Ancient armour and weapons in Europe: from the iron period of the northern nations to the end of the seventeenth century: with illustrations from contemporary monuments

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GRFAT SEALS CF KIKG RICHaKD THE FIBST

ANCIENT ARMOUR

AlTD

WEAPONS IN EUROPE

FBOM THB

IRON PEEIOD OF THE NORTHEKN NATIONS TO THE END
OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY:

WITH

ILLUSTRATIONS FROM COTEMPORARY MONUMENTS.

By JOHN HEWITT,

MEMBEE OF THE AECH^OLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF GEBAT BEITilN.

OXFORD AND LONDON:
JOHN HENRY and JAMES PARKER.

M DCCC LV.

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PBINTED BY MESSRS. PARKER, CORN-MARKET, OXFORD.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

1. {Frontispiece.) Great Seals of King Eichard CcEur-de-Lion.
The first of these (with the rounded helmet) has been drawn
from impressions appended to Harleian Charters, 43, C. 27 ;
43, 0. 29 ; and 43, C. 30 ; and Carlton Ride Seals, i. 19. In
this, as in other cases, more seals have been examined, but it
seems unnecessary to" supply references to any but the best
examples. The king wears the hauberk of chain-mail with
continuous coif, over a tunic of unusual length. The
chausses are also of chain-mail, and there is an appearance
of a chausson at the knee, but the prominence of the seal at
this part has caused so much obliteration, that the existence
of this garment may be doubted. The helmet is rounded at
the top, and appears to be strengthened by bands passing
round the brow and over the crown. The shield is bowed,
and the portion in sight ensigned with a Lion : it is armed
with a spike in front, and suspended over the shoulders by
the usual guige. Other points of this figure will be noticed
at a later page.

Second Great Seal of Eichard I. Drawn from impressions
in the British Museum : Harl. Charter, 43, C. 31, and Select
Seals, XVI. 1 ; and Carlton Eide Seals, H. 17. The armour,
though differently expressed from that of the first seal, is
probably intended to represent the same fabric ; namely, in-
terlinked chain-mail. The tunic is still of a length which
seems curiously ill-adapted to the adroit movements of a
nimble warrior. The shield of the monarch is one of the
most striking monuments of the Herald's art : the vague
ornament of Eichard' s earlier shield has given place to the
Three Lions Passant Gardant so familiar to us all in the

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16336

IV DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

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rojal arms of the present day. The king wears the plain
goad spur, and is armed with the great double-edged sword,
characteristic of the period. The helmet is described at
page 141. The saddle is an excellent example of the War-
saddle of this date.

YiGNETTE. — Knightly monument combined with an Altar-drain,
in the Church of Long Wittenham, Berkshire : of the close
of the thirteenth century. The whole is of small propor-
tions, the statue of the knight not exceeding two feet and a
quarter ....... xxv

2. Spear-heads of iron. — Fig. 1. From the Faussett collec-

tion : found in the parish of Ash, near Sandwich : length,
18 inches. Figs. 2 and 3. In Mr. Eolfe's collection at
Sandwich, found in the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Ozingell,
near Eamsgate. Fig. 4. In the Faussett collection, found
at Ash, near Sandwich. Figs. 5, 6 and 7. From Ozingell :
ISTo. 6 has the bronze ferule which bound the spear-head to
the shaft. Fig. 8. From Mr. Wylie's collection : found in
the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Fairford, Gloucestershire. Figs.
9 to 12. From the Faussett collection : fig. 11 was found on
Kingston Down, Kent ; the others at Ash-by-Sandwich :
fig. 10 is two feet long . . . . .22

3. Spear-heads or iron. — Fig. 13. In the British Museum :

found in an Anglo-Saxon grave at Battle Edge, Oxfordshire.
Fig. 14. Found in the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Fairford,
Figs. 15 and 16. Found near Bredon Hill, Worcestershire,
aud preserved in the Museum of the Worcestershire Society
of Natural History. Fig. 17. Barbed spear, or Anqon, found
in a grave on Sibertswold Down, Kent : eleven inches long.
In the Faussett collection. Fig. 18. Four-sided spear-head,
found by Mr. Wylie, in the " Fairford Graves :" length,
16| inches. Figs. 19, 20, 21. Found in Ireland: from Mr.
Wakeman's paper in the third volume of the Collectanea
Antiqtm. Fig. 22. A Livonian example, from Dr. Bahr's
collection. The original is in the British Museum. Fig.
23. A barbed spear, found in a tumulus in JS'orway : from
Mr. Wylie's paper in the thirty-fifth vol. of the ArcJiceologia .

DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. V

Page

4. SwoEDS. — Fig. 1. Found in the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at

Eairford. It measures upwards of 2 ft. 11 inches, and is one
of the finest examples extant. Tig. 2. In the Hon. Mr.
Neyille's collection : found in the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at
Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire. Length of hlade, 2 ft. 7 in.
It retains the bronze mountings of the sheath, which have
been gilt. Pig. 3. Same collection and find : a specimen re-
markable for the cross-piece at the hilt. Fig. 4. Ajicient-
Irish Sword of the same period : length, 30 inches. From
Mr. Wakeman's paper in vol. iii. of Collectanea Antiqua.
Fig. 5. Danish sword with engraved runes : in the Copen-
hagen Museum. Fig. 6. Danish : from the Annaler for
Nordisk Oldkyndighed. Remarkable for the form of its
cross-piece . . . . . . .32

5. SwoEDS. — Fig. 7. Norwegian Sword. The pommel and cross-

piece are of iron. Figs. 8 to 11. From Livonian graves : the
originals are in the British Museum. Fig. 10 is single-edged :
its pommel and the chape of the scabbard are of bronze.
Fig. 11 has its pommel and guard ornamented with silver . 33

6. Bronze Sheath containing the remains of an iron Sword:

found near Flasbj, in the West Biding of Yorkshire: ex-
hibited in the temporary Museum at York, formed by the
Archaeological Institute in 1846 . . . .44

7. Axe-heads of iron. — Figs. 1 and 2. From the Anglo-Saxon

cemetery at Ozingell : now in Mr. Bolfe's Museum. Figs.
3. and 4. Ancient-Irish examples : from Mr. Wakeman's
paper in the Collectanea Antiqua. Figs. 5 and 6. German
specimens : from the cemetery at Selzen, in Bhenish Hesse ;
described by the brothers Lindenschmit. Figs. 7 to 10. From
Livonian graves explored by Dr. Bahr : all four are in the
British Museum . . . , . .46

8. Anglo-Saxon figures contending with the war-knife and barbed

spear: from a Latin and Anglo-Saxon Psalter, formerly be-
longing to the Due de Berri, in the Imperial Library at
Paris . . . . . . .61

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VI DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

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9. War-knives, — Eig. 1. From the Ozingell cemetery: pommel

and cross-piece of iron : length, 16 inches. Fig. 2. From
the Faussett collection : found at Ash, near Sandwich. Figs.
3 and 4. Ancient-Irish : from Mr. Wakeman's paper. Fig. 3.
is 1 6 inches long : the other, of which the blade is broken,
is remarkable for retaining its handle, which is of carved
wood. Fig. 5 is from the Selzen cemetery, and curious from
the ring at the end of the tang. Length, 2 feet . . 52

10. Arrow-heads. — Figs. 1 and 2. From the Faussett collec-
tion : the first, 3 inches in length, was found in the parish of
Ash -by-Sandwich, the second on Kingston Down: both have
tangs. Figs. 3 and 4. Arrow-heads with sockets : found on
Chatham Lines. From Douglas's " Nenia." Figs. 5 and 6.
From the German graves at Selzen, Figs. 7 and 8. From
Livonian tombs : they are now in the British Museum . 56

11. Sprinkle or Hand- flail of bronze : from the Museum of
Mitau in Gourland. Given in Dr. Bahr's work, Die Grdher

' der Liven . . . . . . .58

12. Anglo-Saxon Slinger : from an Anglo-Saxon Psalter of the
tenth or eleventh century at Boulogne. The figure is that

of David . . . . . . .59

13. Group from Cottonian MS., Claudius, B. iv., folio 24 :
^Ifric's Anglo-Saxon Paraphrase of the Pentateuch, &c.
Date about 1000. The crowned figure in the centre appears

to be armed in a coat t)f chain-mail . . . .60

14. Figure of an Anglo-Saxon warrior, from Cotton MS., Cleo-
patra, C. viii. ; a copy of the Psychomachia of Prudentius.
Date, early in the eleventh century. The body-armour ap-
pears to be of hide, with the fur turned outwards. The
characteristic leg-bands of the Anglo-Saxons are carefully
expressed . . , . . . .64

15. Anglo-Saxon spearmen, from the fine manuscript of Pruden-
tius in the Teni^on Library. Date, the beginning of the

DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. VU

Page

eleventh century. The drawings are in pen-and-ink only,
but very carefully executed : the later subjects by a fresh
hand, but all Anglo-Saxon work . . . .65

16. Another group from Cotton MS., Claudius, B. iv. This ,
volume contains a great number of drawings, many of which
illustrate the subject on which we are engaged . . 6Q

17. Figure of Goliath, from a Latin Psalter of the tenth century
in the British Museum: Additional MS., No. 18,043. The
hauberk is coloured blue in the original, apparently indi-
cating chain-mail. The curious combed helmet is of the
same hue, clearly implying a defence of iron . . 67

18. Supposed frame-helmet of the Anglo-Saxon period. It is of
bronze, and was found upon the skull of an entombed warrior
discovered at Leckhampton Hill, near Cheltenham, in 1844 . 69

19. Bosses of Shields: of iron.— Eig. 1. Anglo-Saxon: from
the Faussett collection : found on Chartham Downs, near
Canterbury. Figs. 2 and 3. From the Anglo-Saxon ceme-
tery at Fairford. The last measures nearly five inches across.
The rest on this plate are to the same scale. Figs. 4 and 6.
In Mr. Rolfe's collection : from the Ozingell cemetery. Fig.
5. Anglo-Saxon : found at Streetway Hill, Wilbraham, Cam-

' Dridgeshire : now in the British Museum . . .73

20. Bosses of Shields. — Fig. 7. From the Anglo-Saxon ceme-
tery at Ozingell. Fig. 8. From the Faussett collection:
found at Chartham Downs. Fig. 9. Found at Rodmead
Down, Wilts. From Sir Eichard Hoare's " Ancient Wilts."
Fig. 10. From the Wilbraham cemetery. This specimen is
especially valuable from its retaining the handle still fixed by
its rivets to the edge of the boss. Fig. 11. Scottish example :
found in a grave in the county of Moray. From Dr. Wilson's
"Archaeology of Scotland." Fig. 12. Grerraan : from the
cemetery at Selzen. Fig. 13. A Danish example: from the
Copenhagen Museum. All these are of iron . . 75

Viii DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

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21. From the same MS. as No. 14 (Cleop. C. viii.). The figure
is one of a group, all similarly equipped, and carrying their
shields at their back . . . . . .77

22. Snaffle-bit, of iron, from an Anglo-Saxon barrow in Bourne
Park, near Canterbury. In the collection of the Earl of
Londesborough . . . . . .80

23. Spur with lozenge goad : from the bronze monument of
Eudolph von Schwaben, a.d. 1080, in the Cathedral of Merse-
burg. From Hefner's TracTiten . . . .81

24. Figure from folio 30 of Harleian MS. 603, a Latin Psalter of
the close of the eleventh century. See p. 2.9 for its descrip-
tion. This subject, an illustration of Mr. Akerman's paper
in vol. xxxiv. of the Archceologia, " On some of the Weapons
of the Celtic and Teutonic Eaces," has been kindly lent by
the author of that essay . . . . .90

25. Great Seal of King William the Conqueror : from the fine
impression appended to a charter preserved at the Hotel
Soubise in Paris. The charter is a grant to the Abbey of
St. Denis of land at Teynton, in England. The king wears
the hauberk of chain-mail over a tunic. The hemispherical
helmet is surmounted by a small knob, and has laces to fasten
it under the chin. The legs do not appear to have any
armour : the spur has disappeared. A lance with streamer
and a large kite-shield complete the warrior's equipment.
The legend is ^ Hoc IS'oemannoeum Willelmtjm nosce
PATBONrM si(gno). . . . . . .92

26. Great Seal of King William II., 1087— 1 100. From an im-
pression preserved at Durham. The hauberk appears to be
of chain-mail, though expressed in a somewhat different
manner from the preceding seal of William the Conqueror,
and from others which will follow. The conical helmet seems
to have had a nasal. The spur is of the goad form. If the
leg has had armour, the marks of it have been obliterated by
the softening of the wax. The king is armed with lance,
sword, and kite-shield ..... 102

DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. ' IX

Page

27. Seal of Alexander L, king of Scotland; 1107—1124. The
figure is armed in hauberk with continuous coif, apparently
of chain-mail ; worn over a tunic or gambeson, seen at the
wrist and skirt. Conical nasal helmet, lance with streamer,
kite-shield, and goad-spur, are the other items of the equip-
ment. The leg does not shew any armour, though the soften-
ing of the wax may have obliterated markings which originally
indicated a defensive provision at this part. The ornaments

of the poitrail are usual at this period . . . 107

28. Great Seal of King Henry I., circa 1 100. Erom Cotton Charter,
ii. 2 (in British Museum). The instrument is a confirmation
of the gift of Newton by " Eadulfus filius Godrici," and is
witnessed by Queen Matilda and others. See Tsmner' sN^otitia,
p. 339, Norwich. The material of the hauberk is represented
by that honeycomb-work so often observed in seals of this
period, and which appears to be one of the many modes in use
to imitate the web of interlinked chain-mail. The leg does
not shew any markings as of armour, but these may have
disappeared from the softening of the wax, and the promi-
nence of the seal at this part. The helmet is a plain conical
cap of steel, without nasal : the spur a simple goad. The
lance-flag terminating in three points, is ensigned with a
Cross. The shield is of the kite-form, shewing the rivets by
which the wood and leather portions of it were held together.
The peytrel of the horse has the usual pendent ornaments of
the time . . . . . . . 1 10

29. The various modes of expressing the armour in the Bayeux
Tapestry 121

30. Great Seal of King Stephen. Drawn from an impression
among the Select Seals in the British Museum, and from
that appended to Harleian Charter, 43, C. 13. The helmet
seems to have had a nasal, but the seals at this part are so
imperfect that it cannot be clearly traced. Behind is seen
a portion of the lace which fastened the coif or the casqiie.
The [body-armour is noticed at page 122. Compare wood-
cut, No. 42 . . . . . . .122

DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

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31. Various modes of representing chain-mail on medieval monu-
ments ....... 124

32. From Harleian Roll, Y. 6. The Life of Saint Guthlac.
Date, about the close of the twelfth century. The figures
wear the tunic, hauberk of chain-mail, and square-topped
helmets, of which one only has the nasal. The triangular
shields are suspended round the neck by the guige: their
ornaments are mere fanciful patterns, not heraldic. No
armour appears to be provided for the lower part of the
figures. This Eoll is further curious from having, at the
back of it, drawings of about a century later date . . 127

33. Erom Harleian MS. 603 : a Latin Psalter of the close of
the eleventh century. The figure is a pen-drawing, and re-
presents Goliath. Compare the crowned figure in wood-
cut 13, from Cotton MS., Claudius, B. iv., and the warriors
in the Bayeux Tapestry. The hauberk appears to be of
chain-mail. This manuscript has many drawings of military
costume and of weapons ..... 129

34. From Cotton MS., Nero, C. iv. French art. Date, about
1125. The figure is one of a group representing the Mas-
sacre of the Innocents : a subject, with those of the Conflict
of David and Goliath, the Soldiers at the Holy Sepulchre,
and the Martyrdom of Thomas a Becket, very fertile iji
illustrations of ancient military equipment ; . . 130

35. From fragment of a vellum-painting, of the close of the
eleventh century, figured in Hefner's TracJiten. The body-
armour appears to be of scale-work, and is silvered in the
original. The chausses of the figures in the rear are co-
loured red ....... 132

36. Another figure from Harl. MS. 603. (See description of
woodcut, No. 33.) The costume is described at page 133.
This is the only instance in the book, which contains some
hundreds of figures, where the dress of scale-work appears . 133

DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. XI

Page

37. David and Goliatli ; from an initial letter of a Latin Bible
written in Germany, for the use of the Premonstratensian .
Monastery of S. Maria de Parco, near Louvain. Additional
MS. 14,789, fol. 10. This MS. has a particular value from
its being dated; it was written in 1148. See the rubric on
fol. 197 of vol. i., and the Colophon. The costumes are de-
scribed at page 134 . . . . . .135

38. Figure of Goliath : from a Latin Bible written about 1 1 70.
" Hie liber pertinet ad Ecclesiam Beatae Mariae Yirginis in
Suburbio "Wormatiensis." Harl. MS. 2,803. Goliath is
armed in the nasal helmet and hauberk of chain-mail. The
chausses are of an unusual pattern, and do not appear to be

of a defensive character . . . . .136

39. Sculpture of St. George, from the tympanum of a door in
the church of Ruardean, Gloucestershire. Date, the first
half of the twelfth century. The body-armour of the knight
is not now indicated, but may have been formerly expressed
by painting. The helmet is of the well-known Phrygian
form. A mantle streaming in many folds behind the cham-
pion shews the impetuosity of his attack. A brooch secures
the mantle in front. The heel is furnished with a goad spur 137

40. Group representing Abraham receiving bread and wine from
Melchisedech : an enamel of the close of the twelfth cen-
tury, preserved in the Louvre collection. The patriarch
wears the hauberk of chain-mail over a tunic ; the coif of the
hauberk being surmounted by a conical nasal helmet. Over
the armour is worn a cloak, fastening at the right shoulder.
AVe borrow this illustration from Mr. Way's excellent paper
on the Enamels of the Middle-ages, in the second volume of
the " Archaeological Journal " .... 138

41. Seal of Conan, duke of Britanny and earl of Eichmond:
1 165-71. From Ilarleian Charter, 48, G. 40. See Nicholas'
" Synopsis of the Peerage," vol. ii. p. 534, for the history of
this duke. He wears the hauberk with continuous coif sur-
mounted by the conical steel casque. The triangular shield

XU DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

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is of large proportions. The saddle-cloth is of an unusual
fashion ....... 140

42. Great Seal of King Stephen. The armour consists of
hauberk with continuous coif, surmounted by a helmet of
Phrygian form. Behind the head are seen the ties which
fastened the coif or the casque. The bowed kite-shield is
curious from the spiked projection in front. Compare wood-
cut, No. 30 . . . . . . .144

43. Great Seal of King Henry II. The body-armour, consisting
of hauberk and chausses, appears to be of chain-mail. The
helmet has a nasal, and the kite-shield, seen in the inside,
shews very distinctly the manner of fixing the straps forming
th.e enarme and the ffui^e . . . . .151

44. Another Great Seal of King Henry II. Drawn from im-
pressions attached to Cotton Charter, ii. 5 ; and Harl. Char-
ters, 43, C. 20 ; 43, C. 22 ; and 43, C. 25. This seal is
chiefly remarkable from the capacious and highly enriched
saddle-cloth. The body-armour of the king appears to be of
the usual chain-mail. The conical nasal helmet has been
already seen in previous monuments .... 170

45. The Keep of Porchester Castle, Hampshire. Built about
1150. It exhibits the type of a Norman stronghold: win-
dows small below, but larger in the higher stories ; walls of
great thickness near the base, and of reduced proportions
above. An excellent essay on Military Architecture in the
first volume of the "Archaeological Journal" will afibrd a
good insight into the arrangements of a castle of the Norman
period. See also the Architecture Militaire du Moyen-Age^'hj
M. Viollet-le-Duc. The Winchester Volume of the Archse-
ological Institute will supply a particular description of Por-
chester Castle ...... 189

46. Knightly effigy from Haseley Church, Oxfordshire. The
sculpture appears to be of the middle of the thirteenth cen-
tury, and affords an excellent type of the military costume of

DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. XIU

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this age. The knight wears the hauberk of chain-mail over
a gambeson (seen at the skirt), with chausses of chain-mail.
The sleeveless surcoat is girt at the waist by a narrow belt,
from which the sword-carriage is suspended. To equip the
warrior for battle, would still be wanting the helm of plate
to fix over his mail-coif. His shield — a very unusual ar-
rangement— is placed under his head, in lieu of the second
pillow generally found in knightly monuments . . 192

47. Mounted Archer, from Roy. MS. 20, D. i. fol. 127: Histoire
Universelle, and other tracts. French art. The drawings
are all coloured, and in great number. It is one of the
finest manuscripts in the world for the illustration of an-
cient armour and military usages of all kinds. See note on
page 196 . . . . . . .195

48. Group of bowmen from folio 307 of the same MS. The
fighters in both examples wear the hauberk of banded-mail
with surcoat, and the " sugar-loaf" helm. The mounted
figure is distinguished by having chausses also of banded-
mail. The helm at his feet shews the laces by which it was
fastened . . . . . . . 199

49. Cross-bowman and Archer from Add. MS. 15,268, fol. 101 :
Histoire de V ancien monde. Date, about the close of the
thirteenth century. The armour of the arbalester is pro-
bably meant for chain-mail : that of the archer is very vague,
but seems to express some kind of pourpointing. The artist
has carefully distinguished the barbed head of the arrow and

the pile of the crossbow-bolt .... 201

60. Group of soldiers from Harl. MS. 4,751, fol. 8: a Latin
Bestiarium of the commencement of the thirteenth century.
The variety of weapons in this little subject is very remark-
able : they will be noticed under their separate heads. The
"castle" on the elephant's back is, in the original, full of
fighters, all wearing the flat-topped helm, and having their
shields fixed in a row in front of the car, as we see tliem
hanging over the edge of a vessel in sea-pictures. The
"pick-pointed hammer" in the hand of the swordsman is

XIV DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

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rather an engineering tool than a weapon, and in other

manuscripts is given to those who are employed in breach-
ing a wall ....... 205

51. Group of soldiers armed with the staff-sling, axe, spear, and
bow with lime-phial : from Strutt's Horda, vol. i. Plate xxxi.
His authority is the MS. of the " History" of Matthew Paris
in Benet College Library, Cambridge : C. 5, xvi. It has been
suggested, but with no great probability, that the manuscript

in question is the work of Matthew Paris himself . . 206

52. Great Seal of King John : drawn from impressions attached
to Harl. Charter, 84, 0. 7, and Cotton Charter, viii. 25 ;
and Carlton Eide Seal, H. 18. The helmet in this figure
is of unusual form ; and here, for the first time, the military
surcoat appears in a royal seal of England. The mailing
has been obliterated at the skirt of the hauberk, from the
prominence of the seal at that part. The ornamental
"peytrel" of the horse is well defined in this monument,
and the fashion of the saddle is very distinctly seen . .228

53. The three knights, from a picture of the Martyrdom of
Thomas a Becket, in Harl. MS. 5,102, fol. 32. The volume
is a Latin Psalter, written in the beginning of the thirteenth
century, and containing many illuminations. Fitzurse is
conspicuous from the figure of the Bear on his shield. The
heads of the knights present a curious variety of arming;
one wearing the flat-topped helmet, another the rounded
casque, and the third having no further defence than his
coif of mail. The tunic is seen passing beyond the edge
of the hauberk. The legs of the foremost figures are co-
loured red . . . . . . .230

54. Sculptured effigy of William Longespee, earl of Salisbury,
from his monument in Salisbury Cathedral. His death and
burial (in 1226) are recorded in the curious cotemporary
manuscript of AVilliam de A¥anda, the dean; which is still
preserved in the Bishop's Eecords at Sarum. See Dods-
worth's History of the Cathedral, pp. 121 and 201. The

DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. XV

Page

statue more fully illustrates various points of tlie knightly-
equipment at this early period than any other that could
be named. These details will be separately noticed in their
particular places. The figure still retains much of its an-
cient painting. The chain-mail is of a brown hue, a sin-
gularity not hitherto satisfactorily explained. The spurs
have yet sparkles of gold. The Lions on the shield are in
relief; gold on a blue field. This device has been repeated,
by painting, on the surcoat. The statue, which is of free-
stone, has every appearance of having been sculptured at the
time of the death of Earl William ; and, as it is so clearly
identified by the carved device of the shield, becomes one of
the most valuable examples for archaeological reference . 232

55. Monumental Brass of " Sire Johan D' Aubernoun, Chivaler,"
in the church of Stoke D'Abernon, Surrey. This is the
most ancient sepulchral brass yet observed, whether in Eng-
land or on the continent: its date, about 1277. Till lately
it was partly hidden beneath the altar-rails, but is now fully
disclosed. On the shield, the tincture of the field (blue) is
represented by enamel ; the copper lining being plainly dis-
cernible in the narrow edge that borders the colour. The
heraldic bearing is repeated on the lance-flag and on the
escutcheon above the effigy. The armour of the knight will
be described as the various parts of it come to be examined

in detail ....... 237

56. Erora Willemin's Monumens Inedits, vol. i., Plate cii.
The original is a drawing in the Album of Wilars de Hon-
necort, an artist of the thirteenth century. The chain- mail
chausses of the knight are drawn together behind the leg
and under the foot by lacing. The coif of the hauberk
thrown back on the shoulders, discloses the under-coif, worn
by the men-at-arms to protect the head from the rough con-
tact of the iron garment. The figure is further curious from

the " cotte a mancherons dechiquetes." . . . 238

57. Chess-knight of ivory, preserved in the Ashmolean Museum :
seen in two views. The knight wears the hauberk of chain-

XVI DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

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mail, and the cylindrical helm of its earliest form. The
gamboised chausson is seen overlying the mail chausses.
The triangular bowed shield is very exactly represented, and
the draping of the surcoat has more freedom than is usually
found at this early period. The date appears to be the be-
ginning of the thirteenth century .... 243

58. From a marble bas-relief in a cloister of the Annunziata
• Convent at Florence, 1289. After a drawing in the Kerrich

Collection, Add. MSS., No. 6,728. The knight, Gulielmus
Balnis, among several singularities of equipment, presents
us with a very unusual pattern of leg-armour : the whole
suit will be duly examined at a future page. The composi-
tion conveys no very exalted idea of Italian art in 1289 ; and,
in the drapery, the sculptor might well take a lesson from
the humble chess-piece carver of the days of Magna Charta,
whose handiwork was the subject of our last notice . . 244

59. Knightly effigy, of free-stone, in the » church of Ash, near
Sandwich. Date, the close of the thirteenth century. The
chain-mail has been expressed in stucco, and painted of a
red-brown colour. Traces of gilding are found on the
genouilleres and other parts of the monument. The knight
wears the quilted gambeson ; hauberk, -hood, and chausses
of chain-mail ; genouilleres of plate or cuir-bouilli, and long
surcoat. Ailettes are at the shoulders : of the shield, little
is left but the strap that sustained it : the cord looped to
the waist-belt held a dagger, now wanting : • the spurs, of a
single goad, have been gilt . . ... . 247

60. A mounted knight clothed in banded-mail, and having ar-
moried ailettes. The shield is carried by allowing the en-
armes to slip over the wrist. A fortified bridge, with flank-
ing towers, "breteche," gates, and portcullis, is in face.
The miniature appears on fol 58^o. of Add. MS. 10,293 : a
collection of Eomances, Jaifdt? 1316 .... 250

61. Mounted knight armed in banded-mail and visored bassinet,
and having ailettes of a lozenge form : from Roy. MS. 14 E. iii.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. XVli

Page

fol. 94^'°.; a volume of Eomauces, written and illuminated
in the first half of the fourteenth century. A fine book for
armour subjects : the drawings clear, richly coloured and
gilt, and the details well made out. This volume passed into
the possession of King Richard III., whose autograph ap-
pears on the second folio ..... 250

62. Knightly figure of the close of the thirteenth century :
from Eoy. MS. 2, A. xxii. fol. 219. The drawing shews
very clearly the manner in which the mail-coif was drawn
over the chin, and tied above the ear on the left side of the
head. An opening at the palm permitted the knight to dis-
engage his hand from the hauberk at pleasure. The armour
of the legs consists of a chausson of chain-mail, and chausses
lacing behind, which appear to be formed of studs rivetted
on cloth or leather. The helm is of a more enriched cha-
racter than is usually found at this period. Other minute
points of this equipment will be noticed in the order of their
examination ....... 254

63. Group of Soldiers, from a Latin Service-book of the end of
the thirteenth century: Add. MS. 17,687: German art:
the drawings richly coloured and gilt, large and well detailed.
The armour fabrics in the subject before us are of three
kinds : banded-mail, plain quilting, and pourpointerie witli
studs. The diversity of arrangement of these defences in so
small a group of soldiers strikingly shews how little was
thought of a uniformity of costume. As in other cases, par-
ticular points of equipment will be noticed in the body of
the work ....... 257

64. Effigy in free-stone of a knight of the De Sulney family, from
the church of Newton Solney, Derbyshire. The manor was
held by this house under the Earls of Chester (see "Archaeo-
logical Journal," vol. vii. page 368), and the church contains
several early and interesting monumental statues of the suc-
cessive lords. The figure before us appears to be of the
close of the thirteenth century : it is armed in hauberk and
chausses of banded-mail : the sleeveless surcoat is slit up in

XVlll DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

Page

front for convenience of riding : the shield has been triangu-
lar, and is slightly bowed : the pommel of the sword is cinque-
foiled, its cross-piece curved towards the blade : the spurs are
of a single goad. In lieu of the usual lion or dragon at the
feet, the statue is terminated by clusters of foliage of Early
English character ; from which we may learn that the par-
ticular purpose of the carving beneath the feet of these old
sculptures was, not symbolic or heraldic decoration, but the
provision of a strong block of stonework, to prevent the
slender and prominent feet from being broken away by the
first act of carelessness ..... 261

65. A portion of banded-mail from the above-named monument,
of the natural size. The lower figure gives the profile view . 263

GQ. Group from the "Romance of King Meliadus," Add. MS.
12,228, fol. 79. This is a manuscript of the fourteenth cen-
tury (circa 1360) ; used here to illustrate the subject of
banded-mail . . . . . . . 264

67. Coif of banded-mail, from a MS. of the beginning of the
fourteenth century. The subject is given in full in No. 7
of Count Bastard's Peintures des Manuscrits, the original
monument being an illuminated Bible. Other figures from
this Bible shew the same mode of tightening the coif . 266

68. Soldiers armed in Banded-mail : from a volume illuminated
at Metz about 1280, and now preserved in the public library
of that city. The figures here given have been eu graved in
Hefner's TracTiten, Part i. Plate lxxyii.; from which ad-
mirable work we have transferred them to our pages. It
will be observed that no two of these warriors are equipped
exactly alike ....... 268

69. Chess-piece (a Warder) of walrus-tusk, of the early part of
the thirteenth century. It was presented to the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland by Lord Macdonald ; and exhibited
in the Museum formed at York on the visit of the Archae-
ological Institute to that city in 1846. (See "Archaeological

DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. XIX

Page

Journal," vol. iii. p. 241.) The armour appears to be chain-
mail, rudely expressed by a series of lines and punctures.
The shields are remarkable from having a blunt termination
below, instead of the usual pointed form . . . 269

70. Monumental statue of an unknown knight in Norton Church,
Durham : from the figure by Blore and Le Keux in Surtees*
History of Durham, vol. iii. p. 155. Date, about 1300. The
hauberk has the hood (or coif?) thrown off the head and
lying on the shoulders: straps tighten it at the wrists.
Over the chausses appear the knee-pieces, which probably
terminated a chausson of gamboised work. The surcoat
differs from the earlier fashion of this garment, in having
sleeves. The sword is of an enriched character, the pommel
being ornamented with an escutcheon, which was no doubt
once ensigned with the bearings of the knight. Similar
escutcheons appear on the genouilleres. The hair, short over
the forehead, and gathered into large curls over the ears,
is characteristic of this period. The arming of the figure is
almost identical with that of Brian Fitz Alan, at Bedale,
Yorkshire (See Blore's Monuments, and Hollis's Effigies,
Part iv.) 275

71. Series of Helms of the thirteenth century. — Fig. 1.
From the effigy of Hugo Fitz Eudo, in Kirkstead Chapel,
Lincolnshire. A drawing of the whole figure will be found
in Powell's Collections in the British Museum : Add. MS.
17,462, fol. 71. Fig. 2. From a carving in an arcade of the
Presbytery, Worcester Cathedral. Fig. 3. From a sculpture
in the Cathedral of Constance : the entire figure is given in
Hefner's Costumes, Part i. Plate iv. Fig. 4. From the
Seal of Hugo de Yere, fourth earl of Oxford: 1221-63
Fig. 5. From a knightly figure on folio 27 of Harleian MS.
32,44: circa 1250. Fig. 6. From the Great Seal of Alexan-
der II., king of Scotland: 1214-49 : from an impression ap-
pended to Cotton Charter, xix. 2. Fig. 7- From Seal of
Robert Fitz Walter, Lord of "Wodeham and Castellan of
London : circa 1298. See page 334. Fig. 8. From a glass-
painting in Chartres Cathedral, representing Ferdinand, king

c

XX DESCRIPTION OF THE EXGRAYIXGS.

Page

of Castille : circa 1250. Pig. 9. A helm of iron in the Tower
collection. Fig. 10. From a miniature on Cotton Koll, xv. 7.
Fig. 11. From the Seal of Louis of Savoy: circa 1294. The
whole figure is given by Cibrario in the Sigilli de' Prtn-
cipi di Savota, Plate xxx. Fig. 12. An example of the so-
called Sugar-loaf helm : from Koyal MS. 20. D. i. Compare
that on the brass of Sir Roger de Trumpington, which is
somewhat more ornate (woodcut, No. 73) . . . 278

72. Combat of knights, from Roy. MS. 20, D. i.; a volume
already used for our illustrations numbered 47 and 48. Both
figures are armed from head to foot in banded-mail, and have
the characteristic helm of the period : of " sugar-loaf" form,
and brought so low as to rest on the shoulders. The warrior
on the left hand wears a crown over his helm, and has the
further decoration of a fan-crest of ungainly size. The
shields are of the old kite shape., but much reduced in their
dimensions from their Neustrian prototypes. The crowned
combatant has a dagger at his right side : an early instance
of an arrangement which afterwards became very common.
The caparison of the horses does not appear to be of a de-
fensive construction ; but an under-housing of gamboiserie

or chain-work may perhaps in such cases be implied . . 283

73. Monumental brass of Sir Roger de Trumpington, executed

about 1290, and still occupying its old position in the parish

church

"At Trompington, not fer fro Cantebrigge*."

The knight is armed in hauberk, chausses and hood of
chain-mail ; with a chausson, of which the knee-pieces seem
to be of iron plate. Ailettes are at the shoulders, and for
pillow the warrior has his helm ; from the lower edge of
which a chain passes to the belt of the surcoat, in order to
prevent its being lost in battle. The triangular, bowed
shield is sustained by the usual guige ; and here, as well as
on the ailettes and tlie escutcheons of the sword-sheath, are
seen the Trumpets forming, in allusion to his name, the
heraldic bearings of our knight .... 285

Chaucer, Reve's Tale.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. XXI

Page

74. Incised slab to the memory of the knight, Johan le Botiler,
in the church of St. Bride's, Glamorganshire. Date, about
1300. As in the preceding example, the heraldic figures
(borne in this instance on the shield and cervelliere) are
allusive to the name of the bearer, Butler. The sword,
with its trefoil pommel and narrow, curved cross-piece, has
quite the character of the Anglo-Saxon weapon of the
eleventh century. In the rowel spur, however, we recognise
the spirit of progress ; and the cervelliere of plate, worn, as
here, in conjunction with the coif of chain-mail, is an early
example of that arrangement in a monumental effigy . 287

75. Figure of Goliath, from Add. MS. 11,639, fol. 520 : a He-
brew copy of the Pentateuch and Forms of Prayer, written
in Germany about the close of the thirteenth century. The
giant has hauberk and chausses of chain-mail, with knee-
pieces of plate, and the broad-rimmed chapel-de-fer. The
shield retains the boss and strengthening bands w^hich we
have seen in examples from the Anglo-Saxon and Frankish
graves. The round mark at the temple is the stone hurled
from the sling of David. . . . . . 290

76. Part of a figure from the wall-pictures of the Painted Cham-
ber at Westminster : to shew the form of the pointed,
nasal helmet. Date, the second half of the thirteenth
century ....... 291

77. Glass-painting in the window of the north transept of Ox-
ford Cathedral. The tracery formerly belonging to it no
longer appears, and it is now mixed up with glass of a later
period. It is scarcely necessary to say that the martyr's
head is a " restoration." The knights are armed in suits of
banded-mail, with knee-pieces of plate. The uplifted sword
is of the falchion kind. Fitz-Urse has on his shield three
Bears' heads on a diapered field, in lieu of the usual figure
of a single Bear. Compare woodcut, No. 53. The date of
this glass appears to be about the close of the thirteenth
century , . . . . . . 296

78. Iron spur found in the churchyard of Chesterford, Cam-

XXll DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

Page

bridgeshire, and now preserved in the Museum of the Hon.
E. C. Neville, at Audley End. fhe plain goad, straight
neck, and curved shanks are all characteristic of the knightly
spur of the thirteenth century .... 298

79. Great Seal of King Henry III. ; drawn from impressions
attached to Harleian Charter, 43, C. 38 ; WoUey Charter,
5, xxi. ; and Topham Charter, No. 8. The king wears the
hauberk of chain-mail, with a helm somew^hat rounded at
top, and having a moveable ventail with clefts for sight
and breathing. The mailing has been obliterated from the
chausses, if any ever were there. The surcoat is still of great
length. The bowed shield exhibits the usual three Lions.
But a novelty appears in the spurs of this figure, which
are rowelled. No earlier instance of the rowel spur has
been observed, and indeed it seldom appears again during
the whole century. Usually on the alert to adopt any
novelty of military equipment, the knights appear to have
rejected with particular obstinacy the innovation of the
wheeled spur, though to us it appears so strongly recom-
mended by the greater humanity of its contrivance. Com-
pare woodcut. No. 81 : the second Great Seal of Hen. III. . 299

80. Erom Cotton MS., Nero, D. i. ; the " Lives of the two
Offas," by Matthew Paris. This group, which occurs on
folio 7 of the manuscript, represents the Mercian king,
Offa I., combating in behalf of the king of Northumber-
land, and defeating the Scottish army. The drawings of this
curious volume, all of which have been copied by Strutt in
his Horda, appear to be of the close of the thirteenth
century. The body-armour is for the most part banded-
mail. King Offa has the distinction of greaves and knee-
pieces : the mailing of a portion of his coif differs from the
rest of the suits, probably from carelessness of the artist
only. The horse of the king is also discriminated from the
other steeds by having a housing. The head-defence, com-
posed of a mask of steel placed over the coif of banded-mail,
is very remarkable. In the adjoining figure we again see
an example of the aperture left at the palm, for the con-

^

DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. XXlll

Page

venience of liberating the hand occasionally from its case of
mail. Compare woodcut, No. 62. . . . . 303

81. Second Great Seal of King Henry III. From impressions
at Carlton Eide (R. i. 34), and select seals in Brit. Museum
(xxxiv. 4). The armour consists of hauberk and chausses of
chain-mail, helm with moveable visor, shield and sword.
The surcoat, of diminished length, is without heraldic de-
coration. As a work of art, this seal shews a great advance
beyond the previous royal seals : the horse is drawn with
much truth and spirit, while the figure of the king is just in
its proportions and natural in its position. Compare wood-
cut, No. 79. . . . . . . . 307

82. Group from the Painted Chamber. Yetusta Monumenta,
vol. vi. Plate xxxyi. "We have here many noticeable particu-
lars : the falchion, the archer with his long-bow and cloth-
yard shaft, armed with its barbed head, the ornamented
helmet of the mounted knight, the conical nasal helmet of
the figure behind, the triangular and the round shields, and
the curiously-formed brow-band of the horse. All these will

be duly examined under their respective heads . .313

83. Incised slab of red sandstone, the memorial of a knight of
the Brougham family, in the church of Brougham, "West-
moreland. The stone is nearly 7 feet long, by 3 ft. 5 in.
wide, and is traditionally known as " The Crusader's Tomb."
The " Crusader" himself was disinterred in 1846, in conse-
quence of some repairs within the chancel of the church,
and found to have been buried cross-legged. Por a particular
account of this curious discovery, see the " Archaeological
Journal," vol. iv. p. 59. . . . . . 317

84. Military Plail : from Strutt's Horda^ vol. i. Plate xxxii.
Prom the same MS. as our No. 51. (Benet Coll. Lib., C. 5.
xvi.) Compare the flail on woodcut 11. . . . 327

85. Great Seal of King Edward I. Drawn from impression at
Carlton Ride marked H. 20 ; and Harl. Charter, 43, C. 52.
The king is armed in hauberk and chausses of chain-mail,

XXIV DESCRIPTION OF THE E:XGIIAV1]SGS.

Page

with helm having moveable visor ; and he wears the shorter
surcoat without armorial decoration. The shield presents
no new feature. The mountings of the sword are of an un-
usual pattern : the fleur-de-lis ornament at the extremity is
again seen at the hinge of the visor. This is the first Eng-
lish royal seal in which the housing of the steed is heraldi-
cally ensigned ...... 339

86. Horse in housing of chain-mail : from the Painted Cham-
ber^. Representations of the mailed steed are extremely
rare, though the descriptions of them are frequent. The
knight has here an armoried surcoat, and wears the usual

" barrel helm" of the time . . . . . 342

87. Seal and counter-seal of Roger de Quinci, second earl of
Winchester, 1219-64. The arming of both figures is exactly
the same: hauberk and chausses of chain-mail, cylindrical
helm, triangular bowed shield, and two-edged sword. The
wyvern which seems to form a crest to the helm in the
counter-seal, is in fact only an ornament used to fill up the
space left after the word "scocie" in the legend. The
flower in the same seal, and the similar wyvern in the ob-
verse, are employed with a like view of enriching the com-
position with ornament. De Quinci was Lord High Steward
of Scotland by right of his wife, and on the reverse-seal before
us, where he is described as " Constabularius Scocie," we
have the figure of the Scottish Lion: the seeming combat
between the two being an ingenious fancy of the artist.
Compare Winchester Volume of Archaeological Institute,

p. 103, and Laing's Ancient Scottish Seals, p. 113 . . 346

88. AVager of Battle between Walter Blowberme and Hamon le
Stare, from the original roll in the Tower. The document is
noticed in Madox's History of the Exchequer, with an en-
graving, p. 383. He describes the incident as " a pretty re-
markable Case of a Duell that was fought in the reign of
K. Henry III. ... A Duell was struck. And Hamon being
vanquished in the Combat, was adjudged to be hanged" . 375

'' Plates XXXI. and xxxvii.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. XXV

Page

89. Caerphilly Castle, Glamorganshire. Built about 1275. "We
have here the type of the " Edwardiau Castle ;" diifering
from the Norman stronghold essentially in this : that, while
the Norman fortress was a massive building surrounded by
a court, the Edwardian arrangement was a court surrounded
by strong buildings. The buildings themselves differed in
many particulars, not only from their Norman predecessors,
but from each other ; and it would require a volume to ex-
amine at large the many curious devices for offence and de-
fence that are exhibited in the various examples left to our
times. "We must again refer the student to the admirableVork
of M. Yiollet-le-Duc, Architecture Militaire du Moyen-Age,
and to the able paper on the same subject in the first volume
of the "Archaeological Journal." And, for a complete account
of the works at Caerphilly, see the ArcJiceologia Camhrensisj
vol. i., N. S. The engraving before us is from a drawing by
Mr. Gr. T. Clark, in which some portion of the lost buildings
has been supplied from the indications afforded by a careful
survey of those remaining. Conspicuous in front is the Grreat
Hall, with its louvre. Below is a water-gate, leading from
the moat into the interior of the castle. Various outworks
are connected with the main structure by means of draw-
bridges, and at the right-hand corner is a mill, turned by the
stream which supplies the moat .... 377

ANCIENT ARMOUR,

PAET L

FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE IRON PERIOD TO THE
ELEVENTH CENTURY.

By whatever race Europe may have been originally
peopled, this portion of the world seems to have been
swept by successive tribes of adventurers from Central
Asia. The so-called "Allophylian race" was displaced
by the Celts; the Sclaves then drove the Celts to the
west, and the Tshuds into the cold regions of the north ;
and lastly, the Teutonic conquerors, dispossessing at will
the nations that had preceded them, laid the foundation
of that vast social empire which at present, in Europe, in
America, in Asia, and in the new world of the South
Seas, rules the destinies of half the globe. For the pur-
poses of art, the long period of time at which we have so
rapidly glanced has been divided into the Stone Period,
the Bronze Period, and the Iron Period ; names derived
from the materials which were in general use during the
progress of the various races towards civilization; — a
division which, though, from its great comprehensiveness,
necessarily open to some objection, seems likely to be of

B

'Z ANCIENT ARMOUR

much use in simplifying a study hitherto embarrassing
alike to the general reader, and to those whose task it is
to extend the range of our knowledge.

With the nations of the Stone Period and the Eronze
Period we do not purpose to occupy ourselves; not that
the relics of their times are of an inferior interest, but
that, in commencing with the days of the iron-workers,
which for general purposes we assume to be identical
with the retirement of the Eomans beyond the Alps, and
the domination of the northern nations in the centre and
west of Europe, we feel that we have a task before us
already much greater than we can hope to fulfil, either
to the satisfaction of our readers, or our own. If we
leave much undone, we shall endeavour, in that we do,
to be exact. Modern archaeology differs from the old
antiquarianism especially in this, — that whatever it con-
tributes to knowledge is required to be scrupulously true.
A monkish chronicler of the fourteenth century is no
longer held to be an authority for the affairs of the
twelfth ; an illuminated Froissart of the fifteenth century
is no more permitted to supply us with portraits of the
Black Prince, or the costume of Duguesclin. Our pic-
tures are no longer copies of copies ; neither are they
mere versions of old art. We must have line for line,
point for point. This is essential, for two reasons : we
are freed from the danger of any wrong interpretation of
an historic fact, and we keep in view the characteristic
art of the period under examination. The importance of
this practice admitted, we shall be excused for stating
that almost all the illustrations of this work have been
drawn by the writer ; — when from manuscripts, the col-
lection and folio of the volume have been carefully re-

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. S

corded, so that the truthfulness of the copy may be readily
tested ; — after the drawings had been transferred to the
wood, they were carefully examined before the graver
was permitted to commence its work; and if, in spite
of every precaution, some unlucky error would at last
creep in, the mistake was always rectified with new
engraving.

The chief evidences for the military equipment and
usages of the Teutonic conquerors of Europe, from the
period of the dismemberment of the Eoman empire to
the great triumphs achieved by the Normans in the
eleventh century, are the writers of those times, the
miniatures which decorate their works, and the graves
of these ancient races ; which last have of late years
yielded a wondrous harvest of valuable memorials, illus-
trating as well the domestic practices of their occupants,
as their warlike array. If these three classes of monu-
ments are useful in supplying each other's deficiencies,
still more valuable do they become to the archaeologist
and the historian, by the confirmation which they mu-
tually afford to each other's testimony. A few dis-
crepancies indeed occasionally appear on points of mi-
nute detail ; and it is in the pages of the historians and
chroniclers that these are generally found : but when we
consider the difiiculty of the transmission of knowledge
in those days, and the errors that may have crept in
from the negligence of book-copyists through so many
successive generations, the wonder is, not that something
has been left obscure, but that so much has been faith-
fully transmitted to our times.

The various sons of Odin, whether settled in Germany,
in Gaul, in Iberia, in Scandinavia, or in Britain, bore a

b2

4 ANCIENT AEMOUR

strong resemblance to each, other, both in their military
equipment, and in such tactics as they possessed. If
we find one branch of this vast family combating the
Eomans with more than usual art, or conducting a cam-
paign with larger strategical views than their fellows,
we must attribute it rather to the superior skill of a par-
ticular leader, or to their having borrowed some valuable
hints from the practice of their opponents, than to any
essential diiference between this or that tribe of Teutons,
— ^between the dwellers on the right bank of the Ehine
and the dwellers on the left bank, — between those whose
huts were on the flats of the "Waal, and those who had
built their cabins in the valleys of the Loire. Such dif-
ferences as have been observed, we shall point out in our
progress ; but we are inclined to believe that, as collec-
tions are augmented and comparisons extended, resem-
blances will be found to increase, and differences to
diminish.

Among the writers who afford us information on the
early weapons and mode of warfare of that branch of the
Teutonic family which acquired the name of Franks, there
are three whose testimony is of especial value to us ; and
we must again remark, that what was particularly true
of the Franks was generally true of the Anglo-Saxons,
and of all the cognate tribes which traversed Europe as
conquerors. These three writers are — Sidonius Apol-
linaris, bishop of Auvergne, who, in the fifth century,
wrote his Panegyric of the Emperor Majorian ; Procopius,
the secretary of Belisarius, who lived in the sixth cen-
tury, and was an eye-witness of the facts he records ;
and Agathias, a Greek historian, who flourished in the ^|
seventh century. ''The Franks," says Sidonius, de-

I

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 5

scribing the defeat of their king Clodion by tbe Eoman
general Aetius, '' are a tall race, and clad in garments
which fit them closely. A belt (halteus) encircles their
waist. They hurl their axes (hipennes) and cast their
spears (Jiastas) with great force, never missing their aim.
They manage their shields with much address, and rush
on their enemy with such velocity, that they seem to fly
more rapidly than their javelins (Jiastas). They accustom
themselves to warfare fi-om their earliest years, and if
overpowered by the multitude of their enemies, they meet
their end without fear. Even in death their features
retain the expression of their indomitable valour: —

*' ^Invicti perstant, animoque supersunt
Jam prope post animam.' "

Procopius, describing the expedition of the Franks
into Italy in the sixth century, tells us: — '^ Among the
hundred thousand men that the king (Theodobert I.)
led into Italy, there were but few horsemen, and these
he kept about his person. This cavalry alone carried
spears (hastas). The remainder were infantry, who had
neither spear nor bow, (non arcu, non Jiastd annati^) all
their arms being a sword, an axe, and a shield. The
blade of the axe was large, its handle of wood, and
very short. At a given signal they march forward;
on approaching the adverse ranks they hurl their axes
against the shields of the enemy, which by this means
are broken ; and then, springing on the foe, they com-
plete his destruction with the sword\"

Agathias, in the seventh century, writes : — ^' The arms
of the Franks are very rude ; they wear neither coat- of-
fence nor greaves, their legs being protected by bands of

• De Bello Goth., lib. ii. c. 25.

b ANCIENT ARMOUR

linen or leather. They have little cavalry, but their in-
fantry are skilful and well disciplined. They wear their
swords on the left thigh, and are furnished with shields.
The bow and the sling are not in use among them, but they
carry double axes (jreXeKeLs a/^^^crro/xoi;?,) and barbed
spears [ayycovas.) These spears, which are of a moderate
length, they use either for thrusting or hurling. The
staves of them are armed with iron, so that very little
of the wood remains ^mcovered^ The head has two
barbs, projecting downwards as far as the shaft. In
battle, they cast this spear at the enemy, which becomes
so firmly fixed in the flesh by the two barbs, that it
cannot be withdrawn ; neither can it be disengaged if it
pierce the shield, for the iron with which the staff is
covered prevents the adversary from ridding himself of
it by means of his sword. At this moment the Frank
rushes forward, places his foot on the shaft of the spear
as it trails upon the ground, and having thus deprived
his foe of his defence, cleaves his skull with his axe,
or transfixes him with a second spear ^"

We here see that the usual arms of the Franks at this
time were the axe, the sword, the spear, of two kinds,
and the shield. Body-armour is not worn by the
soldiery at large ; and the chief device of the assailant
is to deprive his adversary of the aid of his shield, in
order that no obstacle may stand between his brawny
arm and death. The provision of cavalry is small, and
the few horsemen that are found appear rather as a body-
guard to the prince than as an ingredient of the army.
The evidences above quoted are borne out, not alone by
the contents of the Teutonic graves, but by other passages

** See ArchEBologia, vol. xxxvi. p. 78. ' Bk. ii.

AND ^VEAPONS IN EUROPE. 7'

of ancient writers. Gregory of Tours, in the sixth cen-
tury, tells us that Clovis, reviewing his troops soon
after the battle of Soissons, reprimanded a slovenly
soldier, by telling him, ^^ There is no one here whose
arms are so ill kept as yours : neither your spear
{liasta\ nor your sword {gladius\ nor your axe {hijpen-
nis\ is fit for service '^." This author adds a new
weapon to the Prankish soldier's equipment, in which
he is equally supported by the evidences from the
graves. They carried also, he tells us, a dagger, which
was worn suspended from the belt. Tacitus, as early
as the second centiiry, describeTs with great exactness
the spear-javelin named by Agathias. The whole pas-
sage is so curiously illustrative of our subject, that we
venture to quote it: — ^'Eari gladiis, aut majoribus lan-
ceis utuntur, hastas, vel ipsorum vocabulo frameas^ ge-
runt, angusto et brevi ferro, sed ita acri et ad usum
habili ut eodem telo, prout ratio poscit, vel cominus
vel eminus pugnent: et eques quidem scuto frameaque
contentus est : pedites et missilia spargunt, pluraque
singuli, atque in immensum vibrant, nudi aut sagulo
leves, nulla cultus jactatio : scuta tantum lectissimis
coloribus distinguunt: paucis loricse, vix uni alterive
cassis aut galea." — [Germania,)

In the long and fierce contention between the IN'orth
and the South, — between the rugged Goth and the
polished Eoman, — it could not but happen that an
adroit captain of the ruder host would avail himself of
the greater skill of his adversaries; that every cam-
paign would teach some new formation, that every battle
would disclose some useful stratagem : weapons would be

d Lib. ii. c. 27.

X

8 ANCIENT ARMOUR

improyed, enriched, and augmented in their variety ; the
defensive armour of the leaders would extend to their
subordinates; while the leaders, to retain their dis-
tinction, would be induced to render their panoply more
splendid and more costly. We find, therefore, in the
poems and chronicles of this later time, constant men-
tion of rich arms and armour; and in the capitularies
of Charlemagne especially, we get a glimpse of the im-
provements in northern warfare. ^^Let each count,"
commands the emperor, "be careful that the troops he
has to lead to battle are fully equipped ; that they have
spear, shield, a bow witK two strings, and twelve arrows,
helmet, and coat-of-fence^" "We here see the soldiery
adding to their defensive appointments the casque and
lorica, and to their oifensive arms the bow and arrows.
The equipment of Charlemagne himself has been handed
down to us in the contemporary description of the Monk
of Saint Gall. The head of the monarch was armed
with an iron helmet, — " his iron breast and his shoulders
of marble were defended by a cuirasse of iron." His
arms and legs were also covered with armour ; of which
the cuissards appear to have been composed of the
jazerant-work so much in vogue at a later period :
" coxarum exteriora : in eo ferreis ambiebantur bracte-
olis^." The followers of the prince, adds his biographer,
were similarly defended, except that they dispensed
with the cuissards, which were inconvenient on horseback.
The proportion of cavalry continued to increase, as we
clearly see from this phrase in a capitulary of Charles le
Chauve: — "Utpagenses franci qui caballos habent, aut

* Vol. i. p. 508, ed. Baluz. ' Life of Charlemagne, bk. ii. \

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 9

habere possunt, cum suis comitibus in hostem pergant."
By the clause, "ant habere possunt," it appears evident
that some effort was expected to be made in order to
extend this force.

Under Clovis and his immediate successors, (sixth cen-
tury,) the Frankish army seems to have been pretty
strictly limited to that race. But later, the Burgundians,
and then the Germans, and at length the Gauls them-
selves, were admitted to the service. The troops were
levied in the various provinces, and bore their names ; as
the Andegavi, the Biturici, the Coenomanici, the Pictavi.
Their leaders were the king, the dukes, and the counts.
The Church land? were bound to furnish their contingent
of armed men. The exempts were the very young, the
old, the sick 2, and the newly maiTied for the term of
one year^. The provinces not only furnished the fight-
ing men, but their arms, clothing, and a supply of food.
"We order,'' says another of the capitularies of Charle-
magne, "that, according to ancient custom^ each man pro-
vide himself in his province with food for three months,
and with arms and clothing for half a year'." It may
be inferred from this order, that the prince trusted, for
the last three months' sustenance of his troops, to the
maxim always so much in favour with conquerors, that
war should be made to maintain war.

In England, the Teutonic adventurers, when by many
a fierce battle they had established a footing, and by the
league of many a tribe they had united themselves into
a large and powerful community, seem to have divided
their society into two classes, — the Eorl, or noble, and the

s Laws of the Visigoths. ^ Capit. of Charlemagne.

' Lib, iii. c. 74.

10 ANCIENT AllMOUR

Ceorl, or freeman. ^' Before tlie time of Canute," remarks'
Mr. Kemble, ^Hhe ealdorman, or duke, was the leader of
the posse comitatus, or levy en masse, as well as of his own
followers^." The only superior dignities were the king
and archbishop. The subordinate commands were held by
the royal officers, who led the nobles and their retainers ;
the bishops' or abbots' officers, who were at the head of
the Church vassals ; and the sheriffs, who conducted the
posse comitatus^, No distinct intimation of the dress of
the ealdorman has come down to us, but he probably
wore a hedh^ or ring, upon his head, the fetel^ or em-
broidered belt, and the golden hilt which seems to have
been peculiar to the noble class. The staff and sword
were probably borne by him as symbols of his civil and
criminal jurisdiction™. Eut the new constitution intro-.
duced by Canute reduced the ealdorman to a subordi-
nate position. Over several counties was now placed
one eorl, or earl, (in the Northern sense, a jarl,) with
power analogous to that of the Frankish dukes. The
king rules by his earls and huscarlas, and the ealdormen
vanish from the counties. Gradually this old title ceases
altogether, except in the 'cities, where it denotes an
inferior judicature, much as it does among ourselves at
the present day*".

The huscarlas were a kind of household troops, vari-
ously estimated at three thousand or six thousand men.
They were formed on the model of the earlier comites^
but probably not organized as a regular force till the
time of Canute. To this prince, living as he was among
a conquered and turbulent people, the maintenance of

'' Saxons in England, vol. ii. p. 138. ^ lb., p. 164.

™ lb., p. 145. » lb., p. 149.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 11

such a band, always well armed, and ready for the fray,
was of the first necessity. Their weapons were the
axe, the halbard, and the sword; this last being inlaid
with gold. From the collocation of names among the
witnesses to a charter of the middle of the eleventh
century, we may infer that the stealleras^ or marshals,
were the commanding officers of the huscarlas**. In
imitation of the king, the great nobles surrounded
themselves with a body-guard of huscarlas, and they
continued to exist as a royal establishment after the
Conquest.

Like his ancestors, the ancient Germans, of whom
Tacitus tells us, "nihil neque publicse neque privatae
rei nisi armati agunt," the Anglo-Saxon freeman al-
ways went armed ; a circumstance, however, that proves,
not so much the extent of his freedom, as the smallness
of his civilization. The ancient Egyptians, on the con-
trary, always went unarmed ; and in the Kristendom's
Saga we read, that among the Icelanders, about 1139,
so great was the security, that "men no longer carried
weapons at a public meeting, and that scarcely more
than a single helmet could be seen at a judicial as-
semblage P."

The mode of raising ships among the Anglo-Saxons
we learn from an entry in the Saxon Chronicle under
the year 1008 : — " This year the king commanded that
ships should be speedily built throughout the nation ; to
wit : from three hundred hides, and from ten hides, one
vessel; and from eight hides, a helmet and a coat-of-
fence."

On especial occasions, the ships of war appear to have

« Codex diploni. .Evi Sax., no. 956. p c. 14.

'12 ANCIENT ARMOUR

been decorated in a very costly manner; as ^ye may
gather from the present of Earl Godwin to Hardecannte,
described by "William of Malmesbury : — ^' Hardecannte
looking angrily npon Godwin, the earl was obliged to
clear himself by oath. But, in hopes of recovering en-
tirely the favour of the king, he added to his oath a
present of the most rich and beautiful kind. It was
a ship with a beak of gold, having on board eighty
soldiers, who wore two bracelets on either arm, each
weighing sixteen ounces of gold. They had gilt hel-
mets ; in the right hand they carried a spear of iron ;
on the left shoulder they bore a Danish axe; in a
word, they were equipped with such arms, as that,
splendour vying with terror, might conceal the steel
beneath the gold^."

The military system of the Danes in their own
country, and of their Scandinavian brethren, may be
gathered from what we have told of the changes Avrought
in England by King Canute. By the laws of Gula,
said to have been originally established by King Hacon
the Good, in 940, whoever possessed the sum of six
marks, besides his clothes,' was required to furnish him-
self with a red shield of two boards in thickness {tut-
hyrding)^ a .spear, an axe or a sword. He who was
worth twelve marks was ordered to procure in addition
a steel cap {stdl-hufu) ; whilst he who was worth eigh-
teen marks was obliged to have a double red shield,
a helmet, a coat-of-fence or gambeson (bryniu or panzar)^
and all usual weapons {folJcvopn),

Italy, always the theatre of the most sanguinary wars,
torn and wasted by the troops of pope and of emperor,

' Malmesb., ad an, 1041.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 13

and of its own citizens contending against each other;
invaded and overrun by barbarian neighbours, — ^by the
Hungarians on the north, and by the Saracens on the
south, — presented a melange of warlike usages and war-
like equipment in which the East and the West, the
Korth and the South became intermingled in such a
manner as to give to the whole country the appearance
of a vast military masquerade; an imbroglio which, in
our time, it would be a useless attempt to resolve into
its original elements. In the eleventh century, the con-
suls of the cities, succeeding to the functions which had
been enjoyed by the dul.es and counts, commanded the
troops of their respective districts, and marched at their
head, whether the expedition was undertaken under the
banner of the emperor, or the result of a private dissen-
sion between two rival cities. The forces employed in
these services differed in nothing from those of the west
of Europe; the strength of the host consisted of the
heavy-armed knights with lance and target, while the
communal levy fought with such weapons as they could
best wield or most easily obtain. The Hungarians, who
overran the country as far as the Tiber on the north, and
the Saracens, who harried the land to the south of that
river, acted in small bodies of light cavalry, compen-
sating by the rapidity of their movements for the inferior
solidity of their armament. Before the expeditions of
these marauders, the Italian cities had been open; but
their depredations at length (that is, about the close of
the ninth century,) caused the citizens to construct walls,
to organize a communal militia for the defence of their
homes, and to place officers selected from their own body
at the head of their little armies.

14 ANCIENT ARMOUR

From very early times, and almost throughout the
middle ages, the clergy are found occasionally taking part
in warlike enterprises ; — one principal reason of which
may have been, that, by personally heading their contin-
gent, they escaped from the exactions and caprices of the
vicedomini. Their presence in battle and siege is proved,
not only by the direct testimony of cotemporary writers,
but by the prohibitions that from time to time were
issued against the practice. From Gregory of Tours we
learn, that at the siege of Comminges by the Burgundian
monarch, the bishop of Gap often appeared among the
defenders of the town, hurling stones from the walls on
the assailants. Hugh, abbot of St. Quentin, a son of
Charlemagne, was slain before Toulouse, with the abbot
of Ferriere ; and at the same time, two bishops were
made prisoners. The Saxon Chronicle, under the year
1056, says: — ^' Leofgar was appointed bishop. He was
the mass-priest of Harold the earl. He wore his knap-
sack during his priesthood until he was a bishop. He
forsook his chrism and his rood, his ghostly weapons, and
took to his spear and his sword after his bishophood ;
and so went to the field against Griffin, the Welsh king :
and there was he slain, and his priests with himP At
the Council of Estines, in 743, it is forbidden " to all who
are in the service of the Church to bear arms and to
fight, and none are to accompany the army but those
appointed to celebrate mass, to hear confessions, and to
carry the relics of the saints." The Council of Soissons,
in 744, records a similar prohibition against the abbots :
— '^ Abbates legitimi hostem non faciant, nisi tantum ho-
mines eorum transmittant." The capitularies of Charle-
magne contain similar ordinances: the priests are for-

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 15

bidden to combat " even against the pagans." Tbe Anglo-
Saxon clerics seem to have been no less belligerent than
their neighbours ; and Mr. Kemble sums up this part of
the question in the following words : — '' Though it is pro-
bable that the bishop's gerefa was bound to lead his con-
tingent, under the command of the ealdorman, yet we
have ample evidence that the prelates themselves did not
hold their station to excuse them from taking part in the
just and lawful defence of their country and religion
against strange and pagan invaders. Too many fell in
conflict to allow of our attributing their presence on the
field merely to their anxiety lest the belligerents should
be without the due consolations of religion ; and in other
cases, upon the alarm of hostile incursions, we find the
levies stated to have been led against the enemy by the
duke and bishop of the district ^"

If there were Churchmen whom it was difficult to re-
strain from fight and foray, there were, on the other
hand, laics who sought to escape the service by donning
the cowl or chasuble. A capitulary of Charlemagne was
necessary to prevent certain "liberi homines" from be-
coming either priests or monks, in order to avoid the
military duties attached to their station \

The matrons of the Is'orth appear occasionally to have
taken part in the defence of their country. William of
Jumieges, describing the resistance of the IN'ormans to the
attack of the English in 1000, writes : — ^^ Sed et foeminae
pugnatrices, robustissimos quosque hostium vectibus hy-
driarum suarum excerebrantes." "Wace, noticing the
same event, says : —

'' Li vieilles i sont corues,
0 pels, 0 maches, o machues,

' Saxons in England, ii. 395. » Lib. i. cap. 120.

16 ANCIENT ARMOUR

Escorciecs e rebraciees* :
De bien ferir apareillees.'*

And the English sailors, on their return after the defeat
of their soldiery, themselves describe them as — •

" Granz vieilles deschevelees,
Ki sembloent fames desvees"."

As we have before seen, the tactics of the IS'orthern
nations were borrowed in a great measure from the
Eomans. As early as the time of Tacitus, the Germans
disposed their troops in the form of the cimeus, or wedge :
" Acies per cuneos componitur." — (Germama,) And in
the account given by Agathias of the battle of the Casi-
linus in 553, we are told that the wedge was still the ar-
rangement adopted for the central division of the Frankish
army, while the remainder was marshalled in two wings'".

When a force of infantry had to contend against an
army in which many horse were employed, they sought
by serried ranks and by a favourable position to obtain the
advantage over their enemy. This was the plan of the
English at Hastings. A trench was before them, —

"En la cbampaigne out un fosse" — Wace, Roman de Sou.

Behind which, says the Carmen de hello Ilastingensi^ —

" Anglorum stat fixa solo densissima turba."— v. 451.

And Henry of Huntingdon: ^' quasi castellum, impene-
trabile I^ormannis." And again, Malmesbury : "All were
on foot, armed with battle-axes ; and, covering them-
selves in front by the junction of their shields, they
formed an impenetrable body, which would have secured
their safety that day, had not the Normans by a feigned

t decouvertes et retrousses. " femmes enragees. * Lib. ii.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 17

flight induced them to open their ranks, which till that
time, according to their custom^ were closely compacted''."

As early as the middle of the eleventh century, it was
sought to familiarize the Anglo-Saxons with the eques-
trian mode of warfare of their neighbours, the Normans.
In 1055 the alien captain of the garrison of Hereford,
Eaulfe, directed the English to serve on horseback ;
which, says the chronicler, was contrary to their usage :
" Anglos contra morem in equis pugnare jussif"."

Omens in the earlier times, saintly relics in the later,
were held in the highest estimation for the assurance
of victory. The ancient Germans, as we learn from
Caesar, consulted their matrons as to the lucky hour for
them to engage battle, and would not advance till the
moon was propitious^. At the battle of the Casilinus,
already noticed, some of the German auxiliaries of the
Franks were unwilling to engage because their augurs
had declared the moment to be unfavourable^. Gregory of
Tours notices the custom of the Christian kings of France
to seek a lucky omen from the services of the Church ;
and recounts that Clovis, arriving in Touraine on his
expedition against Alaric, sent his retainers to the church
in which the body of Saint Martin was deposited, in
order to notice the words that should be uttered on their
entry within the sacred walls. The king's satisfaction
was extreme when the courtiers reported the passage of

y Lib. iii. cinationibus declararent, utrum proelium

* Roger of Hoveden, svh an. 1055. committi ex usu esset, necne : eas ita di-

* " QuTim ex captivis qusereret Caesar, cere, non esse fas Germanos superare, si
quamobrem Ariovistus prcelio non de- ante novam lunam proelio contendissentJ*
certaret, hunc reperiebat causam : quod — Bell. Gall., lib. i.

apud Germanos ea consuetudo esset, ut '' Agathias.

matresfamilias eorum sortibus et vati-

18 ANCIENT ARMOUR

the eighteenth Psalm : " Tu mihi virtute ad belluni
^ccinctos meos adversarios subjicis\"

Harold's ^' lucky day" was Satui'day ; on which he
therefore fixes, to measure his strength with Duke Wil-
liam. Saturday was his birthday, and his mother had
frequently assured him that projects undertaken on that
day would bring him good fortune : —

" Guert, dist Heraut,

Jor li assis a Samedi,

Por 90 ke Samedi naski.

Ma mere dire me soleit

Ke a eel jor bien m' aveindi'eit."

Bom. de Rou, 1. 13054.

Saintly relics were carried in procession to insure a
successful expedition, or worn about the person of the
combatant, or enclosed in a feretory and set up on the
field of battle. Pope Gregory the Oreat included among
the presents which he sent to Childebert II., certain
relics which, worn round the neck in battle, would de-
fend him from all harm : '^ quse coUo suspensse a malis
omnibus vos tueantur'^." When Eollo, duke of Nor-
mandy, besieged Chartres, the bishop assembled the
clergy and people, and —

" Traist horz entre sis mainz, d' une chasse u el fu,
La kemise a la Yirge.

* * 4f

Eeliques e corz sainz fist mult tost avant traire,
Pilatieres e testes et altres Saintuaires^ :

Ne lessia croix, ne chasse, ne galice^ en aumaire.

* * *

Li Eveske meisme porta por gonfanon

Li plus chieres reliques par la procession.'*

« Lib. ii. c. 37. « Holy things.

^ Epist. Greg. Papae ad Childebert. ' Chalice.

Apud Scrip, rer. Franc, iv. 17.

A\D WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 19

The effect of all this upon Eollo was most startling : —

^' Quant Rou si grant gent vei, si s' en est esbalii
De la procession ki de Chartres issi :
Des relikes k'ils portent, e des cants k'il 6i ;
De la Sainte Kemise ke la Dame vesti,

Ki Mere e Virge fu

W\ osa jester, verz sis n^ss tost s' enfui ;
E, come pluseors distrent, la yeue perdi.
Mez tost la recovra et asez tost gari." — •

JRom. de Sou, vol. i. p. 81.

William the Conqueror and his barons, wanting a wind

to invade England, addressed themselves to the monks

of S. Yalery ; and —

" unt tant li covent preie

Ke la chasse Saint Valeri

Mistrent as chams sor un tapi.

Al cors saint vinrent tuit orer

Cil ki debveient mer passer :

Tant i ont tuit deniers offert,

Tot li cors saint en ont covert.

Emprez eel jor, asez briement,

Orent bon ore^ e bon vent." — Bom. de Bou, ii. 146.

Eut the most curious accumulation of these "sain-
tuaires" was on the field of Hastings, where Duke Wil-
liam had a portable altar, enclosing divers relics of saints
and martyrs, other relics being suspended round his neck;
while before him was borne a sacred standard which had
been blessed by the Pope, and on his finger was placed a
ring, (also sent by ^Hhe apostle,") in which was set,
according to some evidences, one of the hairs of St. Peter ;
according to others, one of his teeth' :—

*' L' Apostoile (li otreia,)
Un gonfanon li enveia ;
Un gonfanon et un anel
Mult precios e riche e bel :

» Ships, •> Gale.

^ Cliron. of Battle Abbey J OrHericus Vitalis ; Wace.

