Life on a Mediaeval Barony / A Picture of a Typical Feudal Community in the Thirteenth Century

It is possible, however, to find substitutes in all the less important services. There are plenty of humbly born poor priests hovering around every cathedral, glad of a pittance to act as the lordly canon's deputies. A worldly minded canon therefore does not feel this duty of chanting to be very arduous. Of course, if he is absent too often, or from very important ceremonies, there is comment, scandal, and a reprimand from the bishop; but a wise bishop does not interfere with his canons except on grave provocation. They form an independent corporation with well-intrenched privileges. Their head, the dean, is entirely conscious that he is the second cleric in the diocese and that he need not look to the bishop for dignity and glory. The bishop himself has been to a certain extent chosen by these very canons. It will depend considerably upon their attitude toward him whether his dying moments are not embittered by the knowledge that his dearest enemy is not to be elected his successor. Finally, a chapter of canons can make a bishop's life a Gehenna by filing complaints against him with the archbishop (always glad to interfere), or directly at Rome. When men say that Nivelon has got along tolerably with his chapter as well as with his neighboring abbot and seigneurs, they prove again that he is an unusually tactful prelate.

It is a fine thing, therefore, to be one of the dozen-odd canons, young or old, who inhabit the sacred close at Pontdebois. They can be identified by their special costume, the loose surplice of linen with wide sleeves covering the cassock, and by the "amice," a headdress of thick black stuff with a flat top and terminating on each corner in a kind of horn.

Baron Conon points out to his sons these well-fed men of florid complexion, contented and portly, moving with slow dignity about the cathedral close. "How would you enjoy being a canon?" he asks of small Anseau, his youngest boy. "There are no better dinners than those in the chapter refectory; and remember that your brother will have to get the castle."

Anseau shakes his head and scowls: "I might be a monk, yes," he rejoined; "monks save their souls and go to heaven—but a canon—ugh! They must weary God by their idleness. François may have St. Aliquis; but let him give me a good destrer and good armor. I will seek my fortune and win new lands."

"The saints bless your words," cries his father, "there spoke a true St. Aliquis! And remember this: When cavalier or jongleur rails hardest against worthless churchmen, it is not bishop, priest, or monk whom half the time they have in their pates, but slothful canons. Yet I must see the Revered Father Flavien, and learn if his cough is really as bad as they say!"

Nivelon secures peace by letting his canons largely alone—to their great content. Fortunately, the good laymen of Quelqueparte do not depend entirely upon their spiritual administrations. The "cure of souls" rests with the parish priests. These are scattered all through the diocese. Their management takes up a large part of the bishop's crowded time.

Every church requires at least one priest in residence to say mass and afford religious comfort to the laity. If competent bishops could always have appointed this clergy, much sorrow would have been eliminated. Unfortunately, the bishop can only name a fraction. Practically every noncathedral church has its patron, the heir or beneficiary of the wealthy personage who once endowed the local establishment. This patron may be the bishop himself, but often the honor may be enjoyed by an abbey, or a chapter of canons, or, in a majority of cases, by some very secular seigneur. Conon will say. "I hold the patronage of eight churches," just as he will say, "I hold St. Aliquis castle." The patron is entitled to a share of the tithe (tax for religious purposes) and other income of the parish, before turning the remainder over to the officiating priest. He can, in addition, "present to the living"—that is, name the new curé for the parish upon every vacancy. The bishop is supposed, indeed, to confirm the candidate, and should not do so without investigation as to the other's fitness, but he will hesitate to offend the patron by refusal to proceed with the ceremony unless the impediment is gross and patent. The candidate is asked to decline a Latin noun, to conjugate a simple verb, to chant a few familiar psalms with fair voice—that is probably about all the test for learning. To make matters worse, if the candidate fears his own bishop, he can go to another diocese and probably get a licence from a less exacting prelate. A bishop is obliged to honor the certificate issued by his equal. He can seldom then refuse after that to invest the priest with the parish.

The last stage of scandal comes when the patron actually takes money for presenting a candidate. This is, of course, a terrible crime against the Church: it is simony—after the fashion of the accursed Simon Magnus, who was guilty of trying to purchase "the gift of God with money." Nivelon has just had to induct into a parish an ill-taught, worldly fellow, the son of a rich peasant, who somehow persuaded the Viscount of Foretvert that he was fit to have the spiritual conduct of five hundred Christians. The bishop has heard ugly rumors about "two hundred deniers," yet for lack of real proof is helpless. It is feared these scandals are frequent, but many times, if candidate and seigneur are willing to imperil their souls, what can be done?

As a rule, however, conscientious patrons name well-reputed lads from their barony, the sons of thrifty peasants or of petty nobles, who have been to the school attached to a convent or cathedral, and who have developed an aptitude for saying masses rather than for plowing or fighting. The favor is bestowed rather as a reward for faithful service by the youth's family or to insure the same in the future, than for any direct money consideration. To be a parish priest is not a very high honor. After the patron has taken his share of the tithe, and the bishop another share, the curé is likely to be left with barely enough income to put him among the better class of peasants.

Yet, after all, he is now caught up into the great body politic of the Church. The latter will not let him starve. It will give him a decent old age. It will protect him against those gross cruelties which seigneurs may inflict on any peasant. It will make him the most important individual in the average village—often the only person therein understanding the mysteries of parchments. If he is a worthy man, his influence as counselor, friend, and arbiter will be almost boundless. He will receive a personal respect almost equal to that due to a cavalier. Finally, there is always the chance that he may win some magnate's favor, and by good luck or merit rise to greater things. Father Grégoire, Conon's chaplain, although nominally only a poor priest, is probably more influential in St. Aliquis than Sire Eustace, the seneschal—Conon sometimes complains good naturedly that he is more powerful than Conon himself. So then, apart from any desire for strictly religious leadership, it is no bad thing for a lad of humble origin to be appointed parish priest.

