DETAILS OF DEFENSIVE PLATE ARMOUR.
THE GREAT HELM.
The real great crested helm, so often seen pillowing the head in
effigies, dates from the last quarter of the thirteenth century, but it
was rarely used except in tournaments after the fourteenth. This helm
has been described in a previous section. It was replaced for fighting
purposes by the visored bassinet, the movable aventail being added
about the reign of Edward II. There is a perfect specimen of this helm
at Berlin; it was found near Bubad, in Pomerania. An illustration has
been given in Fig. 2.
The great jousting helm of the fifteenth century was made wide, very
strong, heavy, large, somewhat flat at the crown, and often in the
lighter tilting helm had an aperture on the side for speaking. It
was crested, and rested on the shoulders, being attached to the body
armour by screws front and rear, and was so large that the head of the
wearer did not touch it in any part; a cap was worn over the head. The
attachment to the cuirass was a new departure. The top is flatter, and
the ocularium, which is wider than in the older forms, can only be used
for sighting by lowering the head. The plates meet sharply in front,
producing a ridge, the higher end forming a beak-like projection. It
fell a good deal into disuse during the reign of Henry VIII. There are
two very fine tilting helms in the Rotunda collection, Woolwich, one of
which was formerly in the triforium of Westminster Abbey, and weighs
18 lb.; the other, which was acquired from the “Brocas” collection,
weighs 23 lb. A north-country example of the German “Stechhelm” (Fig.
12) is in the collection of W. D. Cruddas, Esq., M.P., of Haughton
Castle, Northumberland. The kolbenturnier helm is a variety specially
used for that course; the whole front is composed of transverse bars.
These helms were firmly screwed on to the breastplate and therefore
immovable, as may be seen on the tilting suit (Fig. 6).
[Illustration: Fig. 12.--Tilting Helm at Haughton Castle,
Northumberland.]
THE BASSINET.
This helmet, the German “beckenhaube,” was round or conical, with a
pointed apex. The large bassinet of the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries was very similar in all the countries of chivalry. It fitted
close to the head, and was covered by the great helm in tilting. An
example may be seen in Lincoln Cathedral. Before the visor appeared it
was often fitted with a detachable nasal. As soon as the helm became
visored, say in the first half of the fourteenth century (see an
example in Alvechurch, Worcester), it assumed a great variety of form,
and towards the end of the century often projected to a point like a
beak. Other forms were concave, convex, and angular. Most of these may
be seen in Stothard. There was also the small bassinet or cervelière,
sometimes called cerebrerium. It was often worn under the hood, with a
small quilted cap next the head. In the reign of Henry V. the bassinet
became more like the sallad. The effigy of the Black Prince shows
how the camail was attached to the bassinet by a silken lace through
staples. There are some fine examples of the visored bassinet in the
Johanneum at Dresden.
THE SALLAD.
Visored sallads, with a peak behind and slits for vision, appear in
the reign of Henry VI. The form is a low obtuse oval ridged in the
middle; it replaced the bassinet, but was never used as an under
helmet. It was generally associated with armour of the second half
of the fifteenth century, and used with the mentonnière, which, when
fixed, afforded excellent protection for the face and throat. The
distinguishing feature is the peaked collar behind, which rests between
the shoulders, and the helmet was occasionally, in the earlier forms,
provided with a hinged nose-guard. It was worn at an angle, so that the
ocularium came in the direct line of vision, and had often a movable
visor. It measured in extreme cases as much as nineteen inches from
back to front. An example of the time of the Roses hangs in St Mary’s
Hall, Coventry, and there is another in the Priory Church at Hexham.
The earliest representation of this form of helmet in England, that
the author knows of, may be seen at Castle Donnington, Leicestershire,
on a brass of Sir Robert Staunton, who died in 1458. This sort of helm
is in several varieties, and a simple form was in use among the rank
and file, especially by archers. There are several of these helmets in
the “Rhodes” collection at the Rotunda, Woolwich, and actual specimens
of typical Italian and German forms are to be found in most of in
the German collections of armour; there are examples in the Tower.
Illustrations of sallads are given in Fig. 13.
ARMET AND CLOSE HELMET.
