The Tower of London, (Vol. 1 of 2)Gower, Ronald Sutherland, Lord
History
The Tower of London, (Vol. 1 of 2)
Gower, Ronald Sutherland, Lord
Tower of London (London, England)
Regarding the equestrian suit of armour in the centre of the gallery,
Lord Dillon thinks “that it is one of the finest in existence.” It was
made at Augsburg by the famous German armourer Conrad Sensenhofer, and
was given to Henry by the Emperor Maximilian in 1515. It is covered
with devices, such as roses, pomegranates, and portcullises—the badges
of Henry and Catharine of Arragon—the letters H and K stand out in bold
relief on the horse armour. Engraved within panels are representations
of scenes from the lives of St George and St Barbara. No finer example
of the great German’s art workmanship than this truly Imperial suit can
be seen, not even in the great German, Spanish, and Italian collections.
Close to this stands a curious shield, one of eighty similar ones
made for Henry VIII., with a pistol in the middle. Worthy of note is
a helmet with a mask attached, also a gift to Henry from Maximilian.
It was formerly known as Will Somers’s mask (the King’s Jester), but
recent research does not show that Somers ever used this ugly vizor.
Here, also, is a very gorgeous suit of gilt armour which belonged
to the Earl of Cumberland, one of Elizabeth’s smartest courtiers,
who fitted out at his own expense no less than eleven expeditions
against the Spaniards. Noticeable, too, are the quaint double
weapons—staves with pole-axes and gun-barrels attached; one of these
has three barrels, a kind of gigantic early revolver which was called
King Harry’s Walking-Stick. Here are also ancient saddles used for
tournaments. One of these belonged, and was probably used by Charles
Brandon, Henry VIII.’s brother-in-law: much horse armour besides these
tilting saddles is to be seen here,—“chaufons” and “bards” made of
leather, known by the name of “cuir bouall,” and “vamplates,” worn
when tilting to protect the hand, and into which the tilting spear
was fastened. More suits of armour for men and horses are those which
belonged to the Earl of Worcester in Elizabeth’s time, and a still
richer one, once worn by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, bearing
all over it the badge of the rugged staff, and the double collars of
the English order of the Garter and the French one of St Michael. The
armour of another of Elizabeth’s favourites is here, a suit which is
believed to have belonged to Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. To come
to later times, and the House of Stuart, the most conspicuous of the
armour of that period is a gilt suit which belonged to Charles I., but
very inferior in workmanship and artistic excellence to the earlier
work of the German armourers. There is also a small suit of armour made
for Charles I., when a child. Here, too, are models of cannon made for
Charles II., when he was Prince of Wales, and a richly decorated suit
of armour given to Henry, Prince of Wales, by the Prince de Joinville.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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