Daily Living In The Twelfth Century

LONDON

in the year 1180

Hoof**

BtriitMtdity

DAILY LIVING IN

THF TWELFTH

CENTURY

AILY LIVING IN

nptjrt? 'T'WFT PHTH

X XT JlL X VV XL JLj r XXX

CENTURY ■» Based on the
Observations of Alexander
Neckam in London and Paris
By Urban Tigner Holmes, Jr.

THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN PRESS
Madison, Milwaukee, and London, 1966

Published by the University of Wisconsin Press
Madison, Milwaukee, and London
U.SA.: Box 1379, Madison, Wisconsin 53701
U.K.; 26-28 Hallam Street, London, W.l

Copyright © 1952 by the
Regents of the LTniversity of Wisconsin

First Printing, 1952; Second Printing, 1953
As a paperback: Third Printing, 1962;
Fourth Printing, 1964; Fifth Printing, 1966

Printed in the United States of America
library of Congress Catalog Card Number 52-62000

Preface

B or many years I have found it difficult to assign reading
material for background in mediaeval civilization to
students of Old French and Proven9al. Many works of great
erudition are available, but none of these presents a cohesive
picture. Details are taken from the eleventh to the sixteenth
centuries and placed side by side; the Middle Ages are dis¬
cussed as though they were a single, homogeneous era. Still
another lack has been the absence of information on many
little matters which could be reasonably answered by con¬
jecture and by the weighing of some conflicting evidence.
The present book seeks to revise this prevailing methodology
and to establish a precedent of a different kind. The treat¬
ment is limited to a unit of fifty years. Descriptions and
characterizations have been selected so as to reveal in close
detail the conditions of life in this restricted period. For the
Middle Ages available source materials are not sufficiently
dated, or numerous enough, to permit a study restricted to
a smaller interval of time. Historians of ancient Greece and
Rome are more favored than we are in this respect. Even so,
under the best of conditions, fifty years makes a satisfactory
unit. Civilization remains fairly constant over half a century,
except in critical periods crowded with change—such as
the years 1475 to 1525, or 1880 to 1930—when new out-

Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania'

vi Preface

look, following discovery and invention, accelerates flic dis¬
carding of familiar objects and conventions.

I have used for this book sources written in Latin and
French, and a few in English and Spanish, which date from
1150 to i2oo; illustrations are taken from museum objects,
sculptures, and manuscript illuminations of the same period.
To follow this limitation strictly would necessitate the
omission of the Bayeux Tapestry and the writings of Gui-
bert de Nogent, Baudri de Bourgueil, and others, who are
somewhat early, as well as the Flamenca, the Livre des
mesiiers of Estienne Boileau, John of Garland, 1 the Blonde
dOxford, Wistasce li moines, certain fabliaux, and all the
romances of Jehan Renart, which are a little late. But some
of these sources give valuable details which are sketched
only dimly in texts of the second half of the twelfth cen¬
tury. I have accordingly made limited use of some of these,
with control. In one or two instances I have even used
Renaissance evidence—for example, in examining the extant
maps of London and Paris, and in citing Dr. lister and
Samuel Pepys on questions affecting sanitation and the pro¬
curing of water. These later pieces of evidence arc useful
in that they continue to reflect the ways of peoples living
in a nonmechanized era. The reader may ask what is in¬
tended by “control.” It means that detailed descriptions
from outside the period can be used only where twelfth-
century texts attest the existence of the object or practice,
and where it is reasonable to expect no important variation
in detail. Furthermore, if a procedure such as towing boats
by horse up and down the Seine is attested for the eleventh
century, and then again for the sixteenth, it is safe to assume
that this was done in the twelfth. Even a few details of the
method can be selected from the eleventh- and sixteenth-
century accounts, especially where these agree. In discuss-

Preface vii

ing wooden houses, which then were common and which
now have totally disappeared, I am somewhat at the mercy
of the Bayeux Tapestry. I have tried, however, to rationalize
a bit on the representations portrayed there.

The plan of accompanying Alexander Ncckam on a
journey to Paris from his home in Dunstable may smack a
little of novelistic fiction. But the De nominibus utensilium
is an interesting document, and the plan of following its
author on a journey is a suitable way to use it. This is cer¬
tainly in keeping with the mediaeval manner of description.
The “dcscribers,” from John of Garland to Guillot de Paris
and Walter of Bibblcsworth, liked to have you accompany
them as they moved about. I have incorporated into these
pages an almost complete translation of the De nominibus
utensilium, omitting a few moralizing and etymological sec¬
tions. There are occasional places where the translation is
not sure, and the reader should be warned that the Old
French commentators who glossed the manuscripts used by
Thomas Wright and others were not always certain of the
meaning. At first I intended to add a critical text of the
Latin original of the De nominibus, but this would be a
separate study in itself as there are seventeen or more
manuscripts. 9 I abandoned this plan and make page refer¬
ences to the edition printed by Thomas Wright. However,
for my own use I have had a new text based upon a reading
of the manuscript Worcester Q.50, folios 1-18. This was
prepared for me by Miss Marion Greene. I have compared
it with A. Scheler’s transcription of Bruges MS 536, in
Jahrbuch fiir romanische und englische Literatur, and with
the Wright edition* Variations in these have proved to be
largely a matter of word order, with omissions and additions
of a slight character.

It is my hope that this plan—concentrating upon smaller

viii Preface

areas of time in works dealing with early civilization-*—will
be judged a success. The period 1325-75 would be an ad¬
mirable subject for similar treatment, as would the first half
of the fifteenth century.

This volume is not intended to be a compilation of sec¬
ondary material. It is a personal interpretation based upon
primary texts, upon archaeological evidence, and upon
mediaeval iconography. I hope that I shall not be criticized
for failing to include what is in So-and-so’s book. No one
should go through the notes seeking to find a synthesis of
everything that has been said in the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries about mediaeval life. Neither can this book be ex¬
pected to offer the last shade of opinion on music, art, tax¬
ation, feudalism, and the development of political and civic
institutions. Whole libraries have been devoted to these sub¬
jects. This volume is primarily a companion for literary
studies, not an encyclopedia of mediaeval civilization.

This “loving attempt” to reconstruct the past would
not have found much favor, I admit, with many mediaeval®,
who were on the side of the moderns:

In every century its own hath been unpopular, and each age
from the beginning hath preferred the past to itself, hence my
times have despised me.... I give the name of modern period to
tfie hundred years which have passed, and not to those which
are to come, although they may have the right to the name, by
reason of their nearness, since the past hath to do with narration
and the future with divination. 4

We take comfort in an observation made by Jehan de Meun:
“For the present lasts so short a time, there is no count or
measure of it”;* and in this oft-quoted statement ascribed by
John of Salisbury to Bernard de Chartres: “We are as
dwarfs mounted on the shoulders of giants . .. we can see
more and further than they .. . because we are raised and

Preface ix

borne aloft upon that giant mass.” 8 We are astounded today
at the conceit which could cause John to believe that the
men of his time could see further than Cicero or Seneca;
but every age must have its own pride.

In gathering this material I have knocked at many doors.
I owe much to Professor R. S. Rogers of Duke University,
who has been my Latinist consultant, and to my friend and
student Fr. Edwin D. Cuffe, S.J., who has shown an un¬
erring eye in turning up valuable passages. For similar help
I owe thanks to Miss Florence McCulloch. Several chapters
in this book were read before the Mediaeval Institute at the
University of Notre Dame in December, 1948. Sketches
inset in the text were made by Dr. Hampton Hubbard, who,
like so many surgeons, combines skill in the artist’s media
and skill with the scalpel. For clerical help I am indebted to
the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teach¬
ing, which gave a small grant for this purpose. On one occa¬
sion I was allowed traveling expenses by the Smith Fund of
the Graduate School of the University of North Caro lina.

Urban Tigner Holmes, Jr.

Chap el Hill
April 1 7, ipfi

The Chapters

Preface v

I. Introduction 3

II. London 18

III. The Journey and Paris 44

IV. Lodgings in the City 74

V. Gown 108

VI. Town 133

VII. The Baron and His Castle 159

VIII. Manor House and Peasant 197

IX. “To Talk of Many Things” 225

Notes 261

Index 327

The Illustrations

Winchester Bible sheet facing page 18

David and Bath-sheba (illumination) 19

Lookout from Dover, from the Bayeux Tapestry 50
Boisil on a bed (illumination) 51

St. Mark with scribe’s chair and desk 82

Chapter house from Pontaut, France 83

Treadle loom (illumination) 114

Loge with loom (illumination) 114

“Companions of the bath” (illumination) 115

Crenelated and buttressed castle wall 178

Main hall of the Chateau des Comtes 179

Peasant wearing “snood” cap 210

Jongleur and female dancer

211

DAILY LIVING IN
THE TWELFTH
CENTURY

Qhapter 1

Introduction

T he second half of the twelfth century was a remark¬
able one for the development of intellectual maturity
and literature. 1 At a date not far from 1150 some ingenious
cleric, or clerics, adapted the form of the rhymed chronicle,
making it retell the stories of Latin epic; thus the romance
form was bom. Just about the time Henry II of England
was seeking to gobble up Toulouse (in 1159) another clever
narrator put into verse form a brisk tale such as “men” like
to tell: the fabliau came into being. Early in the 117o’s some¬
one else created the first branches of the Roman de Renart,
a form of animal satire and adventure which has fascinated
readers to the present day, when we read the stories of
Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris. A dozen years later,
in the 1180’s, Alain de Lille brought allegory to a new
height in his Anticlaudianus (written in Latin), which pre¬
pared the way for the Roman de la Rose and centuries of
allegorical poetry. During these years of artistic produc¬
tivity, political history did not remain static; it was very ex¬
citing. Indeed, we are astonished that the literary material
does not reflect in a more vivid way the events of western
Europe. It is hard to detect parallels at all until after the
Third Crusade (1189-91), when increased dislike for the
Byzantines and some display of acquaintance with Byzantine

4

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

and Oriental legends betray intimate and disastrous associa¬
tions with the Holy Land. In the present book we are con¬
cerned with life as it was lived each day by an average man
—the kind of man who had no use for war and intrigue, but
who sought to lead a normal international routine with little
concern for Eleanor of Aquitaine, the quarrel between
Becket and the English king, the wars in Languedoc, and
the struggles of Frederick Barbarossa in favor of his anti¬
popes. There will be readers, however, who do not know
this history and who will be impatient with our narrative of
street and tavern unless they can perceive the colorful back¬
ground of kings and emperors against which Alexander
Neckam led his quiet life. For these readers we have de¬
signed the historical sketch which now follows. 2

The political stage for western Europe in the second half
of the century was being set early in 1152. On March 4 of
that year, Frederick Barbarossa became king of Germany
and united around him many feudal factions. On March 21,
Eleanor of Aquitaine’s marriage to Louis VII of France was
declared invalid; in May she married the young Henry
Plantagenet, eleven years her junior. By December, 11 54,
this Henry was king of England, Frederick had descended
mto Italy, and Louis had taken a new wife, Constance of
Castile.

If we seek for one key figure in the politics of this period
of fifty years, we find Eleanor of Aquitaine. She had borne
two daughters to her first husband—Marie and Alix—but
she had given no promise of being so maternal as she now
proceeded to be in the eight years that followed her mar-

T gG \° S en ,T f he gaVe birth t0 WiIIiam (” 53 ), Henry
(1155), Matilda Ci 156), Richard (n 57 ), Geoffrey (rr 5 8),

and Eleanor (1161). One more child, John (ii< 56 ), was

seemingly an afterthought. These children, except for Wil-

Introduction 5

liam, who died at the age of three, were to play an active
part beside their mother in the years that followed. The
first husband, Louis VII of France, had two daughters by
his second wife. The elder, Marguerite, was permitted to
fall into the hands of Henry II of England in 1158, at the
age of seven months, when she was taken to England to be¬
come the future wife of the young Prince Henry. The
second daughter, another Alix, suffered the same fate, to
be the future bride of Prince Richard. Unfortunately this
Alix, with her Spanish eyes, attracted King Henry so much,
as she grew to some maturity, that he made her his mistress
and thus increased the hatred between her father and him¬
self.

Louis had opposed the seizure of Normandy by Henry
Plantagenet, before the latter was king, but relations be¬
tween the two remained quite cordial until 1157. Then it
became more than evident, after a council held at Wtirz-
that England and Germany were beginning a “squeeze
play” against France. The reader must remember that, as
king of England, Henry II was sovereign lord of England,
Normandy, Anjou, and Aquitaine. He also had received
feudal submission from the King of Scotland and the Duke
of Brittany, and he was endeavoring to increase his power
in Languedoc. The King of France was in name the feudal
lord of the English king; but in fact he had immediate juris¬
diction only over the valleys of the upper Seine and the
upper Loire, that is, from Verdunois to Bourbonnais. The
Count of Flanders, the Count of Champagne, and the Duke
of Burgundy were his vassals, but they were shaky. Cham¬
pagne and Burgundy were leaning towards Germany. When
the powerful monarchs of England and Germany should
unite against Louis, his position would be practically un¬
tenable. Frederick of Germany married Beatrix of Besan§on

6

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

in 1156 and held a diet in that city in 1157 which was at¬
tended by some of the supposed vassals of the French king.
When Henry of England marched against Raymond VI of
Toulouse, in June, 1159, it looked as though he would suc¬
ceed in that direction. At this very time Thibaut of Blois
sold out to the English, and Henry of Champagne threat¬
ened to acknowledge Frederick as his lord. At this climax
Louis walled himself up in Toulouse with the threatened
count. For some reason hard for us to comprehend the Eng¬
lish king passed up the siege.

Louis at this juncture in his life was saved by the death
of Pope Hadrian IV, in 1159. The properly elected pontiff,
Alexander III, was supported by England; Germany set up
an antipope, Victor IV. This controversy divided Henry
from Frederick. The new pope, Alexander, came to Mont¬
pellier and remained in territory that was favorable to the
English king until after ndz, the year when Frederick
Barbarossa gave up trying to negotiate for recognition of
Victor IV by Louis. The French king had been disposed to
ignore Alexander because of the Pope’s favorable attitude
towards the treacherous behavior of Henry of England.
Louis had married again in 1160—this time, a French lady,
Ad£le de Champagne, which immediately won him the sup¬
port of the vassals of Champagne. In spire, Henry of Eng¬
land got the Pope’s consent for the formal marriage of rhe
little Princess Marguerite to Prince Henry, the bride being
only three years of age. This permitted King Henry to col¬
lect her dowry, the Norman Vexin.

No sooner had the question of France’s recognition of
Pope Alexander been cleared away than another momentous
event solidified this friendship. Henry of England had been
aided and supported from the very first year of his reign by
his chancellor, Thomas Becket. This cleric, in minor orders,

Introduction

7

had been unusually fond of expensive clothes and of warlike
procedure. He had been very instrumental in furthering
the attack on Toulouse in 1159, extracting money from the
English clergy against their will. He had been left at Cahors,
after the siege was raised, in charge of the English military.
When the Archbishop of Canterbury died, in 1162, Henry
conceived the “naughty plan” of making this worldly and
venal cleric the first lord of the Church in England. He
forced the election. But something happened to Thomas
Becket. When he was ordained to the priesthood, and con¬
secrated bishop on the following day, his outlook changed.
He championed the cause of God and opposed every at¬
tempt of the King to weaken the Church. The rage of
Henry can well be imagined. In 1164 the King obliged the
Archbishop to come to Clarendon, where he was told to
sign certain oaths. He refused. A few months later there was
a convocation at Northampton. Deserted by nearly every¬
one on this occasion, Thomas was forced to withdraw
secretly and flee the country. He found a refuge in France.
From then until his return to England in 1170, Archbishop
Thomas was protected by Louis. This enhanced the prestige
of France beyond measure; but it brought war with England
during those years. The Pope was resident at Sens from
1163 to 1165. A new antipope, Paschal III, was appointed
by Frederick in 1164. During the interim 1167-70, English
students were ordered home from Paris—an unusual event,
which demonstrated how bitter feeling had grown over the
Becket controversy.

Most of our readers are aware that Archbishop Thomas
became reconciled with the King and returned to England,
only to be murdered in his cathedral on December 29,1170.
For the next five years the tide ran against Henry II of
Englan d, except in Ireland. The conquest of that island

8 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

had been contemplated in 1155 at the Council of Win¬
chester, but it was not until 1x71 that the campaign was
undertaken. Henry went there in person. In 117 3 came more
trouble. Queen Eleanor had grown weary of her husband
and had plotted with Louis, her former spouse, and her three
eldest sons—Henry, Richard, and Geoffrey—to check the
power of Henry. When the rebellion broke out, the sons
fled to Paris. It took two years for Henry to suppress this
revolt. As soon as he could lay hands on Eleanor, he put
her into custody for the remainder of his life. Most of her
imprisonment was at Salisbury (Old Sarum), where he en¬
larged the existing castle so as to keep her safe, in privacy.
His daughter Eleanor was married to Alfonso VIII of
Castile in 1170. In 1177 the youngest daughter, Joanna, was
united to William II of Sicily. Thus it will be seen that when
subjected to pressure the English king reached out in
masterly fashion and increased his prestige, instead of allow¬
ing it to be lessened. In that same year Henry was asked to
serve as mediator in a boundary dispute between Castile
and Navarre.

So far we have said little of what was happening in the
Iberian Peninsula. The two strong spots there were the
east coast (Catalonia) and the west (Portugal). Old Affonso
Henriques, first king of Portugal, had taken Beja from the
Moors in 1159, and his territories now extended to all but
the extreme southern portion of his coast. In Catalonia,
Ramon Berenguer IV and his son Alfonso II had been
equally fortunate. Sancho VI of Navarre had affianced his
daughter, Berengaria, to Prince Richard of England. Since
the English aid in the capture of Lisbon and Santarem in
Ir 4 7 i English merchants had been very active in Portugal
When Alfonso VII of Castile and Le6n had died in 1157*
he had divided his kingdom among his sons. His grandson,’

Introduction

9

Alfonso VIII, had succeeded to Castile in 1158 and, as we
have noted, had become a son-in-law of the English king.
But this Alfonso was not successful as a warrior. He made
no permanent conquests against the Moors. At one time, in
Toledo, he deserted his English wife for a Jewish lady. In
expiation for this he turned his summer palace at Burgos,
Las Huelgas, into a convent for Cistercian nuns, and this
edifice became a sort of basilica where the royal family were
buried. The first body was laid to rest there in x 181. Only
recently (1949) these tombs have been opened. The pres¬
tige of England was immense in this region, but it was from
France that most of the aid was forthcoming in driving back
the Moors.

In 1177, Frederick Barbarossa came out on the losing side
against the Pope and the Italian communes. A pestilence
which attacked his army was of assistance in this. Frederick
acknowledged Pope Alexander III in 1177, thus putting an
end to the succession of antipopes. This was a bad year, also,
for Louis. England now had all the political prestige, and
Louis had only moral support. Fortunately, Alexander III
came to his rescue and forced the English king to make
peace. This is the year, or shortly thereafter, in which we
begin the “homely” account of Alexander Neckam’s voyage
to Paris. It was a likely time for a young Englishman to
travel abroad. Anywhere that he chose to go in western
Europe he found the road open to him, a circumstance in¬
fluenced by the dread memory of the alliances and the long
arm of Henry II of England. Yet it was Paris that had the
affection of everyone. England had power and wealth, but
Paris had learning and moral prestige. English teachers loved
to be in residence there; and no scholar who could possibly
afford it failed to make his studies in dialectic and law in
that center of the intellectual world. Only Montpellier and

10

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

Salerno in medicine, and Bologna in law, could rival or take
precedence over Paris. We should mention, also, Orleans
for studies in poetic and rhetoric, but these were not so
popular.

Political events moved on rapidly after the death of Louis
VII and the accession, in September, 11 79, of his son Philip I
(commonly called Augustus at a later date). Henry II of
England was growing tired of war and campaigns. He suf¬
fered from arthritis and from a fistula. In a treaty made at
Gisors he showed friendship to Philip, and there was no war
between them until Philip made a savage attack on the old
king’s territory in May, 1187. Philip needed a breathing
spell because his own chief vassals—the counts of Flanders,
Blois, Chartres, Sancerre, and others, together with the
Duke of Burgundy—made an alliance against him in May,
1181, which continued until July, 1 r86. The fighting was
desultory and of the guerrilla type. Frederick Barbarossa
favored Philip, although he did no actual fighting; Henry
of England took the same attitude. Once these nobles had
surrendered, the young French king turned his arms in the
direction of Henry. Geoffrey of Brittany was encouraged
to come to Paris, where he soon died from an accident. Then
Richard made the same journey, angered by a letter written
by his father in which his brother John was promised a large
stretch of territory. Although a crusade was now preached
to rescue Jerusalem, which had been captured by Saladin in
1187, King Philip, aided by Richard, proceeded to give old
Henry no quarter. All of Maine, Anjou, and Touraine were
overrun. Henry died in July, 1189, saddened by the defec¬
tion of both Richard and John.

When Richard became king, he gathered together money
by many dubious devices. He freed his mother Eleanor, of
course, and made a pact with Philip whereby England re-

Introduction 11

gained nearly all the territory taken by Philip. This made
Richard very unpopular in Paris. In June* 119°* both Ric -
ard and Philip departed for Sicily, whence they were to sail
to the Holy Land. Frederick Barbarossa had already set out
by the land route. Unfortunately, the German emperor
stopped to bathe in the river Salef, in Cilicia, and was
drowned on June io. He was succeeded by his son Henry
VI, who had married, in 1184* the heiress to the crown of
Sicily and Naples— Constance de Hauteville. From the
union of these two was bom in 1196 the great Frederic II
of thirteenth-century fame.

Philip and Richard had much bad blood between them m
Sicily before their sailing. Once they were in Asia Minor,
the feud continued. Philip left after little more than a year,
and after a homeward voyage of four months was in France
by December of 1191. In the meantime in England the gov¬
ernment was carried on by Queen Eleanor and her youngest
son, John. Most of our readers are familiar with the stones
of Robin Hood, which were said to have happened at this
time. The character of John is well represented in these.
King Richard, when he arrived on the Dalmatian coast,
was taken prisoner, and eventually, with the connivance of
Philip and John, was held in the prisons of the Duke of
Austria and of the Emperor Henry VI. Both John and
Philip offered huge sums to the German to persuade him to
retain Richard. In March, 1194, the English king was re¬
leased for a sum exceeding 100,000 pounds sterling. Hostages
had to be sent for the unpaid ransom. Richard was not long
back in England before he was obliged to land in Normandy
to hold back Philip. The errant brother John was forgiven.
In view of the vast amounts of sterling sent to Germany, one
wonders how the English treasury was able to pay so well its
mercenaries in this fresh war against France. Three great

12

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

mercenary captains were Algais, Louvart, and Mercadier.
The war seesawed back and forth until 1x97, when the
leading vassals of the French king again deserted; the Count
of Flanders was chief among these. Everything now began
to go bad for the young French monarch. He was chased
bodily in 1198 after his defeat at Courcelles. Like his father
before him, he was saved only by intervention from the
Pope, who sent Peter of Capua to negotiate a peace in Jan¬
uary of x 199. Still another event of great moment followed
on this. In July, 1199, Richard was besieging a rebel noble
of Aquitaine when a crossbow bolt wounded him in the left
shoulder. He died shortly after, of gangrene. This was at
the Castle of Chalus in Limousin. Left now with only John
as his chief adversary, Philip had a change of luck.

As we should expect, the economic situation of western
Europe was constantly disturbed by these feuds and changes
in balance of power. Our chief concern in this book is with
France and England. In the course of our journey with
Neckam we attempt to sketch lightly the economic picture,
progressively, as it would come to the attention of a traveler
or visitor. However, a general statement may be of assistance
to some readers.

During the second half of the twelfth century, the baron
in possession of his fief was the typical unit. A convenient
portion of this estate was cultivated directly under the su¬
pervision of the lord’s maire, or steward, by labor corvSes
of the lord’s own serfs and by hired agricultural workers,
or hotes. This was the lord’s demesne. The rest of the baron’s
holdings were sublet to peasant tenants and to the serfs, who
were responsible to a steward. Such tenants supported them¬
selves and sold their produce, paying an annual rent of some
kind. A free peasant owed, in addition to his rent, tithes and
extraordinary payments. A serf paid these in addition to

Introduction 13

further obligations imposed upon him by his status. He
was required to labor a certain number of days on his lord’s
demesne. If he wished to marry his children off the estate,
there was a tax; for the privilege of moving about there was
still another payment. There was a general feeling of dis¬
satisfaction towards the institution of serfdom. At this time
many lords were ma numitting their serfs, frequently in ex¬
change for a large payment. The baron technically had the
privilege of buying first, and of selling, the farm products
of his peasants. He availed himself more often of the right to
buy. The peasant brought his produce to the nearest market
town on his lord’s estate and offered it there for sale and
barter. It was commonly forbidden to any speculator to go
out into the country beforehand and buy up supplies. The
produce must be offered to the purchasers at the market,
within proper season. The farms of a given community were
expected to supply the nearby towns and rural areas. A lord,
however, might offer a surplus for sale in some more distant
place.

Sufficient money was not minted to take care of day-by¬
day needs and purchases. This incommodity was aggravated
by the absence of a banking system. Such coins as the
twelfth-century man had were often hoarded in jars and
chests and kept out of circulation. It will be understood,
therefore, that in the small market towns much of the ex¬
change of goods was made by barter. Furthermore, only
small sums would be paid out in cash for wages. Most
tradesmen worked for a certain amount of wine, grain,
clothing, and meat, and for the use of a small piece of land.
Conceivably the baron would owe rent and military as¬
sistance for his holdings to a bigger count, or duke. The¬
oretically the ultimate feudal lord might be the king. A
baron who did not hold allegiance to a landlord above him

^ ,

UNIVERSITY LIBRARY '
CARNEGIE-MELLQN UNIVERSITY

PITTSBURGH p™Z? v , IVERSITY

14 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

was called an aloues. Military service of a kind was owed by
every knight to the overlord of his county or shire, even
when economically his lands were held as alleux.

In the towns, life was made difficult by conflicting and
overlapping jurisdictions. The lord of the town, the bishop
(if the town were a cathedral see), and the abbots of local
monasteries had civil authority according to grants which
had been made at various times. There were also the trade
guilds, which had authority to define the hours of work,
the number of apprentices, and the precise articles that
could be made or sold. Fortunately, a community could
absorb only a certain amount of household goods, textiles,
and leather products. It was necessary to export, and this
was done through the seasonal fairs. Champagne was a re¬
gion easily accessible to French, German, Flemish, and
English merchants. It supported a fair in March at Provins,
and another during the summer at Troyes. The merchants
were present for six weeks at each of these, although they
required an initial eight days to unpack and spread their
goods. Booths were assigned to each region, or to each town.
Church authorities and feudal lords joined in the effort to
make travel safe for these merchants who moved about. It
was the surest way to stabilize commerce. At the fairs, tex¬
tiles and leather goods were featured in succession, while
ordinary goods were displayed continuously. Paris had three
such fairs: the Lendit near Saint-Denis, the Foire Saint-
Germain, and, earlier, the Foire de Saint-Lazare. A fair gave
the appearance of a large open-air bazaar.

In southern France and Flanders, trade conditions were
more favorable because of the prevalence of the “commune”
system, under which the townspeople had immediate control
over their own movements, judicial system, and financial
responsibilities. The south was also favored by its proximity

Introduction

*5

to Spain, Italy, and the commerce of the Mediterranean.
Montpellier, for instance, was a great commercial capital
as well as a medical center. In Flanders, the nearness of Eng¬
land, Germany, and the Scandinavian commercial centers
gave similar advantage. It is not difficult to understand why
the Count of Flanders was able to take such an independent
position against the King of France; and we know why the
county of Toulouse and adjacent areas were considered rich
prizes by the rulers of France, England, and Germany.

The king of France and the king of England moved about
like feudal barons, engaged in selfish pursuits, but there
was a majesty associated with their office which no vassal
could forget easily. John of Salisbury is our best authority
on twelfth-century political theory . 3 When a king was
crowned, he was anointed with oil by Holy Church. He
was considered to be divinely chosen and ordained, and, at
the same time, he had a personal responsibility to the people.
He was an ecclesiastical-patriarchal type of king. The king,
in a way, was the owner of all his subjects’ goods and effects.
In an extreme emergency, this was judged to be the case;
in normal times, the king respected the private property of
his people. The king was the state, and the community could
not act for itself apart from the prince. A king might be¬
come a tyrant because of the sins of his people. After the
people had repented, God would deliver them from the
tyrant. John of Salisbury adds, however, that when a tyrant
manifestly opposes the will of God he must be disposed of
in some way by his people. At the very close of the twelfth
century, political theorists inclined more to the belief that
the tmiversitas of barons in the kingdom could rightfully
take justice into their own hands and rid the kingdom of a
tyrant.

Although the king, by virtue of his anointing, was in a

16 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

special position with respect to divine right, it is true that
the same concept of paternal authority was carried on down
to lesser rulers—dukes, counts, and barons—until it in¬
cluded even the father of a family. The one in authority
had a personal responsibility to administer justice to those
subordinate to him. In return he should be accorded every
evidence of respect. The reader of Chretien’s Yvain notices
how when the King comes suddenly upon his knights they
rise, and sit only at his command. 4 The same respect is ac¬
corded the Queen, but this is more a matter of personal
courtesy.® On approaching an overlord in formal council,
even when giving advice, it was customary to fall at his feet.
But the lord, including the king, was obliged to consult his
chief vassals on matters of justice and policy.

These were the times of Alexander Neckam, a school¬
master who is unusually informative for his day. 6 He liked
to make word lists and was quite ready to express his opin¬
ions. This renders him a most useful subject for our guided
trip to London and Paris. He was bom in 1157, we know,
for he was the “milk brother” of Prince Richard. His educa¬
tion was acquired at the Benedictine abbey of St. Albans. He
doubtless taught in the schools of Dunstable before making
his memorable journey to Paris. As he was teaching publicly
in Paris in 1180, we assume that he must have begun his
study there at a slightly earlier date. 7 We have chosen the
year 1177-78, when he was twenty years of age. He be¬
came a prominent figure on the Petit Pont. About 1186 he
returned to Dunstable and continued to teach there. Later
he became an Augustinian canon at Cirencester and was
elected abbot in 1213. He died in 1217. Probably his De
nomnibus utensilium, which we translate, was a product of
his stay in Paris. He adapted also the Fables of Avianus.

Introduction Y 1

More serious works are his De naturis rerum and the metri¬
cal version of this, De latidibiis divine sapientiae . Another
work, the Corrogationes Promethei, has not been made ac¬
cessible. There is a vocabulary by Neckam in MS 385 (605)
of Caius College, Cambridge, of which C. H. Haskins has
published a section. 8 This part, which Haskins calls Sacerdos
ad altarem, lists the textbooks of the last decade of the twelfth
century. Priscian and Donatus were the chief grammar au¬
thorities; both the New and the Old Logic were important
for dialectic. Euclid and the Arabic summaries of Ptolemy
were sources for mathematics and astronomy, alongside of
Boethius. The Corpus Juris Gvilis was cited for civil law;
in canon law there were the Decretum of Gratian and the
Decretals of Alexander III. Hippocrates and Galen, as well
as Isaac and the Pantegni, were used for medicine. The
Sententiae of Peter Lombard and the Bible were standard
for theology. Latin classics which were mentioned include
Gcero, Quintilian, Statius, Vergil, Horace, Lucan, Juvenal,
Ovid, Sallust, Martial, Petronius, Quintus Curtius, Livy,
Seneca, and Suetonius.

Qhapter II

London

I n 117 8 or thereabout, Alexander Neckam, a young clerk
teaching in the grammar schools at Dunstable, Bed¬
fords, decided to go to Paris to continue his own studies.
The little town of Dunstable was a village in the Chilton
Hills, thirty-four miles to the northwest of London, situated
at the juncture of two Roman roads—Wading Street and
the Ickmeld. The town was governed by a priory of Augus-
tinian canons regular, who exercised the function of lord
of the borough. Alexander felt himself much drawn to these
canons, so much so that later, after his return from France,
he entered their community at Cirencester, becoming abbot
in 1213. This decision of his has been given some explana¬
tion by modem critics, who reason that he should have
entered the great Benedictine abbey of St. Albans, twenty
miles nearer London, on Wading Street. He was a native of
that town and had received his elementary education in that
abbey. The story is told that the Abbot of St. Albans
punned on his name ( Nequam, “wicked,” for Neckam) and
offended him. It is sufficient to assume that Alexander had
more active ties with the Augustinian canons as a result of
his stay in Dunstable. 1

In making his plans to go to Paris, he must surely have
consulted with Abbot Simon of St. Albans. The Abbot had

* '

London

19

been a close friend of the late St. Thomas Becket and was a
great patron of letters. He had close associations with the
Continent. The time was very auspicious for a journey to
the French capital. On September 22, 1177, Henry II of
England and Louis VII of France had sworn mutual peace
and had agreed to take the cross together. In recent years
the city of Paris had acquired a very suitable intellectual
climate for students. The chief advisers to the French king
were no longer feudal barons. To be sure, the health of the
old king was bad, and everyone hoped that he would soon
celebrate the coronation of his only son, young Philip
Augustus. Count Richard of Aquitaine was the milk brother
of Alexander. His recent exploits in France would have ex¬
cited the imagination of the young teacher in Dunstable.
Perhaps Abbot Simon gave money as well as advice. He is
accused somewhat unkindly by Matthew Paris of being
prodigal with money, of owing large sums to Jewish
moneylenders, and of being nepotistic. 2

The trip to London was an easy one along the somewhat
battered Roman pavement of Wading Street. A traveler
who rode seriously could average some thirty-five miles a
day, making six miles an hour on his horse or mule. He
would mount in the morning at six-thirty or seven, modem
time, and would ride until the dinner hour at eleven. Usually
he rested immediately after this meal. It would be nearly
three o’clock, after relevee, before the traveler would once
more mount his steed, and this time he would continue till
nearly six o’clock. In the time-reckoning of the twelfth
century we would say that the rider began his journey at
basse prime, or at break of day, and went on till dinner at
haute tierce. After relevee he continued till Vespers. 3

Alexander was a cleric in lesser orders, or perhaps he had
only the simple tonsure. 4 We will assume that his mount was

20

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

a mule, borrowed for the occasion, to be left at the Augus-
tinian priory of St. Bartholomew’s in Smithfield, London . 5
The harness worn by such an animal was not unlike what
we know today. The headstall was of cloth strips, or per¬
haps of leather. Like modem harness, the chin strap of this
headpiece was slipped under the animal’s chin and the metal
bit was placed in his mouth. The upper strap looped over the
ears. But, unlike what we see today, the headband continued
around the head and was tied in the rear with long loose
ends. Alexander describes the harness of a palfrey or mule,
but his language is not very specific:

Let the horse’s back be covered with a canvas, afterwards
with a sweat pad or cloth; next let a saddle be properly placed
with the fringes of the sweat cloth hanging over the crupper.
The stdrnips should hang well. The saddle has a.front bow or
pommel and a cantle. . .. Folded clothing may be well placed
in a saddlebag behind the cantle. A breast strap and the trap¬
pings for the use of someone riding should not be forgotten:
halter and headstall, bit covered with bloody foam, reins, girths,
buckles, cushion, padding . . . which I intentionally pass over.
An attendant should carry a currycomb . 6

We can do better than this, at eight hundred years’ dis¬
tance, by describing what we find in illuminations and
sculptures of the time. The bit was always single, but
double reins were attached to it. A euliere , or crupper,
passed under the horse’s tail and fastened to the cantle of
the saddle. The traveling pack was tied onto this. Over the
seat of the saddle a third cloth was usually draped. This
was called the hmdre , and we are told that it was often of
a rich brown material, well embroidered. It could be very
long, almost touching the ground. The bows of the saddle
were of wood and, more often than not, were ornamented
with plates of ivory, hammered metal, or elaborately painted

London

21

leather. 7 Supposedly such decoration should be added after
purchase from the saddler, but John of Garland mentions
the sale of painted saddles. 8 Precious stones could be sol¬
dered onto the surface of the pommel and cantle, produc-
ing, in our modem eyes, a very tawdry effect. Alexander
refers to buckles on the saddle girths, usually two. 9 In the
illuminated Bible page of the Morgan Library, the girths of
Absalom’s saddle seem to have hard knots at the end which
slip into openings on the two straps hanging down from
under the right side of the saddle. In brief, metal buckles
existed, but it is evident that they were expensive enough
to be avoided when possible. Metal pendants or little bells
jangled from the peitrel, or breast strap, of the mount.
Women had a sidesaddle (sambue), but whether they used
it invariably is not clear. 10

Alexander lists also the clothing that was best worn by
a traveler:

Let one who is about to ride have a chape with sleeves, of
which the hood will not mind the weather, 11 and let him have
boots, and spurs that he may prevent the horse from stumbling,
jolting, turning, rearing, resisting, and may make him bien
amblant, “possessed of a good gait,” and easily manageable.
Shoes should be well fastened with iron nails.

Most of the traveling at this date was done at a good
walk. There are excellent examples of the twelfth-century
spur in both Cluny and the British Museum. It had a single
prong or prick, which could give the horse quite a wound
if improperly used. The heavy shoe worn by a traveler
might have a high top of soft leather, when it was called
a boot (huese or ocrea ). This is the type of footwear which
Alexander has in mind. A peasant, however, might wear a
heavy shoe of undressed leather ( revelins) and drape his
legs in baggy cloth which he would then bandage on with

22

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

leather thongs. This arrangement also could be referred to
as ocreas. Men of all classes often wrapped their legs with
spiral puttees, which are visible to us in hunting scenes or
on the legs of knights. 12 As a clerk in
minor orders Alexander would have
worn dark clothing, perhaps black, and
his hair was cut shorter than was custo¬
mary among the laity. 13 It was none¬
theless a little shaggy about the neck
and ears. A simple tonsure, or small
shaven spot, was visible on the crown
of his head. His face was more or less
clean shaven. He could have worn a
peaked felt hat, with a very narrow rolled brim, but it is not
likely that he did. We will picture him as bareheaded.

Although Alexander was traveling without a retinue, he
must have made chance acquaintances along the road. When
traveling on a walking mule there was ample time for com¬
panionship. For our story’s sake we will assume that Alex¬
ander fell in with a Scot who likewise was on his way to
London town. This man, like all his countrymen, wore
“Scottish dress and had the manner of the Scot.” He fre¬
quently shook his “staff as they shake the weapon which
they call a gaveloc at those who mock them, shouting
threatening words in the manner of the Scots.” Alexander
“closely examined his clothes and boots... and even the old
shoes which he carried on his shoulders in the Scottish man¬
ner.” We should like some details on these Scottish peculi¬
arities of dress and manner, but Jocelin of Brakeland, whom
we are quoting, gives nothing further. Englishmen were
considered “cold of disposition” inwardly. 14

As the two rode along they would be joined by others,
and they would continue conversing in the “commun lan-

London

23

guage” of England, the Anglo-Norman dialect of French. 15
This tongue was careless in its use of cases, and cultivated
speakers were ashamed of this laxity; they yearned to im¬
prove their speech by a sojourn on the Continent. 16 Like
most members of the clerical class, Alexander lapsed freely
into Latin when he had complicated thoughts to express.
Years of habit in the schools had brought this about. But
the Norman speech was his mother tongue and he enjoyed
speaking it with the “simple gent,” and on occasion with
brother clerics. Living in England as he did, Alexander
could understand a little English, but the memories of it
which remained from childhood, when he spoke it with his
nurse and the kitchen knaves, had grown rusty. A few
common words such as 'welcomme and drmkhail were used
by everyone, often for comic effect. Alexander could
barely understand the Scottish phrases and oaths with which
the Scottish traveler frequently salted his remarks.

It was customary to travel in company for two reasons.
First, there was the matter of protection from wild beasts
and bad men. Both of these annoyances sometimes appeared
out of the woods, which came down to the very edge of the
road. The region to the north of London was rather heavily
forested. A second reason was one of pride. Much impor¬
tance was placed on external appearances. One of the great¬
est compliments that could be paid was to say that a man
looked fier. 17 This meant that he looked every inch a man
of quality. A person traveling by himself did not attract
much attention, and his dignity could be slighted. We as¬
sume, therefore, that as Alexander rode along Watling
Street he drew together with other voyagers.

On such an occasion it was customary to sing. “He came
sitting on his horse, a song echoing to his voice; in the man¬
ner of travelers he thus shortened his journey.” 18 If the

2 4 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

company were friendly enough, they might exchange tales.
The common types of song were the virelai, the rondeau,
and the rotrouenge. Such verse forms had considerable
repetition of melody and lines, which made it possible for
all to join in. The virelai ran AbbaA, capital letters indicat¬
ing repeated words or refrain. The rondeau had the form
ABaAabAB. The repetition in the rondeau was so consid¬
erable that it lent itself admirably to group participation.
The English members of Alexander’s traveling party prob¬
ably thought of singing in unison, but the Scotsman, if we
are to believe Giraldus, would break forth into a free sep¬
arate part in his quavering treble. Alexander, like Giraldus,
would be astonished at the ease with which those who
dwelt north of the Humber could chime in with a free
organum, or second moving part. They learned to do this
as children. If there had been Welshmen in the company,
they would have added a third, and even a fourth part, but
we will not burden our company with all those Celts. Welsh
music was frequently not pleasant to English ears. 1 ®
Alexander’s mule sometimes had to pick its way carefully
over the worn Roman pavement, which was in frightful
repair. Too often a neighboring farmer would have re¬
moved a few flat paving stones to build him a wall or the
corner of his house. This kind of theft left a layer of rubble
which was hard on an animal’s feet. An occasional hole was
deep enough to cause a broken neck. Along this road to
London were scattered clearings, and a village or two.
Groups of detached houses, usually of wood (unpainted),
and rarely of small stones cemented together, stood along
the road. Farmyards were seldom, if ever, contiguous to
the houses. These yards were detached enclosures, walled
with pales or tall wooden stakes, squared and sharpened at
the top. Briars or other thorn branches were intertwined

London

*5

over the entire surface of such a fencing, to keep out in¬
truders. 20 The yards were built sufficiently near to the
house to allow the tenant to hear any disturbance among
his chickens or his cattle. The houses themselves consisted
of little more than a doorway and one window. The roof
was thatched with straw or reeds. A large wooden shutter,
hinged at the top, perhaps with leather thongs, was held
open by a stick placed between it and the sill. Because of the
constant wear of feet, each house was apt to have a de¬
pression in the unpaved ground before its door. This was
too often filled with stagnant water. 21 Houses such as these
were occupied by villeins and bordars (serfs) , 22 Well-to-do
peasant farmers would occupy manor houses of a kind set
farther back from the highway.

As the road approached London the tillage lands seemed
more prosperous and the traffic increased. 23 The site of
London was low, lending itself to frequent flooding from
the waters of the Thames. Only by building up an embank¬
ment was this avoided. Many springs and pools were in the
vicinity. Two swift streams ran through London proper—
the Walbrook and the Langboum. As Alexander and his
companions rode along, they were first made aware of their
destination when Watling Street dipped a bit towards the
Thames. 24 In the distance they caught their first glimpse of
the big river and of the royal tower at Westminster, with
its abbey church of St. Peter and clustering houses. 25 Alex¬
ander had been told there were interesting wall paintings
in this royal tower, and he hoped someday to see them. 28
The Scotsman snorted a bit at this. He preferred to visit the
palace of the English king at Woodstock, where during the
reign of old King Henry there had been lions, leopards, and
other strange beasts. Perhaps there were some still. 27 Then
the road bent sharply to the left, and they were soon out of

2 6 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

the forest, riding beside die Old Bourn, a little stream that
appeared suddenly out of nowhere and flowed beside the
road. Houses appeared, adjacent to pretty gardens. One
house, on the right, was magnificent. Alexander, who hacl
ridden there before, knew that it was the town house of
the Bishop of Lincoln. Just a few paces farther along stood
a large round tower of light-yellow stone, bleak and un¬
inviting. There was much going and coming before its
drawbridge gate. It was easy to tell from the dress of the
inhabitants that this was the Temple, the stronghold of the
Knights Templar. Many unsightly wooden buildings clut¬
tered up the adjacent land. It was evident that the Templars
had no room for expansion there. Someone said that the
stone for their tower or donjon had been brought from
Caen in Normandy.

A few more yards and the road prepared to drop down
into a ravine. Our travelers gazed at a glorious sight which
took the breath away from those who had not see it before.
At the foot was a small river, the River of Wells, which
flowed on into the Thames. Mill wheels were turning in it
with a pleasant rumbling sound, and there were flocks of
small boats gathered at each of the two bridges. One of these
wooden bridges lay straight ahead, carrying Watling Street
across the stream; the other was nearer the Thames and led
across to Ludgate in the city’s wall. The city lay at the crest
of the opposite slope, several hundred yards beyond the
ravine, but Old Bourn Hill was a little higher and our
travelers got a sweeping view over the top of the massive
wall into the teeming mass of chimneys and houses. The
roar of many cries and jarring sounds now filled their ears.
The guards on the aleoir or top of the wall, the throngs at
the two gates, clamoring for admission through the narrow-
apertures—all were sights which held the travelers for a

London

*7

few minutes before they descended the slope to the bridge
ahead, the stream of the Old Bourn rushing down the hill at
their side. Alexander was not expecting to enter the city
that night. He went up the road toward Newgate, but he
took the lane to the left and skirted the wall to the open
ground of Smithfield, the market site and jousting ground.
Here, close to the wall, were the buildings of the Augus-
tinian priory of St. Bartholomew’s, built by the minstrel
Rahere, on the spot where a gallows had stood some fifty
years before. Rahere had caused the whole of Smithfield
to be drained, leaving only one large pond, which was
named the “Horsepool” as it served to water the horses at
the fair and during the games. The priory served as a hos¬
telry for travelers, and an auxiliary building was employed
as a nursing home for the sick. The four canonesses and
eight canons who were engaged in this work served under
a master. The canonesses followed the rule of St. Benedict,
and the canons obeyed that of St. Augustine. Men and
women were kept strictly separate. 28 Alexander was un¬
doubtedly known personally to the Prior from previous
visits. Much advice, solicited and unsolicited, would be
given him to help him make speed on his journey across the
water.

The open area of Smithfield stretched wide, away from
the buildings of St. Bartholomew’s. 29 The smooth field, no
longer marshy, supported a horse fair every Friday, except
on special feast days. Crowds from the city, including many
barons, flocked there to see the display of horseflesh. At one
end were tethered the colts, elsewhere the palfreys, in an¬
other spot the destriers (war horses), and, in a place not so
well favored, the pack animals, or somiers. Various races
were run on these occasions. Stable boys did the riding,
needing no saddle or any other harness except a headstall.

28 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

Horses were raced in threes or in pairs. Farm animals and
farm supplies were also on sale at this market: plows, har¬
rows, pigs, and cows. Oxen were on sale and so were mares
intended for the carts and plows, often with foals trotting
at their heels. Another class of merchants were offering furs,
spices, swords, lances, and wines—all from distant climes.
On afternoons, many of the clerics and young tradesmen
would go out on this field to play ball. Each of the three
schools flourishing in London would have its own ball, and
the same was true of each guild of tradesmen. During Lent,
on Sunday afternoons, the young men of the baronial class,
and presumably some of the serjant class, would practice
with lances and shields on that same area. The smaller boys
had no iron heads on their lances. When the king was at
Westminster or Bermondsey, the youths of the upper class
went there, and Smithfield was left to the serjantry. All
this sham fighting was done on horseback while relatives,
also mounted, would stand by and watch. There was much
prancing about and going in pursuit. During the summer,
on the afternoon of holy days, there were field sports:
jumping, stone throwing, javelin hurling, wrestling, and
archery. On moonlight nights, groups of girls would hold
caroles, or dancing, on this same smooth field. One mig ht
say there was never a dull moment there after dinner. The
Friday market was a very important place for gathering
and exchanging news of the day. 30

On the morning following his arrival, Alexander may
well have walked into London in the company of a canon,
or perhaps with a servant of the priory. To ride on horse¬
back would have been more comfortable, but progress
through the crowded streets would have been slower.
Aldersgate was just a few yards away and was less fre¬
quented than Newgate. A murage tax had to be paid by
one entering the city, but the fee was not high.

London

29

London, like every other important walled town, teemed
with people. The walls were some eighteen feet high. The
gates were fitted with double swinging-doors of heavy oak,
reinforced with iron. 31 Inside the walls, the houses were
mostly of wood. Here and there appeared more prosperous
ones of stone. These were seldom constructed from regular,
hewn blocks of stone. Like the country houses, they were
more often made of irregular quartz stones and flints,
bonded together by cement. Some of the wooden houses
had tile facings; some houses were obviously made with a
sort of mud or stucco daubed over a wattle framework or
lath. Alexander remarked, at a later date, that foolish
people were not content with the practical details of a house.
They must have useless ornamental decoration. This com¬
ment was highly justified in his day, the Romanesque era.
“Gingerbready” is the word that would have come to us
if we had beheld what Alexander saw on his visit to London.
Stone houses had saw-tooth ornamentations, and elaborate
mol ding s with small lozenges in the intersections, and criss¬
cross effects. Wooden houses, vastly in the majority, had the
same sort of thing executed less skillfully. 32 Exterior decora¬
tive paneling such as we are accustomed to associate with
Tudor architecture was extremely common. Many of the
wooden structures had a little roof lift before the entrance.
The beams supporting this could be topped by a heavy
ornamental capital, imitating the opening of a flower or
the head of a strange bird or animal. Some wooden piers
which extended from the ground to the main roofs had this
same type of capital. There were occasional wooden bal¬
conies, displaying die and crossbeam decorations. Around
windows and doors the casements were embellished with
curlicues, not unlike what we find three centuries later in
stone-decorated Gothic. Stone houses often showed the
typical Norman chimney stack, that is, a conical cap pierced

3 o Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

with smoke holes, rising from a cornice enriched with /ag-
zag ornament. 88

Nearly all the smaller houses were in solid rows, not
detached, extending down the street. They housed trades¬
men who manufactured their goods on their own front
premises. The lower floor of such houses resembled a sort of
booth with a low counter extending across the front. An
opening in the counter gave passage in and our. This was
the type of workshop used by knife maker, baker, armorer,
or other tradesman. To one side there was a small spiral
stair which led up to the main dwelling room. The stair
well was a little tower which could be placed inside or
outside the principal walls of the building. In these rows
of houses it was surely inside. Upstairs was the sallc, or main
room, with ornamental windows facing on the street. There
the wife of the household reigned supreme—-during busi¬
ness hours, anyway. Houses will be described in more de¬
tail in a later chapter. We should notice that the floors of
both shop and salle were strewn with rushes, green in sum¬
mer, dry in winter. 84 The houses of wood were smeared
with paint—most commonly red, blue, and black—which
had a pitch and linseed base and gave constant promise of
fires. It was hoped that by providing stone walls, ro the
height of sixteen feet, between adjacent houses this menace
would be reduced. 86

The street through which Alexander walked after passing
the guard at Aldersgate was some ten feet across. It was a
main thoroughfare, but not a principal street of the city. It
led to Newgate Street and St. Paul’s churchyard. Alexander
would surely have been aware that the marvelous cathedral
of St. Paul’s was still under construction. Its tower was not
yet erected. The stone used, like that of the Temple, was
being transported from Normandy. After going around the

London

3 1

churchyard by another street, Alexander and his companion
crossed the important thoroughfare that led to Ludgate and
then found themselves in the purlieus of the two keeps, or
donjons, which hugged the western wall of the city. These
were the keep of MontFichet, and a larger one directly on
the river, known as Castle Baynard. 36 These crenelated
towers were badly crowded in by tradesmen’s dwellings.
Alexander tells a story—an old folk tale, to be sure—about
a monkey which slept on the wall of such a tower, right
above a poor shoemaker’s window. The monkey had a habit
of creeping down and imitating the shoemaker, cutting up
his leather. The shoemaker ran the blunt side of his knife
across his own throat, thus inspiring the animal to imitate
him and commit suicide with the sharp edge. 37

Turning to the left, Alexander and his escort walked
along Thames Street, busy with seamen. From this water¬
front approach, alleys led in regular succession to the quays:
Baynard’s quay, St. Paul’s quay, and then Queenhithe,
which belonged to Queen Eleanor. 38 Queenhithe was a
curved basin which cut in nearly as far as Thames Street
itself. It was considered to be quite a sight to see, with its
water gate that could be closed when required, and the
many ships, having figureheads in the form of weird beasts,
which were moored around its sides. 39 The two men moved
around the Queen’s dock and then, going farther on Thames
Street, came to the Vintner’s quay, where casks were piled
in great profusion. They saw and heard the mill wheel over
which the Walbrook passed as it rushed into the Thames.
The next alley descended more than the rest, to Downgate,
or Dowgate as it was called familiarly. This had been
granted to the merchants of Rouen since 1151 and earlier;
it was there that ships from Normandy liked to tie up. As
none of the ships masters, or gouvemeurs, was available at

32 Daily Living in the Twelfth century

the moment, Alexander and his guide promised to return
and strolled farther along the quays. I hey came to Cold-
harbor, and then to Oystergate, and St. Botolph’s. At this
last it was all they could do to buck the tide of people. X hey
nearly turned back at once. Out in the middle of the river
at this point, workmen were beginning to pave over the
arches of the new stone bridge. The old wooden bridge,
recently repaired, was discharging its passengers there be¬
fore the church. 40 Billingsgate was just beyond. Wace de¬
scribes this in brief: “In London, his best city, King Belin
made a marvelous gate on the water which bears the ships.
The gate was ... set with marvelous skill;... over the gate
he placed a tower exceedingly wide and high.” 41 It can be
judged from this that there was a gatehouse at the entrance
to the basin, perhaps similar to one at Queenhithe. Fitz-
stephen was under the impression that a continuous wall
had once enclosed the city on the water front but had been
broken down by the water. 42 This wall may have existed at
one time, but it is possible that gatehouses of a later date,
guarding the entry to the more prominent wharfing spaces,
might have created this impression of a once existent wall.
Fitzstephen remarks that there was a large cookshop, a
wonderful place, situated on the quays. 48 Whether it was
on the Queenhithe side of the bridge or on the Billingsgate
side we cannot be sure. I should make a guess that it was
located close to the Vintners’ quay. It was frequented by
everyone in town. Cooked food was cheaper there than
food “on the hoof.” Vessels loaded with salt and, above all,
with fish were tied up on all sides. Some were moored out
in the river and had to be approached in small boats. Fitz¬
stephen says that many foreign vessels, from the Scandi¬
navian area as well as from the Mediterranean, were there.
These were doubtless to be seen on the seaward side of the

London 33

bridge, at Billingsgate or at Gallcygatc, near the city wall
By mooring there it was not necessary for these heavy ships
to lower their rigging and masts. For a vessel to go through
the piles of the wooden London Bridge at that time it was
necessary to unstop the mast and handle by oars.

In the words of Wacc we will picture what Alexander
could have seen at the quays below the bridge:

There were the ships brought and the crews \maisnees] as¬
sembled. You would sec many a ship made ready, ships touch¬
ing each other, anchoring, drying out, and being floated, ships
being repaired with pegs and nails, ropes being hauled, masts
set up, gangplanks [punz] being thrust over the side, and ships
loading. Lances were being straightened up and horses were
pulling. Knights and men-at-arms were going on board, and
the one would call to the other, some remaining and some
leaving. 44

Those vessels that were going under the bridge often had
six men at the oars, three on a side. The vessels which were
carrying horses were larger and were called uissiers. They
had doors (uis) which opened in the side planking, making
it possible to walk horses up the gangplank to the deck. 48
There were small merchant vessels called sentincs, manned
by only two seamen. Alexander had heard fell of one such
boat which was operared by the owner—and a dog! The
dog, lie said, pulled the required ropes while the master
steered. 40 This we cannot believe, but it is an indication of a
kind of small vessel which Alexander must have seen. It is
not easy to imagine all the boats which could have been on
the Thames that day. There was a heavier type of craft
which is clearly depicted in a bas-relief on the Campanile
at Pisa. 47 This has a platform or castle constructed at the
stern, with an open crow’s-nest style of railing. There is
another such castle at the bow. The gouverneur at the steer-

34 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

ing oar stands on the short deck forward of, and below, the
aftercastle. A seaman is depicted on the aftercastle platform,
bending forward, adjusting the yard of the mainmast on
which the one sail is furled. Towards the bow is a second
mast, canted well forward. It has a yard, and a fore-and-aft
sail which looks like a lateen sail. This is set and is probably
being used to keep the heavy vessel in the wind. Most of
the boats seen by Alexander were of the lighter type, having
one sail and no high casdes—the kind which is represented
somewhat crudely in the Bayeux Tapestry, and which was
used for coastal and channel freighting. These had a trans¬
verse deck over the stem where the master sat at the steer¬
ing oar and supervised the men working the lines and sail.
A windlass would be placed on this deck, similar to the type
used in building construction. It was a wheel on a frame,
with spokes set into the hub. By spinning these spokes the
sailor could tighten or loosen any line that was fastened to
the axle of the wheel.

At this point there were other things to be observed be¬
sides ships. The huge white Tower of London stood on the
left, outside the wall of the town. The exit from the wall
toward the Tower was made by way of the Postern Gate.
The Tower had not yet been incorporated into the wall, as
it was in 1190, nor was the wide town ditch in existence
which Kong John later had dug around the circumference
of the wall. There was a vineyard planted between the
town wall and the Tower, and a mill was on the riverbank
just beyond.* 8 As Alexander looked across the river, he be¬
came aware of the King’s manor of Bermondsey. The manor
lands extended from London Bridge as far as Rotherhithe.
The fields were being tilled by villeins and bordars or
cotters. 49 The road to Dover, considered to be a continua¬
tion of Wading Street, wound through these fields. The

London

35

Cluniac monastery of Saint Savior was visible where the
Dover road turned more sharply to the left.

Alexander’s companion may have told him, as they
looked over the reaches of the Thames, perhaps from the
wooden bridge, about the water tourney which was held
on the river during Holy Week. A tree was set up in the
river, and young men would stand at the prow of small
boats being rowed swiftly down the stream and aim with a
lance at the target on the tree. If a lance was broken on the
target, the boy was hailed as a victor. If he missed, he was
tossed into the water and then picked up by another boat
that stood by. For this occasion the bridge and the balconies
of houses facing the Thames were crowded with people.
Perhaps at this point Alexander and his companion may
have turned to thoughts of sliding on wintry ice. On
Mooresfield, at the north side of the wall, there was still a
marsh. When this was frozen in winter, young men would
strap the shinbones of horses to the soles of their feet and
slide rapidly along, aided by a pole shod with iron. Often
the more mischievous boys would strike at each other with
the pole as they shot past. There were many accidents.
Ordinary sliding on the ice was also quite common. Still
another sport was to seat someone on a cake of ice and pull
him along. 50

Remembering his agreement to call again at Dowgate,
Alexander now turned back toward the western end of
the city.

There is no evidence, one way or the other, that Thames
Street was paved, with an old Roman pavement, but it
surely was. Otherwise the mud would have been inevitable
and the waterfront could not have been approached to any
advantage. This was no low quarter of town, despite the
crowds of seamen. In summer these sailors wore nothing

3 6 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

but braies, or wide underdrawers, and possibly a snood cap,
tied under the chin. Their hair was often long enough to
curl at the back of the neck. Doubtless they had the usual
part in the middle, affected by all classes and both sexes.
The average man in the twelfth century did not shave more
than once a week, and a short, dark stubble was the common
thing. Many seamen wore true beards. On cooler days the
seaman wore a coarse gonne, or frock, which he pulled up
at the waist, over a belt, when he was obliged to step into
the water. 51

As we have said, this was not a low part of town. There
was much wealth on display. In that time and age, wealth
was shown by cloth heavy with gold and silver thread,
brocades, and dark and cloudy gems, cut roughly into ca-
bochon shape, which were encrusted on almost anything,
from a helmet to the metal covering of a manuscript book.
Silks and spices, which were imported at considerable effort
and expense from the East, were another indication of
richesse. When we consider that silks were transported by
sea—sometimes by land—from China to India, from there
to the Red Sea region by water, and finally down the Nile
to the Mediterranean area, where they were picked up by
Italian merchants, it is not hard to understand why their
price advanced; and yet most well-to-do people had silken
garments, and even silken sheets. Thames Street displayed
much of this southern wealth, as well as the northern wealth
of expensive furs.

There was something in the air of a mediaeval commu¬
nity such as London which we moderns are apt to forget.
This thing was authority. There was unquestionably much
mob violence and considerable injustice on all sides prac¬
ticed everywhere daily. But even an outraged person felt
awed by authority, whatever form it took. The ribauz, or

London

37

good-for-nothings, were always on the edge of a crowd.
They begged and plundered at the slightest provocation.
They hung around outside the door of the banquet hall
when a large feast was held. The king of England had
three hundred bailiffs whose duty it was—though not all
at one time—to keep these people back as food was moved
from the kitchens to the hall, and to see that guests were not
disturbed. 52 Frequently in twelfth-century romances a beau¬
tiful damsel is threatened with the awful fate of being
turned over to the ribauz. ss Nothing more horrible can be
imagined. These people accompanied armies on their ex¬
peditions, helping in menial tasks and plundering what was
left by the knights and other fighting men. And yet they
were kept under control by authority. I imagine that the
news that Walter Fitzrobert, lord of Baynard Castle, was
coming down Thames Street would have caused such va¬
grants to scatter out of the way. In similar fashion the
gouvemeur of a seagoing vessel doubtless had a presence of
authority as he moved along the quays. A twelfth-century
mob could be unruly, but it was seldom completely lacking
in discipline. Up the social ladder, the same observations
could be made about the men-at-arms. The Count of Bay¬
nard, the Lord of MontFichet, the Constable of the Tower,
and others of the King’s immediate officers allowed their
men a liberty which they could control if they wished.
These men were bound by feudal oaths, or by villeinage.
On the other hand, when the king was weak, as was
Stephen, and again John, the serjants and knights of London
must have been a plague to every merchant and every visi¬
tor. This is what Fitzstephen meant when he said that
London was a fine city when it had a good governor. 54
Rebellion in twelfth-century England and France meant
attachment to another overlord; it did not mean becoming

3 8 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

a law unto oneself, unless the rebel chanced to be placed
very high. When a prominent noble came to town, crowds
of people of all classes would flock around him on the
streets, anxious to see his dress and his equipment . 55

It was not unsafe for a man such as Alexander Neckam ro
walk along the quays in the year 1178. He was only a clerk,
and the occasional rib out or man-at-arms who was looking
for trouble did not make himself objectionable to a stray
cleric. These young men dre^ed in black were under the
jurisdiction of the Church, which, in the person of her
bishops, was capable of avenging any outrage that might be
listed upon her children by a layman, or king’s man.
Knowing this quite well, the students and other younger
dergv often took full advantage of their position within a
town. They roamed in groups, heading for the ball field
without the walls on the afternoon of a holy day, but some-
rimes just looking for sport at the expense of others. A
precept of the time was “Be wise with the wise, but relax
and play the fool when you are with fools .” 56 The mediae¬
val man loved a good laugh. He got this most often in ways
that we would consider impolite or cruel. Running off with
signs and other objects that were not fastened down, pitch¬
ing unoffending creatures into the water, baiting an animal,
mocking a man who had been the victim of misfortune—
these were everyday sources of amusement. The streets of
London, or of any other mediaeval town, showed a high
percentage of mutilated and diseased people. The one-
armed, the one-legged, the blind, the half-witted, and the
just plain drunk were numerous. These unfortunates could
furnish much amusement as they moved about awkwardly.
The mockery was not often deep, and I dare say the victim
sometimes joined in.

In a town where there -was no sewerage, with garde-robe

London 39

pits or privies in the better houses only, it is to be expected
that the natural functions were much in evidence. Walls
were dirty, and unless there had been a recent rain, the road¬
way was smelly. The odeur de merde was never completely
absent from anyone’s nostrils. People were used to it; but
we must not assume that nobody ever complained. There is
a story told by Jacques de Vitry of a man whose job it was
to clean out garde-robe pits. He did not mind this odor in
which he worked all day, but his nostrils were badly of¬
fended by the smell of a snuffed candle. 57 The fastidious
and very clean persons were rather few in the twelfth cen¬
tury, but they existed. In all ages, except perhaps in pre¬
historic ones, there have been three kinds of people: the
fastidious, the nonfastidious, and those—greatest in number
—who are neither one nor the other but conform more or
less to circumstances. Today the fastidious are vastly in the
majority in those levels of society which most university
people frequent. In the twelfth century the proportions
were different.

Alexander Neckam belonged to the majority group of
his era and accepted smells and “sights” as a part of the
daily scene. This time he paused to gaze at the Langboum
as it carried its share of filth into the Thames, but he made
no comment other than that it was not so impressive a stream
as its neighbor the Walbrook. At Dowgate, Alexander
found a Norman shipmaster, or eschipre, who was free to
talk with him. He was discouraged from taking ship in
London. Such a vessel would require at least four or five
days to get out of the Thames River and turn south into
the Channel. There could be still longer delay then, while
waiting for a wind. This compared most unfavorably with
the short time at sea required to go from Dover to the near¬
est Picard port. The Seine itself was a tricky, tidal river

4 o Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

which demanded that everyone on board should be a good
sailor. 68 Shifting sandbanks meant poling off by all hands;
the swift tides required sleepless vigilance and demanded
that the ship be firmly anchored when the tide ebbed. All
these disadvantages made the Seine a poor route for pas¬
senger service. Alexander was advised to follow one of the
quick shuttle routes to Paris: two days by mule or palfrey
to Dover, and then across to Calais, Wissant, or Boulogne.
With a good wind a boat could make Wissant in nine hours,
or Boulogne in thirteen. There then remained a four-day
journey to Paris if the traveler landed at Boulogne. The
stops en route were Hesdin, Corbie, and Clermont. One
could take his own palfrey or mule across the Channel, but
it would be more advantageous to buy a mount at the port
in Picardy and sell it in Paris.

As Alexander and his companion moved back through
the crowded streets, they may well have thought of the
two afflictions which plagued this fair town of London-—
drunkenness and fires. Evidence of the drunkenness was
plainly visible. On every crooked street within range of
Alexander’s eyes, there was one or more houses showing
evidence of fire. In most cases the gutted dwelling was of
wood and the adjacent structures were also charred and
marked. Repair work was slow, as it is apt to be in a civili¬
zation where people arc not too finicky. If the upstairs
should burn, one could live for a while in the cellar. There
was no organized fire-fighting. Interested neighbors and
passers-by rushed to the water supply with buckets and
other containers. Adjacent houses might be pulled down if
the conflagration was severe.

The city was filled with street cries from dawn to duslc:
some announcing the sale of wine in the taverns, others
advertising apples, pears, plums, and quinces, peddled from

London

4 *

baskets. The soap-and-needle sellers were among the
noisiest. 59

Turning left into Newgate Street, our travelers could
have heard the collegiate church of St. Martin’s-le-Grand,
on their right, ringing the canonical hour, and listened as
the peal was taken up by the bells of other churches, which
were obliged to take their cue from St. Martin’s-le-Grand. 00
The ringing occurred at Prime (approximately six in the
morning), Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline, Matins,
and Lauds, all of which were a vague three hours apart—
vague because a kind of daylight-saving time was observed.
In summer the daylight intervals were longer, and the night
hours were shorter; in winter the reverse was true.

Although the twelfth-century Londoner worked from
dawn to dusk, he did not work at all on holy days. We
should not grow too sentimental, therefore, over the long
hours of labor that were required. There were a number of
holy days in the course of an average month. Men of the
baronial class spent much time h a n g in g about the houses of
the higher royal officials, such as the king’s chancellor.
When Thomas Becket held that office, he used to strew
fresh reeds and grasses on his floors each day so that the
crowds of court seekers would be able to sit on clean
floors. 81 All the writers of the time, from Giraldus to Marie
de France, are insistent that this court life was degrading.
A roomful of barons must have presented a colorful sight,
with much of the appearance of a menagerie. 62 Barons car¬
ried about with them hawks, falcons, pet monkeys, and
parrots. Dogs were always present, gnawing bones, spoiling
the rushes, and getting in the way. Alexander remarks that
an occasional wolf was tamed and kept as a dog, although
these animals were apt to return to their wild state as they
grew older.

42 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

Newgate was an impressive place with its royal servants
on guard, and its bailiffs collecting taxes and local customs.
There was perhaps an uneasy stir about the place, for it
shared with the Tower of London employment as a king’s
prison. 63 Malefactors were not detained very long before
they received “justice.” 64 Common offenders were herded
into a single room of the gatehouse, where they diced and
made merry in other ways. Serious offenders, including po¬
litical ones, might be lowered into holes resembling wells,
where there was almost no light. In one of these foul-smell¬
ing holes, which were sometimes damp and wet, the prisoner
lay wondering what fate would be his. Food was lowered
to him: a jug of water, hard moldy bread, and perhaps a
piece of bad meat. He dreaded the possibility of meeting
with toads, snakes, and other creeping things, of which the
mediaeval man was very much afraid. 65 The East Gate at
Exeter, Devonshire, was connected with the castle, and pos¬
sibly with the cathedral, by an underground passage entered
by an opening outside the wall. We wonder whether such
a subterranean system was ever employed in London. 60

Alexander Neckam, after passing through Newgate,
turned down the lane to the right and found himself once
more at St. Bartholomew’s in Smithfield. He now made
plans for setting out within a day or two, possibly in the
company of other guests at the hospice. He would be ob¬
liged to borrow another mount, to be left at Dover. To pass
the time after supper, he may have engaged in a game of
chess. He describes this game and the method of moving the
men. 67 The board he used was larger than the one we are
accustomed to. It could sit on two trestles like a table top,
or it could be placed on the floor, while the players were
seated on cushions, or on a rug. 68 The pieces were heavy

London

43

and, if thrown with effective aim, they could inflict some
damage. Alexander records that Reinald Fitz Aymon killed
in this way the knight who was playing with him at Charle¬
magne’s court, thereby starting a feud. This was a common
source of feuds in the chansons de geste. Chariot, the son of
Charlemagne, slew Ogier’s son Baudouinet in this way, and
the theme occurs in other epics. 69 From Alexander’s de¬
scription we know that the main points of the game in the
twelfth century were similar to those we follow today,
except that the queen moved like a bishop ( alphicus )—that
is, gressum obliquans. Sometimes the players sat at a game
for an inordinate length of time: “Agolant sat down to a
game of chess straightway and with him was the strong king
Abilant. The games began around the hour of Prime, and
they did not finish until None had passed.” 70 But then these
two players were pagan kings and could be expected to be
extravagant. Alexander would be like the duke so primly
described by Wace: “He cared only for suitable games—
the sport of chess, the gain at draughts.” 71

Draughts (demies or traiz ) was played with round pieces
similar to our checker men. There is reason to believe that
the game was close to modem checkers. 72 “Tables” was a
kind of backgammon; it was played on a board, with dice.

Qhapter III

The Journey and Paris

V, If s they left the hospice in Smithfield, Alexander and
y _ . IL. those who rode with him looked much the same as
they had on their arrival. They were perhaps gayer, stimu¬
lated by the sights of the great city and by the prospect of
soon visiting the shrine at Canterbury. For some, also, there
was the anticipation of seeing foreign shores. Much time
would have been wasted in passing through the streets of
the walled town and in crossing the wooden bridge and
paying the tolls; so it is easy to believe that the party crossed
the Thames by ferry, at the break of day. They would enter
the boat somewhere between Baynard quay and Westmin¬
ster and join the Dover road at Bermondsey. This road
paralleled the course of the Thames for a considerable dis¬
tance, traversing Deptford, Greenwich, Crayford, Dart-
ford, Gravesend, and Rochester. Before reaching Deptford,
however, the road passed over a causeway across a very
broad ditch, now completely dry. Some of the company
wondered at it. One of the number knew that this was the
old fosse as Danois and that the Thames River had been
turned into it only a few years before, in 1173, when the
foundations for the new London Bridge were being set.
There had been a sorry time for a number of months, as the
port of London was almost dry. Two days of travel were

The Journey and Paris 45

required from London to Dover. The first night could have
been spent at Sittingbourne, or perhaps at Faversham. On
the second day, early in the afternoon, the travelers gazed
down upon that lovely cathedral at Canterbury. The road
crosses a ridge a few miles before reac hing the town, and
it was from this vantage point, as they turned out of a
wooded stretch of road, that they suddenly espied the ca¬
thedral.

