The Seneschal of Hainault Performs a Deed of Arms in Valencia, 1407

In this same year, an enterprise of arms was undertaken by the good seneschal of Hainault, in the presence of the king of Aragon.

The combatants were to be four against four, and their arms axes, swords and daggers: the combat was to the outrance, subject, however, to the will of the judge of the field. The companions of the seneschal were: Sir Jacques de Montenay, a knight of Normandy, Sir Tanguy du Chastel, a knight from the duchy of Brittany, and a notable esquire called Jean Carmen. Their adversaries were from the kingdom of Aragon, and their chief was named Colomat de Santa Coloma, of the king of Aragon's household, and much beloved by him: the second, Sir Pere de Moncada: the third, Peyronet de Santa Coloma; and the fourth, Bernabo de l’Uovo.

When the appointed day approached, the king had the lists magnificently prepared near to his palace in the town of Valencia. The king came to the seat allotted for him, attended by the duke of Candie, and the counts of Sardinia and of Agnenne (Denia), and others of his high nobility. All round the lists scaffolds were erected, on which were seated the nobles of the country, the ladies and damsels, as well as the principal townspeople. Forty men at arms, richly dressed, were ordered by the king to keep the lists clear; and between their barriers was the constable of Aragon, with a great company of men at arms, richly armed according to the custom of the country. Within the field of combat were two small pavilions for the champions, that were well decorated and adorned with their arms, to repose in, and shelter themselves from the heat of the sun. On the arrival of the king, he made known to the seneschal, by one of his knights, that he and his companions should advance first into the field, since it had been so ordered, as the Aragonese were the appellants. The seneschal and his companions, on receiving this summons, instantly armed themselves, and each mounted their good coursers, which were all alike ornamented with vermillion silk trappings that fell almost to the ground, over which were sown many escutcheons of their arms. And so in noble array they left their lodgings, and advanced toward the gate of the lists. The before-named esquire marched first, followed by Sir Tanguy and Sir Jacqes de Montenay; and last of all, the seneschal, conducted by the seneschal du Chin; when, having entered the lists, they made their reverences on horseback to King Martin of Aragon, who paid them great honor.

They then retired to their tents, and waited an hour and a half for their opponents, who arrived like the others, in a body on horseback. Their horses' trappings were of white silk, sown with escutcheons of their arms. And after they had made their reverences to the king, they retired also to their tents, which were pitched on the right, where they all remained for full five hours thus armed. The cause of this delay was owing to the king and his council wishing to accommodate the matter so they would not fight. Because of this, many messages were sent from the king to the seneschal, proposing that he should not proceed farther; but he answered wisely and well that this enterprise had been undertaken at the request of Colomat, that he and his companions had come from a far country, and at great trouble and expense, to accomplish his desire, which he and his companions were determined to do. At last, after much discussion on each side, it was concluded that they should begin the fight. The usual proclamations were then made in the king's name; and the king at arms of Aragon shouted out loud and clear that the champions must do their duty. Both parties then issued forth from their tents holding their axes in their hands, and marched proudly towards each other.

The Aragonese had settled among themselves that two of them should fall on the seneschal, in the hope of striking him down: both parties were on foot, and they expected he would be at one of the ends of the lists above the others, but he was in the middle part. When they approached, the seneschal stepped forward three or four paces before his companions, and attacked Colomat, who had that day been made a knight by the king’s hand, and gave him so severe a blow with his axe, on the side of his basinet, that it made him step back and turn half round.

And each of the others came very valiantly against the opponent they had picked out. Then Sir Jacques de Montenay threw down his axe, and with one hand seized Sir Pere de Moncada by the lower edge of his lames. In the other he had a dagger with which he sought to wound him underneath. But, as both sides seemed to be getting thoroughly worked up, the king had them restrained.

And in truth, it appeared that the Aragonese would have been in great peril of having the worst of it had the matter been pursued to the utmost [outrance]. The seneschal and those with him were all four very powerful and strong, very experienced in arms, and equal to the accomplishment of any enterprise that might be demanded from them.

