chivalry,
and cast, as if by the spell of enchantment, that ineffable grace over
beauty which the choice and arrangement of dress is calculated to
bestow. Courtesy had always been the proper attribute of knighthood;
protection of the weak its legitimate duty; but these were heightened to
a pitch of enthusiasm when woman became their object. There was little
jealousy shown in the treatment of that sex, at least in France, the
fountain of chivalry; they were present at festivals, at tournaments,
and sat promiscuously in the halls of their castle. The romance of
Perceforest (and romances have always been deemed good witnesses as to
manners) tells of a feast where eight hundred knights had each of them
a lady eating off his plate.[766] For to eat off the same plate was an
usual mark of gallantry or friendship.

Next therefore, or even equal to devotion, stood gallantry among the
principles of knighthood. But all comparison between the two was saved
by blending them together. The love of God and the ladies was enjoined
as a single duty. He who was faithful and true to his mistress was held
sure of salvation in the theology of castles though not of
cloisters.[767] Froissart announces that he had undertaken a collection
of amorous poetry with the help of God and of love; and Boccace returns
thanks to each for their assistance in the Decameron. The laws sometimes
united in this general homage to the fair. "We will," says James II. of
Aragon, "that every man, whether knight or no, who shall be in company
with a lady, pass safe and unmolested, unless he be guilty of
murder."[768] Louis II., duke of Bourbon, instituting the order of the
Golden Shield, enjoins his knights to honour above all the ladies, and
not to permit any one to slander them, "because from them after God
comes all the honour that men can acquire."[769]

The gallantry of those ages, which was very often adulterous, had
certainly no right to profane the name of religion; but its union with
valour was at least more natural, and became so intimate, that the same
word has served to express both qualities. In the French and English
wars especially, the knights of each country brought to that serious
conflict the spirit of romantic attachment which had been cherished in
the hours of peace. They fought at Poitiers or Verneuil as they had
fought at tournaments, bearing over their armour scarves and devices as
the livery of their mistresses, and asserting the paramount b