[Illustration: FIFTEENTH-CENTURY SHIELD
(Hewitt's _Ancient Arms and Armour_, vol. ii, p. 496).
_See page 60._]
* * * * *
THE DATES OF
VARIOUSLY-SHAPED SHIELDS,
WITH COINCIDENT DATES
AND EXAMPLES.
[Illustration]
ENLARGED
FROM A PAPER READ BEFORE
THE HISTORIC SOCIETY OF
LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE.
Ἀνεδέχθη μὲν γὰρ ἄσπις.
(_Herod._ vi. 124.)
BY
GEORGE GRAZEBROOK, F.S.A.
LIVERPOOL:
PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION.
1890.
* * * * *
[Illustration: T. BRAKELL, TYP., LIVERPOOL.]
[Illustration]
PREFACE.
In venturing to place before the public this little work--which
takes up a line of enquiry never before attempted,--I would solicit
criticism, not of that slashing condemnatory kind which destroys a
statement without pointing out its correction;--that would only break
my head, and make no one the wiser!--but I hope that antiquaries who
have more knowledge than I, may, when pointing out errors, also explain
what such statements ought to be, and give exact references in proof.
With the help of such criticism (and the more severe, the more valuable
it will be) I trust that another perfected issue, by myself, or by some
other more qualified writer, may eventually appear as a handbook--most
useful to the student, the antiquary, and the traveller.
It is now a subject for much regret to all of us that the great
knowledge of seals (the chief source of evidence as to ancient shields)
acquired by the late Mr. Albert Way, F.S.A., and by the late Mr.
Charles Spencer Perceval, F.S.A., has passed away with them, never
having been recorded; and it seems very desirable that a classified
body of such knowledge should be drawn up and available--enabling us
to date with some certainty (within the limit of a few years) seals
pendant to undated charters, stone carvings on ancient buildings, and
illustrations in MSS., which are now labelled "_circa_."
In the course of my researches I have noticed a number of cases
where incorrect dates have been _supposed_,--and from some of these
deductions have been drawn, which are consequently all wrong.
In the following treatise each century from the eleventh to the
fifteenth is separately dealt with; after that date the nomenclature of
shields devised by my friend Mr. J. Paul Rylands, F.S.A., is followed,
and the earliest and latest examples found of each shape adduced,--thus
showing the range of time when that variety was most commonly in use.
References are given for every statement.
Mantlings, torces, wreaths, palm branches, and other adjuncts are
discussed under their several headings--with descriptions and dates of
any varieties found.
In conclusion a concise index is given, which, it is hoped,
sufficiently focuses the whole book for ready reference.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
AN ATTEMPT TO CLASSIFY AND DATE THE VARIOUS SHAPES FOUND IN HERALDIC
SHIELDS--PRINCIPALLY IN ENGLAND, WITH INCIDENTAL DATINGS.[1]
It seems necessary, by way of introduction, to say a few words on the
circular convex shields used from very early times by our Saxon and
Norman ancestors. These were of wood, with a central boss of bronze,
and were sometimes of very large size; frequently, if we may judge from
contemporaneous illuminations, as much as four feet in diameter. Across
the inside of the boss a handle was fixed, and the shields, which were
thus held out almost at arm's length, as represented in many ancient
MSS., must have been most cumbersome. It is hard to see how the sword
or lance could have been conveniently used. The round shape must have
interfered greatly with the view of one's opponent, and a bungler would
inevitably slice pieces from off his own shield while attacking his
enemy. Moreover, such shields must have been lightly made: we know
exactly how the bosses were fastened with rivets through the shield,
for they are constantly found in Anglo-Saxon grave mounds, and the wood
is thus known to have been of some thickness. But we can obtain from
contemporary writings many more particulars.
By the laws of Gula [said to have been established by Hacon the Good,
who died 963] any possessor of six marks was required to furnish
himself with a _red_ shield, of two boards in thickness, a spear, and
an axe or a sword.
In the history of the same king [_Heimskringla_, vol. i, p. 155] he is
thus described: "he put on his tunic of mail (brynio), girded round
him his sword called quern-bit [_i.e._, millstone-biter], and set on
his head his gilded helmet. He took a spear in his hand, and hung his
shield _by his side_."
Again, in the same book [_Heimskringla_, ii, 352], in the description
of the Battle of Sticklastad, where Olaf King of Norway, called "the
Saint," was slain 1030, the monarch is said to have worn a golden
helmet, a white shield, a golden hilted and exceedingly sharp sword,
and a tunic of ringed mail ("hringa brynio").
Again, in the _Edda Gunnar_ one of the Reguli of Germany says, "My
helmet and my _white_ shield come from the Hall of Kiars."
These quotations are hardly sufficient evidence of it perhaps, but it
seems as if in the tenth century _white_ shields were borne by leaders
and _red_ ones by the common soldiers,--every one who possessed six
marks.