This is the most perfect form of helmet and the most familiar, so much
so indeed as to render any description almost unnecessary. It may be
said to have been evolved from the sallad and mentonnière, in the
sense that the bavier took the place of the latter; but instead of
being slipped on over the head like the bassinet and sallad, it was
constructed to hinge over it, and strictly followed the outline of the
head and neck. Its form is globular, with a guard for the back of the
neck, and in front round the chin is the bevor or bavier. The space
between this piece and the rim of the crown-piece is filled in by a
movable visor, which is pierced with narrow openings for vision and
air. It thus consists of at least three pieces--the skull-piece, the
visor, and the bevor; the visor is usually in one piece. It is beaked,
and exhibits a series of ridges with air slits in the indentations.
The crown-piece is usually combed. During the second quarter of the
sixteenth century the visor was made in two plates, the upper closing
inside the lower--the upper plate could be lowered at pleasure,
without moving the one below. The Seusenhofer armet in the Tower is
a masterpiece of the kind, being composed of six pieces, working one
within the other. English armets date from the last decade of the
fifteenth century, perhaps a little later. They were to be met with in
Germany as early as the middle of that century. It is impossible to
make much distinction between the armet and close helmet, which latter
was the improved armet of the sixteenth century. A camail was sometimes
used with the earliest form of armet. Illustrations of this head-piece
may be seen on several of the suits given in this volume.
[Illustration: Fig. 13.--Sallads and an early Burgonet.]
BURGONET.
This is a helmet of the sixteenth century of Burgundian origin, as
its name implies, with a hollow rim at the bottom, which fitted over
the projecting edge of the gorget. It was made in close imitation of
the head, and in either three or four parts. This helmet was designed
to meet a defect in the armet, for there was a weak place, where
the casque came in contact with the body armour. This arrangement
permitted the head to move freely to the right or left without leaving
the neck unguarded. There is a handsome specimen of the first half of
the sixteenth century at the Rotunda, Woolwich, weighing nearly eight
pounds, with a fluted crown-piece, and round the neck a wreath of roses
is engraved. There are holes in the crown for the wreath and mantling.
There are some important beaked varieties at Dresden and Berlin. The
more modern burgonet has neck-guard and oreillettes or ear-flaps of
steel. An illustration of an early burgonet is given in Fig. 13.
MORION, CABASSET, AND CASQUE.
The morion first appeared in England in the reign of Henry VI., and
was introduced into Europe by the Spaniards, who got the design from
the Moors, as the word implies. It is an oval helmet, and has a high
comb-like crest and almost semicircular brim, peaked at both ends. The
cabasset is a helmet similar in character to the morion, and generally
peaked. Both varieties were worn for foot fighting, and are often
lighter than earlier helmets, and usually richly engraved. The Baron
de Cosson[26] says that “the cabasset first appears in an ‘ordonnance’
of Francis I., who orders that men-at-arms wear the armet, light horse
the sallad, and ‘les arquebusiers seulement le cabasset pour viser
mieux et avoir la tête plus délivre.’ The cabasset did not impede the
aim, and was therefore the proper headpiece of the musketeer.” Casques
are open helmets like the others, and of classical design. There are
illustrations of a cabasset in Fig. 11, and of bassinets, morions,
etc., in Fig. 49.
GORGET AND MENTONNIÈRE, OR BAVIER (BEVOR).
The mentonnière was used specially with the sallad, and the chin-piece
fulfils the same purpose with that helmet as the bavier does with the
armet; it fastens on to the breastplate by a staple and cusped catch,
or goes partly under that piece. The upper portion, to cover the mouth
and chin, is of laminated plates, which move up and down at pleasure,
but always from below. In conjunction with the sallad, it has this
advantage over the visored bassinet of allowing a free supply of air,
and only required to be closed just before an onset. This piece is
generally omitted in effigies, for obvious reasons; but there is an
example on a brass already referred to at Qui, Cambridgeshire, of a
date near the middle of the fifteenth century. The actual piece is,
of course, to be seen on almost any suit of the period. There is a
specimen at the Royal Artillery Institute. The portion going over the
chest is, of course, a sort of gorget; but the gorget proper is the
piece for the neck, going all round towards the shoulders and back,
closing with sliding rivets. This piece followed the mentonnière, and
was certainly not common before the beginning of the sixteenth century;
but there are much earlier examples, for instance, a gorget with a
turned-down collar at the throat is attributed to Albrecht Achilles of
Brandenburg, 1414–86. It is a piece closely connected with “Maximilian”
armour, and prevailed up to the decadence and after. We find an early
instance of the plate gorget on a brass of the D’Eresby family in
Spilsby Church, Lincolnshire, representing armour of a date very late
in the fourteenth century--this covers a gorget of chain-mail. A brass
of Sir John Fitzwaryn in Wantage Church, Berkshire, shows the plate
gorget pure and simple. The date of this monument is 1414. Towards
the end of the sixteenth century it was far from uncommon to find the
gorget joined on to the shoulder-pieces.
