In the V. zere of Richard, Jon Wiclef resumed the eld dampned opinion of Berengari, that seide,-Aftir the consecracion of Cristis body, bred remayned as it was before. Mani foul errouris multipled Wiclef more than Berengari :-That Crist was there, as he is in othir places, but sumwhat more specialy; That this bred was no bettir than othir bred, save only for the prestis blessing; and, if Cristis bodi was there, it was possible to a man for breke Cristis nek. He seid eke it was lasse synne to worchip a tode than the Sacrament: for the tode hath lyf, and the Sacrament non. . . .

In the IX. zere of this Kyng, John Wiclef, the orgon of the devel, the enmy of the Cherch, the confusion of men, the ydol of heresie, the meroure of ypocrisie, the norischer of scisme, be the rithful dome [judgment] of God, was smet with a horibil paralsie thorw oute his body. And this veniauns [vengeance, punishment] fell upon him on Seynt Thomas day in Cristmasse; but he deyed not til Seynt Silvestir day. And worthily was he smet on Seynt Thomas day, ageyn whom he had gretely offendid, letting men of that pilgrimage; and conveniently [appropriately] deied he in Silvestir fest, ageyn whom he had venemously berkid for dotacion of the Church.

The French scholastic theologian Berengarius of Tours, who died in 1088, was in trouble for forty years because of his opinions on transubstantiation; and the Sylvester against whom Wyclif barked was Pope Sylvester I., to whom the Emperor Constantine was said (in the False Decretals') to have made the famous donation on which the pope's claim to temporal power was long based. Sylvester's Day was 31st December. St Thomas here was Thomas Becket.

Sir John Fortescue, the first notable English writer on Constitutional law, was born in Somersetshire about 1394 apparently, and educated at Exeter College, Oxford. Called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn, he became serjeant-atlaw and Lord Chief-justice of the Court of King's Bench, and was knighted. In the struggle between the Houses of Lancaster and York he was a zealous Lancastrian, and was attainted under Edward IV. He accompanied Margaret of Anjou and her young son, Prince Edward, on their flight into Scotland, and is supposed to have there received the nominal appointment of Lord Chancellor from Henry VI. Thence also he wrote a series of tracts, Latin and English, in support of the Lancastrian claims, afterwards recanted. In 1463 he embarked with the queen and her son for Flanders. During his exile he wrote his celebrated work, De Laudibus Legum Angliæ, for the instruction of Prince Edward, who was his pupil. But on the final defeat of the Lancastrian party at the battle of Tewkesbury (1471), where he is said to have been taken prisoner, Fortescue submitted to Edward IV. He seems to have died about 1476. The De Laudibus was not printed until 1537; it was translated by Mulcaster in 1573. His principal English work, written about 1475, is

The Governance of England, otherwise called The Difference between an Absolute and Limited Monarchy (1714; new ed. by Plummer: Clarendon Press, 1885). It restates some of the arguments of the De Laudibus; contrasts constitutional and absolute monarchy, with illustrations from French usages; and discusses how to render the central administration more effective. It was much cited during the civil troubles of the seventeenth century. As basing its argument on a comparison of existing institutions instead of on the speculative deductions of the Middle Ages, this work is modern in method. The prose style, lucid, vigorous, and direct, is, in spite of lingering archaism, distinctly more modern than that of Chaucer or Wyclif, or of the Mandeville translations. The whole work extends barely to fifty pages in the best edition. The chapter dealing with the national defence (printed here with th for an occasional p, and the contractions filled out) is entitled 'What Harme wolde come to England yff the Commons theroff were Pouere?'

