The town, the duke, his courtiers and their tournament. A spectacle in Brussels, 4-7 May 1439

N.B. This is the final draft of a paper published as: Mario Damen, ‘The town, the duke, his courtiers and their tournament. A spectacle in Brussels, 4-7 May 1439’, in: A. van Oosterwijk ed., Staging the court of Burgundy. Harvey Miller Studies in Medieval and Early Renaissance Art History 69 (London etc., 2013), 69-79. Please cite only from the printed version. Mario Damen, University of Amsterdam THE TOWN, THE DUKE, HIS COURTIERS AND THEIR TOURNAMENT. A SPECTACLE IN BRUSSELS 4-7 MAY 1439.1 Introduction Richard Vaughan characterized the 1430s as the ‘critical decade’ for the formation of the Burgundian state.2 During the first years of this decade the duchy of Brabant and the counties of Hainault, Holland and Zeeland were successfully integrated into the Burgundian personal union. In 1435, the Congress of Arras brought Burgundy peace with France but war with England. This resulted in widespread social unrest in the Flemish towns, and eventually Bruges openly rose up against the duke. However, by the end of the decade Philip the Good had succeeded in establishing peace with both his internal and external enemies. In the first months of 1438 the Bruges revolt was effectively suppressed and from December 1438 onwards duchess Isabel of Portugal was conducting peace negotiations with England in Gravelines.3 In 1439, the good diplomatic relations with France were further strengthened when Philip the Good's son Charles de Charolais, married Catherine, daughter of the French king Charles VII, on 11 June in Saint Omer.4 This article was written within the framework of the NWO research program Burgundian Nobility. Princely Politics and Noble Families, 1425-1525. The final draft of this article was completed at NIAS, the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in Wassenaar, I am grateful to the rector and staff for their support and assistance. 2 R. Vaughan, Philip the Good. The apogee of Burgundy, London 1970, 54. 3 Jan Dumolyn, De Brugse opstand van 1436-1438, Kortrijk-Heule 1997, 267-270; Vaughan 1970, 107-108. 4 Vaughan 1970, 124; M. Somme, Isabelle de Portugal, duchesse de Bourgogne: une femme au pouvoir au XVe siecle, Villeneuve d'Ascq 1998, 396-402. 1 1 On the occasion of this marriage there was a joust in which a Spanish knight participated.5 This in itself was not remarkable- tournaments were often held to celebrate marriages. However from 4 to 7 May 1439, just one month before the Burgundian-French marriage ceremony, another tournament of a far larger scale had been organized at the Grote Markt in Brussels, in which duke Philip the Good himself participated. It is of course possible that this earlier tournament had originally been intended to celebrate the princely wedding.6 A chronicler mentions that a champ d’armes was planned in the town but that this was then moved to Saint Omer.7 However, it seems highly improbable that the French king would have allowed this marriage to take place in Brabant, a place outside the borders of the kingdom. So the question remains why the Brussels tournament would have been organized so close to the time of the princely wedding in Saint Omer and who was its principal initiator. This article will demonstrate that both the town and the duke had an interest in this tournament taking place. The duke and his household officers were glad to have a chance to exhibit the splendor of the court, although the military function of the tournament should not be underestimated. The town saw the tournament as a stimulus for the local economy. At the same time the chivalric event would position Brussels as an attractive residence for the Burgundian duke. 1. The tournament The period between 1100 and 1250 saw the growth of the institution of the tournament in Western Europe. A tournament typically involved a spectacular imitation battle between two teams each consisting of several hundred tourneyers who would fight in the countryside across an area of several square kilometers. It was particularly on the fringes of the kingdom of France and of the Holy Roman Empire that this ‘classic’ tournament, the mêlée, came into being. Then, however, in the late Middle Ages, restrictions imposed by the church along with the emerging ‘new monarchies’, saw the L. Douët-d'Arcq ed, La chronique d'Enguerran de Monstrelet en 2 livres avec pieces justificatives, 1400-1444, vol. V, Paris, 1861, 400-401 and Evelyne Van Den Neste, Tournois, joutes, pas d'armes dans les villes de Flandre a la fin du Moyen Age, 1300 - 1486, Paris 1996, 306. 