Fig. 22.
1. Sallad in St. Mary’s Hall, Coventry.
2. Helm of Sir Giles Capel, date 1510-1525. Formerly in Rayne Church, Essex. Now in the possession of Baron de Cosson.
The sallad was a relatively dangerous headpiece in tourneys on foot, and a large-visored bassinet is often mentioned as being retained in use for this purpose down to the sixteenth century. The Baron de Cosson has identified this form, seen to have been fixed to the breast by two staples and a double buckle behind, and himself possesses a magnificent example, which once hung over the tombs of the Capels in Rayne Church. Sir Giles Capel was one of the knights who with Henry VIII. challenged all comers for thirty days on the Field of the Cloth of Gold. The visor in this example is very massive, the holes so small that no point could possibly enter, and the helm being fixed the head moved freely inside. A second and possibly earlier example has the visor thrown into horizontal ridges and a small bavier. The visor is hinged at the sides, and the sight and breathing holes are short slots, parallel to and protected by the ridges. It hangs over the tomb of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, in Wimborne Minster, who died in 1444, but it is of later date; and another belonging to the suit of Henry VIII. in the Tower, made for fighting on foot, is not dissimilar. Baron de Cosson calls attention to the fact that this form, called a bassinet, is shown in the miniature of the manuscript entitled, “How a man shalle be armyd at his ese when he schal fighte on foote.”
Fig. 23.—English tournament helm over the tomb of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, in Wimborne Minster. Weight 14¼ lbs. Date 1480-1520. From a photograph lent by Baron de Cosson.
Another very interesting and thoroughly English form of helm, intended, according to De Cosson, for the tilt with lances, is preserved in a specimen in Broadwater Church, another in Willington Church over Sir John Gostwick’s tomb, and a third in Cobham Church, the helm of Sir Thomas Brooke, who died 1522. These all present considerable differences of detail. A not dissimilar helm of slightly later date with a barred visor, or the bars riveted to the helm, affording plenty of breathing space, was used for the tourney with sword or battle-axe, and has become the Royal and the nobles’ helmet of heraldry.