Ancient Armour and Weapons in Europe: From the Iron Period of the Northern Nations to the End of the Thirteenth CenturyHewitt, John
History
Ancient Armour and Weapons in Europe: From the Iron Period of the Northern Nations to the End of the Thirteenth Century
Hewitt, John
Armor; Weapons
7, a variety of this headpiece has an upright
spike at the top. In the Archæological Journal, vol. viii. p. 319,
is engraved a knightly effigy in which the wide and pointed iron-hat
is worn over a close skull-cap of plate, to which, is joined a coif
of chain-mail. The Nasal Helmet is found of three varieties: the
cylindrical, the round-topped, and the conical. The first occurs on
the monumental effigy of Raoul De Beaumont, in the abbey of Estival,
founded by him in 1210. (Kerrich Collections, Add. MS. 6,728.) The
hemispherical appears in the Lives of the Offas and the Painted
Chamber, and on Plate XXXIII. of Hefner. The pointed crown is found
among the subjects of the Painted Chamber, of which the following is
an example. See also our woodcut, No. 82.
[Illustration: No. 76.]
Besides the above, which are the usual types of casque found in
the thirteenth century, there are some varieties of occasional
appearance. Among these may be mentioned the open-faced helmet of
the Temple effigy figured by Stothard, Pl. XV. In this curious
example, all the head above the neck is cased in a defence of some
rigid material (metal or cuir-bouilli?), and encircled by a band or
turban. Another singular headpiece occurs on folio 7 of the Lives
of the Offas (woodcut, No. 80); where the coif of banded-mail is
covered in front with a plate, perforated for vision and breathing,
and strengthened with the cross-bands already seen in the knightly
heaume. Helmets formed of a framework of metal covering a cap of
leather, similar to the defence noticed at an earlier period (see
page 69), seem to have been in use during this century. Hefner has
figured the metal portion of a real one found in the island of
Negropont, which he assigns to this period (_Trachten_, Pl. LXIII.)
It closely resembles the bronze example discovered at Leckhampton
(woodcut 18), consisting of a hoop from which spring two arcs of
metal crossing at the crown. Of similar mixed materials appear
to be those helmets seen in the groups of the Painted Chamber,
where a frame of gold-colour encloses a cap of crimson or purple
(Plates XXXV. and XXXVI.). And compare our woodcut, No. 82, also
from the Painted Chamber, in which the frame of the headpiece is of
iron-colour, while the enclosed portion is painted yellow.
The Bassinet and Cervellière are named in documents of this time,
but do not appear to have been anything more than the round-topped
skull-cap already noticed.
The bassinet is mentioned in the will of Odo de Rossilion in 1298,
cited by Ducange[353]; a monument further curious from its giving us
the detail of a knight's equipment in these days:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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