The number of courses run in jousting and the blows and strokes exchanged with battle-axes, swords and daggers at a meeting like that just described was usually three each; but they tended to increase as the century advanced, and five got to be a common number, and later as many as ten or even twelve. In the duel between Sir Thomas Harpenden and Messire Jean des Barres, at Montereau sur Yonne in 1387, they numbered “cinq lances à cheval, cinq coups d’épée, cinq coups de dague et cinq coups de hache.” The first four courses of the jousts were run with equal fortune, but in the fifth Sir Thomas was unhorsed and lay senseless on the ground; he revived, however, after a time, and all the strokes and blows were duly exchanged without further hurt to either knight. The King of France was present on the occasion.[76]
About this time, when the war between France and England was in full progress, there was much jousting with pointed lances between the knights and esquires of the two nations; safe-conducts being issued by the commanders on either side.
A meeting was arranged to take place near Nantes, under the auspices of the Constable of France and the Earl of Buckingham. The first encounter was a combat on foot, with sharp spears, in which one of the cavaliers was slightly wounded; the pair then ran three courses with the lance without further mishap. Next Sir John Ambreticourt of Hainault and Sir Tristram de la Jaille of Poitou advanced from the ranks and jousted three courses, without hurt. A duel followed between Edward Beauchamp, son of Sir Robert Beauchamp, and the bastard Clarius de Savoye. Clarius was much the stronger man of the two, and Beauchamp was unhorsed. The bastard then offered to fight another English champion, and an esquire named Jannequin Finchly came forward in answer to the call; the combat with swords and lances was very violent, but neither of the parties was hurt. Another encounter took place between John de Châtelmorant and Jannequin Clinton, in which the Englishman was unhorsed. Finally Châtelmorant fought with Sir William Farrington, the former receiving a dangerous wound in the thigh, for which the Englishman was greatly blamed, as being an infraction of the rules of the tourney; but an accident was pleaded as in the case of the duel between Gauvain Micaille and Joachim Cator. At this meeting the honours lay with the Frenchmen.[77]
Somewhat later a combat à outrance[78] took place at Chateau Josselin, near Vannes, between John Boucmel, a Frenchman, and Nicholas Clifford, in which Boucmel was struck on the upper part of the breastplate by his opponent’s lance, which, glancing off, entered his neck through the camail and severed the jugular vein, killing him instantly.[79] A plate of Froissart’s represents this duel as a combat on foot with long lances, taking place in a small quadrangular enclosure.
Juvenal des Ursins states[80] that at the marriage of Charles VI, of France, with Isabel (Isabeau) of Bavaria, 1385, jousts and grand fêtes took place in its honour. Sir Peter Courtenay came to France at the time with the object of accomplishing a feat of arms with the Seigneur de la Tremouille. The King’s consent to the duel had been obtained, and the day and place were fixed for its accomplishment. The knights appeared in the lists on the day appointed in order to fulfil their engagement in presence of the King, who, however, at the last moment, owing to some remonstrances, forbade the combat: but a duel did take place at the time between an English knight and the Seigneur de Clery, in which the Englishman was wounded and unhorsed. This joust had been brought to the notice of the Duke of Burgundy, who said that the offence committed by a Frenchman in jousting with an enemy without the consent of his sovereign was worthy of death; his Majesty, however, at length pardoned the offender.
Froissart describes a realistic tournament, held at Paris during the wedding festivities, as between the Saracens under Saladin, and the Crusaders, led by Richard Cœur de Lion.
