TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=. Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have been placed at the end of each chapter or Appendix. The numbers [376] to [383] in Appendix C are part of the quoted document, and are not footnotes. A superscript is denoted by ^{xx} or ^x, for example vj^{li} or xv^s (six pounds or fifteen shillings). Basic fractions are displayed as ½ ¼ ⅜ etc; the only other fraction is one-sixteenth, displayed as 1/16. Currency (shillings and pence) is displayed as a/b or a/-, for example 4/8 is 4 shillings and 8 pence, 2/- is two shillings. An overline above a or abc for example is shown as [=a] or [=abc]. Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book. THE ARMOURER AND HIS CRAFT UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME PASTE BY A. BERESFORD RYLEY [Illustration: VENUS AT THE FORGE OF VULCAN. JAN BRUEGHEL AND HENDRICK VAN BALEN. CIRCA 1600 KAISER FRIEDRICH MUSEUM, BERLIN] THE ARMOURER AND HIS CRAFT FROM THE XITH TO THE XVITH CENTURY By CHARLES FFOULKES, B.Litt.Oxon. WITH SIXTY-NINE DIAGRAMS IN THE TEXT AND THIRTY-TWO PLATES METHUEN & CO. LTD. 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. LONDON _First Published in 1912_ _Printed in Great Britain_ TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE VISCOUNT DILLON, Hon. M.A. Oxon. V.P.S.A., Etc. Etc. CURATOR OF THE TOWER ARMOURIES PREFACE I do not propose, in this work, to consider the history or development of defensive armour, for this has been more or less fully discussed in works which deal with the subject from the historical side of the question. I have rather endeavoured to compile a work which will, in some measure, fill up a gap in the subject, by collecting all the records and references, especially in English documents, which relate to the actual making of armour and the regulations which controlled the Armourer and his Craft. At the same time it is impossible to discuss this branch of the subject without overlapping in some details the existing works on Arms and Armour, but such repetition has only been included because it bears directly on the making, selling, or wearing of armour. I have intentionally omitted all reference to the sword and other weapons of offence, for this would have unduly increased the size of the present work, and the subject is of such importance that it deserves a full consideration in a separate volume.