FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND TO THE END OF
THE TWELFTH CENTURY.
For the period now to be examined, namely, from about the year 1066
to the close of the twelfth century, our chief evidences are still
the illuminations of manuscripts, the writings of chroniclers and
poets, tapestry-pictures, ivory carvings and metal chasings. The
valuable testimonies of the graves are lost to us; but a new source
of information is opened to our inquiries in the royal and baronial
seals, which from the second half of the eleventh century appear in
great abundance wherever the feudal system is in vogue. Among these
various evidences, there are two which, for our particular purpose,
are especially valuable,--the Bayeux tapestry and the Chronicle of
Robert Wace. There seems to be no reasonable doubt of this tapestry
having been embroidered at the close of the eleventh century; and
whoever has carefully examined it, will be at once convinced that it
was wrought, not by courtly ladies, but by the ruder hands of the
ordinary tapestry-workers. Curious analogy is found in the decorations
of _subsellæ_ of a somewhat later date[152]. The especial value of
the Chronicle of the Dukes of Normandy is in the minuteness with which
Wace delights to describe the incidents of knightly achievement. Taking
his crude facts from William of Jumièges and Dudo of St. Quentin, he
fills up their outlines with unwearying elaboration. Not content with
drily noting the gathering of a host or the issue of an onslaught, he
tells us how the levies came into the camp "by twos, and by threes,
and by fours, and by fives," and with what weapons they contended, the
material of their staves, and the length and breadth of their blades.
He himself lived so near the time of which he writes, and the changes
in the interval were so few, that his descriptions have, in most
instances, the exactness of those of an eye-witness. The incidents of
Duke William's Conquest of England he learns from the lips of his own
father, who lived probably in the eleventh century:--
"---- jo oï dire à mon pere:
Bien m'en sovint, maiz varlet ere."
_Roman de Rou_, l. 11564.
We must still, however, keep in view that Wace, like all writers and
illuminators of the middle-ages, does not hesitate to fill up his
pictures from the scenes around him; so that, while we concede him
a large measure of authority, especially for the events near his
own time, we must on some occasions withhold our confidence, when
his testimony is not in accordance with evidence which is strictly
cotemporary.
With the feudal system was introduced a scheme of military rank which
was altogether distinct from social position. Esquire, knight, and
banneret had no necessary connection with prince, baron, or private
person. The heir of a crown might be but an esquire; a fortunate
soldier often became a knight. The esquire was the aspirant to knightly
honours, and patiently served his apprenticeship to arms in the court
of his prince or the hall of some neighbouring baron. At the age of
twenty-one he was eligible to knighthood: he became, if he had property
enough to support the dignity, a knight-bachelor: "s'il a bien de quoi
maintenir l'estat de chevalerie; car aultrement ne lui est honneur,
et vault mieulx estre bon escuyer que ung poure chevalier[153]." In
the field, the knight's contingent was led under a Pennon, a flag that
differed from the square Banner of the banneret in being pointed at
the fly. The dignity of the Knight Banneret required a retinue of at
least fifty men-at-arms with their followers, so that it could only
be enjoyed by the rich. The chronicles of the middle-ages are full
of examples in which the knight who has distinguished himself on the
field of battle declines this dignity on the plea of inadequate funds.
When accepted, the Pennon of the knight was often at once converted on
the spot into a Banner; as in the instance recorded by Olivier de la
Marche:--"Si bailla le Roi d'Armes (de la Toison d'Or) un couteau au
Duc (de Bourgogne), et prit le pennon en ses mains, et le bon Duc, sans
oster le gantelet de la main senestre, fit un tour autour de sa main de
la queue du pennon, et de l'autre main coupa ledit pennon et demeura
quarré; et la Banniere faite[154]." Froissart offers several similar
instances.
The feudal Levy was conducted on the very simple principle, that
they who held the land should defend the land, and contribute to
the king's army in proportion to the extent of their holdings. Those
who could not serve in person, as clerics and ladies, were bound to
furnish substitutes. The various contingents due from the vassals
were carefully recorded in rolls; and in the _Milice Française_
of Père Daniel is preserved a curious note of such a roll, of the
time of Philippe Auguste, in which the contributors to the host
are arranged in the following order: archbishops, bishops, abbots,
dukes, earls, barons, castellans, vavassors, knights-banneret, and
knights[155]. The usual time of service at this period was forty
days: any further attendance was voluntary, and was probably much
dependent on the prospect of booty.
That knight and esquire were not necessarily of gentle blood, might
be proved by numerous ancient evidences: one or two may suffice.
Matthew Paris, under the year 1250, tells us that the king "gave a
charter of the liberty of warren in the land of Saint Alban's to a
certain knight named Geoffry, although not descended from noble or
knightly ancestors." This knight had obtained the privilege "from
having married the sister of the king's clerk, John Maunsell." The
"lady's name was Clarissa, and she was the daughter of a country
priest, but exalted herself in her pride above her station, to the
derision of all." Froissart, in the fourteenth century, gives us
the history of Jacques le Gris, the bosom-friend of the Earl of
Alençon,--"qui n'étoit pas de trop haute affaire, mais un écuyer
de basse lignée qui s'étoit avancé, ainsi que fortune en avance
plusieurs; et quand ils sont tous élevés et ils cuident être au plus
sûr, fortune les retourne en la boue et les met plus has que elle ne
les a eus de commencement[156]."
In fact, numerous exceptional cases might be adduced on almost every
point of knightly usage, and to chronicle the whole would be a labour
of many pages. A detail of such usages (the education of the varlets,
the probation of the knights, the ceremonies of investiture, and
the institutions of the various brotherhoods) is by no means within
the province of this work. A large amount of information on these
points will be found in the _Mémoires sur l'ancienne Chevalerie_ of
St. Palaye, and in the various works of Ducange; from whose pages
numerous references will lead the more critical investigator to a
wide range of valuable authorities. An able sketch of the Feudal
System, as it existed in Italy, appears in the first volume of
Sismondi's _Républiques Italiennes au Moyen-âge_, p. 80, sq.
Besides the feudal troops already noticed, there was a more general
levy, when any pressing danger menaced the state. Thus, in 1124,
Louis le Gros met the threatened invasion of the Emperor Henry V. by
raising an army of more than 200,000 men[157]. And under Philippe
le Bel, we have an ordinance calling upon all his subjects, "noble
and non-noble, of whatsoever condition they be, between the ages
of eighteen and sixty," to be ready to take the field. A similar
provision was found in England. The _Posse Comitatûs_, which was
under the command of the sheriffs of the various counties, included
every freeman capable of bearing arms between the ages of fifteen
and sixty. In 1181, Henry II. fixed an assize of arms, by which all
his subjects, being freemen, were bound to be in readiness for the
defence of the realm, "Whosoever holds one knight's fee shall have
a coat-of-fence (_loricam_), a helmet (_cassidem_), a shield, and a
lance; and every knight as many coats, helmets, shields, and lances,
as he shall have knights' fees in his domain. Every free layman,
having in rent or chattels the value of sixteen marks, shall have a
coat-of-fence, helmet, shield and lance. Every free layman having in
chattels ten marks, shall have a haubergeon (_halbergellum_), iron
cap and lance (_capelet ferri et lanceam_). All burgesses and the
whole community of freemen shall have each a 'wambais,' iron cap,
and lance. On the death of any one having these arms, they shall
remain to his heir. Any one having more arms than required by this
assize, shall sell or give them, or so alienate them, that they may
be employed in the king's service. No Jew shall have in his custody
any coat-of-fence or haubergeon (_loricam vel halbergellum_), but
shall sell it or give it, or in other manner so dispose of it that
it shall remain to the king's use. No man shall carry arms out of
the kingdom, or sell arms to be so carried. None but a freeman to
be admitted to take the oath of arms (_et præcepit rex, quod nullus
reciperetur ad sacramentum armorum nisi liber homo_[158])." In this
curious document it will be remarked that the old national weapon,
the axe, is altogether omitted; and the bow, which afterwards became
so effective an arm among the infantry of this country, is equally
unnoticed. The extensive levy indicated in these passages was clearly
that of the so-called _Arrière-ban_, the _Milice des Communes_, or
_Communitates Parochiarum_; troops who marched under the banners of
their respective parishes. For in an ordinance of Charles VI. of
France, in 1411, we find the _ban_ and _arrière-ban_ very exactly
defined:--"Mandons et convoquons par devant nous, tous noz hommes et
vassaulx tenant de nous, tant en fiefs qu'en arrière-fiefs: et aussi
des gens des bonnes villes de notre royaume qui out accoustumé d'eulx
armer par forme et manière de arrière-ban[159]."
