the directions for ladies' table manners given by Robert de Blois: "If
you eat with another (_i.e._, in the same plate), turn the nicest bits
to him, and do not go picking out the finest and largest for yourself,
which is not courteous. Moreover, no one should eat greedily a choice
bit which is too large or too hot, for fear of choking or burning
herself. * * * Each time you drink wipe your mouth well, that no grease
may go into the wine, which is very unpleasant to the person who drinks
after you. But when you wipe your mouth for drinking, do not wipe your
eyes or nose with the table-cloth, and avoid spilling from your mouth
or greasing your hands too much."[12] The same authority on manners and
etiquette warns ladies against scolding and disputing, against swearing
and getting drunk, and against some other objectionable actions which
betray a great lack of feminine modesty. The "Moral Instructions" of
the Chevalier de la Tour Landry present a picture of coarseness and
immorality among both men and women, which shows how incompatible was
the barrack-like existence of feudal times with the practice of any
sort of self-restraint or purity of life.

Of such a character, then, was the audience which the mediæval
romancers had to please. A class essentially military, ferocious, and
accustomed to shedding blood, yet preserving in their violence a
certain observance of laws of honor and courtesy; setting before
themselves more often an ideal of glory and nobility, than an object of
plunder or conquest; cultivating a consideration and gallantry toward
women, remarkable in view of the necessarily rough and unrefined
circumstances of their life; highly imaginative and adventurous;
rejoicing in brilliancy of dress and show; filling the monotony of
peace by tournaments, martial games, and the entertainments of the
minstrels.