If, however, to receive a parish means not a holy trust, but a sordid opportunity, what a chance for making the fiends rejoice! Every jongleur, when he runs out of more legitimate stories, chatters about godless priests. Charges against the parish clergy are the small coin of filthy gossip—how they violate their vows of celibacy in a shameless manner; how they frequent taverns, take part in low brawls, drink "up to their throats," and lie torpid in the fields; how they fight with their parishioners; how they sell strong drink like tapsters; how they play dice, gamble and often cheat their opponents, etc.

Another set of charges is that if their means admit, they wear armor like nobles, or dress like foppish laymen, and ride out with hawks or dogs. More familiar still are the accusations of extreme covetousness; of the outrageous exaction of fees for administering the sacraments, even to the dying; of performing shameless marriages for money; of refusing burial services until they have been bribed; and, in short, of converting themselves into financial harpies.

All this is undeniable. Yet it must be remembered that the number of parish clergy is very great, and the proportion of evildoers is (considering their manner of appointment) no more than might be expected. Many of the parish priests are true ministers of God who counsel the simple, persuade the erring, comfort the sorrowing, and leave the world better than they found it. A few, too, spend their leisure in genuine pursuit of learning, like that Father Lambert of Ardes (in Flanders) who is deeply read in old Latin authors and Christian fathers and who has composed an excellent local chronicle—worthy to rank with the best produced in the monasteries.

Taken, therefore, at large, despite much dross, the men of the Church do not cast away their great opportunity. If alms and charity relieve the wretched, if letters and science have a genuine power, if the world retains other ideals than those of the tourney, the feud, and the foray, if villeins are taught that they, too, are men with immortal souls no less than are the barons, the glory belongs surely not to the castle, but to the monastery and to the parish. And when a good churchman dies, especially, of course, if he has been an effective and benignant bishop, all the region knows its loss. When the late Bishop of Auxerre departed, it was written, "It would be impossible to tell how great was the mourning throughout the entire city, and with what groaning and lamentations sorrow was shown by all who followed his funeral." While of the great and good Bishop Maurice of Paris, builder of Notre Dame, it was recorded, when he passed in 1196, that "he was a vessel of affluence, a fertile olive tree in the house of the Lord. He shone by his knowledge, his preaching, his many alms, and his good deeds."

Like every other institution, the Church of the Feudal Age is entitled to be judged by its best and not by its worst.

Chapter XXIV: The Cathedral and Its Builders.

Baron Conon and Adela had still another duty ere they returned to St. Aliquis. They were fain to go with their sons, and each burn a tall candle before the altar of Our Lady in the cathedral. All dwellers near Pontdebois are intensely proud of their great church. It has been building now these forty years. At last it is fairly complete, although the left tower has still to be carried up to the belfry, and very many niches lack the sculptured saints presently to occupy them. A worthy cathedral, like a worthy character, is growing continually. Probably the Feudal Age will end before Notre Dame de Pontdebois is completed as its pious designers have intended.[127]

The cathedral is the center for a large group of buildings whereof most are in the noble pointed (Gothic) style of architecture. As just explained, in the sacred close there is the bishop's palace and the houses of the canons; there are also a cloister for promenading, a school (much like that at the monastery), a room for a library, and a synodal hall for meetings of the canons and where the bishop can conduct litigation. There is, in addition, a hospital for sick clerics. The whole forms a little world sequestered from the uproar and sordid bustle of the marts and workshops of Pontdebois. As you enter the cathedral compound, exterior cares are suddenly left behind you—a great sense of peace is realized. One hears the wind softly whistling through the soaring tracery of the massive right tower. There is a whirring flutter of doves from their homes under the flying buttresses. Through a section opened in the floral tracery of a great window comes the rumbling of an organ and the deep Gregorian chant of some hymn from the psalter. Utter contrast it all is either to the hammering and chaffering of the city, or the equally worldly clatter of the castle court! The vast tower pointing upward speaks even to the thoughtless, "Fortress and city, trade and tourney endure only for the instant—the things of the Spirit abide forever."

The cathedral, by its vast and soaring bulk, completely dwarfs the comparatively small and mean houses of the town. They are of thatch and wood. It is of stone. They lack even a tawdry magnificence. The cathedral could gaze with contempt on royal palaces. This fact teaches even more clearly than words the enormous place occupied by the Church in the Feudal Age. It is not by its literature and learning (though these are not to be despised), but by its sacred architecture and sculpture that the spirit of this era displays its power and originality. In contemplating so magnificent a fabric, it is best to remember that it is the work of men of ardent faith, profoundly convinced that in the church building there dwells continually upon the high altar God himself, invisible but ever present. Squalid dwellings may suffice for man, but not for the Creator. And since God actually takes his abode in such an edifice, every art must contribute to its splendor. Architects, sculptors, painters, jewelers, all perform their best, each rendering his homage to the Eternal. The cathedral, therefore, sums up all that is noblest in the art of the time when it is erected.

Since the nave of such a church often can be used for secular mass meetings without fear of impiety, and since a whole countryside will claim the right to throng the edifice on great festival days, a cathedral has to be far larger than an ancient pagan temple.[128] It must possess an interior meet for elaborate processions, stopping often at each of twenty-odd altars lining its walls. To erect a building like this is an undertaking in which a whole countryside can be asked to join. About forty years ago the old cathedral, built in the ancient Romanesque (round-arched) style with a wooden roof, was falling into disrepair, and the new pointed, stone-vaulted architecture was developing through all France. People from regions round made remarks about the "impiety" of the clergy and folk near Pontdebois in "dishonoring heaven." Various prelates taunted the ruling Bishop Thibaut with his mean cathedral. This Thibaut, however, had been an energetic as well as a devout man. By prudent administration of the diocese he had saved considerable money. He next persuaded his canons to curtail their luxuries and to contribute generously. Means, too, were taken to lure money from the faithful. The holy relics were exhibited. Indulgence from purgatory was promised to donors. Conscience-stricken barons were urged to atone for their crimes by liberal gifts to the new enterprise. Civic pride and excited piety won the deniers from the Pontdebois trade and industrial masters. A rich countess left a notable legacy on condition that the canons should always pray for her soul on the anniversary of her death. So between coaxing and religious feeling a goodly fund was collected—and, as was wisely said, "the new cathedral has saved many souls"—meaning that many sinful people were happily moved to redeeming acts of generosity. There were even gifts, it is said, from brigands and evil women, likewise a good many less debatable presents in kind, as when a baron gave both the necessary oak and the pay of the carvers for making the magnificent choir stalls, besides presenting the great stained-glass rose window. Whatever the source, no donation was denied, the bishop counting it fortunate if even the booty of thieves could be turned to the glory of God.

