using iron weapons. I shall not tax the patience of my readers by
enumerating all these weapons. Their names are many, and the comments
and descriptions of old authors which refer to them are constantly at
variance. Nevertheless, the sword most popular with the Celtiberians at
the period of the Roman conquest seems to have been a broad, two-handed
weapon with a point and double edge, and therefore serviceable both for
cutting and for thrusting. Another of the Celtiberian swords, called the
_falcata_, was of a sickle shape. It terminated in the kind of point we
commonly associate with a scimitar, and which is found to-day in Spanish
knives produced at Albacete. One of these swords, in good condition, is
in the National Museum. It has a single edge, upon the concave side of
the blade, and measures rather less than two feet. Other weapons in
common use among the Celtiberians were an iron dart--the _sannion_ or
_soliferrea_; the javelin; the lance--a weapon so immemorially old in
Spain that patriotic writers trace its origin to the prehistoric town of
Lancia in Asturias; and the _trudes_ or _bidente_, a crescent blade
mounted upon a pole, mentioned by Strabo and Saint Isidore, and
identical with the cruel weapon used until about a quarter of a
century ago for houghing coward cattle in the bull-ring.
[Illustration: XXXIX
CREST OF JOUSTING HELMET
(_Royal Armoury, Madrid_)]
Thus, when the Romans entered Spain the natives of this country were
experienced in the use of arms, and made their own from such materials
as their own soil yielded. Their tempering was excellent, for Diodorus
Siculus tells us that they had already discovered the secret of burying
the metal in order that the moisture of the earth might eat away its
baser portions. Besides the ancient Bilbilis in Aragon, a Spanish city
famous for her faultless tempering of implements and weapons was Toledo.
Martial,[103] the most illustrious son of Bilbilis, has sung the praises
of the one; less celebrated poets, such as Gracio Falisco, of the
other.[104] Even the armourers of Rome were found to be less skilful and
successful swordsmiths than the Spaniards;[105] and so, before the
second Punic War, the model or the models of the Spanish sword had been
adopted by the Roman army.
[103] "_Gerone qui ferrum gelat._" This river, the purity and coldness
of whose waters lent, or so it is supposed, its virtues to the
steel, rolls past the walls of Calatayud, and is called in later
ages the Jalon.
[104] "_Imo Toletano præcingant ilia cultro._"
[105] "_Romani patriis gladiis depositis Hannibalico bello Hispaniensium
assumpserunt ... sed ferri bonitatem et fabrica solertiam imitari
non potuerunt._"--Suidas.
Various of the native peoples of Iberia were distinguished by a special
instrument or mode of fighting. Strabo says that the Iberians as a
general rule employed two lances and a sword. Those of Lusitania were
especially adroit in hurling darts. Each of their warriors kept a number
of these darts contained within his shield. Upon the head they wore a
helmet of a primitive pattern strapped beneath the chin. This helmet,
called the _bacula_, protected all the wearer's face, and had a mitred
shape, with three red feathers on the crest. Together with these arms,
the Lusitanians used a copper-headed lance and the typical form of
Celtiberian sword. More singular and celebrated in their mode of
fighting were the Balearic islanders, who carried, through persistent
exercise, the art of slinging stones and leaden plummets to the utmost
limit of perfection. The beaches of these islands, we are told,
abounded, then as now, in small, smooth pebbles, "weapons of Nature's
own contrivance," rarely suited to the sling.[106] These slings were of
three patterns, severally designed for near, far, and middling
distances. The lead or stone projectile sometimes weighed a pound.
Accordingly--so strenuous was their zeal to be unrivalled in the
practice of this arm--even as little children the Baleares went without
their dinner, till, with the formidable _funda_ in their hand, they
struck the stick their parents planted for them in the soil. Pliny and
Polybius, notwithstanding, state that the sling itself was not
indigenous in this region, but imported from Ph[oe]nicia. However this
may be, the islanders within a little time contributed to swell the
power of the Roman legions.
[106] _Descripciones de las Islas Pithiusas y Baleares._ Madrid, 1787.
The Visigoths continued using many of the Roman or Ibero-Roman arms.