THE CUIRASS.
The cuirass consists of breastplate and backplate, which pieces are
usually fastened together by straps and buckles, but screws are
sometimes used, especially for tournament armour. It was probably
introduced into England in the reign of Henry V., and the form is
an excellent guide as to date. The word, or rather its prototype
“quirettæ,” occurs in a “Roll of Purchases” (1278) preserved in the
Tower of London. The armour for the breast was considered next in
importance to that for the head, and inventories of the fifteenth
century frequently refer to “pairs of plates, large, globose,” which
sufficiently indicate the period. Breastplates were used by the Franks
in the eighth century, and probably by the Norsemen about the same
time; that of the fourteenth century was without the salient ridge in
front called the tapul. The Rev. T. N. Roberts, vicar of Cornforth,
county Durham, to whom the author is indebted for several hints,
reminds him that it is difficult to say whether it is correct to
speak of the fourteenth century breastplate as a cuirass or not. In
effigies, brasses, and illuminations this part of the armour is always
concealed by the jupon. When the jupon disappeared (temp. Henry V.) the
breastplate is revealed always in two pieces; afterwards (temp. Edward
IV.) in only one piece, as a true cuirass. On a monument in Ash Church,
Kent (dating about 1335), where the lacing of the surcoat at the side
permits the body defences to be seen, “rectangular plates like tiles
riveted into a flexible garment” are discernible. The only remains of
an actual cuirass of fourteenth century date were found at the castle
of Tannenberg. The figure of St. George in the Cathedral square at
Prague has a flexible garment covered with very small rectangular
plates like tiles, and over this a breastplate--not a complete cuirass.
All this leads one to suppose that fourteenth century breastplates
were not cuirasses so much as additional plates of various shapes over
the hauberk, the skirts of which appear below the jupon on effigies,
etc., of the fourteenth century. Still, it must be remembered that an
effigy of the preceding century in the Temple Church exhibits both
front and back plates. The standard of mail is a feature of the close
of the fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth centuries. It was
designed to protect the weak place between the gorget and top of the
cuirass--it grew, in fact, out of the camail. Almost all effigies
of the period exhibit these pieces. The tapul first appeared in the
fifteenth century; this ridge after being discontinued reappears later,
when it often swelled out to a hump, either over or below the navel.
This, indeed, was a decided feature of the second half of the sixteenth
century, when the cuirass had often one overlapping plate under the
arm. Occasionally it was provided with transverse bars, forming a
cross. The Gothic type is very beautiful, and is usually in two or
three plates, the second rising to a point in the middle of the breast,
and the third running nearly parallel with it and converging to a point
below it. At the top of the breast is a socket for attachment to the
mentonnière by a cusp-headed bolt. There are, however, exceptions to
this, as shown in examples at the Dresden Museum, where the top of the
breastplate projects in a piping. In one of these cases an open helmet
had been worn, and the suit probably used by the leader of a company.
A suit of which an illustration is given in Fig. 18, shows how the
mentonnière goes under the cuirass. The same would also be the case in
Fig. 19, but here the mentonnière is missing. The English form of the
fifteenth century is usually in two plates, as in the Redmarshal and
Downes effigies.[27] The first examples occur before the middle of the
century.
The lance-rest is on the right breast, and on the left are screw
holes for a tilting shoulder-guard when this piece is used, or for
a grand-guard. The Maximilian form, which followed the Gothic, is
sometimes in one piece with the taces--that is to say, riveted with
them--and is more globular in character. In the sixteenth century
the cuirass is lower and flatter, and cut straight at the top, and
frequently had the tapul already mentioned. In the middle of the
century it tends to lengthen somewhat, and is provided with a ridge
along the top and round the arm-holes for turning a stroke, and has
often, as already mentioned, a single lamination round the arm-holes.