Bishop Thibaut found a skillful architect, a Norman, half cleric, half layman, who had assisted on one of the great churches at Rouen. The plans this man drew up were very elaborate, but he did not live to see them more than half executed. Even if workmen and money failed not, it was dangerous to rush the erection of the great piers, buttresses, and vaulted ceilings. At Auxerre, where they tried to hasten the work, much of the choir suddenly collapsed "like a crash of thunder," though Heaven mercifully prevented the loss of life. At Noyon they began to build in 1152. Their cathedral was nearly finished by 1200. Notre Dame de Paris was begun in 1163, and the choir was fairly completed by 1177; but the great towers and façade certainly cannot be finished before 1225. Rheims was begun in 1211, but undoubtedly even the work on the choir cannot be ended under thirty years from that date. If Pontdebois is reasonably complete after forty years of effort it is therefore being built more expeditiously than the average cathedral. Indeed, many wiseacres shake their heads. "Too much haste," they mutter; "when one builds for God and in order to last till His Judgment Day, it is very sinful to hurry."

First the choir was finished with all energy possible, for here the canons must constantly chant their offices. The nave, which was more for popular gatherings, waited till later. There was great rejoicing when at last the main portal was so far completed that a very fine and tenderly carved statue of Christ could be set above the same. "Our beautiful God!" the people lovingly call the image; and from that time, year by year, the work went forward, every member or ornament that was added seeming to suggest something additional, as if the achieving of perfection were to be a work for eternity.

To erect the main structure of his cathedral, Thibaut had called in a traveling fraternity of workmen, the Lodging-House Keepers of the Good God, who obeyed the Master of the Work—i.e., an architect. They would stay for years in one place, recruiting new members as old ones died, then moving elsewhere when no longer needed. This fraternity erected the main structure of the building; then Thibaut passed away, money failed, and enthusiasm somewhat lapsed. However, twenty years later, a new fraternity were put to work on the façade and towers. This was more delicate work, involving a great deal of skillful carving. They were obliged to stop again before completion had been attained. Probably a score of years hence, still another such fraternity will raise the second tower. Meantime, every year, a few skillful craftsmen, sustained by donations, add a statue here and a gargoyle yonder, put richly painted glass into another window, or complete the intricate carving around the railing to the pulpit stairs. Now and then there is a special exhibition of relics to attract worshipers and their alms.[129] One of the results is that the style of the different parts of the cathedral differs subtly according to the respective periods of their construction. There is not a contradiction, but only a pleasing variety. One feels that the cathedral is something living. It has come into being, not by arbitrary creation, but by a natural growth; like a mighty, comfort-spreading tree.

As we wander about this glorious fabric, with its hundreds of statues,[130] its blazing windows, its vaulted roof which hangs its massive weight of stone so safely above our heads, all attempts at detailed description become futile. Let them be left for other books and other moods. Later generations doubtless will record at great length that about the middle of the twelfth century a great activity in church building, as a surpassing work of Christian piety, began to manifest itself especially in northern France. This activity was not to spend itself for more than a hundred years.[131] It absorbed much of the best thought and energy of the time. In addition, it developed a genuinely new type of architecture, a real innovation upon those models traceable back to the pagan Greek. We come to the reign of the pointed arch which adapts itself to endless curves and varieties. We have, too, the grouped columns which uphold the groins of the lofty vaulting, their members radiating outward like the boughs of a stately forest. These columns and piers can be made amazingly light, thanks to the daring use of flying buttresses, an invention not merely of great utility, but of great beauty. Thanks also to these grouped pillars, groins, and buttresses, the walls between the bays (intervals between the columns) are in no wise needed to uphold the roof of stone; and as a result these bays can be filled up with thin curtain walls crowned above with enormous windows which are filled with a delicate tracery and a stained glass that throws down upon the pavement of the church all the rainbow tints of heaven. Each bay is likely to contain a separate chapel or at least an altar to some particular saint. Over the portal, where the main entrance gives access to the long nave, radiates the mighty rose window, the final triumph of the glass and tracery. And so through all the vast structure—huge in proportions, yet, as it were, a harmonious mass of fair carving and jewel work, until (even as says Holy Writ) "the whole body fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint supplyeth, according to the effectual working in every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."

So the apostle of the making of a Christian man, so, too, of the making of the august church. And after saying this, what profit to add that this cathedral has a length of about four hundred feet, that the ceiling of the nave rises at least one hundred feet above the pavement, that the rose window is nearly forty feet in diameter, that the higher tower is much more than two hundred?[132] Numbers are for sordid traffic, they are not for a work wrought out of a passionate love of man toward God.

We cannot stay to linger over the symbolism which they tell us is in every part of the church; how the "Communion of Saints" is proclaimed by the chapels clustering around the choir and nave; how the delicate spire which rises at the center of the transepts teaches that "vanquishing earthly desire we should also ascend in heart and mind"; how the triple breadth of the nave and two aisles, likewise the triple stretch of the choir, transepts and nave, proclaim the Holy Trinity; and how the serried armies of piers and columns announce the Prophets and Apostles who uphold the fabric of the Church; while font, altar, crucifix, and crosses innumerable attest the earthly pilgrimage and redeeming passion of Jesus Christ.