C 2

^P ANCIENT ARMOUR

Si come il dit, de soz la pierre
Aveit un des cheveuls Saint Pierre."

Or, following another manuscript of the Roman de
Mou^ —

" de soz la pierre

Aveit ime des denz Saint Pierre."

In these days, when the shock of armies was not ac-
companied by the thunder of cannon, when the silent
flight of the arrow, the hum of the sling-stone, or the
whirr of the javelin, were all that preceded the hand-to-
hand conflict, no small account was made of the various
war-cries of opposing chieftains. And not only war-
cries, but even songs, were employed to encourage the
assailants or intimidate the foe ; of which the Song of
Eoland, sung by Taillefer on the fleld of Hastings, is an
example in the memory of every reader. Snorro, in the
Heimskringla, has preserved a fragment of the improvised
verses sung by Harold Harfagar, as, mounted on his
black charger, he passed along the line of his troops
previous to the battle of Stanford-Bridge^. The pagan
IN^orthmen invoked their divinities, — a practice that was
continued, according to the chronicle of Wace, to the
middle of the eleventh century ; for, of Eaoul Tesson at
the battle of Val-des-Dunes, he writes : —

** De la gent done esteit emmie ^
Poinst li cheval, criant Tur aie™
* * *

, Cil de France crient Montjoie.
Willame crie Dex die :
C'est r enseigne de N'ormendie.

^ Heimsk., iii. 161. Saxons in Unffland, i. 350 ; and Thierry's

' " in the midst." ConquHe de l' Ang. far les Normandsy

•» " Thor, aid !" or perhaps Tyr, the sub an. 912—997.
Mars of the Northmen. See Kemble's

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 21

E Renouf crie o grant pooir,
Saint Sever, Sire Saint Sevoir.
E Dam As Denz " va reclamant,
Saint Amantj Sire Saint Amantr

Rom. de Eou, ii. 32, seq.

In the fight between Lothaire, king of France, and
Bichard I., duke of Normandy, —

*'Francei?: crient Monjoe, e N'ormanz Dex aie :
Plamenz crient Asraz e Angeyin Valie :
E li Quens Thibaut Chartres et passe avant crie." —

Ibid., i. 238.

At the field of Hastings, the English —

" Olicrosse so vent crioent,
E Godemite reclamoent.
Olicrosse est en engleiz
Ke Sainte Croix est en franceiz ;
E Godemite altretant
Com en frenceiz Dex tot poissant." — Ibid., ii. 213.

To complete our sketch of the Anglo-Saxon warrior,
we may add that he wore both beard and moustache,
neither of which were in vogue among the soldiers of
Duke William. "Wace has not omitted this point. The
!N"ormans —

" Wunt mie barbe ne guemons ^,
Co dist Heraut, com nos avons." — Horn, de Hon, ii. 174.P

Let us now examine a little more in detail the arms,
offensive and defensive, of the various !N'orthem tribes, at
whose military institutions and practices we have taken
so rapid a glance.

The Spears seem to have been of two kinds : the
longer spear in use among the cavalry, or to be employed

" Hamon - aux - Dents, seigneur de <> Moustaches.

Thorigny, of which place the church p See also Malmeshury, bk. iii., sub

is dedicated to S. Aniand. an. 1066.

22

ANCIENT ARMOUR

[Plate U.

10

I

>l ..l.».11.,.ilKl >*X<

a

IS:.. ,-..,-:Vi

^

>

Plate 111.]

AND WEAPONS IX EUKOPJ<

23

24 ANCIENT ARMOUR

against them; and the shorter kind, which, as we have;
seen, might serve either as a javelin, or for the thrnst at
close quarters. In the accompanying groups of spear-
heads, found in graves in different parts of Europe, we
have collected the principal varieties of form^ : the leaf-
shaped, the lozenge, the spike, the ogee, the barbed, and
the four-edged. These forms are infinitely varied in the
monuments of the time, by giving to the weapons more or
less of breadth or of slenderness. The blades are always
of iron, and those found in England have a longitudinal
opening in the socket. Their length is various, but they
usually range from ten to fifteen inches. In the cemetery
at Little Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire, the smallest found
was two and a half inches, the longest eighteen inches'*.
In the Ozingell cemetery (in Kent), they occur of twenty-
one inches in lengths The spear-heads of this period found
in Ireland differ but little from the examples discovered
in England and on* the Continent. Those from the Ballin-
derry find, observes Mr. Wakeman, '' are singularly like
specimens found at Ozingell." In Anglo-Saxon interments,
the spears occur in much greater numbers than any of the
other weapons. The cemetery at Little Wilbraham pro-
duced thirty-five spears, but only four swords ; and the
axes, in all similar explorations, are of still greater rarity.
These usual types of the spear-head found in Great Bri-
tain closely resemble those discovered in the graves of
France, Germany, Denmark, and Switzerland. I^umerous
examples of them will be found figured in the Abbe

p The particular localities where the i "Saxon Obsequies," by the Hon.

spears and other weapons have been R. C. Neville,
found are mentioned in the Description >■ Collectanea Antiqua, vol- iii.

of the engravings.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 25

Cochet's work^, in Lindenschmit's Selzen Cemetery*, in
Worsaae's Copenhagen Museum", and in Troy on' s Tom-
heaux de Bel-Ah\

One of the first things that strikes the student in turn-
ing over the illuminated manuscripts of the Anglo-Saxons,
and comparing their pictures with the relics procured
from the graves, is the great frequency in the paintings
of the barbed spear or angon^ and its extreme rarity in
real examples. We have already seen, in the description
of Agathias, that this weapon was employed with fearful
effect by the Franks in the seventh century; and the
constant occurrence of it in the vellum-paintings of a
later date, leaves us no room to doubt that it was a
familiar form to our Teutonic ancestors. Yet its oc-
currence in the graves is of the greatest rarity. We
have given, in our plate of spears, figure 17, a speci-
men of the barbed javelin, forming part of the Faussett
Collection, found in 1772 in a gi-ave on Sibbertswould
Down, in Kent. Its length is eleven inches. Figure 23
in the same plate is from Mr. Wylie's paper in the
Archaeologia, (vol. xxxv.) ; the original, of iron, and in
length sixteen inches, was found in a ISTorwegian tu-
mulus. Mr. Wylie has also engraved another example,
preserved in the Musee de VArtillerie at Paris, said to
have been procured from a Merovingian grave. In the
Abbe Cochet's work (Plate xvi.) is figured another spe-
cimen, from a grave at Envermeu, the length of which is
five inches ; the barbs spreading out widely on each side,
exactly in the manner of the royal '^broad-arrow.'* Se-

" La Normandie Souterraine. « Afbildninger fra det Kongelige Mu-

* Das germanische Todtenlager bei seum for Nordiske Oldsager i Kjoben-
Selzen in der Provinz Rheinhessen. havn.

26 ANCIENT ARMOUR

yeral examples are given in Worsaae's Copenhagen Mu-
seum, p. 69 ; one of which differs from the rest in having
the barb on one ^side only, the other side being leaf-
shaped. The barbed spear or javelin has also been found
at Mainz, Darmstadt, and Wiesbaden'' ; but in all cases
it occurs in very small proportion to the other weapons
discovered.

The four-edged spear-head is of still greater rarity. In
the graves opened by Mr. Wylie at Fairford, in Glouces-
tershire, one of these curious weapons was obtained;
which we have copied from the volume describing this
find^, in our plate of spears, ^g. 18. It is of iron, six-
teen and a half inches in length, and two inches across at
the broadest part. '^ It reminds one," remarks Mr. Wylie,
"of the spear of Thorolf in EigiPs Saga:" "Cujus
femim duas ulnas longum, in mucronem quatuor acies
hahentem^ desinebat." These four-edged weapons are of
the highest antiquity;- — compare those of the Egyptians,
figured and described in Sir Gardner Wilkinson's work^

Another variety, found at Douvrend, and figured at
page 283 oi La Normandie Souterraine^ has a leaf-shaped
blade with recurved hooks at the socket end. Mr. Wylie
has given this example in his paper in the Archseologia,
(vol. XXXV. p. 48,) and considers it to be the weapon
named by Sidonius as forming part of the Frankish war-
rior's equipment: ''Hanceis uncatis^ securibusque missili-
bus dextrae refertse." Four other examples of this spear
were found in the valley of the Eaulne^.

Occasionally the spear-head was formed with its two

* See the examples engraved in the * Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. p. 353,

Archffiologia, vol. xxxv. p. 78. sq., ed. 1854.

y "Fairford Graves." - • See the AbL6 Cochet's Avork, p. 283.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 27

sides on different planes; with the object, as it would
appear, of giving a rotary motion to the weapon when
used as a javelin. Two examples of this construction are
described and engraved in the account of the excavations,
by Mr. Akerman, at Harnham Hill, near Salisbury^.

The spear-head was generally attached to its shaft by
means of rivets passing through the socket into the wood
beneath. Sometimes, in lieu of the socket, there was a
spike at the base of it, which was driven into the wood,
as in one of the Livonian examples, now in the British
Museum, and figured in Dr. Bahr's work. Die Grdher der
Liven, Sometimes, again, a ferule of bronze or iron was
added to the socketed spear-head at its junction with the
staff, as in the example in Mr. Eolfe's museum, at Sand-
wich, obtained from the Ozingell graves, and figured on
our Plate ii., fig. 6. In this instance the ferule was of
bronze. One of iron occurred in the cemetery at Linton
Heath, Cambridgeshire, (figured in Archseol. Journal,
vol. xi. p. 106). In manuscript illuminations the spear-
head of the Anglo-Saxons is constantly represented with
one or more cross-bars at the base of the blade. A spear
of ii'on having a cross-piece of analogous form was found
among Anglo-Saxon relics near Nottingham in recent
excavations, and has been added to the Tower Collection.
It is engraved in the Archaeological Journal, vol. viii.
p. 425. Similar examples are figured in the Illustrated
Catalogue of Mr. Eoach Smith's Museum, p. 103.

The shaft itself appears to have been generally of ash.
Portions of the wood have been found at Wilbraham, at
Ozingell, at Northfleet, and other places. Some of that
from Northfleet, having been examined by Professor

•* ArchcBol., vol. xxxv.

28 ANCIENT ARMOUR

Lindley and by Mr. Girdwood, has been pronounced to
be undoubtedly ash^ The general use of this wood is
strikingly confirmed by several passages in '' Beowulf,'^
that curious Anglo-Saxon poem which the concurring
opinion of the best Northern scholars has assigned to
the close of the eighth century : —

*' Their javelins piled togethei* stood,
The seamen's arms, of ashen wood." — Line 654.

And again, line 3535 : —

" Thus I the Hring-danes
for many a year
governed under heaven
and secured them with war
from many tribes
throughout this earth
with spears and swords."
{j/Escum and ecgum,')

In this passage, cescum^ ash, is put for the spear itself.
Mr. Eoacli Smith has collected several other instances of
a similar kind. " In Caedmon, the term wsc-herend^ or
spear-bearer, is applied to a soldier." In the fragment of
the poetical " History of Judith" we have wsc-plega^ the
play of spears, as a poetic term for a battle. . So we have
cesc-hora^ a spear-bearer; and in the Codex Exoniensis,
cesc-stedej a field of battle. And again, in *' Beowulf:" —

"■ Eald u^sc-tciga.^

Some old spear- warrior ^.

In the eleventh century we find the ashen spear again
mentioned. Eobert of Aix, describing the knights his
companions in the First Crusade, says : " Hastse fraxinece
in manibus eorum ferro acutissimo prsefixae sunt, quasi

" Joiu-nal of Archaeol. Association; vol. iii. ^ Ibid.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 29

grandes perticae^^' The Abbe Cochet, however, describes
the remains of a lance-shaft found at Envermeu as being
of oak ; black with age, and of an extreme hardness^.

The staves were sometimes of a rich and costly charac-
ter. The heriot of the Anglo-Saxon Wulfsige consisted
of two horses, one helmet, one byrnie, one sword, and a
spear twined with gold^.

The spear-staves deposited in the graves are necessa-
rily of the shorter kind : the length of the entire weapon
being about six feet; a fact easily ascertained by mea-
suring the distance from the blade to the iron shoe,
where that is found. This iron shoe is generally a hollow
spike, into which the wood was fitted ; as in that of the
" Fairford Graves," Plate xi. ; the one from IS'orthfleet,
(figured in the Journal of the Archaeological Association,
vol. iii.) ; and another in the Faussett Collection, found
at Ash-by- Sandwich. Sometimes it was a button, to be
driven into the shaft by means of a nail issuing from its
centre. An example of this variety is engraved in the
Nenia Britannica of Douglas.

Those who used the shorter spear or javelin were pro-
vided with several of these weapons, which they hurled
successively at the enemy. In Harleian MS., No. 603,
folio 30^, may be seen a spearman holding three lozenge-
headed javelins. Caedmon's Paraphrase (Archaeologia,
vol. xxiv. Plate lv.) has a figure carrying three barbed
javelins {angones). In Harl. MS., 603, folio 56^, the
Destroying Angel has three barbed spears, one of which

e Apud Bongars, p. 241. and the folio ; but, where not expressed

f Nonnand. Souterr., p. 369. to the contrary, beg it to be understood

& Kemble, Codex Dipl., No. 979. that the place of deposit is the British

^ In quoting illuminated manuscripts. Museum,
we shall be careful to give the Collection

30 ANCIENT ARMOUR

is represented in its flight, another poised in the right
hand, ready to follow, while the third is held in the left
hand, to be employed in its turn. This curious example
has been figured by Mr. Akerman, to illustrate his paper,
" On some of the Weapons of the Celtic and Teutonic
Eaces," in vol. xxxiv. of the Archseologia.

Vegetius (lib. i. c. 2.) tells us that, in his day, the
barbarians were armed with two or three javelins, a
weapon which had fallen into disuse among the Eomans.
In the Bayeux tapestry there are figures of the Anglo-
Saxons furnished with three or four of these missiles.
Even in the graves of these people, the spears are some-
times found in pairs. Sir Henry Dryden, in his explor-
ations at Marston Hill, in Northamptonshire, met with
two warriors having two spears each. And the Hon. Mr.
Neville found at Little Wilbraham, in Cambridgeshire, an-
other example of a similar kind. The Wilbraham Ceme-
tery disclosed another curious usage. Where cremation
had been employed, spear-heads (and knives also) were in
several cases discovered in the urns. Kings as well as
their followers were buried with their weapons beside
them. The spear-head found in the tomb of Childeric,
which is of lozenge form, is engraved in the Milice Fran-
^oise of Father Daniel. This tomb was discovered in
1655, and the weapons found in it are preserved in
the Imperial Library at Paris'.

A singular usage appears to have prevailed when the
spear and the axe were deposited in the same grave.
The spear in this case was reversed, — ^the point at the
feet of the warrior. Examples of this practice have
been observed in Normandy, at Mondorf, and at Sel-

' See Renault, 1655 ; and Chiflet, Anattasis Childerici Primi,

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 31

zeii'\ At Wilbraham, spear-heads were found at the
feet^

The pagan ISTorthmen sought to enhance the value of
their arms by referring their fabrication to weapon-smiths
of a preternatural power. The Christianized Germans of
the tenth century obtained a similar result by the em-
ployment of iron from the reliquary. At the coronation
of the Emperor Otho the Great, in 961, Walpert, arch-
bishop of Milan, presided at the solemnities : the prince
placed on the altar of Saint Ambrose all the royal in-
signia ; the lance, of which the head had been forged out
of one of the nails of the true cross, the royal sword, the
axe, the belt, and the royal mantle. After some inter-
vening ceremonies, he was again armed with the weapons
which had been laid upon the altar, and the archbishop
placed on his head the iron crown of Lombardy"*.

Not the least interesting among the many singular
objects discovered by the Abbe Cochet in his researches
in l^ormandy, is the little silver coin containing the por-
trait of "un guerrier frank debout." In his right hand
the warrior carries his lance, while the left appears to
hold the well-known round target of his time. This
curious little relic is engraved on page 359 of the Nor-
mandie Souterraine,

The Swords of the ante-Norman period maybe divided
into three classes : the earlier broadsword without cross-
piece, straight, double-edged, and acutely pointed ; the
later sword, similar in fashion to the above, but having
a guard, or cross-piece ; and the curved weapon with a

•' See Cochet, Lindenschmit, and the * Saxon Obsequies.

Transactions of the Luxembourg Society, ™ Landulphi senioris Mediolanens.—

vol. viii. p. 45. Hist. Rer. Ital., torn. iv. p. 79.

32

ANCIENT ARMOUR

[Plate IV.

Plate V.]

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

33

B4 ANCIENT AEMOUR

concave edge, called in Anglo-Saxon the seax ; the sica
of classical times. The first has become familiar to ns
from the numerous examples procured from the graves
of France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and England.
This type agrees exactly with the description left us by
Sidonius ApoUinaris ; who, recording a victory obtained
by the Franks over the Goths, has this passage: "Alii
hebetatorum ceede gladiorum latera dentata pemumerant.
Alii coesim atque punctim foraminatos circulos loricarum
metiimtur"." "We have engraved, figure 1 of our plate
of swords, a fine specimen of this kind of weapon, which
was found among the " Fairford Graves." It is nearly
three feet in length (the usual size of these swords), and
when dug up, had fragments of the wood and leather
which once formed its scabbard, still adhering to the iron.
Other examples discovered in England are engraved in
Mr. Neville's " Saxon Obsequies," Mr. Akerman's " Pagan
Saxondom," and in the account of the Ozingell Cemetery °.
German specimens appear in the "Selzen Cemetery," Swiss
in the Tomheaux de Bel- Air ^ Danish in the " Copenhagen
Museum," p. 66, and Frankish in La Normandie Souter-
raine. The Irish swords are shorter than others of this
date, — ^not exceeding thirty inches, — as we learn from the
researches of Mr. Wakeman^. That this sword of the
earlier Iron Period resembled the anterior bronze sword
in being without cross-piece, seems clear from two facts.
Firstly, no such provision (except in one or two isolated
cases) is found to accompany the weapons disclosed by
the graves; secondly, it has been remarked, that in
many instances, where the wood of the handle and that
of the sheath remain, they approach so closely together,

» Lib. iii. Ep. 3. ° Collect. Antiq., vol. iii. p Ibid.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 35

that there is no space left for any intervening ap-
pendage.

The sword with cross-piece appears to belong to the
later Iron Period. When real examples are found in
this country, and in others early Christianised, they are
generally dredged from the beds of rivers, or turned up
among old foundations ; though in states where paganism
held a longer sway, they are obtained from the graves.
Two very early English specimens are figured in the
^^ Pagan Saxondom:" one found at Gilton, in Kent, and
now in Mr. Eolfe's Museum ; the other found at Coombe,
in Kent, and preserved in the collection of Mr. Boreham.
The cross-piece in these examples has projected but little
beyond the edges of the blade. Prom specimens given
in our plates, and from the numerous representations of
Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, we see that the guard even-
tually became a much more prominent feature of the
Northern brand.

The third variety of the Anglo-Saxon sword, the seaos^
which Mr. Kemble'* defines to be ^'ensis quidam cur-
vatus," is apparently that old Thracian weapon, the sica^
which among the Eomans was in such little repute, that
sicarius came to mean a bandit, or an assassin. The
Anglo-Saxon curved sword never appears in their book-
paintings, and has not been found in their graves. But
in the Copenhagen Museum is a weapon which seems
exactly to answer this description of the Northern seax.
It is engraved in Mr. "Worsaae's " Illustrations of the
Copenhagen Museum," p. 97, fig. 384.

The handle of the earlier sword appears often to have
been a mere haft, like that of our knives ; sometimes it

1 Glossary to "Beowtdf."
D 2

66 ANCIENT ARMOUR

had a pommel. The later sword-handle consisted of
grip, pommel, and cross-piece. The grip seems to have
been commonly of wood, and it is not unusual to find
portions of this wood still adheiing to the tang of those
swords which have been recovered from the graves.
Part of such a hilt, found at Northfleet, in Kent, was
submitted to the examination of Professor Lindley, and
pronounced to be pine. Mr. Worsaae is of opinion that
the Danish swords had the handle covered with '^ wood,
leather, bone, or horn; which, however, is now con-
sumed ^" Mr. Wakeman tells us that some of the
Ancient-Irish iron swords '^lave been found with the
handle of bone remaining." Generally the cross-bar
was straight; but sometimes it curved towards the
blade ; as in Cott. MSS., Tiberius, C. vi. fol. 9 ; Cleopatra,
C. viii., in many places ; in that fine, sword found in the
river "Witham, and preserved in the British Museum;
in the sword discovered in a tumulus in Lancashire (en-
graved in Archseol. Journal, vol. vi. p. 75) ; and in the
examples given in our plate of swords, figs. 9, 10, 11,
from Dr. Bahr's Livonian Collection. These cross-pieces
of metal were often, as well as the pommels, richly deco-
rated. The specimen from the "Witham, named above,
has both pommel and guard, which are of iron, inlaid
with gold and copper in a pattern of lozenges. The
most usual forms of the pommel were trefoil, cinquefoil,
hemispherical, round, and triangular. To some a little
ring was added, probably to attach a sword-knot ; as in
the example already noticed from Gilton, and figured in
the ^' Pagan Saxondom." Of the othei; kinds named
above, the first four occur constantly in the miniatures of

' Primeval Antiq. of Denmark, p. 49.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 37

Anglo-Saxon books, and it is difficult to understand on
what grounds the swords with foliated pommels, when
found in this country, are so generally assigned to the
Danes. The triangular pommel is more rare. In our
plate, fig. 7, we give an example in an ancient Norwegian
sword in the possession of Dr. Thurnum. It is entirely
of iron, measuring 3 feet, 1^ inches. A sword of similar
form is engraved in Worsaae's ^'Copenhagen Museum,"
p. 97.

That the sword-hilts were occasionally of a costly
character, we have the concurring testimony of ancient
charters, poets, chroniclers, and of the graves. Ths
poetical Edda records that Gunnar, a regulus of Ger-
many, replied to the messenger of Attila, — *' Seven
chests have I filled with swords; each of them has a
hilt of gold : my weapon is exceedingly sharp ; my bow
is worthy of the bench it graces ; my bymies are golden ;
my helmet and white shield came from the hall of
Kiars^" Kiars was a regulus of Gaul. In '^ Beowulf
(lino 1338), the " Geat Prince " delivers into the keeping
of his servant "his ornamented sword, the costliest of
blades" {irena cyst). Again: "The son of Healfdene
gave to Beowulf a golden ensign, as the reward of vie-,
tory ; a treasure with a twisted hilt, a helm and byrnie,
a mighty valued sword many beheld borne before the
warrior." (Line 2033.) At line 3228, we have "the hilt
variegated with treasure;" and afterwards (line 3373,)
we read of a "sword, the costliest of irons, with twisted
hilt, and variegated like a snake." In this passage,
both sword and simile are curiously illustrative of the
ornamental art of the Anglo-Saxons, of which so many

■ Atla-Quida, vol. ii. p. 370.

38 ANCIENT ARMOUR

examples have come down to us. A document of the
early part of the tenth century, given in Mr. Thorpe's
^^Anglo-Saxon Lawsy distinguishing between the eorl
and the ceorl^ declares, that if the latter ^Hhrive so well,
that he have a helm and bymie, and a sword orna-
mented with gold, if he have not live hides of land,
he is notwithstanding a ceorl." We have abeady seen
that Canute's huscarlas were armed ^'with axes, hal-
bards, and swords inlaid with gold." Eginhard tells us
that the belt of Charlemagne was "of gold or silver,
and the hilt of his aword was made of gold and precious
stones." And of the splendid galley fitted out by Earl
Godwin, as a present to Hardiknut, we are told that the
warriors had " swords whose hilts were of gold."

Among the heriots enumerated by Mr. Kemble'', that
of Beorhtric, about 962, includes a sword worth eighty
mancuses of gold. And Duke ^Ifheah was possessor
of another of the same value. In the will of prince
JEthelstan, dated 1015, is named " a silver-hilted sword
which Woolfricke made." Guillaume de Jumieges and
Dudon de S. Quentin tell us that Eichard the First,
duke of ^N'ormandy, rewarded the services of two knights
by presenting to each a sword whose hilt of gold weighed
four pounds, and a bracelet of gold of the same weight.
In illuminated manuscripts of this period, the mount-
ings of swords are generally coloured yellow, implying
probably a surface of gold, whether from thin plates
of that metal, or from gilding. In the Fausset Col-
lection is the bronze pommel of a sword, which has
been richly gilt. The mountings of another in the
British Museum are inlaid with gold. In Mr. Eolfe's

» Vol. i. p. 186. '^ Saxons in England, ii. 100.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 39

possession are examples both in gilded bronze and of
silver. In Denmark, bilts have been found ^^ partly
of silver, or inlaid with silver, or with gold chains
attached to them""." Other Danish swords were sur-
rounded with chains of gold, or covered with plates of
gold and silver ; and swords with handles entirely of
silver have also been discovered^. Coloured beads appear
sometimes to have formed part of the decorations of the
Anglo-Saxon sword. Mr. Neville remarks, in his de-
scription of the relics found at Wilbraham, that '^ an
immense blue-and-white perforated Bead accompanied
three out of the four swords, probably as an appendage
to the hilt or some part of the scabbard." On Plate
XXI. of his "Saxon Obsequies" he has figured two of
these beads: one is an inch and three-quarters in dia-
meter, the other an inch and a quarter. Occasionally,
runic or Latin inscriptions appear upon these weapons.
In "Eeowulf" this usage is noticed: —

'* So was on the surface
of the bright gold
with runic letters
rightly marked
set and said,
for whom that sword,
the costliest of irons,
was first made." — Line 3373.

Mr. Eolfe had the good fortune to become the possessor
of a sword-pommel thus " rightly marked." It is of silver,
and was found at Ash-by-Sandwich. The runes occupy one
side only of the pommel, the other having zigzag and tri-
angular ornaments. This curious relic has been figured

' Manual of the Society of Northern Antiquaries of Copenhagen.
* Worsaae's Antiq. of Denmark.

40 ANCIENT ARMOUR

in the "Archaeological Album," "Pagan Saxondom,"
and in Mr. Wright's " Celt, Eoman, and Saxon." Pro-
fessor Thomson of Copenhagen informs the writer of these
pages that, in Denmark, swords of the latest pagan period
have been found, having runic inscriptions formed by-
letters of iron let into the iron blade. In the Tower col-
lection may be seen a sword of somewhat later date, in
which also is exhibited this curious practice, of inserting
letters of iron into an iron blade. Among the swords
found in Ireland, attributed to the Scandinavian settlers
in that country, instances have occurred of inscriptions
"in Latin letters^." In the I^orthern Sagas, frequent
mention is made of the swords of their heroes being
marked with runes ; and the evidences we have adduced
are of no small value in shewing the correctness of these
writings as regards the ordinary usages of the time.

A further distinction was conferred on the swords
of the great heroes of the North ; — they were honoured
with particular names. In the Wilkina Saga we read
of "the sword called Gramr^ which is the best of all
swords," with which Sigurdr slays the cunning smith,
Mimer ; and again, of the weapon named Nagllwingr^ ob-
tained for Dietrich of Bern, by the dwarf Alpris, (c. xvi.)
Vermund the Wise armed his son Uffe with the brand
Slcrep^ none other being proportioned to his strength.
That of Eolf Krage was called Skrofnung, In " Beowulf"
(canto xxi.), we have "the hilted knife named Hrunting^'' —

" W8BS J>am hseft-mece
Hrunting nama;"

whose " edge was iron stained with poisonous twigs,

f Worsaae's " Danes in England."

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 41

hardened in gore." And in canto xxvi. of the same
poem we learn that —

'' Noegling, old sword and gray of hue,
False in the fray, in splinters flew."

King Hacon the Good, Snorro tells us, " girded ronnd him
his sword called KuernbW (millstone-biter). Thorolf, in
Egil's Saga, ^' was armed with a sword named Lang^ a
mickle weapon and good." In Magnus Barfot's Saga (cap.
xxvi.), the king wore ^^ a most sharp sword called Legghitr^
the hilt of which was made of the tooth of the Eosmar
(walrus), and ornamented with gold." The sword Mi-
mung was no whit inferior to any of these. It was forged
by Weland, in a trial of skill with another celebrated
weapon-smith, Amilias by name. Weland first made a
sword with which he cut a thread of wool lying on the
water. But not content with this, he re-forged the blade,
which then cut through the whole ball of floating wool.
Still dissatisfied, he again passed it through the fire, and
at length produced so keen a weapon that it divided a
whole bundle of wool noating in water. Amilias, on his
part, forged a suit of armour so much to his own satis-
faction that, sitting down on a stool, he bade Weland try
his weapon upon him. Weland obeyed, and there being
no apparent effect, asked Amilias if he felt any particular
sensation. Amilias said he felt as though cold water had
passed through his bowels. Weland then bade him
shake himself. On doing so, the effect of the blow was
apparent : he fell dead in two pieces^.

" For a fuller account of this trans- the Edda Ssemundar, and the Wilkina
action, and of other notable deeds of our Saga (c. 21, sq.); also Grimm's Helden-
hero-smith, see the Volundar Quida of sage, p. 14, and Teut. MythoL, 221.

4a ANCIKNT AllMOUJt

Tho skilful woapoiKT wiih JilwnyH a, ])orHoii of hi^li (;on-
sidoration in those days. 'I'liiH is curiously Hhown in tho
law of ]^]tholbort which enacts that ^'if (mo man slay
another, ho is to pay his worgyld : bnt not so, if the slayer
happen to be the king's weapon-smith or his messenger ;
in that case, ho is to pay only a moderated wergyld of a
InnHli'rd slillliii<i,'s"."

W r 1 1 : 1 \ < ; 1 1 K : K I y notiood the curious custom of bury-
iiii; llie s|M";ii-li(';i<l in the same vase with the bones of tho
Anglo-S;i\oii waiTior. An analogous practice has boon ob-
serve < I ill Denmark; whore tho sword of the horo, broken
into M(\<'i;il |H('(('K, is placed over tho mouth of th(^ urn.
An cxiiiiiplc nl' IIiIm kind of i?il(u*mont is engraved in
\\(.i>;i:ir's 'M *n]>riili:ii'v!i M iisciiiM," p. 98, Occasionally
the iron sword, huvinL;- Ixmh soCIcikmI j)y Iho lire, washout,
jind in this state deposited in t lie y;r.i\r. 'I'lio Abbe
Cochet remarks: — ^*Cot usage dcs salncs |)l()yrs an f(Mi
ot enterres avoo l(\s morts est tivs-rarc dw/A nous: il
s'(^st rencontre on All(Mna|^no, on T>:ni(Mnnrk, ci (mi Sniss(^,
(Ml M.dc iMHislcMrn (Ml :i vn un !';r;iiid nomhi'Cj en lS,)|^
dans les scpnllnivs dc TiclriKiu, i> ITS Borne. Co savant
ajoute que cotfc conlnnic, plus barbaro quo romaino, pen
oonnuo d( s 1 1 (d votes, ctait trcs-frcq\u>nto c-hoz les peuples
Rcaiidinav(\s. II oxiste, dit-il, au musco do BchwcTin
plnsicMM's i;laivos(Mi f(T(]n(^ Voi] croil provcMiirdes A^mkIcs,
(d. (pn* out etc r«uii';ls dniis Ic Irii (d cnsiiili^ ploycs. I^iclir
si;;ii;il(' \r nirnu> [\i\l dans I(\^ ((Unbcs (rAs(h(M':id(Mi ct do

^^(-vvold^"

Tlic SIk :dlis of the swords were commonly of wood
covered with leather, as wo learn from tho graves ; and

• Kcmblc'tt '• Siuuijy iu Kiii^laiul." \k 2.S0. »' NormandU Sout<>rroiiir, p. 1 1.

AND WEAPONS IN EUKUl'E. 48

thoy worn sometimes mounted in bronze. Fipjure 2 of
our Ibiirth Pluto shews an ex}iirij)l(^ IVoni Wilbraliam, in
which the locket and chape nvr. of bioiize; and the Li-
vonian sword, Plate v. fig. 10, has an ornamented bronzo
chape. In the British Museum is an Anglo-Saxon blade
found in a gi'ave at Battle Edge, Oxfordshire, which ro-
tjiins the bronze chape and locket of its scabbard. These
fitments were soinotiiiios gilt, or even of gold. Mr. Wor-
saae, in his *^ I'rinuwal Antiquities of Denmark," page 50,
has figured the gold locket of a sword-sheath, adorned
with the winding pattern so characteristic of this period.
Wood and leather were the ordinary materials used in
th(^ Danish scabbards. Of the sheaths formed of these
BubHtances, which have boon partially preserved to our
times, the most curious example is that figured by Mr.
Bateman in vol. vii. of the Journal of the Aroheeological As-
sociation. It was found in a barrow in Derbyshire, and is
constructed of thin wood overlaid with leather, the surface
of the latter being covered with a pattern of alternate
fillets and lozenges. A scabbard found at Strood, in Kent,
was formed externally of a substance resembling shagreen.
Dr. Biihr, in Die Grdher der Liven^ Plate xv., has en-
graved a dagger-sheath, which is entirely of bronze, from
Asclierii(l(^u ; and in the Ahhildungen von Mainzcr AUker-
ihilmcm for 1852, is another bronzo dagger-sheath, con-
taining an iron dagger, which was found near Treves.
Several are in the British Museum. Mr. lloach Smith
has another, found in the Thames ; — all of them proba-
bly belonging to the period under consideration. There
is also a curious typc^ of Hword-scal)bard, formed en-
tirely of bronze, which furMuu' observation may pro-
bably show to be of Northern make. The example

44

ANCIENT ARMOUR

here engraved was found on a moor near
Flashy, in Yorkshire; it contains the
hlade of an iron sword. 'Several similar
ones have heen discovered. One dug up
at Stanwick has heen presented hy the
Duke of IN'orthumherland to the British
Museum. Another is engraved in Dr.
"Wilson's ^' Annals of Scotland," found
near Edinburgh. A fourth, from the
bed of the Isis, is figured in the Ar-
chaeological Journal, vol. x. p. 259. The
Earl of Londeshorough has another,
dredged from the Thames, which differs
from the rest in having been ornamented
with enamelled studs. This is engraved
in vol. iii. of the Collectanea Antiqua. See
also the Danish example, figured in Wor-
saae's '^ Copenhagen Museum," p. QQ. All
these bronze scabbards have contained
iron blades.

The Sword-Beits appear to have been
usually girt round the waist ; the buckles
and tongues of them having often been
found in the graves. These fitments are
generally of bronze, sometimes of copper ;
and the metal is not unfrequently gilt,
or embossed, or enamelled. Some buckles
in the Faussett collection, found in Kent,
are set with garnets. The belt was oc-
casionally worn across the body, sus-
pended from the right shoulder ; as in
the fine figure in Cotton MS., Tiberius,

No. 6.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 45

C. vi. fol. 9. Our woodcut, No. 17, furnishes an ex-
ample of the belt girt round the waist, from an illu-
mination in Add. MS., No. 18,043.

The Axe, as we have seen, was a characteristic weapon
of the Northern nations. It is not unfrequently found
in the graves of these people on the Continent, but in
Anglo-Saxon interments it is of the extremest rarity.
In the Wilbraham excavations, a hundred graves yielded
only two axes. In the Fairford researches, not one was
found in a hundred and twenty graves; and in the
many Kentish barrows examined by the Earl of Londes-
borough in 1841, not a single specimen was obtained.
The axe appears to have been of three principal forms :
the ^^ taper axe," the broad axe, and the double-axe, or
bipennis. ' |rhe pole-axe and the adze-axe were varieties
of these. The battle-axe was also called francisea, from
the favour with which it was regarded by the Franks.
Isidorus (lib. xviii. c. 8.) tells us of "Secures quas
Hispani ab usu Francorum per derivationem franciscas
vocant."

Examples of the Anglo-Saxon taper-axe, from the
Ozingell Cemetery, are given in figures 1 and 2 of our
Plate. Figures 3 and 4, found in Ireland, fig. 6, from
Selzen in Germany, and fig. 9, fr'om Livonia, closely resem-
ble the Kentish ones. Fig. 8, from Livonia, differs chiefly
in having a prolongation at the back. Specimens of the
taper-axe found in France are given in Plates vii., ix., and
XI. of La Normandie Souterraine ; and Danish examples
occur at pages 68 and 96 of Worsaae's " Copenhagen
Museum." Some of the axe-heads dug up in Denmark ex-
hibit a very curious transitional construction ; the blade
being of copper edged with iron. Another axe in the

46

ANCIENT ARMOUR

[Plate VII.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 47

Copenhagen Museum, '' of the very earliest times of the
iron period," is inscribed with runes. The axe found in
the tomb of Childeric is of the "taper" form already de-
scribed ; it is represented in Plate ii. of Daniel's Milice
Frangoise, We have already, by the passages from Si-
donius and Procopius, seen how the sons of Odin com-
menced their attack by hurling their axes at the foe. A
curious illustration of this practice of throwing the axe is
afforded by a charter of Canute, granting to the monks
of Christ Church, Canterbury, the port-dues of Sandwich,
" from Pepemesse to Mearcesfleote, as far as a taper-axe
can be thrown on the shore from a vessel afloat at high
water ^ :" J'pa jzeojiji j-pa msej an tapep-aex been jepojipen uc
O}: ^ain scipe up on 'Saec lanb.

Figure 10 of our Plate, from Livonia, offers a variety
from the axe already described, in having an angle in its
under line. A similar contour is found in examples dis-
covered in Normandy, and figured on Plate vii. of the
Abbe Cochet's work. The broad-axe is seen in our
figures 5 and 7; the first from Selzen, the other from
Livonia. Compare the Prankish specimen engraved at
page 233 oi La Normandie Souterraine, Others have
been found in England.

The single-axe used by the Anglo-Saxons in battle
does not seem to have differed in form from those em-
ployed in woodcraft ; as may be seen by referring to the
Calendar contained in Cotton MS., Julius, A. vi., faith-
fully copied in Shaw's " Dresses and Decorations." In-
deed, it is probable that the blade which had felled an
oak was often called upon to strike down an enemy.

•= Boys* Hist, of Sandwich. The charter is given in Mr. Kemble's Codex Diplom.
Mn Sax., iv. 23.

48 ANCIENT ARMOUR

Manuscripts -do not frequently give pictures of the
battle-axe; but examples occur in Cott. MS., Cleop., C.
viii., and in the Anglo-Saxon Benedictional of the Li-
brary of Eouen.

The double-axe is of still more rare occurrence in
book-paintings. It appears in two places in Harleian
MS., No. 603, but this is a work not earlier than the
close of the eleventh centuiy. In the graves, the bi-
pennis has never been found at all; neither is it seen
in the hands of the Anglo-Saxons in the Bayeux Tapes-
try. But if the bipennis of the true classical form, that
is, having two vertical blades, has not hitherto been
seen "among the varied contents of the Northmen's
graves, a very singular variety of this implement has
been discovered among the. tombs of the Yalley of the
Eaulne. It is a kind of adze-axe, the one blade being
vertical, the other horizontal. It was found by the
Abbe Cochet in the cemetery of Parfondeval, and has
been engraved in his work, p. 306, and in the ArchcBO-
logia^ vol. xxxv., p. 229. The adze form of one of the
blades would seem to indicate rather an artificer's tool
than a warrior's weapon, and the Abbe tells us that the
peasants have still such an implement, which they call
their Usaigue (p. 307). We may remember, however,
that an authority for the military use of the horizontal
blade exists in the effigy at Malvern '^.

The Pole-axe is the almost universal form of this arm
in the Bayeux tapestry. Not only the Saxon soldiery,
but Harold, and even Duke William himself, are armed
with this fearful weapon. Indeed, for a force of in-

«» Stothard, PL xix.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 49

fantry, as the English were, contending against cavalry,
no other kind of axe could have been of much service.
"Wace, whose minute descriptions, wearisome enough to
the general reader, are invaluable to the archaeologist,
has not lost sight of the long-handled axes of the
islanders. He has even given us the particular dimen-
sion of the head, — ^' ki fa d'acier :" —

" un Engleiz vint acorant :

Hache noresche® out mult bele,

Plus de plain pie out 1' alemele^
* * *

la coignie

K' il aveit sus el col lev6e,

Ki mult esteit lone enhanstees."

Bom. de Bou, ii. 225.

And again, line 13536 :—

" Un Engleiz od une coignie,
Ke il aveit, lungue emmanchie,
L' a si feru parmi li dos
Ke toz li fet croissir les os.'*

The same Master Wace has recorded his objection to
the Northern axe ; that, requiring both hands to wield it,
the weapon cannot be used effectively with the shield : —

" Hoem ki od hache volt ferir,
Od sez dous mainz 1' estuet tenir^.
N"e pot entendre a sei covrir,
' S'il velt ferir de grant air'.

Bien ferir e covrir ensemble,
Ne pot Ten faire, 90 me semble."

Mom. de Eou, ii. 262.

The handle of the Axe was of wood, traces of which
have been observed in the relics obtained from the graves.

Northern. ' blade. ^ long-handled.

•• must hold it. ' From ira.

E

50 ANCIENT ARMOUR

In a single instance, it has been found of iron. This
example occurred at Lede, in Belgium, and has been de-
scribed by M. EigoUot in the Memoires de la Societe des
Antiquaires de Picardie^ vol. x.

The Guisarme is a weapon frequently mentioned by
our early chroniclers and poets ; but, though it is some-
times made to be identical with the pole-axe, at others it
is distinguished from that arm. Wace tells us it was
" sharp, long, and broad :" —

" E vos avez lances agiies,
E granz gisarmes esmolues/* — Rom. deEou, 1. 12907.

*' Dous Engleiz vit mult orguillos ;

En lor cols aveient levees

Dili gisarmes lunges e lees''." — lb., 1, 13431.

The Statute of Arms of King WilKam of Scotland (1165
— 1214) enacts : " Et qui minus habet quam xL. solidos,
habeat Gysarm, quod dicitur Hand-axe \" From another
Scottish ordinance we learn that the hand-axe was a
long-handled weapon. The Provost of Edinburgh in
1552 directs: "Because of the greit slauchteris done
in tyme bygane within the burgh, and apperendlie to be

^ The passage which has furnished order. These two English guisarmiers

these lines is further curious, as it would enter the field of Hastings under a si-

seem to shew that the Fraternitas Ar- milar compact to triumph or fall to-

morum was not confined to the knightly gether : —

" Dous Engleiz vit mult orguillos,
Ki s' esteient acumpaignie
For 50 ke bien erent preisie.
Ensemble debveient aler :
Li uns debveit Taltre garder:
En lor cols aveient levees
Dui gisarmes lunges e lees."

' Cap. 23. sect, 4.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 5l

done, gif na remeid be provydit thairto ; that ilk maimer
of persone, occupyaris of buthis or cbalmeris in the hie-
gait, that they have lang valpynnis"" thairin, sic as hand-
ex, Jedburgh staif, hawart jawalyng", and siclyk lang
valpynnis, with knaipschawis° and jakkis ; and that they
cum thairwith to the hie-gait incontinent efter the com-
moun bell rynging^."

Knives of various sizes are constantly found in the
^N'orthem graves. The smaller were evidently for do-
mestic purposes, for they are discovered in female inter-
ments as well as in those of the other sex. But the
larger kind appear to have been used as daggers. They
have been more frequently observed in the continental
tombs than in those of our island; and, as they very
rarely appear in the pictures of the Anglo-Saxons, we
may conclude that they formed no necessary part of the
equipment of these warriors. A fine example of this
weapon is given on our ninth Plate (fig. 1,) from the
Ozingell Cemetery. It is sixteen inches in length, of
iron, and is provided with a cross-piece. In the following
group from the Anglo-Saxon and Latin Psalter of the
Due de Berri, in the Paris Li-
brary, the spearman's adver-
sary appears to be employing IN
exactly such an instrument ^'
as^ the example from the
Kentish grave ^. Figure 2 in No. 8.

our Plate is a two-edged dagger of iron from the Faussett

"» weapons. vol. ii. p. 3 ; from the Borough Records.
•» javelin. i We are indebted to Mr. Westwood

° iron headpieces. for this curious drawing.
f Wilson's "Memorials of Edinburgh,'*

E a

52

ANCIENT ARMOUR

[Plate IX.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 53

collection. It was found near Ash-by-Sandwieh, and
measures ten inches in the blade. Figures 3 and 4 are
Ancient Irish. The first is the ordinary type of this
weapon, of which many have been found. The second is
remarkable from the retention of its handle, which is of
wood, and ornamented with carving. Both these are
from Mr. Wakeman's paper on Irish Antiquities in vol.
iii. of the Collectanea Antiqua, Figures 5 and 6 are
German examples, from the Selzen graves. The first is
very remarkable from the ring at the extremity of the
tang. In Denmark, daggers have been found of a tran-
sitional period, the bulk of the blade being of bronze,
edged on both sides with iron. Other Danish examples
are given in Mr. Worsaae's ^'Copenhagen Museum," pages
^Q and 97. In Dr. Bahr's explorations in Livonia, a
dagger of iron was discovered with its bronze sheath.
(See Bie Grdher der Liven^ Plate xv.) Gregory of Tours,
in the sixth century, mentions in several places that the
Prankish soldiers carried large knives at their belts;
and there seems no reason to doubt that the examples
from the graves are the very "cultri validi" of the
historian. Of these Prankish war^knives, several spe-
cimens are figured in the Normandie Souterraine, They
closely resemble those found in Germany, Switzerland,
Denmark, and England. The handles appear to have
been of wood. One of the Pranldsh examples still had
portions of the wooden haft remaining'. Other speci-
mens of the Northern cuUelli will be found collected on
Plate Lviii. of the second volume of the Collectanea Anti-
qua. Some of these weapons appear to have been inlaid
with copper or other metal ; for which purpose one or

• Abbg Cochet, p. 23^.

54 ANCIENT ARMOUR

more incised lines are formed near the back of the blade.
An Anglo-Saxon knife found in excavations in the city
of London, and engraved (fig. 3.) in the Plate of the Col-
lectanea Antiqua already noticed, still retains the broruze
inlaying in the channels of its blade.

A curious variety of the war-knife is in the collection
of Mr. Eoach Smith, of which the single edge is straight,
or nearly so, and the point formed by a diagonal cut at
the back of the blade. It is believed, in its perfect
state, to have measured upwards of thirty inches ; is of
steel ; and has on both sides a double line of the chanel-
ling already noticed*. A weapon of similar form appears
among the Livonian antiquities now in the British Mu-
seum, and is represented on Plate xix. of Dr. Bahr's
Grdher der Liven,

The LoNG-BOW was another weapon of this era. Aga-
thias, indeed, has told us that the Pranks used neither
bow nor sling. But arrows are expressly mentioned in
the Salic Law ; and, to reconcile these conflicting testi-
monies, it has been suggested that the archery of the
Salic Law is that of the chase alone. Foisoned arrows,
however, are here named, and the hunter does not ply
his art with poisoned shafts. /^ Si quis alterum de sa-
gitta toxicata percutere voluerit''," &c. Further on, a
fine is fixed for him who shall deprive another of his
"second finger, with which he directs his arrow:"
— secundum digitum, quo sagittatur. At a later period,
the bow is especially commanded as a part of the sol-
dier's equipment. One of the capitularies of Charle-
magne directs — "that the Count be careful to have

* Figured in Collect. Antiq., ii. 245, logue of Mr. Roach Smith's Museum,
and at p. 101 of the Ilkistrated Cata- '^ Titulo de Vulneribus, n. 2.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 55

Ms contingent fully fiirnislied for the field; that they
have lance, shield, a bow with two strings and twelve
arrows," &c. According to the testimony of Henry
of Huntingdon, William the Conqueror reproached the
English with their want of this weapon. The Bayeux
tapestry, however, seems to authorize the belief that they
were not entirely without it. (See the first group of
Anglo-Saxons in Stothard's xiv*^. plate.) The proba-
bility seems to be that, while the ^N'ormans employed
archers in large bodies, the English merely interspersed
them in small numbers among their men-at-arms. The
bow, at all events, was in use among the Anglo-Saxons :
it is frequently represented in manuscript illumina-
tions, and arrow-heads have been found in the graves.
Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 in our Plate are from Kentish in-
terments. The first two form part of the Fausset collec-
tion ; the others, figured in the Nenia Britannica^ were
found on Chatham Lines. The whole are of iron. Pic-
torial examples of the Anglo-Saxon bow, arrows, and
quiver may be seen in Cotton MSS., Cleop., C. viii.,
Claudius, B. iv., Tiberius, C. vi., and in the fine Pruden-
tins of the Tenison Library. See also Strutt's Horda^
vol. i. plate xvii. Arrow-heads of iron have also been
found in Prance, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, and
Livonia. Figures 5 and 6 of our Plate are examples from
the cemetery at Selzen in Ehenish Hesse ; figs. 7 and 8
from Livonian graves. With the latter was also found
part of a quiver. Tlie Abbe Cochet'' has engraved and
described specimens found in France, and M. Troyon
notices Swiss examples in his paper in the Archwologia,
vol. XXXV., and Plate xvii. Compare also Archaeological

* Normandie Souterraine, pp. 285, 351, 385.

56

ANCIENT ARMOUR

[Plate X.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 57

Journal, vol. iii. pp. 119, 120. In the Suabian graves at
Oberflacht, bows also were found. See ArchcBologia^ vol.
xxxvi. Among the figures of the ivory carving forming
the cover of the " Prayer-book of Charles the Bald" are
two archers, each holding a leash of barbed arrows ;
the arrows very clearly represented. This curious sculp-
ture, illustrating the Ivii*^. Psalm, (a favourite subject with
the middle-age artists,) has been carefully engraved in
the sixth volume of the Revue Archeologique. The origi-
nal is in the Imperial Library at Paris.

These were the usual weapons of the ^N'orthern na-
tions: these are seen in their pictures, are named in
their laws, are described in their Sagas, are found in their
graves. But other arms appear to have been of occa-
sional employment: the mace, the pike, the sling, the
stone-hammer, the *^ morning-star," the fork, and the bill.
The Mace is seen in the hands of the Anglo-Saxons (as
well as of the Normans) in the Bayeux tapestry ; and it
seems not unlikely that those dentated hoops of bronze ^
which have been found both in England and on the Con-
tinent were the heads of similar weapons; for it must
not be forgotten that, even in the " Iron Period," objects
of bronze continued in use. From the inexhaustible
Wace we learn that the "vilains des viles" who joined
Harold's army, —

'' Tels armes portent com ils trovent:
Machues portent e granz pels^,
Forches ferrees* e tinels^\" — Line 12840.

It will be remembered that the mace is a weapon of
the most remote antiquity, and is found, almost identical

y See Archseol. Journal, vol. vi. p. 181; and Wilson's "Archajology of Scotland/
-p. 393. ' pikes. " forks. *» batons.

58

ANCIENT ARMOUR

in form with those of the J^orthern nations, among the
monuments of the ancient Egyptians and Assyrians.

The Stone-Hammer appears to have been employed by
the troops of Harold. William of Poictiers says: " Jae-
tant euspides ac diversorum generum tela, ssevissimas
quasque secures, et lignis imposita saxa^'P Of the Bill,
an example occurs in the fine Anglo-Saxon Benedictional
of Eouen : it closely resembles the common long-handled
hedging-bill of our own day. The Morning-star, an in-
strument formed of a ball of metal (sometimes spiked)
attached by a chain to a short staff, after the manner of a
whip, is believed to have been another of the arms of
this period. Dr. Bahr found the head of one of these in
his Livonian researches ; a complete one, of bronze, (here
engraved) was discover-
ed at Mitau. Professor
Thomson mentions also a
bronze specimen, in his
account of the Copen-
hagen Museum. The
Sling, according to the
opinion of the Pere Daniel,
was employed by the
Pranks in intrenched po-
sitions and beleaguered
towns ^ This ancient in-
strument, which is found No. ii.
in Egyptian^ and Assyrian^ monuments, was certainly
in use among the Anglo-Saxons, whether for warfare

*= Ap. Duchesne, p. 201.

'' Mil. Fran., i. 7.

* See Wilkinson's Egyptians, vol.

p. 357, ed. 1854.

f See Layard's Nineveh, p. 332, ed.
1852.

AND WEAPONS IN EUEOPE. 59

or the chase alone, it is not easy to determine. The
figure here engraved is that of
David, from the Anglo-Saxon and
Latin Psalter of Boulogne. See
also the slinger in Strutt's Horda,
Plate XVII., from Cotton MS.,
Claudius, B. iv., and Plate iii.
of Stothard's Bayeux Tapestry.
In the Copenhagen Museum are
sling-stones, ^' either with a
groove cut round the middle, or
with two grooves cut cross-wise ; No. 12.

having, in the latter case, the shape of a ball somewhat
flattened," It does not appear that the Northern nations
used leaden pellets ; as the Greeks and Eomans did, in-
scribing them with a thunderbolt, or some quaint sen-
tence, as " Take this."

It will have been observed, from several passages al-
ready cited, that the use of poisoned weapons is imputed
to the IN'orthern tribes of this period. In *^ Beowulf,"
and elsewhere, we read of poisoned swords, poisoned
arrows, and poisoned daggers; and, however rare may
have been the employment of such terrible ministers, it
does not seem permitted us to deny altogether their
existence. The famous sword of Beowulf,

" Hrunting nama,"

had its edge ^'stained with poisonous twigs." This,
indeed, is the evidence of a poet : but the Salic Law,
as we have seen, speaks of ^' sagittae toxicatae^." And
Gregory of Tours tells us, of Fredegonda : " Fredegundis

« Ante : page 54.

60

ANCIENT AEMOUR

duos cultros ferreos fieri prsecipit, quos etiam caraxari
profundius et veneno infici jusserat, scilicet si mortalis
adsultus vitales non dissolveret fibras vel ipsa veneni in-
fectio yitam possit velocius extorquere^." And again,
the same writer speaks of these poisoned daggers, or
scramasaxi: " Cum cultris validis quos vulgo scramasaxos
vocant, infectis veneno, utraque latera ei feriuntV

Let us now examine, as far as we are enabled to do so,
what was the Teutonic warrior's defensive equipment.
The structure of the Body-armour can only be inferred
from indirect evidences; for the vague terms of the

No. 13.

^ Hist. Franc, lib. viii. c. 29.

Ibid., lib. iv. c. 46.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 61

writers, such as lorica and hi/rnie^ and the rudely con-
ventional forms of the painters, who indicated a tree by
a cluster of three or four leaves, and a coat-of-fence by a
few circles penned on the parchment or punched on the
bronze, afford us little help in determining with exact-
ness how the armour-smith achieved his task. It is cu-
rious that the best testimony we obtain is that of the
poets. A simile or an epithet lets in more light than all
the limners and all the historians. It seems clear that
in the earlier days of IN'orthern rule, none but leaders
wore body-armour ; but, as years rolled on, and prosperity
increased, the subaltern ranks affected this distinction.
As we have already shewn (page 38), the Ceorl vied with
the Eorl in the richness and completeness of his equip-
ment ; and at length, under the rule of Charlemagne, the
troops of the Count, as we have seen, are all required to
have defensive armour : ^' Omnis homo de duodecim
mansis, bruniam habeat." Those who had not this
amount of land, clubbed together and furnished amongst
them the panoply in which one of their number went
forth to the host. Was this hyrnie of interlinked chain-
mail ? The Anglo-Saxon poem of ^^ Beowulf" may throw
some light on the question : —

" The war-bymie shone, hard (and) hand-locked {heard hond-locen) }>
the bright ring-iron sang in their trappings when they proceeded to go
forward to the hall, in their terrible armour." — Canto i. line 640.

" Beowulf prepared himself, the warrior in his weeds, he cared not
for life : the war-bymie, twisted with hands (Jiondum ge-hroden), wide
and variegated with colours, was now to try the deep," &c.

Canto xxi. line 2882.

In Canto xxii. we have, — " the war-dress, the locked
battle-shirt." ^^ On his shoulder lay the twisted

62 ANCIENT ARMOUR

breast-net {hreost-net hroden) wliich protected his life
against point and edge." . . . ^'his war-byrnie, his hard
battle-net {here-net liearde)P

If there is meaning in words, surely " the ttvisted
breast-;?^^," the ''hard battle-^^^," the '' locked battle-
shirt," the '' byrnie ttvisted with, hands," the '' war-byrnie,
hard and hand-locked,^^ can mean nothing but the hauberk
of interlinked chain-mail ; that garment which, we have so
often been told, came to us at some unknown time, from
some unknown people, dwelling in some unknown region
of the East. If this fabric, which, for brevity, we will call
chain-mail, came from the East, where are the eastern
monuments that exhibit it ? It is not seen in Egyptian,
Assyrian, nor Indian sculptures or paintings; and the
triumph-scenes of these nations represent in great diver-
sity the numerous tribes of Asia. The same origin has
been given to Cannon ; but every one who has made any
research in this direction knows that the Oriental deri-
vation of this engine has not the smallest foundation in

i fact^. In the Yolsimga Saga, a work of the eleventh
century, we read that ''Sigurd's sides so swelled with

i rage that the rings of his byrnie were burst asunder ;"
which could scarcely have happened (adds Yon Leber,
who notices this passage,) with a garment made of rings
sewn contiguously \ The well-known enigma of Bishop
Aldhelm, written in the eleventh century, so curiously

^ See the able work of M. Reinaud * " Und so schwollen Sigurds Seiten,

a,ndCa,^tam FsLye,Du Feu Greffeois,^c.; dass seine Panzerringe entzweispran-

and M. Lacabane's paper in the Bihlio. gen ;" welches Entzweispringen doch von

de I'Ucole des Chartes, Second Series, nebeneinander gehefteten Ringen nicht

vol. i.; and the Mudes swr VArtillerie, fiiglich gesagt werden konnte. — Wien's

by the Emperor of the French. kaiserlichea Zeugh(ms.

AKD WEAPOISrS IN EUROPE. 63

illustrates our inquiry, that we shall be pardoned for re-
printing it. It is headed '' De Lorica :" —

^' Roscida me genuit gelido de viscera tellus :
"Non sum setigero lanarum vellere facta :
Licia nulla trahunt, nee garrula fila resultant :
Kec crocea seres texunt lanugine vermes :
l^Tec radiis carper, dure nee pectine pulsor :
Et tamen, en, vestis vulgi sermone vocabor.
Spicula non vereor longis exempta pharetris."

Roy. MS., 15, A. xvi.

A lorica formed of metal, without the aid of any tex-
ture of wool or of silk, could scarcely be anything else
than a coat of chain-mail. "We may further refer to
the Bayeux tapestry (Stothard, Plate xvi.), where the
pillards are appropriating the armour of the slain. The
last figure in the second border of that plate is stripping
the hauberk over the head of a fallen warrior ; and, in
thus turning it inside out, discloses the interior of the
garment, which exhibits the ring-work exactly in the
same manner as it is seen on the outside of others. At
a later period, a similar evidence is afforded by the sculp-
tured monumental effigies ; the overlapping folds of the
hauberk shewing the ring-work on the inside as well as
on the outside. Figures of the thirteenth century in the
Temple Church and in St. Saviour's Church, London,
offer illustrations of this fact. Further instances may be
found at Stowe-^N'ine-Churches in Northamptonshire, and
at Aston, Warwickshire ; and probably no English county
is without similar examples. Compare also the curious
fragment of chain-mail found at Stanwick, Yorkshire, and
now deposited in the British Museum.

The defence made of iron rings, of which Yarro at-
tributes the invention to the Gauls, appears to be no

64

ANCIENT AEMOUE

other than the hauberk of chain-mail : — " Lorica a loris,
quod de corio crudo pectoralia faciebant, postea succu-
derunt Galli e ferro sub id vocabulum, ex annulis, fer-
ream tunicam." Whoever may have been the inventors
of this armour, the probability seems to be that it came
into use gradually : from its costliness and rarity, leaders
only could at first obtain it; that, as handicraft im-
proved, and the efficiency of the defence became ac-
knowledged, its adoption was extended, and its cost-
liness diminished. The notion, that in the thirteenth
century the hauberk of chain-mail came suddenly and
generally into use, is against all known precedent, and
contrary to the natural course of human inventions.

Other kinds of body-armour were worn at this time.
Charlemagne, as we have seen, was defended by a kind
of jazerant-work. Ingulphus tells us that Harold, find-
ing the heavy armour of his troops an incumbrance in
their mountain warfare with the "Welsh, clothed them
in a defence of leather only. Some-
thing similar is seen in this figure
from Cotton MS., Cleop., C. viii.

The coat here seems to be of hide,
with the fur left upon it ; a dress still
in use among some of the Cossack
soldiers of Eussia. Wace appears
to describe this garment, where, re-
counting the death of Duke Guil-
laume Longue-Espee by the traitorous
Fauces, he says : —

No. 14.

"Fauces leva I'espee ke soz sez peaux porta,
Tel Ten dona en chief ke tot 1' escervela."-

-Rou, i. 138.

Armour of padded- work, a defence of a very high

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

65

antiquity, and of a very wide adoption, was also pro-
bably in vogue ; and also coats covered with, scale-work ;
but these are difficult to be identified in the monuments
of the time. The hauberks of the Anglo-Saxons at the
battle of Hastings are remarked to have been both, short
and small : —

" Corz haubers orent e petis,
E helraes de sor lor vestis." — Wace.

In Anglo-Saxon illuminations, a very large majority of
the fighting men appear to
have no defensive armour at
all but the helmet and shield ;
as in this example from a MS.
of Prudentius^ of the eleventh
century, in the Tenison Li-
brary. The leg-bands seen on
these figures, and on many
others of the same period,
were in common use among
the soldiery. It is a fashion
of which we find an early ex-
ample in the calceus patricius
of the Eomans, and a remnant
in the chequered hose of the
Scottish Highlanders. Those of
the Anglo-Saxons were gene-
rally wound round the leg, and
then turned down and fastened
below the knee. Sometimes
they were tied in front ; as
may be seen in the Ethelwold No. is.

Benedictional ; and compare Stothard's Bayeux Tapestry,

66

ANCIENT ARMOUR

Plate IV. Henry of Huntingdon, wlio wrote in the begin-
ning of the twelfth century, gives us incidentally the full
arming of a warrior of the eleventh™. When Sigeward,
duke of Northumberland, found death approaching him,
not on the field of battle, but in the peaceful chamber,
he exclaimed : " Quantus pudor me tot in bellis mori
non potuisse, ut vaccarum morti cum dedecore reser-
varer. Induite me saltem lorica mea impenetrabili,
praecingite gladio, sublimate galea: scutum in Iseva,
securim auratam mihi ponite in dextra, ut militum for-
tissimus modo militis moriar. Dixerat: et ut dixerat,
armatus honorifice exhalavit."

No. 16.

In an age when missiles were much in use ; javelins,
arrows, and the stones of the mangona and of the
slinger ; the soldier would naturally employ his first care
to the arming of his head. Consequently we find in
the monuments of this period that, even when the body
appears to have no defensive covering, the head is care-
fully protected by the helmet.

In the beginning, even the helmet was rare among

Lib. vi.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

67

the Teutonic tribes. Tacitus tells us, of the ancient
Germans : " Paucis loricee, vix uni alterive cassis aut
galea." And Agathias in the seventh century men-
tions that few of the Franks had helmets. Leaders,
however, wore them. Dagobert, in a contest with the
Saxons, received a blow which, dividing his casque,
carried away a part of his hair". And when his father,
Clotaire II., came to his relief, this latter prince placed
himself on the bank of the Yeser, announcing his arrival
to the Saxon leader by taking off his helmet and dis-
playing his long locks °. In the time of Charlemagne,
as we have seen from his capitularies, the count is re-
quired to furnish troops who are provided with helmets.
The fashion of these headpieces we learn from various
vellum-paintings of a little
later date. We find them
to have been hemispherical,
conical, of the Phrygian form,
combed, and crested: some-
times of a complicated make,
with a sort of crocketed ridge p;
sometimes terminating in a
kind of fleur-de-lis\ The
figure here given from Add.
MS., 18,043, a Psalter of the
tenth century, affords a good
example of the combed helmet.
The personage represented is
Goliath; and it may be necessary to add, in order to
understand the girding of the sword, that the warrior

No. 17.

n Gesta Regum Franc, cap. 41.
« Ibid.

P See the Tenison Prudentius.

H See Strutt, "Dress and Hab.," PI. xxix.

F 2

68 ANCIENT ARMOUR

presents his back to us. In lien of tlie combed crest,

the figure of a boar, sacred to the god Freya, was often

placed on the helmets of the pagan Teutons ; a practice

which at length became so general, that the word eofor

(boar) was poetically used for the casque itself. Thus,

in ^^ Beowulf:" '^He commanded them to bring in the

boar, an ornament to the head, the helm lofty in war_:" —

" eofor heafod-segn

* heafo-steapne helm," &c. — Line 4299.

Again: ^^The white helm covered the hood of mail,....
surrounded with lordly chains, even as in days of yore
the weapon-smith had wrought it, had wondrously fur-
nished it, had set it round with the shapes of swine,
that never after brand nor war-knife might have power
to bite it." (1. 2895.)

Here we see the particular object of this device : it
was to act as a holy charm. In Canto 15, the boar
seems also to be implied; and in this instance it is
^^ fastened to the helm with wires." ''About the crest
of the helm, the defence of the head, it held an amulet
fastened without with wires, that the sword, hardened
with scouring, might not violently injure him when the
shield-bearing warrior should go against his foes." Taci-
tus, in the Germania^ has a passage curiously illustrating
this superstition. The ^stii, he says, ''Matrem Deum
venerantur: insigne superstition is, formas aprorum ges-
tant. Id pro armis omnique tutela, securum Dese cul-
torem etiam inter hostes prsestat." Mr. Bateman, in
opening a barrow in Derbyshire, was fortunate enough
to meet with one of these Northern helms surmounted
with the boar crest. The casque is made of iron and
horn, with silver-headed rivets. The hog is of iron.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

69

having eyes of bronze. See Mr. Bateman's ^^ Antiquities
of Derbyshire" for a more full account of this curious
relic ^ The practice of adorning the helmet with a crest
is of a very high antiquity, and is first observed among
the Asiatics. The Shairetana, first enemies, then allies,
of the Egyptian Pharaohs, '' wore a helmet ornamented
"with horns, and frequently surmounted by a crest, con-
sisting of a ball raised upon a small shaft, which is re-
markable from being the earliest instance of a crest^?''
In the Assyrian monuments, the crested helmet is of
frequent occurrence ; the form of the crest being gene-
rally that of a fan, or of a curved horn, or a kind of
crescent, with its cusps turned downwards. See Layard's
'^ JSTineveh and its Eemains," for examples of all these.

In addition to the ^^ white" (or polished) helmet named
in a former extract from ^'Beowulf," we have, at line
5,226, a "brown-coloured" one, {brun-fapie helm). This
may have been of leather,
of iron bearing the stain of
years, or even of bronze. On
several occasions, relics of
bronze have been disinterred
which have every appearance
of being the framework of hel-
mets. These metal frames —
for they occur of iron as well
as of bronze — are presumed

to have been fixed over a No. is

cap of leather. The example

here engraved was found in 1844, on the skull of a

' It is engraved in vol. ii. of Collec- ^ Wilkinson's "Ancient Egyptians,"

tanea Antlqua. p. 287, ed. 1837 ; vol. i. p. 338, ed. 1854.

70 ANCIENT ARMOUR

skeleton exhumed on Leckhampton Hill, near Chelten-
ham. The material is bronze, but worked very thin. At
the summit is a ring, and on one side appears a portion
of the chain which seems to have fastened it beneath
the chin. The ring may have served to attach a tufted
ornament, or a grelot. A Livonian headpiece, engraved
on Plate v. of Dr. Bahr's work, has a boss at the summit
exactly similar to this, but with the addition of a grelot
fixed to the ring. The bronze fragments found by Sir
Henry Dryden in a grave at Souldern, Oxfordshire,
appear to have formed part of a helmet like that before
us*. The example of iron, already noticed, discovered
by Mr. Bateman, is also of framework, though somewhat
differing in pattern from the Leckhampton relic. An-
other iron framework helmet, of the thirteenth century,
was found in an old fort in the Isle of Negropont, and
is figured by Hefner in Plate lxiii. of his Trachten,
Compare also Plate xxxiv.. Part ii., of the same book''.
The secretum engraved in vol. vii. of the Archaeological
Journal, page 305, is of analogous character: as are
also the so-called Spider Helmets, and the "skulls for
hats;" examples of which may be seen in the Tower
Armories. But the most curious illustration of the pur-
pose of the bronze relic represented in our woodcut, is
the helmet proposed for the Eoyal Artillery in 1854. The
metal framing of this was identical in arrangement with
the ancient defence ; consisting of a hoop encircling the
head and two semicircular bands, crossing each other at
the crown, and surmounted by a metal knob. The metal
in this case was brass, and it did not greatly differ in

* See Archaeol. Journ., vol. iii. p. 352. ters. There is also a French version of
" Trachten des christlichen Mittelal- tliis admirable work.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 71

substance from the ancient bronze. The cap beneath
was of felt. In Anglo-Saxon illuminations, it is not un-
usual to see headpieces in which bands of gold-colour
traverse a ground of different hue; and it seems not
improbable that these examples may represent the kind
of helmet under consideration. Similar banded casques
occur in the Bayeux tapestry, in the pictures of the
Painted Chamber at Westminster, and in other monu-
ments. See also Archseol. Journ., vol. xii. p. 9.

The bronze helmet has also been discovered in Scot-
land. Dr. Wilson tells us that ^^ part of a rudely-adorned
helmet of bronze was found in Argyleshire''.'' Another
bronze headpiece is preserved in the Copenhagen Mu-
seum, and Professor Thomsen mentions similar ones,
" overlaid with gold." (Manual.)

A helmet of wood is mentioned by Wace as being
worn by one of the Anglo-Saxon combatants at the
battle of Hastings : —

" Un helme aveit tot fait defust,
Ke colpy el chief ne receust.
A sez dras^ 1' aveit atachie,
Et envirun son col lacie."

A Norman knight attacked him : —

" Sor li helme 1' Engleiz feri,
, De suz les oils^ li abati,

Sor li viare^ li pendi,

E li Engleiz sa main tendi,

Li helme voleit<^ suz lever,

E son viaire delivrer ;

E cil li a un colp done,

E sa hache a terre chai**."

In book-illuminations of this period the helmet is fre-
quently coloured yellow, which may either signify bronze

» Archaeology of Scotland, p. 266. ^ covja. * draps.

» ifeu<e. ^ visage. •= voulait. * tomba.

72 ANCIENT ARMOUR

or gilding. A crown is sometimes added, not in the
case of kings alone, but of distinguished personages
generally. One of the crowned figures in our woodcut.
No. 13, represents the patriarch Abraham. The nasal
appears to have been given to the helmet, about the end
of the tenth century : of which an early example is fur-
nished in the figure of a warrior in Cotton MS., Tibe-
rius, C. vi. fol. 9, a work of this period. By the middle
of the next century, its adoption has become general, and
in the Bayeux Tapestry it is worn equally by Norman
and Saxon.