6 For more on the preparation of the clothes for the wedding see: M.-Th. Caron, ‘La noblesse en représentation dans les années 1430: vêtements de cour, vêtements de joute, livrées’, in Publication du Centre Européen d’Études bourguignonnes (XIVe-XVIe s.) 37 (1997), 168-172. 7 A. Borgnet ed., Chronique de Jean de Stavelot, Brussels 1861, 433: ‘Et fut pardevant le dux de Bourgogne, adonc là [in Brussels MD] present, esleveit unck champ d’armes par et entre le bastart de Saint-Poul et unck chevalier d’Espangne, et fut miese plache por se faire à Odonare en Flandre’. 5 2 development of the tournament into a more regulated affair which normally took place just outside or even within city walls.8 In the Low Countries in particular, by the 1400s the tournament had become a typical urban event. They were not put on simply as amusement by or for the prince and his household but rather they provided a meeting space for the noble and urban elites where business (political contacts, marriage arrangements) could be done.9 In Bruges and Lille jousts were organized annually. During these spectacles, (called the White Bear and the Épinette respectively), well-off patricians from the town would joust with patricians from other towns, with nobles, courtiers and sometimes even the duke himself.10 Although Brussels did not host any such regular event, the city was still an important tournament venue from an early stage.11 In the first decades of the fifteenth century, tournaments were organized regularly on the Grote Markt.12 Philip the Good, characterized by Vaughan as an ‘enthusiastic jouster’,13 was present on several of these occasions. In 1409, for example, as an adolescent he had witnessed a tournament in Brussels on the occasion of the wedding of the duke of Brabant, his uncle Anthony of Burgundy.14 In 1428 he attended another tournament there together with the then duke of Brabant, his cousin Philip of St. Pol. On that occasion both princes made combat with 140-160 heaumes (helms, tourneyers) each.15 This evidence makes clear that Philip the Good must have known what to expect from the larger tournament of May 1439. As the tournament is very well documented in the sources we are able to reconstruct what exactly the duke would have witnessed. There is a special account of the D. Crouch, Tournament, London 2005, 1-9, 119-131. A. Janse, ‘Tourneyers and Spectators: The Shrovetide Tournament at The Hague, 1391’, in The court as a stage. England and the Low Countries in the later Middle Ages, eds. A. Janse and S. Gunn, Woodbridge 2006, 41; A. Brown and G. Small, Court and civic society in the Burgundian Low Countries c.1420-1530, Manchester 2007, 23-25, 213-215. 10 A. Brown, ‘Urban jousts in the later middle ages: the White Bear of Bruges’, in Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire, 78 (2000), 315-330; P. de Gryse, ‘Toernooien en steekspelen ten tijde van Lodewijk van Gruuthuse’, in Lodewijk van Gruuthuse. Mecenas en Europees diplomaat ca. 1427-1492, M. Martens ed., Bruges 1992, 90-92; Brown and Small 2007, 10. 11 M. Vale, The princely court. Medieval courts and culture in North-West Europe, 1270-1380, Oxford 2001, 197-198. 12 A. Chevalier-de Gottal, Les fetes et les arts a la cour de Brabant a l'aube du XVe siecle, Frankfurt am Main 1996, 105-111. See as well the impression of Pero Tafur when he visited the town in 1438 : ‘There is a constant succession of tourneys and everything that makes for pleasure.’ Pero Tafur, Travels and Adventures 1435-1439, Malcolm Letts ed., London, 1926, 195. 13 Vaughan 1970, 145. 14 L. Douët-d'Arcq ed, La chronique d'Enguerran de Monstrelet en 2 livres avec pieces justificatives, 1400-1444, II, Paris 1858, 32-33 ; Chevalier-de Gottal 1996, 106, 118-119. 15 L. Douët-d'Arcq ed, La chronique d'Enguerran de Monstrelet en 2 livres avec pieces justificatives, 1400-1444, IV, Paris 1860, 306-308. 