Nevertheless, the solid armour of the Romans, such as their greaves and
thigh-pieces and breastplates, was now replaced by primitive chain-mail
resembling scales of fishes. According to Saint Isidore, Procopius, and
other writers, the favourite weapons of the Spanish Visigoths were the
sword or _spatha_, long, broad-bladed, with a double edge; the hatchet,
the bow, the sling, the lance, the scythe, the mace, the _pilum_ or
javelin (used extensively in Spain throughout the Middle Ages),[107] the
_dolon_, a dagger which concealed itself within a wooden staff, and
took the name of "treacherous" or "wily" from this circumstance; and the
_conto_, a keenly pointed pike. We also find among the military engines
of the Visigoths the _balista_, for hurling stones and darts of large
size, and the _ariete_ or battering-ram, constructed from a gnarled and
powerful tree-trunk braced with iron and suspended by a cable. Their
defensive body-armour consisted of a coat of mail composed of bronze or
iron scales, and called the _lóriga_ or _perpunte_. This was worn above
the _thorachomachus_, a kind of tunic made of felt, in order to shield
the body from the roughness of the mail. Upon their heads they wore an
ample helmet.
[107] A javelin made throughout of iron was found in Spain some years
ago, completely doubled up, so as to admit of its being thrust
into a burial urn. The javelin in question is now in the Madrid
museum, and a similar weapon may be seen in the provincial museum
of Granada.
A fragment of stone carving preserved in Seville museum shows us two
Visigothic Spanish warriors who wear a tunic and helmet of a simple
pattern, and carry a two-edged sword and a large shield. García Llansó
says, however, that the nobles of this people wore close-fitting mail
tunics covered with steel scales, a kind of bronze bassinet, tight
breeches, and high boots, and carried, besides the sword which was slung
from their belts, a large, oval shield.[108]
[108] _Historia General del Arte_: García Llansó; _Armas_, pp. 439, 440.
[Illustration: XL
SPANISH CROSSBOWMAN
(_Late 15th Century. Royal Armoury, Madrid_)]
From about the time of the Moorish invasion, the changes in the arms and
armour of the Spaniards coincided in the main with those in other parts
of western Europe. Nevertheless, as late as the eleventh century the
Spanish sword retained the characteristic which had endeared it to the
Roman legionaries--namely, a hilt of small dimensions and a broad and
shortish blade. In course of time the blade grows narrower and begins to
taper towards the point. The _quillons_ or crossbars (Spanish
_arriaces_, from the Arabic _arrias_, a sword-hilt) were originally
straight or semicircular, and ended in a knob (_manzana_, literally
"apple"; Latin _pomum_, English _pommel_). Thus, in the _Poem of the
Cid_ we find the verse:--
"_Las manzanas é los arriaces todos de oro son._"
Throughout these early times the scabbard was of wood lined with leather
or with velvet, and strengthened and adorned with leather bands; but
when the owner was of high estate, it often bore enamels in the
_cloisonné_ style; that is, with patches of the coloured, vitreous
substance bordered and fastened in by metal wire. In Spain this style,
undoubtedly of foreign origin, was superseded in the thirteenth century
by _champlevé_ enamelling, in which the enamel lies within a hollowed
ground.
Spanish mediæval weapons down to the fourteenth century are specified in
the _fuero_ of Cáceres and other documents contemporary with their use.
Next always in importance to the sword we find the hatchet, lance,
crossbow, and mace. Montaner's _Chronicle of the Kings of Aragon_ tells
us that the sovereign, mace in hand, dealt one of his enemies "such a
blow upon his iron hat that his brains came oozing out at his ears."
Covarrubias mentions a dart-shaped missile called the _azcona_--a word
which some authorities derive from the Arabic, and others from the
Basque _gascona_, an arm employed by the natives of Gascony. The former
derivation seems the likelier. The _fuero_ of Cáceres mentions the
_tarágulo_, described by the Count of Clonard as a kind of dagger; and
at the close of the thirteenth century appears in Spain the poniard,
which was called among the Germans _Panzerbrecher_, or "breaker of
cuirasses," and among the French the _misericorde_.
The _fuero_ of Cáceres tells us, furthermore, what was the regular
equipment of the Spanish foot and mounted soldier of that period. "Each
horseman shall go forth to battle with a shield, a lance, a sword, and
spurs; and he that carries not all these shall pay each time five sheep
wherewith to feed the soldiers.... Each mounted man or pawn that
trotteth not or runneth not to quit his town or village as he hears the
call,--the first shall have his horse's tail cut off; the other shall
have his beard clipped."
