Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 2.djvu/244

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effigies, of whatever material they might be formed, appears to have prevailed at all periods in Germany, as well as in England; in France the effigies of white marble, sculptured during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, were frequently left without any such decoration. The nasal attached to the camail is here again to be noticed, the blue surcoat is powdered with golden lions, and lined with the white fur called Kleinspalt, which must not lie confounded with the Imperial ermine. The most singular portions of the armour are the defences which are laid over the sleeves of mail, and those which supply the place of greaves. M. de Hefner describes them as formed of cuir-bouilli, formed in longitudinal bands, which are gilt, with intervening rows of gilt studs, serving probably not only as fastenings of the rivets, but also as a partial protection from a blow. Examples of armour of a similar kind are supplied by the effigy in the north aisle of the nave at Tewksbury church, and that of Sir Otho de Grandison, at Ottery St. Mary, Devon. Similar defences were used also in Italy, as shewn by sepulchral figures in the church of the Santa Croce, at Florence, (date about 1357,) which present likewise examples of the use of chains and mammelières, and of the nasal, above mentioned. (See Mr. Kerrich's interesting drawings preserved in the British Museum; Add. MS. 6728. f. 130.) Several sepulchral brasses also existing in England, exhibit defences formed with rows of small round plates; armour wholly formed in such a manner was in use as early as the thirteenth century, as is shewn by the figure of a knight, copied by Strutt from a MS. in the British Museum[1]. De Comines relates that the dukes of Berry and Charolois, in their expedition against Paris in 1465, "chevauchoient sur petites hacquenées à leur aise, armez de petites brigandines fort légères; pour le plus encore disoient aucuns qu'il n'y avoit que petits cloux dorez par dessus le satin, afin de moins leur peser[2]." In later times a defence similarly formed but of more rude description, appears to have been called a "peny platt cote," and a curious specimen of horse-armour, composed of round plates riveted upon leather is preserved in the Great Hall, at Warwick Castle.

  1. Royal MS. 2 A. XXII. Strutt's Dresses, vol. ii. pl. lxvi. Shaw's Dresses.
  2. Memoires, liv. 1. c. vi.