8 9 3 expenses made by Philip the Good because of the tournament.16 Alongside this detailed administrative source, two chroniclers explicitly mention the event and are especially struck by the huge number of participants, 250 according to Jehan de Stavelot (†1449), 235 according to Oliver van Dixmude (†1459).17 This indicates that contemporaries considered the tournament to be a very special event. De Stavelot reports the chronology of events as follows: on May 4 the sangneurs came to Brussels to be present at the grandes jostes. The day after their arrival, a helm show (moistre) was organized. On May 6, there was a behourde with the participation of 250 heaumes (helms).18 The behourde can be interpreted here as a traditional tournoi or mêlée, transported to a confined urban setting, where two equal-sized teams battered each other with special tournament batons and swords (see fig. 1).19 The tournament came to a close on May 7 with a joust (joiste). Additional important details are provided by two sixteenth-century manuscripts which depict the coats of arms of 235 tourneyers (tallying with Van Dixmude’s estimation of the number of participants) all arranged in 37 lignes or companies (see fig. 2).20 Nineteen companies were conducted by bannerets (both knights and esquires) and eighteen by pennon-holders, all knights bachelor. In these occasional rolls,21 we find listed among the tourneyers the duke himself as knight banneret and leader of a company, the fine fleur of his household and numerous nobles and patricians, mainly from the duchy of Brabant. In accordance with tourneying traditions, during the behourde the 37 companies were grouped together into two teams.22 Philip the Good was almost certainly the leader of one team whereas one of the Brabantine bannerets will have been chef d’équipe of the other. It must have been a magnificent spectacle. As Enguerrand de Monstrelet reports on the participants of the 1428 Lille, Archives départementales du Nord, Série B (hereafter ADN B) 1966 fols. 309r-311v. Borgnet 1861, 433; Olivier van Dixmude, Merkwaerdige gebeurtenissen, vooral in Vlaenderen en Brabant, en ook in de aengrenzende landstreken, van 1377 tot 1443, ed. J. Lambin, Ypres 1835, 167. 18 Borgnet 1861, 433. 19 O. Gambler, ‘Ritterspiele und Turnierrüstung im Spätmittelalter’, in Das ritterliche Turnier. Beitrage zu einer vergleichenden Formen- und Verhaltengeschichte des Rittertums, ed. J. Fleckenstein, Göttingen 1985, 517; R. Barber and J. Barker, Tournaments. Jousts, chivalry, and pageants in the Middle Ages, New York 1989, 164-165; De Gryse 1992, 91-92; M. Vale, War and chivalry. Warfare and aristocratic culture in England, France and Burgundy at the end of the Middle Ages, Athens (Georgia), 1981, 84-85. See also the descriptions of this type of tournament in the tournament books of René d’Anjou (for a complete transcription of the French text and English translation E. Bennett, http://www.princeton.edu/~ezb/rene/renehome.html, 1998, consulted on 1 May 2010) and Antoine de la Sale (Sylvie Lefevre, Antoine de la Sale: la fabrique de l'œuvre et de l'ecrivain, suivi de l'edition critique du Traite des anciens et des nouveaux tournois, Geneva 2006, 316). 20 Brussels, Archives de la ville, Archives historiques (hereafter AV, AH) 3357 and Ghent, Rijksarchief, Fonds Familie D’Udekem d’Acoz 4498. I would like to thank Robert Stein (Leiden) and Frederik Buylaert (Ghent) for generously giving me the references of these occasional rolls. The tournament is mentioned (but not analyzed) by Van den Neste 1996, 308 nr. 322. 21 In French armorial occasional. See Michel Pastoureau, Les armoiries, Turnhout 1976, 39. 22 Vale 1981, 85. See also Crouch 2005, 71-74. 16 17 4 tournament in Brussels: ‘Et estoit grand noblesse de les veoir. Car ils estoient moult richement habillés et pares de leurs armes’.23 One of the occasional rolls makes clear that the tournament of 1439 was faict par le bon duc Philipe (made by Philip the Good). Moreover, in the account of 1439 the chapter of Philip’s expenses for the tournament, the event is termed the tournoy fait par mon seigneur le duc et autres.24 Indeed, according to the tournament books of René of Anjou and Antoine de la Sale, this type of tournament could only be initiated by princes, bannerets or puissans chevaliers.25 A challenger should send a rebated tournament sword by means of a king of arms or a herald to a defender who would then take up the sword and accept the challenge.26 De Monstrelet, describing the Brussels’ tournament of 1428, testifies partly to this tradition. At the end of this happening Anthoine de Croy received a sword as a kind of relay baton, which meant that he had to organize the next tournament. However, the event, which Croy ought to have organized in Mons, never came about, according to De Monstrelet.27 It is evident, however, that De Croy did play an active role in the 1439 