Plate armor

“ The idea of armor-plate is, as has been said, scarcely half a century old, and the moment it was put on (amid the jeers of the old line-of-battle tars, who thought they had done all that the dignity of the profession permitted when142 they arranged their rolled-up hammocks along the bulwarks to catch musket-balls, and spread nettings to prevent somewhat the flight of splinters) ingenious men began to improve their powder and strengthen their guns to overcome the new defenses. ”

“ The waters of this placid subterranean lake are the brightest, loveliest blue that can be imagined. They are as transparent as plate glass, and their coloring would shame the richest sky that ever bent over Italy. No tint could be more ravishing, no lustre more superb. Throw a stone into the water, and the myriad of tiny bubbles that are created flash out a brilliant glare like blue theatrical fires. Dip an oar, and its blade turns to splendid frosted silver, tinted with blue. Let a man jump in, and instantly he is cased in an armor more gorgeous than ever kingly Crusader wore. ”

“ Plate armour reached the perfection of workmanship in the second half of the fifteenth century. At no period was it so light, yet impervious, with curves and angles so admirably directed to deflect the impact of sword or lance, and articulations so skilfully devised to mitigate the restraint on freedom of movement necessarily imposed by a sheathing of steel. Never was armour so closely fitted to the contour of the body, and thus so elegant, so easily and therefore so constantly worn. ”

“ The cut of a surcoat, the hilt of a sword, the lines of a breastplate, will tell us, with some degree of accuracy, when a man lived and to what nation he belonged; and, at the same time, in the later years, we shall find that the suit of plate not only proclaims the individuality of the wearer, but also bears the signature and individuality of the maker; a combination of interests which few works of handicraft can offer us.
From the eleventh to the end of the fourteenth century we have but a few scattered examples of actual defensive armour and arms ”

“ We find at almost every period, however, that a fair blow delivered “au pas de charge” with a well-steeled lance might penetrate every defence; and that no armour could be made actually proof against downright blows from a two-handed battle-axe wielded by a powerful and expert rider.
One of the most marked characteristics of this age of plate-armour was a growing appreciation of the intrinsic beauty of steel, and a new desire to invest steel armour with graceful lines. ”

“ It is at this period of the history of defensive armour that we first find traces of that decadence which later on permeated every art and craft with its pernicious poison. It is to be found in the imitating of fabrics and also of the human face in metal. There exist suits of plate in many museums, both in England and on the Continent, in which the puffings and slashings of the civilian attire are closely copied in embossed metal, entirely destroying the important glancing surfaces on which we have laid such stress. ”

“ The helmet of war appeared to complete the perfection of defensive harness; for the lance broke hurtless on the plate of steel, the arrow and quarrel glanced away, and it is only in romance that we read of swords cutting through a solid front of iron, or piercing both plate and mail, as some bolder spirits say. ”

“ To take our axioms in the order given, it may appear to the casual student that if armour were sufficiently thick it would naturally fulfil its primary reason for existence. But we find, on careful examination of plate armour, that there are other considerations which are of equal, if not greater importance. ”

“ All armour of the best periods does this to the full. It is only under the blighting influence of the Renaissance that we find metal so worked that it resembles woven fabrics, or, worse still, the human form and features. The limited space at our disposal precludes us from investigating the various Coats of Fence, or body protections of quilted fabrics with metal, horn, and other materials added. Mention has been made in the chapter on the Transition of the Brigandine, which formed a very serviceable defence without being [Pg 67] so unwieldy as the suit of plate. ”

“ These causes, and the increasing demand for lighter and more easily manœuvred troops, and newer tactics demanding greater mobility and longer marches, brought about the downfall of the man-at-arms, who was effective only on the level; and with his disuse plate-armour had ceased to be generally worn. ”

“ In Scale Armour, flat plates of metal, horn, or bone are sewn to a linen or leathern vest in such a way that the scales overlap each other, and so tend to throw off the blow of a weapon. One great advantage of this armour is its lightness and flexibility, the former quality allowing of more prolonged exertion than could be possible with the heavy plate armour, and the latter rendering that exertion less fatiguing to the limbs.{124}
A glance at the preceding illustration will show how the scale armour of the human warrior has been anticipated by Nature. ”

“ The sleeve of the hauberk was cut in the same way, and the elbow was defended by a cap of plate-iron called a coudière. Early examples of these two pieces of plate armour will be seen in the later illustrations of our last chapter, for they were introduced a little before the end of the thirteenth century. ”

“ Examples of this may be seen [Pg 97] in late seventeenth-century armour, where a single plate is embossed to represent several overlapping plates or lames, and also in the plentiful use of ‘clous perdus’ or false rivets which are scattered broadcast on some suits in places where no rivets are needed. ”

“ The reader will notice the round plates at the elbows and knees, which are the first visible introduction of plate armour—breastplates, worn under the hauberk, had been occasionally used from Saxon times. He will observe, too, the leather gauntlets which David wears, and the curious defences for the shoulders called ailettes: also that the shield is hung round the neck by its strap (guige) , and the sword-belt round the hips, while the surcoat is girded round the waist by a silken cord. The group is also valuable for giving us at a glance three different fashions of helmet. ”

“ An example of the armour worn in this course is given in Fig. 5. It was made for Kurfürst August, by Sigmund Rockenberger of Wittenberg in 1554. The form is graceful, and the ornamentation of a chaste character. The details are clearly marked, such as the screw for the volant-piece; the sharp-pointed, spearhead-like projection standing forward from the centre of the breastplate, a fashion that only endured for a few decades; the ponderous lance-rest, and heavy abdominal extra plate,—all being characteristic of a suit used for “rennen.” ”