But the cathedral is more than a great collection of allegories. Everywhere in stained glass, and still more in the multitudinous images, is told the Bible story. The characters are not clothed in Hebraic fashion. "Baron Abraham" and "Sire David" appear in ring mail like doughty cavaliers. The history of the good warrior Judas Maccabæus perhaps is told in greater detail than that of prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah. But very few important stories are omitted, and, above all, the great pageant of the life of Jesus is worked out in loving detail. The child, who is brought time and again to visit the cathedral, knows almost every essential Bible narrative, albeit he may never learn to read even French, much less to con the Latin of the Vulgate. Likewise, in the cathedral rest the tombs of brave seigneurs and worthy bishops, each covered either with an effigy showing his armor and his beloved hunting dogs couched at his feet, or in his pontificals; and the tombs also of noble women, sculptured as richly clad, who have made life beautiful by their worthy living, and who now rest securely until God's great Judgment. So the cathedral is both a temple for the hopes of the present, and an inspiration from the remote and nearer past.[133]

After he had prayed beside his father and mother, little Anseau stole away from the altar and wandered timidly about the church. In a corner of a transept he found a stone craftsman completing a small image of St. Elizabeth to adorn some niche. The sculptor was polishing the back of the statue no less carefully than the front. "Why such trouble?" asked the boy curiously. "No one can see the back." "Ah, my fair damoiseau," replied the other, smiling, "no man, of course; but God can see. This is for the Cathedral; and is God 'no one'?"

The next day, having spent all their money and become wearied of the mechanic bustle of Pontdebois, Baron Conon and his company rode back to St. Aliquis. After they had traveled for miles, the great mass of the cathedral was still visible behind them.

The Feudal Age has produced very much that is evil—it has also produced the Gothic church and its builders. By which ought the epoch be judged?

Seven hundred years afterward the donjon of St. Aliquis is an ivy-covered ruin. Vanished is the monastery; vanished, too, the peasants' huts. In the smoky industrial city on the site of Pontdebois not one ancient stone seems left upon another. But, hold! Soaring high above ugly roof and factory chimney, with its airy pinnacles denouncing a life of materialism and doubt, visited by admiring pilgrims from beyond the Sea of Darkness, the great fabric of the gray cathedral remains.

Index

• A
• Abbey, see Monastery.
• Abbot, election and powers of, 321, 322.
  • sometimes profligate, 327.
• Adubbement, see Knighthood.
• Advocates, of monasteries, 332.
• Alexander, romances of, 180.
• Alms, collected at feasts, 129; see Charity.
• Apprentices, 362.
• Arbalists, 190.
• Architecture, military, improved by Crusader, 18.
• Aristotle, authority of, 336.
• Armor, 191 ff.
• Assembleur, a literary, 143.

• B
• Backgammon, 52.
• Bailey of Castle, 22.
  • buildings and scene inside, 26.
• Baillis, seigneurial officers, 10 nt.
• Banalités, 258.
• Banner, of baronial castle, 33.
• Baptism, customs at, 81.
• Barbican, 21.
• Baronial family, of superior type, 14.
• Baron, usual rights of, 7.
  • cruel and outrageous, 8, 9, 152.
  • typical feuds and neighbors, 13.
  • superior type of, 153.
• Baronial feuds, 224 ff.
• Barony, composition and government of, 10, 11.
• Bath, before adubbement, 202.
• Battle cries, 248.
• Battle, Bouvines, typical of Feudal warfare, 241 ff.
  • mobilization for, 243.
  • preliminaries of, 244.
  • array of the armies, 245.
  • engagement of the infantry, 247, 248.
  • the battle cries, 248 nt.
  • charge of French cavalry, 248, 249.
  • flight of Otto IV, 250.
  • rout of Germans and Flemings, 251.
  • tactics and strategy employed, 251, 252.
• Beards, shaved by noblemen, 95.
• Beds, great feather, 39.
• Bedrooms, furniture of, 38 ff.
• Beer, 121.
• Beffroi, in sieges, 237.
• Bells, of communal donjon, 351.
• Bertran de Born, war songs by, 176.
• Betrothals, 105.
• Beverages, 120, 121.
• Bill of fare, at feasts, 128.
  • on fast days, 129.
• Billiards, game of, 57.
• Birth, customs at, 81.
• Bishop, 373 ff.
  • honors of, 373.
  • wealth and power of, 374.
  • desirability of office, 376.
  • how elected, 377.
  • vast secular duties, 378.
  • employed by king or pope, 379.
  • wrote ecclesiastical duties, 380.
  • worldly types of, 380, 381.
  • forbidden secular luxuries, 381.
  • participates in warfare, 382.
  • friction with abbots and barons, 383.
  • abuse right to excommunicate, 383, 384.
  • interdict by, 384.
  • relations with canons, 385 ff.
  • relations with parish priests, 388 ff.
• Bishops, visit disorderly monasteries, 326.
• Books, elegant copies of, 341.
• Brandy, 121.
• Bread, varieties of, 118.
• Bride, costume of, 107.
• Bridegroom, costume of, 108.
• Bridges, state of, 344.
• Bridge tolls, baronial, 12.
• Buffet of knighthood, 204, 205.

