girardi de Roussillon_ (ed. P. Meyer, in _Romania_, 1878), dating from the beginning of the 12th century and written probably by a monk of the abbey of Pothieres or of Vezelai, both of which were founded in 860 by Girart; in _Girart de Roussillon, a chanson de geste_ written early in the 12th century in a dialect midway between French and Provencal, and apparently based on an earlier Burgundian poem; in a 14th century romance in alexandrines (ed. T. J. A. P. Mignard, Paris and Dijon, 1878); and in a prose romance by Jehan Wauquelin in 1447 (ed. L. de Montille, Paris, 1880). The historical Girard, son of Leuthard and Grimildis, was a Burgundian chief who was count of Paris in 837, and embraced the cause of Lothair against Charles the Bald. He fought at Fontenay in 841, and doubtless followed Lothair to Aix. In 855 he became governor of Provence for Lothair's son Charles, king of Provence (d. 863). His wife Bertha defended Vienne unsuccessfully against Charles the Bald in 870, and Girard, who had perhaps aspired to be the titular ruler of the northern part of Provence, which he had continued to administer under Lothair II. until that prince's death in 869, retired with his wife to Avignon, where he died probably in 877, certainly before 879. The tradition of his piety, of the heroism of his wife Bertha, and of his wars with Charles passed into romance; but the historical facts are so distorted that in _Girart de Roussillon_ the _trouvere_ makes him the opponent of Charles Martel, to whom he stands in the relation of brother-in-law. He is nowhere described in authentic historic sources as of Roussillon. The title is derived from his castle built on Mount Lassois, near Chatillon-sur-Seine. Southern traditions concerning Count Girart, in which he is made the son of Garin de Monglane, are embodied in _Girart de Viane_ (13th century) by Bertrand de Bar-sur-l'Aube, and in the _Aspramonte_ of Andrea da Barberino, based on the French _chanson of Aspremont_, where he figures as Girart de Frete or de Fratte.[1] _Girart de Viane_ is the recital of a siege of Vienne by Charlemagne, and in _Aspramonte_ Girart de Fratte leads an army of infidels against Charlemagne. _Girart de Roussillon_ was long held to be of Provencal origin, and to be a proof of the existence of an independent Provencal epic, but its Burgundian origin may be taken as proved.

See F. Michel, _Gerard de Rossillon ... publie en francais et en
provencal d'apres les MSS. de Paris et de Londres_ (Paris, 1856); P.
Meyer, _Girart de Roussillon_ (1884), a translation in modern French
with a comprehensive introduction. For _Girart de Viane_ (ed. P.
Tarbe, Reims, 1850) see L. Gautier, _Epopees francaises_, vol. iv.; F.
A. Wulff, _Notice sur les sagas de Magus et de Geirard_ (Lund, 1874).

FOOTNOTE:

[1] It is of interest to note that Freta was the old name for the
town of Saint Remy, and that it is close to the site of the ancient
town of Glanum, the name of which is possibly preserved in Garin de
Monglane, the ancestor of the heroes of the cycle of Guillaume
d'Orange.

GIRAUD, GIOVANNI, Count (1776-1834), Italian dramatist, of French origin, was born at Rome, and showed a precocious passion for the theatre. His first play, _L'Onesta non si vince_, was successfully produced in 1798. He took part in politics as an active supporter of Pius VI., but was mainly occupied with the production of his plays, and in 1809 became director-general of the Italian theatres. He died at Naples in 1834. Count Giraud's comedies, the best of which are _Gelosie per equivoco_ (1807) and _L'Ajonell' imbarazzo_ (1824), were bright and amusing on the stage, but of no particular literary quality.

His collected comedies were published in 1823 and his _Teatro
domestico_ in 1825.

GIRDLE (O. Eng. _gyrdel_, from _gyrdan_, to gird; cf. Ger. _Gurtel_, Dutch _gordel_, from _gurten_ and _gorden_; "gird" and its doublet "girth" together with the other Teutonic cognates have been referred by some to the root _ghar_--to seize, enclose, seen in Gr. [Greek: cheir], hand, Lat. _hortus_, garden, and also English yard, garden, garth, &c.), a band of leather or other material worn round the waist, either to confine the loose and flowing outer robes so as to allow freedom of movement, or to fasten and support the garments of the wearer. Among the Romans it was used to confine the _tunica_, and it formed part of the dress of the soldier; when a man quitted military service he was said, _cingulum deponere_, to lay aside the girdle. Money being carried in the girdle, _zonam perdere_ signified to lose one's purse, and, among the Greeks, to cut the girdle was to rob a man of his money.

Girdles and girdle-buckles are not often found in Gallo-Roman graves, but in the graves of Franks and Burgundians they are constantly present, often ornamented with bosses of silver or bronze, chased or inlaid. Sidonius Apollinaris speaks of the Franks as belted round the waist, and Gregory of Tours in the 6th century says that a dagger was carried in the Frankish girdle.

In the Anglo-Saxon dress the girdle makes an unimportant figure, and the Norman knights, as a rule, wore their belts under their hauberks. After the Conquest, however, the artificers gave more attention to a piece whose buckle and tongue invited the work of the goldsmith. Girdles of varying richness are seen on most of the western medieval effigies. That of Queen Berengaria lets the long pendant hang below the knee, following a fashion which frequently reappears.

In the latter part of the 13th century the knight's surcoat is girdled with a narrow cord at the waist, while the great belt, which had become the pride of the well-equipped cavalier, loops across the hips carrying the heavy sword aslant over the thighs or somewhat to the left of the wearer.