de Troyes (page 260), who writes: “Si y eut un cheval tout barde de
cuir bouilli qui fut tue d’un coup de coulverine.” This refers to
the date 1465, when firearms were but primitive weapons. Dressed
leather, however, in the form of the buff coat was used up to the
middle of the seventeenth century, when the penetrating power of
the bullet was greater. At the same time we should remember, as
Marshal Saxe very truly points out in his advocacy of plate armour
(_Rêveries_, p. 58), that many wounds at this time were caused
by sword, lance, and spent bullet, all of which might have been
avoided by the use of some thick material. The Marshal suggests
sheet-iron sewn upon a buff coat, but the buff coat itself, ⅜ in.
thick, would be a very adequate, though hot and heavy, protection
without the addition of metal.
The leather guns of Gustavus Adolphus will be found mentioned in
the following pages, but these were only covered with leather,
presumably to protect them from wet, and were not made entirely of
this material. We have no record of cuir-bouilli being employed
to make artillery, and of course the chief reason against its use
would be the weakness of the seam or join.
[Illustration: FIG. 50. Hat of Bradshaw the regicide, of leather
and steel. Ashmolean Mus., Oxford.]
The only use of leather or cuir-bouilli for defensive armour found
at the present day is found in the small bucklers of the hill
tribes of India. These are often so skilfully treated that the
leather is transparent and is almost impervious to a sword-cut,
forming a very fair defence against the bullet from the primitive
flintlocks in use among those tribes.
The leather hat reinforced with steel plates given at Fig. 50 was
worn by the regicide Bradshaw at the trial of Charles I.[116]
REFERENCES TO LEATHER AND CUIR-BOUILLI FROM CONTEMPORARY DOCUMENTS
1185. _Chanson d’Antioche._
Moult fu riches qu’il li a chief mi
Son poitrail lui laca qui fu de cuir bolis.
The “poitrail” in this extract is the breastplate of the knight and
not of the horse.
1278. _Roll of Purchases for the Tournament at Windsor Park._
De Milon le Cuireur xxxviij quiret: p’c pec iij s.
Itm. ij Crest & j Blazon & una galea cor & j ensis de Balon de
Rob’o Brunnler xxxviij galee de cor p’c galee xiv.
This tournament seems to have been more of a pageant than a serious
contest like those of the fifteenth century. No armour of metal is
mentioned among the purchases and the weapons are of whalebone,
a material which was used also for gauntlets, as we know from
Froissart’s[117] description of the equipment of the troops of
Philip von Artevelde at the battle of Rosebecque in 1382. Whalebone
was also employed for “privy coats” or brigandines, in which it
was inserted between the lining and the cover. Buckram is also
mentioned as being used for body-armour, which material will be
found alluded to in the section devoted to the Linen Armourers.
1345. _Les Livres de Comptes des Freres Bonis_, I. 174, Forestie.
Item deu per un brasalot ... de cuer negre.
1351. _Ordonnances du roi Jean IV_, 69.
Ordenons que l’arbalestrier ... sera arme de plates ... et de
harnois de bras de fer et de cuir.
These brassards of cuir-bouilli seem to have been common in the
fourteenth century; their popularity being doubtless due to their
lightness and cheapness as compared with metal. M. Buttin in
his interesting pamphlet _Le Guet de Genève_[118] gives several
extracts from inventories and other documents which bear out this
statement.
1350. _Rime of Sir Thopas_, Chaucer.
His jambeux were of curebully.
[Illustration: _PLATE XXV_
DRAWING BY JACOB TOPF, 1530-1597
FROM THE “ARMOURER’S ALBUM,” VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM]
[Illustration: _PLATE XXVI_
ARMOUR OF SIR CHRISTOPHER HATTON, BY JACOB TOPF]
The skilfully modelled jambs and poleynes which appear on many
brasses and effigies of the fourteenth century rather suggest that
leather was used and not metal, as the rest of the armour does not
show such skill of forging. These leg-pieces are nearly always
shown as richly engraved, which also points to the suggestion that
they were of cuir-bouilli, which would be an easier material to
decorate with painting or modelling than metal.
1411. _Inventorie de l’ecurie du roi, f. 108 vo._
Une armure de cuir de Surie pour armer l’homme et le cheval.
1450. _Traité d’un Tournoi_, Roi René.
En Brebant, Flandres et Haynault at en ces pays la vers Almaignes
... mettant unes bracieres grosses de 4 dois d’espez et remplies
de cotton sur quoys ils arment les avant bras et les garde-bras
de cuir bouilly.