We may assume beyond question that the travelers
stopped for an hour or so to visit the tomb of the Martyr.
They found the cathedral town noisy with heavy construc¬
tion work, but this was not rare in any large mediaeval
community. The cathedral had suffered a fire four years
before, in 1174. The choir was now being rebuilt and the
nave lengthened. A terrible accident had occurred not long
before Alexander’s visit. Guillaume de Sens, the brilliant
and dynamic architect from the Continent, had fallen from
a rope and been badly crippled. The shrine of St. Thomas
was still located in the crypt because of the construction
work. The sarcophagus was surrounded by a wall pierced
by openings, two on each side, through which the pilgrims
could gaze while making their prayers. 1 Already many rich
and rare gifts had been deposited at the shrine. Alexander
purchased a tiny phial of lead, containing Canterbury water,
to be hung around his neck. This was ordinary water to
which an infinitesimally small quantity of the Saint’s blood
had been added. 2 Formerly the water had been sold in little
wooden containers with—strange as it may seem—a mirror
in the lid. 3 The wood persisted in leaking and a lead phial,
sealed with wax, had been devised. Canterbury was not a
restful scene at this time, with the workmen lif ting heavy
stones by pulley and hoist and the crowds of people stum¬
bling over ropes. We are taking for granted that Alexander

46 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

and his acquaintances left that afternoon and continued the
journey toward Dover. The distance that remained was
only seventeen miles, but leaving Canterbury as late as they
did it was convenient to spend the night just short of their
destination. As they rode they encountered many carts
laden with fish. They would have seen more if they had
been traveling north of London, instead of south, for Yar¬
mouth was the great center of the herring trade. 4

We wish we had an adequate picture of Dover in the late
twelfth century. It was a very busy port at that time. At a
later date, as one of the Cinq-Ports, it furnished, together
with its associated towns, twenty-one ships for coastal pro¬
tection. 5 As our protagonist approached the town, he no¬
ticed that it lay on low ground between two hills. 8 We will
give these their modern names, Castle Hill and the Western
Heights. A very small river, the Dour, flowed past the wall
of Dover, emptying into the Channel below Castle Hill.
Dover Harbor was located at that point where St, James
and Russell streets now lie, at the eastern end of Snargate. 7
We assume that there was a mole or jetty, of Roman con¬
struction, extending out into the Channel sufficiently to pro¬
tect the port from strong tide and wind. Some boats could
be rowed a short distance into the Dour. Ships came into
the port when the tide had risen enough, and they would go
out when they had a good wind and an ebb tide. There was
some circumventing of these channel ports, such as Dover,
by merchant seamen. They found it almost as easy to anchor
at high tide on a sandy stretch of coast outside of any har¬
bor. There, when the ship was high and dry, they could
load supplies and take on passengers, setting sail again when
they had the wind and the tide in their favor. In this way
Thomas Becket took ship not far from Sandwich, in 1164,
avoiding the portum publicum and the inspection by the

47

The Journey and Paris

port guards. 8 Dover Harbor had ten guards at this time. A
number of days could be wasted in waiting for a favorable
wind. The Monge de Montaudo, though not referring to
Dover, once expressed how dreary such a wait could be: “It
annoys me much to be in port when it is very bad weather
and rains heavily.” 8

On Castle Hill was the royal castle with its towers, cur¬
tain wall, and moat, recently constructed in fine stone by
the King. The outer wall around this castle was still a pali¬
sade of wooden stakes, which was to be replaced with stone
in the thirteenth century. In the midst of the wooden en¬
closure was a big Roman lighthouse, which was octagonal
in shape from the external view. A signal fire was built each
night on its summit platform. There were lookout windows
on three sides of its main chamber. The ruins of another
Roman lighthouse were visible on the Western Heights. 10

Alexander may have spent a night or two, possibly a
week, at the priory of St. Martin’s-le-Grand on the Western
Heights, which was under the jurisdiction of Christ Church
Monastery in Canterbury. Its prior at the time was Warin,
cellarer of Christ Church. 11 This hospice was far from suffi¬
cient to lodge the many travelers who stopped at Dover on
the way to and from Canterbury. (A maison dieu was built
to accommodate them early in the thirteenth century.)

To judge from the Bayeux Tapestry, a lookout balcony
attached to a wooden building was in use, from which port
authorities could observe the movements of ships. 12 This
was obviously independent of the Roman lighthouse.

In the preceding chapter we gave the description of a
busy harbor in the words of Wace. We now continue with
his account of ships getting under way:

When they were all manned they had tide and a good wind.
Then you would see the anchors raised, the pulling taut of stays.

48 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

the tightening of shrouds, sailors climbing over the vessels to
break out the sails and canvas. Some work at the windlass; others
are at the luff [lof] and the halyards. The pilots are aft—the
master steersmen, the finest—and each does his best at the
steering oar. “Avant le hel” [“Hard on the helm”], and she goes
to the left; “Sus le hel ” [“Up on the helm”], and she goes to
the right. In order to gather the wind into the sails they make
the outer edges taut and fasten the boltropes. Some pull on the
ratlines, and some shorten sail, in order to get the ship to pro¬
ceed more slowly. They fasten clew lines and sheets, and make
the ropes fast; they slacken the runners and lower the sails.
They pull on bowlines... they make fast the brails to the mast,
that the wind may not escape underneath. 18

All of this makes good nautical sense today, except that
the brails (lines which go from top to bottom of the sail,
and which are distinctly visible in the bas-relief at Pisa)
would not be fastened to the mast. The meaning of lof is
obscure. Today the luff is the belly of the sail, and the mean¬
ing of its etymon in Norse— 16 fe —is “hollow of the hand.” 14
But in twelfth-century texts the lof seems to have been a
sort of pole which was applied to the lower edge of the sail;
at any rate, it was something that could be manned: “Where
shall we go and in what direction shall we turn the lof ?” 15

Here is another description, which tells of the provision¬
ing of a vessel:

... the casks were piled on one another; salt meat, bread, wine,
and grain . . . and chests and all aplenty, and fine arms and
handsome shields [were there]... . The banners they had fast¬
ened to the castles [fore and aft]. . . . Eight full days passed
before the fleet moved from there. The air was balmy and soft,
so the ship could not move. At midnight the wind rose, strong
and powerful, which struck the sails. Bauches cried, “Now, let’s
get to the ship quickly! ” 18

Alas, these expert descriptions of ships getting under way
must be contrasted with Alexander’s words. He was a poor

The Journey and Farts 49

seaman, and we are ready to believe that he was never on
the sea except when making the Channel crossing:

If anyone wishes to fit out a ship let him have an asbestos
stone, in order that the benefit of fire may not be lacking. If
such a stone is once lit it is unquenchable. He should have a
needle placed on a pivot; the needle will rotate and revolve
until the point looks toward the east, and thus sailors under¬
stand where they should steer when the Little Bear constella¬
tion is hidden in the storm, although this constellation never
sets because of the brevity of its circle.

It is necessary also to be supplied with grain and wine, also
with arms and with an axe by which the mast can be cut down
when a storm comes up, which is the greatest of evils, and so
that the traps of pirates can be avoided. Side planking should
be fastened with cords and nails, and, when fitted together, let
them be daubed with pitch mixed with wax on the inside, or
with paint [unguentum], and let them be smoothed on the out¬
side, sparing the use of too much paint. Cross-weaving and
wattling are required, in order that the swift and frequent
jarrings may not unfasten or loosen the joints. It is needful to
join the boards proportionately, with forecastle and aftercastle
separated.

Let the mast be raised in a socket on the flooring ... then let
the sail be fastened to the mast, and have the cordage extend
from side to side;. . . the lowest part of the sail is fastened to a
spar carried crosswise. The swelling of the sail is its belly. Yard
braces are needed; may these be placed almost “before the
water” [ante amnem], of which the upper ends are called horns.
The sail yard is at the peak of the mast and is called carchesium.
The same yard is called cheruca, which means also “weather
cock,” which in French is named cochet. Let there be also
openings through which oars can run, if rowing is required
when a wind is lacking. . . . Let stays be extended, that is,
very large ropes. Likewise let there be shrouds supporting the
mast. . . . The oar has a blade and an arm; the end is called the
blade.. . . Let the skipper have a transverse seat or thwart; .. .
near this let there be a windlass that the lines may be bound
more firmly and that the sail may be raised according to the

50 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

shift of wind... . An anchor is needed.... Have a mallet—and
note that the mallet is called malleus —by which the sailor gives
signals to his comrades. 17

The many omissions in the above translation are the pun¬
ning etymologies of which Alexander was so fond, and
which stud many of his writings. He was every inch the
grammarian. His testimony about the compass is of especial
value. Most compasses at this time consisted of a needle
magnetized by contact with a lodestone, then thrust into a
straw and placed to float in a saucer of water. It may have
been that the compass deviation was such as to make the
needle point east. Alexander noticed the windlass and the
oars, but he was none too clear on the subject of the lines.
It is possible that a hammer was struck against a metal plate
when giving signals in a high wind. On the other hand, it
may be that Alexander had in mind the hammer and anvil
which the ancients used for giving rhythm to their oarsmen.
In that event, he did not actually see such a hammer on his
journey across the Channel. A metal hearth with a protect¬
ing shield against the wind was undoubtedly the type of
cooking hearth used on these vessels. Our author confused
this with the asbestos stone of mythical properties.

We are assuming that Alexander was notified one evening
that his ship would sail at dawn. His identity was checked
by the guardian of the port if the authorities in Dover had
been alerted for any reason. In any case he was obliged to
pay a small embarkation tax. The price of passage was not
definitely set; the passenger bargained with the shipman. 18
Some years later Wistasce li moines offered five sous sterling
for a crossing, and it is inferred that this was a little high.
The Channel can be unpleasant, particularly in a small boat
of very shallow draft. During the night hours when the
wind was high, sailors would think they could hear sirens

Lookout from Dover, from the Bayeux Tapestry

Boisil on a bed, Add. MS 39943, fol. 21
Courtesy British Museum

The Journey and Paris 51

“wailing, laughing, jeering, like insolent men in their
cups.” 1 ® Most of Alexander’s journey was by broad day¬
light. After some thirteen hours of travel the boat ap¬
proached the entrance to the Liane River and waited to
enter with the tide into Boulogne Harbor. 20 How Alex¬
ander must have yearned to set his feet once more on solid
ground. 21 The old Roman lighthouse, built under Caligula
and repaired by order of Charlemagne, was high on a hill to
the left. As twilight was descending over the mouth of the
river, the beacon fire had already been lit. When sails were
furled, the seamen manned the oars and brought the vessel
where it could be tied to the quay.

Boulogne consisted of an upper and a lower city. 22 The
lower was on the bank of the Liane, about a mile from
where the river flowed into the Channel. It had a single
street, connecting the quays. Another road led to the upper
city, which was on a hill. We suggest that some sort of
Roman jetty or mole protected the anchorage, and there
may have been a wooden palisade around the lower city,
which was crowded with seamen and hangers-on. This port
belonged to the Countess of Boulogne who, in turn, was
protected by the gallant Count Philip of Flanders (the pa¬
tron of Chretien de Troyes) . 2S It was not English territory,
so we can expect that some watch was made on travelers
from En glan d. Alexander had his letters with him in a
leather box which hung around his neck on a cord. In the
lpomedon, one sees “a messenger come quickly who carried
a box with letters.” 24 From a box like this, Alexander would
take his papers in order to satisfy the guard of his identity.
There was a customs fee, which could be remitted as a sign
of special favor. 25 Little attention would be paid to Alex¬
ander. The port of Boulogne had seen hundreds of young
men pass through on their way to Paris- and other schools.

52 Daily Living m the Twelfth Century

They all looked somewhat alike. Alexander would inquire
at the quay where he could find a suitable lodging. 20 Sump¬
ter horses and mules, fitted with special saddles for carrying
loads, would be standing about with their drivers. Our
young clerk probably hired one to guide him toward his
lodging and saw his few sacks of belongings piled upon the
saddle. 27 Since he was intending to purchase a palfrey on the
morrow, it is possible that he made inquiries about the horse
fair. If the porter was anything like his brethren of later
times, he doubtless undertook to sell a horse himself.

The next day was spent in making preparations. 28 People
in the twelfth century had more time to kill than we do
today. Arrangements were made to travel in a group. The
stretch of road from Boulogne to Lyons (or Lugdunum)
had been a principal highway in the time of the Romans. It
passed through Montreuil and Hesdin (two and a half miles
east of the existing town), across the Canche River to Doul-
lens, and thence through Beauquesne and Pucheviller, across
the Ancre River to Corbie, and on to Soissons, Reims, and
Chalons. Corbie was an important junction. It had an abbey
of importance which cared for both mind and body. Its
library was distinguished, and so was the accommodation
for travelers. From Corbie a slightly less important Roman
road branched due south to Clermont and Paris. 20

Travelers arriving in France were sure to appreciate
highly the wine. In England goudale, or ale, was the com¬
mon beverage, and a change was much desired. English¬
men, when they got together, practiced the silly custom of
“Wassail! Drink-hail!” The first drinker would pick up a
mazer, or bowl of bird’s-eye maple, filled with wine,
salute his companion with a kiss, and cry “Wassail!” The
other bestowed a kiss in turn and cried the other word.
They both drank. 30 A great deal of humor was displayed

53

The Journey and Paris

in this, and it is easy to guess that a drinker’s legs would
not stand up under much of it. The people on the Continent
observed this practice with awe and amusement, and were
disposed to consider the English to be drunkards because of
it. We will assume that the Englishmen at the hospice in
Boulogne, if they found a suitable tavern, spent their eve¬
ning in this manner. If Alexander paid the scot, he probably
drew forth about three sous from the ten or more which
he carried in the purse at his belt. This purse might have
been of fine brocade. 31

At this time all money in France and England was in
silver pennies, or “deniers.” A denier from the Paris mint
of this date contained four cents’ worth of silver according
to the current United States price for silver. Higher values
of money were made by weighing out scoopfuls of these
deniers at the money-changer’s. A “marc” was eight ounces,
or two-thirds of a pound. This would be seven dollars in
current United States money. A “livre” was a pound of
twelve ounces—ten dollars. A “sou” was twelve deniers, or
fifty cents. Occasionally a gold coin from Byzantium,
southern Italy, or Spain passed from hand to hand. Its gold
content was worth about five of our modem dollars. There
was no fixed ratio between gold and silver in the twelfth
century, but in 1199, in England, such a besanz was worth
two shillings or sous—that is, about twenty-four silver
deniers. 32 The equivalents in modem money given here are
estimated from the weight of the metal and do not take into
account the question of alloy. The purchasing value was a
horse of a different color. In the first place, this varied with
the type of purchases considered essential, standards of liv¬
ing, and the amount of actual money in circulation. We
shall return to this problem at various points in the course
of this book. An average purse carried about 125 deniers,

54

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

or io sons. Larger sums would be carried by a traveler in a
leather money belt strapped around his waist under the
outer clothing. This could be a very heavy sum, perhaps
reaching as hig h as sixty pounds (troy weight).

The Para-bound travelers rose bright and early, we can
be sure, and started on their way. On the first day they
stopped for dinn er at Montreuil. Much of the land was
heavily forested. There were the Hardelot, the Forest de
Boulogne, and the Forest de Hesdin. Our student traveler
probably brought out his green-wax tablets on occasion
and jotted down verses and accounts. 33 As in England,
much time was passed with singing and the telling of tales.
If the pace was sufficiently slow, someone may even have
read aloud from a book. A road was a wonderful panorama
in those dap. Nothing was standardized. No detailed map
existed—only itineraries or lets of towns were provided—
so that a journey could offer something new and refre shing
at every turn. There would be strange groups of people:
parties of monks in unusual habits, ladies accompanied by
knights or men-at-arms with magnificent equipment, itin¬
erant traders and workmen, and jongleurs accompanied by
a trained bear or a monkey. One might even stop for three
or four hours and listen to a minstrel who was chanting
away interestingly before a church or in a village street.
There were awkward shepherds with their flocks, crowding
the riders off the road. The unfortunate were continually
in view, tapping the road with a cane, with mutilated limbs
bound up, and here and there a silly stare meant a half-wit
who could be counted on to offer a moment of amusement.
No one was in a very great hurry, unless he were a mes¬
senger traveling for King or Church. Such messengers ha¬
bitually halved the time of travel, but they often rode in
the night. Temporary and permanent gallows were ob-

The Journey and Paris 55

served here and there. The stench was far from agreeable,
but it was not considered very shocking. At night the
travelers would make for the hospice which had been
recommended to them at the previous stop. Perhaps they
did not always eat at a cookshop in a town. They may have
purchased enough to carry with them and consume beside
the road—a capon, a gasteau, and a pot of wine with a
henap, or wine cup. 84

On the afternoon of the fourth day, after taking their
dinner in Luzarches, the travelers became conscious of the
approach to Saint-Denis, the venerable abbey which was
just seven miles from the heart of Paris. The groups of
monks, the pack horses with their leather bags strapped
over their sides, 86 and even the many carts coming in from
the side roads announced a well-populated area. The carts
of the time were most frequently two-wheeled (rarely four)
with high sides, giving a fencelike appearance. They were
apt to be drawn by two animals and were employed for
heavy hauling—casks of wine, household equipment, lances,
mailed coats, and so on. A cart was despised, and no knight
would consent to ride in such a vehicle, no matter how
badly wounded he might be. 86 If he could not ride on horse¬
back, he was conveyed on a litter stretched between two
horses. Ladies, as well as sick persons, occasionally traveled
in this way. Carts were slow and cumbersome and were
relegated to cart roads, off the main track. Here is Alex¬
ander’s own description of such a vehicle and its driver:

A carter about to drive his cart should wear a chape with a
fur-lined hood, or a frock with sleeves so that his hands may
project from them at will. If he is driving mules or horses let
him touch their ears with a flexible rod, which is the origin of
the word amigo. . . . [There he is etymologizing again! ] He
should wear boots on his legs in order not to be disturbed by

5 6 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

thickets or muddy places. [This must mean bound leggings, nor
leather boots.] When the horses go up a hill or small mountain
the weight of the cart will be on the forward part; but when
descending a slop it is necessary to make a decision: let the
horses be unyoked and one draw the cart forward while the
other fastened to the rear of the wagon shall retard the motion
of the vehicle, laboring with bended knee. See also that the
driver hold the pin of the shaft at the rope with a firm hand. If
the horse has a collar on back and neck let it be covered with
felt I omit mention here of yoke, harness, cloths, canvas, since
I have mentioned them elsewhere....

Let us talk about the same cart in another way. The wheels
are pined by an axletree, each on a different side. The axletree
at the extremities is encircled in a hub. The axle pins should be
firmlv fixed. In the hub spokes are fitted, radiating out to the
fellies [forming the rim of the wheel]; at the ends of the spokes
are the stelliones, that is, “tracks” or orbite. These make the
tracks deeper. Let the outer rim of the wheel be furnished with
an iron shoe in order that it may not be disturbed by the hin¬
drance of small stones and other objects, or by unevenness.
Boards should be set on a framework as the body of the cart
with sticks inserted into holes on the planks which go cross¬
wise, which are the side pieces of the wagon. ... I have men¬
tioned the pins of the shaft. Let our cart be equipped, lifting us
up to Heaven like the chariot of Elijah. 37

The significant point in this description of a cart is the
rather obscure mention of stellimes } or or bite. We take It
these these were projecting edges of some kind, on the outer
edge of the wheel which prevented It from sinking too deep
into the mud. Perhaps they were the triangular broadening
out of the spokes which are seen in mediaeval illustrations
of cans.

At Saint-Denis, the town that had grown up around the

abbey was surrounded by a circular stone wall and a “val¬
lum,” or dry ditch. It was not necessary to pass through this
area. A traveler could skirt the wall until he came again to

57

The Journey and Paris

the paved Roman road. There was now a choice of two
routes for one who was going to Paris. There was the
Roman road, which we shall now call the Route Saint-
Martin, and a parallel route still unpaved, the Chaussee de
Saint-Lazare. This Chaussee was now the more important
of the two. The two roads ran parallel toward Paris, some
two hundred yards apart. Milestones were set on these roads.
Between the town of Saint-Denis and the Church of Saint-
Laurent no building was allowed by royal decree. This edict
was being obeyed along the Route Saint-Martin and tech¬
nically the other road was affected by the same order, but
there it was not being obeyed. For some three miles after
Saint-Denis the Roman road was bordered by vineyards
and plowed fields, but the unpaved Chaussee was experienc¬
ing a small building boom. 88

The group in which Alexander rode chose to travel along
the paved route. After going a pleasant three miles, they
noted the little settlement of Clignancourt on the right. The
Chaussee ran through this. Another road led off from Clig¬
nancourt, ascending the hill of Montmartre. All this was
quite visible to our travelers because they were surrounded
by more or less open fields. Montmartre rose in the dis¬
tance, above the surrounding countryside. It seemed to rise
in three tiers. There were vineyards on the slope, but near
the summit were some visible ruins (an old Roman temple)
and the recently erected buildings of a convent. 39 Women
travelers of distinction frequently stopped there and en¬
joyed the unique view of Paris which was possible from
that point. One saw a “turreted city surrounded by great
walls.” 40 At the foot of Montmartre was the Martyrolog-
ium, a small chapel that marked the spot where St. Denis
was martyred. 41 Between this and the city’s suburb on the
right bank of the Seine, there lay a stretch of fields and vine-

58 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

yards where a considerable body of men could be quartered
in tents. It was there that the long of France marshaled his
knights and men-at-arms when receiving a distinguished
visitor such as the king of England. 42 There was a general
lowering of the terrain as the road swept past Montmartre
toward the city. Travelers usually stopped and “took a
look.” Straight ahead, four miles away, was the stockade
or wooden palisade which protected the right bank. 43 The
two parallel roads led to this enclosure. The paved one en¬
tered at what seemed to be a stone gate, close by a church
which was pointed out as being Saint-Merri. There the
ground rose a little, at the Monceau Saint-Merri. The un¬
paved road headed toward the great bridge; the stockade
also ended at that spot. It was evident, even at that distance,
that the chief activity of the suburb was concentrated there.
People were pouring out of the stockade and into the tur-
rered gate which admitted to the bridge; still other people
were going the other way. As the visitor’s gaze drew back
again along that road, he saw a small church surrounded by
tiny crosses that were barely visible. This was the Church of
the Holy Innocents, and the crosses marked what was now
the principal burial ground of the city. This cemetery was
still an open field, and there were indications that it was
marshy in spots. 44 A road led off to the right from the
cemetery, running parallel to the river. This was the road
to Gichv—a town farther down the Seine—which cut off
sixteen miles of tedious sailing on the snakelike river for
anyone who chose to land his cargo there. As a river port,
Gichy had the advantage of not being directly under the
watchful eye of the marchands de Tern of the city of Paris.
Many carts and pack animals, loaded with goods, were
moving back and forth along the Gichy road. The observer
finally tired of watching all this movement, and following

The Journey and Paris 59

the Chaussee back toward Montmartre, he did not fail to
see the leper hospital of Saint-Lazare over towards his right.
This was opposite Saint-Laurent, which was just ahead.
The two hundred yards or so which separated the two
was now bare of any occupancy, but it lodged the Fair of
Saint-Lazare for a week each May. 45 The famous Lendit, or
Fair of Saint-Denis, was held farther back along the road,
nearer to the town of Saint-Denis. The Lendit was cele¬
brated for a two-week period during the month of June.

Our travelers descended from their vantage point and
passed the Church of Saint-Laurent on their right. They
crossed a little, low bridge of stone, the Passellus Sancd
Martini, over a stagnant gully which was the ancient bed
of the Seine. 46 A few more miles and the Church of Saint-
Martin stood far back at the left on a low hill, surrounded
by its own munitio, or stockade. It had a dry moat. This
abbey church owned most of the vineyards through which
the travelers were passing. 47 Saint-Nicholas was next on the
left, and now houses rather than vines were bordering the
highway, bringing with them the inevitable “stench of
mediaeval civilization.” The pavement was in still greater
disrepair, being covered with a light layer of mud which
caused those using it to wonder whether it were paved after
all. Alexander and his friends reached the gate of Saint-
Merri. The wooden drawbridge was down, and the serjant
on duty gave little more than a casual glance at them as they
paid their toll and entered the suburb.

This right-bank enclosure was the new business district
for the city, which lay on the island just beyond. There
was a winding cross-thoroughfare which led to the Chas-
telet gate and then on to the Church of Saint-Germain
l’Auxerois, paralleling the road to Clichy, but nearer the
river. This main artery, often referred to officially in docu-

60 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

ments as the Ruga Sancti Germani, left the stockade on the
east at the Porte Baudoyer. So great was the need for space
that the suburb was expanding considerably outside the
stockade at Porte Baudoyer. 48 Many a fine house was being
erected outside the Porte on the road to Charenton, and
before the Barres, which was the name given to that part
of the stockade stretching from Baudoyer to the river.
These people felt secure because the Templars had their
stronghold at the Barres, facing on the river. 48

The Temple was a group of strong houses, with their
own landing in the river, which the order preferred, rather
than a donjon or tower. The accommodation afforded by
this group of houses was sufficient to care handsomely for a
large number, so that guests of royal distinction who came
with huge equipage and train were usually lodged there.
Such a visitor was the English royal chancellor, Thomas
Becket, who came to Paris in 1157 to carry away the little
French princess. Giraldus has described Becket’s proces¬
sion. 60 First there came two hundred and fifty male servi¬
tors, on foot, who were singing English songs. Following
them were huntsmen with fine dogs on double leashes. Then
came eight carts, each drawn by five horses, with a driver
(probably walking) leading a dog. Leather coverings were
fastened over the loads in these carts. Two of them carried
beer or ale in iron-bound casks; one cart held the furniture
of a chapel; another, all the necessary fittings for a bed¬
chamber; still another bore the expensa; and a sixth carried
kitchen utensils. The remaining two were loaded with
room hangings, sacks of clothing, and so on. At a proper
distance behind these walked twelve pack animals, each
with a rider on its back—and a monkey. These sumpters
were loaded with boxes of linen, silver, golden utensils, cups,
plates, bowls, roundels, clothing, and books. One of the ani-

The Journey and Paris 61

mals carried sacred vessels and ornaments for an altar. Fol¬
lowing all this baggage were knights leading their “des¬
triers,” or war horses, as they rode along on palfreys. Youths
came after them with birds on their wrists. These were
squires. 1 he officers of the household followed; next came
more knights and clergy, riding two and two. Last of all
appeared Chancellor Thomas and his associates. This costly
procession was headed for the Temple, but I doubt that
even that fine group of buildings could have housed so
many. Probably adjacent householders were persuaded to
vacate for a time.

In the very heart of the enclosed area, extending to the
river, was a gravelly depression called the Grevc, on which
no houses were built.*' Unril very recently this had been
the sire of the weekly Paris Market, but the King had trans¬
ferred the Market t o the Campelli, close by the cemetery of
the Holy Innocents.** It had become too difficult for peas¬
ants to drive their carts into the stockade through the
crowded streets. The Grevc had since become the wine
marker and chief point of unloading for boats bringing wine
to Paris.® 9 These came down the river. The location was
attractive because it was open, and many of the wealthy
now had houses facing it. The Church of Saint-Gervais
stood just inside the Porte Baud oyer. Ir is not unlikely that
this church and that of Sainr-Mcrri were responsible in the
first place for the enclosing of this suburb and for the
growth of its business district. The Grant Pont, as the big
bridge was called, was a considerable barrier to boats com¬
ing up or down the river. Those coming from Rouen could
unload better below the bridge, just as the wine boats com¬
ing down from the region of the Sadnc preferred the Grcivc.
Salt, cattle, and fish were the principal cargoes from Rouen,
and these were unloaded and sold at the Chastelet; wood,

6 z

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

grain, and hay, in addition to wine, were handled at the
upper quays. 54 There was a great deal of food in evidence
here at Paris—enough to arouse comment from strangers. 55

The Grant Pont was a beehive of activity. 56 It was a stone
bridge, about eighteen feet wide, set on a span of five or six
arches. Its surface was probably a conglomerate, pebbles
set in concrete. The roadway down the center was lined
on both sides by small houses, little more than booths or
stalls, set against a high parapet, which could be defended
militarily. Presumably there was a catwalk along the top
of each parapet, and perhaps there were low crenels. The
houses or stalls were roofed with the usual steep, peaked
roofs of tile or slate. No section of Paris was more secure
from robbery or attack than this fortified bridge. It is easy
to understand why it was occupied chiefly by money¬
changers, and presumably by a few goldsmiths and leather-
goods merchants also at this date. Each little house had a
counter open to the roadway, and inevitably a steep ladder
or stair mounting to a soler, or upstairs room. This upper
floor might well have had a fancy window facing on the
roadway, as was common at the time. I do not believe that
merchants as wealthy as those operating on the Grant Pont
would have established living quarters in such a restricted
area. In a document of 1163 a man buys a fenestram num-
mulariam supra Magnum Pontem, which is evidence enough
that these structures were only booths and not houses. Per¬
haps when the counters were closed at night, goods and fix¬
tures were stored above. There was a constant passing on
foot over this bridge, and some traffic on horse. It was the
principal entrance to the Gte, as well as the money center.
We can be certain that Alexander stopped with one of those
changers and had his ready money converted into deniers
parisis. The changer sat before a deep tray full of money.

The Journey and Paris 63

He held a balance or scale. 57 A typical balance consisted of
a grip held in the hand, continued by a vertical bar to which
the weighing arm was bolted at the center so that the arm
swung freely up and down. At each
end of the weighing arm dangled a
heavy cord, supporting a cauldron-
shaped metal basket. The changer
gave a certain ratio of parisis for the
foreign silver, according to prede¬
termined purity. I have a fond idea
that if we had brought him a United
States silver dollar he would have
allowed us twenty-five parisis before
deducting the proper amount for his

commission. Sterling deniers were superior in ratio to the
parisis, but there were many counterfeits of sterling and
Alexander’s money would have been subjected to much
biting, and ringing on the table. 58

The Chastelet, which guarded the land end of this bridge,
was a tower gate such as might then be found in any large
town. It had guardrooms and underground cells, like those
we imagined at Newgate in London. In addition, this was
the Porte de Paris. 59 The Ruga Sancti Germani crossed the
Chaussee de Saint-Lazare at this point, and there was some
sort of entrance to the suburban stockade (on which we
are not precisely informed). Was there a gate admitting into
the stockade, or was there just an open stretch in the pali¬
sade at this place? If there had been a stone archway, this
should have left some trace, in name at least, as at Saint-
Merri and Baudoyer. These were cited as landmarks in
later documents, long after the stockade had been removed.
(Philip Augustus began his wall on the right bank in r 190.)
As we have already indicated, meat, fish, and salt were

64 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

heavily traded at this point. The Church of Saint-Jacques
de la Boucherie stood on a small rise near where the stock¬
ade ended. The butchers were congregated in that vicinity
by royal order, although many continued to trade on the
left bank, and a few privileged ones were permitted to sell
in the Cit6. ao Bakers and fish sellers had their stalls close
by. This was the noisiest comer, as well as the busiest, in all
Paris. It was difficult to make much speed across the Seine
over the Grant Pont. Anyone in a hurry—and there were
not many—would be advised to take a ferry across, farther
up the river.

We will suppose that Alexander Neckam spent his first
night at the hospice associated with Saint-Gervais, at the
Porte Baudoyer. 61 There was perhaps a sign of some sort
over this lodging. A student was far from being a novelty
in this thriving city of some 250,000 souls. The difficulty lay
in how to house the population in an area which should
have contained no more than one-third that number. Hos¬
pices for transients were gradually becoming more frequent.
Travelers coming in from the west might stop at the new
hospice at the Church of St. Thomas the Martyr, on a
road that ran between the Clichy highway and the exten¬
sion of the Ruga Sancti Germani, which continued on to
the village of Chaillot. This hospice on the Rue Saint-
Thomas was in an area commonly called the Louvre. Sainte-
Opportune, in the Campelli at the market place, would
soon begin to provide lodgings.

On the following day, Alexander’s immediate task was to
report to his master and, through him, select his permanent
residence. We will imagine him setting out on foot, shortly
after daylight, toward the quarter occupied by the schools. 62
He crossed the Grant Pont, elbowing and shoving his way
through the throng. The street which continued straight

The Journey and Paris 65

before him was known as the Street before the King’s
Palace. The royal residence was on the right hand, sep¬
arated by a wall from the rest of the island. There was a
gate in this wall opening onto a shallow place where some
fishmongers were selling their wares. Alexander turned up
the second street to the left, just before reaching the fish
sellers. This cross street was the Rue dc la Draperie. As the
name implied, it was occupied mostly by drapers, who stood
behind their counters with open shop fronts. This was a
rich trade, and the street was agreeable and well kept. It
was quite long and brought the traveler into the main street
of the student section, which was Rue de la Lanteme to his
left and Rue dc la Juiveric to his right. There were some
remains * >f Roman paving on this street. In ancient times it
had been a continuation of the Roman road which brought
Alexander to Paris. Perhaps still visible in 1178 were some
of the ruins of the old bridge which had connected this road
directly with the mainland. The entire island still had its
Roman wall around it. This was in a bad state of repair,
despite the praise of the turreted city quoted from Nigel
Wirckcr. The wall did not come to the water’s edge; it
stood back some ten or twelve feet, leaving a narrow no
man’s land around the edge of the island, which was punctu¬
ated by an occasional quay or landing platform. One such
quay was the Porte Saint-Landry, which served as a landing
for those who had business within the Cloister Notre Dame.

The Rue de la Juiveric extended for a single block, in
the modern sense. There was a large synagogue (to be con¬
verted later into the Madeleine Church) on the northeastern
corner; apparently there were twenty-four houses occupied
by Jews. 08 Some of these residents may have been bakers,
as numerous bakeshops were there. 64 The presence of the
Jewish colony in the heart of the student quarter probably

66 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

had significance. Moneylending was their important activ¬
ity, and they must have had plenty of business with stu¬
dents, even with those among the clerics. Officially, there
was almost no anti-Semitism at that date. The King, Louis
VII, was very just in his dealings with the Jews, and he
allowed them to prosper and to mingle fully with the popu¬
lation. There was perhaps some intermarriage. Many Jews
came to own buildings occupied by Christian clerics. 65 Un¬
officially, however, there was a smoldering antagonism
against this display of non-Christian wealth in the heart of
Notre Dame. (Immediately after his accession to the throne,
Philip Augustus exiled the Jews for a short period. On their
return, they did not come back to this area, but occupied a
district on the right bank.) On that morning in 1178 when
Alexander stepped into the Rue de la Juiverie, we can be¬
lieve that the air was prosperous and that there was a bustle
of activity on that single block. A turn to the left, at the
end of the street, brought the stroller into the Rue Saint-
Chnstofle, which led to the Campus Rosaeus, Saint-Pierre
de Buef, and the parvis of the cathedral. A network of
crooked streets which ran off to the left of the Rue Saint-
Christofle was filled with small houses that provided student
lodgings—Rue de Petite-Orberie, Rue des Oubloiiers (later
Rue de la Licome), the winding Rue des trois Canettes,
Rue de la Pomme (later Rue de Perpignan), Rue de Saint-
Pierre, and so on. These streets were vastly overcrowded,
and yet the Bishop of Paris had forbidden the housing of
students within the nearby cloister of the cathedral. 66 Alex¬
ander walked past the Church of Saint-Christofle, on his
right, and then found himself in the presence of an immense
building activity. Houses had been cleared around the then
cathedral church, which nestled against the old Roman
wall on the south side of the island. Behind this church the

The Journey and Paris 67

wall had already been removed for a few hundred yards,
and the choir of the new Cathedral of Notre Dame, which
had been begun in 1163, was now almost complete. The
choir straddled the line of the Roman wall at that point,
and the nave, when it should be finished, would cover part
of the site of the Merovingian cathedral. Alexander walked
reverently into this old roughly built structure. 67 There
was a narthex, or entry vestibule. The interior was very
shabby, in need of a restoration which it would never get,
but there was some beauty that could still be seen. The
nave was long and low, basilica shaped, with two rows of
columns dividing off the side aisles. These columns were of
black and white veined marble and were topped by white
stone capitals carved in the shape of acanthus leaves. The
floor was in mosaic tile, with intersecting circles and other
geometric figures. The ce iling beams were gilded with
ancient and faded gold. The chancel and altar were in the
apse at the eastern end. Some marble paneling was visible
there on the walls. The great organ of the choirmaster
Leoninus stood perhaps behind the altar in the apse. Wheit
Alexander was there, a covering had been lowered over it
by a rope from the ceiling. When the young man left the
building, he noted that the outer roof was of old-fashioned
tiles. Opposite this cathedral there was a new street, re¬
cently cut through—the Rue neuve Notre Dame. He re¬
turned by this route, on his way to the Rue du Petit Pont,
and he remarked that the Hospital of St. Mary (later to be
called the Hotel-Dieu) was built on the left hand between
the crumbling Roman wall and the edge of the water. This
building ran the entire block, from the Parvis to the Petit
Pont. So crowded were the students in their effort to find
lodgings that some eighteen of them were quartered in a
single room in this hospital. In the year x 180, Josse of Lon-

68 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

don received permission to organize these young men into
what was to be the oldest college of the University of Paris
—the Dix-huit Clercs. In exchange for lodging and a very
small amount of money these clerics were to act as mourners
for the pauper dead. 68

The Petit Pont aroused great admiration in all those who
saw it for the first time. 69 The entrance to the bridge had
been somewhat widened in 1153-54. Houses of wood were
constructed on each side of this stone bridge. These, in
need of space, projected slightly over the outer edge of the
bridge. They were not in a continuous line, but were di¬
vided in several places by open spaces. There could not
have been more than five houses to a side, with perhaps two
open spaces setting these off. We suggest that the bridge
itself was supported by three or four arches. The open
spaces between the houses were surprising to Alexander.
They were called exedrae, and they made it possible for
those strolling on the bridge to gaze at the river. It seems
that there were stone seats, facing each other, in each of
these spaces. Masters and students could sit by the river in
this way and hold their discussions in the open air. 70 Stu¬
dents used to stand there and watch the diving into the
water on a hot day. I do not doubt that they did some diving
from those places, themselves, weather permitting. Swim¬
ming, however, was not a common accomplishment in the
twelfth century. The houses must have been very small.
Unlike the stalls on the Grant Pont, these houses were most
assuredly used for living quarters, and they may have been
two and three stories high with one small room on each
floor. It is probable that Adam dou Petit Pont lived in one
of these structures and that he taught his students on the
ground-floor area usually appropriated for a shop. In win¬
ter he would sit there close to a charcoal burner, possibly

The Journey and Paris 69

a basin, while on warm days he may have moved out to an
exedra, or open-air seat. Traffic was, of course, heavy before
his door. Students paced up and down on the muddy pave¬
ment. But a teacher in the twelfth century liked auditors of
all kinds; the more who stopped to hear, the better it was
for his fame. We can picture such a scene. The little room
is open toward the bridge. To the rear it has a pair of
windows overlooking the Seine. The stone floor is covered
with dry rushes in the winter, with green things in the
spring and summer. Students sit on the floor, maybe on an
occasional bench. The teacher has a chair with a back and
armrests. He may have a reading stand before him and a low
stool for a footrest.

Since a teacher had to do much writing, we will describe
in Alexander’s own words, at this point, the materials used
by ascribe:

Let him have a razor or knife for scraping pages of parch¬
ment or skin; let him have a “biting” pumice for cleaning the
sheets, and a little scraper for making equal the surface of the
skin. He should have a piece of lead and a ruler with which he
may rule the margins on both sides—on the back and on the
side from which the flesh has been removed.

There should be a fold of four sheets (a quaternion). I do
not use the word quaternio because that means “a squad in the
army.” Let these leaves be held together at top and bottom by a
strip [of parchment threaded through]. The scribe should have
a bookmark cord and a. pointed tool about which he can say,
“I have pricked [punxi] not pinked f pupigi] my quaternion.”
Let him sit in a chair with both arms high, reinforcing the back
rest, and with a stool at the feet. Let the writer have a heating
basin 71 covered with a cap; he should have a knife with which
he can shape a quill pen; let this be prepared for writing with
the inside fuzzy scale scraped out, and let there be a boar’s or
goat’s tooth for polishing the parchment, so that the ink of a
letter may not run (I do not say a whole alphabet); he should

7 ° Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

have something with which letters can be canceled. Let him
have an indicator [speculum] or line marker [cavilla] in order
that he may not make a costly delay from error. 72 There should
be hot coals in the heating container so that the ink may dry
more quickly on the parchment in foggy or wet weather. 78
Let there be a small window through which light can enter; if
perchance the blowing of the north wind attacks the principal
window, let this be supplied with a screen of linen or of parch¬
ment, distinct in color; green and black offer more comfort to
the eyes. 74 Whiteness, when too intense, disturbs the sight and
throws it into disorder. There should be red lead for forming
red Phoenician or Punic letters or capitals. Let there be dark
powder and blue which was discovered by Solomon [that is,
ultramarine].

The notary or scribe should know when he is about to write
when an aspirate, when co, when o, when £, when % when 5,
when small /r, when t, when u, when i, when a, when antisigma
(?)’ or ^ er that he may not make a barbarism in writing or a
slip in speaking; a wrong letter is frequent among barbarians.
He should know where to put bimos signi [?], transposition,
where reverse order, where a comma representing a diphthong.
Furthermore, let a style of writing be acquired for seals, manu¬
scripts, and documents, transactions, another manner for a text,
another kind for glosses. But a gloss, for brevity, should be
written by titles [abbreviations] , 75

This description doubtless applies to a professional scribe,
or manufacturer of books and documents, rather than to a
mere student or teacher, but it gives information on what
was required by anyone writing. 76 The first essentials were
the high-backed chair with arms, a footstool, and a sort of
reading desk on which to place the parchment and the
other materials. Such essentials are reproduced in illumina¬
tion after illumination. At times a white cloth was draped
over the writing or reading desk. The inkhorn, a genuine
cow horn, was placed in a round hole; it had a tight cover
so that it could be carried about at one’s belt. The vellum or

The Journey and Paris 71

parchment was marked off and ruled with a lead point, or
simply with a blind point. The quill pen, which had re¬
placed the reed pen by this time, had to be kept stored long
enough for the oil of the goose to dry out; then it was cut
and trimmed. The erasing process was much like that used
with a mimeograph stencil today. Once the offending letter
was erased with a knife, the surface had to be rubbed with a
tooth. Anyone copying a book needed to lay a long, narrow
strip of parchment into place to mark the column and the
line where he stopped, in order to avoid a costly skip of the
text. Apparently a sort of screen of linen or of parchment
(perhaps even paper, which was being manufactured at the
time) could be set or hung at a window. The information
on Greek letters need not be taken too seriously. These
characters were copied from some ancient grammarian. It
should be noted that different styles of writing are pre¬
scribed. Information is given also on the preparation of
fresh parchment, a task which was probably undertaken by
the teacher or scholar himself. We know that parchment
and vellum were bought at fairs and that the skins were at
that time in a semirough state.

In those days, when books circulated in manuscript, a
book was considered published when it was anonciez, or
announced; at least, that is the way Marie de France ex¬
presses it. 7T One way of accomplishing such an announce¬
ment was to make a formal presentation to a high personage
such as the king, or a prominent count or duke. The author
seldom wrote a book out at length in his own hand on vel¬
lum or parchment. Such writing was more apt to be done
on wax tablets, which could then be passed to a professional
scribe for copying off fair. Very probably the author of a
vernacular work dictated to a scribe. Professional copyists
were specially employed by booksellers, and many monas-

72 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

teries also made a business of copying and binding books.

By way of digression at this point, we may ask how long
it took a twelfth-century author to compose a work.
Gaimar needed some twelve months to compose about <5,500
lines: “Gaimar devoted March and April and all twelve
months before he had translated about the kings.” 7 ” To
complete his Topographia Hibernica (in Latin, of course)
Giraldus says that he spent three years; but his Expugnatio
Hibernica required only two years. 79 All sorts of people
were writing. For this we quote Guernes de Saintc-Max-
ence: “All these other romances which clerks, laymen,
monks, or ladies have made about the Martyr, much have
I heard them lie.” 80 This includes just about anybody who
could read or write.

We can assume that Adam dou Petit Pont was at his desk,
or discoursing with students, when Alexander came to sec
him. Possibly he had made previous arrangements by letter
with Alexander on the subject of a room. If the experience
of John of Salisbury was typical, it is likely that Alexander
had to pay a year’s rent in advance, before moving in. 81 If
Alexander had a considerable sum of money with him, he
would leave it with the teacher for safekeeping.

Adam dou Petit Pont was an old man at this time, about
seventy-three. (His death was to come in 1183.) Like many
other teachers at Paris, he was an Englishman by birth and
early education. He encouraged many subtleties of dialectic;
indeed, he and his pupils were famous for that. He was most
independent in spirit. At the same time, he believed very
heartily in grammar and rhetoric. Otherwise, Alexander
would hardly have studied with him, for this student shows
throughout his writings a passion for etymology and lan¬
guage per se. In addition to the Greek alphabet, Alexander
made shift to know some Hebrew. 82 This last must have

The Journey and Paris 73

come from an acquaintance with some Jewish scholar of
the Rue tie la Juiverie. We may wonder why Adam dou
Petit Pont would have persisted in maintaining his quarters
on the Petit Pont, surrounded by unquestionable discom¬
forts. The rooms were excessively small, and it must have
been impossible to provide kitchen facilities. Perhaps Alex¬
ander, and most of his neighbors, had their food brought in,
hot, from a nearby cookshop. There was such a cookshop,
according to evidence, on one of the little streets leading
down to the river from the Rue de la Huchette. Adam
probably remained on the bridge because his fame was as¬
sociated with that address. Then again many visitors strolled
by there in the course of a day and must have stopped for
a while in his doorway, through which the teacher’s bril¬
liant words were plainly audible.

Some students came to Paris with letters of recommenda¬
tion addressed to the King, to Abbot Richard of Saint-Vic¬
tor, and to other important personages. 88 We are assuming
that Alexander Neckam did not possess one of these. The
King could not do much to carry out such a trust, except
to interfere when a student got into trouble; but Abbot
Richard had taken the task quite seriously. He was fre¬
quently disappointed in his charges, for he complained of
the lack of seriousness and the dearth of religion in the
schools. 84 There could have been a slight feeling of rivalry
here, as Saint-Victor (and Sainte-Genevieve) had theologi¬
cal schools which rivaled those of Notre Dame and Petit
Pont. The Abbey of Saint-Victor was approached by a
road which led out of the market place of the Rue de
Garlande. It was just a few hundred yards from there to
the abbey buildings.

Qhapter IV

Lodgings in the City

t the south end of the Petit Pont, crowded with
/—students, was the Petit Chastelet, a stone tower gate
which was less imposing than the one protecting the Grant
Pont. One had to pass through the Petit Chastelet in going
to the left bank of the Seine. The view offered there was not
apparent to anyone standing on the Petit Pont, as the houses
and the Chastelet itself lay between. It was only after Alex¬
ander had passed through the deep, narrow archway of the
gate that he got his first view of the road to Orleans. The
road continued directly ahead, up a sharp rise, and disap¬
peared in the distance over the hill. We would have appre¬
ciated the view more than Alexander did; for a moment we
would have imagined ourselves in Pompeii or ancient
Rome. 1 The road was Roman made, about twenty-seven
feet wide, cobbled with stones set in concrete. There was a
similar road, the Rue de Garlande, which ran off at an
angle to the left; this was less wide, although at one time it
had been the main highway between Paris and Lugdunum,
leading eventually to Rome. On the hillside, to the right of
the Orleans road, were obvious Roman buildings, the
Thermes and the so-called Palais de Hautefeuille. There
were also some traces of a Roman aqueduct.

Alexander followed the Rue de Garlande as far as the

Lodgings in the City 75

Monastery of Sainte-Genevieve which was prominent on
the hill, to the left. Until it had climbed nearly to the mon¬
astery this Rue de Garlande had no houses; it was bordered
by the usual vineyards. It led first to a broad market place
(soon to be called Place Maubert) and then turned sharply
up the slope. Before reaching this place, near the Orleans
road, Alexander saw a new little church, dedicated to Saint-
Julien-le-pauvre. This was a favorite with students, who
loved to hold their disputations there. Beyond Saint-Julien,
still short of the future Place Maubert, a track turned off
toward the river where hay and straw were piled for sale.
Alexander Neckam followed along the Rue de Garlande
and continued up the hill toward the monastery. There was
a bourg, or small village, attached to Sainte-Genevieve. The
center of this was a street called the Rue des Sept Voies,
which owed its name to the fact that no fewer than seven
roads led into it, and five of these were culs-de-sac. Alex¬
ander crossed this street and circled back toward the Or¬
leans road, along the ridge. Soon he spied once more the
Palais de Hautefeuille 2 and the little Church of Saint-Es-
denne (-des-Gres), straight ahead.

The Palais de Hautefeuille was a massive Roman build¬
ing, in fair condition at that time. It inspired considerable
curiosity, even in a twelfth-century community. Some
thought it had been built by the Saracens (pagan Roman
and Saracen were often confused); others believed it to be
the family home of Ganelon the traitor. It was a rectangular
structure, about three hundred by four hundred feet. The
outer wall was double and in r 178 the roof may still have
been present, resting on a few short columns supported by
the double wall. Inside were two more walls and pagan
altars and columns. This may have been the capitol of
Lutetia; but that is only a supposition. It could have been a

7 6 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

temple. When Alexander saw it, this Palais de Hautefeuille
was used by the “Water Merchants of Paris” as their court
and meeting house. It was referred to as the “Parleoir des
borjois.” The Merchants held their assemblies in the center
court, which may not have been roofed over. The wall of
Philip Augustus was unkind to this building when it passed
through it after 1211. Still later the Dominicans erected part
of their new convent on its heavy understructure.

Looking toward the city from the Parleoir des borjois,
Alexander surely wondered at the Thermes, a trapezoidal
building with very few windows, unadorned, which stood
in a field to the left, farther down the hill. It was surrounded
by a few bams and outhouses.® Even its pastoral setting did
not make it inviting. It was entered by a small door on the
side which faced the Orleans road. At this time it was being
used as a manor house—and later acquired the title of
palace—but no one guessed what its original use may have
been. We are no cleverer today. It had been serviced by an
aqueduct of which some sections were still visible to Alex¬
ander, standing not high off the ground. The Church of
Saint-Severin was new and flourishing, but private dwell¬
ings were still few in number on this hillside. The various
fields were partitioned off by hedgerows, and perhaps by a
few hedges. The area surrounding the Petit Chastelet, at the
very door of Paris, was the Clos Mauvoisin, which was now
broken up for building. The Rue de Garlande got its name
because it passed through the Clos de Garlande; farther
along, toward Saint-Victor, was the Clos de Chardonneret.
Nearer the summit of the hill and Sainte-Genevieve was the
Clos Bruneau. 4 The Thermes and its adjacent buildings were
in the large Clos de Laas, which was the property of the
Abbey of Saint-Germ ain-des-Pres. The Abbot was con¬
templating the partitioning of this Clos de Laas for build-

Lodgings in the City 77

ing, but when Alexander first stood there only the Bourg
du Petit Pont, the old Clos Mauvoisin, was showing building
activity. The street which paralleled the river here, going
toward Saint-Victor, was already filled with the houses of
butchers and other tradesmen, who rented their upper
rooms to students. It had received the designation of Rue
de la Boucherie. Where this street swung across the Orleans
road, its name changed to Rue de la Huchette. Little alleys,
scarcely more than paths, led down to the river’s edge.
Continuing along the Rue de la Huchette toward the forti¬
fied monastery of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, Alexander had
a view of the well-trodden Prd-aux-clercs, the recreation
field, which lay between Saint-Germain-des~Pr6s and the
river. This field was a constant source of bickering between
the monastery and the students. The young folk did not
always behave themselves. Like Smithfield in London, this
site was used for games, perhaps dancing, and undoubtedly
for tourneys; but it had never been a market place. 5 Privi¬
leged audiences could remain in the King’s garden, seated
on the Roman wall, and watch games and other exercises in
the Pr6-aux-clercs, a hundred yards away.®

We are imagining that Alexander’s new quarters were in
a house on the river side of the Rue de la Boucherie. From
the upstairs window one could crane his neck and see the
pleasant fields of Saint-Victor off to the left. There was a
new ditch or canal at the end of the street, which had been
dug at the request of the abbey to carry the waters of the
Bi£vre across their lands. This emptied into the Seine. So
much of the canal ran through unpolluted fields that it was
clear and pleasant. A little bridge called the Poncel carried
strollers over this canal. The rumble of the mill wheels was
so common at that point that it usually went unnoticed. It
was a question, which did not bother Alexander, when the

78 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

Bourg du Petit Pont would eventually reach the villages
clustering around Saint-Victor, Sainte-Genevieve, and
Saint-Germain-des-Pres. That date was not far distant—the
early thirteenth century. 7

A visitor to a new place soon becomes aware of its in¬
conveniences, especially when the visitor speaks the same
language, more or less, and can soon feel at home. A per¬
petual source of irritation to the students was the civil au¬
thority. The provost of Paris, who ruled the city and the
district for twenty miles around, in the king’s name, lived
in the Petit Chastelet. Most of the king’s serjanz, and others
responsible to the provost for the maintenance of order,
were located at the Grant Chastelet on the other bank of
the river. 8 There was another provost, the provost of the
merchants, whose only duty was to head that “Water Mer¬
chants of Paris” association which we have located in the
Parleoir des borjois. This association, or hansa, was a thorn
in the side of free trade. It had ancient royal privileges,
which King Louis VII had recently ratified. It had a mo¬
nopoly on all water traffic coming up the river from Nor¬
mandy. No boat laden with beef, salt, etc. could approach
nearer than Mantes unless the owner belonged to the Paris
hansa, or unless he chose a “companion” from that associa¬
tion who would share fifty-fifty in the profits. At the date
of Alexander’s first coming to Paris these privileges had not
been extended to include ships bringing cargoes down¬
stream. This extension was made in 1192. Violations of the
monopoly were tried at the Parleoir des borjois and con¬
fiscation resulted. Fortunately, the association had no juris¬
diction over goods carried by land. For the king collected
the droiture du rot at the city gates.®

There were other restrictions on trade. No merchant was
permitted to sell in his own shop on Saturdays. On that day

Lodgings in the City 79

sales had to be made at the Campelli, outside the Porte de
Paris. This had its advantages. Merchants came on that day
from nearby towns and brought new and interesting wares.
Also many local goods which might have lain hidden in the
regular shops, unnoticed, were given better display. The
bakers were not allowed to use the public ovens on Satur¬
days and certain saints’ days. This meant no fresh bread for
at least sixty days in the year. Every Sunday bakers were
permitted to sell their leftover bread in the square before
the cathedral church.

We have referred to civil jurisdiction in the city of
Paris. The full picture was somewhat complicated. Civil
courts were maintained by the royal provost and by the
avouez (lay representatives) of the bishop of Paris, the
abbot of Sainte-Genevieve, and the abbot of Saint-Ger-
main-des-Pres. The last mentioned was the authority for the
little islands off the tip of the Cite, and for his own village
and the Clos de Laas. The abbot of Sainte-Genevieve con¬
trolled most of the area between the Petit Chastelet and his
abbey. The bishop of Paris was overlord of the Grant Pont,
the Cloister Notre Dame, the little islands upstream from
the Cite—the Isle de Notre Dame, the Isle des Vaches, and
the Isle des Javiaus—and certain other places. Infringe¬
ment on the bishop’s civil rights by the royal provost was
bitterly opposed. It must be remembered also that the bishop
had canon law authority over all the students and others in
clerical status. When the herald read bans, or official de¬
crees, in the Cite, it was customary to read them in the name
of the king and the bishop of Paris. The bishop maintained
the oldest and most popular public oven, a hundred yards
below the Grant Pont on the riverbank. It was called the
Four l’Evesque. 10 The abbots also had ovens which served
their villages and immediate neighbors. These ovens, as well

80 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

as mills and wine presses, were banalites, or feudal monop¬
olies of the abbots in their role as overlords.

The citizens of Paris were very fond of bread and pastry.
They loved gaufres (waffles), nieules (light pastry), canes-
tel (little cakes), and oublies (wafers) . u Everywhere on the
streets were sold meat and fruit pasties, carried about by
the talemeliers in little baskets covered with white cloth.
These pasties were turnovers in shape. 12 The favorite va¬
rieties were chopped ham, chicken, and eel, all of them well
seasoned with pepper. Others were of soft cheese and egg. 18
As in London, there was a constant clatter of street cries.
There were menders of furs, menders of henaps, regrattiers,
and so on. 1 * The regrattiers were vegetable and fruit mer¬
chants who could sell some other things, such as candles. 15
There was an organized group of crieurs for wine who were
employed by the royal provost. These people visited the
taverns each morning and learned what wine was available
(vin a broche ), and where. As they walked through the
streets, they carried a bowl of wine that could be sampled,
and they would beat against this with a small stick to at¬
tract attention. The taverns were obliged to contribute well
for the service. 16 It was becoming quite a “racket.” The
Moslem Usamah remarked upon this custom of “crying the
wine” as it was carried to the Holy Land by the Franks.
Usamah used to stay at a certain lodginghouse in Nablus.
“The house had windows which opened on the road, and
there stood opposite to it on the other side of the road a
house belonging to a Frank who sold wine for the mer¬
chants. He would take some wine in a bottle and go around
announcing it by shouting: ‘So-and-so, the merchant, has
just opened a cask full of this wine. He who wants to buy
some of it will find it in such and such a place.’ ” 17
For several pages we have been ignoring Alexander

Lodgings in the City 81

Neckam and his new lodging. Jehan de HauteviHe describes
such student quarters in his Architrenius, which has been
summarized as follows:

They dwell in a poor house with an old woman who cooks
only vegetables and never prepares a sheep save on feast-days.
A dirty fellow waits on the table and just such a person buys
the wine in the city. After the meal the student sits on a rickety
chair [see description on p. 69] and uses a light; doubtless a
candle which goes out continually and disturbs the ideas. So he
sits all night long and learns the seven liberal arts. Often he
falls asleep at his work and is troubled by bad dreams until
Aurora announces the day and he must hasten to the colege and
stand before the teacher. And he wins in no way the mighty
with his knowledge. But through the grace of Nature and
Fortune he wins a bride at the end of the poem. 18

In the following century, the thirteenth, John of Garland
wrote in much the same way:

I eat sparingly in my little room, not high up in a castle. I
have no silver money, nor do the Fates give me estates. Beets,
beans, and peas are here looked upon as fine dishes and we
joke about meat, which is not in our menu for a very good
reason. The size of the wine skin on the table depends on the
purse, which is never large. 10

We know from Nigel Wireker’s remark in his Speculum
stultorum (before 1180) that the ass Bumeilus associated
himself at the University of Paris with the English because
they were subtle, courteous, and generous. 20 From this we
assume that the English students tended to congregate to¬
gether. Bumeilus found two vices in the English commu¬
nity: the fondness for food, and the habit of “Wassail!
Drink-hail!”

From passages such as these it is possible to form a pic¬
ture of how the twelfth-century student must have lodged.
Someone, perhaps an old woman, would rent her two or

82 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

three upstairs rooms to students. One of these rooms would
be the main front room, or salle, which contained a fireplace.
Beds would be set up there at night, and during the day it
would serve as dining room and lounging room for all the
students in the house. 21 Surely a scribe’s chair was to be
found there, by the fire, which they all took turns in
rising . Twice a day the old woman, or other proprietor,
cooked the food which they could pay for, and a man¬
servant ran errands and bought the wine. The proprietress
doubdess slept in the kitchen, or, if she had a husband, it is
possible that diey reserved for themselves a bed somewhere
on an upper floor. We suspect that each student had to pro¬
vide his own bed, which, with sheets, pillow, and coverlet,
was worth some twenty sous, or about ten of our dollars.
This price is furnished us in a document of the Hotel-Dieu,
from the year 1168, which required each canon of the ca¬
thedral to bequeath his bed or the equivalent to the Hotel-
Dieu. 32

Alexander Neckam was not without means, so we are
assuming that he was more comfortably installed than some
of his fellows. We will imagine that he was able to rent for
himself the inner room on the second floor, which gave him
more space for his belongings. His meals and much of his
free time would be passed with his companions who oc¬
cupied the salle or outer room. Alexander describes the fit¬
tings of an average bedchamber:

In the bedchamber let a curtain go around the walls de¬
cently, or a scenic canopy, for the avoiding of flies and spiders.
From the style or epistyle of a column a tapestry should hang
appropriately. [There was no such fancy column in his student
room!] Near the bed let there be placed a chair to which a
stool may be added, and a bench nearby the bed. On the bed
itself should be placed a feather mattress to which a bolster is
attached. A quilted pad of striped cloth should cover this on

St. Mark with scribe’s chair and desk
Courtesy Louvre Museum

house from Pontaut, France, reassembled at
The Cloisters, New York

he Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters

Lodgings in the City 83

which a cushion for the head can be placed. Then sheets of
muslin, ordinary cotton, or at least pure linen, should be laid.
Next a coverlet of green cloth or of coarse wool, of which the
fur lining is badger, cat, beaver, or sable, should be put—all this
if there is lacking purple and down. A perch should be nearby
on which can rest a hawk.... From another pole let there hang
clothing . . . and let there be also a chambermaid whose face
may charm and render tranquil the chamber, who, when she
finds time to do so may knit or unknit silk thread, or make
knots of orphreys [gold lace], or may sew linen garments and
woolen clothes, or may mend. 23 Let her have gloves with the
finger tips removed; she should have a leather case protecting
the finger from needle pricks, which is vulgarly called a
“thimble.” She must have scissors 24 and a spool of thread and
various sizes of needles—small and thin for embroidery, others
not so thin for feather stitching, moderately fine ones for ordi¬
nary sewing, bigger ones for the knitring of a cloak, still larger
ones for threading laces. 25

There is frequent mention in twelfth-century literature
of draping the walls of a chamber with hangings. 28 This was
the commonest and easiest way to shut out drafts, and it
also gave a rich appearance. As the art of tapestry weaving
(in the Gobelin sense) was not developed until the four¬
teenth century, we infer that such curtains were just heavy
linen, dyed a solid color. 27 Probably they hung free from
the top of the wall. 28 More elaborate houses had their walls
sealed with plaster or a wood paneling, or both: “Then they
came into the room which was painted and paneled with
enamels and precious stones”; 29 “in his rich and lofty palace,
built of squared stones covered with lime, vaulted, paneled
[lambruschiez] with colors painted on, and chiseling.” 30
The plastered walls could also be decorated with painted
designs or murals. 31 This was more often the case in religious
edifices and in palaces of regal size. 82 And yet the little
apartment occupied by the lady in Marie de France’s

84 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

Guigemar is painted in this way with a design showing
Venus casting into a fire the Remedia amoris of Ovid. A
calendar could be painted on the wall: a list of days inter¬
vening before some important event, as in the Yvain of
Chretien de Troyes: “My lady has painted in her bedcham¬
ber all the days and all the seasons.” 33

Early in the twelfth century Baudri de Bourgueil de¬
scribed the elaborate bedchamber of the Countess Adele. 84
There the walls were covered with hangings and not with
plaster or paneling—but what hangings! The designs must
have been embroidered in colored worsted, as we find in the
Bayeux Tapestry. On one wall Creation, earthly Paradise,
and the Deluge were pictured; on the second wall there
were scenes from Noah, continuing on to the Kings of
Judah. A third wall bore designs from Greek mythology,
the siege of Troy, and Roman history. The bed of the lady
was in a small alcove which opened from the fourth wall.
There a single hanging draped around the bed showed the
Battle of Hastings (like the Bayeux Tapestry). The wooden
beams of a room were usually painted. In this case, the
ceiling showed the constellations—the signs of the zodiac—
and the names and courses of the planets. The floor of this
same rich chamber was laid with tiles representing a map of
the world: seas, rivers, mountains, and towns in Asia, Eu¬
rope, and Africa. The bed, too, was carved and painted: the
Quadrivium was shown at the headpiece, the Trivium at the
foot, and Medicine on the side. In all probability this de¬
scription of the room and bed is exaggerated, but if it were
half true, the chamber must have been so cluttered with de¬
sign that it could produce only insomnia. Our protagonist,
Alexander Neckam, would have been lucky to have a hang¬
ing around his walls of a single solid color. His ceiling was
of wood, coated with a lacquer or varnish finish, perhaps

Lodgings in the City 85

over an undercoat of color. Behind the wall hanging dis¬
mounted tables and other furnishings were stored when

The picture of a typical bed, which
we quoted from Alexander, needs some
further comment. 36 The main part of
such a bed was a rectangular frame of
wood which had a bedcord of silk,
probably red, or perhaps of leather
thongs. This frame ( espondes ) was
fastened by loops ( crepons) to head
and foot pieces (pefuels). This was the
simplest kind of bed and could be put
together very easily at nightfall and dismounted in the
mor nin g. The feet were apt to have an outward curve, often
resembling an animal or bird claw. There was usually a
knob at the top of each post. We see from contemporary
pictures that this simple type of bedframe could be rein¬
forced. There could be a third frame for one of the sides.
Apparently also a side rail could be fitted on each of the
two sides to help brace the ends and to prevent the covers
and mattresses from slipping off. Although such beds were
easily portable, one or two would be left standing, if a
room was not crowded, to serve as benches or seats. 38 A
number of coutes, thin padded mattresses, could be laid on
top of the first mattress, which was stuffed with feathers.
Some of the details of fancy beds must be taken with a
gr ain of salt. Take this for instance:

In a bed of which the hooks are of silver, the knobs are of red
gold, and the frame pieces are all of ivory. All the cords are of
red gilk There are two or four padded mattresses, and bolsters
and sheets of velvet, and pillows, and a coverlet of marten’s fur
embroidered with birds, beasts, and flowers. 37

not m use.

86 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

The name for the sidepieces of the bedframe was limons 38

Here is an over-all picture of the furnishings of a bed¬
chamber, in a few words: “The duke searched the room,
which was all paved. There was not a wall hanging that he
did not move . . . nor a small box, nor a big locked chest
that the duke did not unlock and open that night.” 39
Clo thing , books, etc. were kept in chests ranged around the
wall Clo thing for immediate use, however, was hung on a
pole, high on the wall. This pole took the place of our
modem closet. Add to these details a scattering of rushes
on the tile or stone floor, an occasional bench or stool, and
a colored mattress or a small rug which could be unrolled
for sitting on the floor, and our picture is complete. If the
room were the sails on the second floor, it would certainly
have a fireplace; otherwise it might be heated only by a
charcoal brazier, probably in the form of a large metal dish.
Candles were the source of light. 40 One type of candlestick,
or candelabra, stood high from the floor, with small spikes
or “pricks” where the candles were impaled. Table-size can¬
dlesticks also were used. All these were apt to be made of
wrought iron, occasionally ornamented with enamels at
the base. Small lanterns, perhaps of horn, were used for

If Alexander preferred to eat in his own room, this was
effected by the setting up of two or more trestles on which
boards were placed. We are assuming that this table was
set up in the sails of his lodginghouse and that he ate there
with the other students. A table board of gold is recorded
as having belonged to Joan, the daughter of Henry II of
England, who married in Sicily. 41 A gold board must have
meant a wooden board with plates of thin gold attached to
it. A fair white cloth, reaching to the ground, or nearly so,
was draped over the table, and benches were set at the

Lodgings in the City 87

sides. The Chanson de Guillaume mentions that for the
Count’s great hall there were benches and forms, with an
upper table and a lower table. 42 These were probably set in
a j. The host, or principal diner at the meal, used a high-
backed chair at the head of the table, with his back to the
fireplace. In an affluent household there was a raised floor,
or dais, at the fireplace end, where those who were of
higher r ank sat and ate. 43 The table was set with salt con¬
tainers of various shapes—sometimes in the form of a boat
—with round, flat loaves of bread, a wooden bowl for every
two people, a few trenchers or roundels on
which food could be placed and cut, and
kniv es that resembled our hunting knives. 44
If the host were wealthy, a small side table
was set up where one or more varlets did the
cutting for those who dined or supped.

In this salle, or perhaps in the pantry,
there mig ht stand a small buffet, with a flat
top and with a small cupboard below where
henaps could be kept. 45 People were called to the table by
an act known as comer Fiaue, “blow for the water.’ In the
average household this meant to go to several wooden or
metal basins which were chained to a shelf or stand and
wash, perhaps making use of soft soap which had the con¬
sistency of mutton fat. 46 A long towel was used. On a more
formal occasion the guests seated themselves first on benches
r unni ng the length of each side of the table, and then the
servitors circulated a basin, ewer, and towel. We imagine
that the hands were held over the basin and water was
simply poured over them. The towel got most of the dirt
and became wet and clammy. 47

Food was carried up from the kitchen without much re¬
spect for distance. Meat was brought in on the spit, while

88 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

vegetables of different kinds, having been boiled together,
were piled on a platter, or perhaps a large flat trencher. The
service dishes were placed on the right hand and the sauce
dish on the left. It was customary to serve two pieces of
bread at a time . 48 Juicy foods were sopped pretty liberally
with the help of die bread, two people eating from the same
bowl. Special attention was paid to sauces, wherein the true
secret of the culinary art was supposed to lie. Neckam
leaves us some recipes:

A roast of pork is prepared diligently on a grid, frequently
basted, and kid on the grid just as the hot coals cease to smoke.
Let condiment be avoided other than pure salt or a simple garlic
sauce. It does not hurt to sprinkle a cut-up capon with pepper.
A domestic fowl may be quite tender, having been turned on a
long spit, but it needs a strong garlic sauce, diluted with wine
or vinegar [that is, green juice of grapes or apples]. Flavor a
hen which has been cleaned and cut up into pieces, with cumin,
if it is well boiled; but if it has been roasted, let it be treated
with frequent drippings of fat, nor does it refuse garlic sauce;
it will be most tasty with simple sauce . 49 Let fish that have
been cleaned be cooked in a mixture of wine and water; after¬
wards they should be taken with green “savory” which is made
from sage, parsley, dittany, thyme, costus, garlic, and pepper;
do not omit salt. One who takes this is especially exhilarated
and restored by a raisin wine which is clear to the bottom of
the cup, in its clarity similar to the tears of a penitent, and the
color is that of an oxhom. It descends like lightning upon one
who takes it—most tasty as an almond nut, quick as a squirrel,
frisky as a kid, strong in the manner of a house of Cistercians
or gray monks, emitting a kind of spark; it is supplied with the
subtlety of a syllogism of Petit Pont; delicate as a fine cotton,
it exceeds crystal in its coolness . 59

This demonstrates that Alexander loved raisin wine and
that he had a considerable enthusiasm for things of the table.
The chansons de geste frequently list on the menu “cranes
and geese and peppered peacocks ,” 51 Since neither the crane

Lodgings in the City 89

nor the peacock would be considered edible today, this
surprises us. Such meat is tough and stringy and was not at
all adapted to the “scorbutic teeth and gums” of a twelfth-
century man. We have evidence, how¬
ever, that peacocks were actually
served in Elizabethan times, so there is
little reason to doubt the evidence of
the chansons de geste. Probably the
cranes were served because they were
captured with great sport by the hunt¬
ing falcons and the mediaeval man
liked to eat whatever he brought home
from the hunt. The peacock had some associations of
nobility, and it was surely boiled until its flesh was tender.

A meal began with a blessing, after the hand washing had
been accomplished. No one should think that eating at this
time was a sort of “catch as catch can.” Even the dogs were
expected to behave: “When greedy dogs stand before the
board is there not need for a rod? As oft as any of them
shall snatch toward thee, and taketh from thee thy food,
wilt thou not as often smite? Else it would snatch from thee
all that thou hadst. . . .” M There are various treatises on
personal etiquette at the table. One is just twenty-three
lines long, which we call the Quisque es in mensa from its
opening words. 53 This prohibits belching, touching the nose
or ears while at table, the use of a toothpick, and elbows on
table, and insists that the hands and nails be clean and that
the mouth be emptied and lips wiped before drinking out
of the henap. Bones were to be placed in the bowl or escuele,
or thrown on the floor for the dogs. John of Garland, in his
Morale scholarium, infers that the henap should be held by
the base when drinking, and that wine should be poured
with both hands on the jug. An expensive henap often was

yo Ddly Living in the Twelfth Century

a coupe couverclee, provided with a cover. 54 The henap was
passed from hand to hand. When two people ate from the
same escuele, and one was a lady or a person of high rank,
it -was considered correct for the man or the lesser person to
wait upon the other. 55 He handled the napkin, broke the
bread, ait the cake, and passed the hemp and the platters of
food. When Henry II and his son the Young King ate from
the same escuele y w r e presume that the Young Kang thus
attended his father. 5 ® The carver at the side table was ex¬
pected to exercise normal cleanliness. There is an amusing
passage in the Romm de Renan where poor, simple Ysen-
grim—who is carving in mittens—is accused of wiping his
nose and his mouth while doing the carving, and he is sus¬
pected of doing even less sanitary things. 57

In his student lodging, at the table which was set up in
the sails for Alexander and his companions, it is hardly
likely that any special etiquette was followed.

The linen was removed at the close of a meal, and those
who had been at table were required to wash their hands
once more. If minstrels were present, the members of the
household made themselves as comfortable as they could
and listened for a while; the henap was. passed around freely.
This procedure was not limited to special occasions only.
It was quite common to have someone sing or tell a story
after a meal, even in a small manor house. It will be noted
that we made no mention above of table forks or spoons.
Forks, of course, were not even made. Spoons existed, but
they were passed around only as a particular favor when
the need was felt. Wace tells a story which begins in this
way: “I do not know what they had to eat but they needed
spoons. A chamberlain had the spoons. . . .” 5S The spoons
were counted before and after use. In Wace’s story a cer¬
tain knight concealed one of them. We have already men-

9 1

Lodgings in the City

tioned that soups and sauces were taken with the aid of
bread. Very few adults at that time had an adequate set of
teeth. Solid pieces of food were handled with the fingers.
The bill of fare could include pork, mutton, venison, wild
ducks, hens, capons, and fish, well washed down. 59 The wild
boar was a special kind of pork with stronger flavor. The
flesh of the boar is no treat to the taste of a gourmet. It was
because the boar, like the crane, represented difficult game
in the field that his flesh was served with occasional enthu¬
siasm. Beans, beets, and peas were served, but the first two
were considered poor fare. Peas were rather popular at the
best of tables. Bread (three kinds, at least) was indispen¬
sable, and mention is frequently made of a gastel, or cake.
Apparently such a cake was a mixture of brown flour,
sweetening, and shortening. The sweetening was honey,
which is only a third as strong as our modem sugar, and
the shortening was a vegetable oil, probably olive oil. The
resulting cake must have been very similar to what we now
call Scotch shortbread. I believe that the Scots got their
recipe in the first place from the French. After it was baked,
the French gastel could be compared in shape to a round,
flat stone. 80 The baking of bread is described in the Cheval-
erie Ogier le Danois. 61

The above picture represents a well-to-do household
rather than a student lodging. Some of the very poor could
not even afford to set a table: “For a poor man who has no
money does not sit by a fire, nor sit at a table, rather he eats
on his lap. The dogs flock around him and take the bread
from his hands.” 62 Apparently a prosperous fisherman lived
quite well. In the Vie de Saint Gregoire the fisherman’s wife
served him white wheat bread, fish, and a mazer of wine.
He would take only coarse bread and water. More pros¬
perous peasants were fond of boiled milk and hot clabber.