To a soldiery with whom body-armour appears to have
been a secondary consideration, the Shield would be of
the first consequence. We find, therefore, the JS'orthern
warrior seldom unaccompanied by this useful defence.
Leader and retainer, horseman and foot-soldier, — all are
equipped with the target. Its form was usually round,
though in the pictures, being seen in profile, it often has
the appearance of an oval. And, as the plump-cheeked
houris of the East were called ^* moon-faced damsels," so
the round targets of the Teutons were named by the poets
"moony shields." They were convex, and in the centre
was a boss of metal, generally terminating in a but-
ton or in a spike, but sometimes without either. The
spilied shield was no doubt used as an offensive arm.
The buttons are sometimes plated with silver, or tinned,
as are the heads of the rivets remaining in the edge of
the umbo. Across the hollow of the boss was fixed a
handle of wood covered with iron ; and by this handle
the shield was held at arm's length, the hand entering
the hollow of the boss : see woodcut, No. 13. In the
Wilbraham Cemetery was found the umbo of a shield to

Plate XIX.] AND WEAPONS IN EUROPJi;

74 ANCIENT ARMOUR

■whicli the handle was still attached by its rivets. (See
fig. 10 of our xxth plate.) The shield was sometimes
strengthened with strips of iron fixed across the inside ;
these strips being prolongations of the handle just de-
scribed. Such a shield-handle was found at Envermeu
by the Abbe Cochet, and is figured on Plate xvi. of his
work. In this example the handle has a single strip on
each side,' running towards the edge of the shield. A
similar one was found in a Merovingian cemetery near
Troyes. In a Prankish grave at Londinieres was disco-
vered a variety of this type, in which the strips proceed-
ing from the handle were three on each side, radiating
towards the rim. This very curious example is engraved
in the Normandie S outer raine^ Plate viii. Others were
found in the recent excavations in the Isle of Wight.

The body of the shield was usually of wood ; the lime
having a marked preference. Thus, in ^' Beowulf®," the
heroic Wiglaf ^'seized his shield, the yellow linden-
wood" (geolwe linde). And a spell preserved in Harl.
MS., 585, f. 186, has:—

" Stod under linde
under leolifcum scylde :"

^*I stood under my linden shield, beneath my light

shield." In the Anglo-Saxon poem of '' Judith :" —

" The warriors marched :
the chieftains to the war,
protected with targets,
with arched linden shields."
{hwealfum lindum^.)

In a fragment on the battle of Maldon i—
"Leofsunu spake
and lifted his linden shield/'
{and' his linde aJiof^.)

* Line 5215. ' Thorpe's Analecta, p. 137. g Ibid., p. 128.

Plate XX.]

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE,

<^ . .. >

1Z

f- -.XT

"

-V

<S ■

"---.

i

\

^

76 . ANCIENT ARMOUR

And the Saxon Chronicle tells us, in recounting the de-
feat of Anlaf in 937, how King Athelstan and his heroes

" the board- walls clove :
and hewed the war-lindens."

Leather was sometimes used in the construction of
shields, as we learn from the Laws of athelstan, which
forbid th"e employment of sheepskins for this purpose
under a penalty of thirty shillings. In an example
fi-om the cemetery at Linton Heath, Cambridgeshire, the
leather covering seemed to have been stretched over the
iron umbo as well as over the wooden surface of the
shield'. The edge was protected by a rim of metal.
Portions of these rims have been found in the graves,
both in England and on the continent ; and as they
present segments of circles, become of use in deter-
mining the shape of the shields themselves. In the
Museum of Schwerin is an example of the metal rim
which is complete: it is circular, and the central boss
is also present.

The oval shield appears in a few examples only. One
was found among the graves explored at Oberflacht,
in Suabia ; another is figured by Silvestre, (vol. i.
pi. cxLiv.) from a Longobardic miniature of the eleventh
century; and a third occurs in the Bayeux Tapestry,
Plate XVI. The surface of the Northern shields was
painted in various fanciful devices, sometimes height-
ened with gilding. And, as Christianity was embraced
by the various ]N"orthern tribes, the cross became a fre-
quent decoration. The encomiast of Queen Emma, in
describing the fleet of Canute the Great, says: ^^Erant

* Archseol. Journ., vol. xi. p. 98.

AND WKAPONS IN EUROPE.

77

ibi scutorum tot genera, ut crederis adesse omnium po-
pulorum agmina. Si quando sol illis jubar immiseerit
radiorum, bine resplenduit fulgor armorum, illinc vero
flamma dependentium scutorum^."

Among tbe devices, tbere is notbing of a beraldic
ebaracter, and even as late as tbe time of tbe Bayenx
Tapestry, as Stotbard bas well remarked, "we do not
find any particular or distinguisbed person twice bear-
ing tbe same device \"

In tbe accompanying figure from Cotton MS., Cleopatra,
C. viii., we observe tbat tbe
Anglo-Saxon borseman car-
ried bis sbield, wben not in
use, slung at bis back. The
knigbts of tbe fourteentb
century carried tbeir belmets
in tbe same manner, as may
be seen in tbe fine manu-
script of tbe Roman du Roi
Meliadus^ Additional MSS., No. 21.

12,228. Besides tbe ordinary Nortbem sbields, we some-
times find tbem represented of so large a size as to cover
tbe wbole person. In Harleian MS. 2,908, fol. 53, are
two sucb, but perbaps mere exaggerations of tbe draughts-
man. Sbields of tbis kind were, however, certainly in
use in the East at an early date, and may be seen in
Egyptian, Assyrian, and Indian monuments"".

^ Ap. Du Chesne, p. 168.

' Archseologia, vol. xix.; and Memoirs,
p. 298.

™ Compare Wilkinson's " Egyptians/*
i. 349, ed. 1854 ; Layard's " Monuments
of Nineveh," Plate Lxxii.; and the wall-
painting of the Ajunta Caves, of the first

century of our era, a fine copy of which
has been placed in the Museum of the
East India House. The Chinese still use
a large round sliield of cane-wicker, be-
hind which they crouch so as to conceal
themselves entirely from the view of the
enemy.

78 • ANCIENT ARMOUR

It has been conjectured that the bronze coatings of
shields which have from time to time been discovered in
this country, and commonly attributed to the Ancient
Britons, may belong to the Anglo-Saxon period : while
we admit this probability, we must not forget that they
have not yet been found in the Anglo-Saxon graves.

The shields placed in the graves were the ordinary "lin-
dens," of which no part commonly remains but the metal
boss and handle. The chief varieties of forms offered by
the bosses will be found in our Plates xix. and xx., figs.
1 to 10; all from English tombs". Similar relics have
been dug up in Scotland ; of which No. 1 1 in our Plate
offers an example. This was procured from a tomb in the
county of Moray, accompanied with fragments of oak and
remains of the hero's horse and its bridle. See Dr. Wil-
son's '^ Archseology of Scotland," to which we are indebted
for this specimen. On the continent similar objects have
been found, differing but slightly from our own examples.
1^0. 1 2 is from the cemetery at Selzen, in Ehenish Hesse.
No. 1 3 is from a Danish tomb. See also the examples given
in Worsaae's Copenhagen Museum, p. 68. The shields
of the Danes appear to have been ornamented with gold
and colours, the favourite hue being red. In Ssemund's
poetical "Edda" we read of a "red shield with a golden
border," and Giraldus de Barri tells us that the Irish
" carried red shields, in imitation of the Danes." Some
of the Danish shields, like the weapons, were inscribed
with runes °. In the tumulus opened at Caenby, in Lin^
colnshire, believed to have been that of a Danish viking,
part of a wooden shield was procured, ornamented with

" See Description of Engravings, for the particular localities where they were
discovered. ° Copenhagen Manual.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 79

plates of silver and bronze, bearing the serpentine and

scroll patterns so characteristic of this period. These

fragments are engraved in the seventh volume of the

Archaeological Journal.

The guige or strap by which the target was occasionally

suspended from the combatant's neck, leaving the hands

free to direct the steed or ply the weapon, appears (at

least during the later days of Saxon rule) to have been

in use among our countrymen, as well as with their IS'or-

man neighbours. Of Harold's nobles, Wace tells us : —

" Chescun out son haubert vestu,
Espee ceinte, el col Vescu.^^ — Rom. de Rou, ii. 213.

And in the Bayeux Tapestry, the kite-shield thus fixed
may be seen on the English side.

The place occupied by the shield in the graves of the
Frankish, Germanic, and Scandinavian heroes is by no
means uniform. It has been found on the breast, on the
right arm, upon the knees, and beneath the head. It is
by the position of the umbo in the grave that this fact
has been exactly ascertained. Examples will be found
in the Ozingell Cemetery, in the explorations at Ham-
ham Hill {ArclicBologia^ vol. xxxv.), in the Selzen find,
in the Normandie Souterraine^ and in the account of
the cemetery at Linton Heath (Archaeol. Joum., vol. xi.
p. 108).

The Horse furniture of the Northern cavalry appears
to have been usually very simple. By referring to our
engravings, IN'os. 16 and 21, it will be seen that the
saddle was provided with girth, breastplate, and crupper,
the latter being fixed to the sides of the saddle : pendent
ornaments are attached to the bridle, breastplate, and
crupper. From the poem of ^^ Beowulf" we learn that the

80 ANCIENT ARMOUR

war-horse was occasionally furnished with much cost-
liness : —

" Then did the Eefuge of warriors command eight horses, orna-
mented on the cheek, to be brought into the palace : .... on one
of which stood a saddle variegated with work, made valuable with
treasure: that was the war-seat of a lofty king when the son of
Healfdene would perform the game of swords." — Canto 15.

A donation of the Anglo-Saxon king Ethelbert affords
another example : — " Missurum etiam argenteum, scapton
aureum, item sellam cum freno aureo gemmis exornatam,
speculum argenteum, armilaisia oloserica, camisiam orna-
tam praedicto monasterio gratantei obtuli^."

As it was an occasional practice to bury the horse of
the hero in the same grave with his master, the metal
portions of the fitments have been preserved to our time.
Examples of stirrups may be seen in the Annaler for
Nor disk Oldkyndighed, in Worsaae's Copenhagen Museum,
and in Die Grdher der Liven : all these are of a single
piece, having a loop for the attachment of the leather.
The bits are of two kinds, — snaf-
fles with rings at the sides, and
snaffles with long cheeks. The .
example here given is from a ' ^U^ yg
Kentish barrow opened by the ' No. 22.

Earl of Londesborough. A similar one is in the Livonian
collection of the British Museum. Compare also the York
volume of the Archaeological Institute, page 29 ; Wor-
saae's Copenhagen Museum, pp. 70, 95 and 96; and
M. Troyon's paper in the Archoeologia^ vol. xxxv. p. 396,
and Plate xviii. The snaffle with cheeks was found
among the Wilbraham relics *i, and occurs also in the

P Monast. Aug., vol. i. p. 24. 1 Saxon Obsequies, Plate xxxYiii.

1

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 81

Selzen Cemetery ^ A very curious variety, in which the
snaffle is of iron, while the cheeks are of bronze richly
foliated, was discovered in an old fort at Lough Fea, in
Ireland, and is engraved in the third volume of the
Archaeological Journal. In a tumulus opened in Den-
mark were found the remains of a bridle which had
been covered with thin plates of silver.

A good example of the Anglo-Saxon Saddle, seen
without the rider, occurs in Cotton MS., Claudius, B. iv. ;
which has been engraved by Strutt in the Horda. See
also our cut from Cleopatra, C. viii. (page 77) where the
breastplate, crupper, and single girth are very clearly
made out.

The Spur of this period consisted of a single goad,
sometimes of a lozenge form, sometimes a plain spike.
The shanks were straight. The following illustration of
the lozenge goad is from the bronze
monument of Eudolf von Schwaben,
in the Cathedral of Merseburg, a
work of the eleventh century ^ A
very similar example, dug up in rail-
way excavations near Nottingham,
has lately been added to the Tower
collection. This is of iron. Compare No. 23.

the Swiss specimen engraved by M. Troyon in vol.
XXXV. of the Archceologia^ Plate xvii. This also has a
lozenge goad, but the neck of the spur is much longer.
A Livonian example in the British Museum has the goad
in the form of a plain quadrangular spike. The conical
spike is seen among the Danish relics figured on pages 70

"■ Todtenlager bei Selzen, p. 6.

* Heftier ; TracMen des chrisfUcTien Mittelalters, Pt. I.

G

I

82 ANCIENT ARMOUR

and 95 of Mr. Worsaae's '^ Copenhagen Museum." A very
curious variety was found in the excavations of the Anglo-
Saxon cemetery at Linton Heath, and is figured in the
eleventh volume of the Archseological Journal. The
buckles in this specimen, instead of being attached to
the strap, form part of the spur itself; being contrived
at the ends of the shanks.

Among the many curious usages revealed by the ex-
amination of the ancient tombs, not the least singular is
the practice of burying the equestrian warrior with a
single spur. This fact has been noticed, not alone among
the pagan IS'orthmen, but as late as the thirteenth cen-
tury; and it does not rest on the doubtful evidence of
careless observers, but has been vouched by the testimony
of skilful and practised archseologists. It has been fur-
ther remarked that the spur, in all such cases, is attached
to the left heel. M. Troyon, in his excavations in the
CoUine de Chavannes, Canton de Yaud*, found three
spurs, all of different sizes, which he therefore concludes
" ont appartenu chacun a des cavaliers differents." At
Bel- Air, near Lausanne, this gentleman found an inter-
ment where a single spur had been fixed to the left heel
of the entombed warrior. And in a note to his interest-
ing memoir on the exploration of the Colline de Cha-
vannes, he says : ^^ J'ai retrouve quelquefois des eperons
dans des tombes antiques, mais le mort n'en portait
jamais qu'un seul, qui etait fixe au pied gauche." The
similar instance which has been noticed in an interment
of the thirteenth century is that recorded in the fourth
volume of the Archaeological Journal, page 59. A knight

* Described in Archceoloffia, vol. xxxv.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 83

of the Brougham family, found buried in the chancel of
the chui"ch at Brougham, in Westmoreland, had a single
iron spur "round the left heel." "JS'o spur was found
upon the right heel.'' This knight presented the further
singularity of having been buried cross-legged "".

However highly his steed might be prized by the
Northern warrior, it was not alone in feats of horseman-
ship that he was required to excel. The youthful
Grymr, in the old poem of "Karl and Grymr," "as he
grew up, was accustomed to make his sword ruddy in
the warlike play of shields; to climb the mountains;
to wrestle; to play well the game of chess; to study
the science of the stars; to throw the stone; and to
practise such other sports as were held in estimation."

Olaff Trygvason, according to an old Norwegian
chronicle quoted by Pontoppidan, "could climb the
rock of Smalserhom, and fix his shield on the top ;
he could walk round the outside of a boat upon the
oars, while the men were rowing; he could play with
three darts, throwing them into the air alternately,
and always keeping two of them up : he was ambi-
dexter, and could cast two darts at once with equal
force ; and he was so famous a bowman that none could
equal him." At a little later date, Kali, an earl of
the Orkneys, boasts of his acquirements: — "I know,"

" For much curious information re- pendix to Kemble's trans, of " Beowulf;"

lating to the practice of interring with Wilson's Archaeol. of Scotland, pp. 457

the hero his horse, chariot, hawks, hounds, and 552 ; Worsaae's Antiq. of Denmark,

&c., and the discovery of their remains in p. 100 ; Bahr's Die Qrdher der Liven,

the graves, see Archceologia, vol. xxxiii.; pi. xvi. Compare also Tacitus, Qer-

the York volume of the Archseolog.Instit., mania, x. ; Caesar, Bell. Gall., lib. vi.;

p. 28; Saxon Obsequies, pi. xxxviii.; and Wilkinson's Anc. Egypt., vol. ii. pp.

Archaeol. Journal, vol. vii. p. 43; Kemble's 270 and 399, ed. 1854.
Saxons in England, vol. i. p. 428 ; Ap-

G 2

84 ANCIENT ARMOUR

says he, ^^nine several arts. I am skilful at the game
of chess, I can engrave runic letters, I am expert at
my book, I can handle the tools of the smith, I can
traverse the snow on wooden skates, I excel in shooting
with the bow, I ply the oar with address, I can sing to
the harp, and I compose verses'"."

In the tenth century, Eichard, duke of Normandy

" sout en Daneiz, en Normanf^ parler :

Une chartre sout lire, e li parz deviser :
Li pere Tout bien fet duire e doutriner.
De tables e d'escbez sout compaignon mater :
Bien sout paistre^ un oisel e livrer e porter :
En bois sout cointement e berser "^ e vener.
As talevas* se sout bien couvrir e moler^,
Mestre pie destre avant e entre d'els dobler:
Talons sout remuer e retraire e noxer,
Saillir deverz senestre e treget^ tost geter:
C est un colp damageux ki ne s' en seit garder,
Mais Ten ne s'i deit lungement demorer."

Boman de JRou, vol. i. p. 126.

Of the Standards in use at this period, the notices
that have reached us are neither numerous nor clear. In
Asser's ^^Life of King Alfred" we read, that the Christian
English gained a signal victory over the pagan Danes in
Devon, slaying their king, and capturing ^' among other
things, the standard called Eaven; and they say that
the three sisters of Hingwar and Hubba, daughters of
Lodobroch, wove that flag and got it ready in one day^.

^ Orkneyinga Saga, born ladies of the ninth century with

^ That is, in the Romance language. another fair standard-weaver somewhat

y feed. nearer our own times. Katherine of Ar-

' use the long-bow. ragon, writing to Wolsey, when the king

* shield. was campaigning in France, says : " I am

'' contend. horridly busy with making standards,

•* It is curious to compare these high-

banners, and badges."

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 85

They say, moreover, that in every battle, wherever that
flag went before them, if they were to gain the victory,
a live crow would appear flying on the middle of the
flag ; but if they were doomed to be defeated, it would
hang down motionless. And this was often proved to
be so.'' (Sub an. 878.) The Danish chronicles and
sagas, however, make no mention of this Eaven standard.
Mr. "Worsaae (^^ Danes in England") gives the engraving
of a coin of Anlaf, on which he recognises the national
device, and finds it again in that figure of a bird on one
of the flags of the Bayeux tapestry; ^^for it is very
natural," he says, "that the Scandinavian vikings, or Nor-
mans, who had achieved such famous conquests under
Odin's Eaven, should continue to preserve this sign," &c.

Ancient evidences are not agreed as to the Anglo-
Saxon standard used at the battle of Hastings. Wil-
liam of Poitiers describes it as "memorabile vexillum
Heraldi, hominis armati imaginem intextam habens ex
auro purissimo." Malmesbury follows him : " vexillum
— quod erat in hominis pugnantis figura, auro et lapi-
dibus arte sumptuosa contextum."

In the Bayeux tapestry this design does not appear,
but the old Dragon Standard, derived by the Northern
nations from the Eomans. And it will be observed that
the dragon of Harold is not a picture painted on a flag ;
but, like the Eoman draco^ a figure fixed by the head to
a staff, with its body and tail floating away into the air.
Compare the representations on the Trajan and Antonine
columns, and in the Bayeux tapestry. The dragon is
found also among the continental Saxons. Of Witikind
we are told : " Hie arripiehs Signum, quod apud eo ha-
bebatur sacrum, leonis atque draconis et desuper aquilse

86 ANCIENT ARMOUR

volantis insignitum effigie%" &c. And this device of a
dragon appears to have been in use till at length dis-
placed by the more exact distinctions of hereditary-
heraldry.

The well-known custom mentioned by Plot, of the in-
habitants of Burford, in Oxfordshire, carrying the figure
of a dragon yearly '^up and down the town in great
Jollity, to which they added the Picture of a Giant," in
memory of a victory over Ethelbald, king of Mercia, in
which this prince lost his ^^ Banner, whereon was de-
picted a Golden Dragon ;" seems entitled to greater con-
sideration than most of the customs of old times. The
Dragon Standard of the Anglo-Saxons is a fact substan-
tiated by many monuments ; and the portraying a van-
quished enemy under the lineaments of a hideous giant,
is a practice which has had the sanction of all times and
all nations.

A very curious kind of flag occurs in the Anglo-Saxon
manuscript of Prudentius in the Tenison Library. It is
suspended from a horizontal bar near the spear-head,
after the manner of a sail looped up to its yard, and
from the side hangs a kind of fringe. It decreases be-
low, presenting altogether a triangular form, and seems
to be the same object as that figured by Mr. Worsaae,
from a coin of Anlaf, in his "Danes in England."

The celebrated Carrocio or Car Standard of the Italians
appears to have been invented during the war between
the Milanese and the Emperor Conrad, about 1035, by
Heribert, the archbishop of Milan. This car had four
wheels, and was drawn by four yoke of oxen, capari-
soned in red. The chariot itself was red: in the

* Gestor. Sax., lib. i.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 87

midst of it was a tall red mast, surmounted by a
golden globe, and bearing the banner of the city:
beneath the banner was a large crucifix, of which
"the extended arms appeared to bless the troops.'' A
kind of platform in front of the carrociiim was occu-
pied by a company of chosen heroes, elected for its espe-
cial defence; while, on a similar platform behind, the
trumpets of the army contributed by their inspiriting
strains to give confidence to all around. Before leaving
the city, mass was solemnised upon the platform of the
chariot, and not unfrequently a chaplain was assigned to
accompany it into the field of battle, and to give abso-
lution to the wounded. This device of the Milanese
was soon imitated by others of the Italian cities, and
with all it was held to be in the last degree humiliating
to abandon the carrocio to the enemy ^ Other origins
have, however, been given to the Car Standard. It has
been attributed to the Saracens ; and the monk Egidius
ascribes its invention to the Duke of Louvain, who caused
the banner which had been embroidered by the Queen
of England to be placed in a superb chariot drawn by
four oxen. The Italians have a large balance of evidence
on their side.

Of the various kinds of " gyns" in use, the notices
are not very distinct. And a chief source of the vague-
ness arises from the circumstance that, as the earliest
chroniclers wrote in Latin, they applied the names of
Eoman engines to instruments which probably differed
both in form and principle from their ancient prototypes.

' Amulphus Mediol., 1. ii. c. 16; Ri- Mcdiolanens., torn, vi.; Hist. Rer. Ital.,.
cordano Malespina, Hist. Fior,, cap. 164 j p. 917.
Burchardus, Epistola de excidio urbis

88 ANCIENT ARMOUR

Tacitus, indeed, tells us that the barbarians borrowed
these engines from those of the Eomans; deserters or
prisoners from whose ranks taught to the Northmen the
art of their construction. But there seems good reason
to believe that the motive principle of the classic periers,
torsion, was no longer in use among the middle-age
engineers: their instruments consisting of a lever fur-
nished at one extremity with a sling and at the other
with a heavy weight ; the sudden liberation of the latter
contributing the force necessary to propel the stone from
the sling. See this subject fully discussed in the second
volume of the Etudes sur V Artillerie of the Emperor of
the French; and compare the evidences furnished by
monuments of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, given
in later pages of this work.

In 585, we learn from Gregory of Tours, that the Bat-
tering Eam and the Testudo were employed by the Bur-
gundians in the siege of Comminges^. This Tortoise, or
screen for the propellers of the Eam, is described by the
translator of Yegecius in 1408 under the name of the
" Snayle or Welke^ :" " For, righte as the snaile hath
his hous over hym where he walkethe or resteth, and oute
of his hous he shetethe his hede whan he woUe, and
draweth hym inne a-yene, so doth this gynne." In the
ninth century we obtain considerable light on this sub-
ject from the curious description of the Siege of Paris,
written in Latin verse by Abbo, a monk of St. Germain-
des-Prez, who was an eye-witness of the events he re-
cords. He names the Musculus and the Pluteus, both
of which were contrivances to shelter the besiegers while
at work ; the Balista and Mangana, machines for casting

& Lib. vii. c. 37. ^ Roy. MS. 18, A. xii., f. 105.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 89

large stones ; the Catapulta, which cast both stones and
darts; the Terebra, a spiked beam for boring into the
walls ; and the Ealarica, a gyn throwing darts to which
burning substances were affixed; a terrible instrument
in those days, when the roofs of houses were almost in-
variably covered with thatch.

The Moveable Towers formed of wood, in imitation of
those of the Eomans, and placed by the walls of city or
castle in order to bring the assailants to a level with the
defenders, are first mentioned in medieval annals under
the eleventh century ; but they play no conspicuous part
in the military history of these days till the succeeding
century, when their employment appears to have been
frequent. In 1025, Eudes, comte de Chartres, is said to
have used the Moveable Tower in besieging the Castle of
Montbrol, near Tours ; and so high was it, that it over-
topped the keep-tower of the fortress'.

In the east of Europe, the Greek Eire had been known
as early as the year 673 ; when, according to the his-
torians of the Lower Empire, Callinicus, the philosopher,
taught the use of it to the Greeks. He himself had pro-
bably derived the knowledge of this composition from the
Arabians; for, though powder acting by detonation (and
consequently cannon) appears to have been first produced
in Europe, and that not earlier than the beginning of the
fourteenth century, the Asiatics had the use of powder
that would fuse at a very early date. The Greek Fire
was discharged from tubes, which could be turned in any
direction. The Princess Anna Comnena, in the Alexiad^
describes its use, as it was employed by the Emperor
Alexis against the Pisans, from tubes fixed at the prow

' Ap. Labbaeum in Chronolog., lib. ii. ; Daniel, Mil. Fran., i. 557.

90 ANCIENT ARMOUR.

of his vessels : — " They (the Pisans) were astonished to
see fire, which by its nature ascends, directed against
them, at the will of their enemy, downwards and on each
side." The receipt for the composition of the Greek Fire
may be found in the Treatise of Marcus Grecus. The
terrors of these early fire-mixtures were enhanced by the
belief that not only they, but the flames kindled by
them, were inextinguishable by water: " de quibus fit
incendarium quod ab aqua non extinguitur''." The Greek
Eire did not, however, reach the west of Europe till a
much later period. It was objected against its use, that
such an agent was contrary to the spirit of religion and
the nobleness of chivalry: it was felt that a weapon
which could be used alike by the weak and the strong,
by the humble and the powerful, might become a dan-
gerous rival to the knightly lance and panoply.

•' Eeinaud et Fave : Bufeu gregeois, &c., p. 218.

24.

93

ANCIENT ARMOUE.

[Plate XXV.

^

PART II.

FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND TO THE END OP
THE TWELFTH CENTURY.

For the period now to be examined, namely, from about
the year 1066 to the close of the twelfth century, our
chief evidences are still the illuminations of manuscripts,
the writings of chroniclers and poets, tapestry-pictures,
ivory carvings and metal chasings. The valuable testi-
monies of the graves are lost to us ; but a new source of
information is opened to our inquiries in the royal and
baronial seals, which from the second half of the eleventh
century appear in great abundance wherever the feudal
system is in vogue. Among these various evidences,
there are two which, for our particular purpose, are espe-
cially valuable, — the Bayeux tapestry and the Chronicle
of Eobert Wace. There seems to be no reasonable doubt
of this tapestry having been embroidered at the close of
the eleventh century; and whoever has carefully ex-
amined it, will be at once convinced that it was wrought,
not by courtly ladies, but by the ruder hands of the
ordinary tapestry- workers. Curious analogy is found in
the decorations of suhsellce of a somewhat later date*.

» The events depicted in the Bayeux 602. This paper has been reprinted by

tapestry have been carefully identified M. Thierry among the Pihces justifica-

and described by M. Lancelot in the fives of his Conquete de VAngUterre,

Memoires de VAcad. des Inscrip., viii. vol. i.

V

94 ANCIENT ARMOUE

The especial value of the Chronicle of the Dukes of ISTor-
mandy is in the minuteness with Avhich "Wace delights
to describe the incidents of knightly achievement. Taking
his crude facts from William of Jumieges and Dudo of
St. Quentin, he fills up their outlines with unwearying
elaboration. Not content with drily noting the gathering
of a host or the issue of an onslaught, he tells us how
the levies came into the camp ^^by twos, and by threes,
and by fours, and by fives,'' and with what weapons they
contended, the material of their staves, and the length
and breadth of their blades. He himself, lived so near
the time of which he writes, and the changes in the in-
terval were so few, that his descriptions have, in most
instances, the exactness of those of an eye-witness. The
incidents of Duke William's Conquest of England he
learns from the lips of his own father, who lived pro-
bably in the eleventh century : —

jo di dire a mon pere :

Eien m' en sovint, maiz varlet ere."

Boman de Bou, 1. 11564.

We must still, however, keep in view that Wace, like all
writers and illuminators of the middle-ages, does not
hesitate to fill up his pictures from the scenes around
him ; so that, while we concede him a large measure of
authority, especially for the events near his own time,
we must on some occasions withhold our confidence,
when his testimony is not in accordance with evidence
which is strictly cotemporary.

With the feudal system was introduced a scheme of
military rank which was altogether distinct from social
position. Esquire, knight, and banneret had no necessary
connection with prince, baron, or private person. The

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 95

heir of a crown miglit be but an esquire ; a fortunate
soldier often became a knight. The esquire was the
aspirant to laiightly honours, and patiently served his
apprenticeship to arms in the court of his prince or
the hall of some neighbouring baron. At the age of
twenty-one he was eligible to knighthood : he became, if
he had property enough to support the dignity, a knight-
bachelor : " s'il a bien de quoi maintenir Pestat de che-
valerie ; car aultrement ne lui est honneur, et vault
mieulx estre bon escuyer que ung poure chevalier^." In
the field, the knight's contingent was led under a Pen-
non, a flag that differed from the square Banner of the
banneret in being pointed at the fly. The dignity of
the Knight Banneret required a retinue of at least fifty
men-at-arms with their followers, so that it could only be
enjoyed by the rich. The chronicles of the middle-ages
are full of examples in which the knight who has dis-
tinguished himself on the field of battle declines this
dignity on the plea of inadequate funds. When accepted,
the Pennon of the knight was often at once converted on
the spot into a Banner ; as in the instance recorded by
Olivier de la Marche : — '^ Si bailla le Eoi d' Armes (de la
Toison d'Or) un couteau au Due (de Bourgogne), et prit
le pennon en ses mains, et le bon Due, sans oster le gan-
telet de la main senestre, fit un torn- autour de sa main
de la queue du pennon, et de 1' autre main coupa le-
dit pennon et demeura quarre; et la Banniere faite**."
Proissart offers several similar instances.

The feudal Levy was conducted on the very simple
principle, that they who held the land should defend the

^ Antoine de la Sale, cited by St. Palaye, Anc. Chevalerie, i. 118.
' Liv. vi. e. 25.

96 - ANCIENT ARMOUR

land, and contribute to the king's army in proportion to
the extent of their holdings. Those who could not serve
in person, as clerics and ladies, were bound to furnish
substitutes. The various contingents due from the vas-
sals were carefully recorded in rolls ; and in the Milice
Francaise of Pere Daniel is preserved a curious note of
such a roll, of the time of Philippe Auguste, in which
the contributors to the host are arranged in the following
order : archbishops, bishops, abbots, dukes, earls, barons,
castellans, vavassors, knights-banneret, and knights^.
The usual time of service at this period was forty days :
any further attendance was voluntary, and was probably
much dependent on the prospect of booty.

That knight and esquire were not necessarily of gentle
blood, might be proved by numerous ancient evidences :
one or two may suffice. Matthew Paris, under the year
1250, tells us that the king ^^ gave a charter of the
liberty of warren in the land of Saint Alban's to a certain
knight named Geoffry, although not descended from
noble or knightly ancestors." This knight had obtained
the privilege '^from having married the sister of the
king's clerk, John Maunsell." The ^4ady's name was
Clarissa, and she was the daughter of a country priest,
but exalted herself in her pride above her station, to the
derision of all." Froissart, in the fourteenth century,
gives us the history of Jacques le Gris, the bosom-friend
of the Earl of Alen^on, — " qui n'etoit pas de trop haute
affaire, mais un ecuyer de basse lignee qui s'etoit avance,
ainsi que fortune en avance plusieurs ; et quand ils sent
tons eleves et ils cuident etre au plus sur, fortune les

^ Vol. i. p. 70. See other Rolls of an early date in the Traite du Ban of th©
Sieur de la Roque.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 97

retoume en la bone et les met plus bas que elle ne les a
eus de commencement ^''

In fact, numerous exceptional cases might be adduced
on almost every point of knightly usage, and to chronicle
the whole would be a labour of many pages. A detail of
such usages (the education of the varlets, the probation
of the knights, the ceremonies of investiture, and the
institutions of the various brotherhoods) is by no means
within the province of this work. A large amount of
information on these points will be found in the Memoires
sur Vancienne Chevalerie of St. Palaye, and in the various
works of Ducange; from whose pages numerous refer-
ences will lead the more critical investigator to a wide
range of valuable authorities. An able sketch of the
Feudal System, as it existed in Italy, appears in the first
volume of Sismondi's BSjoubliques Italiennes au Moyen-
age, p. 80, sq.

Besides the feudal troops already noticed, there was a
more general levy, when any pressing danger menaced
the state. Thus, in 1124, Louis le Gros met the threat-
ened invasion of the Emperor Henry Y. by raising an
army of more than 200,000 men^. And under Philippe
le Bel, we have an ordinance calling upon all his sub-
jects, ^^ noble and non-noble, of whatsoever condition
they be, between the ages of eighteen and sixty," to be
ready to take the field. A similar provision was found
in England. The Fosse Comitatus^ which was under the
command of the sheriffs of the various counties, included
every freeman capable of bearing arms between the ages
of fifteen and sixty. In 1181, Henry II. fixed an assize

« Sub an. 1386. * Henault, i. 177.

98 ANCIENT ARMOUR

of arms, by which all his subjects, being freemen, were
bound to be in readiness for the defence of the realm,
^^ Whosoever holds one knight's fee shall have a coat-
of-fence (loricam\ a helmet {cassidem\ a shield, and a
lance ; and every knight as many coats, helmets, shields,
and lances, as he shall have knights' fees in his domain.
Every free layman, having in rent or chattels the value
of sixteen marks, shall have a coat-of-fence, helmet,
shield and lance. Every free layman having in chattels
ten marks, shall have a haubergeon [halber(^ellum\ iron
cap and lance (capelet ferri et lanceam). All burgesses
and the whole community of freemen shall have each a
^wambais,' iron cap, and lance. On the death of any
one having these arms, they shall remain to his heir.
Any one having more arms than required by this assize,
shall sell or give them, or so alienate them, that they
may be employed in the king's service. No Jew shall
have in his custody any coat-of-fence or haubergeon
(loricam vel halhergellum\ but shall sell it or give it, or
in other manner so dispose of it that it shall remain to
the king's use. No man shall carry arms out of the
kingdom, or sell arms to be so carried. None but a
freeman to be admitted to take the oath of arms {et prce-
cepit reXy quod nuUus reciperetur ad sacramentum armorum
nisi liber homo^)P In this curious document it will be
remarked that the old national weapon, the axe, is alto-
gether omitted; and the bow, which afterwards became
so effective an arm among the infantry of this country,
is equally unnoticed. The extensive levy indicated in
these passages was clearly that of the so-called Arriere-

« New Rymer, vol. i. p. 37.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 90

han^ the Milice des Communes, or Communitates Parochi-
armi ; troops who marched under the banners of their
respective parishes. For in an ordinance of Charles VI.
of France, in 1411, we find the ban and arriere-ban very
exactly defined : — '' Mandons et convoquons par devant
nous, tons noz hommes et vassaulx tenant de nous, tant
en fiefs qu'en arriere-fiefs : et aussi des gens des bonnes
villes de notre royaume qui ont accoustume d'eulx armer
par forme et maniere de arriere-ban^."

As the vassals were not always disposed to exchange
hawk and hound for lance and destrier, and as kings
found themselves but ill-served by barons who had be-
come almost as powerful as themselves, a plan was de-
vised, by which both were relieved from this embarrass-
ment of feudal relations. The vassal compounded by a
money-payment called Scutage for the service due to
his lord ; and the lord, with the proceeds of this shield-
tax, obtained the aid of foreign soldiery. Henry II.
in England, and Philip Augustus in France, employed
these mercenaries, who were caUed Coterelli, Eutarii,
Bascli, and Brabantiones, names derived from their
condition or country '. William the Conqueror, Wace
tells us, had mercenary troops mixed with his feudal
followers : —

" De mainte terre out soldeiers :
Cels por terre, eels por deniers." — Bom. de Bou, 1. 13797.

Again : —

*' Dune vindrent soldeirs a lui :
Et uns e uns, e dui e dui,
E quatre e quatre, e cine e sis,
E set e wit, e nof e dis :

•• Collect, des Ordonnances, viii. 640. Rigord, sub an. 1183. See also Du Cange
' Madox, Hist. Excheq., 435 seq. ; or Adelung.

H %

100 ANCIENT AEMOUR

E li Dus toz les reteneit :
Mult lor donout e prameteit.

ig. * * -A* ic

Alquanz soldees demandoent,

Livreisuns e duns covetoent." — Line 11544.

Besides the troops enumerated above, the King's Body-
guard became a corps of some celebrity at the close of
the twelfth century. Philip Augustus is said to have
instituted this corps in the Holy Land, to protect his
person from the machinations of the Old Man of the
Mountain; and in imitation of his ally, Eichard of
England embodied a similar force. The Servientes ar-
morunty Serpens d'armes, or Serpens a maces, were armed
cap-a-^ie, and besides their distinctive weapon, the mace,
carried a bow and arrows^, and of course a sword. In the
fourteenth century they had a lancet In the beginning
of the fifteenth century, as we learn from the curious
incised stones"" formerly placed in the church of their
brotherhood, St. Catherine- du-val, at Paris, and now pre-
served in the Church of St. Denis, the serpens d'armes
were still clad in complete armour, their weapons being
a mace and sword. The number of these guards at
their first institution is not clear, but in the time of
Louis YI. of France they were reduced to a hundred.
It must be borne in mind that the name of serviens or
sergent^ as applied to military persons, had a much
wider signification than this of a body-guard. It often
included all beneath the dignity of a knight.

The Archers in the army of William the Conqueror
fulfilled those duties of preliminary fight which at a
later period fell to the lot of the musquetiers, and in

•* statute of Philip IV. sub an. 1285. " Figured by Daniel, by Lenoir, by

' Daniel, Mil, Fran., ii. 95. Willemin, and by Guilhermy.

H

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 101'

our own day have passed to the cannonier. The Nor-
man bowmen are the first of the invading troops to set
foot on English soil : —

" Li arcliiers sunt primiers iessuz :

El terrain sunt primiers venuz.

Dune a chescun son arc tendu,

Couire et archaiz el lez pendu.

Tuit furent rez e tuit tondu,

De cors dras furent tuit vestu." — Rom. de Rou, 1. 11626.
These shaven and shorn, short-coated archers, with their
quivers hung at their side, are exactly reproduced in the
Bayeux tapestry (Plates xiii., xv., and xvi.) : —

" La gent a pie fu bien armee :

Chescun porta arc et espee.

Sor lor testes orent chapels,

A lor piez liez lor panels.

Alquanz unt bones coiries,

K' il unt a lor ventre lies.

Plusors orent vestu gambais,

Couires orent ceinz et archais.
*****

Cil a pie aloient avant

Serreement, lors ars portant." — Line 12805.

From this curious passage it appears that the archers of

William were not a particular and distinctly organized

corps, but that all the foot were armed with the bow.

The caps and boots are clearly portrayed in the Bayeux

tapestry; and from this valuable monument we obtain

an exact confirmation of the statement of Wace, that

some of the archers were clad in armour. See Plate xiii.

We must observe also, that the advantage of a close

formation was thoroughly appreciated at this day. The

serried order of the foot noted above was also adopted

by the cavalry : —

" Cil a cheval e cil a pie
Tindrent lor eire e lor compas,
Serreement lor petit pas,

or

102

ANCIENT ARMOUR

Ke r un r altre ne trespassout,

Ne n' aprismout ne n' esloignout.

Tuit aloent serreement,

E tuit aloent fierement." — Line 12825.

In Plate xiii. of the Bayeux tapestry, we find an archer
who carries his quiver, not " el lez pendu," but slung at
his back, so that the arrows present themselves at the
right shoulder. In Plate xvi. we have a mounted
archer joining a group of knights in the chase of the
discomfited Saxons; from which we may venture to
infer, that on the rout of an enemy it was the practice
of such bowmen as could obtain horses, to act with the
cavalry in the pursuit of the flying foe.

GREAT SEAL OF WILLIAM BUFU3.

No. 26.

If the Norman archers were for the most part clad in

AND WEAPONS IN EUEOPE. 103

^'cors dras," tlie horsemen were fully furnislied in the
choicest military equipment of the day : —

" Dune issirent li Chevalier,
Tuit arme e tuit haubergie " :
Escu al col, healme lacie :
Ensemble vindrent al gravier^,
Chescun arme sor son destrier.
Tuit orent ceintes les espees,
El plain vindrent lances levees.
Li Barunz orent gonfanons,
Li chevaliers orent penons." — Horn. deUou, 1. 11639.

*' Chevaliers ont hanbers e branz,
Chances de fer, helmes luizanz,
Escuz as cols, as mains lor lances." — Line 12813.

In the south, military science was already so far ad-
vanced that a Code for the discipline of troops had been
established. The rules laid down by the Emperor Frederic
for the control of his army in Italy in 1158, have been
preserved by Eadevicus of Frisinga^, and are given by
Sismondi^.

Wherever the feudal system had taken root, a similar
arming and similar tactics prevailed. The military

" Chevals quistrent et armes a la guise franchoise,
Quer lor semblout e plus riche e plus cortoise."

But in the border-nations of Europe, where the old
liberties of Celt and Teuton still lingered, the fashions
of war were very different. In Ireland, in Scotland, in
"Wales, and in the Scandinavian North, the heroes were
by no means clad in the pattern of the Bayeux tapestry.
From Giraldus Cambrensis we learn that the Irish in the
twelfth century wore no body-armour. In riding they

° Having hauberks. p Lib. i. cap. 25.

» The shore. i Rgpub. Ital., vol. ii. p. 84.

104 . ANCIENT AKMOUR

used neitlier saddle nor spui*. Their shields were cir-
cular, and painted red. Helmets they had none. Their
weapons were a short spear, javelins, and an axe. The
axes, which they had derived from the IN'orwegians and
Ostmen, were excellently well steeled. ^^They make
use of but one hand when they strike with the axe,
extending the thumb along the handle to direct the
blow; from which neither the helmet can defend the
head, nor the iron folds of the armour the body ; whence
it has happened in our time that the whole thigh of a
soldier, though cased in well-tempered armour, hath been
lopped off by a single blow, the limb falling on one side
of the horse, and the expiring body on the other. They
are also expert beyond all other nations in casting stones
in battle, when other weapons fail them, to the great
detriment of their enemies ^" The bow not being in
use among the Irish of this time, and consequently there
being nothing to oppose to the distant attack of the
[N^orman archers, the havoc made by these latter troops
was terrific; so that Giraldus, in his chapter, ^^Qualiter
Hibernica gens sit expugnanda,'' recommends that in all
attacks upon them, bowmen should be mixed with the
heavy-armed force.

The Welsh also retained their old mode of war-
fare : —

" Gens Wallensis liabet hoc naturale per omnes
Indigenas, primis proprium quod servat ab annis, "

says Guillaume le Breton. " They are lightly armed,"
writes Giraldus Cambrensis, " so that their agility may
not be impeded ; they are clad in haubergeons {loricis

' Topographia Hibernia.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 105

minorihus\ have a handful of arrows, long lances, hel-
mets, and shields, but rarely appear with iron greaves
[ocreis ferreis). Fleet and generous steeds, which their
country produces, bear their leaders to battle, but the
greater part of the people are obliged to march on foot
over marshes and uneven ground. Those who are
mounted, according to opportunity of time and place,
both for the retreat and advance, easily become infantry.
Those of the foot- soldiers who have not bare feet, wear
shoes made of raw hide, sewn up in a barbarous fashion.
The people of Gwentland are more accustomed to war,
more famous for valour, and more expert in archery,
than those of any other part of Wales. The following
examples prove the truth of this assertion. In the last
assault of Abergavenny Castle, which happened in our
days, two soldiers passing over a bridge to a tower built
on a mound of earth, in order to take the Welsh in the
rear, their archers, who perceived them, discharged their
arrows, penetrating an oaken gate which was four fingers
thick: in memory of which deed, the arrows are still
preserved sticking in the gate, with their iron piles seen
on the other side. . . . Their bows are made of wild elm,
unpolished, rude, and uncouth, but strong; not calcu-
lated to shoot an arrow to a great distance, but to inflict
very severe wounds in closer fight ^" Guillaume le
Breton, in describing the Welsh troops who accom-
panied Eichard Coeur- de-Lion into France, deprives them
of defensive armour altogether : —

" Nee soleis plantas, caligis nee crura gravantur :
Erigus docta pati, nulli oneratur ab armis,
Nee munit thoraee latus, nee casside frontem*."

■ Iter Cambrise, c. 3. * Philippidos, 1. 5.

106 ANCIENT ARMOUR

But he allows them a greater variety of weapons on this
occasion than is found in the account of Giraldus : —

*' Clavam cum jaculo, venabula, gesa, bipennem,
Arcum cum pharetris, nodosaque tela vel hastam."

The gesa of this passage is the often-mentioned guisarme.
The nodosa tela is not so clear, but may have been a
dart with a ball at the end; the object of which ball
was to arrest the javelin when, sliding through the
hand, it had inflicted its wound, so that it might be
employed afresh. Such weapons were used by the
ancient Egyptians'", and are still employed in the man-
ner mentioned above by the Nubians and Ababdeh.

Hoveden, describing the battle of Lincoln in 1141, and
the disposition of the Earl of Chester's army, says : ^' On
the flank, there was a great multitude of Welshmen,
better provided with daring than with arms."

In Scotland, two leading influences were at work.
The highlanders adhered to their old habits and their
old arms with a pertinacity which has not been ex-
tinguished even in our own day. The round shield or-
namented with knot-work subsisted to the field of Cullo-
den, and the dagger with its hilt of the same pattern, is
still in vogue. But in the south of Scotland the fashions
of France and of England had made great inroads ; espe-
cially advanced by the crowds of discontented nobles of
Saxon and of Norman blood, who sought in the court of
the Scottish king solace for their misfortunes, or revenge
for their wrongs. Thus in the seal of Alexander I.
(1107—1124,)

* Wilkinson, i. 356, ed. 1854.

AND WEAPONS IN EUKOPE.

107

FROM THE GREAT SEAL OF ALEXANDER I., KING OF SCOTLAND.

No. 27.

we find that monarch wearing the hauberk with tunic and
the nasal helmet, and armed with lance and kite-shield,
exactly as seen in the monuments of his more southern
cotemporaries. This equipment, however, was only found
among the leaders of their hosts, and even they did not
always think fit to adopt the new fashion. Thus, at the
battle of the Standard, in 1138, the Earl of Stratheame
exclaims : — '' 1 wear no armour, yet they who do will
not advance beyond me this day."

This Battle of the Standard, so called from the Carro-
cium, or Car-standard, which was brought into the field
by the English, affords us a good insight into the warfare
of the Scots of this day. Let us remember, however, that
it is an English chronicler who records the fight. Eoger
of Hoveden tells us that the bishop "" who accompanied
the English army, addressing the troops previous to the

* Of the Orkneys, says Hoveden ; of Durham, according to Wendover.

108 . ANCIENT ARMOUR

engagement, said of the Scots : ^^ They know not how to
arm themselves for battle ; whereas you, dming the time
of peace, prepare yourselves for war, in order that in
battle you may not experience the doubtful contingen-
cies of warfare. . . . But now, the enemy advancing in dis-
order^ warns me to close my address, and rushing on
with a straggling front ^ gives me great reason for glad-
ness." At the end of his speech, ^^ all the troops of the
English answered, ^ Amen, Amen.' "

^'At the same instant the Scots raised the shout of
their country, and the cries of ^Albany, Albany!' as-
cended to the heavens. But the cries were soon drowned
in the dreadful crash and the loud din of the blows.
When the ranks of the Men of Lothian, who had ob-
tained from the king of Scotland, though reluctantly on
his part, the glory of striking the first blow, hurl-
ing their darts and presenting their lances of extra-
ordinary length, bore down upon the English knights
encased in armour, striking, as it were, against a ^
wall of iron, they found them impenetrable. The
archers of King Stephen, mingling among the cavalry,
poured their arrows like a cloud upon them, piercing
those who were not protected by armour. Meanwhile
the whole of the l^ormans and English stood in one
dense phalanx around the standard, perfectly immove-
able. The chief commander of the Men of Lothian fell
slain, on which the whole of his men took to flight.
On seeing this, the main body of the Scots, which was
contending with the greatest valour in another part of
the field, was alarmed and fled. Next, the king's
troop, which King David had formed of several clans,
as soon as it perceived this, began to drop off: at first,

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 109

man by man, afterwards in bodies ; the king standing
firm, and being at last left almost alone. The king's
friends seeing this, forced him to mount his horse and
take to flight. But Henry, his valiant son, not heeding
the example of his men, but solely intent on glory and
valour, bravely charged the enemy's line, and shook it
by the wondrous vigour of his onset. For his troop
was the only one mounted on horseback, and consisted
of Unglish and Normans who formed a part of his father s
household. His horsemen, however, were not long able
to continue their attacks against soldiers on foot, cased
in armour, and standing immoveable in close and dense
ranks ; but, with their lances broken, and their horses
wounded, were compelled to fly. Eumour says that
many thousands of \hQ Scots were slain on that field,
besides those who, being taken in the woods and stand-
ing com, were put to death. Accordingly, the English
and Normans happily gained the victory, and with a
very small effusion of blood." The standard which gave
to this battle of Cuton Moor its popular name, was
formed of a mast placed on a car, having at its summit
a silver pix containing the Host, and beneath, three
banners, those of St. Peter, St. John of Beverley, and
St. Wilfrid of Eipon.

The equipment of the Scandinavian heroes in the twelfth
century has come down to us in several cotemporary
writings. The author of the Speculum Begale^ an Ice-
landic chronicle of this period, instructs his son in his
military duties : when combating on foot, he is to 'wear
his heavy, armour, namely, a byrnie, or thick panzar^

y Pcmza, abdomen, alvus; whence Panzeria, lorica quae ventrem tegit. Adelung.
Pansiere. Fr.

110 ANCIENT ARMOUE

{thungann pannzard)^ a strong shield {skiold) or buckler
{buklara)^ and a heavy sword. For naval actions the
best weapons are long spears, and for defence, panzars
made of soft and well-dyed linen cloth, together with
good helmets {Jdalmaf)^ pendant steel caps {Jiang andi
stdlhufur), and broad shields \ The directions for a
knight's equipment are more minute : Let the horseman
use this dress : first, hose made of soft and well-pre-
pared linen cloth, which should reach to the breeches-
belt ihroka-helltis) ; then, above them, good mail-hose
{drgn-hosur), of such a height that they may be fastened
with a double string. Next, let him put on a good
pair of breeches {bryn-hrmkur)^ made of strong linen ;
on which must be fastened knee-caps made of thick
iron and fixed with strong nails. The* upper part of
the body should first be clothed in a soft linen panzar
(blautann panzar a) ^ which should reach to the middle
of the thigh; over this a good breast- defence {briost
biorg), of iron, extending from the bosom to the breeches
belt; above that a good byrnie, and over all a good
panzar of the same length as the tunic, but without
sleeves. Let him have two swords, — one girded round
him, the other hung at his saddle-bow; and a good
dagger {bryn-knif). He must have a good helm, made
of tried steel, and provided with all defence for the face
(jiiet allri andlitz biaurg) ; and a good and thick shield
suspended from his neck, especially furnished with a
strong handle. Lastly, let him have a good and sharp
spear of tried steel furnished with a strong shaft*. It
will be remarked that the body is here clothed in four

* Cited by Sir Frederic Madden in Archaoloffia, vol. xxiv. p. 259.
" Speculum Regale, p. 405.

a

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. ill

different garments, one over the other ; which appear to
be the tunic ^ reaching to mid- thigh ; the breast-defence
of iron (whether formed in a single piece, or of several
smaller plates, does not appear) ; the hauberk of the
chain-mail, and the gamheson^ a quilted coat, made in
this instance without sleeves. Besides the weapons
named above, the axe was still in favour among the
Northern warriors. By the ancient laws of Helsingia,
every youth on attaining the age of eighteen, was bound
to furnish himself with five kinds of warlike equipment :
a sword, an axe, a helmet {jernhatt)^ a shield, and a
byrnie or a gambeson. A spirited passage of Giraldus
Cambrensis brings the Norwegian troops vividly before
us. Describing their attack upon Dublin, about 1172,
he has : ^^ A navibus igitur certatim erumpentibus, duce
Johanne, agnomine the wode^ quod Latine sonat insano
vel vehementi, viri bellicosi Danico more undique ferro
vestiti, alii loricis longis, alii laminis ferreis arte con-
sutis, clipeis quoque rotundis et rubris, circulariter ferro
mimitis, homines tam animis ferrei quam armis, ordi-
natis turmis, ad portam orientalem muros invadunt."
The round painted shields edged with metal will bring
to remembrance the similar defences of the Anglo-
Saxons; and in the laminated cuirass we see another
instance of the jazerant armour worn by Charlemagne.
In King Sverrer's Saga^ written towards the close of the
twelfth century, by the abbot of Thingore in Iceland, and
others, from the narrative of the king himself, we have
a curious passage : " Sverrer was habited in a good
byrnie, above it a strong gambeson {panzara)^ and over
all a red surcote {raudan hiup^). With these he had

^ Oerm. lupe ; Fr. Jupe.

IVZ ANCIENT ARMOUR

a wide steel hat (vida stdi/iu/u), similar to those worn by
the Germans; and beneath it a mail cap {Jjrynkollv) ^ and
a ' panzara-hufu.' By his side hung a sword, and a
spear was in his hand^" From this description it seems
clear that those singular broad-rimmed helmets found
occasionally in monuments of the twelfth, thirteenth, and
fourteenth centuries, and more frequently in later times ;
of which examples occur among the sculptures of the tomb
of Aymer de Valence, in Westminster Abbey, and on the
great seal of Henry III., king of Spain ; were intro-
duced into the north and west of Europe through Ger-
many; the Germans, on their part, probably deriving
them from the Italians ; to whom this form of headpiece
had come down from the well-known petasus of classic
times. The panzara-hufu was probably a quilted coif
worn under the steel hat. Compare Willemin, vol. i.,
Plate cxLiii. ; and see our woodcut, !N'o. 56.

The Prussians in the twelfth century differ but little
in their appearance from the Anglo-Saxon warrior of the
preceding age. They wear the tunic, reaching to the
knees, and belted at the waist; but, in lieu of leg-
bands, have tight hose. They have spears little exceed-
ing their own height, and the shield they carry is a
mean between the kite and the pear-shape. "We derive
these particulars from the curious figures of the bronze
doors of Gnesen Cathedral, given by Mr. !N'esbitt in the
ninth volume of the Archaeological Journal, (p. 345);
the subject represented being the Legend of Saint Adal-
bert. Hartknoch {De Bebus Prussicis) tells us that the
arms of the Prussians were clubs, swords, arrows, spears

'^ Noregs Konunga Sogor, iv. 298.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 113

and shields, and their dress consisted of a short tunic
of linen or undyed woollen cloth, tight linen chansses
reaching to the heels, and shoes of raw hide or bark.

Throughout the period which we are now investi-
gating, the Clergy not unfrequently appear in knightly
equipment at siege and battle. But in order to avoid
an infringement of the letter of the canons, which for-
bade them to stain their hands with human blood, they
armed themselves with the mace or baton. At the battle
of Hastings, Odo, bishop of Bayeux, —

^" Un haubergeon aveit vestu
De sor une chemise blanche :
Le fut li cors, juste la manche.
Sor un cheval tot blanc seeit :
Tote la gent le congnoisseit :
Tin baston teneit en son poing." — Rom. de Uouy 1. 13254.

In the disorders of Stephen's reign, the prelates ap-
pear to have been still more frequently trespassers on
the canons of the Church ; for the author of the Gesta
Stephani exclaims, "The bishops, the bishops them-
selves, I blush to say it, — not all of them, but many,
bound in iron, and completely furnished with arms,
weise accustomed to mount war-horses with the per-
verters of their country, to participate in their prey."
Everyone will remember the answer attributed to
Eichard Coeur-de-Lion, who, when the pope required
him to release from captivity his spiritual "son," the
bishop of Beauvais, sent back the hauberk in which the
prelate had been taken, adding, in the words of the
history of Joseph: "This have we foimd: know now
whether it be thy son's coat or no." The monk of St.
Edmund's, Jocelin of Brakelond, tells us under the year

I

114 ANCIENT ARMOUR

1193: "Our abbot, who was styled 41ie Magnanimous
Abbot,' went to the siege of Windsor, where be ap-
peared in armour, with other abbots of England, having
his own banner, and retaining many knights at heavy
charges; being more remarkable there for his counsel
than for his piety. But we cloister-folks thought this
act rather dangerous, fearing the consequence, that some
future abbot might be compelled to attend in person on
any warlike expedition."

On other occasions, however, the clergy fulfilled in
the field duties more in harmony with their peaceful
calling, — attending the wounded or consoling the dying.
At the battle of Hastings, the Norman priests gathered
together on a hillock, where, during the contest, they
offered up prayers for their companions : —

" Li proveire e li ordene
En som un tertre sunt monte,
Por Dex preier e por orer." — Wace, 1. 13081.

And frequent injunctions forbade these holy men from
joining in military exploits. Among the decrees of the
synod of Westminster, promulgated in 1175, we read:
"Whoever would appear to belong to the clergy, let
them not take up arms, nor yet go about in armour.
If they despise this injunction^ let them be mulcted with
the loss of their proper rank^."

The TACTICS of this period are pretty clearly exempli-
fied by the proceedings of Duke William at the field of
Hastings. The army was divided into three corps : —

" Normanz orent treiz cumpaignies,
Por assaillir en treiz parties."

^ Hoveden, sub anno 1175.

AKD WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 115

The Hred troops were placed in the first division, to
bear the brunt of the fight : —

"Li Boilogneiz e li Pohiers^
Aureiz, e toz mes soldeiers."

The second consisted of the Poitevins and Bretons,
" E del Maine toz li Barons."

The third corps was the largest : —

"E poiz li tiers ki plus grant tint."

And this, led by William himself, appears to have held
the position of a reserve : —

" E jo, od totes mes granz genz,
Et od amiz et od parenz,
Me cumbatrai par la grant presse,
U la bataille iert plus engresse^"

The battle was opened by the archers : —

" Cil a pie aloient avant
Serreement, lor ars portant."

The charge of the horse, as is well known, was pre-
ceded by the feat of Taillefer, to whom the duke had
accorded the privilege of striking the first blow. The
charge of the knights was at this time, and long after,
made in a single line, or en haie^ as it was called ; the
attack in squadrons being a much later practice. The
Normans acted against their opponents as well by the
weight of the horse as by dint of weapons. One knight —

" Assalt Engleiz o grant vigor
Od la petrine du destrier :
En fist maint li jor tresbuchier,
Et od I'espee, al redrecier,
Veissiez bien Baron aidier." — Line 13491.

« Men of Poix, in Picardy. ' From ingruens.

I 2

116 ANCIENT ARMOUR

Another —

. " un Engleis ad encuntre,

Od li cheval I'a si hurte,

Ke mult tost 1' a acravente,

Et od li piez tot defole s^^Zine 13544.

Spare horses and arms are provided for distinguished
leaders : —

" Li Dus fist chevals demander ;
Plusors en fist tres li^ mener.
Chescun out a V sltc^oh devant
Une espee bone pendant.
E cil ki li chevals menerent
Lances acerees porterent." — Zine 12699.

In the crusades, the European knights occasionally,
though very rarely, contended on foot ; and the Princess
Anna Comnena remarks that the Erench men-at-arms,
so terrible on horseback, are little dangerous when dis-
mounted'.

To disorder the enemy's ranks by a simulated flight
appears to have been a favourite stratagem of the Nor-
mans. Duke William Sans-peur used this device against
the Germans before Kouen : —

" Li Normanz par voisdie ^ s'en alerent fuiant,
Por fere desevrer eels ki vindrent devant ;
Et Alemanz desrengent, si vont esperonant :
As portes de Eoen la vindrent randonant^."

Wace, 1. 3972.

The similar incident of the battle of Hastings is in the
recollection of all : —

" Normanz aperchurent e virent
Ke Engleiz si se desfendirent
E si sunt fort por els desfendre,
Peti poeint sor els prendre :

s foule. *» aupres de lui. ' Alexiad., bk. v.

'' par ruse. ' charging impetuously.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 117

Priveement unt cunseillie,

Et entrels unt aparaillie,

Ke des Engleiz s'esluignereient,

E de fuir semblant fereient." — Line 13311.

Another device of Duke "William on this eventful day
was to assail the English by a downward flight of arrows,
for he had found that the shields of his opponents
had secured them from the effects of a direct attack:
" Docuit etiam dux Willielmus viros sagittarios ut non
in hostem directe, sed in aera sursum sagittas emitterent
cuneum hostilem sagittis caecarent : quod Anglis magno
fuit detrimento™."

War-cries were still in vogue, and saintly relics and
emblems were regarded with a veneration commensurate
with the power of the Church and the confiding credu-
lity of the soldiery. The sacred symbol of the Cross is
seen constantly on the shields of the knights ; and one
of the barons of Eufus, on departing for the Crusades,
tells the king that his shield, his helmet, his saddle, and
his horses, shall all be marked with this holy device "".
It was even found useful to enrol mock-saints in the
armies contending against the enemies of the faith.
Thus, in the contest between the Saracens in Sicily
and Count Eoger, about the year 1070, Saint George
mounted on a white horse is seen to issue from the
Christian ranks, and head the onslaught on the unbe-
lievers:— "Apparuit quidem eques splendidus in armis,
equo albo insidens, album vexillum in summitate has-
tilis alligatum ferens, et desuper, splendidem crucem et
quasi a nostra acie progrediens. Quo viso nostri hila-

"» Henry of Huntingdon. " Ordericus Vitalis, p. 769.

118 ANCIENT ARMOUR

riores effect! Denm Sanctumque Georgmm ingeminando
ipsum praecedentem promptissime sunt secuti°." It is
perhaps mmecessary to say that the narrator of this in-
cident gives it in implicit belief of the saintly character
of the spleiidid knight.

Not saints alone, but necromancers were occasionally
attached to military expeditions. Such an auxiliary,
according to Wace, accompanied Duke William in his
expedition to England : —

" Un clers esteit al Due venuz
Ainz ke de Some fust meuz :
D'Astronomie, 90 diseit,
E de nigromancie saveit :
Por devineor se teneit,
De plusurs choses sortisseit." — Line 11673.

Having predicted a safe voyage to William, and the
prediction having been fulfilled, the duke remembered
him of his nigromancien^ and desired that search might
be made for this learned clerk. But the poor fellow had
himself been drowned in the passage : —

" En mer esteit, co dist, neiez,
Et en un nef perilliez."

On which the duke wisely remarks : —

" Malement devina de mei,
Ki ne sout deviuer de sei."

Adding : —

" Eol est ki se fie en devin,
Ki d'altrui ovre set la fin,
E terme ne set de sa vie :
D'altrui prend garde e sei s*oblie."

^ Gaufridus Malaterra, lib. ii. c^ 33.

^1

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

119

GREAT SEAL OF KINO HENRY THE FIRST.

No. 28.

In examining the body-armour of the period tinder
review, though we find some change in the adaptations
of the old fabrics, — of the quilted-work, of the interlinked
chain-mail, of the scale and jazerant, — there appears to
be only one piece which is entirely new, — the so-called
Plastron de fer^ a breastplate that was worn beneath the
gambeson or other armour that formed a general cover-
ing for the body. In a preceding passage from the
Speculum Itegale^ we have read of a breast-defence of
iron, extending from the throat to the waist, which may
have been the breastplate in question. But a passage
of Guillaume le Breton more exactly defines this con-
trivance. . In the encounter between Eichard Coeur-de-
Lion (then earl of Poitou), and Guillaume des Barres : —

" TJtraque per clipeos ad corpora fraxinus ibat,
Gambesumqiie audax forat et thoraca trilicem

120 ANCIENT ARMOUR

Disjicit : ardenti nimium prorumpere tandem

Vice ohstat ferro fahricata patena recocto,

Qua bene munierat pectus sibi cautus uterque."

Philippidos, lib. iii.

A fiirtlier evidence of this additional arming of the
breast may be derived from the present practice of the
East, where quilted coats-of-fence have a lining of iron
plates at that part only. In the museum of the United
Service Institution may be seen Chinese armours of this
construction.

Though from written testimonies we learn that the
fabrics already enumerated were in use, and that the
materials of the defences were iron, leather, horn, and
various kinds of quilting, it is by no means easy to
identify these structures in the pictorial monuments of
the day. Nothing perhaps can more strongly mark this
fact, than the diversity of interpretation that has been
given to the armours in the Bayeux tapestry by some
of the latest and most critical investigators of the sub-
ject. Von Leber sees in them a contrivance of leather
and metal bosses : " ein Lederwamms mit aufgenahten
Metallscheiben oder Metallbukeln p." M. AUou attires
the warrior in a ^Wetement particulier forme d'an-
neaux ou de mailles de fer, on bien de petites pieces de
memo metal assemblees a la maniere des tuiles ou des
ecailles de poisson'^." In the Bulletin Monumental of the
Societe Fran^aise, vol. xi., page 519, we have : ^^ On
croit distinguer, d'apres P indication de la broderie, des
disques en metal appliques sur une jaque de cuir."
Mr. Kerrich "" considers the coats marked with rounds as
chain-mail. M. de Caumont has remarked that " in the

p Wien's kaiserliches Zeughaus. "" Collections in British Museum, Add.

1 Mem. de la Soc. Royale des Antiq. MSS., No. 6731.
de France, iv. 277. Nouv. Serie.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

121

Bayeux tapestry some of the figures are in chain-mail,
and others in a kind of armour composed apparently of
metallic discs sewn to a leathern jaque ^ In the following

OCXX)

No. 29.

we have collected the various modes of indicating the
armour in this tapestry, and it must be confessed that
to appropriate each is no easy task. It is indeed rather
from a comparison with numerous other monuments,
than from the testimony of these examples alone, that
one is able to form any opinion as to the fabrics in-
tended ; and even at last the conclusion must be doubt-
ful, and may be erroneous. From analogous represen-
tations of various dates, however, it seems likely that
the figures 1 and 2 are intended for interlinked chain-
mail ; IS'os. 3 and 4 for jazerant-work (armour formed of
small plates fastened by rivets to a garment of cloth or
canvas); Nos. 5 and 6 appear to be plain quilted de-
fences; No. 7 seems only a rude attempt to represent
the quilted coif; No. 8 is one of many examples where
different markings are used on the same garment. In
some instances, the markings copied above are so
strangely intermixed in the same dress, that one is led

". Archaeol. Journ., vol. ii. p. 409.

122

ANCIENT ARMOUR

to doubt if, in any case, each differing pattern is in-
tended to represent a different kind of armour.

If from the tapestries we turn to the seals of this
period, we shall find a similar difficulty in appropriating
the armours represented. The modes of marking the
defences are four. One of these is a sort of honeycomb-
work, formed by a number of small, shallow, circular
apertures, leaving a raised line running round their
edges, so as to give a reticulated appearance to the
surface. See woodcuts 42 and 43. This texture seems
to represent interlinked chain-mail. A second mode
consists of a series of lines crossing each other, so as
to form a trellis-work of lozenges.

GREAT SEAL OP KING STEPHEN.

No. 30.

The great seal of King Stephen here given affords an

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 123

instance of this method. Compare also woodcut "No. 41.
This, if not another conventional mode of representing
interlinked chain-mail, may be intended for quilted
armour. A third krud of engraving presents a number
of raised half-circles covering the surface of the hau-
berk. See woodcut No. 26. This, though often de-
scribed as scale-armour, seems to be no more than the
ordinary chain- mail, the difficulty of representing which
threw the middle-age artists upon a variety of expe-
dients to obtain a satisfactory result. In the fourth
method, lines of half-circles placed contiguously cover
the whole exterior of the garment; and that this is
another mode of indicating chain-mail is clearly proved
by the similar work found on monuments of all kinds,
even to the sixteenth century. See woodcut No. 1, fig. 1.

From this glimpse at the seals and tapestries, (and the
illumiuated manuscripts of the period contribute similar
testimony,) we may gather that the artists of this day
had no uniform method of depicting the knightly har-
ness ; so that, instead of endeavouring to find a different
kind of armour for every varying pattern of the limners,
we should rather regard the varied patterns of the limners
as so many rude attempts to represent a few armours.
In the following sketch we have collected some of the
methods in use at various times to indicate the ordinary
interlinked chain-mail.

Figure 1 is the most usual, and is found from the
tweKth century to the sixteenth. See woodcut No. 1,
the seal of King Eichard I. Late examples occur in the
brass of Sir William Molineux, 1548*; in the sculptured

' Waller, Part xiii.

124

ANCIENT ARMOUE

effigy of Sir Giles Daubeny in "Westminster Abbey ; and
in the statue of Sir Humfrey Bradburne, on his monu-

No. 31.

ment in Ashborne Church, Derbyshii-e, 1581. Eig. 2 is

seen on our woodcuts 32, 37, and 53, from manuscript

miniatures : it occurs in sculpture among the effigies of

the Temple Church, London. Fig. 3 is of frequent

appearance. See woodcut No. 59. The most ancient

monumental brass extant, that of Sir John D'Aubernoun,
r ... ...

(woodcut 55,) also exhibits this mode of indicating the

armour. Fig. 4 occurs in the brass of Sir Eichard de

Buslingthorpe, c. 1280, figured by Waller, Part x.

Fig. 5 is from one of the effigies in the Temple Church :

the lines are undulating channels in the stone. Fig. 6

is from the sculptured effigy of Eudolf von Thierstein,

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 125

at Basle: engraved in Hefner's Costumes, part ii.,
Plate xLi. Fig. 7 occurs on the monumental statue of
Sir Walter Arden, in Aston Churcli, "Warwickshire''.
Fig. 8 is found in early woodcuts : as in the Morte
d'^ Arthur^ printed by Wynkyn de "Worde in 1498.
Fig. 9 : an early example of this marking occurs in
Willemin's Monuments Inedits^ vol. i., Plate 30 ; a late
one (sixteenth century) in the incised slab of a Bagot,
in the church of Blithfield, Staffordshire. Fig. 10 : a
variety of the foregoing. See Hefner's TracJden^ part i.,
Plate Lxv., and part ii., Plate xxxiv. Fig. 11 : from
an ivory chess -piece of the thirteenth century : woodcut
No. 69. The lines are incised, the rounds are punctured.
Fig. 12 is a very frequent pattern. It appears in the
Bayeux tapestry, in manuscript miniatures, and in ivory
carvings. See the chess-piece engraved in Archceologia^
XXIV. 238, from the Isle of Lewis ; and compare the
figures of that very curious Asiatic roll in the Museum
of the Eoyal Asiatic Society. Fig. 13 : this trellis-work
is common in seals of the twelfth century. See our
woodcuts No. 30 and 41. The lozenges are slightly
sunk, the fillets in relief. Fig. 14 : found in the Bayeux
tapestry; in the Bible de JSt Martial of the Imperial
Library of Paris, twelfth century; and in Add. MS.,
15,277, of the fifteenth century, where the mailing is
expressed throughout in this manner. The Asiatic roll
named above has it also. Fig. 15 : from the statuette
of "Sir de la Tremouille," 1514, in the collection at
Goodrich Court. The figure is of steel, and the squares
appear to. have been formed by a punch. Fig. 16 : from
the sculptured effigy of a Berkeley in Bristol Cathedral.

« Hollis, Part iv. Plate vii.

] 26 ANCIENT ARMOUR

The markings are cliaimels in the stone. Eig. 17 : from
Eoy. MS., 14, E. iv. The mailing in this volume is
expressed by close, fine lines : the manuscript is of the
fifteenth century. ' Fig. 18 : the honeycomb- work found
on early seals. The great seal of E'ing Stephen (woodcut
42) affords a good example. The rounds are depressed,
the edges have a reticulated appearance. Figs. 19 and
20 : from the illuminations of a Sanscrit MS. in the
British Museum, (Add. MSS., 15,295—7.) These very
curious volumes abound in armed figures, which are large,
and carefully finished. Fig. 21 : from Egerton MS., No.
809, twelfth century; and Add. MS. 15,268, of the
thirteenth century. Fig. 22 : from Harleian MS., 2803.
This differs but little from fig. 20 ; but fig. 20 has more
of the scale form, while this is rather of rzwy-work. Fig.
23 is a marking found in early etchings, and very well
represents the texture of chain-mail.

