Et il le gibet seisi
Ki a sun destre bras pendi.

The mace was usually carried slung by a loop to the saddle-bow or on the right wrist, so that, when sword or lance were lost, it could be used at once. A less ornamental weapon is the Holy-water Sprinkler. This is formed of a ball of iron studded with sharp projecting spikes, and fixed upon a long or short handle. The Morning Star is akin to the Military Flail, a weapon derived from the agricultural implement of that name. It is much the same as the Holy-water Sprinkler, except that the spiked ball is not socketed on the handle but hangs from a chain ([Fig. 50]). The names of these two weapons are often transposed, but we propose to adhere to the nomenclature used in the Tower Armouries as being more likely to be correct. The War-hammer and Battle-axe need but little description. They were generally used by horsemen, and their general form only varies in detail from implements in use at the present day. The Pole-axe was a weapon in great request for jousting on foot, in the ‘champ clos’. The blade is much like the halbard, but at the back is a hammer-shaped projection with a roughened surface.

The Longbow may be said to have gained the battles of Senlac, Crecy, and Agincourt, and so ranks as one of the most important of English weapons. It was from 5½ to 6 feet in length and was made of yew, or, when this wood was scarce, of witch hazel. It is a popular tradition in the country that the yew-trees which were so important for the manufacture of this weapon were grown in churchyards because they were poisonous to cattle, and the churchyards were the only fenced-in spaces. There is, however, no documentary evidence to support this. The string was of hemp or silk. The archer carried twenty-four ‘clothyard’ shafts in his belt and wore a wrist-guard called a Bracer to protect his wrist from the recoil of the string. These bracers were of ivory or leather and were often decorated. The arrows were tipped with the goose-quill, but Roger Ascham, in his Toxophilus, writes that peacock arrows were used ‘for gayness’. So notable were the English bow-makers for their productions that in 1363 we find the Pope sending to this country for bows.

The Crossbow or Arbalest is first heard of in the twelfth century, and at this date was considered so ‘unfair’ a weapon that the Popes forbade its use. Innocent II in 1139 fulminated against this barbarous weapon, but allowed of its use by Christians against Infidels. By the end of the thirteenth century, however, it was in general use. At first the crossbow was strung by hand; but when it was made more powerful, mechanical means had to be resorted to to bend the bow, which was often of steel. There are two varieties of war crossbows: that strung with the ‘goat’s-foot’ lever, which is shown on [Fig. 51], and a heavier kind called the arbalest ‘à tour’, which was strung with a cog-wheel and ratchet arrangement called the Moulinet or windlass ([Fig. 52]). The arbalest ‘à cric’ is a larger form of this variety. The archer using these heavy weapons was entrenched behind a Pavis or shield fixed in the ground as shown on [Fig. 37]. The Quarel or bolt used for the crossbow is shorter and thicker than that used for the longbow.

Fig. 51.
Crossbow and goat’s-foot lever.		 Fig. 52.
Crossbow and windlass.

Of the other projectile-hurling weapons, such as the Fustibal or Sling, the different forms of Catapult used in siege operations, and the innumerable varieties of firearm, we have no space to write. The former, being mostly fashioned of wood and cordage, are seldom to be met with in museums, and we can only judge of their design and use from illuminated miniatures and paintings. The firearm, being, as it is, subject to further development, cannot be taken into full consideration in this work except so far as it affected the defensive armour and in time ousted the staff-weapon.

With this bare enumeration of the principal weapons in use from the twelfth to the eighteenth century we draw our all too meagre notes to a conclusion. The subject is so vast, because each example is distinct in itself and because no general rule holds absolutely good for all, that many volumes might be produced with advantage on each epoch of the defences and weapons of Europe. No better advice to the would-be student can be given than that of Baron de Cosson in the Introduction to the Catalogue of Helmets and Mail (Arch. Journ., vol. xxxvii). He writes: ‘For the study of ancient armour to be successfully pursued it is of primary importance that a careful examination be made of every existing specimen within our reach.... Every rivet-hole and rivet in a piece must be studied and its use and object thought out. The reasons for the varied forms, thicknesses, and structure of the different parts must have special attention.... This alone will enable us to derive full profit from our researches into ancient authors and our examination of ancient monuments. This preliminary study will alone enable us to form a sound opinion on two important points. First, the authority to be accorded to any given representation of armour in ancient art ... whether it was copied from real armour or whether it was the outcome of the artist’s imagination; and also whether a piece of existing armour is genuine or false, and whether or no it is in its primitive condition.’

To this may be added that in studying armour at its best epoch, that is during the fifteenth century, we find the dignity of true craftsmanship proclaimed, and utility and grace attained without the addition of that so-called decoration which with the advent of the Renaissance was the bane of all the crafts.