The fifteenth century is often called in Spain her golden age of arms--not in the sense that she invented anything new relating to this craft, but that her warriors were more fully and more frequently equipped with what had been imported from elsewhere. As in the case of crested helmets, foreign initiative brought about the substitution of plate or German armour--developed from the chain armour and the coat of mail--for the earlier sets of disconnected pieces. Possibly, as a chronicle which describes the Englishmen and Gascons who were present at the siege of Lerma in 1334 would seem to indicate, it was in consequence of this direct association with the foreigner that the older form of Spanish harness yielded to the new. However this may be, plate armour certainly appeared in Spain at some time in the fourteenth century, and grew in vogue throughout the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries. Suits of armour worn by Spanish pikemen and crossbowmen of this period may be profitably studied in the Royal Armoury (Plate xl.); and the same harness is reproduced in the choir-stalls of Toledo cathedral, carved by Maestre Rodrigo in 1495. It is also useful to consult the prolix description of the _Passo Honroso_ (1433) of Suero de Quiñones, held at the bridge of Orbigo, as well as the painting of the battle of La Higueruela (Plate xli.) in the Sala de las Batallas of the Escorial. We find from these authoritative sources that Spanish harness then consisted of the war-hat or _capacete_, with its _barbote_ or piece to cover the mouth and cheeks, and fringe of mail (_mantillos_) to protect the neck: the _coracina_ or korazin of tinned steel plates;[115] the coat of mail; armlets and gauntlets; leg-pieces with closed greaves; and steel-pointed mail shoes. [115] The following armourers' marks are stamped on various korazins in the Royal Armoury, made in Aragon and dating from the fifteenth century:-- [Illustration] The Spanish man-at-arms of the sixteenth century is well described by Martin de Eguiluz, in his book, _Milicia, Discursos, y Regla Militar_. "The man is mounted and bears a lance. His head is covered with a visored helmet. He wears a double breastplate, of which the outer piece is called _volante_. His thighs are guarded by cuisses, his legs by greaves, and his feet by shoes of mail or iron. His horse's face, neck, breast, and haunches are covered with iron or with doubled leather. These coverings are called _bardas_, and the horses protected by them _bardados_, of which each man-at-arms is called upon to possess two." [Illustration: XLIV MOORISH SWORD (_Casa de los Tiros, Granada_)]