Among the girdles in the possession of Henry IV[116] one is garnished with heads of stags and small pearls, and another with ostrich plumes and little golden bells. Others, mostly of stuff, are garnished with various flowers, mostly roses, or with ivy leaves, and the majority are hung with little bells. In addition to such enrichments, which included also coats-of-arms, girdles bore inscriptions, engraved on the buckle-plate, or formed of letters sewn upon the band. These latter were often of an amatory or of a superstitious character; for, like other articles of mediæval jewellery, the girdle, on account of the stones, etc., set upon it, was frequently considered endowed with talismanic properties. Chaucer in his adaptation of the older "Roman de la Rose" describes the rich jewelled girdle, worn by one of the emblematical characters in the Garden of Love. It was set with stones evidently valued for their mystic properties. [116] _Inventories of the Exchequer_, III, p. 337. Richesse a girdle had upon, The bokell of it was of a ston, Of vertue grete, and mokell of might. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The mordaunt wrought in noble wyse, Was of a stone full precious, That was so fine and vertuous, That whole a man it couth make Of palasey and of totheake. Attached directly to the girdle or suspended from it by a hook or chain was a purse or pouch called either a _gipcière_, _aulmonière_, or _escarcelle_, which was made of velvet, silk, or stamped leather. The gipcière (also written _gypcyre_) is mentioned most frequently in early documents, where it is often described as being enriched with embroidery, and set with pearls and precious stones. Like the aulmonière and escarcelle, it was worn from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century hung from a loop at the right side of the girdle. The heads or clasps of the finest purses were of beautiful workmanship, of silver, bronze, or iron, damascened, or exquisitely chiselled. For ordinary use these heads--known as gipcière _beams_--as well as the mounts or frames of the purses, were made of brass or latten; and judging from the number that has been found and preserved, in the Guildhall Museum, for instance, their use must have been very general in mediæval times. [Illustration: "Luckenbooth" brooch of silver (Nat. Mus. of Antiquities, Edinburgh).] RENAISSANCE JEWELLERY CHAPTER XX ITALY, FIFTEENTH CENTURY The history of Renaissance jewellery in general may be approached by reviewing the condition of Italian jewellery in the fifteenth century. In the foregoing outline of European jewellery to the end of the fifteenth century--which has served as an approximate date for the termination of the mediæval epoch--practically no reference has been made to Italy. One need only examine the general style of Italian painting, architecture, and sculpture of the Quattrocento, to see how far apart the art of Italy stands from that of the rest of Europe.