Some men haue said that it were good ffor the kyng that the commons off Englande were made pore, as be the commons off Ffraunce. Ffor than thai wolde not rebelle, as now thai done oftentymes; wich the commons off Ffraunce do not, nor mey doo; ffor thai haue no wepen, nor armour, nor good to bie it with all. To theis maner off men mey be said with the phylo sopher, ad pauca respicientes de facili enunciant. This is to say, thai that see but ffew thynges, woll sone say thair advyses. Ffor soth theis ffolke consideren litill the good off the reaume [realm] off Englond, wheroff the myght stondith most vppon archers, wich be no ryche men. And yff thai were made more pouere [poor] than thai be, thai shulde not haue wherwith to bie hem bowes, arroes, jakkes, or any other armour off defence, wherby thai myght be able to resiste owre enymes, when thai liste to come vppon vs; wich thai mey do in euery side, considerynge that we be a Ilelonde; and, as it is said be fore, we mey not sone haue soucour off any other reaume. Wherfore we shull be a pray to all owre enymyes, but yff we be myghty off owre selff, wich myght stondith most vppon owre pouere archers; and therfore thai nedun not only haue suche ablements [habiliments] as now is spoken off, but also thai nedun to be much excersised in shotynge, wich mey not be done with owt ryght grete expenses, as euery man experte ther in knowith ryght well. Wherfore the makyng pouere of the commons, wich is the makyng pouere off owre archers, shalbe the distruccion of the grettest myght off owre reaume.... .. Item, whan any rysinge hath be made in this londe be ffor theis dayis by commons, the pouerest men theroff haue be the grettest causers and doers ther in. And thrifty men haue ben loth therto, ffor drede off lesynge off thair gode. But yet oftentymes thai haue goo with thaym, through manasheynge [menacing] that ellis the same pouere men wolde haue toke thair godes, wher in it semyth that pouerte hath be the holl cause off all suche rysynges. The pouere man hath be sturred therto be occasion off is pouerte, for to gete gode, and the riche men haue gone with hem, be cause thai wolde not be pouere be lesynge off ther gode. What than

wolde ffall, yff all the commons were pouere? Trewly it is lyke that this lande then shulde be like vnto the reaume off Boeme [Bohemia], wher the commons ffor pouerte rose apon the nobles, and made all thair godis to be comune. . . . Item, the reaume off Ffraunce givith neuer ffrely off thair owne gode will any subsidie to thair prince, be cause the commons theroff be so pouere, as thai mey not give any thyng off thair owne godis. And the kyng ther askith neuer subsidie off is nobles, ffor drede that yff he charged hem so, hai wolde confedre with the commons, and perauentur putt hym doune. But owre commons be riche, and thefore thai give to thair kynge, at somme tymes quinsimes [fifteenths] and dessimes [tenths], and ofte tymes other grete subsidies, as he hath nede ffor the gode and defence off his reaume. How gret a subsidie was it, when the reaume gaff to thair kyng a quinsime and a desime quinqueniale, and the ixth fflese [fleece] off thair wolles, and also the ixth shefe off ther graynes, ffor the terme off v. yere. This myght thai not haue done, yff thai hade ben impouershed be thair kyng, as be the commons off Ffraunce; nor such a graunte hath be made by any reaume off cristendome, off wich any cronicle makith mencion; nor non other mey or hath cause to do so. Ffor thai haue not so much ffredome in thair owne godis, nor be entreted by so ffauerable lawes as we be, except a ffewe regions be ffore specified. Item, we se dayly, how men that haue lost thair godis, and be ffallen into pouerte, be comme anon robbers and theves; wich wolde not haue ben soche, yff pouerte hade not brought hem therto. Howe many a theff then were like to be in this lande, yff all the commons were pouere. The grettest surete trewly, and also the most honour that mey come to the kynge is, that is reaume be riche in euery estate. Ffor nothyng mey make is people to arise, but lakke off gode, or lakke off justice. But yet sertanly when thay lakke gode thai woll aryse, sayng that thai lakke justice. Neuer the les yff thai be not pouere, thay will neuer aryse, but yff ther prince so leve justice, that he give hym selff all to tyranne. (Chap. xii.)

Fortescue thus enlarges on English courage: It is not pouerte that kepith Ffrenchmen ffro rysinge, but it is cowardisse and lakke off hartes and corage, wich no Ffrenchman hath like vnto a Englysh man. It hath ben offten tymes sene in Englande, that iij. or iiij. theves ffor pouerte haue sett apon vj. or vij. trewe men, and robbed hem all. But it hath not bene sene in Ffraunce, that vj. or vij. theves haue be hardy to robbe iij. or iiij. trewe men. Wherfore it is right selde that Ffrenchmen be hanged ffor robbery, ffor thai haue no hartes to do so terable an acte. Ther bith therfore mo men hanged in Englande in a yere ffor robbery and manslaughter, then ther be hanged in Ffraunce ffor such maner of crime in vij. yeres. Ther is no man hanged in Scotlande in vij. yere togedur ffor robbery. And yet thai ben often tymes hanged ffor larceny, and stelynge off good in the absence off the owner theroff. But thar hartes serue hem not to take a manys gode, while he is present, and woll defende it; wich maner off takynge is callid robbery. But the Englysh man is off another corage. Ffor yff he be pouere, and see another man havynge rychesse, wich mey be taken ffrom hym be myght, he will not spare to do so, but yff that pouere man be right trewe. Wherfore it is not pouerte, but it is lakke off harte and cowardisse, that kepith the Ffrenchmen ffro rysynge. (From Chap. xiii.)

