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CHAPTER VI

GENERAL HISTORY OF ARMOUR, A.D. 1400-1500

The advent of the XVth century—The slow and hardly perceptible development of plate
armour at the dawn of the century: its rapid evolution after the first ten years—Certain
effigies that show its progress—The effigy of William Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, the
remarkable evidence of the Italian provenance of the armour he is represented wearing—Details
of the effigy and its comparison with contemporary Italian painting—The
likeness to existing armour on foreign effigies and statues, as compared with the usual
insular style of armour depicted on English works of the same nature—A brief review of
certain historical effigies to near the close of the XVth century—The earliest complete
suit of armour extant reputed to have been worn by Frederick the Victorious, Count
Palatine of the Rhine, probably the work of Tomaso da Missaglia, about 1440-60—Only
three other suits of the same nature known to the present writer—Certain existing
suits of Italian origin, but belonging to the next generation 160


CHAPTER VII

GENERAL HISTORY OF ARMOUR, A.D. 1400-1500

The appearance in certain famous pictures of these types of existing Italian suits—An
endeavour from pictorial evidence to imagine the type of armour which may possibly
have been produced by Petrajolo, father of Tomaso da Missaglia—Our reason for
describing at length armour of Italian origin—Extant suits of armour of other nationalities
of the third quarter of the XVth century; the great difficulty of identifying in
existing suits the work of the known armourers of that time owing to the merging
of styles—The possible French make of a suit of "Gothic" armour in the Musée
d'Artillerie, Paris—A superb example of a late XVth century suit of armour, certainly
German in fashion, the armour of Sigismund the Wealthy, Archduke of the Tyrol
(1427-96)—The prolific Treytz family of Mühlan; with a list of their most famous productions.
The great family of Kolman of Augsburg. Parts of "Gothic" armour of the latter
part of the XVth century scattered in English collections—Two late XVth century
effigies of importance in England, in which the curious insular type of the armour
represented is remarkable—The great use of textile in full military display, and the
multitude of body armaments of such a nature which we note in picture and tapestry,
but of which no extant examples are known to the present writer—Accounted for by
the introduction of the classic renaissance in the fashion of warlike apparel, first in Italy
in the first half of the XVth century, afterwards gradually influencing civilized Europe—The
perishable nature of such defence—The terminology of styles in personal armour,
by reference to the outer textile coverings—The surcoat of the latter part of the XVth
century, its use in pageantry and actual warfare 186