nt capture of Constantinople. This
was followed by the appearance of a pheasant, which was laid before the
duke, and to which the knights present addressed their vows to undertake
a crusade, in the following very characteristic preamble: I swear
before God my Creator in the first place, and the glorious Virgin his
mother, and next before the ladies and the pheasant.[782] Tournaments
were a still more powerful incentive to emulation. These may be
considered to have arisen about the middle of the eleventh century; for
though every martial people have found diversion in representing the
image of war, yet the name of tournaments, and the laws that regulated
them, cannot be traced any higher.[783] Every scenic performance of
modern times must be tame in comparison of these animating combats. At a
tournament, the space enclosed within the lists was surrounded by
sovereign princes and their noblest barons, by knights of established
renown, and all that rank and beauty had most distinguished among the
fair. Covered with steel, and known only by their emblazoned shield or
by the favours of their mistresses, a still prouder bearing, the
combatants rushed forward to a strife without enmity, but not without
danger. Though their weapons were pointless, and sometimes only of wood,
though they were bound by the laws of tournaments to strike only upon
the strong armour of the trunk, or, as it was called, between the four
limbs, those impetuous conflicts often terminated in wounds and death.
The church uttered her excommunications in vain against so wanton an
exposure to peril; but it was more easy for her to excite than to
restrain that martial enthusiasm. Victory in a tournament was little
less glorious, and perhaps at the moment more exquisitely felt, than in
the field; since no battle could assemble such witnesses of valour.
"Honour to the sons of the brave," resounded amidst the din of martial
music from the lips of the minstrels, as the conqueror advanced to
receive the prize from his queen or his mistress; while the surrounding
multitude acknowledged in his prowess of that day an augury of triumphs
that might in more serious contests be blended with those of his
country.[784]

[Sidenote: Privileges of knighthood.]

Both honorary and substantial privileges belonged to the condition of
knighthood, and had of course a material tendency to preserve its
credit. A knight was distinguished abroad by his crested helmet, his
weighty arm