ORDER OF THE BATH.

5

his soul from sin by vigils, fasting, prayer, and confession, he immersed hisbody in a Bath, not merely for the sake of ablution, but in signification that heshould be “ of a pure mind and of honest intentions, willing to conflict withany dangers or difficulties in the cause of virtue; to take care both in hiswords and actions to follow the maxims of prudence; and, religiously to observethe rules of fidelity and honour .” 13

According to Ingulfus, “ It was the custom of the English, before theNorman invasion, that he, who was to be regularly admitted to the degree ofKnighthood, should, on the eve of the day before his initiation to that degree,repair to some Bishop, Abbot, Monk, or Priest, and there, with all humilityand compunction of heart, confess all his sins; and having received absolution,should continue the whole night in the Church, exercising the strict offices ofpiety, and a sincere humiliation; that in the morning he should hear mass, offerhis sword upon the altar, and, after the gospel, the officiating Priest should,with his benediction, lay a sword, sacred to that use, upon the Knight’s neck,who then having participated of the Holy mysteries of the communion, was fromthat time constituted and reputed a complete Knight .” 14

The earliest mention since the Conquest of the ceremony of Bathing, atthe creation of a Knight, appears to be that of Geoffrey, son of Fulk Countof Anjou, who on being contracted to marry the daughter of King Henry theFirst, was Knighted by that Monarch at Rouen, together with several otheryoung men of rank; and it is evident from the language of the Chronicler,that the solemnities then observed were usual on all similar occasions:

“ Geoffrey, the son of Fulk Earl of Anjou, which Earl was afterward Kingof Jerusalem, being in the fifteenth year, the flower of his age, Henry the First,King of England, proposed to give his only daughter in marriage to him:overtures were made to that end by King Henry to Fulk, who promised that hewould perform the King’s pleasure and demands: engagements were made, and

9 Recueil des Roys de France, leurs Couronne, et Maison, par Jean du Tillet, Evesque de Meaux,4to. Paris, 1607, p. 431.

10 Selden, ut supra, p. 639. 11 Ibid.

12 This, perhaps rather apocryphal statement, is thus given in the original: “ Nam et avus ejusAlfredus prosperum ei regnum olim imprecatus fuerat, videns et gratiose complexus speciei spectataepuerum, et gestuum elegantiam ; quem etiam praemature Militem fecerat, donatum chlamyde coccinia,gemmato baltheo, ense Saxonico cum vagina aurea.”— Malmesbury, De gest. Reg. lib. 2. cap. 6.

13 Du Tillet, ut supra; Anstis, p. 4. u Ingulfus, inter Rer. Anglic. Scriptores, p. 512, as

translated in Anstis, p. 11.