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MEDIEVAL GAMES AND FESTIVALS.

FROM the earliest periods to which the records of history extend, the practice of celebrating public games and festivals has been common to all nations, having been instituted either in commemoration of some remarkable event in the history of the people, or as a means of providing them with recreation, or, in some instances, as a means of accustoming the youthful portion of the male population to the use of arms. Modern civilisation, in taking away what was barbarous in these celebrations, has also for the most part so completely removed what was innocent and harmless, that it is with difficulty any traces or particulars of them can now be discovered, save only in the pages of the ancient historians. The study of them, however, is so far interesting and instructive, as that it will almost uniformly be found that they were in unison with the manners and condition of the nation, and served as expressions and indications of their social and religious habits, dispositions, belief, and passions, at the date of their establishment. Thus the ancient Greeks, being more advanced in civilisation, mixed with the courses of the chariot-race the recitation of the works of Pindar and Herodotus; while, on the other hand, the games practised by the Romans were demonstrative of their less refined and more martial character, consisting chiefly of bloody encounters of hired gladiators and captive beasts of prey. In the breasts of the people of the middle ages, passing, as they were, from out of a state of barbarism, fierceness of mind and love of glory, mixed with a veneration for sacred things, burnt with almost equal strength; to which may be added also those feelings which were the natural result of increasing civilisation, a love of pleasure, luxury, and ambition. All of these, then, were conspicuous in the nature of the games and festivals which they so plentifully celebrated. On the present occasion we propose placing before our readers some details of these festivals, as they were kept during the middle ages, especially in Italy; and in order to do so with more perspicuity and order, we shall class them according to the motives that may be considered to have given rise to them: such as the warlike feelings of the people and the desire of accustoming the youths to the use of arms, the spirit of religion, the love of display, or the wish to transmit to posterity the memory of some great event. And although we shall find that some of these games degenerated from their original intention and led to unlooked-for abuses and evils, yet many others will appear worthy of commendation, as encouraging

kind and social feelings, exciting the affluent to generosity, and promoting mutual good-will and charity.

At the period when, in consequence of the declining strength of the governing power, the cities of Upper Italy had succeeded in shaking off the yoke of the stranger, and establishing their liberty under the form of a municipal government, they were naturally thrown upon their own resources for the means of maintaining their newly-acquired freedom. The practice of keeping on foot standing armies, or of engaging condottieri or hired troops, being in those days unknown, the force which each city possessed, either for its own defence or to be used for the purpose of aggression, was of necessity drawn entirely from its own citizens; and although upon great national questions, as in the case of a threatened invasion from some powerful neighbour, a general combination of the several forces took place, the common army was nevertheless composed altogether of the several contributions of armed citizens furnished respectively by the various towns forming the league. It became therefore an object of the first importance to accustom the younger portion of the inhabitants to the use of arms, and exercise them in the rudiments of military life; and accordingly we find, throughout all the municipal cities of Italy, that it was the custom to divide the citizens into two bodies, who on appointed days used to assemble with their arms and banners on some spot outside the city-walls to be exercised in martial accomplishments; and the day generally terminated in a mock fight between the two bodies. When first this practice was begun, the arms employed were manufactured of wood only, in order to prevent any ill effects which might arise from. the heated passions of those engaged. In Siena the use of clubs and stones was allowed until the year 1291, when, in consequence of some disturbances which arose, the use of those weapons was for the future prohibited, and the combatants were permitted to make use only of their fists; and hence the accomplishment of boxing, which up to that period had been considered as peculiar to the English, was first introduced among the Sienese. At Venice, whose power had been chiefly effected by her naval superiority, the games were naturally of a more mixed character. Thus we find that on certain days the youths of the city were accustomed to proceed in galleys, manned by thirty rowers, to the Lido, where, with hands but just freed from the oar, they practised themselves with the use of the cross-bow. At Pisa the inhabitants were divided into a number of separate bodies, corresponding to the number of the city-gates; and these were accustomed to assemble on stated occasions, and exercise themselves in all the

evolutions incident to a battle. The practice continued in this city until comparatively recent times; but the original intention had been long forgotten, and abuses of a serious and dangerous nature substituted in its stead. The youths of the different quarters used to come fully armed and prepared for a serious encounter, excited thereto by the jealousies and heartburnings which have ever proved the bane of the Italian nation; and it required strong efforts and stringent laws on the part of the government before the evil could be altogether subdued.

The same desire of habituating the people to the use of arms induced the formation of the élite of the youth into troops of cavalry, and the frequent exercising them in feats of equestrian skill and activity, which were exhibited on grand occasions as a means of paying particular honour to illustrious visitors. Thus when Charles Count of Provence visited Rome in 1265, the youth of the city went forth to meet him, and forming in front, preceded the procession on its way to the city; but in order to amuse their noble visitor, while still upon the road, at one moment they put their horses to full speed, at another they formed in rank and moved forward with measured steps; then dividing, they again united from opposite sides, and with spears raised and crossed, formed a species of triumphal arch, together with many other feats of horsemanship equally graceful and entertaining.