Reginald Pecock was a keen-witted theologian, who by too venturesome arguments in support of orthodoxy fell into condemnation. Born in Wales about 1395, he was a fellow of Oriel, Oxford, and received priest's orders in 1422. His preferments were the mastership of Whittington College, London, together with the rectory of its church (1431); the bishopric of St Asaph's (1444), and that of Chichester (1450). He plunged into the Lollard and other controversies of the day, and compiled many treatises, of which the Donet (c. 1440), on the main truths of Christianity, is extant in MS.; and his Treatise on Faith (c. 1456) was partly printed in 1688. The object of his most famous work, The Repressor of Over Much Blaming of the Clergy (c. 1455), was to promote the cause of the Church against Lollardy. His breadth and independence of judgment brought upon him the suspicions of the Church. In 1457 he was denounced for having written on profound questions in English, for setting reason and natural law above the Scriptures, and for diminishing the authority of the fathers and doctors. He was summoned before Archbishop Bourchier, condemned as a heretic, and given the alternative of abjuring his errors or being burned. Electing to abjure, he gave up fourteen of his books to be burnt, and, forced into resigning his bishopric, spent the rest of his days in the abbey of Thorney in Cambridgeshire, dying about 1460. The Repressor is acutely logical -to the point of being casuistical-in argument, and in style is wonderfully clear and vigorous. It deals chiefly with the Lollard arguments against images, pilgrimages, clerical landholding, hierarchical distinctions, papal and episcopal authority, and monasticism.

Refuting the Lollards' denunciation of the monastic orders as unscriptural, Pecock thus begins an argument from the first chapter of the Epistle of St James :

The firste of these iiij. argumentis is this: It is writun, Iames the ie. c., thus: A cleene religioun and an unwemmed anentis God and the Fadir is this; to visite fadirles and modirlees children and widowis in her tribulacioun, and to kepe him silf vndefilid fro this world. Out of this text a man may argue in twei maners. In oon maner thus: Iames assigneth this gouernaunce now rehercid in his text to be a cleene religioun and an vnwemmed [undefiled] anentis [before] God and the Fadir; wherfore noon other gouernaunce saue this same, as bi the entent and meenyng of Iames in his now rehercid text, is a cleene religioun and vnwemmed anentis God and the Fadir; and so the religiouns now had and vsid in the chirche ben not cleene and vnwemmed anentis God and the Fadir. In an other maner thus: What euer religioun lettith and biforbarrith [hinders and disallows], she [yea], and forbedith the religioun to be doon and vsid, which is a clene and vnwemmed religioun anentis God and the Fadir, is an vnleeful [unlawful] religioun, and not worthi be had and vsid.

See James Gairdner's Studies in English History (1881), Churchill Babington's edition of the Repressor in the Rolls Series' (1860), and the Life by John Lewis (1774; reprinted 1820).

Sir Thomas Malory. While English was thus being recognised as the language in which an English theologian, jurist, or historian should naturally write, the work of translation still went on; but the book to which we must now turn, Le Morte D'Arthur of Sir Thomas Malory, though avowedly a compilation from various French sources, stands in a very different category from the renderings of Palladius On Husbandry, of the Secreta Secretorum (falsely attributed to Aristotle), of the Sayings of the Philosophers, and other works which translators were now rendering accessible to English readers. Despite the ridicule which Chaucer had cast on the romances in his Sir Thopas, English versifiers still continued to handle and rehandle them. Thus there are fifteenth-century versions of a long series of Charlemagne romances, of Guy of Warwick and Bevis of Hampton. Thomas Chester, in the second quarter of the 'century, wrote a metrical romance of Sir Launfal; and there are two versions (known as the 'Thornton' and the 'Harleian' from the MSS. which preserve them) of the Morte D'Arthur. The work which Malory undertook was of a different character, being nothing less than the welding into some approach to unity of the whole Arthurian cycle. Until 1896 nothing was known of Malory beyond the information given in the first edition printed by Caxton in 1485. In his preface Caxton tells us how he, 'under the favour and correctyon of al noble lordes and gentylmen, enprysed to enprynte a book of the noble hystoryes of the sayd kynge Arthur, and of certeyn of his knyghtes, after a copye unto me delyverd, whyche copye Syr Thomas Malorye dyd take oute of certeyn bookes of Frensshe and reduced it into Englysshe.' Besides this note of Caxton's we have the author's own farewell to his readers:

