With the advent of the camail and jupon we enter upon a period which presents a certain amount of uniformity, and is in marked contrast to the tentative styles which preceded it. Throughout the Surcoat, Cyclas, and Loose-skirted Jupon Periods, defensive armour was in a state of transition; warriors sought to render themselves immune by every conceivable expedient, discarding those which failed upon trial, and augmenting those which proved efficacious. The cumbrous mentonnières and gorgets of plate; the enormous visors; the great globular bascinets; the multiplicity of garments in the Cyclas Period, and the indiscriminate use of cuir-bouilli, horn, pourpointerie, chain, and plate, in that which followed, were all in this period relegated to the limbo of forgetfulness, and a uniformity of attire was adopted which was the more striking when compared with those which immediately preceded it. This similarity or prevalence in fashion in military dress has lasted to the present time, for in all the different periods we shall deal with after this uniformity commenced, we shall notice that certain features are prominent, and that only minute deviations call for our attention. As human knowledge is but the consolidated result of experience, so we may attribute the Camail and Jupon Period to the French wars of Edward III. and Philip of Valois, which for nearly twenty years devastated France, and in which the two decisive battles of Cressy, 1346, and Poictiers, 1356, are included. During that long period the various defences underwent the fiery ordeal of actual use, and only those which emerged triumphantly from the struggle were retained.
Fig. 203.—Breastplate, Camail and Jupon Period. (Roy. MS. 15, D. 3.)
Fig. 204.—Sir Ralph de Knevynton, 1370. Aveley, Essex.
To the student of armour and arms, this period is of exceptional interest by reason of the unwonted facility with which it may be studied, inasmuch as there is hardly a cathedral, or church of any importance in the kingdom, which does not possess, in some manner, details of military equipment relating to it. Brasses and monumental effigies simply abound, stained glass is by no means uncommon, while carvings in wood and stone exhibit details which are at times of great importance. The wealth of technical matter thus preserved enables the student to reconstruct the period with a fidelity which is wanting in those earlier. It must not be supposed that the great and salient features of the style were at once adopted; there was a transition period of nearly twenty years, during which the old defences were in part retained, and only discarded by degrees. Before pointing out these exceptions, however, it may be as well to take the several features of the equipment in order, as has been done in preceding styles.
