stic than others, may be particularly
noticed. All writers agree in the prevalence of judicial perjury. It
seems to have almost invariably escaped human punishment; and the
barriers of superstition were in this, as in every other instance, too
feeble to prevent the commission of crimes. Many of the proofs by ordeal
were applied to witnesses as well as those whom they accused; and
undoubtedly trial by combat was preserved in a considerable degree on
account of the difficulty experienced in securing a just cause against
the perjury of witnesses. Robert king of France, perceiving how
frequently men forswore themselves upon the relics of saints, and less
shocked apparently at the crime than at the sacrilege, caused an empty
reliquary of crystal to be used, that those who touched it might incur
less guilt in fact, though not in intention. Such an anecdote
characterizes both the man and the times.[547]

[Sidenote: Love of field sports.]

The favourite diversions of the middle ages, in the intervals of war,
were those of hunting and hawking. The former must in all countries be a
source of pleasure; but it seems to have been enjoyed in moderation by
the Greeks and the Romans. With the northern invaders, however, it was
rather a predominant appetite than an amusement; it was their pride and
their ornament, the theme of their songs, the object of their laws, and
the business of their lives. Falconry, unknown as a diversion to the
ancients, became from the fourth century an equally delightful
occupation.[548] From the Salic and other barbarous codes of the fifth
century to the close of the period under our review, every age would
furnish testimony to the ruling passion for these two species of chace,
or, as they were sometimes called, the mysteries of woods and rivers. A
knight seldom stirred from his house without a falcon on his wrist or a
greyhound that followed him. Thus are Harold and his attendants
represented, in the famous tapestry of Bayeux. And in the monuments of
those who died anywhere but on the field of battle, it is usual to find
the greyhound lying at their feet, or the bird upon their wrists. Nor
are the tombs of ladies without their falcon; for this diversion, being
of less danger and fatigue than the chace, was shared by the delicate
sex.[549]

It was impossible to repress the eagerness with which the clergy,
especially after the barbarians were tempted by rich bishoprics to take
upon them the sacred function