tournament (see below). Staging a mêlée was an important means for training and team building because in this type of tournament, collaboration within both company and the entire team was important, unlike in the more individualized joust. Contemporaries did not distinguish fighting on a tournament from combat on a battlefield. Both were considered as faits d’armes. Moreover, according to Malcolm Vale, the mêlée was a ‘supreme test of physical stamina and endurance – qualities which were also at a premium at war’.28 In this sense the mêlée fitted well into the sphere of the late 1430s when the duke had affronted several military confrontations, first against the Bruges insurgents, and after against the English. Douët-D’Arcq 1860, 307. Brussels, AV, AH 3357 fol. 77v; Lille, ADN B 1966 fol. 309r. 25 Barber and Barker 1989, 180. Although René d’Anjou speaks of ‘quelque prince, ou du moins hault baron, ou banneret’ as possible initiators, De la Sale thinks that ‘ceulx qui entrerpenoyent a faire cest behourt, estoient seigneurs ou puissans chevaliers ou escuiers’. Bennett 1998; Lefèvre 2006, 307. 26 Barber and Barker 1989, 180. Although René of Anjou speaks of ‘quelque prince, ou du moins hault baron, ou banneret’ as possible initiators, De la Sale thinks that ‘ceulx qui entrerpenoyent a faire cest behourt, estoient seigneurs ou puissans chevaliers ou escuiers’. Bennett 1998; Lefèvre 2006, 307. 27 Douët-D’Arcq 1860, 308. 28 Vale 1981, 67, 78-80. 23 24 5 2. The town and its patricians The Brussels town government was very eager to please the duke in the hope that he and his household would reside for longer periods in the ducal residence of the Coudenberg. From 1430 onwards the council even established a kind of a ‘residential policy’ vis-à-vis the duke. In 1431, for example, the town sponsored the extension of the gardens (warande) of the Coudenberg after a special request from the duke, stating that this made him ‘more inclined to keep his residence in Brussels’. Moreover, the duke was invited to attend the yearly procession, the ommegang, in honour of Our-Lady-of-the-Sablon to the Grote Markt, which highlighted the bond between the town and the ducal dynasty. Furthermore, in 1437 Philip was registered as a member of the Chamber of rhetoricians ‘Den Boeck’.29 The willingness to help with the organization of a tournament fitted well into this range of ‘cultural’ activities aimed at presenting the town as an appropriate host for the duke and his household. In the accounts of the town of Louvain, the money spent organising a joust in June 1434 was even justified with the remark that Philip the Good had come to Louvain especially to see the tournament daer hi anders niet ghecomen en hadde (because otherwise he would not have come).30 Put succinctly, the tournament functioned as a suitable event to exert a pull on the duke. It seems reasonable to assume that Brussels willingly received the initiative for a tournament or even invited the duke and his household for such an event during which they could meet the nobles and patricians of Brabant. More than half of the tourneyers present had Brabantine roots. Moreover, when looking at the origin of the patricians it becomes clear that Brussels was the main ‘supplier’ out of the big Brabantine towns, with at least thirty men in the lists. Jan de Mol, Wouter Pipenpoy, Claes van SintGoricx and Hendrik t’Serarnts were pennon holders of four exclusively Brussels companies which primarily consisted of members of their own families.31 All four men occupied important offices in R. Stein, Politiek en historiografie. Het ontstaansmilieu van Brabantse kronieken in de eerste helft van de vijftiende eeuw, Leuven 1994, 229-239; idem, ‘Cultuur en politiek in Brussel. Wat beoogde het Brusselse stadsbestuur bij de annexatie van de plaatselijke Ommegang?’, in Op belofte van Profijt. Stadsliteratuur en burgermoraal in de Nederlandse letterkunde van de middeleeuwen, ed. H. Pleij, Amsterdam 1991, 234-236; R. Sleiderink, ‘Grootse ambities. Culturele initiatieven van de stad Brussel ten tijde van Filips de Goede’, in De macht van het schone woord. Literatuur in Brussel van de 14de tot de 18de eeuw, ed. J.D. Janssens, Leuven 2003, 108-109. 30 A. Meulemans, ‘Steekspelen te Leuven’, in Eigen schoon en de Brabander, 59 (1976), 400. 