THE ARMOURER and HIS CRAFT from the Xith to the Xvith CENTURY by CHARLES FFOULKES, B.Litt.Oxon
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GQ>0<J> 1911 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Cornell University Ubrary NK6606 .F43 1912 The armourer and his craft from the xith C Date iSIORAGE 3 1924 030 681 278 Overs olin a^(Mr;= :3fff=iqfPfr.g^h- r^ n .^ I aAri.^ ^ Cornell University Library XI The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030681278 THE ARMOURER AND HIS CRAFT UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME PASTE By A. Beresford Ryley < 'A w <1-1 K 2; < > o 2 o 2; H ffi Q 2; < w K o w u > w o o w K H H P W THE ARMOURER AND HIS CRAFT FROM THE XIth TO THE XVIth CENTURY By CHARLES FFOULKES, B.Litt.Oxon. WITH SIXTY-NINE DIAGRAMS IN THE TEXT AND THIRTY-TWO PLATES METHUEN & CO. LTD. 36 ESSEX STREET W.G. LONDON Kc tf , First Published in igi2 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE VISCOUNT DILLON, Hon. M.A. Oxon. V.P.S.A., Etc. Etc. CURATOR OF THE TOWER ARMOURIES PREFACE DO not propose, in this work, to consider the history or develop- ment of defensive armour, for this has been more or less fully I discussed in v^orks which deal with the subject from the historical side of the question. I have rather endeavoured to compile a work which will, in some measure, fill up a gap in the subject, by collecting all the records and references, especially in English documents, which relate to the actual making of armour and the regulations which con- trolled the Armourer and his Craft. At the same time it is impossible to discuss this branch of the subject without overlapping in some details the existing works on Arms and Armour, but such repetition has only been included because it bears directly on the making, selling, or wearing of armour. I have intentionally omitted all reference to the sword and other weapons of ofi^nce, for this would have unduly increased the size of the present work, and the subject is of such importance that it deserves a full consideration in a separate volume. The original limits of this work have been considerably enlarged since it was offered as a thesis for the Degree of Bachelor of Letters in the University of Oxford in the Michaelmas Term, igii. A polyglot glossary has been included, as this is a detail which has been practically overlooked by all English writers. The subject of Arms and Armour has not, up to the present time, received the attention in England that it deserves, but I would be the first to admit the value of the works of Meyrick and Hewitt, which are the foundations upon which German and French as well as all EngHsh authors have based their investigations. At the same time it should be remembered that these two authors were pioneers, and statements which they made have been contradicted or modified by more recent research. Two THE ARMOURER AND HIS CRAFT examples of this will suffice. Meyrick named the upstanding neck- guards on the pauldron the " passguards " and the neck-armour of the horse the " mainfaire." From the researches of Viscount Dillon we learn that the passguard was a reinforcing piece for the joust and the mainfaire was a gauntlet {main de fer^ Both these mistakes are still perpetuated in foreign works on the subject, which shows the influence of Meyrick's work even at the present day. The subject of the Armourer and his Craft has never received much attention in England, even at the hands of Meyrick and Hewitt. On the Continent, however, writers like the late Dr. Wendelin Boeheim, Gurlitt, Buff, and Angellucci have all added greatly to our store of information on the subject. Boeheim's work on the Armourers of Europe {Meister der Waffenschmiedekunsi) is the only work in any language which has given us some account of the armour craftsmen of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and I should be indeed remiss if I did not take this opportunity of acknowledging the assistance which this collection of biographies has been in the preparation of the present work. Signori Gelli and Moretti have collected interesting documents relating to the Missaglia family, but apart from this no other writers have made a study of the Armourer. Gay's Encyclopcedia^ which unfortunately was cut short after the letter G by the death of the author, is also invaluable as far as it goes, in that it gives in every case contemporary references relating to the use of each word. The late B. Giraud published J. certain records dealing with the Armourer in various French archaeological journals, and M. Charles Buttin has placed all those interested in the