THE STUDDED AND SPLINTED ARMOUR PERIOD, 1335-1360
[Illustration: PLATE XV*
Tilting Armour, Prince Philip II., by Wolf of Landshut, 1554
_A. F. Calvert_]
The Studded and Splinted Armour Period was essentially an era of
transition, intermediate between a mode of defence which had proved
inadequate by reason of its sheer cumbersomeness and multiplicity
of details, and the light and easy effectiveness of the succeeding
style, the Camail and Jupon, which was ushered in about 1360. During
the studded mail period the prolonged struggle of King Edward
III. for supremacy in France occurred, and the fierce old English
blood found many channels for venting its superfluous ardour. The
defensive and also offensive equipment of knight and soldier underwent
many and sudden changes as exigencies suggested, and keen was the
contest between the three styles then prevailing, viz. chain mail,
cuir-bouilli, and plate. From accredited sources of information we
glean that the partisans of chain mail passed through this stirring
period relying almost entirely if not wholly upon its efficacy; the
believers in cuir-bouilli clothed themselves in fanciful garments of
that material reinforced by a substratum of banded or other mail;
while the advocates of plate essayed various departures of a more or
less cumbrous character, which must have proved abortive by reason
of their weight and crudity, although containing, as many did, the
germs of improvements which, when elaborated, made the armour of later
periods so effective. There were other experimenters who believed
in a judicious mixture of all three kinds of defence, and as they far
outnumbered the remainder the period has gained the name which heads
this chapter.
In an age which saw so many varieties, and when each man did that which
was pleasant in his own eyes, it is difficult to distinguish essential
characteristics by which the amateur may readily recognise armour of
this period, but a few salient features may be mentioned which were
fairly persistent throughout.
1. _The Surcoat_ or skirted jupon was sleeveless and fitted the upper
part of the body tightly, but below the waist was made full so as
to hang in folds to the knees; as a rule it opened up the side, but
sometimes was slit only a short distance up the front and then laced
at the neck. It displayed the armorial bearings of the wearer above
the sword-belt, then worn round the waist or a little below it, and in
some few cases the skirt was dispensed with and terminated at the belt.
The lower part of the skirt was either plain or escalloped, the latter
feature sometimes partaking of the nature of gadroons and extending
upwards to the belt. The skirt also at times was of a different colour
to the upper part, a feature which is well shown in one of the windows
at Ely Cathedral, dating from 1335, where six figures are shown in
contemporary armour, and the skirts of three surcoats are darker in
colour than the upper part, one being ornamented with a band of a still
darker colour. All the skirts shown reach below the knees and have no
sleeves.
2. _The Hauberk_ beneath the surcoat was of chain-mail of various
patterns, or banded mail, and reached to the knees, being about an inch
longer than the upper garment. It was furnished with a high collar
and with sleeves reaching to the wrists, plate gauntlets being almost
universal at this period. The hauberk exemplified all the various kinds
of chain mail known in the mediæval period. The banded mail, already
spoken of in the preceding period, had varieties; instead of the rings
being merely superposed as in Fig. 162, they were at times interlinked
and given a slight twist, so as to lie flat similarly to an ordinary
curb chain, each of these continuous chains being sewn to the usual
raised leather band on either side. In some examples, chains of large
and thick links an inch or more in diameter are shown merely fastened
down to the under leather or material without any separating bands. But
probably the most effectual defence, though of enormous weight, was
the usual system of putting rings or discs of metal face to face, like
rouleaux of coins, and known as the pure banded mail, which afforded
effectual protection against the deadly arrow of the period, which
could neither penetrate nor force apart the tightly wedged discs. We
read of knights emerging from the fray bristling with arrows, which
were pulled out of their harness by the squires.
3. _The Breastplate_ was undoubtedly worn at this period, as the
globular conformation of the upper part of the body and the chains
sometimes affixed to that part through the surcoat prove. It can hardly
be imagined that these chains could be fastened to a hauberk. It is
probable that the breastplate was always worn immediately below the
surcoat; and there are indications that the haqueton or gambeson was
sometimes worn at this period under the hauberk.
4. _Chausses_ of mail were universally worn protecting nearly the whole
length of the legs and covering the feet.
[Illustration: FIG. 172.--Bascinet, _c._ 1330. (Roy. MS. 16, G. 6.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 173.--Bascinet, _c._ 1330. (Roy. MS. 16, G. 6.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 174.--Bascinet and visor, _c._ 1330. (Roy. MS. 16,
G. 6.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 175.--Helmet, Thos. Beauchamp, 1347. (Hastings
brass.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 176.--Bascinet and gorget, _c._ 1350. (British
Museum.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 177.--Bascinet, &c., Almeric, Lord St. Amand, 1347.
