The most popular of the light helmets at this period was the Bascinet. It
appears on nearly every monumental brass that depicts a military figure,
and is an essential part of that style of equipment known as the 'camail'.
The later form of bascinet has a movable visor which is known among armour
collectors as the 'pig-faced' bascinet (Plate V). Sometimes the hinge is
at the top, and sometimes, as in No. 2 of this plate, the visor is pivoted
at the sides. Froissart calls the visor 'carnet' and 'visière'. In the
Bohun Inventory, before referred to, are given: 'ii bacynettes, lun covert
de quir lautre bourni.' This shows that while some helmets were of
polished metal, others were covered with leather, and indeed silk and
velvet as fancy dictated. Frequent references to these 'covers' for
helmets occur in Inventories and Wills. The helmet and other portions of
the suit of plate armour were sometimes tinned to prevent rust, as is
shown in one of the Dover Castle Inventories of 1361:--'xiii basynetz
tinez.' Sometimes, in the case of Royalty or princes of rank, the bascinet
was encircled with a fillet or crown of gold and gems. Among the payments
of Etienne de Fontaine, in 1352, are mentioned 110 crowns for 'quarente
grosses perles pour garnir le courroye du basinet de Monsieur le Dauphin'.
The Orle, or wreath worn turban-wise round the bascinet, is sometimes
shown, as on Fig. 22, of a decorative nature. It is supposed by some
writers to have been devised to take the pressure of the great helm from
the head, for the helm was often worn, as in the preceding century, over a
lighter headpiece. From the usual position of the orle, however, and from
the fact that it is invariably shown highly decorated and jewelled, this
explanation can hardly hold good, for a padding worn as shown in the
illustration would not be of much service in keeping off the pressure of
the helm, and of course the jewelled decoration would be destroyed at
once. Another theory is that the orle was made by wrapping the Lambrequin
or Mantling--which hung from the back of the helmet and which is still
used in heraldic drawings--much in the same manner as the modern puggaree
is worn in India. In this illustration appears also the gorget of plate
that was worn over the throat and chin with the bascinet.
[Illustration: PLATE IV
_Photograph by Hauser & Menet_
Jousting armour of Charles V. Madrid.]
[Illustration: FIG. 22. The Orle, from the monument of Sir H. Stafford,
Bromsgrove, Kent, 1450.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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