The Cloister and the Hearth: A Tale of the Middle Ages

  CHAPTER XLIII

  THE besiegers encamped a furlong from the walls and made roads; kepttheir pikemen in camp ready for an assault when practicable; and sentforward their sappers, pioneers, catapultiers, and cross-bowmen. Theseopened a siege by filling the moat, and mining, or breaching the wall,etc. And, as much of their work had to be done under close fire ofarrows, quarels, bolts, stones, and little rocks, the above artists "hadneed of a hundred eyes," and acted in concert with a vigilance, and anamount of individual intelligence, daring and skill, that made a siegevery interesting, and even amusing; to lookers on.

  The first thing they did was to advance their carpenters behind rollingmantelets, to erect a stockade high and strong on the very edge of themoat. Some lives were lost at this, but not many; for a strong force ofcross-bowmen, including Denys, rolled their mantelets up and shot overthe workmen's heads at every besieged who showed his nose, and at everyloophole, arrow-slit, or other aperture, which commanded the particularspot the carpenters happened to be upon. Covered by their condensedfire, these soon raised a high palisade between them and the ordinarymissiles from the pierced masonry.

  But the besieged expected this, and ran out at night their hoards, orwooden penthouses on the top of the curtains. The curtains were builtwith square holes near the top to receive the beams, that supportedthese structures, the true defence of mediaeval forts, from which thebesieged delivered their missiles with far more freedom and variety ofrange than they could shoot through the oblique but immovable loopholesof the curtain, or even through the sloping crenelets of the highertowers. On this the besiegers brought up mangonels, and set them hurlinghuge stones at these wood works and battering them to pieces.Contemporaneously they built a triangular wooden tower as high as thecurtain, and kept it ready for use, and just out of shot.

  This was a terrible sight to the besieged. These wooden towers had takenmany a town. They began to mine underneath that part of the moat thetower stood frowning at; and made other preparations to give it a warmreception. The besiegers also mined, but at another part, their objectbeing to get under the square barbican and throw it down. All this timeDenys was behind his mantelet with another arbalestrier, protecting theworkmen and making some excellent shots. These ended by earning him theesteem of an unseen archer, who every now and then sent a wingedcompliment quivering into his mantelet. One came and struck within aninch of the narrow slit through which Denys was squinting at the moment."Peste," cried he, "you shoot well, my friend. Come forth and receive mycongratulations! Shall merit such as thine hide its head? Comrade, it isone of those cursed Englishmen, with his half ell shaft. I'll not dietill I've had a shot at London wall."

  On the besiegers' side was a figure that soon attracted great notice bypromenading under fire. It was a tall knight, clad in complete brass,and carrying a light but prodigiously long lance with which he directedthe movements of the besieged. And, when any disaster befell thebesiegers, this long knight and his tall lance were pretty sure to beconcerned in it.

  My young reader will say, "Why did not Denys shoot him?"

  Denys did shoot him; every day of his life: other arbalestriers shothim; archers shot him. Everybody shot him. He was there to be shot,apparently. But the abomination was, he did not mind being shot. Nay,worse, he got at last so demoralized as not to seem to know when he wasshot. He walked his battlements under fire, as some stout skipper paceshis deck in a suit of Flushing, calmly oblivious of the April drops thatfall on his woolen armour. At last the besiegers got spiteful, and wouldnot waste any more good steel on him; but cursed him and his imperviouscoat of mail.

  He took these missiles like the rest.

  Gunpowder has spoiled war. War was always detrimental to the solidinterests of mankind. But in old times it was good for something: itpainted well, sang divinely, furnished Iliads. But invisible butchery,under a pall of smoke a furlong thick, who is any the better for that?Poet with his note-book may repeat, "Suave etiam belli certamina magnatueri;" but the sentiment is hollow and savours of cuckoo. You can'ttueri anything but a horrid row. He didn't say "Suave etiam ingentemcaliginem tueri per campos instructam."

