The Defensive Armour and the Weapons and Engines of War of Mediæval Times, and of the "Renaissance."Clephan, R. Coltman (Robert Coltman)
History
The Defensive Armour and the Weapons and Engines of War of Mediæval Times, and of the "Renaissance."
Clephan, R. Coltman (Robert Coltman)
Armor; Weapons
This is the most perfect form of helmet and the most familiar, so much
so indeed as to render any description almost unnecessary. It may be
said to have been evolved from the sallad and mentonnière, in the
sense that the bavier took the place of the latter; but instead of
being slipped on over the head like the bassinet and sallad, it was
constructed to hinge over it, and strictly followed the outline of the
head and neck. Its form is globular, with a guard for the back of the
neck, and in front round the chin is the bevor or bavier. The space
between this piece and the rim of the crown-piece is filled in by a
movable visor, which is pierced with narrow openings for vision and
air. It thus consists of at least three pieces--the skull-piece, the
visor, and the bevor; the visor is usually in one piece. It is beaked,
and exhibits a series of ridges with air slits in the indentations.
The crown-piece is usually combed. During the second quarter of the
sixteenth century the visor was made in two plates, the upper closing
inside the lower--the upper plate could be lowered at pleasure,
without moving the one below. The Seusenhofer armet in the Tower is
a masterpiece of the kind, being composed of six pieces, working one
within the other. English armets date from the last decade of the
fifteenth century, perhaps a little later. They were to be met with in
Germany as early as the middle of that century. It is impossible to
make much distinction between the armet and close helmet, which latter
was the improved armet of the sixteenth century. A camail was sometimes
used with the earliest form of armet. Illustrations of this head-piece
may be seen on several of the suits given in this volume.
[Illustration: Fig. 13.--Sallads and an early Burgonet.]
BURGONET.
This is a helmet of the sixteenth century of Burgundian origin, as
its name implies, with a hollow rim at the bottom, which fitted over
the projecting edge of the gorget. It was made in close imitation of
the head, and in either three or four parts. This helmet was designed
to meet a defect in the armet, for there was a weak place, where
the casque came in contact with the body armour. This arrangement
permitted the head to move freely to the right or left without leaving
the neck unguarded. There is a handsome specimen of the first half of
the sixteenth century at the Rotunda, Woolwich, weighing nearly eight
pounds, with a fluted crown-piece, and round the neck a wreath of roses
is engraved. There are holes in the crown for the wreath and mantling.
There are some important beaked varieties at Dresden and Berlin. The
more modern burgonet has neck-guard and oreillettes or ear-flaps of
steel. An illustration of an early burgonet is given in Fig. 13.
MORION, CABASSET, AND CASQUE.
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