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.

[Sidenote: Building the Cathedral]

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.

[Sidenote: Cathedral a Natural Growth]

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."

[Sidenote: Magnificent Dimensions of Cathedrals]

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]

[Sidenote: Stained Glass and Sculptures]

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.

FOOTNOTES:

[127] Few or no cathedrals were _really_ completed at any time, in the sense that all the details of their design were brought to perfection.

[128] For example, Notre Dame de Paris covered four times the floor area of the Parthenon at Athens (a decidedly large Greek temple) with its nave thrice as high as the older building. Of course, a Greek temple was primarily for housing a holy image; the great sacrifices and the throng of worshippers would be outside the edifice in the open, unlike a Christian church.

[129] One device was to take an extra-precious relic and intrust it to monks, who would place it in a cart and drive through a wide region haranguing the faithful and holding out a purse for them to fill. At Rouen one of the cathedral towers was known as the "Butter Tower," because it was largely built with money given for permission to eat butter in Lent.

[130] At Rheims, prior to the German bombardment of 1914, there were more than two thousand statues.

[131] During this period there were built in France some eighty cathedrals and more than five hundred large and superior churches in this Gothic style.

[132] Such figures would indicate that Pontdebois Cathedral was somewhat smaller than Notre Dame de Paris. It could rank up well among the great churches of France, yet not at all in the first class.

[133] St. John of Damascus, writing in the Orient in the eighth century, gave what amounted to the standard justification of holy images and pictures in churches and for the veneration of the same:

"I am too poor to possess books, I have no leisure for reading. I enter the church choked with the cares of the world; the glowing colors attract my sight like a flowery meadow; and the glory of God steals imperceptibly into my soul. I gaze on the fortitude of the martyr and the crown with which he is rewarded, and the fire of holy emulation is kindled within me. I fall down and worship God _through_ the martyr; and I receive salvation."

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.

_Books of Art and Artcraft_

HISTORY OF ART By Elie Faure