As the vassals were not always disposed to exchange hawk and hound
for lance and destrier, and as kings found themselves but ill-served
by barons who had become almost as powerful as themselves, a plan was
devised, by which both were relieved from this embarrassment of feudal
relations. The vassal compounded by a money-payment called Scutage for
the service due to his lord; and the lord, with the proceeds of this
shield-tax, obtained the aid of foreign soldiery. Henry II. in England,
and Philip Augustus in France, employed these mercenaries, who were
called Coterelli, Rutarii, Bascli, and Brabantiones, names derived from
their condition or country[160]. William the Conqueror, Wace tells us,
had mercenary troops mixed with his feudal followers:--
"De mainte terre out soldéiers:
Cels por terre, cels por déniers."--_Rom. de Rou_, l. 13797.
Again:--
"Dunc vindrent soldéirs à lui:
Et uns è uns, è dui è dui,
E quatre è quatre, è cinc è sis,
E set è wit, è nof è dis:
E li Dus toz les reteneit:
Mult lor donout è prameteit.
* * * * *
Alquanz soldées demandoent,
Livreisuns è duns covetoent."--_Line_ 11544.
Besides the troops enumerated above, the King's Body-guard became
a corps of some celebrity at the close of the twelfth century.
Philip Augustus is said to have instituted this corps in the Holy
Land, to protect his person from the machinations of the Old Man
of the Mountain; and in imitation of his ally, Richard of England
embodied a similar force. The _Servientes armorum, Sergens d'armes_,
or _Sergens à maces_, were armed _cap-à-pie_, and besides their
distinctive weapon, the mace, carried a bow and arrows[161], and of
course a sword. In the fourteenth century they had a lance[162].
In the beginning of the fifteenth century, as we learn from the
curious incised stones[163] formerly placed in the church of their
brotherhood, St. Catherine-du-val, at Paris, and now preserved in
the Church of St. Denis, the _sergens d'armes_ were still clad in
complete armour, their weapons being a mace and sword. The number of
these guards at their first institution is not clear, but in the time
of Louis VI. of France they were _reduced_ to a hundred. It must be
borne in mind that the name of _serviens_ or _sergent_, as applied
to military persons, had a much wider signification than this of a
body-guard. It often included all beneath the dignity of a knight.
The Archers in the army of William the Conqueror fulfilled those
duties of preliminary fight which at a later period fell to the lot
of the musquetiers, and in our own day have passed to the cannonier.
The Norman bowmen are the first of the invading troops to set foot on
English soil:--
"Li archiers sunt primiers iessuz:
El terrain sunt primiers venuz.
Dunc a chescun son arc tendu,
Couire et archaiz el lez pendu.
Tuit furent rez è tuit tondu,
De cors dras furent tuit vestu."--_Rom. de Rou_, l. 11626.
These shaven and shorn, short-coated archers, with their quivers hung
at their side, are exactly reproduced in the Bayeux tapestry (Plates
XIII., XV., and XVI.):--
"La gent à pié fu bien armée:
Chescun porta arc et espée.
Sor lor testes orent chapels,
A lor piez liez lor panels.
Alquanz unt bones coiriés,
K'il unt à lor ventre liés.
Plusors orent vestu gambais,
Couires orent ceinz et archais.
* * * * *
Cil a pié aloient avant
Serréement, lors ars portant."--_Line_ 12805.
From this curious passage it appears that the archers of William
were not a particular and distinctly organized corps, but that _all
the foot_ were armed with the bow. The caps and boots are clearly
portrayed in the Bayeux tapestry; and from this valuable monument
we obtain an exact confirmation of the statement of Wace, that
some of the archers were clad in armour. See Plate XIII. We must
observe also, that the advantage of a close formation was thoroughly
appreciated at this day. The serried order of the foot noted above
was also adopted by the cavalry:--
"Cil à cheval è cil à pié
Tindrent lor eire è lor compas,
Serréement lor petit pas,
Ke l'un l'altre ne trespassout,
Ne n'aprismout ne n'esloignout.
Tuit aloent serréement,
E tuit aloent fièrement."--_Line_ 12825.
In Plate XIII. of the Bayeux tapestry, we find an archer who carries
his quiver, not "el lez pendu," but slung at his back, so that the
arrows present themselves at the right shoulder. In Plate XVI. we
have a mounted archer joining a group of knights in the chase of the
discomfited Saxons; from which we may venture to infer, that on the
rout of an enemy it was the practice of such bowmen as could obtain
horses, to act with the cavalry in the pursuit of the flying foe.
[Illustration: GREAT SEAL OF WILLIAM RUFUS.
No. 26.]
If the Norman archers were for the most part clad in "cors dras,"
the horsemen were fully furnished in the choicest military equipment
of the day:--
"Dunc issirent li Chevalier,
Tuit armé è tuit haubergié[164]:
Escu al col, healme lacié:
Ensemble vindrent al gravier[165],
Chescun armé sor son destrier.
Tuit orent ceintes les espées,
El plain vindrent lances levées.
Li Barunz orent gonfanons,
Li chevaliers orent penons."--_Rom. de Rou_, l. 11639.
"Chevaliers ont haubers è branz,
Chauces de fer, helmes luizanz,
Escuz as cols, as mains lor lances."--_Line_ 12813.
In the south, military science was already so far advanced that a
Code for the discipline of troops had been established. The rules
laid down by the Emperor Frederic for the control of his army in
Italy in 1158, have been preserved by Radevicus of Frisinga[166], and
are given by Sismondi[167].
Wherever the feudal system had taken root, a similar arming and
similar tactics prevailed. The military
"Chevals quistrent et armes à la guise franchoise,
Quer lor semblout è plus riche è plus cortoise."
But in the border-nations of Europe, where the old liberties of Celt
and Teuton still lingered, the fashions of war were very different.
In Ireland, in Scotland, in Wales, and in the Scandinavian North, the
heroes were by no means clad in the pattern of the Bayeux tapestry.
From Giraldus Cambrensis we learn that the Irish in the twelfth
century wore no body-armour. In riding they used neither saddle nor
spur. Their shields were circular, and painted red. Helmets they had
none. Their weapons were a short spear, javelins, and an axe. The
axes, which they had derived from the Norwegians and Ostmen, were
excellently well steeled. "They make use of but one hand when they
strike with the axe, extending the thumb along the handle to direct
the blow; from which neither the helmet can defend the head, nor the
iron folds of the armour the body; whence it has happened in our time
that the whole thigh of a soldier, though cased in well-tempered
armour, hath been lopped off by a single blow, the limb falling on
one side of the horse, and the expiring body on the other. They are
also expert beyond all other nations in casting stones in battle,
when other weapons fail them, to the great detriment of their
enemies[168]." The bow not being in use among the Irish of this time,
and consequently there being nothing to oppose to the distant attack
of the Norman archers, the havoc made by these latter troops was
terrific; so that Giraldus, in his chapter, "Qualiter Hibernica gens
sit expugnanda," recommends that in all attacks upon them, bowmen
should be mixed with the heavy-armed force.
The Welsh also retained their old mode of warfare:--
"Gens Wallensis habet hoc naturale per omnes
Indigenas, primis proprium quod servat ab annis,"
says Guillaume le Breton. "They are lightly armed," writes Giraldus
Cambrensis, "so that their agility may not be impeded; they are clad
in haubergeons (_loricis minoribus_), have a handful of arrows, long
lances, helmets, and shields, but rarely appear with iron greaves
(_ocreis ferreis_). Fleet and generous steeds, which their country
produces, bear their leaders to battle, but the greater part of the
people are obliged to march on foot over marshes and uneven ground.
Those who are mounted, according to opportunity of time and place,
both for the retreat and advance, easily become infantry. Those of
the foot-soldiers who have not bare feet, wear shoes made of raw
hide, sewn up in a barbarous fashion. The people of Gwentland are
more accustomed to war, more famous for valour, and more expert
in archery, than those of any other part of Wales. The following
examples prove the truth of this assertion. In the last assault of
Abergavenny Castle, which happened in our days, two soldiers passing
over a bridge to a tower built on a mound of earth, in order to take
the Welsh in the rear, their archers, who perceived them, discharged
their arrows, penetrating an oaken gate which was four fingers thick:
in memory of which deed, the arrows are still preserved sticking in
the gate, with their iron piles seen on the other side.... Their bows
are made of wild elm, unpolished, rude, and uncouth, but strong; not
calculated to shoot an arrow to a great distance, but to inflict
very severe wounds in closer fight[169]." Guillaume le Breton, in
describing the Welsh troops who accompanied Richard Cœur-de-Lion into
France, deprives them of defensive armour altogether:--
"Nec soleis plantas, caligis nec crura gravantur:
Frigus docta pati, nulli oneratur ab armis,
Nec munit thorace latus, nec casside frontem[170]."