A feature of the breastplate about 1560 is the hump or projection over
the navel; while usually a little later we have the “peascod” form,
where the projection is found lower down. The “peascod” is obviously
copied from the doublet of the period, but whence the idea of the
middle hump sprang we cannot say. The cuirass made specially for
tilting is fully described under the heading of “tilting suits.” In the
seventeenth century the breastplate becomes very flat and very short.
ÉPAULIÈRES AND PAULDRONS.
It is not easy to follow the development of épaulières in the earlier
stages, as the shoulders on monumental effigies are usually draped by
the surcoat, but the principle of laminated or overlapping plates, so
early applied to sollerets, was not long in being extended to the upper
arm and shoulder, where special mobility for striking and parrying was
so needful--indeed, we have instances of articulated épaulières late
in the first quarter of the fourteenth century. These pieces at their
highest development were admirably adapted for giving great freedom
to the arm. Plates over the shoulders, as distinctive from ailettes,
first appeared in England late in the thirteenth or very early in
the fourteenth century, but they were merely rondelles or discs.
Articulations, as already mentioned, came a little later, and rondelles
protect the shoulder-pit and inner arm. A brass of a knight of the
Cuttes family in Arkesdon Church, Essex (1440), is a good example
of what may be termed the development of épaulières into pauldrons.
Pikeguards, generally applied to “Maximilian” armour, are to be found
occasionally much earlier--see example in Southerly Church (1479).[28]
The Beauchamp latten figure at Warwick (1454) shows these pieces.
Viscount Dillon mentions an example as early as 1424. Suits are often
seen with only one of these projections, but it will always be noticed
on examination that there are screw holes in the other pauldrons for
its fellow. They are guards against pike thrusts, and are occasionally
found double on each shoulder. These shoulder-guards are usually known
by English writers as pass-guards, but Viscount Dillon considers this
to be a mistake, as he thinks the real pass-guard to have been an extra
tilting-piece. The absence of these pieces is far from always implying
that they have been omitted, for in many cases a close examination will
reveal holes on the shoulders, showing that they have been originally
present. Pauldrons were usually attached to the cuirass by straps and
buckles, and consist of plates in successive lames over the shoulders
and upper arm. Sometimes the attachment is by a pin, as in Fig. 22.
In armour of the second half of the fifteenth century the upper plate
scarcely reached beyond the shoulder, while in “Maximilian” and later
armour they came well over the chest, assuming a resting wing-like
form before and behind. They were sometimes very large and uneven in
size, that for the right arm being the smaller, for using the lance.
There are many instances late in the sixteenth century where gorget and
pauldrons are joined together in one piece, and then elbow-gauntlets
are used. This is the case in armour called “allecret.” In the second
half of the sixteenth century pauldrons were often smaller and
wingless--indeed, more like the older épaulières, and then rondelles
reappear for the protection of the weak place, “defaut de la cuirasse.”
PALETTES, RONDELLES, OR DISCS,
were plates attached to the armour, variously applied for the
shoulders or any weak places, later specially to defend the armpits,
where there was a vulnerable place called “vif de l’harnois,” and
later, “defaut de la cuirasse,” and leave the arms free to parry or
strike. These pieces assume various forms, and were not invariably
in pairs; in cases where they differ, that over the right armpit is
the smaller--an instance of this may be seen on a brass in Harpham
Church, Yorkshire (1420). In this instance the left rondelle is round,
while the other is scroll-shaped. There is a portion of a “Gothic”
suit at Dresden with an oblong rondelle on the right side, while a
projection on the épaulière, to a certain extent, protects the left
armpit. They appear very early, and may be seen freely and beautifully
applied on a figure in Alvechurch, Worcestershire, of the earlier
half of the fourteenth century. They vary very much in size, and in
armour of the next century were very handsome, being ridged throughout
with escalloped flutings, and often charged with a heraldic rose, and
sometimes spiked in the centre. They became very large in tilting
suits, little short of a foot in diameter. The earliest application of
these discs was to the elbow-guard. Rondelles for the armpits reappear
freely in the second half of the sixteenth century, as shown in
examples at Dresden and Berlin. They are frequently on the right side
only.
REREBRACE, COUDIÈRES, AND VAMBRACE (FRENCH BRASSARD, ITAL. BRACCIALE).