When the champions were retired to their tents, the king descended from his scaffold into the lists, and very gently requested of the seneschal and Colomat that the remaining deeds of arms might be referred to him and his council, and he would so act that they should all be satisfied. The seneschal, then falling on one knee, humbly entreated the king that he would consent that the challenge should be completed according to the request of Colomat. The king replied, by again requiring that the completion of the combat should be referred to his judgment; which being granted, he took the seneschal by the hand. And placed him above himself, and Colomat on the other side. He thus led them out of the lists, when each returned to his hotel and disarmed. The king sent his principal knights to seek the seneschal and his companions, whom, for three days, he entertained at his palace, and paid them as much honor as if they had been his own brothers. When he had reconciled them with their opponents, he gave them gifts and fine presents. And they departed thence on their return to France, and the seneschal to Hainault.


Monstrelet, Enguerrand de, and François Noël Alexandre Dubois. 1826. Chroniques d'Enguerrand de Monstrelet. Paris: Verdière [etc.]. Monstrelet, 1857, vol. 1 Chapter 14 pp. 129-133

Although the Buchon editions of Monstrelet date the Deed of Arms to 1403, Martín de Riquer reports that according to Aragonese documents the combat happened on May 30 of 1407.

Translation Copyright Will McLean 2012

Arms the Seneschal of Hainault Did on his Voyage to Santiago: 1402-1403

Here follow the arms my lord the seneschal of Hainault did on his voyage to Santiago in Galicia. The last day of September he did arms at Bordeaux before the duke of Iol, against Lord John Zouche, English, that is to say a lance course and 30 strokes of the sword on horseback without reprinses*. And the seneschal of Hainault broke his lance on the upper edge of the gardbrace. And they achieved their arms on horseback to the great honor of my lord seneschal. Item on foot 20 pushes of the sword, 20 strokes of the axe and 20 strokes of the dagger, with two reprinses for each weapon. And the said Englishman was wounded by a push of the sword, and carried to ground by the seneschal's 11th push, so that the arms were accomplished.

Item, the third day of October he did arms at little Bordeaux, before my lord of Duras, against Peterkin Lambert, English, of one course of the lance on horseback and 26 strokes of the sword. And in the lance course the seneschal struck the Englishman on the hinge of his armet, and so staggered him that he was not able to achieve his arms that day. On the second day they achieved their arms very fiercely. Item they did arms on foot for nine pushes of the lance with three reprinses and 25 strokes of the axe without reprinse. The seneschal made the Englishman lose his axe entirely out of both hands, so that the arms were accomplished.

Item, he did arms at Dast, before my lord Matthieu de Gornay, against the Viscount d'Orse, one lance course and 20 strokes of the sword on horseback without reprinses, during which they both broke their lances, put their hands to their swords, and achieve their count very fiercely.

Item, he did arms before the Infant of Castile against Alvaro d'Avile, one lance course and 20 strokes of the sword. The lances did not attaint, and the seneschal wounded Alvaro in the armpit with a sword stroke, so that he was in great danger of being unable to achieve his arms on foot afterwards. Item, on foot 20 pushes of the sword with two reprinses and 20 strokes of the axe without retreat.

Item, he did arms before the king of Castile against Rodis de Mendoza, the most redoubted man in Spain, one lance course and 20 strokes with a sword on horseback. And the seneschal struck Rodis de Mendoza on the gardbrace, and Rodis de Mendoza struck the seneschal on the top of the piece, and they both broke their lances and very fiercely achieved the number of their strokes with the sword. Item on foot 30 pushes the sword with five reprinses, 30 strokes of the axe with five reprinses. Item 6 throws of the lance with six reprinses and nine pushes of the lance with three reprinses. The arms on foot were accompished over three days: the first day the sword, the second the axe and the third the lance.

The seneschal do not have the advantage the first day, and Mendoza made him recoil a good three steps to the rear. The next day with the axe the seneschal recovered his honor as he made Mendoza touch the earth with hand and knee and struck his axe out of both his hands so that the arms were accomplished for that day.