31 Brussels, AV AH 3357 fols. 95v, 98r-99r. 29 6 the Brussels town government in the 1430s.32 The same went for other patrician families of Brussels who supplied more than one tourneyer in 1439: Clutinc, Van den Heetvelde, Van der Noot, Van Ophem, Pipenpoy, t’Serclaes and Swaef.33 This evidence shows that there was more than enough support within the town to stage a tournament which would allow the most important Brussels families to shine. Although there are no surviving accounts of the Brussels town government during the reign of Philip the Good, we know that the town regularly sponsored tournaments.34 The practical organization of the tournament – tasks such as the construction of the lists and a tribune, covering the soil of the Grote Markt with sand, renting space in houses from which to watch the tournament (fig. 3) – was undoubtedly carried out by the town government. At least this was normally the case in Ghent, Bruges and Lille.35 The investment also made business sense. With the presence of 235 tourneyers, foreign guests and diplomats and, of course, the households of both duke and duchess, the town received at the very least some 500 visitors, not counting the entourages of relatives, servants and followers. Indeed, the household could not even be lodged entirely in the ducal residence of the Coudenberg meaning that there had to be sufficient inns in the town or in the direct surroundings where visitors could eat and stay overnight. Undoubtedly during and after the tournament banquets and feasts were celebrated where tourneyers and high-ranking spectators could meet informally and business could be done. At least that is what De Monstrelet describes what happened after the 1428 tournament in Brussels. Then there were dances and banquets en très grand habondance on which of course many ladies were present all dressed up richly. Moreover, masquerades (mommeries) were organized both for men and women.36 In this sense the organization of a tournament was a tremendous stimulus for the local economy, and this also benefited the town government as more excises could be collected on consumable goods like beer and wine. See the lists of aldermen for these years in A. Henne and A. Wauters, Histoire de la ville de Bruxelles II, Brussels, 1845, 519-520. 33 Brussels, AV AH 3357 fols. 83v-84r, 87r-88r, 96v-97r. 34 L. Galesloot, ‘Notes extraits des anciennes comptes de la ville de Bruxelles’, in Compte rendu des séances de la Commission royale d’histoire, 3e serie, 9 (1867), 482 mentions expenses made by the town during tournaments ‘op die merct’ (= Grote Markt) in 1416 and 1417 in presence of the duke of Brabant. 35 Brown 2000, 317-319; Van den Neste 1996, 71-75; D. Nicholas, ‘In the pit of the Burgundian theatre state. Urban traditions and princely ambitions in Ghent, 1360-1420’, in City and spectacle in Medieval Europe, eds. B.A. Hannawalt and K.L. Reyerson, Minneapolis 1994, 275-277. 36 Douët-D’Arcq 1860, 307. 32 7 3. The duke and his household This potential revenue for the town is confirmed by the list of expenses for fitting out Philip the Good and his ten tourneyers in preparation for the tournament. Six tournament helms were hired (for the duke alone!), while 14 pairs of tournament spurs, 11 tournament batons (bastons a tournoyer), 12 tournament swords (espées a tournoyer, see fig. 4), 12 feathers, 11 leather hats (chappeaux de fenstre) and the skin of an entire cow (to make belts or cruppers, to fix the high seated saddles37) were bought for the company of the duke. Moreover, sixty harnesses for both men and horses were hired from three merchants in Brussels.38 The most expensive items purchased, however, were the embroidered cloth used for the caparisons (houssures, fig. 5), the tunics (cottes d’armes), the banner and the pennon of the duke’s company (fig. 6). A considerable amount of ducal money was involved in this process. In March, messengers were sent to the sovereign bailiff of Flanders and to the receiver of the aides in Hainault, to requisition respectively 1,000 and 2,000 pounds (of 40 groats) pour convertir es habillemens du tournoy (to employ in the clothes of the tournament).39 Even that was not enough. On April 14, a messenger was sent with urgency to Jehan de Visen, receiver-general of all finances, in Lille for money to pay the painters and others who refused to continue working on the caparisons and autres habillemens pour le tournoy due to lack of payment.40 Indeed, amongst these expenses, the most luxurious materials reserved for the duke himself, to give expression to his high status and authority. The caparison of the duke’s horse