THE HERALDIC HELMET
Since one's earliest lessons in the rules of heraldry, we have been taught,
as one of the fundamental laws of the achievement, that the helmet by its
shape and position is indicative of rank; and we early learnt by rote that
the esquire's helmet was of steel, and was placed in profile, with the
visor closed: the helmet of the knight and baronet was to be open and
affronté; that the helmet of the peer must be of silver, guarded by grilles
and placed in profile; and that the royal helmet was of gold, with grilles,
and affronté. Until recent years certain stereotyped forms of the helmet
for these varying circumstances were in use, hideous alike both in the
regularity of their usage and the atrocious shapes into which they had been
evolved. These regulations, like some other adjuncts of heraldic art, are
comparatively speaking of modern origin. Heraldry in its earlier and better
days knew them not, and they came into vogue about the Stuart times, when
heraldic art was distinctly on the wane. It is puzzling to conceive a
desire to stereotype these particular forms, and we take it that the fact,
which is undoubted, arose from the lack of heraldic knowledge on the part
of the artists, who, having one form before them, which they were assured
was correct, under the circumstances simply reproduced this particular form
in facsimile time after time, not knowing how far they might deviate and
still remain correct. The knowledge of heraldry by the heraldic artist was
the real point underlying the excellence of mediæval heraldic art, and
underlying the excellence of much of the heraldic art in the revival of the
last few years. As it has been often pointed out, in olden times they
"played" with heraldry, and therein lay the excellence of that period. The
old men knew the lines within which they could "play," and knew the laws
which they could not transgress. Their successors, ignorant of the laws of
arms, and afraid of the hidden meanings of armory, had none but the
stereotyped lines to follow. The result was bad. Let us first consider the
development of the actual helmet, and then its application to heraldic
purposes will be more readily followed.
[Illustration: FIG. 560.]
[Illustration: FIG. 561.]
[Illustration: FIG. 562.]
[Illustration: FIG. 563.]
To the modern mind, which grumbles at the weight of present-day {304} head
coverings, it is often a matter of great wonder how the knights of ancient
days managed to put up with the heavy weight of the great iron helmet, with
its wooden or leather crest. A careful study of ancient descriptions of
tournaments and warfare will supply the clue to the explanation, which is
simply that the helmet was very seldom worn. For ceremonial purposes and
occasions it was carried by a page, and in actual use it was carried slung
at the saddle-bow, until the last moment, when it was donned for action as
blows and close contact became imminent. Then, by the nature of its
construction, the weight was carried by the shoulders, the head and neck
moving freely within necessary limits inside. All this will be more readily
apparent, when the helmet itself is considered. Our present-day ideas of
helmets--their shape, their size, and their proportions--are largely taken
from the specimens manufactured (not necessarily in modern times) for
ceremonial purposes; _e.g._ for exhibition as insignia of knighthood. By
far the larger proportion of the genuine helmets now to be seen were
purposely made (certainly at remote dates) not for actual use in battle or
tournament, but for ceremonial use, chiefly at funerals. Few, indeed, are
the examples still existing of helmets which have been actually used in
battle or tournament. Why there are so few remaining to us, when every
person of position must necessarily have possessed one throughout the
Plantagenet period, and probably at any rate to the end of the reign of
Henry VII., is a mystery which has puzzled many people--for helmets are
not, like glass and china, subject to the vicissitudes of breakage. The
reason is doubtless to be found in the fact that at that period they were
so general, and so little out of the common, that they possessed no greater
value than any other article of clothing; and whilst the real helmet,
lacking a ceremonial value, was not preserved, the sham ceremonial helmet
of a later period, possessing none but a ceremonial value, was preserved
from ceremonial to ceremonial, and has been passed on to the present day.
But a glance at so many of these helmets which exist will plainly show that
it was quite impossible for any man's head to have gone inside them, and
the sculptured helmets of what may seem to us uncouth shape and exaggerated
size, which are occasionally to be found as part of a monumental effigy,
are the size and shape of the helmets that were worn in battle. This
accounts for the much larger-sized helmets in proportion to the size of
shield which will be found in heraldic emblazonments of the Plantagenet and
Tudor periods. The artists of those periods were accustomed to the sight of
real helmets, and knew and drew the real proportion which existed between
the fighting helmet and the fighting shield. Artists of Stuart and Georgian
days knew only the ceremonial helmet, and consequently adopted and
stereotyped its impossible shape, {305} and equally impossible size.
Victorian heraldic artists, ignorant alike of the actual and the
ceremonial, reduced the size even further, and until the recent revulsion
in heraldic art, with its reversion to older types, and its copying of
older examples, the helmets of heraldry had reached the uttermost limits of
absurdity.
The recent revival of heraldry is due to men with accurate and extensive
knowledge, and many recent examples of heraldic art well compare with
ancient types. One happy result of this revival is a return to older and
better types of the helmet. But it is little use discarding the "heraldic"
helmet of the stationer's shop unless a better and more accurate result can
be shown, so that it will be well to trace in detail the progress of the
real helmet from earliest times.
[Illustration: FIG. 564.]
[Illustration: FIG. 565.]
[Illustration: FIG. 566.]
[Illustration: FIG. 567.]
[Illustration: FIG. 568.]
[Illustration: FIG. 569.--Painted "Pot-Helmet," _c._ 1241.]
