In chivalry, the term attaint meant to strike the helmet and shield of an opponent so firmly with the lance held in a direct line, as either to break the lance or knock over the person struck.
In law, an attaint was formerly a writ at common law against a jury for a false verdict. It is now obsolete in England. Research Attaint
Chariot is a term applied to horse-drawn vehicles used both for pleasure and in war. Ancient chariots, such as those used among the Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks, and Romans, were of various forms. A common form was open behind and closed in front, and had only two wheels.
The chariot was strongly and even elegantly built, but not well adapted for speed. In ancient warfare chariots were of great importance; thus we read of the 900 iron chariots of Sisera, as giving him a great advantage against the Israelites. The Philistines in their war against Saul had 30,000 chariots.
The sculptures of ancient Egypt show that the chariots formed the strength of the Egyptian army, these vehicles being two - horsed and carrying the driver and the warrior, sometimes a third man, the shield-bearer. There is no representation of Egyptian soldiers on horseback, and consequently when Moses in his song of triumph over Pharaoh speaks of the horse and his rider, rider must be understood to mean chariot-rider. In the Egyptian chariots the framework, wheels, pole, and yoke were of wood, and the fittings of the inside, the bindings of the framework, as well as the harness were chiefly of raw hide or of tanned leather.
We have also numbers of sculptures which give a clear idea of the Assyrian chariots. These resembled the Egyptian in all essential features, containing almost invariably three men - the warrior, the shield-bearer, and the charioteer. A peculiarity of both is the quiver or quivers full of arrows attached to the side. The Assyrian war-chariot was drawn by three horses abreast, and all the appointments were rich and elaborate. It had two quivers crossing each other on the side, filled with arrows, and each also containing a small axe. A socket for holding the spear was also attached. From the front of the chariot a singular ornamental appendage stretched forward.
War-chariots had sometimes scythe-like weapons attached to each extremity of the axle, as among the ancient Persians and Britons. Among the Greeks and Romans chariot-races were common.
In Britain the name chariot was formerly given to a kind of light travelling carriage. Research Chariot
Chivalry is a term which indicates strictly the organization of knighthood as it existed in the middle agea, and in a general sense the spirit and aims which distinguished the knights of those times. The chief characteristics of the chivalric ages were a warlike spirit, a lofty devotion to the female sex, a love of adventure, and an undefinable thirst for glory. The Crusades gave for a time a religious turn to the spirit of chivalry, and various religious orders of knighthoodarose, such as the Knights of St John, the Templars, the Teutonic Knights, etc.
The education of a knight in the days of chivalry was as follows: In his twelfth year he was sent to the court of some baron or noble knight, where he spent his time chiefly in attending on the ladies, and acquiring skill in the use of arms, in riding, etc. When advancing age and experience in the use of arms had qualified the page for war, he became an esquire, or squire. This word is from the Latinscutum, a shield, it being among other offices the squire's business to carry the shield of the knight whom he served. The third and highest rank of chivalry was that of knighthood, which was not conferred before the twenty-first year, except in the case of distinguished birth or great achievements. The individual prepared himself by confessing, fasting, etc; religious rites were performed; and then, after promising to be faithful, to protect ladies and orphans, never to lie nor utter slander, to live in harmony with his equals, etc, he received the accolade, a slight blow on the neck with the flat of the sword from the person who dubbed him a knight. This was often done on the eve of battle, to stimulate the new knight to deeds of valour; or after the combat, to reward signal bravery.
The rules of chivalry only applied to the nobility. While knights on the battle field and in combat enjoyed rules of engagement and a degree of mutual respect - with the notable exception of the Battle of Agincourt where the captured French knights were murdered at the order of king Henry V - peasants, or the ordinary common folk, were slaughtered and raped by knights as though they were not human at all, and certainly not treated in a chivalrous fashion. Research Chivalry
The Italian order of Knights of the Annunciation, was instituted by Amadeus VI, duke of Savoy, in 1360. The king was always grand-master. The knights must be of high rank, and must already be members of the order of St Mauritius and St Lazarus. The decoration of the order consists of a golden shield suspended to a chain or collar of roses and knots, the letters F. E. R. T. being inscribed on the roses, and standing for Fortitudoejus Rhodum tenuit (its bravery held Rhodes). Research Knights of the Annunciation
The Sons Of Temperance are a friendly society originally founded as an association for the promotion of temperance. The Sons Of Temperance were founded in 1842 at New York City with the objects of 'to shield its members from the evils of intemperance, to afford mutual assistance in times of sickness, provide a sum of money at the death of a member, to elevate character, to enlist workers in an earnest and noble endeavour to reclaim those who fell under the influence of strong drink, to save the young from the terrible power of the drink habit, and to assist in every way the suppression of the drink traffic.' Research Sons Of Temperance
Tortoise-shell is the horny shield which covers the carapace of the hawk's- bill turtle (Chelone imbricata). Each scale is beautifully marked, but is very thin so for the purposes of manufacture several must be welded together. This is done by heating in oil or by boiling, when the scales soften they can be welded or moulded. Research Tortoise-shell
A tournament was originally an exhibition of combat between mounted men. Named from the tournament, or quick turning of the horses, it appeared in Europe in the 11th century, and quickly grew in popularity, both in France and England, where, in the reign of Henry II, it became necessary to prohibit tournaments owing to extravagant indulgence in them by the younger nobility. Later, tournaments were allowed to be held under royal licence, und a classic account of one in the time of Richard I is given in the book Ivanhoe, in which the customs and rules of such assemblies are graphically indicated. Froissart is also a mine of information regarding tournaments.