• C
• Camps, in feudal warfare, 243.
• Canons, elect bishops, 377, 380.
  • nature of office, 385.
  • duties of, 386.
  • worldly and gross, 387.
• Carpets of rushes, and "Saracen," 37.
• Cartel of defiance, 229.
• Carver, at feast, 127.
• Castle, position of between rivers, 4.
  • built to resist Vikings, 5.
  • famous specimens of, 18.
  • siege of, 234 ff.
• Castle, of St. Aliquis, original plan of, 16.
  • primitive tower of, 17;
  • disadvantages of early type, 18.
  • rebuilt on improved model, 19.
  • palisade before, 20.
  • barbican outer barrier, 21.
  • lists before bailey, 21.
  • bailey, gates and porters, 22.
  • walls and parapet, 23.
  • great difficulty of attacking, 24.
  • scene in the bailey, 26.
  • buildings in the bailey, 26, 27.
  • cookhouse in bailey, 28.
  • inner ward of, 28.
  • inner gate, 29.
  • main court yard of, 29.
  • donjon of, 30.
  • halls of, 30 ff.
  • prison under donjon, 33.
  • summit of great tower, 33.
  • watchman on tower, 34.
  • palais, main residential building, 34, 35.
  • furniture in hall and chambers, 36 ff.
• Castle building, era of, 6.
• Castle folk, one huge family, 46.
  • intimate relations between, 47, 48.
  • organization of, 48.
• "Cat," siege engine, 237.
• Cats, 84.
• Cathedral, numerous uses of, 393.
  • express the best spirit of the age, 394.
  • erection a regional undertaking, 396.
  • initial stages of building, 397.
  • fraternity of builders, 398.
  • building a natural growth, 399.
  • use of arches, columns and buttresses, 400.
  • stately dimensions required, 401.
  • magnificent stained glass, 402.
  • every part a work of piety, 403.
• Chambers, of baronial castle, 36.
• Chansons de geste, 138 ff., 142.
• Charity, 275 ff.
  • motives for, 276.
  • alms very customary, 277.
  • given by monasteries, 333.
• Charter, communal, 352, 353.
• Checkers, game of, 52.
• Cheese, varieties of, 119.
• Chess, in great acceptance, 54.
  • history of game, 55.
  • chessmen, 56.
• Children, rearing of, 80 ff.
  • early education of, 82.
• Christmas celebrations and plays, 294.
• Church, endeavors to regulate marriages, 101, 102.
  • resists divorces, 102.
  • vast wealth of, 374 nt.
  • See Bishop, Abbey, Monastery, Canons, Priests, etc.
• City, entrance to, 346.
  • crowded streets, 347.
  • lack of air and sanitation, 348.
  • population of, 347 nt.
  • great burghers of, 349.
  • burgher mansion, 349.
  • danger from fires, 350.
  • the civic donjons, 351.
  • communal charger, 352.
  • See Commune.
• Cleanliness, personal, among upper classes, 42.
  • lack of, in woolen clothing, 89.
• Clergy, legal privileges of, 159, 375.
  • see Bishop, Canons, Priests, Monks.
• Clerk, see clergy, Church, etc.
• Cloisters, of abbey, 317.
• Clothing, of peasants, 264.
• Coinage, confusion in, 366.
• Commerce, see Shops, Industries, Fairs.
• Commune, charter of, 352, 353.
  • privileges of inhabitants, 353.
  • clergy rail at Commune, 354.
  • communal insurrections, 354.
  • jurisdiction of bishop, 355.
  • rule by echevins and rich merchants, 355, 356.
• Corvées, 258.
• Courtesy, training in, 184.
• Cowls, 320.
• Clothing, male and female, 88 ff.
  • materials used, 89.
  • garments of noblemen, 90.
  • headdress for men, 91.
  • garments of noblewomen, 91.
  • use of silks and furs, 92.
  • rapid changes in fashions, 93.
  • dress of lower classes, 94.
  • headdress of women, 95.
  • conspicuous costumes to indicate evil characters, 98.
• Cookery and foods, 113 ff.
  • implements in cookhouse, 114.
  • meat frequently boiled, 114.
  • game especially desired, 114, 115.
  • butcher's meat, 115.
  • poultry, 116.
  • fish, 117.
  • soups, 117.
  • meat pies, 117.
• Cookhouse, in a castle, 28.
• Cosmetics, use of by women, 97.
• Cross bows, 190.
• Crusades, on wane in XIII century, 3.
  • improve military architecture, 18.

• D
• Dais, in castle hall, 36.
• Damoiseau, 185.
• Dances, varieties of, 133.
• Dancing, passion for, 84, 85.
• Dean, of canons, 386.
• Devil, belief in, 302.
  • assists wizards and witches, 303.
• Dice, games with, 52.
  • sinfulness of, 53, 54.
• Dinners, menu at castle in ordinary days, 49.
• Divining, 306.
• Divorces, resisted by Church, 102.
• Dogs, very desirable for hunting, 64.
• Donjon, of castle, 30 ff.
  • of a commune, 351.
• Dinner customs, 122 ff.
  • See Feast.
• Drawbridges, of castle, 22, 28.
• Dress, see Clothing.

• E
• Echevins, in commune, 355.
• Economic self-sufficiency, of a well-ruled barony, 46.
• Education, of young nobleman, 176 ff.
  • ideals inculcated, 178.
  • training in letters, 179.
  • reading of romances, 180.
  • training in riding, fencing and hawking, 181.
  • maxims inculcated, 181, 182.
  • placed out as squire, 182.
  • training as squire, 182-184.
  • taught jousting, 183.
  • learns "courtesy," 184.
  • good side of training, 186.
  • premium on prodigality, 186, 187.
  • demanding knighthood, 187.
• Effeminate knights, 188.
• Emancipation, of villeins, 256.
• Ensigns, before city houses, 350.
• Epics, North French, 142, 143.
• Excommunication, of a lawless baron, 9.
  • a public declaration of, 289.
  • abuse of, by bishops, 383, 384.
• Executions, varieties of, 170 ff, 173.
  • beheading honorable penalty, 173.
  • hanging, usual method, 173, 174.
  • ceremonies at gallows, 174, 175.

