- Ballet
Representation of a Ballet before Henri III. and his Court, in the Gallery of the Louvre.--Fac-simile of an Engraving on Copper of the "Ballet de la Royne," by Balthazar de Beaujoyeulx (folio, Paris, Mamert Patisson, 1582.) - Empalement
Empalement (Pal) From a Woodcut in the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster Mediæval punishments included more or less atrocious punishments, which were in use at various times and in various countries; such as the Pain of the Cross, specially employed against the Jews; the Arquebusade, which was well adapted for carrying out prompt justice on soldiers; the Chatouillement, which resulted in death after the most intense tortures; the Pal, flaying alive, and, lastly, drowning, a kind of death frequently employed in France - Swiss Grand Provost
The executioner did not hold the same position in all countries. For whereas in France, Italy, and Spain, a certain amount of odium was attached to this terrible craft, in Germany, on the contrary, successfully carrying out a certain number of capital sentences was rewarded by titles and the privileges of nobility - King Louis le Jeune
King Louis le Jeune Miniature of the "Rois de France," by Du Tillet (Sixteenth Century), in the National Library of Paris. - Charles the Simple
Charles the Simple (Charles III) of Francia - Charlotte of Savoy
Charlotte of Savoy second Wife of Louis XI. - Hanging to music
Hanging to Music. (A Minstrel condemned to the Gallows obtained permission that one of his companions should accompany him to his execution, and play his favourite instrument on the ladder of the Gallows.)--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in Michault's "Doctrinal du Temps Présent:" small folio, goth., Bruges, about 1490. - Entry of Loius XI
The Entry of Louis XI. into Paris From the "Chroniques" of Monstrelet, Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century - Charles V of France
Charles V of France - Coronation of Charlemagme
Coronation of Charlemagne.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the "Chroniques de Saint-Denis," Manuscript of the Fourteenth Century (Imperial Library of Paris). - Musicians
Musicians accompanying the Dancing.--Fac-simile of a Wood Engraving in the "Orchésographie" of Thoinot Arbeau (Jehan Tabourot): 4to (Langres, 1588). - Water Torture
The Water Torture. Fac-simile of a Woodcut in J. Damhoudère's "Praxis Rerum Criminalium:" in 4to, Antwerp, 1556. In Paris, for a long time, the water torture was in use; this was the most easily borne, and the least dangerous. A person undergoing it was tied to a board which was supported horizontally on two trestles. By means of a horn, acting as a funnel, and whilst his nose was being pinched, so as to force him to swallow, they slowly poured four coquemars (about nine pints) of water into his mouth; this was for the ordinary torture. For the extraordinary, double that quantity was poured in. When the torture was ended, the victim was untied, "and taken to be warmed in the kitchen," says the old text. - Sword Dance
Sword-dance to the sound of the Bagpipe.--Fac-simile of a Manuscript in the British Museum (Fourteenth Century). - Entry of the Roi de l'Epinette
Entry of the Roi de l'Epinette at Lille in the Sixteenth Century .--From a Manuscript of the Library of Rouen. - Beheading
Beheading.From the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, Basle, 1552. - Clothworker
Cloth Worker Fac-simile of Engravings on Wood, designed and engraved by J. Amman, in the Sixteenth Century. - Beggar
Beggar playing the Fiddle, and his Wife accompanying him with the Bones.--From an old Engraving of the Seventeenth Century. - The Springboard
THe Spring-board Most of the bourgeois and the villagers played a variety of games of agility, many of which have descended to our times, and are still to be found at our schools and colleges. Wrestling, running races, the game of bars, high and wide jumping, leap-frog, blind-man's buff, games of ball of all sorts, gymnastics, and all exercises which strengthened the body or added to the suppleness of the limbs, were long in use among the youth of the nobility - German Beggar
German Beggar Woodcut in the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, Basle, 1552. - Sculptured Comb
Sculptured Comb, in Ivory, of the Sixteenth Century (Sauvageot Collection) - Imperial Procession