(Hastings brass.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 178.--Bascinet with laminated gorget. (Add. MS.
12,228.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 179.--Bascinet and gorget of plate. (Add. MS.
12,228.)]
[Illustration: FIGS. 180 and 181.--Bascinets, Meliadus MS. (Add.
12,228.)]
So far as uniformity is concerned, the four articles enumerated above
are all that can be cited with any degree of accuracy. The bascinet
of the period was of many and varying shapes, and at times approached
the grotesque. Two are given here from Roy. MS. 16 G. 6 (Figs. 172,
173), which are adorned with acanthus-shaped crests: the camail
depending from both is of banded mail, and the vervelles by which it
is affixed are shown. It is probable that this style prevailed more
upon the Continent than in England. The form of helmet shown in the
Ely window before mentioned is globular, the lower part covering
the ears and cheeks; a comb much flattened and of no great height
traverses it from the forehead to the back of the head. A common form
of bascinet is shown in Fig. 174, which covers the head and neck, and
is provided with one of the cumbrous visors of the age. This revolves
upon pivots fastened well back, and not only protects the face, but
partly fulfils the duty of a gorget. The occularium is formed by a row
of circular apertures in a reinforcing plate. This massive form of
visor is well shown on the head of Thomas de Beauchamp (Fig. 175) on
the celebrated Hastings brass, one of the few brasses of this period of
armour which have been handed down to us, and which in consequence is
simply invaluable. The visor is provided with a reinforcing plate and
slits for the occularium, with breathing holes below, while the great
projection at the lower part (when allowed to fall) not only protects
the neck, but also a portion of the chest. A bascinet is preserved in
the British Museum which dates from _c._ 1350, and illustrates the
manner in which the gorget plate was affixed (Fig. 176). The bascinet
of Almeric, Lord St. Amand (Fig. No. 177) is provided with a singular
adornment, the chapelle-de-fer or steel bonnet: the brim, being movable
upon pivots at the sides, could be brought down so as to protect the
face. But such an arrangement left the chin and throat open to injury,
and to obviate this a mentonnière of massive proportions is shown,
thus anticipating the protection of the same nature as required by
the salade a century later. This illustration of the chapelle-de-fer
is the only one engraved upon a brass, but another example of it on a
monumental effigy may be seen in Westminster Abbey upon an equestrian
figure on the tomb of Aymer de Valence, _c._ 1296. A late example of
the war hat dating from 1515 and of German make is No. 135 in the
Wallace Collection, while a pictorial representation of it may be seen
in Julius, E. IV., the life of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick,
written at the close of the fifteenth century. Bascinets not very
unlike those in vogue in the reigns of Henry V. and Henry VI., and
later on in the Tudor period, were in use, as may be seen from the
illustrations taken from Add. MS. 12,228, Figs. 178, 179, and the
romance of King Meliadus, Figs. 180, 181.
[Illustration: FIGS. 182-184.--Figures from the monument of Lady Percy
in Beverley Minster, _d._ 1330.]
In the spandrels of the canopy of a monument to Lady Eleanor Fitzalan,
wife of the first Lord Percy of Alnwick, in Beverley Minster, who died
in 1330, are seven military figures exemplifying this period of armour,
and in one or two cases the helmets are reinforced by a larger plate
which descends to the back of the neck and to each shoulder, over which
it curves outwards so as to nearly cover the camail. These pieces are
riveted on to the bascinet proper, which is generally furnished with a
huge visor.
A complete set of the figures in the canopy are here delineated, not
in the cramped original postures, but in erect positions. They all
possess points of difference, and a comparison of the various defences
exemplified by each will give an excellent idea of the feeling which
characterised the armour of this difficult period (Figs. 182-188).
[Illustration: FIGS. 185-187.--Figures from the monument of Lady Percy
in Beverley Minster, _d._ 1330.]
[Illustration: FIG. 188.--Figure from the monument of Lady Percy in
Beverley Minster, _d._ 1330.]
[Illustration: FIG. 189.--Helm and crest, Sir Geoffrey Luterell, 1345.]
The heaumes of the period were generally round-topped and furnished
with movable visors, while the crest and its adjuncts at times assumed
large, if not formidable, proportions. That of Sir Geoffrey Luterell,
1345, from the famous Luterell Psalter, is shown in Fig. 189, and that
of Sir Hugh Hastings, 1347, in Fig. 190.
[Illustration: FIG. 190.--Crested helm, Sir Hugh Hastings, 1347.]