92 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

Sometimes they boiled bits of cake or bread with the milk,
and the result was called a morterel and was eaten in an
escuele with a spoon. This might be accompanied by cheese
and a composte. The composte consisted of fruit and herbs
preserved in wine or in a salt pic kling fluid. 63

It is time for us to accompany Alexander on a trip to the
kitchen, from which dishes were carried up the narrow
stairway, one or two flights, to serve his table. The kitchen
was at the rear of the house on the ground floor, or it could
be another flight down in a sort of half-basement. The chief
essential in a kitchen was the large fireplace. Not far from
rhic, perhaps in a projection of the foundation wall, a few
feet off the ground, was the opening of the garde-robe pit. 64
Into this the kitchen waste was thrown, accompanied prob¬
ably by some human waste. We might guess that a fastidious
cook would place over this a wooden cover that could be
lifted off at will. This pit was emptied at intervals by a
“Maistre Fifi,” who removed the waste in buckets, through
the superior opening, and carried it out through the kitchen,
and perhaps the upper floor of the house. 65 Water was kept
in a large open vat, or tine. This was kept filled during the
day by a servant or by a professional water porter who
might have contracted to do the job. This man carried a
yoke, called a grouge, across his shoulders, with a pail dan¬
gling at each end. The source of the water was problematical.
We know from a doctor writing in the seventeenth century
that the wells of the Para area were brackish, that the water
of the Seine was more tasty, but that it gave dysentery to all
except those who were natives of the region. While reflect¬
ing on the possibilities of the Seine as a source of water, the
reader should remember that it had a swifter flow than it
has now. Since the nineteenth century the course of the
Seine has been slowed by canal locks and weirs so that it

Lodgings in the City 93

now gives a different appearance. Today it is a sluggish
stream.

Here is Alexander’s own list of required utensils in a
kitchen:

In a kitchen there should be a small table on which cabbage
may be minced, and also lentils, peas, shelled beans, beans in
the pod, millet, onions, and other vegetables of the kind that
can be cut up. There should be also pots, tripods, a mortar, a
hatchet, a pestle, a stirring stick, a hook, a cauldron, a bronze
vessel, a small pan, a baking pan, a meathook, a griddle, small
pitchers, a trencher, a bowl, a platter, a pickling vat, and knives
for cleaning fish. In a vivarium let fish be kept, in which they
can be caught by net, fork, spear, or light hook, or with a
basket. 66 The chief cook should have a cupboard [capamrn] in
the kitchen where he may store away aromatic spices, and bread
flour sifted through a sieve—and used also for feeding small
fish—may be hidden away there. 67 Let there be also a cleaning
place where the entrails and feathers of ducks and other do¬
mestic fowl can be removed and the birds cleaned. Likewise
there should be a large spoon for removing foam and skimming.
Also there should be hot water for scalding fowl. 68

Have a pepper mill, and a hand [flour ?] mill. Small fish for
cooking should be put into a pickling mixture, that is, water

mixed with salt_. 6 ® To be sure, pickling is not for all fish, for

these are of different kinds: mullets, soles, sea eels, lampreys,
mackerel, turbot, sperlings, gudgeons, sea bream, young tunnies,
cod, plaice, stargazers [?], anglers, herring, lobsters fried in
half an egg, bougues y sea mullets, and oysters. There should be
also a garde-robe pit through which the filth of die kitchen
may be evacuated. In the pantry let there be shaggy towels
[gausapes]^ tablecloth, and an ordinary hand towel which shall
hang from a pole to avoid mice. 70 Knives should be kept in
the pantry, an engraved saucedish, a saltcellar, a cheese con¬
tainer, a candelabra, a lantern , 71 a candlestick, and baskets . 72 In
the cellar or storeroom should be casks, tuns, wineskins, 73 cups,
cup cases [henapiers]™ spoons, ewers, basins, baskets, pure
wine, cider, beer, unfermented wine, mixed wine, claret, nectar.

94 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

mead .. . pivment, pear wine, red wine, wine from Auvergne,
clove-spiced wine for gluttons whose thirst is unquench¬
able. .. . 7B

We have no description of a hand mill,
but there is a mill worked by a foot trea¬
dle, for grinding grain, on a capital at
Vezelay. 76 The treadle works a heavy
flanged wheel which enmeshes so as to
turn a vertical screw, likely of stone, which
grinds in a perforated millstone at the bot¬
tom of a hopper. The operator who works
the treadle is pouring grain from a sack
into the funnel-shaped hopper while an¬
other man is receiving the flour in a sack
as it is carried down through the hole.

Pots were placed on the tripods over the open fire, and
spits were turned before the flame, doubtless by the hand
of a kitchen knave. The fire was not supposed to go out.
When it did die out, the cook or the housewife sent to a
neighbor for a hot coal. The average house, however, had a
fuisil, or fire-striking iron. This was a piece of iron, two or
three inches long, which had a bronze handle. From a side
view this instrument had the appearance of a very small
flatiron. 77 It was struck against a piece of flint so that sparks
fell onto some charred tow. 78

The reader is doubtless interested in the pantry, or dis¬
pense, and the storeroom, which are described by Alex¬
ander. We assume that the cellar or storeroom was down¬
stairs adjacent to the kitchen. I cannot locate the pantry.
It was perhaps there that the bowls for washing hands stood
on a ledge, or on a stand. We know that pantry work was
considered very honorable, but that kitchen service was
low. That being so, we can rest assured that the pantry
would be abovestairs, somewhere adjacent to the salle.

95

Lodgings in the City

We stated in an earlier chapter that more detail would be
given about the construction of twelfth-century houses. In
Exeter there is a stone house well preserved (and restored)
which has only one room, on the ground floor. The entry
is by a door in the middle of the front wall. Such a single
room must have been combined kitchen, sdle s and bed¬
chamber, and yet the builder could not have been too
indigent since he erected a house of stone. At Southampton
the so-called King John House was unquestionably a wharf
storage building with a single room for the wharfinger’s
family on the upper floor, reached by a long stairway
which skirted the back wall of the storage court, which
was open to the air. The house of a well-to-do person who
did not manufacture or trade on his premises would have
been somewhat as follows. Inside the entrance door was a
vestibule with a stair leading straight up. A door opening
on the side of the top landing led into a sdle, which was
the principal room, with Its ornamental windows fronting
on die street. There was a fireplace at one end. The floor
was tiled or of stone. Opening off from this was an inner
room, a private apartment which could be reached only by
going through the sdle . It was used as a sleeping room, or
conceivably it could have been given over to women s
work or to storage. In a town house there was frequently
a floor above. This would be reached by a stairway in a
tower situated at one side of the main sdle . The room up¬
stairs would be occupied by some members of the family, or
perhaps it was rented out. It was called a soler . On the
ground floor a door would open to the side of the vestibule
and lead into a pantry, which, in turn, opened into the
kitchen. Such a simple plan could, of course, be varied con¬
siderably. Occasionally the ground floor of a wealthy
house was divided into small chambers which were rented
on a permanent basis to poorer people. 70 Some houses were

96 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

large enough for the stair to go up the center rather than
at one side. In that case a door would open from each side
of the entrance vestibule and from both sides of the upper
landing. This doubled the number of rooms. To match the
main salle on one side would be a women’s workroom on
the other. A single small room could be given over to the
storing of clo thing . As we have said a few pages earlier,
in some cases the kitchen was placed in a half-basement.
The so-called Jew’s House in Lincoln had rooms opening
off from both sides of the central stairway.

The problem of locating the latrine was a serious one.
Such a convenience was called a longaigne, which is to
be translated “far-off place.” Obviously the householders
wished to isolate such a chamber, even though their limited
space made it difficult. In the Life of St. Gregory the latrine
is spoken of as a retiring place where tablets could be read
without interruption.® I am inclined to think that where
the space permitted a garde-robe pit was dug apart from
the house and a shed and wooden platform were placed
over it. The Assise of 1189 in London demanded that such
a pit should not be less than two and one-half feet from
the property line. 81 Boccaccio’s Decamerone tells of an
outdoor platform that collapsed under the occupant. This
platform, however, was built in very unsanitary fashion
over an open court. 82 In some town houses the latrine must
have been placed in the inner sleeping apartment, off from
the main salle, with a chute provided to a pit in the floor of
the cellar. This shaft would have an ope ning into the cellar
through which it could be emptied. Worth spoken above
in the sleeping apartment would have an uncanny habit of
being heard in the cellar as they drifted down the shaft. 83
The ideal arrangement, practiced in a royal palace or a
wealthy household, as in the halls attached to the royal

97

Lodgings in the City

castle at Salisbury, was to have a special latrine tower to
which a door opened off from the salle or from an ante¬
room. Any small house so provided was indeed lucky. I am
afraid that more often the waste pit near the kitchen fire
took care of sewage as well as kitchen refuse. The Life of
St. Gregory informs us that in a larger household the user
of a latrine was escorted there, and assisted, by a chamber-
lain. 84

Windows were small and high, except those of the main
salle. A window on the ground floor could have an iron
grating before it, to discourage thieves. The windows of
the salle were given much attention. Frequendy they were
double with a thin dividing column through the center.
The houses that have survived to the present day were
mosdy expensive houses so that we are obliged to describe
windows in houses of that class. These had sculptured
tympana. 85 In larger houses there would be a whole row of
such windows, side by side, giving the effect of a gallery.
In small houses, such as those found at Chartres, there
would be one lone double window. No glass panes were in
use as yet. A window was screened with black or green
cloth to protect against the cold of -winter. 86 Lower-floor
windows had removable wooden shutters or coverings. 87
It was customary to hang bird cages, usually square and
made of wicker, in the window during the warmer months. 88

We have been describing houses built of stone, because
they are the only kind that have been preserved. But most
of the dwellings of the twelfth century were made of wood.
For these we must have recourse to representations in the
Bayeux Tapestry and in a few other sources. In a manu¬
script of the mid-thirteenth century there is a fairly good
representation of a wooden house which cannot have dif¬
fered much from the type used in the previous century. 89

98 Daily Ltvmg m the Twelfth Century

Fhe wooden siding is made of vertical boards, like boards
and batten without the battens. There is a little “lift” or
roof projecting over the entrance door, or before the entire
lower floor of the house. The door is a double door. The
ups tair s in the illustration loots more like a loge or balcony,
but this was drawn with excessively large windows in order
to show the figure of a lady taking a bath for which a maid
carries the water in a small cauldron. One of the down¬
stairs windows of this house has a shutter which fits the
opening without any overlap. (In a peasant house men¬
tioned in an earlier chapter we described the shutter as
hinged at the top and falling against the side of the house.)
The Bayeux Tapestry depicts wooden houses with the same
little “lift” or portico as we have just mentioned. 90 Ap¬
parently this roof could be supported at the outer comers
by fancy wooden posts. In one of the houses of the tapestry
there is an actual balcony on top of such a projecting roof.
Balconies could not have been uncommon, for Fitzstephen,
in his description of the water tourney on the Thames,
mentioned that people crowded onto the balconies of houses
facing the river. 91 It is evident also from the tapestry that
where a house did not have a common wall with its neigh¬
bor its outer walls were reinforced by tall posts which
served as buttresses. These too could have fancy capitals.
Unquestionably it was such fancy posts and ornately carved
beams, as well as tile facings and elaborate wooden mold¬
ings, that gave some houses the “gingerbready” look which
Alexander Neckam deplored. He was disturbed also over
the outer thrust of the house walls. He insisted

that no walls, even those from wooden beams, should make
equidistant hues. See that wooden walls be built in proper pro¬
portions, that they have no greater thickness at the bottom
than at the top; die surfaces should not be equidistant. It is

Lodgings in the City 99

obligatory that the more the walls rise from the ground the
more distance there should be between them. For, since all
stress naturally inclines to the center of the earth, the walls

should be associated in angularity.® 2

This is a strange engineering theory. He means that a house
which is not a perfect square or rectangle in its floor plan
is more secure than one that is. Elsewhere Alexander de¬
scribes in brief the construction of a country house:

Let the main hall be furnished with a vestibule near which
the portico may be properly set up. There should be also an
outer court which is named from ater because kitchens used to
be constructed near open spaces in order that the passers-by
might smell the odor and vapor of the kitchen. In the hall let
there be posts set apart with proper distances. There is need
for nails, poles, siding, beams, and crosspieces extending to the
roof. Rafters are required, reaching across the house. Walls
should not be strictly parallel; the higher they rise, the farther
apart they should be, otherwise all the structure will be threat¬
ened by ruin and there will be a hazard. Let windows be suit¬
ably placed in the house, looking toward the east, in which
gourds or “twisted pots” should be placed, on the outside, in
which may be kept storax from Aleppo, but not Trojan storax,
. . . Serapian balsam, balm of Mecca, euphorbia, Persian gum,
mastic, black poplar ointment, laurel oil, juice of green grapes,
elder oil, and castoreum. [These are to bring the proper odors
in through the window.] Let some basket weave be added to
the roof and let the whole be covered or thatched with marsh
reed, or, if planking is laid up there, this can be covered with
tiles or slates. Have a ceiling to expel the treacherous air from
the house. Let the projection or base of the outer wall be sup¬
plied with posts. The door should have a lock and a latch, bars,
pegs, and bolt. Swinging or double doors may lead in from the
portico and should be supplied with hinges in the proper
manner. 93

And he says elsewhere:

A roof is added, subject to ceilings and beams. What shall I say

IOO

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

about carvings and paintings except that wealth supports stu¬
pidity? Roofs that keep out the winter should be sufficient. But
the destructive luxury of wealth and the deadly vanity of a

city have subjected men to the yoke of miserable slavery and
have thought up so many illegal inventions that no one can
enumerate them. However, it is necessary that the carvings of
crossbeams should hold up spider webs. Expect superfluous and
vain inventions in buildings, clothing, foods, harness, cloaks,
and various other furnishings, and you can say with reason:
“O Vanity, O Superfluity. 55

Alexander does not mention the possibility of a balcony . 94
He records, as he did in describing the structure of a boat,
that wicker weave was used to reinforce joints, but he says

nothing of stucco construction over a series of uprights
erected for the outer wall. On these uprights a wicker lath

would be interwoven before the application of some sort
of cement . 95

A block of stone (perron) might serve as a door stoop, or
such a stone, similar to the old carriage mounting blocks in
modem cities, could be placed a short distance away from
the building. It was used to aid a knight or lady in mounting
a horse. People sometimes sat on the stoop: “Outside at the
perron where she goes to sit .” 96 The pleasure of such sitting
was questionable as the street was never inviting. Except on
main roads there was almost no paving. The black Paris
mud, which caused a wit to trace the name Lutetia from
lutum , “mud , 55 was sticky and unpleasant . 91 Streets were
leveled down so that they sloped toward the center, from
each side. This meant that a stream flowed down the middle
of the road during rainy days, serving as a cleansing agent.
Them was without a doubt some paving carried out in the
twelfth century, in imitation of the surface of an old Roman
road. The lower layers of a Roman pavement would not be
copied. Blocks were laid and cemented with a mortar of

IOI

Lodgings in the City

sand, lime, and river mud to make a road called a chemin
ferre. (The ancient Roman cement was very hard, con¬
sisting of lime, rubble, and volcanic ash.) Where a road
went through a bog, a foundation was made of logs of
oak. 98

Although streams of water were encouraged to flow
down the middle of the streets, there was a shortage of
drainage ditches for these to empty into. Fortunately many
of the Paris streets sloped toward the river, or toward the
Bievre. Drainage must have been remarkably bad on the
Cite itself—in the royal palace and in the Cloister of Notre
Dame. 99 A ditch that was dug remained open to the air.
Filth found its way constantly into the muddy streets.
Chamber pots and washbasins could be emptied too by
pitching the contents from the window. To avoid such
foulness on a dry day, and the rushing gutter on a wet day,
many rode through the streets on horseback, and the others
used heavy shoes with very high, thick soles. The chape was
a protection from water thrown from above. (It is easy to
recognize the origins of our modem polite rule that a gentle¬
man should walk on the outside while the lady takes the
wall.) Streets were never lighted, of course. Those who
were obliged to venture abroad after couvre-feu —seven or
eight o’clock in the evening, by modem time, according to
the season of the year—were apt to be accompanied by a
boy with a torch or lantern. To be sure, the houses were
usually lit up at an earlier hour and, as the streets were not
wide, the illumination may have been sufficient at five or
six o’clock, modem time, on a winter evening. Policing of
the streets late at nig ht was ineffective. There was a watch¬
man on the principal tower of the city’s defenses, presum¬
ably the Grant Chastelet at Paris, who blew a hom at the
first break of day. A knight of the watch was on duty each

102

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

night, and he had under him certain serjanz, and a corvee
of tradesmen who were obliged to stand watch through
the city. The tradesmen were selected by a rotation system
among the guilds. Despite these precautions, the best pro¬
tection was afforded by good stout wooden shutters on
the lower windows, and a heavy door or strong lock. I
doubt that the open shop fronts were boarded over. It
seems more likely that the merchants removed their port¬
able wares into a section of the house that could be bolted
up. At a much later date Villon mentions vagrants who
spent the night under merchants’ counters. But the stairway
tower which led to the upper floor would be locked with
extreme care. 100

The heavy outer door, which was usually double, was
locked by a bar or beam fitted across it on the inside and
held in place in two metal slots. A smaller, single door must
have been fitted with a common latch, consisting of a small
bar which pivoted at one end. This could be lifted from
the outside by a Iatchstring, a thong or cord which hung
out through a hole. Thus we have the traditional saying:
“The Iatchstring is out.” On the inside, a metal ring was
attached to the bar or bolt and served to lift it. 101 In more
expensive buildings the doors were fitted with locks and
keys. Many keys have been preserved from the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries in our museums. They were heavier
than we should expect, because locks turned rather clumsily,
but not all were as heavy as this one: “He held a key and
struck him in the face with it, so rudely that down he
fell.” 102 A ring with several of these large keys could be
worn at the belt by a housewife, or by the seneschal of a
wealthy household. Apparently padlocks of a kind were
also in use. Guemes remarks about a door which lay in the
path of St. Thomas Becket, on the day of his murder: “But

Lodgings in the City 103

that one was closed with a great lock [loc]. . . . When he
wished to twist the lock it fell in his hands.” 103

We will now take leave of individual houses and accom¬
pany Alexander in another journey over the city of Paris.
A traveler who approached the city in 1210 would have
noted the following, according to the author of a chmson
de geste:

That day they rode and traveled until they saw Paris, the
admirable city, with many a church, many a high church
tower, and abbeys of great nobility. They saw the Seine with
its deep fords, and the mills of which there were many; they
saw the ships which bring wheat, wine, salt, and great
wealth.. . . 104

Just where men on horseback could have been fording the
river is not immediately apparent to us today; but there has
been a rise in the level of the water due to the weirs and
canal locks of the nineteenth century. The Seine in 1180
was shallower and swifter. Presumably these fords existed
where one or more of the smaller islands could serve as mid¬
points. Water mills were the common device for grinding
grain. Windmills were a recent invention in Normandy
and had not spread very far before the close of the century.
There were a number of water mills under the arches of
the two Paris bridges. No contemporary of Alexander has
described these for us in detail. We are obliged to turn to
a fourteenth-century illustration and hope that there was
little change in the two-hundred-year interval. 105 This later
picture shows each mill constructed on a floating hull, or
boat. The wheel is over the side; the millstones and the op¬
erator are on a cupola-shaped platform with peaked roof
which is built amidships on each hull. A ladder leads up to
this. Sacks of grain are being brought in small boats and
passed up to the millers. Each miller pours the grain into a

104 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

funnel which is over the stone. The milled flour is pour¬
ing into sacks held beneath the platform. We assume that
the action of a screw turning in the millstone is similar to
what we observe in the smaller mill pictured at Vezelay.
A mill erected on a floating hull could be shifted to allow
traffic to pass under the bridge.

This same fourteenth-century manuscript pictures the
small boats which operated on the Seine. They were low in
the water, and the lines of the gunwale show that they
were slightly arched with bow and stem a litde high. Some
are being paddled from the stem; others are being rowed.
The oarsman sits in the prow and not amidships as is done
today.

Fishing rights above the bridges, as far as the Marne, be¬
longed to the king, but his bailiff gave licenses very freely. 108
The Seine had many more fish than it does under modem
conditions, and there was a profitable trade. Vivaria, or fish
enclosures, were constructed in various places, close to the
banks. There was a path along the left bank of the river
which was used by horses maneuvering and dra wing
boats. 107 Usually two horses worked to a boat, and a rope
was led from them to the peak of the mast. Such a tow had
to be released as the boat approached the Petit Pont, but it
was reattached easily when the boat had gone through the
arches. We will assume that short willow trees were planted
effectively along the edges of the banks to prevent soil
slip. 108

If Neckam had taken a ferry across the Seine, farther
down the river, he would have been impressed by various
things other than the water mills, the horse towpath, and
the bridges hidden by their houses. At the tip of the great
island on which the main city lay was the long’s cour, or
palace. Our earliest picture of this dates from 1412, and is

io5

Lodgings in the City

an illumination for the month of June in the famous
Tresriches hemes of the Due de Berry. 109 This represents
a later group of buildings which was begun for Philip the
Fair, early in the fourteenth century. These aid us somewhat
in attempting a reconstruction of the palace in the time of
Louis VII. The principal thing was the garden with its
trellis of pliable wood and its trees. We know from Abelard
that the royal authorities opened this to the student public
at certain times. 110 We can imagine the plants that grew
there by reading Alexander’s description of a proper kind

It should be ornamented with roses and lilies, the heliotrope,
violets, and mandrakes. One should have also parsley, costus,
fennel, southernwood, coriander, sage, savory, hyssop, mint,
rue, dittany, celery, pyrethrum, lettuce, cress, and peonies.
There should be made beds for onions, leeks, garlic, pumpkins,
and shallots. A garden is distinguished when it has growing
there cucumbers, the soporific poppy, daffodils, and acanthus.
There should not be lacking pot vegetables such as beets, dog’s
mercury, orach, sorrel, and mallows. Anise, mustard, white
pepper, and absinthe give usefulness to any garden. A noble
garden will show you also medlars [very similar to persim¬
mons], quinces, bon chretien pears, peaches, pears of St.
Regulus, pomegranates, lemons, oranges, almonds, dates which
are the fruit of palm trees, and figs. 111

Alexander then remarks that unfortunately certain useful
herbs do not grow in European gardens: ginger, clove,
cinnamon, licorice, zedoary, incense, myrrh, aloes, oil of
myrrh, rosin, storax, balsam, galbanum, cypress, nard, Ara¬
bian oil of myrrh ( gutta ), and cassia fistula. The following
medicinal herbs, however, can be cultivated there: saffron,
sandyx, thyme, pennyroyal, borage, purslane, and

wild spikenard which gently brings forth through the upper
orifice the disturbed content of the “father of the family,” by

io6 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

which I mean stomach. Colewort and ragwort excite love, but
the marvelous frigidity of psyllium seed offers a remedy for
that affliction. Myrtle too is a friend of temperance.... Those
who are experienced in such matters distinguish between the
heliotrope and our “heliotrope” which is called calendula, and
between mugvvort and our native “mugwort” which is fever¬
few. It happens that the wool-blade is one shrub and the silver-
leaved wool-blade is another. The iris grows a purple flower;
the Florentine iris or ireos has a white one. The gladiolus bears
a yellow one; but the burweed has no flower. Other noted
herbs are horehound, hound’s-tongue or cynoglossa, parsley,
macedomum [?], bryony, groundsel, wild myrrh or angelica,
regina, coriander—three heaven-gazing species. But Macer and
Dioscorides, and many others, diligently inquire into the prop¬
erties and effects of herbs, wherefore we pass to other things . 112

Probably many of the plants and herbs which Alexander
says could grow in these gardens were there at the tip of
the i slan d, some of them trained against the re mains of the
Roman wall. Very little grass was grown in a mediaeval
garden. The walks may have been bordered with acanthus.

The Roman wall could not have been very attractive any
longer. 113 The foundation or footing stones of this rampart
were miscellaneous blocks of stone brought by the builders
from various ruins—old temples, houses, and so forth. Here
and there, where this footing was uncovered, one could
make out dedicatory inscriptions to household gods and
citizens who had departed long ago. On this motley foun¬
dation the Romans had built up a typical wall of brick and
cement. The bricks were thin and varied in design, as was
usual with Roman work. This wall had no towers—just a
battered walk along its top, with low crenels. Here and
there a narrow stair was built against the side. There was
certainly such a stairway in the stretch of wall that en¬
closed the garden. An opening in the wall at the very tip of
the island had a wooden gate, allowing authorized people

Lodgings in the City 107

who came by water to make an entrance into the garden.

The two small islands off the tip of the Qte sheltered this
garden entrance, but the flow of the river caused a back
eddy in the intervening water which some people did not
care to navigate. The little islands were empty and over¬
grown with weeds and grass. 114 Some wood may have been
stacked there at times. There was also a marshy strip of
land, a green-covered island which hugged close to the left
side of the Qte. This is still visible in the Tresriches heures.
This had no use; it was just a lush green strip. The buildings
of the royal court, beyond the garden, can only be approxi¬
mated by us. Doubtless there was a large hall, of Merovin¬
gian or Roman construction. It had a broad stone stair front¬
ing on the street, with a large mounting block a short dis¬
tance away at the foot of these stairs. It was possible for a
knight to ride on his horse up the stairway and enter the
hall, although this was not encouraged. We have evidence
that the garden extended to directly behind this hall. 115 In
addition there must have been a fortified tower or donjon,
surrounded by a small dry moat. There was a small church,
the Chapel of St. Nicholas. It is possible to picture the rela¬
tive location of these buildings by studying the relative posi¬
tions in the later establishment of Philip the Fair; but this
can never be dete rmin ed with absolute accuracy.

Qhapter V

Gown

I n order to illustrate the intellectual climate of Paris at
this time, and to comment upon some of its social com¬
plexities, we will add another dash of fiction to our discus¬
sion. It has already been assumed that Alexander Neckam,
possessing a little more money than the average, has rented
from an elderly proprietress the inner room on the second
floor, which he occupies by himself. We will add to this an
assumption that three other students, less affluent, are oc¬
cupying the salle or principal room, outside his door. They
set up their beds there every night, sometimes forgetting
to take them down in the morning, and Alexander joins
them there twice a day for the two meals that are served
by their hostess. Like that student group mentioned by
Jehan de Hauteville, they have a single manservant who
fetches water and wine and does other errands. 1 We are
pretending that the address is Rue de la Boucherie, close
by the Church of Saint-Julien-le-pauvre. The single win¬
dow in Alexander’s room was high, but it looked out over
the river and gave a perfect view of that area on the Cite
where the new cathedral church of Notre Dame was being
erected, slowly, in all its glory. This was not a bad vantage
point for a newcomer who was enthusiastic for the sights
of Paris. Looking down toward the left, Alexander could

Gown

109

even, see into the back window of Adam’s house on the Petit
Pont, very dimly, but sufficiently to tell whether the teacher
was engaged with students.

The companions who shared the salle as living quarters
were each typical of a class of student. One was a monk,
who, after two or three years in a cloister, had grown rest¬
less and taken sudden leave. He still wore his habit, but he
was in Paris without the knowledge or consent of his su¬
periors. Despite many fulminations by the Church authori¬
ties against such wanderers, faulty communications and
poor keeping of records made it almost impossible to check
up on them. If this young “monk” wished the protection
and advantages that could come to him from the house of
his order that was in or near Paris, too often he received
them on the strength of his own statements.

Another of the companions was a young secular canon—
too young, and undoubtedly too secular in his viewpoint,
for the benefice he was enjoying. The benefice was not a
rich one, so he was short of funds . 2 He owed it to lay
patronage back home. He, too, was studying in Paris with¬
out bothering to secure permission beforehand or after¬
wards. He was expecting to take up medicine at Mont¬
pellier, after studies in the quadrivium at Paris, and then he
hoped to go on to Bologna for a stiff course in the civil
law. Nigel Wireker had a biting pen, but he was certainly
truthful in describing students of this class . 3 They come
home from Montpellier bringing pots and jars, and they
attach themselves to a rich patron who is responsible for
their receiving a benefice. They wear fancy clothes. Even¬
tually they grow disgusted with feeling pulses and exam¬
ining urine. They rush off to Bologna. When they return
they are unusually controversial and are fond of big words.
They are ready to dash off to Rome to have the slightest

no

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

little dispute settled at the Lateran Court. T his youth, at
the time he lived near Alexander, was not very serious about
his studies. He was interested above all in people and their
reactions; he could find very little of that in a discussion
of Boethius’ treatises. Wireker mentions the student who
gazes at the passers-by when he should be paying careful
attention to the master. He dreams almost constantly of
hunting. Although this canon must r emain a shadowy fig¬
ure to us, I will apply to him the physical characterization
which Alexander Neckam gives to a certain type which he
calls the arrogans* Modem youth would perhaps prefer the
term “phony.” Alexander says of such a youth that he
tended to move all the parts of his body as he stood. His
eyebrows would be arched, he kept glancing out of the
comer of his eyes, he blushed easily, he would clap and
stretch out his hands with no provocation. He often crossed
his legs while sitting and would talk with his hands, mouth
wide open. Such an exquisite youth would shake his hair,
lisping now in a weak voice and now roaring like a hog
caller (this simile is mine). Since Alexander pictures the
type so well, I feel no compunction in assuming that he
could have had such a young gentleman in the room adja¬
cent. John of Salisbury Said of this kind: “They consider
that riches only are the fruit of wisdom.” 6

The third student was more irregular. He had the simple
tonsure, but his mind was concentrated upon the tavern
and on dicing and the women. He was clever, though, at
poetry (both Larin and vernacular), and he had a pleasant
singing voice. This young man was frankly not interested
in getting ahead in the Church or in professional circles.
What he desired was to make acquaintances who would be
profitable to him later in his career as a minstrel and wander¬
ing scholar * He had been at the schools in Orleans and

Gown

hi

had come to Paris only because of the larger circle of peo¬
ple which he expected to find in the shadow of Notre
Dame. The “monk” had visions of returning eventually to
his cloister, or to a better one, after he had had his fill of
the good life; the canon wanted to rise high in medicine or
the law, or both; Alexander was a serious student, bent upon
becoming himself a scholar and teacher of note; but the
“singing cleric” was a worldly man, and he loved verses
more than he did the sacred offices. While remaining at the
schools, he was one of those “faint-hearted” described by
a preacher who said that some clerks with benefices could
hardly rise for the morning offices; others when the offices
were said betook themselves to the spectacular

But guiding Providence often makes us change our minds
and our aspirations. Perhaps a dream would come, and this
worldly man might change into another Serlo of Wilton,
another Folquet of Marseilles. Serlo, after his conversion
and his becoming a Cistercian abbot, would eat only bread
and water for a day if he chanced to hear a performance
of one of his secular lyrics. The renegade monk might also
have a decided change of heart. He could be like that his¬
toric figure who attached himself to a cloister, expecting
to make off with the sacred vessels, but who saw the light
in time and eventually was named prior. The arrogant, in
turn, could become a serious physician or a worthy lawyer.
The wheel of Fortune changed so easily in the twelfth
century.

These three, sometimes joined by Alexander, were not
averse to a good time: “Everyone blames and reproves a
young fellow . . . whom one does not see to be gay and
cheery; that is the way you should be. School is not every¬
thing for you .” 8 In December and January, as well as at
Eastertide, there were the ludi theatrales, die plays which

112

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

were put on at the monasteries, and occasionally in the
cloister of the Cathedral. Some of these ludi, like the Jeu de
Samt-Nicholas and the Jeu d?Adam, had very entertaining
comedy. It will be remembered that the Christmas season
lasted from Christmas to the Feast of the Purification on
February 2, but the hearty entertainment was on Christmas
Day, St. Stephen’s (December 26), St. John the Evangelist’s
(December 27), and Holy Innocents’ (December 28). On
the three days after Christmas it had long been the custom
of the Church authorities to allow the youngest clerks and
novices to take over and celebrate in a “childish” way. This
was particularly true for Holy Innocents’, which began, of
course, at sundown on December 27.® The irreverent be¬
havior which invariably resulted was not taken too seri¬
ously. The boys recited a parody of the Martyrology, at
Prime. In some places, at a date not precisely determined,
there arose a messe des fozis. In the spring and warmer
months caroles were danced on the hillsides just outside
Paris. Giraldus remarks that the Black Monks, the Cluniacs,
permitted the use of their land for this sort of entertainment.
In a carole those not participating in the round dance would
sit side by side, perhaps on a sloping hillside, a natural
amphitheater. 10 The dancers, and some of the audience,
provided the music by clapping and chanting a ballad or
other dance song. Sometimes the words may have been
acted out. I am inclined to believe that this was so with a
pastourelle; the girl stood in the middle of a circle and
someone, girl or boy, mimicked the accosting knight. The
circle of dancers served as a chorus. On occasion a cleric
would lead such a dance. 11 We know also that the dances
were held in churchyards. 12

An amusement of a different kind was afforded by a
wealthy man who gave a banquet or dinner. This was not

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“3

always on some special occasion. Thomas Becket, when he
was chancellor of England, used to throw open his great
hall to all those who wished to come and eat and drink.
A wealthy man of this kind might stop with the Templars,
outside the Porte Baudoyer. The Templars themselves were
not hostile to excessively good cheer. 13 But a visitor to such
a party did not have an “awfully good time,” unless he were
a person of some prominence or a clever minstrel. The tables
were long and the meat and drink got very scarce toward
the lower end. The young scholasticus vagtms of Alexan¬
der’s household could get some enjoyment from it. He was
furnished an opportunity to present his wares, in Latin or
French, and he occasionally received a warm welcome.
Peter Pictor, who spent his days ornamenting ceilings and
painting the walls of wealthy patrons’ houses, remarked
earlier in the century that some of the high ecclesiasts would
rather listen to the fatuous verses of a jongleur than to the
well-composed stanzas of a serious Latin poet, me an i ng
himself. 14 Of course, or dinar y households also were in the
habit of list ening to entertainers, after a meal, when these
were available, and there was always the minstrel who
gathered a group of listeners before a church or in an open
place on the street. These men recited everything from
saint’s life to chanson de geste. Some of them were acrobats,
and others led around a hapless bear or a trained monkey.
They were good for a laugh, and the cost was very little.
Each person might contribute a maille (half-denier).

There was other amusement, less innocent, furnished by
the taverns and the houses of prostitution. The taverns were
buildings open to the street, like the usual shop. The room
was filled with benches and stools, and there was an occa¬
sional table board laid on two trestles. In taverns it was
customary to drink and roll the dice. 18 Little food was sold

ii4 Daily Living m the Twelfth Century

there, but it could be brought in from a street vendor or
from a nearby cookshop. The two more worldly members
of the group at the house on the Rue de la Boucherie were
probably frequent attenders; we hope that Alexander and
the canon dropped in only occasionally, for a cup of wine.
As it was against the law to strike a cleric or to arrest him
except on authority from the bishop, it was very difficult to
keep order in these places. On the wall behind the counter
there were poles, and maybe hooks, from which dangled the
wearing apparel left by drinkers who could not pay their
scot. 16 The tavern keeper was in the pawnbroking business,
although he was seldom a Jew. Casks of wine, rather long,
with diameter greater in the middle than at the ends, re¬
posed on low wooden racks. They had a small air hole at
the top, and wine was drawn from a plugged hole on one
end. A large hemp filled may have cost a denier, depending
upon the value of the wine. As for the women, it was not
necessary to seek out the quarters where they practiced the
oldest profession. There was much competition also from
the serving maids and the tradeswomen who had daily con¬
tact with the normal life of the city. It was the girl’s family
rather than the civil law which watched over her virtue.
Rape was sometimes very severely punished; but this se¬
verity depended upon factors that were not constant. 17
Boys and girls entered very young into the life of the
community, often at the age of twelve or thirteen. Child
labor was of everyday occurrence. They were not always
sheltered at that age, and their decisions were made with
immature minds.

I do not wish to give the impression that Alexander as the
serious student of our group belonged to a class that was
greatly in the minority. Serious clerks may have made up
a half of the university community; another fourth could

Loge with loom, from MS R.17.1
Courtesy Trinity College, Cambridge

.vet cammp Jjuewecmcl*'
l cat» eimawiSoti xmatitoet?
H| ^i»U0 bmme aiplh* ft#
Mlufcfenepcftmcpar ttm ;
. ttmqua am fam Uwp^fi-
te.-mtbtdmv'at am &&
^po«si0‘« fetfiw teittatncro
lW u. -muttilset^ '^0t» tituu&
|le mattute aatucpofetr*

tUtidf*

Illumination showing “companions of the bath”
Courtesy British Museum

Gown

115

have been constituted by the worldly but reputable group
of which the canon was representative. The stray monks
and wandering minstrels were there, however, and should
not be forgotten. Some great literature was composed by
such delinquents, for respectability and distinguished art
do not go hand in hand.

When asked to define knowledge, Alexander doubtless
gave the traditional answer. 18 There were the trivium,
which consisted of grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic; the
quadrivium, made up of arithmetic, geometry, music, and
astronomy; and, in addition, theology, civil and canon law,
and medicine. The last three were taught separately and
with some concentration, but the other subjects were often
not studied in any sequence, and the lector (or teacher)
might combine dialectic with any of the others. Normally
a student such as Alexander followed the trivium and the
quadrivium for several years before beginning theology,
and then, if curiosity and money were not lacking, the two
laws and medicine might follow. Hugues of Saint-Victor
had even proposed a different system of classification: he
divided philosophy or learning into theoretical, practical,
mechanical, and logical. The trivium fitted under logical,
and the quadrivium, with theology, came under theoretical.
The lectures given by Adam dou Petit Pont combined
grammar and dialectic, although rhetoric was not com¬
pletely absent. Following a hint given by John of Salisbury
on the methodology used by Bernard de Chartres, we will
assume that young Neckam attended two sessions a day
with Adam, his lector. The principal one was in the after¬
noon, perhaps from two to four o’clock modem time. This
began with an exposition of a text and then could be fol¬
lowed by a short question, or disputation, period. Perhaps
Adam ended with a brief sermon and then all said the Pater

ii 6 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

Noster. Exercises were assigned for the next day. The
morning session could have been spent, as it was in Ber¬
nard’s classes, with reading and correcting of the students’
tasks.

In the exposition period the lector or master studied the
construction of certain phrases and then commented on the
author’s ideas and discussed subtly the precise meanings of
the words. The teacher certainly used a prepared commen¬
tary or gloss on the text that was being studied. As books
were hard to get, the students were encouraged to copy out,
or copy down, paragraphs of the texts that were being
analyzed. For their exercises they would change prose into
verse, and vice versa, or they would write something similar
in the style of their model author. When studying a theo¬
logical text, or one on rhetoric, the teacher indicated three
stages of meaning. There was historia, or literal sense; then
there was allegory, or doctrine; and finally there was the
moral implication, or sententia. The chief text in theology
at this time was the Liber sententiarum of Peter Lombard,
which was meant to be a collection of moral questions for
use in discussion. Peter Comestor’s Historia scholastica
(1173) was 311 arrangement of the history of Christianity
made in a way that brought out the allegorical and mori
possibilities of interpretation. Very frequently the teacher
did not discuss a complete text of an author. He made use
of flores, or chrestomathies, in which a series of selections
from different writers were read and discussed. These pas¬
sages might be arranged in order of occurrence in the full
texts, or they might be placed in some scriptural sequence
or in a sequence that presented a logical order of doctrine.
Adam dou Petit Pont was particularly famous for his sharp
syllogisms. His course in grammar must have taken the
form of a study of the philosophy of language. He, and

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117

most of his fellows, believed firmly that the names of thing s
had a natural appropriateness. Therefore these lectores en¬
couraged etymological explanations whenever possible, and
often when they were totally “impossible.” Alexander
Neckam continued this practice in most of his own writ¬
ings. Both the Old and the New Logic of Aristotle were
now in use. These were, of course, constant reference books
for Adam, and we may imagine that he had his Aristotle
text placed on a stand close by his professorial chair and
reading desk. The old man was no mean theologian. In
1179 he was to be one of the English representatives who
attended an important council in Rome.

It will be noted that grammar and rhetoric were receiv¬
ing a strong dialectic tinge in the schools of Paris. This
fact was much decried by contemporaries, but the tendency
grew constantly stronger. Aristotle’s Logica nova (Amlytica
priora et posterior a, Topici, Sophistici elenchi ) even more
than the Logica vetus (Boethius’ translation of the Cate¬
gories and Periermenias, with the Isagoge of Porphyry) had
captured the imagination of most of the lectores and stu¬
dents in Paris since the year 1160. Before setting up as a
lector on the Petit Pont or in the Gte, a scholar was obliged
to receive a licentia docendi from the scholasticus or chan¬
cellor of the cathedral chapter of Notre Dame. A similar
official of the Abbey of Sainte-Genevieve gave permission
to teach on the left bank of the Seine. The new master
would have to give evidence that he had pursued his sub¬
ject diligently with acknowledged teachers and that they
approved of his setting up on his own. We will quote
(p. 157) from Gerald the Welshman on this subject.
A new lector would begin with an opening lecture to which
students and other teachers were invited. There would be
a dinner, and the old teacher would indicate his approval

n8 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

Other masters would recommend that their pupils frequent
the new classroom.

Nigel Wireker has his character Bumellus frequent the
English students in Paris. Doubtless there was some con¬
gregating of student clerics according to origin and inter¬
ests; but there were no organized “Nations” as yet, in the
twelfth century.

Alexander was wakened at dawn by the blowing of the
watchman’s horn from the tower of the Grant Chastelet.
This was sounded as the upper rim of the sun appeared on
the horizon. It was already growing light before the sun
showed itself. We will assume that Alexander hurried
through his dressing, possibly m aking use of a washbasin
which dangled from a chain in the salle or in the dispensary,
or perhaps even in the kitchen court below. At this time
he may have scooped up a handful of French soap from
a wooden bowl nearby. 19 This soft soap was made by
boiling mutton fat in a leissive of wood ash and caustic
soda. Two other kinds of soap were the Saracen and the
savon esparterois used by Jews. We are not suggesting that
the use of toilet soap was common as yet, but it was cer¬
tainly employed as an enema and for the removal of sur¬
plus, visible dirt. It is reasonable to assume that Alexander
stopped for Mass on most mornings at the Church of Saint-
Julien-Ie-pauvre, before rushing to the house of Adam on
the Petit Pont. During the class the students sat on straw,
or stools, or an occasional bench, while the teacher occupied
his high-backed chair. We have said that much of this
morning period was devoted to correcting of themes. After
several hours of it the students walked in groups, or talked
with the teacher, until the time to return to quarters for
their first meal at about ten o’clock (our time). We suspect
that fast was often broken before that with a cup of wine,

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119

and pernaps with a famous Parisian pasty. With dinner
over, in an hour or two, most people rested in some way. By
another hour they were up ( relevee ) and then came the
two hours of class in the afternoon. This was the principal
exposition, as John of Salisbury has hinted. 20 It was fol¬
lowed by more private discussion and amusement before
supper at Vespers. After this meal, we can assume, the stu¬
dents took to their books by candlelight; and some worked
far into the night. A few must have made their way to the
tavern. On holy days, which were frequent, there were no
classes and more real sport. Students strolled or rode into
the country; they participated in games on the Pre-aux-
clercs. There were always groups of them who were looking
for mischief.

Since Alexander had a room to himself, we picture him
as following the advice given by a certain priest to Giraldus.
The priest was an old man who had seen many successive
groups of students at Paris. “When a man of letters sits in
his chimney comer with a book, he is his own best com¬
pany.” 21 Alexander has left us a copious treatment of what
he thought of the seven arts in Chapter 173 of his De
naturis rerwn. 22 He was conservative in some ways, and he
showed preference for the trivium, which, before the
twelfth century, was the sum total of learning. But he
thought that the trivium could be improperly used. Gram¬
mar is supposed to teach us to speak well and correcdy—
but do we do it? Rhetoric was designed to give us elo¬
quence, but those who use it are bent upon the wrong pur¬
poses. Dialectic is to enable us to distinguish right from
wrong, and yet we employ it to make the wrong appear
right. Alexander was bitter on this point. He took sides in
the squabble of his day which divided the advocates of
grammar and rhetoric from the dialecticians. He gives many

120

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

examples of the ridiculous state into which dialectic had
fallen in the mouths of its practitioners. “Sortes,” the “Mr.
X” of the twelfth-century logicians, could be proved to be
anything at all. 28 Alexander did not care much for the
quadrivium: arithmetic, geometry (Euclid), astronomy,
and music. That is, he registered on parchment his disap¬
proval, but he displayed keen curiosity just the same.
Zoology and gemmology were not school subjects in his
century, but he was much interested in them, and by the
time he wrote the De naturis rerum he had studied these
fields with the aid of Solinus, Pliny, Aristotle, Cassiodorus,
and Boethius. Herbs also fascinated him. We infer that his
practice of arithmetic was limited to the use of the calcu¬
lating board, which we can picture in his room in Paris.
This board consisted of a low table top to be set on legs of
a kind. On it was a center line, through which crosslines
were spaced, alternating long and short. The longer cross-
lines marked single units and the shorter lines indicated
“fives.” Calculations were made with metal or bone coun¬
ters which were placed on the proper lines in making addi¬
tions, and taken therefrom when subtraction was in order.

I doubt that Alexander had an astrolabe. He could not have
resisted describing one if he had owned it. This instrument
was useful in astronomy and geometry (or that part of it
which now belongs to trigonometry). Alexander has one
first observation to his credit in popular astronomy. He is
the first to tell us of the legend of the man in the moon. He
repeats a popular Latin distich on this: “The peasant in the
moon, whom a pack on the back weighs down, shows that
to steal thorns helps no one.” 24

As Alexander settled into his lodging, we will assume that
he took stock of the availability of books. 25 He could not
have brought many with him, traveling light as he did. He

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must have contacted the booksellers, buying some titles and
renting copies of certain others. Books at the time were not
always bound separately. A volume might contain within
its plain wooden boards (often covered with skin) a num¬
ber of works, usually related in subject matter. Possibly
Alexander brought from Dunstable, in his saddlebags, the
chief grammatical texts: the Institutiones of Priscian, the
Ars minor of Donatus, the famous Eclogue of Theodulus,
and the commentary on Martianus Capella by Remigius of
Auxerre. He may have brought, also, some of the books
needed for the study of rhetoric: the Rhetorica ad Heren-
nium, Cicero’s De Oratore , and the works of Quintilian. He
might have purchased in Paris the Old and New Lope of
Aristotle; the Historic scholastica of Peter Comestor, the
scholastics or chancellor of the Paris schools who had just
died; and the De universitate of Bernard Sylvester. Tbs
book by Bernard was a favorite with the poets. It gave a
picture of Nature as the mater generation,is. As a prospec¬
tive theologian Alexander assumedly purchased also the
Liber sententiarum of Peter Lombard. The young canon,
whom we shall designate hereafter as Bernard, was follow¬
ing courses in the quadrivium. He required the works of
Boethius, Pliny, Euclid, Ptolemy, and Solinus. As this canon
had a hankering for the law he may have started already
to dicker for the Code and the Digest, as well as for the
Decretwm of Gratian and the decretals of Pope Alexander
III. If medical books could be purchased by either Alex¬
ander or Canon Bernard, their choice would have fallen on
the Prognostica of Hippocrates, the Pantegni, something by
Galen, and various treatises by Isaac. The books of Dios-
corides and Macer on herbs also were desirable. Alexander
showed at a later date the results of some medical study. It
is posable that he got his first acquaintance with medicine

122

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

at this time. We will give the canon the benefit of a doubt
and assign to his personal library a missal, a Psalter, and a
breviary. He might have owned a hymnal. Probably the
“monk” and the minstrel possessed very little in the way
of books. As Giraldus had occasion to say once: “Today
there are in the Church clerks without the science of letters
just as there are many knights without skill and practice in
arms, who are called by others ‘Knights of Saint Mary.’ ” 20
Books were valuable property. 27 They could be sold,
pawned, and rented. 28 Those who wanted to hold on to
them were obliged to take some care. An important book,
frequently used, might be chained to its reading desk or
shelf. We can conclude that Alexander and young Bernard
kept theirs in chests for which they had keys. 29 1 am going
to hazard a guess that either Bernard or Alexander soon
rented an Ars dtetandi by Bernard de Meun. This was a
condensation of the larger Summit dictaminis of Bernard
Sylvester. These were home courses in secretarial science.
They explained how to write letters and gave many speci¬
mens for all occasions which could be adapted to anyone’s
use. 80 Commonest among these letter forms were those ask¬
ing for money from relatives. 81 Letter writing as an art was
encouraged by the schools at Orleans, which were distin¬
guished for their more frivolous varieties of learning. A
serious student at Paris must have glanced up the hill toward
Orleans in much the same way that the modern student in
a large, distinguished university looks with scorn toward a
more practical institution in the same locality.

A learned kind of entertainment which attracted Alex¬
ander and Bernard, possibly the “monk” also, was the public
disputations held by students and professors on the holy
days and on other special occasions. A visiting scholar might
announce a lecture, or a series of lectures, just as Giraldus

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123

did at Oxford. On three successive days Giraldus read from
his Description of Ireland, and each day was for a different
kind of auditor, including laymen. 33 In Paris, Giraldus tells
us, it was customary to have public expositions of canon
law on a Sunday. The opening lectures of a new teacher
were apt to be attended with avidity, particularly if he
stacked the audience with his friends and well-wishers.
More common were those occasions when someone set up
various propositions which he was prepared to defend
against all comers. At times these defenses took on a very
serious character when a teacher’s doctrine was suspect, and
he was required to defend himself against heresy. Some of
these “defenses” may have been held at Saint-Julien-le-
pauvre, which had the advantage of being located in the
Burgum Parvi Ponds. They were usually held in churches,
on an afternoon, after relevee, and they could continue for
a while after supper. As a general rule, there was little ac¬
tivity by candlelight in the twelfth century. Lacking elab¬
orate means for illumination, the people naturally preferred
to live by the sun. The large wax candles, called cierges,
which were the very ultimate in efficiency, were expensive.
The people rose at daybreak (point du jour ) and retired as
it grew dark, except in the dead of winter when darkness
fell not long after four o’clock (modem time). In that cold,
dark season the hours from four to seven-thirty were usu¬
ally passed beside a bright fire in the chimney place. But
at the other seasons of the year activity by natural light
could continue until seven or eight, and in mid-summer it
was still twilight when they went to bed.

As in London, and in every large city, certain churches
were designated to ring their bells to mark the canonical
hours, from which the townspeople took their time. Appar¬
ently three churches—Sainte-Opportune, Saint-Merri, and

i 24 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

the Cathedral—were doing this at the date Alexander was in
Paris. The mediaeval man was very conscious of midi,
when the sun was direcdy overhead, and he reckoned by
it when he was traveling about. The hour of Sext coincided
with midi only a few times during the year. Most folic who
were at home were taking their rest as the sun reached its
zenith.

We might speak at this point about the types of recluses:
the monks and the hermits. Nigel Wireker lists the monastic
orders when he has his protagonist, Bumellus, consider
them all. 33 They were the Hospitalers (wearing the white
cross), the Black Monks or Cluniacs, the Cistercians, the
Order of Grammont, the Carthusians, the Augustinians or
black canons, the Order of Premontre, those of Sempling-
ham, the Benedictines, and the Templars. Most of these
were represented in some way in the vicinity of Paris. They
were the same in England, too. Perhaps the “Friar” Tuck of
Robin Hood’s band was a Black Monk; he was certainly not
the Franciscan who is so anachronistically portrayed in all
our modem versions of the legend. In an age such as the
twelfth century, which was inefficient in its approach to
social and statistical matters, it is a wonder that the Church
was able to keep as good a centralized control as it often
did. But some of the individual monastic houses got out of
hand, and critics, both lay and clerical, did not allow it to
be passed over. 84 In the Anseys de Mes:

The monks drink in violence and strife of the best wines which
God has established. They eat bread as white as hail; of all
flesh do they eat also, so that their bellies are full and stuffed
and they almost burst through the middle. But real [holy men]
the hermits do not act so. They have bread of barley, kneaded
with water, and wild fruit which they have gathered in the
woods, and various herbs and roots also. When Bauclus had
been in the abbey to the point that he had his fill of ease and

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125

bread and wine he realized that he would not be saved in this
way. In a wood that was some seven hundred yards away he
became a hermit, for fourteen or fifteen years. He did not eat
of bread or flour, or anything which was not a root. His back
became so thin from fasting that he could hardly stand upon
his feet... . 86

Chretien de Troyes presents a picture, similar to this, of a
hermit whose bread is filled with barley straw, and who has
no meat and no wine. 89 He eats meat only when it is brought
to him by the knight Yvain. Hermits were not uncommon
in the twelfth century. There were two dominant psycho¬
logical reasons which influenced such individuals to aban¬
don their fellow men. Some were literal-minded and be¬
lieved that luxury and petty vices could not be avoided in
any society as life was then constituted. Others must have
been oppressed by crowding and developed a kind of
agoraphobia. A person was seldom alone in town or coun¬
try, or in most monastic communities. There were surely
a few high-strung people who had a desire to escape from
this.

A typical large Benedictine abbey had the following mo¬
nastic officials: abbot, prior, subprior, third prior, sacristan,
subsacristan, cellarer, subcellarer, guestmaster, camerarius,
sub corner arms, refectorarius, subrefectorarius, precentor,
succentor, librarian, shrine custodian, pittancer, and phy¬
sician. 87 The sacristan was treasurer and chief bailiff; his as¬
sistant was directly in charge of workmen who labored on
buildings, etc. The cellarer may be called the seneschal of
the establishment. The guestmaster served directly under
the cellarer. The duties of cellarer and sacristan were suffi¬
ciently similar, so that they were occasionally at odds over
their respective responsibilities. We might have included an¬
other office in our list, that of almoner to the abbot. Some

126 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

of the farm lands of an abbey could be managed by a monk
who was permitted to live out of the abbey in a manor
house. The behavior of such a member of the community
was observed strictly, and he was subject to replacement at
any time.

‘The dress of the monks varied with the order. The reader
should bear in mind, however, that the habits worn were
basically similar to the plainest dress of lay peasants. The
villein who worked in the fields had his long hooded frock
of undyed wool or linen, girded with a tie belt or perhaps
with a clasp. On his feet were heavy shoes with very thick
soles. The various orders of monks stylized their particular
peasant dress and kept it uniform. Furthermore, the monk
wore no headgear at all, whereas the peasant had a broad-
brimmed hat, or, at times, a snood. Despite such similarity
I find it difficult to identify some of the items in a monk’s
dress as given in the following passage: “He took the cowl,
the frock, and the estamine [woolen cloak?], also the big
boots, the tribous [?], and the fur garment \pellice J|.” 88

There were certain essential rooms, or buildings, in a
monastery: chapter house, refectory, calefactory, dormi¬
tory, infirmary, cloister and library, church, and hospice or
guest house. Marie de France says: “The abbot comes to
speak to them, he begs them to stop, and he will show them
his dormitory, his chapter house, his refectory. . . .”*» The
chapter house was the assembly hall of the community.
There is a splendid specimen of such a hall, taken from
Pontaut (France), which has been set up again in The
Cloisters in New York City. 40 The members of the com¬
munity, in this particular example, sat along a stone ledge
on three sides of the hall. The abbot’s seat is not determined.
This chapter house of which we are speaking formed an
alcove off from the cloister, separated from it by three mag-

Gown 127

nificent arches, one of them over the doorway. The re¬
fectory, or dining room, could have a platform at one end,
where the abbot had his table. Sometimes it had a reading
pulpit high on the wall where a reader was placed. The
calefactory was the social room in some of the orders. This
was not essential. The dormitories were seldom built with
any idea of permanence, and usually they have not survived.
The guest house had no special charm. The cloister, usually
with a garden in the center, was of great importance. Here
the religious would stroll, pray, and meditate, and in many
communities they sat along the inner wall, copying and
studying. Care was frequently lavished on the capitals which
supported the roof of such a cloister. In The Cloisters of
New York City there are some excellent examples of
smaller cloisters which have been brought over from France
and set up exactly as they were.

Close to Alexander’s lodging were the Augustinian
canons who maintained both Saint-Victor and Sainte-Gene-
vi&ve, up on the hill. Neckam was always welcome in both
of these houses, particularly because of his associations
with this order back in England. The Augustinians were ex¬
tremely extroverted. They provided hospitals for the sick
and lodgings for travelers, and above all they were con¬
cerned with education. As we have had occasion to com¬
ment, those of Saint-Victor and Sainte-Genevieve provided
theological training. If Alexander had come to Paris in
quest of theology instead of grammar and dialectic, he
would have gone to one of these two schools.

Benedictines of various kinds were close at hand. The
Cluniac community was represented by Saint-Martin-des-
Champs, that huge agricultural foundation which had so
impressed our travelers as they drew near the suburb of the
right bank on the day of their arrival. With the aid of hired

iz8 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

labor ( hStes) these monks were clearing the marshy dis¬
tricts to the northeast of the city. The Abbot of Cluny
kept a firm hand on all his subordinate houses, and this very
centralization made them agents of transmission for new
prevailing ideas. The monks of Cluny were tremendously
concerned with the recovery of Spain, and with the pro¬
motion of the pilgrimage to Compostela. Since the time of
the great abbot Peter the Venerable, who died in u 56, they
had made enlightened efforts to convert the Saracens and
the Jews. It was at their Abbey of Saint-Martin-des-Champs
that Alexander and his companions saw and heard many
jongleurs of the better type. The monies themselves per¬
mitted performances of dramas, and even lighter entertain¬
ment, such as caroles.

Not far from the king’s palace, on the island of the Cit£,
were the Benedictines of Saint~Barth£lemy and Saint-Mag-
loire, who were subject to the Abbey of Saint-Marmoutier
at Tours. There were other, smaller groups of Benedictines,
autonomous except for obligations to their General Chapter.
First in size and importance was the Abbey of Saint-Ger-
main-des-Pres. This large community with its stone rampart
and drawbridge stood close to the Seine adjacent to the
Pre-aux-clercs. Ordinary students were not always wel¬
come within its portals because of the many disputes and
contentions which had arisen over cases of jurisdiction.
Since Pope Alexander III had dedicated the abbey church in
1163, this community was exempt from the authority of
Bishop Maurice de Sully and owed obedience directly to
the Holy See. The Abbot was feudal overlord of the land
which lay close by the Petit Pont. His own village of Saint-
Germain was a thriving town which since 1170 had en¬
joyed the privileges of being a commune.

Because of his intimacy with the Abbot of St. Albans,

Gown

129

in England, Alexander Ncckam was given some special
privileges by the Abbot of Saint-Germain and was, on occa¬
sion, allowed to see the intricate machinery of administra¬
tion which held together so active an enterprise.

The actual administration of a large Benedictine abbey in
the twelfth century is depicted most graphically in the ac¬
count given by Jocelin of the Abbey of Bury-St. Edmund’s.
We shall draw on this. The abbot was in every sense of the
word a feudal overlord, with the additional authority per¬
taining to his religious office. He could discipline a monk
by sending him into exile. Control over the abbot’s own
acts belonged only to a papal legate sent for an occa¬
sional inspection. The sacristan provided the income for the
upkeep of the abbot’s house from the feudal tents which
belonged to the abbot. These were distinct from the rents
of the monastery proper. When the abbot’s post was va¬
cant, the royal authority stepped in and administered his
revenues until a new incumbent was elected and approved.
In n 81 the King gave permission to the Archbishop of
Norway to live in the abbot’s house at St. Edmund’s and
to receive ten shillings a day. 41 This was during the interim
following the death of Abbot Hugh.

Once an abbot had been elected, and consecrated with
his miter and ring, he was brought in great ceremony to the
abbey church and took his seat on the west side of the choir.
He was greeted by his knight vassals as well as by his monks.
He was supposed to maintain hospitality for these vassals,
and others, on a scale somewhat similar to that of a baron
or count. He named a steward and kept account of the
manors and the servile holdings and of the services re¬
quired. Abbot Samson, when elected at St. Edmund’s, con¬
structed new hunting parks, stocked them with beasts, and
kept a kennel and a huntsman. He himself did not follow

130 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

the chase. He was required, however, to keep apart the
revenues of the monastery and the revenues belonging to his
own office. St. Edmund’s had a special custom: the monas¬
tery entertained all monks and secular priests who were re¬
ceived as guests; the abbot paid for the entertainment of
other guests when he was in residence. When he was absent,
the monastery did all entertaining on its own responsibility.
Abbot Samson bought several stone houses outside the
abbey enclosure in which the monastery schools were con¬
ducted. Previous to this purchase each student was obliged
to pay a denier or a maille twice a year for rent, as well as
another small fee for instruction. 42

The abbot received gifts on the Feast of the Circumcision
from all his vassals, like any feudal lord. He collected
knight’s service from his vassals, which included scutage,
reliefs, and aids. Hie burghers of Saint-Germain doubtless
paid to their abbot an annual sum (perhaps sixty marks) for
the liberties of their commune. The buyers of the abbot, or
of the cellarer, had the right to make first purchase of all
supplies that were brought to the abbey towns for sale.
There were many diverse customs and tolls which were
collected by the monastery. 43

Benedictine monks were required to spend four hours
and more a day in the choir of their church, and a certain
number of hours in manual labor. At the time when Alex¬
ander Neckam visited Saint-Germain, the Benedictine order
w 7 as no longer playing a leading part in intellectual activ¬
ity . 44 But the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Pres certainly
had a fine library, and the monks were expected to devote
from three to five hours a day to reading. At the beginning
of Lent each monk received from the library a book, which
was usually kept a year. Probably some copying of manu¬
scripts was done during the hours allotted to manual labor.

Gown

131

Jocelin refers to a certain council as being held at “the sea¬
son of bloodletting when the cloistered monks were wont
to reveal the secrets of their hearts in turn, and to discuss
matters one with another.” 45 Jocelin is literal when he refers
to the season of bloodletting. It was a practice five times a
year for the monks to be bled, and we know that this was
used as a period of bathing and relaxation.

In the dormitory buildings at Saint-Germain the pro¬
fessed monks were each housed in a small partitioned com¬
partment which was called a cell. There was a whole series
of these along each long wall. The novices, on the other
hand, had a domus of their own, which was a large single
room filled with beds. 46 The infirmary also was a separate
domus. In the center of this infirmary hall was a narrow
pallet where the members of the community were placed
in their last hour, clothed in a hair shirt and sprinkled with
ashes. 47 There was a physician as well as an infirmarius.
Jocelin says that Master Walter, the physician at St.
Edmund’s Abbey, received fees from the practice of medi¬
cine, from which we assume that he was allowed to have
a practice outside the cloister. 48

The outer gate of the monastery was kept by an old
monk, the portarius, who had a cell arranged close by. As
a guest entered or left the enclosure, the portarius saluted
him with bowed head, except special guests before whom
the porter prostrated himself on the ground. 49

Usually when Alexander finished his visits to the Abbey
of Saint-Germain it was Vespers and he hurried through the
busy commune which surrounded the abbey, intent upon
getting back for supper on the Rue de la Boucherie. The
road which led toward Petit Pont passed through a few
vineyards and fields before houses increased in number, and
the road became the Rue de la Huchette. It was a familiar

132 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

path for all students, as it was the route which they took to
the Pr6-aux-clercs. Surely Alexander sometimes looked
back as he passed along the more open stretch of this road.
The great abbey with its high fortified enclosure must have
stood impressive against the setting sun on a winter’s after¬
noon. Perhaps it was then that he decided his future would
lie with the busy Augustinian order rather than with the
Benedictines who were housed here so strictly within their
moat and drawbridge.

Qhafter VI

Town

P s Alexander prepared to go to class, early in the
-morning, we can believe that he usually found his
friends fast asleep, or on the point of turning over. They
might have given as an excuse that they were afraid of
phantasmata at that unearthly hour . 1 As a matter of fact,
lectures in canon law did begin three hours later, but none
of these three was a “canonist.” Soon the street cries. As
pos. Mures frtmcbes , U bam sont chaut, became too loud
for anyone to sleep, and probably they were obliged to
rise . 2 We will suppose that the canon, Bernard, made for
the public bath on some of these mornings, where the hot
water was prepared for him by some “questionable char¬
acter” in the person of a bath tender. We will leave him
simmering in a large wooden tub, with his eye on his cloth
purse, and pay a visit ourselves to the tradesmen of die city
of Paris.

Chretien de Troyes has listed somewhat vividly the ac¬
tivity of a community:

He [Gawain] looks at the entire town peopled by many fine
people, at the changers of gold and silver and moneys, all under
cover; he sees the open places, the streets completely filled with
good workmen who are practicing their different trades. This
man is making helmets, this one mailed coats; another makes

i34 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

saddles, and another shields. One man manufactures bridles,
another spurs. Some polish sword blades, others full cloth, and
some are dyers. Some prick the fabrics and others clip them,
and these here are melting gold and silver. They make rich and
lovely pieces: cups, drinking vessels, and eating bowls
[escueles], and jewels worked in with enamels; also rings, belts,
and pins. One could certainly believe that in that town there
was a fair eveiy day, it was so full of wealth. It was filled with
wax, pepper, cochineal dye, and with vair and gris [fine furs],
and with every kind of merchandise. 3

Still other trades are pictured in another description: “A
hundred burghers are tavern keepers, a hundred are bakers,
a hundred are butchers, and a hundred are fishermen. An¬
other hundred are merchants who sail to the Indies [Inde
major], and three hundred there are who do other things .” 4

For a nearly complete 1st of the trades It is necessary to
consult the Livre des mestiers of Estlenne Boileau, which
was prepared in Paris in the thirteenth century. We will
limit ourselves to comment on a selected group. For the
privilege of practicing a trade in the city it was necessary
to pay a fee to the royal provost. Many of the trades were
organized into corporate guilds with rules and regulations.
This began during the course of the twelfth century. Most
of the groups owed service to the guet 9 or “watch,” which
they thoroughly detested. Men over sixty, men whose wives
were in childbirth, sick people, those in trades which served
directly the armed knights and the Church, and those in
trades which were considered foul— these were exempted
from the guet. A list of the exempted tradesmen that came
under these categories is interesting: arrow and bow manu¬
facturers, armorers, shieldmakers, stationers and book deal¬
ers, painters or illuminator, sculptors, embroiderers, gold¬
smiths, and apothecaries; and among the “foul,” skinners,
bath keepers, and tavern keepers. Most trades were not ai-

Town

*35

lowed to work by candlelight, or after Vespers, unless the
peculiar nature of their calling required it, such as heating
of furnaces, etc. On Friday night many had to close up
their regular shops and prepare to carry their goods to the
Campclli, outside the Forte de Paris.® Needless to say, certain
holy days, like the Feast of the Purification (February 2),
the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25), the Feast of the
Assumption (August 15), the Feast of the Nativity of the
Blessed Virgin (September 8), and various others, were
required to be kept by all. Some trades had their own spe¬
cial holy days.

It was forbidden to call a patron away from the stall of a
nearby competitor; he must stroll over of his own accord.
Provision merchants were forbidden to go out into the
country to get supplies. They were required to wait for the
produce or fish to be brought to the proper place in Paris,
where it could be purchased wholesale. Charcoal was not
to be bought up for storing (for purposes of resale) be¬
tween Easter and All Saints’. Restrictions were so many
that we wonder how it was possible to make a profit. We
may infer that many merchants disobeyed the regulations.
Boileau lists a hundred trades. Some of these are a surprise
to us: makers of small objects of lead and tin and makers of
nails for fastening onto belts. Wax sellers, pepper mer¬
chants, and apothecaries were associated together. The oil
merchant sold olive oil, almond oil, walnut oil, linseed oil,
and poppy oil. He is of interest to us because we are con¬
cerned over the type of shortening used in cooking and the
Oil bases used in paints. 6

The apothecaries sold aromatic spices, which were re¬
quired in every kitchen except the humblest. People who
were troubled with nervous stomachs, which needed warm¬
ing, would carry around with them various spices which

x 3 6 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

they ate like our modern candy. Thus, Thomas Becket ate
both ginger and clove by the handful; his wine he always
diluted with water.” The apothecary sold also herbs and
other substances that had medicinal value. We cannot be¬
gin to name all of these, but here are some of them: anti¬
mony, acacia, agaric, asphodel, garlic, sal ammoniac, anise,
wormwood, anacardium, almonds, aristolochia, amber,
henna, yellow arsenic or orpiment, balsam, borage, betony,
acanthus, bugloss, camphor, cassia fistula, cardamom, cas-
torea, cubebs, cinnamon, caraway, hemlock, calamine, cos-
tus, endives, euphorbia, hellebore of several kinds, henbane,
and gum arabic. 7 No prescription from a physician was re¬
quired. There were expensive cures and cheap cures. Per¬
haps the most expensive was mumie, which was imported
from Egypt and could be purchased by only the well-to-do.
It had formerly been used as an embalming fluid and was
efficacious against bleeding. Pictures that we have of apothe¬
cary shops show shelves around the wall containing boxes
and jars. The apothecaries are seated on the floor, or on
low stools, mixing drugs with very large pestles and mortars
on their laps.

Many clerical doctors, who had studied in the schools,
were attached to patrons. Such protectors used their services
personally, or sent them to friends and vassals. As to whether
there was any considerable number of orthodox physicians
practicing on their own, I cannot say. These remarks are,
of course, applicable to the late twelfth century. Conditions
changed within the next few centuries. 8 The average person,
when ill, called upon an empiric, a mire or miresse who prac¬
ticed without the aid of Galen or Hippocrates.® By modern
standards these empirics were safer than the others. Whether
the physician was a secular cleric, a monk, or a lay empiric,
it was possible to spend a fortune on his services. A knight

Town

137

serving in the guard of Edward the Confessor “had lost all
his wealth on doctors trying to find health.” He was finally
healed by the saintly king. 10 There were many maimed
people, and the halt and the blind were always moving
about the streets in a mediaeval city. Those who were men¬
tally afflicted were not confined, unless their ailment was
dangerous to those around them. A considerable number of
cripples must have been spastics who suffered cerebral palsy
as a result of birth injury. These are the contraiz. The Life
of Saint Edward the Confessor describes such a man in de¬
tail: the leg was pulled up against the thigh, and the heels
were twisted around; all the body below the waist was
uncontrollable. Apparently this man dragged along the
ground with two “little hand crutches.” 11 A similar cripple
placed himself inside a basin and dragged himself over the
ground. The first of these unfortunates claimed that he had
been to Rome six times looking for a cure. Wooden legs
were in use, sometimes richly ornamented. 12

Practitioners in the twelfth century were continually
hoping to simplify the practice of medicine. They had
“wonder salves”—a green salve, a red salve, and so on—
which they claimed could be applied with sure results. Many
formulas for such salves are found in the materiae medicae.
They had many regimes for improving one’s general
health. 18 They advised resting after meals to aid the diges¬
tion. 14 Bathing in mineral springs, such as those at Bath, was
thought to be efficacious against cold humors. This bathing
was most helpful, therefore, in old age. 15 Jewish physicians
taught that it was better to drink water at mealtimes be¬
cause water is heavier than wine and therefore better for
the digestion. 18 Wine should be taken an hour after eating
to augment the natural heat. Hard foods were not good
for the kidneys. 17 People were advised to let blood on gen-

138 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

eral principles four times a year. 18 Special strengthening
drinks were prescribed. 10 Some sickly folk, like the fictitious
Uther, father of King Arthur, drank only cold water. 20
Foods such as cheese, garlic, and pepper were forbidden. 21
Women were brought out of a faint by sprinkling with
water. 22

The art of surgery was still not separated from medicine.
Those who had studied their art out of books had three
problems with which they were constantly engaged. The
first was to keep the humors in balance. The humors—
phlegm, blood, bile, and black bile—were cold and moist,
hot and moist, hot and dry, and cold and dry, respectively.
These qualities were the complexions of the humors. All
drugs of the pharmacopoeia were classified according to
their degrees of moisture, dryness, heat, and cold, and they
were prescribed so as to maintain the proper balance of the
humors within the body. The physician “discovered” how
these were out of balance by examining visually the urine,
sometimes the stool, and by feeling the pulse of the right
wrist. He would count up to a hundred beats. 20 This routine
did not take long, so a physician could make a phenomenal
number of calls in a morning.