Very shortly, however, there arose the feeling of ambition natural to these exercises. The young men became desirous of measuring their skill with that of the inhabitants of some neighbouring city; and the gratification of this feeling gave rise to new festivals of a more splendid kind. A day was fixed upon which the trial of skill should take place—a solemn festival was proclaimed-public notice and invitations were forwarded throughout the country, and champions from all parts eagerly flocked to the summons, anxious to display their own proficiency and to maintain the reputation of their respective cities. On an open space, surrounded by admiring crowds arrayed in their gayest costumes, the several competitors exerted their utmost skill, and the beating hearts and cheering voices of the spectators, as alternate fortune smiled or frowned upon their favourite champion, told how deep was the interest they took in the combat. These encounters were at times productive of much ill will between the neighbouring towns, as in the case of the inhabitants of Cremona and Piacenza, where the combatants were not separated until much blood had been shed. Spite of this drawback, however, the main objects of their institution were certainly effected; for in a very short time the smaller cities were enabled to send forth

armies extremely numerous in proportion to the strength of their population; and it was with citizen troops thus disciplined that the Lombard cities, after much perseverance and many reverses, were enabled finally to win their freedom upon the hard-fought field of Lignano.

Tournaments and jousts also belong to this class of festivals, and were frequently celebrated with great magnificence, especially in the kingdom of Naples, where the sovereigns, both German and French, were great promoters of them. Indeed, to such an excess was this mania indulged by Charles of Anjou, that it drew upon him the severe censure and remonstrance of his brother the king of France. As the nature of these amusements is well known, and they differed but little throughout the various countries of Europe, we shall here pass them by without comment, mentioning only one of unusual splendour at Venice, on occasion of the visit of Otto II. in 998, in which a beauteous maiden named Camilla, with a dower of 2000 ducats, was to be the reward of the victor! The great cost of these entertainments necessarily rendered their celebration less frequent, and caused them to be confined to the courts of princes, or the palaces of more wealthy subjects. Games of a less expensive and more popular character were commanded by law to be observed in almost every city; such as races, both pedestrian and equestrian. By the statutes of Ferrara, 1279, it was directed that the Festa of S. Giorgio should annually be commemorated by horse-races. By the statutes of Modena, 1327, the Feast of S. Michael was ordered to be similarly celebrated; in Pavia, it was the anniversary of the translation of San Siro; and in each town its principal holiday. The mode of conducting these races, however, differed not a little from that of modern times. The prizes appear to have been exposed to public view, at a given distance from the point of departure; and whichever of the competitors was fortunate enough first to pass, seized and retained possession of it as a reward of his superior skill. And then, what were these prizes? Occasionally we read of the very appropriate prize of a nag; but more commonly they were such as a man of the turf of the present day-a winner of the Derby, for instance-would view with feelings of ill-suppressed disgust: a few yards of cloth, a young pig, or perhaps a fine game-cock: "Ut equi currant ad scarletum (sex brachia de scarleto), et ad porchetam et gallum, secundum consuetudinem." In cities situated near a river, such as Pavia, there was a popular amusement established for the special recreation of the boatmen, that they might have an opportunity of displaying their skill in aquatic exercises. This amusement was known by the name of " pluck

ing off the duck's head," and was conducted in the following manner: On either side of the Ticino, near the bridge, was placed a barge, to the masts of which was attached a cord, crossing the river; to this were fastened by the legs several ducks, as also prizes of a more substantial kind-kegs of wine, and other similar trifles. As soon as day had dawned on the morning of the festival, numerous bodies of the mariners, clothed in white breeches and waistcoats, with a scarf of variegated colours fastened round their waists, and garlands of flowers on their heads, preceded by bands of music, perambulated the streets of the city, accompanied by vast numbers of the citizens. The entertainment, however, did not really begin until the evening. The banks of the river were then lined with spectators, and the sound of music from the barges gave notice that the games were about to commence. The boatmen might now be seen stationing themselves upon the highest point of the bridge, which arose to the height of sixty-five feet above the river; and presently one of them, having first recommended his soul to God, precipitated himself into the water. The breathless silence maintained by the beholders evinced their anxiety for his fate. At length, however, this painful silence was broken by the loud shouts which greeted the adventurous mariner as he arose at some considerable distance down the river; a small boat was there in readiness to receive him, and this quickly descended with the stream until it reached the spot where the rope was stretched across the river. Upon reaching this point the mariner stood up, and, springing from the boat, which seemed immediately to fly, as it were, from below his feet, he seized one of the ducks by the neck, and remained suspended in the air till he had succeeded in wringing off the head of the unfortunate bird. Then he fell into the water, and again found shelter in the friendly boat; and this was repeated until each candidate had had an opportunity of exhibiting his skill. It sometimes happened, however, that these festivities were attended with melancholy results; as, for instance, in the games that were celebrated by the city of Florence, in the year 1304, on the occasion of the return of Cardinal Nicolo Albertino di Prato, who had left the city in the previous year because he could not reconcile the adverse factions by which it was divided. The people were anxious to celebrate this event with peculiar honour; and among other devices, the inhabitants of the Borgo San Friano issued a notice, that whoever might be anxious to gain intelligence of the other world should attend on a given day upon the Carrega bridge. At the appointed time, a representation of the infernal regions appeared upon the river,