subject under a deep obligation for his minute researches on the subject of the proving of armour. Of living English writers I would express the indebtedness not only of myself, but also of all those who are true amateurs d'armes^ to Baron de Cosson, who, with the late Burges, A.R.A., J. compiled the Catalogue of Helmets and Mail which is to this day the standard work on the subject. Last of all I would offer my sincere thanks to PREFACE ''i Viscount Dillon, Curator of the Tower Armouries, not only for his minute researches printed in the Archceologia and Archceological yournal^ which have brought to light much valuable information respect- ing the Armourer and his Craft in English records, but also for very- great personal interest and assistance in the compilation of this work. CHARLES FFOULKES S. John's College, Oxford, 1912 CONTENTS PAGE Preface . , . vii The Armourer . i Tools, Appliances, etc. 22 Iron and Steel . 38 The Craft of the Armourer . 44 The Proof of Armour . 62 The Decoration of Armour . • • 73 The Cleaning of Armour . 78 The Use of Fabrics and Linen . , . 83 The Use of Leather . 96 The Wearing of Armour . 104 The Armourers' Company of the City of London . .120 Lists of European Armourers . 126 Short Biographies of Notable Armourers • . .131 List of Armourers' Marks . 147 Polyglot Glossary of Words dealing with Armour and Weapons . ' ^53 APPENDICES A. Extract from the Records of the Armourers' Company of London, 1322 (Lib. C, fol. 33) . 169 B. Regulations of the Heaumers' Company, 1347 (City of London Letter Book F, cxlii) . 171 C. Treatise of Worship in Arms, by Johan Hill, Armourer, 1434 (Bod. Lib., Ashmole. 856, art. 22, fol. 376) . -173 D. Traite du Costume Militaire, 1446 (Du Costume Militaire des Fran9ais en 1446, Bib. Nat., Paris, 1997) . 177 E. Extract from the Ordinances of the Armourers of Angers, etc., 1448 (Ordonn. des Rois, XX, 156. Rev. d'Aquitaine, XII, 26. Arch, des B. Pyrenees, E, 302) . 180 xiii '^iv THE ARMOURER AND HIS CRAFT PAGE F. Expenses in the Royal Armouries, temp. Henry VIII (Brit. Mus., Cotton. App. XXVIII, f. 76) . .182 G. Petition of Armourers to Queen Elizabeth (Lansdowne MS. 63, f. 5) • 184 H. Undertaking of the Armourers' Company of London to supply Armour (Records of the Company, 161 8) . .186 I. Proclamation against the Use of Gold and Silver except in the Case OF Armour (State Papers Dom. Jac. I, cv) . .187 J. Erection of Plating-mills at Erith (State Papers Dom. Jac. I, clxxx) . 188 K. Regulations as to the Hall-mark of the Armourers' Company (Rymer, XIX, 314) . , . 191 L. Petition of Armourers (State Papers Dom. Car. I, cclxxxix, 93) . .192 M. Extract from the Survey of the Tower Armoury, 1660 (Brit. Mus., Harl. MS. 7457) . 193 Index ........ 195 " LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT 1. Diagram showing the " glancing surface ..... 4 2. Diagram showing the position of the lance in jousting, from Jrch, Journ., LV, 5 3. Pauldrons on the statue of Colleoni, Venice, and of a Missaglia suit in the WafFensammlung, Vienna (Plate II) ...... 6 4. The solleret, practical and unpractical ..... 6 5. Horse-armour ....... 8 6. Harnischmeister Albrecht, from a painting in the Arsenal, Vienna 9 7. Cuissard for the off hock of a horse. Musee Porte de Hal, Brussels . 10 8. Arms of the Armourers' Gild, Florence. From the Church of Or San Michele . M S. George, . 9. by Hans Multscher, 1458. Augsburg . M 10. Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, arming. Brit. Mus., Cott., Jul., E, IV, fol. 12 b 15 11. The Westminster helm ...... 17 12. The Brocas helm ....... 17 3. The Fogge helm 1 ....... 17 14. The Barendyne helm ...... 17 15. The Mail-maker, from Jost Amman's Stands und Handiverker, cjrc. 1 590 23 16. The Armourer, from the same source as the above 24 17. Burring-machine or "jenny," from the picture by Breughel given on the frontispiece 36 18. Method of making mail, from i^rcA. /»«r«., XXXVII 45 19. Representations of double and single mail, from the effigy of Robert de Mauley, formerly in York Minster, Archaologia, XXXI .... 45 20. The coif of mail, from the effigy of William, Earl of Pembroke, Temple Church, and an unnamed effigy in Pershore Church, Worcs, after Fairholt 46 21. Attachment of the camail, from the effigy of Sir R. Pembridge, Clehonger Church, Hereford 46 22. Attachment of the camail reconstructed . ... 46 23. Suggested arrangement of "banded" mail, from Arch. Journ., XXXVII, figure from Romance of Alexander, Paris, Bib. Nat., circ. 1 240, and the effigy at Newton Solney, Derbs. 47 24. Foot-soldier wearing a jack, from the Chasse of S. Ursula, by Memling, 1475-1485.