THE NORMAN PERIOD TO 1180
With the advent of the Normans in 1066 the subject of arms and armour in England becomes more definite and exact. This is chiefly owing to the Bayeux Tapestry, to the multiplication of MSS., carvings in ivory and metal, and the records preserved upon seals. The date of the famous tapestry has long been a matter of dispute, but it is universally agreed that if it was not woven by Matilda and her handmaidens it was certainly begun and completed within fifty years of the Conquest. Hence its reliability is undoubted upon contemporaneous arms and armour.
Fig. 83.—Norman pennons (Bayeux Tapestry).
The Lance.—The head of the lance was commonly of the leaf form, and sometimes approached that of the lozenge; it was very seldom barbed, although this variety, together with the others, appears upon the Bayeux Tapestry. The horizontal bar-guards, so characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon spear, are very rarely pictured; they were not, however, relinquished by the conquered nation, but are seen at times in MSS. written subsequently to the Conquest. Nearly all the Norman spears were embellished with pennons of from two to five points ([Fig. 83]). The length of the spear appears to have differed little from that of the Anglo-Saxon, and like that weapon they were of uniform thickness throughout (Figs. [88], [91], [92], [93], &c.).
Fig. 84.—Figure from “Massacre of the Innocents.” (Cott. MS., Nero, C. 4, c. 1125.)
The Sword.—Remembering that the Normans were essentially a Scandinavian nation, we might fairly expect to discover traces of their origin in the sword of the period, and this we find to be the case. It was still straight, long, and double-edged, slightly tapering towards the acute-angled point. The quillons were straight at the time of the Conquest, but became bent in a small degree towards the close of the period; the grip was without swell, and a spherical knob formed the pommel. The scabbard was suspended upon the left side by a small cord round the waist, but occasionally was supported by the hauberk by being passed through a hole in the garment, which thus concealed a portion of it. See [Fig. 84], which dates from c. 1125, and exhibits this peculiarity.