Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/618

weapons ; and axes, with shafts from 4 to 5 feet in length, appear in the hands of both Normans and Saxons. The Norman shield is large and kite-shaped, provided with arm-strap and handle, and adorned with emblazon ments of badges or devices. Few examples of the older circular shield appear on the tapestry, and these few are Saxon. The body armour consisted of a long hauberlr, ringed or trellised, with di vided skirt, and having the hood and body in one piece. The helmet was deep, coni- cally topped, and furnished

with a nasal.

FlG. 5.—From the Bayeux tapestry.

English after the Norman Conquest.—The armour in

use in England since the period of the Norman Conquest may be briefly divided into four groups, each associated with its own historical period. True mail armour of inter linked rings was generally adopted in the time of the Crusades, and its use extended to about the beginning of the 14th century. Towards the close of the 12th century the long plaited or mailed skirt, divided at the bottom, as we see in the Bayeux tapestry, had been superseded by a short-sleeved tunic, generally of chain-mail, reaching only to the knees, but sometimes covered with variously-shaped plates of metal. This short hauberk was confined by a belt about the waist, and furnished with a hood or coif, over which a close-fitting helm was worn. In the 13th century there was less uniformity of military equipment. The hauberk was again lengthened to the middle of the leg, and had a coif to cover the head, over which the massive helm, with or without a nasal, was worn, sometimes with a movable visor. The sleeves of the hauberk were prolonged, and mittens added to protect the hands; the lower limbs were covered with mail, the coverings above the knee being called chaussons, and those below the knee chausses. The sword was long, straight, and pointed, generally with a short recurved guard and rounded pommel. The shield was small, triangular, or heater-shaped; the helm massive, high, and flat-topped. After the middle of the 1 3th century secondary defences of plate for the protection of the joints began to be introduced ; the hauberk was shortened, the mittens of mail were divided into fingers, the helm was often rounded at the top, and greaves and shoulder- plates were introduced. The period of mixed mail and plate armour extends from about 1300 to about 1410. The introduction of secondary defences of plate for the weaker and more exposed parts of the mail-suit gradually changed the character of the armour, until it produced the complete panoply of plate-armour. In the first half of the 14th century the sleeves of the hauberk were shortened, demi-brasarts were introduced for the protection of the back of the upper arm, and vambraces worn on the front of the lower arm, roundles were added in front of the shoulder- joints and at the elbows, and the greaves or jambarts were continued over the feet in laminated plates. The bassinet was now worn beneath the huge sugar-loafed helm, and had a camail, or curtain of mail, descending down the back for the protection of the neck, which subsequently assumed the form of a close-fitting tippet. By the middle of the century splinted armour had become common, and the cuirass with gussets of mail appears. As the second half of the century advanced, the arms and legs were cased entirely in plate, laminated sollerets, acutely pointed at the toes, covered the feet, while the body was protected by a long-sleeved hauberk of mail, reaching to about the middle of the thigh, with laminated epaulleres or shoulder-guards, and coudieres or elbow-guards. The long sword, with cross-guard, and the short dagger or misericorde were now in fashion, and heraldic crests were generally adopted before the close of the century. The first ten years of the 15th century were a period of transi tion, and from about 1410 the armour became a complete panoply of plate. The period of complete armour of plate which commenced about 1410 extended to the beginning of the 17th century. At the commencement of this period, or towards the middle of the first quarter of the 15th century, the body armour consisted of breast and back- plates of one piece, the roundles at the shoulders were replaced by plates resembling small shields fixed in front of the shoulder-joints, and a fan-like arrangement of plates protected the elbows. Below the waist the body was pro tected by the faces, a series of narrow, overlapping plates attached to a lining of leather. The crested helm, some times with the addition of a collar, was still in use in battle and tournament. The bassinet was more globular in form, and connected by a gorget with the suit of plate. By the middle of the century the same system of re-inforcing r or adding secondary protections to cover the weaker points, which gradually changed the mail into a complete panoply of plate, had effected considerable changes on the character of the plate-suits, until the corresponding defences of the right and left sides of the figure became totally unlike each

other.

FIG. 6. Suit of Plate, early

in 16th century.

The tabard, a short

surcoat with short sleeves, emblazoned with the arms of the wearer, now commonly appears over the armour. By the end of this century the defensive system of plate- armour had reached its high est development. At the com mencement of the IGth cen tury, a species of armour of less rigid and cumbrous de scription, often formed of small plates of metal quilted within garments of linen or other tissues, had come into fashion, skirts of mail also came again into use, while the armour generally became more massive and more richly decorated. Pointed or rounded sollerets gave place to sabatons cut off square at the toes, and plumes were gene rally attached to the helms. The salade and the morion, light open head-pieces, gave place to the closed helmet, with visor and beevor ; the recurved finger-guard, with the long straight sword, and all varieties of the sabre, came into use ; and two-handed swords and sword-breakers (curious implements, with notches and springs for catching the blade of an antagonist s sword) were also used. As the century advances the decadence of armour begins to be evidenced by its assimilation to the forms of dress and prevailing fashions of the time. Mere surface ornamenta tion is more and more regarded ; fluted, laminated, and puffed suits are fashionable, and the gradual disuse of armour is foreshadowed in the increasing use of fire-arms, against which it afforded no sufficient protection. After the close of the IGth century it continued to be worn as much for display as for real service. Cuirasses began to be superseded by buff coats and jerkins, but demi-suits of plate were worn by cuirassiers far on in the 17th century.

The variations of tilting arms and armour, and of horse