R. Coltman Clephan

“ It is most interesting to trace what may be termed the evolution of arms and armour, and to follow the craft and ingenuity of the armour-smith as pitted against that of the makers of weapons; indeed, all through the history of the armour period this contest has proceeded with varying fortune. Fashion also has always been a potent and arbitrary factor in the direction of change, and hence so many preposterous departures, such as both the extravagantly long and ridiculously wide sollerets of the “Gothic” and “Maximilian” periods respectively. ”

“ There is perhaps necessarily a certain degree of monotony and repetition in the narrations of the chroniclers of the joust and [Pg 44] tourney, but they convey collectively a much clearer idea of these encounters than a mere bald statement of the leading facts could do, and they reflect the chivalrous spirit of the times in the incessant craving of the young cavaliers for notoriety and distinction in the tiltyard. Many examples of jousts and pas d’armes of the fifteenth century are given in the Chronique de Monstrelet, the Mémoires de la Marche, and Chastelain’s Cronique Jacques de Lalain. ”

“ The number of artists and craftsmen, in widely different branches of art and manufacture, who were employed to design, turn out, and finish a suit of armour, or a weapon for war or for the chase, was simply legion; and, of course, in the case of enriched suits, or arms, still more were brought into requisition. There is the designer, modeller, steel, silver and gold smiths, carvers, enamellers, inlayers, engravers, repoussé or workers in hammered work, damasceners, polishers, and hosts of other craftsmen, each contributing his quota of industry and skill to one complete whole. ”

“ The great armour-smiths of the fifteenth century were fine artists in steel, and many of their creations preserved are models for all time in elegance of form and excellence of workmanship. One can trace their individuality and idiosyncrasies to an extent making it often possible to attribute their work even when unstamped with their monograms and devices. The Missaglias Negrolis and Piccininos of Milan, the Kolmans of Augsburg, the Seusenhofers of Innsbruck, the Grünewalts and Von Worms of Nuremberg, and many others, carried on their craft from generation to generation. ”

“ The steel, which looks as if it had an admixture of silver, is stronger in texture, brighter and tougher than that of any other period. Sad it is that there are so few perfect specimens of this armour left to us, for most of the armour wrought up to the middle of the century has become the prey of rust, the iconoclast, and the melting pot. The suits at Sigmaringen, Munich, Nuremberg, Vienna, and Berlin are among the most homogeneous the author has seen. ”

“ The quintain was a more ancient game than the joust, and indeed, not improbably, it gave rise to it; and being free from the risk of personal danger, was a sport and pastime of the people. The game assumed many forms, though it was chiefly a means of practice with the lance, sword, baston and battle-axe, indulged in by the young aspirants for knighthood as well as by the citizens and yeomanry. ”

“ The armour-smith’s best efforts were directed not only to give increased protection to the limbs and make the armour light, flexible, and impenetrable;115 but the flutings and escalloped edges were designed to produce beauty of form and outline, as well as with a view to deflecting the weapon of attack from vital points; and the armour was equally mobile for fighting on foot or on horseback. We owe its initiation doubtless to Italy, in which country, together with Germany, it reached its highest pitch of excellence ”

“ The physical strain on those taking part in a tournament must have been great, and the combatants weary at the end of a long day; nevertheless they joined the ladies in the evening, when the successful competitors received the prizes from their hands; and after the banquet came the dance.
The century saw the mingling of the tourney with the pageant; the mêlée had been much supplanted by the joust, which demanded more individual skill, for in the throng and confusion of the mêlée the element of chance helped certain of the combatants to a distinction beyond their real deserts ”

“ The Negrolis, who worked after the Missaglias, seem to have been of the same family, and, as Boeheim points out, the name “Missaglia,” like that of Ferrara, seems to have originated as a “place” designation. Examples of the work of the Negrolis may be seen both at Vienna and Madrid. Their work represents the full swing of the “renaissance.”
Milan, where the Missaglias worked, is not the only town in Italy where there is a Via degli Armorari and a Via degli Spadari, showing that there were then separate guilds for armour- and sword-making in that country. ”

