knight: "A sword with an iron hilt,
fashioned like a key, called the sword of
Lancelot du Lac : it is said to have been made
by the fairies." Relics of this sort abounded,
we have them of all kinds : not the least
interesting, perhaps, of the collection at
Amboise, was the armour of Joan of Arc
(Harnoys de la Pucelle), but whether it be
the same that is now shown as hers in the
Museum of Artillery, in Paris, I am not able
to say.

Somewhat akin to these relics of affection
were the garters, rings, and girdles, which
bore inscriptions, or were otherwise rendered
attractive. The garter, which, from the habit
of constant riding and the form of the ladies'
dresses, was frequently exposed, was often a
highly decorated ornament. Thirty-six sous
of Paris were paid, in the year thirteen
hundred and eighty-eight, for "four tissues of fine
azure silk to make two pairs of garters for
the Duchess of Orleans, the same being
furnished with buckles of silver-gilt." Another
pair for the same noble lady was made of
gold enamelled with tears and pansies
(esmaillées à larmes et à pensées). The
recipient of these rich ornaments was the beauful
Valentine of Milan, who, after the murder
of her husband in the Rue Barbet, adopted
— with enough of tears and sad thoughts—
this melancholy motto : "No more to me is
aught ; nothing to me is all" (plus ne m'est
rien ; rien ne m'est plus). The widowed
princess also took for her device — such was
the custom of the time — the vessel called a
"chantepleure:" it was a kind of watering-
pot, from whence the water fell drop by
drop, like tears. One of these emblems, made
very small, in gold, was given by the Duchess
to her brother Alof of Cleves, as a socket for
the feather of his hat. The finger-rings of
the middle ages were as variously ornamented
as those which are worn now-a-days, and
admitted of all kinds of devices. Even the
wedding-ring underwent a metamorphosis.
Originally, as Pliny tells us, of iron and
perfectly plain, it became at a very early
period, amongst Christians, a rich golden
ornament. In the inventory of the Duke of
Berry, already cited, a ring is described
"having a precious stone in it, with which
Joseph espoused Our Lady," and as late as
the commencement of the seventeenth
century, Gabrielle d'Estrées possessed the
wedding-ring which her lover, Henry the Fourth
of France, put on the finger of his first wife,
Marguerite, "in which was a table diamond."
The girdles of persons of rank, of both sexes,
were generally as rich as they could be
made, and shone with jewels and gold. The
belt of Charlemagne was a treasury in itself,
the Chronicle of St. Denis telling us that it
was six spans in length, besides what hung
below the buckle. Queen Joan of Bourbon,
the wife of Charles the Wise, had a golden
girdle, the foundation of which was of black
tissue, and the surface was ornamented with
a heart set round with pearls, emeralds, and
rubies of Alexandria ; the two buckles were
of blue enamel ; and a small gold chain,
formed of fleurs-de-lys, hanging from it, was
enriched with a fine sapphire. Another of
these expensive girdles was studded with
eighty-six golden nails arranged so as to
form the letters L and J, with a lily between
them ; and a third is mentioned in the Royal
Accounts which served as a hat-band, and
was made flexible like a cord, with a
running ornament of roses, leaves and flowers,
enamelled of the proper colours on a dark
ground. The pendant extremity of these
belts (called "le mordant"), was often worth,
almost a king's ransom. To a girdle of Joan
of Navarre was attached a mordant in which
were five large sapphires, five rubies, four
diamonds, and twenty large pearls, and the
buckle of the same was encrusted with
precious stones. Mottos and war-cries were
also figured on the belts of kings and nobles.
There is a payment entered in the royal
accounts of Charles the Wise, to Hermant
Ruissel, a goldsmith, for having made and
forged (fait et forgié) nine letters of gold
expressing "Espérance;" and such devices
were frequent.

It is not to be supposed that the table of a
prince like Louis of Aujou, whose taste for
ornament was so strongly developed, was set
out with less magnificence than his private
chapel. The inventory of his household plate
might excite the envy of Hunt and Roskell.
What would they say to such a flask as this?
"A large flask, gilt and enamelled after the
following manner : It stands upon a square
pedestal supported by four recumbent lions
(gisant sur leurs pieds), and above these lions
are several raised borders (souages), and at
the base are four azure enamels representing
wild beasts. The body (or round part) of the
flask has on it six enamels, in which men do
various things (où il y a hommes qui font
plusieurs choses), such as cutting trees and other
acts of labour ; and in the middle is an azure
enamel, where a man on horseback is fighting
with a lion, and the said lion stands on
his two hind legs, and with his claws seems
to tear and wound the horse. The sides of
the flask (the flat part) are adorned with two
wreaths of chased foliage which runs from
the base to the neck, where they are
interlaced ; their sides are enamelled, and between
the enamels is a raised and grained border,
on which are seen two flying serpents with
blue enamelled wings. And the necks of the
said serpents are rings that hold the cords of
the flask, which are of silk, strewn along
their entire length with green and azure
enamels, and gilt ornaments in form of the
letter S. And the neck of the said flask
terminates in an enameled pipe, from whence
falls a small golden chain, the end of which is
attached to one of the serpents. And this
flask weighs altogether twenty-three marks,
six ounces, six deniers." Some pains were