And here is the ende of the deth of Arthur. I praye you all jentyl men and jentyl wymmen that redeth this book of Arthur and his knyghtes from the begynnyng to the endyng, praye for me whyle I am on lyve that God sende me good delyveraunce, and whan I am deed I praye you all praye for my soule. For this book was ended the ix. yere of the regne of kyng Edward the fourth, by syr Thomas Maleore knyght, as Ihesu helpe hym for hys grete myght, as he is the seruaunt of Ihesu bothe day and nyght.

In 1896 it was pointed out that the name of a Sir Thomas Malorie occurs among those of a number of Lancastrians excluded from a general pardon granted by Edward IV. in 1468. Further research, mainly by Professor Kittredge, identified this outlaw with a Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revell, Warwickshire, an adherent of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, and afterwards, probably, for a time, of Warwick the King-maker. This Malory represented his county in the Parliament of 1444-45, died on 14th March 1471, and was buried in the chapel of St Francis at the Grey Friars near Newgate. Of his fortunes between his

outlawry in 1468 and his death in 1471 we have no information, but the petition, 'praye for me whyle I am on lyve that God sende me good delyveraunce, and whan I am deed I praye you all praye for my soule,' seems peculiarly appropriate to these glimpses which we catch of an outlaw under the shadow of impending death. The end of the thirty-seventh chapter of Malory's Book ix. certainly heightens the probability of the identification. There he writes:

But

So sire Tristram endured there grete payne, for sekenesse had undertake hym, and that is the grettest payne a prysoner maye have. For alle the whyle a prysoner may have his helthe of body, he maye endure under the mercy of God and in hope of good delyveraunce. whanne sekenes toucheth a prysoners body thenne may a prysoner say al welthe is hym berafte, and thenne he hath cause to wayle and to wepe. Ryght so dyd syre Tristram whanne sekenes had undertake hym, for thenne he tooke suche sorou that he had almost slayne hym self.

It is difficult not to find in the simple pathos of these words a touch of the feeling born of personal suffering; and in the first chapter of Book xxi. we seem to find once more a personal note very suitable to one who had fought on both sides in the civil war and had at last grown weary of change:

Than was the comyn voys emonge them, that wyth Arthur was none other lyf but warre and stryffe, and wyth Syr Mordred was grete joye and blysse. Thus was syr Arthur depraved and evyl sayd of. And many ther were that kyng Arthur had made up of nought and gyven them landes myght not than say hym a good worde. Lo ye, al Englissh men, see ye not what a myschyef here was? For he that was the moost kyng and knyght of the world and moost loved the felyship of noble knyghtes, and by hym they were al upholden, now myght not this Englyssh men holde them contente wyth hym. Loo, thus was the olde custome and usage of this londe. And also men saye that we of thys londe have not yet loste ne foryeten [forgotten] that custome and usage. Alas, thys is a grete defaulte of us Englysshe men. For there may no thynge plese us noo terme [i.e. no length of time].

If we may accept the identification which these passages certainly support, Malory through his connection with the Warwicks must have seen whatever of the pomp of chivalry endured amid the horrors of the civil wars. He must have been, however, an old man when he wrote his book, for he is credited with having served at the siege of Rouen in 1418, and so could hardly have been born after 1400. But we must turn now from the man to his book, and note in the first place that literary antiquaries have traced the greater part of it, chapter by chapter, to the Merlin of Robert de Borron and his successors (Books i.-iv.); to the English metrical romance, La1

1 It may be noted that the English romances are indifferently called Le Morte and La Morte, the masculine referring to the title regarded as a phrase, and the feminine to the proper gender of mørt. How thoroughly the title had passed into a phrase is shown by Malory's own choice of it for a work which tells Arthur's whole history, beginning with his parentage.