The feat of arms between Sir John Holland and Sir Reginald de Roye, a French chevalier of distinction, held at the town of Entença, before the King and Queen of Portugal and the Duke and Duchess of Lancaster, presents features of its own. The French knight sent an invitation to the Englishman entreating him to joust with him three courses with the lance, and to exchange the same number of strokes with the battle-axe, sword and dagger, for the love of his lady. The challenge was promptly accepted, and an answer returned by the herald, together with a safe-conduct for the Frenchman and his company. Sir Reginald arrived in due time at Entença, handsomely accompanied by six score knights and esquires. The meeting was held in a spacious close in the town, the ground well strewn with sand; and galleries had been erected for the accommodation of the royal and ducal parties, with other spectators. The jousting was to be with sharp lances, to be followed by a contest with sharp and well-tempered battle-axes, swords and daggers. The champions were well mounted and rode into the lists in full armour, taking up positions for their careers at either end of the lists, with the distance of a bow-shot between them. The signal for the onset having been sounded, the knights charged each other at the gallop, and Sir Reginald struck the bars of his opponent’s visor so stoutly that his lance splintered on impact. Sir John Holland also struck the visor of his adversary well and fairly, but the helmet of the Frenchman, instead of having been securely laced to his body-armour as was usual, was only held by a single thong, and of course slipped off, leaving the knight bare-headed and Sir John’s lance unbroken. The jousters then returned to their stations, and charged each other as before, and again the same thing happened, owing to the same cause. The English who were present regarded the unusual loose fastening of the helmet as a trick, but the umpire, the Duke of Lancaster, ruled that it was admissible for Sir John Holland to have employed the same artifice had he chosen to do so, and that therefore he could not decide against the French knight.[81] After the stipulated three courses with the lance had been run, the knights fought three rounds each with battle-axes swords and daggers, without either receiving a scratch. The French chevalier was adjudged to have had the advantage, though both had done well.[82]
In 1389 a deed of arms was performed at Bordeaux before the Duke of Lancaster, between five Englishmen and five Frenchmen: three courses with the lance, three courses with swords, and the same number with battle-axes. None was wounded, but one of the English knights killed the horse of a Frenchman with his lance, which greatly angered the Duke, who replaced the loss with one of his own chargers.[83]
The most prominent and accomplished jouster of his day was the Chevalier Jean Le Maingre, called De Boucicaut, Mareschal of France 1368-1421, and his Mémoires,[84] by an unknown author, contain descriptions of some of his exploits in the tiltyard. One of these recitals[85] follows:—During the three years’ truce between France and England, when King Charles VI was at Montpellier,[86] the French Seigneurs De Boucicaut, de Sampi and de Roye challenged all comers, being foreign knights and esquires, to joust five courses with lances, pointed or blunted, at their pleasure, at St. Ingelbert,[87] a place near Calais; the pas d’armes (or the “table-ronde,” as it is called in the Chapitres d’Armes, or articles of combat) to continue for thirty days. A great elm stood before the pavilions of the challengers, and hanging from its branches were two shields of wood, one of them plated with iron, “l’un de paix, l’autre de guerre,” so that each venant on arriving at the rendezvous could signify his pleasure as to whether he elected to fight with pointed or rebated lances by striking with a wand the shield for peace or that for war. The arms and devices of the three tenans were painted above the two shields, so that each venant might be able to select his adversary among them, and a note blown on a horn proclaimed his choice. Each venant was to furnish the king of arms with his name and titles, and to bring another cavalier with him as his sponsor. The lists were richly decorated, the challengers handsomely apparelled; and lavish hospitality was dispensed in a pavilion specially pitched for the purpose. Any arms, armour, or other requisites of which the venans might stand in need, were freely provided, the motto everywhere displayed being “Ce que vouldrez.” The chronicle goes on to state that on the first day of the jousting, Jean de Holland, Earl of Huntingdon, half-brother to King Richard, signified his intention of jousting with Boucicaut. Both lances were fairly splintered in the first encounter, the second and third being fought with equal fortune; but in the fourth the horse of the English knight fell with its rider, who was severely injured, his antagonist only retaining his seat by the prompt support of his varlets. Boucicaut then retired to his pavilion, but was not allowed to remain resting for long, for other English cavaliers desired to joust with him, and he disposed of two other knights the same day. While he was engaged in combat day after day, his fellow tenans were not idle, and the thirty days stipulated in the Chapitres d’Armes ran their course. Among other cavaliers from England taking part were Earl Marschal, the knights de Beaumont, Thomas de Perci, de Clifford and Courtenay, besides Sir John d’Ambreticourt and many Spanish and German cavaliers. Boucicaut is said to have gone through the whole thirty days of jousting without a scratch.
The rôle of the tenans at a pas d’armes was no sinecure, and for three knights to have held the pas for thirty days against all comers, as in this case, must have been an arduous undertaking; and very dangerous also, more especially as much of the jousting was with pointed lances. No. XI of Froissart’s plates professes to depict one of the jousts of this pas d’armes; but it pictures one at the tilt, so that the drawing is obviously of a later date than that of the Inglevert meeting, and was, in fact, executed in the reign of Edward IV, when the tilt was in common use. Froissart[88] gives a long and circumstantial account of this meeting, and states that it was very richly appointed. King Charles of France was present incognito, and had subscribed very handsomely towards the heavy expenses incurred.