The equipment of the ordinary rank and file of the chain mail period did not vary in any essential features from that which preceded it. In [Fig. 88] we have two foot soldiers from Harl. MS. Y6, one of whom wears the Norman helmet, now truncated, with a nasal, which apparently is very long and wide. A similar helmet, but minus the nasal, defends his companion. The usual hauberk of chain mail or a cheaper substitute covers the body, and the legs are undefended. The mode of wearing the stockings and the cross bar below the leaf-shaped head of one spear tends to the belief that the illuminator was of Saxon blood or depicting others of that descent. The shields are suspended by guiges in both cases, and the fanciful decorations illustrate the assertions previously made in this chapter. In woodcut No. 109 a very characteristic group of soldiery of about the year 1220 is shown, taken from Harl. MS. 4751. The heavily-armed arbalestier in pot-helm and mail is one of a force defending a castle, and has discharged a quarrel which transfixes an archer of the attacking party. Before him, and apparently without any defensive equipment other than a chapelle-de-fer, is a foot soldier with a military pick in his right hand and a sword of short dimensions in the left. An arbalestier is probably shown in the third position from the front, and an archer fourth, while the fifth is unmistakably a slinger. As was generally the rule, no protective covering was allowed the slingers—the one in question has not even a hat—who from the nature of their weapon were perforce compelled to be always in open order when in action and at a distance from the enemy, and presumably suffered less than the closely-packed bodies of men-at-arms, billmen, and even archers. His sling appears to be in no way different to the Saxon weapon shown in [Fig. 70]. The last man is clad in a coif and hauberk of mail, and is armed with an axe. At this period a weapon appears in the illuminated MSS. which is apparently of recent introduction, namely the Staff Sling or Fustibal. It is generally shown in besieging operations pitted against the defenders on the walls, or in naval warfare as in [Fig. 110]. The action of the sling is readily seen, the loop at the end allowing the bag to disengage itself automatically at the psychological moment, and to discharge the stone. In this case it seems to be charged with some combustible material to be hurled on board an opposing ship. The slinger is as usual bareheaded and devoid of bodily defences. With him is an archer also discharging combustibles affixed to the end of an arrow. He is habited in a sleeveless leather hauberk strengthened with round plates, presumably of metal; a coif of mail or leather covers his head. The third figure carries a sword, spear, and pole-axe, possibly his own, and also the close-quarter weapons of the projectile throwers.
Fig. 109.—Soldiers, c. 1220. (Harl. MS., 4751.)
Fig. 110.—Staff-sling, &c. (MS. by Matthew Paris.)
The equipment of a man-at-arms at the close of this period is well shown in [Fig. 111], from Auct. D. 4, 17, in the Bodleian Library. It dates from about 1250, and illustrates the defensive properties of leather in combination with iron. The steel chapelle-de-fer covers a chain mail coif which may be part of a continuous hauberk, as the arms and hands are covered with mail of the same description. Bands of leather round the throat afford the protection of a gorget: they are affixed to a hauberk composed of leather scales of large size and leaf-like shape showing the midrib, while a belt round the waist and pendent leaves on the skirt complete a most effective means of bodily defence. The legs are enclosed in soft leather chausses protected by metal studs, upon which is a cross-gartering of leather thongs. The only weapon shown is an axe of formidable proportions. A spearman of c. 1280 is shown in Add. MS., 11639, representing Goliath of Gath, in which a chapelle-de-fer is a feature ([Fig. 112]).