[Illustration: FIG. 570.--"Pot-Helmet," from the _Eneit_ of Heinrich von
Veldeke.]
In the Anglo-Saxon period the common helmet was merely a cap of leather,
often four-cornered, and with a serrated comb (Figs. 560 and 561), but men
of rank had a conical one of metal (Fig. 562), which was frequently richly
gilt. About the time of Edward the Confessor a small piece, of varying
breadth, called a "nasal," was added (Fig. 563), which, with a quilted or
gamboised hood, or one of mail, well protected the face, leaving little
more than the eyes exposed; and in this form the helmet continued in
general use until towards the end of the twelfth century, when we find it
merged into or supplanted by the {306} "chapelle-de-fer," which is first
mentioned in documents at this period, and was shaped like a flat-topped,
cylindrical cap. This, however, was soon enlarged so as to cover the whole
head (Fig. 564), an opening being left for the features, which were
sometimes protected by a movable "ventaille," or a visor, instead of the
"nasal." This helmet (which was adopted by Richard I., who is also
sometimes represented with a conical one) was the earliest form of the
large war and tilting "heaume" (or helm), which was of great weight and
strength, and often had only small openings or slits for the eyes (Figs.
565 and 566). These eyepieces were either one wide slit or two, one on
either side. The former was, however, sometimes divided into two by an
ornamental bar or buckle placed across. It was afterwards pointed at the
top, and otherwise slightly varied in shape, but its general form appears
to have been the same until the end of the fourteenth century (Figs. 567,
568). This type of helmet is usually known as the "pot-shaped." The helmets
themselves were sometimes painted, and Fig. 569 represents an instance
which is painted in green and white diagonal stripes. The illustration is
from a parchment MS. of about 1241 now in the Town Library of Leipzic. Fig.
570 shows another German example of this type, being taken from the _Eneit_
of Heinrich von Veldeke, a MS. now in the Royal Library in Berlin,
belonging to the end of the twelfth century. The crest depicted in this
case, a red lion, must be one of the earliest instances of a crest. These
{307} are the helmets which we find on early seals and effigies, as will be
seen from Figs. 571-574.
[Illustration: FIG. 571.--Helmet of Hamelin, Earl of Surrey and Warenne (d.
1202). (From MS. Cott., Julius, C. vii.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 572.--From the seal of Richard de Clare, Earl of
Gloucester and Hertford (d. 1262).]
[Illustration: FIG. 573.--From the seal of John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey
(d. 1305).]
[Illustration: FIG. 574.--From the seal (1315) of John de Bretagne, Earl of
Richmond.]
The cylindrical or "pot-shaped" helmet of the Plantagenets, however,
disappears in the latter part of the thirteenth century, when we first find
mention of the "bascinet" (from Old French for a basin), Figs. 575-579.
This was at first merely a hemispherical steel cap, put over the coif of
mail to protect the top of the head, when the knight wished to be relieved
from the weight of his large helm (which he then slung at his back or
carried on his saddlebow), but still did not consider the mail coif
sufficient protection. It soon became pointed at the top, and gradually
lower at the back, though not so much as to protect the neck. In the
fourteenth century the mail, instead of being carried over the top of the
head, was hung to the bottom rim of the helmet, and {308} spread out over
the shoulders, overlapping the cuirass. This was called the "camail," or
"curtain of mail." It is shown in Figs. 576 and 577 fastened to the
bascinet by a lace or thong passing through staples.
The large helm, which throughout the fourteenth century was still worn over
the bascinet, did not fit down closely to the cuirass (though it may have
been fastened to it with a leather strap), its bottom curve not being
sufficiently arched for that purpose; nor did it wholly rest on the
shoulders, but was probably wadded inside so as to fit closely to the
bascinet.
[Illustration: FIG. 575.]
[Illustration: FIG. 576.]
[Illustration: FIG. 577.]
[Illustration: FIG. 578.]
[Illustration: FIG. 579.]
It is doubtful if any actual helm previous to the fourteenth century
exists, and there are very few of that period remaining. In that of the
Black Prince at Canterbury (Fig. 271) the lower, or cylindrical, portion is
composed of a front and back piece, riveted together at the sides, and this
was most likely the usual form of construction; but in the helm of Sir
Richard Pembridge (Figs. 580 and 581) the three pieces (cylinder, conical
piece, and top piece) of which it is formed are fixed with nails, and are
so welded together that no trace of a join is visible. The edges of the
metal, turned outwards round the ocularium, are very thick, and the bottom
edge is rolled inwards over a thick wire, so as not to cut the surcoat.
There are many twin holes in the helmet for the aiglets, by which the crest
and lambrequin were attached, and in front, near the bottom, are two +
shaped holes for the T bolt, which was fixed by a chain to the cuirass.
The helm of Sir Richard Hawberk (Figs. 582 and 583), who died in 1417, is
made of five pieces, and is very thick and heavy. It is much more like the
later form adapted for jousting, and was probably only for use in the
tilt-yard; but, although more firmly fixed to the cuirass than the earlier
helm, it did not fit closely down to it, as all later helms did.
Singularly few examples of the pot-helmet actually exist. The "Linz"
example (Figs. 584 and 585), which is now in the {309} Francisco-Carolinum
Museum at Linz, was dredged out of the Traun, and is unfortunately very
much corroded by rust. The fastening-place for the crest, however, is well
preserved. The example belongs to the first half of the fourteenth century.