The second problem was that of treating fevers. These
were classified roughly into tertian, quartan, daily, and
hectic. Sometimes pestilential fever was given separately.
Among these the modern observer will recognize malaria,
tuberculosis, nervous tension, influenza, and, under the
heading hectic, the terrible diseases such as typhoid, scarlet
fever, and typhus. These classifications were according to
the intervals at which the fever recurred—every third day,
every fourth—or according to the severity of the onset.

A third problem, which the twelfth-century mire could
cope with more satisfactorily, was that of healing wounds,

Town

139

visible sores, and skin diseases. These were very common in¬
deed. The physician, and the victim himself, knew the need
for bandaging with strips of linen, often torn from a shirt 24
No idea of asepsis was held, but empirically some use was
made of alcohol (in wine) and of white of egg (which is
sterile when broken immediately before use). Counterirri¬
tants and plasters were popular. Bad tissue was cut away
and the exposed area was doused in white of egg and drains
were inserted to draw off the bad humors. 25 Pus was usually
encouraged to provide healing by second intention. A deep
wound, such as that made by an arrow, was kept open with
a paraffin tent—a finger of paraffin set into the hollow—and
a drain was added. In gynecology a tent of cloth was in¬
serted with some medication at the tip. There was very
little cutting on the part of orthodox physicians, except for
cataract, abscesses, and trepanning. It was considered sinful
to cut into a living body so that lithotomists were not in
good repute. Some of them were remarkable surgeons for
their time. Certain Italian families, like the Preciani, wan¬
dered about practicing this art. When they arrived in a
community, various physicians contrived to notify sufferers
who were willing to take the risk. The operation was a
daring one. The “staff,” a rod invented later to prevent the
operator from cutting too far, was not yet devised. 28 The
ulcers and skin diseases were very many. Usamah gives us
a “Frankish remedy” for scrofula: “Take uncrushed leaves
of glasswort, burn them, then soak the ashes in olive oil
and sharp vinegar. Treat the scrofula with them until the
spot on which it is growing is eaten up. Then take burnt
lead, soak it in ghee butter and treat him with it. That will
cure him.” 27 One Bernard, treasurer of Fulk of Anjou, King
of Jerusalem, had a compound fracture of the leg, in four¬
teen places. The Frankish physician washed the wounded

14° Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

limb frequently in strong vinegar alcohol. By this treatment
all cuts were healed. Bad wounds were always sewed up
with thread (probably silk when it was available). A wound
in the vuit hue, probably the side at the waistline, was not
greatly dreaded. 28 Cendal, a silk material, was preferred for
bandages. 29

All births were attended by midwives; men were for¬
bidden to be present on pain of death. 80 However, as Marie
demonstrates in her Milon, infant care was rather good,
once the child had been brought safely into the world. 81 If
such care had not been sensible, few of us would be here
today. The baby was kept wrapped in swaddling bands,
which are loose linen or wool wrappings with broad cloth
bands, wrapped in crisscross fashion, holding the material
firm around him. The child was lifted, bathed, and changed
every three hours. It was nursed on those occasions by wet
nurses, as nothing but human milk could be given a suck¬
ling. Two babes who were nursed by the same woman,
although they were not related by blood, often felt a bond
in after years. Richard I was nursed by Alexander’s mother.
This type of nursing was kept up longer than we breast
feed our children in the modern world—well into the sec¬
ond year, probably. When the child became a runabout, a
maid was designated to watch him. 82

The burial of the dead was a matter for the Church.
After death the body was turned over to the men or women
of a religious order, who washed the body and, usually,
sewed it up in deerskin. 88 The body was then carried on
a bier, consisting of two poles with wooden crosspieces,
attended by the clergy and mourners. It was draped with
a black pall. 84 The corpse of a prominent person, lay or
clerical, might be laid to rest in a stone sarcophagus which
was sealed up with lead. 85 For a considerable time it was

Town

141

customary to treat such a tomb with marked reverence:
“covered with a silken cloth, surrounded by burning lamps
and wax candles.” 80 These lamps would have been like a
modern votive light—an enclosed bowl with a wick in¬
serted into oil. The sarcophagus could stand in a chapel or
in a crypt. It was sometimes placed under the floor stones,
or tiles, of a church building. People of lesser rank were
taken to church burial grounds, such as that of the Holy
Innocents, and interred. We assume that a simple wooden
coffin was used. A flat tombstone could be laid on the
grave, with name cut or painted thereon. It was considered
praiseworthy, says John of Garland in his Morale scholar-
ium , to say a prayer for the dead when passing a cemetery.
A description of a funeral procession, as given by Chretien,
is interesting:

The candles and the crosses went first, with the nuns from a
convent; then followed the clerics with sacred books and
thuribles. . . . [The widow and the vassals followed the bier
making very loud and visible grief.] When the nuns and the
priests had held the service, they returned from the church and
came to the grave. 87

The horse of the dead knight was often led before the
bier. 88

Because preservative embalming was not practiced, bodies
were soon destroyed by decay. After a few years the bones
could be lifted out of a grave in a burial ground and stacked
with others, making possible further use of the space. The
process of preparing the dead is summed up quite well in
the Mort Aymeri: “They prepared it rather well and richly;
they embalmed with balsam and ointment and sewed the
body tight in deerskin.” 89 The ointment and the balsam had
no preservative qualities, of course.

Now turning to the trades proper established in the city

142 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

of Paris, we find high in esteem the goldsmith. Theophilus
Rugerus gives ample details on goldsmirhcry, and we will
use his treatise to illustrate further the brief discussion of¬
fered by Alexander. Alexander says:

The goldsmith should have a furnace with a hole at the top
so that the smoke can get out by all exits. One hand should
operate the bellows with a light pressure and the greatest dili¬
gence, so that the air inside the bellows, being pressed through
the tubes, may blow up the coals and that the constant spread
of it may feed the fire. Let there be an anvil of extreme hard¬
ness on which iron and gold may be softened and may take
the required form. 44 They can be stretched and pulled with
the tongs and the hammer. There should be a hammer also for
making gold leaf, as well as sheets of silver, tin, brass, iron, or
copper. The goldsmith must have a very sharp chisel by which
he can engrave in amber, diamond, or ophelta [?], or marble,
or jacinth, emerald, sapphire, or pearl, and form many figures.
He should have a hardness stone for testing metals, and one for
comparing steel with iron. He must also have a rabbit’s-foot for
smoothing, polishing, and wiping the surface of gold and silver,
and the small particles of metal should be collected in a leather
apron. He must have small boxes, flasks, and containers, of
pottery, and a toothed saw and a gold file, as well as gold and
silver wire, by which broken objects can be mended or prop¬
erly constructed. The goldsmith should be skilled in feathery
work as well as in bas-relief, in fusing as well as in hammering.
His apprentice must have a waxed or painted table, or one
covered with clay, for portraying little flowers and drawing in
various ways. 41 That he may do this conveniently let him have
litharge and chalk. He must know how to distinguish solid gold
from brass and copper, that he may not purchase brass for
gold... 42

Despite the list of gems given here and in the lapidaries,
the stones in common use in the period were the sapphire
and various kinds of quartz: jasper, moss agate, colored
chalcedonies, sardonyx, amethyst, citrine, and plain crystal.

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Emeralds and rubies were very few, and the diamond, of
course, could not be polished in any way. Garnets were
used, but often a luminous foil was painted on the culet or
underside, and the stone was called a carbuncle. The jacinth
and jargon were supposedly varieties of what we call the
zircon; but many of them may actually have been brownish
citrines. Because glass was so easy to handle, it was fre¬
quently employed, with a colored foil on the underside. 48
The only method of polishing was “bruting,” a process of
rubbing stones together. This meant that the finished prod¬
uct had an irregular cabochon shape. The stone was set onto
a metal surface by soldering gold or silver wire around it. 44
Very few gems were engraved at this period; most of those
used had survived from the ancient world. Engraving of a
kind was done on softer minerals. The apprentice working
at the table was probably chalking out designs to be soldered
to or cut on the metal surfaces. He used a kind of chalk or
litharge which could easily be erased. Alexander expatiates
again, elsewhere, on those who cheat by selling brass for
gold. Perhaps he himself had been cheated in this way. 45

There is an intimate picture of a petty merchant and his
wares which is sketched in a few lines by John of Garland,
writing forty years after the date that concerns us. The
variety of objects which the merchant offers for sale tickles
our fancy: “William, our neighbor, has in the market these
things before him to be sold: needles and needlecases, cleans¬
ing material or soap, mirrors, razors, whetstones, fuisils or
fire-striking irons, and spindles.” 48 This is no great assembly
of goods for sale, but William must have been surrounded
by eager housewives.

Although the average merchant was expected to close
shop and transport his wares to the Campelli every Satur¬
day, the real thrill at the fair, for the Parisian shoppers, was

144 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

offered by itinerant merchants who carried scarce products
from town to town, and from fair to fair. 47 These people
were particularly in evidence at the annual fairs of Saint-
Lazare and Saint-Germain, not to mention the Lendit. In
the Charroi de Nimes, William Shortnose is only posing as
a merchant in order to gain entrance to the town, but the
picture which he presents is a good one: “Barons, be patient,
the most expensive things are coming last . . . among the
first are inks, sulphur, incense, quicksilver, alum, graine
[cochineal dye], peppers, saffron, furs, tanned leather, shoe
leather, and marten skins... .” 48 A merchant like this was a
combination of chemical importer and tanner. 49

Alexander is the first to describe mirrors of glass with a
lead backing: “Take away the lead which is behind the
glass and there will be no image of the one looking in.” 50
Probably metal mirrors also were still in use. There does not
seem to have been much glass manufacture at Paris, as
neither Alexander nor Estienne Boileau refers to it, The-
ophilus, however, gives a full description of the processes in¬
volved. 81 The chief use for glass at the time was in stained
windows. The mixture was two parts beechwood ash to
one of clean sharp sand. The mixture was put in pots into
the furnace. When it was removed therefrom, the glass
blower, using a long tube, formed a cylinder by blowing a
bladder and cutting off the top and bottom. A white-hot
cutting iron was employed. This cylinder was stored and
then reheated, cut, and rolled out flat into a sheet. This was
drawn upon, to secure the required designs, and then glazed
with the coloring matter, once more in a furnace. The
leading was handled much as it is today. Glass was used for
henaps, or drinking cups, also. 82

As our protagonist gazed out of his back window, he
could distinguish quite clearly the building operations

Town i 45

which were in progress 011 the new cathedral church of
Notre Dame. The choir had recently been completed (in
1177). Nowhere does Alexander Ncckam enumerate for
us the techniques employed in such a huge building enter¬
prise. We must supply such details from elsewhere. First,
the land was measured by a geometricus.™ We presume that
a quadrant was used for laying off the angles, and a pole for
marking the distances. There was a master to whom the
direction of the construction was entrusted. He had under
him a magister lathomus, or head stonecutter, who saw to it
that the stones were properly dressed before being raised
into position. This dressing was accomplished right there
on the building site. The workmen were stonecutters, ma¬
sons, cement and mortar mixers (mortarii) , M carpenters
{lignorum artifices ), and unskilled laborers. Much of the
pay of these workingmen was received in beer, wine, loaves
of bread, and articles of clothing, so that it is most difficult
to estimate their wage. I have record that the unskilled
workers received two or three deniers a day in cash, and
the skilled workers some nine deniers. 58 Hoisting of stones
and beams was done with a windlass that resembled the cap¬
stan on a boat. The spokes were turned, and the hoisting
rope was reaved through pulleys. Perhaps the ropes were
wetted down before being pulled. The masons stood on
scaffolding made from heavy branches and rough logs tied
in position. 06 Hand-hewn boards were too precious for such
rough purposes. The master doubtless planned in his mind
approximately the design which he intended to follow and
the method which would enable him to overcome archi¬
tectural difficulties. There is no reason to deny that he could
have sketched some detailed operations on parchment, or
on wax tablets, as Villard de Honnecourt did in the follow¬
ing century. Thick walls were seldom solid, except in mili-

146 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

tary construction. The two sides of rhe wall would be
erected with dressed stones facing outward, and then the
space in between would be filled with rubble. 57 Today, in
repairing such walls, a liquid cement is pumped into this
space and allowed to harden. Where the ground was boggy,
wooden piles were driven. The stone for such an enterprise
as the construction of the new cathedral was brought by
barge from Normandy. These barges, heavy with stone,
were surely being towed quite regularly up the Seine, by
horse power, and were passing under one of the arches of
the Petit Pont before depositing their loads at a quay con¬
structed for this very purpose, just a hundred feet or so
from where the building was in progress. The stones were
being shoved up the slope on wooden rollers. The shouts of
the bargemen could not have failed to attract the attention
of the scholars on the Petit Pont, who must have leaned over
the parapet in the little exedras and made themselves a
nuisance to the barges that passed beneath. These workmen
in the warmer months wore only their hr ms, or linen un¬
derdrawers, a snood or felt cap tied under the chin, and
heavy shoes. In colder weather they put on coarse frocks,
and chapes with hoods.

A weaver at work is described by Alexander:

A weaver is a horseman on terra firma who leans upon two
stirrups and who gives rein constantly to the horse, content
with a short journey; but the stirrups representing the condition
of his fortune enjoy mutual vicissitudes, since when the one
goes up the other is depressed without any indication of rancor.

These two figures of speech describing the weaver will re¬
quire explanation before we proceed further. The weaver
sat on a chair before his loom, with his feet resting on two
treadles, compared by Alexander to the stirrups of a horse-
man. As the operator pushes down on one treadle, the

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“mounting” heddle raises the threads of one “shed”; when
the other treadle is depressed, the first “shed” descends and
the other goes up.

The weaver has a [breast] roller to which the cloth to be
rolled up is fastened. Let there be beamlike strips marked with
holes and facing each other from opposing sides, with wires
shaped like a shepherd’s crook and the strips going the same
way as the warp threads, also [let there be] linen threads as
slender as those that are properly associated with fringes [tied
to] rods in the heddles, these threads at set intervals; let the
weaver draw the warp threads [with such a heddle], the upper
series of threads and then the lower. When the weft has been
passed through by means of a shuttle, let him beat down the
work accomplished, and let the shuttle have an iron or wooden
bobbin between open spaces. The bobbin should be filled from
a spool, and this spool should be covered in the manner of a
clew of yarn with a weight. Let the material of the weft thread
be pulled from this weighted spool, so that the one hand of the
weaver tosses the shuttle to the other, to be returned vice versa.

But in vain does one weave a cloth unless previously iron
combs, working upon the wool, to be softened by flame, have
carded the strands in long and reciprocal endeavor. Thus the
better and finer parts of the combedf wool may be reserved for
the thread, with the woolly dregs like coarse tow being left
over. Afterwards let the wool thread be aided by the applica¬
tion of madder or woad such as is done in Beauvais, or let the
material to be dyed be saturated with frequent dipping in
graine. Then let the weaver reclaim it; but before it makes its
appearance in the form of clothing, it should be subjected to
the care of the fuller, demanding frequent washing. 58

Weaving is so complicated to the uninitiate that we were
obliged to make our translation of Alexander’s text with
the sketch of a twelfth-century loom before us. The weaver
sits in a high-backed chair with his feet on the treadles or
pedals. The loom has a rectangular frame, and the warp
threads run horizontal: they are stretched from the “cane

148 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

roller” to the “breast roller.” On the top of the loom is a
frame resembling goal posts. This frame has a pulley over
which there passes the thong from the two treadles. As the
thong moves down on one side, it lifts the opposite heddle;
when it reverses motion, it lifts the other heddle. A spool
which feeds the shuttle is not visible in our illustration. The
weaver is making a diaper weave, as is shown by a bale
which is being rolled up.

The principle of weaving is this. A number of strands of
thread, wool or linen, are looped together on a warping
board (or the equivalent) and the result is then set up on
the loom, with the “cane roller” at the far end and the
“breast roller” at the end where the weaver sits. The proper
distance between these warp threads is maintained by the
wire teeth of the raddles. A heddle consists of two short
strips of wood with threads stretched between—one for
every two warp threads. These heddle threads, or “leashes,”
are then looped over alternate warp threads. This means that
when one heddle is lifted, it pulls up alternate warps; when
the other heddle is lifted, it draws up the remaining warp
threads. Each heddle is controlled by a treadle. Diaper
weaving was very common at this time. There the weaver
does not make plain weave such as we have been describ¬
ing. The background of the cloth is woven with just one
heddle; the second heddle is used to draw out the warp
threads that control the design. As it is impossible to get a
complicated design with just two heddles, obviously some
of the design must have been set into the warp threads by
using threads of a different texture at the proper intervals.
The background on a diaper weave is not so tight as that of
plain weave, because the weft has not been passed alter¬
nately through different warp threads. This means that
diaper cloth is more absorbent of moisture, and such cloth

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149

was therefore suitable for tablecloths and other usages
where absorbent material is desirable. Different weft threads
could be used, of course, by merely selecting a different
bobbin and shuttle at regulated intervals. In a design that
was complicated the weaver was obliged to use artistic
judgment like any creative artist.® 0

In samite a skein of six silk threads was employed for the
warp; this made a strong silk material, a kind of satin. Cen-
dal, or taffeta, was silk woven plain without design; it was
glossy on both sides. There is some question about the true
nature of ciclaton. Apparently the word goes back to
Arabic siglatdn, and it seems to indicate a silk cloth into
which are woven circular seals, or coin dots, of a different
color from the background. This would be the same as
paile roL We do not know the exact weave of scarlet silk
which is often mentioned. 60

These silks all came from Sicily or Byzantium, or from
further east through Alexandria. Since most of them reached
France by way of Montpellier, that city was a kind of style
center for the best-dressed man and woman of the twelfth
century. Often some threads of spun gold or silver were
included in the weft. 61 If the gold threads were numerous,
the stuff was called orfrois or orphreys. Weaving in France,
the Low Countries, and England was done with linen and
wool threads, sometimes supplemented by cotton. Cotton
was the rarest of these three materials, having to be im¬
ported from Africa or Mediterranean islands. Cloth could
be made heavier by using more skeins in the warp threads,
and also by twisting them. “Burel” was a quite loose, plain
weave of wool cloth; serge was a tighter weave with twisted
warps and possibly even in the twelfth century with the
weft crossing over one warp and then under two or more
warps, and so on in alternation. Canvas was a loosely woven, _

t §o Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

heavy linen. Tighter, finer linen was chainsil, “shirt cloth.” If
a cotton weft was used with linen warps, the result was
fustian.

Two kinds of rugs were made in Paris: native and Sara¬
cen weave. We recognize the Oriental variety, with tied
worsted knots, but we are not certain of the native French
weave. 62

The fuller was the “cleaner” of the Middle Ages. He pre¬
shrank all fabrics before they were made into clothing. His
treatment with fuller’s earth (hydrous silicate of alumina)
gave body to the wool and helped it take the dye. This also
was a cleaning mixture when diluted in hot water, or per¬
haps in the ammonia of urine. The fuller put the cloth into
a trough with his mixture and then walked it with his bare
feet; hence Walker and Fuller denote the same trade in
England. 68 There were laundresses in the twelfth century.
The clothing was soaked in a leissive, in a wooden trough,
and then was pounded in water to get rid of the loosened
dirt. We have observed that wood ashes and caustic soda
were mixed to form the leissive. Sometimes the first soak¬
ing must have been in pure water. Theobald of Cologne
drank the water in which he washed the clothes of his
monastery. 64

There were professional embroiderers and needleworkers
who were women. Here is a typical example:

Mahalt she was called and she was a worker; marvelously did
she know how to work, to embroider fine gold upon purple
silk, to ornament with regal jewels, she knew how to place
gems and good stones better than anyone before her. Her fame
in this was such that she was sought after by the highest nobles,
honored and demanded for her art. 95

A powerful countess asks her to finish a task as quickly as
possible. Unfortunately the Feast of St. Edward the Martyr

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151

is due fo fall and the woman is annoyed because she must
shut up her shop for a day. 1 Icr assistant does not under¬
stand the identity of St. Edward the Martyr and unwit¬
tingly blasphemes against King Edward the Confessor,
claiming that she would not take a holiday for him. She is
afflicted with a painful ailment in consequence.

Distinction was very clear at this time between the cob¬
bler ( savetier ) and the shoemaker ( cordouanier ). John of
Garland refers to the cobblers as being “low” and “vile”;
they repaired old shoes. The shoemakers manufactured new
footwear, with their “sharp knife, and leather blackened
with dye. They sew together their shoes with an awl, a
turned-up tool, and pigs’ bristles [for thread].” 68

The dyer had tubs or vats which he heated over a fire.
His common dyes were woad, madder, and graine. This last
was quite expensive. John of Garland notes that a dyer was
a marked man out among company because of the coloring
which remained under his nails. 67 In the Roman de Renan
the vat has been placed under a window. Apparently the
color was tempered with wood ashes and the combining of
the ingredients required experience and skill. 68 Cloth was
not the only substance that was colored in this way. In the
fabliau Dou prestre tetnt mention is made of dyeing a
wooden crucifix.

We have given Alexander’s description of a goldsmith at
work. He says nothing of a more essential tradesman of
this kind—the blacksmith. In order to comprehend the
smith’s work with iron, we must first say a few words about
mining. 69 The twelfth-century man had access to the allu¬
vial deposits of tin in Cornwall and Britain, as well as certain
alluvial deposits of coal, silver, and gold. A little digging
may have been indulged in, but very little indeed. The
shafts that were sunk were shallow, and they followed a

152 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

visible lode into the earth for a short distance. Britain fur¬
nished tin, lead, and silver. Much of the gold used came
from the Iberian Peninsula. Presumably the iron deposits
in France, Britain, and Spain were worked on the spot.
Poitou and Verdun produced fine steel. We know from
the lapidaries that hematite, magnetite, and limonitc were
the common iron ores that were appreciated. A pit was dug
on a windy hilltop. A few drains were inserted to allow
the molten iron to be drawn off down the hill. A layer of
burning charcoal was placed in the pit, followed by a layer
of ore, and so on, in alternation. The whole was then scaled
with earth at the top. Such a smelter was most inefficient,
but the iron that was drawn off did have some carbon in it.

Next came the job of the blacksmith. We have some il¬
lustrations showing him at work. He had a furnace burning
charcoal, and occasionally mineral coal. 70 This furnace was
table high, with a back and a hood. A pair of bellows kept
the fire going. After the crude bloom obtained from the
smelter was reheated, the smith took a chunk as desired and
put it on his anvil, using a long pair of pincers. The anvil
might be set on a wooden stump. Then he pounded this
heated mass, hour after hour, beating it into shape. He
would reheat, observe the proper temper, and once more
continue the pounding. This labor gave the smith tremen¬
dous muscles and, at the same time, converted the mild steel
of the original bloom into a wrought product with the
molecules in the right direction. Of course, if the required
amount of carbon did not, by chance, unite with the iron
in the smelting pit, then the smith was working with
wrought iron. He probably did not recognize any differ-
ence other than the variations in temper and malleability.
These are harder in steel than in iron. 71 Chunks of the origi¬
nal bloom could be drawn through a hole, with strong

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pincers, and made into thick wire. 72 After a few such draw¬
ings, each time through a smaller hole in a plate, the steel
(or wrought iron) would have to be retempered. Finally
the correct thickness was reached and lengths were cut
which could he pounded around a bar of the required size,
forming the links of mild steel to be used in manufacturing
chain mail. These last few processes were done, of course,
by an armorer. If a bloom from the smelting pit appeared
too soft, it was called fer, not acier, and it was employed
for commoner uses. As to whether a twelfth-century smith
knew how to produce iron as distinct from steel, we can¬
not say. Perhaps a few did realize that the difference lay
in the character of the smelting. Copper and calamine were
mingled together, producing bronze.

Thcophilus describes an ideal workshop for metal forg¬
ing and design. 78 It should be a long hall with many win¬
dows on the south side. These windows should be five feet
apart, a foot above the ground, and should measure three
by two feet. A wall, reaching to the ceiling, should divide
the hall into two parts: one side for work with copper, tin,
and lead; the other, further subdivided into two compart¬
ments, for silver and for gold. Theophilus says that to tem¬
per iron or steel it should be heated to a glow, sprinkled
with powdered ox horn and salt, and plunged into water. 74

There were various kinds of carpenters: housebuilders,
shipbuilders, coopers, wheelwrights, Cartwrights, and so on.
The twelfth century lumped them together. 75 We quote
from Wace:

The carpenters who came there had great axes dangling from
their necks, plainers and adzes draped at their sides; . . . they
brought timber from the ships and dragged it to the spot. . .
already bored and smoothed off. They brought, in large casks,
the joining pegs completely dressed. Before it was evening, they

154 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

had constructed a wooden castle; they made a ditch around
it. 78

This is the first evidence I have seen of a prefabricated
building!

Wace has enumerated the common tools: axe,
adze, plainer, wooden pegs, to which we add
iron nails, hammers, and a heavy, clumsy saw,
similar to that we use on the woodpile today.
The plainers were two-handled and resembled
the modern drawknife. Theophilus gives many
details on nails. They were about the length of
a finger, in three shapes: square, triangular, or
round, according to need. 77 There was a special
“iron” for putting the heads on nails. 78 The
common glue for inside work, cabinetmaking,
was a casein glue. To make this, soft cheese was pounded
in warm water in a mortar. This was squeezed and allowed
to harden. It was then ground to a powder and mixed with
quicklime. Much interior woodwork was covered with
leather. This was usually untanned horse or ass hide which
was made to adhere to the wood by means of this glue. 78
Where our modern cabinetmakers would use veneer, the
twelfth-century workman covered the surfaces with leather.
For things exposed to weather the artisan had a hide glue.
Wood and metal files existed. We have no definite informa¬
tion on the chisel, but since stone and wood carvers used
such a tool, we can be sure the carpenter had it also. Here
is another passage from Wace: “He had lumber brought
and trees carried from all parts of Normandy—pegs made
and boards planed, to construct ships and skiffs.” 80 John
of Garland remarks: “Carpenters make various things with
different tools, which we observe in tubmakers who build
tubs, containers shod with iron, large measures, wine casks

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*55

which arc bound with iron hoops, and pegs, and wedges.” 81

Charcoal burners are not carpenters, but they too are
pictured with axes dangling from their necks. When Philip
Augustus was lost in the woods in 1179, “he saw in the
distance a peasant who was blowing on a fire in a charcoal
pit. This peasant was big and of astonishing stature. He had
a great axe hung around his neck ... he was dirty with dust
and coal.” 82 Similarly, when Girart de Roussillon was doing
penance, “he entered one day into a deep forest, he heard
a noise like that of carpenters, and found two charcoal
burners by a fire.” 88 Girart worked with them for years as
a porter. He was paid seven deniers for a load of charcoal,
when he sold it.

Many carpenters did their own wood cutting in the
forests:

They had the lumber brought from the wood. The carpenters
of the district were summoned to assemble. Every peasant en¬
vied his fellow who knew something of carpentry.... Most of
them went to the wood. They felled seven large oaks. They
split out the boards [unt les borz ors fenduz ], and when the
time came for eating the carpenters sat down . . . they ate and
drank gaily, as is the custom with such people. When they had
eaten they began their labor again. The hot sun and the long
day hampered their work greatly. They went to rest in the
shade, and when they had slept a bit they went merrily back
to work. 84

Trees to be cut were sometimes carefully selected and
marked with a blaze, that is, on an estate that was properly
managed. 85

Not a great deal of pottery was in use at this date. Wood
and metal were in common use for table dishes. Wine jars
and other containers made of clay were apt to be given a
uniform dark greenish glaze. 86 Occasionally a henap was
made of glass. The lapidaries, or goldsmiths, made some val-

156 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

uable cups by turning quartz on a crude lathe. This was a
slow process with the means at their command and could
not have been practiced very frequently. Pottery, when
made, was turned on a table having at its base a large wheel
which was kicked into motion by the potter’s feet. 1,7

All this time we have been thinking of Alexander Neckam
as newly arrived in Paris. But it must have taken him a long
time to make the observations which we have recorded. We
will therefore carry forward our story and imagine that
several years have passed. Louis VII of France has made
his journey to Canterbury in August, 1179, which resulted
in an illness that proved fatal to him on September 19, x 180.
The king was now Philip Augustus, a boy of fifteen, who
was busy planning to recover Normandy from old Henry
II of England. International complications were now in evi¬
dence again. Philip was entertaining the young King Henry
in Paris, while the latter was plotting against his father.
(Young Henry died in 1183, and then Geoffrey of Brittany
became King Philip’s guest, until he fell off his horse in
1186 and died in Paris.) The presence of the renegade
prince in Paris was embarrassing to Alexander Neckam.
Perhaps it was during Henry’s stay that Alexander began
to see more of the court, and of castles, which we shall
describe in the next chapter. Adam dou Petit Pont died in
1183. It may be that Alexander took over his actual class¬
room on the bridge. Certainly this Alexander was a clever
teacher, capable of attracting a flock of students. He re¬
mained fond of grammar always, but he had gone on to
study medicine, the two laws, and theology. He was in¬
satiably curious about natural phenomena, although he took
much of his information on those subjects, without question¬
ing, from the ancient textbooks: Horace, Vergil, Ovid,
Juvenal, Lucan, Claudian, Martial, Cassiodorus, Solinus,

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Aristotle, and, above all, Pliny. We have no account or
Alexander’s first experience as a teacher in Paris, but we
can borrow from that of Giraldus, who narrates in the third
person his own “baptism of fire”:

The students hastened with great eagerness to write down all
his cases, word for word, as they came from his mouth. . . .
A certain noble canon of Notre Dame, son of the Baron of
Mont Maurice, who had just been chosen dean of a certain
church because of his docility and his love of erudition, on
leaving the lecture spoke with Gerald in private and asked him
how many years he had studied at Bologna. When Gerald re¬
plied that he had never been there, the canon asked where he
had studied law. When he learned that Gerald had studied only
three years, there in Paris, he went away filled with admira¬
tion. Gerald’s teacher, whom Gerald visited after dinner, ap¬
plauded and congratulated his pupil and added: “I would not
have taken a hundred sous that you should have been prevented
from speaking today before so fine an assemblage of scholars.”
Matthew of Anjou, who was promoted to cardinal, on taking
leave of his students, advised them to go study with young
Gerald. They did so and Gerald lectured daily at his lodging:
in the morning on the Distinctions of Gratian, in the afternoon
on his Cases . 88

Giraldus (or Gerald) was in Paris when Alexander went
there, so that they may have known each other, but Giraldus
was older. We can imagine Alexander giving his first lecture
before an invited audience and receiving the admiring plau¬
dits at the close . 80 Perhaps his master, Adam, expressed an
enthusiasm that was as keen as that shown by the teacher
of Giraldus. Doubtless Alexander ceased to live now in his
lodging in the Rue de la Boucherie. That was no sort of
place to receive students. The “companions” would be
separated for good. We can make no guess about the ac¬
tivity of the wayward “monk.” Bernard the canon returned,
perhaps, to his native heath, for the practice of medicine, or

158 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

of law. The Goliard might have begun to sing such a song
as this:

My intent is to die in a tavern

Where wine is closest to the mouth of the dying;

Then the choir of angels will sing more gladly:

“May God be propitious to this man of drink.” 90

The date for our next chapter will be 1183-85. Alexander
returned to Dunstable in 1186, abandoning his Paris fame.
The reason for his departure may have been the strained
conditions which now existed between English and French
during the final years of the reign of Henry II of England.

Qhapter VII

The Baron and His Castle

/ / I hen Giraldus was leaving France, in 1178 or there-
about, he stopped for a while at Arras. In the morn¬
ing he looked from the window of his lodging, gazing to¬
ward the market place, and saw the men of Philip of Flan¬
ders setting up their tilting targets. Soon he saw many
youths, ty rones et robusti juvenes, breaking lances on some
of the targets and piercing others. When he beheld the
Count himself, he saw him accompanied by his barons, all
clothed in silk. The exercise lasted an hour. The Count left.

followed by the others, and all was silent. Giraldus was
provoked to reflection on the ways of life. 1 1 am citing this
passage because it is a good starting point for us to begin
describing the dress and the customs of the noble class of

the time.

The baron when clothed in nonmilitary dress was much
like the burgher except for a greater display of wealth in
silks and embroidery. No night clothing of any kind was
worn in the twelfth century, by man or woman, so we start
from scratch when we clothe our subject early in the morn¬
ing. Alexander mentions the articles of dress:

Let a man at rest [not traveling] have a pellice [fur-lined gar¬
ment], and a cote or bliaut provided with sleeves and openings,
slit at the crotch. Braies are needed to cover the lower limbs,

160 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

and stockings or chances should be worn around the legs, while
covering the feet with laced boots or leather shoes. An under¬
shirt of muslin, silk, or cotton, or linen—the fur of the outer
mantle should be gris or vair [gray squirrelJ, or rabbit, or
ISrot [dormouse ?], and the mantle’s edging can be of sable or
marten, or beaver, or of otter, or fox fur... ?

The first garment which the man put on was his braies,
or loose linen underdrawers, fastened at the waist by the
braiel, a belt of cloth usually studded with metal buttons
and nails. 8 Next the chances were drawn on. These stock¬
ings were of wool or silk, with a wide band placed above
or below the knee as a garter. They were thicker than hose
we would wear today, but the mediaeval wearer wanted
them as dougees or “fine” as he could get them. The chainse
was now added; this had long tight sleeves, as a rule, and
these had to be sewed on the wearer every time the shirt
was put on. Such a shirt could be risdee, or “pleated,” and
it could be embroidered in various ways. 4 Over the shirt
went the cote, or bliaut, which was the principal outer gar¬
ment. This could be of rich silk, sometimes brocaded, some¬
times embroidered. This garment might be called also a
sorcot. Its sleeves were full, but fairly short, allowing the

tight-fitting sleeves of the chainse
to be visible to the wrist. After
1180 the sleeves of the bliaut tended
to become longer and tighter: Bien
ert seant, al puin estreit. The neck
opening was closed in front with a
brooch, or fermail, and the side
opening was laced. A well-dressed
man would have a handsome em¬
broidered neck to his chainse, and
the cote was cut sufficiently low to

The Baron and His Castle 161

make this embroidery show. A poorly dressed man either
dispensed with the chainse altogether or wore it under a
sorcot that was higher in the neck and longer in the sleeves.
Fine linen was the distinguishing mark of a “gentleman.” 5
In cold weather the man wore a pellice or fur-lined gar¬
ment, with loose sleeves or none at all. This usually went
over the cote or sorcot. With the addition of shoes or boots,
and an outer belt tied at the waist, the gentleman was now
ready for a formal appearance. The belt might have a knot
in it as a mnemonic device, made in one of the long ties. If a
man had a cap, he wore it indoors as well as outdoors, with¬
out distinction.

In the absence of pockets, which did not come into use
until the sixteenth century, one was obliged to use various
makeshifts. A story is told of Thomas Becket sitting at
table with the ends of his sleeves tied as though containing
something. This was not unusual, but he was asked what
was in them. He answered, “Daisies,” and lo and behold,
when he opened his sleeves, daisies fell out as by a miracu¬
lous act.® A coin, or anything else, could be carried knotted
in the skirt of the chainse. A purse, or ausmoniere, hung on
the belt. 7

Ordinary shoes had thin soles, like our moccasins, and
their cut showed variation. The toes were never unusually
long at this date. The tops came above the anklebone and
were occasionally beaded or otherwise ornamented along
the edge. There was a slight slash at the front edge, making
it easier to pull the shoe off and on. Sometimes there was a
slightly projecting tongue in front and behind. A boot was
similar to the shoe, except that the sole was considerably
thicker, and there was a soft top extending halfway up the
calf. 8

The mantle was worn over the cote, and pellice, in cold

162 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

enough weather. This could fasten on the right shoulder
with a brooch, or it might be pinned at the neck opening. 9
The material, as we have been informed by Alexander,
could be of wool or silk with a fur edging. This was for the
outside. The inside had a softer fur lining. The appearance
of vair is quite apparent in some illuminations. The white
fur of the squirrel formed the background, and pieces of
gray were sewed onto this in ten or twelve rows of
“tongues.” 10 The idea is similar to what we find in ermine
where the white fur has the black tufts from the stoat’s tail
sewed on according to design.

The average man wore his hair fairly shaggy, long at the
nape of the neck, but never bobbed as all our theatrical cos¬
tumers like to picture it. There was invariably a part in
the middle, although the hair could be combed forward to
give an appearance of bangs. 11 Both baron and burgher
often wore a cap. A soft brimless one, with a forward tilt,
was very stylish; on the other hand, the man might wear a
very low crown with a narrow rolled brim. 12 Alexander
tells the story of a monkey who, when he had spotted a
bald man in a crowd, always rushed to snatch the poor fel¬
low’s hat. 18

Color was quite brilliant in all these garments. The fash¬
ion had not yet come that considered it sensible for a lay¬
man to deck himself in somber fawn or gray. To be sure,
the clergy were dressed in black or dark tones. Reds, greens,
blues, and yellows were in evidence everywhere, and the de¬
signs of the materials were elaborate. From the viewpoint
of our twentieth-century tastes there must have been many
clashing colors. Sometimes a contrasting note of black was
introduced. Yvain, for instance, was given a pair of black
stockings by the ladies of the Fairy Morgue. Black chances
with a red cote would have made a striking combination.

The Baron and His Castle 163

Shoes, as we observed in our paragraph on the cordouannier,
were most often cut from black leather. We know from the
Roman de la Rose (first half of the thirteenth century) that
there was such a thing as having a good tailor: “And so you
should give your garment to someone who knows how to
cut [tailHer], who can place the stitches properly and make
the sleeves fit. Shoes and boots you should have fresh and
new, and see that they fit so close that the low-class fellows
will argue how you got into them and how you will get
out.” 14 Although this testimony comes thirty or forty years
after the period we are considering, the advice would surely
have been the same. Let us not get into the habit of thinking
that a mediaeval man just ran around in a “sack” without
any standard of elegance. Good fit and rich cloth were
things that he desired. We would find his dress lacking in
one respect, however. Pressing clothing with a hot iron to
remove wrinkles was not much in vogue. The mediaevals
did make frequent use, however, of a gauffering iron, to put
pleats into their linen. 1 ®

The dress of a woman is next to be considered. 16 Basically
she matched the man, garment for garment, except that she
never wore braies. The Middle Ages were filled with jokes
about the one who wears the braies in the family—the boss.
The cut of a lady’s clothes was, of course, entirely different.
Her long linen chainse trailed to the ground, while the bliaut
or cote was nearly the same length. A little of the chainse
might show at the bottom, as well as at the neck. Her
sleeves on her bliaut were full and open, but they had long
points which dropped from the cuff or underside of the
sleeve to the ground. Preachers had many nasty things to
say about these exaggerated sleeve points. Some of the
points were, in fact, so long that they had to be kept knotted
to avoid trailing on the floor. As was the case with the men,

164 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

the wealthier women had fine tight sleeves on their shirts
and these were prominent, extending to the wrist. Women
of lesser style carried the sleeves of their bliaut to the wrist.
Women habitually wore a double belt of cloth, with long
ties instead of a buckle. In order to make their bliaut fit more
snugly above the waistline, it became the fashion to slash
the chainse and the bliaut from the armpit to the waist; these
openings were laced, permitting a little of the bare flesh to
show. 17 When in a state of undress, a woman might move
about in her fur pellice, with or without a chainse under¬
neath. It was even possible to move about in the chainse
alone, but this was considered insufficient. 18 In cold weather
women followed the prevailing custom of wearing a mantle
over their other garments. 19 An attractive woman liked to
wear jewelry. Giraldus speaks of this. A lovely girl whom
he saw on an occasion had a belt, a purple mantle fastened
with a gold pin at the breast, earrings, a necklace or
“torque,” rings on her fingers, which were set with stones,
and a golden band around her hair. Bracelets or “armillae”
were frequently worn. 20

Women kept their hair parted in the middle, with two
long plaits dropping as far toward the ground as possible.
This style was so usual that it made women look somewhat
alike. 21 The braids were plaited, or the strands could be
intertwined with ribbon. A band around the forehead held
the hair in place. A wimple could cover the hair and be
held by the headband. Some older women dyed their hair
when it turned gray. 22 Ladies used also white powder and
vermilion coloring on their faces. Guillaume de Lorris does
not complain so much about this, but he warns men not to
do so: “Do not paint yourself or use cosmetics; that is for
women only, or for men of bad renown.” 28 Cercamon re¬
marked about his lady: “Yes, and she is not painted up.” 24

The Baron and His Castle 165

A foppish young man might wear a band of flowers around
his hair, like a woman. 25

We have made a few comments on the dress of the less
well-to-do. The dress of a peasant working in the fields will
be considered in the next chapter. Here are a few descrip¬
tions of ordinary citizens. The first is of a young girl: “She
had a little shirt of linen, a white pellice of ermine, and a
bliaut of silk; her stockings were embroidered with gladioli
designs, and her shoes, by which she was tightly shod, had
May flowers.” 26 Marcabrun pictures a well-to-do peasant
girl (her father was a knight): “She wears chape, frock, and
pellice, and a knitted shirt [treslissa], shoes, and woolen
stockings.” 27

The dress of a male burgher, or merchant, is next: “Count
William wore a frock \_gonnele\ of such burel as there was
in the land, and on his legs a pair of blue stockings, shoes of
ox leather, which are tight on the stockings. He girds on a

belt_There hangs a knife in its scabbard, very fair-” 28

The fisherman who changed clothes with Tristan wore a
frock which was not slit at the crotch (sanz gerun) since
he did no riding; it was of hairy wool ( esclavine) and had a
hood attached. 29

The men found shaving very difficult. The razor used
was somewhat like a carving knife in appearance. A thir¬
teenth-century description of the barber’s equipment is
this: “Barber without a razor, without scissors, who do not
know how to cut or shave, you have neither basin nor towel
nor the wherewithal to heat clear water.” 80 Such a barber
was an itinerant. As he used no shaving soap, he must have
softened the beard by soaking it long in hot water. The
result could only have been painful. Men in the latter half
of the twelfth century were doubtless only half trimmed
most of the time. They tried to keep shaven, but they did

1 66 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

not undergo the operation more often than once a week.
Consequently they were usually seen with a slight stubble,
except on their shaving days. 31 Older men continued to
affect the beard and mustache, which were sometimes flow¬
ing and curly. 32 Baths were taken, but not very frequently. 38
In Paris there were public bathhouses, near Saint-Jacques
de la Boucherie, where it was possible to go early in the
morning, shortly after rising. Private bathtubs in the home
resembled wide-mouthed barrels of wood. They could be
turned bottom up and used as a table stand, placed against
the wall. When the tub was in use for bathing, a short pole
might be added which provided a tentlike awning for the
occupant. A stool was often placed inside, permitting the
bather to soak for a longer time. It was pleasant to bathe in
the company of a friend. Those who could afford it kept
two tubs which were used side by side. 84 Water was brought
from the kitchen fire. The plot of Marie’s lai Equitan illus¬
trates these points. When Yvain is being cared for by Lu-
nete, “she has him bathed every day and washed and rubbed
down [aplanoiier].” as The Fairy Morgue and her attend¬
ants give similar treatment: “They bathe him and wash his
head; they have him shaved and rubbed down with oint¬
ment [reoignier].”** It will be evident from these passages
that a knight could be handled like a modern athlete. Such
treatment, of course, was special favor, and not meted out
to everyone. A tired guest might have only his hands, face,
and neck washed. Rescued prisoners were apt to be very
unkempt, so we are not surprised that Charlemagne had
certain ones “trimmed and very well barbered; their hair
was cut and their nails were clipped.” 87

So far we have made little mention of gloves. These were
made from lamb, rabbit, or fox skin. All classes used them,
especially hunters, travelers, and knights. In seasons of ex-

The Baron and His Castle 167

treme cold the clergy, except the celebrant and those taking
Communion, wore something of the kind, and workmen
also used them. The mitten was the commonest form. It
could be used for carrying small sums of money. 88 You will
recall that the chambermaid described by Alexander (p. 83)
has the fingertips cut from her gloves, and this may have
been a widespread practice among tradespeople who were
constantly using their fingers.

We are now brought to the important question of the
knight and his armor.

He caused a Limoges rug to be spread before him on the
ground. The other ran to get the arms. . . . And he brought
them on the rug. Erec sat opposite on a leopard design which
was portrayed on the rug. He prepares to arm himself. First he
caused to be laced on his chauces of white steel. Afterwards he
dons a hauberc so valuable that one could not cut a single link.

. . . For it was made completely of silver of fine woven links.
. . . When they had armed him with the hauberc a boy laced
upon his head a helmet reinforced with a gold band more shiny
than a mirror . 89

If we omit the silver and the gold, we have a fairly good
picture of the arming of a knight.

The hauberc was woven from a series of round metal
links, usually of steel, each link locking with the six or more
surrounding ones. The result was a springy mesh, weighing
sixty pounds or so, which broke the force of a blow by its
resilience. 40 It retarded also the blow from a sharp edge. It
was not so satisfactory against an arrow well shot. There
were various ways of adding to this protection. The links
themselves could be doubled in number, though woven
into a single coat, or a second coat of mail, perhaps only
extending over the torso, could be added. A lining made of
felted animal hair was sewed into the hauberc .* 1 In addition,

168 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

it was customary to wear an auqueton or gambols of quilted
cotton under the mail. Some of the old-style haubcrcs,
which consisted of heavy canvas or leather coats with metal
rings or hard leather plates sewed over the surface, were
still in use as late as the year 1200, chiefly among the serjanz.
The hauberc had a short sleeve, like that of civil dress. This
meant that the forearm was not protected. When the knight
was going into battle, long mailed gloves or mittens could be
laced to the sleeves of the hauberc. As is evident from the
passage just quoted, many knights used chances of mail.
These were occasionally referred to as genouillieres. On the
other hand, some knights preferred to wrap their legs in
heavy puttees. 42 A sorcot of handsome cloth was often
worn over the hauberc, giving a natty appearance. 48

The hauberc had a hood, called a coiffe, which slipped
over the head. This was, naturally, of the same material as
the hauberc itself. A more prudent knight would place a
close-fitting steel cap over this. Others set the helmet di¬
rectly over the coiffe. The helm or helmet was pot shaped
with a protecting bar, called a “nasal,” extending down over
the nose. The helm was laced to the

hauberc and under the chin with leather
thongs. Before entering combat, a knight
l flce d across his mouth and over his throat
a triangular piece of mail called a ven-
* I u taille, which protected those areas. In
J shape the helmet could be completely pot
shaped, or it might be conical; it could
be rounded and have a slight tip forward similar to the style
of a civilian cap. 44 Helmets were ordinarily quite heavily
ornamented. Much of the goldsmith’s work was expended
in setting stones and filigree work on the surface of helms.
This battle attire was fatiguing in warm weather. In the

The Baron and His Castle 169

Aspremont there is a comment on this. 48 In the last fifteen
or twenty years of the twelfth century a great innovation
was under way: the “cheesebox helm” was coming into use
among those who could afford such new equipment. This
was a heavy metal box which had a grating before the face
and rested on the shoulders. It was some time before this
style took definite hold, and even then the old nasal helm
remained in use among the knights and men-at-arms who
could not afford more expensive equipment. 40

I am unable to define the “broigne” with reference to the
hauberc. Both designate a coat of mail. It has been sug¬
gested that the broigne was a lighter variety, but I am not
certain of that. These were, of course, subject to rust. 47 It
was customary to keep them lacquered with a kind of var¬
nish. The natural tinge of such a coating was yellow, so we
find constant mention of a hauberc saffre. The varnish could
contain coloring matter. Madder or sinople gave a red color
which was popular. Black, white, and green were often
met with. The battering of combat and weather soon re¬
moved these lacquers. The rusted garment was then rolled
in a barrel of loose sand and touched up once more 48 It was
considered quite fashionable for a knight to have his arms of
uniform color: that is, hauberc, helm, gambois, chauces, and
silken sorcot. (Similarly, it was just as chic for a lady’s cos¬
tume to be matching in all details.) 40 The knight’s horse
could be protected by a mailed coat. We find descriptions
of horse armor extending to the top of the animal’s hoofs;
but such an arrangement was ungainly and heavy. 80 It was
all that a destrier could do to carry an armed knight nimbly
into battle, and the horse’s efficiency was seriously handi¬
capped by an additional coat of mail flapping around his
feet. 81

The offensive equipment of the knight consisted of a

170 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

lance of ash wood tipped with metal, a heavy sword, and
very often a mace or a battle-axe hanging at the saddle¬
bow. 52 The battle-axe of the period had a wooden handle
and a two-headed blade. The mace was a heavy ball of
iron, usually with spikes on the surface of the ball; it had
an iron handle. A knight who had a following of other
knights and men-at-arms nailed a “gonfanon,” a square or
rectangular banner, to the top of his lance shaft, just below
the head. This helped to rally his followers. A knight who
did not have a following could have a penon or streamer-
like pennant. It was considered quite chic for the device on
the shield, the banner, and the cognisance or “token” to
match. Three nails are specified as holding the banner in
place. During combat the gonfanon became bloodied, but
the bearer was proud of this symbol of his prowess. 58 The
most effective way of using the heavy lance is described by
Usamah, the Moslem warrior, who fought the Franks in
many a Crusade conflict: “He who is on the point of strik¬
ing with his lance should hold it . . . as tightly as possible
with his hand and under his arm, close to his side, and should
let the horse run and effect the required thrust; for if he
should move his hand while holding the lance or stretch out
his arm with the lance, then his thrust would have no effect
whatsoever and would result in no aim.” 54 It would seem
from this that no special support for the lance blow was re¬
quired, other than the strength of the elbow drawn close to
the side. For some years now there has been perplexity over
the word f autre or feutre. Knights are frequently mentioned
as holding the lance sor le fautre} 55 A fautre is usually a rug
or covering. In the military sense a fautre is the padded
cloth which is laid on the horse’s saddle. A lance on the
fautre would mean, in that sense, that the hand holding the
weapon is resting on the saddlecloth, or that the butt of the

The Baron and His Castle 171

lance is reposing there. When Usamah remarks that a lance
should not be held out from the side, he has in mind the
heavy charging lance. The espie(u ) was a lighter variety
which was hurled at arm’s length. This particular weapon
is common on the Bayeux Tapestry, but we have evidence
that it was passing from use in the second half of the twelfth
century. Of course, darts and javelins (short ones, with
feathering similar to that of an arrow) remained in use and
were hurled in this way, with the arm held out and back.

The sword belt also had a tie buckle, not a metal one
with a tongue. The scabbard was frequently made of two
pieces of wood bound together by thongs; it could be of
metal. The renges of the belt formed a loop through which
the scabbard was thrust. The crosspiece or helz of the sword
prevented the scabbard and sword from slipping through
the loop. The sword had a broad, heavy blade, usually or¬
namented with lettering of some kind. The grip or poing,
and perhaps the hilt, could be wrapped with metal rings
{mangon }), or even just wire. Then again, the hilt and grip
might have lettering instead of rings or wire. At the end of
the grip was the pom, a metal ball which served as a coun¬
terweight, balancing the weapon so that the fulcrum was
at the hilt. 86

The shield was commonly of linden wood boards, nailed
side by side and cemented further with the help of casein
glue. These boards were covered on the exterior with heavy
hide. On the inner side was a strap through which the arm
was slipped and which was called the enarme. To the top
comers of the shield were fastened a thin strap, often a
strip of cloth, which was intended to hold the shield when
slung around the neck. The hide covering of the shield was
painted, and perhaps varnished on top of that. It could be
silver, red, blue, yellow, etc., or it might have a design

172 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

painted on it: lion, leopard, fleur-de-lis, or Madonna. 87
Heraldry was only beginning to appear, and there were as
yet no fixed designs owned by a family. Giraldus says that
French knights preferred flowers and peaceful devices, that
the English warriors wanted animals. 88 The shields were
tall, and they made ideal stretchers for carrying a wounded
or dead knight off the field. 89 A boss or boucle, probably
of bronze, was fitted at the upper center. It caught the
blade of the opponent’s sword. A smaller, round shield was
named a “targe,” and it might have a series of boucles
around the rim. 60

When going into action against each other, two knights
would take position at the required distance. They spurred
forward, dropped their reins on the necks of the horses,
raised their shields on the left arm, and held the lance as
Usamah specified (in our quotation above). If one knight
was unhorsed, the other was not obliged to get down. If he
did not, he was apt to have his mount killed by the adver¬
sary who was seeking for equal advantage. If both lances
were broken, or if both men were unmounted, the swords
were drawn and used until the battle was over. 81 The chan¬
sons de geste exaggerated very much the blows given and
received. Usamah is our authority as to what was consid¬
ered a heavy blow. He records that one Frank cut three
ribs of his Moslem adversary and with the same lance thrust
severed the arm at the elbow. This was considered a great
show of strength. 62

The serjant, who served on foot and on horse, was a pro¬
fessional soldier of the bourgeois or peasant class, in the
employ of baron or churchman. Sometimes it was difficult
to distinguish between a serjant and a knight. Usamah has
a story about this. He tells of a tall “knight,” a Frank who
wore double-linked armor and carried a spear in his hand,

The Baron and His Castle *73

although he had no shield. This man was guarding the door
of a tower very effectively. Later, when the Franks had
been captured and the men were lined up, each to be told
the amount of his ransom, this man had a high price put
upon him. He laughed and admitted that he was only a
serjant, receiving two dinars pay per month. 63 A serjant s
armor was apt to be a generation out of date probably
consisting still of heavy canvas with rings or leather plates
sewed upon it, at the date we are now considering (1184
or x 185) . 64 This fighting man did not always have a helmet;
he could be content with the coiffe over his head, and per¬
haps a ventaille. eB When on guard duty he bore a guisarme.
This weapon resembled a lance, but the blade had an extra
point which branched downward like a hook or talon. 66
The hook could be caught in the hauberc of any unruly
person who tried to pass without good reason. Serjanz car¬
ried also Danish axes, darts, javelins, and lances. Some of
these men were archers, although there were many archers
who were not serjanz. More frequently the archer was a
peasant or an apprentice at a trade who could use the bow,
and who was pressed into service when hostilities began. 67
The bow used was of medium length; the arrow was of
wood, with either barbed or bolt type of head, feathered, of
course. The arrows were carried in a quiver slung over the
left shoulder. Archers were deployed behind cover. 68 The
crossbow was greatly respected, and the accuracy and
strength of this weapon were considered so murderous that
the Second Lateran Council (in 1139) had forbidden its
use. Both Richard the Lion-Hearted and King Philip Au¬
gustus were making some use of crossbowmen despite the
injunction that came from Rome. By the close of the cen¬
tury the decision of the Council was widely disregarded;
bands of crossbowmen were being hired from Italy. The

174 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

operation of this weapon is quite simple. The bow itself
was of steel and quite small. It had a wooden stock, forming
a T with the bow. A trigger was rigged on this wooden
stock with a hook that caught the bowstring. The operator
would shoot with the bow in much the same way we use a
modern gun, sighting down the wooden stock and pulling
the trigger. 69 Most of the twelfth-century bows were not
heavy enough to require a stirrup and windlass for cocking
the string. An ordinary bow could shoot an arrow about
150 yards; a crossbow was good for 250 yards. 70 These dis¬
tances should be borne in mind, as a mediaeval man meas¬
ured distances roughly by archies or “bowshots” and traiz
d arbalete or “crossbow shots.” A serjant was occasionally
armed with a big, heavy club.

Before we turn to Alexander’s description of a castle, it
would be well to have a closer look at feudal society. The
principal unit was the knight or “chevalier.” The son of a
knight could normally expect to follow in his father’s foot¬
steps and be knighted by his father’s overlord, or by some
other patron or relative of the family. In addition, a young
man of the serjant class, if he became a favorite, or if he dis¬
tinguished himself by bravery or devotion, could hope for
the same thing. Consequently it was not rare to find knights
whose parents were peasants, and even serfs. Certain of the
romances, not to mention exempla and fabliaux, owe their
plots to this circumstance. 71 Too much importance has been
attached to the ceremony of making a knight. The impor¬
tant act was that the young man should kneel in obeisance
before the other, who then gave him a slight blow with the
flat of the sword, on his shoulder or the back of his neck,
bidding him rise and calling him a knight. Witnesses were
present if possible. It was then necessary to see that the new
knight was provided with a set of arms and armor, including

The Baron and His Castle 175

a horse, so that he could function. Because the twelfth-
century man dearly loved a party, this simple ceremony
was made the excuse for a high celebration, which was not
at all necessary. 72 If it was the lord’s son who was to be
knighted, word might be sent to all the vassals, who were
expected to contribute a “relief,” or gift, and then come in
person. If monetary assistance was not required, the lord
might take advantage of an occasion when his court was
well attended for other reasons. A number of young men
of lesser fortune would be selected to stand by the young
lord and receive knighthood at the same time. 73 It was
largely in the thirteenth century that a mystical element
was added to the procedure, emphasizing the need for
purity, and demanding that the candidates should bathe,
keep vigil the night before in a chapel, and so on. This was
a kind of play acting. I am not saying that elements of it
were not occasionally practiced in the twelfth century, 74
and I believe that in the thirteenth there were still many
“spot promotions” where knighthood was conferred with¬
out the trimmings.

Once he had become a knight, the young man would
hope to be given a bride and a fief. This coincidence of
events was doubtless more common in the romances than
it was in real life. The average young knight was expected
to follow the tourneys for a while, where he could acquire
reputation and a certain amount of cash. The making of
money in this way was simple. At a tourney the victor of
each single combat was entitled to the horse and the armor
of his vanquished adversary. If enough of these were col¬
lected, even though the young man might lose his own in
the course of the tourney, there were always merchants
who would pay well. When the young knight more or less
settled down and received a fief and usually a wife, he was

176 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

still required to give service to his overlord at certain sea¬
sons of the year and in emergencies. But there were many
knights who preferred to follow such service as an all-year-
round profession. They allowed their fiefs to be governed
m absentia, and they took up personal residence at the lord’s
castle, or nearby. They performed the duties of chevalier
dou guet (watch officer), seneschal (major-domo), and
many other services. Some of them liked fighting so much
that they continued, as older men, to move about among
the tourneys, looking for hostilities and private wars. These
were professionals, and they were very necessary for the
maintenance of society as it was then constituted. Unfortu¬
nately for the overlords, too many men found this mode
of life boring and impractical. They settled down on their
fiefs with their wives and children and begrudged the
month, during the summer, when they were obliged to ap¬
pear in person at the court, with full equipment. When pos¬
sible they paid scutage, a tax which enabled the lord to
hire professionals to take their place. This was when there
was actual fighting. Abbot Samson hired four mercenary
knights for forty days at a cost of 36 marks ($252). These
men were to serve King Richard in Normandy in 1199. 75

There were varying types of fiefs. One who had only
a house and a little land was called a chase —a sort of “tenant
knight.” Another, who was placed in charge of other
knights, with a small castle and a surrounding town, was a
small baron. Then there was the larger baron, who had
jurisdiction over a county or shire and was therefore a
count. Higher up the scale was a duke, who was the lord
over a large region in a kingdom. A marquis was a count
whose district was a border territory held with some inse¬
curity. Even the small landowners might hold directly
from a king or a duke. Such a landowner who owed no

The Baron and His Castle

177

rents at all except service in a major emergency was called
an aloue. In most cases, however, there was a complicated
chain, a system of subinfeudation. A large landowner had
under him many peoples with smaller parcels of land, some
owing him knight’s service (occasionally estimated in
fractions, as the service of two and a half knights), and
many owing serjam’s service. The great inconsistency was
that a man who was not a knight might owe the service of
two and a half knights, and a knight might be obligated for
a number of sergeancies. A peasant also could owe some of
these services, which were above his social rank. Occasion¬
ally a knight would be unsuccessful in securing the patron¬
age of any overlord and would be reduced to the position
of a landholding peasant, or even farther down the scale.
Many are the instances in the romances and chansons de
geste, and in the exempla and -fabliaux, where an impover¬
ished knight marries his daughter to a well-to-do peasant. 76

In this present narrative we are thinking of the small
baron who holds a castle, and possibly a small town around
it. In the following chapter we will be concerned with the
occupant of a manor house, a chase, who is not far removed
from a peasant farmer, and this will bring us to consider the
peasant class in some detail.

A baron followed the educational system of his class.
Children born into his family were kept at home with the
women until approximately seven years of age. Then they
were sent elsewhere to be educated. 77 The brother of a
boy’s mother was an excellent choice, and this practice may
have had its roots buried deep in early legal and matriarchal
custom. The girls who were sent off in this way spent their
time with the wife of the overlord, in the women’s apart¬
ment, on the third floor of the castle. This is the explana¬
tion of the bevy of maidens who are often mentioned as

178 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

being grouped around the mistress of a castle. They learned
many things: sewing, embroidery, weaving, a little music,
and polite conversation; often they learned to read. We
know that women of this class could frequently read
French, and even some Latin. This instruction would be
given by the resident clerk or chaplain. The boys from the
age of seven to twelve or fourteen also passed much of this
time with the women. They were the vallez, who learned to
wait on table, set up beds, and do various household duties.
When their voices started to change, or perhaps even
earlier as they showed manly strength, they were sent
downstairs to the lord himself. There they were squires or
escuier. The emphasis was now placed upon learning how
to ride and to handle the heavy lance. The tyrones and
robusti juvenes observed by Giraldus in the market place
at Arras were of this kind. Just when such boys received
knighthood and went their own way depended upon many
factors. The boys were usually considered of age at twenty-
one, but it might be earlier. Girls, of course, were ready
for husbands at fourteen or fifteen years of age, and occa¬
sionally they were married off even earlier.

We will assume that a small baron near Paris, whom
Alexander knows, has invited him to pay a visit. The baron
is of sufficient affluence to have with him the sons and
daughters of a few lesser knights. These boys relieve him of
the necessity of having servant help except in the kitchen
and kitchen yard. There will be also a few upstairs maids
who work under the direction of the chamberlains. The
land is worked by peasant tenants. One of the older squires
will be designated as seneschal to oversee all the operations
of the household; still others are chamberlains. A cleric,
whom the baron had selected from among his serfs and sent
to school specifically for this purpose, serves as household

Main hall of the Chateau des Comtes

The Baron and His Castle

179

chancellor or secretary. He was probably not an ordained
priest. A younger boy is chamberlain for the women’s
apartment. A professional or mercenary knight ( soudoier)
will be in charge of the stables and of the military training
of the young men. He is called the constable, and it is his
task to direct the practice with targets and to lead the boys
on expeditions hither and yon. One or two of the squires
may be designated as mareschals to assist in this work. If a
private war breaks out, the constable will be responsible for
arranging the details of combat or defense, in which case
he will be obliged to use the services of some more full-
fledged knights who owe service to the baron but who are
seldom present at his castle. A few additional soudoiers
also will be hired in this emergency. Minor officials were
the provost and the voiier, or road overseer. 78 These offices
would in all probability be held by serjanz or well-to-do
peasants.

The young people slept on beds that were set up in the
grant salle of the baron’s donjon, on the second floor. The
kitchen knaves lived below stairs, on shakedowns which
were set out at night. The lady and her few girl attendants
had their beds set up in the hall on the third floor, which
was kept rather well guarded. Someone was on watch at
the door which led from the spiral staircase in the thick
wall of the donjon. The lord, of course, would visit his
wife at night in her bed which was set apart in the women’s
hall. If the reader would prefer to picture the daily routine
of a count, a more important baron, he has only to sur¬
round his castle with a considerable town and imagine the
presence of more knights in his household. The seneschal
would be a capable and trusted knight, and so on. The
chancellor would be a priest and chaplain. The count’s ad¬
ministrative duties would require the assistance of a viscount

i8o Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

or sheriff. We do not find a great deal of information about
a minor class of officers known as hirauz, or “heralds.”
These were surely men of the serjant class who carried
messages and made announcements in the public streets and
places. 79 Some of them must have had some schooling which
enabled them to read and do simple ciphering. A minstrel
could become a herald. 80 In a royal or ducal household the
heralds would come from the noble class.

The real test of a herald’s efficiency was evident when
his lord announced a tourney. These affairs, which gave the
same relaxation and pleasure that a modern American finds
in a World Series or a championship football game, were
held all year round, except during the Truces of God, but
they were especially frequent just after Easter. 81 The baron
holding a tourney invited many of his friends and consid¬
ered it unfriendly if they did not come. Strangers were wel¬
come if they did not provoke hostility because of personal
idiosyncrasies. When the knights arrived, they were too
many to lodge in the castle, even when all floor space was
given over to beds. The knights were expected to rent
quarters from the burghers in the town which surrounded
the castle. On occasion burghers were encouraged to re¬
linquish their houses temporarily and the knights moved in.
There was a great deal of noise, and a considerable amount
of minor vice, but everybody in those days took delight in
the celebrations—even displaced families. The participants
would be divided into groups, haphazardly or according to
some prearranged plan. Sometimes one group would hold
the town against another, as was the case in the Chaitivel
of Marie de France. More often the serjanz and the heralds
marked off a space, in an open field or between the inner
and outer wall of the castle, which enabled the nonpartici¬
pants to view the exercises from good vantage points. The

The Baron and His Castle 181

space between the two walls was called the lices, or “lists,”
and this term was transferred to any enclosure which was
set off. The two sides lined up in double or multiple ranks,
and each man proceeded to choose an adversary on the op¬
posite side. At a given signal those who had already made
mutual selection charged each other, full tilt. Then those
behind them made their choices, and the fighting went mer¬
rily on. When a knight was overcome and confessed to be
recreant, he made himself known to his conqueror, and then
the winner remounted and looked around for another vic¬
tim. In this way the field was gradually eliminated. Heralds
must have kept track of the vanquished for a later squaring
of accounts in horses and armor. The day’s victor was
highly acclaimed. From some of the romances we observe
that a tourney lasting for three days was considered first-
rate. A certain number of loges must have been set up to
shelter the privileged ladies who sat close on the field. These
must have consisted of four posts with an awning stretched
across the top, and I am quite sure they never had a flooring
or a railing. High-ranking ladies would be seated on low
stools or cushions, and those less privileged sat on the
ground strewn with rushes, or stood. I am imagining this
setup because the audience at a tourney has been portrayed
quite frequently in our modern illustrations and motion pic¬
tures, and the scenes portrayed resemble more the grand¬
stand in a baseball park. The twelfth century had very little
planed lumber. When the knights finally left for home, the
merchants were richer, the host was poorer, and much
damage had been done to hearts and reputations.

Alexander’s daily contact with the baronial and fighting
class had been constant during his stay in the city of Paris,
but it was mostly unconscious. The royal provost lived in
the fortified gate known as the Petit Chastelet, and every-

182 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

one was obliged to pass through the narrow archway of this
gate when he went to the suburb on the left bank. Alex¬
ander traveled back and forth a half-dozen times a day.
There were knights and serjanz in the passageway, but they
had learned through long associations to recognize a clerk
intent upon his studies and practicing his usual mode of life.
They simply paid no attention. Those whom they stopped
for toll and questioning were driving carts or pack animals.
Some of the serjanz were “ratty characters,” who were
recognized as such by the students. A Villon of the twelfth
century could have found as good material in his day as
Francois found at hand in the fifteenth century. The Grant
Chastelet was even more thronged with knights and men-at-
arms, but Alexander did not pass that way very often.
Fortunately the presence of the king’s court kept a decided
hush over the military. Louis VII, followed in this by his son
King Philip, had always liked Paris and was usually in resi¬
dence there. Neither tolerated much disorder, and this
helped to create an uneasy but peaceful atmosphere. The
chief advisers of King Louis had not been of the knightly
class. They were the Templar Thierri Galeran, Bouchard
le Veautre, Adam Bruslard, Cadurc, and Gilbert la Fleche.
They had not been popular, but money, not mayhem, had
been their chief weakness. King Philip was continuing the
system. His Curia Regis was full of professional lawyers,
and he was not encouraging hereditary rights to office as
claimed by certain noble families. He abolished the chan¬
cellorship in 1185. The Curia Regis was beginning to inquire
into the conduct of affairs on the large feudal domains.
Where immediate information was not presented to him,
the King sent his commissaries to investigate, and judgment
was suspended until they reported. At this date (1185) the
Archbishop of Reims, Guillaume de Champagne, uncle to

The Baron and His Castle 183

the King, had just been put in charge of the Curia. Already
the King was experimenting with his system of bailiffs who
reported directly to the King three times a year. They
were to travel about and survey the collecting of revenues
and the administration of royal provosts. All these details
add up to the fact that Paris and the immediate surround¬
ings were good examples of law and order during the last
year that Alexander Neckam remained in France. 82 In that
very year (1185) the King had called a meeting of the
Parisian burghers to consider paving the main streets in
Paris. To be sure, all this time, King Philip was eyeing with
determination any change whereby he could limit ecclesi¬
astical authority over the students. He was insisting that
where laity and clergy were both involved the entire juris¬
diction should belong to the royal courts. As yet this had
been bitterly opposed by the Bishop of Paris.

Before we bring Alexander to the gate of the small castle
to which he has been invited, we will give his description
of a castle in general:

If a castle is to be decently built, it should be girded by a
double moat. Nature must provide the proper site as the mote
or mound should be set upon native rock. Where Nature fails,
the benefit of skill must take over, and a heavy massive wall,
made from stone and cement, has to grow or rise as an arduous
task. Outside this a fearsome stockade with squared pales and
prickly briars should be well erected. Afterwards a wide ditch
in the space between should be enjoyed. The foundation of the
stone wall must be joined with the bowels of the earth. The
wall should be supported with pilasters inside and out. The
surface of it must be evened by the mason’s trowel. Crenels
should be separated by proper intervals. Small towers [on this
wall] must flank the mainkeep, or donjon, which is set on the
high place in the very center of everything . 88 [On the wall]
let there not be lacking baskets containing huge boulders to be
thrown down if the castle is strongly besieged. In order that

184 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

the defenders may not be obliged to surrender, there should be
supplies of spelt and wheat, and haunches and bacon, and other
meat put in storage: sausages and entrails, meat puddings, pork,
mutton, beef, lamb, and various vegetables. One needs a spring
that flows continuously, small posterns, portcullises, and under¬
ground passages by which those bringing aid may move about
without being seen. One needs also lances and catapults, shields,
small light targes, crossbows, clubs, slings, and sticks. Balearic
slings, pegs of iron, boards, knotty cudgels, and towers hurling
fire by which the assaults of the besiegers may be eluded and
their purpose foiled. 84 You should have also iron beams, siege
mantlets, baskets, heavy slings, and other machines. There
should be there palfreys or riding horses, and pacing war
horses more suitable for the use of knights. In order that the
knights going out may be better cheered, there should sound
together trumpets, pipes, flutes, and horns. 85 The divisions and
echelons of the fighting men shall be ranged in order by the
constables, even when they go forth to a tourney or lance
tilting. 86 There should be poorer horses, with jolting gait, for
the serjanz and riffraff. 87 The castle should have also prudent
men, without whose advice nothing should be done in time of
hostility, a power which constitutes the greatest strength and
highest council of a kingdom—men by whose intercession
tortures are applied more mildly, by whose sternness digressors,
lawbreakers, violators of ordinances, horse thieves,.and mur¬
derers may be whipped, punished, or condemned to capital
punishment. 88 Their daily life should be frugal (frugality is
parsimony in abundance). Their purpose is to urge to do, and
to dissuade, without conjecture, for conjecture is opinion taken
from circumstantial evidence. There should be also criers and
heralds. Let there be present old and experienced knights; while
they contend, let the balance remain undisturbed; when they
achieve victory and the end of the conflict, the accounts of vic¬
tory, as being the prize of victory, are not unpraiseworthily
entrusted to public record. The group of knights can consist of
three kinds—knights answering the feudal summons, those
brought together casually, 89 and knights of the Church—whom
the horn of the lord or leader urges on in a cloud of missiles,
and who choose the hazards of war. They are influenced by

The Baron and His Castle 185

gifts [fiefs received from the leader, the fief being a kind of
payment]. There should be various dungeons or cells in the
proper locations, in the depths of which prisoners are put away
m hand shackles. Let there be also leg shackles and a pillory
[columbaria], and watchmen making a noise and clamor with
their horns. 80

This is rather important, contemporary evidence of the
make-up of a castle, although it is intelligible only to one
who has some information already. We will assume that
our reader understands it and will now accompany Alex¬
ander Neckam to the gate of the castle which he is visiting. 91
As he rode along, he noticed in the distance the donjon, or
straight tower, of two or three upper floors, sitting on a
motte, or slight rise of ground. It was circled by a stone
wall, such as he himself describes. This was the chemise or
curtain wall. Not visible to anyone just passing by was the
paved court which lay between the curtain wall and the
tower. This was crowded with baskets of live chickens, a
few animals ready for slaughter, and all sorts of farm and
kitchen gear. There was a continual squawking and baaing
from that quarter to which no one paid much attention as
all were used to it; they would have been more disturbed
by a silence. Encircling the stone wall itself was a stockade
of wooden pales. No one needed to tell Alexander as he
approached that there was a deep ditch occupying the space
between the two walls; this he knew. A few hundred feet
away from this castle stockade was another enclosure,
rectangular in shape, which obviously enclosed a pleasure
garden. Some trees were visible, extending above the top
of the pales. Still another enclosure, at a greater distance,
was the source of whinnying noises which betrayed the fact
that horses were confined there. There were a few lean-tos
constructed against the horse corral. This stone tower and

186 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

curtain wall would appear far more picturesque and shapely
eight hundred years later, despite the ravages of time, be¬
cause then there would be no trace of the wooden pales
and outer wooden buildings which were absolutely neces¬
sary in the twelfth century, but which certainly detracted
from the beauty of the scene. In time of hostilities the outer
enclosures would have to be abandoned, and the enemy
would begin by setting fire to them; but there did not seem
much danger of this in 1185, the year 5 of King Philip, who
kept his eye on such a donjon so near to his city of Paris.

