Fig. 208.—Snout-faced bascinet.
Fig. 209.—Bascinet. (Tower of London.)
The Breastplate.—This was worn underneath the jupon and over the hauberk to which it was affixed, and gave the swelling, globular appearance to the knights so characteristic of the period; its termination at the waist imparted a contour of body almost wasp-like at times. We are unaware of the form of this defence, and also as to whether or not it possessed a companion backplate, so as to form a complete cuirass; however, the appearance of the back of many effigies of this period leads to the supposition that a similar plate was used to protect that part of the body. In the MS. Roy. 15, D. 3, a foreign knight is shown wearing his breastplate upon his jupon, and it is of the form depicted in [Fig. 203]; it may perhaps be taken as the general shape of this defence. Upon a sculptured effigy of the year 1370 in Bamberg Cathedral, a copy of which is reproduced in Boutell’s “Monumental Brasses,” a heart-shaped breastplate is shown, but there are no British examples of the exposed defence. In the Bamberg effigy chains are shown depending from staples in the breastplate for attachment to the sword-hilt and misericorde, and the brass of Sir Ralph de Knevynton at Aveley, Essex, 1370, also has this feature ([Fig. 204].)
The Hauberk.—During the earlier portion of the Camail and Jupon Period the hauberk was invariably constructed of banded mail, but towards the end of the century it was superseded by linked chain mail, although late examples of the banded may be found, such as that of Lord Berkeley, 1392, at Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, and Sir Nicholas Hawberk, 1407, Cobham Church, Kent. The defence reached to about the middle of the thigh, and subsequently to 1380 became sleeveless. The lower edge appears as a rule about two inches below that of the jupon, and is, in some cases, made ornamental by pendent rings, as in the case of Sir Robert Swynborne. Under the hauberk the quilted gambeson, or haqueton, was worn as usual, but no portion of it appears in brasses or effigies.
Fig. 210.—Snout-faced bascinet, c. 1400. (Wallace Collection.)