o CO o o LIBRARY University of California. Class \ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/ancientarmourweaOOhewirich 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. V \ USOO u 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 b o 16336 IV DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. Page 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 b2 VI DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. Page 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. Page 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. Page 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. Page 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 Page 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. Page 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. Page 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, pels, 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.,.i l K l > *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: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 o f chain-m ail. "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 1Z f- -.XT " -V " 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 clear ly 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 ^_^ r"^^^Sr\ ^^^■^^^M^l^l ^^^^^^np . / , t^^^^^^^^^^^SBI^^t'M^^ W\ Pi i p i'l l\^^m Villi 1 1 I '»fe4 wBPiB lIMl 1 m 1 W!^^'^™B ^' i' >'™ i mh 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. PRINTED BY MESSRS. PARKER, CORN-MARKET, OXFORD. • > "^m RETURN TO the circulation desk of any University of California Library or to the NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY Bldg.40a Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS • 2-month loans may be renewed by calling (510)642-6753 • 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books to NRLF • Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date. DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 'JAN 1 mi 12,000(11/95) f UftBKft'' VJ.C.B^^^^''' TU M-Uv^UO ^*' \ ;