These pieces are the armguards--the rerebrace for the upper arm, the
vambrace for the lower; they first appear in plate in the second
quarter of the fourteenth century, and became general a quarter
of a century later. Coudières for the elbows first appeared in
the thirteenth century in the disc form, about the same time as
genouillières for the knees; and these pieces exhibit one of the
earliest applications of plate to body armour. Both may be seen
on an effigy of William Longespee the younger (1233) in Salisbury
Cathedral. Coudières are elementary in the early stages, with rondelle,
then cup-formed and laminated both above and below the elbow, with
shell-like side expansions to protect the inner bend of the arm, and
later going all round the elbow joint. This was the completed form,
but all these improvements did not come at once. The De Bohun effigy
exhibits the second-mentioned form. The outer guard assumes many forms,
fan-shaped, bivalve, escalloped, etc., and is sometimes preposterously
large. The rerebrace and vambrace do not appear in England before
the fourteenth century. The effigy of the Black Prince at Canterbury
exhibits these pieces. The armour for the arm, that is the three pieces
dealt with, is termed brassards or brassarts. The garde-de-bras, an
additional protection for the left arm for tilting, attachable to the
elbow plate by a screw, was introduced in the fifteenth century.
GAUNTLETS.
The earliest form after chain-mail was of cuir-bouilli, both plain and
fortified with scale work, and such largely prevailed in the thirteenth
century, and even later. An example occurs on the tomb of Sir Richard
de Burlingthorpe, of about 1310. The earliest form of plate gauntlets
occurs in the middle of the fourteenth century, and shows articulated
fingers--see an example on a brass of Thomas Cheyne, Esq. (1368), at
Drayton Beauchamp, Bucks; after which mitten gauntlets of laminated
plates, with a separate thumb-guard and peaked cuffs, prevailed. Late
in the fourteenth century an attempt is made to copy the finger nails.
An example occurs on the monument of Sir Robert de Grey, at Rotherfield
Greys, Oxfordshire. Late in the fifteenth century, the earlier form,
with articulated fingers, was reverted to. Gadlings, or knuckle and
finger spikes, were in vogue throughout the century--a truly dangerous
weapon of offence for the _mêlée_. Again, later we have the fingers
covered with overlapping plates, very narrow and flexible. Another
common form, though late, is the elbow gauntlet. There is a pair in
the Castle of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and there are others at Naworth
Castle and in the author’s collection. A locking gauntlet was invented
in the latter part of the sixteenth century, the object of which was
to prevent the weapon from being knocked out of the hand, to which it
was fastened by a hook and staple. It is stated that this gauntlet was
often barred in single combats, it certainly was in foot-tournaments.
There is an example of this contrivance in a suit in the Tower of
London. Gauntlets were sometimes made of brass.
TACES, TUILLES, TASSETS, BRAYETTE, AND GARDE-DE-REINE OR RUMP GUARD.
Taces were the laminated plates at the bottom of the cuirass, and
to these the tuilles or upper thigh guards were attached by straps
and buckles. It was common to wear mail below the taces, often with
escalloped edges, but the lower portion was often the bottom of a
shirt of mail still worn beneath the cuirass. The mail skirt appears
so late as 1578 on an effigy at Whitchurch, Denbigh. Taces usually
consisted of three, and sometimes of five, and even of eight lames, as
noticeable in the brass of Sir John Lysle (died 1407), whose armament
is entirely of plate; but early examples are in one piece, and indeed
late examples also. An early example, with taces only, is to be found
on the brass of Sir John Drayton, but part of the lower portion is
missing. Laminated taces first appear late in the fourteenth century;
the brass of Nicholas Hawberk (died 1406), at Cobham, is an example.
The introduction of “Almayne” rivets (sliding) gave great elasticity to
the armour. Tuilles are peculiar to armour dating from the second
quarter of the fifteenth century; the earlier form is short and square,
but later it becomes pointed and an escalloped shell or tile-like plate
in one piece, extended down so as to cover the top of the cuisse, and
was attached to the taces by straps and buckles as a guard against
an underthrust of the sword. There is an early example on the brass
of John Leventhorpe, in Sawbridgeworth Church, Hertfordshire (1433).