Morte Arthur of the Thornton MS. (Book v.), the French romances of Tristan (Books viii.-x.) and of Launcelot (Books vi., xi.-xix.); and lastly, to the English Morte Arthur of the Harleian MS. (Books xviii., xx., xxi.), or perhaps rather to its French source. No original has yet been found for Book vii., which tells the story of Sir Gareth; and in Book xviii., chap. 20, which describes the arrival of the body of the Fair Maiden of Astolat, and chap. 25, which discourses on True Love, have been singled out as original additions; but in the main the work is, what it professes to be, a compilation from 'Frensshe bookes.' It is perhaps worth noting that in 1464 Raoul Le Fèvre, chaplain of Philip the Good of Burgundy, had in a similar way 'composed and drawn out of divers books in Latin into French' his Le Recueil des Histoires de Troie, and that while Malory was at work on the Morte D'Arthur Caxton was busy translating the Recueil into English. It is possible that it was Le Fèvre's 'Troy book' which gave Malory the idea for his own work; in any case it is worth while mentioning the two books together, because the contrast between them brings into strong relief the difference between the work of Malory and that of an ordinary compiler, even though possessed of Le Fèvre's industry and very respectable skill. There are blemishes in the Morte D'Arthur. The story of Tristram should either have been told more briefly, or have been carried to an end, and there are episodes in which a better version than that used by Malory is now known to exist. But Malory, like every other writer of his day, could only work from the books he was able to procure; and of the insight and sympathy he brought to his task, the judgment with which he selected and omitted, and the skill with which he keeps his work throughout at the highest level of chivalry and romance there cannot be any question. Caxton's words, 'whyche copye Syr Thomas Malorye dyd take oute of certeyn bookes of Frensshe,' seem to point to his having printed from the author's own manuscript. But this was obviously left unrevised, for the printer himself had to act as a clumsy editor, dividing the work into books and chapters, and adding chapterheadings. For lack of revision disjointed sentences and awkward constructions are occasionally to be found, but in general Malory's style possesses that highest merit of perfect adaptation to its subject. Our extracts follow, with modern punctuation, Caxton's text as edited by Dr H. Oskar Sommer in 1889. The first relates to Arthur's famous sword, Excalibur :

Howe Arthur by the meane of Merlin gate Excalibur his swerde of the Lady of the Lake: Ryghte so the kyng and he departed & wente untyl an ermyte that was a good man and a grete leche. Soo the heremyte serched all his woundys & gaf hym good salves; so the king was there thre dayes, and thenne were his woundes wel amerdyd that he myght ryde and goo, & so departed. And as they rode Arthur said, 'I have no swerd.' 'No force' [No matter], said Merlin; 'here-by is a swerd that

shalle be yours and [if] I may.' Soo they rode tyl they came to a lake, the whiche was a fayr water and brood, and in the myddes of the lake Arthur was ware of an arme clothed in whyte samyte, that held a fayr swerd in that hand. 'Loo,' said Merlin, 'yonder is that swerd that I spak of.' With that they sawe a damoisel goyng upon the lake: 'What damoysel is that?' said Arthur. 'That is the lady of the lake,' said Merlin; and within that lake is a roche, and theryn is as fayr a place as ony on erthe, and rychely besene [arrayed], and this damoysell wylle come to yow anone, and thenne speke ye fayre to her that she will gyve yow that swerd.' Anone with-all came the damoysel unto Arthur and salewed hym, and he her ageyne. 'Damoysel,' said Arthur, 'what swerd is that, that yonder the arme holdeth above the water? I wold it were myne, for I have no swerd.' 'Syr Arthur, kynge,' said the damoysell, 'that swerd is myn, and yf ye will gyve me a yefte [gift] whan I aske it yow, ye shal have it.' 'By my feyth,' said Arthur, 'I will yeve yow what yefte ye will aske.' 'Wel,' said the damoisel, ‘go ye into yonder barge & rowe yourself to the swerd, and take it and [the] scaubart with yow, and I will aske my yefte whan I see my tyme. So syr Arthur & Merlyn alyght, & tayed their horses to two trees, & so they went into the ship, & whanne they came to the swerd that the hand held, syre Arthur toke it up by the handels & toke it with hym-and the arme & the hand went under the water; & so come unto the lond & rode forth.' (Book i. chap. 25.)

