The Defensive Armour and the Weapons and Engines of War of Mediæval Times, and of the "Renaissance."

by R. Coltman Clephan

The great jousting helm of the fifteenth century was made wide, very strong, heavy, large, somewhat flat at the crown, and often in the lighter tilting helm had an aperture on the side for speaking. It was crested, and rested on the shoulders, being attached to the body armour by screws front and rear, and was so large that the head of the wearer did not touch it in any part; a cap was worn over the head. The attachment to the cuirass was a new departure. The top is flatter, and the ocularium, which is wider than in the older forms, can only be used for sighting by lowering the head. The plates meet sharply in front, producing a ridge, the higher end forming a beak-like projection. It fell a good deal into disuse during the reign of Henry VIII. There are two very fine tilting helms in the Rotunda collection, Woolwich, one of which was formerly in the triforium of Westminster Abbey, and weighs 18 lb.; the other, which was acquired from the “Brocas” collection, weighs 23 lb. A north-country example of the German “Stechhelm” ([Fig. 12]) is in the collection of W. D. Cruddas, Esq., M.P., of Haughton Castle, Northumberland. The kolbenturnier helm is a variety specially used for that course; the whole front is composed of transverse bars. These helms were firmly screwed on to the breastplate and therefore immovable, as may be seen on the tilting suit ([Fig. 6]).

Fig. 12.—Tilting Helm at Haughton Castle, Northumberland.

THE BASSINET.

This helmet, the German “beckenhaube,” was round or conical, with a pointed apex. The large bassinet of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries was very similar in all the countries of chivalry. It fitted close to the head, and was covered by the great helm in tilting. An example may be seen in Lincoln Cathedral. Before the visor appeared it was often fitted with a detachable nasal. As soon as the helm became visored, say in the first half of the fourteenth century (see an example in Alvechurch, Worcester), it assumed a great variety of form, and towards the end of the century often projected to a point like a beak. Other forms were concave, convex, and angular. Most of these may be seen in Stothard. There was also the small bassinet or cervelière, sometimes called cerebrerium. It was often worn under the hood, with a small quilted cap next the head. In the reign of Henry V. the bassinet became more like the sallad. The effigy of the Black Prince shows how the camail was attached to the bassinet by a silken lace through staples. There are some fine examples of the visored bassinet in the Johanneum at Dresden.

THE SALLAD.

Visored sallads, with a peak behind and slits for vision, appear in the reign of Henry VI. The form is a low obtuse oval ridged in the middle; it replaced the bassinet, but was never used as an under helmet. It was generally associated with armour of the second half of the fifteenth century, and used with the mentonnière, which, when fixed, afforded excellent protection for the face and throat. The distinguishing feature is the peaked collar behind, which rests between the shoulders, and the helmet was occasionally, in the earlier forms, provided with a hinged nose-guard. It was worn at an angle, so that the ocularium came in the direct line of vision, and had often a movable visor. It measured in extreme cases as much as nineteen inches from back to front. An example of the time of the Roses hangs in St Mary’s Hall, Coventry, and there is another in the Priory Church at Hexham. The earliest representation of this form of helmet in England, that the author knows of, may be seen at Castle Donnington, Leicestershire, on a brass of Sir Robert Staunton, who died in 1458. This sort of helm is in several varieties, and a simple form was in use among the rank and file, especially by archers. There are several of these helmets in the “Rhodes” collection at the Rotunda, Woolwich, and actual specimens of typical Italian and German forms are to be found in most of in the German collections of armour; there are examples in the Tower. Illustrations of sallads are given in [Fig. 13].

ARMET AND CLOSE HELMET.

This is the most perfect form of helmet and the most familiar, so much so indeed as to render any description almost unnecessary. It may be said to have been evolved from the sallad and mentonnière, in the sense that the bavier took the place of the latter; but instead of being slipped on over the head like the bassinet and sallad, it was constructed to hinge over it, and strictly followed the outline of the head and neck. Its form is globular, with a guard for the back of the neck, and in front round the chin is the bevor or bavier. The space between this piece and the rim of the crown-piece is filled in by a movable visor, which is pierced with narrow openings for vision and air. It thus consists of at least three pieces—the skull-piece, the visor, and the bevor; the visor is usually in one piece. It is beaked, and exhibits a series of ridges with air slits in the indentations. The crown-piece is usually combed. During the second quarter of the sixteenth century the visor was made in two plates, the upper closing inside the lower—the upper plate could be lowered at pleasure, without moving the one below. The Seusenhofer armet in the Tower is a masterpiece of the kind, being composed of six pieces, working one within the other. English armets date from the last decade of the fifteenth century, perhaps a little later. They were to be met with in Germany as early as the middle of that century. It is impossible to make much distinction between the armet and close helmet, which latter was the improved armet of the sixteenth century. A camail was sometimes used with the earliest form of armet. Illustrations of this head-piece may be seen on several of the suits given in this volume.