This, like all tuilles of its time, was small and attached by straps or
hinges to the lowest rim of the taces--indeed, it differed but little
in shape from the plate to which it was attached. It lingered long in
England, as shown in the Stanley and Lementhorp brasses in Westminster
Abbey and Great St. Helen’s Church, 1505 and 1510 respectively; and
there is a very late example on a suit of armour of the time of Philip
II. of Spain, but this may perhaps more properly be looked upon as a
solid tasset, the suit having been used for tilting. The Beauchamp
effigy shows four tuilles, two large and two small. Tassets followed on
these pieces, though they were for a time contemporaneous. They were
practically the same piece as the tuille in laminated plates, but were
generally attached directly to the bottom rim of the cuirass, taces
being then usually dispensed with, unless in one plate, forming the
connecting link. It was not uncommon to find them in two parts during
the second half of the sixteenth century, as shown in the Alnwick
example (Fig. 33), and there are also cases where they are in one solid
piece, as shown on a gilded suit in Windsor Castle, and in the other
example referred to. Tassets gradually increased in length as time went
on until they reached the knees, forming then the cuisse itself of
laminated plates. This was the last stage before the introduction of
the jackboot. The brayette or cod-piece is a hollow cap-like projecting
plate for fixing on to the bottom of the cuirass for the protection
of the fore-body. Fig. 14 represents this piece in chain-mail. We
are not aware of the existence of another specimen in chain-mail.
The fortunate possessor of this unique piece is Dr. Edgar von Ubisch
of Berlin, and we are indebted to his kindness for the illustration.
The garde-de-reine was a projecting piece attached to the rim of the
backplate; it was of overlapping plates, and protected the rump and
small of the back.
[Illustration: Fig. 14.--Brayette in Chain-mail, at Berlin.]
CUISSE, GENOUILLIÈRE, AND JAMB.
Up to the Conquest there was probably no leg armour in England other
than thongs, but there are early German examples. Chausses would
naturally suggest themselves after Hastings, as William bore them;
while Harold, who did not, was wounded in the leg. The term applied to
the upper leg armour, or breeches of mail, was chaussons. Soon after
the Conquest cuir-bouilli was largely used, and this was followed by
stockings of mail and sollerets of the same, as may be seen on the
seals of Richard I. Wace mentions iron chausses. Even up to the middle
of the fourteenth century it continued common in England to wear these
pieces in chain-mail with attachable genouillières. An example of
this kind may be seen on the effigy of Robert de Vere (died 1221) in
Hatfield Broad Oak Church.
The cuisse was the plate going round the front of the lower thigh,
fastened by strap and buckle. It first appeared in France and England
in the second quarter of the fourteenth century, and became general
towards the close. In armour of the latter half of the fifteenth
century it was often embellished by consecutive laminations at the top.
In the second half of the sixteenth century it was sometimes in two
detachable pieces, for foot fighting and horseback.
Genouillières (defences for the knee) were the first body pieces of
plate, except perhaps the plastron-de-fer or breastplate, and possibly
the coudière also. They were called poleyns, and first appear in the
thirteenth century; an example, about 1250, is figured in Plate XXX. of
Stothard. The side of the knee became further protected by rondelles
later in the century; and from that time these appendages became more
ornate and comprehensive. As soon as plate armour was completed,
genouillières became articulated both above and below the knee. In
armour of the second half of the fifteenth century they are specially
beautiful, assuming a shell-like form, often bivalve and butterfly
shape with escalloped edges and flutings. The chausse, or shin-piece,
was used in chain-mail, indeed earlier still in fortified leather, and
early in the fourteenth century it became plate and was termed jamb;
first only in front attached by strap and buckle, and later going round
the leg hinged, and fastened by sliding rivets. These pieces were also
called greaves. The inventory of Piers Gaveston (1313) catalogues
“three pairs of hinged jambs.” These pieces were generally plain. Both
they and sollerets disappeared with the advent of the jackboot.
SOLLERETS.