Imperial Procession. From an Engraving of the "Solemn Entry of Charles V. and Clement VII. into Bologna," by L. de Cranach, from a Fresco by Brusasorci, of Verona. - Judge
Judge The Parliament of Paris--or Great French Parliament, as it was called by Philip V. and Charles V., in edicts of the 17th of November, 1318, and of the 8th of October, 1371--was divided into four principal chambers: the Grand Chamber, the Chamber of Inquiry, the Criminal Chamber, and the Chamber of Appeal. It was composed of ordinary councillors, both clerical and lay; of honorary councillors, some of whom were ecclesiastics, and others members of the nobility; of masters of inquiry; and of a considerable number of officers of all ranks - Gentleman of the French Court
Gentleman of the French Court, of the End of the Sixteenth Century. From the "Livre de Poésies," Manuscript dedicated to Henry IV. - Torture of the wheel
Demons applying the Torture of the Wheel.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the "Grand Kalendrier ou Compost des Bergers:" small folio, Troyes, Nicholas le Rouge, 1529. - Jeanne de Bourbon
Jeanne de Bourbon, Wife of Charles V From a Statue formerly in the Church of the Célestins, Paris. A fact worthy of remark is, that whilst male attire, through a depravity of taste, had extended to the utmost limit of extravagance, women's dress, on the contrary, owing to a strenuous effort towards a dignified and elegant simplicity, became of such a character that it combined all the most approved fashions of female costume which had been in use in former periods. The statue of Queen Jeanne de Bourbon, wife of Charles V., formerly placed with that of her husband in the Church of the Célestins at Paris, gives the most faithful representation of this charming costume, to which our artists continually have recourse when they wish to depict any poetical scenes of the French Middle Ages - King Childebert
King Childebert III (Seventh Century).--From a Statue formerly placed in the Refectory of the Abbey of St. Germain-des-Prés. - German Knights
German Knights (Fifteenth Century). from Drawings by Albert Durer. - Doge of Venice
Doge of Venice in Ceremonial Costume of the Sixteenth Century. - Doge of Venice
Doge of Venice Costume before the Sixteenth Century. - Saints in the costume of the sixth century
Saints in the costume of the sixth century - King Clovis
Costume of King Clovis (Sixth Century).--From a Statue on his Tomb, formerly in the Abbey of St. Geneviève. - Italians of the 15th Century
Notary and Sbirro (policeman)--From two Engravings in the Bonnart Collection. - Movable iron cage
Movable Iron Cage.--From a Woodcut in the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster, in folio, Basle, 1552. - Punishment by Fire
Punishment by Fire When a criminal had been condemned to be burnt, a stake was erected on the spot specially designed for the execution, and round it a pile was prepared, composed of alternate layers of straw and wood, and rising to about the height of a man. Care was taken to leave a free space round the stake for the victim, and also a passage by which to lead him to it. Having been stripped of his clothes, and dressed in a shirt smeared with sulphur, he had to walk to the centre of the pile through a narrow opening, and was then tightly bound to the stake with ropes and chains. After this, faggots and straw were thrown into the empty space through which he had passed to the stake, until he was entirely covered by them; the pile was then fired on all sides at once - Grand Procession
Grand Procession of the Doge, Venice (Sixteenth Century). - Young Nobles
Costumes of Young Nobles of the Court of Charles VIII., before and after the Expedition into Italy.--From Miniatures in two Manuscripts of the Period in the National Library of Paris. - Costume of Emperors at their Coronation
Costume of Emperors at their Coronation since the Time of Charlemagne.--From an Engraving in a Work entitled "Insignia Sacre Majistatis Cæsarum Principum." Frankfort, 1579, in folio. - La Gaillard
-The Dance called "La Gaillarde."--Fac-simile of Wood Engravings from the "Orchésographie" of Thoinot Arbeau (Jehan Tabourot): 4to (Langres, 1588). - Exhibitor of strange animals
The Exhibitor of strange Animals From Twelfth Century Manuscript, Royal Library of Brussels. - Costumes of Thriteenth Century