[Illustration: FIG. 580.]
[Illustration: FIG. 581.]
[Illustration: FIG. 582.]
[Illustration: FIG. 583.]
The so-called "Pranker-Helm" (Fig. 586), from the chapter of Seckau, now in
the collection of armour in the Historical Court Museum at Vienna, and
belonging to the middle of the fourteenth century, could only have been
used for tournaments. It is made of four strong hammered sheets of iron 1-2
millimetres thick, with other strengthening plates laid on. The helmet by
itself weighs 5 kilogrammes 357 grammes. {310}
[Illustration: FIGS. 584 and 585.--The "Linz" Pot-Helmet.]
[Illustration: FIG. 587.]
The custom of wearing the large helm over the bascinet being clumsy and
troublesome, many kinds of visor were invented, so as to dispense with the
large helm, except for jousting, two of which are represented in Figs. 575
and 579. In the first a plate shaped somewhat to the nose was attached to
the part of the camail which covered the mouth. This plate, and the mail
mouth-guard, when not in use, hung downwards towards the breast; but when
in use it was drawn up and attached to a staple or locket on the front of
the bascinet. This fashion, however, does not appear to have been adopted
in England, but was peculiar to Germany, Austria, &c. None of these
contrivances seem to have been very satisfactory, but towards the end of
the fourteenth century the large and salient beaked visor was invented
(Fig. 587). It was fixed to hinges at the sides of the bascinet with pins,
and was removable at will. A high collar of steel was next added as a
substitute for the camail. This form of helmet remained in use during the
first half of the fifteenth century, and the large helm, which was only
used for jousting, took a different form, or rather several different
forms, which may be divided into three kinds. In this connection it should
be remembered that the heavy jousting helmet to which the crest had
relation was probably never used in actual warfare. The first was called a
bascinet, and was used for combats on foot. It had an almost spherical
crown-piece, and came right down to the cuirass, to which it was firmly
fixed, and was, like all large helms of the fifteenth century, large enough
for the wearer to move his head about freely inside. The helm of Sir Giles
Capel (Fig. 588) is a good specimen of this class; it has a visor of great
thickness, in which are a great number of holes, thus enabling the wearer
to see in every direction. The "barbute," or ovoid bascinet, with a
chin-piece riveted to it, was somewhat like this helm, and is often seen on
the brasses of {311} 1430-1450; the chin-piece retaining the name of
"barbute," after the bascinet had gone out of fashion.
[Illustration: FIG. 586.--Pranker-Helm.]
[Illustration: FIG. 591.--German Tilting Armour, 1480, from the Collection
in the Museum at Vienna.]
[Illustration: FIG. 592.--Tilting-Helmet of Sir John Gostwick, 1541.]
[Illustration: FIG. 588.]
The second kind of large helm used in the fifteenth century was the
"jousting-helm," which was of great strength, and firmly fixed to the
cuirass. One from the Brocas Collection (Figs. 589 and 590, date about
1500) is perhaps the grandest helm in existence. It is formed of three
pieces of different thicknesses (the front piece being the thickest), which
are fixed together with strong iron rivets with salient heads and thin
brass caps soldered to them. The arrangements for fixing it in front and
behind are very complete and curious.
The manner in which the helmet was connected with the rest of the armour is
shown in Fig. 591, which is a representation of a German suit of tilting
armour of the period about 1480, now in the collection of armour at the
Royal Museum in Vienna.
Of the same character, but of a somewhat different shape, is the helmet
(Fig. 592) of Sir John Gostwick, who died in 1541, which is now in
Willington Church, Bedfordshire. The illustration here given is taken from
the _Portfolio_, No. 33. The visor opening on the right side of the helmet
is evidently taken from an Italian model.
[Illustration: FIG. 589.]
The third and last kind of helm was the "tournament helm," and was similar
to the first kind, and also called a "bascinet"; but the visor was
generally barred, or, instead of a movable visor, the bars were riveted on
the helm, and sometimes the face was only protected by a sort of wire-work,
like a fencing-mask. It was only used for the tourney or mêlée, when the
weapons were the sword and mace.
[Illustration: FIG. 590.]
The "chapelle-de-fer," which was in use in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and
fifteenth centuries, was a light iron head-piece, with a broad, flat brim,
somewhat turned down. Fig. 593 represents one belonging to the {312} end of
the fifteenth century, which is one of the few remaining, and is delicately
forged in one piece of thin, hard steel.
During the fourteenth century a new kind of helmet arose, called in England
the "sallad," or "sallet." The word appears to have two derivations, each
of which was applied to a different form of head-piece. First, the Italian
"celata" (Fig. 594), which seems originally to have been a modification of
the bascinet. Second, the German "schallern," the form of which was
probably suggested by the chapelle-de-fer. Both of these were called by the
French "salade," whence our English "sallad." The celata came lower down
than the bascinet, protected the back and sides of the neck, and, closing
round the cheeks, often left only the eyes, nose, and mouth exposed. A
standard of mail protected the neck if required. In the fifteenth century
the celata ceased to be pointed at the summit, and was curved outwards at
the nape of the neck, as in Fig. 595.
[Illustration: FIG. 593.]