Supplementing these and completing our description, Saxon poetry
tells us that the wood was by preference the lime tree. I need not
give quotations; they will be found in the several works on ancient
arms and armour. Beowulf [line 5215] describes how Wigluf "seized his
shield--the yellow linden wood." Again, these lines occur [_Poem of
Judith_, Thorpe's _Analecta_, p. 137]:--
"The warriors marched
"The chieftains to the war
"Protected with targets,
"With arched linden shields."
It seems almost as if linden trees were cultivated with this view, for
the _Saxon Chronicle_, under anno 937, tells us how King Athelstan and
his heroes
"the board walls clove,
"And hewed the war lindens."
But certainly on one occasion remains of oak timber were found in
connection with the bronze boss of an Anglo-Saxon shield.
Occasionally rims of metal have been found with such remains, but such
protecting edgings do not seem to have been the usual custom. The laws
of Gula, quoted above, mention "two boards in thickness," that is,
glued crossways, to prevent warping or splitting. Such a formation in a
convex shield would show a very great amount of skill in the working of
wood at this early date. Leather seems to have been sometimes stretched
over the shield; because the laws of Athelstan forbade the use of
sheepskins for the purpose, under a penalty of 30s.: a very large sum.
Had skin coverings been common, remains of such skins would be found
still attached inside the bronze bosses; but only one skin-covered
shield has been found [at Linton Heath, in Cambridgeshire], and in that
the skin covered the boss also, having been stretched over the whole
shield.
Lastly, _red_ seems to have been at least a favourite colour, for
Sœmund's _Edda_ mentions a red shield with a golden border, and
Giraldus de Barri says the Irish "carried red shields, in imitation of
the Danes."
The boss was often carried out into a sharp spike, and the shield could
thus be used for offence as well as for protection. But perhaps such
points were also found of use in stopping the cut of a sword, which
might otherwise slip down the shield and find a resting-place in the
leg or other exposed part.
[Illustration: Date 1473.]
We shall see as we proceed that such circular shields or targets
constantly appear till the middle of the seventeenth century, borne by
foot soldiers, with pikes, halberds, and swords, and sometimes as large
as two feet in diameter. Frequently foot soldiers are represented with
a small target, ten or twelve inches in diameter, wherewith to receive
their opponent's cut, while the other arm wields a huge broadsword.
Such were in later times called "targetiers." Their small targets were
hooked to the side when not in use, and one is represented in 1473
which projects to a point (Hewitt, ii, 488), while others are flat and
studded with nails, or otherwise ornamented, such as appear among the
Scotch and Irish till a much later date. Small shields of a square
form, and ten inches square, were used by fencers with rapiers in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Such is a hasty sketch of the circular shields. They were used by all
ranks of the Saxon nations--among whom, of course, were those we call
Normans--to the end of the tenth century.
Fitness for the purposes of defence is the prime governing law in such
matters. We shall see this leading to many strange alterations of shape
in after centuries, and, at the date at which we have now arrived,
(the first half of the eleventh century,) a perfect revolution in the
appearance of shields took place within a space of about fifty years.
Meyrick explains how the Normans who were engaged in the conquest of
Apulia, in the south-east of Italy, about the beginning of the eleventh
century, learned there the advantages of long and narrow shields, such
as were then in use among the Sicilians, and states that about fifty
years before the battle of Hastings they received from Melo, the chief
of Barri, supplies of such vastly improved arms. The intimate relations
with Normandy at that time, and under Edward the Confessor, led to
their prompt adoption in England also; and hence in the Bayeux tapestry
kite-shaped shields No. 3 are universal among horse soldiers, both
Anglo-Saxon and Norman. Some Saxon foot soldiers bear the old round
shields, and one square-shaped one appears on that roll.
There is a very amusing picture of Harold and his companions
proceeding, in company with William of Normandy, to the conquest of
Britanny. They came to the little river Coësnon, where, the tide being
out, the river-bed was an expanse of slippery mud. The prudent ones
dismounted and led their horses across; but one horse is represented
coming down and the rider falling over his head, while his shield flies
through the air attached to his neck by the guige [Bruce's _Bayeux
Tapestry_, p. 61]. This "guige" was another most valuable improvement
which probably came from Sicily with the new shape of shields. It was a
leather strap sufficiently long to let it hang from the neck, and so,
when two hands were required to wield a battle axe or heavy weapon,
the shield could be flung loose and recovered again. I am aware that
in Cotton MS. Cleopatra, cviii, written early in the eleventh century,
a group of Saxon horsemen is represented on a journey, and the round
shield of one hangs from his back, looking like the beehive which the
knight in _Alice in Wonderland_ thought might some day prove useful. It
has, it will be seen, an absurdly awkward appearance [Hewitt, vol. i,
p. 77; Cutts, p. 313].
[Illustration]
The principle, then, of the kite-shaped shields which we see in the
eleventh century was that, with as much compactness as possible, they
should protect the body with the wider part, while the extended point
was sufficient to defend the leg; and following so nearly the shape of
the body the knight had his sword-arm free. They seem to have been
five feet long or even more, for they served as a bier whereon to carry
away the slain or wounded.[2] It is amusing to see Goliath represented
with a kite-shaped shield, while the little David on the top of him
tries to wield his huge sword. This appears in a Latin Bible of 1170.