Sollerets are a better guide as to date of armour even than gauntlets,
particularly after the fourteenth century, for reasons given under
the head of the last-named. The earlier sollerets of overlapping
plates were of extravagant length. This form followed the prevailing
fashion in shoes, and hence the name “à la poulaine” from “souliers
à la poulaine.” The long form was much modified during the last
quarter of the fourteenth century and well into the fifteenth, but it
became in vogue again later in the century with enormous tips, the
length from toe to heel being up to twenty-four inches. The instep
of chain-mail was not uncommon in the fourteenth century and even
later. The sollerets of the Black Prince were of enormous length. The
tips could, however, be disconnected at pleasure. The shorter form
was styled “demi-poulaine” or “ogivale lancette.” A variety called
“ogivale tiers-point” largely prevailed in the second half of the
fifteenth century. When ridged and escalloped armour was replaced by
“Maximilian,” sollerets were wide and short--in fact the shape of a
bear’s paw or cow’s mouth, spreading out at the sides, and requiring
very broad stirrups; but when fluted armour was discontinued the shape
became gradually narrower, and after the middle of the century more
like that of the foot; still there are very late instances of the
“bear-paw” form. This variety was styled “bec-de-cane,” which differs,
however, from the “tiers-point” of the fifteenth century. Sollerets
disappeared altogether with the jamb, the jackboot taking their
place.[29] These pieces in laminated plates are shown on the Daubernoun
brass, and continue to occur on such monuments.
SHIELDS.
This subject is too vast for more than a mere outline in these pages.
The kite-shaped, round, and triangular shield appears in the twelfth
century. The two first-named are long, and either bowed or flat. They
were held over the breast by a strap going round the nape of the
neck, called a “guige.” Shields of the thirteenth century were either
small and “heater” shaped, or larger and rounded. Pavises were very
large shields to be placed before the bowmen as a defence, and were
provided with an inner prop to hold them upright on the ground. As to
ordinary shields, most of the thirteenth century forms extended into
the fourteenth, when the bouche, or hole cut in the right corner as
a spear-rest, was introduced. They were pear-shaped, triangular,
heart-shaped, circular, oval, curved, and sometimes nearly square.
The round buckler was carried in the hand, while the larger shield
was borne on the arm. The material was generally of wood or leather,
or both combined--the latter often embossed. They were more or less
fortified or bossed, and sometimes partly or wholly of iron. For tyros,
basket-work was used. Shields generally bore a heraldic device, or
other cognizance, and were frequently curved, bossed, and spiked. The
usual shield of a knight of the fifteenth century had the bouche, was
convex, and about two and a half feet long by about a third of that
broad, and pointed at the bottom. In the sixteenth century ordinary
shields were seldom used, but an immense amount of fine artistic work
was lavished on the pageant shields of that period, an example of which
is given in Fig. 15. The tournament shield is described under the
heading devoted to these games.
[Illustration: Fig. 15.--Pageant Shield, formerly in the collection of
Prince Carl of Prussia.]
CALTROP, OR CROW’S FOOT.
This, the Roman murex or tribulus, was a sharp point of iron standing
upright, fashioned like a crow’s foot. They were strewn broadcast on
the ground, for the purpose of maiming horses in a charge of cavalry,
or placed on a moat filled up with fascines, or on a breach to resist
an attempt at escalade. Knightly spurs have been known to have been
used for this purpose. The name is an abbreviation for cheval-trap.
There are some specimens in the Rotunda, Woolwich, varying in height
from 1.25 to 2.5 inches.[30]
SPURS.
These goads were used by the Romans, and the gilded spur was one of the
badges of the knight of mediæval times. The earlier are of the “goad”
type, and fastened by a single strap; they were probably first used
singly, and were called “prick spurs.” An example of the goad prick may
be seen in the Daubernoun brass (1277). We get the rowel prick late
in the thirteenth century. The D’Argentine brass (1382) furnishes an
example of a spur of the fourteenth century. The number of points or
pricks in specimens of the middle ages approximate the date. Early in
the fourteenth century there are usually eight, but in the fifteenth
as many as twelve points to the rowel, and spurs were long-necked.
Later, the fashion in style and form was “legion.” In heraldry the
knightly spur was a “goad” up to 1320, and called a “pryck-spur,” later
the “rouelle-spur.” The tournament spur of the sixteenth century was
straight and long in the neck. In the case of a knight’s degradation
his spurs were hacked off by the king’s master-cook. During the
fourteenth century it was usual, when orders were given to men-at-arms
to fight on foot, for their spurs to be taken off, so as not to impede
their movements; and these were then often used as caltrops. This was
notably the case at the battles of Courtray and Poitiers.