Charles had retired, when, with true Spanish rodomontade, he galloped and curveted over the field, and declared that he had not found his craven antagonist. It had been stipulated, that the defaulter in this meeting should be branded with the name of traitor, and declared perjured, cowardly, and eternally infamous, worthless of all regal title or honour, and condemned for ever after to be merely followed by a humble menial. It appears that Charles came to the lists with his uncle, Philippe le Hardi, King of France; and it is to this circumstance that the conduct of the King of Arragon was attributed. A paper war between the two princes followed; and, as both treated their adversaries as cravens, the merits of the cause were never fairly determined; while the learned Alciat declared, _Dubitatum fuit utrius causa esset justior_. From that period arose the endless differences between the houses of Anjou and Arragon, regarding the succession to the Neapolitan crown. The Arragonese having carried their point, Charles VIII. of France, towards the latter end of the fifteenth century, as heir to Louis XI, renewed the contest, and involved his successors in ruinous wars. Louis I, head of the second house of Anjou, was duped in 1382 in the same manner as his predecessor Charles, by Charles III, a challenge having been mutually accepted,--in which case both parties upbraided each other with falsehood. Louis appeared at the camp, when Charles attacked his army by surprise, and Louis, severely wounded in the treacherous conflict, shortly after died. Naples, at this period, was the theatre of duelling; its practice became a science regularly professed by celebrated teachers, as the _Scienza Cavalleresca_, and Alberic Balbiano, constable of Naples, instituted a military order, under the patronage of St. George, for the due maintenance of this honourable pursuit. The knights of this noble institution wandered about the country plundering and pillaging, but ever ready to give _satisfaction_ to all who considered themselves aggrieved. The _accollade_ of knighthood was accompanied by the following injunction:--“The stroke of this sword is the last that you shall patiently submit to.” In the practice of this science, dexterity and cunning cuts and thrusts became accomplishments, and disarming an adversary a high feat of honour, since it afforded the right to kill the disarmed champion without further resistance or trouble. Soon after, the bloody disputes between the Guelphs and the Ghibelins afforded numerous opportunities for personal _rencontres_, when the parties did not meet in battle array; but it is manifest, that at all times Italian duels were attended with circumstances of ferocity and treachery; and to avoid publicity, these meetings frequently took place behind hedges and ditches, and in woods and solitary places; hence the practice was called _combatere à la mazza_.