The "schallern" (from _shale_, a shell, or bowl), was really a helmet and
visor in one piece; it had a slit for the eyes, a projecting brim, and a
long tail, and was completed by a chin-piece, or "bavier" (Eng. "beaver"),
which was strapped round the neck. Fig. 596 shows a German sallad and a
Spanish beaver. The sallad was much used in the fifteenth century, during
the latter half of which it often had a visor, as in one from Rhodes (Fig.
597), which has a spring catch on the right side to hold the visor in place
when down. The rivets for its lining-cap have large, hollow, twisted heads,
which are seldom found on existing sallads, though often seen in sculpture.
[Illustration: FIG. 594.]
[Illustration: FIG. 595.]
[Illustration: FIG. 596.]
[Illustration: FIG. 597.]
The schale, schallern (_schêlern_), or sallad, either with or without a
{313} visor, is very seldom seen in heraldic use. An instance, however, in
which it has been made use of heraldically will be found in Fig. 598, which
is from a pen and ink drawing in the _Fest-Buch_ of Paulus Kel, a MS. now
in the Royal Library at Munich. This shows the schallern with the slit for
seeing through, and the fixed neck-guard. The "bart," "bavière," or beaver,
for the protection of the under part of the face, is also visible. It is
not joined to the helmet. The helmet bears the crest of Bavaria, the
red-crowned golden lion of the Palatinate within the wings of the curiously
disposed Bavarian tinctures. Fig. 599 (p. 316) is a very good
representation of a schallern dating from the latter part of the fifteenth
century, with a sliding neck-guard. It is reproduced from the _Deutscher
Herold_, 1892, No. 2.
[Illustration: FIG. 598.--Schallern, with Crest of Bavaria (Duke Ludwig of
Bavaria, 1449).]
Until almost the middle of the fifteenth century all helmets fitted on the
top of the head, or were put right over; but about 1440 the Italians made a
great improvement by inventing the "armet," the lower part of which opened
out with hinges, so that when put on it enclosed the head, fitting closely
round the lower part of it, while its weight was borne by the steel collar,
or "gorget." The Italian armet had a roundel or disc to protect the opening
at the back of the neck, and a bavier strapped on in front to cover the
joining of the two {314} cheek-pieces. The earlier armets, like the beaked
bascinet, had a camail attached by a row of staples (Fig. 600), which was
continued later, but then fixed either to a metal band or leather strap and
riveted to the base of the armet. This form of helmet was not in common use
in England until about 1500.
Fig. 600 shows the earliest form of Italian armet, with a reinforcing-piece
on the forehead, and a removable visor. Date 1450-1480. Fig. 601 represents
an armet of very fine form (probably Italian), which is a nearer approach
to the close-helmet of the sixteenth century, as the visor cannot be
removed, and the eye-slit is in the visor, instead of being formed by the
space between it and the crown-piece, and there is also no
reinforcing-piece in the crown. Date 1480-1500. Fig. 602 is still more like
the sixteenth-century helmet, for it opens down the sides instead of down
the chin and back, and the same pivot which secures the visor also serves
as a hinge for the crown and chin-piece. The small mentonnière, or bavier,
is equal on both sides, but it was often of less extent on the right. Date
about 1500.
Fig. 603 shows a German fluted helmet, of magnificent form and workmanship,
which is partly engraved and gilded. Date 1510-1525. It opens down the
chin, like the early armets, but the tail-piece of the crown is much
broader. The skill shown in the forging of the crown and the fluting of the
twisted comb is most remarkable, and each rivet for the lining-strap of the
cheek-pieces forms the centre of an engraved six-leaved rose. A grooved rim
round the bottom of the helmet fitted closely on a salient rim at the top
of the steel gorget or hause col, so that when placed on its gorget and
closed, it could not be wrenched off, but could yet be moved round freely
in a horizontal direction. The gorget being articulated, the head could
also be raised or lowered a little, but not enough to make this form of
joint very desirable, and a looser kind was soon substituted.
Fig. 604 shows what is perhaps the most perfect type of close helmet. The
comb is much larger than was the custom at an earlier date, and much
resembles those of the morions of this period. The visor is formed of two
separate parts; the upper fits inside the lower, and could be raised to
facilitate seeing without unfixing the lower portion. It is engraved with
arabesques, and is probably Italian. Date 1550-1570. Fig. 605 is an English
helmet, half-way between a close helmet and a "burgonet." It is really a
"casque," with cheek-pieces to meet in front. The crown-piece is joined
down the middle of the comb. This helmet was probably made for the Earl of
Leicester. Date about 1590.
The word "burgonet" first appeared about the beginning of the fifteenth
century, and described a form of helmet like the "celata," and {315} called
by that name in Italy. It was completed by a "buffe," or chin-piece,
similar to the bavier.
[Illustration: FIG. 600.]
[Illustration: FIG. 601.]
[Illustration: FIG. 602.]
[Illustration: FIG. 603.]
[Illustration: FIG. 604.]
[Illustration: FIG. 605.]
During this century the "morion," really an improved "chapelle-de-fer," was
much in use. It had a curved top, surmounted by a comb, and a broad,
turned-up brim, and was often elaborately engraved and gilt. The "cabasset"
was a similar head-piece, but had a peaked top, surmounted by a small spike
turned backwards, and generally a flatter, narrower brim than the morion.
These three forms of helmet were all called casques.
[Illustration: FIG. 606.--"Grid-iron" Helmet (fifteenth century).]