Alexander was expected. As he came to the barred
wooden gate, or wicket, in the stockade, he was sighted by
the watchman on the curtain wall. Several young men,
serjanz, were summoned by a call and they sprang to un¬
fasten the bar. The visitor rode over the dry ditch on a
drawbridge of wood which could be raised by chains. This
brought him to the gatehouse in the stone curtain wall
which had a sliding door of iron that could be lowered
from above. 92 There was a similar door a few feet beyond
at the entrance into the kitchen court, but this was almost
always kept raised. Being a guest, Alexander was conducted
by a little stairway in the gatehouse to the top of the crene¬
lated wall. He walked around this, noting the baskets of
rocks, sharpened sticks with points hardened in a fire, and
other siege paraphernalia. He was taken around to the side
away from the gatehouse, where another drawbridge led
over the kitchen court into the tower. This also was pro¬
vided with chains that could be pulled up at will. Alexander
had left his horse with the young men at the outer gate,
and he suspected that it would be led away into the corral.
The porter in the gatehouse was provided with a very heavy
key that he did not need to use. 98 It is just possible that there
was some provision for stabling horses in the kitchen court-

The Baron and His Castle 187

yard, or there might have been an entrance from there to
stalls under the ground. 94 The stone curtain wall was quite
thick and some rooms were probably provided in it for
storage, and even living quarters. 95 A small door opening
into the donjon from the court was used by the kitchen
help in passing to and fro. There are numerous descriptions
of the arrival of a guest at a castle in the works of Chretien
de Troyes. In one of these the owner of the tower happens
to be standing on the first drawbridge. 96 For some strange
reason the attendants are keeping a very poor watch; they
have to be summoned by their master, who strikes with a
hammer on a sheet of copper suspended from a wooden
frame.

We have been picturing a donjon in the country, not
surrounded by a town. Where there was a town, the outer
wall, doubtless of stone, was sufficiently extensive to en¬
close the streets and other areas of the occupied sector. The
donjon would be set in the most defensible place against the
outer wall, or in the very center if that was the highest
ground. The size of the courtyard, between tower and cur¬
tain wall, also varied considerably. In the castle that Alex¬
ander was visiting, this was circular in shape and the diam¬
eter was not great. It was quite possible for such a court to
include a garden, with a low wall of stone, in the very heart
of the fortified area. We know also of a prison stockade, an
“enclosed area with large, round, sharpened stakes” inside
the curtain wall. 97 Chrltien’s castle gardens which he de¬
scribes so charmingly may have been outside or they may
have been inside. Here is one described by Marie de
France: “The Queen leaned out of an ornamented window;
she had three ladies with her. She beheld the King’s house¬
hold. . . . They had gone to amuse themselves in a garden
beneath the donjon where the Queen was dwelling.” This

188 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

garden could have been outside the enclosure, as the Queen
could have looked very easily into it from her third-floor
apartment.™ Yvain enters a large garden: “He saw reclin¬
ing on his cote a rich man who was lying on a silken cloth,
and a girl was reading to him in a romance whose name I
do not know. And to hear the romance a lady had come
there who was the mother.” 99 A very large castle might
have other buildings, in addition to the donjon, within the
curtain wall. The summit of this tower, or the curtain wall
itself, could be built up with a housing of wood, covered
with hides to prevent setting on fire. This projection was
referred to as the hourdes. It had a sloping roof and arrow
slits for shooting through. 100

The donjon, or keep, of a very small castle had only one
room on each floor. The kitchen was at the courtyard
level, from which a narrow stair, hard against the wall, led
up to the principal floor where the salle was located. Food
was carried up that narrow stair at least two times a day.
The men of the household slept and ate in that one salle.
Another stairway, in or against the wall, extended up to
the women’s apartment on the floor above. If there was
still another floor, it would be occupied by servants or chil¬
dren. The roof of the castle tended to be flat with a crene¬
lated parapet. In a larger donjon, like the one in which
Alexander was visiting, there would be several small rooms
on each floor in addition to the principal hall. On the main
floor one of these would be a room for storing garments and
other equipment; another would be a treasure room; still
another would be a longaigne or toilet. Similar space would
be provided for the women above, and might include a
private chamber for the lady and her husband. In a tower
of that size the stair would be placed in the thick wall. The
longaigne, or latrine, might open directly into the ditch, wet

The Baron and His Castle 189

or dry, if a donjon were built against the outer curtain wall,
and not in the center of the courtyard. Such an opening
was dangerous in time of siege, as it could be shot at or used
as an entrance by the opposing forces. The men of Philip
Augustus got into Richard’s Chasteau-Gaillard by this
route. A basket of torche-culs made of straw would always
be at hand in a longaigne. For those who desired it, a curved
stick ( gomphus ) was provided for the same purpose. 101

Before leaving this section on the castle, we will permit
ourselves a further digression and describe a royal castle,
such as the one at Old Sarum in England. 102 It was in this
stronghold that Eleanor of Aquitaine was confined for a
considerable length of time by her husband, Henry II of
England. We will consider the castle itself, inside the cur¬
tain wall, and will not speak of the town proper. The
“bailey,” or courtyard, was circular and very large. The
donjon was placed in the northwest sector of this, hard
against the curtain wall. The tower was not very high (to
judge by its walls, which were relatively thin). It was
divided into two good-sized rooms on each floor, a narrow
room and a square one; but important here were the outer
buildings which hugged the tower on three sides. On the
south side, adjacent to a stairway tower, there was a low
structure housing a chapel and a kitchen. Extending from
this, on the east side, still close against the tower, was a
two-story building containing a salle on its second floor.
On the north side was another two-story structure, with a
fine salle containing a fireplace made of “thin red tiles laid
in herringbone fashion.” This second salle was appropriate
for female members of the family, perhaps for Queen
Eleanor herself. These salles were entered through an ante¬
chamber at the northeast corner, which separated the two
halls, and each was provided with an extensive garde-robe

190 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

pit tower. Apparently a separate bakehouse also existed in
the large courtyard, and there is a well. The cramped condi¬
tion of the town may have caused the royal authorities to
lavish great care on garde-robe pits. The two gates which
provided entrance into the court were quite elaborate, and
they too have such pits. Only the kitchen and the chapel
could be entered directly from the donjon. To go up into
the two halls which we have described, one took a stair
leading from the courtyard to the northeastern antecham¬
ber. Opening into this antechamber was a strong tower
room, which we assume was the treasure chamber. Queen
Eleanor could have been kept quite private and incommuni¬
cado in a fastness such as this. These side structures may
have been erected just previous to her imprisonment.

In a treasure chamber there would be one or more big
chests, bound in iron. A specially designated treasurer had
a key to these boxes. In the Life of St. Edward the Con¬
fessor the treasurer forgot to lock up his chest before he
was called away quickly. A kitchen knave observed this
and stole some of the wealth, thrusting it into his bosom. 108

A man of the twelfth century liked the idea of a laby¬
rinth. When he had the means of constructing a tower with
exits not easily found, he did so. Take this one for instance:
“Then he built with squared stones on the motte at Guines
a round house, and he made it high in the air. ... In this
building he prepared many rooms and various things and
amusements, as in a labyrinth.” 104

We return once more to Alexander. As he entered the
door of the donjon to which he had been invited, he was
greeted by his host. The host grasped the fingers of his
guest’s right or left hand and held them for a few seconds.
That was the greeting of a mediaeval man. 105 Sometimes
this gesture was followed by a light kiss. At times men

The Baron and His Castle 191

walked hand in hand. Alexander would be told that a room
had been cleared for him—one of the side rooms on the
main floor, or possibly a little room in the curtain wall. He
would be attended by a servitor who would help him to
wash and bring him a change of clothing. Had Alexander
been a knight, he might have been attended by a female.
After this refreshment he took a walk with his host in the
enclosed garden outside the wall.

The chief diversion of a barony was hunting. This could
not be easily forgotten as dogs and hawks were visible in
many places. The men rose at dawn, day after day, and
pursued wild boars, or the red deer in the neighborhood.
The Baron had a considerable area of land which was given
over to hunting, and it was policed by his forester. Some
clerics, but not Alexander, would have joined gladly in
the hunt. The stag and hind (both of them red deer) were
more interesting game than the roebuck and roe doe, which
were also available. The fox, too, was often hunted. In
pursuing the wild boar, there was great danger from the
animal’s tusks. Light spears were used by the huntsmen. 106
The fox was killed by the dogs, and the deer were dis¬
patched with a hunting knife. There was an elaborate pro¬
cedure in skinning a deer. Certain portions were given to
the dogs. The hunting dogs were either levrier or bracket.
The first of these was a short-eared hound, of which the
Italian greyhound is a dwarfed breed. The bracket was a
long-eared hound, an ancestor of the modem pointer. The
braque, which is still bred in Portugal and elsewhere, is sub¬
stantially this dog. Another breed of dog, which had no
place in hunting, was the mastiff. It is still with us al¬
though it has become rare. 107 Cats were not common in a
baronial household. Alexander’s friend might have had a
tamed wolf.

l 9 2 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

Both in warfare and in peace the men and women of the
baronial class made considerable use of tents. When Lanval
was led to the tent of his fairy mistress, he found it hand¬
some and well pitched; a golden eagle appeared at the sum¬
mit of the principal pole. Marie does not estimate the value
“of the ropes nor of the pegs which hold the sides.” 108
Often valuable material, brocaded silk, for instance, was
used for the tent, in green, red, blue, and violet shades. 109
The “pommel,” as the figure or knob on the top of the pole
was called, could be gilded or actually made of gold.

Some special variety of tent is indicated by the word
alcube, and since this form is of Arabic origin we can as¬
sume that it was Oriental: “King Louis caused his tent
[tref], his alcubes, and his brahanz to be set up.” 110 Simi¬
larly in the Prise d'Orange there is this passage: “The
others are left at the tents [tres] and the brehanz .” in It is
customary to translate brahant by “tent,” but I am in¬
clined to interpret it as a “shelter,” since I associate it with
the Arabic word barbahhane, which is supposedly the
source also for barbican , m

Intermediate between house and tent were the shelters
or “loges.” These were open structures made of poles, with
an awning or a roof of thatch. “There where the tourney
was to be, there were some large wooden loges, because the
Queen would be there and the ladies and the maidens... ,” 118
For this same tourney Chretien de Troyes mentions that the
overflow of knights were taken care of in tents and in loges.
The more favored ones were housed in lodgings in the
town, and, of course, the most favored lived at the king’s
palace. 114 Nicolette made a Ioge at a crossroad, with her own
hands. She constructed it out of oak branches and leaves and
lined it with flowers and leaves. It is quite possible that in
addition to the upright poles and the roof there were

The Baron and His Castle

i93

branches intertwined along the sides of a loge to shade the
occupants from the sun. 115 The word loge has a different
meaning also. It can refer to a gallery open to the street,
but part of a house, as in the Yvain: “One could not spend
a single evening with the other without turmoil and quarrel¬
ing, but in a small house of several parts, where there have
been constructed loges and rooms, the thing can be.” 116
Further on: “Hatred went to the loges facing on the road,
because she wished to be seen. . . .” 117 Apparently in the
place of a closed room a gallery with window arches might
be built on any one of the floors of a house. The colonnade
before a church was undoubtedly called a loge.

The twelfth-century man loved a party, and the grandest
occasion of all was when a wedding was held. During this
century the custom of having the two parties concerned
exchange formally their verba de futuro had been re-estab¬
lished. 118 This was considered more binding than a simple
betrothal, although the authorities, Gratian and Peter Lom¬
bard, differed on this point. On the following day, or
whenever was convenient, the exchange of vows—the
verba de praesenti —was held. Most canon lawyers insisted
that this was the binding factor in the sacrament of mar¬
riage, although Gratian had held that the actual consumma¬
tion was the most important act. After this exchange of
vows a nuptial Mass was heard, and then the party went off
to dinner. 119 After the meal the minstrels were encouraged
to “do their stuff,” and young men and young women
would dance their caroles, but not together. After supper,
which came at Vespers, the priest or bishop blessed the mar¬
riage bed, and then the crowd of guests were ushered out of
the room. The bride’s mother and her attendants undressed
her, and the groom came to bed also. At dawn the next day
all went to Mass, and then there was polite conversation.

194 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

After dinner, till None (three o’clock), there were more
caroles and more minstrels. A moderate wedding could
break off at this point. One that was celebrated at great
expense might drag on in this way for days; but on a third
day it was customary to provide some exercise, such as
hunting and fishing, for the men in the party.

Other events could be celebrated in elaborate fashion.
The visit of King Arthur is cause for similar festivities at
the castle of Yvain and Laudine. Rugs are laid in the
streets; the walls of houses are hung with silks; curtains are
stretched across, from house to house, as awnings over the
roadway. Horns and bells make the air ring. Acrobats per¬
form. The ladies gather near the minstrels who play on
vieles, flutes, and drums. On just such an occasion a Indus
theatralis could have been performed. This celebration
lasted a week. The guests visit the estates of their host; they
hunt and fish and call at the castles within four or five
leagues (a league was two and a half miles). Above all, there
is feasting. 120

But a still finer feast is that described by Wace in his
Brut, where he gives details on a celebration held by Ar¬
thur. 121 Servants come and go. Lodgings are commandeered
from their owners, who move out to accommodate their
noble guests. The walls are hung with curtains, and bed¬
chambers and upper rooms are cleared. The mareschals are
the officers who attend to this clearing of lodgings. For some
of the visitors loges are constructed and tents are set up. An
observer would see many a squire leading palfreys and war
horses. Stables are erected, and tent pegs are driven in.
Horses are being tied, curried, and watered. Grain, hay, and
grass are brought. Boys ( vallez ) and chamberlains run about
hanging up mantles, folding them, and carrying pelipons of
vair and gris. The knights are playing at the targets, show-

The Baron and His Castle

195

ing off their horses, fencing, throwing stones, hurling darts,
and wrestling. Ladies watch from the walls. Some are play¬
ing at chess, others at dice. These gamesters sit two at a
table, and the dicers are constantly borrowing from those
who stand by, allowing twelve deniers in repayment for
eleven received. Some are taking off pieces of clothing for
wagers, and some of the players are almost stripped. The
minstrels are ever present: acrobats, singers, and instru¬
mentalists (estrumenteurs). This high feast begins on a
Sunday morning and continues in this way through Tues¬
day. On Wednesday the King gets down to serious business
and passes out fiefs and honors.

We will close this chapter on a more mundane note. We
will give a description of the farmyard litter which could
clutter up the courtyard of a castle. In Alexander’s own
words, such a court usually was filled with farm utensils and
birds:

In the granary or storehouse there should be a strickle, a corns,
a modius or mui, a winnowing fan, a batus, and various other
measures of wheat, barley, rye, "winter wheat, oats, and darnel.
There should be kept also, for the use of birds in the court,
straw, husks, darnel, and avens. The birds of the court are:
chickens, hens, fatted capons, cocks, ducks, geese, swans,
herons, pheasants, cranes, coots, doves, divers, kingfishers,
woodcocks, and peacocks or Juno’s birds.

Then he takes us outside the courtyard:

In the stable should be a manger, a cowshed, a pigstye, a
trough, currycombs, bridles, bits, wheelbarrow, halters, and
harness for a horse which I have enumerated elsewhere. 122

In order to evaluate the mediaeval measures I offer the
following tables: 128

196

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century
LIQUID

1 pinte
4 pintes
8 pintes

2 sestiers
3 6 sestiers

3 muis

.931 liter (modem)
1 lot
1 sestier
1 double-sestier
1 mui
1 tonne

1 sestier

2 sestiers
8 quarts
4 muis

15 boisseaus

DRY

.96 pint (modem)
1 quart or batus
1 mui
1 boisseau
i corns

The corns is a measure of corn occurring in the Bible. It is
doubtful that it was used by a European fanner.

Apothecaries’ weight had 1 maille equal 10 grains, or
barleycorns; a filbert is 120 grains; 1 nut is equal to 9
filberts.

Qhapter Fill

Manor House and Peasant

T he petty baron at whose castle our protagonist is visit¬
ing had chevaliers chasez, as well as peasants, holding
sections of his land. His personal demesne was under the
direction of a maire, or “steward,” who dealt with lesser
tenants and paid the baron each year a fixed sum out of the
produce . 1 This maire occupied a manor house, a large coun¬
try house which was not a castle. A similar manor is de¬
scribed beautifully by Adam dou Petit Pont, who returned
on a visit to his family home in England . 2 As he approached
the old homestead he saw the “vallum,” or dry moat, with
the dirt heaped on the inner edge. A palisade of wooden
pales followed the line of this inner side and enclosed com¬
pletely the house and its outbuildings. Adam moved toward
the gatehouse, which was not closed; the bridge was down.
He was soon in the courtyard, with small structures to the
right and left and the manor straight ahead. Now he was
greeted by relatives who came forward to salute him, some
of whom he did not recognize. He entered the door of the
wooden manor and found himself in the small entry hall,
which had a tiled floor. He was conducted at once up the
stairs to the big room which served as a bedchamber for
all the members of the family. Presumably he attended to
his toilet there and changed his clothes. A little later, in his

198 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

account, he commented upon the painted and carved ceiling
beams of that room, which were remarkable. After supper,
which was certainly eaten in the main hall, or salle, on the
first floor, to the left of the entrance vestibule, he was given
a tour over the place. They started with the west side and
visited successively the little buildings which surrounded
the house. There was first a phala, or small barbican tower,
where the weapons were stored. This was of wood, and it
was from there that the defense would be initiated in case
of attack. It probably had only one floor and a half-base¬
ment. The lances were kept in racks. The next building, as
they passed along, was the library, a storehouse for books.
No description was given of the furnishings, but we can be
sure that it contained some chests of books and a scribe’s
writing chair. Probably elementary school instruction was
given to the children there. Following this was a building
that contained chapel, guesthouse, and infirmary. After this
came a storehouse, then a barn adjacent to an open space
where carts were kept. They had now completed the cir¬
cuit of the western side of the court. Adam and his guides
then passed to the eastern side. There they found a laundry,
with a running stream, the stables, another storehouse for
baskets and such, the outdoor oven, and the kitchen which
contained also the pantry. This brought them once more to
the entry of the manor house proper. Adam comments upon
the lower floor of this house. To the right as one entered
was a room where the women of the household did their
work—at the loom, sewing, and so forth. Immediately
adjacent to this, leading out from it, was a little room where
chests of clothing were placed. One chest had only head-
gear, and so on. Adam does not describe the big room which
must have been on the left-hand side of the lower floor,
except to refer to it as the palatium. When he first entered

Manor House and Peasant

199

the house, he found a household “fool” or jester in this room
who provoked considerable mirth by his awkward rising.
A jester usually carried a small toy club or mague?

A well-to-do peasant did not have to be a maire to occupy
a house similar to the one just described. This was the typi¬
cal house for a prosperous farmer, whether he be knight,
serjant, or peasant, granted that he was not the military over-
lord of the region, in which case he was obliged to maintain
a fortified castle. 4 The description of a house which we
gave earlier, in the words of Alexander, was really intended
to illustrate a country house.® Alexander spoke of aromatic
spices which were hung outside the east window, in gourds,
to improve the quality of the air. He spoke of a maid who
was in charge of upstairs arrangements. We omitted the
particulars concerning the downstairs or kitchen maid,
which we will now proceed to give. First we will repeat
what is said of the dress of the upstairs maid, by way of
contrast:

Now let her exclude the intemperate air with a cote. A band or
a hair net should restrain her flowing hair. She should have a
necklace, and a brooch by which she can fasten the neck open¬
ing of her cote , or fustian, or shirt. She may have bracelets and
earrings. There should be also a serving maid who will place
eggs under the sitting hens and will give maslin [mixed rye and
wheat] to the geese, and who will feed the ailing lambs with
milk from a ewe other than the mother, in her gentleness. She
will keep the calves to be weaned, whose teeth are few, in an
enclosure near the bam. On holidays her clothing should be a
cast-off pellice and a wimple. 6 It is her practice to give the
swineherd, plowmen, and other herdsmen whey, but to the
master and his friends, clabber in cups, and to offer in the
evening bran bread to the dogs in the pen. 7

No mention of spinning is made by Alexander. One of
the two maids must have participated in this; perhaps they

200

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

both did, along with their mistress and her daughters. A
spindle and a distaff were used. The distaff was held in the
left hand (unless the woman were left-handed) and the un¬
spun wool or flax was drawn from it. With the other hand
the spinner operated the spindle or top. The length of wool
to be united with another was fastened at one end through
the hole in the spindle, and then, as the top turned, this was
allowed to twist around another length of wool grasped in
the fingers of the right hand. Wool intended for warp
thread was spun to the right; that intended for weft thread
was turned to the left.

Here is Alexander’s description of the requirements of an
average peasant, whose house may not have been as fine as
the one we have just portrayed:

A peasant spending his life in the country, wishing to provide
for poverty and old age, should have many kinds of baskets
[corbes, calathi, cophini, sportes] and beehives of willow
wands. 8 He should have also a fishing fork shaped like a hook
that he may get himself fish. Nor should he be without a wil¬
low basket for pressing clabber, in which milk saved from the
milking, pressed frequently, may be transformed into cheese
with the whey well extracted. The whey should be kept for
young children to drink.

The container used in milking
resembled a large chalice. It was
probably of wood.

Afterwards the cheese in its fresh
state should be kept in a cheese-
box of paper or of marsh reeds,
wrapped in leaves and covered
against the attacks of flies, mice,
stinging flies, locusts, and such.
Also he should have straw and coarse grains, which are fed
to hens, ducks, geese, and birds of the kitchen yard. He must

Manor House and Peasant

20 i

have also bolting cloth and a strainer, so that he can sift flour
with them; he can clarify beer with them too. He must possess
a sword, a guisarme, a spade, a threshing sledge, a seed bucket
for sowing, 9 a wine strainer basket, a wheelbarrow, a mousetrap
for mice, and a wolf trap. He should have also stakes or pales,
frequently sharpened and tested in the fire. He should have a
two-headed axe for removing thorns, thistles, brambles, spines,
and bad shoots, and holly wood for tying and renewing hedges
in order that, taking advantage of carelessness, no thieves may
enter into the livestock enclosure and take animals. He should
have a large knife also by which he may cut grafts and insert
them into trees if there should be need. He may have hoes for
removing tares, chicory and bennet grass, vetch, darnel,
thistles, and avens. Some of these, however, are eradicated
better with a curved implement than with a hoe.

He needs a herdsman and a shepherd because of the treachery
of wolves, and he must be provided with a fold in order that
the sheep placed there may render richer the land with the
wealth of their dung. The shepherd must have a hut in which
a faithful dog shall pass the night with him. The sheepfold
ought to be moved frequently in order that all the area of the
field can feel the benefit of the urine as well as of the dung of
these animals. 10 Our peasant should have also a cow barn and
mangers: one manger for horses, one for cattle, and, if pros¬
perity smiles a bit and Fortune is kind, he should get an ass and
a stallion for a stud. 11 He will need also sheep, goats, oxen,
cows, heifers, bullocks, wild oxen (?), wild asses, asses, rams,
ewes, wethers, bull calves, and mules. He must have boxes,
nets, and long lines to trap hares, does, kids, stags, hinds, and
young mules. This is the equipment of the peasant. He will re¬
quire also brachet hounds, levriers, and mastiffs.

The account goes on:

He should have a plow which can produce the necessities of
life, in the middle of which is a huge piece of oak, which we
call a beam or pole. 12 This, widening into two prongs, forms
twin ears or earthboards whereby the furrow is made wider.
A certain kind of plow has only one ear. This oaken beam
curves into the back end which is known as the tail of the

202

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

plow ... [more false etymology]. The plow handles, to which
grips are fixed and by which the plow is directed, should go
up obliquely. There are three kinds of grips [capuli]: that in
the handle of a sword, the kind attached to a funeral bier, and
the kind which the plowman holds with his hands. But a plow
is difficult to control when it is opposed by hard earth and
rough or clay soil, where the yoke of the draft animals or the
willow bands are broken. A share beam should be added, to
which a plowshare is inset. I pass over willingly the hedge, har¬
row, nails, bars, cords, and knife. 18 I leave to those who under¬
stand such things to develop and elucidate how the fields
should be manured, 14 cleared off, or renovated when Sirius or
Procyon is in the ascendant, or when “houses” are falling; also
how to burn off when the stalks have been left, or level off with
a cylinder [chilindrum ], 16 or cover the sown land with a drag,
or put the seed in the ground in order that the inert seed may
burst into green; how it is necessary to reap, to beat on a
threshing floor, to send the bundles or stacks to the granary, to
clean with a rake, to cleanse with the winnowing fan, 16 after¬
wards to grind with the millstone, to sift the flour through the
holes of a sieve, and by the art of baking transform it into
bread. I omit for the present a goad, drag, scarecrow, and a
lecherous representation of Priapus, not from ignorance but
because I do not recall them precisely. 17 1 have discussed many
of these in my other writings, and repetition does not please me
as much as it does so many others. 18

Peasants were supplied with required wares by traveling
merchants who carried their packs from farm to farm.

The peasant at work is represented faithfully in the many
sculptured versions of the Labors of the Months, a familiar
scene in twelfth-century ornamentation. In these scenes the
peasant appears in the acts of digging, pruning, reaping,
pressing grapes, sitting by the fire, threshing with a flail,
killing hogs, hoeing, driving oxen, and riding. The version
of these which has been preserved from the Duomo at Fer¬
rara (Italy) is unusually clear . 19 The costume of the peasant

Manor House and Feasant 203

is represented in excellent detail: the working shoe with its
very heavy sole (probably of wood) and separate heel, the
snood cap fastening under the chin, the hair long at the nape
of the neck, the leather belt with some kind of hooked clasp
(to be distinguished from the more elegant tie-belt worn
by gentry), and the wrapped leg coverings. These figures
are so lifelike that they seem to be moving before our eyes.

In the fireside scenes found in the Labors of the Months
it is evident that a stool was used which had elaborate rungs
and knobs. A few seemed to have claw feet, and a cushion

on the seat. Some of them are
carved; some have a low back. Wc
presume that the stool would be
kept in the chimney corner for the
master of the household, if he were
the occupant of a prosperous manor
house. Apparently such a stool was
used in the castles also and could be
pulled away from the hearth and
placed next to a bed (used as a
couch) during polite conversation. 20 A common variety of
chair used by everyone was the faldestuel, or folding chair,
which resembled closely a modern pliant.

We have mentioned in an early chapter
the plaissie, or detached farmyard, which
was a stockade some yards away from the
house. Chickens were kept there. Appar¬
ently the farmer’s wife would lay out her
newly pressed cheeses there to dry.

[Tiecelin the raven] saw thousands of
cheeses which had been put out to sun. The
woman who should have watched them was gone into her
house_[He grabbed one.] The old woman ran out into the

204 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

street; she saw the raven and threw at him pebbles and stones,
and cried out, “Young man [vassal], you’ll not carry it away.”
Tiecelin saw that she had little sense; [he answered,] “You’ll
not get this one back, I’ll have my mustaches shaved first.. ..
I risked getting it because it is tender, somewhat yellow, and
of good savor. I am so fond of it, if I can get it to my nest I
will eat it quietly as though it were boiled meat or a roast. 31

This begins the Roman de Renart version of the well-
known tale about the Fox and the Raven. A plaissie would
hardly offer protection against a still more troublesome
enemy of cheeses than Tiecelin, namely, the flies. The
twelfth century was troubled with them also; witness this:
“You are filthier than a fly which people swat in summer.” 22

The trials of a peasant housewife are aptly illustrated by
an English writer:

And what if I ask besides, though it may seem silly, how the
wife stands, that heareth, when she cometh in, her child scream,
sees the cat at the bacon, and the dog at the hide? Her cake is
burning on the stone, and her calf is sucking all the milk up.
The pot is boiling over into the fire, and the churl her husband
is scolding. Though this be a silly tale, maiden, it ought to deter
thee more strongly from marriage, for it seems not silly to her
who trieth it. 28

A detail on the method which she used in sweeping is per¬
haps a commonplace, but it is worth repeating:

When the poor widow would cleanse her house, she gathereth
into a heap, first of all, all the largest sweepings, and then
shoveleth it out; after that she cometh again and sweepeth to¬
gether all that was left before, and shoveleth it out also; again,
upon the small dust, if it is very dusty, she sprinkleth water, and
sweepeth it out away after all the rest. 24

But marriage had its compensations, even for the peasant
girl, because it brought her children whom she could love
and play with: "... as the mother with her young darling:

Manor House and Feasant

205

she flies from him, and hides herself, and lets him sit alone
and look anxiously around and call “Dame, dame!” and
weep a while, and then she leapeth forth lightly with out¬
spread arms, and embraceth and ltisseth him, and wipeth his
eyes.” 2 ® A trick which is still used to comfort a little person
who has bumped himself was employed then: “ — and if a
child stumble against anything or hurt himself men beat the
t hing that he hurteth himself upon, and the child is well
pleased, and forgetteth all his hurt, and stoppeth his tears .” 26

The twelfth century, like every other period in the his¬
tory of man, had games and toys for children. Yvain in his
brief period of mental illness found a boy “who held a bow
and five barbed arrows which were sharp and broad .” 27
Although it is not specifically stated, we get the inference
that these were “boy’s size.” We know that the boys played
ball. In the Hortus deliciarum manuscript there is a minia¬
ture which is frequently reproduced . 28 It shows a boy and a
girl standing over a table, manipulating two jointed figures
of knights with swords. By agitating the strings which they
have in their hands, they make the figures clash against each
other. Similarly, children used to take plantain spikes (the
spike is a stalk bearing the fruit or minute green flower)
and strike them together, pretending they were knights.
The one which struck the flower off the other was pro¬
claimed winner . 29 Petronilla, the wife of Arnoul d’Ardres,
was a simple young lady of childish tastes: “She would
apply her youthful self to children’s games and dances, and
similar amusements among the maidens, and very often to
dolls .” 30 She had another habit, considered rather scandal¬
ous, of bathing in the fish vivarium in the kitchen yard,
clad only in her shirt, on a hot day, in front of the knights
as well as the girls. We might think of this young lady as
the inventor of the swimming pool. When children played

206 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

by the sea, they had the same pastimes that they have today.
Giraldus says that his little friends used to build castles in
the sand; but he showed his future aptitude by building sand
churches and monasteries . 81

While we are speaking of children, we note this amusing
statement in a farcical work (of the thirteenth century, to
be sure):

I have never cared for children, little, medium-sized or big: the
little one is hard to rear and does not let the people sleep at
night; the middle-sized one runs down the street and must be
kept from horses and carts; the big one battles with father and
mother to get rich estates, and he has to be brought back con¬
tinually from the taverns . 82

We have said that cats were not very popular in baronial
households; but they were certainly a favored pet among
lesser folk. The anchoresses are told in the Ancrene Riwle:
“Ye shall not possess any beast, my dear sisters, except only
a cat .” 88 Apparently the cat in the Middle Ages was of the
same breed that we have today and enjoyed the same an¬
tagonism to rats and mice. A somewhat gruesome find was
made recently in the Southwark area of London. Buried in
the ground, underneath a spot where sixteenth-century
woodwork had been subsequently built, there came to light
the mummified remains of an ordinary house cat engaged in
combat with two large rats . 84 It is presumed that the animal
met its fate in the fifteenth century, or earlier. Very striking
is the action displayed in both the figure of the cat and that
of the rat which it holds in its mouth. We can only assume
that some cave-in of soil must have buried the animals in¬
stantly.

We have been writing about peasants who held a manor
with its surrounding lands from a feudal lord. There were
many shades of wealth and poverty among the peasants.

Manor House and Peasant 207

Some were stewards, or makes, holding censes (or curies),
estates which were in turn subdivided into lesser holdings.
A few manors and small castles were in the possession of
knights who owed knightly service and no other rent; these
were both chasez and alouSs. BS The free peasant, or villein,
held land under two types of contract: bail d part de fruits
and bail d ferme. The first meant payment of rent with a cer¬
tain per cent of the produce; the other signified a lease at a
fixed yearly sum (say, four to six deniers per arpent). The
sum might be stipulated as so much cash and so much pro¬
duce . 86 Very little actual labor service was demanded of a
free peasant in the late twelfth century. A week’s work on
the lord’s demesne at harvest time might be required, but
this was not the rule. At times the lord gave himself a good
laugh by leasing on the terms of droits ridicules . 87 On rent¬
paying day a peasant might pay the smoke of a roast
chicken, or he might be obliged to take a bath in public,
you can be sure—etc. These were entertaining jokes, but
they did not bring in any income. A free peasant was not
able, ordinarily, to sell his land to another without the con¬
sent of the lord’s make. Some military service, as a serjant,
might be included in a peasant’s rent. The whole system
became more complicated when a rich peasant held lands
which owed a knight’s fee to the lord’s estate. In that case,
of course, scutage had to be paid to the lord, or a knight had
to be hired to perform the requisite service.

A lower class of peasant was that of the serf. The amount
of labor which he owed to the demesne was much greater.
In addition, he had to pay certain vexatious fees if he
wanted to be ambitious and move around; for instance, to
get the privilege of marrying a wife who was not on the
estate he had to pay formariage. If he wished to live some¬
where else, he was required to pay chevage. There were

208 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

other arbitrary tailles. When he died, all the property that
he had accumulated belonged to the lord. 38 In the Paris area
much of this was beginning to be softened. Many serfs had
bought their freedom or received it as a gift. In many cases
the lord preferred to forget the serf status of a useful indi¬
vidual. He would allow complete freedom of movement,
would even contribute to the serf’s education, and might
allow him to become a member of the baronial class—but in
this case the man’s technical status as a serf continued in the
background and influenced him in remaining loyal, and per¬
haps subservient. A fine example of this is that of the
seneschal of Henri de Champagne who counseled his lord
against excessive generosity. 89 He was strongly rebuked by
Henri in view of his status as a serf. It was convenient also
to give a local benefice to a cleric who was of serf origin.
But not all the nobles were venal. Many were glad to have
their serfs make enough money to purchase freedom, and
they often allowed main morte, which means that the serf
could leave his money to anyone at will, so long as that per¬
son lived on the estate. 40 Eighteenth-century writers, and
later ones too, have made much over the jus primae noctis.
There is some evidence of this practice, particularly in the
south of France; but if you look at the matter impartially,
having in mind social conditions of the twelfth century, the
abuse does not seem very great. 41 If an overlord were suffi¬
ciently interested in a girl of the serf class to demand this
favor, she probably did not make herself difficult on that
night or a previous one, provided she was compensated in
some way. (I do not want to seem heartless in a statement of
this kind. What I am stating is that standards of morality
were, on the whole, lower at the time than they are now in
the society that most of us frequent.)

There was still another type of peasant, the hdte . 42 A

Manor House and feasant 209

hotise was a parcel of land granted by the lord’s make to a
squatter, a person who was willing to put up a shack of some
kind and work for better times. In the literature of the
twelfth century we occasionally come upon a man of the
knightly class who is reduced to farming under the most
miserable circumstances, like the good knight in Rapularius.
Perhaps he was tilling a hdtise. There were certain common
lands on a demesne—forests, meadows, and marshes—which
were not leased to any individuals. The peasants insisted
that they had certain rights there and were frequently in
dispute on this subject.

The poorer peasants, including serfs, liked to have their
get-togethers on a long evening where they danced and
sang. A peasant in the Roman de Renan has a viele which
hangs from a peg in his one-room hut: “. .. every night all
his neighbors came together with him. He gave a lot of
pleasure to his children with it .” 48

Smaller nobles, and some of the greater ones, did not
have a private chapel or church, but attended one nearby,
in their village or in the country. A small chapel would be
served by a single priest, assisted by one clerk, a boy. There
might be a choir of laymen, perhaps consisting of two boys
and two men who sang from behind a partition near the
chancel. The young clerk slept in the bell loft or some simi¬
lar place. He rang the bells, cared for the property, and
assisted at Mass and the other offices. We have taken this
description from the Flamenca . 44 Alexander Neckam lists
the contents of a church:

The furnishings are these: a baptismal font, a crucifix, a Little
Mary, and other images; a lectern of some kind, a ewer, a small
ewer, basins, a chair, the chancel, an elevated seat, a stool,
candlesticks, the piscina or lavabo, the altar stone, a case for
images, cruets, and pyxides. Let there be a bier for the dead.

210

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

a hand towel, a face towel, and a fine cloth |on the altar].
There should be gilded vessels, a thurible, 4B gilded columns
and bronze veneering with silver and marble bases. . .. There
should be books: Missal, Breviary, Antiphonal, Gradual, Pro¬
cessional, Manual, Hymnal, Psalter, Troper, and Ordinal. The
priest’s vestments are surplice, silk cap, 46 cincture, headband,
baldric, stole, maniple, and chasuble. [In the ceiling] there
should be beams of maplewood or oak, crosspieces where the
roof adheres to the beams or to the leads. Wooden pegs and
iron nails are required where the tiles and roof siding are sus¬
pended. Small bells, immense bells, and little bells must be hung
m the tower. A cupola, tower, and bell tower are the same
thing. A weathercock can be placed on top. Bent bars, bolts,
hinges, and locks should be there [on the doors]. There should
be an entry vestibule for temple, or church, or monastery, or
oratory, or chapel. . . . Let there be a tabernacle in which the
Eucharist may be kept most worthily, the salvation of faithful
souls, for he who does not believe cannot be saved. 47

The Chronicle of Jocelin gives still further details. 48 The
abbey church of Bury-St. Edmund’s had a great beam which
crossed over the altar. From this hung the crucifix, with the
Little Mary on one side (probably the left) and the image
of St. John on the other. The reserved Sacrament was often
placed inside the Little Mary. There was also a reliquary
suspended from this same beam. The altar was concave in
shape. The walls could be draped with curtains or tapestry,
like any other room. A pulpit was not essential, but Abbot
Samson placed one in the church for ornament and because
there were many who liked to hear him preach. In this
abbey church was a big sheet of metal ( tabula ) hanging
from an upright, which was struck as a gong pro mortuo, or
to give warning in an emergency. The abbey had also a
water clock, with dropping weights so attached that they
fell and roused the guardian of the vestry at the proper
hours, as before Matins. 49

Large and expensive chandeliers could hang in the nave

Peasant wearing the “snood” cap.
the knee, and a gonne open at tl
Courtesy Curia Arci

Jongleur and female dancer, detail from the Limoges casket
From A Guide to the Mediaeval Antiquities
Courtesy British Museum

Manor House and Feasant 21 1

of a church. St. Bernard condemned this usage, but Baudri
de Bourgueil took delight in such a corona or rota , orna¬
mented with figures and gems. 150 These Latin words describe
the designs. The chandelier hung by iron chains.

Cupboards were placed in the apse, behind the high altar,
in many churches. Vestments, sacred vessels, and even offer¬
ings of food (wrapped in cloth) that had been received were
stored there. Jocelin records that the fire at the Shrine of
St. Edmund started from a source similar to this. 51

The service books which were required offer an interest¬
ing list. 52 In addition to the Missal, or Mass book, we find
the Breviary, which contains the canonical hours of prayer;
the Manual, or collection of miscellaneous offices—baptism,
marriage, burial, visitation of the sick, extreme unction, the
Asperges, blessing of salt and water, and purification of
women—and a calendar. Next comes the Processional,
which gives the litanies and the processions for special
feasts. The Hymnal could contain as many as 132 Latin
hymns, beginning with Ad cenam agni and ending with
Vox clara ecce. We would hope to find in it the Ave marts
Stella, the Eterne rerum conditor, the O lux beata Trinitas,
and the Vexilla regis prodeunt. The music was often re¬
corded in the Hymnal. The Psalter contained the Psalms, a
calendar, the Canticles, the Athanasian Creed, and the
Litany. Certain of the Psalms there would be followed by
one or more antiphons. The Antiphonal, Gradual, and Tro-
per were music books. The first provided the music for the
Breviary; the Gradual gave the music for the Mass. The
Troper furnished music for the farsuras or interpolated
introits and offertories, and for the Kyrie, Gloria in Excelsis,
Sanctus, Agnus Dei, and Ite, missa est. The Ordinal gave
rubrical directions and details on the proper offices during
the course of the year.

Other Church books which Alexander could have men-

212

Daily Living in the Tvoeljth Century

turned, but which he did not, are the Collectarius or collec¬
tion of Collects, the Epistle book, the Gospel book, the
Martyrology, the Legenda or Lessons book, and the two
books which belonged to a bishop, the Pontifical and the
Benedictional. The Gospel book had a specialized use other
than for the reading of the Gospel at the Mass. It was em¬
ployed on many occasions for administering oaths. The
Evangiles which is so frequently mentioned for oaths was
this Gospel book. The bones of a martyr were used for the
same purpose. The Compotus gave tables for calculating
the golden numbers, regulars, and epacts. The Venerable
Bede introduced the practice of using the palm of the hand
and the finger joints for this kind of computation. A Com¬
potus based on this was called a Compotus manualis. An¬
other book not included by Alexander in his list is the
Customary, or Consuetudines Chori, which gives ritual
directions.

There did exist a Mass book for the laity, in Anglo-
French, as early as x 150-70, but its use must have been very
limited. The common devotional book used by the laity was
the Psalter (previous to the late thirteenth century, when
the Prymer or Livre d’heures came into use). The peni¬
tential psalms and the litanies were recited from the Psalter.

Those receiving the Blessed Sacrament came forward
and stood before the altar with their hands held before
them, palms touching, and with one knee bent slightly for¬
ward. They did not kneel. 58 Those who made an offering
did so by placing it on the altar, in proper wrapping, if
necessary. 54 The congregation knelt, and perhaps sat at
times, on the floor of the nave. The pavement could be quite
chilly, so the ladies, at least, must have formed the habit of
bringing cushions and low stools with them. They stood
for the Gospel, and at other parts of the Mass, as people do

Manor House and Peasant 213

today. 68 It was customary to pass around pax among the
congregation. At the proper moment the clerk, or altar
boy, brought the Gospel book opened at a special page, and
each member of the congregation kissed it as he said Pax
vobiscum. Between the congregation and the chancel, insane
people were sometimes tied to the rood screen, in order that
they might be improved by attendance at Mass. 66 They must
have made a strange sight, frequently with the sign of the
cross cut into the hair on the tops of their heads. 67

The choir in a small chapel such as we are describing
would not attempt any elaborate music. They would prob¬
ably sing the canticles from memory, but in case a music
book was needed this would be a large parchment manu¬
script, set on a reading stand, which could be seen by all in
the choir. Not all music at the time was in unison. In a
branch of the Roman de Renart where the Fox and Tybert
the cat attempt to hold Vespers it is specifically mentioned,
in satire, that Renart sang the Benedicamus in organum. 68
In parallel organum two parts move a fifth or a fourth
apart. In free organum they can move about, separated by
any desired interval. A chorus of nonsolo singers commonly
stuck to one-part music. Soloists performed organum in
groups of two or more on each part. 69

The Cloisters Museum, in New York, has set up a
Romanesque chapel, a small church interior of the twelfth
century. 60 The stone of the nave comes from Notre-Dame-
du-Bourg at Langon. Here, as is often the case, the carvings
are not limited to religious themes. It is believed that one of
the capitals shows portraits of Henry II of England and his
queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, sculptured in 1155. The altar
is not strictly twelfth century, so we will pass it by. There
is a crucifix suspended over it (Spanish make) which is
thought to retain some of its original paint. The body is in

214 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

flesh tint; the hair and beard are black; the loincloth is blue,
bordered with gold. There is a gold diadem studded with
green and red stones. The cross itself is dark green with a
gilded border, and it too is studded with gems.

A huge baptismal font of black basalt is preserved in the
cathedral at Winchester (England). It has in bas-relief the
miracle of the three marriageable daughters who are given
dowers by St. Nicholas. The size of the font is explained by
the fact that baptism was commonly by immersion at that
time. 61 Infant baptism was, of course, die only usual kind.
Baptism of adults was limited to Jews and pagans who had
been converted. Mass baptism of pagans was more common
in the chansons de geste than it was in real life. On these
occasions, according to the chansons de geste, tubs were
brought and placed near the font. Those about to receive
the sacrament were stripped to the chainse and dipped in
the tubs. 62 In all baptisms it was the godfather who lifted
up the child from the water in the font, and so the verb
lever gets the meaning “to serve as godparent,” in Old
French.

In England, and probably with litde difference in France,
the average layman went to three services on Sunday and
other holy days. He went to confession early in Lent, and
perhaps again just before Easter. Although he was expected
to receive Communion three times a year, the minimum was
once a year—at Easter. Matins, Lauds, and Prime were said
together, in a parish church, at Prime. Terce and a pro¬
cession preceded the High Mass, at Terce. The priest said
Sext and Nones after this Mass, usually without a congre¬
gation being present. Vespers were sung at the appointed
time, and Compline could follow this directly. 63 Presum¬
ably a devout cleric with simple tonsure, as well as a devout
layman, would go to church every day at Prime, if this were
feasible. 64

Manor House and Feasant

215

The country chaplain was often of the serf class. After
returning from the schools, and after his ordination, he
took charge of the chapel while tilling his glebe land in
person and occasionally doing a little work on the lord’s
fields. 65 This picture appears in various places, notably in
the Roman de Renart. There the village priest, who is Danz
Martin d’Orliens, spreads his fertilizer with a pitchfork, like
any peasant, and while doing this he is in a position to take
a swipe at Bruin the bear who is in flight. 66 Renart tells
Tybert that this priest has a great store of wheat and oats
and is therefore much troubled by mice. Renart goes on to
say that the priest has many chickens in his courtyard. In
reality he has only two hens and a rooster. He has also a
female companion and a son, which was one of the types of
irregularity often encountered in the twelfth century. 67 At
times the chaplain was obliged to attend a synod, called by
his bishop. From an Old French proverb we know that
some attended unwillingly. 68

We have promenaded Alexander Neckam sufficiently
over the country lands of his baronial host. Perhaps he was
accompanied over parts of the estate by a forester like Sire
Lanfroi in the Roman de Renart. No special entertainment
was planned at the castle for Alexander, but supper, coming
at Vespers, was an occasion to look forward to. No one was
hurried after an hour at the table. It was pleasant to sit
around the fire, telling tales, stewing fruits, and on many
occasions listening to a minstrel. 69 People sat around the fire
even in fairly moderate weather. If it was too warm, the
gentlemen removed their cotes and chainses and sat around
in their braies. The ladies were in the habit of coming down¬
stairs for this meal, and they too would relax, although they
stayed fully clothed. 70 Cushions of some kind, low stools,
and small rugs were brought out to make the rush-covered
pavement of the floor a little softer. As the quinces and

216 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

pears simmered over the fire, the company prepared to
listen to a minstrel who was about to chant them a short lai.
This would consume an hour or a little more.

This particular jongleur had arrived earlier in the day.
Like many of his fellows, he had studied for a little while
at the schools and was a former clerk. He rode a very re¬
spectable horse which had been given to him somewhere
along the line by an enthusiastic patron. His viele was in a
case attached to the culiire behind his saddle. When he
appeared at the gatehouse he was no stranger, having made
a brief stay at the castle some months before, and he was
admitted immediately. Jongleurs were paid very little re¬
spect; they were received with amused deference. But the
barons knew that they got about all over the place and that
they were a constant source for the spread of gossip. They
inspired some fear, therefore. Alexander’s host made a point
of receiving this guest in private, while Alexander was
touring the estate, and in this way he learned the latest pub¬
lic and private news of his neighbors. Such kitchen news
was apt to be more enlightening than the tidings of Church
and State which Alexander brought with him from the city
of Paris. At the supper table the minstrel was seated fairly
low, but his host saw to it that he got a good meal. He was
asked about his repertoire, and he might have replied as
Renart did when he pretended to be an English minstrel:
“I know good Breton lais of Merlin and of Noton, of King
Arthur and of Tristan, Marie’s Chievrefueil, and the Voyage
of St. Brandan .” 71 This was the repertoire of an English
minstrel. The continental jongleur knew also many chan¬
sons de geste, as we know from the high celebration at the
court of Archimbaut de Bourbon, which is told in detail in
the Flamenca . 72 Biblical lais (now lost) and contes adapted
from the Metamorphoses of Ovid were popular, as we know

Manor House and Peasant

217

from that same source. The minstrel would take his place
facing the guests and begin. He sat on a stool, or perhaps on
a cushion. If the selection was a Breton lai, without refrains,
he performed unaided throughout the entire piece. He
struck on his viele the notes of his first melody of one or
two lines and then chanted to this for a while, probably
without continuing to play. When the structure of his piece
required it, he changed over to a second melody, perhaps
playing it first on his instrument. After a while he went
back to the first tune, and so on, until he had completed
the performance. At certain high moments he may have
accompanied the melody, in unison, as he chanted. If he
had been performing a chanson de geste which had a re¬
curring refrain, such as in the Chanson de Guillaume and
the Chanson de Roland , he would have sung a line every
now and then to a melody which we will call his “refrain
tune.” Immediately the audience would have taken their
cue and would have come in, perhaps with proper hand¬
clapping, chanting a refrain which did not vary through¬
out the piece.™ This audience participation was exceedingly
popular, but to perform a chanson de geste in its entirety
was a long proposition. I doubt that the Chanson de Roland
could be executed in this way in less than five hours’ steady
going. This meant that two, and maybe three, sessions were
needed to perform it. 74

After some days, when his welcome was getting cooler,
or when his wanderlust came to the fore, the minstrel
would announce his desire to depart and would receive the
lord’s congie 75 He would be given some payment. To pre¬
vent any grumbling about him at the minstrel’s next point
of call, the baron might be excessively generous. Largesce,
or excessive generosity, was an important element in a
baron’s code of life. Although moderation ( mesure ) was

218 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

preached for everything else, it was not considered a virtue
in the giving of gifts or rewarding for personal services. 76
As a traveling minstrel could not be expected every week in
the year, I imagine that some of the people in the castle
tried to supply this lack. If they could not sing and play,
they narrated in prose form, but very often there must
have been a young man, or an old one, who had a knack for
repeating some lai that he had heard.

For the professional minstrel the touring of castles could
be fatiguing. He would attend school from time to time,
during the coldest months, and would thus increase his
repertoire. Undoubtedly some instruction in reading and
writing the French tongue was given in these jongleur
schools. Some of the barons, such as the Count of Ardres
(near Calais), took great pleasure in increasing the spread
of vernacular literature. They paid clerks to translate, and
they gathered small libraries of works in French. This was
a kind of jongleur school, although it may not have passed
under that name. Renart, posing as a minstrel, pretended
that he had studied at Besanfon: “And I know a very good
song that I was taught at Besanfon.” 77 At times a jongleur
was attached permanently to a lord’s court, but that was
likely to be the case only when a baron fancied himself as
a poet. 78 After all, it was rather undignified for the master
of the household to pick up his viele and sing, but when he
could teach his verses to his domestic minstrel, that was
something else indeed. Minstrels could be hired just to sing
praises. William of Longchamp, bishop of Ely and chan¬
cellor of Richard I of England, was accused of bringing
over from France “singers and jongleurs” whom he at¬
tracted with rich gifts. These professionals were to sing
about him in public places. Apparently they inserted his
name into existing songs. “He bought flattering lyrics and
emended songs.” 78

Manor House and Peasant

219

We mentioned in the previous paragraph the patronage
of jongleurs by some of the barons. This is so signficant a
matter that it would be wise to give some details. Ebles II,
viscount of Ventadour, must have had such a group gath¬
ered around him. On the other hand, we have positive evi¬
dence about Count Baldwin of Ardres, and his son Arnoul
de Guines. Baldwin caused the Song of Songs to be trans¬
lated into French, also sermons, a Life of St. Anthony, part
of a medical treatise by Godefroi de Latin, and the work of
Solinus. These items could not, of course, be sung by min¬
strels, but the activity is indicative. The chronicler goes on
to say that “in chansons de geste or in the past deeds of
barons, and even in tales of ignoble characters,” the knowl¬
edge of the Count was equal to that of the most notable
jongleurs. He had a layman in charge of his library, and
this layman had received his learning from another lay¬
man. 80

We are informed further that Arnoul, the son, was a gay
young gentleman, free with money. He loved tourneys and
was constantly surrounded by amusing associates, including
young people of his own age. He had a few older intimates
who could narrate for him “fables and stories and past
events of our ancestors.” There were three of these men: a
knight, Robert de Coutances, who charmed his ears with
tales of the Roman emperors, of Charlemagne, Roland and
Oliver, and Arthur of Brittany; another, Philippe de Mont-
jardin, who knew about Jerusalem, the siege of Antioch, the
Arabians, the Babylonians, and deeds beyond the seas; and
finally, his brother-in-law, Gautier de l’Ecluse, who could
tell about the tales of the English, Gormont and Isembart,
Tristan and Yseut, Merlin, Marcolfus, and the early history
of the Ardennes. On one occasion, when the court was ob¬
liged to remain indoors for two days because of a violent
storm, this Gautier de l’Ecluse sat down before them all.

220 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

and placing his right hand against his beard, combing it in
and out, he told (in prose?) about the history of the Ar¬
dennes. 81

It is evident that certain feudal courts, and undoubtedly
some monasteries, contributed much to the spread of ver¬
nacular literature. The Richard who wrote the extant Old
French Crusade epics omitted all mention of his patron,
Count Baldwin of Guines, because he was not satisfied with
some payment that he had been given; but that was earlier
than the date which we are now considering. 82 Young Ar-
noul de Guines was knighted by Philip of Flanders in 1181,
and had spent much time at Philip’s court. 88 It is evident that
this is the same milieu in which the great Chretien de Troyes
found himself. The Conte del Graal was composed, or
rather begun, at the behest of this same Philip of Flanders.

These jongleurs used French as their principal language.
Those who were native English speakers and Celts had their
language difficulties. In the Roman de Renan, and else¬
where, there is much fun being poked at the broken French
of an English jongleur. Marie de France certainly learned a
little of the Breton speech, presumably from a singer who
interlarded his recitations with it. When minstrels passed
on down into Italy, some of them adapted their material into
an artificial Franco-Venetian jargon, formed by using Ital¬
ian vowels with French consonants. The V 7 manuscript of
the Chanson de Roland, and other epics, are in this kind of
language. I am of the opinion that a northern French
speaker and a speaker of Provengal, at this time, could
understand each other, although some critics recently have
been making statements the other way. It is quite probable
also that Spanish and Italian were intelligible to a French¬
man of the twelfth century, and that the Spaniards and
Italians understood French. This would mean that the pub-

Manor House and Peasant

221

lie that could appreciate French poetry was quite extensive.
The Goliardic minstrels, who were also moving about, sang
in Latin for clerical audiences. They may have had some
difficulty in making themselves understood in other lands
because the pronunciation of Latin varied from country to
country. 84

There was much profit for a minstrel along the pilgrim
routes. The most important of these led to St. James of
Compostela in Galicia. Thousands of pilgrims were on the
road, in the better seasons, headed for that shrine. A pilgrim
dressed for travel. He carried a wallet ( escrepe ) around his
neck, and a staff ( bordon ) of ash wood. Like many travel¬
ers, he wore a hat with a brim somewhat broader than usual,
similar to that the peasant might wear in the fields. He had
a chape with a hood. The wallet and the staff were the
tokens that identified his purpose to passers-by. 88 Pilgrims
journeyed on foot, on assback, and on horses. If they were
doing special penance, it was usual to find them on foot.
They stopped at night at the many hospices which were
maintained for them along the routes. There they were
bedded down in large rooms with straw on the pavement.
This was an ideal setting in which the minstrel could per¬
form. The evenings were long, especially in the summer
months. The travelers were naturally fond of the chansons
de geste which told about heroes who had given up every¬
thing for the cause of the Faith and had driven back the
Saracens. Joseph Bedier taught that the monks who operated
the hospices had much to do with the encouragement of the
chansons de geste. Perhaps we should not be so sure about
that today, since these hospices did not stand to gain much
by the extra crowds which flocked around the singer. The
pilgrim audience was there in any case. Probably the de¬
mand preceded the chansons de geste. w

222

Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

Some of those pilgrims were on their way to Rome, and
a very few were headed for the Holy Land, a journey re¬
quiring five months. 87 Those of the second category wore a
cross marked on the right shoulder. They traveled to Italy
with pilgrims who were going to Rome. Travelers to the
Holy Land continued on to the south of Italy, to Brindisi or
Bari, or perhaps to Sicily, and there they bargained for pas¬
sage by sea. 88 In 1185 the Pope, Urban III, was resident in
Verona and was not actually in Rome. It was in 1188 that
the Pope, then Clement III, returned to the Lateran Palace.
When the popes were in residence at the Lateran, the prin¬
cipal church of Rome was Santa Maria Maggiore. It was
there that the Pope said Mass on special occasions. 89 In the
year 1185 many of the pilgrims must have gone on to Rome
for their pilgrimage to points of devotion in that city, after
a visit to the Pontiff at Verona. Passage over the Alps was
usually made by the Col de Mont-Cenis, which lies on the
road from Lyon to Turin. 90 This was a dreary journey, ac¬
complished at a rate of fifteen to twenty miles a day, but
the company was interesting. The twelfth-century man was
not altogether impervious to the beauty of the scenery,
either.

We will now return to Alexander Neckam for our final
glimpse of him. He was a person who tended to be scornful
of others. We read how he dismissed the details of farming
with the remark that those who knew about them could tell
more. 91 In the De naturis rerum he makes adverse comments
on the knights and barons. He accuses some of abandoning
their comrades in battle under a secret understanding with
the enemy which would enable them to share in the ransom
money. He claims that some of the haughtier barons were
descended from female histriones (minstrels or actors),
while legitimate heirs of their fathers were excluded from

Manor House and feasant

223

the estates. 82 He rails against the insincerity and flattery that
are required at court. “How much vanity in spectacles, in
empty conversations, in cynical detractions, in blandishing
adulation [cf. the losengier of vernacular literature], in de¬
testable voluptuousness, have they experienced who, in their
penance, are beheld by Divine Mercy.” He goes on to say
that “adulation is a poisoned honey.” He insists that “flat¬
terers should be condemned along with those who detract
unduly.” 93 He thinks that flattery should be “left to those
who are exposed to theatrical spectacles.” 94 On various oc¬
casions Alexander refers to ludi theatrales and spectacula.
He seeks to give the impression that he scorns these things
as part of the Devil and all his works; but it is evident that
these ludi and their histriones offer some attraction for
him. 95 He was, of course, familiar with the ecclesiastical
dramas presented inside the monasteries and churches at
certain seasons of the year. There was a tradition for such
presentations at his school in Dunstable. Geoffrey of Gor¬
ham, a Frenchman from Maine, founded the Dunstable
schools and had on one occasion borrowed certain vest¬
ments and other accessories from the monastery at St.
Albans in order to present miracle plays at Dunstable. The
day after the performance his own house, in which the
borrowed vestments were stored, burned down. 96 This
event took place quite early in the twelfth century.

But Alexander has in mind performances of a different
kind when he speaks scornfully. There must have been a
class of jongleurs who put on monologues and dialogues of
a more worldly kind, outside the churches. The Jeu d’Adam
could have been performed before the church door; I am
inclined to believe that the Jeu de Saint-Nicholas could
never have been performed inside it, because there are
scenes there that could not have been represented within ec-

224 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

clesiastical precincts. In his description of a room Alexander
referred to a canopcwm scenicum. I shall have to leave this
problem to historians of the theater. Remember, also, that
Giraldus accused the monks of Canterbury of making comic
gestures like those of histriones .“ 7
With this grave problem about the comic drama un¬
solved, we will take our leave of Alexander Neckam. He
returned to Dunstable in the following year (1186). 98 In
our next and final chapter, we will take up certain details
and artistic matters which it has not been possible to weave
into our framework.

Qhapter IX

“To Talk of Many Things”

/I en and women in twelfth-century Europe were not
J V_IL tall in stature. J. C. Russell is my authority that a
tall man at that time was about five feet ten inches; an aver¬

age short man was some five feet two inches in height.
Women averaged shorter than men, as is always the case. 1
The strain of Germanic blood was somewhat more promi¬

nent in the upper level of English and French society than it
is today. The ideal type of feminine beauty scarcely varies
from romance to romance: blond curly hair, gray ( vair)
eyes set wide apart, straight nose, white skin, very red lips
of Cupid’s-bow design, long neck and waist, slender and
firm breasts, and long, shapely fingers. 2 A perfect set of
teeth and good breath are occasionally mentioned. The
ideal male matches this description rather closely, allowing
for masculine differences. He too must have the curly blond

hair and broad forehead, but he should be broad in the

shoulders and small in the waistline. Some will argue that

these were ideal types, seldom found in actuality; but I do
not agree. There must have been a considerable number of
people of this description. Listeners identify themselves
with the protagonists in a romance, and they would not
prefer unusual types. Usamah, when speaking of the Franks
in the Holy Land, stated that tall, thin knights were con¬

sidered preferable. 8

226 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

Granted that he had grown past childhood, a man could
expect to live to his thirties; if he survived the thirties, his
expectancy was for the late fifties. 4 The prevailing causes of
death, aside from violence and the chance of meeting a
pneumococcus or a typhoid germ, were brought on by cir¬
culatory trouble. 5 Apoplexy, coronary occlusions and
thromboses, and angina pectoris carried off most of those
who lived their lives sheltered from accidents. Meat and
alcohol were consumed in great quantity, particularly dur¬
ing the cold months of the year. Fortunately, at this time
everyone lived a very active life, which made it possible for
such food to be assimilated. The element which was most
lacking from the daily menu was vitamin C. Citrus fruits
were known, but they were curiosities in northern Europe.
Vegetables served at table were always boiled or stewed,
and vitamin C is soluble in water. It is true, however, that
some vegetables, including onions, might be eaten raw away
from the table. All this means that there was a scorbutic
tendency in the offing. Under normal routine this did not
become serious because of the eating of fresh meats, the
occasional taking of whey and clabber, and the consump¬
tion of fresh fruits such as cherries, currants, and apples.
But abnormal conditions increased now and then, so that
thinness, bad gums, bloody dysentery, ulcers, etc. were by
no means unusual. The mediaeval man understood the effi¬
cacy of chicken broth in cases of weakness. This is a good
tonic against scurvy. Very few men and women of the
time had satisfactory teeth. These must have fallen out of
poor gums more often than they were pulled because of
painful cavities. Good teeth and a sweet breath were highly
prized, however, and deemed most desirable. 6

Women were a poor risk because of childbirth. Any sort
of abnormality or complication resulted in death, as there

“To Talk of Many Things ” 227

was no expert knowledge of labor beyond what a practiced
midwife would know. If a woman survived her childbearing
period, she was more apt to live to a ripe old age than was
her husband. Take the case of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who
died in 1204 at the age of eighty-two. She had lived an in¬
tensely active life and had borne nine children. Her two
husbands had died many years before, both of them as a
result of circulatory conditions.

We repeat here what has already been said, that the dis¬
eased and handicapped people were in evidence everywhere.
Edged weapons were employed in daily sport. This meant
many scarred faces, disfiguring scalp wounds, and mutilated
arms and legs. There were no institutions that cared for the
mentally handicapped; so these were turned loose on the
community, often furnishing entertainment. A limited
amount of care for the violently insane was provided in
monastic institutions. The prevalence of skin diseases,
scurvy, ulcers, and bad teeth in an average mediaeval crowd
would be very distasteful to us modems (if a time machine
could enable us to see them). On the other hand, the re¬
mark which we made about the people of London should
not be forgotten. In every age there are people who care
for cleanliness and neatness, and there are others who are
careless. Today the former class predominates in most of the
society which we see. In the twelfth century the careless
group were more conspicuous and predominant; but cleanly
folk did exist.

Elementary education consisted of instruction in reading
and writing, and in the rudiments of counting. It is probable
that an eschequier or counting table was explained, although
the fingers made an excellent abacus if the countings did
not go high. Daude de Pradas says that seed pods strung
along a stick could be used for adding small sums. 7 Boys

228 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

who were destined to be clerics received instruction in a
nearby monastic school or from their parish priest . 8 Teach¬
ing began with the alphabet; then the common beginner’s
reader was the Disticha Catonis, which was read and copied
ad nauseam. The Eclogue of Theodulus was used in the
same way, while Donatus was the Latin grammar. The stu¬
dents carried wax tablets on which they wrote with an
ivory, bone, or metal stylus . 9 The tablets were held on the
right knee. At times there were so many boys be ginning
letters that it was profitable for a cleric to start a small school
and not limit himself to private instruction. There is a fasci¬
nating picture of such a class given by Guibert de Nogent:

Once I was beaten in school; the school was only one of the
rooms in our house. Of those whom the teacher accepted I
alone had been free from discipline. My careful mother had
exacted this from the teacher by increasing the fee and confer¬
ring the honor of her patronage. Therefore when at one evening
hour, the class having been dismissed, I came to my mother’s
knee soberly, having been beaten harder than I deserved, she
began to ask as usual whether I had been whipped on that day.
In order not to betray the teacher I denied the fact completely,
but she, willy-nilly, lifted up my undergarment, which is
called a shirt, and found the ribs somewhat discolored by the
blows of the rod, and the skin covered with welts. When she
had grieved from the depths of her heart over this excessive
cruelty endured by my tenderness, she stormed and wept, ex¬
claiming: “You shall never be a clerk, and you will not endure
punishment in order to learn letters.” I answered her as re¬
proachfully as I could: “I would rather die than to stop learn¬
ing and not be a clerk.” But she promised me that if I would
wish to be a knight she would give me arms when I had
reached the proper age . 10

This charming passage was written during the first half of
the twelfth century. Alexander himself declared that the
master should use only a ruler on the palm for minor of-

“To Talk of Many Things” 229

fenses. A rod might be employed for graver “sins,” but un¬
der no condition should a scourge be used. 11

As students of literature we are concerned to know about
the laity, whether they too could get the rudiments of an
education. We have noted above that the librarian of Bald¬
win of Ardres was a layman. It is likely that many of the
daughters of upper-class groups learned to read and write,
and doubtless some young boys who intended eventually
to be knights got elementary instruction in letters at an
early age. Guemes of Pont-Sainte-Maxence says, “All those
other romances which have been made about the Martyr,
written by clerks or laymen, monks or ladies, I have heard
many of them lie.” 12 Some girls went even further and re¬
ceived some advanced education in Latin literature. Marie
de France was one of these; Giraldus writes a poem to a
“learned lady”; 18 Baudri de Bourgueil addressed the learned
Emma. 14 Examples of just plain reading ability can be mul¬
tiplied. 15 Gaimar says that Dame Custance read the Life of
Henry of England in her private chamber. 18 In the Yvain
a young girl reads from a romance to her father and
mother. 17 We are not puzzled that common minstrels should
know how to read because many of them had had clerical
instruction and they continued to attend jongleur schools. 18
We wonder a little about the shipmaster in Huon de Bor¬
deaux. Huon is given a letter addressed to the seaman Garin,
who sails out of Brindisi and who is guardian of that port:

They find the sailor seated in a chair, on two cushions. There
was an awning over him to protect him from the sun, that it
should not harm him. Huon sees him and dismounts to the
ground, for he thought the sailor was lord of the region. . . .
“You are wrong, Sire,” said Garin, “when you get off your
horses. I am surely not lord of this place. I am a sailor and that
is how I earn my living.” . .. “Sire,” said Huon, “look at this
letter.” He took the letter and broke the seal; he read the letter.

230 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

for he knew enough to do so, and he saw well what was written
there... »

It is rather strange to find a sailor who can read.

The method of instruction which was used was the
phonetic system.

A priest once wished to teach a wolf to read. “A,” said the
priest. “A,” said the wolf, who was very sly and clever. “B,”
said the priest. “Say it with me.” “B,” repeated the wolf; “I
grant that.” “C,” said the priest; “go on ana say that.” “C,” said
the wolf. “Are there so many of them?” The priest answered:
“Say them by yourself.” 20

The wolf could think of nothing but “B,” which of course
signified “Iamb” for him and remained an idee fixe. If a wolf
could find a private instructor, we might expect that a girl
could easily find one also. 21 This instruction probably in¬
cluded more French reading and writing than was given in
such a class as the one attended by little Guibert de Nogent.
The girl would continue with her private instruction until
she tired, which might mean that she could advance as far
as the trivium. As soon as a boy had learned to read with
facility in his class, or under private tutoring, he asked to
receive the simple tonsure from his bishop, and he was then
able to move to the higher schools. His age would be eleven
or twelve at that time. Two years would be consumed with
the trivium, perhaps more, and then he would be ready to
think of higher things, at the age of fourteen or fifteen. He
might specialize further on some phase of the trivium, as
Alexander continued to do, before going on with the
quadrivium, law, and medicine.

It is doubtful that any of these mediaeval students ever
attained to a superior degree of reading ability. Their fa¬
cility could not have exceeded that of a modern court re¬
porter when he is reading from stenotype notes. A page did

“To Talk of Many Things ” 231

not stand out at a glance as it is accustomed to do for us
moderns. This is a factor which is seldom taken into ac¬
count. Silent reading was not the rule, even when there
was no one else in the room. Lips continued to form the
words. In the correspondence of everyday business and
legal matters, a clerk had to become proficient in translating
from Latin into French and vice versa. 22

We have already stated that men and women of the
baronial class were constantly accompanied by birds and
animals. A hall in a castle would have reminded us some¬
what of a zoo. 23 Those who were fond of hunting had their
favorite birds on their wrists, and some of these were placed,
from time to time, on a T perch which stood in the room.
The hunting birds had soft leather thongs or jesses on their
feet, and they might have their eyes hooded. A bird of this
kind loses balance occasionally and gives a few flaps with
its wings. The one who holds it makes an upward swoop
with his arm as though to increase the support. We can
picture such flappings and arm movements distracting the
attention of a group of barons at frequent intervals. Not all
the birds carried were hunting birds. There were some
popinjays or parrots, which had been imported from the
Middle East. An occasional tame raven may have been set
on the floor or on the perch. We have mentioned the three
breeds of dogs that walked at their masters’ heels. They
moved about on the rush-littered paving, ard many were
not house broken. There were sure to be a few monkeys.
A tame badger or weasel could be present in the hall. At
table the food thrown on the floor would be picked up by
the dogs. Puppies were amusing, even when they got up on
the tables and benches. There is an attractive picture of a
peasant playing with his dog in Marie’s fable “De 1’asne ki
voelt juer a sun seignur.” Although the lion is a frequent

232 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

character in their literature, I doubt that a twelfth-century
man had ever seen one, unless he had been to the Holy
Land. Information on the habits of the king of beasts could
come from Pliny. In the Yvain Chr6tien gives the impres¬
sion that a lion was no bigger than a large dog, capable of
being carried on his master’s shield, and of lying with him
in a bed. 24

The role played by the hunting bird is emphasized by
Alexander Neckam when he describes a bedroom. “There
should be present also a perch on which can rest a sparrow
hawk, a kestrel, a goshawk, a gerfalcon, a tercel, a peregrine
falcon, an osprey or 'serpent eagle,’ a saker, a crane falcon
or hobby, a mountain falcon, and a lanner.” 20 These are the
usual varieties. Alexander fails to mention the various kinds
of merlins. The important event in the lives of these birds
was the molting season. Daude de Pradas (born late in the
twelfth century) says that a bird should not be used for
hunting much in March. 20 Eight days before the end of that
month the molting preparations must be carried out. The
cage or mew should be set in the direct sunlight, covered
with reed matting. At the start, certain medicines are to be
given on various days. The perch must be made soft. This
period of molting continues for four months, and the bird’s
health is attended to as though the bird were a human being.
Daude insists that a man who is handling a hunting bird
should wash, change clothes, and dine before holding the
bird. When the hunt is begun, the hood is removed from
the eyes and the bird is tossed off the hunter’s wrist against
the wind. This is done when the prey becomes visible. A
properly trained bird will return and give up the prey to
the huntsman without a struggle, and will once more take
its place on the wrist. The pleasure in falconry lay in watch-
ing the bird perform—a pleasure unlike that derived from

2 33

“To Talk of Many Things ”

shooting with an arrow, where the hunter’s marksmanship
is all important, or from hunting the boar with a lance,
where the element of personal danger is exciting. 27

There was no organized system of carrying letters and
parcels in this period. If the sender were important enough,
he made use of a private messenger, a courlieu. John of
Salisbury mentions using a monk in this capacity. 28 In the
fabliau Del fdl chevalier a group of seven knights deliver a
message for their lord. Lesser folk had to wait until someone
whom they knew was going to the desired destination and
they could impinge upon his good will. As letters were very
stereotyped at that time, except when written by learned
men, it is doubtful that they gave much comfort to either
sender or receiver. They could, of course, impart valuable
news on the safety or danger of an individual, and they
could recommend the bearer. A letter was written on parch¬
ment, one side only, as a rule. This was folded, slashes were
made with a knife, and a cord was passed through. The two
strands of the cord were then connected with a seal of wax
or of lead. Wax was, of course, the common material for
most people. Probably Villon’s description of the proce¬
dure of sealing was true also at this earlier date. 29 The sealer
took a wafer of wax, chewed it in his mouth, and then
flattened out the resulting wax ball with his thumb, on the
desired spot. He took a seal, usually on a ring, and made an
impression. If this seal remained unbroken, and if the cord
was not cut, the addressee understood that the message had
not been tampered with. At the same time he recognized
the seal of the sender and was assured that it really came
from him. 80

At various intervals we have mentioned the vocal music
of the twelfth century: the plain chant, used invariably by
larger groups of singers; and parallel, free, and melismatic

234 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

organum, which could be performed by small groups of
trained singers. It was at: Compostela and at Limoges that
the mclismatie organum was devised and soon grew into
popularity. In this type of singing the tenor or cantus
prmus (lower part) goes slow, with whole notes (to use a
modern term), while the upper part or duplum weaves
about. It soon became convenient to use fewer words, par¬
ticularly in the slower cantus firmus. Short clausulae, such
as Benedicamus domino , Deo gratias were sufficient, if re¬
peated over and over, for a whole vocal production. 81 The
choir school at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris had great
influence on secular as well as ecclesiastical music. The
Magnus liber of Leoninus offered appropriate music for the
whole Church year. By 1183 there was a new organist and
choirmaster at Notre Dame who was still more exciting.
His name was Perotinus. 83

Musical instruments were still not used effectively. 88 One
might be employed at times to carry a single part in an
organum. (Perotinus had introduced still another vocal
line—the triplum.) Instruments were used also to accom¬
pany dancers. We have the instrumental estampie. Horn
combinations were possible. 84 It is probable that a jongleur
accompanied himself occasionally, in unison with the voice.
The commonest instrument was the viele. This was a flat-
bottomed fiddle, slightly triangular, which had no sound
post in its interior. It might have three strings, tuned in
fourths or fifths, and it was held flat on the upper left arm,
close to the chin. The bow was a little awkward to handle
because it was concave. The gigue was a tenor viele, the
ancestor of the viola da gamba; it seems to have been set on
the left knee and played in cello fashion. It could also be
held in front of the chest and chin, horizontally rather than
vertically. The harp was a small instrument of seven or

“To Talk of Many Things ”

235

twelve strings, held on the knee. A rote was a zitherlike
harp of five strings. 86 The mandore was a kind of mandolin,
played on the lap. A monicorde, or organistrum, was ordi¬
narily played by two people. It was a long, guitar-shaped
instrument. The single string was varied by changing metal
contacts, and the music was produced by another musician
who turned a hurdy-gurdy handle at the end. The psalterion
was a zither; it was held in front of the chest and the strings
were plucked. It is not easy to distinguish between the small
reed instruments because they were still in an immature
stage of development. The frestelles were Panpipes: two or
more pipes of different lengths, tied together in descending
scale. The flaute was a kind of flageolet, with eight holes.
The chalumele was a rustic oboe. The estive and muse were
varieties of bagpipes. The chanter of such a bagpipe also
was named a chalumele, 86

The horns had no valves, as yet, which meant that they
could blow only the fundamental tone, the octave, the third
and fifth, and one other note. The buisine was a large,
crooked horn with turned-up end—the Roman buccina 87
We are assuming that the graile was a long, straight horn. 88
The cor, or hunting horn, was usually a cow’s horn, but it
could be made of an ivory tusk, imported from Asia
Minor. 89 The tabour was a small drum, suspended from the
neck, and beaten on each end by the player’s fingers. 40 The
clochetes were a series of small bells, strung on a rod, and
played with a hammer from a sitting position.

