It will be noticed in the following pages that continual reference is made, respecting early armour and weapons, to the MSS. which are preserved in our inimitable national collection at the British Museum, and I cannot too earnestly advise the student to utilise to the utmost extent possible the treasure-house of military detail preserved therein. The feeling which prompted early illuminators to represent Biblical and other personages in contemporary equipment, whereby Goliath was shown habited in Norman hauberk and helm, Moses appeared on horseback with couched lance in the mixed mail and plate of the thirteenth century, and Julius Cæsar crossed the Rubicon in a salade and complete Yorkist plate, is simply invaluable to the student, inasmuch as every detail, though at times almost microscopic, is faithfully delineated, and every new fashion recorded at once upon its adoption. I have drawn upon many manuscripts for illustrations, but there are scores still untouched which only need the student’s attention to deliver up many valuable examples of details probably quite unknown at the present time. There are collateral subjects connected with the study of Armour and Arms which the exigencies of space have compelled me to wholly or partially omit, such as heraldry, mantling and the changes it underwent, caparisoning and barding, the later development of weapons of precision, history and varieties of the sword, &c., some of which would require special monographs to deal with, and do full justice to, the subject. One of the main ideas has been the simplification of those points upon which the majority of the books extant are either silent or deal with in a casual and unsatisfying manner. One period especially, which gave me infinite trouble as a student, is that between 1320 and 1360, while another feature, generally omitted or hurriedly glossed over, is the equipment of the common soldier. In conclusion I must express my deep sense of obligation to the authorities connected with the Tower of London, the Wallace Collection, the British Museum Manuscript Department, the South Kensington Museum, the Rotunda at Woolwich, the Edinburgh Castle Museum, the United Service Institution, the Armourers’ Hall, &c., for the kind facilities they have willingly and promptly afforded for sketching, photographing, and examining the various exhibits preserved in those institutions. CHARLES HENRY ASHDOWN. MONASTERY CLOSE, ST. ALBANS, HERTS. The Author gratefully acknowledges his indebtedness to Viscount Dillon; the Marquis of Salisbury; the late Sir John Evans, K.C.B.; The Very Rev. the Dean of Ely, D.D.; Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey, Bart.; H. J. Toulmin, Esq., J.P.; A. F. Calvert, Esq.; W. Page, Esq., F.S.A.; E. J. Hunt, Esq., B.A.; H. R. Wilton-Hall, Esq. CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. WEAPONS OF PREHISTORIC MAN 1