• F
• Fairs, 365 ff.
  • attended by great multitudes, 366.
  • very profitable to founders, 368.
  • numerous commodities on sale, 369.
  • regulation of traffic, 370.
  • amusements at, 371.
• Falconry, see Hawking.
• Family life in a castle, 70.
• Famines, among peasantry, 255.
• Fealty, oath of, 157.
• Feast, formal, arrangement of guests, 126.
  • beginning of dinner, 126.
  • serving the meats, 127.
  • typical bill of fare, 128.
  • on a fast day, 129.
  • closing ceremonies, 130.
  • vast plenty and carousing, 130, 131.
• Feudal civilization, reaches climax in XIII century, 2.
• Feudalism, 146 ff.
  • nature of, 147.
  • absence of true gradations in, 148.
  • duties of fief holders, 149.
  • military service usually essential, 150.
  • arrogance of many barons, 151, 152.
  • outrageous baronial tyrants, 152.
  • better types of barons, 153.
  • how fiefs are expanded, 154.
  • accession to a barony, 154, 155.
  • doing homage, 156.
  • oath of fealty, 157.
  • vassalage honorable, 158.
• Feuds, baronial, 224 ff.
  • frequency of, 225.
  • waged within families, 225.
  • limitations upon baronial, 226.
  • pitched battles infrequent, 226.
  • absence of strategy, 227.
  • great valor of warriors, 228.
  • origins of a typical feud, 229.
  • delivering the "cartel," 229.
  • assembling the vassals, 230.
  • a baronial "array," 231.
  • ravaging of noncombatants, 232.
  • a petty battle, 233.
  • use of mercenaries, 234.
  • siege of a castle, 235 ff.
• Fiefs, varieties of, 147.
  • duties of fief holders, 149.
• Fish, demand for, 117.
  • use of, 129.
• Flowers, garden, 68, 69.
• Foods, see Cookery.
• Foresters, seigneurial, 259.
• France, in full mediæval bloom in XIII century, 2.
• French, rise of as literary language, 141.
• Frescoes, in castle, 35.
• Friendship, tokens of, 106.
• Fruit trees, 68, 69.
• Funeral customs, 284 ff.
  • caskets and interments, 285.
• Furniture, of castle halls, 36, 37.
  • of bedrooms, 38 ff.
• Furs, wearing of, 92.

• G
• Gambling, with dice, 53, 54.
• Game, wild, cannot be killed by peasants, 67.
  • greatly desired at feasts, 114.
  • varieties of game birds, 116.
• Game Laws, oppressive, 272.
• Games and amusements, 51 ff.
• Garden of a castle, 67 ff.
  • frequent place for gatherings, 68.
  • herbs and vegetables in, 68.
  • constant demand for flowers, 69.
• Generosity, virtues of nobles, 186.
• Gifts, constantly exchanged among nobles, 187.
• Girls, noble, education of young, 83 ff.
  • are devoted to hawks and dancing, 84.
• Glass, used for windows in castle, 35.
• Guilds, 360 ff.
  • great subdivisions of, 360.
  • friction between, 360, 361.
  • regulations of, 361.
  • management of, by syndics, 362.
  • apprentices, 362.
  • hired workers, 363.
  • masters in guilds, 363.

• H
• Handwashing before meals, 125.
• Hangmen, 166 ff.
  • burns dishonest cloth, 349.
• Hair, customs of wearing, 95.
  • false hair used by women, 97.
• Halls of castle, 30 ff.
  • very murky in donjon, 32.
  • more elegant in palais, 35.
• Hauberks, 191.
• Hawking, vast delight in, 57.
  • hawks always exhibited, 58.
  • varieties of hawks and falcons, 59.
  • complicated art of "Falconry," 59.
  • training of hawks, 60.
  • good falconers precious, 60.
  • professional jargon of, 61.
  • prayers over hawks, 61.
  • excellent sport with, 62.
• Heralds, at tourneys, 212 ff.
• Hermits, 296.
• "Herodias's daughter," dance of, 136, 137.
• Homage, ceremony of, 156.
• Hospitality, baronial, 43 ff.
  • ceremony of receiving guests, 44.
• Heiresses, given in marriage by suzerain, 102.
• Helmets, 192.
• Horses, indispensable in war, 196.
  • varieties of, 197.
  • trappings of, 198.
  • presentation to new knights, 205.
• Hot cockles, game of, 52.
• Houses, of peasants, 263.
  • huts of the very poor, 265.
  • dwelling of rich burghers, 344.
  • seldom of stone, 351.
• Hunting, serious business, 63.
  • many wild animals, 63.
  • equipment of hunters, 64.
  • dogs essential for, 64.
  • chasing down a great boar, 64 ff.
  • return from the hunt, 66, 67.
  • hunting across peasants' lands, 67.

• I
• "Immunity," possessed by barons, 7 nt.
• Imposts, on peasants, 258.
• Infantry, in battle, 245, 247, 248.
• Inns, 345, 346.
• Industries, in towns, 357 ff.
  • trades in special streets, 358.
  • shopkeepers, 359.
  • regulation by officials, 359.
  • See Guilds.
• Interest, on money, taken by Jews, 365.
• Interdict, 384.
• Isabella, Queen, forced by her barons to change husbands, 100.

• J
• Jews, in cities, 364, 365.
• Jongleurs, 132 ff.
  • varieties of, 133.
  • trick performers, 134.
  • depraved montebanks, 135.
  • jongleurs in great demand, 136.
  • troupes of, 136, 137.
  • a superior type of jongleur, 138.
  • gives a recitation, 139 ff.
• Jousting, training in, 184.
  • See Tourneys.
• Justice, administration of, 159 ff.
  • no equality before the law, 159, 160.
  • judicial powers of a baron, 160.
  • "low justice" pertains to petty nobles, 161.
  • laws enforced by the provosts, 161, 162.
  • formal assizes, 162.
  • ordeal by battle, 162.
  • checks upon such ordeals, 163.
  • summary treatment of villeins, 164.
  • types of peasant litigation, 165.
  • fate of condemned bandits, 165 ff.

