[Illustration]
Round shields borne by foot soldiers appear curved and bulged out in
the same way. I annex the representation of a soldier with a spear and
such a round shield from Cotton MS. Claudius, D. ii, fol. 30. This
dates from the earlier part of the fourteenth century, and is engraved
in Hewitt, vol. ii, p. 114. This formation is apparently meant to
give strength, and to ensure a cut or thrust gliding off, rather than
resting upon the shield.
[Illustration]
The reasons for some other alterations are not so apparent; for
instance, in the seal of Ralph Shelton, _circa_ 1460, see No. 58,
a curious projecting point is shown in the right hand base [called
sinister in heraldry] of the shield, and a similar projection occurs
in the beautiful escutcheon of Elizabeth of York, wife of Henry VII.,
1485, see No. 59, engraved in Willement's _Regal Heraldry_. A stone
carving of a bouche, with a very similar formation and of the same
date, and bearing the Tilney arms, is found upon Shelly Hall, Suffolk,
and is etched in the Anastatic Drawing Society's volume for 1871. It
seems probable this was originally meant to protect some part of the
left leg or ankle which was liable to be injured in combat. Another
shield here shown gives with great clearness this curious point. It is
engraved in Mr. Cutts' book, p. 402, and taken from Harl. MS. 4925, fo.
cxxx. This, however, is too small to protect the leg.
[Illustration]
Many shields now occur with hollowed-out sides, and engrailed at the
top and base, and are classed in our plate under the various forms
of Gothic (Nos. 9 to 12). Sometimes the top is straight, while the
sides and base are engrailed out, and in instances, perhaps under
German influence, the bases are rounded. The endless variety of these
beautiful Gothic shields is most fascinating. The wonder is that they
lasted for so very short a time, from the middle of this fifteenth
century to the first few decades of the sixteenth.
In Cutts' valuable book, p. 454 (see No. 59), two unmounted knights,
from an engraving by Hans Burgmaier, are represented in combat, about
1450, carrying two very curious shields, somewhat similar in idea to
these Gothic shields. Being divided lengthways into three partitions;
both are broader at the top and narrowed at the lower end, and they
seem to be about 3 feet 6 inches long. One is convex at the top and
engrailed, with a bluntly-pointed base; the other is flat but slightly
engrailed, and the rounded base somewhat broken by the three divisions,
which evidently suggest that these shields were curved round the body.
But the old plain heater continues as by far the most prevalent shape
throughout this century. It is usually very square, and in several
instances there is an approach to the French base of Mr. Rylands'
nomenclature.
As already remarked, foot soldiers of all ages, down to the middle of
the eighteenth century, appear with round shields. During this century
and the next these are shown with handsome decorations, but never with
heraldry on the face: foot soldiers, perhaps, were not considered
heraldically armigerous. In an Italian painting of this century, foot
soldiers are represented with square and diamond shaped shields, each
side shaped out in curves; and in one heraldry is painted; perhaps he
was a dismounted knight and the others only retainers. This may be seen
engraved in Jacquemart's _History of Furniture_, p. 24 (see No. 60).
In many other shields at the end of this century the heater shape has
gradually arrived at what is named square No. 7, and in the charter
granted to the waxchandlers, 1484 (see No. 61), and in many other
instances, these shields were very long in proportion to their width.
The same elongated shape appears in a shield on Christ Church gate,
Canterbury, date 1517; engraved _Archæologia_, vol. xvi, p. 194.
[Illustration: _Plate IV._]