"Not long had he been there, when there appeared upon the great bridge of Châlon the said Pierre de Chandios, who was coming upon his horse, armed with all arms, the bacinet upon his head and the coat-of-arms upon his back; and, in truth, he was one of the greatest and most powerful squires in all Burgundy, or in Nivernais, and might, in age, be thirty-one years or thereabouts. He was accompanied by the lords of Mirebeau, of Charny and of Seyl, and by so many lords and nobles of Burgundy that I should estimate the company at more than four hundred noblemen. The said de Chandios entered the lists upon a horse emblazoned with his arms, and dismounted; and the lord of Charny led him on his right before the judge, and made speech, and said: 'Noble King of Arms of the Golden Fleece, commissioned by my most redoubted and sovereign lord the duke and count of Burgundy, judge in this cause, here is Pierre de Chandios, my nephew, who presents himself before you, in order that, God aiding him, he may furnish and accomplish the arms by him undertaken and required, in encounter with the challenger of this noble contest, according to the condition of the chapters, and of the white target which he has caused to be touched.'
"The King of Arms welcomed him and received him as was his due, and withdrew into his pavilion: and this done, everyone withdrew from the lists, and the accustomed cries were begun; and meanwhile a cousin german of mine, named Anthony de la Marche, lord of Sandon, appointed marshall of the lists, drew near to the said Chandios by the judge's command, and bid him declare the number of strokes of the axe he required, and demanded to make and furnish these arms: and the said Chandios declared seventeen strokes of the axe. So the said marshall came to the judge to acquaint him of the number of strokes, and then he came to the said Jacques de Lalain, to acquaint him of his adversary's intention, and also to ask of him the axes which he must deliver to furnish and do battle withal. So were two axes given and delivered to him, which were long and heavy; and the mallets and heads of the said axes were fashioned like falcons' beaks, with large and heavy spikes above and beneath: and were bladed with a screw-plate of flat iron, with three nail-heads short and thick, diamond fashion, and somewhat after the manner of lance blades for jousting with arms of war, without roquet; and the said axes were taken to the said de Chandios to chose from: and a moment after Pierre de Chandios sallied forth from his pavilion, clothed in his coat-of-arms, his bacinet on his head and his visor lowered, crossing himself with his bannerolle: and then did his uncle, the lord of Charny, deliver him his axe and accompanied him far into the lists. On the other side came forth messire Jacques de Lalain: and had his harness covered, in place of a coat-of-arms, with an over-mantle with sleeves of white satin sown with blue tears, of the same colour as the target that his adversary had touched. He wore a little round helmet, and had his visor covered, and protected with a little collar-piece of steel-mail (maille d'acier): and after the recommendation of his bannerolle, Messire Pierre Vasco handed him his axe.
"So paced the champions each towards the other with great assurance, and met before the judge, and, at first each was on his guard against the other. But before long they ran together and dealt great and heavy blows, knightly given and borne on one side and the other; and I remember that the said de Lalain (who knew that the axes he had given and delivered had no spike nor point with which he could bend nor injure his adversary) stepping aside some distance turned his axe, making the head the tail, and the tail the head: and came forward again with a great effort and reached the said Chandios, with the spike of his axe on the vizor of the bacinet, and gave him so great a blow that he broke the point on the vizor; but the said Chandios (who was strong and great, powerful and valiant) did not give way; but began again the battle between them more fiercely and proudly than before, so that they beset one another so fiercely that in a short time the seventeen strokes required by the said de Chandios were accomplished.
"Then Toison d'Or threw down the baton, and the combattants were taken and separated by the men-at-arms appointed as guard and attendants, and to act as is the wont in such a case; and they, taken before the judge, touched together, and returned each whence he had come, and those arms were accomplished (achevées) on a Saturday, the 18th day of September, the year 49."[127]
So ended the first combat, which was followed by many others at which several knights and squires of Burgundy, Nivernais, Savoy and Switzerland presented themselves. Among the audience were the duke and duchess of Orleans and a brilliant company from the court of Italy. At the close of the tournament a great banquet was given to all the nobles who had taken part, at which the guests were entertained with many "entremets," as the representations given during the repast were called.
The giver of the feast had desired that all combattants should be painted in their armour, and his own portrait was exhibited with a couplet at the foot, expressing thanks to all noble companions who had accepted him as adversary, and offering to serve them on all occasions, in person or property, as their brother in arms. He presented to Toison d'Or a fair robe of sable, and after having courteously saluted the Lady of Tears, and kissed the feet of the Holy Virgin, he retired; and the picture, the image and the unicorn were carried, in solemn procession, to the church of Châlon.[128]
We shall hear more of these Burgundian Tournaments when we come to speak of the royal court at Dijon, and the festivities of the Tree of Charlemagne. Here I conclude the subject, for the present, merely reminding my readers that these heavily armoured and comparatively innocuous fights were but the slow development of sterner combats, such as that which occurred in 1273, when Edward I. of England passed through Burgundy, on his way to meet Philip III. returning from Italy. The Burgundians, wishing fittingly to celebrate the occasion, organized a tourney at Chalon-Sur-Saône. "There was a battle," says Mathew of Westminster, "but the English were victors and slew several who were despoiling the conquered; but as these last were men of small condition, the matter was not followed up."[129]
Modern Chalon-Sur-Saône has not very much that is attractive. The most interesting streets are those around the old cathedral of St. Vincent, before which, on Sunday morning, there is a busy market scene. The church is a fairly good specimen of Burgundian Gothic of the 12th to 14th centuries; but it appears to have been so much restored that a dogmatic opinion concerning its age would be unusually dangerous. The choir appears to be of the 13th century, and the arches, with unribbed vaults, of the late 12th. Strong Roman and Byzantine influence is everywhere apparent, and there are some rich late Gothic side chapels. The upper part of the design betrays the same fault as at St. Bénigne de Dijon. The triforium—weakly designed—and the parapet above it, are lifted up to the clerestory, leaving an unsightly space of bare wall above the arches of the nave. The shafts of the high vault are taken down, as usual, on to fluted pilasters, with highly ornamented capitals. The façade of the church is modern, and unsuccessful.