From Fabliaux or Tales, abridged from French Manuscripts of the XIIth and XIIIth Centuries by M. Le Grand, selected and translated into English Verse, by the late G. L. Way, Esq., with A Preface, Notes and Appendix, by the late G. Ellis, Esq., A New Edition, corrected in Three Volumes, Volume I, Printed for J. Rodwell, London; 1815; pp. 85-98, 179-187.
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FROM the grave tales the wise are wont to tell,
Sure profit springs to him who hearkens well:
The following story, cloth’d in pleasant rhyme,
Shall prove this doctrine without waste of time.
Of such rare chance as erst in Paynim land
Befell that monarch Saladin the Grand,
That loyal Saracen, that warriour bold,
The worthy course shall now by me be told.
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Long time and Christendom had view’d with pain
Her holy faith depress’d, her votaries slain;
Leagued, at the last, our pious warriours rose,
Worn out, it seem’d, and wearied of their woes:
Prest from all parts in glittering arms they stood,
And brav’d this shedder of the Christian blood;
And might stout deeds desir’d success have won,
Sure victory had been their’s, and their’s alone;
But heaven, to whom pertains the event of fight,
That boon denied, and baffled mortal might:
One huge disastrous day o’erwhelm’d their host,
And liberty or life was nobly lost.
Thrall’s with the captives of that luckless hour
Prince Hugh was found, of chivalry the flower;
Him, as their prince, Tabaria’s land ador’d,
Him Galilee’s fair plains confess’d their lord.
All prais’d the knight: his worth, the general theme,
Fill’d the proud Souldan’s heart with just esteem:
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Hence, when he saw the illustrious thrall attend,
He hail’d him with the count’nance of a friend,
And own’d that hour his boast, that hour which held
Tabaria’s prince enchain’d, the glory of the field:
Yet, proudly brief, this doom he straight decreed;
Large ransome, or the forfeit of his head.
The captive prince thus left with option free,
Each wight that hears may well the choice foresee;
Forthwith he asks what sums his ransome claim’d,
And hears twice fifty thousand bysants nam’d:
The prince grew desperate when the sum was told,
Past hope it seem’d were e’en his princedom sold:
‘Nay, nought there needs,’ the gallant Souldan cried,
‘That princedoms fall, thy ransome’s sacrifice;
‘Priz’d as a prince, and as a knight renown’d,
‘Go, search the land, where-e’er thy faith is found,
‘There seek thy liberty; approv’d in fight
‘Within these climes there dwells no Christian wight,
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‘But when he hears, will deal large dole to thee,
‘And glory that his gift may set thee free.’
So counsell’d Saladin; so speaking, gave
Immediate passport to Tabaria brave:
The liberal boon one sold restriction bound;
Twice when the sun should close his annual round
Should aught fall short the ransome to fulfil,
Back must the prince, to bide his conqueror’s will.
Fair were the terms, the prince was nothing loath,
But ratified the treaty with his oath;
Then thank’d Souldan from his inmost heart,
And turn’d him on the instant to depart;
When Saladin, who long had borne in mind
To learn whence knighthood sprang, and how defin’d,
Miss’d not the hour; but by the hand he hent
His captive guest, in marvel what were meant,
And, to a lonely chamber straight retir’d,
Told what the tenour of his will requir’d.
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‘Oft have I learn’d,’ quoth he, ‘the worth, the might,
‘Of knights, so nam’d from some mysterious rite:
‘Now, by that faith adjur’d which Christians hold,
‘These rites declare! this dignity unfold!
‘Here stay thy steps: for from thy hand I claim
‘These rites, these honours, and this knightly name.’
Much with the strange command the prince confus’d
Stood mute awhile, then decently refus’d:
He fear’d ’twere sure the Holy Order’s stain,
Dealt to an Infidel, a man profane:
Wroth was the Souldan at his thrall’s delay,
Sternly he frown’d, and warn’d him to obey;
Ill did that season or that place become
Weak pride, to brave the power that rul’d its doom:
Words such as these desir’d obedience wrought.
And knighthood’s rites began and knighthood’s lore was taught.
Now nigh the laver’s verge the Souldan stood,
And o’er his face was pour’d the cleansing flood;
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His beard was shaven, shorn his clustering hair,
Whilst menial hands the mystick bath prepare.
With meet regard, yet wondering in his mind,
‘Whence grow these forms?’ he ask’d, ‘and what design’d?’ —’
‘These, with the bath,’ return’d the observant knight,
‘Pure symbol of our first baptismal rite,
‘Pourtray like pureness of man’s soul within: —
‘Let none dare enter here defil’d with sin.’
He ceas’d; the admiring Souldan heard with awe
The strength, the sanctity, of knighthood’s law.
With sequent course each grave observance came,
And still the prince unvail’d its moral and its aim.
When from the waves the imperial pupil rose,
Sped to the appointed couch, and sought repose:
‘Lo here!’ he cried, ‘the type of heavenly rest!
‘Of that sweet paradise that wait’s the bless’d!
‘There the strong arm that still maintains the right,
‘The weak man’s guard against the oppressor’s might,
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‘There the pure soul, when this world’s sufferings cease,
‘Finds sure reward and everlasting peace.’
When from the bed he sprang, and, wide display’d,
The snow-white shirt his vigorous limbs array’d;
‘Lo here!’ Tabaria’s prince remark’d again,
‘This spotless cloth asks flesh without a stain.
‘This scarlet robe,’ — (a robe to hand he drew
E’en as he spoke, and o’er the Paynim threw;)
‘This sumptuous robe with sanguine tinct imbued,
‘Claims one for heaven resolv’d to shed his blood;
‘Speaks the true knight who shuns nor death nor dole,
‘Fix’d is his faith, and heaven sustains his soul.’
Now all was sped, save one conclusive rite,
The custom’d stroke that dubs the future knight.
This custom’d stroke, (for so Tabaria crav’d,
Sway’d by the Paynim’s rank,) the Souldan wav’d:
Its place, as seem’d, grave precepts well might hold;
And thus the fourfold discipline was told.
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‘Still to the truth direct thy strong desire,
‘And flee the very air where dwells a liar:
‘Fail not the Mass; there still with reverent feet
‘Each morn be found, nor scant thine offering meet:
‘Wach week’s sixth day with fast subdue thy mind,
‘For ’twas the day of PASSION for mankind;
‘Else let some pious work, some deed of grace,
‘With substituted worth fulfil the place:
‘Haste thee, in fine, when dames complain of wrong;
‘Maintain their fight, and in their cause be strong:
‘For not a wight there lives, if right I deem,
‘Who holds fair hope of well-deserv’d esteem,
‘But to the dames by strong devotion bound
‘Their cause sustains, nor faints for toil or wound.’
So spake the prince; his words to wonder wrought:
Great Saladin the exalted ardour caught:
High sense of gratitude inspir’d his breast,
And words like these his kindling soul confess’d:
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‘Go: — from the band that, fallen within our power,
‘Mourn the hard lot of war’s disastrous hour,
‘Choose where thou wilt; ten knights thy lore hath freed;
‘Well do the glorious doctrines claim the meed.’
He ceas’d; with thankfulness the prince replies,
Whilst in his breast he feels new boldness rise;
And ‘Sire!’ he adds, ‘whilere thy wise decree
‘Mark’d out the means to set thy prisoner free;
‘Taught me to trust that on this Eastern ground
‘There dwells no wight for feats of arms renown’d,
‘But when he hears my tale of ransome told
‘Will glory in the cause that claims his gold: —
‘First then I sue where I esteem the most;
‘And from thy bounty crave the Souldan’s cost.’
‘Sir knight,’ great Saladin return’d again,
‘Well hast thou sued; thou shalt not trust in vain:
‘Lo, half thy ransome to thy prayer is given;
‘All may be thing or e’er the hour of even.’
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He spoke, and straightways to his audience-hall
With hastening step led on the illustrious thrall;
In the large space arrang’d on either side
Full fifty Emirs throng’d its entrance wide;
The gallant Souldan each in order sued,
And claim’d their gifts to ransome prince so good:
With rival zeal his sovereign each man heard,
Each, as he might, a liberal gift conferr’d:
Their zeal was vain; the enormous void to fill,
There lack’d full thirteen thousand bysants still:
Then Saladin, whose soul did nobly glow
With such high worth as none but heroes know,
From his own treasury bade that sum be told,
And to the captive prince dealt out the gold:
‘There, Prince!’ he cried, ‘thy price of freedom see;
‘Take this; and take unpurchas’d liberty;
‘Choose thy ten knights, the nearest to thy heart,
‘I claim no ransome — uncontroll’d depart.’
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Nought now there fail’d to crown Tabaria’s joy,
But that his wealth was bounded in the employ:
In Paynim bonds full many a Christian lay,
And mourned his hopeless doom, and linger’d life away:
Fain would the prince with countless sums have sought
To loose these chains, but bootless was the thought,
for Saladin had sworn in ireful hour
By Mahomet’s dread name, no ransome’s power
Should from their woes the luckless captives free,
And yield them back to light and liberty:
Such was the Souldan’s vow; Tabaria griev’d
With a reluctant heart the gold receiv’d.