Item the third day they accomplished their throws and pushes of the lance, which did not last long. On the first throw, Mendoza struck the seneschal on his little pavise, and pierced through it by more than half an arms length. On the third stroke the seneschal hit him on one of the knee lames of his cuisse, and pierced it a good three finger widths below the knee with a deadly blow so that his leg failed him and he was carried to his lodgings. The king of Spain vowed to our Lady of Gadeloup his weight in silver, and the seneschal vowed to the aforesaid Lady his weight in wax. On the fourth night afterward Mendoza had a vision in which the image of Our Lady appeared to him....

(Mendoza recovered from his wound, and the seneschal continued on to Santiago)

My lord the seneschal found there the brother of the bishop of that place who had assembled a very honorable company of ladies and demoiselles. And the lady of that knight was already there, and had scaffolds and lists made where the arms work to be. And the lady of the knight had written a letter to the seneschal of the following tenor:

My lord the great Seneschal of Hainault, I recommend myself to your good grace, because I know and see very well your very honorable goodwill. I pray that you grant me a request. That is, that please you to fight a knight of these marches, born in faithfull marriage and without base reproach, to the outrance so that he may requite his service to the ladies.

In the arm in the harness which noble men are accustomed to fight the champ clos. And the weapons will be these: the lance to throw, the axe to fight, and the dagger to do the utmost without any evil device....

The day after the writing of the letter, the seneschal arrived at Santiago, and the count of Bennevent, ladies and demoiselles met him a good two leagues outside of town and led him to his lodgings, which were well hung with tapestries and equipped with everything necessary. The next day the lord count and the ladies gave him a very fine banquet, and no one could ask for a better feast.

The day for undertaking their arms they both came into the lists and went to their pavilions. All ceremonies done and the cry of "laissez le-aller" made, they sallied out of their pavilions as fiercely as two tigers, and each threw his lance, striking and piercing the little pavise of the other. And they came to fight with axes very fiercely. And taking a deceptive step away from his opponent, the seneschal brought his axe around and struck him on the hinge of bascinet and carried him to earth thoroughly stunned. And my lord the seneschal went before the scaffolds of the judges and asked him if he had satisfied them. And during this time the count of Bennevent did not say a word. And so the seneschal returned and found his adversary on one knee attempting to rise and gave him a thrust with the axe so he turned halfway around and then the judges threw down the baton and had them taken and led before the scaffold, and judged that the prize went to my lord the seneschal so that he thanked them for the good judgment that they had given, and went to disarm at his lodgings. That night the ladies gave a banquet where he was well feasted. He took leave of all the company, and the lady who had written to him gave him a diamond to give to his lady which was worth a thousand escuz.

*Reprinse: A permitted pause in the combat during which the opponents can separate, much like the pause between rounds in a boxing match.

Translation copyright Will McLean, 2010.

Originally found in:

Archives historiques et littéraires du nord de la France, et du midi de la Belgique. 1829. Valenciennes: Au Bureau des Archives.

The Seneschal of Hainaut Performs a Deed of Arms in Valencia, 1407

In the year 1405, in the month of May, I left, with my lord the seneschal of Hainaut, to go to see the arms that he, my lord Jacques de Montenay, Tanguy du Chastel and Carmenien did at Valencia the great, before the king Martin of Aragon, against four other gentlemen of Aragon and Gascony; Pere de Moncada, Colombart de Santa-Coloma and two others. And the said arms would be until the whole body was born down or they had lost all their weapons.Which arms they did, taken while fighting with honor on both sides. [Et estoient lesdittes armes a etre portez jus de tout le corps ou avoir perdu tous ses bastons. Lesquelles armes furent prinses sus en combatant a l'onneur d'une partie er d'lautre]

Ghillebert de Lannoy Œuvres de Ghillebert de Lannoy, voyageur, diplomate et moraliste; Louvain 1878 p.13 Martín de Riquer reports that according to Aragonese documents the combat happened on May 30 of 1407.

