[Illustration: FIG. 67. Engraving on the left cuisse of Henry VIII’s Suit, made by Conrad Seusenhofer (Tower, II, 5).] In 1504 Conrad was appointed Court Armourer for a period of six years with a further agreement for a pension of 50 fl. afterwards for life. In the same year he received money for enlarging his workshops, but after much correspondence it was deducted from his salary. The young Emperor had theories about the making of armour as he had about every other art and craft, and working in conjunction with his armourer, and, presumably, taking credit for his craftsman’s expert knowledge, evolved the fluted style of plate armour which still bears his name. It was based upon Italian models of the Gothic type which, at the end of the fifteenth century, was distinguished by certain graceful flutings which Conrad and his master elaborated till they covered the whole surface of the armour. At this time the craftsmen of Brussels were noted experts in the tempering of steel, and both Maximilian and Henry VIII employed ironworkers from this city in their armouries. Much of the raw material was drawn from Styria, and was exported in such large quantities to England that the supply was in danger of running short; so a monopoly was established and exportation forbidden. This naturally raised the price, and was one of the many causes which combined to keep up a ceaseless friction between Maximilian, his Diet, and his armourers. Seusenhofer favoured elaborate ornament on his armour, and this did not please the officials who were responsible for the equipment of the army. He was urged to produce plainer and more serviceable work, a suggestion which Maximilian with his love of pageantry ignored. In 1511 we find Seusenhofer complaining that Kügler, the mine-master, was sending him inferior metal, and as he considered that the use of it would be detrimental to the reputation of Innsbruck as a factory of armour, he suggested that it should be classed as Milanese. In 1511 the famous “Engraved Suit,” now in the Tower of London, was put in hand as a present from Maximilian to Henry VIII. From the State Archives of Innsbruck (Jahrbuch II, reg. 1028) we find that two cuirasses were ready for the King of England, one gilded. There were apparently five others to be made, one of which was to be silvered. This was probably the suit above mentioned. The whole of the suit is covered with fine engraving representing the stories of S. George and S. Barbara, with foliage and heraldic badges. The designs have been engraved and a detailed description given by Sir S. Meyrick in _Archæologia_, XXII. The horse-armour is not by the same hand, for the engraving is coarser. It may have been executed in England by German craftsmen to match the rider’s armour (see Plates X, XII, Fig. 67).