“ Before proceeding to examine the suit of Full Plate, with all its interesting details and differences as exemplified in the various armouries of England and Europe, it will be well to make clear the main principles which governed the manufacture of such armour. We should remember that the whole history of our subject is one long struggle of defensive equipment against offensive weapons. ”

“ They are exceedingly rare. The City Art Museum possesses only a gauntlet of about 1450 and a helmet (Fig. 9) from about 1475, yet we feel lucky to have these two pieces, for “Gothic” armor is not only rare: 9 it is very beautiful. It was at this period that armorers did their best work, from every standpoint. It was best metallurgically, with inner surfaces of pure soft iron, but with outer surfaces skillfully converted into almost glass-hard steel. ”

“ The weapons carried by the infantry, during the several reigns succeeding the Conquest, were bows and arrows, half-pikes, lances, halberds, various kinds of battle-axes, swords, and daggers. Armour was worn on the head and body, and in course of time the practice became general for military men to be so completely cased in steel, that it was almost impossible to slay them. ”

“ The original object of armour being to keep out projectiles, I believe we shall soon adopt that material which shows a marked superiority in this respect, and steel plates appear to me to be winning the day. If the projectiles hold together—and those of modern steel make appear to stand impact well—it stands to reason that the medium they have to pass through should, from front to rear, offer a strenuous resistance. When the face of a compound plate is pierced, the remainder is no great obstacle to an uninjured projectile having a considerable amount of unexpended energy. ”

“ But the accepted symbol of man as a fighting creature has always been the sword, and the sword, perhaps more than any other item of man’s warlike panoply, has experienced the full range of his artistic and technical initiative. Space does not here permit a discussion of the innumerable types of swords; only a brief resumé of the general development can be given. This is supplemented by a display of some typical forms along one side wall of the armor gallery.
Fig. 27. A mace or one-handed club, made of steel carved and gilded. A beautiful implement for smashing heads! ”

“ The shining plates of the Guards are parade pieces only, but a curious revival of an old defence was carried by English cavalry in the field at the end of the 19th century, when small gussets of chain mail were attached to the shoulders of certain cavalrymen as a defence against sword cuts. Through all the age of modern warfare inventors have pressed the claims of various bullet-proof breastplates, but where they have been effective against rifle fire their weight has made them too heavy an addition to the soldier’s burden. (See, however, Armour Plates, ad fin.) ”

“ Their weapons had been perfected in a long series of grim experiences in actual war, and they had added to their equipment a sword and dagger, and some kind of simple headpiece. That they had adopted any complete defence of plate-armour in the Roman fashion is improbable, but they were apparently entirely unacquainted with chain-mail. In the history of armour in Britain this period, taken as a whole, can only be regarded as a very primitive age of plate. ”

“ I have shown how, from the same form of palaeolithic implement already described, the more complex forms of the spear and axe-blade of the subsequent periods were developed. The point developed into a spear, and the broad end into an axe-blade. You will see by reference to Plate I that the oval tool of the drift suggested the smaller leaf-shaped spear-head of the early neolithic age. This, by a gradual straightening of the sides, became the lozenge-shaped form, which latter developed into the barbed form, and this last into the triangular form, which consists of barbs without a tang. ”

“ It will be seen that the sleeves of the hauberk are not continued, as in most examples, over the hands, or even down to the wrist; but the forearm is defended by studded armour, and the hands by gauntlets which are probably of plate. The leg defences are admirably exhibited; the hose of [Pg 350] banded mail, the knee cap, and shin pieces of plate, and the boots of overlapping plates. The helmet also, with its royal crown and curious double crest, is worth notice. In the original drawing the whole suit of armour is brilliantly executed. ”

“ In one of the great Halls of this Pallace, are been twelve Statues of white Marble, representing twelve famous men of this Town, who had rendered great service to the Commonwealth, In the foresaid Armory you see a Halberd with two Pistol barrels in the lower end of it. You see also the Armor of the Gennesian Amazons, who went to the War in the Holy Land, and carried themselves gallantly. Here's also a Cannon of Leather so light, that a man may carry it. ”

“ We now come to Plate Armour. In Henry IV.'s reign, the adoption of the mixed armour soon pointed out, by experience, the inutility of retaining the ringed hauberk. The thighs and legs were no longer covered with double-chain mail, and the arms only partially. A back-plate was added, which, with the breast-plate, formed a cuirass. During the use of mixed armour, the arms, thighs, knees, and legs were covered with plates of metal ”

“ The pieces consist of a breastplate of the peascod variety with laminated goussets, and a backplate; a gorget of five lames and a tace of one plate, which could be removed if required from the breastplate; tassets, laminated pauldrons, brassarts, vambraces, and coudières. The entire design of this grand example of the armourer’s art is worked out by embossing from the back to surfaces of different levels, chasing and enriching with fine gold damascening, plating, and overlaying. The work is of remarkably even quality, and is at the present time in an excellent state of preservation. ”

“ Every soldier, whether he was armed with a musket, pike or halberd or served a cannon, was required to carry a sword. Thus, since almost every able-bodied man was supposed to perform military service, all had to be familiar with the weapon, and a large supply was necessary. ”

“ Instead of the shield, however, an additional piece of armour called the grande-garde was sometimes screwed to the breastplate to protect the left side and shoulder, while the great spear had also a piece of armour fixed in front of the grasp, which not only protected the hand, but was large enough to make a kind of shield for the left arm and breast. The tilting helmet disappeared altogether about this period, and the head-piece was adorned with streaming plumes. The armour generally, by its being fluted and laminated and puffed, imitated the costume of the time. ”

“ They are each well protected with a helmet, a shield or buckler, and other armor of iron, and are provided with lances and other weapons. These lances were very long, and were made of the toughest wood that could be obtained. ”