The constant single combats in the Morte D'Arthur are apt to seem a little monotonous to modern readers. The specimen of them which follows is not only good in itself, but is diversified by an interest of another kind. Gareth, a younger son of the Queen of Orkney, on arriving in disguise at Arthur's court had asked as the first of the king's promised boons only that he should have his meat and drink for a twelvemonth. The request was thought plebeian, and Sir Kay, the seneschal, while he dubbed him Beaumains because of his fair hands, kept the lad in the kitchen. At the end of the year, when a damsel came to Arthur's court for a knight to help her mistress, Beaumains demanded and was granted the quest, much to the anger of the damsel, who, despite the exploits he soon performed, continued to rail at him as a kitchen-knave. Our extract relates to his combat with the second of a series of four knights, Black, Green, Red, and of the colour of Ind [i.e. indigo, or blue]:'

How the brother of the knight that was slain mette with Beaumains and fought with Beaumains til he was yelden [yielded]: Thus as they rode to-gyders they sawe a knyght come dryvend [riding quickly] by them, al in grene, bothe his hors & his harneis; and whanne he came nyghe the damoysel he asked her, 'Is that my broder the Black Knyghte that ye have brought with yow?' 'Nay, nay,' she sayd, this unhappy kechen knave hath slayne your broder thorou unhappinesse [mischance].' 'Allas,' sayd the Grene Knyghte, 'that is grete pyte that soo noble a knyghte as he was shold soo unhappely be slaine, and namely [especially] of a knaves hand, as ye say that he A traytour,' sayd the Grene Knyghte, 'thou shalt dye for sleynge of my broder. He was a ful noble

is.

:

knyghte, and his name was syr Pereard.' 'I defye the,' said Beaumayns, for I lete the wete I slewe hym knyghtely, and not shamefully.' There-with-al the Grene Knyghte rode unto an horne that was grene, and hit henge [it hung] upon a thorne, and there he blewe thre dedely motys [calls], and there came two damoysels and armed hym lyghtely. And thenne he took a grete hors, and a grene shelde and a grene spere. And thenne they ranne to-gyders with al their myghtes, and brake their speres unto their handes, and thenne they drewe their swerdes, and gaf many sadde strokes, and either of them wounded other ful yll. And at the last at an overthwart [cross-encounter] Beaumayns with his hors strake the Grene Knyghtes hors upon the syde, that he felle to the erthe. And thenne the Grene Knyghte avoyded his hors lightly, and dressid hym [made himself ready] upon foote. That sawe Beaumayns, and there-with-al he alighte, and they rasshed [rushed] to-gyders lyke two myghty kempys [champions] a longe whyle, and sore they bledde both. With that cam the damoysel and said, 'My lorde the Grene Knyghte, why for shame stand ye soo longe fyghtyng with the kechyn knave? Allas, it is shame that ever ye were made knyghte, to see suche a ladde to matche suche a knyghte, as [as if] the wede overgrewe the corne.' There-with the Grene Knyght was ashamed, and there-with-al he gaf a grete stroke of myghte, & clafe his shelde thorow. Whan Beaumayns sawe his shelde cloven a-sonder he was a lytel ashamed of that stroke, and of her langage; and thenne he gaf hym suche a buffet upon the helme that he felle on his knees and soo sodenly Beaumayns pulled hym upon the ground grovelynge. And thenne the Grene Knyghte cryed hym mercy, and yelded hym unto syre Beaumayns, and prayd hym to slee him not. 'Al is in vayn,' said Beaumayns, 'for thou shalt dye, but yf [unless] this damoysel that came with me praye me to save thy lyf.' And ther-with-al he unlaced his helme, lyke as he wold slee [slay] hym. Fy upon the, false kechen page, I wyll never pray the to save his lyf, for I will never be soo moche in thy daunger [obliged to you].' 'Thenne shalle he deye,' sayde Beaumayns. 'Not soo hardy, thou bawdy [dirty] knave,' sayd the damoysel, that thou slee hym.' 'Allas,' said the Grene Knyghte, 'suffre me not to dye, for a fayre word may save me. Fayr knyt,' said the Grene Knyghte, save my lyf, & I wyl foryeve the [thee] the dethe of my broder, and for ever to become thy man, and xxx knyghtes that hold of me for ever shal doo you servyse.' 'In the devyl's name,' sayd the damoysel, 'that suche a bawdy kechen knave shold have the and thyrtty knyghtes servyse.' 'Sir knyght,' said Beaumayns, ‘alle this avaylleth the not, but yf my damoysel speke with me for thy lyf.' And ther-with-al he made a semblaunt [pretence] to slee hym. 'Lete be,' sayd the damoysel, 'thou baudy knave, slee hym not; for and thou do, thou shalte repente it.' 'Damoysel,' said Beaumayns, 'your charge is to me a pleasyr, and at your commaundement his lyf shal be saved, & els not.' Thenne he said, 'Sir Knyghte with the grene armes, I releace the quyte at this damoysels request; for I wylle not make her wrothe; I wille fulfylle al that she chargeth me.' And thenne the Grene Knyghte kneled doune, and dyd hym homage with his swerd. Thenne said the damoisel, 'Me repenteth, Grene Knyghte, of your dommage [hurt], and of youre broders dethe the Black Knyghte; for of your help I had grete myster [need]; for I drede me sore to passe

