Chapter VIII

Trial by combat curiously interlinked with common
law—References among Ashmolean, Harleian and Cottonian
MSS.—Introduced into England by the Normans—Unknown to
the Anglo-Saxons—Principle involved—Earlier forms of
ordeal—Found among the laws of nearly all the German
tribes, the Swedes and Lombards—Flourished greatly in
France—The Grand Assize—Enclosures or lists—The custom
never took deep root in England—Civil cases usually
connected with disputes concerning land—Actual number
of judicial duels small in England—Persons excused
from battle—Women not exempt—Early ordinances—Trial
by combat in civil cases—Trial by combat in criminal
cases—Picture of a legal duel, _temp._ Henry III—Rules
and ordinances for conducting judicial combats in
France, temp. Philip IV—The lists—Judicial duels
defined—Singular duel between two Jews—Reported duel
between a man and a dog—Knightly duel in 1380—Legal
duel _temp._ Richard II—Duel between Jean de Carouge and
Jacques le Gris in 1386, as described by Froissart and
others—Duel, in 1398, between the Dukes of Hereford and
Norfolk—Trial by combat in Germany—Rules of procedure
there—Duels in Germany between men and their wives—Duel
with spiked shields—Duel with spiked clubs—With
shields, swords and daggers—With _bec de faucons_—With
two-handed swords—Rules and regulations, _temp._
Richard II, by Thomas Duke of Gloucester, Constable
of England—Rules for judicial combats in the reign
of Richard III—Judicial duel at Quesnoy in 1405—An
English duel in 1415—Knightly trial by combat at Arras
in 1431—Duel stayed in 1446—Fight at Smithfields
same year—Interesting duel fought at Valenciennes,
in 1455, with knotted clubs—Course of procedure,
_temp._ Henry VIII—Picture of a judicial duel—Duel in
France in 1547—The “coup de Jarnac”—Judicial duel in
1548—Irregular duel in the lists at Sedan—Catalogue of
judicial duels in England—Trial by combat became rare
_temp._ Elizabeth—Strong influences brought to bear
against the practice—Treatises against duels—A duel
ordered in 1571, which proved abortive—Reports of duels
in 1602 and 1631—The king’s declaration against duels in
1658—The law for judicial combats practically in abeyance
until early in the nineteenth century—Duel ordered in
1817, which proved abortive—The law repealed in 1818 146

APPENDICES
A. THE ASHMOLEAN MSS. RELATING TO THE TOURNEY 169
B. THE HARLEIAN MSS. ” ” ” 173
C. THE COTTONIAN MSS. ” ” ” 177
D. THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN BY THE EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN I
AS TO THE SELECTION OF PLATES FOR ”FREYDAL” 178
E. THE ASHMOLEAN MSS. RELATING TO JUDICIAL COMBATS 179
F. THE HARLEIAN MSS. ” ” ” 181
G. THE COTTONIAN MSS. ” ” ” 182
H. LETTER FROM THOMAS DUKE OF GLOUCESTER 184
INDEX 189

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

A Course of German _Gestech_ _Frontispiece_
PLATE FACING PAGE
I. Combat on Foot between Sir Richard Beauchamp }
and Sir Pandolf Malatesta (1) } 52
The Tapestry at Valenciennes (2) }
II. The Beauchamp Effigy 66
III. Maximilian I engaged in _Hohenzeuggestech_ 90
IV. Two Harnesses for the German Joust or _Gestech_.
At Paris 94
V. Harness for _Scharfrennen_. At Dresden 98
VI. Maximilian II armed for _Scharfrennen_. At Paris 102
VII. _Geschifttartscherennen_ 106
VIII. A _Scharfrennen_ at Minden in 1545 (1) }
} 110
A Joust at the Tilt at Augsburg in 1510 (2) }
IX. A Harness for the German Joust. Wallace Collection (1) }
Suit in the Wallace Collection for Jousting } 116
at the Tilt (2) }
X. German Armour for Jousting at the Tilt. At Dresden (1) }
} 120
An Armour for _Freiturnier_. At Dresden (2) }
XI. Harnesses for Jousting at the Tilt. At Paris (1) }
} 128
Field Harness of Anne de Montmorency (2) }
XII. The Comte de Charolais, as represented }
at Brussels in 1905 (1) } 144
Jean de Clѐves, as represented at Brussels in 1905 (2) }

PAGE
Scoring “Cheques.” In text 127
MS. Ashmole, No. 845, fol. 167 128
” ” ” 166 132

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THE TOURNAMENT