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diff --git a/41676-0.txt b/41676-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..99d517b --- /dev/null +++ b/41676-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3583 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41676 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 41676-h.htm or 41676-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41676/41676-h/41676-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41676/41676-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://archive.org/details/cu31924030737005 + + + + + +[Illustration: Armour of Philip II. Madrid. + +_Photograph by Hauser & Menet._] + + +ARMOUR & WEAPONS + +by + +CHARLES FFOULKES + +With a Preface by +VISCOUNT DILLON, V.P.S.A. +Curator of the Tower Armouries + + + + + + + +Oxford +At the Clarendon Press +1909 + +Henry Frowde, M.A. +Publisher to the University of Oxford +London, Edinburgh, New York +Toronto and Melbourne + + + + +PREFACE + + +Writers on Arms and Armour have approached the subject from many points of +view, but, as all students know, their works are generally so large in +size, or, what is more essential, in price, that for many who do not have +access to large libraries it is impossible to learn much that is required. +Then again, the papers of the Proceedings of the various Antiquarian and +Archaeological Societies are in all cases very scattered and, in some +cases, unattainable, owing to their being out of print. Many writers on +the subject have confined themselves to documentary evidence, while others +have only written about such examples as have been spared by time and +rust. These latter, it may be noted, are, in almost all cases, such as the +brasses and effigies in our churches, quite exceptional, representing as +they do the defences and weapons of the richer classes. What the ordinary +man wore, how he wore it, and how it was made are all questions worthy of +attention. The works of our greatest romancers have so little regarded the +development of armour, and even to-day such anachronisms are seen in +pictures and books, that though many comfortable and picturesque notions +may be disturbed by the actual truth, yet the actual truth will be found +to be no less interesting than fiction. A handy work, not excessive in +size or price, and giving really correct information, seems therefore to +be needed and should be popular. Such a work is this which Mr. ffoulkes +has undertaken, and if we recognize what an immense amount of information +has to be condensed within the limits of a handbook, I think we shall +fully appreciate his endeavours to give an appetite for larger feasts. + +DILLON. + +TOWER OF LONDON ARMOURIES. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + + AUTHOR'S NOTE 9 + + LIST OF AUTHORITIES 10 + + INTRODUCTION 11 + + CHAPTER I + THE AGE OF MAIL (1066-1277) 15 + + CHAPTER II + THE TRANSITION PERIOD (1277-1410) 30 + + CHAPTER III + THE WEARING OF ARMOUR AND ITS CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS 47 + + CHAPTER IV + PLATE ARMOUR (1410-ABOUT 1600) 68 + + CHAPTER V + HORSE ARMOUR 87 + + CHAPTER VI + THE DECADENCE OF ARMOUR 92 + + CHAPTER VII + WEAPONS 100 + + INDEX 110 + + + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE + + +At the request of many of those who attended my course of lectures, +delivered before the University of Oxford during the Lent Term, 1909, I +have collected and illustrated some of the more important notes dealing +with the Development of European Defensive Armour and Weapons. These pages +are not a mere reprint of those lectures, nor do they aspire to the +dignity of a History of Armour. They are simply intended as a handbook for +use in studying history and a short guide to the somewhat intricate +technicalities of the Craft of the Armourer. + +No work, even of the smallest dimensions, can be produced at the present +day without laying its author under a deep sense of indebtedness to Baron +de Cosson for his numerous notes on helms and helmets, and to Viscount +Dillon for his minute and invaluable researches in every branch of this +subject. To this must be added a personal indebtedness to the latter for +much assistance, and for the use of many of the illustrations given in +this work and also in my course of lectures. + +CHARLES FFOULKES. + +OXFORD, 1909. + + + + +The following works should be consulted by those who wish to study the +subject of Armour and Weapons more minutely:-- + +_A Critical Inquiry into Ancient Armour_, Sir Samuel Meyrick; _A Treatise +on Ancient Armour_, F. Grose; _Ancient Armour_, J. Hewitt; _Arms and +Armour_, Lacombe (trans. by Boutell); _Arms and Armour_, Demmin (trans. by +Black); _Armour in England_, Starkie Gardner; _Waffenkunde_, Wendelin +Boeheim; _Guida del Amatore di Armi Antiche_, J. Gelli; _Dictionnaire du +Mobilier Français_ (vols. ii and vi), Viollet-le-Duc; _Encyclopedia of +Costume_, Planché; _A Manual of Monumental Brasses_, Haines; _Engraved +Illustrations of Antient Armour_, Meyrick and Skelton; _Monumental +Effigies_, Stothard; _The Art of War_, C. W. C. Oman; _Archaeologia_, _The +Archaeological Journal_, _The Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries_; +the Catalogues of the Armouries of Vienna, Madrid, Paris, Brussels, Turin, +Dresden; the Wallace Collection, London and Windsor Castle. + +The author is indebted to the publishers of Wendelin Boeheim's +_Waffenkunde_ for the use of the illustrations 33 and 35, and to Messrs. +Parker, publishers of Haines's _Monumental Brasses_, for the figures on +Plate III. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +As a subject for careful study and exhaustive investigation perhaps no +detail of human existence can be examined with quite the same completeness +as can the defensive armour and weapons of past ages. Most departments of +Literature, Science, and Art are still living realities; each is still +developing and is subject to evolution as occasion demands; and for this +reason our knowledge of these subjects cannot be final, and our researches +can only be brought, so to speak, up to date. The Defensive Armour of +Europe, however, has its definite limitations so surely set that we can +surround our investigations with permanent boundaries, which, as far as +human mind can judge, will never be enlarged. We can look at our subject +as a whole and can see its whole length and breadth spread out before us. +In other aspects of life we can only limit our studies from day to day as +invention or discovery push farther their conquering march; but, in +dealing with the armour of our ancestors, we know that although we may +still indulge in theories as to ancient forms and usages, we have very +definitely before us in the primitive beginnings, the gradual development, +the perfection, and the decadence or passing away, an absolutely unique +progression and evolution which we can find in no other condition of life. + +The survival of the fittest held good of defensive armour until that very +fitness was found to be a source rather of weakness than of strength, +owing to changed conditions of warfare; and then the mighty defences of +steel, impervious to sword, lance, and arrow, passed away, to remain only +as adjuncts of Parade and Pageant, or as examples in museums of a lost art +in warfare and military history. As an aid to the study of History our +interest in armour may be considered perhaps rather sentimental and +romantic than practical or useful. But, if we consider the history of the +Art of War, we shall find that our subject will materially assist us, when +we remember that the growth of nations and their fortunes, at any rate +till recent times, have depended to a large extent on the sword and the +strength of the arm that wielded it. + +There is another aspect of historical study which is of some importance, +especially to those who stand on the outskirts of the subject. This aspect +one may call the 'realistic view'. The late Professors York Powell and J. +R. Green both insisted on the importance of this side of the subject; and +we cannot but feel that to be able to visualize the characters of history +and to endow them with personal attributes and personal equipment must +give additional interest to the printed page and other documentary +evidences. When the study of defensive armour has been carefully followed +we shall find that the Black Prince appears to us not merely as a name and +a landmark on the long road of time; we shall be able to picture him to +ourselves as a living individual dressed in a distinctive fashion and +limited in his actions, to some extent, by that very dress and equipment. +The cut of a surcoat, the hilt of a sword, the lines of a breastplate, +will tell us, with some degree of accuracy, when a man lived and to what +nation he belonged; and, at the same time, in the later years, we shall +find that the suit of plate not only proclaims the individuality of the +wearer, but also bears the signature and individuality of the maker; a +combination of interests which few works of handicraft can offer us. + +From the eleventh to the end of the fourteenth century we have but a few +scattered examples of actual defensive armour and arms; and the +authenticity of many of these is open to doubt. The reason for this +scarcity is twofold. Firstly, because the material, in spite of its +strength, is liable to destruction by rust and corrosion, especially when +the armour is of the interlinked chain type which exposes a maximum +surface to the atmosphere. A second reason, of equal if not greater +importance, is the fact that, owing to the expense of manufacture and +material, the various portions of the knightly equipment were remade and +altered to suit new fashions and requirements. Perhaps still another +reason may be found in the carelessness and lack of antiquarian interest +in our ancestors, who, as soon as a particular style had ceased to be in +vogue, destroyed or sold as useless lumber objects which to-day would be +of incalculable interest and value. + +For these reasons, therefore, we are dependent, for the earlier periods of +our subject, upon those illuminated manuscripts and sculptured monuments +which preserve examples of the accoutrements of the twelfth and thirteenth +centuries. Of these, as far as reliability of date is concerned, the +incised monumental brasses and sculptured effigies in our churches are the +best guides, because they were produced shortly after the death of the +persons they represent, and are therefore more likely to be correct in the +details of dress and equipment; and, in addition, they are often portraits +of the deceased. + +Illuminated manuscripts present more difficulty. The miniature painter of +the period was often fantastic in his ideas, and was certainly not an +antiquary. Even the giants of the Renaissance, Raphael, Mantegna, Titian, +and the rest, saw nothing incongruous in arming St. George in a suit of +Milanese plate, or a Roman soldier of the first years of the Christian +epoch in a fluted breastplate of Nuremberg make. Religious and historical +legends were in those days present and living realities and, to the +unlearned, details of antiquarian interest would have been useless for +instructive purposes, whereas the garbing of mythical or historical +characters in the dress of the period made their lives and actions seem a +part of the everyday life of those who studied them. + +This being the case, we must use our judgement in researches among +illustrated manuscripts, and must be prepared for anachronisms. For +example, we find that in the illustrated Froissart in the British Museum, +known as the 'Philip de Commines' copy,[1] the barrier or 'tilt' which +separated the knights when jousting is represented in the Tournament of +St. Inglevert. Now this tournament took place in the year 1389; but +Monstrelet tells us[2] that the tilt was first used at Arras in 1429, that +is, some forty years after. This illustrated edition of Froissart was +produced at the end of the fifteenth century, when the tilt was in common +use; so we must, in this and in other like cases, use the illustrations +not as examples of the periods which they record, but as delineations of +the manners, customs, and dress of the period at which they were produced. + +The different methods of arming were much the same all over Europe; but in +England fashions were adopted only after they had been in vogue for some +years in France, Italy, and Germany. We may pride ourselves, however, on +the fact that our ancestors were not so prone to exaggeration in style or +to the over-ornate so-called decoration which was in such favour on the +Continent during the latter part of the sixteenth and the first half of +the seventeenth centuries. + +For a fuller study of this subject Sir Samuel Meyrick's great work on +Ancient Armour is useful, if the student bears in mind that the author was +but a pioneer, and that many of his statements have since been corrected +in the light of recent investigations, and also that the Meyrick +collection which he so frequently uses to illustrate his remarks is now +dispersed through all the museums of Europe. Of all the authorities the +most trustworthy and most minute and careful in both text and +illustrations is Hewitt, whose three volumes on Ancient Armour have been +the groundwork of all subsequent works in English. Some of the more recent +writers are prone to use Hewitt's infinite care and research without +acknowledging the fact; but they have very seldom improved upon his +methods or added to his investigations. For the later periods, which +Hewitt has not covered so fully as he has the earlier portion of his +subject, the _Catalogues Raisonnés_ of the various museums of England and +Europe will assist the student more than any history that could possibly +be compiled. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE AGE OF MAIL (1066-1277) + + +With the Norman Conquest we may be said, in England, to enter upon the +iron period of defensive armour. The old, semi-barbaric methods were still +in use, but were gradually superseded by the craft of the smith and the +metal-worker. This use of iron for defensive purposes had been in vogue +for some time on the Continent, for we find the Monk of St. Gall writing +bitterly on the subject in his _Life of Charlemagne_. He says: 'Then could +be seen the Iron Charles, helmed with an iron helm, his iron breast and +his broad shoulders defended by an iron breastplate, an iron spear raised +in his left hand, his right always rested on his unconquered iron +falchion. The thighs, which with most men are uncovered that they may the +more easily ride on horseback, were in his case clad with plates of iron: +I need make no special mention of his greaves, for the greaves of all the +army were of iron. His shield was of iron, his charger iron-coloured and +iron-hearted. The fields and open places were filled with iron, a people +stronger than iron paid universal homage to the strength of iron. The +horror of the dungeon seemed less than the bright gleam of the iron. "Oh +the iron, woe for the iron," was the cry of the citizens. The strong walls +shook at the sight of iron, the resolution of old and young fell before +the iron.' + +The difficulty of obtaining and working metal, however, was such that it +was only used by the wealthy, and that sparingly. The more common fashion +of arming was a quilted fabric of either linen or cloth, a very +serviceable protection, which was worn up to the end of the fifteenth +century. Another favourite material for defensive purposes was leather. We +read of the shield of Ajax being composed of seven tough ox-hides, and the +word 'cuirass' itself suggests a leather garment. Now, given either the +leather or the quilted fabric, it is but natural, with the discovery and +use of iron, that it should have been added in one form or another to +reinforce the less rigid material. And it is this reinforcing by plates of +metal, side by side with the use of the interlaced chain armour, which +step by step brings us to the magnificent creations of the armourer's +craft which distinguish the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. + +Sir Samuel Meyrick[3] leads us into endless intricacies with his theories +of the various kinds of defensive armour in use at the time of the +Conquest; but these theories must of necessity be based only upon personal +opinion, and can in no way be borne out by concrete examples. If we take +the pictured representations of armour as our guide we find certain +arrangements of lines which lead us to suppose that they indicate some +peculiar arrangement of metal upon a fabric. The first and oldest of these +varieties is generally called 'Scale' or Imbricate armour. We find this +represented on the Trajan Column, to give only one of the many examples of +its use in very early times. That it was a very pliant and serviceable +defence we may judge from the fact that, with some alteration in its +application, it formed the distinguishing feature of the Brigandine of the +fifteenth century. The scales were sewn upon a leather or quilted garment, +the upper row overlapping the lower in such a manner that the attachment +is covered and protected from injury (Plate I, 1). The scales were either +formed with the lower edge rounded, like the scales of a fish, or were +feather-shaped or square. + +Another method of reinforcing the leather defence has been named the +'Trellice' coat. It is always difficult to discover exactly what the +primitive draughtsman intended to represent in the way of fabrics, and it +is quite open to question whether these diagonal lines may not merely +suggest a quilting of linen or cloth. If it is intended to represent +leather the trellice lines would probably be formed of thongs applied on +to the groundwork with metal studs riveted in the intervening spaces +(Plate I). This arrangement of lines is very common on the Bayeux +Tapestry. + +[Illustration: PLATE I + +1. Model of Scale armour 2. From Bib. Nat. Paris MS 403 XIIIth cent. 3. +Model of trellice 4. From Bayeux Tapestry 5. Model of Ringed armour 6. +From Harl. MS. Brit. Mus. 603, XIth cent. 7. Model of Mail 8. From the +Album of Wilars de Honecort. XIIIth cent. 9. Model of Banded Mail 10. +Model of Banded Mail after Meyrick. 11. Model of Banded Mail after Waller +12. Romance of Alexander Bib. Nat. Paris. circ. 1240 13. Figure on +buttress of S. Mary's Church, Oxford.] + +Another variety to be found in early illuminated manuscripts goes by the +name of 'Ringed' armour. It is quite probable that the circular discs may +have been solid, but on the other hand, from the practical point of view, +a ring gives equal protection against a cutting blow, and is of course +much lighter. The illustration of this form of defensive armour is of +rather earlier date than that at which we commence our investigations, but +it appears with some frequency in manuscripts of the twelfth century. Mr. +J. G. Waller, in his article on the Hauberk of mail in _Archaeologia_, +vol. lix, is of opinion that all these arrangements of line represent +interlinked chain armour. If this is the case chain-mail must have been +much more common than we imagine. From the very nature of its construction +and the labour expended on its intricate manufacture it would surely, at +least in the earlier periods, have been only the defence of the wealthy. +When we examine the protective armour of primitive races we find quilted +and studded garments used, even at the present day, so it seems far more +probable that our illustrations represent some similar forms of defensive +garments than that they are all incompetent renderings of the fabric of +chain-mail only. + +That the making of chain-mail must have been laborious in the extreme we +may judge from the fact that the wire which formed the links had to be +hammered out from the solid bar or ingot. As far as can be gathered, the +art of wire-drawing was not practised till the fourteenth century, at +which time Rudolph of Nuremberg is credited with its discovery. The +roughly-hammered strips were probably twisted spirally round an iron or +wood core and then cut off into rings of equal size (Fig. 1). The ends of +the rings were flattened and pierced, and, when interlaced, the pierced +ends were riveted together or sometimes, as is the case with Oriental +mail, welded with heat. Links that are 'jumped', that is with the ends of +the ring merely butted together and not joined, generally show either that +the mail is an imitation, or that it was used for some ceremonial +purpose; for this insecure method of fixing would be useless in the stress +and strain of battle or active service. The most usual method of +interlinking the rings is for each ring to join four others, as will be +seen in the drawing on Plate I, No. 7. No. 8 on the same plate shows the +mail as more generally depicted in illuminations. When we consider the +inexperience of the scribes and illustrators of the Middle Ages we must +admit that this representation of a very intricate fabric is not only very +ingenious but follows quite the best modern impressionist doctrines. + +Portions of chain-mail survive in most armouries and museums, but their +provenance is generally unknown, and much that is of Oriental origin is +passed off as European. Chain-mail itself comes in the first instance from +the East, but when it was introduced into Europe is difficult, if not +impossible, to state. It is certainly represented as worn by the Scythians +and Parthians on the Trajan Column, and is probably of greater antiquity +still. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1. Probable method of making links for mail.] + +From the beginning of the thirteenth century, for about sixty or seventy +years, we find a curious arrangement of lines intended to represent a form +of defensive armour, both in illuminated manuscripts and also on carved +monuments (Plate I, 12, 13). + +Mr. Waller, in the article on the Hauberk referred to above, gives it as +his opinion that this 'Banded Mail', as it is called, was but a variety of +the ordinary interlinked mail; but if we examine the illuminations of the +period we shall find that it is shown side by side with the representation +of what all authorities admit to be chain-mail. No. 12 on Plate I shows +the arm and leg defences to be formed of this banded mail, while the head +is protected with the ordinary chain-mail. We have then to try and +discover how these horizontal bands dividing each row of links in the mail +can be shown in a practical form. Meyrick vaguely suggests a row of rings +sewn edgeways on the body garment and threaded with a leather thong +(Plate I, 10), with the under fabric caught up between the rows of rings +and formed into a piping through which a cord was threaded. This theory +has been quoted by Viollet-le-Duc in his _Dictionnaire du Mobilier +Français_, by Dr. Wendelin Boeheim in his _Waffenkunde_, and by more +recent writers; but none of these authorities seems to have taken the +trouble to test its practicability. The human body being rounded, the +tendency of these edge-sewn rings would be to 'gape' and thus give an +opening for the weapon. In addition to this, the number of rings so used +would make the weight of the defence, hanging as it did from the shoulders +alone, almost insupportable. A third and perhaps the most conclusive of +all the arguments against Meyrick's theory is that we frequently find the +inside of a banded mail coif shown with the same markings as the outside, +which aspect would be impossible if the rings were arranged as he +suggests. + +From models specially made for this work we find that if leather was used +at all it must be after the manner of No. 9 on Plate I. Here the rings are +covered with the leather on both sides, so that there is no possibility of +their gaping, and, in addition, the leather being pressed against the +rings, on the outside by wear and usage and on the inside from the +pressure of the body, would show ring-markings on front and back which +might be represented in the manner shown in the illustration. The drawback +to this theory is not only the weight of such a defence, but also the heat +from lack of ventilation. By far the most practical theory put forward is +that of Mr. Waller,[4] who gives an illustration of a piece of Oriental +mail with leather thongs threaded through each alternate row of rings. +This gives a certain solidity to the net-like fabric and yet does not add +appreciably to its weight. No. 11 on Plate I shows this arrangement drawn +from a model, and when we compare it with the figures below, taking into +consideration the difficulty of representing such a fabric, we are forced +to admit that this last theory is the most practical. This is especially +so in No. 12; for the mail covering for the head is probably made in one +piece with that of the arms and legs, but the leather thongs have been +omitted on the head and hands to give greater ease of movement. + +Before leaving the subject of fabrics it may be well to warn those who +consult Meyrick that this author is rather prone to enunciate theories of +the different forms of mail which, like that of the banded mail, do not +work well in practice. He mentions, among many other varieties, what he +calls 'Mascled' mail. He asserts that this was formed of lozenge-shaped +plates cut out in the centre and applied to linen or leather. He says that +it was so called from its likeness to the meshes of a net (Lat. _macula_). +Now when we consider that the word 'mail' itself comes to us from the +Latin 'macula', through the French 'maille' and the Italian 'maglia', we +find that Meyrick's 'Mascled mail' is but a tautological expression which +can best be applied to the net-like fabric of the interlinked chain +defence, and so his 'Mascled mail' would more correctly be styled a +'Mascled coat', and this coat would probably be formed of the chain +variety as resembling the meshes of a net more closely than any other +fabric. + +Double mail is sometimes to be met with on carved monuments, and this +would be constructed in the same manner as the single mail; but two links +would be used together in every case where one is used in the single mail. + +Having briefly described the varieties of fabric and material which were +in use at the time of the Conquest for defensive armour, we may pass to +the forms in which those materials were made up. The first garment put on +by the man-at-arms was the Tunic, which was a short linen shirt reaching +usually to just above the knee; it is often shown in miniatures of the +period beneath the edge of the coat of mail. + +At one period the tunic appears to have been worn inconveniently long, if +we are to judge from the seals of Richard I, in which it is shown reaching +to the feet. This long under-garment was quite given up by the beginning +of the thirteenth century, and those representations of Joan of Arc which +show a long under-tunic falling from beneath the breastplate are based +upon no reliable authority. + +Next to the tunic was worn the Gambeson, called also the Wambais and +Aketon, a quilted garment, either used as the sole defence by the +foot-soldier, or, by the knight, worn under the hauberk to prevent the +chain-mail from bruising the body under the impact of a blow. The gambeson +is shown on Fig. 9, appearing beneath the edge of the hauberk just above +the knee. + +The Hauberk, which was worn over the gambeson, was the chief body defence. +It is true that we read of a 'plastron de fer', which seems to have been a +solid metal plate worn over the breast and sometimes at the back; but it +was invariably put on either under the hauberk itself or over the hauberk, +but always beneath the Jupon or surcoat, which at this period was the +outermost garment worn. In either case it was not exposed to view, so it +is impossible to tell with any degree of accuracy what was its shape or +how it was fixed to the wearer. Hewitt[5] gives two illustrations of +carved wooden figures in Bamberg Cathedral, which show a plastron de fer +worn over the jupon, which seems to be studded with metal. The figures +were executed about the year 1370. The form of the hauberk, as shown on +the Bayeux Tapestry, was of the shirt order (Plate I, 4, 6). It was +usually slit to the waist, front and back, for convenience on horseback, +and the skirts reached to the knee, thus protecting the upper leg. It is +perhaps needless to point out that the extreme weight of mail with its +thick padded undergarment made the use of a horse a necessity, for the +weight was all borne upon the shoulders, and was not, as is the case with +suits of plate, distributed over the limbs and body of the wearer. The +sleeves of the hauberk were sometimes short; sometimes they were long and +ended in fingerless mittens of mail. The three varieties of sleeve are +shown on Plate I, while the mittens turned back to leave the hand bare +appear on the Setvans brass (Plate III, 2). + +Wace, the chronicler, seems to suggest different forms of defensive +habiliments, for we find mention of a short form of the hauberk, called +the Haubergeon. In his _Roman de Rou_ he writes of Duke William at the +Battle of Senlac:-- + + Sun boen haubert fist demander,[6] + +while of Bishop Odo he says:-- + + Un haubergeon aveit vestu + De sor une chemise blanche. + +The fact that he mentions the tunic ('chemise blanche') seems to imply +that it was seen beneath the hem of the haubergeon, which would not be the +case with the long-skirted hauberk. Occasionally in illuminated +manuscripts the hauberk is shown slit at the sides; but for what purpose +it is difficult to imagine, for it would impede the wearer when walking +and would make riding an impossibility. + +The defences of the leg, made of mail like the hauberk, seem to have been +used, at first, only by the nobles, if the Bayeux Tapestry is taken as a +guide. The common soldiers wore linen or leather swathings, sometimes +studded with metal, but in appearance closely resembling the modern +puttee. The upper portion of the leg was protected at a later period with +Chaussons, while the defences from knee to foot were called Chausses. Wace +mentions 'chauces de fer', but we must remember, as was noticed in the +introduction, that Wace wrote some seventy years after the Conquest, and +probably described the accoutrements worn at his own time. The Bayeux +Tapestry is nearer the period, as far as we can date it with any +correctness, but here we are hampered to some extent by the crude methods +of the embroideress. The chaussons are not often shown in illuminations, +for the long-skirted hauberk covers the leg to the knee; but the chausses +appear in all pictorial and sculptured records of the period, made either +of mail or of pourpointerie, that is fabric studded with metal. Towards +the end of the thirteenth century the chaussons and chausses were made in +one stocking-like form covering the foot; this is shown on Plate I, 8, 12. +In the first of these illustrations only the front of the leg is covered, +and the chausses are laced at the back. + +As the manufacture of mail progressed the whole of the wearer's person +came to be protected by it. In addition to the coverings of the body we +find continuations that protected arms and legs, and in course of time the +neck and head were protected with a Coif or hood of mail, which is shown +in use in Plate I, No. 12, and thrown back on the shoulders on No. 8. +Although of no protective use, the Surcoat is so essentially part of the +war equipment of the knight that it needs more than a passing notice. It +first appears on Royal seals at the beginning of the thirteenth century, +in the reign of King John. Some modern writers have suggested that it was +first used in the Crusades to keep the sun off the mail; however this may +be, we have written proof that it was of use in protecting the intricate +fabric of chain armour from the wet, which by rusting the metal played +havoc with its serviceability. It will be seen in different lengths in the +figures on Plate I. In _The Avowynge of King Arthur_, stanza 39, we find-- + + With scharpe weppun and schene + Gay gowns of grene, + To hold thayre armur clene + And were[7] hitte fro the wete. + +Like the hauberk, the surcoat was slit to the waist in front and behind +for convenience on horseback, and was usually girt at the waist with a +cord or belt. It was frequently decorated with the armorial bearings of +the wearer. When the barrel helm was worn, concealing the whole face, some +such cognizance was necessary that the knight might be recognized. The +Setvans brass (Plate III) shows the armorial device powdered over the +surcoat. + +The headpiece characteristic of the Norman Conquest is the conical nasal +Helm. We should draw a distinction between the Helmet and the Helm. The +former is, of course, a diminutive of the latter. At the time of the +Norman Conquest the head covering would rank rather as a helmet, as it did +not entirely cover the face. The Norman helmet was conical, usually formed +of four triangular pieces of metal plate riveted in a ring and meeting at +the apex. Sometimes a Nasal or nose-guard was added (Plate I, 4, 6). That +this nasal must have been broad enough to conceal the face to a great +extent we may judge from the story how the Norman soldiers believed their +leader to be killed, and how William, raising his helm, rode along the +lines crying 'I am here, and by God's help I shall conquer'. The Bayeux +Tapestry illustrates this incident. On some of the Conqueror's seals we +find the helmet tied on with laces. Earflaps were sometimes added, as may +be seen on the chessmen found in the Isle of Lewis, now in the British +Museum. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2. From the effigy of Hugo Fitz Eudo, Kirkstead, +Lincs., thirteenth century.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 3. From a figure in the Cathedral at Constance, +thirteenth century.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 4. From the Great Seal of Alexander II of Scotland, +thirteenth century.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 5. Brit. Mus. Roy. MS. 20. D. i, thirteenth century.] + +During the twelfth century the helmet gradually became the helm. The +ear-flaps were fixed, becoming an integral part of the defence, and closed +round to join the nasal, this arrangement forming at length the ventail or +visor. This gives us what is known as the 'Barrel helm' (Fig. 2), in which +the whole head is enclosed and the only opening in the front is the +'ocularium' or vision slit. Next we have the same kind of helm with the +addition of holes for breathing in the lower portion (Fig. 3). In some +varieties the back of the helm is shorter than the front, as on Fig. 4, +and in this kind also we sometimes find breathing holes added. The Great +Seals of the kings are a most useful guide in discovering the +accoutrements of each period, and especially so for the helms and helmets, +which are easier to distinguish than the more minute details of dress and +equipment. It will be understood that in time the flat-topped helm was +given up in favour of the 'Sugar-loaf' helm (Fig. 5), as it is generally +called, when we consider the importance of a 'glancing surface' in armour. +Although thickness of material was of some importance in defensive armour, +this providing of surfaces from which a weapon would slip was considered +to be of supreme importance by the armour-smiths of later periods. In the +conical helm, as indeed in nearly all great helms, the vision and +breathing apertures were pierced in the plates of the helm itself and were +not part of a movable visor, as was the case in the helmet. The weight of +these helms must have been great; for they do not seem to have been bolted +on to the shoulders, as were the fifteenth and sixteenth century tilting +helms, but to have rested upon the crown of the head. The drawing on Plate +I, No. 8, shows a padded cap which was worn under the mail to protect the +head from pressure. On No. 12 of the same plate we see the helm being put +on over the mail coif; the padded cap is worn under the mail. For +tournaments the helm was sometimes made of toughened leather, which was +called 'cuirbouilli' from the fact that it was prepared by being boiled in +oil and then moulded to shape. This material was very strong and +serviceable and was used, as we shall see later on, for reinforcing the +chain armour and also for horse armour. It was generally decorated with +gilding and painting. For the tournament held at Windsor in 1278 we find +mention of 'xxxviii galee de cor'.[8] As we have shown, these great helms +were not attached to the body armour and were thus liable to be struck off +in battle. In order to recover them a chain was sometimes stapled to the +helm and fastened to the waist or some portion of the body armour (Fig. +6). + +The usual form of helmet in the twelfth century is the cup-shaped +headpiece of which the Cervellière is a typical example (Fig. 7). It was +either worn as the sole defence or was used in conjunction with the helm +as an under-cap. The wide-rimmed hat of iron is found all through the +period of defensive armour with which we deal. It appears in the +thirteenth century (Fig. 8) and is also to be found in the fifteenth. +There is an example of one of these war-hats (_Eisenhut_) in the museum at +Nuremberg. + +[Illustration: FIG. 6. Detail from the brass of Sir Roger de Trumpington, +Trumpington, Camb., 1290.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 7. From the monument to Johan le Botiler, St. Bride's, +Glamorganshire, 1300.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 8. Add. MS. 11. 639, f. 520, thirteenth century.] + +The Shield at the time of the Conquest was kite-shaped. It was long enough +to cover the body and legs of the warrior when mounted, but it must have +been a most inconvenient adjunct to his accoutrements. As we have seen in +the Monk of St. Gall's records, the shield was sometimes made of iron; but +the more usual material was wood covered with leather or the tough +cuirbouilli. Its broad flat surface was from the earliest times used by +the painter to display his art, which at first was not systematized, but +consisted of geometrical patterns and strange birds and beasts that had no +special meaning. As time went on each knight retained the device which was +borne upon his shield and came to be recognized by it, and from this +sprung the complicated science of Heraldry, which has survived, with all +its intricate detail, to the present day. The surface of the shield was +often bowed so that it embraced the body of the wearer. That some must +have been flat we may suppose from the fact that the soldiers in the +Bayeux Tapestry are represented as using them for trays to carry cups and +plates at the 'Prandium'. In St. Lucy's Chapel, at Christ Church Cathedral +in Oxford, in the window depicting the martyrdom of St. Thomas of +Canterbury, are to be seen two varieties of decorated shields. Two of the +knights bear shields painted with geometrical designs, while Fitz Urse +carries a shield on which are three bears' heads erased, a punning +cognizance from the name of the wearer. The date of the window is about +the end of the thirteenth century. The shield was attached to the wearer +by a thong passing round the neck, called the Guige. When not in use it +was slung by this thong on the back. When in use the arm and hand passed +through the short loops called Enarmes (Fig. 10). The Royal blazon first +appears on the shield in the reign of Richard I. Occasionally we find +circular shields depicted in illuminations; but they were generally used +by the foot-soldiers. As the development of defensive armour proceeds we +shall find that the shield becomes smaller, and in time is discarded, the +body defences being made sufficient protection in themselves. + +[Illustration: FIG. 9. From the _Romance of Alexander_, f. 150, Bod. Lib., +fourteenth century.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 10. A, A. Enarmes. B. Guige.] + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE TRANSITION PERIOD (1277-1410) + + +It will be readily understood that the change from mail to plate armour +was not brought about at once. Difficulty of manufacture, expense, and +conservatism in idea, all retarded the innovation. Some progressive knight +might adopt a new fashion which did not come into general use till many +years after, in the same manner that, from force of circumstances, or from +a clinging to old methods, we find an out-of-date detail of armour like +the coif of mail, shown on the brass of Sir W. Molineux, appearing in +1548, or the sleeved hauberk in the Dresden Museum which was worn without +plate defences for the arms by Herzog August at the Battle of Mühlberg in +1546. Acting on the method adopted in the preceding chapter, we may first +consider the materials used during the beginning of the Transition Period, +and afterwards we shall show how those materials were made up. + +During the fourteenth century iron, leather, whalebone, and quilted +fabrics were all employed for defensive purposes. The illustration from +the _Romance of Alexander_ (Fig. 9) shows the gambeson still worn under +the mail, and the legs are covered in one instance with a metal-studded or +pourpointed defence; a second figure wears what appears to be scale +armour, while the third has no detail shown upon the legs, which may be an +oversight on the part of the artist, or may suggest that plain hose were +worn. Iron was used for the mail and scale armour and was also employed in +making a pliable defence called Splinted armour, which at a later period +became the Brigandine (Plate II). + +There are several of these brigandines to be found in the Armouries of +England and Europe, but the majority of them date about the middle of the +fifteenth century. As will be seen in the illustration, the brigandine +was made of small plates of iron or steel overlapping upwards and riveted +on to a canvas-lined garment of silk or velvet. The plates were worn on +the inside in most cases, and the rivet heads which showed on the silk or +velvet face were often gilded, thus producing a very brilliant effect. + +[Illustration: PLATE II + +(Outside.) + +(Inside.) + +Brigandine in the Musée d'Artillerie, Paris.] + +We find many references to these splinted defences in the Inventories of +the period, which form a valuable source of information on the subject of +details of armour. The Inventory of Humphrey de Bohun,[9] Earl of +Hereford, taken in 1322, gives:--'Une peire de plates coverts de vert +velvet.' Again, in one of the Inventories of the Exchequer, 1331,[10] is +noted:--'Une peire de plates covert de rouge samyt.' The Inventory of +Piers Gaveston, dated 1313, a document full of interesting details, +has[11]:--'Une peire de plates enclouez et garniz d'argent.' The 'pair of +plates' mentioned in these records refers to the front and back defences. +In the accounts of payments by Sir John Howard we find in the year 1465, +11_s._ 8_d._ paid for 20,000 'Bregander nayles'.