The essential feature of a tournament was the single combat of knight with knight, each striving to unhorse or incapacitate his opponent, the usual weapon being the lance. Sometimes, however, one body of knights fought against another body. They took place on most occasions of rejoicing.
Participation in tournaments was usually reserved for those of noble birth, and about the end of the 13th century a new set of rules was embodied in a statute of arms for tournaments, which laid down, among other provisions, that disputes arising out of a tournament were to be settled by a court of honour composed of princes and earls. By the 16th century the tournament had degenerated until it was merely a form of pageant. The term is now applied to many kinds of athletic contests.
In the 18th century novel Ivanhoe, the author, Walter Scott describes the arena and audience of a fictional 12th century tournament as follows:
On the verge of a wood, which approached to within a mile of the town of Ashby, was an extensive meadow, of the finest and most beautiful green turf, surrounded on one side by the forest, and fringed on the other by straggling oak-trees, some of which had grown to an immense size. The ground, as if fashioned on purpose for the martial display which was intended, sloped gradually down on all sides to a level bottom, which was enclosed for the lists with strong palisades, forming a space of a quarter of a mile in length, and about half as broad. The form of the enclosure was an oblong square, save that the corners were considerably rounded off, in order to afford more convenience for the spectators. The openings for the entry of the combatants were at the northern and southern extremities of the lists, accessible by strong wooden gates, each wide enough to admit two horsemen riding abreast. At each of these portals were stationed two heralds, attended by six trumpets, as many pursuivants, and a strong body of men-at-arms for maintaining order, and ascertaining the quality of the knights who proposed to engage in this martial game.
On a platform beyond the southern entrance, formed by a natural elevation of the ground, were pitched five magnificent pavilions, adorned with pennons of russet and black, the chosen colours of the five knights challengers. The cords of the tents were of the same colour. Before each pavilion was suspended the shield of the knight by whom it was occupied, and beside it stood his squire, quaintly disguised as a salvage or silvan man, or in some other fantastic dress, according to the taste of his master, and the character he was pleased to assume during the game. The central pavilion, as the place of honour, had been assigned to Brian be Bois-Guilbert, whose renown in all games of chivalry, no less than his connexions with the knights who had undertaken this Passage of Arms, had occasioned him to be eagerly received into the company of the challengers, and even adopted as their chief and leader, though he had so recently joined them. On one side of his tent were pitched those of Reginald Front-de-Boeuf and Richard de Malvoisin, and on the other was the pavilion of Hugh de Grantmesnil, a noble baron in the vicinity, whose ancestor had been Lord High Steward of England in the time of the Conqueror, and his son WilliamRufus. Ralph de Vipont, a knight of St John of Jerusalem, who had some ancient possessions at a place called Heather, near Ashby-de-la-Zouche, occupied the fifth pavilion. From the entrance into the lists, a gently sloping passage, ten yards in breadth, led up to the platform on which the tents were pitched. It was strongly secured by a palisade on each side, as was the esplanade in front of the pavilions, and the whole was guarded by men-at-arms. The northern access to the lists terminated in a similar entrance of thirty feet in breadth, at the extremity of which was a large enclosed space for such knights as might be disposed to enter the lists with the challengers, behind which were placed tents containing refreshments of every kind for their
tion, with armourers, tarriers, and other attendants, in readiness to give their services wherever they might be necessary.
The exterior of the lists was in part occupied by temporary galleries, spread with tapestry and carpets, and accommodated with cushions for the convenience of those ladies and nobles who were expected to attend the tournament. A narrow space, betwixt these galleries and the lists, gave accommodation for yeomanry and spectators of a better degree than the mere vulgar, and might be compared to the pit of a theatre. The promiscuous multitude arranged themselves upon large banks of turf prepared for the purpose, which, aided by the natural elevation of the ground, enabled them to overlook the galleries, and obtain a fair view into the lists. Besides the accommodation which these stations afforded, many hundreds had perched themselves on the branches of the trees which surrounded the meadow; and even the steeple of a country church, at some distance, was crowded with spectators.
It only remains to notice respecting the general arrangement, that one gallery in the very centre of the eastern side of the lists, and consequently exactly opposite to the spot where the shock of the combat was to take place, was raised higher than the others, more richly decorated, and graced by a sort of throne and canopy, on which the royal arms were emblazoned. Squires, pages, and yeomen in rich liveries, waited around this place of honour, which was designed for Prince John and his attendants. Opposite to this royal gallery was another, elevated to the same height, on the western side of the lists; and more gaily, if less sumptuously decorated, than that destined for the Prince himself. A train of pages and of young maidens, the most beautiful who could be selected, gaily dressed in fancy habits of green and pink, surrounded a throne decorated in the same colours. Among pennons and flags bearing wounded hearts, burning hearts, bleeding hearts, bows and quivers, and all the commonplace emblems of the triumphs of Cupid, a blazoned inscription informed the spectators, that this seat of honour was designed for 'La Royne de las Beaulte et des Amours'. But who was to represent the Queen of Beauty and of Love on the present occasion no one was prepared to guess.