Defensive arms included various kinds of coverings for the head; the
_lóriga_ or covering for the body, the _cálcias_ or covering for the
legs, and the shield.
The _lóriga_ (Latin _lorica_) was the ordinary hauberk or shirt of mail,
such as was worn all over military Europe, made of rings or scales sewed
strongly on a linen or leather under-tunic consisting of a single piece,
and reaching to the knee. The _Gran Conquista de Ultramar_ of Alfonso el
Sabio also informs us that it was tied at certain openings known as
_ventanas_ ("windows"), and that the collar of the tunic was called the
_gorguera_. The resistance of the Spanish _lóriga_ to a pointed weapon
does not seem to have been great, for the Chronicle of the Monk of Silos
says that at the siege of Viseo the arrows of the Moorish bowmen went
through the triple _lórigas_ of their foe.
Towards the twelfth century the custom arose of wearing over the coat of
mail a loose, sleeveless frock (the _Waffenrock_ of Germany), woven of
linen or some other light material, painted or embroidered with the
owner's arms. As the Count of Clonard observes, it is clearly this kind
of frock that is referred to in the following passage of the _Leyes de
Partida_: "For some (of the knights) placed upon the armour carried by
themselves and by their horses,[109] signs that were different one from
another, in order to be known thereby; while others placed them on their
heads, or on their helmets."
[109] The horse was also covered with a _lóriga_, on which, from about
the twelfth century, were thrown the decorative trappings of
_cendal_ or thin silk, painted or embroidered with the warrior's
arms.
[Illustration: XLI
THE BATTLE OF LA HIGUERUELA
(_Wall painting. Hall of Battles, El Escorial_)]
The Normans used a form of hauberk with attached mail-stockings. In
Spain we find in lieu of this leg-covering, the Roman _cálcia_ (Latin
_caliga_), extending from the foot to just below the thigh, and
subsequently called the _brafonera_.[110] This was, in fact, a separate
mail-stocking, made of closely interlacing steel rings, and worn above
the leather boots or _trebuqueras_.
[110] "_Calzó las brafoneras que eran bien obradas
Con sortijas de acero, sabet bien enlazadas;
Asi eran presas é bien trabadas,
Que semejaban calzas de las tiendas taiadas._"
_Poem of the Cid._
The Spanish _escudo_ or shield was usually made of wood covered with
leather, and painted with the arms or the distinguishing emblem of its
lord. Sometimes it was made of parchment. Thus the Chronicle of the Cid
informs us that this hero after death was equipped with "a painted
parchment helm and with a shield in the same wise." Another form of
Spanish shield, the _adarga_ (_atareca_, _atarca_; Arabic _ad-darka_, to
hold upon the arm), of which I shall subsequently notice specimens in
the Royal Armoury, was commonly in the shape of a rough oval or of a
heart, and made of various folds of leather sewn and glued together. The
Chronicle of Alfonso the Eleventh speaks of a certain famine which broke
out among the Spanish troops, and caused them such privation that "they
chewed the leather of their shields."[111]
[111] Count of Clonard, _op. cit._
The battle headgear of this people passed through many changes. "The
helmet of the eighth century," says the Count of Clonard, "was the same
which had been used by the Cantabrians and Vascones before the general
peace proclaimed by Augustus Cæsar. Helmets of this design are engraved
upon the medals (reproduced by Florez) of the imperial legate Publius
Carisius. They covered the entire head and face, leaving only two holes
for the eyes, as we see upon the carved stone fragments in relief at the
door of the church of San Pedro de Villanueva, representing the struggle
of King Froila with a bear."
Another form of helmet which the Spaniards began to use about this time
was the _almofar_ (Arabic _al-mejfar_), made of iron scales. It covered
all the head, with the exception of the eyes, nose, and mouth, and
corresponds to the _camail_ of the Normans. Beneath it was worn the
linen _cofia_, a kind of bag or cap in which the warrior gathered up his
hair. After about another century a round or conical iron helmet
(_capacete_), fitted with cheek-pieces, was superposed on the _almofar_
and fastened round the chin with straps. The _capacete_ of a noble was
often adorned with precious stones and coronets of pure gold, while a
spike projecting from the top was tipped with a large carbuncle, in
order to catch and to reflect the flashing sunbeams.
