The Chamfron is sometimes provided with hinged cheek-plates and usually
has a holder for a plume. On the forehead are often shown the arms of the
owner or a tapered spike. Angellucci, in his preface to the Catalogue of
the Turin Armoury, differentiates between the chamfron (tesera) and the
Frontale or plate protecting the front of the head alone. There are fine
suits of Gothic horse armour both in the Musée d'Artillerie in Paris and
also in the Wallace Collection at Hertford House. The latter is one of the
best-arranged mounted suits in existence. The different pieces of the
horse armour bear the delicate sweeping lines embossed on the surface in
the same way that the armour of the man is treated. The restored linings
of leather and skin show how the horse was protected from the chafing of
the metal. The Peytral or Poitrel is hung from the neck and withers, and
is frequently provided with large bosses, called _Bossoirs_, _Pezoneras_,
or _Glancing-knobs_, to direct the lance-thrust away from the horse. It is
often hinged in three pieces. The Flanchards hang from the saddle on
either side, and are sometimes, as on Plate IV and the Frontispiece,
curved upwards in the centre to admit of the use of the spur. The back of
the horse is protected by the Croupière or Crupper, which is made up of
several pieces riveted or hinged together. The root of the tail is covered
by a tubular plate called the Gardequeue, which is often moulded into the
form of a dragon or dolphin. All these plates were lined with leather or
wadded with cotton to prevent chafing. Often, however, cuirbouilli was
used instead of metal and was richly decorated with painting and gilding.
A picture of the Battle of Pavia in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, shows
many of these painted bards, and the same material is doubtless intended
in the relief of the Battle of Brescia on the Visconti monument at Pavia.
These leather bards have entirely disappeared and are not to be found in
any collections except for a portion of a crupper of this material in the
Tower. The saddle, with its high Arciones or peaks, back and front, was in
itself an efficacious protection for the waist and loins. The term Cantle
is sometimes used for either plate, but it is generally accepted as the
name for the rear peak. Both this part and the front plate are often
covered with metal. The great jousting saddles have been noticed in the
preceding chapter. The reins are protected from being cut by hinged
plates, as shown on Plate X.[31]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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