Fig. 14.—Brayette in Chain-mail, at Berlin.
CUISSE, GENOUILLIÈRE, AND JAMB.
Up to the Conquest there was probably no leg armour in England other than thongs, but there are early German examples. Chausses would naturally suggest themselves after Hastings, as William bore them; while Harold, who did not, was wounded in the leg. The term applied to the upper leg armour, or breeches of mail, was chaussons. Soon after the Conquest cuir-bouilli was largely used, and this was followed by stockings of mail and sollerets of the same, as may be seen on the seals of Richard I. Wace mentions iron chausses. Even up to the middle of the fourteenth century it continued common in England to wear these pieces in chain-mail with attachable genouillières. An example of this kind may be seen on the effigy of Robert de Vere (died 1221) in Hatfield Broad Oak Church.
The cuisse was the plate going round the front of the lower thigh, fastened by strap and buckle. It first appeared in France and England in the second quarter of the fourteenth century, and became general towards the close. In armour of the latter half of the fifteenth century it was often embellished by consecutive laminations at the top. In the second half of the sixteenth century it was sometimes in two detachable pieces, for foot fighting and horseback.
Genouillières (defences for the knee) were the first body pieces of plate, except perhaps the plastron-de-fer or breastplate, and possibly the coudière also. They were called poleyns, and first appear in the thirteenth century; an example, about 1250, is figured in Plate XXX. of Stothard. The side of the knee became further protected by rondelles later in the century; and from that time these appendages became more ornate and comprehensive. As soon as plate armour was completed, genouillières became articulated both above and below the knee. In armour of the second half of the fifteenth century they are specially beautiful, assuming a shell-like form, often bivalve and butterfly shape with escalloped edges and flutings. The chausse, or shin-piece, was used in chain-mail, indeed earlier still in fortified leather, and early in the fourteenth century it became plate and was termed jamb; first only in front attached by strap and buckle, and later going round the leg hinged, and fastened by sliding rivets. These pieces were also called greaves. The inventory of Piers Gaveston (1313) catalogues “three pairs of hinged jambs.” These pieces were generally plain. Both they and sollerets disappeared with the advent of the jackboot.
SOLLERETS.
Sollerets are a better guide as to date of armour even than gauntlets, particularly after the fourteenth century, for reasons given under the head of the last-named. The earlier sollerets of overlapping plates were of extravagant length. This form followed the prevailing fashion in shoes, and hence the name “à la poulaine” from “souliers à la poulaine.” The long form was much modified during the last quarter of the fourteenth century and well into the fifteenth, but it became in vogue again later in the century with enormous tips, the length from toe to heel being up to twenty-four inches. The instep of chain-mail was not uncommon in the fourteenth century and even later. The sollerets of the Black Prince were of enormous length. The tips could, however, be disconnected at pleasure. The shorter form was styled “demi-poulaine” or “ogivale lancette.” A variety called “ogivale tiers-point” largely prevailed in the second half of the fifteenth century. When ridged and escalloped armour was replaced by “Maximilian,” sollerets were wide and short—in fact the shape of a bear’s paw or cow’s mouth, spreading out at the sides, and requiring very broad stirrups; but when fluted armour was discontinued the shape became gradually narrower, and after the middle of the century more like that of the foot; still there are very late instances of the “bear-paw” form. This variety was styled “bec-de-cane,” which differs, however, from the “tiers-point” of the fifteenth century. Sollerets disappeared altogether with the jamb, the jackboot taking their place.[29] These pieces in laminated plates are shown on the Daubernoun brass, and continue to occur on such monuments.
SHIELDS.
This subject is too vast for more than a mere outline in these pages. The kite-shaped, round, and triangular shield appears in the twelfth century. The two first-named are long, and either bowed or flat. They were held over the breast by a strap going round the nape of the neck, called a “guige.” Shields of the thirteenth century were either small and “heater” shaped, or larger and rounded. Pavises were very large shields to be placed before the bowmen as a defence, and were provided with an inner prop to hold them upright on the ground. As to ordinary shields, most of the thirteenth century forms extended into the fourteenth, when the bouche, or hole cut in the right corner as a spear-rest, was introduced. They were pear-shaped, triangular, heart-shaped, circular, oval, curved, and sometimes nearly square. The round buckler was carried in the hand, while the larger shield was borne on the arm. The material was generally of wood or leather, or both combined—the latter often embossed. They were more or less fortified or bossed, and sometimes partly or wholly of iron. For tyros, basket-work was used. Shields generally bore a heraldic device, or other cognizance, and were frequently curved, bossed, and spiked. The usual shield of a knight of the fifteenth century had the bouche, was convex, and about two and a half feet long by about a third of that broad, and pointed at the bottom. In the sixteenth century ordinary shields were seldom used, but an immense amount of fine artistic work was lavished on the pageant shields of that period, an example of which is given in [Fig. 15]. The tournament shield is described under the heading devoted to these games.