This entry may be compared with that of the Windsor Park
Tournament quoted above. King René’s book has the advantage of
being illustrated with drawings of these and all the other details
mentioned in his regulations for a tourney. The brassards shown in
the drawing have cords fixed lengthways so as to provide an extra
protection against the blow of the mace or wooden sword which René
describes as the weapons to be used. Brassards of a similar kind
are mentioned in Antoine de la Salle’s _Des anciens tournois et
Faictz d’Armes_ (edit. B. Prost., p. 120).
1471. _Inv. du Roi Rene à Angers, fo. 3 vo._
Quatre targetes de cuir bouilly a la facon de Tunes.
These targets, made after an Oriental model, would probably
resemble those which are frequently seen in India and Persia at the
present day, in which the leather is hard and often highly polished
and decorated with painting and gilding. The Highland targe is
fashioned differently, for the foundation is of wood and the skin
or hide stretched over it.
1480. _L’Artillerie des Ducs de Bourogne, Garnier, appendix, p.
230._
Onze gands et huit brasselets de cuir pour archiers.
Here the “brasselets” are not arm-defences, but are simply the
“bracer” or arm-guard which protected the wrist of the archer from
the string of his own bow when released.
1493. _L’advis de gaige de battaille_, O. de la Marche.
S’il n’est point gentilhomme il peut combattre selon l’ancienne
coustume armé de cuir bouilly.
This evidently refers to the regulations laid down by King René
in 1450, and suggests that by the end of the fifteenth century
they had become obsolete and that full plate armour was the only
equipment for the joust or tourney.
1500. _Inv. de Francois Ier. de Luxembourg, p. 6._
Plusiers bardes de chevaux de cuyr de cartes ou cartons.
The last-named materials were obviously only employed for parade
or masque. They would be early forms of papier-maché, but were
probably more like the modern cardboard than the hard papier-maché
now in use.
1559. _Notes sur Dioscoride, II, chap. 21_, Matthée.
Le cheval marin une beste du Nil [the hippopotamus] de la peau
l’on en fait des écus, animes et rondelles; aussi n’y ha il
armes n’y poinctures quelles qu’elles soyent qui la puissent
transpercer, si premièrement elle n’est baignée.
This entry shows clearly that even the hide of the hippopotamus
was not held to be weapon-proof till it had been soaked (in water
or oil). One of these leather bards exists in the Armeria Reale,
Turin, B, 2. It is catalogued as being of hippopotamus hide. A
crupper of cuir-bouilli (VI, 89) is the only specimen of leather
armour in the Tower.
1630 (_circ._). _Hist. of London, p. 26_, Pennant (1790).
Robert Scot ... was the inventor of leather artillery which he
introduced into the army of Gustvus Adolphus.
1644. _Military Memoirs of the Great Civil War, p. 42_, Gwynne.
At Crobredery Bridge (Cropredy) we overtook Waller’s army which
we engaged and beat, took Wemes General of their army prisoner
and withal took his leather guns which proved serviceable to the
King.
These leather guns were formed of a cylinder of copper round
which was twisted thick hempen cord and the whole enveloped in a
leather jacket. An example which is traditionally stated to be
one of Scot’s guns used by Gustavus Adolphus, is exhibited in the
Rotunda Museum, Woolwich (II, 173). The dolphins on this specimen
are fashioned to the letter “G” placed horizontally. There are two
similar guns in the Musée d’Artillerie.
1678. _Traité des Armes, p. 55_, Gaya.
Quoy que les Bufles ne soient proprement que les habillemens de
Cavaliers, nous pouvons neanmoins les mettre au nombre de leurs
armes deffensives, plus qu’ils peuvent aisement résister à l’Epée
lors qu’ils sont d’une peau bien choissie.
Les Bufles ... sont faits en forme de Juste-au-corps à quatre
basques qui descend jusqu’aux genoux.
Il n’y a pas un Cavalier dans les trouppes de France qui n’ait un
habillement de Bufle.
The buff coat of leather or “cuir de bœuf” was a part of the
military equipment as early as 1585 and was in common use during
the Civil War. It was worn by the Life Guards at the Coronation of
James II in 1685 and by a detachment of the Artillery Company at
the entry of George I in 1714. It ceased to be worn as part of the
uniform in the following reign.[119]
1591-5. _Instructions, Observations and Orders Militarie, p.
185_, Sir John Smith.
... halbadiers ... armed with burganets and with short skirted
Ierkins of buffe with a double buffe on their breasts and the
sleeves of their doublets with stripes of maile or serecloth
aforesaide.
