Fig. 211.—Visored bascinet from Roy. MS. 20, C. 7.
Fig. 212.—Knight. (Richard II. MS., in Bibliothèque du Roi.)
The Bascinet.—The bascinet was very tall at the commencement of the period and acutely pointed at the apex; it gradually lessened in height as time advanced. It descended on both sides well over the ears, and was carried round to the back of the neck, as a rule, in a straight line. The apex was not over the centre of the head, but more towards the rear; when the knight couched his lance and bent forward in the saddle the point was thus brought forward to a perpendicular position. This detail cannot be perceived in brasses, but is very apparent in monumental effigies, and is shown on the opposite page ([Fig. 206]), taken from a stained-glass window in St. Peter’s Church, St. Albans, and approximately of the date 1380. The visor is represented in gold-coloured glass, and this feature of gold gilding is by no means uncommon in MSS. of the early part of this period, from which it is possible to infer that the visors were either of cuir-bouilli, latten, or were enriched by gilding. At first the visors were removable at will, being merely hung on projecting knobs at the sides; but afterwards, when the snout-faced variety came into vogue, they were invariably fixed, and could only be raised or lowered. An earlier form of bascinet is shown in the windows of the same church which has a close-fitting visor, very similar to those which marked the advent of the pot-helm in the thirteenth century ([Fig. 207]). Towards the close of the fourteenth century the adoption of the “snout-faced,” or “pig-faced” visor ([Fig. 208]) became universal, eliciting much uncomplimentary criticisms from contemporary writers and being the subject of many caricatures in carvings of the period. In the Tower of London a bascinet weighing 5¼ lbs. is preserved ([Fig. 209]); the visor or ventaille, which weighs 1 lb., originally hinged up to a pivot in the centre of the skull. In the Wallace Collection, [Fig. 210] shows a beautiful example which was formerly in the Meyrick Collection; it is French, and dates from c. 1400. An early example of this form of visor bascinet is preserved in the collection at Parham dating from 1365, which shows the ventaille partly covering the neck, and this form is common in the Roy. MS. 20, C. 7, in the British Museum, dating from 1400 to 1415 ([Fig. 211]). Here, however, the feature is made of such huge dimensions, reaching doubtless as far as the collar-bones, that a feeling is engendered of disproportion, or of caricature; but as the examples are very numerous, and all appear the same, the thought is perforce dispelled. Huge visors are also depicted in a History of Richard II. of England preserved in the Bibliothèque du Roi (a figure from which is here shown, [Fig. 212]), which must have provided a large amount of breathing space and also acted to some extent as a gorget. The bascinet termed the Barbute is essentially Italian, and does not occur upon any English brass or effigy; it appears to have been prevalent on the Continent, and some of the head-pieces shown upon the common soldiery in English MSS. partake of the character of this defence. It was worn without any visor, but a portion of the camail, adapted for the purpose, was lifted in order to cover almost entirely the small opening left in front, being fastened to the staples with which these helmets are almost always provided. The Barbute in the Wallace Collection ([Fig. 214]) shows this feature very distinctly, as it is provided with two staples for the purpose, while the nasal thus formed by the camail is well shown in the effigy of Ulrich Landschaden, 1369, in Neckarsteinach ([Fig. 215]), which, however, is defended by the ordinary bascinet, though strange to note, the figure is entirely without any visible plate armour for the limbs. A bascinet with an iron nasal of rigid form is shown in the MS. Roy. 14, E. 4, and depicted in [Fig. 216]. It will be seen by the various figures illustrating the Camail and Jupon Period that the height of the bascinet became less towards the end of the time when it prevailed, and showed a distinct tendency to merge into the globular form of the succeeding period. The bascinet of Sir William Burgate, 1409, in Burgate Church, Suffolk ([Fig. 217]), is remarkable for its high comb or apex, and is probably of foreign origin.
Fig. 213.—Snout-faced helmet, c. 1400.