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
The Horns and Trumpets used in battle are not frequently represented
in the pictures of the time; but good examples occur in Roy. MS.
20, D. i., and on Plate XXXVI. of the Painted Chamber. The trumpets
are of two kinds, straight and slightly curved; and are figured as
of four or five feet long. The straight trumpet appears on folio
222^{vo}. of Roy. MS. 20, D. i.; and is borne as a heraldic charge
on the shield of Sir Roger de Trumpington (woodcut, No. 73). The
long, curved trumpet occurs on folio 21^{vo}. of Roy. MS. 20, D. i.
Both kinds are pictured in Plate XXXVI. of the Painted Chamber. The
smaller semicircular Horn is drawn on folio 70 of 20, D. i.
[Illustration: GREAT SEAL OF KING EDWARD THE FIRST.
No. 85.]
From the collection of medieval "Proverbes" already cited, we learn
that Spain was still the favourite mart for the knightly CHARGER.
Denmark and Brittany had also a celebrity for their breeds of horses
of a different character. The fiat of popular approval is given to the
"Dextriers de Castille.
Palefrois Danois.
Roussins de Bretagne."
Such was the noble nature of the high-bred dextrarius that, when
two knights had been dismounted and were continuing the fight on
foot, their horses, left to themselves, instantly commenced a
conflict of their own of the most gallant and desperate character.
A representation of a double battle of this kind is given on folio
42 of Roy. MS. 12, F. xiii., a treatise _"De natura Pecudum,
Volucrum," &c._ The form of the Saddle of this time, with its high
pommel and cantle, may be seen in the Royal seals engraved on Plates
52, 79, 81 and 85; and again in the figure numbered 58. It was
sometimes heraldically decorated. In the purchases for the Windsor
Tournament[400], in 1278, we have:--
"D Feli͂s Le Seler. viij. sell' de ar̄m Angɫ. p'͂c. LXiiij. ɫi.
P'i͂s.
"D Eodem. iiij. selle brond' de filo auri et argen͂t trac͂t
videlicet una de ar̄m Rob'ti Tibetot una de ar̄m Jo͂his de Neele.
j. de ar̄m Imb'ti Guidonis et una de ar̄m Comitis Cornub' p'͂c
xx/iiij. viij. ɫi.
"D Eodem. j. sella brond' eodem modo de ar̄m Jo͂his de Grely. ͂c
scalo͂p argent' p'͂c. xxxviij. ɫi." &c.
On the seal of Alexander II. of Scotland, 1214--49, the king's saddle
is ensigned with a lion rampant (Cotton Charter, xix. 2). And the
seal of Robert Fitz-Walter, 1299, presents an analogous example
(Plate XVII. of vol. v. of the _Archæologia_). The Stirrup of the
period is shewn by numerous examples to have been triangular. See
woodcuts, No. 47, 48 and 56. The Peytrel or breastplate was sometimes
of plain fashion, as in the first seal of Henry III. (woodcut, No.
79): sometimes it had the pendent ornaments of the preceding period,
as in the example on Plate XXXVII. of the Painted Chamber, where the
pattern is a string of golden trefoils. From the Windsor Roll quoted
above we find that the poitrail was of leather, and that this leather
was occasionally gilt:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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