Here we find a return to the primitive defence of the eleventh
century, due to the increased weight of armour which was necessary
against the improved firearms which were by this time a serious
factor in war. The serecloth recommended was probably a stout
waxed or oiled canvas. In recommending sleeves of mail, which are
shown on Plate XVIII, Sir John Smith considers that they are more
convenient for the handling of the halberdier’s weapon than the
more rigid brassards worn by the cavalry. These strips of chain are
shown on one of the figures painted by Memling for the “Chasse of
S. Ursula” at Bruges, 1486, which is given on Fig. 24 of this work.
They have been re-introduced as shoulder-straps for heavy cavalry
at the present day.
FOOTNOTES:
[113] The Pembridge effigy in Hereford Cathedral has thigh-pieces
which apparently represent leather laced on the inside.
[114] _Memoirs_, Vol. I, ch. 33.
[115] _Arms and Armour at Oxford_, C. ffoulkes.
[116] _Arms and Armour at Oxford_, C. ffoulkes.
[117] Johnes’ trans., I, 739.
[118] Kündig, Geneva, 1910.
[119] Cannon, _Historical Records of the Life Guards_, p. 74.
THE WEARING OF ARMOUR
Though perhaps the wearing and putting on of armour was not
directly part of the craft of the armourer, it was certainly a part
of his duties to be present during the process and be ready to
carry out any small alterations which might be needed on the spot.
As has been noticed in a preceding chapter, as late as 1625 we
find this insisted upon by de Pluvinel (see page 115). Shakespeare
describes the armourers as busy “accomplishing the knights” before
Agincourt (page 33), and the fact that the travelling knight took
his armourer with him shows that he was indispensable during the
operation of dressing for war or joust.
Armour of the best kind was made to measure, and for ordinary
purposes a mould or “dobble” was kept on which to make the ordinary
harness for the man-at-arms (page 28). The following extracts show
the methods employed for sending measurements, which were often
obtained by submitting the clothes of the patron to the armourer:--
1406. In the will of Sir Ralph Bulmer, “armatura mea corpori
talliata.”[120]
1470. _Archives de Bruxelles._[121]
Baltazar du Cornet, armourer at Bruges, delivers for the Duke
of Burgundy “2 cuiraches complettes faites a la mesure de
Monseigneur.”
Lazarus de St. Augustin delivers “un harnais complet fait naguere
a la mesure de Monseigneur et pour son corps.”
1512. A jacket and hose of Prince Charles (afterwards Charles V)
are sent to Conrad Seusenhofer.[122]
1520. _Brit. Mus., Calig. D, VIII_, 181.
16 March. Francis I asks for an “arming doublet” of Henry VIII
that he may have made a new kind of cuirass which he will send
him as a present.
[Illustration: _PLATE XXVII_
DRAWING BY JACOB TOPF, 1530-1597
FROM THE “ARMOURER’S ALBUM,” VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM]
[Illustration: _PLATE XXVIII_
ARMOUR OF SIR JOHN SMITH, BY JACOB TOPF]
1564. _S.P.D. Elizabeth, Jan. 30._
Warrant to the Master of the Armoury. To cause to be made one
armour complete fit for the body of our well beloved servant
Christopher Hatton, one of our Gentlemen Pensioners, he paying
according to the just value thereof.
1667. _Verney Memoirs, IV_, 301. Rich. Hals to Edmond Verney.
The armour fits well enough only the man did cut away to much
just under the arme pit both of back and breast, but for the head
piece it is something heavy, yet I think it well enough if it did
not come downe so low upon my forhead as to cover all my eyes and
offend my nose when I put my head backwards to look upwards.
[Illustration: FIG. 51. Stripping the dead (Bayeux Tapestry).]
In the preceding chapter some notice was taken of the part which
the linen armourer played in the equipment of the armed man, and it
was to him that the clothing which was worn under the armour was
entrusted. Under the heading of the “Cleaning of Armour” mention
has been made of Chaucer’s knight whose “gipoun” was “besmoturyd
with his haubergeon,” but this garment was an outer garment or
surcoat. In the age of plate armour a complete dress was worn for
legs, arms, body, and head to prevent the chafing of the armour,
which in spite of its own lining of silk, velvet, cloth, leather,
or other fabric would cause grave inconvenience, if not danger
to the wearer. Besides this reason there was also a question
of warmth, which was of importance, for in long marches and
expeditions there was no warmth in a suit of plate, in fact there
was an added cold which had to be counteracted by warm garments
worn underneath.
