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
An ordinance of Philip IV. in 1306, quoted by Père Daniel (Mil. Fran.
j. 520), under the heading, "L'ordonnance du Roy quant il va en
Armez," directs: That the chief Ecuyer Tranchant shall have charge of
the Royal Standard: that the chief Chamberlain shall carry the Banner
of the king: and that the chief Varlet Tranchant shall follow close
behind the king, bearing his Pennon; and his duty is to accompany the
king wherever he may go, in order that all may know where the monarch
is stationed.
The knightly Banner of this time may be seen in Roy. MS. 20, D. i.;
in the Lives of the Offas (Cott. MS., Nero, D. i.); and in many
of the plates of the Painted Chamber. In all these examples it is
quadrangular, but _not square_: its height is double its breadth. The
effigy at Minster, Isle of Sheppey, (Stothard, Pl. XLI.) gives us in
sculpture a large specimen of the banner, and shews very distinctly
how it was fastened to the staff by tasselled cords.
The office of Bannerer of the City of London was filled in the
thirteenth century by the family of Fitz Walter, who held the
castlery of Baynard's Castle in fee for the performance of this duty.
The services and privileges attached to the office are laid down in
a curious document printed in Blount's "Antient Tenures," from a MS.
preserved by Dugdale. They are recorded under two heads: the rights
in time of war, and the rights in time of peace. We give the first in
full: a mere note will suffice for the other, which are privileges
rather of a civil than a military character:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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