The barred or grilled helmet owed its introduction to tournaments with
swords and clubs, which necessitated better opportunities of vision than
the earlier tilting-helm afforded, sufficient though that was for
encounters with the tilting-spear. The earliest form of this type of helmet
will be seen in Fig. 606, which is termed a "grid-iron" helmet, developing
shortly afterwards into the form of Fig. 607, which has a lattice-work
visor. The former figure, the "grid-iron" helmet, is a {316} representation
taken from an original now in the possession of Count Hans Wilczek, of
Vienna. Fig. 607, the helmet with the latticed visor, is from an example in
the German National Museum at Nürnberg. Neither of these types of helmet
appears to have been regularly adopted into heraldic art. Indeed they are
seldom, if ever, to be found in heraldic emblazonment. For pictorial and
artistic purposes they seem to be entirely supplanted in paintings, in
seals, and in sculpture by the "grilled" helmet or "buckler." Whether this
helmet, as we find it depicted in paintings or on seals, was ever really
worn in battle or tournament seems very doubtful, and no actual instance
appears to have been preserved. On the other hand, the so-called
"Prankhelme" (pageant helmet) bucklers, frequently made of gilded leather
and other materials, are extant in some number. It is evident from their
nature, however, that they can only have been used for ceremonial or
decorative purposes.
Fig. 608 shows one of these buckled "pageant" helmets surmounted by the
crest of the Margraviate of Burgau. Fig. 609 shows another of these pageant
helmets, with the crest of Austria (ancient) or of Tyrol. These were borne,
with many others of the same character, in the pageant of the funeral
procession of the Emperor Frederick III. (IV.) in 1493. The helmets were
made of leather, and gilded, the two crests being carved out of boards and
painted. The Burgau wings, which are inclined very far forward, are: "Bendy
of six argent and gules, charged with a pale or." In their normal position
the wings are borne upright. The second crest, which is 86 cm. in height,
is black, and adorned on the outside with eared pegs 4 cm. long, from which
gold linden-leaves hang. These helmets and crests, which were formerly in
St. Stephen's Cathedral, are now in the Vienna Historical Museum.
At the beginning of the seventeenth century the workmanship became
inferior, and beauty of line was no longer sought after. Shortly afterwards
helmets ceased to be worn outside the regular army, and with the subsequent
evolution of military head coverings heraldry has no concern.
As a part of a heraldic achievement the helmet is not so old as the shield.
It was not until the introduction of the crest that any one thought of
depicting a helmet with a shield.
[Illustration: FIG. 599.--Schallern (end of fifteenth century).]
[Illustration: FIG. 607.--Helmet, with Latticed Visor (end of fifteenth
century).]
A careful and attentive examination of the early "Rolls of Arms," and of
seals and other ancient examples of heraldic art and handicraft, will at
once make it plainly apparent that the helmets then heraldically depicted
were in close keeping and of the style actually in use for warfare, joust,
or tournament at the period. This is particularly noticeable in the helmets
on the stall plates of the Knights of the Garter in St. George's Chapel at
Windsor. The helms on the early {317} stall plates, though far from being
identical in shape, all appear to be of the same class or type of
tilting-helm drawn in profile. Amongst the early plates only one instance
(Richard, Duke of Gloucester, elected 1475) can be found of the barred
helmet. This is the period when helmets actually existed in fact, and were
actually used, but at the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the
seventeenth centuries, when the helmet was being fast relegated to
ceremonial usage and pictorial emblazonment, ingenious heralds began to
evolve the system by which rank and degree were indicated by the helmet.
[Illustration: FIG. 608.--Pageant Helmet, with the Crest of Burgau.]
[Illustration: FIG. 609.--Pageant Helmet, with the Crest of Austria
(ancient) or Tyrol.]
Before proceeding to consider British rules concerning the heraldic helmet,
it may be well to note those which have been accepted abroad. In Germany
heraldry has known but two classes of helmet, the open helmet guarded by
bars (otherwise buckles or grilles), and the closed {318} or "visored"
helmet. The latter was the helmet used by the newly ennobled, the former by
the older families of higher position, it being originally held that only
those families whose birth qualified them to tilt were permitted to use
this buckled helmet. Tournaments were of course always conducted on very
strict lines. Woodward reprints in his "Treatise on Heraldry" the "Tourney
Regulations for the Exposure of Arms and Crest, drawn up by René, Duke of
Anjou, King of Sicily and Jerusalem," from Menêtrier's _L'Origin des
Armoiries_. The rules to be complied with are there set out. Fig. 12 herein
is a representation of a "Helmschau," where the examination of the crests
is being carried on. It is interesting to notice therein that the whole of
the helmets without exception have the grilles. Germany was perhaps the
earliest country to fall from grace in the matter, for towards the end of
the fifteenth century the buckled helmet is found with the arms of the
lower Briefadels (those ennobled by patent), and the practice continued
despite the violent protests of the tournament families, who considered
their prerogative had been infringed. The closed helmet consequently sank
gradually in Germany to the grade of a mere burgess's helmet, and as such
became of little account, although in former times it had been borne by the
proudest houses.
