"It may be asked, in the words of the song, 'How shall I my true love know?' and seeing how much more trouble is taken to deceive than to detect deceit, it is difficult to lay down any complete system of defence for the collector from the ever-increasing attacks of the forger." It is certain, however, that the best way of detecting forgeries is to get acquainted with the styles of armour that were worn at certain periods, to find out what processes were available for constructing the armour at these periods, what uses each section of the armour was put to, and how it was fitted on to the rest of the suit.

Of course, a good deal may be learnt from visits to public collections. The uninitiated collector is, therefore, advised to study the specimens shown in the Tower, the Royal United Service Museum, the Wallace Collection, and the Rotunda at Woolwich. On the Continent there are many fine displays, not only of armour but also of weapons, notably at the Musée d'Artillerie, Paris, the Industrial Museum of Vienna, the Copenhagen National Museum, and the Rijks Museum at Amsterdam. These are all well worth inspecting.

Having discussed matters concerned with the collecting of armour, we will now turn to questions relating to the actual armour itself.

Armour may be conveniently divided into twelve periods, as follows[7]:—

  1. Pre-Norman.
  2. Norman period to 1180.
  3. The Chain Mail Period, 1180-1250.
  4. Chain Mail Reinforced, 1250-1325.
  5. The Cyclas Period, 1325-35.
  6. The Studded and Splintered Armour Period, 1335-60.
  7. The Camail and Jupon Period, 1360-1410.
  8. The Surcoatless Period, 1410-30.
  9. The Tabard Period, 1430-1500.
  10. The Transition Period, 1500-25.
  11. Maximilian Armour, 1525-1600.
  12. The Half-Armour Period, after 1600.

[7] There are various ways of classifying armour, but we have here followed (Class I excepted) Ashdown in "British and Foreign Arms and Armour."

ARMOUR HEADGEAR.