  They managed better in the middle ages.

  This siege was a small affair: but, such as it was, a writer or minstrelcould see it; and turn an honest penny by singing it; so far then thesport was reasonable, and served an end.

  It was a bright day, clear, but not quite frosty. The efforts of thebesieging force were concentrated against a space of about two hundredand fifty yards, containing two curtains, and two towers, one of whichwas the square barbican, the other had a pointed roof that was built tooverlap, resting on a stone machicolade, and by this means a row ofdangerous crenelets between the roof and the masonry grinned down at thenearer assailants, and looked not very unlike the grinders of a modernfrigate with each port nearly closed. The curtains were overlapped withpent-houses somewhat shattered by the mangonels, trebuchets, and otherslinging engines of the besiegers. On the besiegers' edge of the moatwas what seemed at first sight a gigantic arsenal, longer than it wasbroad, peopled by human ants, and full of busy, honest industry, anddisplaying all the various mechanical science of the age in fulloperation. Here the lever at work, there the winch and pulley, here thebalance, there the capstan. Everywhere heaps of stones, and piles offascines, mantelets, and rows of fire-barrels. Mantelets rolling, thehammer tapping all day, horses and carts in endless succession rattlingup with materials. Only, on looking closer into the hive of industry,you might observe that arrows were constantly flying to and fro, thatthe cranes did not tenderly deposit their masses of stone, but flungthem with an indifference to property, though on scientific principles,and that among the tubs full of arrows, and the tar-barrels and thebeams, the fagots, and other utensils, here and there a workman or asoldier lay flatter than is usual in limited naps, and something more orless feathered stuck in them, and blood, and other essentials, oozedout.

  At the edge of the moat opposite the wooden tower, a strong penthousewhich they called "a cat" might be seen stealing towards the curtain,and gradually filling up the moat with fascines and rubbish, which theworkmen flung out at its mouth. It was advanced by two sets of ropespassing round pulleys, and each worked by a windlass at some distancefrom the cat. The knight burnt the first cat by flinging blazingtar-barrels on it. So the besiegers made the roof of this one verysteep, and covered it with raw hides, and the tar-barrels could not harmit. Then the knight made signs with his spear, and a little trebuchetbehind the walls began dropping stones just clear of the wall into themoat, and at last they got the range, and a stone went clean through theroof of the cat, and made an ugly hole.

  Baldwyn of Burgundy saw this, and losing his temper, ordered the greatcatapult that was battering the wood-work of the curtain opposite it tobe turned and levelled slantwise at this invulnerable knight. Denys andhis Englishman went to dinner. These two worthies being eternally on thewatch for one another had made a sort of distant acquaintance, andconversed by signs, especially on a topic that in peace or war maintainsthe same importance. Sometimes Denys would put a piece of bread on thetop of his mantelet, and then the archer would hang something of thekind out by a string; or the order of invitation would be reversed. Anyway they always managed to dine together.

  And now the engineers proceeded to the unusual step of slingingfifty-pound stones at an individual.

  This catapult was a scientific, simple, and beautiful engine, and veryeffective in vertical fire at the short ranges of the period.

  Imagine a fir-tree cut down, and set to turn round a horizontal axis onlofty uprights, but not in equilibrio; three-fourths of the tree beingon the hither side. At the shorter and thicker end of the tree wasfastened a weight of half a ton. This butt end just before the dischargepointed towards the enemy. By means of a powerful winch the longtapering portion of the tree was forced down to the very ground; andfastened by a bolt; and the stone placed in a sling attached to thetree's nose. But this process of course raised the butt end wi
th itshuge weight high in the air, and kept it there struggling in vain tocome down. The bolt was now drawn; Gravity, an institution whichflourished even then, resumed its sway, the short end swung furiouslydown, the long end went as furiously round up, and at its highestelevation flung the huge stone out of the sling with a tremendous jerk.In this case the huge mass so flung missed the knight, but came downnear him on the penthouse, and went through it like paper, making anawful gap in roof and floor. Through the latter fell out two inanimateobjects, the stone itself and the mangled body of a besieger it hadstruck. They fell down the high curtain side, down, down, and struckalmost together the sullen waters of the moat, which closed bubbling onthem, and kept both the stone and the bone two hundred years, tillcannon mocked those oft perturbed waters, and civilization dried them.

