Manteau (Fr.). This word, which literally signifies a cloak, is frequently used among the French to express the covering that hussars or light infantry troops carry for the double purpose of shielding their bodies from the inclemencies of the weather in outposts, etc., and for spreading over their heads, by means of poles, when they occasionally halt, and take a position.
Mantelet (Fr.). A large osier buckler which was used in ancient times; it was held upright, under cover of which archers shot their arrows. Also a circular frame upon wheels covered with osier or horse-hair, used for the same purpose.
Mantes. A town of France, in the department of Seine-et-Oise, 30 miles west-northwest of Paris. It was taken and reduced to ashes by William the Conqueror in 1087.
Mantillis. A kind of shield, anciently fixed upon the tops of ships as a cover for archers.
Mantinea, or Mantinœa. Anciently a city of the Morea, 9 miles north from Tripolitza. It is now the modern Greek village of Palespoli. It was famous as being the scene of several battles, of which the most important was that fought between the Spartans and the Thebans under Epaminondas (362 B.C.), in which the former were defeated.
Mantle. A long flowing robe, worn in the Middle Ages over the armor, and fastened by a fibula in front, or at the right shoulder. The mantle is an important part of the official insignia of the various orders of knighthood.
Mantlet. A sort of temporary fortification intended to protect the men working guns in embrasures, casemates, or port-holes from the bullets of sharpshooters. The mantlet is usually made to be hoisted up while the gunner takes aim, and then lowered to cover the whole opening except a circular aperture for the muzzle of the cannon. With every increase in the range and precision of small-arms, mantlets become more essential for the safety of gunners. Mantlets are made of thick fir, of solid oak planks, or of iron plates, the last being preferable, as the lightest. At Sebastopol, the Russians effectively blocked their embrasures by thick mantlets of plaited rope suspended freely. A mantlet of planks or iron plates, about 5 feet high, and occasionally mounted on small wheels, is also used to protect sappers working at the end of a sap, although a rolling gabion is preferred for this purpose by many engineers.
Mantling, or Lambrequin. A heraldic ornament depicted as hanging down from the helmet, and behind the escutcheon. It is considered to represent either the cointise (an ornamental scarf which passed round the body and over the shoulder) or the military mantle or robe of estate. When intended for the cointise, it is cut into irregular strips and curls of the most capricious forms, whose contortions are supposed to indicate that it has been torn into that ragged condition in the field of battle. When the mantling is treated as a robe of estate, the bearings of the shield are sometimes embroidered on it. A mantling adjusted so as to form a background for the shield and its accessories constitutes an Achievement of Arms. In British heraldry, the mantling of the sovereign is of gold lined with ermine; that of peers, of crimson velvet lined with ermine. Knights and gentlemen have generally crimson velvet lined with white satin; but sometimes the livery colors are adopted instead, as is generally the practice in continental heraldry.
Mantonet (Fr.). A small piece of wood or iron, which is notched, for the purpose of hanging anything upon it. The pegs in soldiers’ rooms are sometimes so called.
Mantua. A fortified city of Northern Italy, 22 miles southwest from Verona. Mantua is both by nature and art one of the strongest places in Europe. It can boast of an antiquity almost equal to that of Rome, and experienced all the vicissitudes of the Middle Ages, and, like other Italian cities, emerged from them into liberty and independence. It surrendered to the French, February 2, 1797, after a siege of eight months; was retaken by the Austrian and Russian army, July 30, 1799, after a short siege. In 1800, after the battle of Marengo, the French again obtained possession of it. It was included in the kingdom of Italy till 1814, when it was restored to the Austrians, who surrendered it to the Italians, October 11, 1866, after the peace.