• K
• King, seeks as many vassals as possible, 12.
• Knighthood, who can demand, 187.
  • by whom bestowed, 200.
  • nature of an adubbement, 200, 201.
  • vigil at arms, 201, 202.
  • dressing the candidates, 203.
  • ceremony of adubbement, 204.
  • presentation of horses, 205.
  • exercises of new knights, 206.
• Knights, effeminate types of, 188.

• L
• Lances, 195.
• Last Day, fear of, 288.
• Lighting of halls and bedrooms, 39.
• Lists, before castle, 21.
• Lovers, presents between, 106.

• M
• Manners, for young ladies, 71 ff.
• Marriage ceremony, 109, 110.
• Marriage, 98 ff.
  • usual reasons for marriages, 99.
  • ages for, 99.
  • heiresses compelled to marry, 100.
  • very sudden marriages, 101.
  • attempts of Church to regulate, 101-102.
  • young girls wedded to aged barons, 103.
  • negotiation of a marriage treaty, 103, 104.
  • desirable qualities in a bridegroom, 104.
  • betrothal ceremonies, 105.
  • intercourse of betrothed couple, 105, 106.
  • preparation for wedding, 106.
  • wedding proceedings, 107 ff.
  • customs of peasants, 266.
• Marshall, of a castle, 48.
• "Mass of the Ass," 292.
• Masters, in guilds, 363.
• Mealtimes and dinner customs, 42, 122.
• Meats, abundance and varieties of at feasts, 128.
• Medical Art, 280 ff.
  • conducted by executioners and barkers, 280, 281.
  • use of bleedings, 281.
  • professional physicians, 281 ff.
  • their jargon, 282.
  • healing relics and processions, 283.
• Mêlée, climax to tourneys, 221.
• Mercenaries, use of, 234.
• Merchants, see Shops, Fairs, etc.
• Mining, in sieges, 239.
• Minstrels, see Jongleurs.
• Miracles, belief in, 300.
• Moats of castle, 22, 28.
• Mobilization, for battle, 242, 243.
• Monastery, 312 ff.
  • Benedictine foundations, 314.
  • land and buildings, 314, 315.
  • abbey church, 316.
  • cloisters, 317.
  • dormitory, 318.
  • refectory, 319.
  • adornments of buildings, 320.
  • costume of monks, 320, 321.
  • discipline and organization, 321.
  • duties and occupations of monks, 322, 323.
  • persons becoming monks, 324.
  • a disorderly monastery, 326.
  • specimen abuses, 327.
  • struggle against idleness in, 330.
  • bequests to, 331.
  • secular "advocates" of, 332.
  • agriculture and industries in, 333.
  • almsgiving by, 333.
  • manual labor by monks, 334.
  • copying of books, 335.
  • study of pagan authors, 335.
  • curriculum of study, 336.
  • authority of Aristotle, 336.
  • scientific works, 337.
  • study of botany and geology, 338.
  • writing chronicles, 339.
  • piety of book copying, 340.
  • beautiful manuscripts, 341.
• Monasticism, see Monastery and Monks.
• Money, hardly necessary on an average barony, 46.
  • varieties of coinage, 366.
• Monks, many sick or infirm, 319 nt.
  • costume of, 320.
  • discipline of, 321 ff.
  • persons becoming monks, 324.
  • See Monastery.
• Montebanks, 135.
• Montjoie St. Denis, 248 nt.
• Morality, of castle life, 77-78.
• Music, delight in, 132.
• Mystery plays, 294, 295.

• N
• Needlework, by castle women, 80.
• Night, closing castle for, 49.
• Nightdresses, not used in feudal ages, 42.
• Nobles, employed around a castle, 48.

• O
• Omens, belief in, 300, 301.
• Ordeal, by battle, 162.
  • by fire, 170, 171.
• Oriflamme, royal standard, 245.
• Otto IV, see Battle, Bouvines.

• P
• Palisade, before a castle, 20.
• Passions, hot and childish in feudal ages, 47, 48.
• Patrons, of parish churches, 388, 389.
• Peasants, forbidden to kill game, 67.
  • inferior weapons of, 189.
  • life of, 253 ff.
  • always considered inferior, 254.
  • population dense, 254.
  • in danger from famines, 255.
  • frequently emancipated from serfdom, 256.
  • status of free "villeins," 257.
  • constantly exploited, 258.
  • lands much divided, 259.
  • primitive agricultural methods, 261.
  • calamity of short crops, 261, 262.
  • a peasant family, 262.
  • its house and furniture, 263.
  • clothing of peasants, 264.
  • very poor peasants, 265.
  • villein marriage customs, 266.
  • long hours of toil, 267.
  • lack of education, 267, 268.
  • filthy habits, 269.
  • sullen and impious characters, 270.
  • gross oppression by knights, 271.
  • severe game laws, 272.
  • futile peasant revolts, 273.
  • popular village sports, 274.
• Pellison, 90, 91.
• Penance, public, 290.
• Philip Augustus, see Battle, Bouvines.
• Physicians, see Medical Art.
• Pilgrimage, as penance, 297.
  • shrines frequented, 298.
  • sacredness of Rome, 299.
• Pillory, 171.
• Pleasures, usual, of a baron, 43.
• Pork, demand for, 115.
• Porters of castle, 22.
• Poultry, 116.
• Priests, parish, 388 ff.
  • how appointed, 388, 389.
  • scandalous appointments, 389, 390.
  • status of, in villages, 390.
  • charges against, 391.
  • many faithful and learned, 391, 392.
• Prior, of abbey, 322.
• Prison, sometimes under donjon, 33.
  • treatment of inmates, 168, 169.
  • fearful dungeons in, 169.
• Privacy, absence of in baronial castle, 36.
• Provosts, 8, 10.
  • enforce law on barony, 161 ff, 259.

• Q
• Quadrivium, 336.
• Quintain, 185.