Tristan and the beautiful Yseult.--From a Miniature in the Romance of "Tristan," Manuscript of the Fourteenth Century - Paris 1607
Perspective View of Paris in 1607.--Fac-simile of a Copper-plate by Léonard Gaultier. (Collection of M. Guénebault, Paris.) - Italian Kitchen
Interior of Italian Kitchen. From the Book on Cookery of Christoforo di Messisburgo, "Banchetti compositioni di Vivende," 4to., Ferrara, 1549. It was only in the course of the sixteenth century that the name of potage ceased to be applied to stews, whose number equalled their variety, for on a bill of fare of a banquet of that period we find more than fifty different sorts of potages mentioned. - Jews burnt alive
The Jews of Cologne burnt alive From a Woodcut in the "Liber Chronicarum Mundi:" large folio, Nuremberg, 1493. In 1370, the people of Brussels were startled in consequence of the statements of a Jewess, who accused her co-religionists of having made her carry a pyx full of stolen hosts to the Jews of Cologne, for the purpose of submitting them to the most horrible profanations. The woman added, that the Jews having pierced these hosts with sticks and knives, such a quantity of blood poured from them that the culprits were struck with terror, and concealed themselves in their quarter. The Jews were all imprisoned, tortured, and burnt alive. In order to perpetuate the memory of the miracle of the bleeding hosts, an annual procession took place, which was the origin of the great kermesse, or annual fair. - Free judges
Free Judges From two Woodcuts in the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, 1552. - Sandal and Buskin
Sandal and Buskin of Charlemagne.--From the Abbey of St. Denis. - Chief of Sbirri
Chief of Sbirri - Chief of Sbirri
Chief of Sbirri - Tournaments
Tournaments in honour of the Entry of Queen Isabel into Paris--From a Miniature in the "Chroniques" of Froissart, Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century (National Library of Paris). - Costume of a rich Bourgeoise, and of a Noble, or Person of Distinction
A rich Bourgeoise, and of a Noble, or Person of Distinction, of the Time of Francis I.--From a Window in the Church of St. Ouen at Rouen, by Gaignières (National Library of Paris). - Damsel of the Court of Catherine de Medicis
Costumes of the Ladies and Damsels of the Court of Catherine de Medicis.--After Cesare Vecellio. - Procession to meet the pope
The Jewish Procession going to meet the Pope at the Council of Constance, in 1417.--After a Miniature in the Manuscript Chronicle of Ulrie de Reichental, in the Library of the Mansion-house of Basle, in Switzerland. - Standards of the Church
Standards of the Church and the Empire.--Reduced from an Engraving of the "Entry of Charles V. and Clement VII. into Bologna," by Lucas de Cranach, from a Fresco by Brusasorci, of Verona. - Herald
(Fourteenth Century).--From a Miniature in the "Chroniques de Saint-Denis" (Imperial Library of Paris). - Richard crucified
The Infant Richard crucified by the Jews, at PontoiseFrom a Woodcut, with Figures by Wohlgemuth, in the "Liber Chronicarum Mundi:" large folio, Nuremberg, 1493. - Italian Jew
Costume of an Italian Jew of the Fourteenth Century.--From a Painting by Sano di Pietro, preserved in the Academy of the Fine Arts, at Sienna. - Costumes of the German Bourgeoisie in the Middle of the Sixteenth Century
Costumes of the German Bourgeoisie in the Middle of the Sixteenth Century - Presenting the sword
"How the King-at-Arms presents the Sword to the Duke of Bourbon."--From a Miniature in "Tournois du Roi René," Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century (Imperial Library of Paris). - Costumes of the German Bourgeoisie in the Middle of the Sixteenth Century2
Costumes of the German Bourgeoisie in the Middle of the Sixteenth Century.--Drawing attributed to Holbein. - Blind and poor sick
The sabouleux, who were commonly called the poor sick of St. John, were in the habit of frequenting fairs and markets, or the vicinity of churches; there, smeared with blood and appearing as if foaming at the mouth by means of a piece of soap they had placed in it, they struggled on the ground as if in a fit, and in this way realised a considerable amount of alms. These consequently paid the largest fees to the Coesre - Gardener and Woodman
Costumes of the Common People in the Fourteenth Century: Italian Gardener and Woodman.--From two Engravings in the Bonnart Collection.