Meanwhile, spectators of every description thronged forward to occupy their respective stations, and not without many quarrels concerning those which they were entitled to hold. Some of these were settled by the men-at-arms with brief ceremony; the shafts of their battle-axes, and pummels of their swords, being readily employed as arguments to convince the more refractory. Others, which involved the rival claims of more elevated persons, were determined by the heralds, or by the two marshals of the field, William de Wyvil, and Stephen de Martival, who, armed at all points, rode up and down the lists to enforce and preserve good order among the spectators.
Gradually the galleries became filled with knights and nobles, in their robes of peace, whose long and rich-tinted mantles were contrasted with the gayer and more splendid habits of the ladies, who, in a greater proportion than even the men themselves, thronged to witness a sport, which one would have thought too bloody and dangerous to afford their sex much pleasure. The lower and interior space was soon filled by substantial yeomen and burghers, and such of the lesser gentry, as, from modesty, poverty, or dubious title, durst not assume any higher place. It was of course amongst these that the most frequent disputes for precedence occurred.
Walter Scott goes on to describe the rules of the tournament, which he says were imparted to the audience by the monarch:
First, the five challengers were to undertake all comers.
Secondly, any knight proposing to combat, might, if he pleased, select a special antagonist from among the challengers, by touching his shield. If he did so with the reverse of his lance, the trial of skill was made with what were called the arms of courtesy, that is, with lances at whose extremity a piece of round flat board was fixed, so that no danger was encountered, save from the shock of the horses and riders. But if the shield was touched with the sharp end of the lance, the combat was understood to be at 'outrance', that is, the knights were to fight with sharp weapons, as in actual battle.
Thirdly, when the knights present had accomplished their vow, by each of them breaking five lances, the Prince was to declare the victor in the first day's tourney, who should receive as prize a warhorse of exquisite beauty and matchless strength; and in addition to this reward of valour, it was now declared, he should have the peculiar honour of naming the Queen of Love and Beauty, by whom the prize should be given on the ensuing day.
Fourthly, it was announced, that, on the second day, there should be a general tournament, in which all the knights present, who were desirous to win praise, might take part; and being divided into two bands of equal numbers, might fight it out manfully, until the signal was given by Prince John to cease the combat. The elected Queen of Love and Beauty was then to crown the knight whom the Prince should adjudge to have borne himself best in this second day, with a coronet composed of thin gold plate, cut into the shape of a laurel crown. On this second day the knightly games ceased. But on that which was to follow, feats of archery, of bull-baiting, and other popular amusements, were to be practised, for the more immediate amusement of the populace.
At the flourish of clarions and trumpets, they started out against each other at full gallop; and such was the superior dexterity or good fortune of the challengers, that those opposed to Bois-Guilbert, Malvoisin, and Front-de-Boeuf, rolled on the ground. The antagonist of Grantmesnil, instead of bearing his lance-point fair against the crest or the shield of his enemy, swerved so much from the direct line as to break the weapon athwart the person of his opponent - a circumstance which was accounted more disgraceful than that of being actually unhorsed; because the latter might happen from accident, whereas the former evinced awkwardness and want of management of the weapon and of the horse. The fifth knight alone maintained the honour of his party, and parted fairly with the Knight of St John, both splintering their lances without advantage on either side.
The shouts of the multitude, together with the acclamations of the heralds, and the clangour of the trumpets, announced the triumph of the victors and the defeat of the vanquished. The former retreated to their pavilions, and the latter, gathering themselves up as they could, withdrew from the lists in disgrace and dejection, to agree with their victors concerning the redemption of their arms and their horses, which, according to the laws of the tournament, they had forfeited. The fifth of their number alone tarried in the lists long enough to be greeted by the applauses of the spectators, amongst whom he retreated, to the aggravation, doubtless, of his companions' mortification.
During intervals of the tournament it appears that heralds inspired the contestants and audience by announcements and chants inspiring chivalry and bravery such as:
'Love of ladies, splintering of lances! stand forth gallant knights, fair eyes look upon your deeds!' Research Tournament
Calamarinae is a subfamily of reptiles of the typical snakes family (Colubridae). The subfamily contains nine genera divided into some 65 species found in south Asia across New Guinea and the Philippines, mainly in rain forests and montane rainforests to an altitude of 1800 metres. Most members have pointed or shovel-shaped snout, and the head is indistinct from the body. Generally the rostal shield extends forward over the mouth, the scales are smooth and iridescent and the relatively short tail ends with a spine. All of the members of the subfamily are subterranean, living in burrows, emerging at night or after heavy rain to hunt earthworms and over invertebrates and larvae. Some species live in termite mounds and feed on the termites and their nymphs. Research Calamarinae
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Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Attaint