The substitution for this spike of multiform and multicolor figures or
devices dates from a later age. The Chronicle of Alfonso the Eleventh
describes as something altogether novel and surprising, the crests upon
the helmets of the foreign knights who flocked, in 1343, to Algeciras to
aid the cause of Christianity against the Moor. "All of them," says this
narrative, "placed their helmets at the door of their dwellings,
supporting them on stout and lofty staves; and the figures on the
helmets were of many kinds. On some was the figure of a lion; on others
that of a wolf, or ass's head, or ox, or dog, or divers other beasts;
while others bore the likeness of the heads of men; faces, beards, and
all. Others, too, had wings as those of eagles or of crows; and so,
between these various kinds there were in all as many as six hundred
helmets."
This brings us to the celebrated helmet or _cimera_ (Plate xxxix.), now
in the Royal Armoury of Madrid, believed till recently to have belonged
to Jayme the First, conqueror of Palma and Valencia, and the greatest,
both in spirit and in stature, of the old-time kings of Aragon.
Such part of this interesting helmet as is left consists of two pieces,
one of them resting loosely on the other. Baron de las Cuatro Torres
infers, from a detail which will presently be noted, that the lower of
these two pieces is not original; and his opinion was shared by the
Count of Valencia de Don Juan, who, notwithstanding, thought the
spurious part to be coeval with the actual crest. The upper part
consists of a fragment of a helm, made, like some flimsy theatre
property, of linen, card, and parchment, and surmounted with the figure
of the mythical monster known in the Lemosin language as the
_drac-pennat_, or winged dragon, which formed, conjointly with the royal
crown, the emblem or device of all the Aragonese sovereigns from Pedro
the Fourth to Ferdinand the Second.
[Illustration: XLII
PARADE HARNESS OF PHILIP THE THIRD
(_Royal Armoury, Madrid_)]
There is, however, no reason to doubt the helmet's authenticity. It is
known to have remained for centuries at Palma, in the Balearics, where
it was worn upon the day of Saint Sylvester in each year, by a person
who walked in the procession of the _Standart_ to celebrate the capture
of the city by Don Jayme. This would explain the lower piece contrived
and added to the crest itself, in order to adjust the incomplete and
upper portion to the subsequent wearer's head. The helmet as originally
made was meant for tourneying only, and is therefore fashioned, not of
metal, but of the frail theatrical materials I have stated. Copper and
wood, says Viollet-le-Duc, were also used in making these objects. The
earliest wearer of the helm cannot have been Don Jayme. Baron de las
Cuatro Torres remarks that on an Aragonese coin of the reign of Pedro
the Fourth, the monarch is wearing on his head something which looks
identical with this _cimera_.[112] Demay has further told us that the
vogue of such _cimeras_, whose principal purpose was to distinguish
seigniories, lasted from 1289 till the introduction of movable visors at
the end of the fourteenth or the beginning of the fifteenth century. The
present helmet, therefore, probably belonged to Don Pedro the Fourth of
Aragon ("the Ceremonious"), and was made at some time in his
reign--that is, between 1335 and 1387. A document has been discovered in
which this monarch's son, Don Martin of Aragon, commands that year by
year his own helmet, "_nostram emprissiam sive cimbram_," together with
the banner of Jayme the Conqueror, is to be publicly exhibited in
commemoration of the capture of Majorca. Therefore we may conclude from
these important facts that here is the crest of a tourneying helmet
which belonged either to Don Pedro the Fourth of Aragon, or else to
either of, or possibly both, his sons, Don Juan and Don Martin.
[112] _Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Excursiones_; Nos. 16 and 17.
The changes which occur in Spanish arms and armour between the
fourteenth and the sixteenth centuries keep pace, upon the whole, with
those in other parts of Europe. It is, however, opportune to notice how
the Spanish armies of this time were organized. Their regular cavalry
consisted of: (1) the force directly mustered by the king and under his
immediate leadership; (2) the mounted burghers who defrayed the whole or
part of their expenses, being in certain instances assisted by a stipend
which had been created by municipal and local _fueros_; (3) the knights
belonging to the military orders; and (4) the barons, together with the
men these last were called upon, obedient to the summons of the royal
_mandadero_ (messenger), to mount, equip, provision, and bring to war
with them. Such was the heavy cavalry of later mediæval Spain. A lighter
class, said by the Count of Clonard to have been recruited from the
southern regions of the land, was known as _alfaraces_, _almogávares_,
or _omes de la gineta_.
