was fully believed at the time of which we treat. We land in France in the eleventh century, and fancy ourselves walking on the banks of a river skirted by hills and woods. Yonder, on the summit of the rising ground, stands a stern looking castle, just catching the beams of the setting sun. It is a building of some considerable size, constructed of stone. The outer wall is flanked by towers, and a fosse, or ditch, runs round the enclosure, and communicates with the river. The chief entrance is through a gateway in the wall, guarded on each side by a tower, and spanned by a plain semicircular arch. On entering the gate, we observe the iron points of the immense portcullis ready to fall, in case of the fortress being attacked. On entering the castle-yard, the lofty keep stands before us, appropriated as the residence of the feudal owner and his family. It is the very type of stability, but has no pretensions to architectural taste and display. Safety, not elegance, is what the lord of this rough dwelling regards. Many of the apartments in the keep are small, and all are comfortless. The windows are mere loopholes, through which the light of heaven struggles for admission. The great hall is the chief room in the baronial residence, where, seated on the dais at the upper end, the lordly owner presides at the table of his family and household, and sometimes entertains his guests with banquets and festivities, in accordance with the character of the age. Rude, for the most part, is the furniture which even the best

of the apartments contain, and when the nearest approach is made to magnificence, there is little of ease or comfort associated with it. Let us ascend the battlements of the tower, and look over the surrounding country, diversified by field and flood, all of which, far as the eye can reach, and far beyond, is subject to the owner of this castle. Gazing on the prospect, we at length perceive the gleaming of lances among the trees that skirt the road up to the barbican, or entrance of the fortress; a band of horsemen, some in plain mailed armour, ride up to the gate. It is the lord and his retinue, just returned from the sovereign's court, where he has been doing homage for his barony.

It was a scene of splendour, characteristic of the times, which he witnessed there. At two seasons of the year, Easter and Christmas, the French king holds his court, when he appears robed in his regal mantle, glittering with gold, and adorned with his richly-jewelled crown. These occasions are made choice of for a display of royal magnificence before the vast crowd of barons, prelates, and state officers.

The

monarch entertains them with feasts, and bestows on them rich suits of raiment, (livrées— liveries,) suited to their rank and the season of the year. The king sits at table with his court, and is waited on by the great officers of the household: other acts of condescension and liberality are performed. Gifts are bestowed upon the royal favourites; heralds are sent among the concourse gathered together by the

pageantries of the occasion, to shout the wellknown "largesse ;" and hanaps (cups) full of silver are scattered among the people.*

From such a scene has yonder baron just returned, and there, by a significant ceremony, he has sealed the feudal compact with his sovereign as liege lord. He has been doing homage and swearing fealty. His head was uncovered, his belt was ungirt, his sword and his spurs laid aside, while, kneeling, he placed his clasped hands within those of his lord, and swore to serve him with life and limb, and worldly honour, faithfully and loyally for ever. This done, the monarch, on his part, accepted the baron as his vassal, promised to protect his property and his person, and then sealed the compact with a royal kiss. Connected with all this was the act of investiture, by which the baron became possessed of his lands; it consisted in the monarch's delivering to him some type of the property, such as a stone, or the branch of a tree. A relief, as it is calleda sum equal to one year's produce of the estate-was paid at the time of the investiture. He now enters on his lordship over the surrounding domain. As we have already intimated, it is very extensive. It contains several other castles, inhabited by the holders of arrière fiefs. Over all the inhabitants of that territory, he is the ruler. His authority is real, while that of the king over him is merely nominal. He is bound by no laws which his

* Du Cange, sur Joinville, Diss. 5.

sovereign may make, unless he give his consent; and it is very probable that he will never attend any of the royal councils, and, therefore, will not be brought under any legal obligation to regard the statutes enacted. He is subject to no taxes whatever-feudal aids, like those which we shall presently notice, as payable to himself from his vassals, are all the pecuniary tributes which he owes to his prince. Military service is the chief thing which he is required to render. The sovereign has no power over the baron's territory, either legislative or judicial; and the provinces of France are in truth separate states, among which a loose sort of federative connexion exists, at the head of which the monarch appears possessed of nominal, rather than virtual sovereignty. There are, however, certain moral obligations which run through all the grades of the feudal relation, which he is bound by honour to observe.

He is bound not to divulge any secret with which his lord intrusts him, nor to conceal from him the traitorous designs of his enemies, nor to injure his person or property, nor to violate the honour of any of his family. Breaches of fidelity, in these respects, are deemed acts of the highest treason. Moreover, he is under obligation to give up his horse to his lord, in case he is dismounted in battle-to fight by his side to the last, and to go into captivity as a hostage for him when taken prisoner.

We have seen that the baron is supreme

lord over the whole of his own territory; all the minor barons, knights, and tenants of every description are his vassals. They hold their lands of him on feudal conditions. He renders them protection, and they return allegiance and service. Without going so far as one of the castles held by the subordinate nobles in his domain, let us look a little at the relation borne to him by a neighbouring tenant, who holds what is termed a knight's fee, or such an extent of land as is sufficient to maintain a man-at-arms as well as his horse. An old vassal of that class, who has long tenanted the little estate which lies on the bank of the river, at no great distance from the castle, has lately died, and the property now comes to the eldest son; for, whatever might be the original nature of fiefs, whether revocable at pleasure or not, they have long since become, not merely estates for life, but hereditary possessions. The young man cannot enter on the enjoyment of the paternal lands without doing homage to his lord, and receiving investiture at his hands. He therefore enters the baron's presence, and passes through a ceremony sim... lar to that which was performed a little while ago, when the baron himself became the vassal of his sovereign. Connected with the proceeding is the payment of the relief, which in this case, as in the former, amounts to one year's produce of the land. He is now in full possession of his fief, and may go his way and inherit the paternal domain.