Costume -- Great Britain -- History; Great Britain -- History; Great Britain -- History -- Pictorial works
The whole must have formed a very cumbersome combination. The plates
on the arms were enlarged so as to form cylinders, encasing the limbs,
opening with a hinge at one side and fastening with buckle and strap or
rivets at the other side. Those covering the fore-arm were worn under
the sleeve of the hauberk, which was often cut off below the elbow.
Plates were still worn on the knees, legs, and feet.
The _Basinet_, a comparatively light and close-fitting helmet, was
worn without a mail coif beneath it; but to protect the neck a kind
of tippet of mail called the _camail_ was fastened by laces to the
basinet, and hung down over the breast, back, and shoulders. The
basinet was open at the face or had a movable face-piece (_visor_ or
_ventaille_). In battle it was worn with the face-piece, but for the
tournament the visor was removed and the heaume or great helmet, with
its crest and mantling, placed over it.
The shield was small and of the “heater” shape, and “pryck” spurs gave
place to spurs with rowels.
_3rd Period_: c. 1335 A.D.--c. 1360 A.D. Splinted armour, _i.e._,
armour consisting of small overlapping plates (like the shell of a
lobster), was introduced, and a garment called the _pourpoint_ (like a
haketon, but made of finer material, faced with silk or ornamented with
needlework) was worn over the hauberk.
The surcoat was again worn, shortened to the knee and shaped to fit the
body closely above the waist. The armorial bearings of the wearer were
embroidered in silks upon it.
It must be remembered that there was no uniform--in the modern sense--for
knights and men-at-arms, but each dressed as he liked; and there was
consequently a great variety of arms and armour in a single troop.
_4th or Camail Period_: c. 1360 A.D.--c. 1405 A.D. This is called the
camail period because by this time the custom of wearing the camail had
become universal. The legs and arms were now entirely encased in plates
of armour, with sollerets on the feet, which were acutely pointed at
the toes in imitation of the prevailing civil fashion. The hauberk was
shortened to the middle of the thigh, was sleeveless, and was worn over
a globular breastplate. Roundles disappeared from the shoulders and
elbows, and laminated plates took their place, giving freer movement to
the limbs.
The sleeveless surcoat was now called the _jupon_. It fitted tightly
over the hauberk, and was slightly shorter than it, so that the lower
edge of the hauberk showed behind it. The jupon was made of a rich
material, blazoned with the arms of the wearer, and was escalloped
along the bottom edge.
The long, straight sword, with decorated hilt and scabbard, was hung on
the left side from a richly ornamented belt, and on the right side was
suspended a small, pointed dagger called the _misericorde_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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