Cutting of the elm
The
cutting of the elm was a legendary event which reputedly happened on a field in
Normandy,
France near
Gisors, in
1188. At this location a huge elm tree grew, which had some ceremonial significance. In 1188 it was felled. Beyond these facts, little is certain about this event.
There is some evidence that the field, and the tree, were used as a meeting-place for important persons, including the kings of England and France. Certainly the practice of meeting in the open was common when parties wished to meet on neutral territory (see
Field of the Cloth of Gold for an extreme example). A version of the legend says that
Henry II of England and
Philippe II of France met in 1188 following the fall of
Jerusalem, and, after failing to agree on some matter, the tree was felled. One account states[
1]:
At Gisors, Henry II and his advisers stood under an Elm tree while Philippe and his entourage suffered in the full heat of the sun. After the meeting, Philippe ordered the tree cut down and hacked to pieces, sending the message that he would offer no quarter to the English.
An account in the Tales of the
Minstrel of Rheims, from about
1260, is quite different, although it should be noted that the fate of the tree is the same:
King Richard sent a message to the counts of Sancerre and of Barre, telling them that they took the king's bread and gave him nothing in return but if they were brave enough to come to the elm tree at Gisors, he would consider them truly courageous. The French nobles sent the message back that they would come the next day, at the third hour, to cut the tree down, in spite of him. When the English king heard that they were coming to cut down the tree, he had the trunk reinforced with bands of iron, that were wrapped five times around it. The next morning the French nobles armed themselves, and assembled five squadrons of their men, one of which was led by the count of Sancerre, another by the count of Chartres, the third by the count of Vendome, the fourth by the count of Nevers, and the fifth by sir William of Barre and sir Alain of Roucy. The rode up to the elm tree at Gisors, with the crossbowmen and carpenters out front, and they had in their hands sharp axes and good pointed hammers, with which to cut the bands that were fastened around the tree. They stopped at the elm tree, tore off the bands, and cut it down, in spite of all resistance.
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Récits d'un Menestral de Reims