And, eight days’ tarrying past, while feasting reign’d,
On the ninth morn safe-conduct he obtain’d:
Him fifty Paynims bold, a guardian band,
Safe through the perils of that hostile land
Lead on to Galilee; with him there go
His ten, the chosen knights, the partners of his wo.
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There ceas’d their toil, their vanish’d all their pain,
With gladden’d hearts they trod that soil again;
There, free of soul, his gifts Prince Hugh diffus’d,
And riches, nobly dealt him, nobly us’d.
Sirs! ye who hear my tale! ’tis form’d to please
High-mettled souls and brave, and none but these.
For fold of other mould, right well I wot
’Tis all time lost; they comprehend me not.
Enough of such in former days I’ve known,
All prompt to make this prince’s case their own;
To speak more plain — all prompt to have and hold
Such countless donatives of Paynim gold;
Who yet have eyed me, when my tale was done,
Like some old dotard of the good times gone.
THIS tale is abridged in the Cento Novelle Antiche; page 48, Nov. 51.
It is quoted by Fauchet, Duchesne, Chifflet, Du Cange, &c. and has been printed by Barbazan, and before him by M. Marin (Hist. de Saladin) from one of the manuscript copies (of which there were three, differing from each other,) in the collection of M. de Sainte-Palaye. Du Cange (Gloss. et notes sur Villehardouin) quotes a prose version of it, which appears from the language to be of a later date. There also exists in the manuscripts of the royal library in Paris, another ‘Order of Knighthood’ in prose, and of a still later date, which is totally different, containing only instructions on the duties, the virtues, and dignity of knighthood.
180Page it, Line 5. . . . . ‘Paynim land.’
This is not an uncommon instance of the ignorance of the old fablers with respect to the religion, morals, and manners of foreign nations. All who were not Christians were indifferently styled Pagans and Saracens. In the Romance of Charlemagne the Saxons are called Saracens. The real Saracens are universally represented in Romance as Pagas, adoring Mahomet, Termagant, Apollo, and many other gods: and, which is still more absurd, these pretended Pagans are sometimes represented as having among them cardinals who say mass.
Page 87, Line 6. . . . . . ‘Saladin the Grand.’
The name of this conqueror, who usurped the throne of the Soldans in Egypt, and atoned for his usurpation by his virtues, is familiar to every reader. Perhaps there cannot be a stronger attestation of his merit, and of the esteem in which he was universally held, than the praises which are here bestowed on him by a writer who naturally must have hated him, as the most formidable enemy of his country and religion.
Page 88, Line 15. . . . . . ‘Tabaria’s land ador’d.’
Hugh, castellain of St. Omer, was one of the French nobles who followed Godfrey of Boyuillon to the first
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crusade, and at the division of the kingdom of Jerusalem about the year 1102, received, as a recompense for his services, the lordship of Gallilee, and the principality of Tiberias, which was afterwards by corruption called Tabaria. He was made prisoner in 1179.
Page 89, Line 10. . . . . . ‘Bysants.’
The Bysant or besant was a gold coin issued by the Greek emperors, and said to have been so called from Byzantium, the ancient name of Constantinople. D’Herbelot deduces its etymology from the Arabian beizat zer (golden egg), and says that the Saracens called by this name a Persian coin in the form of an egg, which they introduced into circulation in Asia. The word frequently occurs in the FAbliaux, and it appears from some of them, either that the byzant was current in France, and introduced there by the crusades, or that the name was indifferently applied to all sorts of gold coin. From a passage in Joinville it appears that the bysant was valued in his time at about ten sous, which were nearly equal to ten livres of the present day; so that the ransome mentioned in the tale amounted to a million of French livres, or between forty and fifty thousand pounds English. Bysants were generally current in England before the Norman conquest. St. Dunstan purchased of King Edgar the
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estate of Hindon in Middlesex, for two hundred bysants. Dr. Henry values the bysant at nine shillings a nd four-pence, which agrees very nearly with Le Grand’s calculation. Bysants or besants are among the English armorial bearings. (Guillim’s Heraldry.)
Page 91, Line 5. . . . . . ‘For from thy Hand I
‘claim, &c..’
It is a certain fact that many Saracen generals were knighted by the hands of the Christians. Facardin, the emir who was opposed to St. Louis in Egypt, received the order from the Emperor Frederick; and Saladin himself from Humphrey de Toron, whom he took prisoner at the battle of Tiberias; so that the story in which our fabler has interwoven the details of the ceremony is not wholly without foundation.
Page 91, Line 9. . . . . . ‘Holy Order.’
The order of knighthood, like the priesthood, is indifferently called by the fablers the holy order, or the order. Indeed its object and its origin were in themselves highly respectable, besides which the enthusiastick religion of the age had conferred on it every mysterious rite that could render it more venerable: a sponsor, and the white garments appropriated to baptism; the imposition of hands, as in the confirmation; the ceremony of anointing, as in the extreme unction.