[Illustration: FIG. 52. Knight arming (from _Livre des Nobles
Femmes_, Bib. Nat., Paris, fourteenth century).]
In the eleventh and twelfth centuries we have not much in the
way of documentary evidence which will help us as to the clothes
worn under the armour. The Bayeux Tapestry shows us the wounded
and dead being stripped of their hauberks, under which nothing
was apparently worn (Fig. 51). It should be remembered, however,
that these hauberks were probably of quilted fabric, which
therefore did not gall the body of the wearer. The drawing from a
fourteenth-century manuscript on Fig. 52 gives some hint at the
arming-doublet, which will be noted farther on in this chapter,
and shows also the laces or points that held up the hose. Towards
the end of the fourteenth century, however, we find on the incised
brasses, which are such valuable records of the military equipment
of the period, very distinct garments represented. On the brass
to Sir John de Creke at Westley Waterless, Cambs, 1325, we see
the “cyclas” or outer surcoat, the “upper pourpoint,” of fabric,
studded with metal, “the hauberk,” and under all the “haketon”
or “gambeson” (Fig. 53). According to William de Guilleville, in
the _Pèlerinage de l’Ame_, written in the fourteenth century, the
“pourpoint” was so called because of its quiltings:--
De pontures de gambison
Pourquoi pourpoint l’appelle-t-on.
[Illustration: FIG. 53. Brass of Sir John de Creke, Westley
Waterless, Cambs, 1325.
1. Bascinet.
2. Vervelies and camail.
3. Cyclas or surcoat.
4. Upper pourpoint.
5. Hauberk.
6. Gambeson or haketon.
7. Poleynes.
8. Beinbergs or jambs.]
The gambeson continued in use up to the seventeenth century
under the name of “arming-doublet,” with but little change
except in shape and form, as the style of armour required. Of
the undergarments of the early fifteenth century we have little
or nothing to guide us, and we are often at a loss to know even
what armour was worn under the tight-fitting, small-waisted jupon
or surcoat which distinguishes the end of the fourteenth and the
beginning of the fifteenth century. We have, however, a valuable
record under this head in the monument at Ash, which shows
“splinted armour” of lames worn instead of a cuirass.
The illustration on Plate IV is from a wood-carving in the church
of S. William, Strasburg. It represents the travelling armourer
riveting what appear to be bands of iron on arms and legs. Whether
these are some contrivance used in arming in the fifteenth century,
or whether they are some instrument of torture used upon the
saint, Duke William of Acquitaine, it is impossible to discover, as
no other instances of the kind can be found.
For full details of the equipment of the latter half of the
fifteenth century we cannot do better than refer to the Hastings
MS. of the fifteenth century, which has been discussed by the late
Albert Way,[123] and more fully by Viscount Dillon.[124] Under the
heading of “The Abilment for the Justes of Pees” we find much that
is of value in this respect. On page 122_b_ of the manuscript we
find the following minute directions for dressing a man for the
joust, which should be compared with those given in Appendix C,
page 173.
How a man schall be armyd at his ese when he schal fighte on
foote:
He schal have noo schirte up on him but a dowbelet of ffustean
lyned with satene cutte full of hoolis. the dowbelet must be
strongeli boude there the pointis muste be sette aboute the greet
[bend] of the arm. and the b ste [_sic_] before and behynde and
the gussetis of mayle muste be sowid un to the dowbelet in the
bought of the arme. and undir the arme the armynge poyntis muste
ba made of fyne twyne suche as men make stryngys for crossebowes
and they muste be trussid small and poyntid as poyntis. Also
they muste be wexid with cordeweneris coode. and than they will
neyther recche nor breke Also a payr hosyn of stamyn sengill
and a payre of shorte bulwerkis of thynne blanket to put aboute
his kneys for chawfynge of his lighernes Also a payre of shone
of thikke Cordwene and they muste be frette with smal whipcorde
thre knottis up on a corde and thre cordis muste be faste swoid
on to the hele of the shoo and fyne cordis in the mydill of the
soole of the same shoo and that ther be betwene the frettis of
the hele and the frettis of the mydill of the shoo the space of
three fvngris.
To arme a man
ffirste ye muste sette on Sabatones and tye them up on the shoo
with smale poyntes that wol breke And then griffus [greaves] &
then quisses & [=he] the breeche of mayle And [=the] tonletis
And the brest And [=he] vambras And [=he] rerebras And then
glovys And then hange his daggere upon his right side And then
his shorte swered upon the lyfte side in a rounde rynge all nakid
to pull it oute lightlie. And then putte his cote upon his back
And then his basinet pynid up on two greet staplis before the
breste with a dowbill bokill behynde up on the bak for to make
the bassinet sitte juste. And then his long swerde in his hande.