  "Aha! a good shot," cried Baldwyn of Burgundy.

  The tall knight retired. The besiegers hooted him.

  He reappeared on the platform of the barbican, his helmet being justvisible above the parapet. He seemed very busy, and soon an enormousTurkish catapult made its appearance on the platform, and aided by theelevation at which it was planted, flung a twenty-pound stone twohundred and forty yards in the air; it bounded after that, and knockedsome dirt into the Lord Anthony's eye, and made him swear. The nextstone struck a horse that was bringing up a sheaf of arrows in a cart,bowled the horse over dead like a rabbit, and spilt the cart. It wasthen turned at the besiegers' wooden tower, supposed to be out of shot.Sir Turk slung stones cut with sharp edges on purpose, and struck itrepeatedly, and broke it in several places. The besiegers turned two oftheir slinging engines on this monster, and kept constantly slingingsmaller stones on to the platform of the barbican, and killed two of theengineers. But the Turk disdained to retort. He flung a forty-poundstone on to the besiegers' great catapult, and hitting it in theneighbourhood of the axis, knocked the whole structure to pieces andsent the engineers skipping and yelling.

  In the afternoon, as Simon was running back to his mantelet from apalisade where he had been shooting at the besieged, Denys, peepingthrough his slit, saw the poor fellow suddenly stare and hold out hisarms, then roll on his face, and a feathered arrow protruded from hisback. The archer showed himself a moment to enjoy his skill. It was theEnglishman. Denys, already prepared, shot his bolt and the murderousarcher staggered away wounded. But poor Simon never moved. His wars wereover.

  "I am unlucky in my comrades," said Denys.

  The next morning an unwelcome sight greeted the besieged. The cat wascovered with mattresses and raw hides, and fast filling up the moat. Theknight stoned it, but in vain; flung burning tar-barrels on it, but invain. Then with his own hands he let down by a rope a bag of burningsulphur and pitch, and stunk them out. But Baldwyn, armed like alobster, ran, and bounding on the roof, cut the string, and the workwent on. Then the knight sent fresh engineers into the mine, andundermined the place and underpinned it with beams, and covered thebeams thickly with grease and tar.

  At break of day the moat was filled, and the wooden tower began to moveon its wheels towards a part of the curtain on which two catapults werealready playing to breach the hoards, and clear the way. There wassomething awful and magical in its approach without visible agency, forit was driven by internal rollers worked by leverage. On the top was aplatform, where stood the first assailing party protected in front bythe drawbridge of the turret, which stood vertical till lowered on tothe wall; but better protected by full suits of armour. The besiegedslung at the tower, and struck it often, but in vain. It was welldefended with mattresses and hides, and presently was at the edge of themoat. The knight bade fire the mine underneath it.

  Then the Turkish engine flung a stone of half a hundredweight rightamongst the knights and carried two away with it off the tower on to theplain. One lay and writhed: the other neither moved nor spake.

  And now the besieging catapults flung blazing tar-barrels, and fired thehoards on both sides, and the assailants ran up the ladders behind thetower, and lowered the drawbridge on to the battered curtain, while thecatapults in concert flung tar-barrels and fired the adjoining works todislodge the defenders. The armed men on the platform sprang on thebridge, led by Baldwyn. The invulnerable knight and his men-at-arms metthem, and a fearful combat ensued, in which many a figure was seen tofall headlong down off the narrow bridge. But fresh besiegers keptswarming up behind the tower, and the besieged were driven off thebridge.