As we have already seen, the Body-armours which
may most safely be assigned to early Norman times are
chain-mail, quilted- work, jazerant, scale, and a small
proportion of plate used as an additional protection to
the breast : the materials, iron, leather, and horn, with
wool, tow, or cotton for quilting pourpointed defences.
The ordinary series of body-garments worn by the knight
are the Tunic, the Gambeson and the Hauberk. The
Surcoat, though found in some rare instances at the close
of the twelfth century, does not become a characteristic
part of the knightly equipment till the thirteenth cen-
tury.

The Tunic appearing from beneath the hauberk may
be seen in the seals of Alexander I. of Scotland, and of
Eichard I. of England, (cuts 1 and 27,) and in the ac-

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

127

companyiiig group jfrom Harleian EoU, Y. 6, the " Life of
Saint GutMac,'' a work of the close of the twelfth cen-
tury. Compare also wood-
cuts 34, 35, and 40. "We
have already had written
notice of this garment in
the "blautann panzara"
of the Speculum Itegale,
Wace gives it also to
Bishop Odo, for the field
of Hastings : —

" TJii haubergeon aveit vestu
De sor une cliemise^blanche."

The Gambeson (or
Wambasi™"^)"' was a
quilted ^garment, used
either alone, or with other
armour. This defence is
as early as the Ancient
Egyptians, and figured
examples of it may be
seen in Sir Gardner Wil-
kinson's work, Plate in.,
and cut 46, (ed. 1837).
From a curious passage
of the Chronicon Cohna-
riense we learn that it was stuffed with wool, tow, or old
rags : — " Armati reputabantur qui galeas ferreas in capi-
tibus habebant, et qui wambasia^ id est, tunicam spissam

No. 32.

* Vocis etymon a veteri Germanico
quidam accersunt, Wamha, venter ; vel a
Saxonico Wamh, quod idem sonat : ita

ut Wambasivm fuit Ventrale, ventris et
pectoris tegmen, quodGermanni Wcmmes
vocant. — Adelung sub v. Gamheso,

128 ANCIENT ARMOUR

ex lino et stuppa, vel veteribus pannis consutam, et de-
super camisiam ferream^ id est vestem ex circulis ferreis
contextam." An ancient authority quoted by Adelung
has also: "vestimenti genus, quod de coactili ad men-
suram et tutelam pectoris humani conficitur, de moUibus
lanis," &c.

As the sole armour' of the soldier, the gambeson is
mentioned both by Wace and Guillaume le Breton. The
former tells us, in his description of the troops of Duke
William preparing for the fight : —

"Plusors orent vestu gambais." — Bom. de Bou, 1. 12811.

The latter says : —
" Pectora tot coriis, tot gambesonibus armant." — Philipp., lib. ii.

These were probably foot-troops; but a document of
the next century shews us that horsemen were some-
times armed in the wambais only. In 1285, land in
Eewenhall, Essex, is held by Eustace de Ho, " per ser-
jantiam inveniendi unum hominem equitem cum uno
gambesone in exercitu Dom. Eegis, cum contigerit ipsum
ire in Wallia, sumptibus suis propriis per xL. dies'"." It
seems likely that many of these quilted coats-of-fence
were reinforced by plates of iron over the breast, as in
the pourpointed armours of the East in the present day.
As an additional reason for considering the defences of
gamboised work to be those indicated by the cross-lines
of the ancient vellum-pictures, we may mention that the
garments thus marked are occasionally tinted in various
colours. Thus, the figures in a Massacre of the Innocents,
in Cotton MS., Caligula, A. vii., are painted with red,

y Plac. Cor., 13 Edw. I.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

129

blue, green, and buff; and another in Count Bastard's
work, from a French manuscript of the twelfth century,
has the garment marked with stripes of red". The "Ake-
ton" appears to be but another name for the gambeson.

The Hauberk was the chief knightly defence. It
reached to the knees; the skirt sometimes opening in
front, sometimes at the sides. The sleeves usually ter-
minated^ jit the elbow, but occasionally extended to the
wnst Sometimes the hauberk reached as high as the
neck only, but^more generally it was continued so as to
form a coif, leaving only the face of the knight exposed
to view. In many examples in the Bayeux tapestry, it
is furnished with a kind of
pectoral, the construction of
which has not been ascer-
tained : in other cases, the
whole surface is of a uni-
form structure. In this rude
but curious little figure
from Harleian MS., 603*,
a work of the close of the
eleventh century, probably
executed in France, we
have a good example of the
hauberk of the period, with
its short sleeves, and the
skirts open in front for
convenience of riding. This
is exactly the hauberk of the
Bayeux tapestry, though
more clearly depicted here

« V«. Livraison : Bible de St. Martial.

Folio, 73 verso.

180

ANCIENT ARMOUR

than in the needle- work of the tapestry. The roimds on
the surface appear to be a conventional mode of repre-
senting chain-mail. The figure is that of Goliath, to
whom therefore has been given the long beard and
round target of the pagan Northmen. He wears, how-
ever, the conical nasal helmet of the knightly order.

In this example, from Cottonian MS., Nero, C. iv.
fol. 13, written in France, about 1125, we have a curious
instance of the hauberk with lateral
openings at the skirt. It is remark-
able also for the manner in which the
sword is carried partially beneath the
hauberk; a contrivance seen also in
the Bayeux tapestry, (Plate vi.,) and
of which analogous examples will be
found throughout the middle-ages. In
the figure before us, it will be ob-
served that the defence is continued
over the head as a coif or hood, and
is surmounted by the usual conical
nasal helmet, or " Casque Normand."
The subject of which this forms part,
is the Massacre of the Innocents. The
stigma of a moustache is therefore
added, in the same spirit as the beard
was given to Goliath in the preceding
example.

The continuous Coif to the hauberk
is 'seen constantly in the Bayeux
tapestry, (Stothard, Plates x. to xiii.).
It occurs also on many of the seals of the twelfth centuryJ
(see our cuts, No. 27, 43 and 44 ;) and in vellum-paintings

No. 34.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 131

of this time, (see cuts 32, 34, 37 and 38). The hood
of mail made separately from the hauBerk does not ap-
pear till the thirteenth century. The short sleeves of
this garment are seen in our woodcuts 25, 32 and 38.
Examples of the long-sleeved hauberk occur in cuts 28,
37742 and 43.'

The Haubergeon, as the name indicates, was a smaller
hauberk; though it does not appear by the pictorial
monuments of the middle ages in what it especially
differed from the latter defence. While Duke William,
preparing for the battle of Hastings, —

" Sun boen haulert fist demander ;"
Bishop Odo —

" Un haubergeon aveit vestu."

The Duke was armed with lance and sword ; the

Prelate —

Jl " Un boston teneit en son poing."

All wlch seems to shew that Odo was equipped as a
light-armed fighter. And perhaps we may gather from
the prominent notice accorded to his " white tunic," that
it was the shortness of the haubergeon which caused that
garment to be so particularly remarked. In documents
of the thirteenth century, the haubergeon is distinguished
from the hauberk and gambeson, taking its place between
them. Thus the Statute of Arms of 1252 directs every
man, according to the rate of his lands and chattels, to
provide himself with the lorica, or with the hahergetum^
or with the perpunctum. And the Statute of Winchester,
in 1285, makes the same distinction. From Guillaume
Guiart we learn that this garment was of mail : —

" Armez de cotes a leurs tallies,
Et de bons hauberjons a mailles." — Sub an. 1304.
K 2

132

ANCIENT ARMOUR

And the Teloneum S. Audomari has : " Lorica, iv. denar. •;
Lorica minor, quae vulgo Halshergol dicitur, ii. den."

Body-armour of Leather is found throughout the middle
ages. According to Wace, some of the Norman soldiers
in the Conqueror's train had defences of this material
fastened to their breasts : —

" Alquanz unt bones coiries,
K'il unt a lor ventre lies." — Line 12,809.
And Guillaume le Breton in the ^^Philippidos" has, —

" Pectora tot coriis^ tot gambesonibus armant ;" —
while a passage cited by Ducange shews us that, some-
times at least, this cuirass was of leather boiled in oil ; a
material much in vogue in the middle-ages, under the
name of " cuir boulli :" —

" Cuirie ot bonne, qui fust de cuir boilly."

A good example |
of the Scale-armour
worn occasionally a-
bout the close of the
eleventh century is
afforded in the follow-
ing group, given by
Heftier^ from a vel-
lum-painting in his
possession. The ar-
mour in the original
is silvered, and the
pendent scales of the
foremost figure are or-
namented with bosses
of gold. The tunics
are white, shaded with ^^ 35

» Trachten, Part I., Plate xii.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

133

blue. The Princess Anna Comnena tells us that some
of the French knights at this period were clothed in
scale-armour^.

The material of the scale-armour is occasionally Horn.
In the twelfth century, the Emperor Henry Y. clothed a
body of his troops in an impenetrable scale-armour of
horn: "So trug im Jahre 1115 eine Schaar im Heere
HeinrichsY. undurchdringliche Harnische von Hom^"
And in the poem of " Wigalois," written about the close
of the twelfth century, we have a curious description of
this horn-mail worn over the hauberk and richly adorned
with gold and precious stones : —

"Ein brunne het er an geleit
Uber einen wizzen halsperch.
Daz was heidenischez werch
Yon Ireiten hlechen hurnin ;
Mit golde waren geleit dar in
Eubin, und manee edel stein
Der glast da wider einander schein
Saffire und berillen."

The accompanying little figure
from Harleian MS., m. 603,
fol. IS"""., appears to wear a
defence of scale-work, but of
what material it is difficult to
say. The original is a pen-
drawing only: the manuscript,
of the^close of the eleventh
century. The figure is further
curious for the mantle fastened at the right shoulder
by a fibula.

No. 36.

^ Alexiad,^.S97.

« Eaumer's Hohenstavf: in Von Leber's Wien's Jcaiserliches Zetighaus, p. 507.

134 ANCIENT AEMOUR

From the monumeiits of this time, it does not appear
that leg-defences were general. In the Bayeux tapestry
they are accorded only to the most distinguished per-
sonages : in these cases, they are generally marked with
rounds, as the hauberks are, probably indicating chain-
mail. In this tapestry, three other modes of clothing the
leg are seen : in some figures the crossing lines forming
lozenges are found, which we have assumed to be pour-
pointerie ; in others appear the fasciae, or winding bands,
which we have already observed among the Anglo-Saxons :
and in many, the chausses are merely represented of a
single colour, as red, blue, or yellow; which does not
seem to imply armour of any kind. Wace makes men-
tion of iron chausses : —

" Chevaliers ont haubers e branz.
Chances de fer, helmes luizanz." — Line 12,813.

They are seen in the great seals of Eichard the First,
(put 1,) and in other monuments of the twelfth century.
In this curious group of David and Goliath, from a Ger-
man manuscript in the British Museum, dated 1148^,
we have a singular example of studded chausses : the
chain- work of the hauberk being marked in rows of half-
circles, and coloured grey in the original, the chausses
marked in rounds, and silvered, it becomes clear that the
latter garment is of a different construction from the coat.
From its being elastic, as shewn at the foot, it probably
was a defence of pourpointerie, the bossed rivets being
for the purpose of keeping the quilting in its place.

d Add. MSS., 14,789, fol. 10. The attitnde of GoUath. David has in his

date appears in the colophon. The figures left hand a sling ; at his belt is the

copied in our engraving form part of an pouch for the sling-stones,
illuminated letter: hence the constrained

Plate XXXVII.]

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

135

V

136

ANCIENT ARMOUR

Such defences are frequently seen in monuments of the
fourteenth century, and real armour of this fabric will be
found among the Eastern examples in the Tower col-
lection and the United Service Museum. Where the
chausses are not of a defensive construction, the warrior
has commonly short boots, similar to those seen on the
figure of David in the fore-
going woodcut. In the
following example they
are of a more ornamental
character than usual ; and
the chausses in this figure
are also of a peculiar
fashion. The subject is
fi-om Harl. MS. 2803,
written about 1170, and
represents Goliath. The
short boot occurs likewise
on the seals of "William
the Conqueror and of
Alexander I. of Scotland,
(cuts 25 and 27). See also
examples from illuminated
manuscripts in. our en-
gravings 32, 34 and 36.
At the close of the eleventh
century, the fashion of the
boots ran into an excess
which much disturbed the
equanimity of churchmen No. 38.

and chroniclers. " Then," says Malmesbury, under
the reign of William Eufus, " was there flowing hair and

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

137

extravagant dress ; and then was invented the fashion of
shoes with curved points.'' (Bk. iv. c. 1.) This device is
said to have originated with Fulk, earl of Anjou, who
sought thus to hide a deformity of his feet. Ordericus
Vitalis, who gives us the information, adds, that the
fashion soon spread, and the shoemakers made their
wares with points like a scorpion's tail : " undo sutores
in calceamentis quasi caudas scorpionum, quas vulgo
Pigacias appellant, faciunt." This not being enough, a
fellow of the court of Eufas, — " Kobertus quidam nehulo
in curia Eufi Eegis," — filling the peak with tow, twisted
it round in the form of a ram's horn ; a fancy much ap-
proved by the courtiers, who distinguished the inventor
of the fashion with the surname of Comardus. (Eccl.
Hist., lib. viii.)

Examples of the Mantle worn over the armour are
somewhat rare. The two following illustrations, from
monuments of the twelfth century, exhibit this arrange-
ment.

No. 39.

The first is from a sculptured doorway of Euardean

138

ANCIENT ARMOUR

Churcli, in Gloucestersliire, and represents St. George.
The cloak is here fastened by a fibula in front. The
second subject is from an enamel preserved at the

No. 40.

Louvre. The patriarch Abraham, armed as a knight,
with hauberk and nasal helmet, has his mantle fastened
at the right shoulder. Another subject from this enamel
is engraved in the Revue Archeologique^ vol. vi., page 99 :
Heraclius slaying Cosroes. ^^Eraclius Eex" is armed
exactly like the figure of Abraham before us, and though
engaged in the decollation of the infidel monarch, still
retains the flowing and capacious mantle. See also, for
the cloak of this period, our woodcut iNo. 36, and
'^ Glossary of Architecture," vol. ii., Plate lxxiii.

The characteristic Helmet of this time is the conical
nasal helmet, of which we have seen examples in the
close of the former period. The face-guard, or nasal,.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 139

was a revival from classic days. Good examples, of Greek
art, appear among the figures on the tympana of the
temple of Minerva at -^gina ; careful casts of which have
been placed in the collection at Sydenham. The nasal
helmet is found, not alone in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries, but occasionally in every century down to the
seventeenth. In the Bayeux tapestry it is almost uni-
versal, the nasal being much broader than that of Greek
times, the crown conical, and not much raised above the
head. In some cases tasselled cords appear at the back
of the head-piece (see Plate xi. of the tapestry), which
may have served to fasten it to the coif below ; but the
chief fastening of the casque was by means of laces
meeting under the chin. See the seal of William the
Conqueror (woodcut 25), and the excellent example in
the Kerrich Collections, from a sculpture at Modena (Add.
MSS., 6728, fol. 17). The round and flat-topped helmets
of the twelfth century have also the nasal. Of the first
an instance occurs in the seal of Patrick Dunbar, earl
of March, engraved in Laing's " Scottish Seals." The
second appears in the figures of the Harleian EoU, Y. 6,
(woodcut 32). In seals, it is often very difiicult to tell
whether a nasal has existed or not, from the melting of
the wax, and from this defence following so closely the
line of the face. In some rare instances, a sort of peak is
used instead of the nasal, not descending below the eye-
brows. See Plate 65 of Hefner's " Costumes;" and com-
pare the figure on folio 9 of Cotton. MS., Tiber., C. vi.,
an example of Anglo-Saxon times. To the nasal helmet,
cheek-pieces and a neck-defence were occasionally added.
These pieces are also found on Greek examples, and ap-
pear, too, in modem Eastern armour ; as may be seen in

140

AI^CIENT ARMOUR

the helmet of Tippoo Saib, preserved in the India House
Museum. The casque with neck-piece appears in the
Bayeux tapestry (see Plate ix.), and on the seal of
Stephen de Curzun, (Cotton Charter, V. 49). The nasal
helmet with neck-guard and cheek-defences occurs among
the chess-pieces found in the Isle of Lewis, and now in
the British Museum.

The helmets not having nasals are chiefly conical, round
and flat-topped. The old combed form of Anglo-Saxon
times occurs in Harl. MS. 603, fol. 13^°., a book of the
close of the eleventh century. The Phrygian form ap-
pears in Harl. MS. 2800, fol. 21 of vol. ii., a work of the
close of the twelfth century. The conical casque is found
in the annexed seal of Conan, duke of Britanny, circa

No. 41.

1165 : from Harl. Chart., 48, G. 40. The round-topped
helmet is seen on the first seal of Kichard I., (wood-

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 141

cut 1, fig. 1,) and in many examples in Cotton MS.,
Titus, D. xvi. The cylindrical or flat-topped helmet ap-
pears to have come into fashion towards the close of the
twelfth century. In its earliest form it resembled that
on the second seal of Eichard I., (woodcut 1, fig. 2,) and
the similar examples figured in Stothard's Monuments,
Plate XXIV., and Surtees' Durham, vol. i. p. 24, and vol.
ii. p. 139. In all these examples the casque is of one
piece, having two horizontal clefts for vision, and being
strengthened by bands crossing each other over the face
and on the top. The Durham examples are without
ornament, but the helmet of Eichard has a fan-crest,
ensigned in its lower portion with a lion. The seal of
Baldwin, earl of Flanders, circa 1191, badly engraved by
Yredius, offers another early example of the flat-topped
knightly helm. The cylindrical casque common in the
next century differs from this in having a grated v entail ;
by which a better supply of air could always be obtained
by the warrior, and a still more abundant provision oc-
casionally acquired by opening the ventaglia, which to
this end was constructed with hinges at the side. Some
varieties of the casque worn during the twelfth century
may be seen in the Archceologia^ vol. xxiv., copied by Sir
Frederic Madden from the Isle of Lewis chess-pieces in
the British Museum. Among these wiU be remarked
the " Iron Hat," with its round crown and flat rim, of
which we have already traced the descent from the petasus
of classic times ^ Sometimes the helmets are surmounted
with a kind of knop or button ; as in the picture given
by Silvestre from a Latin Horace in the Paris Library';

" See page 112. ^ Paleogr. Univ., PI. clxxx.

142 ANCIENT ARMOUR

in the seal of "William the Conqueror, in the Bayeux
tapestry, and in the Spanish manuscript of the year
1109 in the British Museum, (Add. MS. 11,695, fol.
194).

The fan-crest represented in the seal of Eichard I. is
a very early instance of a fashion which came into more
favour towards the close of the thirteenth century. Fan-
crests, as we have seen, were in use among the Ancient
Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks, Eomans, and again among
the Anglo-Saxons. But they do not appear during the
rule of the Norman kings in England till the end of
the thirteenth century; except in this single instance
of Eichard's seal. It may perhaps be doubted if the mon-
arch ever wore such a decoration : an embellishment, per-
haps, added by the seal-engraver from some monument of
classic times. This seems the more likely from the fact
that, in classic examples, the union of a fan-crest with
a casque adorned on its sides with an animal form,
is of constant occurrence. Among a thousand examples
that might be cited, we may quote, as a readily acces-
sible authority, Montfaucon's Antiquite Expliquee^ vol. i.,
Plate XLii. At a later period of the middle-ages, this
combination is again found : the helmet on the seal of
Eeinald, Graf von Geldern in 1343, has a striking resem-
blance to that of Eichard : a lion is figured on the part
surmounting the crown of the head, and over that again
is placed the fan-crest. A copy of this monument may
be seen in the useful series of "Ancient Seals" in the
collection at Sydenham. Early examples of the casque
ornamented with a heraldic device on its surface are
offered by the enamelled tablet at Le Mans, attributed
to Geoffry of Anjou, (Stothard, Plate ii.,) and the effigy

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 143

of " Johan le Botiler," circa 1300, engraved in our wood-
cut No. 74.

The SMelds of this period are chiefly the kite-shaped,
the triangular, and the round. The first two are some-
times flat, and sometimes bowed; the round are flat or
convex. The kite-shield is of most frequent occurrence
during the earlier part of the period under examination,
the triangular during the latter. As the round target
was most convenient for the foot-fighter, so the kite-
shield, broad in its upper part, so as to cover the body of
the warrior, and narrow where the leg only required to be
defended, and where the position of the knight on his
horse necessitated a tapering form, seems to have been
most in favour with the horseman. The bowed kite-
shield is very distinctly shewn in many cotemporary
monuments : in Cotton MS., Titus, D. xvi., of the close
of the eleventh century; in the curious pyx from the
collection of the late T. Crofton Croker, Esq., engraved
in the "Gentleman's Magazine" for 1833 ; in Harl. MS.,
2895, fol. 82 ; in the enamelled figure attributed to Geoffiy
of Anjou ; and in the seals of King Stephen, (woodcuts
30 and 42). The Princess Anna Comnena, at the close
of the eleventh century, tells us that the shields of the
French crusading knights were of this fashion : — " For
defence they bear an impenetrable shield, not of a round,
but of an oblong shape ; broad at the upper part and ter-
minating in a point. The surface is not flat, but convex,
so as to embrace the person of the wearer; an umbo
of shining brass is in the middle ; and the exterior face
is of metal so highly polished by frequent rubbing as to
dazzle the eyes of the beholder^."

t Alex., lib. xiii. p. 314.

144

ANCIENT ARMOUR

The flat kite-shield is not always to be identified in
the drawings of the time, because the shadeless outlines
of the limners may pass for either flat or bowed surfaces.
But that some at least of those in the Bayeux tapestry
were flat, seems clear from the soldiers using them as
trays on which to set the cups and dishes of their
^' Prandium.'' (See Plate xi.) Ivory carvings also shew
the flat kite-shield: the Isle of Lewis chessmen afford
good examples.

As we have seen from the above passage of Anna
Comnena, the old Northern fashion of the boss or umbo
was still occasionally retained ; but such an adjunct to a
horseman's target seems rather for ornament than use.
The bossed kite-shield occurs in the enamel of Geoffrey
Plantagenet ; in the pyx named above ; and in Harl. MS.
2895, fol. 82.

GREAT 8KAL OF KING STEPHEN.

No. 42.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 145

In lieu of the convex boss, the shield has sometimes a
projecting spike ; as in the great seal of King Stephen,
here given ; and in the first seal of Eichard I. It occurs
also in the seals of William de Eomara (temp. Hen. I.),
in the office of the Duchy of Lancaster, and of a
Curzun (Cotton Charter, Y. 49).

About the middle of the twelfth century appears the
triangular shield,— a form obtained by reducing the arched
top of the kite to a straight, or nearly straight, line.
This variety also was either bowed or flat ; and though
the earliest examples are as tall as the kite-shields of the
eleventh century, the triangular target soon became much
reduced in its height. The form of this defence, both
the flat and the bowed kind, may be seen in the seals of
Henry II. and Eichard I. (cuts I and 44), the flgures
from Hefner's Trachten^ (cut 35), and those from Har-
leian EoU, Y. 6 (cut 32).

The round shield is of more rare appearance. It occurs
in Harl. MS. 603, of the close of the eleventh century ;
in the Spanish MS. of 1109, abeady cited; and in the
Psalter of Eadwine, circa 1150. Though the circular
target does not often appear in miniature paintings, it is
probable that it was in frequent use among the foot
troops.

The kite and triangular shields were provided with
straps for attachment to the arm and for suspension
round the neck. The first were called enarmes : —

" Por la crieme des dous gisarmes,
L'escu leva par les enarmes."

Wace, Bom. de Bou, 1. 13,450.

" Li Dus vit sa gent resortir :
Par les enarmes prinst l'escu. " — Idem, 1. 13,880.
L

146 ANCIENT ARMOUE

There was some variety in their arrangement, but the
object was always to attach the shield to the fore-arm :
the round target of the Anglo-Saxons, on the contrary,
was held at arm's-length by a bar grasped by the hand.
Examples of the enarmes of this period may be found in
Plate V. of the Bayeux tapestry. See also the seal of
Henry II., (woodcut 43). The guige or strap for suspen-
sion has already been described, as to its purpose, in our
first division. It is represented in oiu^ woodcuts 32, 35,
42 and 43. By aid of the guige^ the shield, when not in
use, could be carried at the back. An example, of the
close of the twelfth century, is ojQPered by a vellum-paint-
ing of Harl. MS. 2800, vol. ii. fol. 21. It is also seen in
the very curious carved church- door from Iceland, figured
at page 103 of Mr. Wors^ae's '' Copenhagen Museum."

The Devices upon the Shields in the earlier part of the
period under examination are devotional or fanciful. In
the second half of the twelfth century, heraldic bearings
that became hereditary, began to appear. The earlier
shield-paintings consist of crosses, rounds or bezants,
dragons, interlacing bands, flat tints bordered with a
different hue, or simple flat tints; with some varieties
which the pencil only can explain with clearness.
IN'umerous examples of these in all their diversity will
be found in the Bayeux tapestry, in Sir Frederic
Madden's paper on the Isle of Lewis chessmen, (Archoeol.^
vol. xxiv.) and among the plates of Shaw's '^ Dresses
and Decorations."

The two seals of Eichard the First very exactly mark
the growth of the science of heraldry. In the earliest,
the monarch's shield is ensigned with the symbol of
valour, a lion. (See woodcut, No. 1). But it is a rampant

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 147

lion, and as the bowed sMeld presents only one half of
its surface to view, it has been conjectured that the com-
plete device would consist of two lions combatant. This
device, whether of one or two lions, has passed away,
among the serpents and knot-work of the earlier time ;
but the bearing on Eichard's second seal, three lions
passant gardant, retains its place in the royal escutcheon
to the present day. In this second seal of Eichard (see
woodcut, 'No, 1, fig. 2), the lion passant appears also on
the helmet of the monarch. Another example of the
repetition of a royal device is afforded by the seal of
Alexander II. of Scotland (circa 1214), where the lion
rampant figured on the shield is repeated on the saddle.
(Cotton Charters, xix. 2.)

The shields were often highly decorated with painting,
and even, if we may interpret literally the evidences of
chroniclers, with inlaid jewels. Examples of richly or-
namented shields of the twelfth century may be seen in
Shaw's ^^ Dresses and Decorations," and in Harl. MS.
2895, fol. 82. Eobert of Aix, in the eleventh century,
writing of the first crusade, tells us that the European
knights carried shields '' auro et gemmis inserti variis-
que coloribus depicti."

On board ship, the knights arranged their shields along
the side of the vessel, so as to form a kind of bulwark.
This is very clearly shewn in Plates ii. and x. of the
Bayeux tapestry.

And when at length the knight fell in battle, his kite-
shield served him for a bier. The nephew of the emperor
Otho having been slain before Eouen, the Germans — •
" 0 li cors se trahistrent el chief d' une valee ;
Sor un escu I'ont miz, la teste desarmee."

Boman de Bou, 1. 4024.
L %

148 ANCIENT ARMOUR

As we have learned from a preceding passage, the
'^ shaven and shorn" knights of the Conqueror's time had,
in the reign of his successor, fallen into disrepute as
models of fashion. Long hair came into vogue, called
down the anathemas of the Church, suffered a temporary-
discredit, and again rose into favour. Malmesbury has
a curious sketch of this fluctuation of fashion. In the
twenty-ninth regnal year of Henry L, he tells us, ^' a
circumstance occurred in England which may seem sur-
prising to our long-haired gallants, who, forgetting what
they were born, transform themselves into the fashion of
females, by the length of their locks. A certain English
knight, who prided himself on the luxuriancy of his
tresses, being stung by conscience on the subject, seemed
to feel in a dream as though some person strangled him
with his ringlets. Awaking in a fright, he immediately
cut off all his superfluous hair. The example spread
throughout England; and, as recent punishment is apt
to affect the mind, almost all military men allowed their
hair to be cropped in a proper manner without reluctance.
But this decency was not of long continuance ; for scarcely
had a year expired, before all who thought themselves
courtly relapsed into their former vice, vying with women
in the length of their locks, and whenever they were de-
fective, supplying their place with false tresses^." In
1102, at a council held in London by Archbishop Anselm,
it was enacted that those who had long hair should be
cropped, so as to shew part of the ear and the eyes.
Cdmpare also the well-known passage of Ordericus Yitalis,
where he tells us how Bishop Serb, preaching before

'» Will, of Malmesbury, Mod. Hist., bk. i. .

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 149

Henry I. and his court, inveighed so successfully against
the iniquity of long locks, that his audience saw the folly
of their ways; and the prelate, seizing the favourable
moment, produced a pair of scissors from his sleeve [de
mantled forcipes\ and cropped the king and many of his
courtiers with his own hand'.

From Wace and the Bayeux tapestry we have found
that the Beard was not worn by the ]S"ormans at the time
of the Conquest, though in fashion among the Anglo-
Saxons : —

" Li Normaut * * *

N'unt mie barbe ne guernons,

Co dist Heraut, com nos avons." — Line 12,252.

And the IN'ormans continued their custom till the second
half of the twelfth century. The monumental effigy of
Henry II. at Fontevraud represents him without either
beard or moustache. ^^ The beard," says Stothard'', *4s
painted, and pencilled like a miniature, to represent its
being close shaven." Among the English, however, the
beard was often retained, and became a sort of protest
against the new dynasty'. In 1196 William Longbeard,
^'le dernier des Saxons," as he is named by M.Thierry,
became conspicuous from his opposition to the Norman
rule, the inveteracy of which was manifested to the world
by the excessive length of his beard ""." At this time,
however, a beard and moustache of moderate dimensions
were in vogue among both races. The effigy of Eichard I.
at Fontevraud and that of King John at Worcester offer
good examples of this change of fashion.

• Eccl. Hist.,, lib. xi. •" " Recalcitrante Willelmo, cogno-
^ Monum, Eif., p. 6. raento cum harhd." — Matb. Paris.

* "Cujus genus avitum ob indigna- " Cognomento a la harhe." — Math, of
tionera Normannorum, radere barbain Westminster.

contempsit." — Math.. Paris, p. 127.

150 ANCIENT ARMOUR

The WEAPONS in use among the knightly order were
the lance, the sword, the mace, and, towards the middle
of the twelfth century, the axe. The shaft of the Lance
was of uniform thickness throughout, the swell at the
grip being a much later invention. The material was
usually ash or pine. "Wace, in the Roman de Rou^ has : —

" Mult i veissiez colps e de fer e d' achier,
Mainte hante'^ de sap e de fresne bruissier"." — Line 4639.

Guillaume le Breton, describing the combat of Eichard I.
and Guillaume des Barres, says : —

" Utraque per clypeos ad coT^orSb fraxinus ibat."

And Albertus Aquensis, speaking of the French, tells
us : ^^ Hastge fraxineee in manibus eorum ferro acutissimo
proefixae sunt, quasi grandes perticse." The heads of the
lance were commonly of the leaf-form or the lozenge;
more rarely barbed. All three appear in the Bayeux
tapestry, and are found in many monuments throughout
the twelfth century. Lance-flags (or streamers) of two,
three, four, and of five points are found at the close of
the eleventh and during the twelfth centuries. See Har-
leian MS. 603, the Bayeux tapestry, and our woodcuts,
Nos. 1, 27, 28, 30 and 37. A curious Eastern example
of the use of the lance-flag is found in the wall-painting
of the Ajunta caves, a work referred to the first cen-
tury of our era. A fine copy of this interesting monu-
ment has been placed in the Museum of the East India
House. The spear was also a weapon of the inferior
troops : —

" Archiers trovent vilainz, doiit la terre est planiere,
Ki porte arc e ki hache, ki grant lance geldiere."

Eom. de Rou, 1. 4680.

" shaft. ° briser.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

151

Geldon was a name often given to the foot soldiery : " Et
ceciderunt de Israel triginta millia peditum .'"^^ 1. Kings
iv. 10. ^' Kar il i chairent trente milie de geldeP

GREAT SEAL OF KINO HENRY II.

No. 43.

The Sword was of the old form : straight, broad,
two-edged, and pointed. The cross-piece was generally
straight : in other cases, curved towards the blade. Ex-
amples of the latter fashion occnr in the great seal of
King Henry II., here given ; in Harl. MS. 603, passim ;
and in Cotton MS., Titus, D. xvi. See also our woodcut,
No. 41. The pommel was round, hemispherical, square,
lozenge, trefoiled or cinquefoiled. All these forms may be
seen in Harl. MS., 603, Titus, D. xvi., the Bayeux tapestry,
Addit. MS. 11,695, and the effigy of Henry II., figured
by Stothard. This effigy also shews very clearly the

15^ ANCIENT ARMOUR

Belt with its buckle, by wbicli the sword was fastened
round the waist. Compare also the second plate of the
Bayeux tapestry, where the form of this short belt is very
distinctly exhibited. We have already noticed that the
sword was sometimes worn with its handle projecting
through a cleft in the hauberk, the scabbard being fixed
beneath the hauberk. See cut 34, and Bayeux tapestry,
Plate VI. As in our own day, swords attributed to an-
cient heroes had an especial value, and became the most
cherished gifts of kings and nobles. Thus, when Eichard
Coeur-de-Lion was on his way to the Holy Land, ^Hhe
king of Sicily sent to him many presents of great value,
consisting of gold and silver, of horses and cloth of silk.
But the king of England would receive nothing from
him, except a little ring, which he accepted as a token of
their mutual esteem. On the other hand. King Eichard
gave to King Tancred that most excellent sword which
the Britons call Calihiirn^ and which had been the sword
of Arthur, once the valiant king of England p."

The Sword of William the Conqueror became the
feudal instrument by which the Umfrevilles held the
lordship of Eiddesdale, in Northumberland: — ^'Tn the
tenth year of William the Conqueror, Eobert de Um-
franvil, knight, obtained from that king a grant of the
Lordship, Valley and Forest of Eiddesdale, by the service
of defending that part of the country for ever from Ene-
mies and Wolves, with that Sword which King William
had by his side when he entered IN'orthumberland^."

From a very curious drawing in the Psalter of Ead-
wine, written at Canterbury in the middle of the twelfth

P Hoveden, sub an. 1191. i Blount's " Aiitient Tenures."

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE* 153

century, and now preserved in the library of Trinity
College, Cambridge, we learn the exact manner in which
the soldiery of this day furbished and ground their
swords. The implement for furbishing is in the form
of an ordinary axe-head, fixed in the centre of a rod or
staflp, which is held by both hands. This curious subject
has been engraved by Mr. Westwood in his Palceographia
Sacra.

The Mace does not often appear in the pictorial monu-
ments of the period. It is, however, seen in the Bayeux
tapestry, in the hands of both armies. The heads are
quatrefoil, or of a heart-shape. What Wace calls the
'^ gibet" is considered to be the mace, and it is carried at
the right-hand side of the knight, to be used when the
lance had been broken :

" Endementrez ke il versa,
Sa lance chai e froissa,
Et il a le gibet seisi,
Ki a sun destre hras pendiP — Bom. de Bou, 1. 13,456.

It was also the usual arm of Churchmen when they
went to battle ; who sought thus to avoid the denuncia-
tion against those ^^who smite with the sword." Under
the name of clava^ it is mentioned by Guillaume le
Breton : —

" Nunc contus, nunc clava caput, nunc vero bipennis
Excerebrat." — PJdlippidos, p. 213.

The Axe, which in the Bayeux tapestry is never seen
in the hands of the Norman knights, appears in the
twelfth century to have come into favour among them,
for even the kings of this race are said to have contended
with it. Thus Iloveden, describing the valour of Stephen
at the battle of Lincoln, in 1141, says : — '^' Then was seen

154 ANCIENT ARMOUR

the might of the king, equal to a thunderbolt, slaying
some with his immense battle-axe, and striking down
others. Then arose the shouts afresh, all rushing against
him, and he against all. At length, through the number
of the blows, the king's battle-axe was broken asunder.
Instantly, with his right hand, drawing his sword, he
marvellously waged the combat until the sword also was
broken. On seeing this, William de Kahamnes, a most
powerful knight, rushed upon the king, and seizing him
by the helmet, cried with loud voice, ^ Hither, all of you,
come hither ! I have taken the King.' "

In the quotation from the Philippidos^ above, we have
seen that the double-axe, the bijminis, was also in use at
this time. Like the mace, it is of rare occurrence in the
pictures of the day, but several representations of it
will be found in Harleian MS. 603, a Latin Psalter of
the close of the eleventh century, probably written in
France.

Among the weapons in use by the common soldiery
are the cultellus, the guisarme, the pike, the bisacuta,
the javelin, the sling, the long-bow, the cross-bow, (at
the close of the twelfth century,) and some others in
which fire was the offensive agent. The Cultellus, or
coustel, was a short sword or long dagger, well calcu-
lated for use of the foot-troops, rushing upon the knights
who had been unhorsed in the charge of the cavalry; and
equally well adapted for close fight of foot against foot.
A statute of "William, king of Scotland, (1165 — 1214,)
shews the identity of the coustel and dagger : '' Habeat
equum, habergeon, capitium e ferro, et cultellum qui di-
citur dagger"^ P In the fourteenth century, Knighton has :

1 Cap. 23.

d

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 155

" Cultellos, quos daggerios vulgariter dicunt, in powchiis
impositis""." And Walsingham, in the fifteenth centmy,
writes: ^^Mox extracto cultello, quern dagger vulgo dici-
mus, ictum militi minabatnr'." The cnltellus, like the sica
of classic times, not only became the weapon of the de-
predator, but gave its name to that class ; as we see from
a statute of the Count of Toulouse in 1152 : "Si quis ali-
quem hdminem malum, qtiem Cultellarium dicimus, cum
cultellis euntem nocte causa furandi occiderit, nullum
damnum patiatur propter hoc." The Guisarme, which
we have already noticed in the previous chapter, was
still in favour in the twelfth century, and is frequently
mentioned by the writers of this period. A striking
passage of the Philippidos brings before us a rich group
of the weapons of this day : —

" Nunc contus, nunc clava caput, nunc vero bipennis
Excerebrat : sed nee bisacuta, sudisve vel basta
Otia vel gladius ducit." — Page 213.

The contus and the sudis of these lines are pikes, of
which the particular difference from each other would be
a vain enquiry for our times. The clava (mace) and bi-
pennis have been already noticed. The Bisacuta appears
to have been an arm of the pick kind. Pere Daniel cites
from a French poet who lived in 1376, these lines: — •

" Trop bien faisoit la besague
Qui est par les deux bees ague." — Mil. Frang.^ i. 433.

The phrase, deux hecs^ seems to indicate a form of the
kind we have mentioned, and the exact structure of the
weapon is perhaps presented to us in the well-known
bra^s of Bishop "Wyvil, at Salisbury*. A letter remissory

' Sub an. 1348.. * Hist., p. 252. * Waller, part ix.

156 ANCIENT ARMOUR

of the fourteentli century appears to confirm this view :
" Le dit Hue d' un gran martel qu' il portoit, appelle be-
sague, getta au dit Colart," &c. The head of the martel-
d' armes was constantly, on one or both sides, of this
pick or beak form. The besague was also a carpenter's
tool. Thus Wace, on the invasion of England by the
Normans, tells us : —

" Li charpentiers, ki empies vindreut,
Granz coignies en lor mains tindrent :
Doloeres e besagues
Orent a lor costez pendues." — Line 11,650.

The Sling of this time may be seen, though rudely
drawn, in the group from Add. MS. 14,789, copied in
our woodcut No. 37. Compare also cuts 12 and 50.
The Javelin is found at the close of the eleventh century ;
in the hands of the English in the Bayeux tapestry, and
in the French manuscript, Haii. 603, fol. 60. In the
twelfth century it seems to have fallen into discredit
among these nations, though probably employed to a
much later period by the Spaniards'", with whom it was
always a favourite weapon, and by those races who had
retained the rough fashions and the heroic traditions of
their Old-jN'orthern ancestry.

The Long-bow was of the most simple construction : it
appears frequently in the Bayeux tapestry, (Plates xiii.,
XV. and xvi. ;) in the cotemporary manuscript, Harleian
603, and in many monuments of the twelfth century.
The arrows are usually barbed. A curious variety of the
arrow is seen in the Spanish codex, Addit. MSS. 11,695,
written in 1109. This missile, which is frequently re-

» See Guiart, Chron. Met., pt. ii. v. 10,518, and Frolssart, vol. ii. p. 572, ed.
Buchon.

I

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 157

presented in the volume, has three pairs of barbs, fixed
at a little distance from each other along the shaft ; a
cruel contrivance, which does not seem to have reached
other nations of Europe, and, we may hope, was not long
in vogue within the Pyrennees. Already in the twelfth
century the English began to evince that skill in archery
which afterwards gave them such celebrity. At the
siege of Messina by Coeur- de-Lion, as we learn from
Eichard of Devizes, the Sicilians were forced to leave
their walls unmanned, ^^ because no one could look out
of doors, but he would have an arrow in his eye before
he could shut it." The king himself did not disdain
occasionally to use the bow. When before the castle
of Nottingham, which had been seized by ^' Earl John,''
the monarch, says Eoger of Hoveden, ^'took up his
quarters near the castle, so that the archers therein
pierced the king's men at his very feet. The king, in-
censed at this, put on his armour, and commanded his
troops to make an assault upon the castle; on which a
sharp conflict took place, and many fell on both sides.
The king himself slew one knight with an arrow, and
having at last prevailed, drove back his enemies into the
castle, took some outworks which had be^ thrown up
without the gates, and destroyed th^-^)6uter gates by
fire^"

The practice of archery was encouraged knd protected by
statute. Among the enactments of Henry I. of England,
it was provided, that if any one in practising* with arrows
or with darts should by accident slay anotheiY it was not
to be visited against him as a crime ^.

The Quivers, as represented in the Bayeux tapestry,

» Sub an. 1194. y Laws of Henry I., c. 88.

158 ANCIENT ARMOUR

are without covers ; but on folio 25 of Harl. MS. 603, is
a drawing of a quiver having a cap attached by cords, so
that when the quiver is in use, the cap remains suspended
by the strings. The di^ess of the archers has been abeady
noticed.

The Cross-bow does not appear to have been recognised
as a military weapon before the close of the twelfth cen-
tury. The term halista^ by which it is described in
monkish annals and other writings, is indeed found at
an earlier period ; but there is great doubt whether
this earlier balista meant a hand- weapon, or one of those
'^ gyns" derived from classic times. The later use of the
arm seems confirmed by the fact that it is not found
in pictorial representations till about 1200. There ap-
pears to have been an attempt to introduce it at the
beginning of this century, but it was prohibited by
papal decree as unfit for Christian warfare. A council
in 1139, under Innocent II., has : ^^ Artem illam mor-
tiferam et Deo odibilem balistariorum et sagittariorum
adversus Christianos et Catholicos exerceri de cetero
sub anathemate prohibemus\" This denunciation
was renewed under Innocent III.; but by this time
Eichard Coeur-de-Lion and Philippe Auguste had sanc-
tioned the use of the arm, and the cross-bow was trium-
phant. Both Guillaume le Breton and Guiart place the
introduction of the weapon at the close of the twelfth
century ; and both tell us that Eichard was the first to
adopt it, and that Philip followed his example. Describ-
ing the siege of the castle of Boves, Brito says* : —

" Francigenis nostris illis ignota diebus
Res erat omnino quid balistarius arcus

^ Cap. 30. « PhiUppidos, lib. u.

AND AVEAPONS IN ^tJROPE. 159

Quid balista foret, nee habebat in agmine toto
Bex, quemquam sciret armis qui talibus uti."

And again, wiiting of the death of Eichard I., he makes
Atropos speak thus^ : —

" Hac volo, non alia Ricbardum morte perire.
Ut qui Francigenis balistsB primitus usum
Tradidit, ipse sui rem primitus experiatur,
Quamque alios docuit, in se vim sentiat artis."

Guiart has this similar passage : —

" Ainsi fina par le quarrel*^,
Qu' Anglois tindrent a desbonneste,
Li rois Ricbart, qui d' arbaleste
Aporta premier 1' us en France.
De son art ot mal cbevance." — Chron. Metr., 1. 2644.

The form of the arbalest of this time may be seen in

our woodcut, l^o. 50. It was bent by placing the foot

in the loop or ^'stirrup" at the extremity, and then

drawing the cord upwards with the hands. At a later

period, the bow was made much stronger, and of steel,

then requiring mechanical contrivances to bend it. The

arrow of the cross-bow was shorter and stouter than that

of the long-bow. As may be seen in our woodcut. No.

50, it was feathered; a particular which is noticed in

the Roman de Garin : —

" Yolent piles plusque pluie par pres,
Et les saiettes et carriax empennes."

This name of Carriaux (quadrelli or quarrels) was ^i

to these missiles from the four-sided (or pyramidal) ^brm

of the head. Thus Guillaume le Breton, speaking oithe

death of Eichard the First : — \

" Quadratae cuspidis una

Pendet arundo."

PMlippidos, lib. 5. *^ Arrow of the cross-bow.

160 ANCIENT ARMOUR

Erom an ordinance of Theobald, count of Champagne, in
the next century (1256), we learn that the provision of
quarrels for a cross-bow was fifty : '' Chascun de la
commune dou Neufchastel qui aura vaillant xx. livres,
aura arbaleste en son hostel et quarraus jusqu'a cin-
quante." The arrow of the arbalest is sometimes called
vireton, from the French virer^ on account of its rotary
flight. Compare the classical verutum^ a javelin which
owed its name to a similar property. Though the Eng-
lish appear to have used the cross-bow from near the
close of the twelfth to the end of the thirteenth century,
in the succeeding age the long-bow obtained a signal
triumph over its rival.

In the hands of a stout soldiery, indeed, the long-bow
is a much superior weapon ; for a dozen arrows may be
discharged while the arbalester is winding up his in-
strument and fixing a single quarrel: and the long-
bow being a vertical arm, permits a close array, which
cannot be attained with the horizontal cross-bow : again,
the long-bow is a weapon of very light carriage, while
its rival, with its thick bow of steel and its apparatus
for bending, is both ponderous and unwieldy : the size
of the quarrels also permitted only eighteen of them
to be brought by each man into the field, (^^et auront
trousses empanees et cirees de dix-huit traits du moins :"
Ordinance of Charles YII. of France), while the English
archer carried ^' twenty-four Scotchmen under his belt.''
'^Les arbalestriers Gennevois,'' says Eroissart, "com-
mencerent a traire, et ces archers d' Anglete:^e-Aent
voler ces sagettes de grand' fagon, qui entrerent et
descendirent si ouniement sur ces GenneYois que ce
sembloit neige. Les Gennevois, qui n'avoient^as appri^

AND WEAPONS IN ETJ:rOPE. 16l

a trouver tels archers que sont ceux d' Angleterre, quand
ils sentirent ces sagettes qui leur per^oient bras, tetes
et banlevre, furent tantot desconfits'^." But to handle
the long-bow thus effectively, required a race strong in
sinew and practised in their art: to wind up and dis-
charge a cross-bow was the feat of a boy.

The Greek fire, still discountenanced among the Chris-
tian states of the West, was in frequent use with the
enemies of the Cross in the East. All the accounts of
the Crusades contain instances of its employment. Of
the tubes from which it was discharged we have already
spoken. In the Bihliotheque des Croisades of M. Eeinaud^,
we have the account of a variety of this incendiary agent,
from the pen of an Arabian historian of the Third Cru-
sade, Ibn Alatir. "When Acre was besieged by the
Christians," he tells us, "there came into the town a
Inan of Damascus, to assist in its defence. He began by
casting upon the towers erected by the besiegers, pots
filled with naptha and other ingredients. These not
being alight, fell harmlessly among the Christians, who
laughed at and jeered the Mussulmans for their seeming
failure. Meanwhile, the man of Damascus waited till
the mixture had diffused itself over every part of the
tower. Then, casting forth a lighted missile, in an
instant the tower was in flames, and so rapid and so
extensive was the combustion, that the Christians had
no time to descend : men, arms, all was consumed."

From a curious passage of Wace we learn what were
the weapons employed by the peasantry when driven to
revolt against their lords. In describing the insurrection

•• Chrou., ed. Buchon, i. 237. * Vol. iv. p. 264.

M

162 ANCIENT ARMOUR

of the "vilains" under Eichard the Second, duke of
Normandy, he makes these "bachelors de bele juvente'^
exclaim : —

" A machues e a grant pens,

A sajetes et as tineus,

As arcs, as haches, as gisarmes,

Et as pierres ki n' ara armes,

Od la grant genz ke nous avum,

Des chevaliers nus desfendum." — Mom. de Bou, 1. 6043.

The peus^ or pieux, were pikes ; the tineus were poles
used to carry the grape-tubs at the vintage, which, when
converted into instruments of war, we may suppose were
armed with heads of iron. The idea of contention by
throwing stones is by no means a mere poetical fancy of
our author. Froissart even tells us of a victory achieved
by this means. A band of French knights and nobles
going to attack a section of the Free Companies, these
latter posted themselves on a hill, and being well pro-
vided with stones, "cast them so forcibly upon those
who approached, that they broke their bassinets, however
strong they might be, and wounded and maimed the
men-at-arms to such an extent, that none either could or
dared to advance further, however good his shield might
be, (tant bien targe qu' il fut). And this first division
was so thoroughly crushed that never again could it do
good service." Eeinforcements arriving to the Com-
panies, a more regular onset w^s made : " Que vous
ferois-je long parlement? De (|ielle besogne dont vous
oyez parler, les Francois en eurent pour lorsie pieurV^

In the manufacture of arms, the steel of Poitou had
already become celebrated. John, monk of Marnjoustier,

who lived in the middle of the twelfth century, in de-

X . . X'

i Chron., i. 547.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 163

scribing the knighting of Geoflfry, duke of IN'ormandy,
tells us that he had a lance of ash, armed with a
head of Poitou steel. Malmesbury distinguishes also
Lorraine. " At the siege of Antioch," he says, " Godfrey
of Bouillon, with a Lorrainian sword, cut asunder a Turk
who had demanded single combat, so that one half of the
man lay panting on the ground, while the other half was
carried off by the horse at full speed ; so firmly did the
unbeliever keep his seat. Another also, who attacked
him, he clave asunder from the neck to the groin ; nor
did the dreadful stroke stop here, but cut entirely
through the saddle and the backbone of the horse."
Hungary had at a very early period enjoyed a celebrity
for its weapon manufacture. Charlemagne, writing to
Offa of Mercia, offering him presents for his churches,
adds: "And for your own acceptance I send a belt, a
Hungarian sword, and two silk mantles^." The method
of hardening steel, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries,
by immersion, when red hot, in cold water, may be seen
in Theophilus Presbyter, lib. iii. cap. 19.

The Flags and Standards in use during this period
were the prince's standards, the banner, the pennon, and
the small lance-flag or streamer. The consecrated standard
of "William I., bestowed by the Pope, appears to be repre-
sented on the ninth plate of the Bayeux tapestry, where
it is figured of a square form and ensigned with a cross.
It was carried near the person of "William throughout
the day by the knight Toustain : " Turstinus, filius Eol-
lonis vexillum Normannorum portavit^."

" Et quant li Dus tournout, tournout ;
E quant arestout, arestout." — Wace, 1. 13,807.

«f Malmesbury, lib. i. c. 4. •• Ordericus Vitalis, p. 501.

M 2

164 ANCIENT ARMOUR

It was also used to indicate any danger into which the
leader might have fallen. Thus, when Philip Augustus
was unhorsed at the battle of Bovines, Eigord tells us
that his standard-bearer signified the king's peril by de-
pressing the Eoyal Standard several times over the spot.
The Dragon-standard, of which we have seen some ex-
amples in our first division, is still found among the
Germans and the English. We have already observed
its exact form in the pictures of Harold in the Bayeux
tapestry. It accompanied the hosts of Eichard Coeur-de-
Lion. Eichard of Devizes, in recording the attack upon
the '' GriJffones" at Messina, says : " The king of England
proceeded in arms : the terrible standard of the Dragon
is borne in front ; while, 'behind the king, the sound of
the trumpet excites the army V Hoveden, under date
1191, tells us that Eichard " delivered his Dragon {Draco-
nem suwn) to be borne by Peter de Pratellis." Guil-
laume le Breton, in the Philipjndos^ gives to the Emperor
Otho a standard formed of a dragon and an eagle.

<' Erigit in carro palum, paloque Draconem
Implicat, ut possit procul hinc atque inde videri,
Hauriat et ventos cauda tumefactus et alls,
Dentibus horrescens rictusque patentis hiatu,
Quern super aurata volueer Jovis immiiiet ala."

Guiart has a similar passage ; adding that the Dragon of
the emperor —

" Vers Prance ot la gueule baee,
Pour le reaume chalengier,
Come s' il deust tout mangier.
Cis Dragons soustint la Banniere
Des connoissances 1' emperiere,

» Sub an. 1190.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 165

Qu'il porte au bel et a lore.
Desus ot un Aigle dore :
C'est signe de guerre cuisant.^^

The Car-standard, or Carrocium, of the English king
Stephen has already been noticed in the sketch of the
battle of Cuton Moor, (p. 107.) The Carrocio of the
Milanese was still regarded as their Palladium.

Banners were carried by knights banneret, by the
Church Advocati, and by the Town troops, or Communi-
tates Parochiarum. The knight's banner, as we have
already seen, was square ; and, as soon as heraldic de-
vices became settled, was ensigned with the bearing of
the leader to whom it belonged. Its especial use was to
muster and to rally the troops of the banneret : —

" Cil treis orent treis gunfanuns,
A ralier lur cumpaingnuns." — Horn, de Rou, i. 337.

Eishops and abbots appointed knights to defend their

possessions, to lead their contingent, and to fight under

their banner. These advocati in time made their office

hereditary. The Counts of Yexin were the avoues of the

Abbey of St. Denis, and the lands of Yexin coming into

the possession of the kings of France, these monarchs

acquired the office of bannerers of the abbey. Thus the

plain red flag of St. Denis became, under the name of

the Oriflamme, the most distinguished banner of the

French monarchy.

"L' Oriflamme est une Banniere,
Aucun poi plus forte que guimple :
De cendal roujoyant et simple.
Sans pourctraiture d' autre affaire." — O. Guiart.

It was Louis le Gros who united the county of Yexin
to the crown of France^.

" Henault, i. 179.

166 ANCIENT ARMOUR

A very curious variety of tlie knightly banner occurs
on the twelfth plate of the Bayeux tapestry ; the flag is
semicircular, is ensigned with a bird within a bordure,
and has a fringe at the edge. Mr. Worsaae has suggested
that this bird, which appears on the Norman side, may
be the Eaven of the Old-Northmen, retained by their
descendants in honour of the deeds of their forefathers.

The banners of the communal troops bore the effigies
of Saints, each parish gathering round the flag on which
its particular saint was portrayed. This usage was as old
as the time of Louis YI. of France : ^^ Tunc ergo commu-
nitas in Francia popularis instituta est a praesulibus, ut
presbyteri commitarentur Eegi ad obsidionem vel pugnam
cum Yexillis et parochianis omnibus V

The word Gonfanon, Guntfano, so frequently occurring
in the writings of this period, seems to be indifferently
applied to the leader's standard, the knightly banner, and
the lance-flag. It has been derived from the German
Jcunden, indicare, and Fahne^ vexillum; or from Fahne
and the Old-Scandinavian Gunna^ prcelium. Mr. Kemble
inclines to the latter derivation ; see glossary to Beotuulf^
in V. Guth. A capitulary of Charles the Bald gives the
name of Gonfanon to the banner of the Church vassals :
"Let our envoys (missi nostri) see that the troops of
every bishop, abbot, and abbess, march forth properly
equipped, and with their Gonfalonier (cum Guntfannon-
ario)." The standard sent by the pope to William the
Conqueror is by Wace named a gonfanon : —

" L'Apostoile
Un gonfanon li enveia." — Line 11,450.

1 Ord. Vitalis, Ub. xi.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 167

He gives it also to the barons and more powerful cap-
tains : — .

" N' i a riche home ne baron
Ki n*ait lez lui son gonfanon;
U gonfanon u autre enseigne,
U il se maisnie ™ restraigne."

In the following passages, it is the lance-flag : —

" Les lances bessent, o sent li gonfanon." — Bom. de Garin.
"Baisse la lance ou li gonfanon pent." — Bom. d'Aubery.
" Moult si siest bien au col la lance au gonfanon."

Bom. de Duguesclin.

The Pennon, as we have before seen, (p. 95,) was the
flag of those knights who had not attained to the dignity
of banneret. It appears to have terminated in a point
or points, but its exact form at this period has not been
ascertained. It probably differed in nothing but its size
from the lance-flags seen in the Bayeux tapestry and on
the seals and other monuments of the eleventh and
twelfth centuries. "Wace, however, in the following pas-
sage, seems to use the word in a more general sense ; for
it is the Yicomte du Cotentin, lieutenant of the duke of
Normandy, of whom he is speaking : —

" Les li fist un penun porter,
U lur gent pussent recuvrer.*' — Rom. de Rou^ I. 7839.

If these various flags were found sufiicient to keep to-
gether the troops of an ordinary expedition ; in large ar-
maments such as those of the Crusades, the want of some
more general distinction must soon have been felt. Hove-
den therefore tells us, under the year 1188, that the
leaders against the Saracens, " for the purpose of recog-
nising their various nations, adopted distinguishing signs

■" His retainers ; from mansio.

168 ANCIENT ARMOUR

for themselves and their people. For the king of France
and his people wore red crosses; the king of England
and his people, white crosses ; while Philip, earl of
Flanders, and his followers, wore green crosses." The
existence of a mode of recognition among troops at this
period is confirmed by the passage of Wace in which
he names the " cognoissances" of the ISTorman host and
their allies : —

" E tuit orent fet cognoissances,

Ke Normant altre coneust,

Et k'entreposture n' eust.

Ke Normaut altre ne ferist,

Ke Eranceiz altre n' oceist." — Line 12,816.

The particular nature of the sign of recognition intended
by the chronicler, it is in vain now to inquire. The note
of M. Pluquet on the passage gives " Signes de conven-
tion."

The Lance-flag is found throughout the period now
under notice. Many examples occur in the Bayeux ta-
pestry, and in the royal and baronial seals of the time.
The usual device upon it is a cross, a square, a number
of rounds, or stripes of different colours ; or the streamer
is of a single tint. It is dentated in two or more cuts,
and sometimes fringed at the edge. See our engraved
examples.

The Musical Instruments used in war were the horn,
the trumpet, and a variety of the latter called the graisle,
Wace mentions all these in his account of the battle of
Hastings : —

" Dez ke li dous ost^ s' entrevirent.
Grant noise e grant temulte firent.
Mult o'issiez graisles soner,
E boisines e cors corner." — Line 13,135.

" les duux osts.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 169^

The horn of battle of this period is very clearly figured
on folio 25 of Harleian MS. 603, a work of the close of
the eleventh century. It is of the common semicircular
form. The trumpet (boisine : buccina) is found, though
in a monument of somewhat later date, on the inscribed
slab of '' Godefrey le Troumpour," now preserved in the
library of the London Guildhall °. Compare also our
woodcut, 1^0. 73. The graisle (from gracilis) was, as its
name indicates, of a slender form ; its exact fashion has
not been ascertained.

The Horse-furniture presents some new features ; espe-
cially in the arming of the steed in chain-mail, a practice
which appears to have originated towards the close of the
twelfth century. Wace indeed tells us that "William
ritz-Osbert, at the field of Hastings, rode a steed thus
accoutred : —

" Vint Willame li filz Osber,
Sou cheval tot covert de fer." — Line'\2,Q21.

But we may well believe that it was rather the necessity
of a rhyme to ^' Osber" than the usage of the period, that
gives us this iron horse at so early a date. Wace, writ-
ing in the second half of the twelfth century, appears
merely to have availed himself of the usual license of
middle-age authorities : to depict a past generation in the
lineaments of his own. The practice of arming the horse
does not seem to have become general till towards the
close of the thirteenth century. A pictorial example of
the trapper of chain-mail will be found in our woodcut,
E'o. 86. The Saddle had a high pommel and cantle, as
may be seen in our engravings of the royal seals of this

** Eugraved in Boutell's Christian Mouum., pt. i. p. 100.

170

ANCIENT ARMOUR

period. In many examples of the Bayeux tapestry they
form volutes, (viewed laterally,) exactly like the sides of
an Ionic capital. The saddle-cloth does not appear in
this tapestry, but it is found on the second seal of Henry
I., on the seal of King Stephen, and on that of Louis
VII. of France. In these examples it is quite plain ; but
later it acquires an ornamental character, as in the seal
of Conan, dul^e of Britanny, c. 1165, (woodcut 41). It is
of a more enriched pattern in the Great Seal of Henry
IL, here given.

SECOND SEAL OP KING HENET II.

No. 44.

From Wace we learn that the girths and breastplate
were named, in the "Eomance" of that day, cingles and
poitrail : —

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 171

" Li peitral del cheval rompi,
E li dui cengles altresi." — Rom. de Rou, 1. 14,674.

This poitrail has generally, in the period under examin-
ation, pendants attached to it, in the form of rounds, —
perhaps grelots. See woodcuts 1, 25, 28 and 29.

Eoman monuments offer similar examples, as in Tra-
jan's Column, the Pillar of Antonine, and other remains,
where the pendants are bells, crescents, trefoils, rounds,
and guttse. Such collars are found also in the paintings
of the Ajunta Caves, where bells and rounds alternate.
This monument is assigned to the first century of our
era. In the curious Spanish manuscript, dated 1109, in
the British Museimi, Addit. MSS., 11,695, the circular
pendants occur, attached not only to the poitrail, but to
the saddle (fol. 223). The Bits used for the war-horse
have long cheeks, which are often of an ogee form. The
rein is generally quite plain, though sometimes orna-
mented with studs, as in examples in the manuscript
last cited.

The Spur was still of a single goad, and fastened by a
single strap. The form of the goad offers some variety :
it is leaf-shaped, conical, lozenge -shaped, and sometimes
consists of a ball from which springs a short spike. A
variety is fashioned into a sort of button, having a slender
spike in the centre. The first three kinds are seen in the
Bayeux tapestry and many of the seals of the period.
The ball-and-spike spur is well shewn in the effigies
of Henry II. and Eichard I. at Fontevraud, figured by
Stothard in his *^ Monuments." The last variety may
be seen in Addit. MS. 11,695, fol. 223. The shank of
the spur is sometimes straight, as in Anglo-Saxon times :
sometimes curved. The curved form appears in the

172 ANCIENT ARMOUR

sculptured effigies of King Henry II. and Eichard I.
The spur of Eichard the First seems to have been at-
tached to the strap by rivets.

The Caltrop, or trihulus^ an instrument derived from
classic times, was in use, but not of frequent employ-
ment. Anna Comnena tells us that the Emperor Alexis
strewed them in the path of the French cavalry; and
at a later period, we read of knights fixing their spurs
point upwards in the way of their advancing enemy, after
the manner of caltrops : but this cruel device appears to
have been practised very rarely, and we may venture to
believe that it was generally discountenanced as beneath
the dignity and generosity of true chivalry. At a later
period, caltrops were used to strew over the slope of a
breach, to impede the advance of a storming party.

From a very curious passage in the Boman de Bou^ we
leaiii that the knight sometimes went to battle tied to his
saddle : —

" Li reis aveit un soldeier,
Brun out nom, novel chevalier.
Sor son cheval sist noblement,
Apareillie mult richement.
A sa sele fu atacliiez,
E par li coisses fu liez," &c. — Line.16,064.

However strange such a device may appear, the mention
of it by other ancient writers forbids us to regard it as
a mere vagary of the poet. Matthew Paris, under the
year 1243, recounting the irruption of the Tartars into
Europe, says: '^They have horses, not large, but very
strong, and that require but little food, and they bind
themselves firmly on their backs." And, in the fif-
teenth century, the writer of the life of Earl Eichard
of Warwick tells us that, at a justing-match, his hero

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 173

was obliged to dismount from his horse, because some

of his adversaries had accused him of being tied in his

saddle.

For the Horse itself, Sj^ain appears to have been in

the highest favour for the purity of its breed. Walter

Giffard had brought from Gallicia the steed on which

Duke William rode at the field of Hastings : —

" Sun boen cbeval fist demander.
Ne poeit Ten meillor trover.
D'Espaigne li out enveie
Un Reis, par mult grant amistie.
Armes ne presse ne dotast,
Se sis Sires 1' esperonast.
Galtier GiiFart Tout amene,
Ki a Saint Jame aveit este." — Horn, de Bou, 1. 12,673.

And in the well-known passage of the Monk of Mar-
moustier, where he describes the knighting of Geoffry,
duke of Normandy, we are told that the young hero was
"mounted upon a Spanish horse, wliich had been pre-
sented by the king."

How the horses of the knights were conveyed in ships
and disembarked from the vessels, is curiously shewn in
the ninth and tenth plates of the Bayeux tapestry.

Of the Engines employed in sieges, all those men-
tioned in our first division appear to have been still in
use. The ancient Yinea (Cat or Sow) is frequently men-
tioned, and the moveable Tower, or Befroi, becomes a
prominent feature in all the great siege operations of
this century. William of Malmesbury has left us an
excellent description of these two contrivances in his
account of the siege of Jerusalem ^ : —

"There was one engine which we call the Sow, the

' Sub anno 1099.

174 ANCIENT ARMOUR

ancients, Vinea; because the machine, which is con-
structed of slight timbers, the roof covered with boards
and wicker-work, and the sides defended with undressed
hides, protects those who are within; who, after the
manner of a sow, proceed to undermine the foundations
of the walls. There was another, which, for want of
timber, was but a moderate -sized tower, constructed
after the manner of houses. They call it Berefreid^.
This was intended to equal the walls in height. And
now the fourteenth day of July arrived, when some
began to undermine the wall with the Sows, others to
move forward the Tower. To do this more conveniently,
they took it toward the works in separate pieces'", and
putting it together again at such a distance as to be out
of bowshot, advanced it on wheels nearly close to the
wall. Meantime the slingers with stones, the archers
with arrows, and the crossbow-men with bolts, each in-
tent on his own department, began to press forward and
dislodge their opponents from the ramparts. Soldiers,
too, unmatched in courage, ascend the Tower, waging
nearly equal war against the enemy with missile wea-
pons and with stones. Nor indeed were our foes at
all remiss, but trusting their whole security to their
valour, they poured down boiling grease and oil upon
the Tower, and slung stones on the soldiers, rejoicing in
the completion of their desires by the destruction of
multitudes. During the whole of that day the battle
was such that neither party seemed to think they had
been worsted. On the following, the business was de-
cided : for the Franks, becoming more experienced from

1 Berfredus, belfredus, befiroi. See ' Compare Froissart, vol. ii. p. 444,

Ducange and Adelung. ed. Buchon.

AWD WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 175

the event of the attack of the preceding day, threw
faggots flaming with oil on a tower adjoining the wall,
and on those who defended it; which, blazing by the
action of the wind, first seized the timber, and then the
stones, and drove off the garrison. Moreover, the beams
which the Turks had left hanging down from the walls,
in order that, being forcibly drawn back, they might, by
their recoil, batter the Tower in pieces, in case it should
advance too near, were by the Franks dragged to them,
by cutting away the ropes; and being placed from the
engine to the wall, and covered with hurdles, they
formed a bridge of communication from the Tower to
the ramparts. Thus what the infidels had contrived
for their defence, became the means of their destruc-
tion; for then the enemy, dismayed by the smoking
masses of flame, and by the courage of our soldiers,
began to give way. These, advancing on the wall, and
thence into the city, manifested the excess of their joy
by the strenuousness of their exertions."

William of Tyre mentions also the use of the beffroi at
the siege of Jerusalem ; adding that the side towards the
city was so constructed that a portion of it might be let
down, after the manner of a drawbridge, thus enabling
the assailants to enter upon the walls'. Philippe Au-
guste frequently employed this engine. At the siege of
Chateau-Eoux, in Berry, —

" Cratibus et lignis rudibus Belfragia surgunt
Turribus alta magis et moenibus." — PJiilippidos, lib. ii.

And again, at the siege of Eadepont, in l^ormandy:
^^Erectis in circuitu Turribus ligneis amhulatoriis^ aliisque
tormentis quam plurimis viriliter impugnavit et ccepit*.'^

• Lib. viii. c. 12. » Rigord.

176 ANCIENT ARMOUR

King Eicliard I. constructed also in Sicily a wooden
tower, w^hich lie afterwards carried with him ,to the
Holy Land. After forcing the city of Messina, 'Hhe
king," says Eichard of Devizes, '' having but little confi-
dence in the natives, built a new wooden tower of great
strength and height by the walls of the city, which, to
the reproach of the Griifones, (Greeks,) he called 3Iate-
griffun^'' (sub an. 1190). In 1191, ^'the king of Eng-
land, about to leave Sicily, caused the tower which he
had built to be taken down, and stowed the whole of the
materials in his ships, to take along with him." And
'^ on the third day after his arrival at the siege of Acre,"
continues Eichard of Devizes, .'Hhe king caused his
wooden tower, which he had named ^ Mate-griffun' when
it was made in Sicily, to be built and set up ; and before
the dawn of the fourth day the machine stood erect by
the walls of Acre, and from its height looked down upon
the city beneath. And by sunrise were thereon archers
casting missiles without ceasing against the Turks and
Thracians."

The name Mate-griffon appears to be derived from the
favourite game of the courtly in these days ; ^^ donner
eschec et mat" being equivalent to the "check-mate" of
our modern chess-players. Ordericus Yitalis has a pas-
sage curiously illustrative of this subject : " Castrum
condere ccepit, quod Mataputenam, id est, devincens
meretricem, pro despectu Haduissse Comitissae, nuncu-
pavit^"

In 1160, the Emperor Frederick besieging Crema, in
Italy, employed the beffroi, filling it with chosen troops.

" Lib. xii.

^1

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 177

He placed crossbowmen on the upper story, in order that,
shooting down upon the walls, they might clear the para-
pet of its defenders ; while, from the lower stage, soldiers
of tried boldness might fix their drawbridges on the
wall, and advance to the capture of the city"".

At this same city of Crema, in 1159, occurred an act
of patriotism, admirable from the resolution which inspired
it, though terrible in its consequences. The emperor ad-
vanced a Beflfroi towards the beleaguered city, in front
of which he placed the youthful hostages whom he had
obtained from the unhappy Cremans, in hopes of thus
forcing the inhabitants to a capitulation. But the citizens,
regardless of all save their liberty, continued to ply their
engines against the tower, though every stone that was
cast forth fell in death among their children^.

The siege of Ancona, in 1174, offers another instance
of heroism in connection with the belfragium, more pleas-
ing in its circumstances. The besieged had been suc-
cessful in their endeavours to beat back the towers and
scatter their occupants ; but as these latter still kept up
a steady discharge of missiles from a short distance, no
one dared venture beyond the walls to set fire to the de-
serted structures. At last a widow named Stamura,
seizing a torch, advanced into the plain, and regardless
of the storm of bolts and arrows that fell around her,
steadily achieved the task she had undertaken, and hav-
ing set the towers in flames, returned in safety to the
city^

The siege of Ancona is further remarkable for the em-
ployment by the citizens of divers ; who succeeded in cap-

'■ Radevicus Prising., lib. ii. c. 59. ^ Boncompagni Obsidio Anconse, cap.

y Ibid., lib. ii. c. 47. iv. p. 931.

N

178 ANCIENT ARMOUR

turing several of the vessels engaged in blockading the
port. Taking advantage of a strong wind blowing from
the sea, the divers contrived to cut the cables of seven of
the Yenetian ships, which then drifted helplessly ashore*.
The Vinea mentioned in a foregoing extract from
Malmesbmy, was called also the Cat. Thus Yegetius :
^' Yineas dixerimt veteres, quas nunc militari barbarico-
que usu Cattos vocant^." Guillaume le Breton also men-
tions this machine and its use : — ►

" Hue faciunt reptare Catum, tectique sub illo
Suffodiunt murum." — Philipp., lib. vii.

