PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. THERE is no part of antiquarian pursuit and inquiry which is more satisfactory, as excluding conjecture in a greater degree, than that which is directed towards fixing the identity of persons, with their several relations and individual circumstances, or to ascertain the customs, habits, and domestic furniture, which prevailed in any distinct æra. No document can produce more satisfactory evidence of each of these subjects, severally, than the last Will and testament of noble or opulent men and women. In these, we have a certain proof of the existence, the individual connection, and the line in which families have descended; and with a power of verification more valid, perhaps, than that given by title deeds and sepulchral inscriptions. In the selection now offered from the Wills of the principal personages who have lived during the lapse of five centuries, it will be obvious to all antiquarian readers, that genealogy has been a chief object; and that some additional light will be thrown by it, upon many an obscure pedigree, in which the dates of births and deaths, the second a marriages, and the younger issue, have not been ascertained, even in the elaborate and correct compilations of Glover, Vincent, and Dugdale. In points where they add corroboration, they give no inferior satisfaction. They likewise confirm the dates of decease, and appropriate sepulchral monuments and tombs which are without inscriptions, to those individuals to perpetuate whose memory they were certainly erected. But, with other objects in view, an elucidation is attempted which will familiarize us with the habits of our ancestors, shew the existing state of the Arts, the form and value of domestic furniture, and utensils of gold and silver, as applied to the service of the altar or high table; and of armour, for the field of battle or the peaceful joustings. Such investigations may gratify a rational curiosity, and serve to fix in the mind a positive idea of things, customs, and religious feeling, which is not to be separated from their own æra. A want of sufficient discrimination of these points has led to a certain confusion in the minds of many, who with great zeal have entered upon the study of the antiquities of our own country. The very obscure terms used for armour, utensils, and furniture, have presented obstacles rarely surmounted by those who have not the ponderous tomes of Du Cange, Charpentiere, Lacombe, and Spelman, at their command; or, if they have, are not industrious enough to make use of them. As far as any such terms occur, in the present selection, a true and critical explanation of them, is attempted, as it may be supported by the authority of those able etymologists. The very accurate and picturesque descriptions given by Chaucer of the habiliments, jewels, and furniture, peculiar to his own age, will be sometimes quoted, as they reflect a pleasing light of comfirmation upon the application and use of any instance in particular. THOMAS WARTON, whose taste and sagacity were most conspicuous in his investigation of the habits and customs of the Middle Ages, since the Conquest, has observed, that, after the battle of Cressy by our victorious Monarch, Edward III. and towards the end of the fourteenth century, "riches and plenty, the effects of conquest, peace, and prosperity, were spread on every side, and new luxuries were imported in great abundance from the conquered countries. There were few families, even of a moderate condition, but had in their possession pre cious articles of dress and furniture, such as silks, fur, tapestry, embroidered beds, cups of gold and silver, porcelain and chrystal, bracelets, chains, and necklaces, brought from Caen, Calais, and other foreign cities." (Hist. Engl. Poetry, vol. ii. p. 254.) Walsingham, Ypodigin. 121. Hist. 159.) The perfection of workmanship, and the variety of design, which were exhibited in the setting of jewels, the gilding and embossing of plate-vessels, and which, from the demand for such sumptuous luxuries, had greatly increased both in number and beauty, has seldom been considered with sufficient attention. We are apt to envelope these Middle Ages, with respect to the habits of private life, in a cloud of barbarism, and to attribute the revival of the more elegant arts to an æra much later than the true one a 2 Jewels were chiefly applied to increase the splendour of the pix, or corporas, which contained the holy wafer; and were inlaid on golden chalices, as the personal ornament of ladies of high rank, in coronets, circles, nouches, necklaces, and broches, all of which were singly bequeathed. The variety of precious materials is mentioned by Chaucer : "But he were knowinge, for the nones, For no man could preise or gesse Of hem the value or richesse, Rubies ther were, saffires, ragounces, And amerandes, more than two ounces." [Jacinths] ROMANT OF THE ROSE. Plate for the service of the altar consisted of many pieces. The art of chasing and embossing solid gold, with astonishing delicacy, of parcel gilding, gold upon silver, of enamelling (very anciently), and of casting whole figures, or in high relief, had attained to a positive degree of perfection in the fourteenth century. At the high tables of the nobility, standing-cups and covers, bowls, and dishes of all sizes, and certain of them exceedingly massive, were in daily use, and always given as legacies. Favourite drinking-cups were distinguished by names, "Benaison," "Belchier," and entailed upon the heir. Church furniture consisted of velvet and silk stuffs for the embellishment of the altar, and the personal habits of the officiating priests. These latter were usually composed of cloth of gold, woven with different colours, and the finest linen cloth. Books were first written, and splendidly illuminated, for the service of the altar only. Popular romances, as richly ornamented, found no less favourable acceptance with knights and ladies, than the decretals and homilies with the religious orders. Relicks or fragments of such of the English Prelates as had obtained canonization, were preserved with equal veneration with those of the more early Saints. They were generally set in gold, and kept in caskets of jasper, carnation, agate, and chrystal. Of such extreme cost were the state-beds of that time, that they occur constantly in Royal and Noble Wills. It was customary to embroider the coat-armour of the owner upon velvet or sattin, and to entail them upon the heir. The ladies of quality had then a numerous suit of young female attendants, whose skill in embroidery was a necessary and admired accomplishment, and the ornamenting bed-hangings was a frequent employment of their skill in needlework. Suits of tapestry, adapted to the several apartments in baronial residences, and removeable from one to the other, were extremely costly, and often bequeathed or made heirlooms. Warton gives a very interesting detail of the subjects of old romance, which were known to have been wrought upon these tapestry-hangings, and enumerates the palaces in which they were preserved. (Vol.i.pp.209-213, 8vo.) Of personal armour, our ancestors had the greatest scrupulosity and care that each of its component parts should be of equal strength and pliability. The equipment for the tournament admitted of a still greater degree of sumptuous embellishment. So |