“ All raisons d’être for the tourney beyond those of exercise and pastime had long since passed away, through the continuous decline in the importance of the man-at-arms in warfare, the ever-increasing efficiency of firearms, and the necessity for greater mobility of armies in the field.
The history of the tournament would not be complete without some account of the revivals attempted in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They lack, however, a sense of reality, being, in fact, merely more or less well-staged plays. ”

“ These extra tilting pieces made their appearance in the reign of Edward IV., but they were known in Germany several decades earlier. It was early when suits of armour were made differently for battle and for tournaments, as William Lord Bergavenny bequeathed to his son “the best sword and harness for justs of peace and that which belong to war.”
Late in the fifteenth century there were complete tilting harnesses of such immense weight that a knight once unhorsed lay on the ground absolutely helpless, and often could not rise without the assistance of his varlets. ”

“ The tilt, or toile, was at first a rope hung with cloth, stretched along the middle of the lists, but later it became a barrier of planks, along which the tilters charged in opposite directions, their bridle-arms towards it, their lances held in rest in their right hands on the tilt side of the horse’s neck, striking the polished, glancing surface of their adversary’s armour at an angle. The tilt had the advantage of lending a fixed direction to the jousters in their careers, though they often failed to touch each other. ”

“ So much so was this the case, that owing to their dilatory habit both hand-guns and ordnance were frequently captured in battle after a first discharge, and their servers rendered hors de combat. They had practically nothing with which to defend themselves. The long dagger screwed into the butt of the rest was no match at all as against long-handled weapons, such as the gisarme, halbard, and bill. All this taxed the ingenuity of the time for the production of a surer and more reliable weapon with more simplicity of action. ”

“ Another illumination depicts a man in the course of being armed for a combat on foot, his “hanscement” is on his body; the sabatons, greaves and cuisses, adjusted over his lower limbs; the attendant is fitting on the breech of mail; and all the remaining pieces of his equipment are lying on a table ready to be put on in their turn. These consist of the huge, globose bascinet, the cuirass of breast and back pieces, the tonletis, vambrace and rerebrace, a moton for the armpit, and a gauntlet. ”

“ The growing power of the Hanseatic Bund did more than anything else in Germany towards the enfranchisement of the towns from the galling fetters of feudalism. This mighty organisation, in the heyday of its power, consisted of over a hundred of the most important towns, scattered over Germany and Northern Europe, and extending as far as Wisby in the Gulf of Bothnia, and even to Novgorod in Russia. ”

“ The cyclas, which has an enriched fringing, hides the body-armour from view, and the knightly belt is elaborately decorated; the pouldrons are articulated. The gauntlets, with short cuffs, have gads over the fingers for use in the mêlée, and they show an imitation of finger-nails, and the solerets are freely articulated. The knight’s head rests on his great helm, which has a mantling; and a wreath, surmounted by the crest, a griffin. The armour is enriched with chasing. ”

“ It is profusely inlaid with gold, and the ornamentation is most elegant. The sumptuous and elaborate decoration, which is in the banded Italian style in repoussé or hammered work, with arabesqued foliations, is interspersed with medallions encircling male and female figures. The helmet and suit throughout is closely in touch with the elegant Italian school of the end of the sixteenth century, which, however, already erred on the side of redundancy in ornamentation. The close of all great periods culminates with this great fault, sharply marking the beginning of the end ”

“ It is, in fact, impossible to lay down any arbitrary dates, or anything like a clear line of demarcation in respect to the relative proportions of chain and plate armour in use by English men-at-arms up to the beginning of the fifteenth century; but the fortunate preservation in our churches of the remarkable series of effigies and monumental brasses helps us greatly. ”

“ The rôle of the varlets was to rush in and steady their masters in the saddle, when swaying after their careers; and, when unhorsed, to extricate and drag them, as opportunity offered, out of the press or from among the horse’s hoofs in the mêlée; for they were unable to help themselves in their heavy armour. This duty was both difficult and dangerous, but they had to manage as best they could. Openings were left at either end of the lists for entrance and exit, and movable barriers were provided for closing them when required. ”