While, from the Monk of Yau-de-Cernay we leam that
the contrivance was of small dimensions: '^Machinam
quandam parvam, quae lingua vulgari Catus dicitur, facie-
bat duci ad suifodiendum murum ^" There were, how-
ever, varieties of the Cat, one of which was used to op-
pose the besiegers in the beffroi. Thus Kadevicus:
" Magnaque audacia, super muros et in suis machinis quos
Cattas appellant, operiuntur, et cum (oppugnatores) ad-
moverentur pontes, ipsi eos vel occuparent, vel dejice-
rent, murumque scalis ascendere nitentes vario mode de-
terrent'^.'^ And another kind was employed by the as-
sailants in crossing the ditch®.

The Battering-ram, according to Eichard of Devizes,
was employed by Coeur-de-Lion at the siege of Messina :
^' In the meantime, the king with his troops approached
the gates of the city, which he instantly forced by the
application of the Battering-ram, and entering within,
took possession of every part, even to Tancred's palace

a Obsid. Anconae, c. iv. p. 931. «* Lib. iv. c. 63.

^ Lib. iv. c. 15. * See Adelung in v. CaUis,

^ Hist. Albig., cap. xlii.

I

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 179

and tlie lodgings of the French aronnd their king's quar-
ters, which he spared out of respect to the king."

Among the stone-throwing machines, the Mangona and
the Mangonella are discriminated as casting, the former
large, the latter smaller stones. The monk Abbo has
already, in his account of the siege of Paris in 886, men-
tioned the

" Mangana

Saxa quibus jaciunt ingentia.'"

Guillaume le Breton, in the PJiilippidos^ tells us : —

" Interea grosses Petraria mittit ab intus
Assidue lapides, Mangonellusque minor esP

Among the effects recorded of these great projectiles,
we may cite the account of Otto of Frisinga, who tells us
that when the Emperor Frederic attacked Tortona in
1155, a stone was cast from one of the periers of such
magnitude, that, falling before the door of the cathedral,
where three of the principal citizens were in deliberation
on the best means of defending the city, it killed them
alU.

The term mangonneaux is sometimes applied to the
stones or other missiles discharged by the instrument.
From the name mangona our word gun appears to be
derived: a supposition that seems strengthened by ihQ
fact that the earliest " gonnes," like the mangonae, were
employed to cast stones.

The terrors of the balistse were occasionally aggra-
vated by their being made the instruments of a special
vengeance. Thus Malmesbury informs us that, at the
siege of Antioch in 1097, the Turks, irritated by losses

f De Gcstis Frid., lib. ii. c. 17.

N %

180 ANCIENT ARMOUR

sustained from the besieging Crusaders, " wreaked their

indignation on the Syrian and Armenian inhabitants

of the city ; throwing, by means of their balistse and

petraries, the heads of those whom they had slain into

the camp of the Franks, that by such means they might

lacerate their feelings." A somewhat similar incident is

reported by Froissart in his account of the siege of Thun

PEveque in 1327^; so that these cruelties do not appear

to be mere tales of credulous pilgrims, or inventions of

monkish chroniclers.

Forts of wood were of occasional employment, the

materials of which were transported from place to place,

so that the structure might be speedily raised. Wace

gives us a description of that brought over by William

the Conqueror, and built up at Hastings : —

" Done ont des nes mairrien^ gete,
A la terre I'ont traine,
Trestut percie e tut dole :
Li cheviles tutes dolees
Orent en granz hariz portees :
Ainz ke il fust bien avespre,
En ont un chastelet ferme." — Zine 11,658.

Mines were in use both by Eichard I. and Philippe
Auguste. At the siege of Acre in 1191, Eichard attacked
the city with archers and balistee : '' But more important
than these," adds Devizes, "were the miners, making
themselves a way beneath the ground, sapping the foun-
dation of the walls, while soldiers bearing shields, having
planted ladders, sought an entrance over the ramparts."
The French king employed the mine at the siege of the
Castle of Boves, as we learn from WiUiam the Breton.

e Vol. i. p. 102. h The timbers.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 181

See also Eigord, page 185. The mines of these days
were large caverns in which pillars of wood supported
the incumbent mass. The posts being smeared with
pitch and surrounded with combustibles, fire was then
brought, and the stanchions being consumed, the walls
fell in. With the mine came the counter-mine ; an ex-
ample of which occurs in the description by Guillaume
le Breton of the siege of Chateau- Gaillard ; where the
English, countermining against the French, met them
in their works and drove them back with slaughter : —

" SuflPodiunt murum. Sed non minus hostis ab ilia
Parte minare studet factoque foramine nostros
Eetro minatores telis compellit abire." — Fhilipp., lib. vii.

Later, challenges were made, to be fought out in the
mines, the combatants contending over a barrier of
wood fixed in the midst. And Upton tells us that the
aspirant to knighthood in a besieging army, no church
being at hand, performed in the mine his vigil of arms.

While the besieging force plied their attack by means
of the engines and mines already noticed, they had be-
gun, in imitation of the ancients, to construct lines of
circumvallation ; in order at once to cut off the citizens
from all communication with the open country, and to
defend themselves against the sorties of the town. An
example of this may be seen in the siege of Crema by
the Emperor Frederic in 1159 \

Under the general name of Hastilude (spear-play)
were in use several kinds of military exercises : the
joust, the tourney and the behourd. " Torneamenta,
justas, burdeicias, swe alia Hastiluda^." The joust and

* Radevicus Frising., lib. ii.

•* Charta Edw. I. apud Prynne, cited by Ducange.

182 AJICIENT ARMOUR

the tourney were, in their primary sense, mere modes of
attack. The joust was the charge of a single horseman
against a single antagonist. The tourney was the onset
of a troop, who, having made their charge, turned back
to acquire the necessary speed for a fresh attack. At
the siege of Eouen —

" Mult voissiez, forment armez, issir Normanz,
Querre tornoiement e joste demandanz,
E joster e ferir de lances e de branz."

Bom. de Hou, i. p. 209.

Again, at the siege of Mount Saint-Michael, —

" Mult veissiez joster sovent,

E torneier espessemeni
* * «

Chescun jor, al flo retraiant,

Vunt chevaliers jostes menant." — Ibid,f ii. p. 314.

The Behourd {Bohordicum) was an exercise with lance
and target, of which the distinctive character has not
been ascertained. ^^Trepidare quoque, quod vulgariter
hiordare dicitur, cum seuto et lancea aliquis clericus pub-
lice non attentet^"

Military games, whose object was to familiarize the
soldier in time of peace with the usages of war, had
been long known. They were practised in classic times :
they were in vogue, as Tacitus tells us, among the an-
cient Germans : they were pursued in Germany, as we
learn from IN'ithard"', in the ninth century. But that
splendid and costly image of battle called a Tournament
is not found earlier than the epoch which we are now
considering. Several nations lay claim to its invention,
but none offer such good proofs as" the French. The
Chronicle of Tours expressly says, under the year 1066 :

Concilium Albiense, cap. xv. n» Lib. iii. p. 27.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 183

^^ Gaufridus de Pruliaco (Preulli), qui torneamenta in-
venit, apud Andegavum occiditur." And the Chronicle
of St. Martin of Tours has a similar passage: ^^Anno
Henrici Imp. YII. et Philippi Eegis VI. fuit proditio
apud Andegavum, ubi Gaufridus de Pruliaco et alii
harones occisi sunt. Hie Gaufridus torneamenta in-
venit." Matthew Paris, again, names the tournament
"conflictus Gallicus." And Ealph of Coggeshall has:
^^Dum, more Francorum, cum hastis vel contis sese
cursim equitantes vicissim impeterent."

Tournaments seem to have first obtained favour in
England in the troublous times of Stephen". They were,
however, discountenanced by Henry II., and the young
aspirants to military renown were forced to seek in
other lands the opportunity of distinguishing them-
selves. ^^Tyronum exercitiis in Ajiglia prorsus inhi-
bitis, qui forte armorum affectantes gloriam exerceri
volebant, transfretantes, in terrarum exercebantur con-
finiis°." Under Eichard I. they again began to flourish,
and from that time to the end of the middle ages,
though often discountenanced by kings and churchmen,
they enjoyed the highest favour among all who prac-
tised or admired knightly deeds and military splendour.
^' After the return of King Eichard to England," says
Jocelin of Brakelond, under the year 1194, "licence was
granted for holding tournaments; for which purpose
many knights met between Thetford and St. Edmund's,
but the Abbot forbade them. They, however, in spite
of the Abbot, fulfilled their desire. On another occasion,
there came fourscore young men with their followers,
sons of noblemen, to have their revenge at the aforesaid

" See William of Newbury, lib. v. cap. 4.
" Newbury. This is confirmed by Hoveden.

184 ANCIENT ARMOUR

place; which being done, they returned into the town
to put up there. The Abbot hearing of this, ordered
the gates to be locked, and all of them to be kept
within. The next day was the vigil of Peter and Paul
the Apostles. Therefore, having promised that they
would not go forth, they all dined with the Abbot on
that day. But, after dinner, the Abbot having retired
to his chamber, they all arose and began to carol and
sing, sending into the town for wine, drinking and then
screeching, depriving the Abbot and convent of their
sleep, and doing everything in scorn of the Abbot;
spending the day, until the evening, in this manner,
and refusing to desist, even when the Abbot commanded
them. When the evening was come, they broke open
the gates of the town and went forth bodily. The
Abbot, indeed, solemnly excommunicated them all, yet
not without having first consulted Hubert, at that time
justiciary; and many of them came, promising amend-
ment and seeking absolution."

The more regular tournaments, however, were con-
trolled by royal ordinances. They were restricted in
England to five localities : namely, between Sarum and
Wilton, between Warwick and Kenilworth, between
Stamford and Wallingford, between Brakeley and Mixe-
berg, and between Blie and Tykehill. And, as nothing
in these days could be done without a fine to the king
or a tax to the pope, every earl had to pay twenty marks
for his privilege to appear as a combatant ; every baron,
ten; every knight having a landed estate, four; each
knight without such estate, two ; and all foreigners were
excluded P.

In France, under Philip Augustus, tournaments appear

p Harl. MS. 69.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 185

to have been held on a large scale, as Pere Daniel has re-
marked, from the incident of Philip having suddenly pro-
cured at an assemblage of this kind, troops sufficient to
repel an unexpected attack on Alencon*i.

It is not within the province (if it were in the limits)
of this work, to give any detailed account of tournaments
and their usages; for at this period and long after, the
defensive armour used for the joust (as shewn by the
pictorial monuments of the time) differed in no respect
from that worn in battle "".

In the curious sketch of London in the twelfth cen-
tury by Fitzstephen, an eye-witness of the incidents he
records, we have a spirited notice of the military exer-
cises of the young citizens in these days. "Every
Sunday in Lent, after dinner, a company of young men
go into the fields, mounted on war-horses : —
in equis certamine primis :

each of which

Aptus et in gyros currere doctus equus.
The lay sons of the citizens rush out of the gates in
crowds, equipped with lances and shields {lanceis et
s cutis militarihus) ; the more youthful with blunt spears ;
and they engage in sham fights and exercise themselves
in military combats. When the king happens to be
near the city, most of the courtiers attend, and the
varlets (ejphebi) of the households of earls and barons
who have not yet attained knighthood, resort thither
to try their skill. The hope of victory animates every

I Milice fran., i. 124. TTiwrnierbucTi of Riixner and Feyera-

' All that may be desired on this sub- bend, and of Schlichtegroll, Champol-

ject will be found in St. Palaye's Me- lion's jTottrwow c^« roi-Ke»e, Maximilian's

moires stir Vandenne Chevalerie, the Triumph, Ducange's notes to JornvUle

treatises of M^nestrier, La Colombiere, and article in Glossary, Adelung in v.

Honors de Sainte-Marie, Favin, the Tormamentvm^ and Strutt's Sports.

186 ANCIENT ARMOUR

one. The spirited horses neigh; their limbs tremble;
they champ the bit; impatient of delay, they fret and
paw the ground. "When at length

sonipedum rapit ungula cursum,

the young riders, having been divided into companies,
some pursue their fellows, but are unable to overtake
them; others push their companions out of the course
and gallop beyond them.

"In the Easter holidays they have a game resem-
bling a naval conflict. A target is fastened to a post
in the middle of the river: in the prow of a boat,
driven along by oars and the current, stands a young
man who is to strike the target with his lance : if, in
hitting it, he break his lance and keep his position un-
moved, he gains his point, his wish is fulfilled; but if
his lance be not broken by the blow, he is tumbled into
the river and his boat passes by. Two boats, however,
are placed there, one on each side of the target, and in
them a number of young men, to take up the tilter when
he emerges from the stream. On the bridge and in
chambers by the river-side, stand the spectators : —

— — inultum ridere parati.

"During the Summer holidays the young men exer-
cise themselves in leaping, in archery, wrestling, stone^
throwing, casting javelins beyond a mark, and in fight-
ing with shields."

In the "Winter, skaters, " binding under their feet the
shin-bones of some animal, take in their hands poles shod
with iron, which at times they strike against the ice, and
are thus carried along with the rapidity of a bird on the
wing, or a bolt discharged from a cross-bow. Sometimes
two of the skaters having by mutual agreement placed

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 187

themselves far apart, come together from opposite sides :
they meet, and with their poles strike each other : one
or both fall, not without some bodily hurt: even after
their fall, they are carried along to a great distance from
each other by the velocity of the motion ; and whatever
part of their heads comes in contact with the ice, is laid
bare to the very skull. Frequently the leg or arm of
the person who falls, if he chance to light on either,
is broken. But youth is an age eager for glory and
desirous of victory : thus, in order to distinguish them-
selves in real fight, these tyros contend with so much
boldness in counterfeit battle."

Among the exercises glanced at in this sketch of the
Londoner's sportive year, the Quintain is conspicuous.
This was especially the game of the "non-noble," and
might be practised either on horseback or on foot. The
more ancient quintain was merely a post or a shield
fixed on a pole, which the tyro attacked in lieu of a
living antagonist. But a new element was soon given
to the quintain, which at once brought it into favour
with the populace : it was so contrived as to inflict sum-
mary punishment on the inexpert. To one kind, a bag
of sand was fastened, which, whirling round from the
force of the blow struck at the opposite end, buffeted
the tilter who was not expeditious enough to get out
of its way. Others were made in the form of a Turk,
armed with sword and shield; and these, moving on a
pivot as before, inflicted a smart blow on the lagging
assailant. In another variety, a large tub of water was
fixed on a post, which discharged its contents on the
person of any clumsy j ouster. Other kiuds are described
and figured in Strutt's Sports. And in the little village
of Ofl'ham, in Kent, may still be seen an example of the

188 ANCIENT ARMOUR

quintain, which is fixed ^^ opposite to the dwelling-house
of the estate, which is bound to keep it up'." It now
consists of a post, having a cross-piece moving on a
pivot, terminating at one end with a broad perforated
board, and at the other with a pendent log of wood.
The log, however, seems to have been substituted for
a ^^bag of sand," which is mentioned in old accounts
of this relic.

"Besides the practice of feats of arms," says John
of Salisbury, writing in the reign of Henry II., "the
young knight should qualify himself for the duties of
his station by a variety of toil and exemplary abstinence.
Prom the beginning he must learn to labour, run, carry
heavy weights, and bear the sun and dust : he must use
sparing and rustic food : he must accustom himself to
live in tents, or in the open air." Then, turning upon
the luxurious and effeminate knights of his day, he up-
braids them in a diatribe which gives us a singular
picture of the manners of this age. " Some," he says,
"think that military glory consists in the display of
elegant dress, in wearing their clothes tight to the body,
so binding on their linen or silken garments that they
seem a skin coloured like their flesh. Sitting softly on
their ambling horses, they think themselves so many
ApoUos. If you make an army of them, you will have
the camp of Thais, not of Hannibal. Each is boldest in
the banqueting-hall, but in the battle every one desires
to be the last : they would rather assail the enemy with
arrows than come to close fighting. Eetuming home
without a scar, they sing triumphantly of their battles,
and boast of the thousand deaths that wandered near
their temples. If diligent idleness can procure any

* Hasted's Kent»

AND WEAPONS IN ETJEOPE.

189

spears, whicli, being brittle as hemp, should chance to
be broken in the field; if a piece of gold, minium, or
any colour of the rainbow, by any chance or blow should
fall out of their shields ; their garrulous tongues would
make it an everlasting memorial. They have the first
places at supper. They feast every day splendidly, if
they can afford it, but shun labour and exercise like a
dog or a snake. Whatever is surrounded with difficulty,
they leave to those who serve them. In the meantime,
they so gild their shields, and so adorn their tents, that
you would think each one, not a learner, but a chieftain
of war*."

* Polycraticus, 181.

PORCHE8TER CAS7LE, HAMPSHIRE.
Built at out 1150.

No. 45.

1 A

\

192

ANCIENT ARMOUR

[Plate XLVI.

PAET III.

THIRTEENTH CENTURY.

The authorities which throughout the last division of
our inquiry have served us as guides — seals, vellum-
paintings, metal-chasings, ivory-carvings, and the writings
of chroniclers and poets — are still available to us : but
in the thirteenth century a new and most valuable source
of information is offered by the numerous knightly effigies
which are found in cathedral and chantry, in wayside
chapel and lofty monastery. These sepulchral figures, of
the proportions of life, are of especial value to the student
of military costume, permitting him to follow his inquiry
into the minutest detail. Not a belt nor a lace, not a
buckle nor a strap, but he can trace the exact form and
assign the particular purpose of it. Whether the effigy
be a statue or " a brass," he finds in it abundant material
for furthering his inquiry ; and while from the illumina-
tions of cotemporary manuscripts he obtains precise in-
formation on the point of colour^ in the effigy he sees
the exact moulding of each knightly adjunct, and the
smallest pattern that adorns the smallest ornament of the
knightly equipment. The military brasses of this cen-
tury are but few ; but the statues, in stone, in wood, or
in Purbeck marble, are scattered through our English
counties in surprising numbers. The value of these

0

194 ANCIENT ARMOUR

national memorials is beginning to be understood: the
crumbling figure is no longer permitted to perish in the
open churchyard, to lie in fragments among the rubbish
of the belfry corner, to form the ridiculous ornament of
the churchwarden's grotto or the squire's glyptotheck.
With pious care it is restored to the sacred fane from
which it had been abstracted ; it again becomes part of
the chancel or chantry beneath whose pavement lie the
bones of him of whom church, chantry, and statue are
alike the monuments. But from the very consideration
which has been newly accorded to these memorials, has
arisen a fresh danger : it has, in some cases, been thought
expedient to submit them to a so-called restoration. They
have been patched up with Eoman cement, eked out
with supplementary limbs, plastered over with mock
Purbeck marble. The mistakes that have been committed
in costume, equipment, and art-treatment, are more fit
for the pages of a jest-book than those of a sober treatise;
and it is scarcely necessary to say that, for any purpose
of the historian, the archeeologist, or even in the more
narrow view of ancestral portraiture, the statue has be-
come, under such a treatment, utterly valueless. Yet
our task is so simple. We have only to preserve. In-
heritors of the finest series of national ancestral memorials
that Europe can boast, let us at least transmit to after-
days, in all their integrity, the admirable works that
have come down to us through the troubles and tur-
moils of seven centuries^.

■ An instructive series of English tinental examples, especially those of Ger-
sculptured figures has been finely en- many, are ably figured in Hefner's Cos-
graved in Stothard's Monumental Ef- tumes d/u Moyen-Age. The sculptured
figies, and in the continuation of this efiigies preserved in the Church of St.
work by the brothers Hollis. The con- Denis are well described in the Mono-

m

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

195

Throughout the thirteenth century the feudal and mer-
cenary TROOPS continued to be employed together. But
towards the middle of this period, the Italian cities, com-
bating for their liberties, began to levy their men-at-arms
from the non-noble class as well as from the knightly ;
a force which, under the name of Conduttitij Soldati^ ob-
tained in the next age a very wide celebrity.

Besides the mounted men-at-arms or heavy cavaby,
there were light-horse troops formed by the moimted
archers and cross-bowmen, and the esquires attending

No. 47.

grwphie de VEglise de St. Denis of the
Baron De Guiihermy. The monumental
brasses of England have been engraved
excellently and in large numbers by
Messrs. Waller, and in the subsequent

works of the Rev. Mr. Boutell. The
knightly statues given in Blore's Monu-
ments, though not numerous, are of the
highest order of art, and perfect in their
truthfulness.

o 2

196 ANCIENT ARMOUR

upon the kniglits. The example here given is from Eoy.
MS. 20, D. 1, fol. 127, a work of the close of the thir-
teenth century^.

The foot-troops or Sergents de pied consisted principally
of archers, cross-howmen and spearmen. There were also
the Sergens J' armes or heavy-armed body-guard, Cous-
tillers, Slingers, Bidaux, and Brigands or Eibauds; to
which may be added the varlets or pages, who followed
their knightly masters into the field, now fighting lustily
in the melee^ now bearing off the wounded body of their
lord to some place of solace and safety. Clientes and
Satellites were general names given to the inferior troops
of the feudal and communal levy, including both horse
and foot. There was nothing approaching to a uniform
costume for the soldiery, though occasionally we find a
leader seeking to identify his men by some addition to
their dress, as a cross, a scarf, or other similar token. In
1264, Simon de Montford '^ ordered his troops to fasten
white crosses on their breasts and backs, above their ar-
mour, in order that they might be known by their ene-
mies, and to shew that they were fighting for justice^"
In this case, however, the motive seems to have been,
less the desire of a mark of recognition among friends,
than the assumption, so common in warlike undertakings,
of a holy motive for manslaughter. In the following
passage from Guiart relating to the battle of Mons-en-
Puelle, the object is more distinctly that of friendly re-
cognition : —

" Pour estre au ferrir reconnuz,
Yilains, courtois, larges et cliiches,

•* This manuscript is perhaps a little the thirteenth century,
later than the year 1300, but the armour ^ Matthew Paris, p. 853. ed. Wats,

represented in it is essentially that of

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 197

Sont de laz blans et de ceintures

Escharpes sur leurs armures.

Neis li ribaut les ont mises,

Faites de leurs propres chemises." — Vers 11,059.

Of the Man-at-arms and his barded charger we obtain
an admirable definition from the Chronicon Colmariense
under the year 1298 : ^^ Armati reputabantnr qui galeas
ferreas in capitibus habebant, et qui wambasia, id est,
tunicam spissam ex lino et stuppa, yel veteribus pannis
consutam, et desuper camisiam ferream, id est, vestem ex
circulis ferreis contextam, per quae nulla sagitta poterat
hominem vulnerare. Ex his Armatis centum inermes
mille Igedi potuerunt : habebant et multos qui habebant
dextrarios, id est, equos magnos, qui inter equos com-
munes quasi Bucephalus Alexandri, inter alios eminebat.
Hi equi cooperti fuerunt coopertoriis ferreis, id est, veste
ex circulis ferreis, contexta. Assessores dextrariorum
habebant loricas ferreas : habebant et caligas, manipulos
ferreos, et in capitibus galeas ferreas splendidas et or-
natas, et alia multa quse me teeduit enarrare." The
armour of these sturdy warriors we shaU presently ex-
amine piece by piece.

The Sergens a pied (Servientes) included the mass of
the troops beneath the knightly dignity. Guillaume
Guiart arms them with the lance and crossbow : —

" bon serjanz i a

A arbaletes et a lances."

Chroni^ue Metrique^ 2«. partie, vers 8567.

And the. same weapons are assigned to those levied by
the ordonnance of Philip of France in 1303 : "Et seront
armes les sergens de pie de pourpoint et de hauberjons.

198 ANCIENT ARMOUR

gamboison, de bacinez et de lances : Et des six, il y en
aura deux arbalestriers*^."

The Sergens d? armes^ [Servientes Armorum^) wliose es-
tablishment in the twelfth century we have abeady ob-
served, (page 100,) continued to form the royal body-
guard throughout the present age. In 1214 they espe-
cially distinguished themselves at the battle of Bovines,
as we find recorded by the monument (before noticed) in
the church of St. Catherine. The inscription of the monu-
ment, though itself not earlier than the beginning of the
fifteenth century, probably relates very exactly the cir-
cumstances of their victory, and of the foundation of the
church. It is as follows : — *^ A la priere des Sergens
darmes Mons"". Saint Loys fonda ceste Eglise et y mist la
premiere pierre : Et fu pour la joie de la vittoire qui fu
au Pont de Bouines Ian Mil. cc et xiiii. Les Sergens
darmes pour le temps gardoient ledit pont et vouerent
que se Dieu leur donnoit vittoire ils fonderoient une
eglise en lonneur de Madame Sainte Katherine. Et
ainsi fu il." A statute of Philippe le Bel in 1285
limits the number of these guards attending the court to
thirty : " Item, Sergens d' armes, trente, lesquels seront
a Cour sans plus." From the same statute we learn that
one of their weapons at this time was the crossbow : "lis
porteront toujours leurs carquois pleins de carreaux."

The Archer was becoming every day of more import-
ance in the field ; and if the bow was an efficient arm in
battle, it was still more so in sieges, and the defence of
strongholds and mountain-passes. From various Statutes
of Arms we find that a portion of the military tenants are

^ Collection des Ordonnances, i. 383.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

199

ordered to be provided with the longbow and arrows.
The Statute of Winchester, in 1285, directs that each
man " a quaraunte soudeesz de terre e de plus jeqs a cent
souz, eit en sa mesun espe, ark, setes e cutel. . . . E tuz
lez autres qui aver pount, eient arcs e setes hors de fo-
restes, e dedenz forestes arcs e piles." Compare the sta-
tute of the 36th year of Henry III., printed in the Addi-
tamenta of the History of Matthew Paris ^ The costume
of the ordinary archer, defended only by his chapel de
fer^ appears to be depicted in our woodcut, ]^o. 60, from
Harleian MS. 4751, fol. 8, written at the commencement
of this century. That the English occasionally mixed
their bowmen with the cavalry, we have the express tes-
timony of Matthew Paris : ^' Yiri autem sagittarii gentis
Anglorum equitibus per-
mixti." In many illu-
minations of this time
they appear fully armed
in hauberk and helm,
as in the miniature here
given from Eoyal MS.
20, D. 1, fol. 307. See
also our woodcut, No.
82, a group from the
Painted Chamber of the
palace at Westminster,
where the archer wears
a hauberk and coif of
chain-mail. These ex-
amples of heavy-armed bowmen are fully borne out by

« Abstracts of both are given at a later page of this division.

200 ANCIENT ARMOUR

written testimony. "We have already observed Eichard
Coeur-de-Lion plying his arrows under the walls of Lin-
coln, (p. 157); and Otto Morena has, ''Ipse Imperator
optime sciens sagittare, multos de Cremensibus inter-
fecit." (p. 58.) For further pictorial examples of archers
of this century, see Eoyal MS. 2, B. vi. fol. 10 ; and 20,
D. i. if. 60, 87, 150 and 285.

By a curious volume of '' Proverbs" of the thirteenth
century, printed from a manuscript of that date in the
Vie privee des Frangois\ we learn that "the best archers
are in Anjou." Other proverbial celebrities of this
manuscript are : Chevaliers de Champagne, Ecuyers
de Bourgogne, Sergens de Hainaut, Champions d' Eu,
Eibauds de Troyes.

The provision of an equipped archer to attend the
king in his wars, is the frequent sergeantry for lands at
this time; and the particulars attached to the service
occasionally partake of that whimsicality found in other
tenures of the period. It is curious also to trace the
changes which these charters undergo in a small lapse of
years, as they come under the inspection of the jurors
appointed to enforce their engagements. Thus, the ser-
vice for the manor of Faintree, in Shropshire, in 1211, is
"a foot-soldier, with a bow and arrows, for the king's
army in Wales." In 1274 the soldier is bound to stay
with the host only '' till he has shot away his arrows."
In 1284 the archer has '' to attend the king in his Welsh
wars, with a bow, three arrows, and a 'terpolus^.' " This
terpolus, or tribulus, was probably an ''archer's stake,"
not the mere small iron caltrop^ of which the provision of

' Vol. iii. p. 403. e Ey ton's Antiq. of Shropshire, i. 160, sq.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

201

one only by each archer would be of little use in im-
peding a charge of cavalry. The duty of the bowman who
had only to stay in the field till he had shot away three
arrows was sufficiently easy ; but on other occasions the
archer did not escape so lightly. The manor of Chetton,
CO. Salop, supplies in 1283 an archer for the king's host
in Wales, who is to take with him a flitch of bacon, and
to remain with the army till he has eaten it all up^.

The Cross-bowman was an es-
sential component of the host
during all this period. He was
in the van of battle. '^ Balistarii
semper prseibant," says Matthew
Paris'; and there is scarcely a
conflict mentioned by this chroni-
cler in which the arbalester does
not play a conspicuous part. In
the battle near Damietta, in 1237,
"more than a hundred knights of
the Temple fell, and three hundred cross-bowmen (ar-
cichalistaru), not including some other seculars, and a
large number of foot-soldiers^." The Emperor Frederic
in 1239, giving an account of his Italian campaign to
the king of England, writes : " After we had by our
knights and cross- bowmen reduced all the province of
LiguriaV &c. In 1242 the Count de la Marche, re-
fusing to do homage to Amphulse, the brother of the
French king, " swelling with anger and with loud threats,
accompanied by his wife Isabella and surrounded by a
body of soldiers, broke through the midst of the Poic-

No. 49.

•• Blount's Anc. Tenures, and Eyton's Antiq. of Shropshire, i. 180.
Page 248. ^ Paris, p. 374. • Ibid., p. 467.

202 ANCIENT ARMOUR

tevin cross-bowmen, and having set fire to the honse
in which he had dwelt, suddenly mounted a horse and
took to flight™.'' St. Louis, marching to meet the English
in Poitou, had an army in which there were " about four
thousand knights splendidly armed to the teeth, besides
numbers of others, who came from all directions, flocking
to the army, like rivers flowing into the sea; and the
number of retainers and cross-bowmen was said to be
about twenty thousand"." The opposing forces of the
English king consisted of " sixteen hundred knights,
twenty thousand foot-soldiers, and seven hundred arba-
lesters."

The Cross-bowmen were of several kinds, some mounted,
some on foot. The mounted balistarii in King John's
time were those possessing one horse, those having two
horses [ad duos equos""), and others having three horses.
In 1205 the king sends to the sheriff of Salop, '' Peter, a
balister of three horses, and nine two-horse balisters,"
who are to be paid 10^. 4<^. per day (the whole ten).
The usual pay at this time was : to the cross-bowman
with two horses, 15d, per diem ; with one horse,, 7|^. per
day ; and to the foot-balister, M. per day.

The quarrels for the crossbows were carried after the
army in carts. Thus Guillaume Guiart : —

" Arbaletriers vont quarriaux prendre,
A pointes agues et netes,
Qui la furent en trois charrettes
Venues par mesire Oudart." — Annee 1303, p. 291.

The bows themselves, with other weapons and defences,

Paris, p. 514. ° Rot. Glaus. 6 John, m. 66.

Paris, p. 518, ad an. 1242, p Rot, Glaus. 7 John, m. 18.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 203

were also carted after the host, and termed the " artillery"

of the expedition : —

" Artillerie est le cliarroi
Qui par due, par comte ou par roi
Ou par aucun seigneur de terre
Est charchie (charge) de quarriaux en guerre,
D' arbaletes, de dars, de lances,
Et de targes d'une semblance." — Guiart, an. 1304.

Notwithstanding the services rendered in the front of
the battle by the cross-bowmen, and the other foot-troops ;
whose post was the more perilous from their being but
slightly provided with defensive equipment ; the knightly
body of their own party made no scruple to ride them
down whenever they stood in the way of the glory or
ambition of the equestrian order. At Courtray in 1302,
the French foot having gallantly repulsed the Flemings,
Messire de Yalepayelle cried to the Count of Artois, —

" Sire, cil vilain tant feront
Que I'onneur en emporteront." — Guiarf, pt. ii. v. 6132.

And forthwith the men-at-arms

" Parmi les pietons se flatissent,
Qu' a force de destriers entr' ouvrent :
Des leurs meisraes le champ queuvrent,
Et merveilleux nombre en estraignent."

This is confirmed by the Grandes Chroniques : " Nos gens
de pie savancent, si auront la victoire et nous ny aureus
point d'onneur'^." All our readers will remember the
similar fate of the Genoese cross-bowmen at Cressy : ^' Or
tot, tuez toute cette ribaudaille, qui nous empeche la voie
sans raison''."

1 Vol. V. c. 42. . ' Froissart, bk. i. c. 287.

204 ANCIENT ARMOUR

The arbalester sometimes appears in heavy armour,
as in onr woodcuts, Nos. 49 and 50. And Matthew Paris
has : '^ Arcubalistarii circiter sexaginta loricatil" The
provision of quarrels for each cross-bowman of the com-
munal force was fifty, as we learn from the charter of
Theobald, count of Champagne in 1220 : ^' Chascuns de
la Commune de Yitre qui aura vaillant xx. livres, aura
aubeleste en son ostel et quarriaux l." The office of
'^ Master of the Arbalesters" became one of the chief
dignities of the French army, and was conferred only on
persons of the highest rank. Thibaut de Monleart held
this charge under Saint Louis, and in the Milice Fran-
goise of Pere Daniel will be found a complete list of the
^^Maitres des Arbaletriers de France" till the days of
Francis I., when the office ceased^ The little window
in city or castle wall, through which the bolts of the
crossbow were discharged, was called arhalestena. For
other pictures of the cross-bowman of the thirteenth cen-
tury than those given in our woodcuts, IN'os. 49 and 50,
see Add. MS. 15,268, fol. 122, and Eoy. MS. 20, D. 1,
fol. 36P.

The Coustiller, employed, as we have seen, at Bovines
in 1214, continues in request throughout this century;
and will be found again in the pages of Froissart, taking
part in the battles of the succeeding age.

The Slinger is still of occasional occurrence. In this
very curious group from Harl. MS. 4751, fol. 8, a work
of the early part of the thirteenth century, the slinger
appears without any defensive armour, and his weapon
differs in no particular from the sling of Anglo-Saxon

» Hist., p. 591. t Vol. i. p. 198.

Plate L.]

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

205

206 ANCIENT ARMOUR

times, as shewn in our woodcut, No. 12. Besides the
ancient Cord Sling, there appears in the manuscripts of
this century a variety of the arm, the Staff Sling. It
seems to have been in vogue for naval warfare, or in
the conflicts of siege operations. The example here

No. 51.

engraved is from Strutt's Horda, vol. i. plate 31 ; the
authority being a MS. of Matthew Paris of this century,
preserved in the library of Benet College, Cambridge.
Other examples of the Staff Sling are given in Strutt's
Sports, bk. i. chap. 2.

The Bideaux ( hihaldi) were foot-troops fighting with-
out defensive armour, whose usual weapons were a spear,
javelins and a coutel. Guiart exactly describes them : —

" De Navarre et devers Espaingne
Eeviennent Bidaux a granz routes.
En guerre par accoustumance
Portent deux darz et une lance,
Et un coutel a la ceinture :
D'autres armures u'ont cure." — Pt. ii. verse 10,518.

The Eibaux or Brigans were the humblest of the

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 207

troops, and by their extreme poverty were driven to acts
of depredation wHeh eventually made their very name
synonymous with marauder. They carried such weapons
as they could obtain : —

" Li uns une pilete'^ porte,

L' autre croc ou macue torte.
* « « *

L' un tient une epee sans feurre,

L' autre un maillet, 1' autre une haclie." — Guiart, v. 6635.

They are not only without armour, but their equipment
altogether is in a very tattered condition : —

" Et Eibaldorum nihilominus agmen inerme,
Qui nunquam dubitant in qusevis ire pericla."

Philippidos, lib. iii.

" Leurs robes ne sont mie neuves,
Ainz semble tant sont empirees
Que chiens les aient deciriees. — Guiart^ v. 6640.

Matthew Paris names them with but little honour:
"Eibaldi et viles personse^." They were, however, by
no means useless members of the host. Thus, when
Philippe Auguste appeared before Tours in 1189 : " Dum
Eex circumquaque immunita civitatis consideraret, Ei-
baldi ipsius, qui primos impetus in expugnandis munitioni-
hus facere consueverunt^ eo vidente, in ipsam civitatem
impetum fecerunt," &C.''

They were made to assist in carrying the baggage of
the army : " Inermes Eibaldos et alios, qui solent sequi
exercitum propter onera deportanda^" And, being un-
provided with defensive armour, whenever they obtained

pike. ^ Ann. 1214.

Rigord. ' Brito, ad ann. 1202.

208 ANCIENT ARMOUR

any booty, the ^^ soudoyers," who were better equip-

ped than they, attacked them and appropriated their

prizes : —

" Mais li Soudoiers de Biaugiers,
Qui d'armes ne sont mie nuz,
De ce qu'ils portent les desrobent." — Guiart, v. 10,826.

The Roi des Ribands was an officer appointed to restrain
the excesses of the Eibaldi, and is mentioned in many
documents of France from the time of Philip Augustus
to that of Charles YI. At the battle of Bo^dnes in 1214,
Eoger de Wafalia is named in the list of prisoners as
falling to the share of the King of the Eibauds : ^' Eo-
gerus de Wafalia. Hunc habuit Eex Eibaldorum, quia
dicebat se esse servientem."

The names Clientes and Satellites were employed, as
we have before mentioned, to indicate generally the in-
ferior troops, whether horse or foot. At the battle of
Bovines, the Clientes are a mounted corps, armed with
sword and spear : —

" Et quos Medardicus abbas ^

Miserat immensa claros probitate Clientes
Terdenos decies quorum exultabat in armis
Quilibet altus equo gladioque horrebat et hasta."

Quil. le Breton.

In the following passage, the Clientes seem to be foot-
troops. It is from the History of Dauphiny, where, in
1283, Humbert promises to assist the Archbishop and
Chapter of Yienne : '^ contra omnes homines, suis pro-
priis sumptibus et expensis, cum centum hominibus ar-
matis in equis, et cum tercentis balistariis, et septingentis
clientibus cum lanceis."

»» The abbot of St. Medard.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 209

Satellites appear at Bovines, both mounted and on
foot. The horse seem to have formed a light corps, and
were employed to begin the combat. They are looked
upon, however, with much contempt by the opponent
knights ; who, disdaining to advance against an ignoble
foe, receive the charge without quitting their post. "Pree-
misit," says Eigord, " idem Electus*', de consilio Comitis
S. Pauli, CL. Satellites in equis ad inchoandum bellum,
ea intentione ut praedicti milites egregii invenerint hostes
aliquantulum motos et turbatos. Indignati sunt Flan-
drenses . . . quod non a Militibus sed a Satellibus primo
invadebantur : nee se moverent de loco quo stabant, sed
eos ibidem expectantes acriter receperunt," &c. These
troops, we are told, were from the valley of Soissons, and
combated both on foot and on horseback. '' Erant Sa-
tellites illi probissimi, de valle Suessionensi, nee minus
pugnabant sine equis quam in equis."

Not only were Spies in use, but, what somewhat dis-
turbs one's confidence in the exalted simplicity of these
times, it had already been discovered that the fair sex
might be employed with advantage in this office. The
heroic Edward I., in his campaign against the Welsh in
1281, gives a shilling to a " certain female spy" for her
services : " Cuidam spiatrici, de dono, xij. denarii'^." And
again, a pound to another of these useful ladies, " to buy
her a house :" ^^ Cuidam spiatrici, ad unam domum sibi
emendam, de dono, xx. s.®"

From the various Statutes of Arms of this century we
learn very exactly the equipment of the military tenants.
Three of these statutes for England have been preserved :

c The Bishop Elect of Beauvais. at Rhuddlan Castle : Archaeol. xvi., 47.

* Roll of Expenses of K. Edward I. « Ibid.

210 ANCIENT ARMOUR

that of 1252, in the Additamenta of the Historia Major
of Matthew Paris, and printed in Eymer's Poedera ; that
forming part of the Statute of Winchester in 1285,
printed by the Eecord Commission in vol. i. of the '' Sta-
tutes of the Eealm ;" and that of 1298, printed in the
new edition of the Foedera, vol. i. p. 901. The Scottish
enactments will be found in Skene's Begiam Majestatem^
and the French in the Collection des Ordonnances.

The Assize of 1252, 36 of Hen. III., closely resembles
that of 1285 ; but in the first the equipment is of six
varieties, while in the second there are seven classes of
armed men. To avoid repetition, we shall give the
earliest of these statutes in the text, and add the read-
ings relating to the armour from the Statute of Win-
chester in a note.

The Sheriffs, with two knights elected for that pur-
pose, are to go round the hundreds, cities, &c., and call
before them the '^ cives, burgenses, libere tenentes, vil-
lanos et alios, setatis quindecim annorum usque ad aetatem
sexaginta annorum; et eosdem faciant omnes jurare ad
arma, secundum quantitatem terrarum et catallorum^ suo-
rum ; scilicet : Ad quindecim libratas terrse, unam lori-
cam, capellum ferreum, gladium, cultellum et equum^:
Ad decem libratas terrse, unum habergetum^, capellum
ferreum, gladium et cultellum: Ad centum solidatas
terrse, unum purpunctum, capellum ferreum, gladium,
lanceam et cultellum': Ad quadraginta solidatas terrse
et eo amplius usque ad centum solidatas terrse, gladium,

'chattels. _ ^ " Haubergeon." Ibid.

« " Hauber, chapel de feer, espe, cutel * " Parpoint, chapel de feer, espe e

echeval.^' Stat, of Winchester. cutel." lb.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 211

arcum, sagittas et cultellum^ Qui minus habent quam
XL. solidatas terrae, jurati sint ad falces, gisarmas, cultel-
los et alia arma minuta''.

^^Ad catalla sexaginta marcarum, unam loricam, ca-
pellum ferreum, gladium, cultellum et equum*: Ad ca-
talla XL. marcarum, unum haubercum, capellum ferreum,
gladium et cultellum: Ad catalla xx. marcarum, unum
purpunctum, capellum ferreum, gladium et cultellum :
Ad catalla novem marcarum, gladium, cultellum, arcum
et sagittas : Ad catalla xl. solidarum et eo amplius usque
ad decem marcas, falces, gisarmas, et alia arma minuta™.

^' Omnes enim alii qui possunt habere arcus et sagittas
extra forestam, habeant : qui vero in foresta, habeant
arcus et pilatos"."

Yiew of arms is to be taken by the mayors, bailiffs
and provosts of the cities and towns **. Constables to be
appointed to command the force. Tournaments and be-
hourds forbidden : — '' Clamare faciant Yicecomites, &c.
quod nuUi conveniant ad turniandum vel burdandum,
nee ad alias quascunque aventuras." And none to ap-
pear armed except those specially appointed.

The distinction between the kinds of arrow to be used
within and without the forest bounds, is curious, and not
altogether clear at this distance from the days of archery.
The fatal power of the barbed shaft upon the king's deer

J " Espe, ark, setes e cutel," lb. "» Here the Stat, of Winchester has an

•' " Fans, gisannes, e cotaus, e autres additional class : " Qui meins ad de cha-

menues armes." lb. teux de vynt marcs, espees, cuteus e

' These are the same equipments as autres menues armes."
before, only calculated by a money " " Arcs et setes hors de forestes, e de-
qualification instead of a landed pro- denz forestes arcs et piles (var. pilets)."
perty. The Winchester Statute has a Stat. Win.
similar provision. ° " Deus foiz par an." Stat. Win.

P 2

212 ANCIENT ARMOUR

is indeed evident enough, but the comparatively innocu-
ous character of the piled arrow is not so plain. The
usage, however, is well attested by numerous instances.
In the Statute of arms of "William the Lion, king of Scot-
land, we have : ^^ Et omnes alii, qui habere poterunt, ha-
beant arcum et sagittas extra forestam : infra forestam,
arcum et pyle^." And by an agreement made in 1246
between Eoger de Quinci, earl of Winchester, and Eoger
de Somery, touching certain rights of chace in Bradgate
Park, CO. Leicester, it is stipulated " quod Forestarii sui
non portabunt in bosco praedicti Eogeri de Somery et
hseredum suorum sagittas barbatas sed pilettas'^."

Shakespere, who illustrates everything, has a passage
bearing on this subject among the rest. Under the
greenwood tree of the forest of Arden, the Duke, in "As
you like it," addresses his companions : —

" Come, shall we go and kill us venison ?
And yet it irks me, the poor dappled fools
(Being native burghers of this desert city)
Should, in their own confines, with for Jced heads
Have their round haunches gored." — Act ii. Sc. 1.

And the fatal effects of the forked head are familiar to us
all in the case of the

" poor sequester' d stag,-

That from the hunter's aim had ta'en a hurt,"

coming to languish away its life

" On the extremest verge of the swift brook."

The feudal levy of the Ban and Arriere-ban was of

course much influenced by the pressure of the occasion

requiring their armament. In 1205 King John, in a

Council held at Winchester, called upon every tenth

P Cap. 23. H Blount's Ancient Tenures.

%

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 213

knight in the realm to accompany him into Poitou, at
the expense of the other nine; and if, during his ab-
sence, the country should be invaded, every man capable
of bearing arms was to join in its defence, under pain of
forfeiting any lands he might hold; or, if not a land-
owner, of becoming, with all his posterity, a slave for
ever, and paying a yearly poll-tax of four-pence. Each
knight was to receive two shillings per day'. This expe-
dition did not, however, leave our shores.

When Philip of France was preparing to attack King
John in 1213, the English monarch summoned all his
"liberos homines et servientes, vel quicunque sint," to
aid him under pain of culvertage^

In 1264, when the Earl of Leicester mustered his
forces on Barham Downs to resist the threatened invasion
of Queen Eleanor, the military tenants were ordered,
under pain of felony, to bring into the field not only the
force specified in their tenures, but all the horsemen and
infantry in their power : every township was compelled
to send eight, six, or four footmen well armed with
lances, bows, swords, cross-bows, and axes, who should
serve forty days at the expense of the township ; and the
cities and burghs received orders to furnish as many
horsemen and footmen as the Sheriff should appoint*.

The Pay assigned to troops who, having contributed
the stipulated service for their holdings or assessments,
were required to render further assistance to the king in
his wars, we discover in the EoU of Expenses of King

«• Rot. Pat. 55. Lingard, Hist, of Eng. See also Du-

* " Culvertage means in plain English cange, v. Culvertagium.

the penalty of being a turn-tail. The » New Rymer, 444. See also Hallam's

culprit was liable by law to the forfeiture Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 170. ed. 1855.
of all property, and perpetual servitude."

Per Diem.

In modern

money.

12 Pence

15 shillings

12 Pence

15 shillings

2 Pence

2s. 6d.

2 Pence

2s. 6d.

4 Pence

6 Pence

5s. Od.

7s. 6d.

214 ANCIENT ARMOUR

Edward I. at Euddlan Castle in Wales, in 1281-2. From
this curious document, which is printed in full in the
sixteenth volume of the Archseologia, we find : —

Tie Pay of

A knight

An esquire

An archer

A cross-bowman

A captain-of-twenty -^

(bowmen) j

A constable (of 100 ")

bowmen) ->

" Saturday the fifth day of January, paid to the Lord Engolrane,
serving with the Lord John de Deynile and his four Esquires, for
their wages from the first day of April to the fourth day of June,
for Ixv. days ...... xix. It. x. s.

" To the same, for the pay of his fifth Esquire, for xxiv. days : xxiv.5.

" To the said five Esquires, for their pay, for fifteen days following
the fourth of June ..... Ixxv. «."
* «> * ^' * *

" Paid to Geofiry le Chamberlin, for the wages of twelve cross-
bowmen (Jbalistariorum) and thirteen archers {sagittariorum) for xxiv.
days, each Cross- bowman receiving by the day iv. d., and each Archer
\].d. . . . . . . vii. li. viii. 5."

Here the arbalester gets double the wages of the
archer, but in the following and other instances, his pay-
is the same.

" To Gruillemin and his comrade, Cross-bowmen, for their wages,
for twenty-one days, at ij. ^. by the^ day . . . . xxi. 5."

On one occasion, Guillemin and his companion receire^
sixpence per day: but this is altogether an unusual sum.

The archers were divided into bands of twenties, and
over each was placed a Captain. To every hundred bow-
men, with their captains, was appointed a Constable.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 215

" To Master R. Griffard, for the wages of one Constable of foot,
receiving vi. d. per day, and of fifty-three Archers, with two Captains
of Twenties, for three days .... xxix.s.

* * :^ * #

" To Eobert Giifard, for the wages of forty-three Captains

of Twenties, each receiving iv. d. per day," &c.

There were also Constables of Cavalry, perhaps com-
manding mounted archers, and their pay is set down at
twelve pence per day. Occasionally the constables have
a command of two hundred men, and sometimes it sinks
as low as fifty. The ordinary number, however, is a
hundred.

Of the Armed Town- Watch in England we obtain
some particulars from the ^' Breve Eegis" of the 36 th
Hen. III. '^ Henry, king, &c. to such or such a sheriff,
greeting. Be it known to you that, for the maintenance
of our peace, it has been provided in our Council, that
watch shall be kept in every city, borough and town of
your county, from Ascension Day to the Feast of St.
Michael; to wit: that in every city, six armed men
(armis munitos) shall watch at every gate : in every
borough, twelve men : in every town {in singulis villis
integris) six men, or at least four, likewise furnished
with arms, according to the number of the inhabitants.
They shall watch continually throughout the night from
sunset to sunrise ; so that all strangers seeking to pass
through, may be detained till morning. And then, if he
be a loyal man [fidelis\ he shall be set at liberty ; if a
suspected person [suspectus\ he shall be delivered over
to the Sheriff, to be by him kept in a place of safety.
But if it happen that strangers of this latter sort refuse
to allow themselves to be stopped, then the aforesaid
Guards shall raise the hue against them on all sides.

216 ANCIENT ARMOUR

and shall follow them with all the inhabitants of the
place [cum tota villata) and places adjacent, raising the
hue and cry ^ de villa in villam' until they be taken''/' &c.
The manner of the hue and cry is set down in the ^' Ar-
ticuli''." '' Pursuit by hue and cry to be made according
to the ancient and proper form, so that those who neglect
to follow the cry may be taken as accomplices of the evil-
doers, and delivered to the Sheriff. Moreover, in every
town, four or six men, according to the number of the
inhabitants, shall be appointed to make the hue and cry
with promptitude and perseverance, and to pursue evil-
doers, if any should appear, with bows and arrows and
other light weapons [et aliis levibus armis) ; which
weapons ought to be provided for the custody of the
whole town, and to remain for the use of the aforesaid
town. And besides the foregoing, there shall be provided
out of each hundred, two free and loyal men of most in-
fluence, to be over them, and to see that the watch be
duly made, as well as the pursuits aforesaid."

Compare the regulations for the "Watch of the city of
Paris, contained in an ordinance of Saint Louis in 1254 ;
printed in the Collection des Ordonnances.

The feudal constitution of armies was necessarily
modified in different countries by the nature of the ter-
ritory, the habits of the people, and the wealth of the
state. In Germany, where the class of nobles was more
restricted than in Prance and England, the foot- troops
were at an early period regarded with consideration. In
hilly countries, where the breed of horses was of a small
stature, a light-armed cavalry was the most available

« M. Paris. Additamenta. ' Ibid., p. 1145.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 217

force. "WTiile, in the fastnesses of mountains, the pikes
and halberds of a sturdy infantry compensated for the
want of horses and the poverty of a rugged territory.

The Scottish army in 1244, Matthew Paris'" tells us,
was "very numerous and powerful, consisting of a
thousand armed knights, well mounted, although not on
Spanish or Italian, or other costly horses, and well pro-
tected by armour of steel or linen ; and about a hundred
thousand foot-soldiers, who were all of one mind, and
who, having made confession, and been encouraged by
the consoling assurance of their preachers, that the cause
in which they were engaged was a just one and for their
country's good, had very little fear of death." In 1298
"Wallace contending against Edward I. in person, formed
his pikemen, who were the strength of his army, into
four circular bodies^, connected together by a number
of archers from the Forest of Selkirk. Before them he
planted a defence of palisades : behind them, the cavalry
was stationed. In front of all was a morass, dividing
them from the English. The latter, having passed the
night on the bare heath, in the morning advanced to
the attack. Their first division, commanded by the Earl
Marshal, from its ignorance of the ground, soon became
entangled in the morass. The second, led by the Bishop
of Durham, wheeled round the swamp and came in sight
of the Scottish cavalry, when the prelate ordered his men
to await the arrival of the other bodies. " To thy mass,
bishop !" exclaimed one of his knights, and rushed on the

* Page 568. fenderent, celeriter ad clamorem homi-

y This circular formation, however, num circiter millia VI. convenenint."

was no new invention. We have it in Bell. Gall., L. 4.

Caesar : " Quum illi, orhe facto, sese de-

218 ANCIEIS^T ARMOUR

enemy. They gave way at the first charge ; the bowmen
were trampled under foot, but the four bodies of pikemen
opposed on all sides an impenetrable front. The bravest
resistance, however, could not restore the fortune of the
day. Edward advanced his archers, supporting them
with his military engines, an opening was made in each
circle, the men-at-arms dashed in among the disordered
pikemen, and the battle was won^ This conflict, fought
near Falkirk, on the 22nd of July, 1298, affords one of
innumerable instances, shewing that little reliance can
be placed in the numbers of the slain given by even co-
temporary writers. Trivet reports the loss of the Scotch
at twenty thousand ; Matthew of "Westminster raises it
to forty thousand.

The Welsh, keeping up their hostilities to their Nor-
man invaders, reserved their aggressive operations till
the wet and stormy season of the year, when the land
was unfit for the manoeuvres of a heavy-armed cavalry,
and the gloomy days favourable for the sudden onslaught
of mountain warriors. " Yidentes tempus hyemale madi-
dum sibi competere," says Matthew Paris ^.

The rich cities of Italy, as we have seen, began about
the middle of this century to employ stipendiary men-
at-arms; and it seems probable that the first of these
knightly soldiers were those of the equestrian class who,
from political disgust or family feuds, had become re-
fugees in the territory of their new masters. The good
wages and the booty obtained by these gentle mer-
cenaries induced others of a more humble class to
take up the trade, and under skilful leaders (the well-

^ Fordun, xi. 34 ; Hemingford, 59— 165 ; Walsingham, 75. * p. 631.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 219

known Condottieri) they obtained fame, fortune and
honours.

The Basques were at this time among the most promi-
nent of the mercenary troops, acting as a light corps, for
which their mountain-life rendered them very apt. They
were the Swiss of the thirteenth century.

Among our northern neighbours we obtain a glimpse of
the Frieslanders, through the means of the indefatigable
Matthew Paris. ^^ These Frieslanders," he says, "are
a rude and untamable people : they inhabit a northern
country, are well skilled in naval warfare, and fight with
great vigour and courage on the ice. It is of the cold re-
gions of these people, and their neighbours the Sarmatians,
that Juvenal says, ^ One had better fly hence, beyond the
Sarmatians and the icy ocean,' &c. The Frieslanders,
therefore, having laid ambuscades among the rush-beds
along the sea-coast, (in their war with William of Hol-
land,) as well as along the country, which is marshy — and
the winter season was coming on — went in pursuit of the
said William, armed with javelins, which they call gave-
loches, in the use of which they are very expert, and with
Danish axes and pikes, and clad in linen dresses covered
with light armour. On reaching a certain marsh they
met with William, helmeted, and wearing armour, and
mounted on a large war-horse covered with mail. But,
as he rode along, the ice broke, although it was more
than half a foot thick, and the horse sank up to his flank,
becoming fixed in the mud of the marsh. The tram-
melled rider dug his sharp spurs into the animal's sides
to a great depth, and the noble, fiery beast struggled to
rise and free himself, but without success. Crushed and
bruised, he only sank the deeper for his efi'ortSj and at

220 ANCIENT ARMOUR

length by his struggles he threw his rider among the
rough slippery fragments of ice. The Frieslanders then
rushed on William, who had no one to help him from his
position, all his companions having fled, to avoid a simi-
lar disaster ; and attacking him on all sides with their
javelins, despite his cries for mercy, pierced his body
through and through, which was already stiffened with
wet and cold. He offered his murderers an immense
sum of money for ransom of his life, but these inhuman
men, shewing no mercy, cut him to pieces. And thus,
just as he had a taste of empire, was the Flower of Chi-
valry, William, king of Germany and count of Holland,
the creature and pupil of the Pope, hurled, at the will of
his enemies, from the pinnacle of his high dignity to the
depths of confusion and ruin^.

Clerics are still found participating the dangers and
glories of the battle-field; not alone as councillors or
leaders, but sturdily wielding the deadly mace, and clad
in hauberk and helm, like the lay vassals and men-at-
arms around them. We have already seen the Bishop
of Durham leading a division of the English at the battle
of Falkirk. At the great battle of Bovines, in 1214, the
French army was commanded by Guerin,. bishop-elect of
Senlis ; and there too, armed to the teeth, and plying the
cleric weapon, the mace, contended that bishop of Beau-
vais, whom we have, on a former occasion, seen the pri-
soner of Eichard Coeur-de-Lion. At the siege of Milan, in
1238, '^ the bishop-elect of Yalentia, who knew more of
temporal than spiritual arms, hastened with the knights
whom the counts of Toulouse and Provence had sent to as-

^ Hist, mh an. 1256. See also the account of the Tartar warriors. M. Paris, ad
ann. 1238, 1241, 1243.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 221

sist the emperor ^ In 1239 the Emperor Frederic, writing
to the king of England, complains of the Pope becoming
a general and his monks men-at-arms, to wrest from him
his crown of empire. " He hath openly declared himself
the leader and chief of the war against us and the em-
pire, making the cause of the Milanese and other faith-
less traitors his own, and openly turning their business
to suit his own interests. Moreover, he appointed as
his lieutenants over the Milanese, or rather the papal,
army, the before -mentioned Gregory de Monte Longo
and brother Leo, a minister of the Minorite order, who
not only girded on the sword and clad themselves in ar-
mour, presenting the false appearance of soldiers ; but
also, continuing their office of preaching, absolved from
their sins the Milanese and others, when they insulted
our person or those of our followers'^." Father John of
Gatesden boldly throws aside alb and chasuble to don
the knightly hauberk and chausses in good earnest.
^^ Anno Domini 1245, King Henry passed Christmas at
London, and observed the solemnities of that festival in
the company of many of his nobles. At that place, on
Christmas-day, he conferred the honour of knighthood
on John de Gatesden, a clerk, who had enjoyed several
rich benefices ; but who, as was proper, now resigned
them all^" In the contest for the empire in 1248, the
army raised against Conrad by the legate, "was com-
manded by the archbishops of Mayence, Metz, Lorraine
and Strasburg, and consisted of innumerable bands from
their provinces and from Friesland, Gothland, Eussia,
Dacia, and from the provinces of Germany and those

«■■ M. Paris, sub an. 1238. p. 399. «> Ibid., p, 467. * Ibid., p. 574.

22:2 ANCIENT ARMOUR

adjoining who had received the cross^^^ &c. For it was
part of the papal tactics to invest the soldiers who fought
in the quarrels of the Holy See with the sacred dignity
of Crusaders. In the revolt of the Scots under Bruce in
1306, among the prisoners captured by the English were
the Abbot of Scone and the Bishops of St. Andrew's and
Glasgow, all taken in complete armour^.

The leading principle in the Tactics of this century
was, with the exceptions already noticed, to compose the
strength of the army of the knightly order. It was the
knight who fought in the terrible melee of the battle-
field : it was the knight who scaled the walls of the be-
sieged fortress; who directed the discharge of perrier
and mangonel ; who filled the towers of assault by the
city walls ; who defended those walls from outward at-
tack ; and who, in sea-fights, manned the ships of war,
and with pike and javelin contended against other men-
at-arms battling in the adverse fleet. The remainder of
the troops were looked upon as mere accessories, engines
useful to clear the way for the '' achievement " of the
equestrian order.

The men-at-arms marched to the field of battle in
squadrons so dense that, as a cotemporary writer records,
" a glove thrown into the midst of them would not have
reached the ground."

" Chacun conroi lente aleure
S' en va joint comme en quarreure,
Si bien que s' un gant preisaiez
Et entr' eux haut le getissiez,
II paroit qu' a son asseoir
Ne duste mie tost cheoir." — Guiart, 2 par., v. 11,4:94.

f Paris, 651. & Lin-ard, vol. iii. p. 280.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 223

They chargedj however, in single line — en haie — the onset
of the first rank being supported by the successive charges
of those behind. The ancient formation of the wedge
(cuneus) was not, however, altogether abandoned, whether
for horse or foot. The particular manner in which the
German cavalry composed the wedge, beginning with a
front of seven men, and increasing each rank by one ad-
ditional soldier, as far as to half the depth of the forma-
tion, is very clearly shewn by Fronsperger^. *^Wie
wohl bey den Alton gebraeuchlich gewesen das sie ihre
Schlachtordnung (fur die Keisigen) gespitzt oder in Drey-
angel gemacht haben, also das etwan im ersten Glied
sieben Mann, im andern acht, im dritten neun, im vier-
ten zehn ; also fort an bis auf den halben Theil der Ord-
nung und Hauffen, darnach seien si durchaus geviert
gemacht worden.'' In 1302, a body of Flemish infantry
adopted a similar formation in acting against the French.
'^ Les Fran9ois virent une tres grande bataille des Fla-
mands, qui contint bien huit mil hommes; et avoient
ordonne leur bataille en guise d'un escu, la pointe de-
vant, et s'estoient entrelaciez Pun en P autre, si que on
me les pent percierV

Of the circular formation we have already seen an
example among the Scotch at the battle of Selkirk.
Guiart furnishes another : —

" Renaut, jadis quens de Bouloingne,
Qui mort ne mehaing ne resoingne,
Tant est plain de grant hardement,
Ot fait des le commencement
De serjanz plains de grant prouece
Une closture en reondece.

^ Kriegsbuch, b. 2. fol. 66. of the French in the Mudes mr VArtil-

* MS. Chronicle, cited h^ the Emperor lerie, vol. i. p. 39.

224 ANCIENT ARMOUR

Ou, en reposant, s' aaisoit

Toutes les fois qu' il li plaisoit ;

Et r'issoit de leanz souvent

Quant il avoit pris air ou vent." — Suh an. 1214.

The entire army was usually formed into three "bat-
tles :" sometimes into four ; and occasionally the whole
force was gathered into one body. In 1249 the Im-
perialists, fighting against the Bolognese, distributed
their troops into three corps, while the latter formed
four^. And in 1266, Manfred, in a battle with Charles
d'Anjou, ranged his cavalry in three bodies, while his
adversary divided his army into four parts ^

In front of all were placed the various " gyns" of the
host ; the mangonels, trebuchets, perdriaux, &c., serving
in some degree the purpose of gunnery in our own day.

" Pres du roi devant la baniere
Metent Francois trois Perdriaus,
Jetans pierres aus enniaus
Entre Elamens grosses et males,
Joignant d'eus rot deux Espringoles,
Que gar9ons au tirer avancent."

Guiart.—2^. Par., v. 11,573.

At the battle of Mons-en-Puelle, in 1304, three esprin-
goles were placed in battery before the French army, of
which the force was so great that the quarrels discharged
from them are said to have pierced four or five ranks of
the enemy in succession.

" Li garrot, empene d'arain,
Quatre ou cinq en percent tout outre." — G. Guiart.

The Archers and Cross-bowmen were usually placed

'' Sismondi, Repub. Ital., iii. 105. • Giov. Villani, L. 7. c. 8.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 225

at the wings, the infantry of the communal levy in the
centre, and behind these the mounted men-at-arms.

" Oil d'armes se rangent derrieres." — Ouiart, Annee 1303.

Archers were sometimes intermixed with the cavalry.
Thus, in the 23rd of Edward I., the Earl of Warwick
fighting against the "Welsh, the latter ^^ placed their men-
at-arms fronting the earPs army: they were furnished
with very long spears, which, being set on the ground,
had their points suddenly turned towards the earl and
his company, in order to break the force of the English
cavalry. But the earl had well provided against them ;
for between every two horsemen he had placed an archer,
so that, by their missile weapons, those who held the
lances were put to the rout"^." We have already seen
hodies of archers interspersed with other troops in the
conflict between Edward and Wallace in 1298°.

To defend themselves from the attack of cavalry, the
army occasionally formed a barrier of carts and wagons.

" De chars et de charettes vuides,
Qu'a grant diligence ont atruites,
Ont entr' eus trois rengies faites,
En tel sens et par ordre commune
Que le derriere de chacune
Est mis, si com nous estimons,
A r autre entre les deus limons."

Guiartj 2^. par tie, v. 11,108.

The more usual entrenchment was the ancient one of a
ditch and palissaded bank.

Stratagems were still greatly in vogue, and some of
them are of so dramatic a character that they tell rather
of the jongleur than of the sober historian. Others, with

«» Trivet, Annales, fol. 282. " Ante, page 217.

226 ANCIENT ARMOUE

enough of the marvellous, are less out of the bounds of
probability. In 1250, Matthew Paris informs us, the
Saracens gained a victory over a body of Crusaders,
whom they slew. Desiring to obtain possession of Da-
mietta, which was in the hands of the Christians, ''a.
strong body of them, about equal in number to the Cru-
saders they had slain, treacherously putting on the ar-
mour, and carrying the shields and standards of the
Christians who had fallen, set out thus disguised towards
Damietta ; in order that, having the appearance of French
troops, they might gain admission into the city, and, as
soon as admitted, might kill all they found therein. When
they approached the walls, the Christians on guard looked
forth from the ramparts and towers, and at first thought
they were Christians, exultingly bearing spoils and tro-
phies : but the nearer they approached, the more unlike
Frenchmen they seemed: for they marched hurriedly
and in disordered crowds, and sloped their shields irre-
gularly, more after the manner of Saracens than of French.
And when they reached the extremities of the fortifica-
tions and approached the gates of the city, they were
clearly seen to be Saracens by their black and bearded
faces. But who can fully relate the heartfelt grief of the
Christians when they saw the enemies of the faith giving
vent to their pride and derision, clad in the armour, and
bearing the staildards and painted devices which were so
well known to them"."

The device of equipping several soldiers in similar
arms to the leader of the host, seems also to have been in
use. At the siege of Yiterbo in 1243, Matthew Paris

• Page 687.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 227

tells US, " One illustrious soldier on the Emperor's side,
and adorned with his special arms, (armis ipsius speciali-
bus decor atus^) miserably expired, to the great grief of
the Emperor, being pierced by the quarrel of a cross-
bow. His enemies raised a shout of joy, thinking they
had slain the Emperor himself; but the Emperor, pre-
ceded by his trumpeters, advanced; and, though not
without difficulty, disengaged his army from the fury of
their opponents, who had suddenly pressed forward to
crush them P."

The influence of the stars, the power of lucky and
unlucky days over the issue of battle, were still occa-
sionally acknowledged; not alone by the rude leaders
of a company of men-at-arms, but by the commanders
of armies, by crowned dignitaries. The Emperor Fred-
eric II. had a firm faith in the predictions of astrolo-
gers; he never undertook a march until the fortunate
moment for departure had been fixed by those skilled
in divination; and when, in 1239, he was about to
advance against Treviso, his march was suddenly ar-
rested by an eclipse of the sun^.

The usual Body -armour of the knightly order was, in
the early part of the thirteenth century, of interlinked
chain-mail ; but, in the second half of the century, por-
tions of plate appear, in the form of shoulder-pieces, elbow-
pieces, and knee-pieces. The chain-mail was of hammered
iron, the art of wire-drawing not being found till about the
middle of the next age. Other materials were occasion-
ally employed for defensive purposes : leather, quilting,
scale and jazerant- work, and, at the close of the century,

I* Page 537. *> Rdandini : De factis in March. Tarvis., L. iv. c. 13.

228.

ANCIENT ARMOUR

y

\
y

i\

GREAT SEAL OF KING JOHN.

No. 52.

a kind of armour which has been named Banded-mail,
but of which the structure has not been exactly ascer-
tained. There can be little doubt that, among the more
humble troops, the Coustillers and the Eibauds, every
kind of defensive material was in use which these men
could obtain : a pectoral and a helmet of some sort were
almost indispensable, to protect them from the downward
flight of the arrows, which played so principal a part,
whether in the field or the siege. The knights them-
selves, indeed, did not attempt a uniform costume : on
the contrary, it is often made a reproach to them, that

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 229

each endeavoured to outvie the other in the magnificence
of his apparel. On rare occasions we find a band of
cavaliers who exhibit the marvel of a similar equipment.
When Eichard, earl of Gloucester, visited the Pope, in
1250, "he travelled through the kingdom of France
accompanied by the Countess, his wife, and his eldest
son, Henry, with a numerous suite, and attended by a
large retinue, in great pomp, consisting of forty knights
equipped in new accoutrements, all alike, and mounted
on beautiful horses, bearing new harness, glittering with
gold, and with five wagons and fifty sumpter-horses ; so
that he presented a wonderful and honourable show to
the sight of the astonished French beholders ^"

The usual series of knightly garments was the tunic,
the gambeson, the hauberk, the chausses, the chausson,
and the surcoat. With these are found various acces-
( series : the ailettes, coudieres, poleyns, and greaves.

The Tunic has already been seen in the first seal of
Eichard I., and other monuments. It again appears in
this curious group, part of a martyrdom of Thomas a
Becket, from Harl. MS. 5102, fol. 32, a work of the be-
ginning of the thirteenth century {overleaf.) It is foimd
also in our woodcut No. 63, from Add. MS. 17,687, an
example of the close of the century.

Th^ Gambeson, that quilted garment which we have
seen wasj\^orn as an additional defence beneath the hau-
berk of chain-mail, is in view in the monumental eifigy
from Ilaseley church, OxfordshirCj (woodcut 46,) a figure
seemingly of the middle of this century. It is again very
clearly shewn in our woodcut No. 59, an efiigy in Ash
church, near Sandwich. In both these examples the

' M. Paris, p. 669.

230

ANCIENT ARMOUR AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

No. 53.

vertical lines of quilting are plainly expressed by the
-sculptor. Ducange, in his Observations on the History
of St. Louis, cites an account of the year 1268, which
includes "Expensae pro cendatis et bourra ad Gambe-
sones'." These might, however, have been the Gambe-
sons that formed of themselves the body-armour of the
soldier. It is very clearly distinguished as a horseman's
garment in a passage of the Statutes of Frejus, in 1235 ;
where also we see the gambeson alone accorded to the

Page 74.

232

ANCIENT ARMOUR

[Plate LIV.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 233

foot-fighter: ^'Militem sine equo armato intelligimus
armatum auspergoto et propuncto (with hauberk and
gambeson) et scuto : peditem armatum intelligimus ar-
matum scuto et propuncto seu aspergoto." The Chroni-
con Colmariense, under the year 1298, is still more
explicit : " Armati reputabantur qui galeas ferreas in
capitibus habebant, et qui wambasia, id est, tunicam
spissam ex lino et stuppa, vel veteribus pannis consutam,
et desuper camisiam ferream."

The Hauberk of chain-mail, in the beginning of the
thirteenth century, was made with continuous coif and
gloves, the coif somewhat flattened at the top of the
head, and the gloves not divided into fingers; it de-
scended nearly to the knees, and at the face-opening left
little more than the eyes and nose of the knight in view.
A striking example of the last-named arrangement is af-
forded by the figure here engraved, the sculptured effigy
of "William Longespee, at Salisbury, c. 1227. See also the
seal of King John, p. 228, and the woodcut, No. 53, from
Harl. MS. 5102. The sleeve of the hauberk is sometimes
secured at the wrist by a lace or strap ; as in the figure
of Longespee, in the brass of Sir Eoger de Trumpington,
c. 1289, (woodcut 73,) and the effigy at Norton, Durham,
of the end of the century (woodcut 70). In order to
liberate the hand occasionally from its fingerless glove,
an aperture was left in the centre of the palm. This is
clearly shewn in our woodcuts, No. 80 and 62 ; the first
from the Lives of the Offas, Cotton MS., Nero, D. i. ;
and the other from Eoy. MS. 2, A. xxii. The glove
turned off and hanging from the wrist may be seen in
Plate 17 of Hefner's Trachten, and in the sculptured
effigy of a knight in Bingham church, Nottinghamshire.

