Fig. 169.—Swords and dagger, c. 1330.
Fig. 170.—Sir John de Northwode, c. 1330. Minster, Isle of Sheppey.
Fig. 171.—Knight of the Cyclas Period.
The man-at-arms of the period was provided with a bascinet which was more of the character of a simple pot-de-fer; in [Fig. No. 168] an example is shown to which a visor is attached and capable of being thrown up when not in use. The sword is suspended in front of the knight by a device which is very simple when compared with that which formerly obtained; a belt passes round the figure and the two ends are affixed by swivels to the scabbard. The weapon has apparently a 36-inch blade, the quillons are straight, swelling slightly at the ends and drooping in the centre; the grip is swelling and wire bound and has a wheel pommel. In Roy. MS. 16, G. 6, many swords of this period are shown, and are all characterised by their plainness and simplicity of form ([Fig. 169]). The brass of Sir John d’Aubernoun who died in 1327 and lies in Stoke d’Aubernoun Church, Surrey, shows a figure similar in most respects to the Creke brass. The roundels at the elbows are fixed by arming-points, the helmet is less elaborately decorated, the method of fastening the sword is old-fashioned, and he wears pryck spurs and not roundels as shown in the Creke brass. A very noteworthy and curious brass of this period is that at Minster in the Isle of Sheppey, in memory of Sir John de Northwode, who died c. 1330. The bascinet is of a peculiar swelling form so suggestive of the globular head-pieces fashionable on the Continent at that period, and the camail is finished over the chest in engrailed escallops. A chain is joined to an ornamental staple attached to the breastplate, and passes over the left shoulder to its attachment with the tilting helm. Only escalloped coudières and roundels protect the upper arms and scale-like plates of steel the lower; these vambraces may possibly be of cuir-bouilli, so prevalent at the period. The grip of the sword swells considerably and the quillons are short. Only the upper part of this brass is shown in [Fig. 170], but it has been restored and now shows the complete figure. The shield at this period was of the heater shape and small; it was concave, so as to enclose the figure, and a narrow guige passing round the neck secured it. The effigies of Prince John of Eltham, d. 1334, in Westminster Abbey; that of Sir John d’Ifield at Ifield in Sussex; and also that of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Constable of England, d. 1321, in Hereford Cathedral, and the Pembridge knight at Clehongre Church, Herefordshire, may be studied with advantage as exhibiting varieties in detail of this style of armour. A knight of the Cyclas Period is figured in Cotman having the same peculiar swelling helmet, and also the addition apparently of a plate gorget in place of the camail; this may, however, be simply a leather covering for the throat ([Fig. 171]).