M m et . !Photograph by H auser ' Madnd . Armour ofPhilip II. A R M OU R WEA PONS BY W 10 C H A RLE SA FFO ULKE S W ITH A PREFACE BY V S OUN T DILLON V P A I . C , S. CU RATOR O F T H E T OW ER AR M OU R I ES OXFO R D AT TH E CLARENDO N PRESS NR Y FR OWDE M A HE , . P B I S H TO TH E U N IV E R S I TY X D U L ER . OF O FOR N D N D IN B G H N E W Y K LO O , E UR , OR TORONTO A N D M E LB OURN E 651244 5 7 3 . z , PR E FA C E WR ITE R S on Arms and Armour have approached the s ub je c t s tu de nts th e ir from many points of View , but , as all know , works s o size are generally large in , or , what is more essential , in price , th a t for many who do no t have access to large libraries it is o . imp ssible to learn much that is required Then again , the papers of the Proceedings of the various Antiquarian and Archaeological Societies are in all cases very scattered and , in some cases , unattainable , owing to their being out of print . Many writers on the subj ect have confined themselves to documentary evidence , while others have only written about such examples as have been n e . spar d by time and rust These latter , it may be oted , are , in e ffi ie s almost all cases , such as the brasses and g in our churches quite exceptional , re presenting as they do the defences and weapons of the richer classes . What the ordinary man wore , h o w h ow he wore it , and it was made are all questions worthy of o f attention . The works our greatest romancers have so little - regarded the development of armour , and even to day such o o anachr nisms are seen in pictures and books , that th ugh many co mfortable and picturesque notions may be disturbed by the actual truth , yet the actual truth will be found to be no less A interesting than fiction . handy work , not excessive in size 6 PREFACE o r o price , and giving really correct information , seems theref re to be needed and sh o uld be popular . Such a work is this which h as n Mr . ffoulkes undertaken , and if we recognize what an imme se amount of information has to be condensed within the limits of I a handbook , think we shall fully appreciate his endeavours to i give an appet te for larger feasts . DILLON . W R OF ND N AR M O R IE TO E LO O U s . CO NT E N T S LIST OF AUTHOR ITI E S INTR ODUCTION CHAPTER I THE AG E OF MAI L ( 1 066—1 277) CHAPTER I I THE TR ANS ITION PE R IOD ( 1 277— 1 41 0 ) CHAPTER III THE WE AR ING OF ARMOUR A ND ITs CONSTR UCTIONAL DE TAI LS CHAPTER IV PLATE AR MOUR ( I 4I O— ABOUT I 6oo) CH APTER V HOR SE AR MOUR CHAPTER VI OF AR MOUR CH APTER VII INDEX A U T H O R 'S N O T E AT the request of many of those wh o attended my course of lectures , delivered before the University of Oxford during the 1 0 Lent Term , 9 9 , I have collected and illustrated some of the more important notes dealing with the Development of European D A efensive rmour and Weapons . These pages are not a mere o f reprint of those lectures , nor do they aspire to the dignity A a History of rmour . They are simply intended as a handbook for use in stridying history and a short guide to the somewhat intricate technicalities o f the Craft of the Armourer . w No ork , even of the smallest dimensions , can be produced at the present day without laying its author under a deep sense of indebtedness to Baron de Cosson for his numerous notes on helms and helmets , and to Viscount Dillon for his minute and _ _ invaluable researches in every branch of this subj ect . To this must be added a personal indebtedness to the latter for much assistance , and for the use of many of the illustrations given in this work and also in my course of lectures . CHARLES FFOULKE S . X F R D 1 0 . O O , 9 9 The following works should be consulted by those wh o wish t o study the subj ect of Armour and Weapons more minutely A Criti cal I nqui ry i nto A nci ent A rmour, Sir Samuel Meyrick ; e at s on nci e nt A nci ent A our A Tr i e A A rmour . rm , F Grose ; , A s a nd A u rm rmo r . J . Hewitt ; , Lacombe (trans by Boutell) ; s n ou A rmour i n E n l n A rm a d A rm r . a d , Demmin (trans by Black) g , d Wa enkunde B oe h e im Guida del Starkie Gar ner ; fl , Wendelin ; A matore di A rmi Anti che Di cti onnai re da M obili er , Gelli ; ll -l - E l o F ra n a i s . Vio e t e nc c o edi a Costume p (vols ii and vi) , Duc y p f , A M a nual o M onu mental B rass es E n ra ved Planché ; f , Haines ; g I llustrati ons o A nti ent A rm our M onu f , Meyrick and Skelton ; t m e ntal E i es The A r o War . fi g , Stothard ; f , C W C Oman ; A rcha eolo i a The A rcha eolo i cal ournal The P roceedi n s o the g , g j , g f S oci et o Anti ua ri es A i y f q the Catalogues of the rmour es of Vienna , o Madrid , Paris , Brussels , Turin , Dresden the Wallace C llection , London and Windsor Castle . ’ The author is indebted to the publishers of Wendelin B oe h e im s Wa enkunde fl for the use of the illustrations 33 and 35, and to ’ o f M onumental B ra ss es Messrs . Parker , publishers Haines s , for the figures on Plate I I I . IN T R O D U C T IO N AS a subj ect for careful study and exhaustive investigatio n perhaps no detail o f human existence can be examined with quite the same completeness as can the defensive armour and weapons o f . o o f Art past ages M st departments Literature , Science , and are still living realities each is still developing and is subj ect to evolution as occasion demands and for this reason our knowledge o of these subj ects cann t be final , and our researches can only be o o to s o . A . t br ught , speak , up date The Defensive rmour of its fi o s o Europe , however , has de nite limitati ns surely set that o o we can surr und our investigations with permanent b undaries , ‘ u » . which , as far as human mind can j dge , will never be enlarged We can lo ok at o ur subj ect as a wh ole and can see its whole length we and breadth spread out before us . In other aspects of life can only limit our studies fro m day to day as invention or discovery push farther their conquering march ; but , in dealing with the of o u r o o armour ancestors , we kn w that alth ugh we may still o o indulge in the ries as to ancient f rms and usages , we have very ‘ o definitely bef re us in the primitive beginnings , the gradual o devel pment , the perfection , and the decadence or passing away , an absolutely unique pr o gression and evo lutio n which we can find in no other condition of life . The survival o f the fittest held goo d of defensive armo ur until that very fitness was found t o be a so urce rather of weakness of o of and than strength , owing to changed c nditions warfare ; o f t o o then the mighty defences steel , impervious sw rd , lance , t o of and arrow , passed away , remain only as adj uncts Parade and or o f Pageant , as examples in museums a lost art in warfare and As to o military history . an aid the study of Hist ry our interest 1 2 INTRODUCTION in armour may be considered perhaps rather sentimental and . o romantic than practical or useful But , if we consider the hist ry o f Art we o u r the of War , shall find that subj ect will materially o o f o assist us , when we remember that the gr wth nati ns and their o f rtunes , at any rate till recent times , have depended to a large o n extent the sword and the strength of the arm that wielded it . There is ano ther aspect of historical study which is o f so me o wh o o n o f imp rtance , especially to those stand the outskirts the subj ect .