Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 2).djvu/17

King Edward IV—A comparison in contour between the English and German made
helm head-piece of the same epoch—The Italian make and fashion of the tilting helm
of about this same period: an example: two famous Italian helms at Venice with
their accompanying harness: a somewhat similar example at Vienna—The Spanish
made helm also of about the same time: two examples in the Royal Armoury,
Madrid, one with its harness—The method of the attachment of the cylindrical tilting
helm—The helm as a head-guard for the fighter on foot—Some extant examples of such
defences—The appearance of such a helm at the beginning of the XVIth century:
some examples extant in England—The helm as used in the Champ Clos—Its great
protectiveness—The author's difficulty in differentiating between the "great bascinet"
and the foot fighting helms—Extant helms or "great bascinets" of the early years of
the XVIth century—A particular group of purely tournament helms; some of leather—The
crest upon the helm at this period: original crests that exist 99


CHAPTER XIV

CHAIN MAIL AND INTERLINED TEXTILE DEFENCES

The mystery of the construction of chain mail defence in early mediaeval times: the
possibility of many examples existing, but the great difficulty experienced in assigning
a date—Certain chain mail shirts extant that have an established date—Some XIVth
century and later contemporary allusions to chain mail: its probable actual construction—Certain
existing fragments of chain mail referred to by Meyrick, Burges, and others:
other complete hauberks—The dubious authenticity of extant complete defences of
chain mail—Late XVth century chain mail, its many usages—The standard of chain
mail—The continued use of chain mail armour in semi-civilized countries until comparatively
recent times—The use of chain mail in the XVIth century as a subsidiary
defence—The flexible defence other than the true shirt of linked mail—The jazarine:
the possible derivation of the name: a contemporary effigy so armoured—An existing
coat that may come within the category—The brigandine: some early references, extant
examples: recorded specimen in the Tower of London: some late XVIth century
types—The jack: a plebeian defence—A few XIVth and XVth century allusions to,
and illustrations of, it—Jacks of late date extant, their construction 167


CHAPTER XV

THE GAUNTLET

The importance of hand protection recognized from the earliest times—The first mediaeval
attempts to effect this by the elongation of the hauberk sleeve: this fashion seen on the
brass of Sir Richard de Septvans, and on the effigy of William Longespée, Earl of Salisbury,
who died in 1266—The divisions for the fingers evolved—The first appearance of the
gauntlet, about A.D. 1300, as a separate armament—The rapid advance in the protective
construction of the gauntlet in the first half of the XIVth century—The general form
of the gauntlet of plate of this period: a typical example on the brass of Sir John de