We have reserved for the place of honor among these
instruments the organ. 41 It had great possibilities in the train¬
ing of a choir because the playing of it was easy and the
notes were steady in pitch. A large organ in the twelfth
century might have two players seated at the one keyboard,
and from two to four men occupied with the bellows. Each

236 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

of the players operated a single rank of pipes, consisting of
from ten to twelve pipes. These were not graded—that is,
they had the same diameter throughout their scale—the
variation was in length only. As a result the upper tones
were more shrill than the lower. The keys, called lingulae,
were slides that were pulled out and pushed in. Each one
was stopped with a small copper-headed nail to prevent it
from sliding all the way out, and often the key had a small
knob which the player could grasp as he pulled it out. Each
key had its note letter scratched on it. The bellows were
constructed of plane-tree wood, with pleated sides of heavy
linen fastened to the wood with casein glue. A canopy was
lowered over the organ from the ceiling by means of a
pulley, to keep out the dust. We cite an appreciation of
organ music from Wace’s Brut: “Much would you hear the
organs play and clerks sing and chant in organum—their
voices going up and down, the songs rising and then falling.
Much would you hear the knights coming and going in the
churches, as much to hear the clerks sing as to view the
ladies.” 42 Probably each of the two players at the keyboard
took one of the parts of the organum in unison with the
singers.

This book of ours is no place to discuss musicology, but
we can say a few words about scales and notation. I have
in my possession a fragment of a musical manuscript written
in France in the latter part of the twelfth century. A staff
of four lines has been ruled with a scratching instrument,
not with ink. The movement of the music up and down the
staff is marked on these four lines by the usual neumes
(shown below) . 48

Given c, d, and e as any three successive tones, the neumes
(in the order shown) can be expressed by the following
combinations: c, c, cd, dc, cdc, dcd, cde, the same, edc,

“To Talk of Many Things ”

237

virga

1

scandicus

*y

punctum

%

salicus

<

podatus

V

dimacus

X

clivis

torculus rcsupinus

S'

torculus

A

pcs subpuncrus

Jl

porrcctus

N

pressus

A

quilisma

S'

cdcd, dedc, a sustained tone, and a portamento. There are
a few more neumes than these, but I am mentioning only
those which I have noted on my musical fragment of the
period. All music at this date was fond of the octave, fifth,
and unison. Thirds occur usually as glide notes only. The
Early Church modes took the place of scales. B-flat was the
only accidental.

At this point we will hint at the concept of aesthetics, or
the understanding of Beauty, as it was analyzed in the
twelfth century. 44 There were four constants: symbolism,
allegory, proportion, and brilliance of color. The Essence
of Beauty is the Invisible becoming visible (Scotus Erigena).
Symbolism is a personal intuition, an aesthetic expression of
our share in Existence. Allegory, on the other hand, ex¬
presses the principle that inner forms and eternal beauties
can be foreshadowed in outer forms. The great principle in
color was considered to be luminosity. Light is a little of
God; God is Pure Light. A man or woman was thought to
be beautiful not because he or she was well proportioned;
rather because the concept of the ideal human being shows

238 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

through. Quantitative proportion was thought of as very
important. Musical tones and visual harmonies should be in
numerical relation. Beauty was thought of, therefore, as a
sort of arithmetical progression: musical tones should be
related on the scale of 12—8—9—6. In plastic art perfect
squares were arranged two on two or three on three. Rec¬
tangles in which the long dimension surpassed the shorter
by one unit were preferred. Boethius, Scotus Erigena, and
St. Augustine were authorities in all this. The ancients held
the same aesthetic theories as the man of the Middle Ages,
but their application was mostly from observation. The
mediaeval man wanted to make syntheses of all the texts at
his disposal and to generalize on them.

At this point the reader might expect us to turn to the
visual arts. Sculpture and painting in the Middle Ages were
so closely allied with the industrial crafts, however, that it
will be more logical for us to come to them after further
consideration of the trades.

The superstition of the time was a complicated matter.
John of Salisbury mentions that his early teacher was more
concerned with divination than he was with anything else. 45
Monday was at all times an unlucky day on which to begin
any enterprise. 40 The unlucky days varied with localities,
but here is a typical set: 47 January 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 15;
February 1, 7, 10; March 2, 11; April id, 21; May 6 , 15, 20;
June 4, 7; July 15, 20; August 19, 20; September 6, 7; Oc¬
tober 6; November 15, 19; and December 6, 7, 9. When one
of these was a prominent saint’s day it was, of course, made
lucky. To see birds on the left side was still considered a
bad omen. This is satirized in the Roman de Renart where
Tybert the cat, as he approaches Renart’s house, sees the
bird of St. Martin (a kite) on the left, between an ash
tree and a spruce. 48 To hear thundering (on the left?) and

239

“To Talk of Many Things ”

to leave the house by a step with the left foot were also
ominous. 49

Astrology was founded upon the belief that the planets
(according to the Ptolemaic system)—Moon, Mercury,
Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn—had constant in¬
fluence upon our bodies and upon the treasures of the min¬
eral world. These planets gave the appearance—and still do
to the uninitiated—of moving along an imaginary belt (16
degrees wide) which goes slantwise across the heavens.
This is the zodiac. Along this belt are twelve fixed constel¬
lations more or less well spaced. They are Aries, Taurus,
Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius,
Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. Capricorn and Aquarius
are called the houses of Saturn; Sagittarius and Pisces belong
to Jupiter; Scorpio and Aries are for Mars; Leo is the house
of the Sun; Taurus and Libra house Venus; Mercury has
Virgo and Gemini; and the Moon owns Cancer. This series
will explain how a planet could be in its own house. Saturn
and Mars tend to be evil; Jupiter, Sun, and Venus are held
to be favorable; and the Moon and Mercury are a little of
both. The first hour of the day was supposedly governed by
the planet after which the day is named. The second hour
was thought to be controlled by the next planet, and so on
in order. A planet was in the ascendant when it appeared
just above the eastern horizon. It had meaning also when it
was in conjunction, or proximity, with another heavenly
body. 60

To continue with other superstitions, the Monge de Mon-
taudo mentions that it was unlucky to see a cripple or a
blind man, especially first thing in the day. 61 The minerals
in the earth were believed to have absorbed virtues from
the planets, and thus all sorts of gems and minerals were
considered magic-workers. Alexander did not dispute

240 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

these, 02 He mentions that the agate renders the wearer elo¬
quent, amiable, and powerful. The allectorias (a pebble
from a rooster’s craw) gives victory in combat; the lode-
stone, when placed on a sleeping woman’s head, tells
whether she is chaste. 08 There are many of these legends,
circulated mostly from the Latin lapidary of Bishop Mar-
bod, which was composed early in the twelfth century. The
belief that a perfectly pure substance would purify a base
substance with which it came into contact was also a basis
for the alchemy of the time. A few people were seeking
that perfectly pure substance which would turn base metals
into the perfectly pure metal—gold. The catalyst that
would perform this transformation was sometimes called
the “philosophers’ stone,” but it was referred to by many
other terms. This sort of thing was more highly developed
among the Arabs and the Mozarabs (Arabicized Christians)
in Spain. Toledo was thought of as the true center for the
study of magic and the black arts. 04 Wistasce li moines goes
to Toledo for such study and, in a later branch, Renart the
Fox puts in an apprenticeship there. (These sources are a
little late, but they reflect a belief that must have been
current earlier.) Perhaps those who knew something about
Spain were impressed strangely by the Spanish calendar,
which added thirty-five years to the traditional Christian
dating; this looked as though the Spaniards dated from a
heathen tradition.

An uneducated man’s superstitions (which were more
often than not shared by the educated) were not very deep,
but they were extremely active and varied. He believed that
there were folets or goblins, who could be friendly. 05 There
was a good witch named Abunde who flew around at night.
Bad witches were apt to be demons who had taken on the
human forms of certain individuals. Such a witch, when

“To Talk of Many Things ” 241

caught, should be branded with the key of the church door;
burning on a pyre was the ultimate fate. 86 There were birds
that came from Hell. 87 There were also demons—incubi
and succubi. 68 These were presumed to cohabit with mortals
on occasion, when they had taken on beautiful or handsome
h uman forms. Merlin was the result of one such cohabita¬
tion. 09 The dead could appear as ghosts. 60 On one occasion
a man bewailing his dead wife saw her with a group of
supernatural dancers; he snatched her away and she re¬
turned to live with him, bearing him more children. The
story of Edric Wilde, who cohabited with and married a
lovely supernatural lady, and who lost her only when he
reproached her with a reference to her sisters, is narrated
by Walter Map. These stories bear some evidence of Celtic
folklore. The Welsh and Irish were predisposed to believe
such things. 61 There were many superstitions of various
kinds. It was thought that the wound of a murdered man
bled when the murderer drew near. 62 In a birth of twins
some held that two men were responsible. 68 Children were
supposed to be marked by the physical mutilations of a
parent. A child, thereby, could be bom without an ear, or
without a nose. 64 Some—perhaps I should say many—folk
were prone to have unorthodox religious ideas. The people
were somewhat free in canonizing “saints.” This tendency
is mocked by the author of the first branch of the Roman
de Renart, in his usual bitter way. People were also ready
to accept as authentic many unauthenticated “miraculous”
cures. They believed in changelings. 68 Divination of the
future was quite common. 66

An educated man had his ideas on the marvelous magni¬
fied by what he read in Solinus and Pliny. He considered
Vergil a magician. Alexander discusses Vergil in his De
naturis rerum, 67 He repeats the tale of Vergil’s golden

2 4 2 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

leech which saved Naples from a plague when it was placed
in a certain well. Centuries later when that well was cleaned
and the golden object removed, there was no longer any
protection against the plague. On another occasion the
butchers in Naples were disturbed by the rapid spoiling of
their meat. This too was corrected by Vergil. It was ac¬
cepted that Vergil, in his Fourth Eclogue, had prophesied
the coming of Christ. Vergil was said to have constructed
a huge palace in Rome, containing images with warning
bells. When asked how long this building would stand, he
was supposed to have replied: “Until a Virgin shall bear a
Child.” Alexander trusted also in the Prophecies of Merlin,
which were the work of Geoffrey of Monmouth and were
incorporated into his Historia Re gum Britanniae. os Alex¬
ander cites one of these prophecies as evidence that the
schools at Oxford will one day be transferred to Ireland.
Above all, it was believed that dreams had true portent. 69
This, of course, found support in the story of Joseph in the
Bible.

The offspring of crossbreeding were accepted with little
hesitation. We know today that two species of animals will
not mate unless they are closely allied, but Giraldus and his
contemporaries believed that a combination of dog and
monkey, cow and stag, etc., was entirely possible. 70 Spon¬
taneous generation of bees, beetles, wasps, and other insects
was commonly believed in. 71

We now turn to a survey of art in smaller and larger
forms. The common materials for lesser objects were
oxhom, cuir bouilli, and ivory. Both oxhorn and ivory
could be pressed into plates after being heated with moist
heat. These plates were carved, sometimes with exquisite
skill, and then nailed into position on a wooden base. I have
before me a photograph of a twelfth-century box lid, pre-

“To Talk of Many Things''

243

served at the Cluny Museum. It shows a representation of
Our Lord in a central medallion, with the four Evangelists
in the four corners. The border and the center dividing
lines, as well as the figures, are beautifully carved. There
are three large clamps and many small nails which hold the
ivory pieces in place. Many ivory chessmen and draughts¬
men, in the round, have been preserved. I fancy that some
of the pieces which we think were used in playing draughts
were actually counters, in use on the eschequier or count¬
ing board. Horn was the material for commoner objects:
spoons, pen cases to be carried at the belt, handles, cases,
combs, and so on. 72 It was only when superior artistry was
to be displayed that these everyday objects were carved
from ivory. The flabellum was a fan to be used at the altar
of a church; it often had a handle of carved ivory. 73 A com¬
mon type of walking stick at this date was a wooden stick
with a T handle. When carried by an abbot, as a badge of
his office, the stick was referred to as a tau cross and the
handle was of carved ivory. “Triptychs,” or panels folding
into three, were placed at the back of small altars. These
triptychs were nearly always carved ivory plates set onto
wood. Cuir bouilli can be made by heating thick leather in
oil to a degree just short of the boiling point. 74 When this
has cooled and dried, it becomes a very hard, bony material
which can be carved. This material is sufficient unto itself
and does not have to be mounted. It was used, therefore, for
articles such as knife cases, which were subject to hard
wear.

In 1175 the Church Council of Westminster decreed that
chalices should be made of gold or silver. 75 Some of the
poorer churches continued the use of pewter for sacred
vessels. 76 Pewter, an alloy of tin and lead, was not in com¬
mon use in the average household in the twelfth century.

244 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

Thin plates of the various metals were nailed to a wooden
base and handled in much the same way as ivory. There
is an evangeliary, made in the Rhineland in the period
1150-1200, which can be compared with the ivory binding
that I have described above. The binding is of wood, cov¬
ered with leather, on which silver-gilt plates have been
nailed. The Blessed Virgin is in the center with the Infant
Jesus on her knee. The four Evangelists are in medallions
located at the four corners. 77 Where metal was involved the
goldsmith nearly always incrusted on it some cabochon
gems (roughly bruted). These are sprinkled rather pro¬
fusely, without much taste for color or size. Moonstones,
sapphires, garnets, agates, and amethysts are commonly met
with—also jaspers and chrysoprases. 78

If the metal object was solid, or made of thick plates, the
twelfth-century artist liked to add enamel. The design was
first gouged out. This would be filled with powdered glass
containing the desired coloring matter. When fused in a
furnace this produced enamel. This is champ levi work, as
opposed to cloisomS. In the British Museum there is a
beautiful enameled plaque showing the figure of Bishop
Henry of Winchester and his brother King Stephen. The
usual base for enamel was copper. If the whole surface of
the metal is coated with enamel and an elaborate design is
made, this is called “painted enamel.” Limoges was famous
for its enamels. 79

We have spoken of bookbindings in ivory and metal
plaques on a wooden background. Such binding was rare
and was employed for expensive books only. The average
book was bound in wooden boards without any design.
Leather was often glued over the surface, but it remained
plain and untooled. There are some forty exceptions to this,
made in England. Because the same metal stamps were used

“To Talk of Many Things ” 245

on them, we judge that all of these come from the same
bindery, probably a monastery which developed this novel
idea and later abandoned it. 80 One of these books is the
Oxford manuscript Rawlinson C163, of which I have a
rubbing in my possession. The book is a copy of the
Sententiae of Peter Lombard. The front and back have both
been repaired. Not many stamps were used. They are geo¬
metric or they represent fantastic birds and animals. One is
a kind of griffin which has its tail curled high over its back.

The British Museum has a collection of finger rings which
were discovered some hundred years ago. The collection
was found with some coins contemporary with Henry II
of England. 81 There is a friendship ring, clasped hands and
no stone. There is also one which has filigree in black on an
enamel chaton. The others show the following stones: sap¬
phire, amethyst, and colored glass with a painted foil at the
back.

Although pottery was not popular, this does not mean
that baked clay was not used for other things. Floor and
roof tiles were very important. It is difficult to date sur¬
viving floor tiles. A common type was a rough yellow de¬
sign on a red clay background. 82 The design might be bird,
beast, or geometric figure. There were many variations.
The art of mosaic was practiced, but the surviving speci¬
mens are largely Italian, sometimes on a French design. The
Cluny Museum has some of these. One of them shows a
workman filling a wine cask from a bucket, with the aid of
a funnel. 83 Another has a sort of griffin, similar to the stamp
on the tooled binding, with its tail curled over its back. 84
Roof tiles have not survived from this period. Their posi¬
tion was too vulnerable.

The most realistic art from the twelfth century is cer¬
tainly that which is found in bas- and high reliefs, usually

246 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

in tympana and on the capitals of columns. The Church of
Saint-Ursin in Bourges has a splendid tympanum of this
kind. 85 There is a scroll border; then three rows of figures.
The upper row shows Renart the Fox, a goose, two hens
drawing a two-wheeled cart in which Renart rides, and a
tree. The middle row is a boar hunt, with lances. There are
fine details of costume, including a sort of legging fastened
with a garter band at the top. The levriers are there, with
their short ears. The lowest row displays the common theme
of the Labors of the Months. The villein tends a fire, prunes,
hoes, wields a scythe, measures, winnows, picks grapes, puts
wine into casks, slaughters, eats, and cooks over a fire. For
the month of April there is a representation of a gentleman
in a chape. The realism of these figures is excellent. The
famous tympanum over the Porta della Pescaria of the
cathedral at Modena (Italy) is in bas-relief. 86 On the arch
it has a representation of an Arthurian scene. The lintel over
the door shows Renart the Fox who is being buried by two
hens, and who then revives and carries them off. This
Renart scene resembles the one at Saint-Ursin, in Bourges,
where the hens are drawing Renart in a cart.

The capitals found in the cloisters of the twelfth century
are remarkable. The Cloisters Museum in New York City
has some fine examples. As Mile has repeated, it is possible
for a botanist to recognize many of the vines and plants
thus depicted. 87 A capital in the cloister of Saint-Guilhem
has beautiful acanthus leaves. Another shows the heart-
shaped leaves of the bryony vine. There is the Hell capital
which pictures sinners being brought in chains to the mouth
of Hell. The Massacre of the Innocents, and the Presenta¬
tion of Christ in the Temple are the subjects of others. The
capital from Langon, which we have mentioned already as
being in the Romanesque Chapel, shows two heads which

“To Talk of Many Things ” 247

may be those of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. The
capitals of the Cuxa Cloister are more rudely done. There
the human heads, animals, birds, acanthus leaves, grapes, and
so forth are stylized and conventional in design, with little
attempt at realism. The few capitals preserved from Pontaut
are well executed leaf forms, rosettes, etc., and birds pick¬
ing grapes. 88

Fresco painting was done on wet walls with colors mixed
with lime. For instance, flesh colors on this surface were
made with ocher, cinnabar, and lime. 89 In painting wooden
objects, such as a crucifix, or painting on leather, a linseed
base was used, and the resulting finish was then varnished
with linseed and sandarac gum. A painter at this time used
a sort of fixed palette: flesh tints were made from white
ceruse (white of lead), yellowed ceruse, cinnabar, and a
little green added. 90 Half-shadow flesh tint used more
green, ocher, and cinnabar. Then there was a deeper com¬
bination for full shadow, and there were also prearranged
palettes for rose, darker rose, high light, and so on. Wrin¬
kles, nostrils, and the area around the eyes took the half¬
shadow.

Not all fresco work was religious in theme. Marie de
France refers to a painting of Venus casting Ovid’s Remedia
amoris into the fire. 91 Baudri de Bourgueil mentions secu¬
lar themes on the wall of a bedroom. 92 Peter Pictor com¬
plains that he has to paint goddesses all day long. 93 Henry II
of England caused many frescoes to be made in his palace
at Winchester; among them was one symbolizing the rebel¬
lion of his sons. Time and damp have eliminated nearly all
such work. 94 The place to find painting best preserved is in
surviving manuscripts. We have been depending on these
illuminations for many of our details in this book. The
figures in these miniatures are stiffer in pose than those in

248 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

the sculptured reliefs. The proportions of the human figures
are awkward. Perspective is clumsy or missing altogether.
Some of the work is better than others. The medium used
was tempera. 95 After sketching his design with a lead, the
illuminator ground his colors and mixed them with white of
egg, perhaps also with the yolk. The red was red lead or
minium; the white was ceruse; the blue was ultramarine or
lapis lazuli (a valuable material which illuminators occa¬
sionally stole by concealing it in their mouths); the green
could be copper verdigris; the yellow was usually orpiment
or realgar, but it could be yellowed ceruse; the black was
lampblack, or perhaps burnt vine twigs. Gold leaf was
applied in richer illuminations where yellow was demanded.
This was applied on a white-of-egg base and then burnished
with a deer tooth, or boar tusk. There were some simple
drawings made in both black and red ink.

A scriptorium did not have to do afresh every set of
miniatures, where these were used a number of times. An
original set could be made to serve as a model. The English
Psalter in the Morgan Library has illuminations which were
multipled in this way. A piece of vellum or parchment was
laid under an illumination, and the outline of the figures
was punched into this with a pin. This newly formed pat¬
tern would be laid over a fresh page on which the miniature
was to be reproduced. A pouncing bag of cloth, in which
fine charcoal had been placed, would be rubbed over the
perforated vellum and the dark outline would come through
on the surface to be painted. A pouncing bag was used also
to transfer designs to a wall, from a previously prepared
pattern. 96

Architecture was the major art of the twelfth century.
Many serious and considered constructions of secular build¬
ings were made in the early reign of Philip Augustus. There

“To Talk of Many Things ”

249

were the market halls at the Campelli, new city walls, civic
buildings, and many others. But architecture as a decorative
art applied primarily to ecclesiastical buildings. Northern
France and England, around 1180, were thrilled by the
possibilities of the new French style (which we call
Gothic). 87 The principal element in this style is the support
of ceiling vaults with intersecting ribs known as ogives.
Ogival ceiling vaults occurred in Evreux as early as 1120. In
Durham (England) the cathedral had them in 1093, and
the cathedral at Gloucester used this type of support in
1104. In Lombardy, St. Ambrose (Milan) was vaulted in this
way as early as 1075, and so was Saint-James at Corneto in
1095. It would seem that the Lombards began this style,
copying it perhaps from ancient Roman models, and that it
spread from Lombardy to England and northern France.
As a result of this new distribution of stress in the ceilings,
the architects began to employ more and more the pointed
fish arches which are commonly supposed to be the chief
characteristic of the style. The ogival ceiling vaults and the
pointed arches threw more stress onto the outer walls, and
thus flying buttresses became necessary. These were dis¬
simulated at first, as ambulatories. Sculptured decorations
began to alter also. The Romanesque architect liked fancy
moldings: the billet, the square billet, the nailhead, and
beakhead designs. In the new style the ornamentation was
more illustrative of the play of light on curved surfaces.
After 1175 the transition stage was over and simple Gothic
had won the day, except in Auvergne and central France
where the advance was slower. It was the great Basilica of
Saint-Denis, near Paris, the creation of Abbot Suger be¬
tween 1140 and 1144, which gave the chief impetus to the
spread of the new style. That is why Gothic is rightly called
the French style, as opposed to Romanesque. The cathedral

250 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

at Chartres (1144-53) and the one at Bourgcs also were
copied extensively elsewhere. Where Romanesque struc¬
tures continued to he built, they were modified in some
ways by the Gothic or new French design. Many modern
readers who admire the diabolical gargoyles of Notre Dame
de Paris imagine that these are part of the original design.
That is not true. Most of them are creations at the hands of
Viollct-lc-Duc, the nineteenth-century architect. Most
twelfth-century buildings had no gutters. Where gutters
did occur, the end-spouts (or gargoyles) were geometric in
form as at Fontenay in Cbtc-d’Or. The convent church of
Saint-Pierre on Montmartre, built after r 147, had a firmer
and better reinforced roof structure. This also was copied
rather widely and became standard for the Gothic style.

For those who arc not familiar with the simple plan of a
mediaeval church building, a few remarks on this might be
helpful. The larger churches were designed in the form of
a cross with the intersection approaching close to one end.
The main body of the church, where the congregation
gathers, is the nave. The aisles on each side of the nave are
the ambulatories, separated from the nave by columns and
their arches. The part of the building which intersects is
called the transept. As a church in those days always had
its altar at the east, there is a north transept and a south
transept. The space beyond the transepts is devoted to the
chancel or choir, the sanctuary containing the altar, and
usually a space behind the altar where a shrine or chapel is
placed. The ambulatory, or side aisles, usually continue
around the choir section, passing through the chapel or
shrine in the apse. Many churches have an atrium or vestibule
inside the front doors, at the west end, which is partitioned
off from the body of the nave. The reader will understand
that the roofs of the ambulatories do not need to rise as

“To Talk of Many Things ” 251

high as the roof over the nave. This makes possible a series
of windows high up along the two sides of the nave. That
area is called the clerestory.

So ends our sketch of the twelfth-century crafts and
arts. It would be pleasant to close on this note, but there
remain certain matters of a different kind which we must
summarize. Among these are law and justice, taxation, and
money. A layman was responsible to the court of his feudal
lord. If his lord was an abbot or some other ecclesiast, the
avoue or lay baron of the church lands administered lay
justice. A churchman was forbidden to spill blood. 98 Petty
barons did not always have the right of high justice (life
and limb) over their vassals, and in such cases serious of¬
fenses were handled by the overlord of the small baron.
A lord who administered high justice was said to have the
right of “ban.” 99 In northern France and England the law
in force was custom law, which varied somewhat from area
to area. There was a Coustumier de Normandie, and so on.
Where custom law proved inadequate, an enlightened baron
pieced out its defects with the Roman law, and for this pur¬
pose a clerk who had been trained in civil law at Bologna,
or elsewhere, was much in demand. A lord when adminis¬
tering justice was assisted by his barons, and presumably by
his clerk who was trained in the law. Usamah noted this
procedure among the Franks in the Holy Land: “The king
said to six, seven knights, ‘Arise and judge this case for him
the defendant.’ The knights went out from the audience
chamber, retired by themselves, and consulted together
until they all agreed upon one thing. Then they returned
to the audience chamber and said, ‘We have passed judg-
ment to the effect. . . .’ Such a judgment, after having been
pronounced by the knights, not even the king nor any of
the chieftains of the Franks can alter or revoke.” 109 This is

252 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

not strictly true; but for the lord to override the verdict
would have provoked much dissatisfaction among his vas¬
sals. The defendant and the plaintiff were required to ap¬
pear in person at this date. If the case could not be settled
immediately, the lord would demand pledges. Friends of
the defendant would come forward and pledge their estates
as guarantee that they would produce the defendant in
court when this was required. In the romances and chansons
de geste many arbitrary rulings are made by the lord. He
could cause those who gave the pledges to be hanged along
with the defendtfnt if he so desired. 101 It is questionable that
such procedure could actually have been followed with im¬
punity. Philip Augustus, and even Louis VII, his father,
were much concerned over the administration of justice
in such baronial courts. They were encouraging important
cases to appear before the Curia Regis in Paris. The pro¬
cedure of appeal was in its infancy. St. Louis in the follow¬
ing century made the needed reforms.

In the twelfth century it was still a common thing for a
defendant to prefer trial by ordeal or combat. Female de¬
fendants, particularly in cases where honor was involved,
were apt to prefer the ordeal. Women could have recourse
to trial by combat. In that event they were permitted to
find any champion who could be persuaded to fight for
them. The theory back of these trials was that Divine
punishment would be meted out to the perjurer. Before
combat or ordeal, the defendant took solemn oath on the
Gospel book, or on a reliquary containing saints’ bones, that
he was not lying; the plaintiff did the same. After they at¬
tended Mass, the trial was held. Women of higher rank
preferred the ordeal with the hot bar of iron. They walked
with this in the bare hand before many witnesses. If the bum
healed in a specific length of time, the defendant was ad-

“To Talk of Many Things ’’

253

judged innocent . 102 A serf who was accused was usually
given the ordeal of water . 103 A huge cask was filled and a
wooden board was set across the top. The victim under¬
going the test was bound with a rope attached to his
shoulders. If innocent he was supposed to sink; if guilty he
would float. Men of lower rank were allowed to have trial
by combat, making use of cudgels, with or without a
shield . 104

A feudal lord could have spent a large amount of his
time holding court and administering justice to petty of¬
fenders. Many turned such duties over to their viscount or
sheriff, or to some other deputy. If a person thought that he
was wronged by some act that was in the process of accom¬
plishment, he could stand at the spot and call “Haro.” This
was equivalent to placing an injunction upon his adversary.
As soon as the justice arrived, a decision could be made then
and there.

There was considerable laxity about the administration
of the death penalty. When a court was functioning effi¬
ciently, it was customary to allow a young offender, his first
time up, to get off with a warning or a flogging. He might
on the second, or even the third, occasion receive a mutila¬
tion: loss of an ear, a hand, etc . 105 This was a very severe
penalty. If the offense were repeated -over and over, the
defendant would eventually be hanged or blinded. Among
those who had financial position a fine was very often
assessed, and exile was meted out to offenders of all kinds . 100
If the court desired, the accused might be put to the torture.
Application of fire and drawing of teeth were common
forms . 107 Usually a mediaeval author says that the victim
was gehenne without mentioning the specific form. Hang¬
ing was apt to be by strangulation, without the breaking of
the neck. The guilty party had a rope placed around his

254 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

neck and was then pulled up to a high limb of a tree, or to
a beam on a specially constructed gallows. In Wistasce li
moines a young man is told to hang himself, which he
does. 108 For treason or sacrilege the terrific penalty of being
burnt at a stake, or being drawn by four horses, might be
exacted. 100

The cleric was not subject to the civil courts, although
Philip Augustus hoped to arrange it so that in an affair in
which both civil and clerical parties were involved the civil
court alone would have jurisdiction. The bishops had their
own serjanz and knights, who maintained order. The bis¬
hop’s court could not administer the death penalty, but it
could excommunicate and fine. It could also incarcerate,
and that was not a light punishment.

Strange to relate, murder and personal violence did not
always provoke the hand of Justice. Matters of that kind
were too often left to the victim’s family to avenge. The
family of the victim would demand justice from the court,
and the murderer or rapist might get off with a money pay¬
ment. Some families, however, took justice in their own
hands, and the subsequent killing was looked upon as justi¬
fied. 110

We have already mentioned the values of the coins which
were in circulation. A number of mints were authorized to
issue money. 511 Under Louis VII there were royal mints in
Paris, Mantes, Etampes, Aquitaine, Bourbonnais, Langres,
and Saintes. There were semiroyal mints at Laon, An-
goulfime, La Marche, and Perigord. Certain dukes, lesser
lords, bishops, and even abbots were permitted to strike
their own coinage. Here is a partial list of the places: Brit¬
tany, Anjou, Touraine, Blois, Chartres, Chateaudun, Perche,
Chateauroux, Issoudun, Sancerre, Vicrzon, Celles, Niver-
nais, Auvergne, Limousin, Turenne, Toulouse, Saint-Gilles,

“To Talk of Many Things ” 255

Narbonne, Beziers, Anduze, Rodez, Provence, Vienne,
Lyon, Saint-Rtienne dc Dijon, Bourgogne, Auxerre, Cham¬
pagne, Provins, Meaux, Reims, Amiens, and Beauvais. No
wonder there was work for the money-changers on the
Grant Pont and elsewhere. The money-changer was pri¬
marily interested in the amount of good silver in the coin.
The English deniers were esterlinc (sterling) and their
composition was very good. Under Philip Augustus the
mint at Tours, which produced the deniers tournois, be¬
came exceptionally trustworthy. The king’s deniers minted
at Paris were known as parisis. Punishment for counter¬
feiting money was rather heavy if it were done by an ordi¬
nary thief. The barons got away with all sorts of irregulari¬
ties, such as reducing the amount of silver and clipping.
A merchant on accepting payment, if he noticed anything
suspicious or a strange mintage, could satisfy himself by
taking a bite with his teeth. Base metal was softer than silver.
Letters of credit were yet to be devised, in Italy, some cen¬
turies later; but I dare say this simple device existed in a
haphazard way as early as the twelfth century. If a Paris
merchant went to London, he might be accommodated
with esterlinc by a professional acquaintance over there.
That same Englishman, on going to Paris, would not have
to take so much silver with him, as his associate could re¬
ciprocate the favor. Money, valuable silver, gold objects,
and jewels were kept at home in those heavy chests bound
with iron which we have already observed in the treasure
room of a castle. They were so heavy that they could not
be moved quietly, which was the basis of their security. 112
When a wealthy man first got the habit of leaving large
sums with a money-changer, that was the key moment in
the history of banking. We do not know whether this hap¬
pened at so early a date as the twelfth century.

i $6 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

The amount of money in circulation was not enough to
take care of the daily economy of a community. For there
was much hoarding and laying away in chests, which caused
deniers to disappear from circulation. Workmen were often
paid in kind. Here are the wages of Gilbert, a carpenter,
who worked for the Abbey of Saint-Gcrmain-des-Pres:
per diem, two white and two dark loaves of bread, a half
sestier (four pints) of wine, usually with beans, and meat on
special days; annually, a half mui of wheat and one frock
{tunica) to the value of five sous. In the season of wine¬
pressing, when he was binding casks, he got each day, extra,
a denier and the old hoops and pieces of wood that could
not be used. Last of all he was granted the terram de Vaus.
The document which notes this arrangement is dated 1180.
The reader will note that the real payment which he re¬
ceived was the use of a small piece of land; he could not
have supported himself without this. Poole says that palace
servants in England received only one denier per diem. 118
Like Gilbert, the carpenter of Saint-Gcrmain-des-Pr6s, they
doubtless received other perquisites, and perhaps the use of
a bit of land.

The question of taxation is too vast for our present dis¬
cussion. It involves, first of all, an understanding of the de¬
gree of relationship between the feudal lord and the groups
of men on his fiefs. By the last quarter of the twelfth cen¬
tury, more and more French towns were recognized as com¬
munities of free men, and they received increased economic
and political privileges from their overlords. 114 If the taille
could not be abolished entirely, the bourgeoisie sought to
regularize it; they did not wish to leave the lord the right to
levy on them at will. In some cases, by agreement, a fixed
sum, such as twenty-five livres per family, was levied each
year; in others, the tax paid was proportionate to the in-

(( To Talk of Many Things ”

257

come. In still other instances, only extraordinary contribu¬
tions were demanded; the marriage of the lord’s daughter,
the knighting of his son, travel abroad, invasion, and en¬
throning of a new abbot (on ecclesiastical fiefs) were the
occasions. 116 The knights who held fiefs were subject to
these aides extraordinaires. The bourgeoisie felt somewhat
elevated when their obligations were similar to those of the
knights. It was often specified that voluntary contributions
would be gladly accepted. In Paris there was a tattle
abonnee, or annual tax paid to the royal provost on a pro¬
portional income basis. This was in effect by the end of the
twelfth century. Unfortunately, we have no Paris tax roll
dating earlier than 1292. This particular document that we
have is most interesting. The very rich paid as high as forty
livres a year, and the poor paid very little, not more than
two sous in many cases. 116

The tax paid by peasants again brings us into the com¬
plicated domain of feudal taxation. Rents have already been
mentioned above. Extraordinary aides, tattle abonnee, and
arbitrary tailles could be exacted, depending upon local
conditions. The lord had also his invisible taxes in the form
of banalites or monopolies: the oven, wine press, and mill.
The right of lodging and special exactions of labor could
be levied. 117

Despite these various tailles, an industrious peasant could
usually make a good living, and so could a bourgeois. It was
the baron who was constantly faced with economic ruin.
The great pull on his resources was from foie largesce, or
excessive generosity. 118 In addition there were the tithes and
the maintenance of benefices. 119 Instead of granting lands
and income to monasteries, cathedral chapters, and hospitals,
it had become customary to grant tithes from a given area. 120
As this money was levied on lands, it was paid by barons

258 Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

and peasants according to their holdings. When land was
given to an ecclesiastical foundation, it was frequently given
in “frankalmoignc"—that is, the clergy gave payment
through their prayers. 121

In closing, we will add a few words on the heretical or
non-Catholic sects. These were increased at a later period
in the Middle Ages. Walter Map records what they were in
the twelfth century. The Waldensians had their Bible (not
complete) in the French tongue. They were directed by lay
preachers who sought to obtain from Alexander III the right
to preach. Walter says that he was one of their examiners.
He expresses amusement at them because, being untutored
in theology, they admitted to him that they believed in God
the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost, and the
Mother of Christ, making a Godhead of four persons instead
of the Trinity. They were finally excommunicated, in
1184. 122 Another sect, mentioned by Walter, were the
Brabangons or routiers. We should not take too seriously
the statement that these formed a heretical sect. They
were a group of banditti first organized in Brabant. They
were “fugitives, false clerks, runaway monks, and deserters
of God of every sort.” 123 Both William of Newburgh and
Walter Map speak of the PatertniP* They did not accept
the Gospel of St. John, and they held a view of the Holy
Communion similar to that taught by Zwingli in the six¬
teenth century. They were an ascetic group coming first to
England in 1160. They were condemned at the Council of
Oxford in 11 66, and they recrossed to Normandy. Strangely
enough, Walter Map says nothing about the Albigenses,
who were waxing strong in southern France in his day.
Their chief strength was at Albi (Tam). This group had
strong connections with coreligionists in Italy and Bulgaria.
They rejected most of the Catholic dogma, including the

“To Talk of Many Things ”

259

Mass. Their leaders called themselves perfecti, and their
ideal was one of extreme asceticism, which had an appeal
to the masses in the twelfth century. They believed in two
coequal powers: God and the Devil. One was the Spirit of
Light, and the other was the Lord of Darkness. 125 Only by
eschewing the carnal pleasures of the world could one ap¬
proach purity. Unfortunately, most of the Christian virtues
such as truth were not required, and that made it very diffi¬
cult to trace the movement, since none of its practitioners
felt obliged to tell the truth when under oath.

Notes

Maps Appearing as End Sheets

In drawing the map of twelfth-century London, I began with the
one reproduced in Sebastian Munster’s Cosmographia, which, to
judge by the costumes of a group of figures engraved thereon, can
be dated in the late sixteenth century. I corrected this map from
John Stow’s Survey of London (first published in 1598) and from
other available sources. I have compared my map with that given
(p. 16) by William R. Shepherd in his Atlas of Medieval and Mod¬
em History (New York, 1932). Allowing for the fact that Shep¬
herd is reconstructing the London of 1300, while I am attempting
to sketch the city as it was in 1178-80, there are still a few major
differences that need explaining. Chief among these are the loca¬
tions of the four streams which flowed in the city or just outside.
Stow says of the Old Bourn that it broke out of the ground “about
the place where now the Holbom bars do stand, and it ran down
the whole street till Oldbome bridge, and into the river of the Wells,
or Tumemill brook” (p. 15). I have drawn the bum in this way;
but Shepherd merely labels a section of the Fleet River (previously
the River of the Wells) above the Holbom Bridge with the name
“Hole Bourn.” The next controversial matter is the position of the
Langboum. By virtue of its name we can assume that this bum had
a long course. Stow says of it: “Langbome water, so called of the
length therof, was a great stream breaking out of the ground in
Fenchurch street, which ran with a swift course, west, through
that street, athwart Gra street, and down Lumbard street, to the west
end of St. Mary Wolnothes church, and then turning the course
down Sharebome lane, so termed of sharing or dividing, it brake
into divers rills or rillets to the river of TTiames. . (p. 15). If

this description is correct, how does Shepherd find authority for

262

Notes

running the Langboum into Walbrook at Lombard Street? Fur¬
thermore, his map indicates that the bum ran alongside and not
through the center of Fenchurch Street.

In addition, the Shepherd map cuts Wading Street through from
Newgate direct to the London Bridge. I do not know where to sub¬
stantiate this. Surely the sixteenth-century map would retain some
trace of such a street cutting through the city. That section of
London preserved much of its early lines until the Great Fire of
1666. In the accompanying map I do not profess to sketch in all the
streets. This would be impossible archaeologically.

In the map of Paris I have followed for general contours the one
prepared by M. Halphen. It was necessary to modify his plan, since
he, like most of those who reconstruct Capetian Paris, begins with
the walls of Philip Augustus. For the area contained within that
early wall on the right bank, of which the very existence is a
mystery to many mediaeval historians, I have been guided by
Marcel Poete. Constant use has been made of the published car¬
tularies of the city, of Notre-Dame de Paris, and of the Hotel-Dieu.
In tracing the actual lines of the streets, I began with the excellent
scale maps of Gomboust (1652) and Jouvin de Rochefort (1675).
Some use has been made also of the notes of Abbe Leboeuf, espe¬
cially where he comments on the Rues de Paris of Guillot de Paris.

I have added a small touch which may seem useless to the reader.
Where a house is specifically mentioned in the various cartularies
as existing in a given place during the period 1150-80,1 have placed
a small line in approximately the correct position. It is not possible
to determine this exactly, of course—we do not know on what
side of the street to place it—but these small marks will give an
idea of where some of the houses were changing hands.

The Rue des Sept Voies seems to have been the principal street
of the Bourg Sainte-Genevieve. It is mentioned in a document of
1185. To judge by the appearance of this street in the later maps, it
got its name because seven roads actually joined it. At so early a
date as 1178, when the greater part of the hillside was still in vine¬
yards, most of these streets would have had dead ends, as I have
tried to show.

Preface

i. John of Garland was bom in 1180 and came to Paris in 1195.
His appellative was derived from that Rue de Garlande which led
from the Orleans road to the Place Maubert.

Notes

263

2. Fr. Gabriel, of the University of Notre Dame, tells me that he
has located some more manuscripts of this, in addition to those
listed by Manitius.

3. Jahrbuch fur romanische und englische Literatur, VIII (1867),
60-74, 155-73. Wright printed the Cottonian MS (Titus D. xx) and
gave collations from B.N. lat. 7679 and lat. 217.

4. Frederick Tapper and Marbury B. Ogle (tr.), Master Walter
Map's Book De Nugis Gurialiwn (London, 1924), pp. 75,197. Here¬
after referred to as W.M.

5. Roman de la Rose, vv. 4543-44.

(h Metalogicus, III, 4. It is in Migne, 199, col. 900.

Chapter I

1. Cf. Urban Tigner Holmes, A History of Old French Litera¬
ture (New York, 1948).

2. For details on this political history, and the brief statement on
economic conditions which follows, consult the references in L.
Paetow.

3. Polycraticus . This political theory is summed up by John
Dickinson in Speculum, 1,308-37.

4. R. W. Linker (ed.), Ymin (Chapel Hill, 1940), vv. 650-55.

5. Ibid., vv. 65-85.

6. The best reference on Alexander Neckam is Max Manitius,
Geschichte der lateinischen Literatur des Mittelalters, III, 784-94.
We are aware that occasionally in the De nominibus utensilium
Alexander is quoting verbally from earlier authors: Isidor, Juvenal,
and Horace. This does not affect the value of his evidence for con¬
temporary matters, for such quotations would be meaningless if
his own age did not have the equivalent. This same principle ap¬
plies to passages in the Roman de la Rose, such as the statement
found there that a gentleman should have a good tailor. Perhaps
Ovid did suggest this to Guillaume de Lorris, but a similar belief
doubtless prevailed in the thirteenth, and in the twelfth, century
or it would not have been repeated. M. Esposito in the English
Historical Review, XXX, 461ft is our source for information on
the authors quoted in the De nominibus. C. H. Haskins argues for
Neckam’s authorship of the Sacerdos ad altarem and gives excel¬
lent information on this mediaeval grammarian. Cf. Haskins, The
Renaissance of the Twelth Century (Cambridge, Massachusetts,

264 Notes

1927) and Studies in the History of Mediaeval Science (Cam¬
bridge, Massachusetts, 1924).

7. Du Roulay, Historia Universitatis Parisiensis, II, 725.

8 , Pp. 7-61.

Chapter II

1. The facts on Dunstable are in every encyclopedia.

2. Sir W. Dugdale, Momsticon Anglicanum (6 vols., London,
1846), II, 187.

3. These figures on the amount of mileage covered, and the time,
can be checked in Blonde cFOxford, ed. Le Roux de Lincy (1858),
w. 5205, 5268, 5271, 5283; above all, in Montaigne’s account of his
voyage to Italy, where he gives full data on the stages and the
ground covered. In expressions of time, the word haute means “well
advanced” and Basse signifies “just after.” Cf. tresque la basses
nune in the Pel. de Chari., ed. W. R. Lansberg (Chapel Hill,

1939),. .

4. It is probable that he had only the simple tonsure, which is
equivalent to acceptance only as a candidate for orders. Today the
“tonsure” is usually given the day before the service at which the
four minor orders are conferred together. A clerk in minor orders
could marry, but a married cleric could not teach in the schools.
See G. Pare, A. Eranot, and P. Tremblay, La Renaissance du XII*
siecle. Les ecoles et Fenseignement (Paris, 1933), pp. 62-63.

5. Alexander did not esteem very highly the qualities of a mule.
See Thomas Wright (ed.), Alexmdri Neckam De naturis rerum
... with the poem of the same author, De laudibus dhnnae sapientiae
(Rolls Series, London, 1863), p. 266. Hereafter referred to as NJL
There is an excellent picture of a twelfth-century headstall in the
single sheet of twelfth-century illumination (English, about 1170)
which is in the Morgan Library in New York City. This is usually
called a sheet from the Winchester Bible. See Ricci and Wilson,
Census, No. 619.

6. Thomas Wright (ed.), A Volume of Vocabularies (privately
printed, 1857), p. 99. Hereafter referred to as Wright. The Heidel¬
berg MS 112 of the German Roland has excellent illustrations show¬
ing saddles and the saddle cloths. In Floire et Blancheflor, ed. Du
Meril (Paris, 1856), p. 40, there is this description of equipment:
the sousele is of checkered doth, the pommel and cantle (argon)

Notes 2 65

are of blue and red ivory with gold inlay, and the top cloth is (Fun
brun paile de Castele toute florie a flors cForfrois,

7. In the Cid a difference is indicated between Stellas coceras,
“light riding saddles,” and Stellas gallegas, which were the heavier

kind used in warfare.— Cid, ed. Men&ndez Pidal (Madrid, 1916),
vv. 992-93. The custom of fastening a bag to the culture or crupper
strap is illustrated vividly by Alexander: Simla veto, locum manticae
tenens pushed the jongleur, his master, off the horse.— N.R., p. 210.

8. John of Garland, in Wright, p. 123, says: Sellarii vendunt
sellas nudas et pictas. . . . The provost Estienne Boileau stated that
saddlers were required to sell their saddles undecorated. A preacher
of the twelfth century complained about the clergy who main¬
tained “painted saddles, spurs, and gilded bridles.”—L. Bourgain,
La choke franqaise au iz e siicle (Paris, 1879), p. 278.

9. The Monge de Montaudo remarked: Et enoid!m e no'm sab bo
de sella quart crolPa Fargo. — Enueg, vv. 77-78.

10. The bells hanging from the peitrel are mentioned very often.
A specific reference can be found in Gut de Bourgogne, ed. Gues-
sard and Michelant (1859), vv. 2334-35. Enide rides a sambue all
through her adventures in the company of Erec. See Erec und
Enide, ed. W. Forster (1911), vv. 28ioff. In the Aiol, ed. Normand-
Raynaud (1877), vv. 8313-14: et de sambue de brun paile A fleurs
d?argent jet a entaille.

A woman’s saddle is portrayed at Autun in the Cathedral of
Saint-Lazare.—Deschamps 36 B. The lady sits sideways, with
a back- and footrest A quilted cloth covers the seat and footrest
In the Chanson de Guillaume, vv. 1549-50, stirrups are mentioned
as associated with the sambue .

11. Wright, p. 99. This type of short, hooded cloak is frequently
seen in art of the period. There is a sculptured relief in the Roman¬
esque Hall of the Louvre which shows peasants in the field at the
Annunciation. One of these wears a short chape very plainly. The
Monge de Montaudo could not get along without one: Ancor i a
mats que rrfenoia cavalcar ses capa de ploia* — Enueg, w. 73-74.

12. The revelin is so named and described in Chretien’s Conte
del Graal, ed. A. Hilka (Halle, 1932), vv. nj 6 fi. In the Reich-
enau Glossary, No. 423, the word ocreas is explained by husas.
The tympanum of Saint-Ursin at Bourges (which can be seen on
p. 29 of the Bedier and Hasard, Histoire de la litterature jranqaise)
illustrates various styles of leg covering. A peasant sometimes wears
coarse, loose sacking draped around his legs. See also Webster,
Plates 31, 31a, and 42. These leg cloths, like stockings, were fastened

z 66 Notes

by a garter band just below the knee, A well-dressed man prided
himself on his leg covering. In the Cid the Count of Barcelona is
annoyed because he is defeated by men who are malcalqados (v.
1023), He is referring to the CicTs men who wore huesas sabre
calgas (v. 994), The following passage is interesting: Par tel mrtu
a le planchii passi Rompent les hueses del cordoan sailer.—Charroi
de Nimes, ed, J, L. Perrier (1931), vv, 56-57, Apparently the put¬
tees extending up from the sailer were called hueses, and they broke
under the strain,

13. On black clothing for clerics: Non dices opprobrium Si
cognosces morem, vestem nigram clerici, comam breviorem .—“De¬
bate of Phyllis and Flora,” No. 52 in the Oxford Book of Mediaeval
Latin Verse, The cleric was seldom bearded: E enoitfm capellan

e monge barhat.— Monge de Montaudo, Enueg. , v. 8, Further:
Cuida que tuit proveire fussent . . . Kar tuit erent tondu e res*—
RaUy ed. H, Andresen (1877), Part III, vv. 711936?.

14. The description of the Scot has been lifted from Jocelin, pp,
77-78. Samson, before he was abbot, traveled in Italy disguised as
a Scot. Nigel Wireker remarks that the English are largos while
the French are temces.—The Anglo~Latm Satirical Poets and Epi¬
grammatists of the Twelfth Century, ed, Thomas Wright (Rolls
Series, 2 vok, London, 1872), I, 65. Hereafter called S,P. This
custom of observing national and racial traits has long been prac¬
ticed. Giraldus says of an Italian legate: cui tile caput et humeros
more suae gentis avert endo.—Giraldi Cambrensis Opera , ed. J, S,
Brewer (Rolls Series, 8 vok, London, 1873), II, 345, Hereafter re¬
ferred to as Giraldus.

15. For the term “commun language” see La vie d'Edouard le
confesseur, cd, Sodcrgard (Uppsala, 1949), vv, 2016&

16. Ibid,, vv. i~io.

17. The quality of being fur is very frequently mentioned. Typi¬
cal is a description in Marie de France’s Yonec, vv, 519-20: Que
cHert It mieuare chevalier Et le plus fort et le plus pier. See the
Lais, ed. E. Hoepffner, (1921).

18. Venit equo residens sua c antic a voce resultans More viatorum
sic breviabat iter.—Rapularius , ed. K. Langosch (1929), I, 317. A
fine view of a man on a horse is in the frieze of the Cremona
Cathedral.—James Carson Webster, The Labors of the Months
(Evanston, Illinois, 1938), Plate 25.

19. For verse structure see Gustave Reese, Music in the Middle
Ages. (New York, 1940), p. 387; also Archibald T. Davison and
Willi Apel, Historical Anthology of Music (Cambridge, Massa-

Notes

267

chusetts, 1947), I, 16-17, %l &' The Descripth Kamhriae (Giraldus,
VI, 189) mentions the Scottish habit of singing a second part.
Giraldus describes Welsh harmony also. He says of those north
of the I lumber that one voice is “murmuring in the bass, the other
warbling in the treble.”

20. E. Martin (ed.), Roman de Renart (Strassburg, 1882-87),
Branch II, w. 45-46.

21* All this description is imitated from Branch I of the Roman
de Renart, but in the Chanson de Guillaume, w. 3410-13, also a
hordel or peasant house is described. It is made with piles driven
into the ground. These are provided with fourches, or angle
pieces, at the top and then a ridgepole is added.

22. In England, land was held for these types of service: knight’s,
serjanfs, and socager’s. A socager paid rent in kind or money only.
A serf, called also a cotter or bordar, was obliged to give labor,
and the merchet fee for the marriage of his daughter.-^Austin
Lane Poole, Obligations of Society in the XII and XIII Centuries
(Oxford, 1946), Chapters 1-3.

23. John Stow, A Survey of London, with Fitzstephen in the
Appendix (London, 1908), p. 502. Hereafter referred to as F.S.

24. This picturing of the relative location of sites and buildings
is made from various sources. See note to London map, above. A
solicitor of Gray’s Inn, with whom I had the pleasure to talk re¬
cently, confirmed my opinion of the distances in Holborn. He has
walked over these streets countless times. Fitzstephen says of the
palace at Westminster: “. . . the royal palace rears its head, an
Incomparable structure, furnished with breastworks and bastions,
situated in a populous suburb at a distance of two miles from the
city” (p. 502). In 1x84 the Templars abandoned their tower In
Oldborne and moved down to the bank of the Thames.

25. The earlier name for Westminster was Thomley. The abbey
church, adjacent to the royal tower, was dedicated to St. Peter,
but by the mid-twelfth century the designation “West minster,” as
contrasted with St. Paul’s, the minster within the wall of London,
was far more common. Cf. on all this La vie d*Edouard le con¬
fess eur, vv. 1499-1500 and passim.

26. A significant painting from twelfth-century England has
survived. This is “The Ladder of the Salvation of the Soul and
the Road to Heaven,” recovered in the parish church of St. Peter
and St. Paul at Chaldon (or Chalvedon) in Surrey, not far from
Westminster. The background is in red and the figures are in
lighter red, pink, yellow, and white. See The Victoria History of

x68 Notes

the County of Surrey, ed* H. E, Malden (London, 1902-12), IV,
191-93, There is a reference to the murals at Westminster in the
accounts of Henry’s grief over the rebellion of his sons in 1173-74*
—(Arakins, VI11, 295,

27, F.S., j>, 45.

28* Dugdale, VI, 626-27*

29. The description of Smithfield or “Smoothfield” continues
from F.S., pp* 506-507* Jocelin describes the stalls in a market (p*
209)*

30. * * it is a common saying, ‘From mill and from market,
from smithy and from nunnery, men bring tidings/ ”~~Ancrcne
Riwle, ed* James Morton (London, 1853), PP* 88-91.

31* Naturally we can only imagine the appearance of the wall of
London* A city wall and gate are illustrated in a Cambridge MS,
Trinity College 11,17*1, dating about 1150* The gate is there flanked
by two towers with three upper stories to each tower. The crene¬
lated top of the gate is higher than the walk on the top of the
wall. See Dorothy Hartley and Margaret M. Elliot, Life and Work
of the People of England (New York, 1931), 1 , Plate zoe*

32* The description of wooden houses is elaborated from Bayeux
Tapestry, No. 48, in Eric MacLagan, The Bayern Tapestry (Lon¬
don, 1945).

33. J. P. Bushe-Fox, Old Sarum, Official Guide (London, 1934),
p* 12.

34. I cannot give my exact references for this impression of the
houses of the time* It is a conglomerate of personal impressions
acquired over some years from visiting extant houses in England,
France, and Italy, combined with a study of illustrations and read¬
ing in texts. Some details will be easily traced* Houses at Chartres
show the ornamental windows on the principal floor* In Aucassin
et Nicolette , ed, R* W. Linker (1948), there is mention of the
small pillar of stone in the center of such a window: le mm au
piler ae la fenestre (§12).

35. The Assizes of 1189 established certain housing ordinances*
The text from which we are quoting is that given in Thomas
Stapleton’s De amiquis legibus liber (Camden Society, No, 34, Lon¬
don, 1846), pp, 206-11. The greater part of the city had been
built of wood previous to the fire or 1135-36 which destroyed
from the Bridge to St* Clement’s Dane (p* 210)* To encourage
construction in stone the Assizes gave many privileges to the
owner of a stone house, over his less affluent neighbor. If anyone
should have a stone wall on his own land to the height of sixteen

Notes

269

feet, his neighbor must make a drain and receive in it, on his land,
the water shed from the stone wall and carry it across his land,
unless it can be brought into the King’s street, and nothing must
be constructed by him on the aforesaid wall when he builds near
it. If he does not build he must continue to receive the water shed
from the stone wall, without damage to the owner of the wall
(p. 208). A common stone wall cannot be altered without the con¬
sent of both parties. Garde-robe pits, not walled, must be dug five
and a half feet away from the neighbor’s boundary; if walled, the
pit can be only two and a half feet. A window facing upon a
neighbor’s land can have its view cut off by subsequent building
unless a specific agreement forbidding this has once been made.
One who is building is forbidden to make a pavimentum in vico
regio ad nocimentum civitatis et vicini sui in juste (p. 211).

36. “On the west are two castles strongly fortified. . . .” F.S., p.
502. Marie de France wrote of two such castles, side by side, di¬
vided only by a single curtain wall, in her Laostic, w. 35-44.

37. N.K., p. 209,

38. Stow lists these docks in F.S. Queenhithe is still in existence.

39. The Bayeux Tapestry, Nos. 43-45, shows these weird figure¬
heads on ships.

40. For the two bridges consult Stow in F.S., p. 23. Jehan Bodel
has a few words on bridge building: Faisoit alignier ses granz
mairiens qarrez, Faire trox et mortaisses .— Saisnes, ed. F, Michel
(1839), II, 49-50. The bridge was all important: A sun batel en
va amont Dreit a Lundres, desuz le punt, Sa merchandise Hoc
descovre. — Tristan, ed. J. B£dier (SATF, 1902-1905), w. 2647-49.

41. Wace, Brut, ed. Ivor Arnold (SATF, 1938-40), vv. 3207]!.

42. F.S., p. 502. Thomas says: Al pe del mur li curt Tarmse m ...
— Tristan, v. 2659; and further: Par une posteme del nmr qm
desur la Tamise. .. (vv. 2792-93).

43. The cookshop is in F.S., p. 504.

44. Brut, vv. 11191-204.

45. V. Gay and H. Stein, Glossaire archeologique du moyen dge
et de la Renaissance (Vol. I, Paris, 1897; VoL II, Paris, 1928), un¬
der Huissier.

46. N.R., p. 141.

47. U. Nebbia, Navi d’ltalia (Milan, 1930), Plate. See also Bayeux
Tapestry, Nos. 5-6.

48. F.S., p. 43.

49. Dugdale, V, 85-104.

50. F.S., pp. 506, 508-509.

Notes

270

51. Bayeux Tapestry, No. 4.

52. Gaimar, Estorie des Engleis, ed. Thomas Wright (London,
1850), w. 5981-98. Similarly in Ille et Galeron, ed. Loseth (Paris,
1890), w. 4100-4102.

53. As in the Tristan where Iseut receives such treatment from
King Marc.

54. F.S., p.503.

55. Such was certainly the case in the thirteenth century. Crowds
gathered around the Earl of Gloucester in London, and the Earl
of Oxford was greeted in the same way in Boulogne. See Blonde
(TOxford, vv. 2458 fiF., 5484 ff. Those who have received Ille’s charity
crowd about him as he passes through the streets.— Me et Galeron,
w. 3788-99.

56. Scheludko in Archmum Romamcum, XI, 278.

57 - Die Exempla des Jakob von Vitry, ed. Joseph Greven
(SMLT, 1914), No. 97.

58. We are projecting into the past, present conditions of navi¬
gation on the Seine River. See George Millor, Isabel and the Sea
(New York, 1948).

59* poon [ric] peddler, who carries nothing but soap and
needles, shouteth and calleth out clamorously what he beareth, and
a rich mercer goeth along quite silently.”— Ancrene Riwle, pp.
152-53.

60. It was in 37 Edward III (1363) that the bells of Our Lady at
Bow were substituted.

61. Herbert de Boseham, Materials for the History of Arch¬
bishop Thomas Bechet (Rolls Series), HI, 20-21.

62. N.R., p. 213. The knights made up a smaller proportion of
the population than is commonly believed. Poole estimates a maxi¬
mum of seven thousand knights in England at this time, out of a
total population of three million.— Obligations of Society, p. 36.
Hie knight had two principal duties: war service (usually forty
days every August and September), and garrison or ward duty.
These could be commuted by payment of scutage, a fine. Knights
on garrison duty had the work of police officers, sometimes that
of detectives.— Obligations of Society, pp. 38-39, 40, 55. In the
Quatre fils Aymon, ed. F. Castets (Montpellier, 1909), v. 9854, and
elsewhere, exaggerated numbers are given. This is typical of the
chansons de geste.

63. Margery Bassett in Speculum , XVIII (1943), 234, argues ex
silentio that Newgate was not used as a prison before 1188. The
jail at Ludgate (later the Fleet) was in existence in 1189.—F.S.,

Notes

271

p. 348. I am inclined to believe that both these gates were used for
prisoners for some years previous. The Tower of London also was
an ordinary prison. Richard d’Amble was retained there in irons.—
F.S., p. 11.

64. The tendency was growing to take an amercement or fine in
the place of physical punishment. Poole, pp. 81, 104, 106. This was
imposed after the accused had thrown himself on the king’s mercy.

65. Boz i ot et culovres, don ert esmales. — Floovant, ed. Guessard
and Michelant (1859), v. 845; Prise d’Orange, ed. Katz (1947), w.
1230-31.

66. E. P. Leigh, Historic Exeter (n.d.), pp. 35-37. In the Prise
cFOrange there is a hove, or underground tunnel, extending from
the tower to the river Rhone (vv. 1173 ff.). There is a hove in the
Quatre fils Aymon, vv. 13751 ff.

67. N.R., p. 326; Giraldus, IV, 86, where the men are of gold
and ivory. Cf. Fritz Strohmeyer’s “Das Schachspiel im Altfranzo-
sischen” in the Tobler Festschrift, pp. 381 ff.

68. The board on low trestles which was used for the game of
chess was called an eschequier . By extension this term was applied
to other low, light tables. In the tavern portrayed in the Jeu de
Samt-Nicolas, ed. A. Jeanroy (Paris, 1925), vv. 942, 1079,1086, 1162,
the dicers sit at an eschekier. The counting board was another light
table surface which also shared in this common name. On the
counting board there was a “tree”—a long line crossed by a series
of lines, regularly spaced, alternately long and short, for units, fives,
tens, fifties, hundreds, five hundreds, and so on. It was from the
word eschequier applied to the ordinary counting board that the
term exchequer came into use. Most lexicographers, including the
authors of the NED, seem mixed on this. They imagine that a
table top resembling a chessboard in its checkered squares was
used for counting the royal revenues!

69. Chevalerie Ogier le Danois, ed. J. Barrois (Paris, 1842), w.
3122-91. In the same way Louis slays Gibert in the Anseys de Mes,
ed. H. Green (Paris, 1939), vv. 297-302. See also Quatre fils Aymon,
w. 1938-41.

70. Aspremont, ed. L. Brandin (1923-24), w. 6161-64. Also
Floovant, w. 2393-94, and Roman de Renart, Branch II, w. 205-
206.

71. Rou, Part III, w. 2339-40.

72. O. M. Dalton, A Guide to the Mediaeval Antiquities and
Objects of Later Date (London, 1924), p. 100.

2 7 2

Notes

Chapter III

1. Hist. Archb. Th. Becket, II, 81.

2. Ibid., U, xxx, 96.

3. Ibid., II, 134: In nmltorum quoque confractonsm opercuUs

specula muliermm tnvenimus.

4* L- CL Lane (tr.), The Chronicle of Jocelm of Brakeland,
Monk of St. Edmundsbury (London, 1907), p. 120.

5. Red Book of the Exchequer (Rolls Series), H, 715.

6 . The best reference that I have encountered for the early his¬
tory of Dover is Samuel P. H. Statham, The History of the Castle,
Town, and Port of Dover (New York, 1899). Less useful today is
John Lyon, The History of the Town and Port of Dover tmd of
Dover Castle (2 vols^ 1813-14),

7. Statham, pp. 42-43.

8. Hist. Archb. Th. Becket, HI, 476-77.

9. Ermeg, w. 59-60: et enouPm estar a port, quan trop fa greu
temps e plou fort.

10. Statham, pp. 2 loff.

11- Dugdale, IV, 530.

12- Rayeux Tapestry, No. 28.

13. Brut, w. 11205-28.

14. See G. T. Zoega, A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic
(Oxford).

15. Pmthesihm, ed. F. Kluckow (1924), Vernon I, w. 1424-25.

16. Anseys de Mes , w. 3427-41. We read in Huon de Bordeaux,
ed. Guessard and Grandmaison (Paris, i860), w. 2812-15: Dedens
cm mis besctdt a grant plenie, Et pain et car, et vin vies, et clare;
De hue douce i fait ases porter. Apres i font lor biax cevax mener.
In this vessel boarded by Hue there are two sailors, one boy to
watch the horses, and thirteen passengers (w. 2824-28). In the
Channel vessel boarded by Jehan in Blonde <f Oxford there are
twenty sailors.

17. Wright, pp. 114-15; p. 230, n.49.

18. Certain classes of persons were exempted from the teloneum
or tax, but Alexander was not yet in that class. See Red Book of
the Exchequer, II, 723-24. For the cost of the passage consult
Wistasce B moines, w. 2183-84.

19. De expugmstione Lyxbonensi, tr. C. W. David (New York,
1936), p. 61.

20- Nine hours were taken by Jehan to go from Dover to

Notes

273

Wissant (twenty miles) in Blonde d’Oxford, vv. 2044-46. The dis¬
tance from Dover to Boulogne is thirty miles.

21. Alexander speaks of seasickness in a few lines of the De no-
minibus utensilium which are not in the edition published by
Wright: U Nausea is from navis because vomiting often happens in
a passage, where there is nausea” Elsewhere Alexander says: hmno
longe majoris temeritatis censendi sum qui bodie man se com -
mittunt, nisi articulo urgentissimae necessitatis.—N.R., p. 140. See
also Neptuni numquam sit tibi tuta fides in his De laudibus
sapientiae. — N.R., p. 402.

22. Our chief reference on early Boulogne is A. d’Hauttefeuille
and L. Benard, Boulogne-sur-mer et la region boulonnaise (Ouvrage
offert par la ville de Boulogne) (i860), p. 716.

23. At this date, 1178, the little Countess Ida was about to em¬
bark on her first marital venture. Eventually she was married five
times. The scandal of her father’s marriage to her mother, a nun
at Ramsay, England, had had repercussions that were still being
felt. The Archbishop of Canterbury had denounced this marriage
in no uncertain terms, and the Count of Boulogne felt hostility to
English clerics as a consequence. Philip of Flanders was actually
in control of the Port of Boulogne. See Boulogne-sur-mer, pp. 83 ff.

24. Ipomedon, ed. Kolbing and Koschwitz (Breslau, 1889), vv.
1621-22. “And he bore a letter-case around his neck in which were
contained the letters of his monastery.”—Jocelin, p. 29. See Camille
Enlart, Le costume (Paris, 1916), pp. 416-19.

25. John of Salisbury was excused the customs fee at Calais by
special privilege.—H. Denifle and E. Chatelain, Cbartularium
Universitatis Parisiensis (Paris, 1889), No. 19. References are to
letters in the Pars Introductoria, Ab Alexandra Papa III usque ad
Annum MCC, pp. 3-56. Hereafter C.U.P.

26. The reader may ask at this point what sort of accommoda¬
tion a layman could expect who was not of the upper class. In the
Boucher d y Abbeville, ed. Montaiglon and Raynaud, Recueil general
et complet des fabliaux (6 vols., Paris), vv. 62 ff., the butcher pre¬
pares to stop for the night and is directed to the priest. He says:
Biaus sire, que Dieus vos ait. Herbregiez moi pour charite, Si ferez
honor et bonte. The answer is Preudom, Dieus vous herbert! This
is a refusal. The priest says that he cannot entertain a layman, that
the traveler should go farther into the village. Eventually the priest
does give him shelter, but at a price.

Unquestionably a fee was charged in every case except where
the traveler was the guest of a noble or of an abbot. We assume that

274 Notes

Alexander paid his lodging at each of the hostels where he stayed.
We have no reason to believe that a layman such as the butcher of
Abbeville would not have been received into a hostel maintained
by monks—in fact, it is quite certain that he would have been. An
individual cleric, however, might have consented to take only a
brother churchman.

27. Alexander was not important, so we suppose that he traveled
light. Giraldus traveled with considerable baggage on one of his
continental journeys. Once his chamberlain, who carried the bags,
went astray. These contained goods to the value of forty marcs
($280): cups, spoons, clothes, a box full of letters, writing tablets
which had on them accounts of his journeys and which had not
been copied—and, last but not least, the palfrey also was valuable.—
Giraldus, I, 82-83.

28. John of Salisbury had several horses with him, but he was
traveling in more style. He complained to Thomas Becket that he
had managed to scrape together only twenty-four marcs ($168)
for his journey and that most of this money was spent for equip¬
ment before leaving Canterbury.— C.U.P., No. 19.

29. This is the itinerary which was followed by the travelers in
Blonde d’Oxford. John of Salisbury, when traveling some fifteen
years previous to this journey on which we are accompanying
Alexander, went by the Calais route. After landing at Calais, he
went on to.Saint-Omer, then to Arras, Noyon, and Paris. His as¬
sociation with the Archbishop made him an interesting person, as
he was known to have first-hand information on the quarrel which
Thomas had with the King. He was given hospitality in the
baronial castles, except at Arras, where, because of the absence of
Philip of Flanders, he stayed at the monastery of Saint-Martin.
C.U.P., No. 19.

30. The F.nglish had a reputation for being heavy drinkers. See
John of Salisbury in Migne, P.L., 199, col. 72; S.P., I, <53. Gaimar,
in Estorie des Engleis, w. 3811-15, describes the wassail pro¬
cedure in detail. Cf. also Brut, w. 6953-82. A Cluniac variant of
the wassail is in Giraldus, IV, 209.

31. Ten sous are in the priest’s purse in Du prestre teint, v. 121.
Wistasce mentions fifteen sous in a full purse and sixty pounds
in a belt.—Wistasce li moines, w. 940-42. In the latter reference
(v. 61) it is recorded that an evening’s drinking cost the host three
sous.

Et ceinture et aumosniere Qui fu (Pun riche seigneri brocadS .—
Karrenritter, ed. W. Forster (1899), w. 1891-92.

Notes

*15

32. From a document recorded by Sidney Painter in his The
Reign of King John (Baltimore, 1949), p. 94 .

. 33 * Baudri de Bourgueil describes a handy set of writing tablets:
eight leaves threaded together, making fourteen pages, the whole
fitting into an embroidered sack.— Baudri de Bourgueil, ed. P.
Abrahams, No. 47.

34 * Such a pick-up meal is in the Yvain, w. 1046if. In Li vileins
fob, vv. 64if., a meal of a lighter kind consists of cakes, flaon, salt
mackerel, and claret.

35. NH ot sonmiers a cofres de dras troussez en male.—Berte aus
grans pies, ed. Urban Tigner Holmes (Chapel Hill, 1946), v. 734.

36. In northern France the ox was going out of style as a draft
animal for carts.—J. H. Clapham and Eileen Power (eds.). The
Cambridge Economic History of Europe, Vol. I, The Agrarian
Life of the * Middle Ages (Cambridge, 1942), p. 132. Carts are
represented in the Bayeux Tapestry. In the Karrenritter, Chretien
de Troyes makes it evident that to ride in a peasant’s cart is a
great disgrace for a knight. Excellent representations of carts are
in Webster, Plates 33 a—b, 3 4 a-b, from the eleventh century.

