INTRODUCTION.

lx XV

Order was not worn at the Feast of the Round Table in1344, while the fact that nothing occurs respecting the Feastof Saint George (though Robes are said to have been issuedfor the Feasts of Pentecost and Easter) in those or any otherAccounts yet discovered before 1348, is additional and indeedalmost conclusive proof that the Order was not in existenceuntil the latter part of 1347, or early in 1348.

A few remarks on Froissart’s statement will now be addedto these observations. It seems evident from a careful pe-rusal of his narrative, that he has unconsciously blended twodistinct transactions, and that he was misinformed on both,namely; the revival of the Round Table by King Edward theThird, in January 1344, and the institution of the Fraternity ofthe Garter in 1347 or 1348.

Froissart 1 commences by stating that it was King Edward’sdesign to rebuild Windsor Castle, “ formerly built by KingArthur,” where “ the noble Round Table was first set upand establishedand then proceeds, “ And the said Kingcreated an Order of Knights, to consist of himself, his chil-dren, and the bravest of the land, who were to be in num-ber, forty, and to be called Knights of the blue Garter; theirFeast to be kept at Windsor annually on Saint George’s day.”He then says, that in order to establish this festival, the Kingassembled Earls, Barons, and Knights from his whole realm,who approved of the design.—“ Then were elected fortyKnights,” &c.—“ The King caused Saint George’s Chapel to

1 The original passage will be found in pp. 3, 4, postea. As Froissart was born in 1337,he was only seven years of age in 1344, and eleven in 1348, so that he must haveobtained his knowledge of these transactions many years after they occurred.