But he allows them a greater variety of weapons on this occasion than
is found in the account of Giraldus:--
"Clavam cum jaculo, venabula, gesa, bipennem,
Arcum cum pharetris, nodosaque tela vel hastam."
The _gesa_ of this passage is the often-mentioned _guisarme_. The
_nodosa tela_ is not so clear, but may have been a dart with a ball
at the end; the object of which ball was to arrest the javelin when,
sliding through the hand, it had inflicted its wound, so that it
might be employed afresh. Such weapons were used by the ancient
Egyptians[171], and are still employed in the manner mentioned above
by the Nubians and Ababdeh.
Hoveden, describing the battle of Lincoln in 1141, and the disposition
of the Earl of Chester's army, says: "On the flank, there was a great
multitude of Welshmen, better provided with daring than with arms."
In Scotland, two leading influences were at work. The highlanders
adhered to their old habits and their old arms with a pertinacity
which has not been extinguished even in our own day. The round shield
ornamented with knot-work subsisted to the field of Culloden, and
the dagger with its hilt of the same pattern, is still in vogue. But
in the south of Scotland the fashions of France and of England had
made great inroads; especially advanced by the crowds of discontented
nobles of Saxon and of Norman blood, who sought in the court of the
Scottish king solace for their misfortunes, or revenge for their
wrongs. Thus in the seal of Alexander I. (1107-1124,) we find that
monarch wearing the hauberk with tunic and the nasal helmet, and
armed with lance and kite-shield, exactly as seen in the monuments
of his more southern cotemporaries. This equipment, however, was
only found among the leaders of their hosts, and even they did not
always think fit to adopt the new fashion. Thus, at the battle of
the Standard, in 1138, the Earl of Strathearne exclaims:--"I wear no
armour, yet they who do will not advance beyond me this day."
[Illustration: FROM THE GREAT SEAL OF ALEXANDER I., KING OF SCOTLAND.
No. 27.]
This Battle of the Standard, so called from the _Carrocium_, or
Car-standard, which was brought into the field by the English,
affords us a good insight into the warfare of the Scots of this
day. Let us remember, however, that it is an English chronicler who
records the fight. Roger of Hoveden tells us that the bishop[172] who
accompanied the English army, addressing the troops previous to the
engagement, said of the Scots: "They know not how to arm themselves
for battle; whereas you, during the time of peace, prepare yourselves
for war, in order that in battle you may not experience the doubtful
contingencies of warfare.... But now, the enemy _advancing in
disorder_, warns me to close my address, and rushing on _with a
straggling front_, gives me great reason for gladness." At the end of
his speech, "all the troops of the English answered, 'Amen, Amen.'"
"At the same instant the Scots raised the shout of their country,
and the cries of 'Albany, Albany!' ascended to the heavens. But the
cries were soon drowned in the dreadful crash and the loud din of the
blows. When the ranks of the Men of Lothian, who had obtained from
the king of Scotland, though reluctantly on his part, the glory of
striking the first blow, hurling their darts and presenting their
lances of extraordinary length, bore down upon the English knights
encased in armour, striking, as it were, against a wall of iron, they
found them impenetrable. The archers of King Stephen, mingling among
the cavalry, poured their arrows like a cloud upon them, piercing
those who were not protected by armour. Meanwhile the whole of the
Normans and English stood in one dense phalanx around the standard,
perfectly immoveable. The chief commander of the Men of Lothian fell
slain, on which the whole of his men took to flight. On seeing this,
the main body of the Scots, which was contending with the greatest
valour in another part of the field, was alarmed and fled. Next,
the king's troop, which King David had formed of several clans, as
soon as it perceived this, began to drop off: at first, man by man,
afterwards in bodies; the king standing firm, and being at last left
almost alone. The king's friends seeing this, forced him to mount his
horse and take to flight. But Henry, his valiant son, not heeding the
example of his men, but solely intent on glory and valour, bravely
charged the enemy's line, and shook it by the wondrous vigour of
his onset. For his troop was the only one mounted on horseback, and
consisted of _English and Normans who formed a part of his father's
household_. His horsemen, however, were not long able to continue
their attacks against soldiers on foot, cased in armour, and standing
immoveable in close and dense ranks; but, with their lances broken,
and their horses wounded, were compelled to fly. Rumour says that
many thousands of the Scots were slain on that field, besides those
who, being taken in the woods and standing corn, were put to death.
Accordingly, the English and Normans happily gained the victory, and
with a very small effusion of blood." The standard which gave to this
battle of Cuton Moor its popular name, was formed of a mast placed
on a car, having at its summit a silver pix containing the Host, and
beneath, three banners, those of St. Peter, St. John of Beverley, and
St. Wilfrid of Ripon.
The equipment of the Scandinavian heroes in the twelfth century has
come down to us in several cotemporary writings. The author of the
_Speculum Regale_, an Icelandic chronicle of this period, instructs
his son in his military duties: when combating on foot, he is to wear
his heavy armour, namely, a byrnie, or thick panzar[173] (_thungann
pannzara_), a strong shield (_skiold_) or buckler (_buklara_), and
a heavy sword. For naval actions the best weapons are long spears,
and for defence, panzars made of soft and well-dyed linen cloth,
together with good helmets (_hialmar_), pendant steel caps (_hangandi
stálhufur_), and broad shields[174]. The directions for a knight's
equipment are more minute: Let the horseman use this dress: first,
hose made of soft and well-prepared linen cloth, which should reach
to the breeches-belt (_broka-belltis_); then, above them, good
mail-hose (_bryn-hosur_), of such a height that they may be fastened
with a double string. Next, let him put on a good pair of breeches
(_bryn-brækur_), made of strong linen; on which must be fastened
knee-caps made of thick iron and fixed with strong nails. The upper
part of the body should first be clothed in a soft linen panzar
(_blautann panzara_), which should reach to the middle of the thigh;
over this a good breast-defence (_briost biorg_), of iron, extending
from the bosom to the breeches belt; above that a good byrnie, and
over all a good panzar of the same length as the tunic, but without
sleeves. Let him have two swords,--one girded round him, the other
hung at his saddle-bow; and a good dagger (_bryn-knif_). He must have
a good helm, made of tried steel, and provided with all defence for
the face (_met allri andlitz biaurg_); and a good and thick shield
suspended from his neck, especially furnished with a strong handle.
Lastly, let him have a good and sharp spear of tried steel furnished
with a strong shaft[175]. It will be remarked that the body is here
clothed in four different garments, one over the other; which
appear to be the _tunic_, reaching to mid-thigh; the breast-defence
of iron (whether formed in a single piece, or of several smaller
plates, does not appear); the _hauberk_ of the chain-mail, and the
_gambeson_, a quilted coat, made in this instance without sleeves.
Besides the weapons named above, the axe was still in favour among
the Northern warriors. By the ancient laws of Helsingia, every youth
on attaining the age of eighteen, was bound to furnish himself
with five kinds of warlike equipment: a sword, an axe, a helmet
(_jernhatt_), a shield, and a byrnie or a gambeson. A spirited
passage of Giraldus Cambrensis brings the Norwegian troops vividly
before us. Describing their attack upon Dublin, about 1172, he has:
"A navibus igitur certatim erumpentibus, duce Johanne, agnomine _the
wode_, quod Latine sonat insano vel vehementi, viri bellicosi Danico
more undique ferro vestiti, alii loricis longis, alii laminis ferreis
arte consutis, clipeis quoque rotundis et rubris, circulariter ferro
munitis, homines tam animis ferrei quàm armis, ordinatis turmis, ad
portam orientalem muros invadunt." The round painted shields edged
with metal will bring to remembrance the similar defences of the
Anglo-Saxons; and in the laminated cuirass we see another instance
of the _jazerant_ armour worn by Charlemagne. In King Sverrer's
_Saga_, written towards the close of the twelfth century, by the
abbot of Thingore in Iceland, and others, from the narrative of
the king himself, we have a curious passage: "Sverrer was habited
in a good byrnie, above it a strong gambeson (_panzara_), and over
all a red surcote (_raudan hiup_[176]). With these he had a wide
steel hat (_vida stálhufu_), similar to those worn by the Germans;
and beneath it a mail cap (_brynkollu_), and a 'panzara-hufu.' By
his side hung a sword, and a spear was in his hand[177]." From this
description it seems clear that those singular broad-rimmed helmets
found occasionally in monuments of the twelfth, thirteenth, and
fourteenth centuries, and more frequently in later times; of which
examples occur among the sculptures of the tomb of Aymer de Valence,
in Westminster Abbey, and on the great seal of Henry III., king of
Spain; were introduced into the north and west of Europe through
Germany; the Germans, on their part, probably deriving them from
the Italians; to whom this form of headpiece had come down from
the well-known _petasus_ of classic times. The _panzara-hufu_ was
probably a quilted coif worn under the steel hat. Compare Willemin,
vol. i., Plate CXLIII.; and see our woodcut, No. 56.
