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
Though not fluted, this suit belongs to the style and period of fluted
armour. It is of noble form and fine workmanship. The armet is graceful
in outline, with a twisted comb, and there are twin perforations on
each side of the crown-piece. The visor exhibits the series of ridges
so characteristic of the period, and there is a projecting peg on the
right side to work it, and a spring catch on the same side to close
it, while a similar catch connects the bavier with the crown-piece.
The collar terminates in a grooved rim, which is articulated behind.
The gorget is strengthened by an extra inner plate in the centre,
riveted on to the outer; and a lamination towards each shoulder lends
elasticity to the piece. The cuirass differs radically from the
Gothic form. It is globular without a tapul ridge, and is shorter in
the waist. The “movement” below the breastplate is a combination
of taces and tassets. The former consist of three lames over the
abdomen joined on to the rim of the cuirass; and the latter are in
five lames, being riveted on to the lowest rim of the former. The
breastplate is cut short at the top, along which runs a thick twisted
projecting rim, and just below this are two small perforations in the
centre. This rim is continued round the armpits on the outside edge
of a laminar plate attached to the breastplate. A lance-rest is on
the right side. The brassards are apparently of a somewhat later date
than the rest of the suit, the pauldrons being exactly the same in
form as those on a suit, of German origin, made for King Philip II.
of Spain about 1540. The gauntlets are of the mitten type, and finely
wrought. The knuckle-piece has a twisted ridge, and a smaller piping
decorates the edge of the cuff and the last plate over the fingers. The
cuffs are hinged, and clasp with a hole and peg. The cuisses have one
lamination at the top, on which is a narrow twisted rim, and below it a
very thick twisted ridge. The genouillières are small and “butterfly,”
while the sollerets are bear-paw, thickly ridged over the toes, and
very handsome. This suit presents many points of contact with a harness
made by Koloman Kolman for Count Andreas von Sonnenberg, about 1506.
There is another fine unfluted suit of about this period in the Tower
collection, said to have been made for Henry VIII. The visor of the
armet is grated, and the tapulled breastplate is rendered more mobile
by two laminated plates at the bottom. The taces and tassets are
riveted together, the former consisting of four lames, and the latter
of seven. The pauldrons are a pair, and there is only a pikeguard on
the left side, but whether the other shoulder was holed or not for a
fellow, as is generally the case when only one, the author does not
remember. Viscount Dillon states that the suit is composed of 235
interlocking pieces, and weighs about 93 pounds. It was specially made
for foot fighting.
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