plates, or jointed, then the term “tuillette” is also applied to them.
[Illustration: FIG. 303.--Garde-de-bras, _c._ 1490. (Wallace
Collection.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 304.--Tuilles, &c., Henry Parice, 1465. Hildersham
Church, Cambs.]
[Illustration: FIG. 305.--Sir Robert Harcourt, _c._ 1472. Stanton
Harcourt, Oxon.]
_Leg Defences._--These did not undergo such decided transformations as
the remaining portions of the armour, but a few innovations deserve
attention. Until 1450 there was no decided change from the style
prevailing in the Surcoatless Period, with perhaps the exception that
the reinforcing plate of the genouillière protecting the grevière
had a tendency to lengthen, but was still cut off square. After the
above date we find that it is generally pointed in the lower part
and laminated, while reinforcing plates begin to appear above the
genouillière protecting the thigh and often overlapping each other. An
unusual reinforcement for the genouillière is shown in Fig. 306; it is
of chain mail and occurs upon a suit in the Wallace Collection dated
1470. The actual cap covering the knee did not undergo much change,
except that it was often prominent and ridged, but one innovation, and
a marked one, is exhibited upon a few brasses (in the Grey brass, St.
Albans, for example), where the usual outer guard is prolonged round
the back of the knee in order to protect the gousset generally shown
there. A peculiar variety of genouillière is delineated in Fig. 307,
where a spike is seen projecting from the guard, and a considerable
number of lames and reinforcements are shown. It is difficult to see
the possible use of this spike, and one can only suppose that it was
so placed to annoy the horse of an antagonist when at close quarters.
It is from Roy. MS. 18, E. IV. The sollerets remain pointed, and
were often of extravagant length, but with less lames as a rule than
in the early part of the century; towards the end, about 1490, they
disappeared and became extinct, the broad-toed “sabbatons” taking their
place. Those of Piers Gerard, 1492, Winwick, Lancashire, are early
examples of this fashion (Fig. 308).
[Illustration: FIG. 306.--Reinforcement to genouillière, _c._ 1470
(Wallace Collection.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 307.--Spiked genouillière. (Roy. MS. 18, E. IV.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 308.--Sabbaton of Piers Gerard, 1492. Winwick,
Lancs.]
[Illustration: PLATE XX*
Armour of King Sebastian (Backplate)
_A. F. Calvert_]
[Illustration: FIG. 309.--Lance-rest, 1480. (Wallace Collection.)]
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