stalwart

This true Man ſoon aſſembled him beforn: / Three Sons he had that ſtalwart were and bold, / And twenty Men of Kin in his Houſhold.

Many other learned men of the age followed him [Romolo Amaseo] to the field, and contended with much zeal for the cause of the Latin; some even went so far as to wish the Italian completely banished entirely from the world. But stalwart champions were not wanting on the other side; and, to be brief, the impulse of public opinion soon swept away all opposition, and the popular cause was triumphant.