• R
• Ragman's roll, 51.
• Ransoms, sought in tourneys, 220.
• Recluses, 296.
• Reign of Folly, 291.
• Relics, holy, used for healing, 282, 283.
  • saints, 307 ff.
  • collections of, 308.
  • great value of, 309.
  • often spurious, 310.
  • "translations" of, 311.
• Religion, popular, 286 ff.
  • attitude of knights, 287.
  • fear of Last Day, 288.
  • Excommunications, 289.
  • public penance, 290.
  • festive side of religion, 291.
  • "Reign of Folly," 291.
  • Mass of the Ass, 292.
  • Worship of the Virgin, 293.
  • Christmas celebrations, 294.
  • mystery plays, 295.
  • hermits and recluses, 296.
  • pilgrims, 297 ff.
  • belief in spirits, 301 ff.
• Rings, customs with, 95, 96.
• Rising, early hour for, 41.
• Roads, evil state of, 344.
• Roland, Chanson de, 138.
  • ordeal by battle in, 162.
• Romances, North French, 142, 143.
  • read by young nobles, 180.
• Roman Law, returning to vogue, 160.
• Rome, resort for pilgrims, 299.
• Routine of the day, for a baron, 43.
• Rushes for carpets in castle halls, 37.

• S
• Sanitation, lacking in castle cookhouses, 28.
  • not sufficiently guarded even by nobility, 42.
• Scientific studies, in monasteries, 337 ff.
• Seigneurial officers, 259.
• Self-sufficiency of a well-ruled barony, 46.
• Seneschal, of a castle, 48.
• Serfdom, 256.
• Service, personal, honorable for nobles, 48.
• Servants, abundant in castles, 85.
  • organization and duties of, 86.
• Service, at table, 123.
• Shields, 193.
• Shopkeepers, 358, 359.
• Shoes, 90.
• Shrines, sought by pilgrims, 298.
• Sickness, frequent in Middle Ages, 277.
  • leprosy and other plagues, 278.
  • great losses in childbirth, 279.
  • healing saints, 279, 280.
  • mediæval medicine, 280 ff.
• Siege of a castle, 234 ff.
  • varieties of siege engines, 236, 237.
  • the beffroi, 237.
  • mantelets, 238.
  • undermining a wall, 239.
• Silks, for apparel, 92.
• Sortes Apostolorum, 306.
• Soups, 117.
• Spirits, supernatural, belief in, 301.
• Squires, taught to serve at table, 123.
  • training and duties of, 182-184.
• Subinfeudation, 12.
• Superstitions, of peasants, 306.
  • See Witchcraft, Devil, etc.
• Surcoat, introduction of, 93.
• Suzerains, see Feudualism.
• Swords, 194.
• Syndics, of guilds, 362.
• Syria, famous castles in, 19.

• T
• Tables, at dinner, 124.
• Tapestries, in castles, 37, 38.
• Taverns, 345.
• Tennis, game of, 57.
• Thirteenth Century: height of the Middle Ages, 2.
• Tilting, see Tourneys.
• Times for meals, 42.
• Tolls, on commerce, 367.
• Tortures, 165 ff.
  • vainly discouraged by Pope Nicholas I, 166.
  • methods of, 167 ff.
• Tolls, at a baron's bridge, 12.
• Towers of castle, 23.
• Trade, in towns, 358 ff.
  • See Fairs.
• Travelers, usually welcomed at castles, 44.
• Travel, 343-345.
• Trenchers, at feast, 127.
• Tristan and Ysolt, story of, 139.
• Trivium, 336.
• Trojan War, romances of, 179.
• Troubadour songs, 144, 145.
• Tourneys, 208 ff.
  • "crying" the tourney, 208.
  • people attracted to them, 209.
  • early tourneys were battles, 209, 210.
  • denounced by Church, 210.
  • arrangements for, 210, 211.
  • lists and lodges, 211.
  • opening ceremonies, 212.
  • procession of jousters, 213.
  • armor and bizarre costumes worn, 214.
  • jousting by pairs, 215.
  • art of lance-breaking, 216.
  • a bloody duel, 217.
  • defending a barrier, 218, 219.
  • dueling for ransoms, 220.
  • the mêlée, 221, 222.
  • vast expense of tourneys, 223.
• Trouvéres, 142 ff.
• Tyranny, of outrageous barons, 8, 9.

• V
• Vassals, can have two or more seigneurs, 11.
  • desire to hold from the king, 12.
  • summons of, to war, 230.
  • see Feudalism, Homage, etc.
• Vegetables, 68, 118.
• Vigil before knighthood, 202.
• Vikings, castles built to resist them, 5.
• Villeins, subject to summary justice, 164.
  • See Peasants.
• Virgin, The, popular worship of, 293.

• W
• Walls of castle, 23.
• Wars, nobles delight in, 176.
  • almost incessant, 224.
  • varieties of, 225.
  • See Feuds.
• Watchman, on castle tower, 34.
• Weapons, give superiority to nobles, 189.
  • arms preferred by them, 189, 190.
  • missile weapons non-noble, 191.
  • armor, 191 ff.
  • hauberks and helmets, 192.
  • shields, 193.
  • swords, 194.
  • lances, 195.
• Wedding proceedings, 106 ff.
  • bridal procession, 109.
  • ceremony at church, 109, 110.
  • presents at wedding, 110.
  • great feast at wedding, 111.
• Windows, glass in castle, 35.
  • stained glass in churches, 402.
• Wine, 120.
• Witchcraft, 303 ff.
  • casting a spell, 305.
  • lawful forms of divining, 306.
• Witches, 303-305.
• Wizards, 303-305.
• Women, noble, praised for beauty by minstrels, 70.
  • types of female beauty, 71.
  • taught good manners, 72, 73.
  • married off against their will, 74.
  • can be harshly treated, 74, 75.
  • sometimes grossly neglected, 76.
  • often extremely coarse, 77.
  • alleged shortcomings of, 78.
  • accomplishments of, 79.
  • manage children and household, 80 ff.
• Woolens, generally used for garments, 89.