On a MS Collection of Ordinances of Chivalry belonging to Lord Hastings

by Harold Arthur, Viscount Dillon, Hon. M.A. Oxon, President
14 December, 1899
Introduction & Summary Available

The manuscript volume, which, by the kind permission of Lord Hastings, I am enabled to exhibit this evening, is one of great value and interest. Those great antiquaries Sir F. Palgrave and Albert Way saw the volume, and while the former made a rough note of its contents, the latter contributed to the fourth volume of the Archeological Journal a valuable paper on one part. The notes of these two gentlemen have been compared with the original Ms., and I have ventured, whilst giving transcripts of some portions of the volume, to add a few notes and descriptions. The manuscript, which is written on vellum, consists of fifteenth-century copies, with some illuminations, of various treatises dealing with chivalry, state, etc. These have been bound in one thick volume, which from external evidence we may suppose to have at one time belonged to that distinguished Prince, Henry, son of James I. The various portions of the volume have been cut to one uniform size, with leaves measuring 9 5/8 x 6 5/8 inches, and have not been as well cared for in past times as their interest deserved. The contents of the manuscript, which has not been paged, are as follows

Of these portions of the Ms. Some are to be found with slight variations in some other manuscripts. Nos. 1,2,3,8,9,13 will be seen in Lansdowne manuscript 285, which formerly belonged to another Norfolk knight, Sir John Paston. Both manuscripts doubtless copied from some original, how not known, but called in Sir John Paston's accounts, where the copying is noted and paid for, "The Grete boke." Our Fellow Sr. Wickham Legg has kindly compared No. 5 of this manuscript which is apparently an early English translation of the Liber Regalis, with this mss and with a similar document in Add. Mss. 6113. The collections of this manuscript with these two others are noted respectively with the letters L and A. Sir John Astley: Original owner of the Manuscript.

Of Sir John Astley, the owner of the manuscript and round whom the chief interest centers, unfortunately little is known. He was the son of Sir Thomas Astley, knight, of Nailston, county Leicester, by Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir Robert Harcourt, and lady of Patteshull. The most prominent events in Sir John's life form the subjects of two of the illuminations, and he appears to have been elected Knight of the Garter in 1461 in company with the Earls of Worcester and the Lords Hastings, Montagu, and Herbert. That he was an accomplished knight and a good authority on the subject of single combats we have evidence from the fact of his being, with others, appointed as intendant for the armourer's apprentice John David, when in October, 1446, that individual overcame his master and opponent William Catur, of the Parish of St. Dunstan's, Fleet Street. The strict rules as to the dieting of the combatants were not observed, and the unfortunate armourer was so plied with drink by his friends that he was slain, though, as we learn from the chronicler, David was soon thereafter hanged at Tyburn for felony. Mentions of Sir John In 1453, in the month of May, the king addressed a letter to Sir John appointing him, with others, as council for John Lyalton in his fight with Robert Norreys, which took place in Smithfield, the scene of one of Sir John's successful fights.

Having briefly noted the contents of this volume, it may be convenient to give a description of the chief pictures with which it is enriched, observing, however, that time and other causes have somewhat damaged these valuable authorities, at least so far as the colors are concerned. Following the above descriptions I append transcripts of some of the interesting portions of the volume, but for convenience their order has been changed to keep those relating to chivalry together. The first illumination, on fol 2b, gives a good representation of a joust at the tilt at the moment when the two riders have shivered their lances on each other's helms, but with no apparent injury to either the combatants.