And then his pensil in his hande peyntid of seynt George or of
oure lady to blesse him with as he goeth towards the felde and in
the felde.
[Illustration: FIG. 54. Arming-points (from the portrait of a
Navigator, Ashmolean Mus., Oxford).
FIG. 55. Attachment of brassard by points (from the portrait of the
Duc de Nevers, Hampton Court).]
From the above extract it will be seen that the undergarments
consisted of a thick doublet lined with silk, but with no shirt
underneath; the reason for this being one that we at the present
day can well appreciate, for when the body is hot from exertion and
exercise a shirt is apt to “ruck up,” and it would be impossible to
readjust it when fully armed. In the _Paston Letters_ we have the
following request from Edward IV:--
Item I praye you to send me a newe vestmente off whyght damaske
ffor a Dekyn, whyche is among myn other geer, I will make an
armyng Doublet off it.
[Illustration: _PLATE XXIX_
ARMET, MIDDLE OF XVI CENT.
ARMET ENGRAVED AND GILT, END OF XVI CENT.
HELM OF SIR RICHARD PEMBRIDGE, CIRC. 1360
PARADE CASQUE, AFTER NEGROLI, MIDDLE OF XVI CENT.
SALLAD BY ONE OF THE NEGROLIS, END OF XV CENT.]
[Illustration: FIG. 56. Moton attached by points (from Harl. MS.
4826).]
The gussets and, in the sixteenth century, the sleeves of mail
protected the bend of the arm and armpit, and sometimes the bend
of the knee, which were not adequately covered with plate. The two
portraits of unknown noblemen by Moroni (National Gallery) show
these details of the equipment very clearly (Plate XVIII). The
arming-points or “tresses” were used in civilian as well as in
military attire and joined the hose to the doublet, laced sleeves,
and held coats together, much as laces are used in ladies’ dresses
at the present day (Figs. 54-57). They are also shown tying up the
hose on Fig. 52 and the brayette on Plate VIII.
[Illustration: FIG. 57. Arming-points on the foot (from the picture
of S. Demetrius, by Ortolano, Nat. Gall.).]
Lord Dillon explains the hose of “stamyn sengill” as being a
worsted cloth made in Norfolk. The “bulwerkis” were pads of
blanketing fastened over the hose at the knees to prevent the
chafing of the knee-cop, and the shoes were of Cordova leather
fastened with laces. A complete underdress of this kind, with
quilted doublet and hose with gussets of mail at the knees, is to
be found in the Museum at Munich. The arming of a man began at the
feet, and as far as was possible each piece put on overlapped that
beneath it, to ensure that glancing surface upon the utility of
which such stress has been laid in the first chapter of this book.
The arming of a man, therefore, was carried out in the following
order and his equipment put on in the following order: Sollerets or
sabatons, jambs, knee-cops, cuisses, skirt of mail, gorget, breast
and back plates, brassards with elbow-cops, pauldrons, gauntlets,
sword-belt, and helmet (Fig. 58).
The “tonlet” would appear to be a bell-shaped skirt of plate
or deep taces such as is shown on Plate XXI, and is another
example of the use of the “glancing surface,” especially in
combats with axe and sword at barriers, for in these jousts the
legs were often unarmed and were not attacked. The rerebrace,
elbow-cop, and vambrace are usually joined by rivets in which
there is a certain amount of play. Where this was not the case,
each piece was separately strapped to the arm, as may be seen in
the brasses of Sir John de Creke, 1325 (Fig. 53), and of Sir
Hugh Hastings, 1347. When the three pieces, called collectively
the Brassard, were joined together, they were kept in place on
the arm by arming-points fastened to the “haustement” or doublet
just below the shoulder. The operation of tying on the brassard
is shown on the portrait now labelled the “Duc de Nevers” at
Hampton Court (Fig. 55). In the list of the equipment taken
by the Earl of Northumberland to France in 1513[125] we find
mention of arming-pateletts of white satin quilted, for wearing
under the armour, trussing-bolsters to wear round the waist to
keep the weight of the cuirass from the shoulders, arming-hose,
arming-doublets, arming-shoes, garters to wear under the armour,
and coffers in which to keep the armour.
[Illustration: FIG. 58. Sixteenth-century Suit of Plate.