[12] Brass was employed +for decorative purposes on the edges of the hauberk, or was fashioned into +gauntlets, as may be seen in the gauntlets of the Black Prince, preserved +at Canterbury. Chaucer writes in the 'Rime of Sir Thopas':-- + + His swerdes shethe of yvory, + His helm of laton bright. + +Laton, or latten, was a mixed metal, much resembling brass, used at this +period for decorative purposes. + +Whalebone was employed for gauntlets and also for swords used in the +tournament. Froissart uses the words 'gands de baleine' in describing the +equipment of the troops of Philip von Arteveld at the Battle of Rosbecque. + +Quilted garments were still worn, either as the sole defence or as a +gambeson under the mail. As late as the year 1460 we find regulations of +Louis XI of France ordering these coats of defence to be made of from 30 +to 36 folds of linen.[13] + +Leather, either in its natural state or boiled and beaten till it could be +moulded and then allowed to dry hard, was frequently used at this period +for all kinds of defensive armour. + +In Chaucer's 'Rime of Sir Thopas', from which we have quoted before, occur +the words, 'His jambeux were of quirboilly.' The jambeaux were coverings +for the legs. This quirboilly, cuirbully, or cuirbouilli, when finished +was an exceedingly hard substance, and was, on account of its lightness as +compared to metal, much used for tournament armour and for the Barding or +defence for the horse. In the Roll of Purchases for the Windsor Park +Tournament, held in 1278, mention is made of cuirasses supplied by Milo +the Currier, who also furnished helms of the same material.[14] In the +Inventory of Sir Simon Burley, beheaded in 1338, we find under 'Armure de +guerre':--'Un palet (a headpiece) de quierboylle.' There is a light +leather helmet of the 'morion' type, dated sixteenth century, in the +Zeughaus at Berlin. + +Banded mail still appears in drawings or on monuments up to the end of the +fourteenth century. + +We may now turn to the making up of these varied materials, and will +endeavour, step by step, to trace the gradual evolution of the full suit +of plate from the first additions of plate defence to mail till we find +that the mail practically disappears, or is only worn in small portions +where plate cannot be used. + +[Illustration: FIG. 11. From Roy. MS. 16. G. vi, f. 387, fourteenth +century.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 12. Bib. Nat., Paris, _Lancelot du Lac_, fourteenth +century.] + +Setting aside the plastron de fer, which, as has been noticed, is seldom +shown in representations of armour, we find the first additional defence +was the Poleyne or knee-cop. We must suppose that there was good reason +for thus reinforcing the mail defence on this part of the body. Probably +this was due to the fact that the shield became shorter at this period, +and also because the position of the wearer when mounted exposed the knee, +a very delicate piece of anatomy, to the attacks of the foot-soldier (Fig. +11). Poleynes are mentioned in a wardrobe account of Edward I in 1300. +They were frequently made of cuirbouilli, and this material is probably +intended in the illustration (Plate III, 1), as elaborately decorated +metal is rarely met with at this period. At the end of the thirteenth +century appear those curious appendages known as Ailettes. On Plate III, +2, the figure is shown wearing the poleynes and also the ailettes. For +practical purposes they are represented on recumbent figures as worn at +the back, but in pictorial illustrations they are invariably shown on the +outside of the shoulder. Some writers consider that they were solely used +for ornament, presumably because they are generally shown decorated with +heraldic blazons. Against this, however, we may place the fact that they +are depicted in representations of battles, and in Queen Mary's psalter +(2. B. vii in the British Museum) the combatants wear plain ailettes. The +German name for the ailettes (_Tartschen_) suggests also that they were +intended for shoulder-guards. Fourteenth-century Inventories abound with +references to ailettes. In the Roll of Purchases for Windsor Park +Tournament are mentioned thirty-eight pair of ailettes to be fastened with +silk laces supplied by one Richard Paternoster. In the Piers Gaveston +Inventory before quoted are: 'Les alettes garnis et frettez de perles.' +These, of course, would be only for ceremonial use. The illustration (Fig. +11) shows different forms of ailette, and occasionally we find the +lozenge-shaped, and once (Brit. Mus. Roy. MS. 2. A. xxii, fol. 219) they +assume a cruciform shape. The attachment of the ailettes with the laces +referred to in the Windsor Park Inventory is shown on Fig. 12. In the +_Chroniques de Charlemaine_, preserved in the Bibliothèque Royale at +Brussels, the ailettes appear to be laced to the side of the helmet. This +occurs in so many of the miniatures that it must be taken as a correct +presentment of this detail in arming. It may be, however, that, as this +manuscript was produced in the year 1460, it recorded a later method of +using the ailette which, _per se_, disappears about the middle of the +fourteenth century, as far as monumental records exist. + +The next addition of plate to the equipment of mail seems to have been on +the legs. The only monumental brass that gives this fashion of arming is +the Northwode brass at Minster, Sheppey. As the legs are of later date +than the rest of the brass, although most probably correct in design, it +may be better to trust to a monument which is intact, as is the statue of +Gulielmus Berardi, 1289, which is carved in the Cloister of the Annunziata +Convent, Florence (Fig. 13). Here we find the front of the leg entirely +protected by plates which may be intended for metal, but which, from their +ornate decoration, seem rather to suggest cuirbouilli. These jambeaux, or, +as they are sometimes called, Bainbergs or Beinbergs, of leather have been +before referred to as mentioned by Chaucer. + +Returning to monumental brasses again, we find on the Gorleston brass +(Plate III, 3) that the plate additions are still more increased. Besides +the poleynes and the ailettes there are traces of plate jambs on the legs, +and the arms are protected by plates and circular discs on shoulder and +elbow. + +[Illustration: PLATE III + +1. Sir John d'Aubernoun, 1277, Stoke D'Abernon, Surrey 2. Sir Robt. de +Setvans, 1306, Chartham, Kent 3. A member of the de Bacon family, c. 1320, +Gorleston, Suffolk 4. Sir John D'Aubernoun, 1327 Stoke D'Abernon, Surrey +5. William de Aldeburgh, c. 1360, Aldborough, Yorks 6. A Knight, c. 1400, +Laughton, Lincolnshire.] + +After 1325 ailettes are rarely met with. On No. 4 of Plate III these +details seem to be advanced in some points, and are shown with the methods +of attaching them to the wearer. The Rerebrace is strapped over the mail, +and the disc at the bend of the Coude or elbow-piece is held in place by +Aiguillettes or laces--called at a later period Arming-points. The +poleynes overlap the jambs, and so cover the junction of the two pieces, +and the latter are held to the leg with straps. The Solerets are among the +earliest examples of a defence of laminated plates, that is, of strips of +metal riveted upon leather in order to give more ease of movement than +would be possible with a solid plate. The Vambrace is worn under the +sleeve of the hauberk, and not, as in the preceding example, over the +mail. This figure is especially interesting because it shows the different +garments worn with the armour of this period. Above the knees appears the +tunic; over this comes the hauberk of mail, in this instance banded mail; +over the hauberk are shown the Upper Pourpoint, a quilted garment, and, +above this, the surcoat, or, as this variety is called, the Cyclas. The +difference between the surcoat proper and the cyclas is that the former is +of even length all round, while the latter is shorter in front than behind +(see also Fig. 14). The coif of mail has now given place to the Camail, +which does not cover the head, but is attached to the helmet, and is not +joined to the hauberk, but hangs over the cyclas. + +[Illustration: FIG. 13. Gulielmus Berardi, Florence, 1289.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 14. Bib. Nat., Paris, _Tristan and Iseult_, fourteenth +century.] + +In the next example (Plate III, 5) we find the mail still worn on the legs +and arms, but on the latter the vambrace and the coude plate seem to be +hinged in the manner adopted during the period of full armour. The upper +part of the leg is protected by studded pourpointerie, which was +frequently employed as being of more convenience on horseback. These thigh +defences were called the Cuisses. The Bascinet is shown and also the short +surcoat or Jupon. + +The brass of an unknown knight (Plate III, 6) is typical of what has come +to be known as the 'Camail' period. The arm-and leg-pieces completely +enclose the limb and are fastened with hinges and straps as in the later +periods. The gauntlets show the Gadlings, or knuckle-knobs, which are a +marked feature of this period, and the whole suit is richly decorated with +engraved borders. Some writers divide the Transition Period of armour into +'Surcoat', 'Cyclas', 'Jupon', and 'Tabard'. This, however, seems +unnecessary if we are considering only the development of defensive +armour, and not the whole question of costume. The camail is so marked a +detail of the knightly equipment that it may reasonably be used to +describe the fashion in armour from about 1360 to 1405. In this example +the figure is clad in complete plate, though the hauberk is worn beneath, +as may be seen at the lower edge of the jupon and also in the '_vif de +l'harnois_', or portion of the body at the armpit, which was unprotected +by plate. In some instances this vital spot was protected by a circular, +oval, crescent-shaped, or square plate attached by laces, which modern +writers call the Rondel, but which Viscount Dillon, in a most interesting +article, proves to have been the Moton or Besague[15] (Fig. 15). + +The effigy of the Black Prince at Canterbury is a good example of the +armour of this period, but it is interesting to note that, while the +monumental brasses frequently give such details as straps, buckles, &c., +this effigy shows no constructional detail whatever. We find that in Spain +there were minute regulations drawn up as to the manner in which a +deceased warrior might be represented on his tomb. The details of sheathed +or unsheathed sword, helm, spurs, &c., all had some significant reference +to his life and achievements.[16] It is almost superfluous to point out +that those details which referred to the knight's captivity, or the fact +that he had been vanquished, were more honoured in the breach than in the +observance. + +[Illustration: FIG. 15. Brass of Sir T. de S. Quentin, Harpham, Yorks, +1420.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 16. Knightly figure in Ash Church, Kent, fourteenth +century.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 17. Bib. Nat., Paris, _Tite-Live_, 1350.] + +The armour of this period was often richly decorated with engraving, as +may be seen on the brass to an unknown knight at Laughton, Lincs., and +also on the monument to Sir Hugh Calverley at Bunbury, Cheshire. Of the +jupon, King René, in his _Livre des Tournois_, about the year 1450, writes +that it ought to be without fold on the body, like that of a herald, so +that the cognizance, or heraldic blazon, could be better recognized. The +jupon of the Black Prince, preserved at Canterbury and admirably figured +in _Monumenta Vetusta_, vol. vii, is embroidered with the Royal Arms, and +is quilted with cotton padding. So general is the use of the jupon at this +period that it is a matter of some conjecture as to what form the body +armour took that was worn under it. The effigy of a knight in Ash Church, +Kent (Fig. 16), elucidates this mystery and shows, through openings of the +jupon, horizontal plates or splints riveted together. In Fig. 17 we see +these plates worn without the jupon. The term Jazeran is often applied to +such armour. + +[Illustration: FIG. 18. _a._ The Camail attached to the helm. _b._ The +Camail showing the staples.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 19. Bib. Nat., Paris, _Tite-Live_, 1350.] + +The camail, or hood of mail, which we have before referred to, was +separate from the hauberk, and during the fourteenth century was worn over +the jupon. It was attached to the bascinet by Vervelles or staples which +fitted into openings in the helmet. A lace was passed through these +staples, as is shown on Fig. 18. From a French manuscript of the early +fifteenth century (Fig. 19) we see how the camail was kept from 'riding' +over the shoulders. In the little wooden statuette of St. George of Dijon, +which is a most useful record of the armour of this period, we find that, +in addition, the camail is fastened to the breast with aiguillettes. + +The Great Heaume, or helm, of the fourteenth century differs but little +from those of the late thirteenth century which were noticed in a +preceding chapter. The shape was either of the sugar-loaf order or a +cylinder surmounted by a truncated cone (Fig. 20). Notable examples of +actual specimens in England at the present day are the helms of Sir +Richard Pembridge at Hereford Cathedral and the helm of the Black Prince, +surmounted by a crest of wood and cuirbouilli, preserved at Canterbury. In +an Inventory of Louis Hutin, made in 1316, we find: 'ii heaummes d'acier, +item v autres dans li uns est dorez.' This seems to suggest that the +gilded helm was of some other material than steel, possibly leather. It is +rare to come across constructional detail in illuminations, but the +illustration (Fig. 21) from a French manuscript of about the year 1350 +shows a method of attaching the helm to the wearer's body. In the +preceding chapter we noticed the chain used for this purpose on the +Trumpington brass. + +[Illustration: FIG. 20. Fourteenth-century helm, Zeughaus, Berlin.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 21. Bib. Nat., Paris, _Tite-Live_, 1350.] + +The most popular of the light helmets at this period was the Bascinet. It +appears on nearly every monumental brass that depicts a military figure, +and is an essential part of that style of equipment known as the 'camail'. +The later form of bascinet has a movable visor which is known among armour +collectors as the 'pig-faced' bascinet (Plate V). Sometimes the hinge is +at the top, and sometimes, as in No. 2 of this plate, the visor is pivoted +at the sides. Froissart calls the visor 'carnet' and 'visière'. In the +Bohun Inventory, before referred to, are given: 'ii bacynettes, lun covert +de quir lautre bourni.' This shows that while some helmets were of +polished metal, others were covered with leather, and indeed silk and +velvet as fancy dictated. Frequent references to these 'covers' for +helmets occur in Inventories and Wills. The helmet and other portions of +the suit of plate armour were sometimes tinned to prevent rust, as is +shown in one of the Dover Castle Inventories of 1361:--'xiii basynetz +tinez.' Sometimes, in the case of Royalty or princes of rank, the bascinet +was encircled with a fillet or crown of gold and gems. Among the payments +of Etienne de Fontaine, in 1352, are mentioned 110 crowns for 'quarente +grosses perles pour garnir le courroye du basinet de Monsieur le Dauphin'. +The Orle, or wreath worn turban-wise round the bascinet, is sometimes +shown, as on Fig. 22, of a decorative nature. It is supposed by some +writers to have been devised to take the pressure of the great helm from +the head, for the helm was often worn, as in the preceding century, over a +lighter headpiece. From the usual position of the orle, however, and from +the fact that it is invariably shown highly decorated and jewelled, this +explanation can hardly hold good, for a padding worn as shown in the +illustration would not be of much service in keeping off the pressure of +the helm, and of course the jewelled decoration would be destroyed at +once. Another theory is that the orle was made by wrapping the Lambrequin +or Mantling--which hung from the back of the helmet and which is still +used in heraldic drawings--much in the same manner as the modern puggaree +is worn in India. In this illustration appears also the gorget of plate +that was worn over the throat and chin with the bascinet. + +[Illustration: PLATE IV + +_Photograph by Hauser & Menet_ + +Jousting armour of Charles V. Madrid.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 22. The Orle, from the monument of Sir H. Stafford, +Bromsgrove, Kent, 1450.] + +The shields of the fourteenth century present an infinite variety in shape +and decoration. The heraldic blazoning has by this time been systematized +into somewhat of a science, which in Germany especially was carried to +extravagant extremes. The long kite-shaped shield is to be found in +records of the period, but the more common forms were the short pointed +shield as shown on Plate III, and that which was rounded at the lower +edge. Frequently the shield is represented as 'bouché', or notched, at the +top right-hand corner, to enable the wearer to point his lance through +this opening without exposing his arm or body to attack. In the Inventory +of Louis Hutin are mentioned 'iii ecus pains des armes le Roy, et un +acier', which shows that the shield was sometimes made of steel, though +usually it was fashioned of wood and faced with leather, or of +cuirbouilli. In a transcript of Vegecius (Brit. Mus. Roy. MS. 18. A. xii) +the young knight is advised to have 'a shelde of twigges sumewhat rounde'. +The shield of the Black Prince at Canterbury is pointed at the lower edge, +and is made of wood faced with leather, on which are set out the Royal +arms in gesso-duro or plaster relief. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE WEARING OF ARMOUR AND ITS CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS + + +Before proceeding to examine the suit of Full Plate, with all its +interesting details and differences as exemplified in the various +armouries of England and Europe, it will be well to make clear the main +principles which governed the manufacture of such armour. We should +remember that the whole history of our subject is one long struggle of +defensive equipment against offensive weapons. This is brought out clearly +at the present day in the Navy, where the contest between gun and +armour-plating is the dominant factor in naval construction. As the +weapons of the Middle Ages became more serviceable, the armour was +increased in weight. The Longbow and the Crossbow marked distinct periods +in the development of defensive armour; for so important a factor did +these weapons become, especially the latter, that they were used for +testing the temper of the metal, large or small weapons being used as +occasion demanded. Those writers who are prone to generalize upon such +subjects tell us that the invention of gunpowder sounded the knell of +defensive armour, but this is by no means accurate, for guns were used in +sieges as early as 1382, and, as we shall find farther on in this chapter, +the armour of the late sixteenth century was proved by pistol shot. The +result of the improvement of firearms was that for many years armour +became heavier and thicker till the musket was perfected, and then it was +found that even highly-tempered steel would not resist the impact of a +bullet. + +It is a safe assertion to make that a full suit of plate armour at its +finest period--the fifteenth century--is the most perfect work of +craftsmanship that exists. + +[Illustration: FIG. 23.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 24. Maximilian breastplate and taces.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 25. Coude or Elbow-cop.] + +This assertion is not made without fully considering the real value of +such work, which must fulfil all those essentials without which no true +work of craftsmanship can have any merit. The first of these is that the +work should fulfil its object in the best possible manner; secondly, that +it should be convenient and simple in use; thirdly, that it should +proclaim its material; and fourthly, and this is by no means the least +important, that any decoration should be subservient to its purpose. To +take our axioms in the order given, it may appear to the casual student +that if armour were sufficiently thick it would naturally fulfil its +primary reason for existence. But we find, on careful examination of plate +armour, that there are other considerations which are of equal, if not +greater importance. Of these the most noticeable is the 'glancing +surface'. It is somewhat difficult to exemplify this by a line-drawing, +though it is easy to do so with an actual example. Referring to the +Maximilian breastplate (Fig. 24), we find that a lance, the thrusting +weapon much favoured in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, would, on +striking the breast be deflected along the grooved channel nearest to the +point of impact till it reached the raised edge either at the top or at +the sides, when it would be conducted safely off the body of the wearer. +The same surface is to be noticed on all helms and helmets after the +twelfth century, the rounded surfaces giving no sure hold for cutting or +thrusting weapons. The Coude (Fig. 25) shows this same glancing surface +used to protect the elbow, and, again, the fan-shaped plate on the outside +of the knee effects the same result (see Frontispiece).[17] The great +jousting helms are so constructed that the lance-point should glance off +them when the wearer is in the proper jousting position, that is, bent +forward at such an angle that the eyes come on a level with the ocularium +or vision slit (Plate V, 5). These helms are also made of plates varying +in thickness as the part may be more exposed to attack. The Great Helm in +the possession of Captain Lindsay of Sutton Courtenay, near Abingdon, has +a skull-plate nearly a quarter of an inch thick, for, in the bending +position adopted by the wearer, this portion of the helm would be most +exposed to the lance. The back-plate is less than half that thickness. +This helm is one of the heaviest in existence, for it weighs 25 lb. 14 oz. +Again, we may notice the overlapping Lames or strips of steel that are so +frequently used for Pauldron, Rerebrace, Vambrace, Soleret, and Gauntlet; +all present the same surface to the opposing weapon, and, except in the +case of the Taces, where the overlapping from necessity of form must be in +an inverse direction, the chance of a weapon penetrating the joints is +reduced to a minimum (Fig. 23). A portion of the pauldron which is +designed for this glancing defence, and for this only, is the upstanding +Neck- or Shoulder-guard which is so generally described as the +Passe-guard. It is curious, with the very definite information to hand +(supplied by Viscount Dillon in the _Archaeological Journal_, vol. xlvi, +p. 129), that even the most recent writers fall into the same mistake +about the name of this defence. Space will not admit of quoting more fully +Viscount Dillon's interesting paper; but two facts cited by him prove +conclusively that the passe-guard is quite another portion of the +armour. In the Tower Inventory of 1697 appears the entry, 'One Armour +cap-a-pe Engraven with a Ragged Staffe, made for ye Earle of Leisester, a +Mainfere, Passguard and Maineguard and Gantlett.' Now it is hardly +reasonable to suppose that this ridge on the pauldron should be specially +mentioned as the Passe-guard without any notice of the pauldron itself. In +the Additional Notes to the above article Viscount Dillon gives, from a +List of Payments made in connexion with jousts held on October 20, 1519, +'9 yards of Cheshire cotton at 7_d._ for lining the king's pasguard.' That +the neck-guard to which we refer should need lining on the inside, where +it did not even touch the helmet, we may dismiss at once; and that the +lining should be on the outside is of course absurd. As far as can be +gathered from recent research the passe-guard is a reinforcing piece for +the right elbow, used for jousting. It was lined to protect the ordinary +arm defence underneath from being scratched, and also to lessen the shock +to the wearer if it were struck. It is to be hoped, from this reiteration +of Viscount Dillon's researches, that at any rate one of the many errors +of nomenclature in armour may be corrected. + +[Illustration: PLATE V + +1. Bascinet from the tomb of the Black Prince, Canterbury, XIVth. cent. 2. +Visored Bascinet from the statuette of S. George, Dijon, XIVth. cent. 3. +Salade, Royal Armoury, Turin, XVth. cent. 4. Salade with visor and beavor, +Musee de la porte de Hal, Brussels, XVth. cent. 5. The Brocas Helm, +Rotunda Woolwich XVth.-XVIth. cent. 6. Armet, Royal Armoury, Turin 7. +Burgonet, Brit. Mus. XVIth. cent. 8. Burgonet and Buffe, Royal Armoury, +Turin XVIth. cent. 9. Morion, Brussels, XVIth. cent. 10. Cabasset, Turin, +XVIth. cent. 11. Lobster-tailed Pot helmet, Turin, XVIIth. cent.] + +With regard to the thickness of plate armour, we should remember that it +was forged from the solid ingot, and was not rolled in sheets as is the +material of to-day from which so many forgeries are manufactured. The +armourer was therefore able to graduate the thickness of his material, +increasing it where it was most needed, and lessening it in those parts +which were less exposed. + +With regard to the proving of armour an article in _Archaeologia_, vol. +li, also by Viscount Dillon, is of great interest as showing the +indifferent skill of the English ironsmiths of the sixteenth century. In +1590 a discussion arose as to the quality of the English iron found in +Shropshire as compared to the 'Hungere' iron which came from Innsbruck. +After some delay Sir Henry Lee, Master of the Tower Armouries, arranged a +test, and two breastplates were prepared, of equal make and weight. Two +pistol charges of equal power were fired at the test breastplates, with +the result that the foreign armour was only slightly dented, while the +English plate was pierced completely, and the beam on which it rested was +torn by the bullet. A bascinet in the Tower, which belonged to Henry VIII, +bears two indented marks, signifying that it was proof against the large +crossbow. In the Musée d'Artillerie in Paris, a suit made for Louis XIV +bears proof marks which are treated as the centres for floriated designs +(Plate VIII). No excuse need be offered for thus borrowing from papers by +Viscount Dillon and other writers in _Archaeologia_ and the +_Archaeological Journal_, for these publications are not always at hand to +those interested in the subject of armour and equipments. They are, +however, indispensable for careful study; for they contain reports of the +most recent discoveries and investigations of the subject, and are +written, for the most part, by men whose expert knowledge is at once +extensive and precise. + +[Illustration: PLATE VI + +_Photograph by Viscount Dillon._ + +Engraved suit of armour given to Henry VIII by the Emperor Maximilian. +Tower.] + +Another detail of importance in connexion with the protective power of +armour occurs in the great jousting helms, which invariably present a +smooth surface on the left side, even when there may be some opening, for +ventilation or other purposes, on the right. The reason for this was that +the jouster always passed left arm to left arm with the lance pointed +across the horse's neck. It was therefore important that there should be +no projection or opening on the left side of the helm in which the +lance-point could possibly be caught. + +We next turn our attention to Convenience in Use. Under this head the +armourer had to consider that the human body makes certain movements of +the limbs for walking and riding, or fighting with arm and hand. He had so +to construct the different portions of the suit that they should allow of +all these movements without hindrance; and at the same time he had to +endeavour to protect the body and limbs while the movements were taking +place. The arrangements for pivoting elbow- and knee-joints need scarcely +be detailed; for it will be seen by a glance at any suit of plate armour +how the cuisse and jamb are pivoted on to the genouillière, and move with +the leg to a straight or bent position without allowing these plates to +escape from under the genouillière. The coude is sometimes pivoted in the +same manner, but more often it is rigid and of such circumference that the +arm can bend within it and yet be very adequately protected. In the +overlapping lames or strips of metal which give ease of movement to the +upper arm, the hands, the waist, and the foot, we find that much careful +work and calculation was needed to ensure comfort to the wearer. On the +foot, the toepiece and four or more arches of metal overlap upwards on to +a broader arch, while above this three or more arches overlap downwards, +thus allowing the toe-joint and ankle to be bent at the same time (Fig. +26). In a suit in the Tower, made for Prince Henry, son of James I, all +the arches of the soleret overlap downwards. This points to a certain +decadence in the craftsmanship of the armourer of the period, though the +excuse might be offered for him that the suit was intended only for use on +horseback. There are generally one, two, or more of these movable lames +joining the genouillière to the jamb, and above this the cuisse to the +genouillière to give greater flexibility to the knee fastenings. The +separate arm- and leg-pieces are, when made in two halves to encircle the +limb, hinged on the outside and closed with strap and buckle, or with +locking hook or bolt on the inside. This, of course, is to ensure greater +protection to these fastenings, especially on horseback. Higher up again +we get the tuilles or taces, which, from the fact that to adapt themselves +to the human form they must narrow at the waist and spread out below, +overlap upwards. From the taces are hung the tassets, with strap and +buckle, which give increased protection to the upper leg, and yet are not +in any way rigid. When the tassets are made of more than one plate they +are attached to each other by a most ingenious arrangement of straps and +sliding rivets. On the inner edge of each plate the rivets are attached to +a strap on the under side; but the outer edge, requiring more compression +of the lames together, is furnished with rivets fixed firmly in the +uppermost plate and working loose in a slot in the back plate, thus +allowing an expansion or contraction of half an inch or more to each +lame. It is somewhat difficult to explain this ingenious arrangement in +words, but Fig. 27 will show how the straps and rivets are set. When the +tassets were discarded about the end of the sixteenth century the cuisses +were laminated in this way from waist to knee. + +[Illustration: PLATE VII + +1. Passe-guard 2. Grand-guard 3. Tilting cuisse 4. Half suit for the +Stechzeug, Nuremberg 1450-1500 a. Polder mitton b. Lance rest c. Queue] + +[Illustration: FIG. 26. Soleret.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 27. Method of using sliding rivets.] + +The gauntlet is generally found with a stiff cuff, and from wrist to +knuckles the plates in narrow arches overlap towards the arm, where they +join a wider plate which underlaps the cuff. The knuckle-plate is usually +ridged with a rope-shaped crest or with bosses imitating the knuckles. The +fingers are protected by small plates, from four on the fourth finger to +six on the second finger (in some examples there are more or less), which +overlap from knuckle to finger-tip. The thumb is covered in like manner, +but has a lozenge-shaped plate to connect it to the cuff. This metal +hand-covering was sewn on to a leather glove or attached to it with +leather loops (Fig. 28). The vambrace is generally rigid, either a solid +tube or hinged on the outside and fastened on the inside by straps or +hooks. It is held to the lower edge of the coude by a rivet. The lower +portion of the rerebrace is also tubular, while the upper portion, where +it joins the pauldron, is often laminated, with the plates overlapping, +downwards as a rule, though there are instances of these plates +overlapping upwards. They are joined in the same way as the laminated +tassets by a riveted strap on the inner side, and by sliding rivets at the +back, thus giving the arm freedom of movement forwards in the direction +most needed, but less freedom towards the back. + +These sliding rivets working in slots have come to be called 'Almain' +rivets from the fact that the Almain rivet, a light half suit of armour, +was put together to a great extent by this method. These suits will be +referred to later in the chapter. + +[Illustration: FIG. 28. Gauntlet.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 29. Turning 'lock-pins'.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 30. Gorget.] + +The Pauldron is hung on the shoulder by a strap from the gorget or the +breastplate, or it is pierced with a hole which fits over a pin fixed in +one of these portions of the armour. In most suits of plate of the +fifteenth and early sixteenth century that portion of the pauldron which +covers the breastplate is larger on the left side than on the right. The +reason for this is that the position of the lance when held 'in rest', +that is couched for the charge, necessitates a certain curtailment of the +front plate of the pauldron, and, at the same time, the left arm being +held rigid at the bridle, and being exposed to the attacking weapon, +requires more protection than does the right, which, when using the lance, +was guarded by the Vamplate or metal disc fixed to the lance above the +Grip. + +Breast- and back-pieces are held together on the shoulders and sides by +straps, but the lames of the taces, and in some cases the breast and back +themselves, are fastened with turning pins which play an important part in +holding the suit together (Fig. 29). The Gorget (Fig. 30) is made in two +halves, each composed of a single plate or, sometimes, of two or three +horizontal lames. The two portions are united by a loose-working rivet on +the left side and are joined by a turning pin on the right. The gorget was +worn either over or under the breast- and backplates. + +Perhaps the most ingeniously contrived suit in existence, which completely +protects the wearer and at the same time follows the anatomical +construction of the human body, is that made for Henry VIII for fighting +on foot in the lists. It is numbered xxviii in the Armoury of the Tower. +There are no parts of the body or limbs left uncovered by plate, and every +separate portion fits closely to its neighbour with sliding rivets and +turning pins to give the necessary play for the limbs. It is composed of +235 pieces and weighs 93 lb. + +The wearing of the bascinet, salade, burgonet, and like helmets needs no +detailed description. In the preceding chapter we noticed the method of +attaching the camail to the bascinet. When the great helm was made a +fixture in the fifteenth century, as distinct from the loose or chained +helms of preceding periods, it was either bolted to the breast and back, +as on Plate VII, or it was fastened by an adjustable plate which shut over +a locking pin, as shown on Plate V, 5, and a somewhat similar arrangement +at the back, or a strap and buckle, held it firmly in place, while if +extra rigidity was needed it was supplied by straps from the shoulders to +the lugs shown in the drawing of the Brocas Helm on Plate V. The Armet, or +close helmet, fits the shape of the head to such an extent that it must be +opened to be put on. This is arranged by hingeing the side plates to the +centre, and, when fixed, fastening them with a screw at the back to which +a circular disc is added as a protection to this fastening (Fig. 31). The +armet shown on Plate V opens in the front and when closed is fastened with +a spring hook. The different parts of the armet are the Ventail, A, and +Vue, B, which together make the Visor; the Skull, C; and the Beavor, D +(Plate V, 6). + +Having now arrived at some understanding of the construction of the suit +of armour we will pass on to the wearing of the suit. A man could not wear +his ordinary clothes under his armour; the friction of the metal was too +great. In spite of the excellence of workmanship of the armourer any thin +substance was bound to be torn, so a strong fabric was chosen which is +called in contemporary records Fustian. Whether it at all resembled the +modern fabric of that name it is difficult to determine, but certainly the +wearing powers of this material or of corduroy would be admirably adapted +for the purpose. Chaucer writes in the Prologue to the _Canterbury Tales_, +line 75: + + Of fustyan he wered a gepoun + Aile bysmoterud with his haburgeoun. + +This would refer to the rust-stains that penetrated through the +interstices of the mail. In Hall's _Chronicles_ (p. 524) is mentioned a +levy of troops ordered for the wars in France in 1543, for which it was +enjoined: 'Item every man to hav an armyng doublet of ffustyean or +canvas', and also 'a capp to put his scull or sallet in'. These last were +coverings for the helmets which we have noted on page 42. The helmets had +linings, either riveted to the metal or worn separately as a cap. The +tilting helm was provided with a thick padded cap with straps to keep it +in its place. Some of these caps exist in the Museum at Vienna. + +[Illustration: FIG. 31. Armet.] + +King René, in his _Livre des Tournois_, advises a pourpoint or padded +undergarment to be put on under the body armour, 'stuffed to the thickness +of three fingers on the shoulders for there the blows fall heaviest.' It +seems that in Brabant and the Low Countries the blows fell heavier, or +that the combatants were less hardy, for he advises for them a thickness +of four fingers, filled with cotton. Viscount Dillon mentions in his +Armour Notes[18] the fact that a 'stuffer of Bacynetts' accompanied Henry +V to Agincourt. He also quotes a letter from James Croft to Cecil on July +1, 1559, which states that a man cannot keep his corselet and pay for the +wear and tear of his clothes due to the rubbing of the body armour, under +8_d._ per day. + +Sir John Smith, in his _Animadversions_ (1591), writes: 'No man should +wear any cut doublets, as well in respect that the wearing of armour doth +quickly fret them out, and also by reason that the corners and edges of +the lames and joints of the armour do take such hold upon such cuttes as +they do hinder the quick and sudden arming of men.' + +An interesting description of the arming of a man, entitled, '_Howe a +manne schall be armed at hys ese when he schall fighte on foote_,' is +preserved in the _Life of Sir John Astley_ (a manuscript in the possession +of Lord Hastings).[19] The knight is first dressed in a doublet of +fustian, lined with satin, which is cut with holes for ventilation. This +satin was to keep the roughness of the fustian from the wearer's body; for +he wore no shirt under it. The doublet was provided with gussets of mail, +or Vuyders, attached under the armpit and at the bend of the elbow by +Arming Points or laces. These mail gussets were to protect the parts not +covered by the plate armour. The 'Portrait of an Italian Nobleman' by +Moroni, in the National Gallery, shows the figure dressed in this arming +doublet. A pair of thick worsted hose were worn, and shoes of stout +leather. It must be noticed here that the soleret, or sabaton as it is +sometimes called, covered only the top of the foot, and had understraps +which kept it to the sole of the shoe. First the sabatons were put on, +then the jambs, genouillière and cuisses, then the skirt or breech of mail +round the waist. This is sometimes known as the Brayette. Then the +breast-and backplates were buckled on with the accompanying taces, +tassets, and Garde-rein or plates to protect the loins. After this the arm +defences, and, if worn over the breastpiece, the gorget; and, finally, the +helmet completed the equipment. The sword was buckled on the left side and +the dagger on the right. + +The armour for jousts and tourneys was much heavier than the Hosting or +War harness. From the fact, which has been previously noticed, that the +combatants passed each other on the left, this side of the armour was +reinforced to such a degree that in time it presented a totally different +appearance from the right side (see Plate VII). The weight of jousting +armour was so great that it was impossible for the wearer to mount without +assistance. De Pluvinel, in his _Maneige Royal_ (1629), gives an imaginary +conversation between himself and the King (Louis XIV) as follows:-- + +_The King._ 'It seems to me that such a man would have difficulty in +getting on his horse, and being on to help himself.' + +_De Pluvinel._ 'It would be very difficult, but with this arming the +matter has been provided for. In this manner at triumphs and tourneys +there ought to be at the two ends of the lists a small scaffold, the +height of a stirrup, on which two or three persons can stand, that is to +say, the knight, an armourer to arm him, and one other to help him. The +knight being armed and the horse brought close to the stand, he easily +mounts him.' + +Reference has been made to the fact that modern writers call the sliding +rivet the 'Almain' rivet. Whenever mentioned in Inventories and such-like +documents, the Almain rivet stands for a suit of light armour. Garrard, in +his _Art of Warre_ (1591), distinctly says, 'The fore part of a corselet +and a head peece and tasses is the almayne rivet.' Among the purchases +made on the Continent by Henry VIII in 1512 may be noted 2,000 Almain +rivets, each consisting of a salet, a gorget, a breastplate, a backplate, +and a pair of splints (short taces). In the Inventory of the goods of Dame +Agnes Huntingdon, executed at Tyburn for murdering her husband in 1523, we +find 'sex score pare of harness of Alman rivets'. The 'pare', of course, +refers to the breast- and backplates. The word Alman, Almaine, or Almain, +shows that the invention of this light armour and the sliding rivets +which were used in its construction came from Germany. + +That the wearing of armour caused grave inconvenience to some, while to +others it seems to have been no hindrance at all, we may gather from the +following historical incidents. In 1526 King Louis of Hungary, fleeing +from the Battle of Mohacz, was drowned while crossing the Danube because +of the weight of his armour. On the other hand we find that Robert de +Vere, Earl of Oxford, when forced to fly at the Battle of Radcot Bridge, +escaped easily by swimming the river to safety in full armour. We should +remember that the weight of plate armour was less felt than that of mail, +because the former was distributed over the whole body and limbs, while +the latter hung from the shoulders and waist alone. King Henry V, in +courting Queen Katharine, says:--'If I could win a lady at leapfrog, or by +vaulting into my saddle with my armour on my back,' which seems to imply +that this feat was at any rate a possibility. Oliver de la Marche +describes Galliot de Balthasin in 1446 as leaping clear out of his saddle +'Armé de toute'. We may safely consign Sir Walter Scott's description of +the feasting knights to the realms of poetic licence, for he writes:-- + + They carved at the meal with gloves of steel + And drank the red wine through their helmets barred. + +Now if there were two portions of the knight's equipment which would be +put off at the first opportunity, and which could be assumed the most +rapidly, they were the helmet and gauntlets. To drink through a visored +helmet is a practical impossibility. The word Beavor, which is generally +derived from the Italian _bevere_, to drink, has been considered by Baron +de Cosson, with far more probability, to be derived from the Old French +_bavière_ (originally = a child's bib, from _bave_, saliva). + +The cleaning of armour is frequently alluded to in Inventories. In the +Dover Castle Inventory of 1344 is mentioned 'i barrelle pro armaturis +rollandis'. Chain-mail was rolled in barrels with sand and vinegar to +clean it, just as, inversely, barrels are cleaned in the country at the +present day by rolling chains in them. The mending and cleaning of armour +was of the first importance, and the travelling knight took with him an +armourer who was provided with such things as 'oil for dressing my lord's +harness, a thousand armyng nayles (rivets) a payre of pynsores, pomyshe +(pumice stone), fylles, a hammer and all other stuffe and tools belonginge +to an armorer'.[20] + +We can gather but little of the methods of the armourers in their work. It +was so important a craft that its operations were most jealously guarded, +and the term 'Mystery', which was applied to the Trade Gilds of the Middle +Ages, can be most fittingly given to that of the armour-smith. In the +_Weisskunig_ of Hans Burgkmair, the noted German engraver, appears an +interesting woodcut of the young Maximilian in the workshop of Conrad +Seusenhofer, the famous armourer. In the text the master-smith is +described as being anxious to make use of the 'forbidden art', but the +young king replies, 'Arm me according to my own taste, for it is I, not +you, who have to take part in the tournament.' What this forbidden art may +have been we have no suggestion given us. It seems, from this account, to +be more than likely that Seusenhofer possessed some mechanical means for +stamping out armour plate; for it goes on to say, 'So this young King +invented a new art for warriors' armour, so that in the workshop 30 front +pieces and 30 hinder pieces were made at once. How wonderful and skilful +was this King!' + +A most interesting album of designs by one 'Jacobe', who has been +identified by the late Herr Wendelin Boeheim as Jacobe Topf, is now, after +many vicissitudes, in the Art Library of the Victoria and Albert Museum, +South Kensington. From the somewhat naïve treatment of the designs they +can hardly be considered to be working drawings, but were more probably +sketches submitted to the different patrons of the armourer and kept for +reference. The Album has been reproduced in facsimile, with a preface +giving its history and verifying the suits drawn on its pages, by +Viscount Dillon, Curator of the Tower Armouries. Space will not admit of +more notice of this unique volume. Its author seems to have worked almost +entirely for the nobles of the court of Queen Elizabeth; only two of the +designs were made for foreigners. Of the famous armourers of Italy, the +Missaglias, Negrolis, and Campi; and of the great Colman family, +Seusenhofer and Wolf, the master-craftsmen of Germany, we can do no more +than mention the names. Experts in armour, like Baron de Cosson and Herr +Boeheim, have in the various archaeological journals of England and +Germany brought to light many interesting facts about these armourers, but +the confines of this handbook do not admit of detailed quotation, nor, +indeed, is it necessary to study these details till the primary interest +in defensive armour has been aroused. When this has been achieved the +student will certainly leave no records unexamined in following to its +farthest extremes this most fascinating study.[21] + +[Illustration: FIG. 32. Archer wearing jack. From the Beauchamp Pageants, +fifteenth century.] + +It is almost superfluous to discuss the third of our axioms, namely, that +which concerns the confession of material. All armour of the best periods +does this to the full. It is only under the blighting influence of the +Renaissance that we find metal so worked that it resembles woven fabrics, +or, worse still, the human form and features. The limited space at our +disposal precludes us from investigating the various Coats of Fence, or +body protections of quilted fabrics with metal, horn, and other materials +added. Mention has been made in the chapter on the Transition of the +Brigandine, which formed a very serviceable defence without being so +unwieldy as the suit of plate. There are several of these brigandines in +English and European armouries. These defences weigh as much as 18 lb., +and are made of many small pieces of metal. An example in the Tower +contains 1,164.[22] Fig. 32, from the Beauchamp Pageants (Cotton MS., +Julius E. iv), shows an archer of the year 1485 wearing the jack over a +shirt of mail. The Jack was used by the rank and file, and was stuffed and +wadded or composed of plates of metal or horn laced together with string +between layers of leather or linen. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +PLATE ARMOUR (1410-about 1600) + + +It is so very rare to be able to fix the date of a suit of armour at a +particular year that we are forced, in dividing our periods of defensive +armour with any degree of minuteness, to have recourse to the records +existing in monumental effigies. The earliest brasses which show the whole +suit of plate without camail or jupon are those of one of the d'Eresby +family at Spilsby, Lincolnshire, and of Sir John Wylcotes at Great Tew, +Oxon., both dated 1410. In these brasses we find that the camail has +become the Standard of Mail, or collarette, worn under the gorget of +plate. The hauberk is seen beneath the taces and, in the former brass, in +the '_défaut de la cuirasse_', or unprotected part at the junction of arm +and body. In the Great Tew brass this part is protected by oval plates +which, as we have noticed in a preceding chapter, are called motons or +besagues. Hewitt does not seem to have come across these terms in the +course of his very minute investigations, but calls them Croissants or +Gouchets. He quotes a passage from Mathieu de Coucy's _History of Charles +VII_ (p. 560) which runs:--'au-dessous du bras at au vif de son harnois, +par faute et manque d'y avoir un croissant ou gouchet.' Haines, in his +_Monumental Brasses_, mentions the moton, but assigns this name to a piece +of plate rarely met with, shaped to fit under the right armpit only. With +the disappearance of the jupon we see the body defence exposed to view. +The breastplate is globular in form, and below the waist we see the taces +or laminated strips of plate overlapping each other, which at this early +period were attached to a leather lining. As we have seen in the chapter +on the Construction of Armour, at a later period these taces were held +together by sliding rivets, which allowed a certain amount of vertical +play. Plate armour, during the earlier years of the fifteenth century, was +naturally in a somewhat experimental state, and we find frequent examples +of the old forms and fashions in contemporary representations. About the +year 1440 appears a distinct style, called 'Gothic', which, of all types +of defensive armour, is perhaps the most graceful. This term, 'Gothic,' is +as inappropriate, in the relation which it bore, to armour as to +architecture; but its use is so general that we must perforce adopt it for +want of a better. The salient points of Gothic armour are the sweeping +lines embossed on its surfaces (Plate VIII). The cuirass is generally made +in two pieces, an upper and a lower, which allows more freedom for the +body. From the taces are hung Tassets, ending in a point towards the lower +edge. The later form of Gothic breastplate is longer, and the taces fewer +in number. Armour was so frequently remade to suit later fashions, or, +from lack of antiquarian interest, so often destroyed, that there is +little of this Gothic armour existing in England, except those suits which +have been acquired from the Continent by private collectors or public +museums. Almost all of them are incomplete, or, if complete, have been +restored--particularly the leg armour--at a recent date. Perhaps the +finest example of this style is to be found on the 'Beauchamp' effigy in +St. Mary's Church, Warwick. Space will not allow of a full account of the +documents connected with the making of this magnificent figure, which was +executed by Will. Austin, a bronze-founder, and Bartholomew Lambespring, a +goldsmith, in 1454, fifteen years after the death of the Earl. All these +interesting details are given very fully in Blore's _Monumental Remains_. +To students of the constructional side of armour this monument is +particularly valuable because all the fastenings, rivets, and straps are +conscientiously portrayed, not only on the front, but also at the back. +Charles Stothard, the antiquary, when making drawings of the figure for +his work on _Monumental Effigies_, turned it over and discovered this +example of the care and technical ability of the makers. The breastplate +is short, and consequently the taces are more numerous than when the +breastplate is longer. They consist of five lames. From the taces hang +four tassets, two bluntly pointed in front, and two much shorter, and more +sharply pointed, over the hip-bones. The taces are hinged at the side for +convenience in putting on and off. The coudes are large and of the +butterfly-wing type, and the sollerets are of normal length. In many of +the Gothic suits these sollerets, following the custom in civil dress, +were extravagantly long and pointed. This form is called 'à la poulaine', +while the shorter kind are known as 'demi-poulaine'. + +Some writers are apt to confuse this term 'poulaine' with 'poleyne', the +knee-cop used in the earlier days of the Transition Period; it is needless +to point out that they are quite distinct. Baron de Cosson has put forward +a most interesting theory in connexion with this effigy. He finds a close +resemblance between the armour here portrayed and that shown in the +picture of St. George, by Mantegna, in the Accademia at Venice. The Earl +of Warwick, who is represented on this monument, is known to have been at +Milan in his youth, and to have taken part in tournaments at Verona; so it +is more than probable that he ordered his armour from the Milanese +armourers, of whom the famous Missaglia family were the chief craftsmen, +and who made some fine suits of this Gothic style. + +[Illustration: PLATE VIII + +ARMOUR OF (1) Archduke Sigismond of Tyrol, 1470, (2) Louis XIV of France, +1680.] + +The next distinctive style to be noticed is called the 'Maximilian'. It +can hardly be said that this new design was evolved from the Gothic, +though of necessity there must be a certain similarity between them, at +least in constructional detail. It is more likely, when we consider the +individuality of the young Maximilian, especially as recorded in Hans +Burgkmair's _Weisskunig_, and his interest in every art, craft, and trade, +that it was a fashion made, so to speak, to order. The Maximilian Period +of armour may be said to last from about 1500 to 1540. It is distinguished +by the radiating fluted channels that spread from a central point in the +breastpiece, closely resembling the flutings of the scallop-shell (Fig. +24). The main lines of the suit are heavier and more clumsy than those of +the Gothic variety. The breastplate is shorter, globose in form, and made +in one piece as distinct from the Gothic breastplate, which was generally +composed of an upper and lower portion. The pauldrons are larger and the +upstanding neck-guards more pronounced. The coude and genouillière are +both smaller than in the Gothic suit, and fit more closely to the limbs. +In imitation of the civilian dress the solleret becomes shorter and +broader in the toe. This variety is known as the 'bec de cane' or +'bear-paw' soleret. Some writers use the term Sabaton for the foot-defence +of this period. This term is found (sabataynes) in the Hastings manuscript +referred to in the preceding chapter. The pauldrons of the Maximilian +suit are generally of unequal size; that for the right arm being smaller, +to admit of the couching of the lance under the armpit (Fig. 34). The +tassets are made in two or more pieces, connected with the strap and +sliding rivet described in the preceding chapter. The fluting on the +Maximilian armour is not without practical purpose, for, besides +presenting the 'glancing' surface, which has been before referred to, it +gives increased strength and rigidity without much extra weight. A modern +example of this is to be found in the corrugated iron used for roofing, +which will stand far greater pressure than will the same thickness of +metal used flat. + +[Illustration: FIG. 33. Gothic suit. Turin Armoury.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 34. Maximilian suit. Vienna Armoury, 1523.] + +It is at this period of the history of defensive armour that we first find +traces of that decadence which later on permeated every art and craft with +its pernicious poison. It is to be found in the imitating of fabrics and +also of the human face in metal. There exist suits of plate in many +museums, both in England and on the Continent, in which the puffings and +slashings of the civilian attire are closely copied in embossed metal, +entirely destroying the important glancing surfaces on which we have laid +such stress. It is alleged that this fashion in civilian dress was +intended to suggest, by the cutting of the material to show an +undergarment beneath, that the wearer was a fighting man who had seen +rough service. If this be the case it is the more reprehensible that metal +should be treated in a similar manner; for hard usage would dent, but it +would not tear. A portion of one of these debased suits is drawn on Fig. +42. + +It must not be supposed that all armour at this period was fluted. There +was still a good deal which had a plain surface, and this plain armour +continued to be used after the Maximilian armour had been given up. It may +have been that the evil genius of the Renaissance pointed to the plain +surfaces as excellent fields for the skill of the decorator, a field which +the strongly-marked flutings of the Maximilian armour could not offer. At +first this decoration was confined to engraved borders, or, if the design +covered the whole suit, it was so lightly engraved that the smooth surface +was in no way impaired, though perhaps some of the dignified simplicity +of the plain metal was lost. An instance of this proper application of +ornament to armour is to be found in the 'Seusenhofer' suit in the Tower +(Plate VI), made to the order of the Emperor Maximilian for Henry VIII. It +is one of the finest suits of this period in existence. The ornament is +lightly engraved all over it, and includes representations of the legends +of St. George and St. Barbara. Instead of taces and tassets the lower part +of the body and the thighs are protected by steel Bases made in folds to +imitate the skirts worn in civilian dress. It will be remembered that in +the preceding chapter a conversation between Seusenhofer and the young +Maximilian was quoted, and when we study this suit carefully we feel that +the young king did wisely in the choice of his master-armourer. The +craftsman's Poinçon or mark is to be found at the back of the helmet. + +If space but permitted we might devote many pages to the work of the great +armour-smiths as exemplified in the armouries of Madrid and Vienna. It is +difficult, at this period of history, to generalize at all satisfactorily. +Each suit is, in many ways, distinct from its neighbour, just as the +character and personality of the wearers differed. The young Maximilian's +words to Seusenhofer, 'Arm me according to my own taste,' is true of every +suit that we examine, for it is evident that each man had his own +favourite fashion or, from physical necessity, was provided with some +special variation from the usual form. An instance of this may be noted in +the Barendyne helm at Haseley Church, near Thame, in which an extra plate +has been added at the lower edge of the helm to suit the length of neck of +the last wearer. + +As the experience of the armourer increased, and as the science of war +developed, the armed man trusted more to the fixed defences of his person +than to the more primitive protection of the movable shield. In the +tilt-yard and also in war the mounted man endeavoured to present his left +side to his adversary. On consideration the reason for this will be plain, +for the right arm was required to be free and, as far as possible, +unhampered by heavy armour, but the left arm, held at rest at the bridle, +could be covered with as heavy defences as the wearer might choose. This +form of unequal arming is well shown on the Frontispiece. The left +shoulder wears a large pauldron with a high neck-guard, and the elbow +wears the passe-guard which we have noticed in detail in the preceding +chapter. The leg armour in this suit should be noticed, for it is +extremely fine and graceful in line, and yet proclaims its material. The +suit of Henry VIII (Plate VI) is a good specimen of armour of the +Maximilian period, but without the flutings which generally distinguish +this style of plate. The neck-guards are high and the large coudes show +the glancing surface plainly. This detail also is shown on the fan plates +at the genouillières, which in the Tower Inventories are called by the +more English term 'knee-cops'. The bridle-hand of the rider wears the +Manifer (main-de-fer). Those writers who still follow blindly the +incorrect nomenclature of Meyrick give the name Mainfaire or Manefer to +the Crinet or neck defence of the horse. How this absurd play upon words +can ever have been taken seriously passes understanding. + +The manifer is solely the rigid iron gauntlet for the bridle-hand, where +no sudden or complicated movement of the wrist or fingers was needed; +another instance of the difference in arming the two sides of the body. +This difference of arming is more noticeable in the jousting armour, for +in military sports, especially during the sixteenth century, the object of +the contestants was to score points rather than to injure each other. We +find, therefore, such pieces as the Grand-guard, and with it the Volant +piece, the Passe-guard, the Poldermitton--so called from its likeness to +the 'épaule de mouton', and worn over the bend of the right arm--and the +various reinforcing breastplates which were screwed on to the left side of +the tilting suit to offer a more rigid defence and also to present +additional glancing surface to the lance-point. In some varieties of joust +a small wooden shield was fastened to the left breast, and when this was +the case the heavy pauldron was dispensed with. The large Vamplate (Plate +XI) sufficiently protected the right arm from injury. The Nuremberg suit +(Plate VII) shows this form of arming for the joust. The great helm is +firmly screwed to the back and breast, the two holes on the left side of +the breastplate are for the attachment of the shield, the rigid +bridle-cuff, covers the left hand, and the curved elbow-guard--this is not +the passe-guard--protects the bend of the left arm as the poldermitton +protects the right. The large circular disc defends the _vif de +l'harnois_, and is _bouché_ or notched at its lower end to allow the lance +to be couched, resting on the curved lance-rest in front and lodged under +the Queue at the back. The legs, in this variety of joust, were not armed; +for the object of the jousters was to unhorse each other, and it was +necessary to have perfect freedom in gripping the horse's sides. Sometimes +a great plate of metal, curved to cover the leg, was worn to protect the +wearer from the shock of impact. This was called the Dilge, or Tilting +Cuisse, which is shown on Plate VIII behind the figure of Count Sigismond, +and also on Plate VII. The large-bowed saddle also was used for this end. +There is one of these saddles in the Tower which measures nearly 5 feet in +height. Behind the saddle-bow are two rings which encircled the rider's +legs. It is needless to point out that in this form of joust the object +was to break lances and not to unhorse; for, if the latter were intended, +the rider stood a good chance of breaking his legs owing to his rigid +position in the saddle. + +The Tonlet suit (Fig. 35) was used solely for fighting on foot. The +bell-shaped skirt of plate was so constructed with the sliding rivets or +straps which have been before referred to, that it could be pulled up and +down. Sometimes the lower lame could be taken off altogether. When +fighting with axes or swords in the lists this plate skirt presented a +glancing surface to the weapon and protected the legs. The tonlet is +variously called by writers upon armour, Bases, Lamboys, or Jamboys; of +the two latter terms jamboys is the more correct. The Bases were +originally the cloth skirts in vogue in civilian dress at the time of +Henry VIII, and when defensive armour followed civilian fashion the name +came to be applied to the steel imitation. + +[Illustration: FIG. 35. Tonlet suit. Madrid.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 36. War suit, 1547. Vienna Armoury.] + +Towards the end of the sixteenth century we find the weight of the war +harness gradually decrease. The richly-ornamented suits which mark this +period were in no way suited for any practical purpose and were used only +for parades. Extended campaigns and long marches necessitated lighter +equipment, and we find in contemporary records instances, not only of the +men-at-arms discarding their armour owing to its inconvenience, but also +of commanders ordering them to lighten their equipment for greater +rapidity of movement. Sir Richard Hawkins, in his _Observations_ on his +voyage into the South Sea (1593), writes: 'I had great preparation of +armours as well of proofe as of light corsletts, yet not a man would use +them, but esteemed a pott of wine a better defence than an armour of +proofe.' Again, Sir John Smythe, in his _Instructions, Observations and +Orders Militarie_ (1595), writes: ... 'I saw but very few of that army (at +the camp at Tilbury) that had any convenience of apparrell to arme +withal.' Edward Davies, in 1619, mentions the fact that men armed 'with a +heavie shirt of mail and a burganet, by that time they have marched in the +heat of summer or deepe of winter ten or twelve English miles, they are +apt more to rest than readie to fight'. As early as the year 1364 we find +that at the Battle of Auray Sir Hugh Calverley ordered his men to take off +their cuisses that they might move more rapidly. In the armour of the late +sixteenth century one of the chief points of difference from the former +fashions is to be found in the cuisses. Whereas these defences were +formerly made of one, or possibly two plates, we now find them laminated +from waist to knee and joined by the strap and sliding rivet arrangement +which we have noted in the arm defences and tassets. The tassets are now +no longer used (Fig. 36). Very soon the jambs were given up in favour of +buff boots, and when once this was established the next step was the half +suit which will be noticed in a succeeding chapter. + +[Illustration: PLATE IX + +Design for a suit of armour for Sir Henry Lee, from the _Almain Armourer's +Album_.] + +After the fourteenth century the great helm was but seldom used for war, +but for jousting it was still retained, and, as this form of military +sport was practised more scientifically, so the weight and shape of the +helm were made to suit the necessary conditions. The Brocas helm (Plate V) +is the finest example of English helm of this period; it weighs 22 lb. The +other known examples of home manufacture are the Westminster helm, which +was discovered in the Triforium of Westminster Abbey in 1869, and weighs +17 lb. 12 oz.; the Dawtray helm at Petworth (21 lb. 8 oz.); the Barendyne +helm at Haseley, near Thame (13-1/2 lb.); the Fogge helm at Ashford, +Sussex (24 lb.); the Wallace helm, in the collection at Hertford House (17 +lb.); and the great headpiece in the possession of Captain Lindsay of +Sutton Courtenay, Abingdon, which turns the scale at 25 lb. 14 oz. It will +be seen from the weight of these helms that they could only be used for +the jousting course and were put off on the first opportunity. The details +of their construction have been noticed in Chapter III. + +On referring to Plate V it will be seen that the bascinet was the +precursor of the Salade, which may be considered the typical headpiece of +the fifteenth century. The rear peak of the bascinet is prolonged over the +neck, and in a later form of German origin the peak is hinged to allow the +wearer to throw back his head with ease. The ocularium, or vision slit, is +sometimes cut in the front of the salade, but more often it is found in a +pivoted visor which could be thrown back. The Beavor is generally a +separate piece strapped round the neck or, in tilting, bolted to the +breastplate. Some writers call this the Mentonière, but this name should +rather be applied to the tilting breastplate which also protected the +lower portion of the face. Shakespeare uses the term beavor very loosely, +and frequently means by it the whole helmet. + +The German 'Schallern', or salade, so called from its shell-like form, +seems to have been evolved from the chapel-de-fer or war-hat by +contracting the brim at the sides and prolonging it at the back. In fact, +in Chastelain's account of the fight between Jacques de Lalain and Gérard +de Roussillon the salade worn by Messire Jacques is described as 'un +chapeau de fer d'ancienne façon'.[23] The salade was often richly +decorated. Baron de Cosson, in the preface to the Catalogue of Helmets +exhibited at the Archaeological Institute in June, 1880[24], instances a +salade made for the Duke of Burgundy in 1443, which was valued at 10,000 +crowns of gold. More modest decoration was obtained by covering the salade +with velvet and fixing ornaments over this of gilded iron or brass. There +are several of these covered salades in the various collections in England +and on the Continent. Sometimes the salade was painted, as we see in an +example in the Tower. + +The Armet, or close helmet, followed the salade, and is mentioned by +Oliver de la Marche as early as 1443.[25] The name is supposed to be a +corruption of 'heaumet', the diminutive of 'heaume', the great helm of the +fourteenth century.[26] Whereas the salade is in form a hat-like defence, +the armet fits the head closely and can only be put on by opening the +helmet, as is shown on Plate V and Fig. 31. The various parts of the armet +have been already described in Chapter III. The armet does not appear in +monumental effigies in England before the reign of Henry VIII. The English +were never in a hurry to take up new fashions in armour; being to a large +extent dependent on the work of foreign craftsmen, they seem to have +waited to prove the utility of an innovation before adopting it. Against +this, however, we must place the fact that in the picture at Hampton Court +of the meeting of Henry VIII and Maximilian, the English are all shown +wearing armets, while the Germans still wear the salade. The armet on the +Seusenhofer suit in the Tower, which has been noticed in this chapter, is +a very perfect example of this style of headpiece. + +The Burgonet is an open helmet, and, as the name implies, of Burgundian +origin. To those students who consult Meyrick it is advisable to give a +word of warning as to this author's theory of the burgonet. He assumes +that it is a variety of the armet, but with a grooved collar which fitted +over the gorget. His authority for this assertion is a single reference in +the _Origines des Chevaliers Armoriés et Heraux_, by Fauchet.[27] Space +will not allow of the investigation of this authority, but Baron de Cosson +in the Catalogue above quoted effectively disposes of Meyrick's +theory.[28] The salient points of the burgonet, as may be seen on Plate V, +are the Umbril or brim projecting over the eyes, and the upstanding comb +or (in some cases) three combs that appear on the skull-piece. In the best +examples these combs are forged with the skull out of one piece of metal, +a _tour de force_ in craftsmanship that could hardly be surpassed. The +ear-flaps are hinged at the sides, and at the base of the skull is fixed +the Panache, or plume-holder. The faceguard, when used with the burgonet, +is called the Buffe,[29] and, like the beavor worn with the salade, is +held in place by a strap round the neck. This form of helmet was chiefly +used by light cavalry. + +The Morion and the Cabasset are both helmets worn by foot-soldiers, and +appear about the middle of the sixteenth century. The cabasset is +generally to be distinguished by the curious little point projecting from +the apex. Often the comb and upturned brim of the morion are extravagant +in form and tend to make the helmet exceedingly heavy and inconvenient. + +[Illustration: FIG. 37. Pavis. Cotton MS. Julius E. iv, 1485.] + +The shields of the fifteenth and sixteenth century were more for display +than for use, except in the tilt-yard. As we have seen, the development of +plate armour, especially on the left side, made the shield not only +unnecessary, but also inconvenient. In the joust, however, where it was +important that the lance should find no hold on a vital part of the body, +such as the juncture of the arm, the shield was used to glance the weapon +off, or, where unhorsing was the object, it was ribbed with diagonally +crossing ridges to give the lance-point a surer hold. The Pavis or Pavoise +(Fig. 37) was more generally used by archers and crossbowmen as a cover. A +good specimen of the pavis exists in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, and +there are two large examples of heavier make with peepholes for the +archer, and wooden props as shown in our illustration, at Brussels and +Berlin. + + + + +[Illustration: PLATE X + +_Photograph by Viscount Dillon._ + +Horse armour of the Emperor Maximilian. Tower.] + + +CHAPTER V + +HORSE ARMOUR + + +The fully-equipped knight, whether in the cumbrous garments of mail or in +the more adaptable suit of plate, was so entirely dependent on his horse, +both in active warfare and in the tilt-yard, that some notice of the +defences of the Destrier or war-horse is necessary in this short +examination of the history of defensive armour. On the Bayeux Tapestry +there is no suggestion of armour of any kind upon the horses, but Wace +writes in the _Roman de Rou_ (line 12,627)-- + + Vint Williame li filz Osber + Son cheval tot covert de fer. + +We should remember, however, that Wace wrote in the second half of the +twelfth century and, like the other chroniclers of the Middle Ages, both +in picture and text, portrayed his characters in the dress of his own +time. The Trapper of mail shown on Fig. 38 is taken from Stothard's +drawing of one of the paintings in the Painted Chamber at Westminster, now +destroyed.[30] These decorations are supposed to have been executed about +the year 1237. Here the horse is shown covered with a most inconvenient +housing of mail, which can hardly have been in very general use, in this +particular form at any rate; for it would be almost impossible for a horse +to walk, let alone to trot or gallop, with such a defence. The textile +trapper was, of course, lighter, and was used merely for ornament and +display, though it may have been designed, as the surcoat was, to protect +the mail defence beneath from wet. + +Jean Chartier, in his _Histoire de Charles VI_ (p. 257), states that +sometimes these rich trappings or housings were, after the death of their +owner, bequeathed to churches, where they were used for altar hangings, +or inversely, when trappings were needed, the churches were despoiled of +their embroideries to provide them. + +[Illustration: FIG. 38. Trapper of Mail, from the Painted Chamber, +Westminster, thirteenth century.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 39. Ivory chessman, from Hewitt's _Ancient Armour_, +fourteenth century.] + +The mailed horse appears as early as the Roman period, and is shown on the +Column of Trajan, but in Europe he does not seem to have been commonly in +use much before the thirteenth century. As the man was sometimes defended +entirely by garments of quilted fabrics, so the horse also wore +pourpointed housings. We can only surmise, from the folds and lines shown +on seals or drawings, which variety is intended; but the stiff lines of +the housing on the seal of Roger de Quinci, Earl of Winchester (1219-64), +and its raised lozenges, seem to suggest a thicker substance than does the +more flowing drapery on Fig. 11. Matthew Paris, in describing the Battle +of Nuova Croce in 1237, writes that 'A credible Italian asserted that +Milan with its dependencies raised an army of six thousand men-at-arms +with iron-clad horses'. An ordinance of Philip the Fair, in 1303, provides +that every holder of an estate of 500 livres rental should furnish a man +at-arms well mounted on a horse 'couvert de couvertures de fer ou de +couverture pourpointe'. The caparisoned horse first appears on royal seals +in the reign of Edward I. In the Roll of Purchases of Windsor Park +Tournament (1278), the horses are provided with parchment crests, and the +Clavones or rivets used for fixing these crests are mentioned in the +Wardrobe Accounts of Edward I in 1300: 'cum clavis argenti pro eodem +capello.' The earliest note we have of a rigid defence for the horse is in +the Windsor Roll, which contains the following item:--'D Milon le Cuireur +xxxviij copita cor de similitud' capit equoz.' This headpiece was of +leather, either used in its natural state or as cuirbouilli, and seems to +be the material suggested in the ivory chessman (Fig. 39) illustrated in +Hewitt (vol. ii, p. 314). In the Will of the Earl of Surrey (1347) is +mentioned a breastpiece of leather for a horse. In the fifteenth century +we find the horse protected with plate like his rider, and usually the +lines of the Barding or horse armour follow those of the man. Fig. 40 +shows the armed horse with the various portions of his defence named. + +[Illustration: FIG. 40. Horse armour. A, Chamfron; B, Crinet; C, Peytral; +D, Flanchards; E, Arçon; F, Cantel; G, Crupper; H, Tail-guard; J, Metal +rein-guard; K, Glancing-knob.] + +The Chamfron is sometimes provided with hinged cheek-plates and usually +has a holder for a plume. On the forehead are often shown the arms of the +owner or a tapered spike. Angellucci, in his preface to the Catalogue of +the Turin Armoury, differentiates between the chamfron (tesera) and the +Frontale or plate protecting the front of the head alone. There are fine +suits of Gothic horse armour both in the Musée d'Artillerie in Paris and +also in the Wallace Collection at Hertford House. The latter is one of the +best-arranged mounted suits in existence. The different pieces of the +horse armour bear the delicate sweeping lines embossed on the surface in +the same way that the armour of the man is treated. The restored linings +of leather and skin show how the horse was protected from the chafing of +the metal. The Peytral or Poitrel is hung from the neck and withers, and +is frequently provided with large bosses, called _Bossoirs_, _Pezoneras_, +or _Glancing-knobs_, to direct the lance-thrust away from the horse. It is +often hinged in three pieces. The Flanchards hang from the saddle on +either side, and are sometimes, as on Plate IV and the Frontispiece, +curved upwards in the centre to admit of the use of the spur. The back of +the horse is protected by the Croupière or Crupper, which is made up of +several pieces riveted or hinged together. The root of the tail is covered +by a tubular plate called the Gardequeue, which is often moulded into the +form of a dragon or dolphin. All these plates were lined with leather or +wadded with cotton to prevent chafing. Often, however, cuirbouilli was +used instead of metal and was richly decorated with painting and gilding. +A picture of the Battle of Pavia in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, shows +many of these painted bards, and the same material is doubtless intended +in the relief of the Battle of Brescia on the Visconti monument at Pavia. +These leather bards have entirely disappeared and are not to be found in +any collections except for a portion of a crupper of this material in the +Tower. The saddle, with its high Arciones or peaks, back and front, was in +itself an efficacious protection for the waist and loins. The term Cantle +is sometimes used for either plate, but it is generally accepted as the +name for the rear peak. Both this part and the front plate are often +covered with metal. The great jousting saddles have been noticed in the +preceding chapter. The reins are protected from being cut by hinged +plates, as shown on Plate X.[31] + +These pieces constitute the armour of the horse as usually found in +museums and in painting and sculpture. There is, however, in the Zeughaus +in Vienna a curious portrait of Harnischmeister Albrecht, dated 1480. The +horse on which he rides is armed completely with plate except for an +aperture in the flanchards for using the spur. The legs are covered with +hinged and bolted defences very similar to those of the armour for men. It +might be supposed that this was but a fantastic idea of the painter, if +Viscount Dillon had not discovered a Cuissard, or thigh-piece, which much +resembles those shown on the picture, in the Musée de la Porte de Hal, +Brussels. In the days of the Decadence, when the craft of the armourer was +to a great extent overwhelmed by the riotous fancy of the decorator, the +horse shared with his rider in this display. The armour shown on Plate X, +known as the Burgundian armour from the badges of the Emperor Maximilian +which adorn it, does not offend in this respect, because the embossing +serves to give rigidity to the metal without interfering with its +defensive qualities. The same may be said of the barding shown on the +Frontispiece, but on Plate IV the loss of dignity in line, and the +embossed hemisphere--which, for its purpose, should be smooth--show the +beginning of the decay in constructional skill. The highly ornamented +pageant armour made for the Elector Christian II, now in the Dresden +Museum, though extraordinarily perfect in workmanship, should be classed +rather as the work of goldsmith or sculptor than as that of the armourer. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE DECADENCE OF ARMOUR + + +[Illustration: FIG. 41. Grotesque helmet, sixteenth century. Nuremberg.] + +In the practice of any of the crafts, or applied arts as they are now +called, the surest and most manifest signs of decadence are to be found in +two aspects of that craft. The first of these is that which refers to the +material used. With regard to armour this consideration is faithfully +adhered to in most examples of the armourer's work up to the end of the +fifteenth century; but by the beginning of the sixteenth century we find +the craftsman becoming wearied of his technical perfection and the +simplicity and constructional dignity which invariably accompanies such +perfection. His efforts are now directed to fashioning his metal into such +forms as in no way suggest his material, but only show a certain +meretricious skill in workmanship. Fig. 41 shows a very favourite form of +this artistic incoherence. The defensive properties of the helmet are in +no way increased, but rather are annulled by presenting hollows and +projections where before a smooth surface existed. It is superfluous to +point out the grotesque and bizarre effect of this human face in +metal.[32] Another instance of this wilful disregard of material is to be +noticed in those suits which imitate the puffed and slashed dress in +fashion for civilian wear during the sixteenth century. Many of these +suits exist in English and European armouries, which proves that they were +popular, but to the true craftsman there is something degrading in the +efforts of the expert ironworker, expending his energies, not to produce a +finely constructed piece of work, but rather to imitate the seams and +pipings of the work of a tailor or dressmaker; and, however much we may +admire his technical skill, we must, perforce, place his artistic +aspirations side by side with the 'grainer and marbler' who was so +conspicuous a factor in domestic decoration in the middle of the +nineteenth century. Fig. 42 shows this decadence carried to its furthest +pitch. By the middle of the sixteenth century the Renaissance, which had +been, in the first instance, the birth of all that is best in European art +and craftsmanship, became a baneful influence. The expert painter, having +mastered the intricacies of his art, turned them into extravagant channels +and exaggerated action; foreshortened figures and optical illusions took +the place of the dignified compositions of the earlier period. Nor could +the crafts escape this deadly poison. To the credit of the craftsmen we +may hope that the luxurious indulgence and ostentatious display of the +princely patron was the cause of decadence in the crafts, rather than the +inclination of the workers themselves. Still the fact remains that, as +soon as the plain and constructionally sound work began to be overspread +with ornament, architecture, metal-work, wood-carving, and all the allied +arts began to be debased from their former high position. With the +decoration of armour its practical utility began to decline. It must be +admitted, however, that one reason for the decoration was that armour +was, by degrees, less and less used for war and only retained for pageant, +joust, and parade in which personal display and magnificence were +demanded. + +[Illustration: FIG. 42. Puffed suit, sixteenth century. Vienna.[33]] + +[Illustration: FIG. 43. Casque after Negroli, sixteenth century. Paris.] + +The engraved and inlaid suits of the late sixteenth and seventeenth +centuries, although they offend the craftsman's eye as does the decorated +bicycle of the Oriental potentate to-day, do not transgress that important +law, on which so much stress has been laid, of offering a glancing surface +to the opposing weapon. It is when we come to the embossed suits with +their hollows and projections that we find the true character of armour +lost and the metal used only as a material for exhibiting the dexterity of +the workman without any consideration for its use or construction. This +interference with the glancing surface is noticeable in the suit +illustrated in Fig. 42, but even here there is some excuse, in that the +designer had reason for his embossing of the metal--if the imitation of +the puffed suit was to be carefully portrayed. The same, however, cannot +be urged for those suits which are simply covered with ornament with no +purpose, little meaning, and less composition or design. If we set aside +our opinions as to the suitability of the ornament, we are compelled to +admire the wonderful technical skill which produced such pieces as the +suit made for King Sebastian of Portugal by Anton Pfeffenhauser of +Augsburg, and now in the Madrid Armoury. Here every deity of Olympus, the +allegorical figures of Justice, Strength, and the Cardinal Virtues, crowd +together with Navigation, Peace, and Victory; Roman warriors fighting with +elephants are found among Amorini, Satyrs, and Tritons; while every inch +of the metal not devoted to this encyclopaedia of history and legend is +crowded with foliage and scroll-work of that debased and unnatural form +which has become the branding mark of this period of the Renaissance. + +[Illustration: FIG. 44. Pageant shield, sixteenth century. Vienna.] + +It will be sufficient to give one example of this prostitution of art and +craftsmanship. This helmet after Negroli (Fig. 43), and a similar example, +signed by Negroli, at Madrid, show how the canons of the armourer's craft +were ignored at this period. It is true that the casque still provides a +metal covering for the head, and that the comb gives an additional +protection to the skull, but when we examine the embossed figures at the +side--and marvellously good the embossing is--we find lodgements for the +sword or spear which would most certainly help to detach the helmet from +its wearer. As to the comb, it may fairly be cited as an example of all +that is artistically worst in the late Renaissance. Its technical merits +only emphasize this. The warrior is laid on his back to suit the required +shape of the helmet, and to give point to his position his hair is held +by two figures whose attributes seem to suggest that intercrossing of +birds, beasts, and fishes which delighted the decadent mind of the period. +The figures are human to the waist and end in a dolphin's tail. Angels' +wings spring from their shoulders and leopards' claws from the junction of +tail and waist. Not content with this outrage to the dignity of art, the +craftsman ends his warrior in an architectural base which has not even the +slight merit of probability which the tail of the merman might offer. In +short it is an example of technical skill at its highest, and artistic +perception at its lowest point. The shield from the Vienna collection +(Fig. 44) is another example, like King Sebastian's suit, of meaningless +decoration. The strap work does not in any way follow the lines of the +shield, and the female figures seem to be introduced only to show that the +craftsman could portray the human form in steel as easily as he could the +more conventional ornament. + +As the armourer, weary of constructional skill, turned to ornament as a +means of showing to what further extent his powers could expand, so, with +this change in his point of view, his constructional skill itself +declined. The headpiece, which in the golden age of the armourer was +forged in as few pieces as possible, is in the late seventeenth century +made of many pieces, as the art of skilful forging declines. The ingenious +articulations of the soleret are changed, and the foot is cased in plates +which, overlapping only in one direction, preclude the easy movement of +the wearer. The fine lines of leg and arm defences, which in the fifteenth +and sixteenth century follow the shape of the limbs, give place to +straight tubular plates which can only be likened to the modern +stove-pipe. The grace and symmetry of the Gothic suit shown on Plate VIII, +especially the leg armour, exemplify this merit of the best period of +armour, while the suit made for Louis XIV, and the gilt suit of Charles I +in the Tower, offend in the opposite direction. Another sure indication of +the decadence of the craftsman is to be found in the imitation of +constructional detail with no practical purpose. Examples of this may be +seen in late seventeenth-century armour, where a single plate is embossed +to represent several overlapping plates or lames, and also in the +plentiful use of '_clous perdus_' or false rivets which are scattered +broadcast on some suits in places where no rivets are needed. + +To turn from the degradation of the simplicity and constructional +perfection of armour to the reasons which led to its gradual disuse, we +find that, after the Gothic period, armour became heavier, partly because +of the shock tactics in vogue on active service and partly because, in the +case of jousting armour, strength and great weight were needed to protect +the wearer from vital injury, and partly because the improvement of +firearms necessitated extra defence. The temper of the metal used was such +that it would resist a pistol shot, as we have noticed in Chapter III; and +on examining the surface of the metal we find, as in the Pembridge helm, +that it is of so fine a texture that a modern knife will not leave a +scratch when testing it. Therefore we must regard the weight of armour as +one of the chief reasons for its disuse. Again, military tactics +necessitated forced marches and longer expeditions than before; or at any +rate it was discovered that when engaging in long expeditions the troops +were chafed and hindered by their armour. It is somewhat curious to note +that as the leg was the first part of the body to be armed with plate, so +the leg armour was the first to be discarded. The jambs were the first +pieces to go, and were replaced, in the case of the mounted man, by thick +buff leather boots. The tassets were prolonged to the knee or--to describe +this portion of the armour in a different way--the cuisses themselves were +formed of riveted lames and the tassets discarded. + +The helmet at the latter end of the seventeenth century is generally open +and of the burgonet type. The breastplate is usually short and projects +downwards at the lower portion after the fashion of the 'peascod' doublet +of civilian wear. As early as 1586, at the siege of Zutphen, we find +officers discarding their armour and keeping only the cuirass. From the +Hatfield MSS. we learn that a penny a day was allowed to each soldier in +1590, over and above his pay, for the wearing and carriage of his armour, +because it had become the custom for the troops to give their +accoutrements to the baggage-carriers when on the march: 'a matter both +unseemly for soldiers and also very hurtful unto the armour by bruising +and breaking thereof, whereby it becometh unserviceable.' In Cruso's +_Militarie Instructions for the Cavallrie_ (1632), we find that the +arquebusiers had wholly left off their armour in favour of buff coats. +Turner's _Pallas Armata_ (1670) mentions the armour of officers as 'a +headpiece, a corslet and a gorget, the captain having a plume of feathers +in his helmet, the lieutenant not'. Further on we read, 'now the feathers +you may peradventure find, but the headpiece for the most part is laid +aside.' Fig. 45 shows that half armour was still worn during the +Commonwealth, but by the Restoration very little was retained except for +ceremonial use. As far as can be gleaned from contemporary letters and +histories, Charles I never wore either the somewhat cumbrous gilt suit +which is shown at the Tower or the more graceful half suit of blued steel +in which Vandyke represented him in his equestrian portrait. All the metal +defence we can be sure he actually wore is a steel broad-brimmed hat +covered with velvet. The headpiece used by the cavalry during the Civil +War is of the same type as No. 11 on Plate IV, a variety of the burgonet +with a movable nasal. The breastplate continued to be worn during the wars +of Marlborough, but that, too, was discarded when the efficacy of the +musket proved its uselessness. The last survival of plate armour is to be +found in the gorget. This became smaller as the uniform was changed, and +in the end was simply a small crescent of brass hung at the neck. It was +worn by infantry officers up to the year 1830, at which date it was given +up in England. + +[Illustration: FIG. 45. Cromwellian pikeman. Tower.] + +The last official use of full plate armour was at the Coronation of George +IV, when the King's Champion, Dymoke, entered Westminster Hall and threw +down the gauntlet to challenge those who disputed the King's right to the +crown. The suit worn on this occasion belonged originally to Sir +Christopher Hatton, Captain of the Guard to Queen Elizabeth, and was made +by Jacobe,[34] whose designs for armour have been referred to in Chapter +III. The suit is now in the Guard Room at Windsor. The Guardia Nobile of +the Pope still wear the picturesque half armour of the sixteenth century. +The cuirass and helmet of the Household Cavalry of the present day are not +survivals, for they were introduced at the time of the Coronation of +George IV. + +The study of defensive armour and weapons must of necessity need much +careful comparison of examples and investigation of documentary evidence, +but, even when undertaken only superficially, it will add greatly to the +interest of modern history and of the arts of war. Costume can only be +studied from pictorial and sculptured records, but in the case of armour +we have, after a certain period, actual examples not only of historical +but also of personal interest. With modern methods of arrangement and with +the expert care of those most learned in this subject these examples will +be an ever-present record which may be examined with more interest than +might be bestowed upon many branches of the applied arts; because, in +addition to the interest centred in the personality of the wearers, we +have the sure signs of the master-craftsman which are always evident in +good craftsmanship, and, not infrequently, the sign-manual of the worker +himself. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +WEAPONS + + +The Sword. At the time of the Conquest the sword was straight, broad in +blade, two-edged and pointed. The Quillons were straight and the grip +ended in a Pommel which, as far as we can judge from illustrated records, +was square, round, lozenge-shaped or trefoiled (Fig. 46). There is not +much change in the general lines of the sword during the twelfth century +except in the form of the pommel. + +[Illustration: FIG. 46. Sword-hilts.] + +In the thirteenth century the point, instead of starting abruptly at the +extreme end of the blade, is of a more gradual form, showing that the use +of the sword for thrusting was more general than in the previous +centuries. The Grip seems to be very short for the proper balance of the +weapon, if we may judge from those shown on Plate III, 1, 2, 3. + +[Illustration: FIG. 47. A, Pommel; B, Grip; C, Knuckle-bow; D, D, +Quillons; E, Counter-guard; F, Pas d'âne; G, Ricasso; H, Blade.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 48. Schiavona.] + +The quillons curve upwards towards the point and the pommel is frequently +decorated with the badge or arms of the owner. The symbol of the Cross is +frequently found on the sword-pommel. At this period the handle and +scabbard are frequently enriched with ornamental metal-work set with gems, +as we find on the monument of King John in Worcester Cathedral. The +cruciform shape of the sword-hilt continues through the fourteenth century +without much radical change in its construction, but in the fifteenth +century we find the 'Pas d'âne', which is formed of two rings curving +above the quillons on each side of the Ricasso, or squared part of the +blade above the hilt (Fig. 47). It is usual to describe the sword as it is +held for use in hand; that is with the point as the highest part and the +pommel as the lowest. After the fifteenth century sword-play began to be +studied as a science, and we find that, besides being used for offensive +purposes, the sword-hilt was so designed as to be a defence in itself. +From this we get all the guards and counterguards, which are so varied and +intricate that it would require more space than is at our disposal to +treat of them with any degree of completeness. + +[Illustration: FIG. 49. Two-hand sword.] + +The type of sword that was thus developed by practice in its use was +purely for thrusting purposes. The sword for cutting alone is generally +simpler in form. The Cutilax, Falchion, Dussack, and Cutlas are all +weapons of this order and generally have a simple hilt. The modern +Claymore is really an adaptation of the Italian Schiavona (Fig. 48), and +is in no way derived from the Claymore proper, the Two-hand sword of the +Middle Ages. This great weapon, often as much as 6 feet in length from +point to pommel, was used by foot-soldiers, and special military +arrangements were made for the space given to its users, who required a +good sweeping distance between each man (Fig. 49). The Hand-and-half sword +is a variety of cross-hilted sword, in which the grip is sufficiently long +for two or three fingers of the left hand to be used to assist the right +hand in delivering a swinging cut. + +The early Dagger is of much the same form as the sword; it was worn on the +right side with the sword on the left. One variety of the dagger was +called the Miséricorde. It was finely pointed and, as its name grimly +implies, was intended to penetrate the joints of the armour to give the +_coup de grâce_ to the fallen knight. The Main-gauche is also of the +dagger order, but has a broad knuckle-guard and long straight quillons. It +was used in conjunction with the rapier in duels with the point upwards, +more as a means of warding off the sword-thrust than for actual stabbing. +The Anelace and Cinquedea are broad-bladed short weapons used for stabbing +only. The Baselard was the short sword carried by civilians in the +fifteenth century. + +Of staff weapons the principal is, of course, the Lance. At the time of +the Conquest and up to the fourteenth century the shaft of the lance was +of even thickness with lozenge- or leaf-shaped point. During the +fourteenth century we find the shaft swelling just above the grip and then +tapering below it. Plate XI, 14, shows the lance provided with a vamplate +or shield, which protected the hand and made the right gauntlet +unnecessary. Tilting lances are sometimes as much as 15 feet in length, +and one specimen in the Tower weighs 20 lb. An engraving by Lucas Cranach +(1472-1553), which depicts a tourney or mêlée of knights, shows the +combatants preceded by squires on horseback who support these weighty +lances till the moment of impact, when, it is presumed, they moved aside +out of danger. The lance-point was sharp for active service, but for +tournaments it was supposed to be blunted. This practice, however, was so +often neglected that ordinances were framed enjoining the use of the +Coronal or trefoiled button, which is shown on Plate XI, 15. + +The other long-shafted staff weapons may be divided into those for +stabbing and those for cutting. The Gisarme is a long-handled weapon which +some writers consider to have been much the same as the Pole-axe. From +Wace we learn that it was sharp, long, and broad.[35] It was in all +probability a primitive form of the Bill. This was also a broad-bladed +weapon and was used only by foot-soldiers. It seems to have been evolved +from the agricultural scythe. The Godendag was the name given by the +Flemings to the Halbard. It had an axe-blade with curved or straight +spikes at the back and a long point to terminate the shaft. In this detail +it differed from the pole-axe. The halbard proper was used as early as the +thirteenth century and appears in the designs from the Painted Chamber at +Westminster figured by Stothard.[36] From the seventeenth century onwards +it was used only for ceremonial purposes and was richly decorated. It was +carried on parade by infantry drum-majors in England as late as 1875. It +was much favoured by the Swiss, who armed the front rank of the footmen +with this weapon. Those used for parade purposes are elaborately engraved +on the blades, while the shafts are often covered with velvet and studded +with gilded nails. These ornate weapons are used still by the +Gentlemen-at-Arms on State occasions. The Voulge is a primitive weapon +evolved from an agricultural implement of the same class as the hedging +bill in use at the present day. The Lochaber axe is of much the same form; +its distinguishing feature being the hook at the top of the shaft, which +was used in scaling walls. The Glaive is also a broad-bladed weapon, but +where the bill and gisarme are more or less straight towards the edge, the +glaive curves backwards. It is often to be found richly engraved for show +purposes. In French writings the word glaive is sometimes loosely used for +lance or sword. + +The stabbing or thrusting long-shafted weapons include the Lance, Spear, +and Javelin. After these the most important is the Pike. This is very +similar to the spear, but was used exclusively by foot-soldiers. In the +seventeenth century it was carried by infantry interspersed among the +arquebusiers. There are several works on pike-drill and treatises on its +management. Lord Orrery, in his _Art of War_, comments on the differences +in length and recommends that all should be 16-1/2 feet long. The shaft +was made of seasoned ash and the head was fastened with two cheeks of +iron, often 4 feet long, which ran down the shaft to prevent the head +being cut off by cavalry. At the butt-end was a spike for sticking into +the ground when resisting cavalry. In a treatise entitled _The Art of +Training_ (1662) directions are given that the 'grip' of the shaft should +be covered with velvet to afford a sure hold for the hand. This grip was +called the Armin. There are also suggestions that a tassel should be fixed +midway to prevent the rain running down the shaft and so causing the hand +to slip. When we consider that the pikeman had to keep the cavalry at +bay while the arquebusier was reloading--a lengthy process--we can +understand the importance of these regulations. The pike was carried by +the colour-sergeants in the British Army at the beginning of the +nineteenth century, and was last used in the French Army in 1789. The +Spontoon is a species of half-pike, which was carried by the +colour-sergeants in the British Army up to the end of the eighteenth +century, if not longer. The Spetum and the Ranseur are often confused. The +names are usually given to those weapons which have sharp lateral +projections fixed at a more or less acute angle to the point. They could +not be used for cutting, but used for thrusting they inflicted terrible +wounds. The Partizan is somewhat of the same order, but is known best in +museums in its decorated form as used in ceremonial parades. These +show-weapons were used by the Judge's guard in Oxford up to 1875, and are +still carried by the Yeomen of the Guard on State occasions. + +[Illustration: PLATE XI + +1. Voulge 2. Halbard 3. Glaive 4. Ranseur or Spetum 5. Partizan 6. +Spontoon 7. Gisarme 8. Pike 9. Mace 10. Lochaber axe 11. Pole axe 12. Holy +Water sprinkler 13. Bill 14. Lance and Vamplate 15. Lance points for war +and joust, Madrid 16. Sections of Lance shafts, Tower] + +[Illustration: FIG. 50. Morning Star.] + +The Bayonet, although introduced in France in 1647, is so essentially a +part of the firearm that we need do no more than mention it among the +thrusting weapons. The scope of this work will not allow of any notice of +firearms; that subject, owing to modern developments, is too wide to be +treated in a few sentences. + +Of short-handled weapons the Club or Mace is to be found on the Bayeux +Tapestry, and is generally quatrefoil or heart-shaped at the head. The +mace was the weapon of militant ecclesiastics, who thus escaped the +denunciation against 'those who fight with the sword'. It is generally +supposed that the Gibet was of the same order. Wace, in the _Roman de Rou_ +(line 13459), writes:-- + + Et il le gibet seisi + Ki a sun destre bras pendi. + +The mace was usually carried slung by a loop to the saddle-bow or on the +right wrist, so that, when sword or lance were lost, it could be used at +once. A less ornamental weapon is the Holy-water Sprinkler. This is formed +of a ball of iron studded with sharp projecting spikes, and fixed upon a +long or short handle. The Morning Star is akin to the Military Flail, a +weapon derived from the agricultural implement of that name. It is much +the same as the Holy-water Sprinkler, except that the spiked ball is not +socketed on the handle but hangs from a chain (Fig. 50). The names of +these two weapons are often transposed, but we propose to adhere to the +nomenclature used in the Tower Armouries as being more likely to be +correct. The War-hammer and Battle-axe need but little description. They +were generally used by horsemen, and their general form only varies in +detail from implements in use at the present day. The Pole-axe was a +weapon in great request for jousting on foot, in the 'champ clos'. The +blade is much like the halbard, but at the back is a hammer-shaped +projection with a roughened surface. + +The Longbow may be said to have gained the battles of Senlac, Crecy, and +Agincourt, and so ranks as one of the most important of English weapons. +It was from 5-1/2 to 6 feet in length and was made of yew, or, when this +wood was scarce, of witch hazel. It is a popular tradition in the country +that the yew-trees which were so important for the manufacture of this +weapon were grown in churchyards because they were poisonous to cattle, +and the churchyards were the only fenced-in spaces. There is, however, no +documentary evidence to support this. The string was of hemp or silk. The +archer carried twenty-four 'clothyard' shafts in his belt and wore a +wrist-guard called a Bracer to protect his wrist from the recoil of the +string. These bracers were of ivory or leather and were often decorated. +The arrows were tipped with the goose-quill, but Roger Ascham, in his +_Toxophilus_, writes that peacock arrows were used 'for gayness'. So +notable were the English bow-makers for their productions that in 1363 we +find the Pope sending to this country for bows. + +The Crossbow or Arbalest is first heard of in the twelfth century, and at +this date was considered so 'unfair' a weapon that the Popes forbade its +use. Innocent II in 1139 fulminated against this barbarous weapon, but +allowed of its use by Christians against Infidels. By the end of the +thirteenth century, however, it was in general use. At first the crossbow +was strung by hand; but when it was made more powerful, mechanical means +had to be resorted to to bend the bow, which was often of steel. There are +two varieties of war crossbows: that strung with the 'goat's-foot' lever, +which is shown on Fig. 51, and a heavier kind called the arbalest '_à +tour_', which was strung with a cog-wheel and ratchet arrangement called +the Moulinet or windlass (Fig. 52). The arbalest '_à cric_' is a larger +form of this variety. The archer using these heavy weapons was entrenched +behind a Pavis or shield fixed in the ground as shown on Fig. 37. The +Quarel or bolt used for the crossbow is shorter and thicker than that used +for the longbow. + +[Illustration: FIG. 51. Crossbow and goat's-foot lever.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 52. Crossbow and windlass.] + +Of the other projectile-hurling weapons, such as the Fustibal or Sling, +the different forms of Catapult used in siege operations, and the +innumerable varieties of firearm, we have no space to write. The former, +being mostly fashioned of wood and cordage, are seldom to be met with in +museums, and we can only judge of their design and use from illuminated +miniatures and paintings. The firearm, being, as it is, subject to further +development, cannot be taken into full consideration in this work except +so far as it affected the defensive armour and in time ousted the +staff-weapon. + +With this bare enumeration of the principal weapons in use from the +twelfth to the eighteenth century we draw our all too meagre notes to a +conclusion. The subject is so vast, because each example is distinct in +itself and because no general rule holds absolutely good for all, that +many volumes might be produced with advantage on each epoch of the +defences and weapons of Europe. No better advice to the would-be student +can be given than that of Baron de Cosson in the Introduction to the +Catalogue of Helmets and Mail (_Arch. Journ._, vol. xxxvii). He writes: +'For the study of ancient armour to be successfully pursued it is of +primary importance that a careful examination be made of every existing +specimen within our reach.... Every rivet-hole and rivet in a piece must +be studied and its use and object thought out. The reasons for the varied +forms, thicknesses, and structure of the different parts must have special +attention.... This alone will enable us to derive full profit from our +researches into ancient authors and our examination of ancient monuments. +This preliminary study will alone enable us to form a sound opinion on two +important points. First, the authority to be accorded to any given +representation of armour in ancient art ... whether it was copied from +real armour or whether it was the outcome of the artist's imagination; and +also whether a piece of existing armour is genuine or false, and whether +or no it is in its primitive condition.' + +To this may be added that in studying armour at its best epoch, that is +during the fifteenth century, we find the dignity of true craftsmanship +proclaimed, and utility and grace attained without the addition of that +so-called decoration which with the advent of the Renaissance was the bane +of all the crafts. + + + + +INDEX + + + A + + Aiguillettes, 38, 41. + + Ailettes, 35, 36. + + Aketon, 23. + + Albrecht, Harnischmeister, horse-armour of, 91. + + Almain rivets, 59; + suits of, 63. + + Anelace, 103. + + Angellucci, on horse armour, 90. + + Arbalest, _à cric_, 108; + _à tour_, ib. + + Arciones, 90. + + Armet, earliest use in England, 83; + parts of, 60, 82. + + Armin, 104. + + Arming-doublet, 61. + + Arming-points, 38. + + Armour: allowance for wear and tear, 98; + convenience in use of, 55; + details of construction of, 56; + engraved, 40; + essential points in its manufacture, 48; + fastenings of, 56; + for tournaments reinforced on left side, 55; + heavier on left side, 76; + inconvenience of, 63, 81; + last official use of, 98; making of, 65; + method of putting on, 62; + puffed, 92; + reason for increased weight, 97; + testing of, 52; + wearing of, 61. + + Armourers, names of, 66; + workshop, 65. + + Ascham, Roger, _Toxophilus_, 107. + + Ashmolean Museum, pavis at, 84. + + _Astley, Life of Sir J._, 62. + + August, Herzog, armour of, 30. + + Auray, Battle of, 81. + + Austin, Will., 69. + + + B + + Bainbergs or beinbergs, 36. + + Balthasin, Galliot de, 64. + + Bamberg, wooden figures at, 23. + + Banded mail, 20. + + Barding, 89. + + Barrel helm, 25, 26. + + Bascinet, 39; + of Henry VIII, proof marks on, 55; + 'pig-faced,' 42; + precursor of salade, 82. + + Baselard, 103. + + Bases, 77; + of steel, 75. + + Battle-axe, 107. + + Bayeux Tapestry, 19, 23, 24, 26, 87, 106. + + Bayonet, 106. + + Beauchamp effigy, 69; + pageants, 66. + + Beavor, 82; + derivation of, 64. + + Berardi, Gulielmus, monument of at Florence, 36. + + Berlin Zeughaus, 34. + + Besague, 39, 68. + + Bill, 103. + + Black Prince, effigy of, 39; + gauntlets of, 33; + helm of, 41; + jupon of, 40; + shield of, 46. + + Blore, _Monumental Remains_, 69. + + Boeheim, Wendelin, _Waffenkunde_, 21, 65. + + Bossoirs, 90. + + Bracer, 107. + + Brayette, 62, 93 (_note_). + + Breast- and back-pieces, fastenings of, 59; + discarded, 98. + + Breech of mail, 62. + + Bregander nayles, 33. + + Brescia, Battle of, on Visconti monument at Pavia, 90. + + Brigandine, 16, 30, 66. + + Brussels, horse cuissard at, 91. + + Buffe, 83. + + Burgkmair, Hans, _Weisskunig_, 65, 70. + + Burgonet, 83, 97. + + Burgundian horse armour in Tower, 91. + + Burgundy, enriched salade of Duke of, 82. + + + C + + Cabasset, 83. + + Calverley, Sir H., at Battle of Auray, 81; + monument of, 40. + + Camail, 38, 41. + + Cantle, 90. + + Cap worn under helm, 27. + + Carnet, 42. + + Cervellière, 28. + + Chain-mail harmed by rain, 25. + + Chamfron, 89. + + Chapel-de-fer, 82. + + Charlemagne, armour of, 15. + + Charles I, armour of, 96, 98. + + Chartier, Jean, describes horse trappings, 87. + + Chaucer, 33, 34, 36, 61. + + Chausses, 24. + + Chaussons, 24. + + Christ Church, Oxford, window at, 29. + + Christian II, enriched armour of Elector, at Dresden, 91. + + _Chroniques de Charlemaine_, 36. + + Cinquedea, 103. + + Clavones, 89. + + Claymore, 102. + + 'Cloth-yard' arrow, 107. + + 'Clous perdus,' 97. + + Coat of defence, 34. + + Coif of mail, 27. + + Coronal, 103. + + Coronation of George IV, 98, 99. + + Corrugated iron similar to Maximilian armour, 74. + + Cosson, Baron de, 64, 66, 70, 82; + advice to students of armour, 109; + disputes Meyrick's theory of burgonet, 83. + + Coucy, Mathieu de, 68. + + Coude, 36, 50. + + Covers to helmets, 42. + + Cranach, Lucas, tilting lances drawn by, 103. + + Croissants, 68. + + Crossbow, used for proving armour, 47; + varieties of, 108. + + Crossbows forbidden by the Popes, 107. + + Crupper or croupière, 90. + + Crusades, 25. + + Cruso on the discarding of armour, 98. + + Cuirass of leather, 15. + + Cuirbouilli, 34; + crest of, 41; + helms of, 27; + horse armour of, 89; + leg armour of, 36; + poleynes of, 35; + shields of, 46. + + Cuissard, 50; + for horse, 91. + + Cuisses, 39, 50; + laminated, 58, 81; + taken off in battle, 81; + for tilting, 77. + + Cutilax, 102. + + Cutlas, 102. + + Cyclas, 38. + + + D + + Dagger, 102. + + Davies, Edward, 81. + + 'Defaut de la cuirasse,' 68. + + Destrier, 87. + + Dilge, 77. + + Dillon, Viscount, 39, 50, 52, 55, 61, 66, 91. + + Dussack, 102. + + Dymoke, 99. + + + E + + Edward I, wardrobe account of, 34, 89. + + Eisenhut, 28. + + Elbow-cop, 50. + + Enarmes, 29. + + Eresby, d', brass of, 68. + + + F + + Falchion, 102. + + Fauchet, reference to burgonet, 83. + + Fitz Urse, shield of, 29. + + Flanchards, 90. + + Fontaine, Etienne de, helmet of, 45. + + Froissart, 13, 33, 42. + + Frontale, as distinct from chamfron, 90. + + Fustian worn under armour, 61. + + Fustibal, 108. + + + G + + Gadlings, 39. + + Gambeson, 23, 30, 33. + + Gardequeue, 90. + + Garde-rein, 62. + + Garrard, _Art of Warre_, 63. + + Gauntlet, 50; + of Black Prince, 33; + construction of, 58. + + Genouillière, 50. + + Gibet, 106. + + Gisarme, 103. + + Glaive, 104. + + Glancing-knobs, 90. + + Glancing surface, 48; + on helm, 27. + + Godendag, 103. + + Gorget, 60; + survival of, 98. + + Gorleston brass, 36. + + Gothic armour, 69; + horse armour in Wallace Collection, 90; + symmetry of, 96. + + Gouchets, 68. + + Grand-guard, 76. + + Grip of lance, 59; + sword, 101. + + Guardia Nobile of the Pope, 99. + + Guige, 29. + + Guns first used, 47. + + + H + + Haines, Rev. H., _Monumental Brasses_, 68. + + Halbard, 103. + + Hall, _Chronicles_, 61. + + Hand-and-half sword, 102. + + Hatfield MS. as to wear and tear of armour, 98. + + Hatton, suit of Sir C., 99. + + Haubergeon, 24. + + Hauberk, 19; + sleeves of, 23; + worn under plate, 38. + + Hawkins, Sir R., _Observations_, 78. + + Helm, great, or Heaume, 25, 41; + Barendyne, at Haseley, 75, 81; + Brocas, at Woolwich, 60, 81; + caps worn under, 27, 61; + chained to body, 27; + construction of jousting, 50-5; + Dawtray, at Petworth, 81; + decorated, 27; + Fogge, at Ashford, 81; + method of fixing, 60; + Pembridge, 41; + 'sugar-loaf,' 27; + at Sutton Courtenay, 50, 81; + Wallace Collection, 81; + Westminster, 81. + + Helmet, covers for, 42; + grotesque, 92; + jewelled, 45; + Norman, 25; + tied with laces, 26; + tinned to prevent rust, 45. + + Henry V, 64. + + Henry VIII and Maximilian, helmets worn at the meeting of, 83; + suit for fighting on foot, 60; + suit made by Seusenhofer, 76. + + Heraldic devices on shields, 29. + + Hewitt, John, 14, 23, 68; + ivory chessman illustrated by, 89. + + Holy-water sprinkler, 106. + + Horse armour, complete suit of, 91. + + Horse trappings and church embroideries, 87; + first shown on English seals, 88. + + Hosting harness, 63. + + Household cavalry, 99. + + 'Hungere' iron, 52. + + + I + + Imbricate armouries, 16. + + Inventory of Humphrey de Bohun, 33, 42; + Sir Simon Burley, 34; + Dover Castle, 64; + Louis Hutin, 42, 46; + Piers Gaveston, 33, 35; + Tower Armouries, 52. + + + J + + Jack, 67. + + Jacobe, 65, 99. + + Jambeaux, 34. + + Jamboys, 77. + + Jambs, 36; + discarded, 81. + + Jazeran armour, 41. + + Joan of Arc, 22. + + John, King, 25. + + Jupon, 23; + of Black Prince, 40. + + + K + + Knee-cop, 50. + + + L + + Lalain, Jacques de, 82. + + Lambespring, Bartholomew, 69. + + Lamboys. _See_ Jamboys. + + Lambrequin, 45. + + Lames, 50. + + Lance, 103. + + Laton, or latten, used for armour, 33. + + Leather, used for armour, 34; + horse armour, 90; + morion at Berlin, 34. + + Lee, Sir Henry, tests armour, 52. + + Leg armour, of horse at Brussels, 91; + of plate, introduced and discarded, 97. + + Lewis, Isle of, ivory chessmen found at, 26. + + Lochaber axe, 104. + + Longbow, 107. + + Louis, King of Hungary, death by drowning of, 64. + + Louis XIV, armour of, 96; + proof marks on armour of, 55. + + + M + + Mace, 106. + + Madrid, 94. + + Mail, banded, 20; + chain, 19; + cleaning of, 64; + 'mascled,' 22; + method of making, 20. + + Main-guard, 52. + + Mainfaire, wrong use of, 76. + + Manifer or mainfere, 52, 76. + + Main-gauche, 102. + + Mantegna, St. George by, 70. + + Mantling, 45. + + Marche, Oliver de la, 64. + + Maximilian I, 65; + armour, 70; + horse armour of, in the Tower, 91. + + Mentonière, 82. + + Meyrick, Sir Samuel, 14, 16; + theory of banded mail, 20, 21; + theory of mascled mail, 22, 76; + theory of burgonet, 83. + + Miséricorde, 102. + + Missaglias, 66. + + Mohacz, Battle of, 64. + + Molineux, Sir W., brass of, 30. + + Monstrelet, 14. + + Morion, 83; + of leather at Berlin, 34. + + Morning Star, 107. + + Moroni, portrait by, 62. + + Moton, 39, 68. + + Moulinet, 108. + + Mühlberg, armour worn at the Battle of, 30. + + + N + + Nasal, 26. + + Negroli, helmet by, 95. + + Northwode brass, 36. + + Nuova Croce, Battle of, 88. + + Nuremberg, tilting suit at, 77. + + + O + + Ocularium, 26, 82. + + Odo, Bishop, 24. + + Orle, 45. + + Orrery, Lord, _Art of Warre_, 104. + + + P + + Painted Chamber, designs in the, 87, 103. + + Palette, 50. + + _Pallas Armata._ _See_ Turner. + + Panache, 83. + + Paris, Matthew, 88. + + Partizan, 106. + + Pas d'âne, 101. + + Passe-guard, 50, 52, 76. + + Pauldron, 50, 59, 73. + + Pavia, picture of Battle of, at Oxford, 90. + + Pavis or pavoise, 84, 108. + + Peascod doublet, 97. + + Pezoneras, 90. + + Pfeffenhauser, suit by, 94. + + Philip the Fair, ordinance of, 88. + + Pike, 104; + last use of, 106. + + Plastron-de-fer, 23, 34. + + Plates, pair of, 33. + + Pluvinel, de, _Maneige Royal_, 63. + + Poitrel or peytral, 90. + + Poldermitton, 76. + + Pole-axe, 103; + used in 'champs clos', 107. + + Poleynes, 34, 35, 36, 50. + + Pommel of sword, 100. + + Pourpointerie, 30; + for tourneys, 61. + + Puffed armour, 74. + + + Q + + Quarel, 108. + + Queue, 77. + + Quillons, 100, 101. + + + R + + Radcot Bridge, Battle of, 64. + + Ranseur, 106. + + Rein-guards of metal, 91. + + Renaissance, decadence of the armour of the, 95. + + René, King, 40, 61. + + Rerebrace, 36, 50; + construction of, 58. + + Ricasso, 101. + + Richard I, 22; + shield of, 29. + + Ringed armour, 19. + + Rivets, sliding, 56. + + _Roman de Rou._ _See_ Wace. + + Rondel, 39, 50. + + Rosbecque, Battle of, 33. + + Roussillon, Gerard de, 82. + + + S + + Sabatons or sabataynes, 62, 73. + + Saddle for jousting, in the Tower, 77. + + St. Gall, Monk of, 15, 28. + + St. George, statuette of, at Dijon, 41. + + Salade, evolved from bascinet, 82; + decorated and painted, 82. + + Scale armour, 16, 30. + + Schiavona, 102. + + Scott, poetic licence of Sir Walter, 64. + + Sebastian, parade suit of King, 94. + + Senlac, Battle of, 107. + + Setvans brass, 25. + + Seusenhofer, 65; + suit by, in the Tower, 75, 83. + + Shield, temp. Norman Conquest, 28; + fourteenth century, 45; + faced with gesso, 46; + of twigs, 46. + + Sigismund, armour of Count, 77. + + Smythe, Sir John, _Animadversions_, 62, 78. + + Solerets, 38, 50; + construction of, 56; + 'à la poulaine,' 70; + 'bear-paw,' 73; + 'bec de cane,' 73; + 'demi-poulaine,' 70. + + Spain, regulations as to monuments in, 40. + + Spetum, 106. + + Splinted armour, 33; + on Ash monument, 41. + + Spontoon, 106. + + Standard of mail, 68. + + Stothard, Charles, 69, 103. + + Surcoat, 23, 25. + + Surrey, Earl of, horse armour in Will of, 89. + + Swords, 100; + and dagger play, 101, 102. + + + T + + Taces, 50; + construction of, 56. + + Tassets, 69; + and cuisses combined, 97; + discarded, 81. + + Tonlet, 77. + + Topf, 65, 99. + + Tournament, of St. Inglevert, 14; + armour, 77; + helms, 27; + and swords, 33; + at Windsor Park, 27, 34, 35, 89; + crests used at, 89. + + Trapper, of mail, 87; + textile, 87. + + Trellice coat, 16. + + Trumpington brass, 28, 42. + + Tuilles, 56. + + Tunic, 22, 38. + + Turner, _Pallas Armata_, 98. + + Turning pins, 59. + + Two-hand sword, 102. + + + U + + Umbril, 83. + + Upper pourpoint, 38. + + + V + + Vambrace, 38, 50; + construction of, 58. + + Vamplate, 59, 76. + + Vegecius, 46. + + Ventail, 26. + + Vere, escape of Robert de, 64. + + Vervelles, 41. + + Vienna, painting of horse armour at, 91; + pageant shield at, 96. + + Vif de l'harnois, 39. + + Viollet-le-Duc, _Dictionnaire du Mobilier Français_, 21. + + Visière, 42. + + Visor, 26. + + Volant piece, 76. + + Voulge, 104. + + Vuyders, 62. + + + W + + Wace, _Roman de Rou_, 23, 24, 87, 103, 106. + + Waller, J. G., 19, 21. + + Wambais, 23. + + War-hammer, 107. + + War-hat, 28. + + Warwick, Earl of, 70. + + Whalebone, used for gauntlets and swords, 33. + + William the Conqueror, 24, 26. + + Windsor Park. _See_ Tournament. + + Wylcotes, Sir John, brass of, 68. + + + Z + + Zutphen, armour discarded at siege of, 97. + + +Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Press by HORACE HART, M.A. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Harl. MS. 4379, Brit. Mus. + +[2] vi. 333, trans. Johnes, 1810. + +[3] _Archaeologia_, xix. 128-30. + +[4] _Archaeologia_, lix. + +[5] _Ancient Armour_, ii. 138. + +[6] _Roman de Rou_, 1. 13254 et seq. + +[7] Protect. + +[8] _Archaeologia_, xvii. + +[9] _Arch. Journ._, ii. 349. + +[10] Vol. iii. p. 165. + +[11] _New Foedera_, ii. 203. + +[12] _Arch. Journ._, lx. 95-136. + +[13] _Arch. Journ._, lx. 95-136. + +[14] _Archaeologia_, xvii. + +[15] _Arch. Journ._, lxiv. 15-23. + +[16] Carderera, _Iconografia_. + +[17] The terms 'coude' and 'genouillière', 'palette', and such-like words +of French origin, are open to some objection in an English work when +'elbow-cop', 'knee-cop', or 'poleyne' and 'rondel' can be substituted. +They are only employed here because of their general use in armouries at +the present day, and because the English words are of rarer occurrence and +are less likely to be met with by those beginning the study of armour. +'Cuisse' and 'cuissard', however, are always used for the thigh-pieces, +and no anglicized term is found in contemporary writings unless it be +'Quysshews.' + +[18] _Arch. Journ._, lx. + +[19] _Archaeologia_, vol. lvii; _Arch. Journ._, vol. iv. + +[20] _Arch. Journ._, vol. lx. + +[21] Boeheim, _Meister der Waffenschmiedkunst_; De Cosson, _Arch. Journ._, +vol. xlviii. + +[22] _Arch. Journ._, lx. + +[23] G. Chastelain, p. 679. + +[24] _Arch. Journ._, xxxvii. + +[25] Oliver de la Marche, p. 288. + +[26] N.E. Dict, gives Armette, a diminutive of Arme. Armez is also found. + +[27] Paris, 1606, fol. 42. See Cat. of Helmets, _Arch. Journ._, xxxvii. + +[28] _Arch. Journ._, xxxvii. + +[29] The term _Bufe_ is sometimes wrongly used for the upright +shoulder-guards on the pauldron. + +[30] _Monumenta Vetusta_, vol. vi. + +[31] This is _not_ the 'garde-rein'. See p. 62. + +[32] That this fashion in helmets was a general one we may judge from the +fact that most armouries possess examples of these human-faced helmets. + +[33] This suit is shown with the brayette attached; which for obvious +reasons is exhibited in most armouries separate from the suit. + +[34] Considered to be the same as Topf. + +[35] + + '... granz gisarmes esmolues' (_Roman de Rou_, l. 12907). + + '... gisarmes lunges è lées' (ib., l. 13431). + +[36] _Monumenta Vetusta_, vol. vi. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41676 *** |