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The future knight confessed his sins; and received the communion. His hair was shaven on the forehead in imitation of the tonsure, and cut round like that of ecclesiasticks. He enjoyed the same privileges as they, and like them incurred the penalties of simony, if he purchased or sold the admission to the order. In short, it was supposed to impress an indelible character of sanctity; and hence a knight convicted of a heinous crime was degraded with as much awful solemnity as a priest who had been guilty of sacrilege.
Page 92, Line 1. ‘His beard was shaven.’
The Saracens wore beards, which was not the case in France in the reign of St. Louis, about whose time this Fabliau was probably written. In the prose version of The Order of Knighthood, Hugh causes the Soldan’s beard to be combed, without shaving it. Fashions were altered; and the French then wore beards.
Page 93, Line 4. ‘The snow-white shirt.’
Saladin does not receive his shirt till he has risen from his bed, because at this time it was customary to sleep naked. This is confirmed by the testimony of all the Fabliaux. From this practice have originated those ordinances of the early French kings, as well as many passages in their common law, by which a man and
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married woman who shall have been surprised naked in the same room, are declared guilty of adultery. In the Romance of Gerard de Nevers, an old woman who assists in undressing a young damsel, expresses the utmost astonishment at seeing her get into bed in her shift. In that of La Charette, Launcelot, being lodged by a lady who had become enamoured of his person, finds himself under the necessity of sharing her bed, being informed that she has no other to offer him: being determined, however, to preserve his fidelity to his mistress, he goes to bed in his shirt; which is considered by him, and understood by the lady, as a sufficient declaration of his intentions. In the miniatures which adorn many manuscript copies of the Fabliaux and Romances, the persons who are represented as in bed, are always naked. The author of the Contes d’Eutrapel (printed in 1587), speaking of promises which are difficult to be performed, observes that they resembled those of a bride who should go to bed in her shift.
Page 93, Line 7. ‘This scarlet robe.’
Every part of the armour and dress, (which, in the original Fabliau, are enumerated in detail,) as the belt, the sword, the spurs, the brown hose, the white coif, &c. are represented as the symbols of some moral
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excellence. These forced explanations are to be attributed to the general taste for allegory which ahd been disseminated by the theologians of the age.
Page 93, Line 13. ‘Now all was sped.’
Saladin being an infidel, the author does not mention the confession, the vigil of arms in the church, nor the communion.
Page 93, Line 14. ‘The custom’d stroke.’
It was at first customary to give the knight a slight blow, as if to announce to him that this was the last affront he was allowed to submit to: instead of this blow, which was called la colée, (from the Latin word colaphus) were afterwards introduced three strokes with a sword on the shoulder or neck (le col). The knight then received an embrace; from whence this part of the ceremony was called the accolade: on pressing occasions, as for instance when the order was conferred on the field of battle, the accolade only was employed.
Page 93, Line 18. . . . . . ‘The fourfold
‘discipline, &c..’
We shall not appreciate very highly the morality of an age which reduced the whole practice of virtue and religion to the four following points, viz. adherence to truth, succoring of dames, hearing mass, and fasting. 186 In like manner the Miracles, the metrical legends, and devotional tales, represent the perfection of Christianity as consisting of fasting, hearing mass, and corporal mortification; to which, though rarely, the practice of alms-giving is added.
Page 95, Line 3. . . . . . ‘Ten knights thy lore
‘hath freed.’
It was so necessary for the new knights to display their liberality on this great occasion, that it was customary among the nobles, when their eldest sons were received into the order, to levy a particular tax on their vassals for that purpose. This was one case of the three loyal aids. The other aids were levied for the purpose of paying the lord’s ransome, or to defray the expence of marrying his eldest daughter.
Page 96, Line 4. ‘Full fifty Emirs.’
The word used in the original is amiraux (admirals) a corruption of emir or amir, a term which the Arabians applied to all who were entrusted with great offices, whether civil, or military. In France, the word has been used to signify a particular military command; and in the rest of Europe it is restricted to the marine.
The author concludes his Fabliau with high encomiums on knighthood, representing its members as the best defenders of religion and property, and the surest bulwarks against the Saracens, Albigenses, and other miscreants: for this reason, says he, they were permitted to enter the church completely armed, and to put to death any person who should fail in respect to the holy sacrament. In the life of St. Louis, by Joinville, that monarch relates tot the historian a story of an old and crippled knight who terminated a religious dispute with a Jew by felling his antagonist with a stroke of his crutch; and adds, ‘a layman who hears the Christian religion evil spoken of, should defend it with his sword alone, which he should thrust into the belly of his adversary as far as it will go.’