Similarly in France the "buckled" helmet was considered to be reserved for
the military noblesse, and newly ennobled families were denied its use
until the third generation, when they became _bons gentilhommes_. Woodward
states that when "in 1372 Charles V. conferred on the bourgeoisie of Paris
the right to use armorial bearings, it was strenuously denied that they
could use the timbred helm. In 1568 an edict of Charles IX. prohibited the
use of _armoiries timbrées_ to any who were not noble by birth." The
grilles of the helmet produced with the old French heralds the opportunity
of a minutiæ of rule which, considering the multitude of rules fathered,
rightly or wrongly, upon British heraldry, we may be devoutly happy never
reached our shores. They assigned different numbers of grilles to different
ranks, but as the writers differ as to the varying numbers, it is probable
that such rules were never officially accepted even in that country. In
France the rule was much as in this country, a gold helmet for the
Sovereign, silver for princes and great nobles, steel for the remainder. It
is curious that though the timbred helm was of course known in England
whilst the controversy as to its heraldic use was raging in France and
Germany, no heraldic use of it whatever occurs till the beginning of the
seventeenth century. From Royalty to the humblest gentleman, all used for
heraldic purposes the closed or visored helms.
The present rules concerning helmets which hold in Great Britain are that
the helmet of the Sovereign and the Royal princes of this {319} country
shall be of gold, placed in an affronté position, and shall have grilles.
The helmet of a peer shall be of silver, shall be placed in profile, and
shall have golden grilles, frequently stated to be five in number, a detail
not stringently adhered to. The helmet of a knight or baronet shall be of
steel, placed full-faced, and shall be open; whilst the helmet of an
esquire or gentleman shall be of steel and in profile, with the visor
closed. Within these limits considerable latitude is allowed, and even in
official grants of arms, which, as far as emblazonment goes, are very much
of a stereotyped style, actual unvarying adherence to a particular pattern
is not insisted upon.
The earliest instance amongst the Garter plates in which a helmet with
grilles is used to denote the rank of a peer is the stall plate of Lord
Knollys in 1615. In the Visitations but few instances can be found in which
the arms of peers are included. Peers were not compelled to attend and
enter their arms and pedigrees at Visitations, doubtless owing to the fact
that no Garter King of Arms ever made a Visitation, whilst it has been the
long-asserted prerogative of Garter to deal with peers and their arms by
himself. At the same time, however, there are some number of instances of
peers' arms and pedigrees in the Visitation Books, several occurring in the
1587 Visitation of Yorkshire. In these cases the arms of peers are set out
with supporters and mottoes, but there is no difference between their
helmets and what we should now term the helmet of an esquire or gentleman.
This is all the more curious because neither helmet nor motto is found in
the tricks given of the arms of commoners. Consequently one may with
certainty date the introduction of the helmet with grilles as the
distinguishing mark of a peer in this country between the years 1587 and
1615. The introduction of the open full-faced helmet as indicative of
knight or baronet is known to date from about the period of the
Restoration.
Whilst these fixed rules as to helmets are still scrupulously adhered to by
English heralds, Lyon King of Arms would seem to be inclined to let them
quietly lapse into desuetude, and the emblazonment of the arms of Sir
George Duff-Sutherland-Dunbar, Bart., in the Lyon Register at the recent
rematriculation of his arms, affords an instance in which the rules have
been ignored.
Some of the objections one hears raised to official heraldry will not hold
water when all facts are known; but one certainly thinks that those who
object to the present helmet and its methods of usage have ample reason for
such remarks as one frequently sees in print upon the subject. To put it
mildly, it is absolutely ridiculous to see a helmet placed affronté, and a
lion passant looking out over the side of it; or to see a helmet in profile
with the crest of a man's head {320} affronté placed above it, and as a
consequence also peeping over the side. The necessity for providing a
resting-place for the crest other than unoccupied space has also led to the
ridiculous practice of depicting the wreath or torse in the form of a
straight bar balanced upon the apex of the helmet. The rule itself as to
the positions of helmets for the varying ranks is officially recognised,
and the elaboration of the rule with regard to the differing metals of the
Royal helmet and the helmets of peers and knights and baronets is
officially followed; though the supposed regulation, which requires that
the helmet of an esquire or gentleman shall be of steel alone is not,
inasmuch as the helmet painted upon a grant is _always_ ornamented with
gold.
These rules in England only date from the times of the Stuarts, and they
cannot be said to be advantageous from any point of view; they are
certainly distinctly harmful from the artistic standpoint. It is plainly
utterly impossible to depict some crests upon a profile helmet, and equally
impossible to display others upon an affronté helmet. In Scotland the
crests do not afford quite such a regular succession of glaring examples
for ridicule as is the case in England. No need is recognised in Scotland
for necessarily distinguishing the crest of one family from that of
another, though proper differences are rigidly adhered to with regard to
the coats of arms. Nevertheless, Scotland provides us with many crests
which it is utterly impossible to actually carry on an actual helmet, and
examples of this kind can be found in the rainbow which floats above the
broken globe of the Hopes, and the coronets in space to which the hand
points in the crest of the family of Dunbar of Boath, with many other
similar absurdities.
