ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF CHIVALRY. 93 he should blend with all the feelings which these offices inspired, a deep sense of devotion, exalting him above the advantage, or even the fame which he himself might derive from victory, and giving dignity to defeat itself, as a lesson of divine chastisement and humiliation,—that the knight on whose valour his countrymen were to rely in danger, should set them an example in observing the duties and precepts of religion,—are circumstances so well qualified to soften, to dignify, and to grace the profession of arms, that we cannot but regret their tendency to degenerate into a ferocious propensity to bigotry, persecution, and intolerance.' The above remarks were made in relation to certain ideas of chivalry connected with the existing state of religion in all its grossness and misconstruction. But with reference to chivalry which had the protection and advancement of woman for its object, it took a different form. The same writer shews that respect for women was more deeply implanted in the German nations than in most others at that time, distinguishing those semi-barbarians favourably from the others, and even from the Romans, whom they conquered. In later times, when the usages of chivalry sprang up among the feudal nobles, this German ingredient in their thoughts and feelings became peculiarly fitted to amalgamate therewith. Amid the various duties of knighthood, that of protecting the female sex, respecting their persons, and redressing their wrongs, becoming the champion of their cause, and the chastiser of those by whom they were injured, was presented as one of the principal objects of the institution. Their oath bound the new-made knights to defend the cause of all women without exception; and the most pressing way of conjuring them to grant a boon was to implore it in the name of God and the ladies. The cause of a distressed lady was in many instances preferable to that even of the country to which the knight belonged. Thus the Captal de Buche, though an English subject, did not hesitate to unite his troops with those of the Compte de Foix, to relieve the ladies in a town where they were besieged and threatened with violence by the insurgent peasantry. The looks, the word, the sign of a lady, were accounted to make knights at time of need to perform double their usual deeds of strength and valour. At tournaments and in combats the voices of the ladies were heard, like those of the German females in former battles, calling on the knights to remember their fame, and exert themselves to the utmost. 'Think, gentle knights,' was their cry, 'upon the root of your hearts, the nerve of your arm, the love you cherish in your breasts, and do valiantly, for ladies behold ye.' The corresponding shouts of the combatants were, 'Love of ladies! Death of warriors! On, valiant knights, for you fight under fair eyes.' All this may have been, and was, carried to a ridiculous excess, but it prepared the way for an amelioration of manners, and was thus indirectly instrumental in the decay of the hard, stern, unsocial, and unsensitive feudal system. CHAPTER IX. THE DECLINE OF FEUDALISM. III. AS INFLUENCED BY IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LAWS. The Roman Law. Discovery of the Pandects of Justinian in the Twelfth Century. Colleges of Civil Law founded. Improved Systems of Jurisprudence. The Legal Profession rises in Public Estimation. The Canon Law. It gradually supersedes Trial by Combat and by Ordeal, and diminishes the Authority of the Barons' Courts. Royal Law Courts. Attempts of Monarchs to lessen the influence of the Barons' Courts. Courts of Appeal established. Court of Appeal in France. Saint Louis. Establishment of Parliaments. The Parliament of Paris. Courts of Appeal under William the Conqueror and Henry II. Assizes. Justices of the Peace. The King's Courts in Scotland. Lords of Session. Lords of Daily Council. College of Justice. Decline of Feudalism. THE ROMAN LAW. Ir may naturally be supposed that the demolition of the Roman empire by the barbarians occasioned also the destruction of those institutions which had done honour to the Romans, as well as those which had fallen into disrepute from their uselessness or unworthiness. Among the former was the system of jurisprudence, one of the finest features in the Roman polity. From this system it appeared that the Romans entertained respect to `objects of which a rude people had no conception, and were adapted to a state of society with which the latter were unacquainted. For this reason, wherever the invaders settled, the Roman jurisprudence either ceased to exist, or it became overlaid with the rude attempts at jurisprudence made by the Franks, the Lombards, the Gauls, and other nations. But towards the middle of the twelfth century, a copy of Justinian's 'Pandects' was accidentally discovered in Italy. These Pandects form a digest, or collection, made by Justinian, of five hundred and thirty-four decisions, or judgments of the Roman lawyers on so many questions occurring in the civil law, to which that emperor gave the force and authority of law, by an epistle prefixed to them. The copy thus discovered had been written on vellum, or parchment, at Constantinople, in the beginning of the seventh century, and was transported by the accidents of war, or commerce, to Tuscany, where it was discovered in 1137. If this discovery had taken place at an earlier period, its value would probably not have been appreciated; the seed would not have found a soil in which to spring up and bear fruit. But by this time the state of society had so far advanced, that many persons were struck with admiration at a system which their ancestors could not have comprehended. Though they had not hitherto attained such a degree of refinement as to acquire from the ancients a taste for philosophy or speculative science; though they were still insensible, in a great degree, to the beauty and elegance of classical composition, they were sufficiently qualified to judge with respect to the merit of their system of laws, in which many points most interesting to mankind were settled with precision, discernment, and equity. Men of letters began to study these Pandects with avidity. A college of civil law was opened at Bologna very soon after the discovery of this long-concealed treasure. The Roman law (afterwards better known as the civil law) was taught as a part of academical learning in different parts of France, before the middle of the same century. In England, in Scotland, and in other countries, the study of the Roman law became, in like manner, part and parcel of what was then deemed a liberal education. Now the effects of having such an excellent model to study and to imitate, were immediately perceived. Men, as soon as they were acquainted with fixed and general laws, perceived the advantage of them, and became impatient to ascertain the principles and forms by which judges should regulate their decisions. Such was the ardour with which these new students carried on an undertaking of so great importance to society, that before the close of the twelfth century, codes of law were established in most of the countries of Europe, the older customs of the country being collected together into one code, and another code formed on the basis of the Roman law; or in some cases attempts were made, which were partially successful, to amalgamate the chief features of the Roman law with the rude common or traditionary law of the country. Such being the origin of an improved system of jurisprudence, a little consideration will shew how it tended to lower the power and authority of the feudal nobles, by raising up a new force, in which intellect was to perform its part. When the administration of the law became more strictly attended to than it had been during the earlier periods of the feudal system, it obliged men to cultivate different talents, and to aim at different accomplishments, in order to qualify them for the various departments and functions which became necessary in society. So long as a nation is rude and uncivilized, the profession of arms is the only one deemed honourable; all the ingenuity and vigour of the people are expended mainly in the acquisition of military skill and address; the functions of peace being few and simple, and requiring no particular course of education or study. This was the state of Europe during several centuries. Every gentleman was born a soldier, and he scorned any other occupation; he was taught no science but that of war, even his exercises and pastimes were feats of martial prowess. Nor did the judicial character, which persons of noble birth were alone entitled to assume, demand any degree of knowledge beyond that which such untutored soldiers professed. To recollect a few traditionary customs which time had confirmed and rendered respectable, to mark out the lists of battle with due formality, to observe the issue of the combat, and to pronounce whether it had been conducted in accordance with the laws of arms, 7 LORD AND VASSAL. |