was made of red damask, one of the most expensive silks. In this way he could distinguish himself from his followers who had caparisons made of taffeta (tiercelins), a lighter kind of silk of different colors. The tunics of the tourneyers, the caparisons and the shields (blazons) were all richly decorated with their coats of arms by the ducal painter Hue de Boulogne who even used fin or for this. 41 Eleven special war horses, destriers, were rented from the archbishop of Cologne and the count of Mörs.42 Philip the Good bestowed an enormous amount of gifts, in total 3,700 pounds (of 40 groats), on members of his family (his cousins Charles of Burgundy, count of Nevers and John of Burgundy, J. Barker, The tournament in England, 1100-1400, Woodbridge, 1986, 175. Lille, ADN B 1966 fols. 310r-v. Philip the Good had another eight harnesses brought over from Mons that were given in loan to the lord of Créquy: Ibidem fol. 309v. 39 Ibidem fols. 96v-97r. Other financial officers were required to give money for the clothes of the count of Nevers. 40 Ibidem fol. 100r. 41 Ibidem fol. 309r-v; Caron 1997, 163-164. 42 Lille, ADN B 1966 fol. 310v. According to Barber and Barker ‘the availability of suitable mounts was the commonest difficulty’ encountered by participants in a tournament. Barber and Barker 1989, 161. 37 38 8 count of Étampes, and his nephew John of Cleves) and high-ranking household officers like the lords of Croy, Montagu, Arcis and Philippe de Vauldry. We may assume that they pumped a large share of this money into the town’s economy as it was intended to help them pay for houssures, harnois et autres habillemens for them and their companies.43 Brussels had a highly developed armour industry with specialized craftsmen such as saddlers, harness and helm makers, silver-, gold- and blacksmiths. Sosson found a considerable growth in the number of saddlers, armourers and foundrymen in fifteenth century Brussels, which in his opinion was caused by the presence of the ducal household. 44 It was not only artisans working in the amour-industry who profited; inn-keepers, cloth merchants, tailors and embroiders also benefited enormously from the presence of the duke, his household and all of the tourneyers. The town’s economy was able to supply the tourneyers with the highly specialized goods that were required for the tournament and at the same time the town benefited enormously from the presence of numerous well-to-do tourneyers and visitors. It was Anthoine de Croy, Philip the Good’s first chamberlain, who received the largest gift: 1,200 pounds to help him bear ‘les grans fraiz et missions’ which he had incurred for the tournament.45 De Croy seems to have played an active role in conducting the tournament in the duke’s name, alongside directing his own company of eight tourneyers (fig. 8).46 Moreover, Since 1432, when he acquired the seigniory of Aarschot, one of the most important domains of the duchy, De Croy had belonged to the select category of the baanrotsen (bannerets) of Brabant.47 These nobles distinguished themselves from other nobles by the possession of important seigniories, containing high jurisdiction, which were held in fief from the duke of Brabant. They were entitled to lead a company on the battlefield as well as during tournaments, and this leadership was symbolized by their banners, square panels of cloth featuring their coats of arms.48 It seems that the essential link between Philip’s household and the town was in fact Jean Hinckaert, who played an even more vital role than Croÿ. Hinckaert came from an important Brussels patrician family, and must have come to the notice of Philip the Good during the Lille, ADN B 1966 fol. 199v, 311r-v . J.-P. Sosson, ‘L'artisanat Bruxellois du métal. Hiérarchie sociale, salaires et puissance écomique (1360-1500)’ in Cahiers Bruxellois, 7 (1962), 241-246. 45 Lille, ADN B 1966 fol. 199v. 46 Brussels, AV, AH 3357 fols. 81v-82r. 47 L. Galesloot, Inventaire des archives de la cour feudale de Brabant I, Brussel 1870, 376. 48 On this special category see M. Damen, ‘Heren met banieren. De baanrotsen van Brabant in de vijftiende eeuw’, Bourgondië voorbij. De Nederlanden 1250-1650. Liber alumnorum Wim Blockmans, M. Damen and L. Sicking ed., Hilversum, 2010, 139-159. Furthermore: Crouch 2005, 75-76; W . Paravicini, ‘Soziale Schichtung und soziale Mobilität am Hof der Herzöge von Burgund’ in Francia, 5 (1977), 133-135; Janse 2001, 83-86. 