Probably at no time in the history of defensive armour has it presented a more picturesque appearance than during the brief ten years of the Cyclas Period. Fitting closely to the figure, the various garments followed the outlines of the human form, and in no parts showed any marked peculiarities or eccentricities. The evolution of the style was undoubtedly derived from the experience gained during the Chain Mail Period, when that defence was proved to be ineffectual against the terrible effects of lance and sword. Both of these weapons, even if they did not actually pierce the mail, either bruised the body, or broke bones, and thereby incapacitated the wearer; while the protection afforded by the loosely hanging folds of the surcoat of previous periods, especially against sword-cuts, has been duly noted. Hence during the Cyclas Period we meet with the introduction of multitudinous coverings, whereby the lance, the sword, and the arrow were opposed by plate and mail, and by various padded garments of a textile nature. The superposition and nature of the defensive equipment will now be described. [Illustration: FIG. 163.--Sir Robert Shurland, 1300; showing the gambeson.] 1. _The Haqueton._--This consisted of a stuffed and padded garment covering the whole body from the neck to the knees, and the upper part of the arms; it rested immediately upon the under-shirt of wool. The padded character of the garment may be seen from the Creke and d’Aubernoun brasses, where the lower edge reaches the genouillières. In the Clehongre effigy the haqueton, though doubtless worn, is not apparent. The padding, besides being defensive, served to protect the body from the pressure of the mail and plate defences. [Illustration: FIG. 164.--Sir John de Creke, 1325. Westley Waterless Church, Cambs.] 2. _The Hauberk._--During the Cyclas Period this garment appears to have been generally made of banded mail, which consisted of rings or discs firmly attached on two sides to bands or strips of leather, and overlapping each other right and left in alternate rows. The protection afforded by this defence was so good, and the flexibility so great, that banded mail was in very common use during the greater part of the fourteenth century for hauberks, camails, and chausses. The hauberk either terminated in a point in front at the knees, in similar fashion to the camail, or was rounded, or cut squarely off, according to the individual taste of the wearer. The sleeves in nearly all cases terminate a little below the elbow. It probably extended well up the neck and reinforced the camail.