The Prussians in the twelfth century differ but little in their
appearance from the Anglo-Saxon warrior of the preceding age. They wear
the tunic, reaching to the knees, and belted at the waist; but, in lieu
of leg-bands, have tight hose. They have spears little exceeding their
own height, and the shield they carry is a mean between the kite and
the pear-shape. We derive these particulars from the curious figures of
the bronze doors of Gnesen Cathedral, given by Mr. Nesbitt in the ninth
volume of the Archæological Journal, (p. 345); the subject represented
being the Legend of Saint Adalbert. Hartknoch (_De Rebus Prussicis_)
tells us that the arms of the Prussians were clubs, swords, arrows,
spears and shields, and their dress consisted of a short tunic of
linen or undyed woollen cloth, tight linen chausses reaching to the
heels, and shoes of raw hide or bark.
Throughout the period which we are now investigating, the Clergy not
unfrequently appear in knightly equipment at siege and battle. But
in order to avoid an infringement of _the letter_ of the canons,
which forbade them to stain their hands with human blood, they armed
themselves with the mace or bâton. At the battle of Hastings, Odo,
bishop of Bayeux,--
"Un haubergeon aveit vestu
De sor une chemise blanche:
Lé fut li cors, juste la manche.
Sor un cheval tot blanc séeit:
Tote la gent le congnoisseit:
Un baston teneit en son poing."--_Rom. de Rou_, l. 13254.
In the disorders of Stephen's reign, the prelates appear to have
been still more frequently trespassers on the canons of the Church;
for the author of the _Gesta Stephani_ exclaims, "The bishops, the
bishops themselves, I blush to say it,--not all of them, but many,
bound in iron, and completely furnished with arms, were accustomed to
mount war-horses with the perverters of their country, to participate
in their prey." Everyone will remember the answer attributed to
Richard Cœur-de-Lion, who, when the pope required him to release
from captivity his spiritual "son," the bishop of Beauvais, sent
back the hauberk in which the prelate had been taken, adding, in
the words of the history of Joseph: "This have we found: know now
whether it be thy son's coat or no." The monk of St. Edmund's,
Jocelin of Brakelond, tells us under the year 1193: "Our abbot, who
was styled 'the Magnanimous Abbot,' went to the siege of Windsor,
where he appeared in armour, with _other abbots_ of England, having
his own banner, and retaining many knights at heavy charges; being
more remarkable there for his counsel than for his piety. But we
cloister-folks thought this act rather dangerous, fearing the
consequence, that some future abbot might be compelled to attend in
person on any warlike expedition."
On other occasions, however, the clergy fulfilled in the field duties
more in harmony with their peaceful calling,--attending the wounded
or consoling the dying. At the battle of Hastings, the Norman priests
gathered together on a hillock, where, during the contest, they
offered up prayers for their companions:--
"Li proveire è li ordené
En som un tertre sunt monté,
Por Dex préier è por orer."--_Wace_, l. 13081.
And frequent injunctions forbade these holy men from joining in
military exploits. Among the decrees of the synod of Westminster,
promulgated in 1175, we read: "Whoever would appear to belong to the
clergy, let them not take up arms, nor yet go about in armour. If
they despise this injunction, let them be mulcted with the loss of
their proper rank[178]."
The TACTICS of this period are pretty clearly exemplified by the
proceedings of Duke William at the field of Hastings. The army was
divided into three corps:--
"Normanz orent treiz cumpaignies,
Por assaillir en treiz parties."
The hired troops were placed in the first division, to bear the brunt
of the fight:--
"Li Boilogneiz é li Pohiers[179]
Aureiz, è _toz mes soldéiers_."
The second consisted of the Poitevins and Bretons,
"E del Maine toz li Barons."
The third corps was the largest:--
"E poiz li tiers ki plus grant tint."
And this, led by William himself, appears to have held the position
of a reserve:--
"E jo, od totes mes granz genz,
Et od amiz et od parenz,
Me cumbatrai par la grant presse,
U la bataille iert plus engresse[180]."
The battle was opened by the archers:--
"Cil a piè aloient avant
Serréement, lor ars portant."
The charge of the horse, as is well known, was preceded by the feat
of Taillefer, to whom the duke had accorded the privilege of striking
the first blow. The charge of the knights was at this time, and long
after, made in a single line, or _en haie_, as it was called; the
attack in squadrons being a much later practice. The Normans acted
against their opponents as well by the weight of the horse as by dint
of weapons. One knight--
"Assalt Engleiz o grant vigor
Od la petrine du destrier:
En fist maint li jor tresbuchier,
Et od l'espée, al redrecier,
Véissiez bien Baron aidier."--_Line_ 13491.
Another--
"----un Engleis ad encuntré,
Od li cheval l'a si hurté,
Ke mult tost l'a acraventé,
Et od li piez tot défolé[181]."--_Line_ 13544.
Spare horses and arms are provided for distinguished leaders:--
"Li Dus fist chevals demander:
Plusors en fist très li[182] mener.
Chescun out à l'arçon devant
Une espée bone pendant.
E cil ki li chevals menerent
Lances acérées porterent."--_Line_ 12699.
In the crusades, the European knights occasionally, though very
rarely, contended on foot; and the Princess Anna Comnena remarks
that the French men-at-arms, so terrible on horseback, are little
dangerous when dismounted[183].
To disorder the enemy's ranks by a simulated flight appears to have
been a favourite stratagem of the Normans. Duke William Sans-peur
used this device against the Germans before Rouen:--
"Li Normanz par voisdie[184] s'en alerent fuiant,
Por fere desevrer cels ki vindrent devant;
Et Alemanz desrengent, si vont esperonant:
As portes de Roen la vindrent randonant[185]."
_Wace_, l. 3972.
The similar incident of the battle of Hastings is in the recollection
of all:--
"Normanz aperchurent è virent
Ke Engleiz si se desfendirent
E si sunt fort por els desfendre,
Peti poeint sor els prendre:
Privéement unt cunseillié,
Et entrels unt aparaillié,
Ke des Engleiz s'esluignereient,
E de fuir semblant fereient."--_Line_ 13311.
Another device of Duke William on this eventful day was to assail
the English by a downward flight of arrows, for he had found that
the shields of his opponents had secured them from the effects of
a direct attack: "Docuit etiam dux Willielmus viros sagittarios ut
non in hostem directe, sed in aëra sursum sagittas emitterent cuneum
hostilem sagittis cæcarent: quod Anglis magno fuit detrimento[186]."
War-cries were still in vogue, and saintly relics and emblems were
regarded with a veneration commensurate with the power of the Church
and the confiding credulity of the soldiery. The sacred symbol of the
Cross is seen constantly on the shields of the knights; and one of
the barons of Rufus, on departing for the Crusades, tells the king
that his shield, his helmet, his saddle, and his horses, shall all
be marked with this holy device[187]. It was even found useful to
enrol mock-saints in the armies contending against the enemies of the
faith. Thus, in the contest between the Saracens in Sicily and Count
Roger, about the year 1070, Saint George mounted on a white horse is
seen to issue from the Christian ranks, and head the onslaught on the
unbelievers:--"Apparuit quidem eques splendidus in armis, equo albo
insidens, album vexillum in summitate hastilis alligatum ferens, et
desuper, splendidem crucem et quasi a nostrâ acie progrediens. Quo
viso nostri hilariores effecti Deum Sanctumque Georgium ingeminando
ipsum præcedentem promptissimè sunt secuti[188]." It is perhaps
unnecessary to say that the narrator of this incident gives it in
implicit belief of the saintly character of the splendid knight.
Not saints alone, but necromancers were occasionally attached
to military expeditions. Such an auxiliary, according to Wace,
accompanied Duke William in his expedition to England:--
"Un clers esteit al Duc venuz
Ainz ke de Some fust méuz:
D'Astronomie, ço diseit,
E de nigromancie saveit:
Por devinéor se teneit,
De plusurs choses sortisseit."--_Line_ 11673.
Having predicted a safe voyage to William, and the prediction having
been fulfilled, the duke remembered him of his _nigromancien_, and
desired that search might be made for this learned clerk. But the
poor fellow had himself been drowned in the passage:--
"En mer esteit, ço dist, néiez,
Et en un nef perilliez."
On which the duke wisely remarks:--
"Malement devina de mei,
Ki ne sout deviner de sei."
Adding:--
"Fol est ki se fie en devin,
Ki d'altrui ovre set la fin,
E terme ne set de sa vie:
D'altrui prend garde è sei s'oblie."
[Illustration: GREAT SEAL OF KING HENRY THE FIRST.
No. 28.]
In examining the BODY-ARMOUR of the period under review, though
we find some change in the adaptations of the old fabrics,--of
the quilted-work, of the interlinked chain-mail, of the scale and
jazerant,--there appears to be only one piece which is entirely
new,--the so-called _Plastron de fer_, a breastplate that was worn
beneath the gambeson or other armour that formed a general covering
for the body. In a preceding passage from the _Speculum Regale_, we
have read of a breast-defence of iron, extending from the throat to
the waist, which may have been the breastplate in question. But a
passage of Guillaume le Breton more exactly defines this contrivance.
In the encounter between Richard Cœur-de-Lion (then earl of Poitou),
and Guillaume des Barres:--
"Utraque per clipeos ad corpora fraxinus ibat,
Gambesumque audax forat et thoraca trilicem
Disjicit: ardenti nimium prorumpere tandem
_Vix obstat ferro fabricata patena recocto_,
Qua bene munierat pectus sibi cautus uterque."
_Philippidos_, lib. iii.
A further evidence of this additional arming of the breast may
be derived from the present practice of the East, where quilted
coats-of-fence have a lining of iron plates at that part only. In the
museum of the United Service Institution may be seen Chinese armours
of this construction.
[Illustration: No. 29.]
Though from written testimonies we learn that the fabrics already
enumerated were in use, and that the materials of the defences were
iron, leather, horn, and various kinds of quilting, it is by no
means easy to identify these structures in the pictorial monuments
of the day. Nothing perhaps can more strongly mark this fact, than
the diversity of interpretation that has been given to the armours
in the Bayeux tapestry by some of the latest and most critical
investigators of the subject. Von Leber sees in them a contrivance
of leather and metal bosses: "ein Lederwamms mit aufgenähten
Metallscheiben oder Metallbukeln[189]." M. Allou attires the warrior
in a "vêtement particulier formé d'anneaux ou de mailles de fer, ou
bien de petites pièces de même métal assemblées à la manière des
tuiles ou des écailles de poisson[190]." In the _Bulletin Monumental_
of the Société Française, vol. xi., page 519, we have: "On croit
distinguer, d'après l'indication de la broderie, des disques en métal
appliqués sur une jaque de cuir." Mr. Kerrich[191] considers the
coats marked with rounds as chain-mail. M. de Caumont has remarked
that "in the Bayeux tapestry some of the figures are in chain-mail,
and others in a kind of armour composed apparently of metallic discs
sewn to a leathern _jaque_[192]." In the following we have collected
the various modes of indicating the armour in this tapestry, and
it must be confessed that to appropriate each is no easy task. It
is indeed rather from a comparison with numerous other monuments,
than from the testimony of these examples alone, that one is able to
form any opinion as to the fabrics intended; and even at last the
conclusion _must_ be doubtful, and may be erroneous. From analogous
representations of various dates, however, it seems likely that the
figures 1 and 2 are intended for interlinked chain-mail; Nos. 3 and 4
for jazerant-work (armour formed of small plates fastened by rivets
to a garment of cloth or canvas); Nos. 5 and 6 appear to be plain
quilted defences; No. 7 seems only a rude attempt to represent the
quilted coif; No. 8 is one of many examples where different markings
are used on the same garment. In some instances, the markings copied
above are so strangely intermixed in the same dress, that one is
led to doubt if, in any case, each differing pattern is intended to
represent a different kind of armour.
If from the tapestries we turn to the seals of this period, we shall
find a similar difficulty in appropriating the armours represented.
The modes of marking the defences are four. One of these is a sort
of honeycomb-work, formed by a number of small, shallow, circular
apertures, leaving a raised line running round their edges, so as to
give a reticulated appearance to the surface. See woodcuts 42 and 43.
This texture seems to represent interlinked chain-mail. A second mode
consists of a series of lines crossing each other, so as to form a
trellis-work of lozenges.
[Illustration: GREAT SEAL OF KING STEPHEN.
No. 30.]
The great seal of King Stephen here given affords an instance of
this method. Compare also woodcut No. 41. This, if not another
conventional mode of representing interlinked chain-mail, may be
intended for quilted armour. A third kind of engraving presents a
number of raised half-circles covering the surface of the hauberk.
See woodcut No. 26. This, though often described as scale-armour,
seems to be no more than the ordinary chain-mail, the difficulty of
representing which threw the middle-age artists upon a variety of
expedients to obtain a satisfactory result. In the fourth method,
lines of half-circles placed contiguously cover the whole exterior of
the garment; and that this is another mode of indicating chain-mail
is clearly proved by the similar work found on monuments of all
kinds, even to the sixteenth century. See woodcut No. 1, fig. 1.
From this glimpse at the seals and tapestries, (and the illuminated
manuscripts of the period contribute similar testimony,) we may
gather that the artists of this day had no uniform method of
depicting the knightly harness; so that, instead of endeavouring to
find a different kind of armour for every varying pattern of the
limners, we should rather regard the varied patterns of the limners
as so many rude attempts to represent a few armours. In the following
sketch we have collected some of the methods in use at various times
to indicate the ordinary interlinked chain-mail.
[Illustration: No. 31.]
Figure 1 is the most usual, and is found from the twelfth century to
the sixteenth. See woodcut No. 1, the seal of King Richard I. Late
examples occur in the brass of Sir William Molineux, 1548[193]; in
the sculptured effigy of Sir Giles Daubeny in Westminster Abbey; and
in the statue of Sir Humfrey Bradburne, on his monument in Ashborne
Church, Derbyshire, 1581. Fig. 2 is seen on our woodcuts 32, 37,
and 53, from manuscript miniatures: it occurs in sculpture among
the effigies of the Temple Church, London. Fig. 3 is of frequent
appearance. See woodcut No. 59. The most ancient monumental brass
extant, that of Sir John D'Aubernoun, (woodcut 55,) also exhibits
this mode of indicating the armour. Fig. 4 occurs in the brass of
Sir Richard de Buslingthorpe, c. 1280, figured by Waller, Part x.
Fig. 5 is from one of the effigies in the Temple Church: the lines
are undulating channels in the stone. Fig. 6 is from the sculptured
effigy of Rudolf von Thierstein, at Basle: engraved in Hefner's
Costumes, part ii., Plate XLI. Fig. 7 occurs on the monumental statue
of Sir Walter Arden, in Aston Church, Warwickshire[194]. Fig. 8 is
found in early woodcuts: as in the _Morte d'Arthur_, printed by
Wynkyn de Worde in 1498. Fig. 9: an early example of this marking
occurs in Willemin's _Monuments Inédits_, vol. i., Plate 30; a late
one (sixteenth century) in the incised slab of a Bagot, in the church
of Blithfield, Staffordshire. Fig. 10: a variety of the foregoing.
See Hefner's _Trachten_, part i., Plate LXV., and part ii., Plate
XXXIV. Fig. 11: from an ivory chess-piece of the thirteenth century:
woodcut No. 69. The lines are incised, the rounds are punctured. Fig.
12 is a very frequent pattern. It appears in the Bayeux tapestry, in
manuscript miniatures, and in ivory carvings. See the chess-piece
engraved in _Archæologia_, XXIV. 238, from the Isle of Lewis; and
compare the figures of that very curious Asiatic roll in the Museum
of the Royal Asiatic Society. Fig. 13: this trellis-work is common
in seals of the twelfth century. See our woodcuts No. 30 and 41. The
lozenges are slightly sunk, the fillets in relief. Fig. 14: found in
the Bayeux tapestry; in the _Bible de St. Martial_ of the Imperial
Library of Paris, twelfth century; and in Add. MS., 15,277, of the
fifteenth century, where the mailing is expressed throughout in this
manner. The Asiatic roll named above has it also. Fig. 15: from the
statuette of "Sir de la Tremouille," 1514, in the collection at
Goodrich Court. The figure is of steel, and the squares appear to
have been formed by a punch. Fig. 16: from the sculptured effigy of
a Berkeley in Bristol Cathedral. The markings are channels in the
stone. Fig. 17: from Roy. MS., 14, E. iv. The mailing in this volume
is expressed by close, fine lines: the manuscript is of the fifteenth
century. Fig. 18: the honeycomb-work found on early seals. The great
seal of King Stephen (woodcut 42) affords a good example. The rounds
are depressed, the edges have a reticulated appearance. Figs. 19 and
20: from the illuminations of a Sanscrit MS. in the British Museum,
(Add. MSS., 15,295-7.) These very curious volumes abound in armed
figures, which are large, and carefully finished. Fig. 21: from
Egerton MS., No. 809, twelfth century; and Add. MS. 15,268, of the
thirteenth century. Fig. 22: from Harleian MS., 2803. This differs
but little from fig. 20; but fig. 20 has more of the _scale_ form,
while this is rather of _ring_-work. Fig. 23 is a marking found in
early etchings, and very well represents the texture of chain-mail.
As we have already seen, the Body-armours which may most safely be
assigned to early Norman times are chain-mail, quilted-work, jazerant,
scale, and a small proportion of plate used as an additional protection
to the breast: the materials, iron, leather, and horn, with wool, tow,
or cotton for quilting pourpointed defences. The ordinary series of
body-garments worn by the knight are the Tunic, the Gambeson and the
Hauberk. The Surcoat, though found in some rare instances at the close
of the twelfth century, does not become a characteristic part of the
knightly equipment till the thirteenth century.
The Tunic appearing from beneath the hauberk may be seen in the seals
of Alexander I. of Scotland, and of Richard I. of England, (cuts 1 and
27,) and in the accompanying group from Harleian Roll, Y. 6, the "Life
of Saint Guthlac," a work of the close of the twelfth century. Compare
also woodcuts 34, 35, and 40. We have already had written notice of
this garment in the "blautann panzara" of the _Speculum Regale_. Wace
gives it also to Bishop Odo, for the field of Hastings:--
"Un haubergeon aveit vestu
De sor une chemise-blanche."
[Illustration: No. 32.]
The Gambeson (or Wambasium[195],) was a quilted garment, used either
alone, or with other armour. This defence is as early as the Ancient
Egyptians, and figured examples of it may be seen in Sir Gardner
Wilkinson's work, Plate III., and cut 46, (ed. 1837). From a curious
passage of the _Chronicon Colmariense_ we learn that it was stuffed
with wool, tow, or old rags:--"_Armati_ reputabantur qui galeas
ferreas in capitibus habebant, et qui _wambasia_, id est, tunicam
spissam ex lino et stuppa, vel veteribus pannis consutam, et desuper
_camisiam ferream_, id est vestem ex circulis ferreis contextam." An
ancient authority quoted by Adelung has also: "vestimenti genus, quod
de coactili ad mensuram et tutelam pectoris humani conficitur, de
mollibus lanis," &c.
As the sole armour of the soldier, the gambeson is mentioned both by
Wace and Guillaume le Breton. The former tells us, in his description
of the troops of Duke William preparing for the fight:--
"Plusors orent vestu gambais."--_Rom. de Rou_, l. 12811.
The latter says:--
"Pectora tot coriis, tot gambesonibus armant."
--_Philipp._, lib. ii.
These were probably foot-troops; but a document of the next century
shews us that horsemen were sometimes armed in the wambais only.
In 1285, land in Rewenhall, Essex, is held by Eustace de Ho, "per
serjantiam inveniendi unum hominem equitem cum uno gambesone in
exercitu Dom. Regis, cum contigerit ipsum ire in Wallia, sumptibus
suis propriis per XL. dies[196]." It seems likely that many of
these quilted coats-of-fence were reinforced by plates of iron
over the breast, as in the pourpointed armours of the East in the
present day. As an additional reason for considering the defences
of gamboised work to be those indicated by the cross-lines of the
ancient vellum-pictures, we may mention that the garments thus
marked are occasionally tinted in various colours. Thus, the figures
in a Massacre of the Innocents, in Cotton MS., Caligula, A. vii.,
are painted with red, blue, green, and buff; and another in Count
Bastard's work, from a French manuscript of the twelfth century, has
the garment marked with stripes of red[197]. The "Aketon" appears to
be but another name for the gambeson.
[Illustration: No. 33.]
The Hauberk was the chief knightly defence. It reached to the knees;
the skirt sometimes opening in front, sometimes at the sides. The
sleeves usually terminated at the elbow, but occasionally extended to
the wrist. Sometimes the hauberk reached as high as the neck only,
but more generally it was continued so as to form a coif, leaving
only the face of the knight exposed to view. In many examples in
the Bayeux tapestry, it is furnished with a kind of pectoral, the
construction of which has not been ascertained: in other cases, the
whole surface is of a uniform structure. In this rude but curious
little figure from Harleian MS., 603[198], a work of the close of the
eleventh century, probably executed in France, we have a good example
of the hauberk of the period, with its short sleeves, and the skirts
open in front for convenience of riding. This is exactly the hauberk
of the Bayeux tapestry, though more clearly depicted here than in
the needle-work of the tapestry. The rounds on the surface appear to
be a conventional mode of representing chain-mail. The figure is that
of Goliath, to whom therefore has been given the long beard and round
target of the pagan Northmen. He wears, however, the conical nasal
helmet of the knightly order.
In this example, from Cottonian MS., Nero, C. iv. fol. 13, written
in France, about 1125, we have a curious instance of the hauberk
with lateral openings at the skirt. It is remarkable also for the
manner in which the sword is carried partially beneath the hauberk;
a contrivance seen also in the Bayeux tapestry, (Plate VI.,) and of
which analogous examples will be found throughout the middle-ages.
In the figure before us, it will be observed that the defence is
continued over the head as a coif or hood, and is surmounted by the
usual conical nasal helmet, or "Casque Normand." The subject of which
this forms part, is the Massacre of the Innocents. The stigma of a
moustache is therefore added, in the same spirit as the beard was
given to Goliath in the preceding example.
[Illustration: No. 34.]
The continuous Coif to the hauberk is seen constantly in the Bayeux
tapestry, (Stothard, Plates X. to XIII.). It occurs also on many of
the seals of the twelfth century, (see our cuts, No. 27, 43 and 44;)
and in vellum-paintings of this time, (see cuts 32, 34, 37 and 38).
The hood of mail made separately from the hauberk does not appear
till the thirteenth century. The short sleeves of this garment are
seen in our woodcuts 25, 32 and 38. Examples of the long-sleeved
hauberk occur in cuts 28, 37, 42 and 43.
The Haubergeon, as the name indicates, was a smaller hauberk; though
it does not appear by the pictorial monuments of the middle ages
in what it especially differed from the latter defence. While Duke
William, preparing for the battle of Hastings,--
"Sun boen _haubert_ fist demander;"
Bishop Odo--
"Un _haubergeon_ aveit vestu."
The Duke was armed with lance and sword; the Prelate--
"Un _baston_ teneit en son poing."
All which seems to shew that Odo was equipped as a light-armed
fighter. And perhaps we may gather from the prominent notice accorded
to his "white tunic," that it was the _shortness_ of the haubergeon
which caused that garment to be so particularly remarked. In
documents of the thirteenth century, the haubergeon is distinguished
from the hauberk and gambeson, taking its place between them. Thus
the Statute of Arms of 1252 directs every man, according to the rate
of his lands and chattels, to provide himself with the _lorica_, or
with the _habergetum_, or with the _perpunctum_. And the Statute
of Winchester, in 1285, makes the same distinction. From Guillaume
Guiart we learn that this garment was of mail:--
"Armez de cotes a leurs tailles,
Et de bons hauberjons a mailles."--_Sub an._ 1304.
And the Teloneum S. Audomari has: "Lorica, IV. denar.; Lorica minor,
quæ vulgo _Halsbergol_ dicitur, II. den."
Body-armour of Leather is found throughout the middle ages. According
to Wace, some of the Norman soldiers in the Conqueror's train had
defences of this material fastened to their breasts:--
"Alquanz unt bones coiriés,
K'il unt à lor ventre liés."--_Line_ 12,809.
And Guillaume le Breton in the "Philippidos" has,--
"Pectora tot _coriis_, tot gambesonibus armant;"--
while a passage cited by Ducange shews us that, sometimes at least,
this cuirass was of leather boiled in oil; a material much in vogue
in the middle-ages, under the name of "cuir boulli:"--
"Cuirie ot bonne, qui fust de cuir boilly."
[Illustration: No. 35.]
A good example of the Scale-armour worn occasionally about the close
of the eleventh century is afforded in the following group, given
by Hefner[199] from a vellum-painting in his possession. The armour
in the original is silvered, and the pendent scales of the foremost
figure are ornamented with bosses of gold. The tunics are white,
shaded with blue. The Princess Anna Comnena tells us that some of
the French knights at this period were clothed in scale-armour[200].
The material of the scale-armour is occasionally Horn. In the twelfth
century, the Emperor Henry V. clothed a body of his troops in an
impenetrable scale-armour of horn: "So trug im Jahre 1115 eine Schaar
im Heere Heinrichs V. undurchdringliche Harnische von Horn[201]." And
in the poem of "Wigalois," written about the close of the twelfth
century, we have a curious description of this horn-mail worn over
the hauberk and richly adorned with gold and precious stones:--
"Ein brunne het er an geleit
Uber einen wizzen halsperch.
Daz was heidenischez werch
Von _breiten blechen hurnin_;
Mit golde waren geleit dar in
Rubin, und manec edel stein
Der glast da wider einander schein
Saffire und berillen."
[Illustration: No. 36.]
The accompanying little figure from Harleian MS., No. 603, fol.
13^{vo}., appears to wear a defence of scale-work, but of what material
it is difficult to say. The original is a pen-drawing only: the
manuscript, of the close of the eleventh century. The figure is further
curious for the mantle fastened at the right shoulder by a fibula.
From the monuments of this time, it does not appear that leg-defences
were general. In the Bayeux tapestry they are accorded only to the most
distinguished personages: in these cases, they are generally marked
with rounds, as the hauberks are, probably indicating chain-mail. In
this tapestry, three other modes of clothing the leg are seen: in some
figures the crossing lines forming lozenges are found, which we have
assumed to be pourpointerie; in others appear the fasciæ, or winding
bands, which we have already observed among the Anglo-Saxons: and in
many, the chausses are merely represented of a single colour, as red,
blue, or yellow; which does not seem to imply armour of any kind. Wace
makes mention of iron chausses:--
"Chevaliers ont haubers è branz,
Chauces de fer, helmes luizanz."--_Line_ 12,813.
They are seen in the great seals of Richard the First, (cut 1,) and
in other monuments of the twelfth century. In this curious group of
David and Goliath, from a German manuscript in the British Museum,
dated 1148[202], we have a singular example of studded chausses: the
chain-work of the hauberk being marked in rows of half-circles, and
coloured grey in the original, the chausses marked in rounds, and
silvered, it becomes clear that the latter garment is of a different
construction from the coat. From its being elastic, as shewn at the
foot, it probably was a defence of pourpointerie, the bossed rivets
being for the purpose of keeping the quilting in its place.
[Illustration:
PLATE XXXVII.]
[Illustration: No. 38.]
Such defences are frequently seen in monuments of the fourteenth
century, and real armour of this fabric will be found among the
Eastern examples in the Tower collection and the United Service
Museum. Where the chausses are not of a defensive construction,
the warrior has commonly short boots, similar to those seen on the
figure of David in the foregoing woodcut. In the following example
they are of a more ornamental character than usual; and the chausses
in this figure are also of a peculiar fashion. The subject is from
Harl. MS. 2803, written about 1170, and represents Goliath. The short
boot occurs likewise on the seals of William the Conqueror and of
Alexander I. of Scotland, (cuts 25 and 27). See also examples from
illuminated manuscripts in our engravings 32, 34 and 36. At the close
of the eleventh century, the fashion of the boots ran into an excess
which much disturbed the equanimity of churchmen and chroniclers.
"Then," says Malmesbury, under the reign of William Rufus, "was
there flowing hair and extravagant dress; and then was invented the
fashion of shoes with curved points." (Bk. iv. c. 1.) This device is
said to have originated with Fulk, earl of Anjou, who sought thus to
hide a deformity of his feet. Ordericus Vitalis, who gives us the
information, adds, that the fashion soon spread, and the shoemakers
made their wares with points like a scorpion's tail: "unde sutores
in calceamentis quasi caudas scorpionum, quas vulgo _Pigacias_
appellant, faciunt." This not being enough, a fellow of the court of
Rufus,--"Robertus quidam _nebulo_ in curia Rufi Regis,"--filling the
peak with tow, twisted it round in the form of a ram's horn; a fancy
much approved by the courtiers, who distinguished the inventor of the
fashion with the surname of Cornardus. (Eccl. Hist., lib. viii.)
[Illustration: No. 39.]
Examples of the Mantle worn over the armour are somewhat rare. The
two following illustrations, from monuments of the twelfth century,
exhibit this arrangement. The first is from a sculptured doorway of
Ruardean Church, in Gloucestershire, and represents St. George. The
cloak is here fastened by a fibula in front. The second subject is
from an enamel preserved at the Louvre. The patriarch Abraham, armed
as a knight, with hauberk and nasal helmet, has his mantle fastened
at the right shoulder. Another subject from this enamel is engraved
in the _Revue Archéologique_, vol. vi., page 99: Heraclius slaying
Cosroes. "Eraclius Rex" is armed exactly like the figure of Abraham
before us, and though engaged in the decollation of the infidel
monarch, still retains the flowing and capacious mantle. See also,
for the cloak of this period, our woodcut No. 36, and "Glossary of
Architecture," vol. ii., Plate LXXIII.
[Illustration: No. 40.]
The characteristic Helmet of this time is the conical nasal helmet,
of which we have seen examples in the close of the former period.
The face-guard, or nasal, was a revival from classic days. Good
examples, of Greek art, appear among the figures on the tympana of
the temple of Minerva at Ægina; careful casts of which have been
placed in the collection at Sydenham. The nasal helmet is found, not
alone in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, but occasionally in
every century down to the seventeenth. In the Bayeux tapestry it is
almost universal, the nasal being much broader than that of Greek
times, the crown conical, and not much raised above the head. In
some cases tasselled cords appear at the back of the head-piece (see
Plate XI. of the tapestry), which may have served to fasten it to the
coif below; but the chief fastening of the casque was by means of
laces meeting under the chin. See the seal of William the Conqueror
(woodcut 25), and the excellent example in the Kerrich Collections,
from a sculpture at Modena (Add. MSS., 6728, fol. 17). The round and
flat-topped helmets of the twelfth century have also the nasal. Of
the first an instance occurs in the seal of Patrick Dunbar, earl of
March, engraved in Laing's "Scottish Seals." The second appears in
the figures of the Harleian Roll, Y. 6, (woodcut 32). In seals, it is
often very difficult to tell whether a nasal has existed or not, from
the melting of the wax, and from this defence following so closely
the line of the face. In some rare instances, a sort of peak is used
instead of the nasal, not descending below the eyebrows. See Plate 65
of Hefner's "Costumes;" and compare the figure on folio 9 of Cotton.
MS., Tiber., C. vi., an example of Anglo-Saxon times. To the nasal
helmet, cheek-pieces and a neck-defence were occasionally added.
These pieces are also found on Greek examples, and appear, too, in
modern Eastern armour; as may be seen in the helmet of Tippoo Saib,
preserved in the India House Museum. The casque with neck-piece
appears in the Bayeux tapestry (see Plate IX.), and on the seal of
Stephen de Curzun, (Cotton Charter, V. 49). The nasal helmet with
neck-guard and cheek-defences occurs among the chess-pieces found in
the Isle of Lewis, and now in the British Museum.
[Illustration: No. 41.]
The helmets not having nasals are chiefly conical, round and
flat-topped. The old combed form of Anglo-Saxon times occurs in Harl.
MS. 603, fol. 13^{vo}., a book of the close of the eleventh century.
The Phrygian form appears in Harl. MS. 2800, fol. 21 of vol. ii.,
a work of the close of the twelfth century. The conical casque is
found in the annexed seal of Conan, duke of Britanny, circa 1165:
from Harl. Chart., 48, G. 40. The round-topped helmet is seen on the
first seal of Richard I., (woodcut 1, fig. 1,) and in many examples
in Cotton MS., Titus, D. xvi. The cylindrical or flat-topped helmet
appears to have come into fashion towards the close of the twelfth
century. In its earliest form it resembled that on the second seal
of Richard I., (woodcut 1, fig. 2,) and the similar examples figured
in Stothard's Monuments, Plate XXIV., and Surtees' Durham, vol. i.
p. 24, and vol. ii. p. 139. In all these examples the casque is
of one piece, having two horizontal clefts for vision, and being
strengthened by bands crossing each other over the face and on the
top. The Durham examples are without ornament, but the helmet of
Richard has a fan-crest, ensigned in its lower portion with a lion.
The seal of Baldwin, earl of Flanders, circa 1191, badly engraved by
Vredius, offers another early example of the flat-topped knightly
helm. The cylindrical casque common in the next century differs from
this in having a _grated ventail_; by which a better supply of air
could always be obtained by the warrior, and a still more abundant
provision occasionally acquired by opening the ventaglia, which to
this end was constructed with hinges at the side. Some varieties
of the casque worn during the twelfth century may be seen in the
_Archæologia_, vol. xxiv., copied by Sir Frederic Madden from the
Isle of Lewis chess-pieces in the British Museum. Among these will be
remarked the "Iron Hat," with its round crown and flat rim, of which
we have already traced the descent from the _petasus_ of classic
times[203]. Sometimes the helmets are surmounted with a kind of knop
or button; as in the picture given by Silvestre from a Latin Horace
in the Paris Library[204]; in the seal of William the Conqueror, in
the Bayeux tapestry, and in the Spanish manuscript of the year 1109
in the British Museum, (Add. MS. 11,695, fol. 194).