The shoulders were generally left unprotected, except by the mail of
the hauberk, but occasionally roundels are used similar to those of
the Cyclas era. Demi-brassarts covered the upper arms, shown in many
illustrations of the period as overlapping lames of plate, occasionally
complete and protecting the front as well as the back of the limb.
Coudières, if worn, were invariably of cuir-bouilli, and of a pattern
which is almost stereotyped, and shown in Fig. 191, the genouillières
being of similar design.
In Add. MS. 12,228 at the British Museum many combats of the period are
depicted, and almost without exception coudières and genouillières of
this pattern are shown.
[Illustration: FIG. 191.--Bascinet and coudières, Meliadus MS. (Add.
12,228.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 192.]
_Vambraces_ were generally dispensed with, the hauberk sleeve being
deemed sufficient together with the large cuff of the gauntlet. Where
used the vambrace or demi-vambrace may be of plate, as in the Cyclas
Period, or of cuir-bouilli as on the brass of Sir John de Northwode
on p. 145. They were also of pourpoint as on the arm here illustrated
(Fig. 192). As this curious variety of defensive equipment is now
mentioned for the first time, it may be stated that not only in this
period but in the succeeding, it was most extensively used. Pourpoint
in its simplest form is merely a padded garment; studded pourpoint,
or studded mail, as it was occasionally called, consisted of metal
discs or roundels, generally of steel, secured by rivets to the padded
garment, or to leather or cuir-bouilli. These roundels were made very
similar to the modern stud, but with a short neck; where large roundels
are seen, as in the vambrace shown, the smaller head is buried in
the pourpoint, or boiled leather, and the larger back, as we should
term it, is visible. This is generally reversed in the case of other
defences which we shall have to consider, where only the small heads
appear upon the surface for ornament, and the real defensive disc is
buried in the pourpoint. It is probable from the illustration that the
pourpointerie shown were stiff, moulded pieces of cuir-bouilli slipped
on over the underlying hauberk sleeve.
[Illustration: FIG. 193.--Genouillière and reinforcement, _c._ 1330.
(Roy. MS. 16, G. 6.)]
_Genouillières_ were invariably of cuir-bouilli, and where illustrated
in MSS. or shown in stained-glass windows are of a yellow colour. There
was not much variety in form, and they generally followed the design of
the coudière. A simple and very common form, dating from c. 1330, is
shown in Fig. 193, from Roy. MS. 16, G. 6.
_Cuissarts._--There was seldom any special defence for the upper
leg, but occasionally haut-de-chausses of studded mail are met with,
especially as we approach 1350. An effigy at Tewkesbury exhibits
studded cuissarts, and may be ascribed to _c._ 1350 (Fig. 194). Whether
this pourpoint supplemented the chausses of banded mail or was worn in
their place is a moot point.
[Illustration: FIG. 194.--Effigy. Tewkesbury.]
[Illustration: FIG. 195.--Leg of man-at-arms. (Add. MS. 12,228.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 196.--Demi-jambart, &c., of studded cuir-bouilli.]
[Illustration: FIG. 197.--Sollerets of cuir-bouilli, Sir William
Cheyne, 1375.]
_Grevières or Jambarts._--These, if of plate, are rare, but
demi-grevières are common (Fig. 195). Perhaps the defence most in
vogue was of the splinted kind, which consisted of parallel bands
of steel arranged in vertical lines and embedded in pourpoint with
studs showing, or affixed to cuir-bouilli. The latter was often used
for vambraces and cuissarts (Fig. 196). Perhaps the best example of
splinted armour and banded mail combined is that shown in the brass of
Sir Miles de Stapleton on p. 188, and many references to this style
of defence will appear in the chapter on the Camail and Jupon Period.
Sollerets, if worn at all, were invariably of the pattern shown in
the Creke brass, and seldom covered all the upper part of the foot.
Occasionally we find the ubiquitous cuir-bouilli being used, and a
brass as late as 1375 shows an example; it is that of Sir William
Cheyne at Drayton Beauchamp, Bucks. (Fig. 197).
_The Shield._--Very few representations of the shield of the period
occur, but that in use was of the small heater-shape variety. An early
shield occurs at Whitworth, Durham (Fig. 198).
[Illustration: FIG. 198.--Early shield at Whitworth, Durham.]
