The armour for jousts and tourneys was much heavier than the Hosting or
War harness. From the fact, which has been previously noticed, that the
combatants passed each other on the left, this side of the armour was
reinforced to such a degree that in time it presented a totally different
appearance from the right side (see Plate VII). The weight of jousting
armour was so great that it was impossible for the wearer to mount without
assistance. De Pluvinel, in his _Maneige Royal_ (1629), gives an imaginary
conversation between himself and the King (Louis XIV) as follows:--
_The King._ 'It seems to me that such a man would have difficulty in
getting on his horse, and being on to help himself.'
_De Pluvinel._ 'It would be very difficult, but with this arming the
matter has been provided for. In this manner at triumphs and tourneys
there ought to be at the two ends of the lists a small scaffold, the
height of a stirrup, on which two or three persons can stand, that is to
say, the knight, an armourer to arm him, and one other to help him. The
knight being armed and the horse brought close to the stand, he easily
mounts him.'
Reference has been made to the fact that modern writers call the sliding
rivet the 'Almain' rivet. Whenever mentioned in Inventories and such-like
documents, the Almain rivet stands for a suit of light armour. Garrard, in
his _Art of Warre_ (1591), distinctly says, 'The fore part of a corselet
and a head peece and tasses is the almayne rivet.' Among the purchases
made on the Continent by Henry VIII in 1512 may be noted 2,000 Almain
rivets, each consisting of a salet, a gorget, a breastplate, a backplate,
and a pair of splints (short taces). In the Inventory of the goods of Dame
Agnes Huntingdon, executed at Tyburn for murdering her husband in 1523, we
find 'sex score pare of harness of Alman rivets'. The 'pare', of course,
refers to the breast- and backplates. The word Alman, Almaine, or Almain,
shows that the invention of this light armour and the sliding rivets
which were used in its construction came from Germany.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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