In England an equal necessity for difference is insisted upon in the crest
as is everywhere insisted upon with regard to the coat of arms; and in the
time of the late Garter King of Arms, it was rapidly becoming almost
impossible to obtain a new crest which has not got a row of small objects
in front of it, or else two somethings, one on either side. (Things,
however, have now considerably improved.) If a crest is to be depicted
between two ostrich feathers, for example, it stands to reason that the
central object should be placed upon the centre of the helmet, whilst the
ostrich feathers would be one on either side--that is, placed in a position
slightly above the ears. Yet, if a helmet is to be rigidly depicted in
profile, with such a crest, it is by no means inconceivable that the one
ostrich feather at the one side would hide both the other ostrich feather
and the central object, leaving the crest to appear when properly depicted
(for example, if photographed from a profile view of an actual helmet) as a
single ostrich feather. Take, for instance, the Sievier crest, which is an
estoile between two ostrich feathers. If that crest were properly depicted
upon a profile helmet, the one ostrich feather {321} would undoubtedly hide
everything else, for it is hardly likely that the estoile would be placed
edge-forwards upon an actual helmet; and to properly display it, it ought
to take its place upon an affronté helmet. Under the present rules it would
be officially depicted with the estoile facing the side, one ostrich
feather in front over the nose, and the other at the back of the head,
which of course reduces it to an absurdity. To take another example, one
might instance the crest of Sir William Crookes. It is hardly to be
supposed that a helmet would ever have been borne into a tournament
surmounted by an elephant looking out over the side; it would most
certainly have had its head placed to the front; and yet, because Sir
William Crookes is a knight, he is required to use an affronté helmet, with
a crest which most palpably was designed for use in profile. The absurd
position which has resulted is chiefly due to the position rules and
largely a consequence of the hideous British practice (for no other nation
has ever adopted it) of depicting, as is so often done, a coat of arms and
crest without the intervening helmet and mantling; though perhaps another
cause may have had its influence. I allude to the fact that an animal's
head, for example, in profile, is considered quite a different crest to the
same animal's head when placed affronté; and so long as this idea holds,
and so long as the rules concerning the position of the helmet exist, for
so long shall we have these glaring and ridiculous anomalies. And whilst
one generation of a family has an affronté helmet and another using the
same crest may have a profile one, it is useless to design crests
specifically to fit the one or the other.
Mr. G. W. Eve, who is certainly one of the most accomplished heraldic
artists of the present time, has adopted a plan in his work which, whilst
conforming with the rules to which I have referred, has reduced the
peculiarities resulting from their observance to a minimum. His plan is
simple, inasmuch as, with a crest which is plainly affronté and has to be
depicted upon a profile helmet, he slightly alters the perspective of each,
twisting round the helmet, which, whilst remaining slightly in profile,
more nearly approaches the affronté position, and bringing the crest
slightly round to meet it. In this way he has obtained some very good
results from awkward predicaments. Mr. Joseph Foster, in his "Peerage and
Baronetage," absolutely discarded all rules affecting the position of the
helmet; and though the artistic results may be excellent, his plan cannot
be commended, because whilst rules exist they ought to be adhered to. At
the same time, it must be frankly admitted that the laws of position seem
utterly unnecessary. No other country has them--they are, as has been
shown, impracticable from the artistic {322} standpoint; and there can be
very little doubt that it is highly desirable that they should be wholly
abolished.
It is quite proper that there should be some means of distinction, and it
would seem well that the helmet with grilles should be reserved for peers.
In this we should be following or closely approximating to the rules
observed formerly upon the Continent, and if all questions of position are
waived the only difficulty which remains is the helmet of baronets and
knights. The full-faced open helmet is ugly in the extreme--anything would
be preferable (except an open helmet in profile), and probably it would be
better to wipe out the rule on this point as well. Knights of any Order
have the circle of that order within which to place their shields, and
baronets have the augmentations of their rank and degree. The knight
bachelor would be the only one to suffer. The gift of a plain circlet
around the shield or (following the precedent of a baronet), a spur upon a
canton or inescutcheon, could easily remove any cause of complaint.
But whilst one may think it well to urge strongly the alteration of
existing rules, it should not be considered permissible to ignore rules
which undoubtedly do exist whilst those rules remain in force.
The helmets of knights and baronets and of esquires and gentlemen, in
accordance with present official practice, are usually ornamented with
gold, though this would not appear to be a fixed and unalterable rule.
When two or more crests need to be depicted, various expedients are
adopted. The English official practice is to paint one helmet only, and
both the crests are detached from it. The same plan was formerly adopted in
Scotland. The dexter crest is naturally the more important and the
principal one in each case. By using one helmet only the necessity of
turning the dexter crest to face the sinister is obviated.
The present official method adopted in England of depicting three crests is
to use one helmet only, and all three crests face to the dexter. The centre
one, which is placed on the helmet, is the principal or first crest, that
on the dexter side the second, and the one on the sinister the third.
In Germany, the land of many crests (no less than thirteen were borne above
the shield of the Margraves of Brandenburg-Anspach), there has from the
earliest times been a fixed invariable practice of never dissociating a
crest from the helmet which supported it, and consequently one helmet to
every crest has long been the only recognised procedure. In the United
Kingdom duplication of crests is quite a modern practice. Amongst the
Plantagenet Garter plates there is not a single example to be found of a
coat of arms with more than a single crest, and there is no ancient British
example of more {323} than one helmet which can be referred to for
guidance. The custom originated in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
in Germany. This point is more fully dealt with in the chapter devoted to
the consideration of crests, but it may be here noted that in Austria a
knight may place two and a baron three helmets over his shield. The
Continental practice is as follows: When the number of the helms is even,
they are arranged so that all look inwards towards the centre line of the
escutcheon, half being turned to the dexter, half to the sinister. If the
number be uneven, the principal helm is placed in the centre affronté, the
others with their crests being turned towards it; thus, some face to the
dexter, some to the sinister. The crests are always turned with the
helmets. In Scandinavia the centre helm is affronté; the others, with their
crests, are often turned outwards.
