e, for his brethren. Nothing was said in the oath about devotion
to women, nor was such a thing at first contemplated as a part of the
knight's office. His office was a military one, and sentiment did not
enter into it. The chivalrous feature grew out of the circumstances
of the times--the unprotected situation of woman, the fact that the
knight who enlisted in the service of a baron, and the baron as
well, often had to leave the women of their households dependent for
protection upon the opportune courtesy of other knights and lords.
When the country had become more orderly and manners had softened,
with the increased security given to life and property and the better
means of obtaining justice, this chivalrous feature continued and
became prominent in the knightly character and office.

In the early times, when the life of the knight was of the roughest,
there were adventurous young women, caught by the excitement it
offered, who donned the habiliments of the knight and plunged into the
dangers of his career. The story is told of the quarrel of two Norman
ladies, Eliosa and Isabella, both of them high-strung, loquacious, and
beautiful, and both dominating their husbands by the forcefulness of
their natures. But while Eliosa was crafty and effected her ends by
scheming, Isabella was generous, courageous, sunny-tempered, merry,
and convivial. Each gathered about her a band of knights and made war
upon her adversary. Isabella led her knights in person, and, armed as
they were and as adept in the use of her weapons, she advanced in open
attack upon her foe. Such incidents, though not usual, were yet in
accord with the spirit of the time.

Every lady was trained in the use of arms for the needs of her own
protection when the occasion should arise. Sometimes the practice of
sword drill was carried on in the privacy of the lady's apartment.
Thus, it is related of the Lady Beatrix--who, by reason of her
expertness and her intrepidity in the actual use of arms, gained for
herself the sobriquet _La belle Cavalier_--that the first knowledge
that her brother had of her martial proclivities was when, through a
crevice in the wall, he happened to observe her throw off her robe,
and, taking his sword out of its scabbard, toss it up into the air
and, catching it with dexterity, go through all the drill of a knight
with spirit and precision; wheeling from right to left, advancing,
retreating, feinting, and parrying, until she at last