this forest.' 'Nay, drede you not,' sayd the Gre Knyghte, 'for ye shal lodge with me this nyghte, and to-morne I shalle helpe you thorou this forest.' Soo they tooke theyre horses and rode to his manoyr, whiche was fast there besyde. (Book vii. chap. 8.)

While this extract shows how a knight could endure and overcome a lady's caprice, our next exhibits the serious and religious aspect of knighterrantry at its highest :

How syr Boors mette syr Lyonel taken and beten wyth thornes, and also a mayde which shold have been devoured: Upon the morne, as soone as the day appiered, Bors departed from thens, and soo rode in-to a foreste vnto the houre of mydday, and there bifelle hym a merveyllous adventure. So he mette at the departyng of the two wayes two knyghtes, that ledde Lyonel his broder al naked, bounden upon a straunge hakney, & his handes bounden to-fore his brest: And everyche [each] of hem helde in his handes thornes, where-with they wente betynge hym so sore that the blood trayled doune more than in an honderd places of his body, soo that he was al blood tofore and behynde, but he said never a word, as he whiche was grete of herte; he suffred alle that ever they dyd to hym as though he had felte none anguysshe. Anone syre Bors dressid hym to rescowe hym that was his broder : and soo he loked upon the other syde of hym, and sawe a knyghte whiche brought a fair gentylwoman, and wold have set her in the thyckest place of the forest, for to have ben the more surer oute of the way from hem that sought hym. And she, whiche was no thynge assured, cryed with an hyghe voys, 'Saynte Mary, socoure your mayde !'

And anone she aspyed where syre Bors came rydynge. And whanne she came nygh hym, she demed hym a knyghte of the Round Table, wherof she hoped to hav some comforte; and thenne she conjured hym, by th feythe that he ought [owed] 'unto hym in whos servyse thow arte entryd in [i.e. Christ], and for the feythe ye owe unto the hyghe ordre of knyghthode, & for the noble kyng Arthurs sake, that I suppose made the [thee] knyght, that thow help me, and suffre me not to be shamed of this knyghte.'

Whanne Bors herd her say thus, he had soo moche sorowe there he nyst [knew] not what to doo. For yf I lete [leave] my broder be in adventure [risk] he must be slayne, and that wolde I not for alle the erthe. And yf I helpe not the mayde, she is shamed for ever, and also she shall lese her vyrgynyte, the whiche she shal never gete ageyne.' Thenne lyfte he up his eyen, and sayd wepynge, 'Fair swete lord Jhesu Cryste, whoos lyege man I am, kepe Lyonel my broder that these knyghtes slee hym not; and for pyte of yow, and for Mary sake, I shalle socoure this mayde.' (Book xvi. chap. 9.)

Lastly we may take a passage from an episode which, even without the popular currency which has been given to it by Tennyson's 'Elaine,' might deservedly be famous-that which tells of the arrival at Arthur's court of the body of the fair maid who died because she could not win Lancelot to love her:

How the corps of the Mayde of Astolat arryved before Kyng Arthur: Soo by fortune [chance] kynge Arthur and the quene Guenevere were spekynge to-gyders at a wyndowe, and soo as they loked in to Temse [Thames]