234 ANCIENT ARMOUR

In the second half of the century the gloves of the
hauberk were divided for the fingers ; from which we
may suppose that the armour-smith had by this time
improved his art by making his mail- web more flexible
and more delicate. Early examples occur in the sculp-
tured efiigies of knights at Eampton, Cambridgeshire,
and Danbury, Essex; the former figured in Stothard's
Monuments, Plate 20 ; the latter in Strutt's Dress and
Habits, Plates 45 and 46. Instances both of the undi-
vided and the fingered glove will be found among our
engravings. Occasionally the sleeves of the hauberk
terminate at the wrist, as those of the archers in cuts 47
and 48; in these instances obviously for the greater
freedom in handling the bow. Where the lancer's hau-
berk is thus fashioned, the hand has the supplementary
defence of a gauntlet. Gauntlets of scalework occur in
a knightly brass, c. 1280, engraved by Waller, Part x.,
and Boutell*, p. 113. To the elbows of the hauberk
were sometimes affixed, but rarely in this century,
plates of metal called coudieres. An effigy in Salisbury
Cathedral, circa 1260, (Stothard, PI. xxx.,) offers a good
example. There is another, a knight of the Clinton
family, in the church of Coleshill, Warwickshire. The
hauberk was subject to a ftirther variety : it was made
with or without a Collar, Matthew Paris tells us that
in a hastilude "at the abbey of Wallenden" in 1252,
the lance of Eoger de Lembum entered beneath the
helm of his antagonist and pierced his throat, for he was
uncovered in that part of his body, and without a collar
{carens collario). Ducange cites an analogous passage:
" Venitque ictus inter cassidem et collarium, dejecitque

Brasses and Slabs.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 235

caput ejus multum a corpore""." The hauberk without
collar may be seen in the figures of Largesse and De-
honnairete in the pictures of the Painted Chamber (Yet.
Mon., vol. vi.)

The Continuous Coif was in the early part of the cen-
tury nearly flat at the top ; in the second haK the round-
topped coif was more usual. The flattened form is well
shewn in the statue of Longespee (woodcut, No. 54), and
in those of De I'Isle and De Braci, (Stothard, Plates xix.
and XX.) The rounded crown occurs frequently in our
woodcuts. The coif was drawn over the head by means
of an opening in the side, and was then fastened by a
lace, a buckle, or a tie. The manner in which the lace,
passing through alternate groups of the links forming the
coif, is made to secure the loose to the fixed part of the
cap, is excellently shewn in the figures of Longespee and
the so-called Duke of I^ormandy in Gloucester Cathedral,
(Stothard, Plate xxii.) A good example of the fastening
by strap and buckle is famished by the fragment of an
effigy found at Exeter, engraved in the Archaeological
Journal, vol. ix. p. 188. The coif adjusted by a tie is
seen in our woodcut, TTo. 62. The side-piece hanging
free is shewn in a knightly statue of this century in the
Abbey Church of Pershore, Worcestershire, engraved in
the Journal of the Archaeological Association, vol. iv.
p. 319. The coif is sometimes encircled by a fillet. See
our woodcuts, No. 46, 59, and 63. The circles are of
gold-colour in figures of the Painted Chamber (PL xxx.) :
in the effigy of William de Yalence the band is richly
jewelled, (Stothard, PI. xliv.)

Many examples shew that the warrior often went to

« Tho. Archid. in Hist. Salonit., c. 28. Ducange, v. Colla/rivm.

236 ANCIENT ARMOUR

battle without any kind of helmet over the coif of chain-
mail ; though it is probable that some additional defence,
whether of plate or of quilted-work, was in this case worn
beneath it. The regular and compact form of the crown
in many ancient examples favours this belief; and a
modem instance from the East helps to confirm it. A
suit of Birman armour in the Tower of London has a
skull-cap of plate which is quite hidden from view by
the outer armour of the head. In the effigy at Bingham,
IN'otts., already mentioned, the upper part of the coif is
so large that it alihost gives the notion of a turban being
worn beneath. The coif used in battle without any fur-
tiier defence over it, may be seen in our engravings,
No.*^80 and 82.

On other occasions, the mail-coif had the additional
armament of a helmet of some kind. This may be better
considered in our general notice of helmets.

The Hood of Chain-mail appears to have been designed
as an improvement on the Continuous Coif by rendering
unnecessary the side-opening and the lacing about the
face. But the hood had this great disadvantage; that,
as it lay on the shoulders of the knight, it permitted the
lance of the adversary to pass beneath, it and deal a
deadly thrust on the unguarded neck. This fact is of
constant occurrence, as well in the chronicles as in the
pictures of the times. The hood, like the coif, is both
flat-topped and round. The flattened hood is seen in the
effigy of De PIsle, (Stothard, PI. xx.) The round appears
in the brasses of Sir John D' Aubemoun (woodcut, No. hh\
and Sir Eoger de Trumpington (Waller, Pt. iv., and our
woodcut, No. 73) : in the statues of De Yere, Crouch-
back, and Shurland, figured by Stothard ; and in our en-

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

237

gravings, No. 59 and 63. A simple lace, passing across
the forehead and tying
behind, bound the hood
firmly to the head. The
manner of this may be
seen on comparing the
brass of Sir John D'Au-
bemoun and the statue of
SirEobert Shurland. Both
hood and coif appear occa-
sionally j;o have been slip-
ped over the head and suf-
fered to rest on the shoul-
ders. Compare the effigy
in the Temple Church
(Stothard, PL xxxviii.),
Hefiier's plate 27, and
our woodcuts No. 56 and
70. The hood is some-
times shewn as made of a
cloth-like material, (cloth,
leather, or pourpointerie?)
as in the front figure of
our engraving, No. 68,
from a MS. in the library
of Metz. Its colour is
brown, while the banded
mail in this drawing is
iron-colour. (Hefner, PL
Lxxvii.) Plain and en-
riched fillets, which we

have seen were worn over No. 55.

the mail-coif, appear also upon the hood. The plain circle

238

ANCIENT ARMOUR

occurs in the Gosberton effigy (Stothard, PL xxxyit.),
and in our woodcuts, No. 59 and 63. Enriched examples
are found in the sculptures of De Yere and Crouchback
(Stothard, PI. xxxvi. and xlii.).

Beneath the head-defence of chain-mail was worn a
coif of softer material, to mitigate the roughness of the
iron-cloth; and perhaps also to assist in protecting the

No. 56.

head by being made of quilted- work. See our woodcut,
No. 56, from a miniature given by Willemin (Monumens

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 239

Inedits, j. PI. cii.) Compare also Painted Chamber, PL
XXXV., and Willemin, j. PI. cxliii.

Besides the Hauberk already described, which how-
eyer forms in a great majority of instances the body-
armour of the knights of this time, we have several
varieties of defensive equipment. The Haubergeon is
still mentioned, and seems to imply, not alone the
smaller hauberk of chain-mail, but sometimes a garment
of inferior defence and different material. There is also
a chain-mail hauberk made with sleeves which reach but
little below the elbows. A good example occurs on folio
9 of Eoy. MS. 12, F. xiii. ; a Bestiarium. See also the
figures of Virtues in Plates xxxviii. and xxxix. of the
Painted Chamber.

The Gambeson or Pourpoint, or Gambesiata Lorica^ as
it is called in a will of the year 1286, frequently appears
as forming of itself the coat of fence. It is thus noticed
in the Statute of Winchester, already quoted; where,
while the first class of tenants are prescribed a **hauber,
chapel de feer," &c., the third class are to have " parpoint,
chapel de feer, espe e cutel." Compare also the Statute
of Arms of 1252. In the eighth of Edward I. we read
that "Eogerus de Wanstede tenet dimid. serjantiam
ibidem per servitium inveniendi unum Yalectum per
octo dies, sumptibus propriis, cum praepuncto, capella
ferrea et lancea, custodire castrum de Portsmut tempore
guerrae''.'' In the " Ordonnances sur le Commerce et
les Metiers," the duties of the pourpointers of Paris at
the close of this century are very exactly defined. " Se
Ton fait cotes gamboisiees, que elles soient couchees

^ Plac. Coron., 8 Ed. I., Eot. 41.

240 ANCIENT ARMOUR

deuement sur neufves estoffes, et pointees, enfermees,
faites a deux fois, bien et nettement emplies, de bonnes
estoffes, soient de coton ou dautres estoffes ''." Again:
^^Item que nul doresenavant ne puist faii-e cote gam-
boisiee ou il n'ait trois livres de coton tout net, si elles
ne sent faites en fremes, et au dessous soient faites en-
tremains, et que il y ait un ply de vieil linge emprez
Pendroit de demie aulne et demy quartier devant et
autant derriere." From these enactments we see that
the counterpointers of the thirteenth century were but
too apt to construct their armours of unstable materials,
and to stuff them with a niggard hand.

The Cuirie (Cuirena) was, as its name implies, origi-
nally a defence of leather: it was also made of cloth.
It covered the body alone, requiring the addition of
Brachieres to complete the coat. Thus, in the EoU of
Purchases made for the "Windsor tournament in the
sixth year of Edward I., we have : ^^ De Milon. le Cuireur
(Milo the Currier) xxxiij. quiret, p'c pec iij.5." Each
took two ells of the cloth called Carda in its construction :
*^It pro qualibet quirett ij. uln card." The sleeves ap-
pear to have been of pourpointerie : "It pro xxxviij. par
brach, X. bukeranii ^"

An account cited by Ducange, of the date 1239, has :

— '^Pro hemesio suo, videlicet baccis et cuireniis suis

affecturis ix. lib. v. sol. Item pro tribus baccis et tribus

cuirenis ad eosdem, iv. lib. iv. sol.'' See the glossarists

under Baca, Guiart also mentions the cuirie : —

" Hyaumes, haubers, tacles, cuiries,
Fondent par les grans cops et fraingnent."

Annee 1268.

y a. 1296. * Archaeologia, vol. xvii. pp. 302, 304 and 305.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 241

The Cargan seems to have been a collar or tippet of
chain -Tn^iL It occurs as part of a footman's armour in
the Statutes of Frejus, A.D. 1233: ^^Peditem armatum
intelligimus armatum scuto et propuncto, seu auspergoto,
et cofa seu capello ferreo, et cargan, vel sine cargan/' &c.
The glossarists derive this and the cognate word, carcan-
num^ from KapKivos^ genus vinculi; and, if this deriva-
tion is the true one, a gorget of chain-mail may be fairly
inferred.

Other materials for armour than those mentioned above
appear during the thirteenth century; but, before noticing
these, it may be well to take a glance at the remaining
parts of the knightly suit as they occur in the usual
monuments of the time ; then to examine the appendages
which are attached to the body-armour, as the ailettes ;
after which we will notice the exceptional materials em-
ployed for defensive purposes ; and lastly, those portions
of the warrior's equipment which have not been included
in the above scheme of investigation.
, The Chausses, in the early part of the thirteenth cen-
tury were entirely of chain-mail, covering the whole leg ;
as shewn in our woodcuts, No. 46, 52, and 54. Some-
times they were tightened below the knee with a lace,
as in the two Salisbury effigies (Stothard, Plates xvii.
and XXX., and our woodcut, No. 54.) A variety of this
defence was laid on the front part of the leg, and then
laced up behind.! See woodcut, No. 53, from Harl. MS.
5102, fol. 32, a book of the early part of the century;
and our numbers 56 and 62, towards the close of this
period. Compare also Plates xxxiii. of Hefner, Plate
Liv. of Strutt's Horda, and folio 10 of Koy. MS. 12,
F. XIII.

24a ANCIENT ARMOUR

To the chausses, whether of chain-mail or of banded-
mail, are sometimes added Poleyns (or knee-pieces) of
plate. It is often, however, difficult to determine whether
the poleyns are fixed to the chausses or the chausson,
from the upper edge of them being covered by the hau-
berk. A good example of the chausses armed with the
knee-piece is offered by the knightly statue in Salisbury
Cathedral (Stothard, PL xxx.), circa 1260. See also our
woodcuts, No. 75 and 77 : the first from Add. MS. 11,639,
fol. 520; the latter from a glass-painting in the north
transept of Oxford Cathedral. A German example given
by Hefaer (Pt. i. PL lxxvii.), from a manuscript illu-
minated at Metz c. 1280, is copied in our woodcut, 'No.
68. Poleyns are named in the Wardrobe Account of
28 Ed. I. (1300): ^'factura diversorum armorum, vexil-
lorum, et penocellorum, pro Domino Edwardo filio Eegis,
et Johanne de Lancastria, jamberis, poleyns, platis, uno
eapello ferri, una cresta cum clavis argenti pro eodem
capello," &c.

Towards the close of the thirteenth century the Chaus-^
ses are most commonly accompanied with a Chausson of
leather or quilted- work, the purpose of which was pro-
bably to obviate the inconvenience of the long chausses
of metal in riding. It is found plain, gamboised in ver-
tical lines, and sometimes richly diapered. The plain
chausson is well shewn in Stothard' s Plates xxii. and
XXVI., effigies at Gloucester and in the Temple Church,
London. The gamboised chausson is seen in this draw-
ing of an ivory chess-piece preserved in the Ashmolean
Museum. See also the effigy of a De Vere at Hatfield
Broadoak, (Stothard, PL xxxvi.) An excellent example
of the pourpointed chausson worked in a rich diaper is

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

243

No. 57.

offered by the brass of De Bures, 1302 (Waller, Pt. 2,
and BoutelPs ^'Brasses and Slabs"). A curious variety
of the chausson and chausses is found in the figure of a
knight from Eoy. MS. 2, A. xxii. fol. 219, given in our
woodcut, No. 62 ; the chausson here being of chain-mail,
while the chausses appear to be of rivetted plates. A
chausson of chain-mail again appears in our cut, No. 86,
from the Painted Chamber. To the chausson were usually
attached knee-pieces of some rigid material : metal, cuir
houilli^ or a mixture of both. See our woodcuts, Nos. 59
and 63 ; an effigy in Ash Church near Sandwich, and an
illumination from a German manuscript. Add. MS. 17,687,
both of the end of this century. Compare also the effigy
at Gosberton (Stothard, PI. xxxvii.), and those of De Yere
and De Bures cited above. Among the embellishments
of these poleyns are sometimes found little shields of
arms; as in our woodcut, No. 70, the effigy of an un-

r2

244

ANCIENT ARMOUR

known knight in Norton Churcli, Durham, c. 1300*, and
in the statue of Brian Fitz Alan, in Bedale Church, York-
shire, engraved in HoUis's Effigies, Pt. 4, and in Blore's
Monuments.

At the close of this century first appear the Greaves,
of metal or cuir bouilli, covering the front of the leg from
the knee to the instep. They were probably of German
introduction, for their Latin name was Bainhergce^ from
the German Beinbergen ; and it seems likely that the
Germans may have copied them from the examples of
classic times with which they had become familiar during
their wars in Italy. In the south of Europe, the greaves

• Copied from the figure by Blore and Le Keux in Surtees* Durham, iij. 155.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 245

were abeady become of a highly ornamental character,
as we may see from this sculpture of Gulielmus Balnis,
1289, from a bas-relief in the Annunziata Convent at
Florence^; while in England they do not once appear
among our monumental effigies or on our royal seals.
'Not can a single example be found among the pictures
that adorned the royal palace of "Westminster. They
are seen, however, among the illustrations of a manu-
script of Matthew Paris' Lives of the two Offas, (Cott.
MS., Nero, D. 1,) a work usually assigned to the thir-
teenth century, but perhaps not earlier than the next
age. Our woodcut. No. 80, has an example from this
manuscript, folio 7. On comparing the two engravings
given by us, it will be seen that, while the vellum
picture shews the defence below the knee only, the
Italian figure has it both below and above. The abund-
ance of ornament in the latter specimen seems to imply
a moulded material — cuir houilli? Antique examples,
however, found at Pompeii and elsewhere, are of metal,
highly ornamented with chasing and embossed-work.
The name Bainberg occurs in several ancient docu-
ments. In the Lex Eipuaria we have: "Bainbergas
bonas pro VI. sol. tribuat." And in the will of St.
Everard, duke of Erejus: "Bruniam unam, helmum 1.
et manicam 1. ad ipsam opus, hemherga IL" &c. And
again: "Bruniam unam cum halsberga et manicam
unam, hemivergas duas." The word in the last passage
being probably an error for heinbergas.

In the last quarter of the thirteenth century appear
those curious appendages to the knightly suit, the

'' Add. MS. 6728. Kerrich CoUections.

246 ANCIENT ARMOUR

Ailettes. But they do not occur in any frequency till
the beginning of the fourteenth century. "We shall,
therefore, in noticing this novelty, refer to some ex-
amples of the later period. From their name, ailettes^
Fr. ; alette^ Ital. ; and alettce in the Latin of the period,
they appear to have been a French or Italian invention.
An early notice of them is in the Roll of Purchases for
the Windsor Tournament in 1278, where they are made of
leather covered with the kind of cloth called Carda. ^' De
eodem (Milo the Currier) xxxviij. par alect cor p'c par.
viij. d/' ^^ It pro xxxviij. par alett s. pro q par di uln
card. s. xix. uln." They were fastened with silk laces,
supplied by '^ Eichard Paternoster." " D Rico pal nr viij.
Duoden laqueorum seric pro alett p'c duoden viij. d.''"
Sir Roger de Trumpington was one of the thirty-eigfit
knights engaged in this tournament, and it is remark-
able that his monumental brass furnishes one of the
earliest and best pictorial examples of the ailette that
has come down to us. (See our woodcut, No. 73.)
There is one instance of it, and only one, in the pictures
of the Painted Chamber, PI. xxxv. It is ensigned with
a bird. In monumental statues it is very rare. The
figure here given is from a knightly tomb in the Church
of Ash-by-Sandwich, seemingly of the close of this cen-
tury'^. The ailettes appear behind the shoulders, rising
from the slab beneath, about the eighth of an inch.
They have been quadrangular, the outer comers having
become broken by accident: there is no trace of any
fastening, and no remain of colour. The other monu-

«= Archaeologia, vol. xvii. p. 302, seq. lent by the Council of the Archaeological
^ This illustration has been kindly Institute.

Plate LIX.]

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

247

1

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.

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Villi 1 1 I '»fe4 wBPiB

lIMl 1 m 1 W!^^'^™B ^' i' >'™

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AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 249

mental statues in England exhibiting the ailette are
those of a Pembridge in Clehongre Church, Hereford-
shire (figured, with details, in HoUis's Effigies, Pt. 5),
and the so-called Crusader at Great Tew, Oxfordshire.
The Clehongre figure is especially curious as shewing
the ailette fastened by its ^4aqueus," which appears on
the outside. In Switzerland there is the statue of Eudolf
von Thierstein, at Basle : the ailettes here are square,
and fixed on the side of the figure. (Hefner, Pt. 2, PL
XLi.) Our English monumental brasses furnish several
examples. See those of Septvans and Buslingthorpe,
given by "Waller, and the Gorleston brass, Plate li. of
Stothard. The curious painted windows at Tewkesbury,
figured in full by Carter (Sculpture and Painting), and
in part by Shaw (Dress and Decorations), afford the best
illustration contributed by pictured glass. Good examples
are found in the ivory carvings and seals of the period.
The seals of Edward the Third, as duke and as king, are
well-known instances ; and the ivory casket engraved by
Carter, Plates cxiii. and cxiv., offers a singular variety of
this accessory. Illuminated manuscripts furnish abun-
dant examples. See, for instance, Eoy. MSS., 14, E. iii.
and 2, B. vii., and Add. MS. 10,292. The LoutereU
Psalter has a good specimen, copied in Carter's work
named above, and in the Vetusta Monumenta, French
monumental examples, we learn from M. Allou, are very
scarce : "L'accessoire qui nous occupe est fort rare dans
les monuments frangais. Nous en trouvons des exemples
dans les dessins qui nous ont ete communiques par M.
Achille Deville, des pierres sepulchrales de Eobert Du-
plessis, 1322, de Eobert d' Estouteville, 1331, et de Jean
de Lorraine, Due de Brabant, 1341 ^"

* M<^moires de la Soc. des Antiq. de France, t. xiii. p. 339.

250

ANCIENT ARMOUR

The forms of the ailette are various : the most frequent
is the quadrangular, as in the Ash Church effigy given
above, and in this example from Add. MS. 10,293, fol.
58; a book dated in 1316. The round form occurs on

No. 60.

the ivory casket engraved in vol. 4 of the Journal of the
ArchoDological Association, and in Plates cxiii. and cxiv.
of Carter's Sculpture and Painting. The pentagonal is
seen in an illumination of
Sloane MS. 3,983, engraved
as the frontispiece to Strutt's
Dress and Habits ; the cru-
ciform, in the figure of a
knight from Eoy. MS., 2, A.
XXII. fol. 219 (our woodcut,
No. 62). And on folio 94^°.
of Eoy. MS., 14, E. iij. is an
example, the only one ever
observed by the writer, of a
lozenge-formed ailette. It No. 6i.

is clear, from the Cross on the shield having the same

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 251

position as the other, that the ailette is not a square one
worn awry.

The size of this appendage differs greatly in different
monuments. In the round example of the ivory casket,
cited above, it is scarcely larger than the palm of the
hand: while, in an illumination of Eoy. MS., 20, D. 1,
fol. IS""", it is little less than the ordinary shield of the
period. Its position is generally behind the shoulder, or
at the side of it : sometimes it appears in front : but too
strict an interpretation must not be given to the rude
memorials of these times.

The use of the ailette has somewhat perplexed anti-
quarian writers. The French archeeologists of the pre-
,sent day confess that it is "difficile d'en expliquer
r usage V Some writers have considered it as a simply
defensive provision: others look upon it as an ensign,
to indicate to his followers the place of a leader in the
field. Against the supposition that it was merely ar-
morial, may be urged that in many cases it has no
heraldic bearing at all: sometimes it has a cross only,
sometimes a diaper pattern, and sometimes it is quite
blank. See examples of all these varieties in the Tewkes-
bury glass paintings, the Gorleston brass (Stothard, PI.
LI.), and the Buslingthorpe brass (Waller, Pt. 10). In
vellum pictures it is often seen worn by knights in the
tilt; where the heraldic bearings already exhibited on
the shield, crest, and surcoat of the rider, and on the
caparisons of the horse, would to no useful purpose be
repeated on the ailette. In the case of the Clehongre
example, quoted above, the outside knotting of the lace

' Annales Archeol., t. iv. p. 2l2.

^

252 ANCIENT ARMOUR.

does not seem consistent with the display of armorial
distinctions on the wing beneath. In Germany they
are called Tartschen (Hefaer: Trachten^ Pt. 2, PI. xli.),
and their purpose of shields seems most in accordance
with the numerous ancient evidences in which they
appear. The knights, indeed, not content with their
panoply of steel, seem in the course of the middle-ages
to have fortified themselves with a complete outwork
of shields. Thus we have the ailettes, the shield proper,
the garde-bras^ or elbow-shield, the shoulder-shield, the
Beinschiene^ or shield for the legs, the vamplate on the
lance, and the steel front of the saddle, which was in
fact but another shield for the defence of the knight's
body. Eeferring once more to the Clehongre effigy, it
will be observed that, while the ^^ defaut de la cuirasse"
(where the arm joins the body) is strengthened in front
with a steel roundel, this assailable point is covered at
the hack of the arm with the ailette. See the Details on
HoUis's third plate of this monument. The analogy be-
tween these defences and those curious upright pieces of
steel on the shoulders, so frequent in the armours of the
sixteenth century, will at once be recognised.

Ailettes of a superb construction appear in the In-
ventory of the effects of Piers Gaveston in 1313 : ^^Item,
autres divers garnementz des armes le dit Pieres, ovek
les alettes garniz et frettez de perles^." They are named
also in the Inventory of the goods of Umfrey de Bohun
in 1322: "iiij peire de alettes des armes le Counte de
Hereford^"

Besides the defences of chain-mail, which, as we have

8 New Fcedera, vol. ii. pt. i. p. 203. »> Archaeol. Journ., vol. ii. p. 349.

254

ANCIENT AEMOUR

[Plate LXII.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 255

seen, formed the usual armour of the knights of the thir-
teenth century, there were other materials occasionally
employed for the warrior's habit. Scale-work still ap-
pears, though in but few monuments ; and it seems to
have been used for small portions only of the equip-
ment. See the brass figured by Waller, Part x., and
Boutell, page 113.

In this singular figure of a Imight from Eoy. MS. 2, A.
xxii. fol. 219, the leg- defences are composed of a kind of
Bezanted Armour : small roundels of metal, placed con-
tiguously, appear to be rivetted to a fabric of cloth or to
leather: forming a garment very similar to the ^^ penny
plate armour" of the sixteenth century. In the original
drawing, the chausses are shaded with blue : but, singu-
larly enough, the chausson is shaded with red, though it
seems clearly to be intended for chain-mail. The date of
the figure appears to be about the close of the thirteenth
century. As a curious illustration of bezanted armour,
the late Mr. Hudson Turner told the writer of these pages
that he had seen in an ancient record an account of a hau-
berk of Edward III., studded with gold florins ; though,
with the usual caution of the antiquarian discoverer, he
withheld the name and locality of the document.

In the engraving given overleaf, from Add. MS. 17,687,
a German illumination of the end of this century, we
have an example of Studded armour. Garments present-
ing an exterior sprinkled with studs are of frequent oc-
currence in the next age, and we shall therefore freely
use the memorials of that time in illustration of our sub-
ject ; and indeed we may gather some valuable evidences
from existing armours of Eastern manufacture. Many a
mystery of middle-age lore may be unravelled by an

256 ANCIENT ARMOUR

attentive examination of Oriental productions. As the
surface only of the military studded garments is presented
to our view in ancient monuments, we can seldom deter-
mine with exactness their construction: but, from the
comparison of various examples, it seems probable that
there were not less than four or five varieties of this kind
of apparel. First, we have quilted- work, in which the
studs appear to be used for holding together the com-
ponent parts of the fabric. We have already noticed an
example of the kind in our preceding division (woodcut,
No. 37). The engraving now before us seems to re-
present a similar armour: the spots are coloured of a
red-brown on a ground of light grey. In the fine manu-
script of Meliadus, Add. MS. 12,228, not only parts of
the knightly suit, but the saddles of the horses, are seeded
with studs; which seems distinctly to imply a quilted
covering. See also the effigies engraved by Stothard,
(Plates Lx. and lxxiii.) And in the Tower collection
will be found Chinese armour of modern date, formed of
a quilted garment sprinkled with metal studs. The next
kind of Studded armour is that of which a real specimen
of the fourteenth century was found by Dr. Hefner in
the excavations of the old Castle of Tannenberg in Ger-
many : a relic which throws the clearest light on the
costume of many a knightly effigy of that period. The
defence is thus contrived : strips of metal, like hooping,
are placed horizontally across the body, the upper edge
of each splint being perforated for rivets. These strips
slightly overlap each other: a piece of velvet, or other
material of a similar kind, is then laid over the whole,
and by rows of rivets fastened to the iron splints beneath.
The velvet being of a rich hue, and the rivet-heads gilt

Plate LXIII.J

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

257

ANCIENT ARMOUE AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 259

or silvered, the garment presents exactly tlie appearance
of those knightly suits in which spots of gold or silver
are seen studding the whole superficies of a dress of
crimson or other brilliant tincture. The relic in question
is figured and minutely described in the admirable tract
on the results of the find by Doctors Hefner and Wolf:
" Die Burg Tannenberg und ihre Ausgrabungen." The
Stapelton brass, of which there is a facsimile in the
Craven Ord Collection in the British Museum, and an
engraving in Stothard's work, and the brass at Aveley in
Essex (Waller, Pt. 1), seem to exhibit the armour in
question. Foreign examples occur in the figures of
Conrad von Saunsheim and those in Bamberg Cathedral,
given by Hefner in Part II. of the Trachten, The jazerant
coats of the fifteenth century, of which several real spe-
cimens yet remain to us, are of a very similar construc-
tion. A third kind of Stud- work seems to differ from
the articulated sort described above, in its basis being
uniform and rigid, while the surface exhibits the same
features, of a coloured ground-work spangled with bosses
of gold or silver. See Stothard's Plates lxxvi. and xciii.
A fourth variety appears to be described in this passage
of the Inventory of the effects of Piers Gaveston : " Item,
en un autre coflfre une peire de plates enclouez et gamiz
d'argent, od quatre cheynes d'argent, coverz dun drap de
velvet vermail besaunte d'orV Here we have a garment
of velvet spotted with gold, covering an armour nailed
with silver: clearly, therefore, differing from the pre-
ceding kinds, where the rivets unite the component ma-
terials into one vestment. A further item of the In-

' New Rymer, vol. ii. pt. i. p. 203.

s 2

iiSO ANCIENT ARMOUR

ventory seems to shew still more clearly that the velvet
coat (whether bezanted or not) was distinct from the iron
defence : "Item, deux cotes de velvet pur plates coverir."
Finally, another kind of studded military garment, of
which we trace the existence through the examples of
Modern Asia, consisted of several thicknesses of pliable
stuflp, held together by rivets with bossed heads which
appear on the surface. In the Museum of the United
Service Institution may be seen a Chinese armour con-
structed after this method, but having the coat lined at
the breast with a few plates of iron about the size of
playing-cards. In other examples, the studs are not
rivetted, but only sewn down upon the garment.

Towards the close of the thirteenth century we find an
armour offering a new appearance, to which has been
given the name of Banded Mail. Notwithstanding much
careful consideration, its exact structure has not yet been
discovered, though the representations of it are very
abundant. For a whole century, manuscript illumina-
tions, monumental brasses, painted windows, royal and
baronial seals, metal chasings and sculptures of various
kinds, afford us an infinity of examples; in none of which
has hitherto been detected the exact evidence either of
its material or its construction. Monumental sculptures,
from their large size and the careful finish of their de-
tails, might have been expected to solve a problem which
they only perplex. The effigy^ here engraved, of a knight

'' Three sculptured effigies had abeady fortune to find, in the little church of

been noticed in England, having defences Newton Solney in Derbyshire, the monu-

of Banded-mail, when in the course of a ment here figured. See Archaol. Joum.,

tour in the midland counties with an vol. vii. p. 360. The other statues are

archaeological friend, the Rev. Mr. Parke, those at Tewkesbury, Dodford, Northants,

of Lichfield, the WTiter had the good and Tollard Royal, Wilts. The engrav-

PLATE LXIV.] AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

261

ANCIENT ARMOUR AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

263

of the De Sulney family, exhibits the warrior armed from
head to foot in a suit of banded-mail; and in the fol-
lowing woodcut we have given a portion of the armour

xmrn

No. 65.

of this figure, of its real size. The profile view has been
copied with particular care, in the hope that it might be
of use in determining the structure of this very singular
defence. By many writers this fabric has been described
as pourpointerie ; by others it has been considered as
only a conventional mode of representing the ordinary
chain-mail. Mr. Kerrich, whose opinions will always be

ing of the Sulney eflfigy and the following
three woodcuts illustrative of Banded-
mail have been obligingly lent by the

Central Committee of the Archaeologieal
Institute.

264

ANCIENT ARMOUR

received with the greatest respect, speaking of the rows
of little arcs used to express the latter defence, says:
"When there are lines between the rows, whether two
or only one, I conceive it means still but the same
thingV M. Pettier, in the text to "Willemin's Monu-
ments Inedits, does not distinguish the so-called banded-
mail from the other, but names it simply "armure de
mailles""." But it seems difficult to believe that the
common chain-mail could be intended, so widely different
are the two modes of representation, whether in sculpture
or in painting. Observe, for instance, the details — espe-
cially the portion in profile — from the effigy at Newton
Solney. And in the following subject from the Eomance
of Meliadus, (Add. MS. 12,228, f. 79,) there seems no
assignable reason for marking one figure so differently
from the rest, unless the armour itself were of a distinct
kind^

No. 66.

^ Kerrich Collections in Brit. Mus.,
Add. MS. 6,731, f. 4.
"' Vol. i. p. 77.
" We are again obliged to boiTOw il-

lustrations of our subject from the four-
teenth century. This manuscript ap-
pears to have been illuminated about
1360.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 265

That the banded defences under consideration were of
pourpointing is still more unlikely; for a gamboised
garment, whether of velvet, silk, cloth, or whatever
material, would, in painted representations, exhibit those
various colours which are so lavishly displayed in the
other portions of the knightly attire. Yet a careful
examination of many hundred figures in illuminated
manuscripts has failed in detecting a single instance of
positive colour on banded-mail, except such as may be
referred to the metals. Green, scarlet, crimson, diaper
or ray, never appear. But gold or a golden tincture,
silver or white, and grey of various shades, occur con-
tinually. And all these seem to indicate a fabric in
which metal plays at least a conspicuous part. The ex-
amples among vellum-paintings, in which the banding is
tinted grey or left white, are so numerous that one can
scarcely open a manuscript of the period without finding
them. Instances of it in silver may be seen in Cotton
MSS., Yitellius, A. xiii., and I^ero, D. vi. ; in Eoy. MS.
20, D. i., and Add. MS. 12,228. On folio 217^^ of the
last-named book will be found the figure of a knight
whose banded-mail is gilt. The same kind of armour,
in gold colour, appears in the windows of Beer Ferrers
Church, Devonshire, and of Fulbom Church, Cambridge-
shire. See Lysons' Devonshire, p. 326, and Kerrich
Collections, Add. MS. 6,730, fol. 61, for faithful copies
of these examples. If from the foregoing evidences we
derive the belief that the basis of this fabric was metal,
from a monument figured in the superb work of Coimt
Bastard, Peintures des Manuscrits, ^c, we gather that
the lines of arcs were rings; for the fillet that binds
the coif round the temples is clearly passed through

266 ANCIENT ARMOUR

alternate groups of rings, exactly as in the ordinary
mail-hood. The figure is from a French Bible of the
beginning of the fourteenth century, and oc-
curs in the seventh number of the Peintures.
In fairness we must admit that this example
is not altogether inadmissible as an evidence
in favour of the theory of common chain- No. 67.
mail. And on that side may be ranged the very curious
figure of Offa the First, given in our woodcut, 'No. 80,
from the " Lives of the Two Offas," by Matthew Paris
(Cott. MS., Nero, D. i. fol. 7); where the upper part of
the warrior's coif is of " banded-mail," while the lower
portion is marked in the manner usually adopted to ex-
press the ordinary chain-mail.

Different from all these is the interpretation offered
by M. de Yigne in his Recueil de Costumes du Moy en-
Age, On Plate lvi. of that work, the author has given
a series of sketches, shewing the supposed construction
of various ancient armours. The banded mail is repre-
sented as formed of rows of overlapping rings, sewn
down on leather or other similar material, "avec les
coutures couvertes de petites bandes de cuir.'' Yon
Leber, in his sketch of medieval armour, has the same
notion: " Vom 13. bis nach Anfang des 14. Jahrh. der
lederstreifige Eingharnisch als unschone und unbequeme
Eitterhulle°." This interpretation, however, is at vari-
ance with those ancient monuments where the inside of
the defence exhibits the ring- work as well as the exterior.
See our print of the De Sulney effigy. A more impro-
bable garment, to say the least of it, than a hauberk of

• Wien's kaiserliches Zeughaus.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 267

leather, faced with mail and lined with mail, can scarcely
be conceived. Other examples of the hauberk, shewing
the banding on the inside, are furnished by* the brass of
De Creke (Waller, Pt. viii. ; Boutell, p. 39), a brass at
Minster, Isle of Sheppey (Stothard, PI. Liv. ; Boutell,
p. 42), in the effigy of Sir John D'Aubemoun (Stothard,
PL LX.), and the brass at Ghent, figured in the Archaeo-
logical Journal, vol. vii. p. 287.

Sometimes the knight's horse is bardedwith banded-
mail, as in the figure from a manuscript in the Library
of Cambrai, given by De Yigne in his Recueil de Cos-
tumes^ vol. ii., plate viii. In Eoy. MS. 20, D. i. fol. 330,
a work of about the close of the thirteenth century, are
elephants with similar caparisons: on their backs are
castles, full of fighting men.

"We have abeady noticed that four sculptured effigies
with banded-mail have been observed in England. The
Tewkesbury figure is given by StothaM; an example
further curious from the hauberk being sculptured as
ordinary chain-mail, while the camail alone is of the
banded work. In the *^ Memoirs," p. 125, Stothard,
writiag of this camail to Mr. Kerrich, says : " Amongst
other curious things I have met with, is a figure which
has some remarkable points about it; but, for the dis-
covery of these, I devoted a whole day in clearing away
a thick coating of whitewash which concealed them.
The mail attached to the helmet was of that kind so
frequently represented in drawings, and which you have
had doubts whether it was not another way of repre-
senting that sort we are already acquainted with. I
am sorry that I know no more of its construction now
than before I met with it." The effigy at Dodford,

268

ANCIENT ARMOUR

near Weedon, is engraved in Baker's JSTorthamptonshire,
vol. i. p. 360. The knight has hauberk, chausses and
coif of banded-mail, with poleyns, coutes and cervelliere
of plate. The figure at ToUard Eoyal, "Wilts, has not
been engraved; but from some memorandums kindly
furnished by a friend, it appears that this knight is
habited in hauberk, chausses and coif of banded- mail,
with a skull-cap of plate.

Compare also the effigy of gilded metal in Westmin-
ster Abbey, of William de Valence, who died in 1296
(Stothard, PL xliv.). In the following figures, from a
German manuscript of about 1280, copied from Hefner's
Trachten^ it will be observed that each knight differs

No. 68.

from his fellow in the manner of his equipment, though
the staple defence of all is the banded-mail. Other ex-

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

269

amples of this kind of armour will be found in our wood-
cuts, No. 47, 48, 63, 72 and 77. At last, we can esta-
blish no definite conclusion. Our proofs are but of a
negative character. Yet it is always something, to have
determined what a thing is not. It seems pretty clear,
then, from the absence of varied colours which we have
remarked, that the Banded-mail is not pourpointerie of
any kind. And, from the presence of the ring- work on
the inside of the armour as well as the outside, it appears
not to be of the construction suggested by the German
and Belgian antiquaries. If meant for ordinary chain-
mail, it must be confessed that the medieval artists never
hit upon a mode of expressing this material so little
resembling the original. It is to the further examina-
tion of ancient evidences, or to the discovery of monu-
ments hitherto unobserved, that we must look for a
satisfactory solution of this knightly mystery.

In addition to the various armours already noticed,
we find in the thirteenth century the defence expressed
by cross-lines which we have remarked in the earlier

No. 69.

270 ANCIENT ARMOUR

periods. Good examples occur on folio 9 of Eoy. MS.
12, F. xiii., and in Laing's Scottish Seals, Plate iv.

And in a chess-piece of the early part of this century,
the markings of the armour are made in a very pecu-
liar manner : by rows of drilled holes divided by lines.
(Woodcut 69.) This seems to be the device of a rude
artist to express the ordinary chain-mail. The example
was first brought into prominent notice in the pages of
the Archaeological Journal, vol. iii. p. 241.

Occasionally, but very rarely, the chain-mail was in-
dicated in monumental statues by merely painting the
links on a flat surface. The effigy of a De I'lsle in
Eampton Church, Cambridgeshire, engraved by Stothard,
Plate XXI., affords a good instance of this method.

A further singularity of the period is that the chain-
mail sometimes presents a surface of a hue which does
not appear consistent with a defence of steel. The effigy
of Longuespee at Salisbury (woodcut No. 54) has the
armour painted brown. The centre figure in our wood-
cut ]N'o. 53 wears a hauberk which is marked with buff
on a white ground, the other hauberks being blue. The
knight on woodcut No. 62 has a chausson shaded with
red. And in Harl. MSS. 1,526 and 1,527 are many
figures in which the chain- mail markings appear on a
bright red ground. It seems probable, however, that
such variations may be charged on the caprice of the
artists; as in the colourings of the Bayeux tapestry,
where the near legs of the horses are made blue, while
the off legs are yellow.

Among the knightly effigies in the Temple Church,
London, is a figure which seems to require an especial
notice ; the armour being of a fashion not elsewhere re-

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 27 L

marked. It consists of a back and breast-piece, each in
a single part, united at the sides by straps. The sculp-
ture being in stone, without any painting preserved, it
is of course impossible to ascertain the material which
the artist desired to represent. It may have been leather
(the cuirie^ of which we have abeady noted the exist-
ence); but there seems no good reason why it should
not have been iron : and if so, it is perhaps the earliest
example of a body- armour formed of a "pair of plates
large P" that Europe has to offer. The effigy in question
lies at the south-east comer of the group in the Bound
Church.

About the beginning of the thirteenth century arose
the use of the military Surcoat. The first English
monarch who, on his Great Seal, appears in this gar-
ment, is King John: 1199 — 1216. (See our woodcut,
No. 52.) The seal of the dauphin Louis, the rival of
John, (appended to Harleian Charter, 43, B. 37, dated
1216,) has it also. The earKest Scottish king who wears
the surcoat is Alexander the Second : 1214 — 1249 : a
fine impression of his seal is attached to Cotton Charter,
xix. 2. Imaginative writers have afiirmed that this gar-
ment was first used by the Crusaders, in order to miti-
gate the discomfort of the metal hauberk, " so apt to get
heated under a Syrian sun." Cotemporary authority,
however, expressly tells us that its purpose was to de-
fend the armour from the wet : —

" Then sex or atte^ on assente

Hase armut horn and furthe wente
* * * # *

P Chaucer. q Six or eight.

272 ANCIENT ARMOUR

"With scharpe weppun and schene,
Gay gownus of grene,
To hold thayre armur clene
And were"* hitte fro the wete."

The Avowynge of King Arther^ stanza 39.

The Surcoat was of two principal kinds : the sleeveless
and the sleeved. The latter is not found till the second
half of the century.

The Sleeveless Surcoat occurs of various lengths :
sometimes scarcely covering the hauberk, sometimes
reaching to the heels. Both the short and the long are
seen throughout the century. The long appear on the
royal seals noticed above. And on the seal of De Quinci,
circa 1250 (woodcut, No. 87); on the sculpture from
Haseley, c. 1250 (cut, No. 46); on the brass of D'Auber-
noun, 1277 (IN^o. hh)\ on that of De Trumpington, 1289
(No. 73) ; on the effigies at Ash and Norton, of the close
of the century (Nos. 59 and 70) ; and on the statues of
De Yere and Crouchback (Stothard, Plates xxxvi. and

XLII.).

The shorter Surcoat occurs on the effigy of Longuespee,
d. 1226 (woodcut, No. 54); the knight at Whitworth, c.
1250 (Stothard, PL xxiv.); the figures from the Painted
Chamber and the ^^ Lives of the Two Offas" (woodcuts,
Nos. 80 and 86) ; the knight at Florence, 1289 (cut No.
58) ; De Yalence, in Westminster Abbey (Stothard, PI.
XLiv.); and our engravings, Nos. 47, 56, 63, 64 and 68 :
the last-named examples being of the close of the century.

The Surcoat is either of a uniform tint, or diapered, or
heraldically pictured. Probably, in some early sculp-
tured effigies, the surcoat, now plain, had armorial

' protect.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 273

devices expressed by painting, which, time has oblite-
rated. The armorial surcoat was a necessary result of
the visored helm; for when the visor was closed, it
was no longer possible to distinguish king from subject,
leader from stranger, comrade from foe. A similar in-
convenience had already been found in the nasal helmet.
At the field of Hastings, Duke William was obliged to re-
move the bar from his face, in order to convince his fol-
lowers that he was still alive. The figure of Longuespee
at Salisbury, c. 1226, still exhibits a portion of the
heraldic decoration of the surcoat. And it is again
found on the statue of De PIsle at Eampton, circa 1250
(Stothard, PL xx.). The pictures of the Painted Chamber
offer many examples. (See our woodcut, l^o. 86.) See
also our engravings, ISTos. 58 and 62. The effigy of
William de Valence in Westminster Abbey, circa 1296,
offers a curious variety of this garment : it is powdered
with escutcheons, on each of which are the bearings of
his house. A similar arrangement is seen in one of the
figures of the Painted Chamber (Plate vi.)

The knightly surcoat of this time was slit up in front
and behind, for convenience of riding. A singular devia-
tion from this fashion of the garment is found in a figure
in the Cathedral of Constance, c. 1220 ; where from the
front part a portion passes under the arms, overlaps the
part hanging from the shoulders behind, and then fastens
at the back. See Hefiier's work, PI. iv. of Pt. i.

Occasionally the surcoat has an ornamental edge of
fringe ; as in the brasses of D' Aubernoun, 1277, and De
Bures, 1302 (woodcut, IS'o. 55, and Waller, Pt. ii.). In
some cases, as in the Temple Church figure engraved by
Stothard, PL xv., the garment has a rigid appearance

T

274 ANCIENT ARMOUR

across the shoulders, which has been taken to indicate
a strengthening of the surcoat at that part. But the
same treatment is seen in the enamelled effigy at St.
Denis, of John, son of St. Louis ; where the garment
forms part of a civil dress (Willemin, vol. i., PI. xci.,
and Guilhermy's Monuments of St. Denis, p. 164). The
Surcoat sometimes hangs loose, as in our woodcut, No.
86 ; but usually it is girt at the waist by a cord or strap.
The cord is seen in the brasses of Sir John D' Aubernoun
and Sir Koger de Trumpington ; the strap, with its long
pendent end, in the effigies at Ash Church, Norton
Church, and St. Bride's (our woodcuts, Nos. 55, 73, 59,
70 and 74). The group from Add. MS. 17,687 furnishes
some further examples (cut, No. 63). Barely, the surcote
is made with a " fente" at the throat, and fastened with
a fibula. An effigy in the Temple Church exhibits this
arrangement. (Hollis, Pt. ii.)

The Sleeved Surcoat, as we have already noticed, did
not come into use till the second half of the thirteenth
century. It is frequent in the pictures of the Painted
Chamber. A good example is offered by the effigy at
Norton, Durham (our woodcut, No. 70) ; and very simi-
lar are found in the statue of Lord Fitz Alan at Bedale,
Yorkshire, (engraved by Hollis, Pt. iv., and in Blore's
Monuments,) and the Temple sculpture (Stothard, PI.
XXXVIII.). The knightly figure on our woodcut No. 56
presents a variety, in the sleeves being "slittered."
Those of the Shurland effigy (Stothard, PI. xli.) are
divided under the arm and fastened by ties.

The Helmets of the thirteenth century, though offer-
ing many points of difference on comparing particular
examples, may yet be readily thrown into distinguish-

Plate LXX.] AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

275

T 2

278

ANCIENT ARMOUR

[Plate LXXI.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 279

able classes. Tlie first division that suggests itself is
that of the Helm (the great, close casque of the knight)
and the Helmet, a defence, as the word indicates, of
diminished completeness. The Helm must again be
divided into two leading kinds: that in which the
plates forming it are all rivetted together, so as to make
one piece ; and that in which the front is provided with
a moveable ventail. The successive changes of fashion
supply a further division of the helms; giving us the
flat-topped, the round-topped, and the "sugar-loaf" form.
The Helmets may be classed as the hemispherical, the
cylindrical, the conical, the wide-rimmed (Petasus form),
and the nasal. Besides which are some varieties of pecu-
liar construction, which may be better noticed after the
more general forms have been considered.

The word Helm among the Northern nations merely
meant a covering of any kind: the Wcerhelm of the
Anglo-Saxons was the little cap worn by the soldier,
of which we have seen many examples in our previous
inquiries. But from the end of the twelfth century,
when the great casque enclosing the whole head, like
that seen on the second seal of King Eichard, came
into use, the term helm or heaume was restricted to
this new kind of headpiece.

The flat-topped Helm forming a single structure, appears
usually in one of the following fashions. I. A cylinder
having bands in front forming a cross, and sometimes
similar bands crossing on the crown, which is slightly
convex or conical; two horizontal clefts for vision, but
without holes for breathing. Examples occur in our
woodcut, No. 71, fig. 1, from the statue of Hugh Fitz
Eudo, in Kirkstead Chapel, Lincolnshire; in the chess-

280 ANCIENT AEMOUR

knight (woodcut 57) ; in the Whitworth effigy (Stothard,
PI. XXIV.) ; in the carvings of the Presbytery arcade of
"Worcester Cathedral (vs^oodcut 71, fig. 2); all these
early in the century : and in the groups of the Painted
Chamber. II. A cylinder with the cross-bands as before ;
but, in addition to the ocularium, having apertures for
breathing. This kind is seen in our woodcut 71, fig. 3,
from Hefner's Trachten; in the Walkerne effigy (HoUis,
Pt. i.) ; in the sculptures of the front of Wells Cathedral,
circa 1225 ; in the miniatures of the Lives of the OfPas
(Cott. MS., ISTero, D. i.) ; and in the seal of Hugo de Vere,
earl of Oxford (woodcut 71, fig. 4). III. A cylinder
with ocularium and breathing-holes, but not having the
cross-bands: woodcut 71, fig. 5, from the very curious
drawing on foHo 27 of Harl. MS. 3,244, date about 1250.
ly. In this variety, the front part. is rounded below, has
ocularium, but not any breathing-holes : woodcut 71, fig.
6, from the seal of Alexander II. of Scotland, 1214 —
1249 (Cott. Charter, xix. 2); and compare the seal of
Louis the Dauphin, circa 1216. Y. This kind resembles
the last, except that it is provided with apertures for
breathing. A good example is furnished by the seal of
Eobert Eitz Walter, of the second half of the century :
woodcut 71, fig. 7.

We must remark also the diJBPerence existing among
these helms on the point of ornament. Some are alto-
gether plain; as in our woodcuts 57 and 71, and the
WTiitworth effigy (Stothard, PI. xxiv.) : others have a
profusion of ornament, as in the knightly figure from
Eoy. MS. 2, A. xxii. (woodcut, No. 62). The term
cylindrical, which has been applied to them, must not
always be understood literally. In woodcut No. 57 we

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 281

have a true cylinder ; but in other cases, the helm swells
at the sides, taking the " barrel" form, as in the second
seal of Henry III. (woodcut 81); or, when viewed in
profile, it presents a concave line behind, as in the seal
of De Quinci (woodcut, IN'o. 87), or, more strikingly, in
the example at Worcester (woodcut 71, fig. 2).

The helm was worn over the coif of chain-mail. An
ivory carving engraved in the sixteenth volume of the
Archceologia affords an excellent illustration of this
usage; the knight being there represented in the act
of raising his helm firom his head armed in the coiffe
de mailles.

The flat-topped cylindrical Helm, with moveable ven-
tail, appears about the middle of the century. The
figure of Ferdinand, King of Castillo, in the windows
of Chartres Cathedral, affords a good example. He
died in 1252: the monument is engraved by "Willemin,
vol. i., PI. xcvii. : the helm is fig. 8 of our cut 71.
A real helm of this type is in the Tower collection:
the ventail opens by means of hinges on the side (see
Archseol. Journal, vol. viii., p. 420, and our woodcut 71,
fig. 9). It is entirely of iron, weighing 131b. 8oz. And
it is not unworthy of remark, that a much later helm,
one with the beaked visor characteristic of the close of
the fourteenth century, also in the Tower of London,
differs in weight from the above example by only four
ounces. (Archeeol. Journal, vol. ix., p. 93.) The move-
able ventail seems to be portrayed also on the second
seal of Henry III., and on the seal of Edward I. (wood-
cuts, No. 81 and 85).

About 1270 the round-topped Helm came into vogue :
not, however, to the entire exclusion of the old fashion,

282 ANCIENT ARMOUR

of which examples are found to the end of this century,
and even during a portion of the next. See our Plate
Lxxi., fig. 10, from Cotton EoU, xv. 7. The seal of Patrick
Dunbar, tenth earl of March, affords another good illus-
tration of the helm with round crown : engraved in Laing's
"Ancient Scottish Seals," p. 54. It has moveable ventail,
with apertures for sight and breathing, as before. Other
instances occur in the groups of the " Painted Chamber"
and the " Lives of the Offas." A very curious variety of
this type is furnished in the seal of Louis of Savoy, 1294 ;
where the ventail has the form of an eagle displayed,
the clefts for sight and air being contrived between the
plumes of the wings. (Figured by Cibrario, in the JSi-
gilli d^ Principi di Savoia^ PI. xxx., and in our wood-
cut, No. 71, fig. 11.)

About 1280 the Helm takes the "sugar-loaf" form;
having bands which make a cross in the front of it. See
woodcut, No. 71, fig. 12, from Eoy. MS. 20, D. i.; and
the brass of Sir Eoger de Trumpington, 1289 (woodcut,
No. 73). It will be observed that this kind of heaume
is continued so low as to rest on the shoulders.

It is not improbable that some of these casques were
formed in part of leather. An early helm made of cuir-
bouilli, with iron bands, is figured by Hefaer [Trachten^
Pt. ii., PI. Lxviii.) ; and for the Windsor tournament of
1278, were provided "xxxviii. galee de cor."

The helm was made fast by laces. In the Eomance of

Perceval, the hero

** Prant ses armes et s' aparoille :
Sans atargier le haubert vest,
L'iaume lace sans nul arest," &c. — Fol. 237,

These laces are very clearly shewn in our engravings,

Plate LXXIL] AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

283

AJ^CIENT ARMOUB AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

285

ISTos. 47 and 62; from Eoy. MSS., 20, D. i. and
2, A. xxii.

In order to recover the helm if struck off in the tneUe
it was attached to some part of
the knight's equipment by a
chain. The brass of Sir Roger
de Trumpington (cut, IS'o. 73)
supplies us with an illustration.
And this usage is noticed in the
Eomance of Le tournois de Chau-
venei^ written about 1285 : —

'^ Chescun son hiaume en sa chaaine,
Qui de bons cous attent Testraine."
Vers 3,583.

Crests are frequently found sur-
mounting the helm at the close of
this century ; but they are not of
that distinctive kind, consisting
of lions, griffins, eagles, wings, —
axes, and-so-forth, which appear
in such diversity during the next age. They are merely
of the fan form. The seal of De Quinci, indeed, seems an
evidence to the contrary, and has been often described as
an instance of a helm of the early part of the thirteenth
century bearing a wyvern for a crest (woodcut, No. 87).
But the wyvern in the upper part of this seal seems to be
placed there merely to fill up the space between the let-
ters, and belongs to the legend, not to the effigy ; just as
we see a flower occupying the space beneath the lion's
feet, and in the obverse of the seal, the wyvern filling up
the void beneath the horse and under the housing. Heral-
dic bearings do in fact appear on the casques of several

286 ANCIENT ARMOUR

figures previously to 1300. But they form part of the
headpiece itself: they do not surmount it. The helm of
Eichard the First has a lion, but it is a figure embossed
or painted on a part of the casque. The well-known
effigy of a Plantagenet (Stothard, PL ii.) is an analogous
instance. The monument of Le Botiler at St. Bride's,
Glamorganshire, (woodcut, "No, 74,) affords another ex-
ample: and in the curious helm of Louis of Savoy
(woodcut 71, fig. 11) we have the heraldic eagle form-
ing the visor of the casque, while the crest is composed
of the usual fan ornament. This fan we have already
seen on the helm of Eichard I., but it does not come
into general use till towards the close of the thirteenth
century. See examples on our woodcuts, Nos. 71 and
72. Other instances may be found in Laing's " Scottish
Seals," p. 54 ; in the Lives of the Offas, Cott. MS., Nero,
D. i. ; and in great number among the miniatures of
Eoy. MS. 20, D. i., where they are attached to the
heads of the horses as well as to the helms. At the
Windsor tournament in 1278, also, crests were provided
both for man and horse : —

"It p qualibet galea i. cresta ) „^ _, _ „

Ti Tt. i- • ^ [ Sm. Lxxvi. Crest."

It p quolibet equo j. cresta )

And for the making of these crests, calf-skins and parch-
ment were employed : —

" LXXVI. pell' vitul' p crest faciend' p'c pell' iij. d."
"It p qualibet cresta j. pell' parcamen rud'. Sm. lxxyi. pell' rud'
pcamenis."

Occasionally feathers supply the place of the fan orna-
ment. A plume of seven peacock's feathers surmounts a

* Archceologiaf vol. xvii. pp. 302 and 305.

Plate LXXIV.] AND WEAPONS IN EUEOPE.

287

AND WEAPONS IN KUROPE. 289

crowned helm on folio 205 of Eoy. MS. 20, D. i. ; and

similar examples occur at ff. 60'''. and 239''''. of the same

manuscript. Compare also Add. MS. 15,268 : both, these

books being of the close of the century.

Another curious appendage to the knightly helm of

this time consisted of Horns ; made, as we learn from

Guillaume le Breton, of whalebone, and borne for the

purpose of striking terror by the gigantic appearance of

the wearer. The Count of Boulogne at the Battle of

Bovines, in 1214, adopts this expedient: —

" Comua conus agit, superasque eduxit in auras,
E costis assumpta nigris quas faucis in antro
Branchia balense Britici colit incola ponti :
TJt qui magnus erat magnae super addita moli
Majorem faceret phantastica pompa videri."

Philipp., lib. xi. 322.

The Helms of kings have a crown encircling them, as
seen in the seals of Henry III. and Edward I. of Eng-
land (woodcuts, No. 79, 81 and 85) ; but on the capelline
of King John is no such ornament. See also our en-
graving, No. 72. The crown is occasionally placed on
the coif of chain-mail : as on folio 7 of the Lives of the
Offas (woodcut, No. 80), and in the pictures of the
Painted Chamber.

Of the smaller casque — helmet, or chapel-de-fer — we
have already observed that some were worn beneath the
coif-de-mailles. Others were placed above it, or formed
of themselves the whole arming of the head. They are
cylindrical, hemispherical, conical, wide-rimmed, and of
the nasal kind. The first-named appears in our woodcut,
No. 53, from Harl. MS. 5,102, of the beginning of the
century. It is found also on the seal of St. Louis, and
in the effigy in the Temple Church, figured by Stothard,

290

ANCIENT ARMOUR

PI. X. The rounded helmet occurs on the seal of King
John (woodcut 52); in our engraving, No. 53, from
Harl. MS. 5,102, early in the century; and in N'os. 49
and 74, both monuments of the close of this period. It
appears plentifully in Eoy. MS. 20, D. i., and in the
groups of the Painted Chamber. The conical chapel is
seen in our engraving, No. 58 ; it occurs also in Harl.
MS. 1,527, and in the Painted Chamber and Lives of
the Offas. The Wide-rimmed Helmet is found through-
out this century. An early example appears in our
engraving. No. 50, from Harl.
MS. 4,751. The figure here
given is from Add. MS. 11,639,
fol. 520 ; of the close of the cen-
tury. It represents Goliath, and
the casque is thus painted:
crown, iron-colour; rim and
crest, gold. The book is in
Hebrew, but believed to have
been written in Germany. See
also our woodcut. No. 49, from
Add. MS. 15,268; and fiefiier's
Plate V. ; and the pictures of the
Painted Chamber. A good ex-
ample in sculpture occurs in the
arcade of the north aisle of the
Lady Chapel at Worcester Ca-
thedral. On Cotton KoU, xv. 7,
a variety of this headpiece has
an upright spike at the top. In the Archaeological
Journal, vol. viii. p. 319, is engraved a knightly effigy
in which the wide and pointed iron-hat is worn over a

L^^

No. 75.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 291

close skull-cap of plate, to whicli is joined a coif of cliaiii-
mail. The l^asal Helmet is found of three varieties :
the cylindrical, the round-topped, and the conical. The
first occurs on the monumental effigy of Eaoul De Beau-
mont, in the abbey of Estival, founded by him in 1210.
(Kerrich Collections, Add. MS. 6,728.) The hemispherical
appears in the Lives of the Offas and the
Painted Chamber, and on Plate xxxiii. of
Hefner. The pointed crown is found
among the subjects of the Painted Cham-
ber, of which the following is an example.
See also our woodcut, 'No, 82. i^o 7g

Besides the above, which are the usual types of casque
found in the thirteenth century, there are some varieties
of occasional appearance. Among these may be men-
tioned the open-faced helmet of the Temple effigy figured
by Stothard, PI. xv. In this curious example, all the
head above the neck is cased in a defence of some rigid
material (metal or cuir-bouilli ?), and encircled by a band
or turban. Another singular headpiece occurs on folio 7
of the Lives of the Offas (woodcut, No. 80) ; where the
coif of banded-mail is covered in front with a plate, per-
forated for vision and breathing, and strengthened with
the cross-bands already seen in the knightly heaume.
Helmets formed of a framework of metal covering a cap
of leather, similar to the defence noticed at an earlier
period (see page 69), seem to have been in use during this
century. Hefner has figured the metal portion of a real
one found in the island of Negropont, which he assigns to
this period {Trachten^ PI. lxiii.) It closely resembles the
bronze example discovered at Leckhampton (woodcut 18),
consisting of a hoop from which spring two arcs of metal

U 2

292 ANCIENT ARMOUR

crossing at the crown. Of similar mixed materials ap-.
pear to be those helmets seen in the groups of the Painted
Chamber, where a frame of gold-colour encloses a cap of
crimson or purple (Plates xxxv. and xxxvi.). And com-
pare our woodcut, No. 82, also from the Painted Chamber,
in which the frame of the headpiece is of iron-colour,
while the enclosed portion is painted yellow.

The Eassinet and Cervelliere are named in documents
of this time, but do not appear to have been anything
more than the round-topped skull-cap already noticed.

The bassinet is mentioned in the will of Odo de Eossi-
lion in 1298, cited by Ducange^; a monument further
curious from its giving us the detail of a knight's equip-
ment in these days : —

"Idem do et lego domino Petro de Monte Aneelini predicto cen-
tum libras Turonenses et unam Integram Armaturam de Armaturis
meis, videlicet meum heaume a vissere, meum bassignetum, meum
porpoinctum de cendallo, meum godbertum", meain gorgretam, meas
buculas^, meum gaudichetum, meas trumulieresy d'acier, meos cuis-
sellos, meos chantones^, meum magnum cutellum, et meam parvam
ensem."

The Bassinet with camail attached is not a charac-
teristic of this century, though isolated examples may
perhaps be found. The knightly effigy at Ashington,
Somersetshire, already noticed, seems to be one of these :
the mail-coif being fixed to the plate-cap by rivets.
(Archaeol. Joum., vol. viii. p. 319.) It will be remarked
in that very valuable monument, the Pictures of the
Painted Chamber, that the skull-caps of plate are in

* Glossar., v. Armatura, body-armour, the ailettes.
° hauberk. J greaves.

* shields ? Perhaps, coming with the » gloves : gants ? See the glossarists.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. ' 293

many instances so placed on the coif-de-mailles as to
shew very clearly that the two defences are quite dis-
tinct.

Guiart, in the Chronique Metrique^ frequently uses the
name cervelliere : —

" Sus hyaumes et sus cervelieres
Prennent plommees a descendre
Et hachetes pour tout porfendre." — Line 1912.

" Aucuns d'entr'eus testes desnuent
De hyaumes et de cervelieres." — Line 5267.

" Hauberjons et cervelieres,
Gantlez, tacles et gorgieres." — Line 5467.

An amusing tale is told in the Chronicon Nonantula-
num^ of the invention of the cervelliere by Michael Scot,
^^Astrologus Friderici Imperatoris familiaris." Having
foreseen that he should meet his death from the fall of a
stone of two ounces weight upon his head, he contrived
a cap {infulam) of plate-iron. But being at mass one day,
at the exaltation of the host, he reverently lifted his cap,
when a little stone fell upon his head, and inflicted a
slight wound. Weighing the stone, he found it to be
exactly two ounces ; and then, knowing his doom to be
sealed, he arranged his worldly affairs and died.

From the manuscript collection of ^' Proverbes" of the
thirteenth century, preserved in the Imperial Library at
Paris, and cited by Le Grand d' Aussy in the Vie privee
des Francois^ we learn that the ^'Heaumes de Poitiers"
had obtained the highest meed of approbation.

The ordinary Shield of this period was the triangu-
lar : its dimensions decreasing as the century advanced.

» Vol. ill p, 103.

294 ANCIENT ARMOUR

It was bowed or flat. Other targets of this time are the
kite-shaped, the pear-shaped, the heart-shaped, the round,
the quadrangular, and a shield angular at the top and
rounded below.

The triangular, bowed shield appears in our engrav-
ings, Nos. 52, 53, 57 and 87 ; all early examples. Later
instances occur in the seal of Edward I. (No. 85), and our
woodcut, No. 75, from Add. MS. 11,639. The flat tri-
angular shield is found in the very curious figure on folio
27 of Harl. MS. 3,244, circa 1250; in the brass of Sir
John D'Aubernoun, 1277 (woodcut, No. 55); in the
glass-painting at Oxford Cathedral (woodcut, No. 77);
and in the effigy of Le Botiler (woodcut, No. 74): the
last two monuments, of the close of the century. See
also Painted Chamber, Plate xxxvi. It will be observed
that the shield of D' Aubernoun is curiously small. Those
of Crouchback and William de Valence on their tombs
are scarcely larger. (Stothard, PI. xliii. and xliv.) The
Kite-shaped shield appears very frequently in Eoy. MS.
20, D. i. ; a subject from which, with this form of target,
is given in our woodcut. No. 72. It occurs also in Harl.
MS. 1,527, and on Plate xxxvi. of the Painted Chamber.
This form, like the foregoing, is sometimes bowed and
sometimes flat. The Pear-shaped variety is found on the
seal of Saer de Quinci, 1210 — 19, engraved in Laing's
Ancient Scottish Seals, PI. xi. ; and on that of John de
Methkil, c. 1220 (Laing, PI. vii. fig. 3). Another Scot-
tish seal gives us the Heart-shaped shield, a rare and
early example (Laing, PL x. fig. 11). The Pound tar-
get supported by its guige appears in a group of fighters
in Harl. MS. 1,527; again in the Malvern effigy (Stot-
hard, PL XIX.); in the Lives of the Offas; and among

I

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 295

the pictures of the Painted Chamber. The quadrangular
bowed shield is figured in our woodcut, 'No. 88, from a
Tower EoU, commemorating a wager of battle in the
reign of Henry III. The shield made angular at top
and rounded below may be found on Plate xxxi. of the
Painted Chamber, and occurs again on the seal of a
Melros charter of 1285, engraved on page 30 of Laing's
Scottish Seals. It is scarcely necessary to say that the
types which we have endeavoured to distinguish will be
found somewhat varied in particular examples: to de-
scribe every modification of the general forms we have
detected, would be a tedious and a useless task.

The Boss is still retained in some of the shields of this
time, though but rarely. It appears in our woodcuts,
IN'os. 75 and 88, and on folio 4 of the Lives of the Offas.
The Enarmes, or straps by which the knight sustained
his shield in combat, are well shewn in the effigy of De
Shurland (Stothard, PI. xli.), and receive some further
illustration from the statues of De Yere at Hatfield
Broadoak, Essex, and of Brian Fitz Alan at Bedale,
Yorkshire. Compare also folio 4 of the Lives of the
Offas, and Plate xxxviii. of the Painted Chamber. The
Guige, or strap by which the shield was hung round the
neck, is a usual adjunct to this defence during the whole
of the century, and is sometimes of a highly enriched
character. Many of our woodcuts shew the manner of
its use.

From a passage of ^' The Ancren Eiwle," lately printed
by the Camden Society, from a MS. of the thirteenth cen-
tury, we learn that the materials of the shield at this time
were ^'wood, leather, and painting." (p. 393.) These
ingredients frequently reappear in the real targets of a

296

ANCIENT ARMOUR

later time which have been saved from the destruction
of passing centuries.

Armorial bearings are the usual adornment of the
knightly shield throughout this period; and the field
was sometimes richly diapered, as in this example from
the window of the north transept of Oxford Cathedral.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 297

Compare the monument of De Yere at Hatfield (Stothard,
PL XXXVI.) Where heraldic devices are not found, a
"pattern'^ generally takes their place : a cross, a rosette,
a star, a fret, or some such simple ornament. In other
cases the face of the shield is painted of a single colour.
In the effigies placed over the tombs of the knights, the
shield is usually represented as borne on the arm. The
figure of "William de Yalence in Westminster Abbey has
it slung at the hip ; an arrangement frequently adopted
in French monuments, and occasionally in those of other
continental countries.

Another continental custom sometimes imitated by
our own countrymen, was that of adorning the walls of
the banqueting-hall on great occasions with the shields
of distinguished heroes. When, in 1254, the English
king entertained the French monarch in the Temple in
Paris, "the banquet was given," says Matthew Paris,
" in the great hall of the Temple, in which were hung
up, according to the continental custom^ as many bucklers
as the four walls could hold. Amongst others was seen
the shield of Eichard, king of England, concerning which
a witty person present said to King Henry, " Why, my
Lord, have you invited the French to dine with you in
this house ? See, there is the shield of the noble-hearted
English king, Eichard! your guests will be unable to
eat without fear and trembling^."

From the curious volume already cited, the Ancren
Ruky we learn that at the demise of a brave knight, his
shield was hung aloft on the church walls, in honour and
remembrance of his valorous deeds.

»» Paris, 773.

298 ANCIENT ARMOUR

The Spur of this century is of three kinds : the simple
goad, the ball-and-spike, and the rowel. The goad is
sometimes straight, sometimes curved. The straight
spike is seen in this example of an iron spur found in
the churchyard of Chesterford, Cambridgeshire, and now
preserved in the collection of the Hon. Eichard Neville.

No. 78.

Compare our engravings, Nos. 58 and 85. The curved
goad appears in woodcuts 55 and 73. Our engravings,
'Nos. 62, 72 and 81 shew the ball-and-spike kind; of
which we have already seen examples in the statues of
Henry II. and Eichard I. at Fontevraud. The rowel
spur is found but in one or two instances during this
century. It is represented on the seal of Henry III.,
here given; where, in order to bring up the rowel to
the middle of the heel, the seal-engraver has resorted to
the singular expedient of raising the field into a sort
of hillock, on the top of which he has sculptured the
star-like rowel. See Harleian Charter, 43, C. 38. The
rowel spur again appears on the effigy of Le Botiler
(woodcut, 'No. 74). It is, however, rather a character-
istic of the fourteenth than of this century ; and, gene-
rally speaking, its presence alone should lead one to

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

299

GEEAT SEAL OF KING HENKY III.

No. 79.

hesitate long before assigning a monument to the earlier
period, even though it should exhibit all the other fea-
tures of the more ancient costume. The monument of
Johan Le Botiler, just named, is by no means exempt
from the operation of this rule.

The shank of the spur is curved, each end being
formed into a loop to receive the strap. The strap itself
is single, buckling over the instep. See Stothard's Plates
XVII. and xxii. Some exceptions occur to this usual
arrangement. In the effigy of a De L'Isle, figured by

300 ANCIENT ARMOUR

Stothard, Plate xx., the outer shank is flattened into a
trefoil and rivetted upon the leather. In the figure at
^N'orton, Durham, (woodcut, 'No, 70,) the shanks termi-
nate in rings, and two straps are employed to fix the
spur to the foot. Both straps and spurs are occasionally
shewn of an enriched character. On folio 27 of Harl.
MS. 3,244, the spur is ornamented with a row of studs
or bosses. In the brass at Acton, Suffolk, 1302 (Waller,
Pt. ii.), the pattern consists of rosettes.

