I I' jTTf|JT > , m , v | n n rr ^Tiu[gf]-T -" ( r i n -irm— "--pr" - ‘^^Tf 1 1T|ip!n^ , wi^]^ff*~*nr*

lxxxii INTRODUCTION.

son the Prince of Wales, and of twenty-four Companions, whichderived its name from that Badge, and of which (with theMotto) it was the Ensign, was completely organized. That theimmediate cause of the institution of the Society of the Garterwere the jousts, or hastiludes held in 1347 or 1348, at whichGarters and the Motto, “ 5>onp sott qe mal p pewse,” were the prevail-ing and perhaps only device, seems indisputable; and theselection of the original Companions may have depended upontheir success on the occasion. The constitution of the newFraternity partook of the character of those proceedings. Itwas divided, like tilters at tournaments, into two bands, eachconsisting of twelve Knights, at the head of one of which wasthe Sovereign, and at the other the Prince of Wales; and to theCompanions belonging to each were assigned Stalls, either on theSovereign’s or on the Prince’s side of Saint George’s Chapel. 4In the Accounts of the Prince of Wales’ expenses in 1348,various articles, among which were buckles, clasps, and bars,apparently for Garters, are said to have been given to the“ Knights of his Society for the hastiludes at Windsor; andin the notice of articles issued for the jousts at Canterbury, theexpression “ for the King and his,” occurs. It is impossibleto state exactly from which of the numerous hastiludes heldin 1347 or 1348, the noble Fraternity arose, (but probablyfrom those at Windsor early in the latter year,) or to explainthe King’s motive for selecting any particular Jousts for thepurpose.

The perpetuity of the Institution seems to have been partlycaused by the King’s resolution, that it should supersede the

4 Vide p. 13, postea.