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
than from the testimony of these examples alone, that one is able to
form any opinion as to the fabrics intended; and even at last the
conclusion _must_ be doubtful, and may be erroneous. From analogous
representations of various dates, however, it seems likely that the
figures 1 and 2 are intended for interlinked chain-mail; Nos. 3 and 4
for jazerant-work (armour formed of small plates fastened by rivets
to a garment of cloth or canvas); Nos. 5 and 6 appear to be plain
quilted defences; No. 7 seems only a rude attempt to represent the
quilted coif; No. 8 is one of many examples where different markings
are used on the same garment. In some instances, the markings copied
above are so strangely intermixed in the same dress, that one is
led to doubt if, in any case, each differing pattern is intended to
represent a different kind of armour.
If from the tapestries we turn to the seals of this period, we shall
find a similar difficulty in appropriating the armours represented.
The modes of marking the defences are four. One of these is a sort
of honeycomb-work, formed by a number of small, shallow, circular
apertures, leaving a raised line running round their edges, so as to
give a reticulated appearance to the surface. See woodcuts 42 and 43.
This texture seems to represent interlinked chain-mail. A second mode
consists of a series of lines crossing each other, so as to form a
trellis-work of lozenges.
[Illustration: GREAT SEAL OF KING STEPHEN.
No. 30.]
The great seal of King Stephen here given affords an instance of
this method. Compare also woodcut No. 41. This, if not another
conventional mode of representing interlinked chain-mail, may be
intended for quilted armour. A third kind of engraving presents a
number of raised half-circles covering the surface of the hauberk.
See woodcut No. 26. This, though often described as scale-armour,
seems to be no more than the ordinary chain-mail, the difficulty of
representing which threw the middle-age artists upon a variety of
expedients to obtain a satisfactory result. In the fourth method,
lines of half-circles placed contiguously cover the whole exterior of
the garment; and that this is another mode of indicating chain-mail
is clearly proved by the similar work found on monuments of all
kinds, even to the sixteenth century. See woodcut No. 1, fig. 1.
From this glimpse at the seals and tapestries, (and the illuminated
manuscripts of the period contribute similar testimony,) we may
gather that the artists of this day had no uniform method of
depicting the knightly harness; so that, instead of endeavouring to
find a different kind of armour for every varying pattern of the
limners, we should rather regard the varied patterns of the limners
as so many rude attempts to represent a few armours. In the following
sketch we have collected some of the methods in use at various times
to indicate the ordinary interlinked chain-mail.
[Illustration: No. 31.]
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