The Seneschal of Hainault and His Companions Do Arms at Smithfield, 1410

In the x yere of King Henry the senescal of Henaud came to seke aventures yn England, and the Earl of Somerset answerid hym.

The next day an Henaud an Syr Richard of Arundek (sic) knight

The 3 day an Henaud and Syr John of Cornewall.

The 4. an Henaud, and Syr John Cheyney.

The 5. Day an Henaude, and John Stewarde Esquire.

The 6. Day an Henaud, and John Standisch Esquier.

Leland, Collectanea

And in the tenth year of King Harry's reign the IVth, come the seneschal of Hainault, with other men, into England, for to seek adventures, and to get him worship in deeds of arms, both on horseback and on foot, of all manner points of deeds of arms and war. And the seneschal challenged the earl of Somerset; and the earl delivered him manfully in all his challenges, and put his adversary to the worse in all points, and won him there great worship and degree of the field. And the next day come in to the field another man of arms of the seneschal's party; and against him come Sir Richard of Arundell, knight; and the Hainaulter had the better of him on foot in one point, for he brought him on his knee. And the third day come in another man of arms in to the field; and against him Sir John Cornwall, knight; and manly and knightly quit him in all manner of points against his adversary, and had the better in the field. And the fourth day come in another man of Hainault, in the field; and against him come Sir John Cheyney's son, and manly quit him against his adversary, for he cast both horse and man into the field; and the king for his manhood that time, dubbed him knight. And the fifth day there come another man of arms of Hainault's party into the field; and to him come John Stewarde, squire, and there manfully quit him in all manner of points, and had him the better. And the sixth day come another Hainaulter; and to him come William Porter, squire; and manfully he quit him in the field, and had the better, and became dubbed him knight the same time. And the seventh day come another Hainaulter into the field; and to him come John Standish, squire, and manly quit him on his adversary, and had the better in the field; and there the king dubbed him knight the same day. And in the same day came another Hainaulter; and to him came a squire of Gascony; and proudly and manly he quit him on his adversary, and there had the better, and anon the king dubbed him knight.

And the eighth day come into the field two men of arms of Hainault; and to them come two soldiers of Calais that were brethren, call the Boroughes; and well and manly quit them on their adversaries, and had the better in the field; and thus ended this challenged with much worship. And the king at the reuencens of the strangers, made a great feast, and gave great gifts; and they took their leave and went home into their country.

The Brut, or, The Chronicles of England ed. Friederich W. D. Brie, London, 1906

And this same year the seneschal of Hainault with other worthy men came into England to get worship in deeds of arms. And he challenged the earl of Somerset and he delivered him manfully in all his challenges and put them to the worse and had the field in all points. The second day came into the field a man of the seneschal's party, and against him came Sir Richard of Arundell, knight. And the Hainaulter had the better of him in one point, for he brought him on his knee. The third day came in another Hainaulter, and against him came Sir John Cornwall, knight, and had the better of his adversary in all points. The fourth day came in another Hainaulter, and to him came Sir John Cheney's son, and cast the Hainaulter down into the field, horse and man, wherefore the king made him knight. The fifth day came in another Hainaulter and to him came Sir John Stuarte, esquire, and had the better. The sixth day came in another Hainaulter, and to him came William Porter, esquire, and had the better in the field, and the king made him knight. The seventh day came in another Hainaulter, and to him came John Standish, esquire, and had the better in the field wherefor the king made him knight. And that same day come in another Hainaulter, and to him came a squire of Gascony and had the better, and the king made him a knight.The eighth day came in two men of arms of Hainault, and to them came two soldiers of Calais that were brethren, that were called the Burghes, and quit them well and manly in the field, and had the better. And thus ended the challenges in Smithfield with much worship.