[Brit. Mus., Add. MS. 14789, fo. 10; engraved, Hewitt, i, 134.]
[Illustration]
A remarkable recrudescence of old ideas both in the shapes and sizes
of shields occurs from time to time as we proceed. At times they seem
to have been nearly as much as five feet long--and then, as protective
mail became more perfect, and probably the varying style of fighting
required it, they were greatly reduced. King David and his followers
appear [Cutts, p. 335], on their expedition against Nabal, in full mail
of the end of the thirteenth century, with shields scarcely eighteen
inches long--just sufficient to prevent the point of a lance reaching
some flat or dangerous or vulnerable spot from whence it would not
readily glide off, or to receive the blows of an assailant's sword.
Nor can we suppose that one scale of size, or indeed one exact shape
of shield, reigned universal at any one period; every knight had his
own fancies as to which best suited him; and at length we find many
illuminations of the sixteenth century in which knights appear jousting
and fighting without any shields at all. They were hung up, to show
the heraldry, on their tents, and the massive body-armour alone was
considered sufficient protection.
* * * * *
These few explanatory words are necessary to introduce upon the scene
the various shaped shields occurring during the centuries which follow.
While considering these variations we must bear in mind that they are
strongly marked into two great divisions, viz., before the sixteenth
century, when shields were in actual use and any alteration in their
outline was considered to be an improvement to meet some freshly
noticed want; this will be further referred to as instances occur.
During and after the sixteenth century, shapes were selected in an
arbitrary way, as a matter of taste alone; and hence earlier examples
were sometimes exactly adopted, while at other times details and
alterations were introduced, just to suit the fancy of the purchaser or
artist and the conventional style of the times.
As references for what has already been said, I would name the works of
Meyrick and Hewitt, Planché's work on Costume, Strutt's _Horda_, and a
learned paper on shields, by Sir Frederick Madden, in _Archæologia_,
vol. xxiv. This, although primarily discussing the chessmen found
in the Island of Lewis, contains the results of wide researches as
to shields in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. There is also a
valuable and well illustrated book, _Scenes and Characters of the
Middle Ages_, by A. L. Cutts, published by Messrs. Virtue and Co., 1872.
The principal authority for the accurate dating and classifying of
shields is the immense number of mediæval seals attached to deeds
and charters, and with dates exactly known. If it were practicable
to arrange in chronological sequence illustrations of a sufficient
number of these, we should at once have the classification of dates,
styles, and shapes, which would be so very valuable, and which it is
the attempt of this paper to display. Hence it is that to the end of
the fifteenth century seals form so large a part of the evidences
submitted. The certainty of such records is unsurpassed: we have a
parchment, itself dated, or the date of which in very early instances
can be otherwise closely ascertained; and attached to this we have a
seal with the shield; and, to make it perfectly certain, we have the
owner's name inscribed around it, and so we know he is not using some
one else's seal, found or come down to him from earlier times. Such
instances frequently occur, and are at once in this way detected. There
are instances where the same seal, acquired in early life, continued
to be used for over fifty years; but that is the extent to which such
valuable proofs can wander from the actual prevailing type and date.
Besides seals, the many invaluable illuminations in the British Museum
and Bodleian Libraries, and in the great Continental Libraries,
furnish numberless pictures of knights and their accoutrements,
contemporaneously executed, and with the most manifest exactness
in every detail. Many of these have been engraved in our popular
literature, as well as in the learned works named above; but to enable
the mind to form correct conclusions these should be all cut out and
arranged in groups of exact dates, or drawn as they are in a student's
note book.
The earlier monumental effigies afford many valuable examples of
shields, and after they cease to be represented by the side of the
figure, such often appear among the architectural details, giving the
shape of shield, with an exact date attached.
Monumental brasses give evidence to a later date, and the canopy work
introduced often carries ornamental shields.
Architectural stone carvings frequently give data of great value. I
need only refer to those put up in Westminster Abbey about 1260, which
show the exact shape and proportions of some of the shields then used,
and are represented as hanging by their "guiges" from stone projections
carved into various devices. But representations in stone and in
stained glass, especially those of later date, seem to be greatly
influenced by their surroundings, and cannot therefore be implicitly
relied on as proofs of style and date. They are often found not to
correspond exactly with other examples; indeed it is a curious fact,
which all my fellow students will vouch for, that these two--stone and
glass--seem of all materials most liable to err. The good name of many
a respectable family has been ruined by the bend sinister introduced
through the ignorant determination of some stone-carver; while in
glass, colours are altered, and impaled shields have been turned round
and so reversed; while, in the particular subject under discussion,
viz., the exact shapes of shields which obtained at various dates, we
find in both stone and glass that their shapes follow the necessities
of the rest of the design, and are made to fit into them.
[Illustration: _Plate I._