About this period French noblemen displayed much magnificence in the adornment of the _chanfrein_ of their horses. For instance, we know that at the siege of Harfleur, in 1449, the charger of the Count de Saint-Pol had on its head a massive gold chanfrein, of the most delicate work, valued at not less than twenty thousand crowns. In the same year, at the siege of Bayonne, the Count de Foix entered the conquered city mounted on a horse whose chanfrein of polished steel was enriched with gold and precious stones to the value of fifteen thousand gold crowns. Half a century later--that is, in the reign of Charles VIII. and that of Louis XII.--chargers wore, besides the chanfrein, the _manefaire_, protecting the neck, the _poitrail_, the _croupière_, the _flancois_, which respectively covered the chest, the back, and the flanks of the horse; and to these was added another piece of armour placed under the tail. Of the date of Louis XII., we still see embossed suits of armour ornamented with fluting, sometimes blended with beautiful engraved work executed in the metal by the use of aquafortis, or subjects in relievo produced by embossing: ornamentation of this nature elevated the equipments of the warrior to real works of art (Fig. 60). Louis XII. was the first to admit Greek mercenaries into his army. These were named _stradiots_; they tendered their military services equally to both Turks and Christians. The armour of these troops consisted of a cuirass with sleeves and gauntlets in mail, and over this a jacket; on their head a vizorless helmet was worn. The stradiots were armed with a large sword, called a _braquemart_, much resembling the Turkish sword, but with a cross-handle; the sword and its scabbard were ornamented with Grecian devices. They carried in addition several small arms at the saddle-bow, and also a _zagaye_, a very long lance, tipped at both extremities with iron. At this period also was introduced the _pertuisane_,[8] the blade of which, wider than that of the lance, formed a crescent immediately above the handle. There were at that time two kinds of cross-bows--one for discharging bolts, the other for bullets. The bow was slung by means of a _moulinet_, a kind of hand-winch. Embossed and fluted armour was not the only kind used in France and in Italy at the end of the fifteenth and the commencement of the following century. The monuments in the former country of the time of Louis XII., and on the other side of the Alps, show how prevalent was a peculiar description of plain armour, whereof the cuirass, which was longer than that of the embossed armour, had a rib or raised line in the middle. This rib, which completely altered the character of the cuirass, in that it served to turn aside the thrust of the lance, became increasingly distinctive as the seventeenth century drew near. In the reign of Francis I. embossed and ribbed armour were equally