The antiquary, John Rouse, of Warwick, has left us some excellent drawings of military equipment of the fifteenth century, which are preserved in the Cottonian MS., Julius, E. IV. They illustrate the romantic adventures of Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, and one of these spirited sketches is introduced here (Fig. 266). It represents a combat with pole-axes between the earl and Sir Pandulf Malacat at Verona, when Sir Pandulf was badly wounded upon the left shoulder, and would probably have fared worse had not the combat been stopped. We gain an excellent idea from this sketch of the mode in which the gorget was adjusted, which is difficult to realise from a brass. The misericorde is suspended as in the later days of Richard II., and a central prolongation of the front taces is represented, which occurs upon several English brasses. The shape and character of the formidable weapons are well delineated in the sketch. [Illustration: PLATE XIX* Armour of Philip III., made by Lucio Picinino of Milan _A. F. Calvert_] CHAPTER XII THE TABARD PERIOD, 1430-1500 [Illustration: FIG. 267.--Tabard, William Fynderne, 1444. Childrey Church, Berks.] [Illustration: FIG. 268.--Tabard, Sir Ralph Shelton, 1423. Great Snoring Church, Norfolk.] The sources of information for this period are considerably enlarged when compared with those preceding it, as, in addition to MSS., missals, brasses, and monumental effigies we may add paintings by the old masters, crude woodcuts following upon the introduction of printing, and, what is of still greater value, actual examples of arms and armour in our public and private museums, churches, &c. The fifteenth century probably saw a greater output of armour than any other in English history: the stirring times in France under the Duke of Bedford and other leaders at the end of the Hundred Years’ War was followed almost immediately by the thirty years of intestine strife of the Wars of the Roses. Under the stress of these conditions armour continued to improve in defensive power until, in the reign of Richard III. and the earlier part of that of Henry VII., it attained to its maximum stage of efficiency in England. In the combat during this century between the forgers of weapons of offence and the armour with which to resist them we have the greatest struggle ever witnessed in this country; so invulnerable did the plate become by completeness of covering and dexterity in tempering that all the efforts of the bowyer, fletcher, weapon-forger, and gunsmith had to be enlisted to break down the solidarity of the defence, and it was not until the succeeding century that the victory could be fairly claimed for the attacking faction. The Tabard Period witnessed every device in armour that the wit of man could evolve, and it was produced under those circumstances which would best achieve the desired result, namely the stress of urgent need. The name by which this age is known, that of