This work would be incomplete without a reference to the famous
Hastings brass in Elsing Church, Norfolk, dating from 1347, which
gives details of armour of that most interesting period of English
military history for which we generally look in vain to other brasses,
to monumental effigies, and to MSS. A full description of this
invaluable record has been written by Mr. Albert Hartshorne, F.S.A.,
which appeared in _Archæologia_, Vol. 60, and is more comprehensive
than any account previously published. He relates the recovery of one
of the missing figures from the Fitzwilliam Museum and its subsequent
restoration to the original position it occupied. The figure of Sir
Hugh Hastings occupies the centre, surrounded by a much mutilated
canopy, in compartments of which are represented four contemporary
warriors, &c. The work is of foreign origin, possibly Flemish or
French. The bascinet is of the globular form so well shown in French
MSS. of the period; it is furnished with a visor which would come down
well over the gorget. The latter is of plate, and the first shown upon
a brass; it is acutely pointed in front and of massive proportions,
and guards the neck and chin, thus anticipating the protective
character of the mentonnières a century later. It lies directly upon
the camail, and was doubtless articulated, fastening at the back by
buckles. The rings of the camail and hauberk are very small, and show
distinct signs of interlocking. The usual skirted jupon of the period
covers the body to the knees, upon which is emblazoned the Hastings
Arms, a maunche differenced with a label of three points, which also
appears upon the shield. Roundels of unequal size protect the arm-pits,
that upon the left being the larger; demi-brassarts cover the upper
arm, and demi-vambraces the forearm, being arranged as in the Bacon
brass in Gorleston Church, and the Fitzralph brass in Pebmarsh Church
(Fig. 147), whilst a roundel protects the elbow-joint. The sleeves of
the hauberk are slipped off the hands, as in the case of Sir Robert
de Septvans (Fig. 146), and depend from the wrist, thus showing the
quilted haqueton or gambeson under the mail; the latter is also
apparent beneath the lower hems of the hauberk and jupon, quilted in
vertical lines. The cuissarts are of studded mail, from which depend
broad bands of cuir-bouilli passing round the knees; upon the latter
the genouillières appear as a reinforcement provided with fluted bosses
curiously spiked. The legs from this point downwards are missing, but
a rubbing in the British Museum, taken in 1782, shows that the figure
wore mail chausses, and that the feet were provided with rowelled
spurs. Sir Hugh Hastings served in Flanders 1340 to 1343, and also in
Brittany: he took part in the operations at Bergerac and Auberoche in
1345, and was present at the siege of Aiguillon in 1346.
[Illustration: FIG. 199.--Figure from Hastings brass, 1347.]
In two of the niches of the canopy are the figures representing King
Edward III. and Henry, Earl of Lancaster. The king holds a drawn sword
but has no scabbard; laminated epaulières and reinforced coudières
appear on each figure but no roundels; gorgets are absent and the
shins are protected by demi-grevières of plate. Both the king and
his cousin have cuissarts of studded mail. Another figure represents
Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick; he carries a pennoned lance in his
right hand, and is chiefly remarkable for the visored bascinet (Fig.
175), which, with its dependent guards for the neck and its huge visor
protecting the neck and part of the chest as well as the face, may be
compared with the armed figures from the tomb of Lady Eleanor Fitzalan
at Beverley, 1330. It is similar to that worn by a companion figure,
Ralph, Lord Stafford, on the same brass, and also by that representing
Lawrence Hastings, which is now missing. The latter is known to have
shown a figure with a gorget of plate similar to Sir Hugh Hastings,
with roundels at the shoulders and elbows. Another lost figure is that
of Hugh le Despencer, whose stone effigy may be seen at Tewkesbury.
The newly found figure is that of Roger, Lord Grey of Ruthin; it
shows defences similar to the others, but has complete brassarts of
plate, with demi-grevières, and the gambeson appears above the mail
collar. The figure is bareheaded and leans upon a pole-axe, which would
apparently be about four feet long: the inclusion of this weapon is
remarkable so far as brasses are concerned.
The last figure represents Almeric, Lord St. Amand, whose headpiece
is extremely peculiar (Fig. 177). The globular bascinet appears to
be protected by a steel bonnet, or chapelle-de-fer, having a wide
projecting rim which worked upon pivots at either side and could be
brought down when required level with the eyes, while the back would
afford some protection for the neck. A comb or ridge is also shown,
probably hollow, and enclosing a similar small ridge on the bascinet,
upon which it would run as a guide. This is the only example of a
headpiece of this fashion engraved upon a brass, but on the monumental
effigy of Aymer de Valence at Westminster, _c._ 1296, one of the
equestrian figures is shown similarly habited. The gorget is different
from that of Hastings in being hollowed out at the sides; it rests
directly upon the camail, which is shown with very large and coarse
markings.