The crests are good examples of the fanciful erections, probably in cuir bouilly, often worn at tournaments, of which so few real examples still remain to us, though specimens are figured by Hefneras still existing in Krelingen church, Germany. The rider on the proper right, as can be seen from the crest, a crowned harpy, is John Astley. The other rider has a crest of three maidens in a sort of basket. May this refer to the young ladies whose hard fate was relieved by Sir Nicholas? John Astley has a red mantling and torse of red and green, his bases or skirts are orange, his legs red, and his feet unarmed. The horse has a puce trapper, on which are plumes of feathers arranged in threes. His opponent has a purple mantling and green bases; his horse has a figured rose-colored trapper. Astley's mounted squire has a green plume in his salade, and black reins and green poitral to his horse, which also wears a steel chamfron with a topnet of a single feather. The other mounted attendant wears beneath his back and breastplate a purple jacket with bases. His horse has a handsome bard of some material, probably cuir boilly, embossed and gilt. The attendant on foot has a red jacket and white hose with black shoes. The tilt is composed of six planks, and is apparently five feet high. On the top of the wall forming the background is hung a green cloth, and in the center a blue piece with gilt fleurs-de-lis and white scrolls is suspended from beneath a green cushion placed in front of a lady with a large butterfly headdress. The body of her dress is blue, and she has an overgarment in yellow. The attendants of the lady, commencing from the proper right, are thus habited: the first gentleman in a puce jacket with gold lines; the lady next has a large cushion headdress of blue over a gilt crespine, yellow sleeves, and fur collar; the gentleman next is in blue with gold lines; the lady on the left of the chief personage has a blue cushion headdress, dark orange crespine, and purpose over garment; the lady on the extreme proper left wears a butterfly headdress, yellow bodice, and blue over garment with violate facings. The curtain spread behind these persons is orange. The riders are armed with the fifteenth-century tilting helms, body armour, and targes, Sir John Astley appears to have on his right or lance arm the "polder miton" as the English called the epaule de mouton or defence of the forearm and bend of the arm. The steels of the saddles are large enough to enable the riders to dispense with leg armour. The lances have vamplates of conical form and the coronals are of three points. Astley's opponent bears a cross of Saint George on his targe, but it is not possible to identify him.

The illumination on fol. 275b gives an interesting view of another mounted combat, and in this case it is no doubt that Astley's contest with Pierre de Masse in Paris in "Seyntantonne strette" is represented. This fight took place on 29 August, 1438, probably near the Palace de la Bastille at the end of Rue St. Antoine, and we may suppose that the scene in the manuscript was erected with a conventional view of the Bastille, which it will be remembered was erected by Charles V in 1369. In the foreground we see the populace perched on the housetops, while to the left is the battlemented gateway of the Bastille, at the windows of which are seen the ladies.

There does not appear to have been an enclosed space, but as in many foreign instances the knights ran along the tilt erected in the open street. The tilt here is shown is of four planks, and is perhaps not as high as that seen in the first picture. The king is seated at a window with one attendant, while courtiers view the combat from adjacent windows, and the trumpeters with royal banners attached to their instruments sound fanfares from the housetops. The combatants wear no crests on their tilting helmets and their lances have sharp points. John Astley on the left and near side of the tilt rides a horse with a blue trapper with a white cross. His squire's horse has a red trapper with a white cross, and he also has a white cross on his breast. Pierre de Masse rides a horse in a blue trapper and a red cross thereon, and his squire has a red cross on his breast. Beneath the windows at which the king and court are seen stand two heralds, the one bearing French arms on his tabard, the other the arms of Astley. Next on their left stand five men at arms in complete armour with visored sallets holding long-handled axes with roundels on the staves as were used in foot encounters. These men-at-arms also have over their left shoulders scarves or bends of red with white crosses. Leaning against one of the houses are several tilting lances with sharp heads, conical vamplates, and spiked burres or grapers so often mentioned in inventories, but representations of which are so rare. The object of these spikes was to keep the lance steady in the rest, the lances being held so that these spikes pressed into a wooden block in the lance rest. The shock of the blow was thus distributed over the whole body of the rider instead of depending only on the strength of wrist of the jouster.

The king is in red, with the blue turban-shaped headdress so much in fashion in the middle 15th century. The illumination has suffered much from the damp, but enough remains to make it a very interesting record of such scenes. The Challenge and Results of John Astley and Pierre de Masse The illumination on fol. 277b presents us with another class of combat, and we here see the fight with axes between John Astley and Philip Boyle of Aragon. Here again we have a conventional view of the scene of the combat, which took place in Smithfield on 30 January 1441-2, where, as we know, another famous fight, that between Lord Scales and the Bastard of Burgundy was carried out in June, 1467, some five and twenty years later, on which occasion Sir John Astley, with others, was of the Lord Scale's 'Counsel.'

