At a dance at the English court a lady named Madresilva lost a garter while she was dancing. A certain knight picked it up. The King witnessed the incident, and asked the knight to bring it to him and fasten it on his left leg just below the knee. His Majesty wore the garter in that way for four months and no one ventured to speak to him concerning it. But one day one of the maids, who was a favorite of the King, told him that the Queen, the maids of honor, the people of the kingdom and those from abroad, all were displeased that he should show so much honor to Madresilva. And the King answered:
[69]... donchs la Reyna sta de aço mal contenta, e los strangers e los del meu regne ne stan admirats dix tales paraules en frances: Puni soyt qui mal hi pense. Ara yo promet adeu, dix lo rey, yo instituire e fare sobre aquest fet un orde de caualleria, que tant com lo mon durara sera en recordacio aquesta fraternitat e orde que yo fare.
[69] “So then the queen is displeased with that, and the foreigners and those of my kingdom are surprised at it.” Then he spoke the following words in French: “Punished be he who thinks evil of it. Now I promise God,” said the king, “I shall institute and build upon this incident an order of knighthood, and this fraternity and order that I shall found will be remembered as long as the world shall last.” Tirant lo Blanch, chap. lxxxv, col. 3.
In Elias Ashmole’s voluminous work,[70] published in 1672, the above incident is related in the following manner:
[70] Elias Ashmole, The Institution, Laws and Ceremonies of the most Noble Order of the Garter, London, 1672.
“As to the occasion of its institution, the vulgar and more general opinion is, That the garter of Joane, Countess of Salisbury, falling casually off, as she danced in a solemn ball, King Edward hastily stooping, took it up from the ground; whereupon some of the Nobles and Courtiers smiling as at an amorous action, and he observing their sportive humor, turned it off with this reply in French, ‘Honi soit qui mal y pense’; but withal added in disdain of their laughter, That in a short time, they should see that Garter advanced to so high honor and estimation as to account themselves happy to wear it.”
This story is generally regarded by historians as untrue. Ashmole intimates that it was first published by Polydore Virgil about the middle of the sixteenth century. If that be so, the story in Tirant lo Blanch is the earliest known version of this famous incident. The word “Puni” instead of “Honi” is striking, but not surprising. In the pronunciation of these words, as well as in their written or printed forms, the hearer or the reader might easily mistake the one for the other, and the substitution would have been favored by the fact that “Honi” was not in common use.
But let us follow the account concerning the Order as we find it in Tirant lo Blanch. In the castle at Windsor was prepared a beautiful chapel which was to serve as a home for the new fraternity. The king was the first to take the oath to obey its statutes and ordinances. Then he selected twenty-five other knights to constitute its membership, and the first one chosen was Tirant, because he was the best of all. Then the following were named: “lo Princep de Gales, lo Duch de Beta fort [Bedford], lo Duch de lencastre [Lancaster], lo Duch datçetera [Exeter], lo Marques de Sofolch [Suffolk], lo Marques de Sanct Jordi, lo Marques de Belpuig, Johan de Varoych, Gran Conestable, lo Comte de Nortabar [Northumberland], lo Comte de Salasberi, lo Comte destafort [Stafford], lo Comte de Vilamur, lo Comte de les Marches Negres, lo Comte d’la Joyosa Guarda, lo Senyor de Scala Rompuda, lo Senyor de Puig Vert, lo Senyor de Terra Noua, Miçer Johan Stuart, Miçer de Riuçech.” All these were from the kingdom. The foreigners were: “lo Duch de Berri, lo Duch Danjou, lo Comte de Flandes.” Then the author says: “Foren tots en nombre .xxvi. cauallers.” But, including the king and Tirant, he has named only twenty-four.
According to history, Edward the Third founded the Order of the Garter between the years 1344 and 1351. The roll of founders consists of twenty-six names. Besides those of the king and the Prince of Wales, there are only four names given by Martorell that can be found on the roll. The Duke of Exeter was elected into the Order in 1400 and his is the ninety-ninth name on the list of members. The Duke of Suffolk was elected in 1420 and his number is one hundred and forty on the list. From a historical standpoint, Martorell made a blunder when he gave the name of Sir John Stuart as a member, for the latter was an enemy of England. Several of the names seem to be pure inventions. It is evident that Martorell made up a list of his own. At first we are surprised that he did not include the name of William of Warwick, but since the latter had so resolutely insisted upon living as a hermit, he could not consistently have been made a member. We have noticed that instead of naming twenty-six, he named but twenty-four. Why did he not name the Duke of Gloucester, whom he mentions in his work? It is indeed surprising that he did not name one of the Portuguese kings, for John I, Edward, and Alphonse V were all members of the Order. The latter was the brother of Prince Ferdinand, to whom the book was dedicated. If Martorell had known that these kings were honored with membership in the noble Order, he would hardly have failed to mention one of them. But he named none of these, and consequently the conclusion may be drawn that he did not live at the court of Portugal and that he knew little more about Prince Ferdinand than his name. And, moreover, these omissions indicate rather strongly that the work was not first written in the Portuguese language.
We are furthermore told in Tirant lo Blanch that the king gave to every member of the Order a collar of gold covered with round S’s. Martorell undertakes in the following story to explain how the king happened to adopt these letters as a device: At a royal hunt, a deer, white as the snow because of its age, was slain, and a collar bearing S’s was found around its neck. On the collar were found words stating that when Julius Caesar left the island the collar was put on the deer, with the request that the king into whose hands the deer might fall should adopt the letter S as a device. The author explains the significance of this letter in these words: