HELMS UP TO THE END OF THE TRANSITION PERIOD.
Helms with horns were worn by the Vikings, and in all probability
the headpiece with these appendages dredged up with a shield in
the Thames, and now deposited in the British Museum, is of early
Scandinavian origin. Horned helms were probably originally emblematic
of the goddess Hathor or Isis, and came to Northern Europe through the
Greeks. A helm with horns, about B.C. 3750, found at Susa, has been
already referred to in Part I. We have an example of an Etruscan helm
with horns, and Meyrick says that such were worn by the Phrygians,
though rarely. Diodorus Siculus refers to this form as used by the
Belgic Gauls. There are instances of helms with horns as late as the
fourteenth and even fifteenth centuries. One occurs on the tomb of
Diether von Hael, at Borfe, in the Tyrol, near Moran. This helm has
ears as well as horns. The warrior died 1368. Other examples, one on
the effigy of Burkhard von Steenberg (died 1379), in the Museum at
Hildesheim, and another on that of Gottfried von Furstenberg (died
1341), in the Church of Hasbach; and there is a grotesque helmet in the
Tower of London, presented to Henry VIII. by the Emperor Maximilian,
with ram’s horns; and such appendages were sometimes used on chanfreins
of the sixteenth century--there are examples at Madrid and Berlin. The
early Anglo-Saxons wore four-cornered helms with a fluted comb-like
crest.
The great variety in mediæval and renaissance headgear is somewhat
bewildering, but it may all be brought down to a few types with
certain salient characteristics, which, however, greatly interweave.
The knights of chivalry, or their armour-smiths, seem to have given
as great a rein to their fancy and imagination as the constructors
of feminine headgear of all time; still the change and application
of weapons of attack played the most important part in the constant
modifications of warlike headpieces, as of other defensive armour.
Both Normans and Anglo-Saxons used the word “helm”[12] (of Gothic or
Scandinavian derivation) in the eleventh century, as applied to the
conical steel cap with the nasal then in use. The equivalent in French
was “heaume.” The word “helmet” is of course the diminutive of “helm,”
and is specially applied to the close-fitting casques, first used in
the fifteenth century, of which more anon. The seal of Henry I. shows
that monarch as wearing a conical helm.
The form of helm of the Bayeux tapestry is a quadrilateral pyramid with
a narrow strip of iron extending over the nose; but this nasal is but
rarely met with after the twelfth century, although it occurs in every
century up to the seventeenth. The Norman helm was probably wholly of
iron, and sometimes had a neckpiece.
The great helm or heaume, without a movable visor, is of English
origin. It first appeared about the middle of the twelfth century, and
was worn over a hood of mail, which was then found inadequate to resist
either the lance or a heavy blow from a battle-axe or mace, or even a
stroke from the then greatly improved sword. The helm had the effect
of distributing the force of the blow, and to a certain extent parried
it. The second seal of Richard I. shows him in a great helm, which is
either flat-topped or conical, with the nasal, and is obviously derived
from the antique. The cylindrical or flat-topped variety came into
vogue towards the end of the twelfth century. There is an example of
the conical form in the Museum of Artillery at Paris, and one of the
nearly flat-topped variety, rising very slightly towards the centre, in
the Tower of London. The great helm is often represented as a pillow
for the head in effigies.
The next form, which is in great variety, the knight’s early tilting
helm, was used pre-eminently for jousting; the visored bassinet being
worn generally in battle. It was introduced to resist the heavy lance
charge. This form was hemispherical, conical, or cylindrical, with
an aventail to cover the face,[13] and ocularia or slits for vision,
and sometimes a guard for the back of the neck. Breathing holes
first appear early in the reign of Henry III. It formed a very heavy
single structure, sometimes with bands of iron in front constituting
a cross; and in the earlier forms the head bore the whole weight; but
later it was constructed to rest on the shoulders, and the crossbands
disappeared. It was fastened to the saddle-bow when not in use. The
movable aventail appears on the second seal of Henry III. An excellent
example may be seen on the male effigy in Whitworth Churchyard, which
is described in the _Proceedings of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Society
of Antiquaries_, vol. iv., p. 250. This monument shows two recumbent
figures--male and female. We are concerned with the male effigy, and
have the authority of Mr. Longstaffe that it represented a member of
the family of Humez of Brancepeth. The character of the armour would
indicate a date in the second quarter of the thirteenth century. The
helm is cylindrical and flat-topped. There are two other north-country
effigies of about the same date, one at Pittington, the helmet of which
is round-topped, and the other at Chester-le-Street (both in the county
of Durham). The round-topped helm appeared late in the thirteenth
century. A very early thirteenth century helm may be seen on an effigy
in Staunton Church, Nottingham, and a flat-topped cylindrical specimen
surmounts the figure on the curious water ewer shown in Plate XXII. of
_Archæologia Æliana_, vol. iv. (O.S.). There are instances of this form
as early as the last quarter of the twelfth century.
De Cosson gives drawings of several of these helms in his _resumé_
of the specimens exhibited in 1880 (for which see _Proceedings of
the Royal Archæological Institute_). That on the seal of Henry III.
has breathing holes, and that of Edward II. shows his helm to have
been cylindrical, with a grated aventail. Helms at this period were
sometimes made of brass. The helm formerly hanging over the tomb of Sir
Richard Pembridge, K.G., in the nave of Hereford Cathedral, and now in
the possession of Sir Noel Paton,[14] is a good example of the reign of
Edward III. This helm has been minutely described by De Cosson in his
catalogue of the helmets already referred to. The great jousting helm
of the fifteenth century will be described later. The bassinet, lined
with leather, basin-shaped as its name implies, was lighter and close
fitting; and in England usually provided with staples for a camail. It
was often used under a crested helm of large size, but, as mentioned
before, when the bassinet became visored it was worn heavier, and then
largely superseded the great helm. The bassinet was generally worn
in England in the fourteenth century and late in the preceding. This
helmet is more fully described later.
The chapel-de-fer is an iron helmet of the twelfth century, with or
without a broad brim. It was often holed for a camail, and was worn
sometimes under a hood of mail. The one without brim is often termed a
chapeline, and is, we take it, the small bassinet. Illustrations of two
great helms at the Zeughaus, Berlin, are given in Fig. 2.