The Coudières.—Until about 1450 the coudières were of normal sizes and proportions, but when the shield was discarded and the left side of the knight was strengthened, the left coudière became of supreme importance in the warding off of a blow, and hence underwent changes which in some cases can only be termed monstrous and extravagant. Probably the brass of Sir Robert Staunton, 1458, in Castle Donington Church, Leicestershire, furnishes the maximum example of immensity in coudières, though the peculiarity of having both of the same size and pattern should not be overlooked. Another and later brass, that of Thomas Playters, 1479, in Sollerley Church, shows a coudière of a peculiar shape and of great size, reproduced in [Fig. 301]. A secondary defence was introduced about the middle of the century to protect the inside bend of the left arm, called the garde-de-bras, well seen upon the brass of Sir John Peryent the younger, 1450, at Digswell, Herts ([Fig. 302]); in the accompanying [Fig. 303] is shown an example of a left coudière from the Wallace Collection (No. 46), dating from about 1490.
Fig. 302.—The brass of Sir John Peryent the younger.
The Taces, Tuilles, and Tuillettes.—The taces introduced into armour during the Surcoatless Period reached approximately to the mid-thigh of the wearer, and during that period short lames were attached in front at times, making the skirt of plate even longer. As the Tabard Period progressed, however, the taces showed a tendency to decrease in number, thereby shortening the skirt of plate and permitting more of the thigh to be uncovered. In order to remedy this, separate plates, rounded so as to encircle the limb to a certain extent, were affixed to the lowermost tace by straps in front of each thigh, and as the taces contracted the “tuilles,” as they were termed, grew longer and broader. An excellent example is that of Henry Parice in Hildersham Church, Cambridgeshire, 1465 ([Fig. 304]), who has tuilles, genouillières, and elbow-pieces of extravagant size; the tuilles are here shown suspended by straps to the lowermost of three taces. Incidentally the skirt of the gambeson is disclosed in this figure, and apparently the edge of some defence of mail worn under the taces. A precisely similar example occurs at Roydon, Essex, upon the brass of Robert Colt, 1475. Towards the end of the century the taces had so far contracted that they reached only to the hips, as shown in the brass of Sir Anthony de Grey, 1480, in St. Albans Abbey Church ([Fig. 326]), but another mode was sometimes adopted, as seen in the brass of Sir Robert Harcourt at Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire ([Fig. 305]), where the tuille was not attached to the lowest tace but to a higher one, the intermediate space being filled up with short lames and mail. Other smaller plates were at times added to protect the outer part of the thighs, called “tuillettes.” If the front tuilles are themselves composed of several plates, or jointed, then the term “tuillette” is also applied to them.
Fig. 303.—Garde-de-bras, c. 1490. (Wallace Collection.)