Up in the left-hand corner of the picture is the artist's idea of St. Bartholomew's church, and in the upper center of the picture may be Newgate. Representations of foot combats with axes are not so common as those of mounted contests, but very good examples are to be found is Rous' Life of the Earl of Warwick (Cott. Ms. Julius E IV), engraved by Shaw in his Dresses and Costumes, and in the Doucean MS. 271 in the Bodleian Library, engraved in vol. 56 of the Roxburgh Club. In the manuscript before us we see King Henry VI seated as judge in a sort of grand stand, with three attendants. This stand is reached by a flight of five steps from the ground of the lists, which are formed by stout posts and rails with sliding bars to admit the combatants from either side. At the foot of these steps stand four men-at-arms completely armed and holding long-handled axes, as in the other picture, but they have no scarves or bends. The populace are separated from the lists by a boarding over which they may lean. In the lists stand the two combatants and a herald wearing the king's arms. The Aragonese knight is in full armour, with a tabard or surcoat with short sleeves, and displaying the arms of Aragon, or rather 1 & 4 or a lion gules, 2 & 3 argent a triple towered castle gules. He holds across his body, with the right hand next to the axe-blade, a two-handed axe with a point on top, an axe-blade, and a bec-de-faucon or flook. Astley similarly armed, and wearing a surcoat of his own arms, holds a two-handed axe, but with the left hand next to the roundel on his axe and a triple-pointed flook.

The picture only shows the commencement of the encounter. The King has a red headdress and a blue gown semé of fleur-de-lis. It is impossible to see whether he holds the 'warder' or baton, or the dart or arrow so often referred to in accounts of similar fights, which so many portraits of the Duke of Burgundy, his contemporary, show. The men-at-arms wear the large elbow pieces familiar to us in the brasses and effigies of the period. The globose visored bascinets of the combatants are the usual headpieces worn for such fights, of which the famous steel bascinet in the de Cosson collection is a fine though later example. The acceptance by Sir Philip Boyle of the challenge to fight depicted in this scene

The military and quasi-military portions of the manuscript are, I admit, those which interest me the most, and I have put together a few notes as explaining those terms used. It may be found that these do not in all respects agree with those given by the great authorities Grose, Meyrick, Douce, Hewitt, etc. but since their day many documents have been placed within our reach which might have modified some of the opinions of those pioneers in this line of research. Great as was their work, much of its effect was neutralized by writers of fiction, who to make picturesque descriptions mingled centuries in a most confusing and misleading though attractive manner. It must be remembered that in the two accounts of equipment that for the Justus of Pees is, as the title implies, the armaments of a man for an encounter which, though real and sometimes attended by fatal results, was quite different from the armament of a man who on foot was about to sustain or refute the truth of a serious accusation. For this man there was, unless the sovereign intervened, only the alternatives of success or death, either at the hands of his opponent or by the executioner. For similar accounts in Germany the student may refer to the translation of Paulus Kall's book given with the interesting illustrations in Archeologia vol. xxix.

The Justus of Pees was, as has been remarked, a friendly affair, and Gurlitt, in his interesting little work Deutsche Turniere Rustungen und Plattner (Dresden 1889), points out that a host would engage in such contests with his guests. Again, prizes were given on these occasions, while in the foot combats (ed. Judicial Duels) life was the reward striven for. The Regulations for a Justus of Pees in Lord Hastings Manuscript in the "Abilment for the Justus of Pees" we have the necessary defenses, etc., for one about to engage in a mounted contest, and they of course differed in some respects from the equipment of a man who fought on foot. These defenses also differed from the horsemen who would fight in battle, for it must be remembered that while in actual warfare the main object is to hurt others, and for that purpose a certain amount of protection has to be forgone; in these contests in peace, although there was an intention sometimes to slay the opponent, and in some cases this happened without intention, still the chief object to have been the avoidance of hurt from the adversary.

