lluminators of
MSS., workers and painters of glass, harness-makers, armourers,
tailors, and embroiderers--the whole forming a rare and remarkable
centre of activity for a woman to have developed and ruled and made
into a living force.

* * * * *

[Illustration: BANQUET, WITH MINSTRELS PLAYING, AND ROOM HUNG WITH
EMBROIDERY.

MS. Romance of Alexander, 14th century, Bodleian, Oxford.

_To face page 104._]

It is a fete-day within the Castle. The horns have sounded. The feast
is ready. To the great hall repair the knights and the ladies, the
esquires and the damsels, two and two, according to their rank,
dipping their hands, as they pass in, into silver basins of
rose-water. They are gorgeously apparelled in silken garments and
cloth of gold and silver, upon which are embroidered their coats of
arms, for by the end of the thirteenth century armorial bearings,
which by then had become attached to families, were used as a sign of
nobility and rank. Mahaut, as hostess, takes her seat last. Adown the
table are specimens of silver-plate, some the work of her own
craftsmen, others the offerings of friendship or of courtesy. They are
fashioned variously, and used for sweetmeats of all kinds, spices,
almonds, and dainties made of orange and pomegranate. A favourite form
is that of a ship, such as may be seen in _Les Tres Riches Heures_ of
Jean, Duc de Berri, at Chantilly, in a representation of a feast given
by the Duke. There are, besides, salt-cellars and sauce-boats, flagons
and drinking-cups, and a bowl between every two guests, from which
they eat, handing each other dainty morsels. Such, with a knife
and a spoon for each, is their equipment for the meal, for none, save
the carver, has both knife and fork. In a corner of the hall is a
basket for the broken-meats destined for the poor, a leathern sack
being also provided for foods with gravy or sauce. Neither at
festivals nor in daily life would a meal have been considered complete
if the poor were not remembered. Perhaps a messenger arrives during
the feast with the news of a birth or a marriage in Mahaut's circle of
relations or friends, and he is rewarded with a gift of money, and
possibly receives a silver cup to carry back to the nurse, or a
jewelled chaplet to take to the bride. Meanwhile the music of
trumpets, drums, viols, and flutes resounds from the minstrels'
gallery. Later, when the feast is ended, and before the company
dispe