English officialism, whilst confining its own emblazonments to one helmet
only, has never sought to assert that the use of two or more was either
incorrect or faulty heraldry, and particularly in these later days of the
revival of heraldic art in this country, all heraldic artists, following
the German example, are inclined to give each crest its own helmet. This
practice has been adopted during the last few years by Lyon King of Arms,
and now all paintings of arms in Lyon Register which have two crests have
the same number of helmets. Some of the Bath stall plates in Henry VII.'s
chapel in Westminster Abbey also display two helmets.
When two helmets are used, it has been customary, still following the
German model, to turn them to face each other, except in the cases of the
full-faced helmets of a knight or baronet, and (with the same exception)
when three helmets have been employed the outer ones have been placed to
face the centre, whilst the centre one has been placed in profile, as would
be the case were it standing alone. But the multiplication of English
crests in number, all of which as granted are required to differ, has
naturally resulted in the stereotyping of points of difference in attitude,
&c., and the inevitable consequence is unfortunately that without
sacrificing this character of differentiation it is impossible to allow the
English heraldic artist the same latitude and freedom of disposition with
regard to crests that his German confrère enjoys. These remarks apply
solely to English and Irish crests, for Scottish practices, requiring no
differentiation in the crests, have left Scottish crests simple and
unspoiled. In England the result is that to "play" with the position of a
crest frequently results in an entire alteration of its character, and
consequently, as there is nothing whatever in the nature of a law or of a
rule to the contrary, it is quite as usual to now find that two profile
helmets are both placed to face the dexter, as placed to face each other.
Another point seems also in {324} England to have been lost sight of in
borrowing our methods from Germany. They hold themselves at liberty to, and
usually _do_, make all their _charges on the shield_ face to the centre.
This is never done in England, where all face to the dexter. It seems
therefore to me an anomaly to apply one rule to the shield and another to
the helmet, and personally I prefer that both helmets and all charges
should face the dexter.
In British heraldry (and in fact the rule is universal) no woman other than
a reigning Sovereign is permitted to surmount her arms by a helmet.
Woodward states that "Many writers have denied the right of ecclesiastics
(and, of course, of women) to the use of helmet and crest. Spener, the
great German herald, defends their use by ecclesiastics, and says that, in
Germany at any rate, universal custom is opposed to the restriction. There
the prelates, abbots, and abbesses, who held princely fiefs by military
tenure, naturally retained the full knightly insignia."
In official English heraldry, there is a certain amount of confirmation and
a certain amount of contradiction of this supposed rule which denies a
helmet to an ecclesiastic. A grant of arms to a clergyman at the present
day, and at all times previously, after the granting of crests had become
usual, contains the grant of the crest and the emblazonment shows the
helmet. But the grant of arms to a bishop is different. The emblazonment of
the arms is surmounted by a mitre, and the crest is depicted in the body of
the patent away from and distinct from the emblazonment proper in the
margin. But the fact that a crest is granted proves that there is not any
disability inherent in the ecclesiastic which debars him from the
possession of the helmet and crest, and the rule which must be deduced, and
which really is the definite and accepted rule, is that a mitre cannot be
displayed together with a helmet or crest. It must be one or other, and as
the mitre is indicative of the higher rank, it is the crest and helmet
which are discarded.
There are few rules in heraldry to which exceptions cannot be found, and
there is a painting now preserved in the College of Arms, which depicts the
arms of the Bishop of Durham surmounted by a helmet, that in its turn being
surmounted by the mitre of episcopal rank. But the Bishopric of Durham was,
in addition to its episcopal character, a temporal Palatinate, and the arms
of the Bishops of that See therefore logically present many differences and
exceptions from established heraldic rules.
The rules with regard to the use of helmets for the coats of arms of
corporate bodies are somewhat vague and vary considerably. All counties,
cities, and towns, and all corporate bodies to whom crests have been
granted in England, have the ordinary closed profile helmet {325} of an
esquire or gentleman. No grant of a crest has as yet been made to an
English university, so that it is impossible to say that no helmet would be
allowed, or if it were allowed what it would be.
For some reason the arms of the City of London are always depicted with the
helmet of a peer, but as the crest is not officially recorded, the
privilege necessarily has no official sanction or authority.
In Scotland the helmet painted upon a grant of arms to town or city is
always the open full-faced helmet of a knight or baronet. But in the grant
of arms to a county, where it includes a crest, the helmet is that of an
esquire, which is certainly curious.
In Ireland no helmet at all was painted upon the patent granting arms to
the city of Belfast, in spite of the fact that a crest was included in the
grant, and the late Ulster King of Arms informed me he would not allow a
helmet to any impersonal arms.
Care should be taken to avoid errors of anachronism when depicting helmet
and shield. The shapes of these should bear some approximate relation to
each other in point of date. It is preferable that the helmet should be so
placed that its lower extremity reaches somewhat over the edge of the
shield. The inclined position of the shield in emblazonment is borrowed
from the natural order of things, because the shield hanging by its chain
or shield-strap (the guige), which was so balanced that the shield should
most readily fall into a convenient position when slung on the rider's
shoulders, would naturally retain its equilibrium only in a slanting
direction. {326}