The equipment of the Scandinavian heroes in the twelfth century has come down to us in several cotemporary writings. The author of the Speculum Regale, an Icelandic chronicle of this period, instructs his son in his military duties: when combating on foot, he is to wear his heavy armour, namely, a byrnie, or thick panzar[173] (thungann pannzara), a strong shield (skiold) or buckler (buklara), and a heavy sword. For naval actions the best weapons are long spears, and for defence, panzars made of soft and well-dyed linen cloth, together with good helmets (hialmar), pendant steel caps (hangandi stálhufur), and broad shields[174]. The directions for a knight's equipment are more minute: Let the horseman use this dress: first, hose made of soft and well-prepared linen cloth, which should reach to the breeches-belt (broka-belltis); then, above them, good mail-hose (bryn-hosur), of such a height that they may be fastened with a double string. Next, let him put on a good pair of breeches (bryn-brækur), made of strong linen; on which must be fastened knee-caps made of thick iron and fixed with strong nails. The upper part of the body should first be clothed in a soft linen panzar (blautann panzara), which should reach to the middle of the thigh; over this a good breast-defence (briost biorg), of iron, extending from the bosom to the breeches belt; above that a good byrnie, and over all a good panzar of the same length as the tunic, but without sleeves. Let him have two swords,—one girded round him, the other hung at his saddle-bow; and a good dagger (bryn-knif). He must have a good helm, made of tried steel, and provided with all defence for the face (met allri andlitz biaurg); and a good and thick shield suspended from his neck, especially furnished with a strong handle. Lastly, let him have a good and sharp spear of tried steel furnished with a strong shaft[175]. It will be remarked that the body is here clothed in four different garments, one over the other; which appear to be the tunic, reaching to mid-thigh; the breast-defence of iron (whether formed in a single piece, or of several smaller plates, does not appear); the hauberk of the chain-mail, and the gambeson, a quilted coat, made in this instance without sleeves. Besides the weapons named above, the axe was still in favour among the Northern warriors. By the ancient laws of Helsingia, every youth on attaining the age of eighteen, was bound to furnish himself with five kinds of warlike equipment: a sword, an axe, a helmet (jernhatt), a shield, and a byrnie or a gambeson. A spirited passage of Giraldus Cambrensis brings the Norwegian troops vividly before us. Describing their attack upon Dublin, about 1172, he has: "A navibus igitur certatim erumpentibus, duce Johanne, agnomine the wode, quod Latine sonat insano vel vehementi, viri bellicosi Danico more undique ferro vestiti, alii loricis longis, alii laminis ferreis arte consutis, clipeis quoque rotundis et rubris, circulariter ferro munitis, homines tam animis ferrei quàm armis, ordinatis turmis, ad portam orientalem muros invadunt." The round painted shields edged with metal will bring to remembrance the similar defences of the Anglo-Saxons; and in the laminated cuirass we see another instance of the jazerant armour worn by Charlemagne. In King Sverrer's Saga, written towards the close of the twelfth century, by the abbot of Thingore in Iceland, and others, from the narrative of the king himself, we have a curious passage: "Sverrer was habited in a good byrnie, above it a strong gambeson (panzara), and over all a red surcote (raudan hiup[176]). With these he had a wide steel hat (vida stálhufu), similar to those worn by the Germans; and beneath it a mail cap (brynkollu), and a 'panzara-hufu.' By his side hung a sword, and a spear was in his hand[177]." From this description it seems clear that those singular broad-rimmed helmets found occasionally in monuments of the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, and more frequently in later times; of which examples occur among the sculptures of the tomb of Aymer de Valence, in Westminster Abbey, and on the great seal of Henry III., king of Spain; were introduced into the north and west of Europe through Germany; the Germans, on their part, probably deriving them from the Italians; to whom this form of headpiece had come down from the well-known petasus of classic times. The panzara-hufu was probably a quilted coif worn under the steel hat. Compare Willemin, vol. i., Plate cxliii.; and see our woodcut, No. [56].

The Prussians in the twelfth century differ but little in their appearance from the Anglo-Saxon warrior of the preceding age. They wear the tunic, reaching to the knees, and belted at the waist; but, in lieu of leg-bands, have tight hose. They have spears little exceeding their own height, and the shield they carry is a mean between the kite and the pear-shape. We derive these particulars from the curious figures of the bronze doors of Gnesen Cathedral, given by Mr. Nesbitt in the ninth volume of the Archæological Journal, (p. 345); the subject represented being the Legend of Saint Adalbert. Hartknoch (De Rebus Prussicis) tells us that the arms of the Prussians were clubs, swords, arrows, spears and shields, and their dress consisted of a short tunic of linen or undyed woollen cloth, tight linen chausses reaching to the heels, and shoes of raw hide or bark.

Throughout the period which we are now investigating, the Clergy not unfrequently appear in knightly equipment at siege and battle. But in order to avoid an infringement of the letter of the canons, which forbade them to stain their hands with human blood, they armed themselves with the mace or bâton. At the battle of Hastings, Odo, bishop of Bayeux,—

"Un haubergeon aveit vestu
De sor une chemise blanche:
Lé fut li cors, juste la manche.
Sor un cheval tot blanc séeit:
Tote la gent le congnoisseit:
Un baston teneit en son poing."—Rom. de Rou, l. 13254.

In the disorders of Stephen's reign, the prelates appear to have been still more frequently trespassers on the canons of the Church; for the author of the Gesta Stephani exclaims, "The bishops, the bishops themselves, I blush to say it,—not all of them, but many, bound in iron, and completely furnished with arms, were accustomed to mount war-horses with the perverters of their country, to participate in their prey." Everyone will remember the answer attributed to Richard Cœur-de-Lion, who, when the pope required him to release from captivity his spiritual "son," the bishop of Beauvais, sent back the hauberk in which the prelate had been taken, adding, in the words of the history of Joseph: "This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no." The monk of St. Edmund's, Jocelin of Brakelond, tells us under the year 1193: "Our abbot, who was styled 'the Magnanimous Abbot,' went to the siege of Windsor, where he appeared in armour, with other abbots of England, having his own banner, and retaining many knights at heavy charges; being more remarkable there for his counsel than for his piety. But we cloister-folks thought this act rather dangerous, fearing the consequence, that some future abbot might be compelled to attend in person on any warlike expedition."

On other occasions, however, the clergy fulfilled in the field duties more in harmony with their peaceful calling,—attending the wounded or consoling the dying. At the battle of Hastings, the Norman priests gathered together on a hillock, where, during the contest, they offered up prayers for their companions:—

"Li proveire è li ordené
En som un tertre sunt monté,
Por Dex préier è por orer."—Wace, l. 13081.

And frequent injunctions forbade these holy men from joining in military exploits. Among the decrees of the synod of Westminster, promulgated in 1175, we read: "Whoever would appear to belong to the clergy, let them not take up arms, nor yet go about in armour. If they despise this injunction, let them be mulcted with the loss of their proper rank[178]."

The tactics of this period are pretty clearly exemplified by the proceedings of Duke William at the field of Hastings. The army was divided into three corps:—

"Normanz orent treiz cumpaignies,
Por assaillir en treiz parties."