The gilded spurs of the knights occasionally became
the trophy of a victory ; as in the case of the battle of
Courtray, in 1302. More than five hundred pairs, Prois-
sart tells us, were suspended in a chapel of the church
of Our Lady of Courtray : " Et ces eperons avoient jadis
ete des seigneurs de France, qui avoient ete morts en
la dite bataille ; et en faisoient ceux de Courtray tons
les ans, pour le triomphe, tres grand solemnite^"

The Beard during this century appears to have been
usually worn by the aged only. The young knight has
commonly neither beard nor moustache : indeed, this im-
berbed state of the "Western cavaliers is made a reproach
to them by the Saracens. The Sultan, we are told by
Matthew Paris, under 1250, addressing his chiefs, in arms
against the forces of St. Louis, exclaimed: "What rash
madness excites these men to attack us and endeavour
to deprive us of our inheritance, who have inhabited this
noble country since the Flood ? A certain motive, how-
ever slight, urges the Christians to covet the land which
they call Holy : but what have they to do with Egypt ?
Unfit indeed are they to lord it over a land which is

*■■ Froissart, bk. ii. eh. 200,, ed. Buchon.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 301

watered and enriclied by the river sent from Paradise :
beardless, sbom men, nnwarlike and imbecile, more like
women than men, what rash daring is this'^ !"

For the arrangement of the beard of this time, see the
effigies of King John and Henry III. (Stothard, Plates
XI. and XXXI.), and Plate xxxix. of the Painted Chamber.

The fashion of the Hair differs considerably in the first
and second portions of the century. In both it was cut
short at the forehead : but in the first half it was allowed
to fall in its natural flow to some length at the sides of
the head and behind ; while, in the second, it was most
carefully arranged in large curls, which cover the ears,
and give a strongly marked character to the monuments
of this time. In the effigy of King John at Worcester,
the side hair is cut sheer off just below the ear. In the
figure of Prince John, the son of St. Louis, in the Abbey
Church of St. Denis, the hair falls in a natural ringlet to
the neck^ The large and formal curl of the later period
is well shewn in the knightly sculpture from Norton
Church, Durham (woodcut. No. 70). See also the statue
of Henry III. (Stothard, PI. xxxi.), and the series of
monumental figures sculptured in 1263-4 by order of
St. Louis, to perpetuate the memory of his ancestors
entombed at St. Denis. (Guilhermy, pp. 218, 223, 225
and 228.)

The Spear for war of the thirteenth century offers no
change from that of the preceding age. The shaft of it
is still uniform from end to end, not yet being hollowed
out for the grip, as in the lance of a later date. The

^ Page 686. by Willemin, vol. i., PI. xci. ; and by

« He died in 1247. The eflSgy is figured Guilhermy, page 164.

302 ANCIENT ARMOUR

head is of three forms : the lozenge, the leaf, and the
barbed. The lozenge spear-head is the most usual, and
appears in the accompanying group from the Lives of the
Two Offas, Cott. MS., ISTero, D. i. fol. 7. See also our
woodcuts, No. 62 and 75. The leaf-shaped head occurs on
fol. 4 of JNTero, D. i.; on fol. 27 of Harl. MS. 3,244; and
on the Shurland monument (Stothard, PL xli.) The
barbed spear was probably not considered a knightly
weapon, but carried by soldiers of an inferior grade. At
all events, we occasionally find men-at-arms famished
with it, as in Eoy. MS. 20, D. i., a book of about the close
of this century. And earlier in the period, at the battle of
Bovines in 1214, we have the curious account of Eigord,
shewing the jeopardy in which the life of King Philip
was placed through the attack of a soldier armed with a
spear of this description. This soldier of the emperor's
host struck at the neck of the king, the usual point of
attack, and though the gorget of the monarch prevented
the weapon from inflicting any wound, the barbs of the
spear became so firmly fixed between the hauberk and
the head-defence, that the sturdy German was enabled
to pull Philippe Auguste from his horse and lay him
prone at his feet. The king managed to raise himself
again, but the soldier held firm. The emperor, who was
near at hand, rushed forward to terminate the strife by
the death of his rival, and all seemed over. Galon de
Montigny meanwhile, the Bannerer of the king, pro-
claimed the danger of his master by incessantly raising
and lowering the Standard over the spot where this con-
test was taking place. The French were animated to
new exertions : a band of seigneurs and gentlemen cut
their way to the spot where the king was struggling in

Plate LXXX.]

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

303

ANCIENT ARMOUR AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 305

unequal conflict with Hs foes : the spearman, struck down
or slain, let go his hold : the fight continued, furiously
as ever, but in numbers less disproportionate than before :
Etienne de Longchamp, one of the bravest of the French
nobles, is slain by the side of the king : Pierre Tristan,
another distinguished knight, leaps from his steed, and
gives it to his monarch : Guillaume des Barres at this
moment comes up with reinforcements, charges the Ger-
man host with impetuous bravery, and turns their tri-
umph into a rout.

The Lance is occasionally furnished with a streamer,
as at a former period. It is seen in our last engraving
(No, 80), from the Lives of the Offas; and again in
woodcuts, !N'os. 55 and 62. Compare also Harl. MS.
3,244, fol. 27, and other groups from the Lives of the
Offas. In some of these examples, the lance-flag is en-
signed with a cross only ; in others it is quite blank : in
others, again,^as the brass of D'Aubemoun, it bears a
device clearly heraldic.

In a few rare instances the spear is represented on the
tomb of the knight. The necessity of reducing it far
beneath its legitimate proportions, in order to be com-
prised within the narrow limits of the sepulchral memo-
rial, would furnish a sufficient reason for its being gene-
rally excluded from the monumental design: but it is
not improbable that mere fashion (for the tomb has its
fashions) contributed in some degree to this exclusion ;
because we find that the royal and knightly seals, which
at a previous date constantly exhibited the lance with
its streamer, now more usually represent the warrior
armed with the sword. The lance is found on the brass
of D'Aubemoun (woodcut, No. 55), on the sculptured

306 ANCIENT ARMOUR

effigy of a knight in the churchyard of Kuabon, in
Wales, and in the incised slab at Ashington, Somerset-
shire, figured in the Archaeological Journal, vol. viii.
p. 319.

For the hastilude, the spear-head was blunted, and
^^ about the breadth of a small knife ;" as we learn from
Matthew Paris, in his account of the Eound-Table Game
held at the Abbey of Wallenden in 1252. Here, one of
the knights, Eoger de Lemburn, aimed his weapon, the
point of which was not blunted as it ought to have been,
in such a way that it entered under the helm of his ad-
versary, Arnold de Montigny, and pierced his throat;
for he was uncovered in that part, and without a coUar
(cat'ens collario). The Earl of Gloucester with the other
knights immediately sought to extract the fragment of
the lance, and when he had succeeded in withdrawing the
wooden shaft of it, the iron head remained behind: on
this being at length extracted, and examined by the sur-
rounding knights, it was found to be very sharp at the
point, like a dagger; though it ought to have been
blunt, and about as broad as a small knife. Its shape
was like that of a ploughshare on a small scale, whence
it was commonly called a little plough {vomerulus\ and in
French, soket\ We have here the description of two
spear -heads very distinct in character: one rebated for
the Jousts of Peace, seemingly the prototype of the coro-
nel which afterwards replaced it ; and the other a sharp
instrument, the form of which we may perhaps recognise
among the tilting weapons of the Triumph of Maximilian,
See, for instance, the group of knights armed for the
" Course appelee Bund."

f Paris, p. 730.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

307

When, in battle, the charge had been made with the
Lance, and that weapon was no longer available in the
melee^ it was cast aside, and the conquest carried on
with the Sword : —

" Apres le froisseis des Lances,
Qui ja sont par terre semees,
Giettent mains a blanches espees,
Desquels ils s'entr'envaissent,
Hyaumes e bacinets tentissent
E plusieurs autres ferreures.
Coutiaux trespercent armeures." — Guiart.

SECOKD GREAT SEAL OF KING HENRY III,

No. 81.

The knightly Sword of this day resembled in its essen-

X 2

308 ' ANCIENT ARMOUR

tials that of the preceding century : indeed, it did not
materially change during the whole Gothic period. The
blade was straight, broad, double-edged, and pointed.
The type is well shewn in the second seal of Henry III.
(woodcut, No. 81).

The cross-piece was usually curved towards the blade,
as represented in several of our engravings. Sometimes
this curved guard threw out a kind of cusp in the
middle, as in the sculpture at Haseley, (woodcut 46,)
and the effigy figured by Stothard, Plate xx. The cross-
bar was at other times straight, as in the seal of King
John (woodcut, I^o. 52), and in our other woodcuts num-
bered 53, 56, and 63. Compare the sword of De Yere
(Stothard, PL xxxvi.). A variety of the straight guard
forms also a cusp over the centre of the blade, as in the
example given in our engraving, 'No. 80. The knightly
effigy in Walkerne Church (HoUis, Pt. i.) has a sword-
guard in the form of a chevron. Edward I., on his
great seal, (woodcut, No. 85,) offers us a further variety,
in which the outline somewhat resembles that of the
Greek bow.

The pommel of the sword during this century takes
many forms: the round, the trefoil, the cinquefoil, the
rosette, the lozenge, the conical, the pear-shaped, the
square, and the fleur-de-lis. The round is either plain
or ornamented on its sides : in the latter case the orna-
ment is usually a cross, or a shield of arms. The plain
round pommel is generally wheel-formed ; that is, it has
a projection in the centre something like the nave of a
wheel. See Journal of Archaeological Association, vol. i.
p. 336. The sacred symbol of the Cross is very fre-
quently found on the circular pommel ; as in our wood-

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 309

cuts, No. 55 and 77. The shield of arms appears in our
engraving, No. 70. Compare the Fitz-Alan monument
(Hollis, Pt. iv.). The trefoil pommel is represented in
our cuts, No. 56 and 74 ; the cinquefoil, on our en-
graving. No. 64, and in Plate xx. of Stothard's Monu-
ments. The rose form occurs in our woodcut. No. 62 ;
the lozenge on the effigy of King John (Stothard, PL
XI.); the conical, in our print. No. 63; the pear-shaped,
in Stothard's 37th Plate ; the square, on Plate xxxv. of
the Painted Chamber; and the fleur-de-lis on the seal
of Edward I. (woodcut, No. 85).

The sword-handle is sometimes of a highly enriched
character. That of King John, on his monument in
"Worcester Cathedral, represents a weapon in which both
pommel and cross-bar were inlaid with precious stones.
Ornamental grips are seen in the monument of Crouch-
back (Stothard, PI. xliii. fig. 4), and the brass of De
Bures, 1302 ("Waller, Pt. ii.).

The Sheath also occasionally exhibits enrichments.
These are either metal harnessings, of Gothic patterns,
similar to the architectural designs of the day, as in our
woodcut. No. 70, and the effigy of Brian, lord Fitz-Alan
(Hollis, Pt. iv.) ; or the scabbard is embellished from end
to end with a series of shields of arms, as in our en-
graving. No. 73, and the statue of De Montfort (Stothard,
PI. XXXIX.). These escutcheons were probably tinctured
by means of enamel.

The characteristic Sword-Beit of this century consisted
of two straps, a long and a short one. The long strap
was looped to the scabbard about two hands-breadths
from the top, passed round the waist, and fastened to the
buckle in front, leaving a long end tipped with a metal

310 ANCIENT ARMOUR

tag. The short strap held the buckle, and was split into
two thongs, one of which was laced into the top of the
(leather) scabbard; the other, passing obliquely across
the sheath, being laced into the loop of the long strap
below. See our woodcuts, IS'os. 55 and 73. A variety
of this mode consisted in attaching the long and short
straps to the scabbard by ring-lockets of metal, in lieu
of the loop and lacings. This occurs late in the century.
See woodcut, E'o. 70, and the effigy of Brian Fitz-Alan
(Hollis, Pt. iv.). The common sword-belt of the soldiery
was formed on the old plan : at one end of a broad strap
were two clefts, through which the two thongs into
which the other end was split were passed and tied into
a knot. See woodcut, No. 63. The figures there given
represent the soldiers of Herod engaged in the Massacre
of the Innocents. The knightly sword-belt is often
highly enriched ; being covered with elaborate patterns,
worked in the most brilliant colours, and harnessed with
bars and bosses of gilt metal, or perhaps of gold itself;
the bosses, towards the end of the period, taking not un-
frequently the form of lions' heads. The ornament of
bars only, appears on a Temple Church effigy, figured by
Hollis, Pt. i. ; of bars and rosettes, in Stothard's 15th
and 45th Plates; of a painted pattern, in Plate xxi. of
Stothard's work ; of bosses in the form of lions' heads, in
Part iv. of Hollis. The sword-belt of Edmund Crouch-
back is enriched with heraldic bearings. See Stothard,
PI. xLiii. detail 1.

Minute variations from the above types of Sword-belt
may be found, but do not seem to require a particular
description. "We must not omit to remark, however,
that, in some early monuments of this period, the sword

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 311

is represented as worn at the right side of the warrior.
Three effigies in the Temple Church, London, exhibit
this arrangement.

At York, on Christmas- day, 1252, King Henry III.
conferred knighthood on the young king of Scotland;
who, the day following, espoused the Princess Mar-
garet, daughter of Henry, amidst great rejoicings and a
splendid ceremonial. To obtain a detailed description
of the Sword used by the king of England on this occa-
sion was scarcely within the hope of the archaeologist ;
but, singularly enough, such an account, of curious mi-
nuteness, has come down to us. It is preserved in the
Tower, (Close Eolls, 36 H. III. m. 31,) and has been
Printed in Walpole's ^'Painting in England" (vol. i.
chap. 1) : —

^^Mandatum est Edwardo de Westm. quod cum festi-
natione perquirat quondam pulchrum gladium et scau-
berg. ejusdem de serico, et pomellum de argento bene et
ornate cooperiri, et quandam pulcram zonam eidem pendi
faciat, ita quod gladium ilium sic factum habeat apud
Ebor., de quo Eex Alexandrum Eegem Scotise illustrem
cingulo militari decorare possit in instanti festo I^ativi-
tatis Dominicae. Teste Eege apud Lychfeld xxi. die
Novembr. Per ipsum Eegem.''

Besides the ordinary knightly sword of the thirteenth
century, the size of which is authenticated by many ex-
isting monuments, we have the evidence of cotemporary
writers that swords of differing sizes were employed by
different nations. The Germans affected a large brand,
the French a shorter weapon. Thus Guiart : —

" A grans espees d' Allemagne
Leur tranchent souvent les poins outre."

312 ANCIENT ARMOUR

* * * *

" La Francois espees reportent
Courtes et roides, dont ils taillent."

And again, under 1301 : —

" Epees viennent aux services
Et sont de diverses semblances,
Mes Francois, qui d' accoutumance
Les ont courtes, assez legieres,
Gietent aux Elamans vers les chieres."

In the description of the Battle of Benevento, in 1266,
Hugues de Bau^oi, an eye-witness of the conflict, tells
us that the troops of Manfred, Germans and Saracens,
fought with long swords, axes and maces ; but the
French, coming to close quarters, pierced them with
their short swords : ^^ ex brevibus spathis suis eorum
latera perfodiebant^. Guillaume de IN'angis gives similar
testimony^. How far these German weapons approached
the great two-hand swords of later times, or the French
reverted to the short blade of the Eomans, it is vain to
inquire. Commentators have seen in the above descrip-
tions both the types here named; but the evidence of
pictorial monuments does not confirm the conclusion.
As large and small are but comparative terms, it is
probable that the swords of the French and Germans
differed in no great degree.

Other varieties of Sword which appear in the thir-
teenth century are the Falchion, the curved Sabre, the
Espee a 1' estoc, the Cultellus, and the Anelace.

The Falchion [fauchon^ Fr., from the Latin falx) is
of two kinds : the first a broad blade, becoming wider

^ » De Baufoio : JDescriptio Victorim '" Gesta Ludov. IX. ap. Duchesne,

&c. apud Duchesne, t. v. t. v. p. 377.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

313

towards the point, the edge convex, the back concave ;
as in this example from the Painted Chamber :

No. 82.

the other differing from it only in having the back quite
straight. The latter is figured on Plate xxxi. of the
Painted Chamber ; and of this form is the curious tenure
sword of the lordship of Sockbum, co. Durham, engraved
in the Archseologia, vol. xv. Plate xxvi. See, in Blount's
" Antient Tenures," an account of this weapon ; of the
"monstrous Dragon, Worm, or flying Serpent, that de-
voured Men, "Women, and Children," which fell at last
under its keen edge; and of the "tomb of the great
Ancestor of the Conyers, having carvings of the falchion,
and of a dog, and of the monstrous Worm or Serpent,
lying at the Knight's feet, of his own killing, of which
the History of the Family gives the above account."
The passage is too long for extract'.

' Compare Surtees' Durham, where there is a rude cut of the effigy, vol. iii.
p. 151.

314 ANCIENT ARMOUR

The falchion is a weapon of very remote antiquity.
It appears among the paintings on the tomb at Thebes
of Eameses III., B.C. 1230. See Plate iii. of Wilkinson's
'^Ancient Egyptians" (ed. 1837). And it is found,
almost identical in shape, in the' wall-paintings of the
Ajunta Caves, of the first century of the Christian era ;
of which a careful copy has been made for the Museum
of the East India House. Guiart often mentions it in
the Chronique Metrique^ as in this passage : —

" La ou les presses sont plus drues
Est le chaple^ aux espees nues,
Aux fauchons, aux coutiaus a pointes,
Si merveilleus que les plus cointes
N'ont ores soing de vanteries."

The curved Sabre is of very rare appearance. It
occurs among the pictures of the Painted Chamber,
Plate XXXV.

The Epee a V estoc (Stabbing Sword) is named in a
judgment of the Parliament of Paris in 1268 : ^' Suffici-
enter inventum est quod dictus Boso dictum Ademarum
percussit cum Ense a estoc in dextro latere propria manu,
et de ipso ictu cecidit dictus Ademarus." It appears
also to be the weapon which Eigord assigns to some of
the imperial troops at the battle of Bovines : " Habebant
cultellos longos, graciles, triacumines, quolibet acumine
indifferenter secantes, a cuspide usque ad manubrium,
quibus utebantur pro gladiis."

The Cultellus, as we have seen\ was a weapon par-
taking of the character of the sword and the dagger. It
clearly varied in size ; for Odo de Eossilion, in 1298,
names in his will ^^meum magnum cultellum et meam

'' conflict. » Page 154.

AND WEAPONS IN EUKOPE. 315

parvam ensem." Being the cMef arm of the coustillers,
it must have been of some considerable size : and of this
larger kind must also have been the weapon assigned, in
the '' Outillement du villain," to the peasant, for the de-
fence of his home : —

" Si le convient armer
Por la terre garder,
Coterel e hauvet,
Macue e guibet,
Arc e lance enfumee," &c.

In other places, it appears as a mere secondary arm,
a knife or dagger ; as in the Statutes of Arms already-
cited, where the various classes of proprietors are di-
rected to have " espe, cutel e cheval," or " espe e cutel,"
or " espes, arcs, setes e cutel."

The particular construction of the Anelace, as well
as the derivation of its name, has hitherto eluded
the most careful examination of antiquaries and glos-
sarists. Some have referred the name to the Latin or
Italian, annulus, or annello. Others to the Old-German,
Lazj from latus ; the weapon being therefore a ^'side-
arm." Matthew Paris often uses the word, and tells us
that the arm was worn at the girdle : " Lorica erat in-
iutus, gestans anelacium ad lumbare." Without hoping
to settle this question, we may venture to point out that
a weapon of the dagger kind, carried at the belt, and
having a chain with a ring running loosely upon the grip^
to prevent its being lost in the melee^ was certainly in
use during the middle-ages ; an example of which may
be seen in the effigy of William Wenemaer, at Ghent,
dated 1325 ; engraved in the Archseological Journal, vol.
vii. p. 287. We may note also that the wheel-like form

316 ANCIENT ARMOUR

of the guard may have supplied the name ; for Florio, in
the sixteenth century, defines "Annelle" to be "thin
plates of iron made like rings, called of our gunners
washers," &c. Guiart also mentions the anelace : under
the year 1298, he has : —

" Aucuns d' entr' eus testes desnuent
De hyaumes e de cervelieres,
E plantent alenaz es chieres
En pluseurs lieus jusques es manches.'*

In the manufacture of Swords at this period, Cologne
seems to have had the palm. The volume of Proverbs
already noticed gives the highest place to the "Espees
de Cologne." And Matthew Paris, under 1241", relating
how certain wicked German Jews, wishing to assist the
Tartars, sent them certain barrels, (filled, as they told
the Christians, with poisoned wine,) adds that, on the
toll-man suspiciously scrutinizing the contents, " all the
casks were found to be filled with Cologne swords and
daggers, without hilts, closely and compactly stowed
away. The Jews were, therefore, at once handed over
to the executioners, to be either consigned to perpetual
imprisonment, or to be slain with their own swords."

The Exercise of the Sword and Buckler [Eslcirmye de
Bokyler) was in vogue in this century, and schools were
established for teaching it. But disorders arising from
the practice, the schools were ordered to be closed. Thus
the "Statuta Civitatis London" of the 13 Edw. I. has:
" Primerement pur ceo qe multz des mals com des mur-
dres robberyes e homycides ont este fetz ca en arrere deinz
la Citee de nuyt e de jour, e gentz batues e mal tretes e
autres diverses aventures de mal avenuz encontre sa pes

"» Page 502.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

317

(du roi), defendu est qe nul seit si hardi estre trove alaunt
ne batraunt parmy les ruwes de la Citee apres coeverfu
parsone a seint Martyn le grant, a espey ne a bokuyler
ne a autre arme pur mal fere ne dount mal suspecion
poet vienir, &c. . . .

" Easement pur ceo qe fous qe sei delitent a mal fere
vount aprendre eskirmye de bokyler e de ceo plus sei
abaudissent de fere lour folyes, purveu est e defendu qe
nul ne tiegne eskole ne aprise de eskirmye de bokyler de
deinz la Citee de nuyt ne de jour, e si nul le faceo, eit
la prison de xl. jours."

Eepresentations of the Sword-and-buckler contest occur
in Eoy. MSS. 14, E. iii. and 20, D. vi., both engraved in
Strutt's Sports. See also Hefner, Pt. ii. Plate vii. All
these, however, are minia-
tures of the fourteenth cen-
tury; though 14, E. iii. is
early in the period. From
these examples we learn that
the buckler was about a foot
and a half in diameter, had
a boss in the centre, and
was held at arm's length by
a bar crossing the hollow of
the umbo, exactly in the
manner of the Anglo-Saxon
shields described and figured
in a former page. (See wood-
cut, No. 20.)

Occasionally the figure
of a Sword was carved on
the tomb of the knight,
to indicate his calling, as in this incised slab from

318 ANCIENT ARMOUR

Brougham Church, Westmoreland, commemorating one of
the Brougham family. The example is further curious
from its including also the round shield of the period ;
differing, as we see, from the buckler named above, in
having no boss. The sword is usually, on tombs of this
kind, accompanied by a Cross : sometimes it forms itself the
cross on the monument, as in the Gorforth memorial, en-
graved on page 84 of Mr. Boutell's work on Incised Slabs.
At Aycliffe, Durham, is a tomb on which appears a cross,
having on one side a sword, on the other a hammer and
pincers. This group of emblems has been thought to
indicate a weapon-smith. The monument is figured in
the Archaeological Journal, vol. v. p. 257. ISTot the
sword only, but the spear, the axe, the dagger, and
other weapons, are found on the incised slabs of the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; many examples of
which may be seen in the works on these memorials by
the Kev. Mr. Cutts and the Eev. Mr. Boutell.

The Dagger by no means filled that prominent place
in the knightly equipment during this century which it
is found to occupy in the fourteenth; though, towards
the close of the period, it is seen to be coming into
vogue. It is worn by the knights represented in our
engravings, Nos. 58 and 72 ; and the Ash Church effigy
(woodcut, !N^o. 59) shews us the lace by which the dagger,
now destroyed, was fastened to the waist-belt. The figure
of De Montford (Stothard, PL xxxix.) has the dagger.
It appears also in the Shurland monument (Stothard,
PI. XLI.), worn by the knight's attendant ; and in this
example the guard of it is formed of two knobs, a
fashion occasionally found up to the sixteenth century.
In Durham Cathedral is preserved a real dagger, which
is believed to have belonged to one of the retainers of

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 319

Bishop Anthony in 1283. It is entirely of iron, and the
blade, which is sixteen inches in length, is inscribed
'^ Anton: Eps: Dunolm.""'

Under the name of Misericordia^ the dagger has an
early mention in the Charter of Arras, in 1221 : " Qui-
cumque cultellum cum cuspide, vel curtam sphatulam,
vel misericordiam, vel aliqua arma multritoria porta-
verit," &o. Under 1302, Guiart speaks of it by the
same name : —

" Plusieurs pietons Eran^ois ala,
Qui pour prisonniers n' ont pas cordes,
Mais coutiaux et misericordes,
Dont on doit servir en tiex festes."

And under 1303 :—

" Fauchons trenclians, espees cleres,
Godendas, lances emoulues,
Coutiaux, misericordes nues."

This name of misericorde appears to have been given
because, in the last struggle of contending foes, the up-
lifted dagger compelled the discomfited fighter to cry
for mercy. In this view, the murderous misericorde
was by the middle-age poets assigned to " Pity," as an
emblem of her benevolence. Thus Jean de Meun in the
Eomance of the Eose : —

" Pitiez, qui a tous bien s' accorde,
Tenoit une Misericorde
Decourant de plors e de lermes."

The Short Axe is very rarely given to the knightly
combatant by the artists of the thirteenth century. It
appears to have been resigned to the less dignified order
of soldiery, The form of the head exhibits three prin-

" See ArcheBologiay vol. xii. Plate li.

320 ANCIENT ARMOUR

cipal varieties: the single blade, of which we have a
good example in Harl. MS. 4,751, fol. 8 (woodcut, No.
50) ; the double weapon, in which one side has a vertical
axe-blade and the other a pick (see Strutt's Dress and
Habits, PI. Lxv.) ; and the double weapon, in which one
side has a horizontal blade and the other a pick (see
Stothard's Monuments, PI. xix.). Guiart, under 1264,
mentions the axe mingling in the strife of battle with
the mace and the sword : — -

*' Le cTiaple commence aus espees,
Dont la a de maintes manieres.
Sus hyaumes e sus cervelieres
Prennent plommees a descendre,
E hachetes, pour tout porfendre."

And when, in the same year 1264, the Earl of Leicester
assembled his army on Barham Downs, in addition to
the ordinary military levy, every township was required
to send eight, six, or four footmen well armed with spears,
bows and arrows, swords, cross-bows, and hatchets. (New
Eymer, 444.)

From the collection of thirteenth-century Proverbs,
which has already supplied us with several curious par-
ticulars of this early time, we learn that the ^'Haches
de Dannemark" held the first place among the axes of
the period : but whether this distinction is accorded for
the form or the manufacture of the weapon, is not
clear. Matthew Paris speaks of it under 1256 : " Cum

jaculis Danisque securibus et gesis° hostihter in-

sequuntur."

The " Danish Axe" is mentioned in several military
tenures of this century ; but a more remote antiquity is

** guisannes.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 321

usually assigned to the origin of the grant itself. The
weapon (more or less original) was always exhibited with
great pride in the family mansion. Dugdale tells us that
Plump ton in Warwickshire ^^was possest in Henry 3.
time by one Walter de Plompton^ who held these lands
by a certain weapon called a Danish Axe : which, being
the very Charter whereby the said land was given unto
one of his Ancestors, hung up for a long time in the
Hall of the capitall messuage belonging thereto, in testi-
mony of the said tenure; untill that the said House
was seized upon by Sir John Bracehrigge^ Knight, Lord
of KiNGSBURiE in Edward 3. time, and pulled to the
ground : After which it remained a great while in the
Hall of the mansion belonging to William de Plompton^
in Hardreshull (about two miles distant), being com-
monly reputed and called the Charter o/Plomtonp."

And in the 12th Edw. I. : ^'Kobertus Hurding tenet
unam acram terrae et unum furnum in villa Castri de
Lanceveton (Launceston, co. Cornwall) nomine serjantiae
essendi in Castro de Lanceveton cum uno Capello ferreo
et una Hachet Denesh per xl. dies tempore guerrae ad
custum suum proprium, et post xl. dies, si Dominus
Castri velit ipsum tenere in eodem Castro, erit ad custus
ipsius domini*^."

The Mace is both named and pictured in evidences of
this century. Matthew Paris, describing the disasters
of a tournament near Hertford in 1241, adds: "Many
other knights and men-at-arms were also wounded and
seriously injured with maces (ciavis) at this same tourna-
ment, because the jealousy of many of those concerned

p Dugdale's Warwickshire, p. 765. i Plac. Cor. 12 Ed. I., apud Blount.

Y

322 ANCIENT ARMOUR

had converted the sport into a battle ''." This and simi-
lar mishaps led to the mace, with other weapons, being
interdicted at these pastimes; for in a "Statutum Ar-
morum ad Torniamenta" of this century, it is ordered by
the king " qe nul Chivaler ne Esquier qe sort al Turney
ne porte espeie a point, ne cotel a point, ne bastoun, ne
mace, fors espee large pnr tumeer'." Pictured examples
of the mace occur in Eoy. MS. 20, D. i., ff. 12 and 69 ;
and on Plate xxxiii. of the Painted Chamber. The striking
part is formed in the manner of a cogged wheel : the top
sometimes terminates in a knob; sometimes it is pro-
longed into a pike.

The Baton named in the above Statute was probably
no more than a stout cudgel. The form of the tourna-
ment baton of a later time is given in full detail in the
'^ Toumois du roi Bene."

The long-handled weapons of the infantry named in
this century are the Guisarme, the Godendac, the Croc,
the Fans, the Eaussar, and the Pilete.

The Guisarme, or Pole-axe, has already been described,
(ante, p. 50). It is named by Matthew Paris : " Gesta-
bant autem gladios, bipennes, gaesa, sicas et anelacios."
It occurs also in the Statute of Winchester: "E que
ad meyns des chateus de xl. sondes, seyt juree as fans,
gysarmes, coteaux e autres menus armes." The Pole-
axe with a single vertical blade is seen in a miniature
of the thirteenth century, inserted into the Gospels of
Mac Durnan in the Lambeth Library (figured in West-
wood's Palseographia) ; and it appears again in the Lives
of the Offas, Cott. MS., ISTero, D. i.

«• Page 503. • Statutes of the Realm, j., 230 : circa 1290.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 323

The Godendac was the name given by the Flemings to
the Halbard. Guiart, describing the battle of Courtrai,
in 1302, has this very curious passage : —

" A grans batons pesans ferres
Avec leur fer agu devant
Vont ceux de France recevant
Tiex baton qu'il portent en guerre
Ont nom Godendac en la terre.
Qoden-dac^ c' est Bon jour a dire,
Qui en Francois le veut decrire.
Cil baton sont long e traitis,
Pour ferir a deux mains faitis."

Should the axe-stroke fail, then the skilful halbardier
repairs his mishap with a prompt thrust of the piked
head : —

"Et quand Ton en faut au descendre,

Si cil qui fiert j veut entendre,

Et il en scache bien ouvrer,

Tantot pent son cop recovrer,

Et ferir sans s'aller moquant,

Du bout devant en estoquant

Son ennemi."

The halbard, consisting of an axe-blade balanced by a
pick, and having a pike-head at the end of the staff, is
figured on Plate xxxi. of the Painted Chamber.
^ The Fans {/also : from falx) appears to have been a
kind of spear with a broad, cut-and-thrust blade. It is
made synonymous with the spear in this passage of the
Synodus Nemausensis, in 1284 : (de Clericis) '' Enses non
deferant, nee cultellos acutos, nee lanceas sen fahones^'*
&c. But in the Statuta Eccles. Cadurcensis, in 1289,
it is distinguished from the spear: "balistas et arcus,
lanceas, falsones, costalarios sen alia arma non deferant."
In the Statute of Winchester, as we have seen, (ante,

Y %

324 / ANCIENT ARMOUR

p. 211,) it was placed at the head of the humbler class
of weapons prescribed to the militia of small means.

The Fanssar, a kindred word, was probably a kindred
weapon. Like the false, it most likely presented some
variety in the exemplars turned out from the village
weaponers' smithies. One kind was three-edged, and
had a second name, the Trialemellum. At Bovines,
" Ante oculos ipsius regis occiditur Stephanus de Longo
Campo, in capite percussus longo, gracili Trialemello*,
quem Falsarium nominanf"." The faussar appears to
have been sometimes used as a missile : thus, in the
Chron. de Duguesclin (of the fourteenth century) we
are told that the combatants

" Grettent dars et faussars, moult en vont ociant."

The Croc was probably the Bill. It is named by
Guiart among the weapons of the Eibauds in 1214 : —

" Li uns une pilete porte,
L' autre croc ou macue torte."

The fashion of the Bill of this time, a broad, cutting
bla.de, forming a beak near the top and terminating in
a pike, may be seen in Plate xxxi. of the Painted
Chamber.

The Pilete (dimin. of Pilum) named in the above pas-
sage of Guiart, was a pike, the exact form of which, like
that of so many of the weapons of this period, has not
been ascertained. The ^^ macue torte" is a knotted club.

The missile weapons of this day were the javelin, the
long-bow, the cross-bow, the cord-sling and the staff-sling.

, * From lamina t dimin. lamella. " Albericus in Chron., ann. 1214.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 3^5

The Javelin is mentioned by Matthew Paris : " cum
jaculis Danisqne securibns et gesis""."

The Long-bow has abeady been noticed in onr exam-
ination of the troops of this century. Its form is seen in
our woodcuts, Nos. 47, 48, 49 and 50. The fashion of
the Quiver appears in the engraving from Eoy. MS. 20,
D. i. (No. 47). The feathering of the arrows is shewn
in the same print ; the shaft and head in woodcut, No.
82, from the Painted Chamber. Besides the ordinary
arrows, shafts armed with phials of quick-lime were occa-
sionally discharged from the long-bow. Strutt, in his
Horda^^ has furnished an example of this missile, from
a MS. of Matthew Paris in Benet College, Cambridge
(copied in our woodcut, No. 51); and in the Addita-
menta to the printed History of Matthew Paris, page
1091, is given the letter of Sir Guy, a knight of the
household of the Viscount of Melun, in which, recount-
ing the capture of Damietta, he says : ^' We discharged
fiery darts [spicula ignita) and stones from our sea man-
gonels, and we threw small bottles full of lime [phialas
plenas calce\ made to be shot from a bow, or small sticks
like arrows against the enemy. Our darts, therefore,
pierced the bodies of their pirates, while the stones
crushed them, and the lime, flying out of the broken
bottles, blinded them."

The Cross-bow, as we have seen, (ante, p. 201,) was
in general use throughout this century. It is figured in
our woodcuts, Nos. 49 and 50. In both these examples
there is a provision for holding down the bow with the
foot, while the cord was drawn up to the notch. The

* Ad aim. 1256. y Vol. i., Plate xxxi.

826 ANCIENT ARMOUR

bow might thus be bent by the hand : but there appears
also to have been, at this early date, some apparatus
similar to the moulinet of later days, by which a stouter
bow might be easily bent by mechanical appliance. Such
a bow was called an ^^arbaleste a tour," and the instru-
ment by which it was wound up was named ^4a clef."
'No delineation of this little engine has yet been noticed
among the monuments of the time. Guiart has : —

" Messire Alphonse un jour ataignent,
Qui armez iert^ de son atour,
W un quarrel d' arbaleste a tour."

And again : —

"En haste vont les clefs serrant des arbalestes."

2^ Partie, vers 8,625.

Several further varieties of the Cross-bow are named
about this time: — Balistse corneae; ad stapham*; ad
viceas^; de tomo vel de lena*'; ad unum pedem; lig-
neae ad duos pedes; de comu ad duos pedes; a pec-
toribus; a pesarola^; and among the rest, a Double
Cross-bow, discharging two quarrels: "Balista sine nuce,
quae duos projicit quarrellos." See Ducange and Ade-
lung, V. Balis fa.

The Quarrel (carreau), as its name indicates, was an
arrow with a four-sided or pyramidal head. This dis-
tinctive form of the arbalest shaft is carefully kept in
view in the illumination from Add. MS. 15,268 (our
No, 49) ; where, while the archer plies his barbed arrow,

• €toit. bent by " naturall strength" alone : see

' The stirrup Cross-bow is seen in our Florio, v. Lena.

engraving. <» Pesarola is a balance, but the appli-

•» From the French, vis. cation of the word is not clear.
' From the Italian ? an arbalest to be

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

327

the cross-bowman discharges his angular quarrel. The
feathering of the quarrel is seen very clearly in wood-
cut, No. 50 ; where the markings shew that feathers qxq
really intended, and not slices of wood, leather, or metal.
These last-named materials being found in later monu-
ments, it seems not unlikely that they may have been
used thus early; and we have the distinct evidence of
cetemporary writers that the larger quarrels discharged
from the engines called espringales were ^'empennes
d'airain^"

The Slings of this period have already been noticed
(page 204): the cord-sling is figured in our woodcut,
]^o. 50, the staff-sling in No. 51.

The Military Flail appears in the following woodcut
from Strutt's Horda vol. i., Plate
XXXII. The original miniature
is in the MS. of Matthew Paris,
at Benet College, Cambridge,
which has already furnished us
with examples of the Staff-sling
and other weapons of this time.
The flail-man in our engraving
is engaged in the assault of a
castle : other assailants in the
same vessel are armed with bows
and slings. Adelung cites the
following passage, in which the flail is mentioned under
the name of flaellum : " Cum ducentis hominibus in
armis, electis et gleatis, et cum flaellisV

The Greek Fire, still rejected among the nations of

No. 84.

« Guiai't, aun. 1304

Fragment. Hist. Dalphhi., t. ii. p. 64.

328 ANCIENT ARMOUR

Western Europe, for the reasons assigned in a former page,
was in frequent use among the Saracens. In 1250, the
Christians, advancing towards Damietta by water, were
intercepted by their enemies. " The Saracens in their
vessels met the Christians sailing down the river, where
a most fatal naval conflict ensued, the missiles of the
combatants flying like hail. At length, after an obstinate
battle, rendered more dreadful by the Greek fire hurled
on them by the Saracens, the Christians, being worn out
by grief and hunger, suffered a defeat^." The letter " to
his respected lord, Eichard, earl of Cornwall," from
*^ John, his Chancellor," gives a similar account of this
terrible fight ; from which one only of the Christians
escaped, ^'Alexander Giffard, an Englishman of noble
blood." " The Saracens, by throwing Greek &re on the
Christians, burnt many of their boats and killed the
people in them, thus obtaining the victory. The Chris-
tians were drowned, slain, and burnt^." The authors of
the treatise, Bu feu gregeois^ Captain Fave and M. Eei-
naud, remark that during the fifty-seven years of the
reign of French princes at Constantinople (taken in
1204), the secret of the Greek fire could not have re-
mained concealed from men who had made some advances
in the science of chymistry. ^^ Mais alors les prejuges
de F ignorance se joignaient aux idees religieuses et aux
sentimens chevaleresques, pour repousser I'emploi d'un
art qui semblait rendre inutiles la force et le courage in-
dividuelsV

In the East, however, the employment of incendiary
weapons was constant, and the variety of them very

8 Paris, p. 685. ^ Paris, p. 689,; and compare page 1,092. ' Page 210.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 329

great. An Arabic treatise of this century, published in
the work named above by MM. Eeinaud and Fave, gives
us the most curious information relating to them, and the
interest of the manuscript is heightened by its containing
drawings (somewhat rude, it is true) of the principal in-
struments and engines described. From this ^^ Treatise
on the Art of Fighting," by Hassan Alrammah, we learn
that the Arabs of the thirteenth century employed their
incendiary compositions in four different ways: they
cast them by hand ; they fixed them to staves, with
which they attacked their enemies; they poured forth
the fire through tubes ; and they projected burning mix-
tures of various kinds by means of arrows, javelins, and
the missiles of the great engines resembling the tre-
buchets and mangonae of their Western neighbours.
Among these fire-weapons we have — ^^Balles de verre;
Pots a feu ; La Maison de feu ; Massue de guerre ; Mas-
sue pour asperger; Lance de guerre; Lance a fleurs;
Lance avec massue ; La lance avec la fleche du Khatay ;
Fleches en roseau ; Fleches du mangonneau ; Fleches de
la Chine ; Marmite de V Irac ; . Marmite de Mokhar-
ram; Yase de Helyledjeh; Cruche de Syrie (the last
four for the mangonel) ; L' ceuf qui se meut et qui brule
(Captain Fave takes this to be a projectile on the prin-
ciple of our rockets) ; Dard du Khatay ; Des Coupes ; Des
Yolants ; Des Lunes," &c.

The vessels of glass and pottery, discharged by hand
or by machines, were so contrived that on striking the
object at which they were aimed, their contents spread
around, and the fire, abeady communicated by a fasee,
enveloped everything within its reach. A soldier on
whose head was broken a fire-mace, became suddenly

330 ANCIENT ARMOUR

soaked with a diabolical fluid, which covered him from
head to foot with flame ; and* a flame of so terrible a na-
ture that it was believed to be absolutely inextinguish-
able. The receipt for making the Massue de Guerre is
given with great particularity: "Tu feras faire par le
verrier une massue, &c. Ensuite tu feras les melanges
usites, &c. Tu mettras le feu a la massue et tu la brise-
ras pour le service de Dieu^" One of the lances is
furnished with a firework " so that the spear shall bum
the enemy, after having wounded him with its point."
Another lance " brulera bien et s' etendra a plus de mille
coudees." It will be remembered that the Arabic super-
lative is commonly expressed by " a thousand." What
we learn, therefore, is that this fire-missile was con-
trived to wound at a distance. In applying the Massue
a asperger, you are to break it against the person of
your antagonist, ^^but keep out of the current of the
wind, lest the sparks return upon and burn you." The
machines for casting forth the fire-pots and vases of
larger dimension bear so close a resemblance to the tre-
buchets and mangonas in use by the Christian nations,
that Captain Fave is inclined to thiuk that the latter
warriors copied their engines from those of the Arabs
during the Crusades (p. 49).

On the second plate of the treatise are given examples
of two of the Arabian mangonels. One is formed of a
sling and weighted lever, like the instruments represented
in Eoy. MS. 16, G. vi., engraved in Shaw's "Dresses and
Decorations," and on the ivory casket figured in the
fourth volume of the Journal of the Archaeological Asso-

1 Page 38.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 331

elation. The other differs only in having, in lieu of a
weight, a number of cords hanging from the end of the
lever ; from which it would appear that the lever was in
this case moved by men acting together by means of the
cords. Captain Fave remarks that the expressions. La
fleche de la Chine, La fleur de la Chine, in shewing us
that the Chinese practised the fabrication of incendiary
agents and contributed these names to the Arabs at so
early a period, may permit us to suppose that this mode
of warfare received its chief development from them, and
even that to them may be ascribed its invention (p. 44).
The various Standards and Flags found in the last
period are continued throughout the present. But the
advancement of the science of heraldry gave to the de-
vices of this age a permanence which has in many cases
subsisted to the present day. The Dragon Standard was
still in use in England. At the battle of Lewes, in 1264,
between the king and his barons, " the king, being in-
formed of the approach of his enemies, soon set himself
in motion with his army, and went forward to meet them
with unfurled banners, preceded by the royal ensign,
which was called the Dragon""." In the same battle, on
the barons' side, we find the ancient Carrocium. When
the revolted nobles, with De Montford at their head,
" had reached a place scarcely two miles distant from the
town of Lewes, Simon with his friends ascended an emi-
nence and placed his Car thereon, in the midst of the
baggage and sumpter horses. There he displayed his
Standard, fastening it securely to the car, and surrounded

"» Paris, p. 853. Compare Chron. of Dunstable, p. 366, and M. Westminster,
p. 387.

332 ANCIENT ARMOUR

it with a great number of his soldiers"." The Milanese
still held their Carrocio in the utmost veneration. When
the Emperor Frederic, in 1236, crossed the Alps to
attack them, " the citizens sallied forth from the city in
great strength, to the number of about fifty thousand
armed men, and proceeded with their Standard, which
they call Carruca, or Carrochium, to meet the emperor,
sending word that they were ready to fight him**." In
1237 the Milanese again placed their defiant Carrocium
in front of the imperial host. They went forth "with
an army of about sixty thousand men, and fixed their
Carrocium where thoir ranks seemed to be strongest.
At sight of this, the emperor summoned his counsel-
lors, and, animating them by warlike words, said : " Be-
hold how these insolent Milanese, our enemies, dare
to appear against us, and presume to provoke me, their
lord, to battle ; enemies as they are to the truth and to
Holy Church, and borne down by the weight of their
sins. Cross the river, unfurl my Banner, my victorious
Eagle ! and you, my knights, draw your formidable
swords, which you have so often steeped in the blood of
your enemies, and inflict your vengeance on these mice,
which have dared to creep out of their holes, to cope
with the glittering spears of the Koman Emperor^."
From the letter of the emperor himself, addressed to
" Eichard, earl of Cornwall, his beloved brother-in-law,"
we learn that the Standard-Car was drawn by horses :
" quod apud Crucem-Novam {Nuova Croce) in equorum
celeritate prsemiserant." And further on he writes:
"We now directed our attention to the attack and cap-

Paris, p. 853, ad an. 1264. " Ibid., p. 366. p Ibid., p. 375.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 333

ture of this standard, and we saw that some of our troops,
having forced their way over the top of the trenches, had
penetrated almost to the mast of the Carrocinm. Night,
however, coming on, we desisted from the attack till the
following morning ; lying down to rest with our swords
drawn, and without taking off our iron hauberks. When
day broke, however, we found the Carrocium deserted, left
amidst a crowd of vile wagons, entirely undefended and
abandoned, and from the top of the staff where the Cross
had been, the Cross was now severed : but, being found
too heavy for the fugitives to carry off in safety, they had
left it half-way 'I.''

The Car with its Dragon and Eagle, forming the
standard of the Emperor Otho at Bovines, has abeady
been noticed, (page 164). The Oriflamme of the French
monarchs maintains its illustrious position. Captured
by the Mahometans, with Saint Louis and his equipage,
it still miraculously subsists; and when destroyed by
the Flemings at the battle of Mons-en-Puelle, it is dis-
covered that the banner which has been torn to pieces
is, after all, only a counterfeit oriflamme, the real one
being still intact under the guardianship of the Abbot of
St. Denis. Thus Guillaume Guiart : —

" Aussi li Sire de Chevreuse
Porta r Oriflamme vermeille,
Par droite sewibla>nce pareille
A cele s' elevoit esgarde
Que r Abbe de Saint Denis garde.

% -H- % % ii-

Et r Oriflamme contrefaite
Chai a terre, et la saisirent
Flamans, qui apres s' enfuirent."

Chron. Met., ann. 1304.

1 Paris, p. 385.

334 ANCIENT ARMOUR

The ^'Eoyal Standard" of the French monarchs is
described as of blue, adorned with fleurs-de-lis of gold.
That of Philip Augustus at Bovines is thus noticed by
Guiart : —

" Q-alon de Montigni porta,
Ou la Chronique faux m' enseigne,
De fin azur luisant Enseigne
A fleurs de lys d' or aornee,
Pres du roi fut cette journee
A rendroit du riche Estendart."

An ordinance of Philip lY. in 1306, quoted by Pere
Daniel (Mil. Fran. j. 520), under the heading, "L'or-
donnance du Eoy quant il va en Armez," directs : That
the chief Ecuyer Tranchant shall have charge of the
Eoyal Standard : that the chief Chamberlain shall carry
the Banner of the king: and that the chief Yarlet
Tranchant shall follow close behind the king, bearing
his Pennon; and his duty is to accompany the king
wherever he may go, in order that all may know where
the monarch is stationed.

The knightly Banner of this time may be seen in
Eoy. MS. 20, D. i. ; in the Lives of the Offas (Cott.
MS., Nero, D. i.) ; and in many of the plates of the
Painted Chamber. In all these examples it is quadran-
gular, but not square: its height is double its breadth.
The effigy at Minster, Isle of Sheppey, (Stothard, PL
XLi.) gives us in sculpture a large specimen of the
banner, and shews very distinctly how it was fastened
to the staff by tasselled cords.

The office of Bannerer of the City of London was filled
in the thirteenth century by the family of Fitz Walter,
who held the castlery of Baynard's Castle in fee for the
performance of this duty. The services and privileges

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 335

attached to the office are laid down in a curious docu-
ment printed in Blount's ^^Antient Tenures," from a
MS. preserved by Dugdale. They are recorded under
two heads : the rights in time of war, and the rights in
time of peace. "We give the first in fall : a mere note
will suffice for the other, which are privileges rather of
a civil than a military character : —

"These are the rights which Eobert Fitz "Wauter,
Castellan of London, Lord of Wodeham, has in the city
of London : That is to say, the said Eobert and his heirs
ought to be, and are. Chief Bannerers of London, by fee,
for the said Castlery, that his ancestors and he have of
Castle Baynard in the said City. In time of War the
said Eobert and his heirs are to serve the city in manner
following. The said Eobert is to come on his barded
horse [sus son Destrier covert), he the twentieth man-at-
arms, all with horses housed with cloth or iron (coverts
de teyle ou de fer\ as far as the great gate of the minster
of St. Paul, with the Banner of his arms displayed before
him. And when he is come to the great gate of the
aforesaid minster, mounted and equipped as aforesaid,
then ought the Mayor of London, with his Sheriffs and
Aldermen [ove touz ses Viscountz et ses Audermans\
armed in their arms, to come out of the minster of St.
Paul as far as the said gate, with his Banner in his
hand ; all being on foot. And the Banner shall be red,
having an image of St. Paul in gold, the feet, hands and
head of silver, with a silver Sword in the hand of the said
image. And as soon as the said Eobert shall see the
Mayor and his Sheriffs and his Aldermen come on foot
out of the said minster, bearing this Banner, then the
said Eobert, or his Heirs, who owe this service to the

356 ANCIENT ARMOUR

said City, shall dismount from his horse, and shall salute
the Mayor as his companion and peer, and shall say to
him : ' Sir Mayor, I am come hither to fulfil the service
which I owe to the city.' Then the Mayor, Sheriffs,
and Aldermen shall say : ' "We deliver to you, as the
Bannerer by fee of this City, this Banner, to bear and
govern to the honour and profit of our City, to the best
of your power.' Then the said Eobert or his Heirs
shall receive the Banner. Then the Mayor of the said
City and his Sheriffs shall follow him to the gate, and
shall deliver to the said Eobert a horse of the value of
twenty pounds ^ And the horse shall have a saddle of
the arms of the said Eobert «, and shall have a housing
of Cendal silk of the same arms ; and they shall take
twenty pounds sterling, and shall deliver them to the
Chamberlain of the said Eobert, for his expenses this day.
And the said Eobert shall mount the horse which the
said Mayor has given to him, holding the Banner in his
hand. And as soon as he is mounted, he shall require
the Mayor to cause to be elected a Marshal out of the
troops of the City. And as soon as the Marshal is
elected, the said Eobert shall direct the Mayor and
Citizens to have the Tocsin of the said city rung (que
facent soner le Sein communal de la dicte Citee) ; and all

' Evidently a mistake of the tran- the "saddle of the arms of the said

scriber. Such a sum of thirteenth cen- Robert :" the arms being repeated on

tury money would make about £300 of the shield and housing : the knight is

modern currency. armed with the sword. This seal was

* The silver matrix of the seal of this made between 1298 and 1304, as it con-
baron is still in existence, and was ex- tains also a shield of the arms of Ferrers j
hibited at a meeting of the Royal So- Robert Fitz Walter having married a
ciety of Antiquaries in 1777, as recorded lady of that house in 1298 : she dying
in the fifth volume of the Archceologia. in 1304, the baron married into another
Plate XVII. of that volume gives us a family,
representation of the seal. It exhibits

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 337

the commonalty sliall go with the Banner of St. Paul,
which the said Eobert shall carry, as far as Aldgate.
Beyond that, the Banner shall be borne by one approved
of the said Eobert and the Mayor. If so be {si issint
soit) they have to go forth out of the city, then ought
the said Eobert to elect two of the most discreet persons
from each ward of the city, to provide for the safe keep-
ing of the city during their absence. And this council
shall be held at the Priory of ih.Q Trinity by Aldgate.
And for every town or castle that the host of London
shall besiege, the said Eobert shall receive from the com-
monalty of London a hundred shillings for his pains, and
no more, though the siege should last for a year. These
are the rights that the said Eobert shall have in London
in time of War."

The rights of the Chief Bannerer in time of peace were
the possession of one of those jurisdictions called a Soke,
the power of imprisoning and punishing certain offenders
within his district, the privilege of taking part in every
" Great Council" held by the Mayor, and some others of
a similar kind. And if the culprit within his jurisdic-
tion has deserved death for treason, ^Hhen shall he be
tied to the post which is in the Thames at the Wood
Wharf, where boats are fastened, there to remain for two
floods and two ebbs of the tide. And if he be con-
demned pur commun larcin^ then is he to be taken to the
Elms*, and there undergo his punishment like other com-
mon thieves."

Not less in honour than was the gold-and-silver Ban-

* The Elms in Smithfield ; an ancient " Furcse facta? apud Ulmellos com. Mid-
place of execution. A Close Roll of this dlesex." Strype, b. iii. p. 238.
century (4 Hen. III.) mentions the

Z

338 ANCIENT ARMOUR

ner of Saint Paul in the sontli, was the Banner of Saint
John of Beverley in the north of England. It accompanied
the heroic Edward the First in his wars in Scotland;
and, besides the military bannerer, appears to have had
a clerical custodian : as we learn from this curious docu-
ment preserved in the Tower : —

"Eex dilecto et fideli suo, Johanni de Waremia, Comiti Surr',
custodi suo regni et terrse Scotise, salutem.

" Cum nos, ob reverentiam Sancti Johannis de Beverlaco, gloriosi
confessoris Christi, concesserimus dilecto clerico nostro Gileberto de
Grymesby, qui Yexillum ejusdem Sancti ad nos usque partes Scotise,
detulit, et ibidem de prsecepto nostro cum Yexillo illo, durante guerra
nostra Scotiae, moram fecit, quandam ecclesiam, viginti marcarum vel
librarum valorem annuum attingentem, ad nostram donationem spec-
tantem, et in regno Scotise proximo vacaturam.

" Yobis mandamus quod prsefato Grileberto, de hujusmodi ecclesia,
in praedicto regno Scotise, provideri faciatis, quamprimum ad id optu-
lerit se facultas.

*' Teste Eege, apud Kyrkham xiij. die Octobris." (1296 ».)

The triangular Pennon occurs in many of the groups
of the Painted Chamber. It is not always heraldically
charged ; but this may have arisen from the partial de-
cay of the colours.

The Lance-flag, of one, of two, or of three points, may
be seen in our woodcuts, Nos. 55, 62 and 80.

The Horns and Trumpets used in battle are not fre-
quently represented in the pictures of the time; but
good examples occur in Eoy. MS. 20, D. i., and on Plate
XXXVI. of the Painted Chamber. The trumpets are of
two kinds, straight and slightly curved ; and are figured
as of four or five feet long. The straight trumpet ap-
pears on folio 222^°. of Eoy. MS. 20, D. i. ; and is borne
as a heraldic charge on the shield of Sir Koger de

" Pat. 24 Ed. T. in Turr. Lond.— New Rymer, vol. i. p. 848.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

Trumpington (woodcut, No. 73). The long, curved
trumpet occurs on folio 21^°. of Eoy. MS. 20, D. i.
Both kinds are pictured in Plate xxxvi. of the Painted
Chamber. The smaller semicircular Horn is drawn on
folio 70 of 20, D. i.

GREAT SEAL OF KING EDWAhD THE FIRST.

No. 85.

Prom the collection of medieval "Proverbes" already-
cited, we learn that Spain was still the favourite mart for
the knightly charger. Denmark and Brittany had also

340 ANCIENT ARMOUR

a celebrity for their breeds of horses of a different cha-'
racter. The fiat of popular approval is given to the

" Dextriers de Castille.
Palefrois Danois.
Eoussins de Bretagne."

Such was the noble nature of the high-bred dextrarius
that, when two knights had been dismounted and were
continuing the fight on foot, their horses, left to them-
selves, instantly commenced a conflict of their own of the
most gallant and desperate character. A representation
of a double battle of this kind is given on folio 42 of
Eoy. MS. 12, F. xiii., a treatise " De natura Pecudurrij
Volucrum^''^ S^c. The form of the Saddle of this time,
with its high pommel and cantle, may be seen in the
Eoyal seals engraved on Plates 52, 79, 81 and 85 ; and
again in the figure numbered 58. It was sometimes
heraldically decorated. In the purchases for the Wind-
sor Tournament'', in 1278, we have : —

" D Felis Le Seler. viij. sell' de arm Angt. p'c. Lxiiij. li. P'is.

"D Eodem. iiij. selle brond' de filo auri et argent tract videlicet
una de arm Rob'ti Tibetot una de arm Jofeis de Neele. j. de arm
Imb'ti Guidonis et una de arm Comitis Cornub' p'c i-y. viij. ti.

" D Eodem. j. sella brond' eodem modo de arm Joliis de Grely. o
scalop argent' p'c. xxxviij. ti." &c.

On the seal of Alexander II. of Scotland, 1214 — 49,
the king's saddle is ensigned with a lion rampant (Cotton
Charter, xix. 2). ^ And the seal of Eobert Fitz-Walter,
1299, presents an analogous example (Plate xvii. of
vol. V. of the Archceologia), The Stirrup of the period is

.

' Archceologia^ vol. xvii. p. 306.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 341

shewn by numerous examples to have been triangular.
See woodcuts, 'No. 47, 48 and 56. The Peytrel or breast-
plate was sometimes of plain fashion, as in the first seal
of Henry III. (woodcut, No. 79) : sometimes it had the
pendent ornaments of the preceding period, as in the
example on Plate xxxvii. of the Painted Chamber, where
the pattern is a string of golden trefoils. From the
"Windsor EoU quoted above we find that the poitrail was
of leather, and that this leather was occasionally gilt : —

" De Stephano de Perone xi. par. strep et xi. pectoral' deaurat p'c.
xxij. ti.

" De eodem. iiij freii cu peetor et strepis de corea. p'c. vi. ti.
"De eodem. ij. fren ij. peetor et ij. strep deaur. p'c. iiij. ti."

The Bridle presents two kinds of bits : one has the
cheeks joined by a bar from their lower end, as in wood-
cut, No. 80 ; the other has no such cross-bar (see fol. 27 of
Harl. MS. 3,244). The last quotation from the Windsor
EoU shews us that the bridles were sometimes gilt. The
group from the Painted Chamber on our woodcut, No. 82,
ofiers a curious arrangement of the brow-band. The
rounds in the original are gold-colour.

The Caparison of the knightly steed appears to have
been of fi^ve kinds. 1. The horse has a " couverture" of
chain-mail only. 2. The couverture is of quilted work.
3. The housing is of a light, fluttery material, probably
covering an armour of chain-mail. 4. A light housing,
heraldically decorated, which seems to have no armour
beneath. 5. The horse has no furniture beyond the
ordinary war-saddle, peytrel and bridle.

Of the mailed dextrier we have already had some
notice in the preceding century (see page 169). The
example here given is from the Painted Chamber.

342

ANCIENT ARMOUR

^«

No. 86.

The trapper of chain-inail occurs on two of the plates of
that work : those numbered 31 and 37. A fragment of
a similar defence is seen on the Shurland monument at
Minster (Stothard, PL xlt.). But representations of this
kind of armament are of the greatest rarity. It is, how-
ever, often mentioned by the writers of the time ; though,
perhaps, not without some exaggeration of the numbers of
mail-clad steeds gathered in the host. At the battle of
I^uova Croce in 1237, between the imperialists and the
Milanese, Matthew Paris tells us that: ^^A credible

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 343

Italian asserted that Milan with its dependencies raised an
army of six thousand men-at-arms with iron-clad horses'^."
The Chronicon Colmariense^ under the year 12 9 8, describing
the force of "Australes, qui armis ferreis utebantur,"
brought against the duke of Austria, says : " Habebant
et multos qui habebant dextrarios, id est, equos magnos.
Hi equi cooperti fuerunt coopertoriis ferreis, id est, veste
ex circulis ferreis contexta." An ordinance of Philip
the Fair in 1303 provides that every holder of an estate
of 500 livres rental, shall furnish for defence of the realm
'' un gentilhomme bien arme et monte a cheval de cin-
quante livres tournois et convert de couvertures de fer
on de couverture pourpointe''." The particular use of the
barding of steel or pourpointerie was to defend the horses
against the missiles of the enemy. Sutcliffe's ^'Practice
of Arms," written in the sixteenth century, when the
musquet was rapidly supplanting the long-bow, has:
" Use of late times hath brought in divers sorts of Horse-
men, which, according to their armes and furniture, have
divers names. Some Horse are barded ; others without
bardes. The French Men-of-armes, in times past, used
barded Horses, for feare of our Arrowes. I^owe, since
Archerie is not so much reckoned of, and Bardes are but
a weak defence against Shotte, Lanciers, leaving their
bardes, are armed much like to the Albanian Stradiots."
The pourpointed housing is named in the ordinance of
Philip IV. quoted above, and it may probably be im-
plied in most cases where we read of a " cheval convert."
Eigord, under 1214, (battle of Bovines,) describes the
approach of the Imperialists on their barded horses :

'^ Page 385. " Cum equis ferro coopertis."
^ Coll. cles Ordomiauces, j. 383.

344 ANCIENT AEMOUR

'' Dixit quod viderat equos militum coopertos, . . . quod
erat evidentissimum pugnse signum." In a roll of ex-
penses, of 1294, given by Du Cange^, "Pour les
gages de Monsieur Bertran Massole, retenu aux gages
accoustumez pour lui et deux Ecuyers," we read: "Et
estoit luy et autre a chevaux converts, et un autre sans
cheval convert :" and again : " Pour onze Ecuyers a
chevaux converts, a chacun vii. sols vi. deniers par jour,
et pour deux qui n'ont point chevaux converts, chacun v.
sols."

In England, the armed horse came into use between
the years 1285 and 1298; for, while the Statute of
Winchester in 1285 makes no mention of any defence
for the steed, the Statute of 27 Edw. I. in every case
requires such an armament : —

" Le Eey ad ordene qe sire Thomas de Eurnivall voit en les contees
de Notingham et de Derb', de eslire, trier, ordener et asseer gentz
d' armes en meismes les contez, aussi bien a chival come a pie, de
toul;z ceus qui sent de age d' entre vint anns e seissaunte : ensi qe
chescun qe eyt xxx. liverees de terre, seit mis a un chival covert : e
de seissaunte liverees, a deux chivaux covertz : e se vers mount de
cliescune xxx. liveree de terre, a un chival covert. E s'il eit plus
avant qe xxx. liveree de terre e ne mie seisaunte, qe en ceo qe il avera
entre les xxx. livereez, seit joint e mis a un autre qe serra de meisme
la condicion.

" E de ceus qui averont meins de trente liveree de terre en aval
jusqes a seisaunte sondes, e de ceus qe ont seisaunte sendees, e de
seisaunte sendees en amount, soient enjoingnz e mis as autres qe
serront de!.meisme I'estat, de si qe il seient a xxx. liverees, e adunkes
soient assis a un chival covert: ensi qe cliescune trente liveree de
terre, aussi de greindres come de meindres, face un chival covert.

"E face le dit sire Thomas mettre en rouUe les nouns de touz
ceaus qi serront assis as chivaux covertz, e le noumbre des chivaux

y Gloss. V. Equi cooperti.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 345

par eus severeaument de eliescun wapentakel, e aussi les nouns de
gent a pe par eus.

" E ausitost come il avera ce fet, distinctement e apertement de ce
certifie le E-ey.

"Don' a Noef Chastel sur Tyne, le xxv. jour de Novembre^."

The housing of a lighter material seems to be presented
to us in the engravings, ]S'os. 47, 72 and 80. The folds
of the drapery in these examples have in no degree the
character of a stiff quilted garment. The last of the
three miniatures (from the Lives of the Offas) is further
curious from its exhibiting in the same group the horse
with and without its housing. The caparisoned steed in
front is that of King Offa the First, who leads his troops
to the defeat of the Scots. A very early example of the
trapper is found in the seal of Saer de Quinci, earl of
Winchester, 1210 — 19: engraved in Laing's Scottish
Seals, Plate xi. In this monument, too, the housing is
armoried ; which seems to shew that the heraldic and the
plain housing were introduced simultaneously. Neither
of them was at this early time a necessary concomitant
of knightly dignity ; for we find no English royal seal
exhibiting the caparisoned steed till the time of Edward I.
(See woodcut, No. 85.) Another early instance of the
armorial trapper is afforded by the seal of Hugo de Vere,
earl of Oxford, 1221 — 63*; and in this, as in other ex-
amples, it will be remarked that, while the couverture
of the horse is decorated with heraldic devices, the sur-
coat of the knight is altogether pla,in. The seal here
given, of Eoger de Quinci, earl of Winchester from 1219
to 1264, has the same arrangement.

' Pat. 27 Edw. I., m. 40; in Turr. Lond,— New Rymer, vol. i. p. 901.
* Engraved in Archaol. Jom-n., vol. ix. p. 27.

346

ANCIENT ARMOUR

[Plate LXXXVII.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 347

Other examples of the armoried housing will be found
in the Lives of the Offas, the Painted Chamber, in the
seal of Patrick, earl of March, 1292 (Laing, p. 54), in
the monument of Edmund Crouchback, 1296, (Stothard,
PL XLiii.) and in our engravings, Nos. 47 and 85.

Towards the end of the thirteenth century came in the
fashion of ornamenting the head of the horse with a Fan
Crest, similar to that fixed on the helm of the knight.
This fan crest for the horse is a decoration of very high
antiquity : it appears among the Assyrian sculptures, and
again among the Lycian marbles in the British Museum.
See the engravings at page 159 and page 285 of Mr.Yaux's
able work on our national collection. The seal of Patrick
Dunbar, earl of March, 1292, affords a good example of
knight and steed decorated with the fan crest; it is
figured in Laing's Ancient Scottish Seals, page 54. In
the provision for the Windsor Tournament in 1278, crests
are furnished for every knight and every horse^ : —

"Itp qualibet ffalea j. cresta ) ^^ . ^

T7 TV. 4- • * Sm. Lxxvj. Crest."

It p quolibet equo j. cresta ; **

They were in this case made of parchment, and fastened

by means of nails or rivets and " chastones" : —

"It p qualibet cresta j. pell' parcamen rud'.
It p qualibet cresta j. par cbaston et j clauon."

The clavones are again mentioned in the Wardrobe Ac-
counts of King Edward I. in 1300'' : " factura diversorum
armorum, vexillorum, et penocellorum, pro Domino Ed-
wardo filio Eegis et Johanne de Lancastria, jamberis,
poleyns, platis, uno capello ferri, una Cresta cum clavis
argenti pro eodem capello," &c. The chasto (Fr. cMton)
was a kind of socket or cavity, but the particular arrange-
ment of it in fixing the crest has not been ascertained.

'' ArcluBol., vol. xvii. p. 305. <^ Published by Roy. Soc. of Antiquaries.

348 ANCIENT ARMOUR

About the same time we first hear of a defence for the
horse of the nature of the later chanfrein. The same
"Windsor EoU of 1278 gives us the earliest notice of
these ^^copita" of leather, made after the fashion [de
similitudine) of horses' heads : —

" D Milon le Cuireur. xxxviij. copita cor de similitud' capit equoj
p'c pec ij. s."

They appear again in 1301, under the name of testarce
(or tester ce) in the Indenture of Delivery of the Castle of
Montgomery to William de Leybum (Cott. MS. Yitell.
C. X. fol. 154) : " Item liberavit eidem iij. par cooperto-
rum ferri et ij. Testaras et v. loricas cum capite et v.
sine capite," &c.

The thirteenth century appears to have retained all the
Engines for the approach and attack of towns that were
in use during the preceding age. In this century we
first obtain pictorial evidence of the form and principle
of the mangona or trebuchet of the middle-ages, and from
this valuable testimony we learn that the motive power
of torsion employed during the classic period is no longer
in favour ; but instead, we have a machine from which,
by means of a counterpoised beam, a large stone is cast
forth from a sling fixed at one end of the beam. We
have already (page 330) referred to the drawings of
these instruments in an Arabic manuscript of this cen-
tury, used by Captain Fave and M. Eeinaud in their
work, Du feu gregeois^ ^c. Other early representa-
tions occur in Eoy. MS. 16, G. vi., copied in Shaw's
^^ Dresses and Decorations ;" in the ivory carving figured
in the fourth volume of the Journal of the Archaeological
Association, and in the Etudes sur VArtillerie of the Em-
peror of the French, Vol. ii. Plate iii. In the work of

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 849^

Gilles Colonne*^, written for his pupil, Philip the Fair of
France, we have a distinct account of four varieties of the
trebuchet : " Of pierriers," he says, '' there are four kinds,
and in all these machines there is a beam which is raised
and lowered by means of a counterpoise, a sling being
attached to the end of the beam to discharge the stone.
Sometimes the counterpoise is not sufB.cient, and then
they attach ropes to it, in order to move the beam. The
counterpoise may either be fixed or moveable, or both at
once. In the fixed counterpoise, a box is fastened to the
end of the beam, and filled with stones or sand, or any
heavy body. These machines, anciently called trabutium^
cast their missiles with most exactness, because the weight
acts in a uniform manner. Their aim is so sure that one
may, so to say, hit a needle. If the gyn carries too far,
it must be drawn back or loaded with a heavier stone :
if the contrary, then it must be advanced or a smaller
stone supplied. For without attention to the weight of
the stone, one cannot hope to reach the given mark.

^' Others of these machines have a moveable counter-
poise attached to the beam, turning upon an axis. This
variety was by the Eomans named Uffa, The third
kind, which is called tripantum^ has two weights: one
fixed to the beam and the other moveable around it:
by this means, it throws with more exactness than the
Uffa^ and to a greater distance than the trebuchet. The
fourth sort, in lieu of weights fixed to the beam, has a
number of ropes; and is discharged by means of men
pulling simultaneously at the cords. This last kind does
not cast such large stones as the others, but it has the
advantage that it may be more rapidly loaded and dis-

^ "De regimine principum." The author died in 1316.

350 ANCIENT AEMOUR

charged than they. In using the perriers by night, it is
necessary to attach a lighted body to the projectile : by
this means, one may discover the force of the machine,
and regulate the weight of the stone accordingly®."

The trebuchet arranged with cords is represented in
the treatise Du feu gregeois noticed above, and in the
Etudes sur VArtillerie^ vol. ii. PL iii. Those familiar
with the sights of the Thames will not fail to be struck
with the curious resemblance between this ancient engine
of warfare and the apparatus by which a gang of colliers
raise the cargo from the hold of their ships.

Matthew Paris mentions the plying by day and by
night of the terrible trebuchet. Under 1246, he gives
us the letter of Master Walter de Ocra, a clerk of
the Emperor, to the king of England, recounting the
events of the Italian campaign : " About eight days be-
fore the end of last July, my Lord laid siege to the
Castle of Capaccio, in which were (certain knights)
traitors to him, and who had attempted his life, with a
hundred and fifty others, including knights, cross-bow-
men, and other friends of theirs ; aU of whom my said
Lord, by uninterrupted discharges of missiles, day and
night, from seven well-ordered Trebuchets, and by vigor-
ous and unceasing assaults, also made night and day, re-
duced to such a helpless state that they could not assist
one another V The castle was finally taken and de-
stroyed, the garrison punished by loss of eye-sight and
other mutilations ; and the six leaders who had attempted
the life of the Emperor, having partaken the punishment

« Lib. iii. pars iii. The Album of trebucet." See Eeme Archeologiqne,

Villard de Honnecourt (of the thhi;eenth vol. vi. p. 76.

century) contains also directions for con- ' Matthew Paris, page 624.
structing the "fort engieng con apiele

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 351

of their comrades, were by the imperial order ^^ sent to
all the kings and princes throughout the various countries
of the worldj with the impression of the papal bull, which
was found there, stamped on their foreheads, to give
public notice of their treachery."