The fan-crest represented in the seal of Richard I. is a very early
instance of a fashion which came into more favour towards the close
of the thirteenth century. Fan-crests, as we have seen, were in use
among the Ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, and again
among the Anglo-Saxons. But they do not appear during the rule of
the Norman kings in England till the end of the thirteenth century;
except in this single instance of Richard's seal. It may perhaps be
doubted if the monarch ever wore such a decoration: an embellishment,
perhaps, added by the seal-engraver from some monument of classic
times. This seems the more likely from the fact that, in classic
examples, the union of a fan-crest with a casque adorned on its sides
with an animal form, is of constant occurrence. Among a thousand
examples that might be cited, we may quote, as a readily accessible
authority, Montfaucon's _Antiquité Expliquée_, vol. i., Plate XLII.
At a later period of the middle-ages, this combination is again
found: the helmet on the seal of Reinald, Graf von Geldern in 1343,
has a striking resemblance to that of Richard: a lion is figured on
the part surmounting the crown of the head, and over that again is
placed the fan-crest. A copy of this monument may be seen in the
useful series of "Ancient Seals" in the collection at Sydenham. Early
examples of the casque ornamented with a heraldic device on its
_surface_ are offered by the enamelled tablet at Le Mans, attributed
to Geoffry of Anjou, (Stothard, Plate II.,) and the effigy of "Johan
le Botiler," circa 1300, engraved in our woodcut No. 74.
The Shields of this period are chiefly the kite-shaped, the triangular,
and the round. The first two are sometimes flat, and sometimes bowed;
the round are flat or convex. The kite-shield is of most frequent
occurrence during the earlier part of the period under examination, the
triangular during the latter. As the round target was most convenient
for the foot-fighter, so the kite-shield, broad in its upper part, so
as to cover the body of the warrior, and narrow where the leg only
required to be defended, and where the position of the knight on his
horse necessitated a tapering form, seems to have been most in favour
with the horseman. The bowed kite-shield is very distinctly shewn in
many cotemporary monuments: in Cotton MS., Titus, D. xvi., of the close
of the eleventh century; in the curious pyx from the collection of the
late T. Crofton Croker, Esq., engraved in the "Gentleman's Magazine"
for 1833; in Harl. MS., 2895, fol. 82; in the enamelled figure
attributed to Geoffry of Anjou; and in the seals of King Stephen,
(woodcuts 30 and 42). The Princess Anna Comnena, at the close of the
eleventh century, tells us that the shields of the French crusading
knights were of this fashion:--"For defence they bear an impenetrable
shield, not of a round, but of an oblong shape; broad at the upper
part and terminating in a point. The surface is not flat, but convex,
so as to embrace the person of the wearer; an umbo of shining brass is
in the middle; and the exterior face is of metal so highly polished by
frequent rubbing as to dazzle the eyes of the beholder[205]."
The flat kite-shield is not always to be identified in the drawings
of the time, because the shadeless outlines of the limners may pass
for either flat or bowed surfaces. But that some at least of those
in the Bayeux tapestry were flat, seems clear from the soldiers
using them as trays on which to set the cups and dishes of their
"Prandium." (See Plate XI.) Ivory carvings also shew the flat
kite-shield: the Isle of Lewis chessmen afford good examples.
As we have seen from the above passage of Anna Comnena, the old
Northern fashion of the boss or umbo was still occasionally retained;
but such an adjunct to a horseman's target seems rather for ornament
than use. The bossed kite-shield occurs in the enamel of Geoffrey
Plantagenet; in the pyx named above; and in Harl. MS. 2895, fol. 82.
[Illustration: GREAT SEAL OF KING STEPHEN.
No. 42.]
In lieu of the convex boss, the shield has sometimes a projecting
spike; as in the great seal of King Stephen, here given; and in the
first seal of Richard I. It occurs also in the seals of William de
Romara (temp. Hen. I.), in the office of the Duchy of Lancaster, and
of a Curzun (Cotton Charter, V. 49).
About the middle of the twelfth century appears the triangular
shield,--a form obtained by reducing the arched top of the kite to
a straight, or nearly straight, line. This variety also was either
bowed or flat; and though the earliest examples are as tall as the
kite-shields of the eleventh century, the triangular target soon
became much reduced in its height. The form of this defence, both the
flat and the bowed kind, may be seen in the seals of Henry II. and
Richard I. (cuts 1 and 44), the figures from Hefner's _Trachten_,
(cut 35), and those from Harleian Roll, Y. 6 (cut 32).
The round shield is of more rare appearance. It occurs in Harl. MS.
603, of the close of the eleventh century; in the Spanish MS. of 1109,
already cited; and in the Psalter of Eadwine, circa 1150. Though the
circular target does not often appear in miniature paintings, it is
probable that it was in frequent use among the foot troops.
The kite and triangular shields were provided with straps for
attachment to the arm and for suspension round the neck. The first
were called _enarmes_:--
"Por la crieme des dous gisarmes,
L'escu leva par les enarmes."
_Wace, Rom. de Rou_, l. 13,450.
"Li Dus vit sa gent resortir:
Par les enarmes prinst l'escu."--_Idem_, l. 13,880.
There was some variety in their arrangement, but the object was
always to attach the shield to the fore-arm: the round target of
the Anglo-Saxons, on the contrary, was held at arm's-length by a
bar grasped by the hand. Examples of the _enarmes_ of this period
may be found in Plate V. of the Bayeux tapestry. See also the seal
of Henry II., (woodcut 43). The _guige_ or strap for suspension has
already been described, as to its purpose, in our first division.
It is represented in our woodcuts 32, 35, 42 and 43. By aid of the
_guige_, the shield, when not in use, could be carried at the back.
An example, of the close of the twelfth century, is offered by a
vellum-painting of Harl. MS. 2800, vol. ii. fol. 21. It is also seen
in the very curious carved church-door from Iceland, figured at page
103 of Mr. Worsaae's "Copenhagen Museum."
The Devices upon the Shields in the earlier part of the period under
examination are devotional or fanciful. In the second half of the
twelfth century, heraldic bearings that became hereditary, began
to appear. The earlier shield-paintings consist of crosses, rounds
or bezants, dragons, interlacing bands, flat tints bordered with a
different hue, or simple flat tints; with some varieties which the
pencil only can explain with clearness. Numerous examples of these
in all their diversity will be found in the Bayeux tapestry, in Sir
Frederic Madden's paper on the Isle of Lewis chessmen, (_Archæol._,
vol. xxiv.) and among the plates of Shaw's "Dresses and Decorations."
The two seals of Richard the First very exactly mark the growth of the
science of heraldry. In the earliest, the monarch's shield is ensigned
with the symbol of valour, a lion. (See woodcut, No. 1). But it is a
rampant lion, and as the bowed shield presents only one half of its
surface to view, it has been conjectured that the complete device would
consist of two lions combatant. This device, whether of one or two
lions, has passed away, among the serpents and knot-work of the earlier
time; but the bearing on Richard's second seal, three lions passant
gardant, retains its place in the royal escutcheon to the present day.
In this second seal of Richard (see woodcut, No. 1, fig. 2), the lion
passant appears also on the helmet of the monarch. Another example of
the repetition of a royal device is afforded by the seal of Alexander
II. of Scotland (circa 1214), where the lion rampant figured on the
shield is repeated on the saddle. (Cotton Charters, xix. 2.)
The shields were often highly decorated with painting, and even, if
we may interpret literally the evidences of chroniclers, with inlaid
jewels. Examples of richly ornamented shields of the twelfth century
may be seen in Shaw's "Dresses and Decorations," and in Harl. MS.
2895, fol. 82. Robert of Aix, in the eleventh century, writing of the
first crusade, tells us that the European knights carried shields
"auro et gemmis inserti variisque coloribus depicti."
On board ship, the knights arranged their shields along the side of
the vessel, so as to form a kind of bulwark. This is very clearly
shewn in Plates II. and X. of the Bayeux tapestry.
And when at length the knight fell in battle, his kite-shield served
him for a bier. The nephew of the emperor Otho having been slain
before Rouen, the Germans--
"O li cors se trahistrent el chief d'une valée;
Sor un escu l'ont miz, la teste desarmée."
_Roman de Rou_, l. 4024.