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 surcoats of the four earls[443] were of Cindon silk, the
remaining thirty-four of Carda: "Pro iiij. coo̱pto͂r ̱p iiij^{or}
Comi͂t ij. Cind' & dī. Item ̱p xxxiiij. coo̱pto͂r. CXIX. ul̄n.
card." The ailettes were made of leather and carda, being fastened by
laces of silk: "D. Milōn le Cuireu͂r. xxxviij. pa͂r alet͂t co͂r p'̄c
pa͂r viiij. d.... Item pro xxxviij. pa͂r alet͂t xix. ul̄n. card....
viij. Duodēn laqueoȝ serīc ̱p alet͂t p'̄c duodēn viij. d."
Each helm and each horse had a crest, which was made of calf-skin,
and fastened by the _chastones_ and _clavones_ already noticed at
page 347. Stephen the Joiner supplied thirty-eight shields of wood
at fivepence each: "De Stephō Juncto͂r xxxviij. scu͂t fustīn p'̄c
scuti. v. d." Being elsewhere called _blazonæ_, we may conclude they
were heraldically ensigned. The helms were of leather, supplied by
Robert Erunnler in their crude state at sixteenpence per helm;
but afterwards embellished by Ralph de la Haye, who gilt twelve of
them with pure gold for the chief knights at a shilling apiece,
and silvered the remainder at eightpence each: "De Rob'o Erunnler
xxxviij. galee de co͂r p'̄c galee xvj. d. Item Rādo de la Haye ̱p
Batu͂r xij. galeaȝ de auro pu͂r ̱p dingmo͂r ar̄m prēc galee xij.
d. Eidem pro Batu͂r xxvi. gal' de argento, p'̄c gal' viij. d." The
swords were made of whalebone and parchment, their blades silvered,
the hilt and pommel gilt: "De Petro le Furbeu͂r (the furbisher)
xxxviii. glad' fac͂t de Balēn & Parcomēn, p'̄c pēc vij. d. It̄m
̱p Batu͂r d̄coȝ glad' de argent' xxv.s. It̄m ̱p Batu͂r pomell' &
hil͂t eoȝd' de auro pu͂r iij. s. vi. d."
The sum-total paid for these thirty-eight equipments, including their
carriage from London to Windsor, was £80 11_s._ 8_d._ Other purchases
were made at Paris, of which a portion appears to have been for the
tournament, as the horse furniture, already noticed at page 340.
Other articles are of a miscellaneous character, as hawking-gloves,
furs for mantles, carpets, and "a hundred _fromages de Brie_ for
the King and Queen" (C. casei de Bria pro Rege et Regina, precium
xxxv. s.). The whole of the document, however, deserves a careful
investigation, though we have extracted the chief particulars which
illustrate the subject of our inquiry. It is printed in full in the
seventeenth volume of the _Archæologia_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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