A Complete Guide to HeraldryFox-Davies, Arthur Charles
History
A Complete Guide to Heraldry
Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles
Heraldry -- Great Britain
The illustration is
from a parchment MS. of about 1241 now in the Town Library of Leipzic. Fig.
570 shows another German example of this type, being taken from the _Eneit_
of Heinrich von Veldeke, a MS. now in the Royal Library in Berlin,
belonging to the end of the twelfth century. The crest depicted in this
case, a red lion, must be one of the earliest instances of a crest. These
{307} are the helmets which we find on early seals and effigies, as will be
seen from Figs. 571-574.
[Illustration: FIG. 571.--Helmet of Hamelin, Earl of Surrey and Warenne (d.
1202). (From MS. Cott., Julius, C. vii.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 572.--From the seal of Richard de Clare, Earl of
Gloucester and Hertford (d. 1262).]
[Illustration: FIG. 573.--From the seal of John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey
(d. 1305).]
[Illustration: FIG. 574.--From the seal (1315) of John de Bretagne, Earl of
Richmond.]
The cylindrical or "pot-shaped" helmet of the Plantagenets, however,
disappears in the latter part of the thirteenth century, when we first find
mention of the "bascinet" (from Old French for a basin), Figs. 575-579.
This was at first merely a hemispherical steel cap, put over the coif of
mail to protect the top of the head, when the knight wished to be relieved
from the weight of his large helm (which he then slung at his back or
carried on his saddlebow), but still did not consider the mail coif
sufficient protection. It soon became pointed at the top, and gradually
lower at the back, though not so much as to protect the neck. In the
fourteenth century the mail, instead of being carried over the top of the
head, was hung to the bottom rim of the helmet, and {308} spread out over
the shoulders, overlapping the cuirass. This was called the "camail," or
"curtain of mail." It is shown in Figs. 576 and 577 fastened to the
bascinet by a lace or thong passing through staples.
The large helm, which throughout the fourteenth century was still worn over
the bascinet, did not fit down closely to the cuirass (though it may have
been fastened to it with a leather strap), its bottom curve not being
sufficiently arched for that purpose; nor did it wholly rest on the
shoulders, but was probably wadded inside so as to fit closely to the
bascinet.
[Illustration: FIG. 575.]
[Illustration: FIG. 576.]
[Illustration: FIG. 577.]
[Illustration: FIG. 578.]
[Illustration: FIG. 579.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account