The Spanish _escudo_ or shield was usually made of wood covered with leather, and painted with the arms or the distinguishing emblem of its lord. Sometimes it was made of parchment. Thus the Chronicle of the Cid informs us that this hero after death was equipped with "a painted parchment helm and with a shield in the same wise." Another form of Spanish shield, the _adarga_ (_atareca_, _atarca_; Arabic _ad-darka_, to hold upon the arm), of which I shall subsequently notice specimens in the Royal Armoury, was commonly in the shape of a rough oval or of a heart, and made of various folds of leather sewn and glued together. The Chronicle of Alfonso the Eleventh speaks of a certain famine which broke out among the Spanish troops, and caused them such privation that "they chewed the leather of their shields."[111] [111] Count of Clonard, _op. cit._ The battle headgear of this people passed through many changes. "The helmet of the eighth century," says the Count of Clonard, "was the same which had been used by the Cantabrians and Vascones before the general peace proclaimed by Augustus Cæsar. Helmets of this design are engraved upon the medals (reproduced by Florez) of the imperial legate Publius Carisius. They covered the entire head and face, leaving only two holes for the eyes, as we see upon the carved stone fragments in relief at the door of the church of San Pedro de Villanueva, representing the struggle of King Froila with a bear." Another form of helmet which the Spaniards began to use about this time was the _almofar_ (Arabic _al-mejfar_), made of iron scales. It covered all the head, with the exception of the eyes, nose, and mouth, and corresponds to the _camail_ of the Normans. Beneath it was worn the linen _cofia_, a kind of bag or cap in which the warrior gathered up his hair. After about another century a round or conical iron helmet (_capacete_), fitted with cheek-pieces, was superposed on the _almofar_ and fastened round the chin with straps. The _capacete_ of a noble was often adorned with precious stones and coronets of pure gold, while a spike projecting from the top was tipped with a large carbuncle, in order to catch and to reflect the flashing sunbeams.