Notes on the Abillement for the Justus of Pees

The "helm well stuffyd" is of course the tilting helm padded inside to protect the head from the jar occasioned by a blow on the exterior, for the helm did not by 1 1/2 or 2 inches anywhere touch the wearer's head. (Chronique editor: This is true of jousting helmets, not of helmets of war, which were in general close-fitting.) In fact there was about the freedom for movement that a modern diver's helmet affords, and like that arrangement is rested on the shoulders and was fastened to the back and the breast by screws and nuts or stout lacings. The "peyre of platus" are the breast and back to which the helm was fastened, and the "xxx. Gyrders" were either attachments such as hooks and eyes for closing the front to the back, in fact girders, or they may have been, as some have suggested, pieces of chain mail to cover the parts left exposed by the plate protection. The "hanscement for the Bode wt slevis" was a close-fitting garment worn immediately beneath the armour to protect the body from the hard metal. It was probably of thin leather or some stout woollen material. A "Botton wt a tresse in the platis" was probably the arrangement of a cord and button by which the front of the helm was fastened to the breastplate as in military effigies (for example, the Warwick one) a buckle and strap were used. For the stout blows of a joust a cord would probably be stronger than a leather strap. The "schelde coverid wt his deviis" would be the target hung from his neck as we see in the pictures in this volume. The "Rerebrack wt a rolle of ledyr well stuffid" has not been satisfactorily explained, but the supposition that it was a padded protection for the left upper arm against the targe would rest seems probable. In German suits we are told there was a ball of wood which formed a sort of fender between the body and the targe, and this may have been for the same purpose. The "Maynfere with a ring" is, as Mr. Way points out, the main-de-fer or large bridle gauntlet, which in sixteenth-century examples has a fixed buckle at the top. This serves as would the ring for suspension of the main-de-fer from the arm, its large size making its retention in place more difficult. The gauntlet underneath it would be holding the reins, and the suspension of the main-de-fer would relieve the left hand of some of its work. The "rerebrase" with "a moton" was the rerebrace of the right arm with its moveable plate in disc or shield form, which would cover the right armpit when it might from the handling of the lance become exposed. The "vambrase and a gaynpayne & ij brickette" were the further defences for the right arm and hand. The gaynpayn was a gauntlet for the right hand, as is mentioned in the French Royal Accounts in 1411 (In Harl. Mss. 6149 quoted by Sir S. Meyrick, Archeologia XX. 510, the translator has rendered gaynpayn by wynbrod, and by Dr. Samuel has glossed this as a broad vane or flag.)

The two bricketts it is difficult to explain. The "ij dosyn tresse" are arming points for attaching various parts of the armour. The "vamplate," "Grapers," and "Cornallis" are the furniture of the spears with which they are mentioned. The vamplates were more or less conical metal protections for the hand, fixed just on the spear in front of the grip. The grapers are the same as the later burres, metal rings with points to stick into the wooden blocks in the lance rests. They are sometimes called grates, and were fixed just behind the grip. A specimen of one of these is in the Saffron Walden Museum, (Archeological Journal v. 227) where it was wrongly called a coronel. The cornallis are coronels or lance-heads consisting of a socket and three or more diamond shaped-points, which without penetrating the opponent's armour would bite the surface and be less liable to glance off than would the single point. The armourer had his hammer, pincers, nails and "byckorne" or anvil for repairing or altering the armour. The good courser, a horse specially trained for running the courses beside the tilt, rough shod and with a soft bitt and great halter, requires no explanations. The "sadyll well stuffud" would be one of those in which the jouster almost stood upright, and the "jambus" no doubt here refer to the long saddle steels seen in the pictures and sufficient to protect the rider's unarmoured legs, for it will be noticed that no armour is mentioned for the lower limbs; so we see in the first illumination of the Ms., and in later times insome of the various styles of jousting illustrated in the Triumph of Maximillian. Double girths and buckles, double "sengulls" or surcingles as they are would now be called, as well was the leather strap from the horse's head, or probably round his neck, between the legs, to the under part of the girths, were all precautions against the saddle slipping backwards and so unseating the rider. The "rennyng for paytrell," the crupper of Hungary leather, and over all the trapper, were parts of the horse harness which, as in the MS., afforded opportunities for the heraldic or other distinctions.

Notes on How a Man Shall be Armed on Foot

"To crie a Justus of Pees" and the "comyng to the felde," as also the manner in which the prizes were given, not by any Queen or Beauty but by "a lady," and the dancing and supper of spices and wine, are so clearly described as to need no notes, but a few on the next article, How a Man Schall be armyd at his ese when he schal fighte on foote, may be permitted in addition to those already made by Albert Way. The doublet of fustian lined with satin and cut full of holes (for coolness) with laces at the armholes and opening of the neck, had sewn on to it gussets of chain-mail at the places left unprotected by the plate-armour, such as at the armpits and arm-bends. In the picture in the MS. This is very clearly shown, and the custom continued for a very long time, as may be seen by a portrait of a gentleman by Moroni in the National Gallery. In the latter the gussets of mail, which in the sixteenth century to the leathern jacket by points. Arming points were of various materials, silk, leather, cord, etc and formed a very important part of the equipment not only in military but also in civil life, the sleeeves of ladies' dresses being attached by these means. They also afforded an opportunity for rich display, the metal points or aglets being often enamelled or even jewelled. The hose of "stamyn sengill" were of worsted cloth specially made in Norfolk, and covered the legs, while "bulwerkis" or pads of thin blankets stuff fastened over the host at the knees and prevented the metal leg protection from fretting or chafing those parts. The shoes were to be of thick Spanish (Cordovan) leather, and were fastened to the feet by cords from the sole at the heel and arch of the foot. For the arming of a man it was necessary to begin with the sabatons, or foot defenses. These were fastened to the Spanish arming-shoes by small laces or points. In some pictures we see a small bow-knot over the toes of the plate sabatons. These bows are the points which, fastened to the arming-shoes and passed through the sabatons and then tied, prevented the metal protection from holding away from the foot after it had been bent.