43 44 9 tournament of 1428 at the Grote Markt, by winning the prize of the behourde on the first day.49 In 1433, the duke appointed him as écuyer d’écurie in his household.50 As a prize-winning tourneyer Hinckaert will have played a crucial role as one of the ten select members of the duke’s company (fig. 9). In terms of his social background he had humble origins, at least compared to his companions who included some grands seigneurs like Pierre de Bauffremont, Florimont de Brimeu, Jacques de Crèvecoeur and Philippe de Ternant, all councilors-chamberlain and members of the Order of the Golden Fleece (fig. 2).51 However, Hinckaert was more than a tourneyer. He acted as the local manager making the necessary arrangements for the duke to participate in the tournament. For example, he took care of the (financing of the) outfits of the duke and his company, buying a number of several items necessary for tourneying and keeping the 11 destriers, rented from the archbishop of Cologne and the count of Mörs, in his stables during the duke’s stay in Holland in April.52 Hinckaert functioned as a perfect liaison between the duke and the town. Conclusions The different parties involved in the tournament of May 1439 in Brussels had a common goal but different intentions. Now that peace had been established in his territories, duke Philip the Good shifted his policy towards internal ‘unification’. A tournament celebrated in an urban center like Brussels, ‘capital’ of the duchy of Brabant, and geographically in the heart of the Burgundian territories, could show the splendour of his court and the magnificence of his entourage while demonstrating chivalric virtues in an overwhelmingly urban setting. Into his own company Philip the Good had integrated experienced fighters, including not only grand seigneurs and members of the Golden Fleece but also officers with more humble backgrounds, who were eager to serve the duke in arms. Because the duke supplied most of his household officers with robes, armour and horses, or money to buy or hire this, the bond with his men was strengthened. De Monstrelet calls him ‘ung gentil homme de Brabant nommé Jehan Linquart’. Douët-D’Arcq 1860, 307. H. Kruse and W. Paravicini, Die Hofordnungen der Herzoge von Burgund I: Herzog Philipp der Gute 1407 - 1467, Ostfildern 2005, 119-120. On Hinckaert and his family, see F. de Cacamp, E. Spelkens, and J.A. Molina, ‘Généalogie des familles inscrites au lignage Sleeus en 1376 d'après le Liber familiarum de Jean-Baptiste Houwaert’, in Brabantica. Recueil de travaux de généalogie, d'héraldique et d'histoire familiale pour la province de Brabant, IV, 1959, 258-262. 51 Brussels, AV, AH 3357 fols. 77v-78r. See on them R. de Smedt, Les chevaliers de l'Ordre de la Toison d'or au XVe siecle. Notices bio-bibliographiques, Frankfurt am Main 2000, 38, 45-48, 68-70. 52 Lille, ADN B 1966 fols. 98v, 101r, 309 r-v, 311r. 49 50 10 It is clear from the duke’s accounts that Philip the Good only spent money on the necessities of his own company and of his closest relatives and collaborators. The town administration will have taken care of the ‘general costs’ of the organization of the event at the Grote Markt, including the banquets and receptions offered to the high-ranking visitors. The patricians of the town, some of them occupying household offices themselves, were happy to receive the duke and his entourage. This brought benefits for both the prestige and the economy of the town and its most important families. Furthermore, Brussels strengthened its position as a ducal residence. The tournament in Brussels was maybe one of the last in the massive (urban) mêlée-style in the fifteenth century. After 1440, the pas d’armes would evolve into the most chivalric and prestigious way of tourneying. The tournament became more and more a courtly occasion, precluding the possibility to intermingle with the noble and urban elites who did not form part of the household. 53 53 Vale 2001, 199. 