ARMOUR WITH LAMBOYS OR BASES.
As already mentioned, a very distinctive feature of this period, which
lasted only four, or at the very most six decades, is the skirt of
mail called “lamboys,” or in the language of the day, “bases,” which
resembles a full gathered or plain petticoat, or kilt of laminated
hoops, held together with “Almayne” rivets. A drawing is given of this
kind of armour from an example in the author’s collection (Fig. 25),
which is said to have come from an old castle in the Tyrol into the
family from whom he obtained it. The suit could only be traced back
some seventy or eighty years. Armour with long skirts was current
during the reign of Henry VI., but this description differed from the
“bases” of the reign of Henry VIII. in the plates being flexible in a
vertical direction; capable, as Viscount Dillon says in _Archæologia_,
vol. li., p. 258, of being lifted up like a Venetian blind. As shown
by the fine suit with lamboys or bases, by Conrad Seusenhofer, in
the Tower of London, which will be commented on somewhat later in
these pages, it is obvious that this style of armour was to the
fore during the later years of Maximilian’s reign, but it became
more _de rigueur_ in that of his successor. The general pose of the
suit (Fig. 25) is excellent and characteristic. The armet is fluted
and “Maximilian” in three pieces, and is a most perfect specimen and
graceful in outline. There is a small comb on the crown-piece, and
a plume-socket. The visor moves on rosettes of nine petals, and it
projects sharply forward to a point, the front consisting of four
deeply indented bevels, with two broad lights above them, and two
smaller slits in each bevel. There is a spring-catch for closing the
visor. The bevor is attachable to the crown-piece by a similar catch.
The helmet has a collar of three lames, and weighs five pounds. It is
almost identical in form with one catalogued No. 47 among the helmets
exhibited at the rooms of the Royal Archæological Institute in July
1880. The date given is 1515–30. In all probability the helmet on
Fig. 25 was made earlier than the date fixed upon for the suit, and
perhaps was not worn with it. The cuirass has a tapul with a projection
near the base, like the “peascod,” and this feature seems at first to
be indicative of a rather later date than 1550–60. The same form is
present, however, on a suit with lamboys in the Vienna collection, made
by Mathaus Frauenpreis of Augsburg in 1550. This armour, like the one
in the author’s collection, is for fighting on foot. The lamboys in
Fig. 25 consist of nine lames, the lowest much broader than the others,
with a band studded with rivets for an inner lining, terminating with
an ornamental string-like piping. These skirts are attached to the
lower rim of the cuirass by sliding adjustable screws, and each lame
is provided with a similar screw on both sides for attaching the back
and front portions together. The back of the lamboys is the same as the
front. These sliding rivets are believed to be the “Almayne” rivets
so often referred to in inventories of the reign of Henry VIII. They
are present also on the fine suit with lamboys in the Tower, made by
Conrad Seusenhofer of Innsbruck for Henry VIII. The Tower suit is
earlier than the one under discussion, has pikeguards, and the “base”
has a brass border, which was doubtless once gilded or silvered. The
pauldrons of the author’s suit are very large, and of equal size both
back and front, while the rerebrace is freely laminated. The coudières
are cup-formed, and go nearly round the elbow joints. The heart-shaped
guards, the tops of the pauldrons, and bottom of the rerebrace are
enriched by a small piping. The gauntlets are “mitten,” quite complete,
and of fine workmanship. The cuffs have their upper edges adorned with
a similar piping to that on the other pieces, and the same design is
repeated at the base of the last finger plate. Over the knuckles is
a bold twisted piping, and the laminated plates over the back of the
hand number five above the ridge, while those below are the same in
number. The gauntlet is of the type prevailing about 1535–40. The
cuisses and jambs have a ridge running down to the sollerets, while
the genouillières are ornamented with a double bevel in the centre.
The knee-guard is oval, and bevelled in the centre. The sollerets are
small, and of the “bec-de-cane” type.
[Illustration: Fig. 25.--Suit with Lamboys, in the Author’s Collection.]