The trebuchets were sometimes distinguished by par-
ticular names, a fancy already begun in the "Mate-
Griffon" of Coeur-de-Lion's war-tower, and afterwards
largely indulged in the great bombards of the fifteenth
and succeeding centuries. In 1303, when the Bernese
besieged "Wimmis, they had two trebuchets, one of which
was named La fille de hois^ the other L^Ane^,

In 1850, under the direction of the present Emperor
of the French, a trebuchet of large dimensions was con-
structed after the ancient monuments, and set up at the
Ecole d' Artillerie at Vincennes. A minute account of its
formation and the experiments made with it, has been
given in the Eeport to tte Minister of War by Capt*
Fave : this report is printed in the Etudes sur VArtillerie^
vol, ii. page 38.

The projectiles thrown from the ancient trebuchets
were rounded stones, barrels of Greek fire or other in-
cendiary compositions, and occasionally the putrid bodies
of animals, when the siege was obstinately prolonged, or
the combatants were greatly exasperated. The rounded
stones are particularly mentioned by Guiart : —

" Gietent mangonniaus et perrieres :
La grosse pierre areondie
Demaiime a I'aler grant bondie."

Chron. Metr., Par. i. vers 3,296.

The English seem to have been somewhat behindhand

^ Chron. de Justinger : cited by Col. Dufour in his Memoir e swr I'Artillerie des
Anciens, p. 89.

352 ANCIENT ARMOUR

in the construction of their perriers, for Matthew Paris
tells us that in 1253 the Gascons hurled stones and darts
of such wonderful size on the army of the king, that
many of them were carried into England, to be exhibited
as curiosities^.

The mangonel was used also in sea-fights. In the
Additamenta to the Historia Major of Matthew Paris, we
have an account of the taking of Damietta, in which oc-
curs this passage: ^^Et lapides de mangonellis navalibus,
qui sic parabantur ut quinque vel sex lapides simul longo
jacerent'." It does not seem, however, (as it has been
suggested,) that we have here the description of an en-
gine which threw five or six stones at once : we must
rather understand that five or six mangonels were so
managed as to shoot in volleys.

Another variety of the trebuchet was the Biblia or
Bible ; but its distinctive character has not been ascer-
tained. It is mentioned in '1238: "adducens secum
Bibliam, Petrariam et caetera bellica instrumental." And
in the Roman de Claris :

" Li rois fait ses engins drecier
Et vers les haus murs cliarroier ;
Bibles et Mangoniaux geter,
Et les Chats aux fossez meiier,
Les Berfrois traire vers les mur :
Oil dedens ne sont pas a sur."

And again, in the same romance : — •

" Et pierres grans et les Pierriers,
Et les Bibles qui sont trop fiers,
Getent," &c.

Other names occur at this time, indicating machines
for casting stones: some of these are probably mere

h Page 751. ' Page 1091. ^ Albericus in Chron. MS. an. 1238, apud Adelung.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 353

S3nionyms of the words already noticed ; and of the par-
ticular mechanism implied by others, it is vain, in the ab-
sence of cotemporary drawings, to hope for an exact idea.
Besides the engines of the mangona kind, formed by
a sling and weight, there was another class constructed
on the principle of the cross-bow. The Spingarda and
Spingardella [Espringale) appear to have been arbalests
mounted on frames with wheels, somewhat after the
manner of the field-pieces of our own day. The French
used them against the Flemings at the battle of Mons-
en-Puelle in 1304 :—

" Joignant d'eus rot deux Espringales,
Que gar9ons au tirer avancent." — Guiart.

They shot forth, not only stones, but darts or quarrels : —

" Et font getter leurs espringales :
Ca et la sonnent li clairain :
Li garrot, empene d'airain,
Quatre on cinq en percent tout outre."

Guiart, annee 1304.

They were also called Arhalestes a tour^ and under this
name are included by Christine de Pisan (in the four-
teenth century) in the armament for a strong siege:
^^Deux cens arbalestres, trente autres arhalestes a tour^ et
cent autres a croc, . . . douze tours tous neufs, a tendre
arbalestres," &;c. From the last item we see very clearly
that the distinctive name of this arbalest was derived
from the instrument used to bend its powerful bow. The
figure of an espringale mounted on its carriage is given
in the Etudes sur VArtillerie^ vol. i. Plate i.

The old contrivances to cover the sappers as they ap-
proached the walls of a besieged place, still continued in
use : the Cat, the Cat-castle [chat-chastel)^ the Yinea, and
other varieties of the mantlet occurring frequently in the

A a

354 ANCIENT ARMOUR

chronicles and poems of the time. The king, in the
Roman de Claris^

" fait ses engins drecier,

Et les Chats aux fossez mener.
In 1256, the Papal troops, led by the Archbishop of
Eavenna, attack Padua, defended by the partisans of the
tyrant Eccelino : the archbishop, surrounded by a medley
of knights and monks, soldiers and priests, assaulted the
city at the gate of the Ponte Altinato : they had made
their approaches under cover of a ^'kind of moveable
gallery which they called Vinea.^^ The defendants from
their walls poured burning pitch and boiling oil upon
the wooden vinea, so that it took fire ; but the city gate
being also of wood, the besiegers pushed the machine
close to the gate, burnt it down and entered the placed

The Moveable Towers also were still in vogue. Under
the name of herfrois^ they are mentioned in the passage
on a preceding page from the Roman de Claris. Under
the year 1204 they are named by Guiart : —

" Un fort Chastel se fust drecie :
Le sommet plus haut en repose
Que les murs de Graillart grant chose."

In Eoy. MS. 20, D. i., of about the close of this cen-
tury, the wooden Tower occurs in several of the minia-
tures. It is constructed in the manner of a scaffolding,
having at the top an open platform filled with archers :
its height, that of the city walls, close to which it is
placed. Examples will be found on folios 305, 306 and
317. The besieged, when they were able to discover the
point to which the assaulting tower was to be moved,
loosened the soil in that spot by digging ; so that, when

* Rolandini de factis in Marcli.Tarvis.,lib. viii. c. 13; Monachi Patavini Chron.,p. 693.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 355

the ponderous macliine arrived, it was overturned by its
fore- wheels sinking into the soft earth'''. The ChaU
Ckastel combined the heffroi and the cattus.

But the best account that can be offered of the Siege
operations of this time, is furnished by a cotemporary
writer, the Seneschal of Carcassone; himself the com-
mander of the defending forces. This very curious docu-
ment is preserved in the Archives of France, and has
been published in the Bihliotheque de V Ecole des Chartes^
vol. vii. p. 363. Carcassone was besieged in the autumn
of 1240 by the son of the Yicomte de Beziers ; and
the defender of the city, Guillaume des Ormes, sends to
Queen Blanche, regent of the kingdom during the ab-
sence of Saint Louis, an exact account of the proceedings.
Carcassone was surrounded with a double wall, furnished
as usual with towers, and having several barbicans in
advance of its various gates. The object of the Barbican
was to afford the besieged the means of a flanking attack :
it was formed something like a street, with a wall on each
side, terminating in a kind of open tower : and it thus
became necessary that the enemy should act in the first
instance against this outwork; for, by assaulting the
cui'tain, they would be exposed to a flank attack from
the barbican, and might also be assailed in the rear by
sorties from the head of the work.

" To his most excellent and highly illustrious mistress,
Blanche, by the grace of God, Queen of the French,
"William des Ormes, Seneschal of Carcassone, her humble
and devoted servant, greeting and faithful service.

^^ Madame, this is to let you know that the city of
Carcassone was besieged by him who calls himself the

"> Compare Christine de Pisan, " Pais du roy Charles," chap. 36.

A a 2

356 ANCIENT ARMOUR

Yiscount, and by his accomplices, on the Monday follow-
ing the Octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Mary".
And immediately we who were within the city took from
them the suburb Graveillant^ which is before the Toulouse
gate ; and thence we obtained much timber, which was
of great use to us. The said suburb extended from the
Barbican of the city as far as the corner of the said city.
And the same day, our enemies, through the multitude
of their forces, took from us a mill. Afterwards, Olivier
de Termes, Bernard Hugon de Serre-Longue, Geraud
d'Aniort, and those who were with them, lodged them-
selves between the corner of the city and the water ; and
there, on the same day, by means of the ditches in that
spot, and by breaking up the roads which lay between
them and us, they so fortified themselves that we could
by no means get at them.

" On another side, between the bridge and the Castle
Barbican, Pierre de Fenouillet and Eenaud de Buy,
Guillaume Fort, Pierre de la Tour, and many others
of Carcassone, established themselves. And at both
these places they had so many Cross-bowmen'', that no
man could stir out of the city without being wounded.
Afterwards they set up a mangonel before our barbican,
when we lost no time in opposing to it fi^om within an
excellent Turkish petraryP, which played upon the man-
gonel and those about it ; so that whe^ they essayed to
cast upon us, and saw the beam of our petrary in motion,
they fled, utterly abandoning their mangonel. And in
that place they made ditches and palisades. Yet, as
often as we discharged our petrary, we drove them from

" 17 Sep. 1240. lar character has not been ascertained.

" Balistarios. But it was a machine for thro^\'ing large

P Petrariam tnrquesiam. Its particu- stones with considerable force.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 357

it, still being unable to approach the spot on account of
the ditches, the pits, and the bolts from their bows (?) —
propter fossata^ quarellos et puteos qui ihi erant.

" Moreover, Madame, they began to mine at the bar-
bican of the IN'arbonne gate ; and we, having by listening
ascertained where they were at work, proceeded to coun-
termine ; and we built within the barbican a strong stone
wall, so as still to retain half the barbican in surety : they
then set fire to the props of their mine, and a breach was
made in the outer part of our barbican.

^^They also began to mine against another tower [tor-
nellam) of the outer ballium, but by countermining we
succeeded in dispossessing them of the work. After-
wards they began (to mine) beneath another wall, and
destroyed two of our battlements (cranellos de liceis):
but we speedily set up a good strong palisade be-
tween us.

^'They mined also at the comer of the city, towards
the bishop's house, and beginning their mine from a very
great distance, they came beneath a certain Saracenic wall
(murum sarraceneum"^) to the wall of the hallium^ which,
when we perceived, we forthwith made a good strong
palisade between us and them, and countermined. Then
they set fire to the props of their mine, and brought
down about ten fathoms of our battlements. But we
speedily made a good strong palisade, on the top of
which we constructed a good Ireteche^^ with good loop-

1 This name was given to a wall forti- or of a tower, carried upon the series of

fied with battlements and machicouHs, corbels called machicoulis. It was usually

the fashion having been originally in- removed in time of peace, being easily

troduced by the Saracens. put up again in time of war : for this

Ix A Breteche was a covered passage reason, examples are not often now to

constructed of wood on the top of a wall be found. There are probably none re-

358 ANCIENT ARMOUR

holes for arrows ; so that none of them dared to come
near us in this place.

'' They began also to mine at the barbican of the Forte
de Rhodes^ working underneath in order to reach our
wall ; and in that place they formed a wonderfully large
passage. But when we perceived this, we immediately
made, on each side of their work, a great and strong
palisade ; and we also countermined, and having broken
into their mine, speedily dispossessed them of it.

^'Be it further known to you, Madame, that, from the
beginning of the siege, they have never ceased making
assaults. But we had such good store of cross-bows, and
of brave fellows determined to resist to the utmost, that
they never assaulted us but with very great loss to
themselves.

"At length, on a certain Sunday, they got together
all their men-at-arms, cross-bowmen, and others, and in
a body made an assault on the barbican below the castle :
but we went down into the barbican, and discharged so
many stones and quarrels against them that we forced
them to retire ; many being killed or wounded. On the

maining in England, and they are rare Architecture Mihtaire du Moyen-Age,

in France, but occasionally occur in a 8vo. Paris, 1854.) There were loopholes

dilapidated state, and the marks where in the outer boarding ; and in the wall

they have been placed are to be seen behind openings for the supply of pro-

on ahnost every old fortification. They jectiles from the inner passage behind

formed a very important part of the the parapet waU, in front of which the

defensive system in the middle ages. It hreteches were built. These projectiles

was in these wooden galleries that the were conveyed to the top of the walls or

archers were chiefly placed, and from them towers by means of the sort of wells

stones were hurled on the heads of the which we find in the thickness of the

assailants through the openings of the walls of old castles. The Breteehes were

machicoulis, the men being entirely pro- also called Ilourds. They were some-

tected by the outer boarding and roof of times erected on the top of wooden pali-

the breteche or gallery. (For many en- sades only, as was the case in this in-

gravings of them, see Viollet-Le-Duc, stance.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 359

following Sunday, after the Feast of St. Michael, they
made a very fierce assault. But we, thanks to the brave
defence of our men, repulsed them, killing and wounding
many : on our side, not one was either slain or mortally
wounded.

'' The day after, towards the evening, hearing, Madame,
that your troops were approaching to relieve us, the
enemy set fire to the suburb of Carcassone. They have
entirely destroyed the buildings of the Friars Minor,
and those of the monastery of the Blessed Mary, in the
suburb, using the timber from them to construct their
palisades. But at night all the besiegers furtively with-
drew ; and, with them, those of the suburb.

'' In sooth, Madame, we were well prepared to hold
out much longer ; for, during the whole siege, not one
of your people, however poor his estate, ever suff'ered for
want of food ; and we had com and meat enough for a
much more obstinate resistance, if need had been. Be
it known to you, Madame, that these evil-doers, on the
second day of their coming, slew thirty-three priests and
other holy men whom they met on entering the suburb.
Know also, Madame, that the Seigneur P. de Yoisin,
your Constable of Carcassone, E. de Capendu, and Gerard
d'Ermenville, have greatly distinguished themselves in
this affair. But the Constable, by his vigilance, his
bravery and his daring, is entitled to the chief praise of
all. On other matters concerning the district, we can
better render a faithful account, Madame, when we shall
be in your presence. In a word, they began mines
against us in seven different places: but we in most
cases countermined them, and offered a stout opposition.
They commenced their mines at their own quarters, so

360 ANCIENT ARMOUR

that we knew nothing of their approach till they were
near our walls.

" Given at Carcassone, 13 Oct. 1240.

"Know, Madame, that the enemy burned the castles
and towns which they passed in their flight."

The to\\Ti of Carcassone in its present state is pro-
bably the most perfect fortification of the middle ages
in existence. The whole of the walls, towers, barbicans,
ditches, and even the drawbridges, are still in being,
and wonderfully little injured, considering that they date
from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Enough
remains to restore the whole perfectly, without doubt or
hesitation. An admirable series of plans and drawings
of these interesting fortifications has been made by M.
YioUet-Le-Duc for the French Government, shewing
every part in its actual state, and an equally complete
series of designs for their restoration, representing them
exactly as they appeared at the siege so well described
by the Seneschal. The accounts relating to the building
of these walls and the preparations for their defence, are
preserved in the French archives. The very valuable and
interesting series of drawings named above was exhibited
by the French government in the Architectural Gallery
of the Exposition des Beaux Arts in 1855, and a great
part of them are beautifully engraved on a reduced scale
in the "Essai sur F Architecture Militaire du Moy en-
Age," already noticed. In these plans the situation of
the castle on one side of the town, and of the different
barbicans as described by the Seneschal, are very clearly
marked. There are a few barbicans remaining perfect in
England, as at Warwick and Alnwick.

The siege of Bedford Castle *in 1224 affords another

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 861

good example of the mode of attacking a stronghold at
this period. The garrison in this instance were rebels to
the king ; their leader, one Fawkes, a foreigner, a partisan
of the Bishop of Winchester ; though not himself present
at the time of the siege. The castle was invested by the
king himself. Two lofty towers of wood, of the kind
already described, were raised by the walls and filled
with archers. Seven mangonee cast forth ponderous
stones from morning till night. Sappers approached the
walls under cover of the Cat. First, the barbican, then
the outer ballium, was taken. A breach in the second
wall soon after gave the besiegers admission to the inner
bailey. The donjon still held out, and the royalists pro-
ceeded to attack it by means of their sappers. A suffi-
cient portion of the foundations having been removed,
the stanchions were set on fire, one of the angles sank
deep into the ground, and a wide rent laid open the in-
terior of the keep. The garrison now planted the royal
standard on the tower, and sent the women to implore
mercy. But a severe example was required, in order to
strike terror among the disaffected in other quarters of
the realm. The knights and others, therefore, to the
number of eighty, were hanged; the archers were sent
into Palestine, to redeem their fault by fighting against
the enemies of the faith; while their leader, Fawkes,
who now surrendered himself at Coventry, was banished
from the island %

Matthew Paris records the existence of a singular and
somewhat poetical Monument of Victory, left to celebrate
the capture of a castle in the Campagna of Kome. The

* Wendover (in Paris, p. 270) j Dunstab., p. 142 j New Rymer, vol. i. p. 175.
Annal. Wigorn., p. 486.

36a ANCIENT AKMOUR

emperor ^' had taken a castle near Montfort, belonging to
tlie nephews and other relatives of the pope, which he,
the pope, had newly built with the money of the Cru-
saders. The emperor destroyed the fortress, hanged all
whom he found therein, and in token of the destruction
of it, left a sort of tower half-destroyed^ that the memory
of the offence, as well as of his vengeance, might never
die^

Sea-fights were still achieved by the same knights,
men-at-arms, archers and "satellites," as contended in
land warfare. A good pictorial example of a naval battle
of this time occurs on folio 357 of Eoy. MS. 20, D. i.
See also fol. 23''° of the same MS., for the picture of an
armed fleet. Further examples of a similar kind will be
found in this very curious volume, as well as of Tents
and many other objects of military use.

TouENAMENTS coutinuod to enjoy a large amount of
favour among the nobles and knights, and their retainers :
but princes began to see that these great armed meetings
of their powerful vassals, in the facilities they afforded for
combinations against the royal power, and in the imposing
exhibition of the baronial force ^nd dignity necessarily
involved in these pageants, were full of danger to the
kingly order ; and, in consequence, forbade their celebra-
tion except under express permission of the sovereign".
The plea was, the dangers incurred by the competitors at
these mock battles, and the disorders to which they some-
times led. And indeed it was not difficult to justify the
prohibition on these grounds. Among many instances
that might be quoted of the tumultuous termination of a

* Paris, p. 510, sub. an. 121-1. ° See Henault, vol. iii. p. 971. ed. 1774,

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 363

tournament, we may notice that of Eochester in 1251.
^^ In this same year," says Paris'", '^ on the Peast of
the Conception of the Blessed Virgin, a fierce Tourna-
ment was held at Eochester between the English and
foreigners, in which the foreigners were so shamefully
beaten that they disgracefully fled to the city for re-
fuge; but, being met by knights coming in an oppo-
site direction, they were again attacked, despoiled, and
soundly beaten with sticks and staves: and thus they
returned with much interest the blows and injuries they
had received at the tournament of Brackley. The anger
and hatred between the English and foreigners increased
in consequence, and became daily more fearful." Another
striking example of this century is the hastilude between
King Edward I. and the Count of Chalons in 1274, which
was of so serious a nature as to receive the name of "La
petite Bataille de Chalons." The king, returning from
the Holy Land, to take possession of his crown, was in-
vited by the Count to participate in a tourney which he
was preparing. The king's company is said to have been
a thousand only, while those engaged on the Count's side
are estimated at double the number. But this is the
estimate of English chroniclers. The tourneyers met
near Chalons, some on horseback, others on foot, armed
with swords. The Count, who was a very powerful man,
singled out the king for an antagonist; cast aside his
sword, threw his arms round the neck of the monarch,
and used all his force to drag him from his horse. But
the king, taking advantage of the tight hold by which
the Count had fixed himself to his person, and relying
on his own strength, suddenly clapped spurs to his horse.

Page 715.

364 ANCIENT ARMOUR

carried away the Count out of his saddle, and then by a
violent shake tumbled him to the ground. Being re-
mounted, the Count renewed the attack, but with no
greater success than before. His knights, meanwhile,
exasperated at the discomfiture of their leader, began to
assail the English with all the rancour of real warfare.
The English returned wound for wound : the '' Joust of
Peace" became a " Joute a entrance :" Edward's archers
plied their terrible arrows, routed the troops opposed to
them, rushed upon the knights, slew their steeds or cut
their saddle-girths, so as to bring to the ground many a
sturdy baron and rich prisoner''.

Of the mandates issued for the suppression of tourna-
ments, many examples have come down to us. TheFoedera
contains a considerable number. Some were sent forth
by the temporal prince, others were launched by the spi-
ritual arm ; for it was no difiicult matter in these days to
obtain the pope's aid in any scheme of this nature, where
a benevolent intention could be assigned, and a liberal
douceur had been supplied. In 1220, Pandulf the legate
forbids a tournament in England, under pain of the for-
feiture of goods and of excommunication y. In 1234, the
king of England charges his subjects that they offend not
by tourneying or behourding (huhurdare vet torneare'-).
In 1255 the royal inhibition is again sent forth, and the
reason given for its publication is the peril of Prince
Edward in Gascony : ^^ eo quod Edwardus, filius Eegis
in gravi periculo existit in Wasconia""." 1265 is the
date of another^. In 1299, the king again issues his
mandate : this time with penalties of peculiar severity.

* Trivet, Hemingford, Westminster, Walsingham, ad an. 1274.
Eymer, vol. i. p. 162. ^ Ibid., p. 213. " Ibid., p. 323. '^ Ibid., p. 450.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 365

The knight is forbidden " sub forisfactura vite et mem-
brorum, et omnium que tenet in dicto regno, torneare,
bordeare, seu justas facere, aventuras querere, aut alias
ad arma ire, quoquo modo, sine nostra licencia speciali."
Should any dare to disobey, then they are forthwith to be
arrested and placed in safe custody, " corpora ipsorum,
una cum equis et hemesio suis^"

Whilst, however, the monarch of timid character and
jealous of his baronage, looked with disrelish on the
Tournament, the prince of .an enterprising disposition
and skilled in military exercises, naturally regarded with
more complacency a pastime in which his own achieve-
ments were placed in the most brilliant light, and the
respect and attachment of his nobles secured, by the
exhibition of those qualities on which they themselves
founded their chief claim to power and distinction. Thus,
in the thirteenth century, when the king (Henry III.)
had created eighty new knights, the gallant Prince Ed-
ward accompanied them to a tournament which had been
proclaimed on the continent, *'that each might try his
strength, as was the custom with newly-made knights'^."
In 1253, the Earl of Gloucester with a companion also
went abroad, to take part in a marriage festivity and in
a tournament which followed it : an adventure in which
they were so roughly handled by the antagonist knights
as to require daily fomentations and bathing to restore
them to health®.

Eegarding the equipment of the knights and their as-
sistants at the Tournament, there are two documents of
this century which are of the highest interest and afford

<= Page 916. See also pp. 964, 976, •» Matthew of Westminster, p. 300.

977 and 979. « Westminster, p. 252.

866 ANCIENT ARMOUR

the most curious information. These are the '^ Statutum
Armorum ad Tomiamenta," compiled previous to 1295 ;
and the roll detailing the '' Empciones facte contra Tor-
niamentum de Parco de Windsore," in the 6 th year of
Edward I.; from the latter of which we have already-
extracted some passages illustrative of various portions
of the knightly armament.

By the tournament statute we learn that there existed
at this time a sort of Court of Honour, to judge all dis-
putes and delinquencies that might arise during the cele-
bration of the games ; and the members of it were the
king's eldest son, Prince Edward ; Edmund, earl of Lan-
caster ; William de Valence, earl of Pembroke ; Gilbert
de Clare, earl of Gloucester; and the earl of Lincoln.
As De Yalence, the last of his name, died in 1296, and
the earl of Gloucester in 1295, the date of this document
cannot of course be later than the year last quoted ^ It
is not unworthy of note that the effigies of two of these
Judges of the Tournament, fully equipped in the trap-
pings of armed knighthood, have been preserved to our
days: the monuments of Edmund Crouchback and of
William de Valence in Westminster Abbey are among
the most curious memorials that can be consulted by the
student of ancient military costume. There are several
copies of the statute extant. The following, from a
manuscript in the Bodleian Library, has been selected
by the Eecord Commission as the most trustworthy s : —

" A la requeste de Contes e de Barons e de la Chivalrie de Eng-
let're, ordine est e p nostro Seign'" le Eey comaunde : qe nul ne seit
si hardi desoremes, Conte ne Baron ne autre Chivaler, qe al Torney
voysent de aver plus qe treys Esquiers armez, pur li servir al Turney :

' See ArchcBologiay vol. xvii. p. 298. ^ Statutes of the Realm, vol. i. p. 230.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 867

e qe chescun Esquier porte chapel des armes son Seignur qe il ser-
vira a la jornee pur enseygne.

" E qe nul Cfir ne Esquier qe sert al Turney ne porte espeie a
point, ne cotel a point, ne bastoun, ne mace, fors espee large pur
turneer. E qe tuz les baneors, qe baners portent, seent annez de
mustilers^, e de quisers', e de espaulers, e de bacyn^ sanz plus.

" E sil avent qe nul Conte ou Baron ou autre Chivaler voyse en-
contre le estatut p le assent e le comaundemt nostre Seign'^ Sire
Edward, fiz le Eey, e Sire Eumond frere le Eey, e Sire Willeme de
Valence, e Sire Gilbt de Clare, e le Cunte de Nichole^, qe cell Chi-
valer, qe issint s'ra trove en forfetaunt en nul poynt encontre le es-
tatut, seyt encurru cele peyne: qe il perde chival e armes, e de-
meorge en prison a la volunte de avautdiz Sire Edward, Sire Eumond,
e le autres. E qe le Esquier qe serra trove fesaunt encontre le esta-
tut, qe issi est devise, en acun poynt, perde chival e herneys"^ e seyt
iij. aunz en la prison. E qe nul sake" Chivaler a terre, fors ceus qe
serrunt armez pur lur Seign'' servir, qe le Chivaler pusse recovrir son
chival, e cely seit en la forfeture des Esquiers avaunt diz.

" E qe nul fiz de graunt Seignur, ceo est asaver, de Conte ou de
Baron, ne seit arme fors de mustilers, e de quisers, e de espaulers,
e de bacynet, saunz plus, e qe nul aporte cutel a poynte, ne espeye,
ne mace, fors espee large. E si nul seit trove qe, en ascun de
ceos poynz, alast encontre le estatut, qe il perde son chival le quel
il serra munte a la jornee, e seit en la prison un an.

"E qe ceus qe vendrunt pur veer le turnemt ne seent armez de
nule manere de armure, ne qe il ne portent ne espee, ne cutel, ne
bastun, ne mace, ne perre, sur la forfeture des Esquiers avauntdiz.
E qe nul garson, ne home a pee ne porte espee, ne cutel, ne baston,
ne perrer : e si il seent trovez enforfetaunt, qe il seyent emprisonez
vij. aunz.

" E si acun graunt Seign^ ou autre teygne mangerie, qe nul esquier
ne ameyne eynz fors ceus qe trencherunt devaunt lur Seignurs.

**E qe nul Roy de Haraunz ne Menestrals^ portent privez armez,
ne autres forz lur espees saunz poynte. E qe le Eeys des Harraunz
eyent lur huces des armes saunz plus." &c.

This document affords us some curious glimpses at tlie

^ A doubtful word. It has been held ^ Lincoln,

to mean the kind of cloth called " muster- '" The squire's armour,

develers :" a body-armour seems implied. " Succour.

' Cuissards. " " Mareschaus." Lib. Eom.

I* "Bacynette." Lib. Horn.

368 ANCIENT ARMOUR

customs of the time ; not less by what it forbids than by
what it ordains. A tournament in which the combatants
are liable to be pelted by the stones and slings of the
varlets and other lookers-on, does not give us a very
exalted idea of these festivals ; and, for a holiday game,
the rules seem oddly severe which decree that the poor
squire who infringes them shall lose horse and armour,
and ^^ demeorge iij. aunz en la prison."

The EoU of Purchases made for the Tournament of
Windsor Park, "per manum Adinetti cmom," is pre-
served in the Tower of London, and bears date 9th of
July in the sixth year of Edward I. (1278). The jousts
were of the kind called "Jousts of Peace," and the
knights for whom armour is provided are thirty-eight in
number. Of these, twelve are styled " digniores," and
wore gilded helms, while the remainder had head-pieces
that were silvered only. A "memorandum" informs us
that each suit consisted of one coat-of-fence, one surcoat,
one pair of ailettes, two crests (of which, one for the
horse), one shield, one helm of leather, and one sword
made of whalebone. "M^ qd in quo p tines fu'unt j.
Tunic' arin : j. cooptor: j. par alett. Itm ij. Crest & j.
Blazon & una galea cor & j. ensis de Baloii." Each coat-
of-fence was composed of a Cuirass and Arm-defences.
The cuirasses [quirettce) being supplied by "Milo the
Currier," were probably of leather, as the helms were :
"De Milon le Cuireur. xxxviij. quire t: p'c pec iij.s."
Por each of them were furnished two ells of the cloth
called "Carda;" while eight pieces of ^'* Diaper" contri-
buted to the formation of the whole thirty-eight : —

" Pro qualibet quirett ij. ulii card.
Pro eisd' lines armand' viij. diasper."

The carda is charged at fourpence an ell ; the diaper at

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 369

eight shillings the piece. "Ten buckrams" are supplied
to form the arm-defences : "Item p xxxviij. par bracti
X. bukerann." And the whole of these are painted :
" Item p fcur & pictur xxxviij. par Brach' de Bokeran
p'c par iiij. d." These body-armours must have differed
very widely in their structure or embellishment; for
while the Hamess-of-Arms of Walter de Sancto Martino
only cost seven shillings, that of the Earl of Lincoln
amounted to thirty-three shillings and fourpence. Little
bells were added to the equipment either of the knights
or their horses ; perhaps both : and they were purchased
of Eichard Paternoster : " De Eico pat'nr dccc. ]S'ola3
sive TintunabuP p'c cent. iij. s." This decoration of
bells obtained great favour in the next two centuries.

The surcoats of the four earls p were of Cindon silk,"
the remaining thirty-four of Carda: "Pro iiij. cooptor
p iiij'''' Comit ij. Cind' & di. Item p xxxiiij. cooptor.
cxix. ulii. card." The ailettes were made of leather and
carda, being fastened by laces of silk : " D. Milon le
Cuireur. xxxviij. par alett cor p'c par viiij. d. . . . Item
pro xxxviij. par alett xix. uln. card. . . . viij. Duoden
laqueo3 seric p alett p'c duoden viij. d." Each helm
and each horse had a crest, which was made of calf-skin,
and fastened by the chastones and clavones already noticed
at page 347. Stephen the Joiner supplied thirty-eight
shields of wood at fivepence each: "De Stepho Junctor
xxxviij. scut fustin p'c scuti. v. d." Being elsewhere
called hlazonce^ we may conclude they were heraldically
ensigned. The helms were of leather, supplied by
Eobert Erunnler in their crude state at sixteenpence per

*• The Earls of CcoTiwall, Gloucester, Warren and Lincoln.
Bb

'jJUr^

370 ANCIENT AEMOUR

helm ; but afterwards embellished by Ealph de la Haye,
who gilt twelve of them with pure gold for the chief
knights at a shilling apiece, and silvered the remainder
at eightpence each : " De Eob'o Erunnler xxxviij. galee
de cor p'c galee xvj. d. Item Eado de la Haye p Batur
xij. galea5 de auro pur p dingmor arm prec galee xij. d.
Eidem pro Batur xxvi. gaF de argento, p'c gaP viij. d."
^^J^ 7 The swords were made of whalebone and parchment,
Q their blades silvered, the hilt and pommel gilt: ^^De

Petro le Furbeur (the furbisher) xxxviii. glad' fact de
Balen & Parcomen, p'c pec vij. d. Itm p Batur dco3
glad' de argent' xxv. s. Itm p Batur pomell' & hilt
€05d' de auro pur iij. s. vi. d."

The sum-total paid for these thirty-eight equipments,
including their carriage from London to Windsor, was
£80 11^. %d. Other purchases were made at Paris, of
which a portion appears to have been for the tournament,
as the horse furniture, already noticed at page 340.
Other articles are of a miscellaneous character, as hawk-
ing-gloves, furs for mantles, carpets, and ^^ a hundred
fromages de Brie for the King and Queen" (c. casei de
Bria pro Eege et Eegina, precium xxxv. s.). The whole
of the document, however, deserves a careful investiga-
tion, though we have extracted the chief particulars
which illustrate the subject of our inquiry. It is printed
in full in the seventeenth volume of the Archceologia,

There was U variety of the tournament in vogue dming
this century, called the Pound Table ; of which, though
some curious details have been preserved, the particular
characteristic has not been ascertained. Matthew Paris ^

1 Page 729.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 371

has noted with, especial distinctness that the Tabula
rotunda was not a mere new name given to an old sport,
but that it was a pastime of a different kind. ^^ In this
year, 1252, he says, the knights of England, in order to
prove their skill and bravery in military practices, unani-
mously determined to try their powers, not in the sport
commonly and vulgarly called a Tournament, but in that
military game which is named The Eound Table : (non
ut in hastiludio illo quod communiter et vulgariter Tor-
neamentum dicitur, sed potius in illo ludo militari qui
Mensa Eotunda dicitur :) therefore, at the Octave of the
IS'ativity of the Blessed Virgin, they assembled in great
numbers at the Abbey of Wallenden, flocking together
from the north and from the south, and some also from
the continent. And, according to the rules of that war-
like sport, on that day and the day following, some Eng-
lish knights disported themselves with great skill and
valour, to the pleasure and admiration of all the fo-
reigners there present. On the fourth day following,
two knights of great valour and renown, Arnold de Mon-
tigny and Eoger de Lembum, came forth completely
armed after the manner of knights, and mounted on
choice and handsome horses. And, as they rushed on-
ward to encounter with their lances, Eoger aimed his
weapon, the point of which was not blunted, as it ought
to have been, so that it entered under the helm of Arnold,
and pierced his throat : for he was unarmed in that part
of his body, being without a collar (car ens collarioy^
Montigny expired on the spot, and the festivities were
turned to mourning ; so that " those who had come thither
in joy and gladness, separated on a sudden amid grief
and lamentation ; De Lembum at once making a vow to

B b 2

373 ANCIENT ARMOUR

assume the Cross and undertake a pilgrimage for the re-
lease of the soul of Arnold."

From this relation we learn that the knights, fully
•armed, contended with lances on horseback, and that it
was an especial rule of the combat that the lance-heads
should be blunt or " rebated."

In 1280, the eighth of Edward I., earl Eoger de Mor-
timer held a Round Table at his Castle of Kenilworth.
*' It was," says Dugdale, " a great and famous concourse
of noble persons called the Round Table ^ consisting of an
hundred Knights and as many Ladies, whereunto divers
repaired from foreign parts for the exercise of Arms,
viz.. Tilting and martial Tournaments : the reason of the
Bound Table being to avoyd contention touching pre-
cedency ; a Custome of great antiquity, and used by the
antient Gauls ^ as Mr. Cambden in Hantsh. from Athenceus
(an approved Author) observes." The original authorities
for this description of the Kenilworth Eound-Table festi-
val are Trivet and Walsingham, and the passages may be
seen either in their histories, ad an. 1280, or in Ducange,
sub voce Tabula Rotunda. Dugdale seems to have had
the notion that, to avoid disputes about precedency, all
the jousters dined together at the Round Table ; but it
must have been a large table to have accommodated '' an
hundredKnights," — to say nothing of the hundred Ladies.
It seems more probable, comparing this institution with
others of an analogous character, that a certain number
of knights, representing (and perhaps assuming the names
of) King Arthur and his far-famed band of warriors, held
the field ^'against all comers." This view receives some
support from the well-known relic at Winchester, ^' the
rownde table of Kyng Arthur and hys Knyghtes," which

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE. 373

is painted in compartments, each, bearing the name of one
of the fraternity. The table in question is not, indeed,
more ancient than about the beginning of the sixteenth
century ; but, as the Hall at Winchester in which it is
preserved is of the thirteenth century (the very period
in which the sport of the Tabula Rotunda came into
vogue), it seems likely that this table represents some
more ancient one which time has destroyed. The existing
^'King Arthur's Eound Table" is figured in the Win-
chester volume of the Archaeological Institute; and in
the notice of it in that volume is cited a curious passage
from Leroux de Lincy (himself quoting Diego de Vera,
who was present at the marriage of Philip and Mary),
by which it appears that tradition had assigned to a par-
ticular compartment the name of ^Hhe place of Judas or
the perilous seat :" ^^ Lors du mariage de Philippe II.
avec la reine Marie, on montroit encore a Hunscrif la
table ronde fabriquee par Merlin : elle se composoit de
25 compartimens en blanc et en vert : dans chaque di-
vision etoient ecrits le nom du cavalier et celui du roi.
L'un de ces compartimens, appele Place de Judas ou
Siege perilleux^ restoit toujours vide." Judas appears to
have been interpolated from one of the Mystery Plays of
the Middle- Ages, and it must be confessed that a table
^^made by Merlin" and surrounded by King Arthur and
his knights, with Judas for a boon-companion, has in it
a certain boldness of concatenation which might well
strike with awe the solemn mind of Don Diego de Vera,
on the occasion of his visit to Hunscrit. A passage in

' Probably for Hampshire ; a wide and French, we shall be less inclined to
deviation : but when we remember that wonder at its present state,
the word has passed through the Spanish

374 ANCIENT ARMOUR

the Faits de Bouciquaut seems to imply that holding a
Eound Table meant a hastilude in which the challengers
kept open house: "Ainsi fit la son appareil moult
grandement et tres honnorablement Messire Bouciquaut,
et fit faire provisions de tres bons vins, et de tons vivres
largement et' a plain, et de tout ce qu'il convient, si
plantureusement comme pour tenir table ronde a tons ve-
nans tout le diet temps durant, et tout aux propres de-
spens de Bouciquaut^"

If the nobles of the land retained their fondness for the
military pastimes of their order, the commonalty were
not less attached to the cognate sports of their class. In-
deed, their enthusiasm sometimes led them to an excess
of ambition which resulted in an armed contest between
the two bodies of knight and craftsman : they dared to
practise the exercise of the quintain for the prize of a
peacock! the peacock, that noble bird, every feather in
whose tail was an eye qf disdain contumeliously glower-
ing upon the whole generation of plebeians.

The inexhaustible Matthew Paris again furnishes us
with an illustration : — ^' In the first fortnight of Lent
(1253), the young men of London tested their own powers
and the speed of their horses in the sport which is com-
monly called the Quintain, having fixed on a Peacock as
the prize of the contest. Some attendants and pages of
the king's household (he being then at Westminster) were
indignant at this, and insulted the citizens, calling them
rustics, scurvy and soapy wretches, and at once entered
the field to oppose them. The Londoners eagerly accepted
their challenge, and, after beating their backs with the
broken spear-shafts till they were black and blue, they

Chap. xvi.

I

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

375

hurled all the royal attendants from their horses or put
them to flight. The fugitives then went to the king and
with clasped hands and gushing tears besought him not
to let so great an offence go unpunished ; and he, resort-
ing to his usual kind of vengeance, extorted from the
citizens a large sum of money."

Figures of the quintain and the tilters may be seen in
Strutt's Sports : the manuscripts he has used are of a
somewhat later date, (that is, foiu'teenth century,) but the
forms of the quintains may be fairly taken as similar to
those of the preceding age.

In the thirteenth century we first obtain a pictorial
representation of the Legal Duel, or wager of battle :
rude, it is true, but curiously confirming the written
testimony that has come down to us of the arms and
apparel of the Champions.

:SX;^^&

No. 88.

This drawing has been carefully traced from one of the
^^ Miscellaneous Eolls" in the Tower, of the time of Henry
III. The combatants are Walter Blowberme and Hamun
le Stare, the latter being the vanquished champion, and
figuring a second time in the group as undergoing the

376 ANCIENT ARMOUR

punishmeiit incidental to Ms defeat. The names of the
duellers are written over the figures, the central one
being that of the victor. Both are armed with the quad-
rangular bowed shield and a ^^baston" headed with a
double beak. Britton (De Jure Angliee, fol. 41) exactly
describes their arming : '' Puis voisent combattre amies
sans fer et sans longe arme, a testes decouvertes et a
mains nues (a pie ?) ovesque deux hastens cornuts d'une
longueur, et chascun de eux d'un escu de quatre comers,
sauns autre arme dont nul ne puisse autre griever." The
exact length of the batons we learn from a statute of
Philip of France in 1215 : '' Statuimus quod Campiones
non pugnent de caetero cum baculis qui excedant lon-
gitudinem trium pedum." They might, however, con-
tinues the statute, use staves of shorter dimensions, if
they thought proper.

The arming '' sans fer" mentioned above is made more
clear by a passage of the ^^Coustumier of Normandy," chap.
28 : (Les champions doivent etre) '^ appareillez en leurs
cuiries, ou en leurs cotes, avec leurs escus, et leurs has-
tens cornus, armez si comme mestier sera de drap, de
cuir, de laine et d'estoupes. Es escus, ne es hastens, ne
es armures de jambes, ne doit aver fors fust ou cuir, ou
ci qui est pardevant dit; ne ils ne peuvent avoir autre
instrument a grever Tun Pautre fors I'escu et le hasten."
The bare heads and cropped hair of our duellers are in
conformity with another ordinance of the Camp-fight :
'^ Les Chevaliers qui se combate por murtre ou per ho-
micide, se doive combatre a pie, et sans coiffe^ et estre
roignes a la reonde *." Compare the figui'e of the cham-

* Assis. Hieros., cap. 101.

AND WEAPONS IN EUROPE.

377

pion of Bishop Wyvil, which appears on the monumental
brass of the prelate in Salisbury Cathedral: date 1375.
It is engraved in Waller's Brasses, Part ix., and in Car-
ter's '^ Painting and Sculpture." For an extended series
of evidences relating to the custom of Wager of Battle,
see Ducange or Adelung, v, Campiones^ and compare
Henault, ad an. 1260.

CA.ERPHILLT CASTLE, GLAM.OKGANSHIBE.
Built about 1275.

No. 89.

INDEX.

Abbo, monk of St. Germaln-des-Pres, his

account of the siege of Paris in 886,

p. 88.
Advocati of the Church, Part ii. 165.
Adze-axe, Part i. 45, 48.
Aestii, 68.
Agathias, 4, 5, 16.
Ailettes, 245, 368; various forms of,

250 ; their purpose, 251 ; enriched,

252; of leather, 369.
Ailettes figured, 247, 250, 254.
Aketon, 129.
Aldhelm, bishop of Sherborne, his enigma,

" De Lorica," 62.
Andegavi, 9.
Anelace, 315.

Anglo-Saxons, 9, 15, 17, 21, 65.
Angon, 6, 25.
Arabic Treatise on the Art of War in the

thirteenth century, 329.
Arbalest (see Cross-bow).
Arbalestina, 204.
Archers, Part ii. 100, 104, 105, 115, 157,

186, Pt. iii. 198, 224; mounted, Pt. ii.

102, Pt. iii. 195 ; of Anjou, 200 ; placed

at the wings, Pt. iii. 224; intermixed

with cavalry, 225.
Arcubalestarii, 201.
Armati, 197.

Armour (see Body-armour).
Arms, View of. Part iii. 211.
Army forms barrier of cai-ts and wagons,

225.
Arriere-ban, Pt. ii. 98, 99, Pt. iii. 212.
Arrows, Pt. i. 54, Pt. ii. 156, Pt. iii. 325 ;

poisoned, Pt. i. 54; found in graves,
Pt. i. 55; tri-barbed, Pt. ii. 157;
within and without the Forest, 211,
212; with phials of quick-lime at-
tached, 325.

Arrows figured, 56, 195, 199, 201.

Artillerie, 203.

Astrologers, Part ii. 118, Pt. iii. 227.

Axe, Part i. 5, 12, 45, Pt. ii. 104, 153,
Pt. iii. 213, 319 ; of copper and iron,
Pt. i. 45 ; inscribed, Pt. i. 47 ; handle
of, Pt. i. 49 ; handle of iron, Pt. i. 50;
Danish, Pt. i. 12, Pt. iii. 219, 320,
321 ; carved on knightly tomb, 318 ;
double-axe (see Bipennis).

Axes figured, 46, 205, 206.

Bainbergse, 244.

Bahsta, Part i. 88, Pt. ii. 158, (see
Cross-bow).

Ban, Pt. i. 99.

Banded-mail, 260 ; efiigies exhibiting it,
260 note, 267; for horse-trappers, 267;
for elephant-trappers, 267.

Banner, Pt. i. 95, Pt. ii. 165, Pt. iii. 334;
imperial, of the Eagle, 332; of French
king to be borne by the Chief Cham-
berlain, 334 ; of St. Paul of London,
335; of St. John of Beveriey, 338.

Bannerer of London in the thirteenth
centin*y, 334.

Barbican, 355; examples of, remaining
in England, 360.

Basques, 99, 219.

380

INDEX.

Bassinet, 292, 367.

Baton, 131, 322.

Battering.Ram, Pt. i. 88, Pt. ii. 178.

Battle of the Casilin, 16; of Hastings,
16, 19, 21, 55, 114; of Stanford
Bridge, 20 ; of Cuton Moor, or of the
Standard, 108; of Bovines, 198, 343;
of Falkirk, 217; of Lewes, 331; of
Nuova Croce, 342.

Bayeux Tapestry, 93, 120.

Beads, found in graves of Anglo-Saxon
period, 39.

Beah, 10.

Beard, its fashion, Pt. i.^21, Pt. ii. 149,
Pt. iii. 300.

Beffi-oi, 173, 354.

Behourd, Pt. ii. 182, Pt. iii. 211.

Bells used in tournament equipment,
369.

Berefreid, 174.

Bezanted armour, 255.

Biblia, 352.

Bidaux, Pt. iii. 196, 206.

Biffa, 349.

BiU, Pt. i. 57, 58, Pt. iii. 324.

Bipennis, Pt. i. 5, 45, 48, Pt. ii. 154,
Pt. iii. 320.

Bisacuta, 155.

Biturici, 9.

Blazona;, 369.

Body-armour, Part i. 60, Pt. ii. 119, Pt.
iii. 227 ; at first used by chiefs only,
61 ; of chain-mail, 61, 227, 233 ; of
jazerant, Pt. i. 64, Pt. ii. Ill ; of hide,
Pt. i. 64 ; quUted, Pt. i. 64, Pt. ii. 134,
Pt. iii. 229, 239; of scale-work, Pt. i.
65, Pt. ii. 132, 133, Pt. iii. 255 ; of
leather, 132, 24^ ; of horn, 133 ; stud-
ded, 134, 243, 255, 256; of banded-
mail, 260; with breast and back-
plates, 271.

Body-guard, Pt. i. 10, Pt. ii. 100.

Boots, 136.

Bosses (see Shields).

Bosses figured, 73, 75.

Bovines, battle of, 198, 343.

Bow (long-bow), Part i. 54, Pt. ii. 105,
156, 160, Pt. iii. 199, 211, 325 ; found

in graves, 57; its superiority to the

Cross-bow, 160.
Bows figured, 195, 199, 201, 205, 206.
Brabanters, 99.
Brachieres, 240, 369.
Brasses, monumental, Pt. iii. 193, 195

note.
Breast-plate, early example of, 271.
Breteche, 357 and note.
Bridles, Pt. i. 79, Pt. ii. 171, Pt. iii. 341.
Brigands, 196, 206.
Bronze Period, 1.
Bucula, 292.
Burgundians, 9.
Byrnie, Pt. I 12, 61, Pt. ii. 109.

Caerphilly Castle, xxv., 377.

Calibum, 152.

Caltrops, 172.

Canute, 10.

Capitularies of Charlemagne, 8, 9, 14, 15,
54, 61.

of Charles le Chauve, 8, 166.

Captains of Bowmen, 214.

Carcassone, Siege of, 355; its present
state, 360.

Carda, a kind of cloth used in the fabri-
cation of armour, 240, 368.

Cargan, 241.

Carrocio, Part i. 86, Pt. ii. 107, 165,
Pt. iii. 331.

Casilinus, battle of the, 16, 17.

Casque normand, 130.

Castle, Norman, xii., 189.

Edwardian, xxv., 377.

Cat or Cattus, an engine for siege pur-
poses. Part ii. 178, Pt. iii. 353, 361.

Catapulta, 89.

Ceorl, 10, 38.

Cervelliere, 292 ; its invention, 293.

Chain-mail, Part i. 61, Pt. ii. 130, Pt.
iii. 227 ; early fragment in British
Museum, 63 ; various modes of re-
presenting, 123, 270; shewn of dif-
ferent colours, 270.

Chanfrein, 348.

Chant ones, 292.

Charge " en haie," 115, 223.

INDEX.

381

Charlemagne, his armour, 8 ; his sword

and belt, 38 ; (see Capitularies).
Chastones, 347.
Chat-Chastel, 355.

Chausses, iron, 134; studded, Pt. ii.
134, Pt. iii. 243, 255 ; of chain-mail,
241 ; of chain-mail, laced behind, 241 ;
of banded-mail, 242 ; with poleyns,
242.
Chausson, 242 ; with knee-pieces, 243.
Childebert I., 30, 47.

— II., 18.

Chinese armour, 120.

incendiary weapons, 331.

Chivahy, 94, 97.

Church, armed contingent of, 9.

Circle, the ornament of the coif and hood

of mail, Pt. iii. 235, 237.
Clavones, 347.
Clergy militant, Pt. i. 14, Pt. ii. 108,

113, 153, Pt. iii. 220.
Chentes, 196, 208.
Clovis, 9, 17.
Club, 324.

Code, mihtary, Pt. ii. 103.
Ccenomanici, 9.

Coif of mail, continuous, Pt. ii. 130;
flat-topped, Pt. iii. 235; rounded,
235 ; how fastened, 235 ; worn with
or without other head-defence, 236 ;
imder-coif, 238 ; with front of plate,
291.
Coin, with figure of a Frankish warrior,

31.
Collarium, Pt. iii. 234.
Communal militia, Pt. i. 99, Pt. ii. 166,

Pt. iii. 195.
Connoissances, Pt, ii. 167, Pt. iii. 196.
Constables, Pt. iii. 211 ; of bowmen, Pt.

iii. 214 ; of cavalry, Pt. iii. 215.
Contus, 155.
Copita, 348.
CotereUi, 99.
Coudieres, 234.
Coustillers, 196, 204.
Crest, fan, for helm, 142; for knight,

347, 368 ; for horse, 347, 368.
Croc, 324.

Cross-bow, Pt. ii. 158, Pt. iii. 325;

various kinds of, 326, 353.
Cross-bows figured, 201, 205.
Cross-bowmen, mounted, Pt. iii. 195,

202; in thirteenth century, 201;

wearing armour, 204; placed on the

wings, 225.
Cuirie, Pt. iii. 240, 368.
CulteUus, Pt. ii. 154, Pt. iii. 210, 314.
Cultellarius, 155.
Culvertage, Pt. iii. 213 and note.
Cuneus, Pt. i. 16, Pt. iii. 223.
Cuton Moor, battle of, 108.

Dagger, Pt. i. 7, 43, 51, Pt. ii. 110, 154,
Pt. iii. 318 ; of bronze and iron, Pt. i.
53 ; inlaid, 53 ; carved on knightly
tomb, Pt. iii. 318 ; at Durham, of the
thirteenth century, 318.

Daggers figured, 52, 244, 283.

Dagger-sheath, Pt. i. 43, 53.

Danes, Pt. i. 12.

Danish axe, Pt. i. 12, Pt. iii. 219, 320.

Destrier, Pt. iii. 197, 340.

Divers employed against shipping, Pt. ii.
177.

Duel, Legal, 375.

E^le, Imperial, 164, 332.

Efiigies, knightly, Pt. iii. 193; works

illustrative of, 194 note.
Engines, military, Pt. i. 87, Pt. ii. 173,

Pt. iii. 224, 348 ; Arabic in thirteenth

century, 329.
Eorl, 9, 38.
Espeeal'estoc, 314.
Esquire, Pt. ii. 95, Pt. iii. 195.
Espringale, Pt. iii. 224, 353.
Exempts, 9.
Exercises of mihtary aspirants, Pt. i. 83,

Pt. ii. 181, 185, 188.

Falarica, 89.
Falchion, Pt. iii. 312.

figured, 313.

Falkirk, battle of, 217.

Falx, faus, or falso, Pt. iii. 211, 323.

382

INDEX.

Faussar, 324.

Female warriors, Pt. i. 15.

spies, 209.

Fetel, 10.

Feudal levy, Pt. i. 95, Pt. ii. 103, Pt. iii.

195.
Fitzstephen, his description of London

games in the twelfth century, 185.
Flag, lance, Pt. ii. 150, 167, 168, Pt. iii.

805, 338.
Flags, Pt. i. 84, Pt. ii. 163, Pt. iii. 331.
Flail, military, 327.
Foot, knights contend as, Pt. ii. 116.
Foot-troops, Pt. iii. 196, 197, 216; rid-

den down by the knights of their own

party, 203.
Fork, military, Pt. i. 57.
Formation of troops, Pt. i. 16, Pt. ii.

101, 108, 114, Pt. iii. 217, 223.
Forts of wood, 180.
Francisca, 45.
Franks, 4, 9, 16, 53.
Fraternitas armorum, 50 note.
Frieslanders, Pt. iii. 219.

Gamheson, Pt. ii. Ill, 127, Pt. iii. 229,
239.

Gauls, 9.

Gauntlets of scale-work, 234.

Gaveloches, 219.

Geldon, 151.

Gerefa, 15.

Germans, Pt. i. 9, 16, 17, 31.

Gesa, 106.

Gibet, 153.

Godbertum, 292.

Godendac, 323.

Godwin, Earl, his present to Harde-
canute, 12.

Gonfanon, Pt. ii. 103, 166.

Graisle, 168.

Greaves, Pt. iii. 244.

Greek fire, ^Pt. i. 89, Pt. ii. 161, Pt. iii.
327 ; Arabic treatise on, 329 ; dis-
charged in barrels, 351.

Guisarme, Pt. i. 50, Pt. ii. 106, 155,
Pt. iii. 211, 322.

Gula, Laws of, 12.

Gimpowder, 89.
Gwentland, archers of, 1 05.

Hair, how worn, Pt. ii. 148, Pt. iii. 301.

Halbard, Pt. i. 11, Pt. iii. 323.

Harold II., 18, 64.

Harold Harfagar, 20.

Hastiludes, 181.

Hastings, battle of, 16, 19, 21, 55, 114.

Hauberk, Pt. ii. 129, Pt. iii. 233; with
continuous coif, Pt. ii. 130, Pt. iii.
233; short-sleeved, 131, 239; long-
sleeved, 131 ; with fingered gloves,
Pt. iii. 234 ; with separate gauntlets,
234 ; with coudieres, 234.

Haubergeon, Pt. ii. 131, Pt. iii. 239.

Helm, flat-topped, 279, 346 ; flat-topped,
with moveable ventail, 281; worn over
the mail-coif, 281 ; round-topped, 281;
of " sugar-loaf" form, 282 ; of leather,
282, 368, 369 ; secured by a chain,
285 ; with fan-crest, 285 ; with pea-
cock plume, 286 ; with horns, 289 ;
crowned, 289 ; of Poitiers, 293.

Helmets, Pt. i. 66, Pt. ii. 138, Pt. iii.
274; combed, Pt. i. 67, Pt. ii. 140;
conic^, Pt. i. 67, Pt. ii. 140, Pt. iii.
290; Phrygian, Pt. i. 67, Pt. ii. 140;
round-topped, Pt. i. 67, Pt. ii. 140,
Pt. iii. 290 ; crested, Pt. i, 68, Pt. ii.
141, 142, Pt. iii. 285; charmed, 68;
frame, Pt. i. 69, Pt. iii. 291 : of bronze,
71 ; of bronze gilt, 71 ; of wood, 71 ;
crowned, 72, 289 ; nasal, Pt. i. 72, Pt.
ii. 130, 138, Pt. iii. 291 ; wide-rimmed,
Pt. ii. 112, 141, Pt. iii. 290; with
cheek-pieces and neck-pieces, 139;
flat-topped, Pt. ii. 141, Pt. iii. 289;
with heraldic device, 142 ; open-fac«d,
291.

Hood of chain-mail, Pt. iii. 236 ; flat-
topped, 236; round-topped, 236;
sHpped off" the head and resting on
the shoulders, 237 ; hood of cloth-like
material, 237.

Horns, Pt. ii. 169, Pt. iii. 338.

Horse, buried in the grave of warrior,
80, 83 note ; spare in the field of bat-

INDEX.

883

tie, 116; Spanish, Pt. ii. 173, Pt. iii
339; of William the Conqueror, 173
with fan-crest, 286; breeds of, 339
horses of contending knights fight
also, 340 ; armed horses come into use
m England, 344.

Horse furniture, Pt. i. 79, Pt. ii. 169,
Pt. iii. 340 ; rich, 80, 340 ; of chain-
mail, Pt. ii. 169, Pt. iii. 197, 335, 341,
343; of cloth, 335; of silk, 336;
quilted, 341, 343; armoried, 341,
345, 347.

Horse troops, Pt. i. 17, Pt. n. 103, Pt.
iii. 195.

Hoards, 358 note.

Hungarians, 13.

Huscarlas, 10, 38.

Icelanders, II.
Irish troops. Part ii. 103.
Iron Period, 2.

Italy, troops in, Pt. i. 12, Pt. iii. 195,
218.

Javelin, Part i. 29, Pt. ii. 156, Pt. iii.

325.
Jazerant armour, Pt. i. 64, Pt. ii. 111.
Joust, 182.
Jousts of Peace, 368.

Knee-pieces, 243.

Knife (see Dagger).

Knight bachelor, 95.

banneret, 95.

Knights, of low degree, 96 ; tied to sad-
dle, 172; effeminate, 188; perform
every kind of military duty, 222;
equipment of in 1298, 292.

Lance (see Spear).

Legal Duel, 375.

Leg-bands, Part i. 65, Pt. ii. 134.

defences, 134.

Levy, feudal, Pt. i. 95, Pt. ii. 103, Pt.

iii. 195.
Levy, general, Pt. i. 97.
London pastimes in the twelfth century,

185.

Mace, Pt. i. 57, Pt. ii. 153, Pt. iii. 321.

Machicoulis, 357 note.

Maitre des Arbalestriers de France, 204.

Mallet, 207.

Mangona, Pt, i. 88, Pt. ii. 179, Pt. iii.

348.
Mangonella, 179; sea-mangonel, 325,

352 ; Arabian, 330.
Mantle, 133, 137.
Manufacture of arms and armour, Pt. ii.

162, Pt. iii. 293, 316, 320.
Massue, 324.
Mate-Grifibn, 176.

Men-at-arms, Pt. ii. 103, Pt. iii. 197.
Mercenary troops, Pt. i. 99, Pt. ii. 115.
Mines, Pt. ii. 180; defiances in, 181;

knightly vigils in, 181.
Misericorde, 319.
Monk of St. Grail, his description of the

armour of Charlemagne, 8.
Monument of xactory in the Campagna

di Eoma, 361.
Morning-star, 57, 58.
Musculus, 88.
Musical instruments, Pt. ii. 168, Pt. iii.

338.
Mustilers, 367.

Necromancers, 118.

Normans, Pt. i. 17, Pt. ii. passim.

Odo, bishop of Bayeux, his armour and
arms, 113, 131.

Omens consulted for military purposes,
17.

Oriflamrae, Pt. il 165, Pt. iii. 333.

Otho the Great, ceremonies at his coro-
nation, 31.

Panzar, Part i. 12, Pt. ii. 109.

Pay of knights in the time of King John,

213; of knights and others in the reign

of Edward I., 214.
Pennon, Pt. i. 95, Pt. ii. 103, 167, Pt. iiL

338.
of French King to be borne by

the Chief Varlet Tranchant, 334. ,

384

INDEX.

Petrary, Turkish, 356.

Pictavi, 9.

Pigacia, 137.

Pike, Pt. i. 57, Pt. ii. 162.

Pilete, 207, 342.

Plastron-de-fer, 119.

Plate-armour introduced, 227.

Pluteus, 88.

Poisoned weapons, Pt. i. 40, 54, 59.

Poitrail, Pt. ii. 171, Pt. iii. 341.

Pole-axe, Pt. i. 45, 48, Pt. iii. 322.

Poleyns, 242, 243.

Porchester Castle, xii., 189.

Posse Comitatus, 10, 97 (and see Statutes

of Arms).
Pourpoint, 210, 239.
Pourpointers of Paris in the tliirteenth

century, 239.
Prayer-book of Charles the Bald, 57.
Procopius, 4.
Prussians, 112.

Quarrels or bolts of cross-bows, Pt. ii.

159, Pt. iii. 204, 326.

"empennes d'airain," 327.

Quintain, water, Pt. ii. 186; various

kinds of, 187; on Offham Green, Kent,

187; at London in 1252, 374.
Quiretta, 368.
Quiver, Pt. i. 55, Pt. ii. 102, 158, Pt. iii.

325.

Races, migrations of, 1.

Relics, Saintly, in request for warlike
purposes, 17.

Ribands, Pt. iii. 196, 206, 228; Roi des
Ribands, 208,

Richard Coeui*-de-Lion an archer, 157.

Roi des Herauts, 367.

Roman influences, 7, 88, 89.

Round-table Game, 306, 370; at Wal-
lenden, 371; at Kenilworth, 372;
Round Table of King Arthur at Win-
chester, 372.

Rutarii, 99.

Sabre, curved, Pt. iii. 314.

Saddle, Part i. 79, 81, Pt. ii. 169, Pt.
iii. 340.

Saddle-cloth, 170; armoried, 336, 340.

Saintly aid in battle, 117.

Saracens, 13.

Saracenic wall, 357.

Satellites, 196, 209.

Saxon Chronicle, 11, 14, 76.

Scale armour, Pt. i. 65, Pt. ii. 132, 133,
Pt. iii. 234, 255.

Scandinavians, Pt. i. 12, Pt. ii. 109.

Scottish troops, Pt. ii. 106, Pt. iii. 217.

Scramasaxi, 60.

Scutage, 99.

Sea-fights, 362 ; sea-mangonels, 325, 352.

Seals, their use in the study of ancient
costume, 93 ; various modes of ex-
pressing armour upon them, 122.

Seal of William the Conqueror, 92, 142;
of WilHam Rufus, 102, 123; of
Henry I., 119; of Alexander I., king
of Scotland, 106; of King Stephen,
122, 126, 145; of Henry II., 151, 170;
of Conan, duke of Britanny, 140 ; of
Richard Cceur-de-Lion, 123, 140, 141,

142, 146; of King John, 228, 289,
290 ; of Saer de Quinci, 345 ; of Alex-
ander II. of Scotland, 147, 340; of
King Henry III., 298, 308 ; of Roger
de Quinci, 345 ; of Hugo de Vere, 345 ;
of King Edward 1., 339, 345; of
Robert Fitz Walter, 336, 340.

Seals figured :— of William I., 92 ; of
William IL, 102; of Henry I., 119;
of Alexander I. of Scotland, 107; of
Stephen, 122,144; of Henry IL, 151,
170 ; of Conan, duke of Britanny, 140 j
of Richard I., frontispiece ; of John,
228; of Henry III., 299, 307; of
Roger de Quinci, 346 ; of Edward I.,
339.

Seax, 34, 35.

Sergens-d'armes, Pt. ii. 100, Pt. iii. 196,
198.

de pied, 196, 197.

Shields, Pt. i. 72, Pt. ii. 143, Pt. iii.
293; bosses of, Pt. i. 72, 78, Pt. ii.

143, 144, Pt. iii. 295; handle, 72;

INDEX.

385

reinforced with iron strips, 74; of
Anglo-Saxon period, usually of lime-
wood, 74 ; partly of leather, 76 -, rim
of metal, 76, 111; round, Pt. i. 72,
Pt. ii. Ill, 143, 145, Pt. iii. 294, 318;
oval, 76 ; painted and gilt, 76, 146 ;
carried at back, 77, 146; large, 77;
bronze coatings of, 78 ; Danish, 78 ;
guige, Pt. i. 79, Pt. ii. 146, Pt. iii.
295 ; position in the graves, 79 ; kite-
shaped, Pt. ii. 143, Pt. iii. 294; tri-
angular, Pt, ii. 143, Pt. iii. 294;
enarmes, 145, 295; heraldic, Pt. ii.
146, Pt. iii. 296; rich, 78,147; used
for bier of slain knight, 147; heart-
shaped, Pt. iii. 294 ; pear-shaped, 294 ;
quadrangular, 295; rounded below,
295 ; materials of, in thirteenth cen-
tury, 295 ; with " pattern" ornaments,
297; slung at hip, 297; himg on
room walls, 297 ; hung up in churches
as memorials of distinguished knights,
297 ; carved on knightly tomb, 318.
Shields figured : frontispiece, Part i. 60,
64, 65, 67, 77, Pt. ii. 92, 102, 119, 122,
127, 129, 135, 136, 140, 144, 151, 170,
Pt. iii. 228, 230, 232, 237, 243, 244,
250, 275, 283, 285, 287, 296, 299,
303, 313, 339, 346.
Ships, Pt. i. 11, 90, Pt. ii. 110, 147, 173,

178, Pt. iii. 362.
Sica, 35.

Sidonius ApoUinaris, 4, 34.
Siege of Paris in 886, 88 ; of Jerusalem
in 1099, 173; of Crema in 1160, 176,
181; of Ancona in 1174, 177; of
Messina in 1190, 178; of Acre, in
1191, 180; of Bedford castle in 1224,
360; of Carcassone in 1240, 355; of
the Castle of Capaccio in 1246, 350.
Sigeward, duke of Northumberland, his

death, 66.
Skatmg tilt, 187.

Sling, Pt. i. 57, 58, Pt. ii. 156, Pt. iii.
204, 327 ; sling-stones, 59; staff-sling,
206, 327.
SUngs figured, Pt. i. 59, Pt. ii. 135, Pt.
iii. 205, 206.

Soket, 306.

Song, war, 20.

Soudoyers, 208.

Sow, an engine for sieges, 174.

Spears, Pt. i. 21, Pt. ii. 150, Pt. iii. 301.

figured, Pt. i. 22, 23, 64, 65, 66,

67, 77, 90, Pt. ii. 92, 102, 107, 119,
122, 127, 129, 133, 135, 136, 137, Pt.
iii. 237, 243, 244, 250, 254, 303.
Spear, shaft of, 27, 150; shoe of, 29;
represented on knightly tomb, 305,
318; for hastHudes, 306.
Spies, 209.
Spingarda, 353.
Spingardella, 353.

Spurs, Pt. i. 81, Pt. ii. 171, Pt. iii. 298 ;
on left heel only, 82; roweUed, 298;
enriched, 300 ; suspended in churches
as trophies, 300.
Standards, Pt. i. 84, Pt. ii. 163, Pt. iii.
331; Danish, 84; Anglo-Saxon, 85;
Dragon, 85, 164, 331 , or Carrocium,
Pt. i. 86, Pt. ii. 107, 165, Pt. iii. 331 ;
of William the Conqueror, 163; of
the emperor Otho, 164; of Philip
Augustus, 302, 334; French Eoyal
Standard, 334.
Standard, battle of the, 107.
Stanford Bridge, battle of, 20.
Statute-of-Arms of William of Scotland,
50; of Henry II. in 1181, 97; of
Frejus m 1233, 230, 241 ; of Henry
III. in 1252, 210; of Winchester in
1285,199,210; of Edward I. in 1298,
344.
Steallera, 11.
Steel, hardening of in the eleventh and

twelfth centuries, 163.
Stone-hammer, 57, 58.
Stone Period, 1.
Stones used as weapons, 162.
Stratagems, 116, 225.
Studded armour, 134, 243, 255; of

several kinds, 256.
Sudis, 155.

Surcoat, military, Pt. ii. Ill, 126, Pt.
iii. 271 ; its use, 271 ; short and long
worn tliroughout the thirteenth cen-

C C

386

INDEX.

tury, 272 ; armoried, 272 ; its pur-
pose, 273 ; powdered with escutcheons,
273 J sleeved, 274; of Sindon silk,
369; ofCarda, 369.

Swords, Pt. i. 31, Pt. ii. 151, Pt. iii.
307; rich, 37, 309; of Charlemagne,
38; inscribed, 39 ; inlaid, 40; named,
40, 152 ; poisoned, 40 ; bent, found in
graves, 42 ; of William the Conqueror,
152; maimer of furbishing, 153 ; Hun-
garian, 163; worn at the right side,
311 ; of King Henry III., 311 ; Ger-
man and French in the tliirteenth
century, 311; curved sabre, 314;
stabbmg, 314; of Cologne, 316;
sword and buckler fight, 316 ; sword
carved on knightly tomb, 317, 318;
made of whalebone, 368, 370.

Swords figured : frontispiece, Pt. i. 32,
33, 60, 67, Pt. ii. 130, 132, 135, 136,
140, 144, 151, 170, Pt. iii. 192, 199,
228, 230, 237, 238, 243, 247, 254,
257, 261, 268, 275, 283, 285, 287,
296, 299, 303, 313, 339, 346.

Sword-belts, 44, 152, 309.

cross-piece, 34, 151, 308.

handle, 35, 308.

sheath, 42, 309 ; worn beneath

hauberk, 130.

Tacitus, 7, 11, 16, 88.

Tactics, Pt. i. 16, Pt. ii. 108, 114, Pt.
iii. 222.

Taper-axe, 45, 47.

Tartars, 172.

Tela nodosa, 106.

Tents, 362.

Tenures by various mihtary services : at
Riddesdale, Northumberland, 152 ; at
Faintree, Salop, 200; at Chetton,
Salop, 201 ; by Castle-guard, at Ports-
mouth, 239; at Sockburn, Durham,
313 ; at Plumpton, Warwickshire,
321; at Baynard's Castle, London,
334.

Terebra, 89.

Testarse, 348.

Testudo, 88.

Time of military service, 9, 96.

Tournament, Pt. ii. 182, Pt. iii. 362;
near St.Edmundsbury,183; restricted
to five locahties in England, 184; in
France under Philippe Auguste, 184 ;
armour not different from that worn
in battle, 185 ; writers on the subject,
185 note; forbidden, 211, 364; tu-
multuous at Rochester in 1251, 363 ;
of Chalons in 1274, 363; Statute,
circa 1295, 366; of Windsor Park,
366, 368.

Tom-ney, 182.

Tom's, for bending cross-bows, 353.

Towers, Moveable, employed in sieges,
Pt. i. 89, Pt. ii. 173, 174, Pt. iii. 354,
361.

Trebuchet, four kinds of in the thir-
teenth century, 349; named, 351;
reproduced at Vincennes in 1850,
351 ; projectiles of, 351.

Trialemellum, 324.

Tribulus, 200 (and see Caltrop).

Tripantum, 349.

Trumpet, 169, 338.

TrumuUeres, 292. .

Tunic, 111, 126, 229.

Uniform costume not in vogue, 228;

but adopted on particular occasions,

229.
Urns, funereal, containing weapons, 30,

42.

Varlets, 196.
Vegecius, 30.
Vinea, Pt. ii. 173, 174, 178, Pt. iii.

354.
Vireton, 160.
Vomerulus, 306.

Wace, the particular value of his chroni-
cle to the student of ancient usages,
94.

Wager of battle, 375.

Warns, Wambasium (see Gambeson).

INDEX.

387

War-cries, Pt. i. 20, Pt. ii. 117.
Watch : armed Town- watch, temp.

Hen. III., 215 ; Watch of Pai-is under

St. Louis, 216.
Weapons, Pt. i. 21, Pt. ii. 150, Pt. iii.

301; of peasants, 161, 315.

Weapon-smiths, 31, 41, 42.

Weland, 41.

Welsh troops, Pt. ii. 104, Pt. iii. 218.

WiUiam the Conqueror, his armour, 92,

131 ; his horse, 173.
Wire-drawing, when invented, 227.

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