An English chronicle 1377 - 1461 : a new edition ; edited from Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales MS 21068 and Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Lyell 34 ed. C. William Marx, Woodbridge 2003

The Seneschal of Hainault Challenges the Knights of the Garter, 1408

Jean de Verchin, Seneschal of Hainault, was one of the more strenuous knights of the early 15th c. In 1408 he wrote to Henry IV of England, offering to perform a deed of arms against three or more Knights of the Garter, who are described as noble successors to Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table. He offered first to meet any members of the order who wished for twelve strokes of the sword on horseback with saddles of war without retreat, with the combatants able to strike the front or back of their adversary at their advantage.

That done, the next day he proposed to be ready to exchange a dozen blows with the sword on foot with any members of the Order of the Garter who wished to do so “a deux reprinses”. I read this as meaning that during the twelve blows struck on either side there would be two opportunities to retreat and reenter the combat.

The following day he would be ready to similarly exchange another twelve strokes with the axe with the Garter Knights who wished to do so, to be struck to the lower edge of the coat of plates or higher. All the aforesaid weapons would be of equal length, which he would provide by means of his herald.

Henry IV courteously thanked the seneschal for his letter. However, he said, in times past it was not the custom for all of the Knights of the Round Table to fight together against a single foreign knight. To the contrary, you will find it written in many places that they would fight alone against ten, twenty, thirty or forty foreign knights, and depart with honor with no other help than God and the high prowess of their heart. He had not the slightest desire to change this custom.

However, given the high resolve of the seneschal and for various other reasons it seemed fitting to allow a single member of the Order of the Garter to deliver him of his enterprise. He directed that the appropriate arrangements be made.

" Seeing that the beauteous ladies of our kingdom would be highly indignant to think that none of our knights were sufficiently bold for their love to encounter and give all the satisfaction he might desire to any stranger knight, just as your ladies would feel towards your knights, so we, being anxious with all our hearts to earn their goodwill and sweet favour, and to avoid their resentment, as you would do that of your ladies, think that this our answer should prove satisfactory to you."

How Jean de Verchin, seneschal of Hainault, sent his letters to diverse countries to do arms, 1402

At the beginning of this year Jean de Verchin, a knight of great renown and seneschal of Hainault, sent by one of his heralds many letters to knights and squires in diverse countries to provide for certain deeds of arms that he undertook to do. These letters were of the following import:

“To all knights, squires and gentlemen of name and arms without reproach, I Jean de Verchin, seneschal of Hainault, make known to all that, with the aid of God, Our Lady, my lord Saint George and my lady, I will be, on the first Sunday of this coming August, unless prevented by legitimate unforeseen difficulty, at Coucy to do arms as afterwards described before my redoubted lord, my lord the duke of Orleans who has agreed to provide a place for it.

If there is any gentleman, as described above, who will agree to my enterprise:

First, we will be mounted on horseback in a war saddle without trickery, and we will armor our bodies as it pleases us, and will have targes without covering or reinforcement of steel or iron, and we each will have a lance of war without graper or rondel, and a sword. We will come together one time with the lances, and whether or not we hit with the lances we will put aside the shield and draw our sword without assistance. We will then strike twenty strokes without intermission (reprinse).

And I, to give honor to the company and for the pleasure the gentleman has given me in the fulfillment of my said enterprise, I will swiftly deliver him of arms on foot unless prevented by bodily injury. Neither of us may add or remove pieces of the harness we wore for swords on horseback, except that either of us may change his visor and lengthen his plates (ralonger ses plates) if he wishes. The number of sword strokes shall be as he wishes to devise, and likewise for daggers, when he agrees to accomplish my enterprise, provided that the number of strokes that are provided for the day, and the number of intermissions (reprinses), and the number of strokes with axe shall be as I devise. But for the axes each may arm himself as he wishes.

And should it happen, an adventure that I do not desire, that one or the other of us is wounded so that the day’s arms cannot be completed as we have undertaken to complete them, then the other will not in any way require them to be completed, and consider themselves acquitted of them.