  Another minute, and the town was taken, but so well had the firing ofthe mine been timed, that just at this instant the underpinners gaveway, and the tower suddenly sank away from the walls tearing thedrawbridge clear and pouring the soldiers off it against the masonry andon to the dry moat. The besieged uttered a fierce shout and in a momentsurrounded Baldwyn and his fellows; but strange to say offered themquarter. While a party disarmed and disposed of these, others fired theturret in fifty places with a sort of hand grenades. At this work who sobusy as the tall knight. He put fire-bags on his long spear, and thrustthem into the doomed structure late so terrible. To do this he wasobliged to stand on a projecting beam of the shattered hoard, holding onby the hand of a pikeman to steady himself. This provoked Denys, he ranout from his mantelet, hoping to escape notice in the confusion, andlevelling his cross-bow missed the knight clean, but sent his bolt intothe brain of the pikeman, and the tall knight fell heavily from the walllance and all. Denys gazed wonderstruck: and, in that unlucky momentsuddenly he felt his arm hot, then cold, and there was an English arrowskewering it.

  This episode was unnoticed in a much greater matter. The knight, hisarmour glittering in the morning sun, fell headlong, but, turning as heneared the water, struck it with a slap that sounded a mile off.

  None ever thought to see him again. But he fell at the edge of thefascines on which the turret stood all cocked on one side, and his spearstuck into them under water, and by a mighty effort he got to the side,but could not get out. Anthony sent a dozen knights with a white flag totake him prisoner. He submitted like a lamb, but said nothing.

  He was taken to Anthony's tent.

  That worthy laughed at first at the sight of his muddy armour. Butpresently, frowning, said, "I marvel, sir, that so good a knight as youshould know his devoir so ill as turn rebel, and give us all thistrouble."

  "I am nun--nun--nun--nun--nun--no knight."

  "What, then?"

  "A hosier."

  "A what? Then thy armour shall be stripped off, and thou shalt be tiedto a stake in front of the works, and riddled with arrows for a warningto traitors."

  "N--n--n--n--no! duda--duda--duda--duda--don't do that."

  "Why not?"

  "Tuta--tuta--tuta--townsfolk will--h--h--h--hang t'otherbuba--buba--buba--buba--bastard."

  "What, whom?"

  "Your bub--bub--bub--brother Baldwyn."

  "What, have yon knaves ta'en him?"

  The warlike hosier nodded.

  "Hang the fool!" said Anthony peevishly.

  The warlike hosier watched his eye, and, doffing his helmet took out ofthe lining an intercepted letter from the duke, bidding the said Anthonycome to court immediately, as he was to represent the court of Burgundyat the court of England: was to go over and receive the English king'ssister and conduct her to her bridegroom the Earl of Charolois. Themission was one very soothing to Anthony's pride, and also to his loveof pleasure. For Edward the Fourth held the gayest and most luxuriouscourt in Europe. The sly hosier saw he longed to be off, and said,"We'll gega--gega--gega--gega--give ye a thousand angels to raise thesiege."

  "And Baldwyn?"

  "I'll gega--gega--gega--gega--go and send him with the money."

  It was now dinner-time; and, a flag of truce being hoisted on bothsides, the sham knight and the true one dined together and came to afriendly understanding.

  "But what is your grievance, my good friend?"

  "Tuta--tuta--tuta-tuta--too much taxes."

  * * * * *

  Denys on finding th
e arrow in his right arm, turned his back, which wasprotected by a long shield, and walked sulkily into camp. He was met bythe Comte de Jarnac, who had seen his brilliant shot, and finding himwounded into the bargain, gave him a handful of broad pieces.

  "Hast got the better of thy grief, arbalestrier, methinks."

  "My grief, yes; but not my love. As soon as ever I have put down thisrebellion, I go to Holland, and there I shall meet with him."

  This event was nearer than Denys thought. He was relieved from servicenext day, and, though his wound was no trifle, set out with a stoutheart to rejoin his friend in Holland.