“ The Wallace armour is a great accession to our store, but this collection still remains unpacked. The almost constant warfare, both in Germany and Italy, during the middle ages naturally made the manufacture of armour more of a speciality in these countries than in England, and the effect of the Italian “renaissance” was especially seen in profuse and artistic ornamentation, which at length came to be more regarded even than strength itself—it was, in fact, a fine art. Much of the armour was covered with embossed figures, engraved, chased, and damascened with gold. ”

“ Much information concerning the body-armour of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries has been derived from seals, and particularly from those of the kings of England; also from illuminations in chronicles, representations on tapestry and carvings in ivory. Military effigies and brasses have also proved of immense value, for they enable us to fill in many of the gaps left in the recitals of chroniclers, and afford precise information as to the knightly equipment for battle, as far as least as the presence of the surcoat will permit. ”

“ It takes many years and opportunities of study to achieve much in the direction of judging armour, and it is only by a close comparison, not merely of individual pieces, with a careful examination of every detail, but also a knowledge of the makes of steel of the various ages covered, their composition, manipulation, and relative degrees of hardness, that a reasonable amount of certainty can be arrived at. ”

“ The combatants then mount their horses, the pavilions are removed from the lists, and the marshal cries, “Gentlemen doe your Deuoire,” throwing down his glove, and the combat begins.
The body of the vanquished, dead or alive, shall be delivered by the judge to the marshal, his points cut and armour cast piecemeal in the lists, and his horse and armour shall appertain to the constable and marshal of the field. The victor shall depart honourably from the lists, on horseback. ”

“ There are swords bearing the brand “Andrewea Ferrara” with a St. Andrew’s Cross, which clearly discloses their Scottish origin, or at all events is suggestive of their having been made in or for Scotland. Indeed, almost all Scottish blades bearing the name of Ferara, with variations, are of seventeenth century make, some even later. We know that it was a common practice of many of the German smiths during the “renaissance” to inscribe their blades with the names of Italian makers; and while Ferara blades are to be met with all over Europe, strangely enough very few are to be found in Italy. ”

“ The champions joined in a combat on foot the next day, with spears, axes and daggers, the fight to continue until one or other should be disarmed or borne to the ground. It had been arranged that spears should be cast, but on the king objecting that part of the proceedings was omitted. The fight then began. Lord Scales dealt the Bastard some heavy strokes with his axe, and the Bastard, attacking with great violence, seriously fractured the armour of his adversary, at which stage of the combat the king cast his bâton. ”

“ It would thus appear that the dignity of knighthood was only conferred on men possessing a suitable estate, and that the two grades were based on the extent of estate; which, of course, implied the number of vassals available for military service. Although the pennon was the ensign of a knight-bachelor, we have the authority of Du Fresne that an esquire could also bear one, always providing that he could ride with a sufficient number of vassals.
Orders of knighthood appear to have originated in France, and were introduced into England probably by the Normans. ”

“ The first illumination of a joust at the tilt pictures the moment when the tilters have shivered their lances, tipped with coronals of three prongs, on each other’s bodies. The tilt is composed of six planks, and appears to be between five and six feet in height. Sir John Astley’s crest is seen to be a crowned harpy, with torse and mantling; his armour, the sort termed “tonlet”; the legs and feet are unarmed, being sufficiently protected by the saddle-steels. The horse is trapped and has a chamfron. But little of the person of his adversary can be seen ”

“ The work of Tomaso is conspicuous for purity of style and nobility of form, and, from an artistic point of view, it has no rivals. Armour of his period was generally plain, but the more pronounced passion for decoration of the time120 found expression in the work of his son; an example of whose skill may be seen in the case of a helmet in the Tower of London, and at Vienna is the superb Gothic suit with pikeguards, already referred to, made for the Count of Gajazzo. Tomaso was, it is believed, the first master to use armourer’s marks. ”