11 List of captions Figure 1. Tournament with batons. This is a contemporary drawing of a tournament with batons. The tourneyers beat each other on the harnesses with batons during two hours. Afterwards the tournament swords were used to beat off the crests (Gambler 1985, 521). The tourneyers wear harnesses and special grilled tournament helms which offer good visibility. The horses have saddles with high seats which provide stability for the tourneyers as they fight. The heads of the horses are protected with special ‘testers’ or chanfreins which leave only the eyes open, whereas the chest is protected with a so-called piser (pissière). Both pieces were made of boiled leather (cuir bouilli, see Barker 1986, 175). For the Brussels tournament these protective pieces were purchased for the duke in Cologne and decorated with his coat of arms by Hue de Boulogne (ADN B 1966 f. 309v-310r). See also ill. 6. Mittelrhein ca. 1441. Nürnberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Ms. 998 f. 227r. Figure 2. Occasional roll of the tournament. The first company in the occasional roll of the tournament is that of duke Philip the Good. First we see a banner, followed by a pennon, both with the coat of arms of the duke. Then the coats of arms of the ten members of his company are depicted all of them ornamented with a helm with a torse, while only seven of them have a crest. They can be identified as Pierre de Bauffremont, Florimont III de Brimeu, Jacques de Crèvecoeur, Philippe de Ternant, Bertrandon de la Broquière, Jean bastard de Dampierre, Peter Swider, Jan Hinckaert, Jean de Chaumergy and Hervé de Meriadec. The order in which the members of the company are placed is an indication of their social and professional status. Brussels, AV, AH 3357 fols. 77v-78r. Figure 3. Tournament with batons and swords. Drawing of a tournament on a large city square. The two stages of the tournament, fighting first with batons and then with blunted tournament swords, can be observed. The crests had to be beaten off with the swords. The soil of the square is covered with sand. Spectators can watch the tournament from the lists, from houses on the square and from a specially-constructed wooden stand, decorated with coats of arms. From here the most prominent guests and the judges could oversee the tournament. Jörg Breu d. J., ca. 1542. München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Cod. Icon. 393(2) fols. 138v-139r. 12 Figure 4. Tournament sword and baton. According to René of Anjou the tournament sword ‘should be four fingers wide, so that it cannot pass through the eyeslot of the helm, and the two edges ought to be as wide as a finger's thickness. And so that it will not be too heavy, it should be hollowed out in the middle and rebated in front and all in one piece from the crosspiece to the end (…)’. The baton ‘ought to have a little rondel well riveted in front of the hand to protect it. And you may, if you wish, attach a light chain, braid or cord to your sword or mace around the arm, or to your belt, so that if it escapes your hand you can recover it before it falls to the ground.’54 René d’Anjou, Livre de tournois, Bruges 1488-89. Bibliothèque Nationale de France, ms. Français 2692 fol. 25r. Figure 5. Philip the Good, dressed up in a tournament outfit with his collar of the Golden Fleece. Philip wears a grilled tournament helmet with a crest fastened on a torse. The crest consists of a fleurde-lys. For the tournament of 1439 the duke had ordered a special harnois de tournoy. The duke wears a surcoat displaying his coat of arms . The high-seated saddle, the tester (protection for the head of the horse) and the caparison are also decorated with the duke’s coat of arms. Note the prominent presence of the fleur-de-lys, placed in the first and fourth field of the coat of arms, and the Brabantine golden lion rampant on gold, placed in the divided second field. Bibliothèque Nationale de France, ms. Arsenal 4790 fol. 149v. Figure 6. Banner and pennon of the duke’s company as depicted in the occasional roll of the tournament. The illustrations in the occasional roll depict real objects used during the tournament. Both banners and pennons were crucial for recognizing the bannerets and pennonholders within the lists. Just like during normal battles, they were probably carried by members of his company. Erroneously, above the pennon here is written that it belongs to Charles de Bourgoigne. However, Philip, like most other bannerets, had both a banner and pennon as is proved by the account of the tournament. Moreover, Charles was only six years old at the time of the tournament and had a different coat of arms from his father. Brussels, AV, AH 3357 fol. 77v-78r. 54 Bennett 1998. 13 Figure 7. Coat of arms of Jean Hinckaert in the occasional roll of the tournament. Brussels, AV, AH 3357 fol. 78r. Fig. 8. Banner of Anthoine de Croÿ in the occasional roll of the tournament. Brussels, AV, AH 3357 fol. 81v. 14