8

HISTORY OF THE

[EDWARD III.

in 1344, Edward ordered some buildings to be erected in Windsor Castle; 1and evidence has lately been discovered that a Round Table, made of oak, hadbeen constructed at Windsor some time, and probably a few years, beforeDecember 1356. 2

The records which have been referred to, favour the correctness of Froissart’sassertion, that in January 1344, a grand Tournament and Jousts took place atWindsor, to which Knights and Esquires of all countries were invited, with theobject of establishing a Fraternity similar to Arthur s Round Table ; and thenext question is, whether the Order of the Garter was, as Froissart states,founded on that occasion.

In considering this point, it must be observed that though the Companionswere not chosen, nor the details of the Order settled, until nearly four years afterthe Jousts of January 1344, Edward mq,y, nevertheless, have founded it at that

TV ales, the Duk of Cornewaile, x Erles ix Confesses, Barons and mony burgeis the wich might notlightly be nombrid. And of diverse landis beyond the see weren mony strangers. And at the sametime when the Justis wer done Kyng Edward made a gret soper in the wich he ordeyned first andbegan his Round Tabul, and ordeyned and stedfasted the day of the Round Tabull to be holdenther at Wyndesore in the Witson weke evermore yerly.” Fructus Temporum, commonly called theChronicle of Saint Alban’s, sub anno.

“ Abut the xix yere of this Kynge, he made a solempne feest at Wyndesore, and a great Juste andTurnament, where he devysed and perfyted substancyally the order of the Knyghtes of the Garter.”Rastell’s Chronicle, ed. 1811, p. 216.

“ Rex autem instituit Garterium Ordinem, cui tantus deinde accessit honor, ut maximos quosquereges non poenituerint in id venire collegium. Sunt numero sex et viginti Garterii equites (sic enimappellantur) et alius in alii demortui locum per electionem reliquorum cooptatur,” 8tc .—“ De causaautem instituendi Ordinis omnino ambiguitur: fama tamen apud vulgus etiam nunc tenet, Edoardumaliquando e terra collegisse Reginae seu amicae tibiarum tegminis ligamen, quod forte resolutum ita utusu venit, ceciderat, et nonnullis heroibus id videntibus, ac jocose cavillantibus, dixisse, brevi temporefuturum, ut ejusmodi cingulo etiam ab illis summus haberetur honor, atque non multo post istiusmodiordinem instituisse ac eum addidisse titulum, quo testaretur ipsos heroes contra quam erat, de sejudicium fecisse. Et fama vulgi talis. Atqui autores Anglici verecunde superstitiosi, forte timentesne imminutae magistatis regiae crimen subirent, si tale quid ut minus insigne prodidissent, maluerunttacitum relinquere, perinde quasi nunquam alias visum esset, rem ab initio, a parva sordidaque origineortam, magno esse incremento dignitateque auctam, &c. Proinde origo vera Garterii ordinis non eratpraetereunda silentio, etiam si profecta esset ab amore, quo nihil est nobilius, dicente Ovidio.”Polydori Vergilii Urbinatis Anglicae Historiae Libri viginti septem. Basii. 1555. Lib. xix. fo. 378.

“ L’an mcccxliiii. le Roy Eduvart d’Angleterre fist a Vindesore une Feste moult solennelle en laquelle il crea & establist l’Ordre de la bleu Jarretiere sur la quelle sont en language Francois escriptesces mots ‘ Honny soit qui mal y pense.’ Et fut pur un jeune mignongne a qui la Jarretiere bleuetomba en dansant devant le Roy, & la leva ung chevalier qui diet les desuisdites paroles. En cestJarretiere furent primerement receus quarante Chevaliers dont le Roy & ses enfans & les plus grandsPrinces & Seigneurs de sa terre estoyent Et ordonna que d’an en an le jour Saint Gregore [George] senferoit la feste dedans le chasteau de Vindesore le quelle chasteau le roy Artur avoit fait faire autreffoisedifier et in iceluy tener la noble table ronde,” &c. “ Les grandes Chroniques de Bretagne,” cited

by Selden, in his “ Titles of Honor,” cap. v. p. 658, and which, he says, were written in the time ofHenry the Eighth, by one that had been in England with some Ambassadors from the French King.