A picture of Saint Williams by L'Ortolano in the National Gallery shows this interesting detail. After the feet were armed the greaves and then the cuisshes were put on. Next a breech of mail, which protected the lower part of the body both in front and behind, was fastened to the hanscement or jacket. Next the "tonelitis." This word has been variously interpreted as meaning the tuilles which hung from the plate skirt or as pieces of linen for stuffing the armour. It would seen, however, that in spite of its being written "towletis" in Lansdowne MS 285 the original word was of its being written "tonletis." Tonlette was an old French word for for the skirts of a coat, and in the Tonlet suits of armour or skirted suits, such as those in Madrid and one flexible one in the Tower of London, we have a similar use of the word. The tonletis protected the lumbar regions as the fald of chain mail did when that was used. The modern French term for this part of the panoply is braconnière, but no English term has hitherto been met with. After the tonletis naturally comes the breast and, as we may suppose, the backplate. Next the vambraces for protection of the forearms, and then the rerebraces protected the upper arms. These would be fastened by points to the shoulders of the hanscement, just as we see being done done n the portrait of the Marquis del Gausto by Titian at Hampton Court Palace. If the rerebraces were not thus fastened up they would hang down and hobble the arms. The gloves completed the equipment so far as defence was concerned except the head. A short stabbing sword was then hung on the left side and a dagger on the right, and over all was put the surcoat. Next the bascinet was placed on the shoulders and fastened to the breast by two staples and to the back so as not to be displaced by any blow or movement. With his long sword in his right hand and a small pensill or banner painted with a figure of St. George or Out Lady in his left hand, the warrior was ready to enter the lists. The next part of the paper describes the furnishing of the field as regards refreshment and repairs for a man's armour in the event of damage, and a hand-kerchief to hide the visor of his bascinet is also mentioned. This was to hide from his adversary the manner of attachment of the visor up till the last moment. Olliver de a Marche mentions that the Compte de Charnay had his visor "couverte d'un volet bien délié." Some said it was to conceal the arrangement of the breathing holes, others to make his face pale by contrast. The picture on fol. 122b gives a valuable and very rare representation of the arming of a man who is about to fight on foot. He is standing in one of the small houses or huts erected close to the lists for this purpose, and at the moment chosen by the artist a considerable portion of the panoply has been already donned. It will be seen that he has on the "hanscement" with the gussets of mail; the sabatons, greaves and cuisshes have been adjusted; and the attendant is engaged in fitting on the breeches of mail. On the board and trestles at his right hand lie the remaining portions of his equipment. Taking these in the order they will be put on him are the tonletis, in the present instance already attached to the breast and back. The breast it will be noticed is a low one and would probably be supplemented by a brigandine to protect the chest. At the end of the board are the vambraces with their elbow cops. In this instance the moton takes the form of an hexagonal plate with engrailed margins. Beyond the breast plate lies the rerebrace for the right or lance arm. Close to the breast are also seen the small gauntlet or gaynpayn and the maynfere. At the far end stands the bascinet with its globose visor and neck lames. Behind the board stands a long-handled axe with its roundel, top, spike, and bec-de-faucon, and next to it is another long-handled weapon with a long blade, which we make to be one of the forms of the voulge.

Notes on the Coronation Ceremonies

On the section of the Ms. Relating to the coronations, Dr. Wickham Legg has kindly written the following note: "I have been asked to add a few notes on the Maner and the Form of the Coronacion in the Hastings manuscript. It is a version into English of the Modus et Forma Coronacionis, which is recension of the rubrics of the Liber Regalis, the same words being often used through their order be changed and through the arrangement of the sections does not always correspond with the order of the rubrics. In the English version of the Manner and Form the relation to the Liber Regalis is much less apparent, as may well be supposed. The Dukes of York and heirs are spoken of as being entitled to bear the crown. Now the first Dukes of York was created in 1385, and in 1460 the dukedom merged in the crown, so that the document must have been drawn up at some time between these years. Probably the document belogns to a time nearer to the former than the latter of these two dates."