In all the figures the sword is suspended at a single point and not
at two as in the Cyclas and previous periods, while the cord round
the waist is also dispensed with. The woodcut heading our Preface
indicates crudely the armour prevailing in this period. The subject of
the illustration is unknown, but it probably represents an episode at
a mediæval garden-party, where a section of the guests indulge in a
little “gentle and joyous sport” for the edification of the others.
In connection with the armour of the Studded and Splinted Periods
the representation of the sovereigns of England upon the coinage is
of considerable interest, inasmuch as it illustrates in a remarkable
degree the extraordinary conservatism of the moneyers and die-sinkers
of the mediæval period. The first representation of regal defensive
equipment occurs in the reign of King Edward III., and in the
Studded and Splinted Period. The gold noble of the second coinage
of this monarch represents him standing in a ship bearing a shield
upon his left arm and a sword in his right. The shield is large and
heater-shaped, and the sword has a short grip, a globular pommel, and
short quillons drooping towards the blade, which is long, and narrows
gradually towards the point. Camail of very capacious extent covers
the body nearly to the waist and extends down the arms to the elbow;
from below this the sleeve of a mail hauberk appears, covering a
small portion of the forearm and pendent about a foot. The forearm is
apparently unprotected, but a gauntlet covers the right hand, which
alone is visible. Upon the jupon appearing below the camail are four
studs, indicating pourpoint defence. In 1346, the half-noble exhibits
a much more contracted camail, a tightly fitting jupon with short
sleeves, and the sleeve of a chain mail hauberk apparently reaching
to the hand. The noble of 1351 shows camail, a short-sleeved jupon
revealing a hauberk reaching to the elbow, from beneath which issues a
loose sleeve to the wrist, of soft folding material, probably part of
the gambeson. The jupon is loose and plain to the waist, below which
appears studded work. The half-noble is the same, except that the chain
mail hauberk reaches to the wrist. In 1360, the noble presents the
same characteristics with regard to the camail and jupon, but a loose
sleeve, fringed at the wrist, is apparently attached to the jupon. The
half-noble of the same date has a rough indication of a coudière, with
mail brassarts or hauberk sleeve, and a gauntlet.
[Illustration: FIG. 200.--Man-at-arms, _c._ 1350.]
[Illustration: FIG. 201.--Knight, _c._ 1350.]
Richard II. nobles have the camail with a tippet of material reaching
nearly to the waist, below which appear the studs; the arm is encased
in the short sleeve of the jupon, and a long sleeve of material beneath
it; but on the half-noble a hauberk sleeve of mail is depicted to the
elbow. Henry IV. is represented in his first coinage habited almost
the same as his predecessor, but in 1412 a gold noble was issued
showing the arm in a brassart, coudière, and vambrace, but with the
same unaccountable studs below the waist. The gold coins of Henry
V. continued to be of the same pattern as those of Henry IV. In
Henry VI.’s first coinage the arm is encased in laminated brassarts,
coudière, and a scoop-shaped piece of chain mail emerging from the
coudière and reaching nearly to the wrist, where a gauntlet or glove
with a flexible cuff is shown. Otherwise the coin is the same as in
Henry IV.’s time. The rose-noble of Edward IV. exhibits the same
characteristics, as does also the angelet. With this reign the type
of the king standing in a ship ceases, but is revived again in the
time of Henry VIII., whose first coinage comprehended a regal on
which the peculiar scoop-shaped piece of mail upon the arm is shown,
an indefinite kind of cape serves for the upper part of the person,
and the inevitable studs appear below the belt. On the George noble,
issued between 1526 and 1533, we get, for the first time in more than
a hundred years, an approximation to contemporary armour in the figure
of the Saint, who is clothed in Maximilian plate from head to heel,
with large pike-guards appropriate to the time. On subsequent coins of
Edward VI., James I., and Charles I. the armour is correct. Summarising
the above respecting the persevering studs we find them represented
on coins a century and a half after they ceased to be worn; camail is
shown sixty years after it was disused; plate does not appear until a
hundred years after it came in vogue, and the drooping sleeve of mail,
though used on the Continent, was not seen in England after the Cyclas
Period. Speaking generally, Richard II. and the monarchs immediately
succeeding had the pleasure of seeing themselves represented upon the
coinage in the same equipment as the ordinary soldier of the time,
with the sole exception of the crown. Upon the silver coinage the head
only of the monarch is represented until we come to the reign of Edward
VI., when the Maximilian type is shown, and subsequent coins exhibit
contemporary armour.
[Illustration: FIG. 202.--Military equipment, _c._ 1360. (Add. MS.
12,228.)]