37. Wright, pp. 107-108.

38. The traffic on these roads is commented upon by Louis
Halphen in Paris sous les premiers Capetiens (Paris, 1909), p. 15,
On the regulation against building see Robert de Lasteyrie, Cartu-
laire ginSral de Paris, I, 193. The presence of the milestones is
recorded in Walter Map, p. 276.

39. The remains of the temple were still visible to H. Sauval,
Histoire et recherches des antiquites de la ville de Paris, I, 349-50.

40. Here are the actual words of Nigel Wireker: Hac in valle
situs quis locus esse potest? Haec est Roma, puto, magnis circum-
data muris! Urbs ita turrita quid nisi Roma foret?—S.P., I, 77.
The city is, of course, Paris. The turrets and great walls must
have reference to the Roman wall around the island, as well as
to the Grant Chastelet, the Royal Palace, and perhaps the fortified
parapets of the Grant Pont.

4 1 * Hist. Archb. Th. Becket, III, 446. Perhaps a permanent gib¬
bet was already set up at the foot of the hill. Montfaucon was
already a designated place for this: Carles pendi son frere au puis
de Montfaucon. — Quatre fils Aymon, v. 7072.

The two kin ^ met t * iere “ ii 6 9* See reference in the pre¬
ceding note.

43- The very existence of this stockade previous to the wall of
Philip Augustus is not realized by many. The evidence for it is

Notes

Zj6

accumulated by Marcel Poete in Une vie de citi: Paris (Paris,
1924), p. 94, and by Halphcn, pp. u, 71. Sec also the article by
A* Berty, “De feneeinte du faubourg septentrional de Paris antd-
rieure & cellc de Philippe Auguste et de la possibility d’en retrouver
des fragments,” in Revue archSologique (1854-55), pp. 516-17.

44. The field of the Holy Innocents was drained and walled in
1186.—Halphen, p. 17.

45. Early in his reign Philip Augustus bought out this fair and
united it with the market at the Campelli or Champeaux.

46. The Chau$$£e crossed this gulley over the Pont Montmartre,
which is not mentioned in the text. For the Passellus see Br. Kxusch
in Forsch . zur dcutschen Gesch,, XXVI (1886), 170-71.

47. St Martin’s %as busy reclaiming the marshlands which lay
there. Much good farm land was constantly being cleared at this
time. The director of such an operation was called a locator, dap-
ham and Power, pp. 2 78 If. Maugis and Renaut de Montauban
spend a night el porche del mostier saint Martin. — Quatre fils
Aymon, vv. 4877-79.

48. See n. 43 above.

49. The Templars are located there in Archives de VHotel-Dku

de Paris, ed. Bridle, Lion, and Coyecque (Paris, 1894), p. 290.

50. Giraldus, Ill, 27-31* This reminds us of a similar procession
in the late fifteenth-century fehan de Paris, ed. E. Wickersheimer
(Paris, 1923).

51. On the Gr&ve see Lastcyrie, I, 103. Dung heaps and pigs were
once quite common there, W.M., p. 285*

52. The Campelli, beside the Church of the Holy Innocents,

were given permanent warehouses and walls by Philip Augustus

in 1183, three years before he drained and walled the churchyard.
—Halphen, p. 17. The Campelli market dates back to 1x38. Es rues
de Paris se prist a eslaissier Parmi les pones Pen vait tot j . sender,
Entresci Pas Campiaus ne se volt atargier.—Quatre fils Aymon,
vv. 5010-12.

53. Poete, I, 86; Estienne Boileau, Riglements sur les arts et
mStiers (Paris, 1837), p. xxvi.

54. Poete, I, 85.

55. Et nos certe panem hahemus et vinum et gaudium. This re¬
mark from the lips of Louis VII is reported by Walter Map, p. 281,
and Giraldus, VIII, 318. It was admitted also that there were extra
vices and temptations.— C.U.P., No. 22.

56. This description of the Grant Pont is drawn from many
sources; views of the bridge in Renaissance maps give some idea

Notes

2 77

ot the spans and the length. See also Lasteyrie, I, 380, 391, 497.
John of Garland is our authority that leather merchants and gold¬
smiths were there in his day.—Wright, pp. 124, 128; Poete, p. 87.

57. There is a fine representation of such a balance on a capital
at Vezelay.— Vezelay. Editions TEL (Paris), Plate 32.

58. In November, 1180, a new English coinage was put into cir¬
culation to oppose the existing counterfeits. William of Newburgh
(Rolls Series, No. 82), p. 225.

59- F° r the Porte de Paris see Lasteyrie, I, 2 86, 380, 497, 566.

60. C.U.P., No. 15 (commentary).

61. This was the principal, and probably the only, hospice at
the time serving the suburb on the right bank. Sainte-Opportune,
at the Porte de Paris, opened its lodginghouse in 1188. Giraldus
visited the new chapel dedicated to St. Thomas Becket which had
been constructed in the vicinity of Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois, in
the district known as the Louvre. Giraldus, 1,49.

62. For the sources of our information on the streets of Paris
see the notes to the map.

63. For the synagogue see M. Guerard, Cartulaire de VEgHse
Notre-Dame de Paris, I, 38-39. It was changed into a church
(Sainte-Madeleine) in 1183. When the Jews were exiled at that
time, the drapers asked for the twenty-four houses which had been
confiscated from the Jews. E.B., p. Ixix. In 1179 the Third Lateran
Council forbade Christians to live with Jews, which must have
meant, of course, that they were doing so.—Rolls Series, No. 82,
p. 213.

64. Lasteyrie, I, 181, 184, 250, 464.

65. The tolerance and kindliness of Louis VII were frequently
described, as in Giraldus, VIII, 131-35. Walter Map was less
friendly to him.—W.M., p. 283. The same may be said for John
of Salisbury, who, although he spoke of the King’s humility in not
allowing his foot to be kissed, yet called him a baculus arundineus.
— C.U.P., No. 19.

66. The cloister was at the eastern end of the island, separated
from the streets here mentioned by a wall. C.C 7 .P., No. 55 is our
authority that space in the cloister could not be rented to students.
It was in 1127 that the schools were moved out of the cloister
itself.—Poete, p. 101.

67. Albert Lenoir, Statistique monumental de Paris gives a de¬
scription of this sixth-century church.

68. The Dix-huit Clercs were granted meager bourses. —C.C 7 .P.,
No. 50.

Notes

278

69* On this bridge see Lasteyrie, 1, 535, 578, and Poete, pp. 92*
I0I-I02, See also the remarks of the anonymous canon in Bouquet,
Recueil des historiens de France, XVIII, 798: Sed et habet exedras
per quas speculantur Et latentem fluminis fundum perscrutantur.
* * . Alii natatibus quoque delectantur Et aestivis solibus usti recre-
antur. I have estimated the number of houses from the Truschet-
Hoyau map of 1552, allowing for the exedras.

70. Poete, p, 102.

71. This epicausterion was probably a basin or pot containing

live charcoal. It was used in southern Europe until very recent
times,

72. Pictured and described in Jean Destrez, “L’outillage des
copistes du xiii« et du xiv c si&cles,” in Geisteswelt des Mittelalters,
or Festschrift Martin Grabmann, pp, 19-34.

73. Theophilus describes the manufacture of ink. Bark of thorn
wood (surely he means oak) was gathered in April and soaked in
water for eight days, at most. The water was then boiled until the
decoction thickened; pure wine was next added, and the whole
was left to stand until it thickened once again. The resulting ink
was stored in bladders or in sewn parchment bags. Before being
used, the ink was mixed with vitriol (sulphate of iron).—Robert
Hendrie, An Essay upon Various Arts, in three Books, by Theo¬
philus, called also Rogerus (London, 1847), pp, 50-51, 75.

74. Black cloth placed in the windows is advised also in the

Ancrene Riwle, pp. 50-51: . . the black cloth does less harm to

the eyes, is thicker against the wind, more difficult to see through,
and keeps its color better.” Such curtains, bordered with orphreys,
are mentioned in Girard de Roussillon, tr. P. Meyer (Paris, 1884),
§ 74 -

75. Wright, pp. 116-17.

76. If Alexander wrote the vocabulary known as the Sacerdos ad
altarem, as the late C, H, Haskins believed, we have an excellent
variant for this description of the scribe’s materials:

“The copyist, who is commonly called the scribe, shall have a
chair with projecting arms for holding the board upon which the
quire of parchment is to be placed. The board must be covered
with felt on which a deerskin is fastened, in order that the superflui¬
ties of the parchment or membrane may be more easily scraped
away by a razor. Then the skin of which the quire is to be formed
shall be cleaned with a mordant pumice and its surface smoothed
with a light plane. The sheets shall be joined above and below by
the aid of a strip threaded through them. The margins of the

Notes

2 79

4 uire be marked on either side with an awl in even measure so
that by the aid of a rule the lines may more surely be drawn with-
out mistake. If in writing any erasure or crossing out occurs, the
writing shall not be canceled but scraped off,...”

Note the use of a lapboard, padded and covered with deerskin,
instead of a writing stand.

This translation, with a few modifications, is that of Haskins in
his The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century , p. 134. The Latin
original is in his Studies in the History of Mediaeval Science, p. 361.

77 * Chaitivel, vv. 231-33: Issi fu li lais comenciez, Et puis parfaiz
et annonciez.

78. Estorie des Engleis, vv. 6438ff.

79. Giraldus, VI, 155.

80. Guemes, Vie de Saint-Thomas Becket , ed. E. Walberg
(Lund, 1922), v. 162.

81. C.U.P., No. 19. John of Salisbury says that he paid twelve
pounds for a year’s rental of his room. This would be a dreadful
rent. A whole house on the Rue neuve Notre Dame rented in the
year 1200 for sixty sous (thirty dollars) annually. Arch.HD.,
No. 54.

82. He quotes from the Hebrew Bible: Be resiz bar a Eloym ez
ha samain vez ha arez. — N.R. , pp. 7—10. Robert of Saint Frideswid,
Exeter, also knew some Hebrew.—Giraldus, VTII, 63.

83. Letters of this sort are published in the C.UT., Nos. 33-39.
No one was ever refused admission who came to see Louis VII.—
Giraldus, III, 32.

84. This complaint is repeated by Poete, pp. 102-103. Saint-
Victor was an important center. Sonnent cil saint de par toute la
ville De S. Victor et des autres eglises. — Amis et Amiles , ed. K.
Hofmann (Erlangen, 1882), vv, 1349-50.

Chapter IV

1. Poete is still the best reference for this.

2. J. Quicherat, “La rue et le chateau de Hautefeuille a Paris,” in
Melanges d’archeologie et d’histoire, I (1886), 450-55. In the Chroni¬
cle of Guillaume de Nangis , ed. H. Geraud (2 vols., 1843) this is
referred to as olim ibi fuerat palatium sive castrum quae none
adhuc habentur. Altum Folium vocabatur. Further information can
be found in an article by L. Delisle, in the Bull. Soc. Nat. des Ant.

28 o Notes

de France (1867), pp. 176-77, and in a discussion by R. do Lasteyrie
m Mim. Sac. Hist, de Paris et de Hie de France , IV (1877), 270-
301. People still knew of this pile of stone as late as 1366, although
its usefulness as a building was destroyed, first by the wall of
Philip Augustus in 1211 and then by the abbey of the Dominicans.
It may have been the capitol of Lutetia, erected a.d. ioo.

3. F.-G. de Pacht&re, Paris A Vepoque gallo-romaine, pp. 80-85,
Plate 7.

4. This was under the jurisdiction of the Abbot of Saintc-Gene-
vi&ve.—Clapham and Power, p. 312. Vineyards were planted and
cultivated under complanteur arrangement. Land would be feued
to a peasant for five years. He planted and tilled it. At the end of
that period one half of the vineyards went back to the lord’s direct
control, and the other half was rented by the planter. For the
Thermes see Halphen, p. 27. There was a grain barn there.—
Arch.H.D., No. 41. Several houses are also mentioned. Although
this Roman building was fed by an aqueduct, the arrangement of
its rooms and the small-sized pools make it unlikely that it was
built for a public bath. In all probability it was a villa of some
kind. It was called a palais after 1268.

5. In the Quatre fils Aymon, v. 1850: De Paris sont parti, sor
Same vont is pris where they do some tilting. See also Amis et
Amites, v. 1458, and Poete, p. 115. The only spot beside the Seine
which lent itself to such exercise was the Pre-aux-clercs.

6. In the Chaitivel of Marie de France, vv. 107-108, the lady
watches the tournament from her tower. In Amis et Amiles, vv.
1461-63, Belissant calls to Hardr6 in the Pri-aux-clercs from the
palace window on the island.

7. By 1210 some expensive, noble mansions—almost palaces—had
been erected in the Burgum Parvi Pontis. Les Narbonnais, ed. H.
Suchier, (2 vols., SATF, 1898), vv. 1987-88, 2110. In one such de¬
scription forty knights sit on a carpet in front of the fine house,
playing chess and draughts (vv. 1996-99). In another passage: A
Petit Pont un grant pales trova. Fors le Charlon mellor ria, Estables
longues et grant celier i a (vv. 2111-13). Note the reference to the
stables in this last. Apparently, for a great house in a suburb these
were in a long loge or wooden outhouse.

8. Such guards (mercenary serjanz) at Saint-Omer received
much of their pay in avena et caseis et in pellibus arietum. They
could claim something extra at Christmas.—Jean Gessler, Textes
diplomatiques latins du moyen-Sge (Collection Leb^gue, Brussels,
1948), p. 63.

9. 1 LB., p. xxH.

28 i

Notes

10. Clapham and Power, p. 316; E.B., pp. li-lvo. In Solomon et
Marcolfus, ed. W. Benary (SMLT), Chapter 19: Cum autem ve-

nisset extra civitatem invenit furnwn unwn et intravh in etan,

11. There is a kind of pancake mentioned by Platearius. It can
be used to enclose medicine.

12. A basket of these pasties is pictured very well in Hartley and
Elliot, Plate 14c.

13. Wright, p. 127 (John of Garland).

14. Wright, p. 126.

15. E.B., p. Ixiv, Alexander Neckam is our authority that the
soft fruits—cherries, mulberries, grapes, and apples—may be eaten
on an empty stomach, whereas pears and quinces are better after
a meal.— N.R., p. 175.

16. Mahaut, wife of Simon de Poissy, left a crierie or clamatoria
and Its profits to the Hotel-Dieu in 1089,—Archill)., p* 14- The
bowl is mentioned in E.B., p. Ixi. The bowl and beating with a
stick are in the Jeu de Saint-Nicolas, w. 616-20.

17. Philip K. Hitti (tr.), An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and War¬
rior in the Period of the Crusades (New York, 1929), p. 165. Here¬
after referred to as Usamah.

18. By Frederick Tupper, in Carleton Brown Essays and Studies,
p. 50, from Architrenius , III, 1, in S.P., I, 275®.

19. Tupper, ibid,, p. 46.

20. 5 .P., 1, 63.

zi, En mi la sale ad fait sun lit parer, — Chanson de Guillaume,

v. 2861.

22. Arch, H.D., pp. 2-3.

23. Thomas, in his Tristan, w. 123jff., gives the duties of a
chambermaid as: to prepare beds, remove them, sew clothes, wash
heads, prepare other things.

24. The scissors of the period were of the spring type, similar
to our grass-cutting shears in mechanism. See the illustration repro¬
duced in Hartley and Elliot, Plate 3c.

25. Wright, p. 100.

26. Li reis en sa chambre a conduite sa fille; Portendue est trestote
de palies et cortines. — Pel, de Chari,, w. 705-706.

27. Jules Guiffrey, Histoire de la tapisserie (Tours, 1886), pp.

28. Galeron remains hidden between curtain and wall.— llle et
Galeron, vv. 1768-69.

29. Guillaume de Palerne, ed. H. V. Michelant (SATF, 1876),

w. 7843-46.

30. Beneeit de Saint-More, Chronique des dus de Normandie, ed.

282

Notes

Fr. Michel (Paris, 1838), vv. 25994-97- Also in rite Yvain: Qui estoit
cielee a clos, Dorez et pointes les meisieres De borne oevre et de
colors chieres (vv. 964-66). Entre el palais pav6 de lambre (I lie
et Galeron, v, 967) is not so cleat.

31. La duchesse s'en entre en sa chambre de mabre, Qui fu
trestoute peinte a oisiaus et a brames.—Do'dn de la Roche, cd. P.
Meyer and G. Huet (SATF, 1921), vv. 3594*795. Keeping in mind a
statement by Dr. Lister in 1699, that the English were fond of rooms

paneled with wood, while the French preferred plaster and stone
walls, we wonder whether the same distinction did not prevail in
the twelfth century.

32. Pil. de Chari., vv. 124-27.

33. Yvain, vv. 2755-56.

34. Baudri de Bourgueil, No. 196; F. J. E. Raby, A History of
Secular Latin Poetry in the Middle Ages (2 vols., London, 1934),
1,282.

35. In the Vie de Saint Thomas Becket, vv. 3926-30, Guernes
mentions chaalit quiriez (a bed frame with leather cord) and a
quilted mattress with rushes piled loose on top of it, topped by
expensive sheets. The soft coutes (or coiltes) are covered over with
a silk cloth in IJ Biaus Desconeus, ed. G. P. Williams (Paris, 1929),
vv. 2365 ff. Such luxury is the opposite of Qu’estroiz ert et la coute
tanve, Coverte Pun gros drap de chanve in the Lancelot or Karren -
ritter of Chretien, vv. 5551-52. In Floire et Blancheflor, p. 36, the
coverlet is mentioned as decorated with tors or spiral twist. In the
museum of the cathedral at Autun (Sa6ne»et-Loire) there is a
Romanesque relief of the Dream of the Magi which illustrates such
a coverlet in magnificent detail. It resembles a braided rug. The
border has five parallel rows of beaded embroidery.

A simpler bed frame is illustrated in Br. Mus. Add. MS 39943,
fol. 17b, where there is only a bare frame with legs. The legs of
the bed could have simple knobs at the top. Vizelay. Editions TEL,
Plate 31.

36. In the fabliau Du prestre teint, vv. *36-37, the mistress and her
guest make a special point of sitting on the bed instead of the
floor. In the Yvain, vv. 1040-41: Sel mem seoir en un lit Covert
(Pune coute si riche. This mattress or coute could be set on the
floor for use as a seat: Sor une grant coute vermoille Troverent la
dame seant. — Yvain, vv. 1951-52. In the manor house belonging to
the family of Adam dou Petit Pont the whole upper floor had beds
which, presumably, were kept standing.—Barth 61 emy Haur6au,
Notices et extraits de quelques manuscrits latins de la BibliothSque

Notes 283

Nationals (Paris, 1891), III, 207. A coute could be placed on a
stretcher for a wounded man. — Ills st Galeron, v. 1119.

37. Mort Aymeri , ed. Couraye du Parc (SATF, 1884), vv. 138&.

38. Beds could be curtained in time of labor or of illness: Cornme
dams sn gscins jut bisn ancortinez,—Floovant, v. 727. There was a
limited use of bed curtains where the arrangement was of a perma¬
nent nature: En son lit jut s la toins Entur sis out uns curtine, —
Gaimar, hstoris dss Engleis, vv. 3941—42. Also in Muon ds Bordeaux,
w. 4312 if.

39. Orson ds Beauvais, ed. G. Paris (SATF, 1899), w. io 4 ff.

40. A chandoile was a small tallow candle (costing a maille, in the
Jeu^ de Saint-Nicolas, w. 696-97. The cisrge was a large wax candle
which gave out more light: Si con ciergss antre chandoiles, Et la
luns antre les estoiles, — Yvain, w. 3247-49.

4 1 * Here is the description: mensam auream de longitudine
duo decern pedum, et de latitudine pedis et dimidio, et quoddam
tentorium de serico magnum adeo quod ducenti milites in eo simul
possint comedere; et duos tripodes aureas sub mensa aurea, et
viginti quatuor cuppas argenteas et viginti discos argenteos,— Bene¬
dict of Peterborough (Rolls Series), II, 133. Also in Richard de
Devizes (Rolls Series), III, 396.

42. Vv. 1043 ff.

43. Vie de Saint Edouard le confesseur, w. 3963-64. The word
dois (from Latin discus), like German Tisch, could mean sometimes
a permanent table at the end of the room. I assume that such
a table was of stone. Erec et Enide, v. 4744.

44; Some of the utensils set on the table are mentioned in the
Yvain: Mes del mangier ne fu deduiz, QuHl n 9 i ot pein ne vin ne
sel Ne nape ne coutel ne el (w. 3468-70). See further: Et desus
les tables assises Et les salieres et li pains. Lave ont, si se sont assis,
Del sanglier mangierent au poivre Et del cerf firent bons lardez Et
des capons firent pastez.—Roman de Renan, II, v, 65. Et le menger
fut moult riche apreste. Assis sont, quant chascuns ot lave,—A quin,
ed. Joiion des Longrais (Nantes, 1880), w. 2378-79. Et Ysengrims
devant euls taille, Qui lor apresta lor vitaille,—Roman de Renart ,

n, p.321.

45 - This buffet is portrayed in a carved capital at Vezelay.—
Vezelay, Editions TEL, Plate 25.

46. Tot maintenant fu Veve demandee, La veissies tant toaille
ovree, Et tant bacin o chaainne noee, — Aspremont, w. 10920-22.
Jordain enmcnnent en la plus maistre sale; Au lavoir vait Jordains,

Notes

284

ses maim i lave, Oriabel li tendit la towwaille.—Jourdains de
Blaivies, see ed. of Amis et Amiles, vv. 1509-11.

47. It annoyed the Monge de Montaudo to sit at a long table
when the towel was short: E enueia’m, si Dieus mi vailla, longa taula
ab breu toailla. — Enueg vv. 55-56.

48. There is an Illumination, a little later in date, showing a
servitor kneeling and cutting a loaf which he holds in his left
hand.—Hartley and Elliot. Three kinds of bread were served at
supper in the house of Adam dou Petit Pont: azimis, infungia,
and placenta, which would mean ordinary raised bread, unleavened,
and perhaps dumplings.—Haureau, p. 208.

49. We assume that such a roast is the lardez which is so fre¬
quently mentioned.

50. Wright, pp. 101-102. A similar ecstasy over wine is registered
in the Jeu de Saint-Nicolas, w. 649-51. Adam dou Petit Pont men¬
tions specifically that raisin and mulberry wine and lorea (?) were
missing at his family’s table.—Haureau, p. 208.

51. For example, Pel. de Chari., vv. 411, 835, also in Prise d’Or-
ange, vv. 174, 552. Professor Sisson of the University of London is
my authority that the peacock was listed as food in the Chancery
records of sixteenth-century London.

52. Ancrene JRiwle, pp. 324-25.

53. See S. Glixelli in Romania, XLVII (1921), 1-40.

54. Chanson de Guillaume, v. 2617.

55. In the Asinarius, ed., along with the Rapularius, by K.
Langosch (SMLT), p. 214: “Breaking bread, cutting pasties, he
lifts the cup and offers to drink, and holds the napkin while the
girl drinks.”

56. While Richard was with Philip Augustus singulis diebus in
una mensa ad unum catinum manducabant. —Roger de Hoveden
(Rolls Series), p. 635. The fact about the Young King and his
father is ibid., p. 619.

57. Que tote jor devant nos taille Mouffles chauciees no vitaille,
Dont il tert son nes et sa bouche; Espoir en plus ort leu Patouche
Quant il fet le vilain afaire. — Roman de Renart, II, p. 323. The
Monge de Montaudo says: E enueicPm hom qu'ap mas ronhozas
tailla. — Enueg, v. 55. In the Ancrene Riwle: “Thou washest thy
hands two or three times in a single day” (pp. 324-25).

58. Rou, III, v. 1871.

59. In the Flamenca, ed. P. Meyer (Paris, 1865), vv. 944-46. The
custom of using snow for cooling drinks would depend upon the
nearness to mountains and upon other variable factors.

60. The shape of a gastel is assumed from Le pauvre clerc, a

Notes 285

fabliau, in which the cake is compared with a rock in shape. See
Montaiglon and Raynaud, V, 132.

61. V. 8352. The yeast which was used was liquid.

62. Roman de Renart, I, w. 512 if. The average peasant ate much
better than this. At a marriage feast, in the fabliau Du vilain fol,
w. 230-34, there is a boiling cauldron in which pork flavored with
pepper and juniper savory is simmering. The guests sit around
the fire.

63. Vie de Saint Gregoire (unpublished), ed. J. Hutchinson, v.
1692. The morterel and the composte are described in the fabliaux
of Jehan Bodel.

64. Our description is drawn from many visits to surviving houses
of the period. In Saint Nicholas’ Priory in Exeter the position of
the garde-robe pit beside the kitchen fire is well illustrated; also
in a thirteenth-century house at Exeter, now used as a haber¬
dashery, this is visible.

65. For this I am drawing on the seventeenth century. Samuel
Pepys describes the emptying of the garde-robe pit in the cellar
up through the house. Doubtless they were not more fastidious
about this in the twelfth century. Dr. Lister, in 1699, is our au¬
thority on the quality of the Paris water.

Two kinds of wells are illustrated from the twelfth century. One
has a windlass which draws up a bucket. The other has a counter¬
weight at one end and a bucket at the other. The second kind could
have been used where the water was near the surface. See Hartley
and Elliot, Plates 4b and 5b.

66. A vivarium, or fish pool, could be large enough to permit
swimming.— Lambert d'Ardres, Historia Comitum Ardensis et
Ghimensium , ed. MGH } XXIV, Scriptores , 629. It was caulked
with grease and pitch.—Brunetto Latini, Tresor, ed. Carmody
(Paris, 1948), p. 128.

67. Such a cupboard is pictured in a thirteenth-century illumi¬
nation. It has double doors, with large wrought-iron hinges. There
is a cornice along the top, overly ornate. Shelves are inside. Hartley
and Elliot, Plate 4b.

68. We know that dishes were frequently washed in hot water,
but the sink was not the scene of the action. See Wright, p. 132
(John of Garland).

69. In the fourteenth century, fish could be baked in bread
crumbs and then grilled on hot coals, or they could be cooked in a
broth savored with spices. Gawain and the Green Knight y ed.
Tolkien and Gordon, w. 891-92.

70. The pantry, or dispensatorium, was an important room under

286

Notes

tiie care of those who waited on table. Serjanz ate in the pantry.—
Escoufle, ed. H. Michelant and P. Meyer (SATF, 1894), w.
5754 - 55 *

71. A lantern had a glass covering in Blonde d*Oxford , w.
11 43 - 44 *

72. Baskets were of many shapes. One with a handle is men¬
tioned in Du prestre teint, v. 78.

73. Wine could be kept in jars, in a cupboard in a cellar (Hartley
and Elliot, Plate 4b) or in big casks placed lengthwise on the floor.
There is a mosaic preserved in the Cluny Museum which shows
such a cask very clearly. See also Hartley and Elliot, Plate 5a, and
Bayeux Tapestry, No. 40. Wine was kept in skins which might
hold as much as five sestiers or gallons apiece. Del fol chevalier,
w. 193 ff. A sMn was brought directly to the persons drinking.

There is a most interesting picture of a table stand, or buffet,
having two shelves below, each holding a henap. This is at Vezelay.
— Vezelay. Editions TEL, Plate 25. Bread is being broken on the
top by two people. In front of this piece of furniture there is a
very low stool on which two wine jars (with small ears) are placed.

74. Cupboards, chests, and hampers all had keys.—Jocelin, p. 61.

75. Wright, pp. 100-101. The Charroi de Nimes (w. 775-77)
names these utensils: pots, pans, cauldrons, tripods, andirons, sharp
hooks, and tongs.

76. Vezelay. Editions TEL, back cover. Paul Deschamps, French
Sculpture of the Romanesque Period (Florence, 1930), Plate 38d.

77. Gay and Stein, p. 749.

78. Et tret le feu (Fun chaille bis, Si Fa de seche busche espris. —
Yvain, w. 3463-64. It is my personal experience that for this opera¬
tion the tow must be charred or it will not ignite.

79. llle et Galeron, w. 3122!!.

80. Vie de Scant Gregoire, w. 1302-51.

81. See Chapter 2, n. 35.

82. De comer one, II, novella 5.

83. As in Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale.

84. Vv. i302ff.

85. The houses at Chartres preserve a number of these.

86. See Chapter 3, n. 74.

87. Hartley and Elliot, Plate 27d.

88. Escoufle, w. 5520-21.

89. Hartley and Elliot, Plate

90. Bayeux Tapestry, Nos. 28, 48, 53.

91. F.S., pp. 508-509.

Notes

287

92. pp. 282-83.

93. Wright, pp. 109-10.

94. In Rome there is a twelfth-century house facing on the
Forum Boarium which has a balcony. The house, of course, is of

stone.

95. The Grimaldi Livre d'Heures, four centuries later, shows
such construction in the picture for the month of February. A
bit of the outer covering of stucco is represented as having peeled
off. At Vezelay there is a capital indicating the construction of
Noah’s Ark. The deck-house shows a wicker framework in the
process of building.—Deschamps, Plate 38c.

96. From Guiraut Riquier’s Celeis cui am, . ... In the Anseys
de Mes one finds: Dessent li rois a son mestre perron (v. 10416).
This perron could stand apart from the house: Guillelmes vient
tout drott en une place, Perron i ot, entaillie de vert marbre .—
Charroi de Nimes, vv. 1101-1102.

97. Lutea emm a luti fetore prius dicta fuerat . —Rigord, ed.
Delaborde, I, 54.

98. El fist fere ung grant chemin ferrS, Par ou alast a Paris la
citS; Quar le pays estoit de bouays plantL . . . Par celle dame fut
maint chesne coupe. — Aquin, vv. 864-69.

99. L. Thorndike in Speculum, III (1928), 199-203, argues on the
brighter side.

100. Occasionally in the heart of a city there were concerted at¬
tacks by organized bands. At times men of rank would take part in
the plundering of their neighbors.—F.S., p. 92.

101. Not infrequent is the expression tuit li gon et les verveles .—
Conte del Graal or Perceval, vv. 7680-81. It means “all the hinges
and bolt-rings.”

102. Anseys de Mes, vv. 9454-55.

103. Vv. 5453-54.

104. Les Narbonnais, vv. 18700.

105. This is found as Plate 23 in Aime Champollion-Figeac’s
Louis et Charles, Dues d'Orleans (Paris, 1844). The Ancrene Riwle
speaks of the floodgates, of land-based mills, but this adds little to
the picture: “... when you must needs speak a little, raise the flood¬
gates of your mouth and do as men do at the mill, and let them
down quickly” (pp. 72-73).

106. E.B., p. Ixv.

^ 107. This is another composite picture which I have not drawn
directly from any twelfth-century source. The towing of boats
on the Seine is mentioned in an act of April 22, 867: ad ducendos

288

Notes

nmes et reducendos* —L. de Tisserand in BtdL Soc. Hist, de Paris
et de Vile de France, IV (1877), 113. Then again, in the Truschet-
Hoyau map of 1552 this process is illustrated very clearly.

108. Some way must have been used to prevent soil from slip¬
ping into the Seine. I have noted in the Tresriches hemes of the
Due de Berry the use of willow trees for this purpose.

109. These magnificent illustrations were reproduced in Life,
XXIV (January 5, 1948), 38-50. Louis VII had a treillis in his
garden.—Lasteyrie, I, 156 m

no. J. McCabe, Peter Abelard, II, 23. Disputations were held
there. I owe this reference to Miss Amy Kelly, whose book on
Eleanor of Aquitaine is a monumental work.

in. Alexander’s “noble” garden is a description of the kind of
Spanish garden which was to be found in Cordova, Granada, and
Valencia. Probably this is not just a chance comparison. These
Spanish gardens had lemons, oranges, peaches, and pomegranates
which had been imported into the country by the Arabs, and
apples, dates, plums, and quinces which were there in Roman
days. Gapham and Power, p. 354.

112. NJR ., pp. 274-75.

113. F.-G. de Pachtere, Paris a Vepoque gdlo-rermine, pp.
* 43 - 44 *

114. The Norse custom of dueling on a small island was called
holmgang, . It persisted into Old French literary tradition. One of
the small islands in the Seine, any one, would have been ideal for
this. Brut, w. 10017-21.

115. In the Charroi de Nimes the body of Aymon le vieill is
tossed from a window of the King’s hall directly into the garden,
at Paris (w. 749-50). The steps before this palace are also men¬
tioned (w. 52-53). In the Qnatre fils Aymon there is a mention
of the perron (v. 1735). Philip Augustus was able to see the river
from the window in this hall: Quod Rex in aula deambuJaret,
veniens ad palatii fenestras, unde fimnum Sequam pro recreatione
comm qmmdoque inspicere consueverat. . . .—Rigord, ed. Bouquet,
I, 54. La the Quatre fils Aymon also we read: Es pres par desus
Same, es les vos arotes. Charles fu as fenestres, si les a regardes
(w. 950 - 50 -

Chapter V

i. The cost of maintaining oneself as a student at Paris must
have varied greatly. Rents could be very high. But there must have

Notes

289

been many who lived on next to nothing. When Abbot Samson of
Bury-St. Edmund’s was a student there, he was supported by a
chaplain back home in England who sold holy water for this pur¬
pose. —Jocelin, p. 70. Abbot Samson remarked in later life that if he
had had five or six marcs a year as steady income he would have re¬
mained as a scholar at Paris and would not have entered a mon¬
astery.— Ibid., p. 57. This gives a fair idea of the total cost for a
student at Paris.

2. John of Salisbury, Metal, 830 c-d.

3. “Contra Curiales et Officiates Clericos” in S.F., I, 164-66. See
also C. H. Haskins in American Historical Review, X, 12m

4. N.R., pp. 343-46. It was of just such a young man, not neces¬
sarily a cleric, however, that the Monge de Montaudo spoke: a E
enoia'm donzels qui sas cambas miraP — Enueg, v. 67.

5. Migne, F.L., 199, col. 831: solas opes ducunt esse fructum
sapientiae.

6 . O ars dialectica Numquam esses cognita Quare t faci clericos
Exsules et mtseros. — Carmtna Burana, ed. A. Hilka and O. Schu¬
mann (2 vols., Heidelberg, 1930), No. 89.

7. L. Bourgain, La chaire franqaise au 12 s siecle, p. 283.

8. Galeran de Bretagne, ed. L. Foulet (Paris, 1925), vv. 1676ff.

9. The reader will observe that a new day was thought to begin
at sundown. This should explain the terms Christmas Eve and
Easter Even. The Fete des Fous was not elaborately organized at so
early a date as the twelfth century. The practice became more
riotous in later times and was finally forbidden in 1445.

10. Giraldus, IV, 43. Giraldus mentions that the carole was tak¬
ing place just after midday, on a feast day. He refers to the type of
audience: ad choream videndum et cantilenas audiendwn (IV, 44-
45). Some dancing was done to instrumental music only. This was
true of the estampie .

11. CXJ.F., No. 5. The cleric in question was severely censured
by his students.

12. Giraldus, II, 120. At Bury-St. Edmund’s the monastery serv¬
ants joined with the townspeople in sporting in the cemetery on
December 26. Their quarrelsome behavior was so unseemly that
Abbot Samson showed his displeasure by not inviting the usual
burghers to his table for the five days after Christmas.—Jocelin,
pp. 145-46.

13. We have already cited the visit of Thomas Becket, then
chancellor of England, to Paris, when he stopped with the Tem¬
plars. See Giraldus, III, 27-31. Gueraes says of Thomas in his more

290 Notes

secular days: En la terre n'aveit plus large vlandier, Adis vindrcnt
a ltd baron et chevalier, Puteins e lecheor, a bcivre 0 a mangier.
Ses ostels fist soment Pastel le roi voidier, Tant que U rois se prist
vers lui a correcler. — Vie de Saint-Thomos, stanza 84.

14. On Peter Pictor see Raby, Secular Latin Poetry, II, 18-30.

15. Much has been written on mediaeval dicing, particularly
with reference to the Jeu de Saint-Nicolas. Here are same passages
from the Brut: Vous me boisiez, defers gitez Crolcz la main,
hociez les dez, Je Pan vi avant vostre get. Querrez denicers, metez.
G’i met (w. 10861-64). Also: Deus et dens gjletent et puis quemes,
Anbes as, et le tierz, ternes. A la foiee gietent quinnes, a la foiee
gietent sinnes; Sis, cinq, trois, quatre, dui et as (vv. 10851 ff.). This
is so graphic that we feel we are witnessing a game of African
golf. Jehan Bodel in his Satsnes, p. 180: Cuverz, dist Baudoins, molt
mal merebii en as, Com cil qui apres sines a giti ambes as. We
wonder about the games of tresmerellum and ridechoh [sic]. In the
Charte de Saint-Omer we find: Et quicumque ad tresmerellum vel
ad ridechoh capti fucrint, dabunt 10 s. et illt to s. in quorum domi-
bus ludentes inventi fuerint; et si dare non possum, mittentur in
pellori.— Jean Gessler, Textes diplomatiques latins du moycn-Sgc,

p. 6j.

16. Nos avommes tant but Que no drapel en demourront.—Jeu
de Saint-Nicolas, vv. 750-51. This tavern sells warm bread and
herrings (r. 252).

17. In the Charte d’Arras: Vel qui per vim feminam violaverit
.. . eadem poena condemnabitur quanta a praedecessoribus comitis
hujusmodi malefactorcs condemnari solent in Plandria.~~( iessler,
p. 67. In the Privileges for the town of Ghent there is still an¬
other interesting clause in this connection: if the woman goes to
the man willingly as he enters the room (in a scene prearranged by
the ichevins) then the man is acquitted.— Ibid., p, 69. A neat de¬
scription of the tastes of an “easy woman” is in llie et Galeron, vv.
1285#.

18. The description which follows is drawn basically from Pard,
Brunot, and Tremblay.

19. See Savon in the Glossary of Paul Dorveaux, Le livre des
simples midicines, tr. frangaise du Liber . . . Circa Instans de
Platearius (Paris, 1913).

20 Metal., 855 a.

21. Giraldus, II, 37. Giraldus says also that Mainier, a teacher
in Paris, remarked: Venient dies, et vae illis quibus leges oblitera-
bunt scientiam literarum (II, 349).

Notes

291

22. N.R., pp. 283 ff*

23. pp. 288-89.

24. Rusticus in luna quem sarcina deprimit una, Monstrat per
spinas nulli prodesse rapinas. Carleton Brown in his English Lyrics
of the XUIth Century (Oxford, 1932), No. 89, has a similar poem.

25. The list of books given here does not follow completely the
one attributed to Alexander by Haskins. See Mediaeval Science,

pp. 357 ff. ... .

26. This is a remarkable passage, which I will cite in full: Si envm

codicem eis ad legendum a pueris, quasi theatralibus ludis subito
capti obstupescunt, nihil scientes quod hujusmodo sunt instrumenta
cleric orum, sicut novit faber retia instrwnenta esse piscatorwn et
piscator malleum et incudem instrumenta fabrorum , cum alter in
arte alterius nihil sibi possit proprium vendicare, nisi quod scit
instrumentorum nomina exprimere, cum usum out artem eorum
non habeat, tamen utilia inde provenentia plurimwn concupiscat.
Stc igitur sunt ho die in ecclesia clerici sine scientia Utter arum
sicut plerique milites sine usu et exercitio armorum qui etiam
nomen habentes ex re vocantur ab aliis milites sanctae Mariae.

27. Dame Custance gave a marc of silver (seven dollars) for a

copy of the Life of Henry 1 of England.— Gaimar, Estorie des
Engleis , vv. 6495-98. Abbot Samson paid twenty marcs (two hun¬
dred dollars) for a copy of the Scriptures which he bought m
France, or possibly Italy.—Jocelin, p. 137. .

28. There were librarii who did a flourishing business m Pans.
Pierre de Blois gives us amusing data on the behavior of one of
them. This fellow had agreed to sell a set of law books to Peter.
Later he was offered a higher price and he sold to this new pur¬
chaser. Peter wrote a letter in which he outlined how the book-
dealer should be brought to law.—C.Z 7 .PNo. 28.

29. A book chest is featured in Be area libraria in S.P., II, 544.
Gaimar mentions the chaining of a book .—Estorie des Engleis,

vv. 6495-98. , . j

30. The Archpoet says that he has learned the Ars dtctamims ana
is now ready for a secretarial job .—Carmina Burana, No. 162.

31. R. L. Poole, The Papal Chancery , p. 78.

32. Giraldus, I, 410.

33. S.P., I, 82-95.

34. John of Salisbury, ed. Migne, P.L., 199, col. 830: Metal ,
I, 4. Alexander Neckam, De vita monachorum ,, in ST., II, 175-200.
Giraldus is very bitter in his Gemma ecclestastica and elsewhere.

35. Anseys, vv. 5034-43.

292

Notes

36. Yvain, w. 2875-87.

37* We should add to these the position of infirmarius. I assume
that the guestmaster and the sacerdos de hospitals were the same;
they might be separate posts. Jocelin is our authority for these
facts, to which must be added the Cromca de elecnone Hugonis
which continues the narrative in Jocelin’s chronicle. This con¬
tinuation is published in T. Amould’s Memorials of St. Edmund's
Abbey (Rolls Series). These monastic officials are given there in
H, 75-76.

There were many lay servitors in such an abbey: Ainc rH remest
moines ne enclostriers Frieurs ne abes, prevos ne ceneliers (cele-
riers), Ne cambrelens ne voiles ne huissiers, Tout s'en fuirent, et
keu et boutillier.—Montage Guillaume, Redaction II, ed. W. Cloetta
(2 vols. SATF, Paris, 1906-11), w. 148ffi

The sacristan could serve as a kind of banker for the people of
the nearby town.—Jocelin, p. 15.

38. Montage Guillaume, II, w. 257ffi, 268. Nigel Wireker com¬
ments on the fact that the Cistercians did not wear braies: Ergo
quid facerem, veniens si ventus ab Austro Nudaret subito poster-
tor a mea ?— S.F., I, w. 2139-40.

39. Marie de France, Yonec, w. 459-98.

40. James Rorimer, The Cloisters. The Building and the Collec¬
tion of Mediaeval Art in Fort Try on Fork (New York, 1938),
passim.

41. Jocelin, p. 23.

42. Ibid., p. 72.

43. Ibid., pp. 44, 163.

44. Haskins, Renaissance, pp. 40 ff.

45. Jocelin, p. 21. See n. 19, Chapter 6.

46. Peter the Venerable, Migne, F.L., 189, col. 882.

47. Ibid., col. 885.

48. Jocelin, p. 152.

49. Peter the Venerable, col. 114.

Chapter VI

1. For phantasmata in the early morning see Carmina Bur ana.
No. 193.

2. These and many other street calls are in the Cries des rues de
Paris .

3. Conte del Grad, w. 576$ G.

Notes 2 93

Quatre fils Aymon, w. 4203 ff. For what was meant by India
at this time see El Cavallero Zifar, ed. G P. Wagner (Ann Arbor,

I 9 2 9 >» P- 3 6 -

5. E.B., p. xlix.

6. Boileau does not include whale oil; but the whaling industry
was flourishing at this time and previously. See Aelfric’s Colloquy
in Wright, I, pp. 88-103.

7. All these herbs and more are listed in Platearius. See n. 19,
Chapter 5.

8. I have at hand a number of treatises on mediaeval medicine.
Among these are La Chirurgie de Roger de Saleme, Continent le
medicin doit se comforter aupres du malade, and Vordenance de
medicine et de diete. These transcriptions are unpublished. I am
making free use of them here.

9. Yvain is given skillful care by the two daughters of his host,
and he gets well.— Yvain, w. 4698-99. The two sisters of Guivret
attend Erec.— Erec et Enide, w. 5196#. In Chretien’s Conte del
Graal, w. 4340-41, a mite sets a bone, aided by three damsels de
s'escole. This is the next best thing to our modem system of trained
nurses. Some of the clerical doctors were doubtless empirics with¬
out benefit of Galen. Giraldus comments unfavorably upon the
Cistercians and the monks of Clairvaux who wander about prac¬
ticing medicine. He adds: non speciebus recentibus, non electuariis
electis nec medicmis artificiose confectis, sed herbis campestribus
solum, quatrinis aliquid fieri videretur curiose collectis et conge stis.
—Giraldus, IV, 173-74. Later he mentions a Cistercian who has a
ptxidem potu plenum. — Ibid., p. 175. John of Salisbury expresses
similar disapproval in Migne, P.L., 199, col. 836. William of
Malmesbury, on the other hand, thinks that the monks are good
physicians.— Gesta Pontificum (Rolls Series), pp. 150, 438.

10. La vie d'Edouard le confesseur, w. 6412-13.

11. Ibid., w. 2295#., 5360#.

12. Truevent sor un trossel de gles Un eschacier [one-legged
man] tot seul seant, Qui avoit eschace d*arjant; A neel estoit bien
doree, Et fu de leus an leus bandee D’or et de pierres precieuses .—
Conte del Graal, w. 7650-55. I doubt seriously that a silver leg
(wooden with silver plates nailed on? ) would be encountered very
often, if ever. This one-legged man was a mysterious character.
He is using a qanivet, or small knife, to smooth off a stick of ash
wood, which indicates that whittling was in favor at the time. See
also the Chanson de Guillaume, w. 2196-98.

13. There were many simple remedies, some more simple than

294 Notes

others. Cold water would assuage grief.— La veuve, v, 47. Kissing
on the lips would bring someone out of a fainting fit.— Des deus
vilains, w 93. Hot bathing, even of a single spot on the body,
would relieve dysentery.— NTL, p, 432.

14. Apres mengier fait mal aler , Ce nous font acroire li mite , —
Rou, II, vv. 349-50.

15. iV.fi., p. 401.

x6 , Joseph Ben Meir Zabara, The Book of Delight (New York,
1932), Chapter 1.

17. Ibid., p, 77.

18. Ancrene Rinvle, pp. 422-23.

19. Bites li mires lor fet boire et mangier une tele herbe qui
moult lor puet aidier. — Anseys, vv. 3187-88. See also Marie de
Franee’s Les deus amanz.

io. Brut, vv. 8977-78.

21. Roman de Renan , II, v. 966; Erec et Enide, v. 5208.

22. Ille et Qaleron, v. 4014,

23 . La destre main li manoia soef, NH senti voine batre ne
remuer. — Mon Aymeri, vv, 175-76. Puis li taste, quHl n’i arreste, Au
pous du bras, puis li arreste, Puis a regardee s’ 'orine,—* Blonde d’Ox-
ford, vv. 673-75.

24, Gerins thrust a corner of his bliaut into a wound so that
the blood would not come forth.— Anseys, vv. 1653-55, Erec and
Guivrct tear cloth for bandages from their own shirts,— Erec et
Entde, vv. 3926-30, The physicians move about among the wounded,
who are laid on beds, and they give them herbs to dunk.—Anseys,
vv, 2878-86,

25, Full treatment is described in Erec et Enide, vv. 5200-5208.
The plaster is indicated in Thomas’s Tristan, v. 2335.

26, A urologist has described this operation for me. The patient
was laid back on a table, or in a large chair. An assistant pressed

down on the bladder from the abdomen side; the operator inserted
a finger into the patient’s rectum and felt the stone from that side.
These two pressures brought the stone and the bladder hard
against the perineal tissue, A quick incision cutting through to the
bladder was then made, applying the knife midway between the
anus and the urether. After the stone had been pushed out, the legs
were strapped together to minimize bleeding. The perineal tissue
has a natural tendency not to become infected. On early lithoto-
mists consult J. S. Joly, Stone and Calculus Disease of the Urinary
Organs (St. Louis, 1931), p. 12, A cataract operation is pictured
in Hartley and Elliot, Plate 37b.

Notes

295

27. Usamah, pp. 162-63. We have said nothing about leprosy.
The leper was allowed to wander about alone, or in groups of his
fellows. He carried a cup or bowl, a flavel (clicking apparatus),
and often a crutch or staff.— Wistasce li motnes, vv. 1398-1414.
Lepers were called transportani because when gathered into special
hospitals they were obliged to live outside the walls of the town.—
N.R., p. 223. The sexes were kept separate in a leper house.—Lam¬
bert d’Ardres, p. 594.

28. Erec etEnide, w. 3615, 3629, 3660-61.

29. Ille et Galeron, vv. 1803 if.

30. Excellent observations on the conditions of pregnancy were
common. Take, for instance, the fabliau RIcheut , w. 152-53, 403,
where the symptoms are described. It was customary for friends
to call on the mother after the gesine. — Roman de Renart, II, w.
1670-79.

31. Marie’s Milon and the Galeran de Bretagne illustrate this

care. See also Richeut, w. 411-14. .......

32. Coetum autem puellarwn quibus custodia pueruli filii mshtis
deputata fuit. — N.R., II, p. 157.

33. Gay and Stein, p. 625; Bayeux Tapestry, No. 31.

34. Bayeux Tapestry, No. 3 1 ; Anseys , v. 2032.

35. The sarcophagus of King Alfonso X at Las Huelgas in

Burgos is still in place, in the chapel. There is burial before the
altar in Anseys , w. 2036-41. . „

36. See Marie’s Yonec , also Roger de Hoveden, Chronica (Rolls

Series), III, 167-68.

37. Yvain, vv. ii66ff. Two boys with bells in hand go before.
Bayeux Tapestry, No. 31.

38. Jocelin, p. 145. .

39. Vv. 3907-3909. The bowels were sometimes removed, as m

Anseys, vv. 573-78. ,

40. Theophilus mentions anvils of various shapes: flat, horned,

rounded on top, etc.—Theophilus, pp. 21 iff. „

41. Solder was kept in goose quills; the same was true of niello.
The part to be soldered or nielloed was first anointed with parabus
gum and then the quill was rubbed over it .—Ibid., pp. 238-39.

42. Wright, p. 104. . _

43. Formulae for making all sorts of artificial gems are m Iheo-

philus, pp. i75ff. .

44. The stones were glued first on the proper place with a flour

paste.— Ibid., p. 275.

45. Gilding of lesser metals was accomplished with a wash or

Notes

296

mercury salt, vinegar, and aluminum*—Gay and Stein, p. 561.

46* Wright, p. 123* The Fabliau du mercier has a still more re¬
markable list of merchant’s wares*

47* Extraneus mercator vel aliquis transient per regnum non
habens certam manskmem infra vicecomitatum, sed vagans, qui
vocatur Piepowdrous, hoc est anglice dustifote, — Leg. Quat, Burg .
Scot., XXIX (Stat. Scot* 1*361)*

48. Vv. 1145-51.

49. In Aelfric’s Colloquy, much earlier, we find a merchant sell¬
ing gems, gold, purple garments, silk raiment, spices, wine, oil,
ivory, brass, copper, tin, sulphur, and glass.—Wright, pp. 88 ff.

50. N.R., p. 239. Subtrahe plumbum suppositum vitro> jam nulla
resultabit imago inspicientis.

51. Theophilus, pp. 119ff.

52. S.P., II, 567.

53. Lambert d’Ardres, p* 590.

54. Mortar was from river mud, mixed with sand and water.
Wace says that strong vinegar also was used.— Rou, III, v, 3841.
According to Fitzstcphen, the Tower of London was built with
mortar mixed with animal blood.

55. The cost of living at this time is something to consider. The
best statement is made by Chretien de Troyes. He says of a mer¬
chant: Qui gaigne la semaine vint solz [$10*00] rHest mie fors de
paine. — Yvain, vv. 5314-15. That is to say, $40.00 a month is a
poor wage. The index figure which 1 have estimated for calculat¬
ing over-all purchasing power between modem United States
money and the money of the twelfth century is four* This being
true, we arrive at $160.00 a month as the sum which would barely
support a middle-class person in modern times. The pay of a
skilled workman, under these circumstances, was very low in the
twelfth century—about $2.25 a week in modern currency value.
However, it must be remembered that a workman received a
great deal extra in food and clothing. Chretien, in the passage just
quoted, adds that 1,500 sous ($750.00) per week would be a for¬
tune for a duke. This multiplied by four would indeed be a fortune.
The cheapest barley in Chretien’s time was at $1.25 a bushel.—
Yvain, vv* 2846-49.

56. Hartley and Elliot, Plate r8d.

57. The walls of Winchester Cathedral were filled with rubble
in this way. Repairs were made there with liquid cement in 1920-21.

58. Wright, p. 106; N. 2 ?., p. 281.

59. A sketch of a thirteenth-century loom is reproduced in

Notes

297

Hartley and Elliot, Plate 22b. A vertical loom, without treadles,
on which the warp threads were separated by sticks only, and
not by heddles, is also portrayed (Plate 22a). In that same illus¬
tration certain figures are warping threads between an upright of
the shed and a forked stick.

60. The precise meaning of “scarlet” is not known. It seems to
have designated a kind of silk which was frequently vermeille
or red —escarlate vermeille.—Conte del Graal, v. 79!?. Perhaps
there is some clue in this passage from Gaimar: Vindrent diij . signes
el pais, Vermeilles s*en vont demustrant, Tels ne vist ainz ntd home
vivant, Cum escarlates s'estendeient, Prof de la terre s’apareient (vv.
2145-49). Chretien mentions an escarlate peonace , “peacock-colored

scarlet.”— Yvain, v. 233. f

Alexander knew about the production of silk from the silk¬
worm, although silk was not cultivated in France in his time.—

N.R., pp. 272,492.

61. Gay describes a lovely bit of silk material of which he
owned a small piece. It was of dark purple with gold figures and
the inscription (in Arabic) “Victory to the possessor.’ This came
from a twelfth-century tomb at Saint-Germain-des-Pres.—Gay

and Stein, p. 585.

62. E.B., pp. 126-30. .

63. John of Garland says that the fuller worked naked in his

trough.—Wright, p. 131. _ ,

64. Caesarius von Heisterbach, Dialogus Mtraculorwn, ed.

Strange, 1.3.

65. La vie d'Edoziard le confesseur , w. 6086-6155.

66. John of Garland, in Wright, p. 125.

67. Ibid., p. 131.

68. Roman de Renart, I, w. 2236-94.

69. Some of this information on the miner and the blacksmith
is drawn from L. F. Salzman, English Industries of the Middle
Ages (Oxford, 1923). A few facts come from Theophilus. The
anvil is placed on a tree stamp in the fabliau Connebert.

70. Gill.* d’Orval narrates how in 1196 a supernatural being
came to a smith who could not afford to buy charcoal and said to
him: “Invenies negras venas terre patentes, que terra est tgniendum
ferrum .”—MGH, Scriptores,XXV, 115.

71. Alexander mentioned that a whetstone was required to dis¬
tinguish steel from iron. See Chapter 4, n. 77, above.

72. Theophilus, p. 215.

73. Ibid., p. 209.

Notes

298

74. Ibid., p. 113.

7J. Wright, p. 129.

76 . Rou, III, vv. 6533-49.

77. Thcophilus, p. 24.

78. Ibid., p. 221.

79. Ibid., p. 21,

80. Rou , III, w. 6356-59.

81. Wright, p. 129.

82. Qrandes chroniques de France, ed. Viard, VI, 89-94.

83. Girard de Roussillon, pp. 531-32.

84. La vie d’Edouard le confesseur, vv. 3506-25.

85. Jocelin, pp. 113-14.

86. Emil Hannover, Pottery and Porcelain, ed. Bernard Rackham
(London, 1925), I.

87. See Salzman, n. 69, above.

88. Giraldus, II, 45-46.

89. C.U.P., No. 4. A new teacher was no longer required to pay
a fee of one marc to the chancellor of Notre Dame. It was la¬
mented by a cleric in the period 1x92-1203 that beardless youths
were now teachers: Conscribunt et ipsi summulos suos omissis
artiurn abiectisque libris autenticis. — C.U.P., No. 48.

90. The Archpoet speaks. Oxford Book of Mediaeval Latin
Verse, No. 66, vv. 41-44.

Chapter VII

1. Giraldus, I, 50. From an illumination of later date I should
judge that such a target was of straw, the size of a man’s trunk,
raised on a pole to the height of a man sitting on horseback. The
pole rested in a stand. In other cases a large ring was certainly
used, suspended from a crosspiece. The squires were expected to
catch this ring on their lances.

2. Wright, pp. 99-100.

3. Et avuec ce met del suen Chemise et braies deliees. — Yvain,
w. 2978-79. For an expensive braiel see Moniage Guillaume, II,
vv. 362 ft.

4. Texts describing such a dressing procedure are numerous.
Further from the Yvain: Chemise risdee li tret Fors de son cofre,
et braies blanches, Et fil et aguille a ses manches (w. 5422-24). In
the Lai du Trot, v. 28: sorcot de chiere escarlate sanguine force
{Pune pene ermine.

5. Thomas, Tristan, Sneyd MS, v. 390; Huon de Bordeaux, vv.

Notes

299

36x1-23. Observe the jongleur represented on the Limoges casket,
Dalton, p. 51. He shows no linen at the neck or sleeves. Many illus¬
trations of costume are reproduced in Camille Enlart, Le costume »
The Cid offers further details (vv. 3085-99).

6. Hist. Archb . Th. Bechet, VII, i8ff.

7. Ancrene Riwle, pp. 396-97.

8. The Winchester Bible sheet in the Morgan Library gives de¬
tails. Soft boots are quite visible there. Enlart gives an illustration

of a typical shoe, having a small slit at the top, over the ankle,
and a narrow edging or border around the top. At Vezelay ( Veze-
lay. Editions TEL, Plate 33) a capital shows a shoe with a Y-shaped
slash at the top and no edging. The soles were obviously soft. There
was no tendency toward long, pointed toes at this time. There are
numerous representations of shoes in Webster, also.

9. An excellent picture of a gentleman with his mantle gathered
over both shoulders is on the tympanum of Saint-Ursin at Bourges.
See Webster, Plate 42 (March). For some reason that is not clear,
Webster suggests that the figure is of a cleric or monk. The ton-
sure is very conspicuous by its absence.

10. Capam quam novam et optimum de scarleta et grysio tndutus
erat.—Hist. Archb . Th. Bechet , III, 25. The exact design of vair
is seen on the mantles worn in the Winchester Bible sheet of the
Morgan Library. Usamah speaks of “squirrel fur” as a lining ma¬
terial (p. 35). The pellice or pelligon had a very narrow neck open-
ing.— Roman de Renan, II, vv. 148-50.

i t. If the hair was quite long in front, the man was considered to
have a forelock (toupet). In the fuse dOrange, w. 120,^ 222, a
man is seized by the toupet as a preliminary to having his neck
broken. Such forelocks are visible in the Bayeux Tapestry.

12. On hats see Enlart, Le costume , pp, i6xff., and the plates in
Webster.

13. N.R., p. 210.

14. Vv. 21455.

15. A pleated chainse is visible in Deschamps, Plate 50.

16. Enlart, Le costume , pp. 33-37. The jongleresse, or dancer,
on the Limoges casket shows no linen. Dalton, p. 51.

17. Marie de France, Lanval, w. 565-68: Que tuit li costs It
paroient, Qui de deus parz lacks erent. The long ties of the ben:
were called pendant .— Firamus et Tisbe, ed. C. de Boer (Pans,

1921), v. 330. . . , t

18. Marie de France, Yonec, v. 345. The dying kmght hastens to

give his beloved a bliaut to cover her chainse.

19. This could be short or long: A tmt vint Pautre suer a con

Notes

300

Afublee d’m mantel con D’escarlate forri d?ermine. — Yvain, vv,
4737-39- The lady’s mantle was pinned at the breast, and never
over the right shoulder as the man’s usually was.

20. Oxford. Hook of Mediaeval Latin Verse, No. 71, vv. 21-26.
Bracelets are mentioned by Geoffroi de Vinsauf (No. 68).

21. The knight in Marie’s Quigemar remarks that women tend
to look alike (vv. 779ff.).

22. Giraldus, JV, 86.

23. Roman de la Rose, vv. 2170-72.

24. PoSsies, ed. A. Jeanroy (Paris, 1922), II, v, 19. The best
place to find this and other Provenpal lyrics to which wc refer is
in K. Bartsch, Chrestomatbie provenqale (Marburg, 1904) and
subsequent editions, or in C. L. E. Appel, Provenzalische Chresto-
mathie (Leipzig, 1930).

25. Such a young man is pictured on the Duomo at I errara. See
Webster, Plate 26. The author wrongly thinks that this is the figure
of a woman.

26. K. Bartsch, Altfranzdsische Romanzen md Pastourellen

(Leipzig, 1870), 1 ,7,28. , .

27. PoSsies computes, ed. J.-M.-L. Dcjcannc (Toulouse, 1909).
The lyric is “L’autrier jost una sebissa.”

28. Charroi de Nimes, vv, 10371!

29. La folie Tristan, ed. J. B6dier (SATF, 1907), Version I, vv.
I89-94*

In the Annunciation sculpture preserved in the Romanesque
Room at the Louvre, the peasant men have gonnes like the ones
described. Each wears a short chape with a hood ami without
sleeves. One of them wears the hood over his head. The other
has the hood down, and his head is covered by a flat, round, hat
with a large brim. Shoes and leg coverings arc not very distinct,
but they resemble what we have already described. The typical
peasant gonne can be seen in many places, as on fol. 42b of Br.
Mus. Add, MS 39943. It is high at the neck with sleeves extending
to the wrist. There is a belt or cord around the waist. The habit
of a Franciscan friar in the early thirteenth century, like other
monastic dress, resembled very closely the ordinary lay peasant
dress.

30. Rutebeuf, Disputoison de Chariot le Juif. The razor of this
century is pictured on a Romanesque capital of Royat (Puy-de-
Dome).—Emile Male, L’art religieux du XU" skcle (Paris, 1924),
p. 24. The equipment of the barber is listed also in the Roman de
Renan, XVI, w. 375-78, 393. The fox and Primaus the wolf find

Notes

301

a closet which holds a razor, a brass basin, and scissors. Specific
mention is made that the first act in shaving is to wet the hair
thoroughly. See also Roman de Renart, II, w. 119, 374.

31. Once-a-week shaving is mentioned in the Conte del Graal,
vv. 7570-71. Samuel Pepys, in the seventeenth century, used pumice
stone to keep the hair down, as in his Diary for May 31, 1662.

32. Once more we refer the reader to the Winchester Bible sheet
at the Morgan Library.

33. Criticism is implied in C'est costume as Danois, car sovent
stmt baignie.—Quatre -fils Aymon, v. 7957.

34. There is a picture of two individuals, in the thirteenth cen¬
tury, bathing together in Br. Mus. Sloane MS 2435, fol. 8b. There
is a fabliau dealing with the lover who was hidden under the tub.

35. Vv. 1881-82.

36. Ibid., w. 3134-35. Aelis makes a living for a time washing
heads and doing needlework. Her shampoo is much in demand
among the knights.— Escoufle, vv. 5508-11.

37. A quin, vv. 2315-16.

38. Ysengrim wore mittens while cutting at the King’s table. See
Chapter 3, n. 42, above. PiL de Chari., v. 292. The glove could be
used as a pocket for small coins: Mieus aim avoir zm besant Que
riens trover en un want.—Recueil general des jeu-partis, ed. A.
Langfors (SATF, 1926), LVII, w. 63-64.

At this point we will say a few words about the “possibility” of
the pocket handkerchief in the mediaeval period. The man of the
twelfth century resembled the ancients in that he was accustomed
to wiping sweat from his face with a cloth (suaire) which, we
assume, was as large as a towel, but of finer linen. Furs could be
used, most unsuitably, for this purpose.— Chanson de Roland, v.
3940. Surely the use of the suaire was extended to the nose also. The
earliest mention that I have seen of a handkerchief for weep¬
ing is in the Libro de Buen Amor, ed. Cejador y Frauca, 1179 d.
The date is mid-fourteenth century. In Deschamps, Plate 49b, the
comer of a mantle is used in this way.

39. Erec et Enide, w. 2628ff. See also An mi leu de sa tame fu
,i. pailes gitez; Desus s’est li vassax gentement conreez. Chances de
fer chauca et esperons dorez, Hauberc ot en son dos, qui fu tresbien
dorez. — Saisnes, II, 3.

40. These remarks are from actual observation and handling of
fifteenth-century mail coats. Unfortunately, no haubercs from the
twelfth century are extant.

41. The details are from Usamah, pp. 129-30: “The jerkin en-

root me tower . , , a vrmK wearing ciouiiie-iiiiKca

In the Prise de Cordres et Sebille, ed O, Denmisiarui
896), v. 2693: Et par desore i. Mane hauherc debitor*
ays: “A heavv and comolcx armour made of cloth and
or

of a Frank.—Usamah, p. 90.

44. Et pardesos la coiffe frema le capeler De plus ires dur aehier
que on pent trover , Dcsus le capel fist un vert ekm framer .™
Fierabras, ed. A. Krocbcr and E. Scrvois (Paris, i860), vv. 6 tzff*

Aim dcslaqa son vert eltrn geme Aprh la quoife del Mane auherc

In the Chaittvel of Mane de I< ranee, vv. 137-38, the ventame in

unlaced and the beards are then pulled out (X file et Oaleron , vv,
701, 714*15. A nasal was good for holding a captive: Par le nasel dn
heatme ala penre son pere, si le rendi le roi; ce cst chose flrovee»—
Dodn de la Roche, vv. 2539-40. The use of the adjective white to
denote the hauherc may have reference to a silver color, as well as
to a white lacquer.— Blonde d'Oxf ord, v. 310,

45. Aspremont, v. 10488. See also dries fats cst de porter
hauherz 9 heaumes aguz.—Saisnes, If, 5.

46. For this innovation see Enlart, Le costume , pp. 471-72.

47. It is just possible that the hwigne designates a coat made of
canvas or leather with the rings or plates sewed on, as opposed to
the hauherc or mail coat For rust see Fergus , ed. E. Martin (Halle,
1872), vv, *527$: Li haubers estoit si vermaus Tom autresi con
li solans Quant il Move vers Ethiope, Mats ce n 7 ert mie de simple
Ne de bresil, bien le sachics , A ins estoit un pot ruillies , For red

Notes

303

49. Wacc, Brut, vv. 10503-508, For the ladies, vv. 10509-10.

50. Cote de fer ont li ceval en son, Hauberc et brogne pendant
tresqu’al talon,—Aspremont, vv. 6864.-65. Son cheval tot covert de
fer. Kou, III, v. 7512. Also in Chevalerie Ogier le Danois. w.
7357 - 58 .

51. “All of a sudden I saw him spur his horse, and as the horse
began to wave its tail, I knew that it was already exhausted.”—
Usamah, p» 68. i So I turned against a horseman in their vanguard,
who had taken off his coat of mail in order to be light enough
to pass before uS, and thrust my lance into his chest” (v. 41).

52. Prise de Cordres et de Sebille , w. 26985.

53 * Texts are numerous on this detail. Thomas, Tristan, w. 910—
12. Li baron orent gonfanons; li chevalier orent penons.—Rou, III,
w. 6529-30. *

54. Usamah, pp. 69-70. The handle, or arestuel, of the lance was
of leather: Tant que par les quamots les tindrent.—Yvain, v. 2249.
The shaft was of ash wood: Qui grosses erent et de fresne. — Yvain,
v. 61 11. It could be painted, as well as the shield: Monte et prent
Pescu et la lance qi estoit granz et roide et peinte. — Karrenritter,
vv. 2391-92, When lances were not in use, they were stored in a
hantier, or lance rack, while the shield was hung up on a hook.—
Karr emitter, vv. 1000-1003.

55* Lance levee sor le f autre.—Yvain, v. 6086. RIchement vint
lance sor f autre, — Escoufle, v. 1138. Le feutre od la sele del destrer
$iAnmez.~~Ptl de Chari, v. 461. Also Ille et Galeron, v. 1061,

56. Again the texts describing such equipment are extremely
numerous. See Enlart, Le costume, and similar references. II tint
traite Plorance, dont li poins fu letrSs,—Queste del Saint Graal,
ed. Albert Pauphilet (Paris, 1923), n. <r. There are many occur¬
rences of mangon in the Chanson de Roland and the Quatre fils
Aymon*

57. As dens en detrenqoit les fors ais joins a glus.—Les Chetifs, v.
4045. For information on the casein glue we are indebted to Theo-
philus, p. 21. Fine shields were made in Toulouse, Lyons, and Lon¬
don.— Karrenritter, vv. 5794-5844. On shield decoration see Erec
et Enide, vv. 2153-55, 3613; Huon de Bordeaux, v. 1778; and Aquin,
vv. 741-42.

58. Giraldus, VIII, 320-21.

59. So used in Marie de France’s Chaitivel, v. 140: Sor un escu
fu mis chascuns .

60. Giete a son col une targe fiorie, .ix. boucles d’or ot environ
assisses.—Prise de Cordres et de Sebille, w. 2740-41.

Notes

304

61. Examples of this routine are to bo found in almost every
chanson de geste and romance.

61, Usamah, p. 8z.

63. Usamah, p. 104. Two dinars would be equivalent to about ten
dollars.

64. Is this what is meant by the term broigne, opposed to hau-
berc? The expression haubers jazerans probably meant nothing
more than a hauberc made in Algiers. See Quatre fils Aymon,
v. 759.

65. Cf. the description of the fil de netun and their arms in the
Yvain: N’i a ml d'aus qua si ait ten Baston cornu de cornelier Qu'il
orent fez apareillier De cuivre et puis Her d'archal. Des les espaules
contreval Furent armS jus qu’aus genolz, Mes les chiis orent et les
volz DesarmSs et les jambes nues (vv. 5516-13). For the weapons
see CligSs, vv. 1994ff.: guisarmes, Danish axes, lances, Turkish
swords, quarrels, darts, and javelins. In the Rou, HI, vv. 7691#., the
dress is described as iron cap, leather jacket, and quilted jacket
girded with a belt. In Blonde d'Oxford a serjant wears quilted
doublet, steel cap, and dagger (vv. 401 off.).

66. Sec Guisarme in Gay and Stein.

67. N'out en la terre chevalier, Ne bon serjant ne boen archier.
... — Rou, III, vv. 636511.

68. E por les haies les archiers. — Rou, III, v. 1514. _

69. I am describing a crossbow in my possession—of a later
date, to be sure. But in the thirteenth century John of Garland
speaks of balistas trocleatas. —Wright, p. 130.

70. See Sexton T. Pope, University of California Publications in
American Archaeology and Ethnology, XIII (1917-13), 329-414,
where he gives the result of his study of the early European bow
and arrow.

71. Notably Fergus and the fabliau Li vilatns mire,

71, Poole, p. 35, remarks that the amount of ceremony depended
upon the young man’s position in society.

73. This is the case in Flamenca, w. 900-904; llle et Qaleron,
v. 170; and elsewhere.

74. As at the close of Chretien de Troyes’ Conte del Graal. For
an estimate of the true meaning of chivalry sec Sidney Painter,
French Chivalry (Baltimore, 1940).

75. Jocelin, p. 135.

76. A knight’s fee could demand the personal service of the
knight himself, and it could also demand the service of a number
of additional knights. Such service was apt to consist of forty days

Notes

30 6

84. The various siege engines, catapults, battering-rams, and
wooden towers were ordinarily manufactured when occasion de¬
manded, before a town or casde that was being besieged. The
master carpenters who superintended the work were called engtg-
neors . However, some catapults were kept in the courtyard and
on the walk The principle of these stone-hurling machines is
surely known to our readers. Their effect is well described by the
Moslem Usamah: “I turned away .. . but soon heard the crash of
a falL I looked around, and, behold! a mangonel stone had hit the
head of the old man, crushed it, and stuck it to the wall, making
the brain flow on the wall.... Another mangonel stone struck one
of our men on his lower leg and broke it... Usamah goes on to
ay that the injured man was shortly killed by another stone hit¬
ting him in the head.— Usamah, pp. 143-44.

Greek fire is not given any mention by Alexander, but it was an
important siege weapon. Naphtha was the principal ingredient, to
which pounded resin, sulphur, and niter were added in varying pro¬
portions. This was poured out on the enemy, or it was ignited on
arrows, in the form of burning tow. Usamah mentions a jar of
naphtha which was hurled: “The naphtha flashed like a meteor
f alling upon those hard stones, while the men who were there threw
themselves on the ground for fear of being burnt.” Joinvffle ays
of Greek fire: It resembles estoiies qm dou del cheisseni (§ 314)
and it is like un dragon qm volost par Fmre (§ 200). — Usamah, p.
104. At times an ordinary fire was built against a fortification. The
heat caused die mortar to crumble and die wall to fire.

85. In the Anseys the noise of batde is described as “such as four
hundred carpenters would not make in setting up houses” (w.
2726-27).

86. Alexander does not speak of military strategy, but others do.
In Marie’s Eliduc the protagonist prepares an ambush. Usamah
mentions ambushes prepared regularly by the Franks. In the
Chanson de Roland there is constant mention of arranging echelons
or divisions of knights effectively.

87. This riffraff could be Brabanpons, Aragonese, Navarrese, and
Basques who were cruel and irresponsible. In the Rolls Series, No.
92, p., 209, see the decree of the Third Lateran Council.

88 . Whipping was sometimes administered by a scourge which
had six knots. It was considered more degrading when the punish¬
ment was administered by a deformed person such as a dwarf.—
Yvmn, w. 4107 ff.; Erec et Emde y w. 2i8ff. For milder punish¬
ment a balm , or bunch of sticks, was applied.

Notes

308

Itself. We have In mind the snail castle at Launceston, on the
border of Cornwall, where such a stairway existed.