These latter lived in frugal fashion. Water was their only drink; bread
and the roots of plants their only food. Their clothing, too, was of the
slightest, consisting merely of a shirt, high boots, and a kind of net
upon the head. They wore no armour, and carried as their only weapons an
_azagaya_ and a lance. Their principal value was in skirmishing.
The infantry were also of two kinds. The first, collective or
stipendiary, was levied by the towns and cities, and from them received
its maintenance. The second was the _almogávares_, who served for
scouting, like their mounted comrades of the same denomination. The
stipendiary or regular troops proceeded chiefly from the northern
provinces--Alava, Guipúzcoa, the Asturias, and the mountains of León,
and carried commonly the lance, sword, sling, crossbow, and the
_azagaya_--this last a dart-shaped missile borrowed from the Berber
tribesmen,--the ancient Moorish _azgaya_, the modern _assagai_ or
_assegai_ of Zululand.[113]
[113] One of these weapons may be seen in the Royal Armoury (No. I. 95).
It is made of iron covered with leather, and has a laurel-shaped
blade with sharpened edges. The other end consists of two
projecting pieces of the metal, shaped to resemble the plumes of
an arrow. The length of this arm is 5 feet 8 inches.
In a country which was plunged in ruinous and almost unremitting
internecine strife; which was (and is) inherently averse to commerce or
to agriculture; and where the bulk of all the national wealth was either
locked away in churches and in convents, or in the coffers of great
nobles who were frequently as wealthy as, or even wealthier than, the
Crown, the armour of the common mediæval Spanish soldier consisted of
the plain and necessary parts and nothing more. The aristocracy, upon
the other hand, often adorned their battle-harness with the finest gold
and silver work, and studded it with precious stones. Even the esquires
would sometimes imitate their masters in this costly mode. "We command,"
said Juan the First in one of his pragmatics dating from the end of the
fourteenth century, "that no shield-bearer shall carry cloth of gold or
any manner of gold ornament upon his trappings, scarf, or saddle; or
on his badge or arms, excepting only on the edges of his bassinet and
his cuisses, together with the bit and poitral of his horse, which may
be gilded."
[Illustration: XLIII
MOORISH CROSSBOW AND STIRRUP
(_Museum of Granada_)]
It is also evident from Royal Letters of this time, that the kings of
Spain depended very largely for the flower of their forces on the
private fortune or resources of the Spanish noblemen or even commoners;
nor did they ever hesitate to turn these means of other people to their
own particular good. The Ordinance of Juan the First, dated Segovia,
1390, commands that, "Every man who possesses 20,000 _maravedis_ and
upward shall have his proper set of harness, habergeons and
scale-pieces, and lappet-piece, cuisses and vantbrasses, bassinet,
camail, and war-cap[114] with its gorget; or else a helmet, together
with sword and dagger, glaive and battle-axe. And whoso possesses 3000
_maravedis_ and upward shall have his lance and javelin and shield, his
lappet-piece and coat of mail, and iron bassinet without a camail, and a
_capellina_, together with his sword, _estoque_, and knife. And whoso
has between 2000 and 3000 _maravedis_ shall have his lance and sword or
_estoque_ and knife, or a bassinet or _capellina_, together with a
shield. And whoso has from 600 to 2000 _maravedis_ shall have a crossbow
with its nut and cord and stirrup, quiver and strap, and three dozen
shafts. And whoso has from 400 to 600 _maravedis_ shall have a lance, a
javelin, and a shield. And whoso has 400 _maravedis_ shall have a
javelin and a lance."
[114] _Capellina_. The Count of Clonard says that this was in the shape
of half a lemon, and fitted with a visor with a cutting edge.
The wealthier classes responded lavishly to this command. Describing the
battle of Olmedo and the forces of Don Alvaro de Luna sent against the
Navarrese, the chronicle of the Constable declares that among his entire
host could hardly have been found a single cavalier whose horse was not
covered with trappings, and its neck with mail. "For some there were
that carried divers figures painted on the aforesaid trappings, and
others that bore upon their helmets jewels that were a token from their
mistresses. And others carried gold or silver bells suspended from their
horses' necks by thick chains; or plates upon their helmets studded with
precious stones, or small targes richly garnished with strange figures
and devices. Nor was there less variety in the crests upon their
helmets; for some bore likenesses of savage beasts, and others plumes of
various colours; while others carried but a plume or two upon their
helmet crest, like unto those upon the forehead of their horses."