It must not be supposed that the Phrygian-shaped helmet affected by the Saxons became obsolete in the Norman period; on the contrary it is frequently represented in MSS. (_cf._ Harl. MS. 603, eleventh century; Harl. MS. 2800, twelfth century, &c.). During the period under discussion (1066-1180) various additional weapons were introduced which the exigencies of warfare appeared to necessitate. Foremost among these was the military pick called variously the Bisacuta, Oucin, and Besague, designed to perforate the joints between the metal plates of the hauberk. It is shown in Fig. 109, furnished with one point only, though it commonly had two, as might be inferred from the name Bisacuta. It was a modification of the martel-de-fer. A dagger for the use of foot soldiers was also in use, adapted for rushing upon and disabling knights who had been unhorsed in a cavalry charge; it was termed the Cultellus, and appears to have attained occasionally the dimensions of a short sword. One of the most ancient of weapons is the Guisarme, which, in its earliest forms, is conjectured to have been a combination of the scythe and the prong. The advantage of having a weapon with a cutting edge and also adapted for thrusting, while at the same time serving to ward off a blow by entangling another weapon in the angle formed by the junction of the two, would appeal very strongly to the foot soldier, by whom it was chiefly used. The term “bisarme,” by which it was occasionally known, would indicate the dual nature of the weapon, which consisted essentially, in all its multitudinous variations, of a cutting glaive with a rising spike at the back. It was always fixed to a staff six or more feet in length, and at times the knife edge partook more of the nature of an ornamental axe than of the glaive. Frequent mention of “grinding of the guisarmes” occurs in ancient writers, from which we infer that the cutting edge was one of its valuable characteristics, while references to the “deadly” or “destructive” guisarme are very common. Some appear to have had small bells attached to their extremities to frighten the horses of the cavalry. So common was the weapon that in Scotland it became one of the recognised means of offence with which the foot soldier was required to be provided. The bipennis, or double axe, was still in use, but only by the Saxon element; the complete fusion of the conquerors and the conquered led to its gradual extinction as a national weapon. [Illustration: PLATE X* Armour of Charles V. (Work of Negroli) _A. F. Calvert_] CHAPTER VI THE CHAIN MAIL PERIOD, 1180-1250 [Illustration: FIG. 96.]