94. , . . et il font molt tost les chevaus del far er On ceiier desoz
terre les mi fmt mener.—Doon de la Roche, w. 1666-67. An tme
croute fen mire Baufumes; diij* destriers a molt tost anseles.—Prise
de Cordres et de Sebille , w. 1178-79. Li cbewal ont avorne et fam
Et la litiere en jus qu’au vantre .— Twain, w. 5360-61.

95. In Guigemar of Marie de France the lady’s room and chapel
are Inside such a wall In Chretien’s Twain the bedchamber of
Lunete must be In the curtain wall, for she leads Yvain to It right
from the gatehouse where he has been trapped. — Twain, v. 1583 .1
suspect that the chamber of Rosemund Clifford was in such a
location at Woodstock: Infra portam castri et barbicanam . . . ab
exitu Conerae Rosamtmdae usque ad capellam .— See Foedera, IV,
629. Rosemund chamber became a common noun for some sort of
room. Could it have been applied to such a bower in the curtain
wall?

96. Twain, w. 197-98.

97. Twain , v. 239; Marie de France, Lanwal, w. 239-42; Anseys,

w. 37145. . .

98. Erec et Ernie, w. 5730-31, 5739-40. This was definitely

outside.

99. Twain, w. 53645.

100. Ja sont li mm fendu et frost Et Is fosse empli Batrak. Si
ont tot ars les harden, Bores et Bees et palis . —QmBatane de

Paleme, w. 4991 5 . „ .

101. Sor se reube Is atacoient Torques Restrain que il faisotent
Par cou ke on se gabast de lui. — Life of Sami Dominic, w. 2161-63.
The gomph stick is discussed in histories of sanitation.

102. This information is drawn from J. P. Bushe-Fox, Old
Samm . Official Guide .

103. La vie cTEdouard le confesseur, w. 9875.

104. Lambert d’Ardres, MGH, XXIV, 596.

105. As mams se prerment, el pales sont monte .— Choral de

Nimes, v. 463.

106. See the tympanum of Saint-Ursin at Bourges where there
are splendid representations of boar hunting.

107. See in particular the “Dog Genealogy” In Life for Janu¬
ary 31,1949.

108. Tentorium de serico magnum adeo quod ducenn mlites m

eo simul possmt comedere. — Benedict of Peterborough (Rolls
Series), II, 133. La at maint tref tandu, ynde, wermoil et pers—

Notes

309

Saisnes, p. 61. L<* veissiez mainte tente drecie Et maim pomel ou It
ors reflambie .— Anseys, vv. 10671-72. The tents are green and red
in Cliges, v. 1263.

109. Marie de France, Lanval, w. 80 ff.

no. Coronement de Loots, ed. Langlois (Paris, 1920), w.
2282-83.

in. V. 1779.

112. Meyer-Liibke, IF, 941a.

113. Karr emitter, vv. 5600-5603. These loges were being used
as spectators’ stands. I doubt that there was any railing. Compare
the representation of a loge where women are weaving, in Hartley
and Elliot, Plate 22b. Yet illuminations for the Petit Jehan de
Saintre (fifteenth century) show a railing: two long beams have
upright boards nailed between them.

114. Karrenritter, w. 5541-43. A tourney at St. Edmund’s had
twenty-five knights. They were lodged at the Abbot’s house and
ate at his table, where they became boisterous.—Jocelin, p. 88.

115. Aucassin et Nicolette, §§ 19-20; Giraldus, Descriptto Cam-
briae, I, 17.

116. Yvain, w. 6032-37. There are loges before the chapel at
Ardres.—Lambert d’Ardres, MGH, XXIV, 624.

117. Yvain, w. 6040-41.

118. J. Dauvillier, Le manage dans le droit classique de PEglise
(Paris, 1933). When it was believed that a previous mate was dead,
although this was not confirmed, a long ban could be cried for a
period of four months.— lUe et Galeron, w. 3966-69.

119. This description of a wedding is combined from Marie’s Le
Fresne, w. 384-420, and the more detailed account given in Blonde
d y Oxford, vv. 4724ff.

120. Yvain, vv. 2339-2478.

121. Brut, vv. 10421-10590.

122. Wright, p. 106.

123. See W. H. Prior, “Notes on the Weights and Measures of
Mediaeval England,” ALMA (1924), pp. 77-97; (1925), pp. 141-70.
Also C. Foulon in Romania, LXVIII (1944-45), 438-43.

Chapter VIII

i. “A little schedule containing the names of the knights . . .
the names of the manors, and the rent which attached to each farm.
Now [Abbot Samson] called this book of his his Calendar, in the

3xo Notes

which were written down also all the debts which he had paid.”—
Jfocelin, p. 45,

а. Haurdau, pp. 210-16. A manor house is sketched in C. W.
Airnc’s The Story of Saxon and Norman Britain, told in pictures
(Manchester, n.d.), p. 42.

3. Bern, Folie Tristan, v. 134.

4, The distinctions between knight tenure, serjant tenure, and
free peasant were quite mixed up, particularly in England.—Poole,
pp. 2 fF. A serf was not supposed to bear any arms, and he had
services and fees, the custom of his manor, which marked his
status very clearly. The merchct or fee for the marriage of his
daughter was the most distinguishing fee. Ordinarily, in case of
mixed marriage a child took on the condition of the father.—
Poole, p. 21.

j. Above, pp. 98-100.

б. The word is terestrum, which the Reichenau Glosses (No.
169) define as ornamentum mulieris; quidam dicunt quod sit cofia
vel vitta.

7. Wright, p. 101.

8. A beehive is depicted in Hartley and Elliot, Plates roe and f.
See apiarists in Dcschamps, Plate 4yd.

9. Such a bucket (saticulum) is illustrated in Br. Mus. Add. MS
29943, fol. 42b, This container is suspended in a sling (of doth?)
which has a supporting band that goes around the neck.

10. “The sheep-fold would be moved twice a year. This was
true on the Templars’ estate in Gloucestershire in 1185.”—Poole,
p. 16,

n. The best horses and mules at this time were supposedly the
Spanish breed. (This was not the same as Arabian.) The Spanish
horse was sturdy, fairly low, with fine flowing mane and tail. The
mule was doubtless similar in build: Trois rnuls d'Espaigne et
chargiez et trossez. — Charroi de Nimes, v. 20. Gerald the Welsh¬
man speaks of Spanish horses in Britain: “In . . . Powys, there are
most excellent studs put apart for breeding, and deriving their
origin from some fine Spanish horses which Robert de Belesme,
carl of Shrewsbury, brought into this country: on which account
the horses sent from hence are remarkable for their majestic pro¬
portion and astonishing flcctncss.”—Giraldus, Itinerarium Kambriae,
III, 12. Good horses were raised in Limousin also.

12. Alexander describes the plow further in N.R., p. 280. A boy
armed with goad accompanied the plowman. See Wright, pp. 88 ff.
Alexander forgets also to mention that the plow in his day had

Notes

311

two wheels on the front of it. See the plate opposite p. 134 in Clap-
ham and Power. The earthboards, or moldboards, were planks
which were set slanting to the rear on the side of the plowbeam.
They widened the furrow and also piled the tumed-up earth into
a ridge.—Clapham and Power, pp. 134-35.

13. A harrow with large wooden teeth is mentioned by Abu
Zucaria in his Book of Agriculture .—Clapham and Power, p. 358.

14. It was a moot question on some fiefs as to who owned the
manure that was collected on the roads. The peasant owned that
which he gathered before his own door. Manure was loaded into
carts.—Jocelin, p. 163.

15. A cylinder was a rolling harrow, an oak cylinder provided
with teeth.—Clapham and Power, p. 144.

16. Made of holly wood, wrapped in four layers of deerskin.—
Chanson de Guillaume, w. 3211-12.

17. A glossator has written hortorum over Priapi, not under¬
standing die term.—Wright, p. 113.

18. Wright, pp. 110-13.

19. Webster, Plate 26.

20. Webster, Plate 34; Erec et Enide, w. 3312-13.

21. Branch II, w. 865#., 873 ff.

22. Ibid,, I, w. 3133-34* , ^

23. Hali Meidenhod (EETS), ed. Fumivall (1866) and D.
Cockayne (1922), vv. 567-72.

24. Ancrene Riwle, pp. 314-15.

25. Ibid,, pp. 230-31.

26. Ibid., pp. 186-87.

27. Yvain, w. 2816-18.

28. Herrod von Landsberg’s Hortus deliciarum, ed. A- Schultz
(Vienna, 1888), p. 53.

29. Hist. G. le M., vv. 509 ff.

30. Lambert d’Ardres, MGH, XXIV, 629. Uxor autem eius
Petronilla juvencula quidem Deo placita, simplex erat . . . vel inter
puellas puerilibus jocis et choreis et hits similibus ludis et poppeis
sepius iuvenilem applicabat animum . Plerumque etiam in estate
nimia nimimn animi simplicitate et corporis levitate agitata, in
vivarium usque ad solam interulam sive camisiam reiectis vestibus,
non tarn lavanda vel balneana quam refrigeranda vel certe spaci-
anda, per vias et meatus aquarum hie illic prona nando, nunc supina,
nunc sub aquis occult at a, nunc super aquas nive nitidior vel camisia
sua nitidissima sicca ostentata coram militibus nichilominus quam
puellis se dirmsit et descendit.

312

Notes

31. Giraldus, I, 21.

32. La Riote dou monde , ed. j. Ulrich in Zeiri far PM.,

vm (1884), 282. 1 ’

33. Ancrene Riwle, pp. 416-17.

34 * A photograph of the group is published in The Illustrated

London News for December 18,1948, p. 693.

35. Clapham and Power, p. 311. Six axpents of land sell for
twenty-four pounds in 1190 .—-Areh.H.D., p. 18, No. 38.

36. CLapham and Power, p. 307.

37. Ibid., pp. 263, 295-96.

38. Ibid., pp. 318-19.

39. Die Exempla des Jakob von Vitry, No. 17.

40. Walter Map comments that the serfs are rising in arts and
letters and that the barons are neglecting such studies.—W.M., p. 8.
If a serf ran away and was unclaimed for a year and a day, he was
automatically free.—Poole, p. 28.

4 1 * Clapham and Power, p. 264. Such a girl had rights if she
wished to press them. One of the sons of Richard Fits Drago vio¬
lated a beggar girl. Abbot Samson made him pay five marks, and
this sum was given to a peddler who married the girl.—Jocelin,
P* 7 ^.

42. Clapham and Power, pp. 266-67.

43. Branch I, w. 2469-74.

44. Vv. 2415-18, 2511-17, 2563-68, 3840-3988.

45. Hie word is funaeulwn, which is glossed ubi carbones pon-
rntur. In case the thurible or censer is meant we comment on the
one made of amethyst which is mentioned in Marie’s Yonec, v.
510. Censers had very ornate tops in the twelfth century. A bronze
top, representing the tower of a Saxon church, is preserved in the
British Museum. Another top in the same museum represents an
assemblage of church buildings. See Dalton, pp. 34-35. It is pos¬
sible that the funaeulwn may be a “chafing ball,” a handwarmer
which was used by a priest at Mass. One of these, preserved in the
British Museum, is illustrated in Dalton, p. 112.

46. Capitesium is the word which I translate tentatively, after
some consultations, by “silk cap.” Jocelin mentions that many silk
caps were pawned or pledged to Jewish moneylenders by the
community of Bury-St. Edmund’s, p. 47.

47. Wright, p. 172. The small reliquary contained a garment
that had belonged to St. Edmund, p. 168. Abbot Samson added
a pulpit in his abbey church “for the sake of those who heard him
and for purposes of ornament.”—Jocelin, p. 64. This furnishing

Notes 313

was by no means necessary. For the weathercock see Migne, PX.,
156, col. 885.

48. Eadem enim hora cecidit horologium ante horas matutinas,
surgensque magister vestiarii, hoc percipiens et intuens, cucurrit
quantocius et, percussa tabula tanquam pro mortuo, sublimi voce
clamavit dicens feretrum esse combustum . . . . Juvenes ergo nostri
propter aquam cwrrentes, qmdam ad puteum > quidam ad horo¬
logium, quidem cucullis sms impetwn ignis cum magna difficultate
extinxerunt. . . .— Chronica Jocelini de Brakelonda, ed. J. G. Roke-
wode (London, 1840), p. 78. For translation see Jocelin, pp. 167-68.

On this type of clock I quote Jocelin in the Latin original so
that the reader can form his own opinion. It is certain that the
clock mentioned is a water clock, since the young men run to it
to get water; yet it has some sort of falling weight which arouses
the vestry warden. In the Chrontque des dus de Normandie, II,
349, mention is also made of such a weight. This was a twelfth-
century alarm clock. The Annales regales (ed. Kurze, pp. 123-24)
mention and describe such a clock as belonging to Charlemagne.

The principle of the water clock is explained by Alfred Frank¬
lin in his La Vie privee d’autrefois. La Me sure du temps (Paris,
1888), pp. 22-27. The water dropped from a cone-shaped funnel
and was collected in a graduated bowl. The markings on the bowl
told the proper hour. The rate of the drip could be controlled by
a wedge, thus allowing for a faster flow in the winter and a
slower one in summer—daylight saving. For the mechanical clock,
invented in 1271 or thereabouts, see L. Thorndike in Speculum,
XVI (1941), 242-43. An important comparison to make at this
point is the description of the tabula which was struck when a
member of the community died (and which could serve as an
alarm gong) with the similar table which was struck by the vceuas-
sor when Yvain (and before him, Calogrenanz) entered the en¬
chanted forest of Bracelonde: En mi la cort au vavasor Cui Dex
doint et joie et enor Pendoit une table, ce cuit, QuHl nH avoit ne
fer ne fust, Ne rien qus de cuivre ne fust; Sor celle table <Fun martel
Qui panduz ert a un postel Feri li vavasors trois cos .— Yvain, w.
211-19. Possibly the vavassor is the guardian of the entry to the
Land of the Dead.

49. Migne, PX., 172, col. 915.

50. Baudri de Bourgueil, Nos. 213-14.

51. Jocelin, p. 168. There is a fine cupboard of this kind pre¬
served in the cathedral at Bayeux. It has numerous compartments.
Perhaps it was a vestiary for the canons, with a compartment for

3i4

Notes

each one. In the Romm de Renart, XIV, w. 204-65, Renart and
Frisians the wolf visit a church and find behind the altar a cup¬
board which contains the altar breads (oublees) wrapped in a fine
towel. Close by is a chest which contains ordinary bread, meat, and
wine, gifts received by the priest from his parishioners.

52. This material is drawn mostly from C Wordsworth and
Henry Littlehales, The Old Service-Books of the English Church
(London, 1910).

53. There is a beautiful relief in stone (thirteenth century) in
the cathedral at Rheims which shows a knight taking Communion.

54. King John offered a silk cloth (lent Mm for the occasion by
the Sacristan) wMcfa he placed on the altar at the close of the
Mass.—Jocelin, p. 182. For a special building fund a box with a slit
in its top, protected by an iron bar, was placed near the church
door.—Jocelin, p. 14. Prior to the Lateran Council of 1215 the
Sacrament was taken in both Kinds.—Cf. Yvain, v. 192: Le vm du
cdice heii. A Eucharistic chdwnem was occasionally used.—Gay
and Stein, p. 309. Jocelin says further: “.. . in many churches tbs
sermon is delivered in French, or rather in English, for securing
of the improvement of manners and not as a literary exercise.”

55. Taken from the Flamenco, Before the crucifix one raised his
eyes and then made a low obeisance.— Vie Smnt-Gregowe , v. 1118.

56. Home, qu*m me poet chasuier Dewoit an m mostier User
Come desve devmt les prosnes. — Yvain, w. 627-29.

57. Folie Tristan, I, w. 210-11; also Usamah, p. 162.

58. Atant a Renart emiat Un Benedtcamus farsi A orgue, a treble
et a deschmt ,— Romm de Renart, XU, w. 883-85. This branch
dates from 1189-1204 according to L. Foulet, he Roman de Renart
(Paris, 1914), p. 115.

59. Davison and Apel, pp. 21-22.

60. Rorimer, pp. 21 ff., and passim,

61. Guibert de Nogent in Migne, PX. ? 156, coL 842; Cbarrm de
Ntmes,v. 843.

62. As in Aspremont, w. 10972,10995-99.

63. These facts are taken from Wordsworth and littlehales, pp.
15, 21-22. Mass follows directly after Terce in Flamenco, w. 2447,
3891-94, at the hour of Terce. In the Roman de Renart, XII, v.
897, Vespers is followed directly by Compline.

64. Here are a few additional notes about the Church. The
margmlliere, or sexton, is a woman in the fabliau Dou prestre temt,
v. 89. There is reference in some of the literature to the consecra¬
tion of a church by the bishop. The procedure mentioned is still

Notes

3*5

in use, but it is not familiar to many readers. In the Vie de Saint
Edouard le confesseur, vv. 2663-70, we read: Les deos abeces unt
truvez, Ki furent mult bien cumpassez. Les .XII. cruiz unt truvees,
Ki del sainfolie uintes sunt. Des dudce cirges unt truvee La rema-
sille as cruiz fermee. De Vevoe beneite jetee Fud Viglise encore
arusee . The bishop with his crozier writes a Latin alphabet from
one corner to the opposite one; then he writes another alphabet,
the Greek one, between the other two comers. These intersect in
the middle of the nave. Twelve small metal crosses are placed in
the wall (today under twelve of the Fourteen Stations of the
Cross). For further information consult the Catholic Encyclopedia.

65. It is a moot point whether a serf was free once he took holy
orders.—Poole, p. 30. See Poole, p. 29, on the subject of the single
day’s work on the lord’s land.

66. I, vv. 670-74.

67. Ibid., v. 821.

68. Si con li prestres vet au sarnie Ou volantiers ou a anviz .—
Erec et Enide, vv. 4022-23.

69. Knights sit by the fire after supper, piling their equipment
on an eating table, which has not been dismantled.— Hist. Archb. Th.
Becket, II, 285ff. Thomas Becket himself never stayed for such
amusement: Et quand levez esteit li sainz hom de la table, N’aveit
cure d'oir de chanqun ne de fable, Ne de nuV altre chose, s*ele ne
fust verable. —Guernes, vv. 3921-23. In the manor house of the
family of Adam dou Petit Pont the minstrels are performing after
the meal.—Haureau, p. 203. The standard work on the jongleurs is
that of Edmond Faral, Les jongleurs en France au moyen-dge
(Paris, 1910). See further, in Boon de la Roche, w. 3571-72: Quant
il orent mangie, si font traire les napes . Cil jugleor desponent lor
chanquns et lor fables.

jo. Escoufle, vv. 7030-35.

71. I, w. 238918:.

72. Flamenca, vv. 575-701. If a jongleur noticed that his per¬
formance was not pleasing, he would shift suddenly to another
song.—Migne, P.L., 205, Chapter 155.

73. For this I am drawing upon an article, still unpublished, by
Andre de Mandach, on the music of the Chanson de Roland.

74. In Boon de la Roche the jongleur stops at v. 2603 (which
would require about three and a half hours to reach, by my reck¬
oning); he then continues at the second sitting for another 2,035
verses. In Huon de Bordeaux the singer stops at v. 4946, at Vespers.
He requests his listeners to come the next day after dinner, and he

Notes

316

wants each to bring a maille, or half-denier. In the Mon Aymeri
the minstrel pauses at v, 2595. We have testimony that the jongleur
Jenois de Lucca performed from after dinner until Vespers.—
Romanische Forschungen, XXIII, 43. Walter Map says: “Only the
[trifling] of mimes in vulgar rhymes celebrateth among the god¬
like nobility of the Charleses and the Pepins—no one speaketh of
living Caesars.”—W.M., p. 254. In the Anseys de Mes, vv. 289-93:
Uns jongleors ot sa viele pris qui lor viele sus le palate antis. A lui
estoient U baron ententis. Un lai viele. Quant ot finement pris
Done li ont maint mantel sabelin.

75. A minstrel might strive for comic appearance, or perhaps he
was often a little crazy. In Brut , w. 93365., a minstrel has half a
mustache, half a beard, and half of his head shaved. At times the
jongleur was a disgraceful glutton.—Lambert d’Ardres, MGH,
XXIV, 622.

76. Here is an additional example of extreme largesce: Vidimus
quondam quosdam principes qui vestes diu excogftatas et variis
florum picturationibus artifictosissime elaboratas, pro quibus forsan
viginti vel triginta marcas argenti consumpserant, vix revolutte
septem diebus, histrionibus ... ad primam vocem dedisse. . . .—
Rigord in Rec. Hist. Fr., XVII, 21.

77. I, w. 2801-2802. Jongleur schools are discussed in Charles
Beaulieux, Histoire de Portho graphe franqaise (Paris, 1927), I, 32.
It was at such schools that the phonemic spelling of the Old French
language was developed.

78. Such was the case with Levet at the court of Raimbaut
d’Aurenga. See Raimbaut’s lyrics, Nos. 36 and 38.

79. On William of Longchamp consult Roger of Hoveden,
Chronica (Rolls Series, No. 51), III, 143.

80. Lambert d’Ardres, MGH, XXIV, 598. To quote further:
Quis autem nisi expertum et auditum crederet Hasardum de Aide-
hen omnino laicttm ab ipso simili modo ornnino laico litteras didi-
cisse et litteratum factum? Ipse enim quem iam diximus in Ro-
manam linguam mterpretatos et legit et intelligit.

81. lbid . 9 p. 607.

82. lbid. y p. 627.

83. Ibid., p. 603.

84. We actually know very little about the pronunciation of
Latin in the Middle Ages. There are some rhymes in French verse
which inform us that the ending -vm rhymed with French -on. On
this see Arms et Andies, w. 2812-13, and elsewhere. Probably Latin
in each land was pronounced with the peculiarities of the major

Notes

317

tongue spoken there, but Old French pronunciation had not de¬
parted, as yet, to any great degree from that of standard Romance.
French Latin was, therefore, still intelligible. There was more com¬
plaint about the ungrammatical Latin of the English clerics.

85. The dress of a pilgrim is described, only to be ridiculed, in
Roman de Renart, I, w. 1418#.

86. See Holmes, History of Old French Literature.

87. Roman de Renart, I, w. 1402-1404.

88. Huon de Bordeaux, v. 2564.

89. Migne, 189, col. 949.

90. This was true throughout the Middle Ages and the Renais¬
sance. The St. Bernard Pass also was frequently used. The latter
was called Mongiu, or Mons Jovis, because the Romans had con¬
structed a temple to Jupiter there. In the Abavus Glossary the
Latin word Alpes glosses this Mongiu. See Mario Roques (ed.),
Recueil general des lexiques franqais (1936), p. 4. John of Salis¬
bury made ten trips over the Alps.— Metal., Ill, Prologue; Migne,
F.L., 199, col. 889.

91. See above, p. 202.

92. Nonnulli swi de sanguinis generositate gloriantur, qui lixarum
sordidarum filii sunt. — N.R., p. 312.

93. Ibid., p. 316. #

94. Relinquatur hoc vitium Us qui spectaculis theatralibus obnoxit
sunt—Ibid., p. 321. Cf. Ille et Galeron, vv. 239-40.

95. Alexander is one of the very few in his day who mention the
tragedies of Seneca: Tragediam ipsius et declamaciones legere non
erit inutile. —Haskins, Mediaeval Science, p. 373.

96. For this episode consult Gesta Abbatum Sancti Albam (Rolls
Series), I, 72-105.

97. Giraldus, IV, pp. 40-41.

98. Alexander returned to become an Augusdnian canon and
was abbot of Cirencester in 1213. He died in 1217—Dugdale, VI,
176.

Chapter IX

r. The authority on mediaeval population is Josiah C. Russell,
British Medieval Population (Albuquerque, 1948). The information
which I now give was derived largely from personal discussion
with Professor Russell. In England the average man was five feet
six inches; in France the average was an inch shorter. Henry II of

Notes

318

England was five feet seven or eight; Richard was taller than this,
and John was considerably shorter.

2. This description is in many Old French texts. Geoffrey de
Vinsauf phrases it in Latin.— Oxford Book of Mediaeval Latin
Verse , No. 68. The hair was sometimes artificially curled: flavisque
capellis ei arte crispatis nbnis. —Giraldus, IV, 86. The color value
of vair is attested in an unusual way. There is a place in southern
France called Roques Vaires, where the rocks are a variegated blue
and brownish gray.

3. Usamah, p. 94.

4. Again I am quoting Professor Russell. Giraldus states spe¬
cifically that life beyond the age of fifty is not desirable.—Giraldus,
VIIX, 145-46. Walter Map gives a pitiful description of the condi¬
tion of an aged monk, Gregory of Gloucester.—W.M., p. 81.

5. Russell thinks that the germ diseases which carried off the
most people were tuberculosis and ague.

6. The observations in this and die following paragraph are de¬
ductions on my part. There are, however, many passages which
show that the mediaeval man esteemed good breath, for instance:
Vilains, car vos traites an lai, Car vostre alairme rrF ocidroit .—
Bartsch, Altfranzdsische Romanzen tmd Pastourellen, I, 25, 9. In
El Conde Lucanor, ed. P. H. Urena (Buenos Aires, 1939), Ex¬
emplar 27, both the Emperor and his wife have sores on their
bodies, as a matter of course.

7. Auzels CassadorSy w. 3531-32.

8. References on mediaeval education are legion. Nigel Wireker
remarks how masters are too easy. They spare the rod. Boys get
but little grammar and then go home and spend the rest of their
days hunting.— SR. “Playing hookey” existed in those days; wit¬
ness: Erat autem puer . . . pulcher quidam et nobilis sed intactmn
bonarmn artiitm fugax . . . ut . . . vix in scholia y sed pene mmu
die dilitescens reperiretur in vineis. —Migne, PX., 156, coL 844.

9. Et quant a Fescole venoient, Lor tables d’yvoire prenoient.
Adont lor veissiez escrire Letres et vers dFamors en cire Lor graffes
sont (Lor et (Lot gent. — Floire et Blancheflor, w. 251-55. Also, un
grafe a trait de son grafier (w. 787, 1408). Evidently there was a
special case for the stylus which was called a grafier. Baudri de
Bourgueil has considerable to say about his wax tablets and his
styli. He received as a fine present a small handy set of tablets,
with eight leaves tied together. The wax was green, which did not
show dm: so easily. See above, Chapter 3, n. 33.

10. Migne, PX., 156, coL 847. The text which we are citing is
from the De vita sua of Guibert de Nogent.

Notes

319

xx. Haskins, Mediaeval Science , p. 372,

12. Guernes, Vie de Saint-Thomas, vv. x6zfi.

13. Giraldus, I, 356-57. He calls her Letitia.

14. Baudri de Bourgueil , No. 101. See also Raby, Secular Latin
Poetry, I, 343 .

15. The old woman in Marie de France’s Yonec reads her Psalter
(vv. 63-64). The Vie d’Edouard le confesseur was written by a
nun, perhaps Clemence of Barking (w. 5313#.). See further Pare,
Brunot, and Tremblay, p. 52.

16. Gaimar, Estorie des Engleis, w. 6495-96.

17. Yvain, w. 5366-72.

18. Charles Beaulieux, Histoire de Vorthographe franqaise , I, 32.
Many of the laymen (upper class) could read. A young knight is
mentioned as reading in W.M., p. 176. Denis Piramus, in his Vie de
Sent Edmund le rei, ed. H. Kjellman (Goteborg, 1935), vv. 1581 ff.,
remarks that a king should have some learning.

19. Huon de Bordeaux , w. 2668ff.

20. Marie de France, Fables, ed. Wamke (Halle, 1898), pp.
271-72. “Del prestre e del lu.”

21. It was certainly possible for a boy and a girl to attend school
together, as in Floire et Blancheflor. See n. 8 above. We assume,
however, that they had a tutor and did not attend an organized
class where there could have been a mingling of the sexes.

22. Because of the need for bilingualism a king or high noble,
even if he could read French, would be obliged to pass a letter over
to a clerk for interpretation. Such a missive would be dictated in
French to a clerk, who would put it into Latin. When the letter
was received, it had to be expanded into French again for its
recipient. Take for example Anseys, v. 716: Et le baiUa a un sien
clerc ouvrir. This situation where a letter is couched in language
which is not the one used by either sender or recipient in daily
intercourse reminds us of the situation in modem China, where
the Wen li, or cultivated written language, has to be expanded
when read orally. Letters did not circulate in the French language
until the middle of the thirteenth century. The same may be said
about the use of French in the keeping of accounts. Probably the
Kingdom of Naples and Sicily was the first one to keep its ac¬
counts in French.

23. See above, p. 41.

24. I have not given much information on the animals that were
familiar to the peoples of western Europe. The wolf survived in
France as late as the sixteenth century, and in England until the
seventeenth. The last wolf in Scotland was killed in the eighteenth

320

Notes

century. Bern and monkeys were common sights, displayed by
traveling minstrels and kept at the courts of nobles. The monkeys

were imported, of course, and bears were very uncommon west of
Germany. Giraldus says that beavers were still to be found in
Wales during his day; but they were very rare south of Scandi¬
navia, where they survive today. Lions and leopards were common
beasts of prey in the Holy Land, where they had man-eating hab¬
its. The Arab chronicler Usamah gives complete information on
these dreadful beasts and their habits. They frequently attacked
Crusaders. Chretien’s ideas on the savagery of these beasts may
have come from a returned voyager to the Holy Land, but he
himself could never have seen a lion. Usamah speaks of lions and
leopards in his work (pp. 97, 114, 11 6, 134-42). A lion, about the
size of a dog, is figured in Webster, Plate 25. In Aye d* Avignon,
ed. F. Guessard and P. Meyer (Paris, 1861), vv. 2 < 588 ff., the
knights stand near the perron and esgardent le gieu des ours et des
Hons* Here the Hon must be a figurative animal

25. Wright, p, 100.

26. See A. H. Schutz, The Romance of Daude de Pradas called
Dels Auzels C asm dors (Columbus, Ohio, 1945).

27. See again the tympanum of Saint-Ursin at Bourges, where
the boar hunt is depicted in detail.

28. C.E7.P., No. 19.

29. Le Qrand Testament > ed. A. Longnon and L. Foulet (Paris,
1932), vv. 1198-1202*

30. When a messenger was sent formally by a lord or a high
ecclesiast, it was customary to make quite a ceremony out of the
occasion* The lord touched the messenger with his staff, or he
would give him a token to express his responsibility; a glove from
the lord’s hand, or a walking stick. Doubtless the tokens were
returned shortly thereafter. This was a sort of dismissal Compare
the way in which Charlemagne sends Ganelon on his mission to
the Saracen king. In the same symbolical manner a gift could be
granted or a wife bestowed. In Gaimar’s Estorie des Engleis 9 vv.
37KS-18: ‘“Many her, then come to me.’ The king held a staff;
he extended it and made the grant.”

31. Davison and Apel, pp. 24-27, 218.

32. Reese, p. 299.

33. Detailed information on these instruments can be found in
Reese or in the Harvard Dictionary of Music* The form of the
vide was somewhat variable. I have in mind the representation
on the Limoges casket.—Dalton, p. 51.

Notes

321

34. Three horn players perform beautifully, like swans.—Join-
ville, § 525.

35. There is a picture of a rote played by two quills m Hartley
and Elliot, Plate 17c.

36. A good list of musical instruments is in Brut, vv. 10543-4j;
also in Erec et Enide, vv. 2035 ff.

37. For a view of it see Hartley and Elliot, Plate 15c.

38. Ibid., Plate i7d.

39. Sounant lours cots de couepvre et de leton. — Aqvin, vv.
38-39. The word cor was a generic term. Here grades or buisines
must be intended. For an ivory horn see a specimen in the Victoria
and Albert Museum, London.

40. Bondissent cil tabor, grans fu la resonee. — Quatre fils Aynton,
v. 1136. What are the cors bugheres in v. 987?

41. The construction of an organ is outlined in some detail by
Theophilus, pp. 341, 35 *- See also Reese, p. 329 A picture of the
instrument with two players will be found in Hartley and HJIiot,
Plates 15a and 15c. The portable organ, played with one hand and
pumped with the other while resting on the player’s knee, became
popular in the thirteenth century.

42. Brut,w. 10421-28.

43. Reese, pp. 130-31. By the close of the thirteenth century the
neumes such as we have described gave way to square notes, which
continued to be placed on the four-line staff. This method of nota¬
tion is still retained in chant books of the Roman Catholic Church.

44. This subject matter is too complicated for a general book of
the nature of this one. The reader is referred to Edgar de Bruyne s
IJesthStique du moyen-dge (Louvain, 1947) an< i t0 his Iar S er
Etudes d’esthetique medievale (Bruges, 1946)* II: L’Epoque romane.

45. C.U.P., No. 20; and Policraticus, II, 108-109.

46. Chabaneau, Rev. langues romanes (1883), p. 165.

47. I have taken this list from a later source; but it is typical.
The unlucky days varied with the locality as well as with time.
Warren A. Dawson, A Leechbook of the 15th Century (London,

1 if vv. ^7 5 3-59. We find auze with the meaning “good luck” in

the Cid, w. 1523, 2366, 2369. . , , , ,

49. For thunder and the belief about stepping out with the left

foot see Piramus et Tisbe, w. 633-35. , ,

co N R., pp. 299-300, et al. Friday is different from other days

because of the planet Venus. When Saturn is in Aquanus there
are great rains—N.R., p. 40- Mars,inspires caution (p. 41)- Giraldus

Notes

322

remarked: Astrology tom Toledoan similiter quoque et Apuli. . ..—
Giraldus, VIII, 242. Dande de Pradas believed in the influence of
planets.— Dels Auzels Cassadors, w. 534-37. De male ore est nez
{Connebert, v. 278) is a well-distributed expression.

51. Enueg, v. 25.

52. NIL, pp. 466-72. On the lapidary lore of the period there
are many references. For the sources themselves see Joan Evans
and Paul Studer, Anglo-Norman Lapidaries (Paris, 1924).

53. N.R., pp. 178,179.

54. Helinand speaks of studying Bonomce codices, Salemi pyx¬
ides, Toledi daemones .—Migne, FJL ., 212, col. 603. The Spaniards
ascribed the same reputation to Toledo: En Santiago habia un Deem
que habia muy grant talante de saber el arte de la mgromomcia, et
oyo detdr que don Ulan de Toledo sabia ende mas que nsnguno que
ftiesse en aquella sazori; et por ende vinose para Toledo para
aprender de aquella sciencia.—El Conde Lucanor, Exemplo XI,
p. 58.

55. Marie de France, Fables: “Del vilein et del folet.”

56. W.M., pp. 98-99.

57. Gautier le Leu, Li Sohais, w. 103-104.

58. W.M n p. 97.

59. NJL, p. 310.

60. A ghost is called a fantosme .— Yvam, v. 1226.

61. W.M., pp. 89-98.

62. Yvain, w. 1190-91, and elsewhere.

63. So in Marie de France’s Le Fresne, and in Elioxe (cf. Paulin
Paris in Hist. Lift, de la France, XXII, 350#.).

64. The woman who lost her nose passed this deformity on to
her children in Marie’s Bisclavret.

65. Nemo enim sanae mentis vtdgi fabulosa deliramenta credit,
quod pueros suppom out transformari. — Hist. Archb. Th . Becket,
I, 204. In this same source (I, 157) the superstition is mentioned
that a boy baptized on Whitsunday cannot drown or be burned
sicut vulgaris habet opinionem .

66. Flemings could tell future events from the shoulders of a
ram.—Giraldus, Jfinerarium Kambriae, XI.

67. N.R., p. 310.

68. Ibid., p. 311; W.M., p. 179; Giraldus, VUI, 216, and III, 27.

69. This is ridiculed in Quatre fils Aymon, v. 6507.

70. Giraldus, Itinerarium Kambriae, II, 11.

71. Brunetto Latdni, Tresor, 1 ,155.

72. Dalton, pp. 291-93.

Notes

3 2 3

73. A silver plate is used as a fan for secular purposes in the
Prise d 7 Orange, v. 664. I for one believe that the admittedly diffi¬
cult lines in the Flamenca — Bels conseillers ab granz ventattlas
Aportet horn davan cascu Ques one us non failli ad u . * . (w.
580-82)—mean that attendants with fans were stationed by each
guest.

74. Dalton, pp. 57-60.

75. Ibid., p. 213.

76. There was a chalice of pewter even at Westminster.—Giral-
dus, III, 357.

77. I have a photograph of this from a dealer’s catalogue where
it was offered for sale.

78. See my article in Speculum, IX (1934), 195-204.

79. Dalton, pp. 73-95.

80. Ernst P. Goldschmidt, Gothic and Renaissance Bookbindings
(London, 1928).

81. J. K. Akerman in Archaeologia, o. s. XXXVI (1855), 200-
202, with plate. There are a sapphire ring, two rings set with glass
gems, a gimmel ring, a torque ring, and one with enameled bezel.

82. I have one in my possession which came from Exeter.

83. No. 2447.

84. No. 2503.

85. This is reproduced in the Bedier and Hazard, Histoire de la
literature frangaise illustree, I, 29. It is reproduced in part in Web-
ster, Plate 42. The frieze at Cremona (Webster, Plate 25) is re¬
markable.

86. B6dier and Hazard, p. 40.

87. Religious Art in France, XIII Century (New York, 1913),
p. 52 n. The plants recognized are the plantain, arum, ranunculus,
fern, clover, celandine, hepatica, columbine, cress, parsley, straw¬
berry, ivy, snapdragon, broom, and oak leaves.

88. Rorimer, pp. 18, 22, 35,41 ff.

89. Theophilus, p. 17.

90. Theophilus gives this “fixed” palette: pp. 3 ff.

91. Guigemar, w. 233-45.

92. See above, p. 84.

93. Chapter 5, n. 14, above.

94. A twelfth-century fresco is preserved at Jelling, Denmark;
see National Geographic Magazine, XCV (1949), 166. See also
Chapter 2, n. 26.

95. Liber de coloribus, ed. D. V. Thompson, Jr., in Speculum, I
(1926), 28off., 448-50.

3 2 4

Notes

96. Samuel A. Ives and Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt, An English
13th Century Bestiary (New York, 1942), pp. 40-41.

97. Camille Enlart, Architecture religeuse, I, 429.

98. Qapham and Power, p. 506 n.

99. Ibid., pp. 315-16.

100. Usamah, p. 94.

101. A good description of court proceedings, together with
high-handedness on the part of the overlord, is in Marie’s Lanval.
See also the preliminary trial of Ganelon in the Chanson de Roland.

102. Many instances of ordeal are found. There is a good ex¬
ample in the Tristan story, both the Thomas and the Beroul ver¬
sions. See Beroul, The Romance of Tristan, ed. A. Ewert (Ox¬
ford, 1939). The man of the twelfth century knew that this was
not a good test: II ria soz del larron tant ait avoir emble y S*on le
lait escondire qui ja soit pris provez.—Doon de la Roche, w.
420-21.

103. The water ordeal is described in Usamah, pp. 167-69. See
also W.M., p. 65.

104. Usamah, pp. 167-68.

105. Giraldus, VIII, p. 37. Gerald says (p. 25) that capital pun¬
ishment should be a last resort. A good prince forgives many of¬
fenses (p. 22).

106. W.M., p. 279.

107. For some of these horrible treatments consult Rou, III,
936ff., where robbers are dismembered, have their teeth drawn,
eyes put out, and fists cut off; others are roasted alive or boiled in
lead. Tuz les a fait si czmreer, Hisdus fztrent a esgarder. These are
milder examples: Car metez la dame en destroit, SPaucvne chose vos
disoit. —Marie, Bisclamet, w. 255-56. En un tro de tarere li boutent
erramnent Ses deus pols, puis les coignent molt angoisseusement. —
Adenet li rois, Berte aus grans pies, w. 2254-55. Eyes were put out
with red-hot awls.—Usamah, p. 169. There are illustrations of the
common pillory (Plate 11c) and of the gallows (Plate 11b) in
Hartley and Elliot.

108. Wistasce li moines, w. 695-730.

109. As in the Chanson de Roland (death of Ganelon), Quatre
fils Aymon (death of Herviz), and the treatment of Lunete in the
Yvain. For burning at the stake see J. R. Reinhardt’s article in
Speculum, XVI (1941), 186-209.

no. Cartzdaire de Notre-Dxme, I, Ixxxix. There was consider¬
able difference in this matter between practice and the legal codes.
Murder is mentioned most severely as a capital offense to be pun-

Notes

325

ished by the overlord* Take, for instance, the Charte de Saint-

Omen Si quiz in villa §. Audomari hominem Occident, si depre-
hensus et reus convictus fuerit , nusquam salvationis remedium
habebit. . . .—Gcssler, Textes diplomatiques latins, p. 64*

ni. Monnaies royales et seigneuriales de France, Rollin and
Feuardent (Paris, 1891)*

02. The danger of carrying cash money is expressed in the Cid:
Non duerme sin sospecha qui aver true monedado (v. 126)* It is
interesting to note how a large sum of money was paid out in
Spain, and presumably in France also: En medio del palacio ten-
dieron una ahnoqalla, sobrella una savana de rangal e may blcrnca
(w. 182-83).

113. Poole, p. 78.

114. Carl Stephenson, “Les aides des villes franpaises aux XII e et
XIII* socles,” Moyen Age, XXIV (1922), 274^.

115. Abbot Samson demanded twenty shillings from each knight
fee when he was enthroned.—Jocelin, p. 43. The Ancrene Riwle
speaks of the rapacious knight who likes to “plunder and pillage
the church, for he is like the willow which sprouteth yet the better
that it is after cropped” (pp. 86-87).

116. H. G^raud (ed,), Paris sous Philippe le bel (Paris, 1837).
(Collection des documents inedits). One person listed, Renier le
Flamenc, pays the large sum of eighty pounds (p. 116).

117. Clapham and Power, pp. 316-17. On January 1 (Feast of
the Circumcision) it was customary for a lord to receive a gift
from each of his vassals.—Jocelin, p. 100.

118. Niice, dist li evesques, ne soiez esgaree, Tenez large mesnie,
donez larges sodees, Car par ce serez vos servie et honoree.—Boon
de la Roche, vv. 2593-95. On this foie largesse consult further p. 218
above.

119. Clapham and Power, p. 313.

120. Arch.H.D., pp. 4, 5,8,9,15,16.

121. Poole, p. 5.

122. W.M., p. 76.

123. Ibid., p. 72; William of Newburgh, Hist. Rerum Anglicarmn
(Rolls Series, No. 82), II, Chapter 27.

124. W.M., p. 72; Hist . Rerum Anglicarum, Chapter 13; Giraldus,
VIII, 70.

125. Many references are available on the Albigensians. For a
direct source of information see Bernard Gui, Manuel de Pinquisi-
teur, ed. G. Mollat, 2 vols. (Qassiques de Fhistoire de France an
moyen-age).

Index

Abbey, fortified: 128, 132
Acrobats: 113, 195
Adam dou Petit Pont: 68, 72-73,
109, 1x5-18, 156-57, 197-99
Aesthetics: 237-38
Aids, feudal: 130, 175, 257, 325
(n. 115)

Alain de Lille: 3
Alchemy: 240
Alcube: 192
Aldersgate: 28, 30
Ale: 52

Alfonso VIII of Castile: 8-9
Algais: 12
Allegory: 3, 116
AlouS: 177, 207
Alpine passes: 222
Amercement: 271 (n. 64)
Amusement: 38, m-14, 209
Animals: 25, 113, 191, 201, 206, 231,
319 (n. 24); farm animals, 28,
31, 201-202; make room color¬
ful, 41

Ansels de Mes: 124
Anticlaudianus: 3
Apothecary: 135-36
Aqueduct, Roman: 74
Architecture: 29-30, 98-100; eccles¬
iastical, 145-46, 248-51
Aristotle: 117
Armor: 167-72
Arras: 159
Arrogans: no -ii

Aspremont: 169

Assizes of 1189: 96, 268 (n. 35)

Astrology: 239

Aucassin et Nicolette: 192-93

Auqueton: 1 68

Authority, air of: 36

Avouez: 79

Bailey: see court (yard)

Bailiffs: 37, 42
Bakers: 79
Balance: 63

Balconies: 35, 98, 100, 287 (n. 94)
Banking: 255, 292 (n. 37)

Banquet: 112-13
Baptism: 214

Barber: 165-66, 300 (n. 30)
Barbican: 198, 307 (n. 91)

Barres: 60

Bathing: 98, 133, 166, 301 (n. 34)
Baudre: 20

Baudri de Bourgueil: 84, 229
Bayeux Tapestry: 47, 84, 97-98,171
Baynard Castle: 31, 37
Beams, with animal heads: 29
Bear, trained: 54

Becket, Thomas: 36-37, 102; friend
of Abbot Simon, 19; as chan¬
cellor, 41, 60-61, 113; shrine of,
45; takes ship, 46; martyr, 72;
has nervous stomach, 136;
flowers in sleeve, 161; chapel
at Paris, 277 (n. 61)

Index

328

Bed: 84, 108, 179, 282 (n. 35);
description of, 85-86; curtains,
*83 (n. 38)

Bedchamber: 8i«86, 197
Bedding: 82, 85
Benches: 87
Bermondsey: % 8, 34, 44
Bernard de Chartres: 115
Bestir/, value of: 53
Bi&vre: 77, 101
Billingsgate: 32-33
Birds: 83, 195, 200, 203-204, 231;
cages, 97

Blacksmith: 151-53
BUaut: 160-61, 164
Bloodletting: 131
Boccaccio: 96
Boethius: no, 117, 120-21
Books: 119-22; publication of, 71-
72; time required to write, 72;
monks required to read, 130;
in manor house, 198; in church,
211-13; at Ardrcs, 218-19;
bindings, 244-45; cost of, 291
(n. 27); dealer in, 291 (n. 28)
Boots: 21, 101, 126
Boucherie, Rue de la: 77, 108,
114, 131

Boulogne: 51-53, tog
Bow: 173-74, 184

Brabant; tgz

Braks; m working garment, 36,
146, 160; not worn by women,
163; mm sit around in, 215
Bread: 91; kinds of, 284 (n. 48)
Bridle: 20, 234
Broigne; 169
Bruneau, Clos: 76
Buckles, saddle: 21
Buffet: 87

Building trades: 145-46, 153-54
Burial: 140-41
Butchers: 64

Byzantines: 3

Caen stone: 26, 30, 146

Cake; 91

Calendar, painted on wall: 84
Campanile at Pisa: 33
Campelli: 61» 64, 79, 135, 249, 276
in* 52)

Campus Rosaeus; 66

Candles: 86, 123, 135, 141, 283

(n. 40)

Candlesticks: 86

Canestel: 80

Canon (companion of Alexander):

109-10, 133, 157
Canon law: 116, 121, 123
Canterbury: 44; Cathedral of, 45;

water, 45
Cap: 36, 162
Capitals: 29, 127, 246-47
Caroles: 112, 128
Cart; 46, 55-56, 58
Carver at tabic; 90
Castle: 47, 183-90
Cats: 191, 206
Cement: 100-101
Censers; 312 (m 45)

Chaiilot: 64

Chair: 70 -71, 82, 87, 203

Chandeliers: 210*11

Channel passage; cost of, 50;

length of time required, 51
Chape; 21, 101, 146, 165
Chapel: 198; furnishings of, 209-
211, 213-14

Charcoal: brazier, 68-70, 86; pro¬
duction of, 155

Chardonneret, Clos de; 77
Charroi de Nimes: 144
Chasi: 197, 207

Chasteau-Gadlar d : 189
Chastelct, Grant: 59, 61, 63, 78,
101, 118; see also Petit Chastelct
Cheeses: 200, 203-204
Children: 1x4, 204-206
Chimney: 29-30

Chr6ticn de Troyes: 51, 125, 133,
144, 167, 192, 220, 232
Christ Church (Canterbury): 47

Index

329

Church: hooks, 209, *11-13; at¬
tendance, 214; consecration of,
315 (n, 64); see also chapel
Circlet, around hair: 164—65
Civil (or common) law; 114, 116,
121, 251

Classes, in schools: 115-18
Clerks: 38, 122, 178-79, 216, 254;

dressed in black, 22, 38
Clichy: 58-59, 64
Clignancourt: 157
Clock, water: 210
Cloisters, The (New York): 126-
27, 213, 246

Cluny: 243, 244; monks of, 112,
124, 127-28
Coal: 297 (n. 70)

Colors: in clothing, 162, 169; on
crucifix, 2x4
Compass: 49-50
Compostela: 128

Constable: 179; of London Tower,
37

Conte del QraaU 133-34, 220
Contraiz: 137

Cooking: on ship, 50; recipes, 88,
285 (n. 69)

Cookshops: 55, 114; in London,
32; in Paris, 73
Corbie, Abbey of: 52
Cost of living: 296 (n. 55)
Counting board: 120, 227, 243
Court lire: 41

Court (yard): 185-87, 189, 195
Coute: 85, 282 (n. 35)

Cranes: 88-89

Cries in streets: 40-41, 80, 133
Crossbow: 173-74, 184
Crossbreeding: 242
Crusade, Third: 3
Crutches: 137
Cmr boutlli: 243
Culiere: 20, 216
Curia Regis: 182-83, 2 5 2
Curtains: 83-84
Customs tax: 42, 51, 78

Dancing: 28, 1x2
Daude de Pradas: 227, 232
Decamerone: 96
Defense of theses: 123
Demesne, lord’s: 12
De naturis return: 98-99
Denier: 53, 62-63, 255
De nominibus utensilium } extracts:
20, 2i, 4^-50, 55-56, 69-70, 82,
88, 93-94, 99-xoo, 147, 159-60,
183-85, 195, 199, 200-202
Deptford: 44

Dicing: 113, 195, 290 (n. 15)

Diet: 137-38, 226
Dinner: 87-91, 119
Diseased, in London: 38
Diseases: 226-27
Ditch: x85-86, 197
Dix-huit Geres: 68
Dog: 41, 60, 191, 201, 246; as
sailor, 33
Dominicans: 76

Donjon: 179, 185-87; in London,
31; described, 188-89
Double mail: 302 (n. 41)

Dour River: 46

Dover: 39, 42, 45; road, 34-35, 44;

described, 46-47, 50
Dowgate (or Downgate): 31, 35
Drainage: 101
Draperie, Rue de la: 65
Draughts: 43

Dress: 159-65; peasants’, 203
Dye: 144
Dyer: 151

Education: 177-78, 198, 227-31;
lay, 229-31

Eleanor of Aquitaine: 4; plots
against Heiuy II, 8; freed, 10;
governs with John, 11; her
Queenhithe, 31; confined in
Sarum, 189-90; portrait of,
213, 247; death of, 227
Embroidery: 83, 149
Enamel: 244

Index

330

Esehequkr: 271 (n* 68)

Eseuek: 89-90, 92, 134
Espk(u): 171
Esticnne Soileaus 134-35
Etiquette, at table; 89-90
Exedrae ; 68-69
Exeter (Devon); 42, 95

Fabliau: 3
Fairs: 14; at Smithfield, 27-28; at
Saint-Denis, 59, 144; at Saint-
Lazare, 59, 144; at Saint-Ger¬
main, 144
Falconry: 232-33
Faldestuel: 203
Farmyard: 24-25, 203
Fastidiousness; 39, 4*

F autre: 170-71

Faversham: 45

Fermall: 160

Ferry: 44, 104

Fite des fous: 112

Feudalism: 12-16, 174-79, 206-208

Fevers: 138

Fief; 12

Fkrti: 23

Filth, thrown from windows: 101

Fires, in London; 40

Fish; 93} carts, 46

Fishing; 104, 200

Fitzstephen: 32, 98

Flamenca, repertoire in; 216-17;

fans in, 323 (m 73)

Flanders, Count of; 12, 15, 220
Flattery; 223
Flies: 204
Flowers: 105-106
Folquet of Marseilles; in
Food: 87-92, 113-14
Ford over Seine: 103
Forelock: 299 (n. 11)

Forester: 216
Forks: 90

FossS as Danois: 44
Four l’Evesque: 79

Frederick Barbarossa; 4-6; loses to
Pope, 9; dies, 11

Frederick IX: x 1

Frescoes; 25, 198, 247, 267 (n« 26)
Fruits; 40, 105, 281 (n„ 15), 288
(n. 111); stewed, 216-17
Ftdsil: 94, 143, 286 (m 78)

Fuller; 150

Gaimari 72, 229

Galieygate: 33
Gallows; 54-55
Ganelon; 75

Gardens: 26, 105-106; of castle, 187
Garde-robes: see privies
Garlande, Clos de: 7 6
Garlande, Rue de; 74-76
Garters: 160
Qastel: 11, 55

Gatehouse; 186, 190, 197, 216, 307
(n. 93); of monastery, 131
Gaufres: 80

Gems; 36, 142-43, 239-40, 244
Genouiilkres: 168
Giraldus Cambrensis: on singing,
24, 41, 72; on dancing, 112;
on opening lecture, 117, 157;
and me old priest, 119; clerks
without books, 122; at Oxford,
123; to learned lady, 229
Girart de Roussillon; 155
Glass; 144, 323 (n. 81)

Gloves; 83, 166-67; hold coins, 301
(m 38)

Glue: 236,244, 303 (n. 57)

Goldsmith: 134, 142-43, 151, 168,
244-45

Goliard: 158
Gomphus: 1S9
Gonfanon; 170
Gong, in church: 209
Gome: 36, 165, 300 (n. 29)
Goudale: 52
Grammar: 72

Grant Pont: as barrier, 61; de¬
scription, 62, 64, 68, 79

Index

33i

Greek letters: 70-72
Greeting: 190-91
Gr&ve: 6x» 276 (n. 51)

Qrouge: 92

Guernes dc Sainte-Maxence: 72,

102, 229

Quet: see watch
Guibert de Nogent; 228, 230
Guilds, trade: 14, 134-35
Guillaume de Sens: 45

Flair; worn shaggy, 22, 36, 162;

of women, 164
Handkerchief: 301 (n. 38)
Hand-washing: 87, 94, 118
Harness: 20; no harness in racing,
27; farm, 201-202
Hauberc: 166-69

Hautefeuillc, Palais de: 74; de¬
scribed, 75-76
Flawks: 83, 231-33
Health rules: 137-38
Hebrew language: 72-73, 279

(n. 82)

Height, of people: 225
Helmet: 168-69
Henap: 55, 87, 88-90, n4, 144
Flenri dc Champagne: 208
Henry II: 3; and Alix, 4; and
Pope, 6; imprisons Eleanor, 8;
defeat and death, 10; peace
with Louis VII, 19
Heralds: 180-81, 184
Herbs: 105-106, 121, 136
Heretics: 258-59
Holidays: 41, 119, 135
HSlmgang: 288 (n. 114)

Holy Innocents, church and ceme¬
tery: 58, 61

Holy water, sold: 289 (n. 1)
Horse: 27-28, 52, 141, 186; see
sumpter
Horsepool: 27

Hospice: 27, 273 (n. 26); at Dover,
47; Boulogne, 53, 55; of Saint-
Gervais, 64; for pilgrims, 221

Hdtel-Dieu; 67, 82
HStes: 128, 208-209
Hourdes: 188

Hours: ringing of, 41, 123-24;
sung, 214

Houses: 95-96; peasants’, 24-25;
description, 29, 97-100; in

London, 29-30

Huchette, Rue de la: 73, 77, 131
Huelgas, Las: 9
Huese: 21

Hugues of Saint-Victor: 115
Humors: 138
Hunting: 129-30, 191
Huon de Bordeaux: 229-30

Iced drinks: 284 (n. 59)

Icknield: 18

Indies: 134

Infant care: 140

Infirmary: 131, 198

Inks: 69-70, 144, 278 (n. 73>

Interest rate: 195

Itinerary: see journey

Jacques de Vitry: 39
Javiaus, Isle des: 79
Jehan de Hauteville: 81, 108
Jester: 199
Jewelry; 164

Jews: 65-66, 114, 118, 128, 137, 277
(n. 63)

Jew’s House (Lincoln): 96
Jocelin of Brakeland: 22, 129
John of Garland: 21, 81, 89, 141,
143, 151, 262 (n. 1)

John of Salisbury: 15, 72, no, 115,

119, *33» 2 3 8
Josse of London: 67-68
Journey: made in a day, 19; at a
walk, 2 r; London to Paris,
itinerary, 40, 274 (n. 29)
Juiverie, Rue de la: 65-66, 73
Jurisdiction, civil: 79, 251
Justice: 42, 251-53; by ordeal,
252-53

332

Index

Keys: 102

King John House (Southampton):
95

Kingship: 15-16

King’s palace at Park: 65, 101, 104-
107, 128; garden of, 105-106
Kitchen: 73; described, 92-95, 99;
of castle, 186-87, 190; maid,
,199

Knight: 167-72, 174-79, 180-82,
184, 199; mercenary, 176-,

entertainer, 219-20; tall and
thin, 225; proportion to popu¬
lation, 270 (n. 62)

Knighting, act of: 174-75
Knitting: 83, 165

Laas, Ggs de: 76, 79
Labors of die Months: 202-203,
246

Labyrinth: 190
Lacquer: 84-85

Language, of England: 23; in
France, 78; broken, 220
Latch: 102

Lateran: no

Latin, as spoken by clerics: 23, 316
(n. 84)

Latrine: see privies
Laughter: 38, 52-53, 113, 207
Laundress: 150
Laundry: 198
Lector: 115-17

Leg coverings: 21-22,160, 162, 165;

of knight, z 68
Lendit: 59, 144
Leoninus: 67, 234
Leper hospital: 59
Leprosy: 295 (m 27)

Lerot: 160

Letters: 51, 122, 233, 319 (n. 22)
Levels of interpretation: 116

Liane River: 51
Library: 198, 218
Life expectancy: 226
Life of St, Gregory: 91, 96-97

Lift over entry door: 29, 98
Lighthouse: 47, 51
Lincoln, Bishop’s house: 26
Lion, size of: 232, 319 (no. 24)
Lists: 181
Litters: 55
Litde Mary: 209-10
Livre, value of: 53
Lwre des mestiers: 134
Locks: 102-103, 2 to
Lodging: 273 (n. 26); forbidden
in Notre Dame, 66, 277 (n.
66); students’, 81-82
Lof: 48

Loges: 181, 192-93
London: 29-39; first view of, 26-
27; Bridge, 33, 44, 262; Tower

of, 34, 42

Longtdgne: 96, 188-89; see *d$a

privies

Louis VII, of France: 19, 65-66,
156, 182, 252, 254
Louvart: 12
Louvre: 64
Ludgate: 26, 31
Luteda: 75; means “mud,” 100

Madeleine Church: 65
Maidens: 177-78
Maire: 197, 199, 207
Make-up: 164
Mangon: 171

Manor house: 25, 76; described,

J 97~99

Manservant: zo8
Mantes: 78
Mantle: 161-62
Maps: 54; world map, 84
Marc, value of: 53
Marcabrnn: 165
Mttrchands de Femi: 58, 76, 78
Marie de France: 41, 71, 83, 126,
166, 180, 187, 191, 216, 229,
231-32

Market, on Friday: 28; at Paris,

61, 64

Index

333

Marne: 104

Marriage: nature of, 193; descrip¬
tion of ceremony, 193-94;
food at peasants*, 285 (n. 62)
Marcyrologium: 57
Mass: 118, 209, 211-13
“Maubcrt, Place”: 75
Mauvoisin, Clds de: 76-77
Mazer: 52
Measures: 196

Medicine: 84, 109, 115, m, 131;

practice of, 136-40, 230
Mediterranean: 32
Mercadier: 12

Merchants: 28, 36, 143-44, 2 55 *>
dress, 165; itinerant, 202
Merovingian cathedral at Paris:

67

Messengers: 54, 233, 320 (n. 30)
Milestones: 57
Milk: 199-200

Mills: 26, 77, 80, 94, 103-104, 257
Mining: 151-52

Minstrels: 113, 115, 195, 216-19;
duration of performance of,
217, 315 (n. 74); offspring of,
222; companion of Alexander:
iio-ii, 158
Mire: 136-40

Mirrors: 45, 143; with lead back¬
ing, 144

Moat: see ditch

Money: 145, 277 (n. 58); values
of, 53-54> minting of, 254-55
Money belt: 54
Money-changers: 62, 255
Monge de Montaudo: 47, 239
Monk, companion of Alexander:
109, 157

Monkey: 31, 54, 60, 113, 231, 320
(n. 24)

Monks: 124-32
MontFichet: 31, 37
Montmartre: 57, 58
Montpellier: 109; style center, 149
Moon, man in the: 120

Mooresfield: 35
Mart Aymeri: 141
M or ter el: 92
Mumie: 136
Music: 211, 213, 233-36
Musical instruments: 184, 209, 216,
2 34“37

Mutilated people: 38, 54, 137, 227,

m

Mythology: 84

Neckam, Alexander: 16-17, 263
(n. 6); decides to study, 18;
stays at Smithfield, 27; gram¬
marian, 50; arrives in Paris, 64;
companions in lodging, 108 ff.,
133, 157; attends classes, 115 ff.;
ideas on seven arts, 119-20;
finishes studies, 156-57; visits
castle, 185, 222; returns to
Dunstable, 223
Needles: 83, 143
Nequcrm (pun): 18
Neumes: 237

Newgate: 27-28, 63; Street, 30,
41-42, 262
Nieules: 80

Nigel Wireker: 65, 81, no, 118,
124

Notre Dame, Cathedral of: 65-67,
73, 79, 108, hi, 124, 144-45*
234; cloister of, 79, 101, 112;
chancellor of, 117; gargoyles
of, 250

Notre Dame, Isle de: 79
“Nurses”: 293 (n. 9)

Oaths: 212
Ocreas: 21-22
Oils: 135

Old Bourn: 26-27, 261
Old Sarum: 97, 189-90
Organ: 235-36; at Paris, 67
Organum: 213, 233-34
Orleans road: 74, 76-77

334 Index

Orleans schools: no; prestige of,
10, 122

Ornamentation, on houses: 29, 98
Qubties: Ho
Ovens: 79, 198, 257
Ovid: 84

Paintings: see frescoes
Paints: 49, 135, 198; artists’, 248
Pales, for fencing; 24, 47, 58-59,
63, 185-86, 197
Paneling: 83
Pantry: 94, 198
Parchment: 69, 248
Paris: 57-69, 103-107; prestige of,
9; fairs at, 14; intellectual cli¬
mate of, 19; road to, 52; bishop
of, 66, 79, 183; provost of, 78;
paving of, 183
Parish: see denier
Parleoir des borjois: 76-78; see also
HautefeuiUe
Parties: 193-95
Passellus Sancti Martini: 59
Pasties: 80, 119
Pastourelle: 112
Pax: 213

Pay: for workers, 145, 256; for
serjanz, 280 (n. 8)

Peacocks: 88-89

Peasants: 199; tools and belongings
of, 200-204; wives’ trials, 204-
205

Peitrel: 21

Pelllcc: 161, 164, 199
Perotinus; 234
Perron: 100
Peter Comestor: 116
Peter Lombard: 116, 121
Peter Pictor: 113

Petit Chastelet: 74, 76, 78-79, *81-
82

Petit Pont: 16, 67, 104, 109, 117-18,
131, 146; described, 68-69, 73-
74; Bourg du, 77-78, 123
Pewter: 243

Phala: 198

Phantasmata: 133, 241

Philip Augustus; 63, 66, 76, 156,

* 4 8 ’ 152, 2 J 4-55

Philip of Handers; 51

Physical types; 225

Physician, tees of: 131; see mire

Pickling: 92-93

Picnic meal; 55

Pilgrims; 221-22

Piument: 94

Plays: 111-12, 128, 223-24
Plow: 201-202
Pockets, nonexistent; 161
Pole, for clothing: 86
Poncel; 77
Popinjays: 231

Porte Handover; 60, 63-64, 113
Porte de Paris; 63, 79, 135
Posts, with animal heads: 98; see
also beams
Pottery: 155-56, 245
Pouncing bag: 248
Pr6~aux~clercs: 77, 119, 128, 132
Priapus: 202
Prisons; 42, 63, 187
Privies: 38-39, 92, 96-97, 188-89;
shaft of, 96} at Sarum, 190; at
Exeter, 285 (n. 64)

Procession, of Thomas Becker; 6o~
61

Products, farm: 13
Prostitution: 113; forced, 37
Provins: 14

Purse: 133, 161; contents, 53

Quadrivium: 84, 115, 120-21, 230
Quays, at London: 31-33
Quisque es in mensa: 89

Racing: 27-28
Rahere: 27
Rape: 114
Razors: 143

Reading: 178, 188, 229-31, 319 (n.

15)

Index

335

Rebellion: 37-38

Recommendations: 73

Refsrattkrs; Bo
RdevSe: 1*9, *23

Rent: for room, 71, 279 (n. 81);

feudal, 129, 207
Revdins: 21
Rhetoric: 72
Ribauz: 36-38, 184
Richard, abbot of Saint-Victor: 73
Richard I: frees Eleanor, 10; pris¬
oner, n; is killed, 12; milk
brother of Alexander Neckam,
19

Rings, finger: 323 (m 81)
Robbers, of rank: 287 (n. 100)
Romance form is born: 3
Roman do la Rose: 3, 163-64
Roman de Renan: 203-204, 209,
213, 215-16, 220, 238, 240
Roman pavement: 24, 35, 57, 59, 65,
74, i00-10 1

Roman temple on Montmartre: 57
Roman wall at Paris: 65-67; de¬
scription, 106-107
Rome: 74, 109, 222
Rondeau: 24

Room: rented, 95; for women’s
work, 95, 198

Rouen, merchants of: 31, 61
Ruga Sancti Germani: 60, 63
Rugs: 150, 167, 194, 215, 282 (n.

35 )

Rushes, on floor: 30, 41, 86, 215,
231

Sacerdos ad altarem: 17, 278 (n.
76)

Sacristan, as banker: 292 (n. 37)
Saddle: 20, 52, 216 265 (n. 8, ro)
Saffre: 169

Sailors: 35-36, 48-49; number on
board ship, 272 (n. 16)

St. Albans: 18-19; abbot of, 19, 128
St. Bartholomew, Hospice of: 20,
27, 42

St. Botolph’s: 32
Saint-Christofle, church: 66
Saint-Denis: 55-57
Sainte-Genevi&ve: 73, 78, 127; ab¬
bot of, 79

Sainte-Opportune: 64
Saint-Esnenne (-des-Gr^s): 75
Saint-Germain-des-Pr6s: 76, 78,

128-32; abbot of, 79, 129-30
Saint-Germain l’Auxerois, church:
59

Saint-Germain, village of: 128
Saint-Gervais: 64
Saint-Jacques de la Boucherie: 64
Saint-Julien-le-pauvre: 75, 108, 118,
123

Saint-Landry, Porte de: 65
Saint-Lazare, Chaussee de: 57-58,63
Saint-Martin-des-Champs: 59, 127-
28

Saint-Martin, Route: 57
St. MartinVle-Grand: 41, 47
Saint-Merri, church: 59, 61, 63
St. Paul’s (London): 30
Saint-Pierre de Buef: 66
Saint Savior: 35
Saint-S6verin: 76

St. Thomas Becket: see Becket,
Thomas

Saint-Thomas-le-martyr: 64
Saint-Victor: 73, 77 ~ 7 8 > I2 7
Salisbury: see Old Sarum
Salle: 30, 82, 86, 90, 97, 108, 179,
188, 189-90, 198; description, 95
Salves: 137

Sambue: 21, 265 (n. 10)

Saracens: 75, 118, 128
Sarum, Old: see Old Sarum
Scandinavia: 32, 129
Scarlet: 297 (n. 60)

Schools: 28; of Paris, 68, _ 81-82;
monastic, 130; for minstrels,
218; cost of attendance at
Paris, 289 (n. 1)

Sciences: 120
Scissors: 83, 281 (n. 24)

Index

33<*

Scottish peculiarities; 22-24
Scribe, materials of: 69-70, 8a, 198,
278 (m 76)

Scurvy: 89, 226

Seine: 351-40, 59, 69, 103*104, 128,
146; isles of, 107

Sentines: 33

Sept Voies, Rue des: 262
Serf: obligations of, 12*13, 174,
207-208; houses of, 24*25; at
Bermondsey, 34; as chaplains,

215; justice for, 253
Serjant: 102, 172-74, 177, 179-80,
182,184, 199
Serlo of Wilton: in
Shampoo: 301 (n. 36)

Shaving: 36, 165-66, 301 (n. 30)
Shield: 171-72, 184
Shipmaster: 39; see also steersman
Ships: 32-34, 46-48, 49-50
Shoemaker; 151; and monkey, 31
Shoes: 21, 161, 163, 165, 299 (n, 8)
Shops: 30,65, 79
Shutters: 97-98,102
Siege engines: 184, 186
Sign over hospice: 64
Silk: 36, 149, 158, 160, 165, 188,
192; production of, 297 (n, 60)
Simon, Abbot, is prodigal; 19
Sinking; 23-24, 54, 213, 217, 234
Sittingbourne: 45
Skating; 35
Smithneld: 27, 42,44
Snood (cap) : 36
Soap: 41,87,1x8
Soler: 62,95
“Sortes”: 120
Sou, value of: 53
Southampton: 95

Spain: 213, 240, 288 (n. in), 310
(n. n)

Spices: 88; for nervous stomach,
135-36

Spinning: 199-200
Spiral twist: 282 (n. 35)

Spoons: 89, 274 (n. 27)

Sports: 28, 38, 68, 119, 158

Spur: a i, 134
Stables; 185-87,198
Stairway; 30
Stars; 202, 239

Steel: 153; distinguished from iron,
297 (n. 71)

Steersman; 33-34, 50
StelHonesi 56
Stephen, King: 37
Stockade, on right bank of Seine:
58-60, 63-64

Stone, cutting for; 139, 294 (n. 26)
Stucco; 100

Students; 52, 64, 66, 69, 81-82,
108 if*; Knglish at Paris, 118
Sumpter: 52, 55, 58, 60
Superstitions: 238-42
Supper; 215
Surgery: 138-39
Sweeping: 204

Swimming; 68, 205, 311 (n. 30)
Sword: al» 171
Synod: 215

Tables; game, 43; furniture, 86-87
Tablets, of wm: 54, 275 (m 33)
Tailor; 163

Tales; 54,174
Tapestry; see cumins
Target; 179, 298 <n. 1)

Tavern; 53, 113-14
Taxation; 251, 256-58
Teeth; 91, 226-27
Templars; 113, 182
Temple: in London, 26, 30; in
Paris, 60-61
Tents: 192
Textbooks: 17, 156
Textiles, kinds of; 148-50, 160
Thames River: 25-26, 31 if., 44
Thames Street: 31, 35-36
Theobald of Cologne: 150
Theology: 115

Theophilus Rugerus: 142, 153-54
Thcrmes: 74, 76
Thimble: 83
Tidal rivers: 40

Index 337

Tiles: 245

Tilting practice: 28, 158
Time reckoning: 19
Tokens: 170
Tools: 154, 200-204
Torche~cul$: 189
Torture: 253-54

Tourneying: on water at London,
35; of Icnights, 175, 180-81
Towels: 87

Towing, on Seine: 104
Toys: 205
Trade rules: 78-79
Trades: 133-35

Transport, of goods from Orient:

Travel, in company: 23-24, 54, 57;
see journey

Treasure chamber, in castle: 190
Trenchers: 87

Tresriches heures, of Due de
Berry: 105, 107
Trials: see justice
Trivium; 84, 1*5, 119, 230

Visskrs: 33

Underground passages: 42, 271 (n*

66 )

University: see schools
Usamah: 80, 170, 172, 225
Utensils for household: 61, 93-94,
286 (m 75)

Vaches, Isle des: 79
Vagrants: 102

Vair: fur, 134, 160; described, 162;

color in general, 318 (n. 2)
Varnish: see lacquer
Ventaille: 168, 173
Vergil, as magician: 241-42
Vespers: 119, 131, 135; see hours
V6zelay: 94, 104
Viele; 209, 216-17, 2 34
Villon: 102, 182, 233
Vineyards: 57, 75
Virelai: 24

Vitamin C, lacking: 226
Vivarium: 93, 104, 205, 311 (n. 30)

Waee: 33, 43, 47-48, 153-541 *94»
23 6

Walbrook (London): 25, 31, 262
Wall of Philip Augustus: 76
Wall ornamentation: 29-30, 83-84
Walter Fitzrobert: 37
Walter Map, on spirits: 241
Warin, prior of Dover: 47
Wassail: 52, 81

Watch: on tower, 101, 118, 186;

town, 101-102, 134, 176
Water: 92, 101, 285 (n. 65)

Water Merchants of Paris: see
marchands de Peau
Wax seals: 233
Wealth: 3 6
Weaver: 146-50
Weights: 196
Welcomme: 23
Wells: 285 (n. 65)

Wells, River of: 26
Welsh singing: 24
Westminster: 25, 28, 44; its old
name, 267 (n. 25)

Whaling: 293 (n. 6)

Wharf: 95

Whittling: 293 (n. 12)

Wimple: 163, 199
Windlass: 34, 145
Windows: 29-30, 97-99, 102; in
peasant’s house, 25; screens or
coverings, 70-71, 97; with

pleasant spices, 99, 199
Wine: 28, 52, 61-62, 82, 93-94, 114*
136, 257; criers of, 40, 80; con¬
tainers for, 286 (n. 73)
Wistasce li moines: 50, 240
Wolf: 41

Woodstock (England): 25
Wounds: 138-39; in the vuit buc 9
140

Yarmouth: 46

Yvatn: 16, 125, 162, 166, 193-941
232

Zodiac: 84, 239

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PARIS in the year 1180