Great Britain -- History -- Henry VI, 1422-1461; Margaret, of Anjou, Queen, consort of Henry VI, King of England, 1430-1482
Katrington then said that he was ready to fight his antagonist, not
only on the points raised in the document which had been read, but on
any and all other points whatever that might be laid to his charge.
He had entire confidence, he said, that the justice of his cause would
secure him the victory.
[Sidenote: Singular oath administered.]
The next proceeding in this strange ceremony was singular enough. It
was the solemn administering of an oath to each of the combatants, by
which oath they severally swore that the cause in which they were to
fight was true, and that they did not deal in any witchcraft or magic
art, by which they expected to gain the victory over their adversary;
and also, that they had not about their persons any herb or stone, or
charm of any kind, by which they hoped to obtain any advantage.
After this oath had been administered, time was allowed for the
combatants to say their prayers. This ceremony they performed
apparently in a very devout manner, and then the battle began.
[Sidenote: The battle.]
The combatants fought first with spears, then with swords, and
finally, coming to very close quarters, with daggers. Anneslie seemed
to gain the advantage. He succeeded in disarming Katrington of one
after another of his weapons, and finally threw him down. When
Katrington was down, Anneslie attempted to throw himself upon him, in
order to crush him with the weight of his heavy iron armor. But he
was exhausted by the heat and by the exertion which he had made, and
the perspiration running down from his forehead under his helmet
blinded his eyes, so that he could not see exactly where Katrington
was, and, instead of falling upon him, he came down upon the ground at
a little distance away. Katrington then contrived to make his way to
Anneslie and to get upon him, thus pressing him down to the ground
with his weight. The combatants lay thus a few minutes locked together
on the ground, and struggling with each other as well as their heavy
and cumbrous armor would permit, Katrington being all the time
uppermost, when the king at length gave orders that the contest should
cease and that the men should be separated.
[Sidenote: The proceedings arrested by the king.]
In obedience to these orders, some men came to rescue Anneslie by
taking Katrington off from him. But Anneslie begged them not to
interfere. And when the men had taken Katrington off, he urged them to
place him back upon him again as he was before, for he said he himself
was not hurt at all, and he had no doubt that he should gain the
victory if they would leave him alone. The men, however, having the
king's order for what they were doing, paid no heed to Anneslie's
requests, but proceeded to lead Katrington away.
[Sidenote: Katrington's condition.]
They found that he was so weak and exhausted that he could not stand.
They led him to a chair, and then, taking off his helmet, they tried
to revive him by bathing his face and giving him some wine.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account