And when I have accomplished what is described above and the day is past, I with the aid of God, Our Lady, my lord Saint George and my lady will leave that town, unless prevented by bodily injury, to go to Santiago in Galicia. And all the gentlemen of the condition described above who find me on my outward journey or returning to the said town of Coucy if they wish may do me the honor and grace of delivering me of similar arms on horseback to those devised above. And they are to provide me a reasonable judge, without requiring that I depart more than twenty leagues from my path, nor go backwards in my journey. And they are to affirm that the pleasure of the judge will be such that the said arms will be begun within five days of my arrival in the town where the arms are to be done.

And I, with the aid of God, Our Lady, my lord Saint George and my lady, unless prevented by true bodily injury, once my enterprise is accomplished will quickly deliver him on foot in the manner devised above of such a number of strokes with sword axe and dagger as he would have me devise at the beginning of the accomplishment of my said enterprise.

And if it happens that a gentleman and I make an agreement to do the said arms, and he has given me a judge as previously devised, and while going forward to that judge another is found who wishes to do arms similarly and gives me a judge closer than the first, I will always go first to deliver the one who gives me the closest judge, and once I have requited him I will return to the other to provide what we had earlier agree upon, unless I am prevented by bodily injury. And no gentleman may demand more than one deed of arms with me during my travel. And we will have weapons of equal length to do the said deed of arms, and I will give the length upon request. And all the blows of the deed of arms will be struck from the bottom of the plates upwards.

And so that all gentleman who might wish to deliver me may know my itenary, I have the intention, if it please God, to pass from the realm of France to Bordeaux, and then to the territory of the Count of Foix, to the realm of Castile and then to Santiago. And on the return, if it please God, I will return through Portugal, the realm of Valencia, Catalonia, Avignon and then return through the realm of France, provided that I can pass through the said countries safely and without hindrance while carrying out my enterprise, excepting the realm of France and the territory of Hainault.

And to confirm the truth of this enterprise I have put the seal of my arms upon these present letters to accomplish what is written above and signed them by my hand. This was done in the year of the Incarnation of Our Lord 1402, the first day of the month of July.”

The aforesaid seneschal went to Coucy to provide and accomplish his enterprise according to the content of the above letter and there he was very joyously received by the Duke of Orleans. But on the appointed day no man appeared to do arms with him. And so he left to go on his voyage to Santiago a few days later as he had promised. During his voyage he did arms in seven places and by seven combats before his return. Each time he carried himself so valiantly and honorably that all of the princes who were judges of those arms were content with his person.


From: Monstrelet, Enguerrand de, (La) Chronique d'Enguerran de Monstrelet. Paris 1857, Vol. I Chapter viii p. 39-43
Translation copyright 2006 Will Mclean

John of Cornwall vs. the Seneschal of Hainault 1409

The other field was prepared for the seneschal of Hainault to meet with sir John of Cornwall, an English knight of great renown who was married to the sister of the king of England. The two knights had undertaken to do their arms before the duke of Burgundy, only to show their prowess: to run certain lance-strokes against each and also to do some strokes with axe and sword. But when the duke of Burgundy had prepared the field where they were to accomplish it, the two champions were required to go to Paris to perform their enterprise before the king. And there, after the ordinances were done and the day had come, Cornwall entered the field with great pomp, riding on his destrier until he came right before the king where he bowed and saluted him most humbly. And after him came six little pages on destriers, the first two covered with ermine and the following four covered with cloth of gold, and after they had entered the lists the pages left the field.

And afterwards came the seneschal, accompanied by the brothers Duke Anthoine de Brabant and Philip, count of Nevers on foot each holding the bridle of his horse, one an the right and the other on the left. And the count of Clermont carried his axe, and the count of Penthievre his lance.

And after he had entered the field and done his reverence to the king in the same way as Cornwall they both prepared to joust together with sharp lances. But before they began their run it was cried by the king that they should cease and go no further in doing their arms and that none in the realm, under penalty of death, should challenge another in the field without reasonable cause.

And after the king had grandly feasted and honored the two knights in his court they both departed, and it was said in England that they did so with the intent of performing and accomplishing their arms.

From: Monstrelet, Enguerrand de, (La) Chronique d’Enguerran de Monstrelet. Paris 1858, Vol. 2 p. 5-6