Part 6

According to the note in the _Cronicon of Valladolid_, this sword was sent to Enrique IV. of Castile by Calixtus III., to encourage him to fight unremittingly against the Moors. The ornamentation has gone; but we may judge of its richness and artistic value by the sketch of it in the Inventory of the _alcazars_ of Segovia: it says--”.... A sword, all gilded, nearly to the last third section, with large letters in each portion, and the mark consists of seven spots on a small shield; the pommel, the hilt, and cross are all of gilded _acucharado_ silver, and in the middle of the pommel are the words Calistus Papa Tercio; the sheath of gilded silver, engraved with evergreen oak-leaves and acorns, has four round enamels on the middle portion; on one is St. Peter with a cross in his hand, in a ship, and on each of the other two (_sic_) is a coloured cross and four small ones; the rim is enamelled with coats of arms of the Pope, and a shield with an ox in each quarter and some blue letters ..., &c. This work of art was by the artificer of Zaragoza, Antonio Pérez de las Cellas, established in Rome, who worked almost exclusively for Calixtus III. during his brief pontificate.” (Muntz, _Les arts à la cour des Papes._)

The name _falsaguarda_, or dummy guard, was given, in an Inventory of arms of the sixteenth century, to the two small pieces or wings on the blades of broadswords, a third of the way from the guard, where the grooving on the blade ends.

These, of course, were presentation swords. The blade (G24), which is traditionally ascribed to the Conde de Haro, of Juan II.’s reign, is gilded and engraved at the upper end, the design representing on one side the Annunciation, on the other, St. John in the Desert. It has a groove down its entire length, and is diamond-pointed. The sword (G23--plate 11) is of similar make, and is engraved in Gothic character on a field of gold with texts, which, translated, run as follows:

THE LORD IS MY HELP; I WILL NOT FEAR WHAT MAN CAN DO UNTO ME, AND I WILL DESPISE MY ENEMIES; SUPERIOR TO THEM, I WILL OVERTHROW THEM. On a circle, part of verse 8, chapter xviii. of the Gospel of St. John: IF YE THEREFORE SEEK ME, LET THESE GO THEIR WAY, BUT JESUS PASSED THROUGH (the midst of them), and also in the centre, MARY VIRGIN. In another circle, part of the anthem of the Purification of Our Lady: MAKE ME WORTHY TO PRAISE THEE, BLESSED BE THE SWEET VIRGIN MARY, and, in the centre, the monogram of Jesus Christ.

The guard consists of an iron crosspiece with traces of gold: the guard curved towards the blade and twisted at the ends; circular pommel with two faces with a cavity (round) in the centre, which was frequently incrusted with the shield of arms of the owner.

The two-handed sword was introduced in the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century. The Armoury contains a specimen (G15--plate 10) belonging to the first half of the latter era. It comes from Mallorca. The blade is almond-shaped, metre 0.990 long, by 0.038 broad; it has a long ricasso, counter-guard (_falsaguarda_), and three grooves. The guard is of copper, once gilded, with quillons drooping very slightly; the grip, of corded wood, covered with leather; the pommel pear-shaped and facetted.

Before the century was three-quarters gone, complete suits of plate-armour were worn in Castile, though the hauberk was still retained, in some cases, as an additional defence. The powerful and ambitious Juan Pacheco, Marques de Villena and Grandmaster of St. James, who died in the same year as his sovereign Enrique IV. (1474), is shown (plate 12) wearing, in addition to the pieces which had now become a regular part of the harness, espaliers in five pieces, and _tassets_ or armour for the hips, of five pieces, in the graceful oak-leaf pattern, which endured till the time of Charles V. The opening between the tassets is defended by the skirt of the hauberk, worn beneath the cuirass. That piece, and the vambraces, are exquisitely chiselled with floral designs. The armour of Don Iñigo Lopez de Mendoza, Conde de Tendilla, who died five years after Villena, is very similar. His coudes are very large, chased, and set with gilt studs round the borders.

We have now reached the beginning of the most glorious and prosperous epoch in the history of Spain. The chivalric spirit, which had been sedulously fostered in the nation during the two preceding reigns, in the age of the Catholic Kings, Ferdinand and Isabel, found its genuine and loftiest expression in enterprises of supreme national importance. This was essentially a martial age--the era of the Conquest of Granada and of the Discovery and Subjugation of the New World. Everything connected with the profession of arms became the subject of close study and a matter for improvement. Farseeing men might have predicted, even as early as the taking of Granada, that the armourer’s craft was a doomed industry. Considering the productions of its latest ages, we might be tempted to impute its extinction to its having reached a point beyond which progress was impossible--where the artificer saw that all attempts to improve on existing models must be vain.

An interesting relic of this period is the sword (G13) which the Conde de Valencia thinks may be safely ascribed to Ferdinand the Catholic (plate 10). The blade is rigid, of rhomboidal section, and without ricasso; the crosspiece is of gilded iron, very plain; velvet-bound grip; the pommel is pear-shaped and facetted. “Like nearly all the swords for the saddle-bow of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, which were fastened by the scabbard to the front bow of the man-at-arms’ saddle, this blade has a hilt of the kind then called ‘a hand and a half,’ because its length allowed of its being used with one or both hands without disturbing the equilibrium necessary for the proper handling of the weapon.”--Valencia, _Catálogo_.

G1 (plate 11) is the Ceremonial Sword of Ferdinand and Isabel. The blade is metre 1.070 long by 0.050 broad, almond-shaped, and without ricasso. The crossguard is of gilded and engraved iron, the ends of the arms cusped. On the cusps are the inscriptions TANTO MONTA[F] and MEMENTO MEI O MATER DEI MEI. The grip is wire-bound and covered with red velvet. The pommel is disc-like and cut and perforated into a cruciform device; it bears on one side the yoke, the emblem of Ferdinand, on the other, the sheaf of arrows, the emblem of Isabel.

G2 is the sheath of the preceding sword. It is of wood, covered with crimson silk, minus the rim and the ferrule; it bears the Spanish shield of arms as charged after the taking of Granada, and the devices of the two Sovereigns.

“This Royal sword is extremely interesting in every way, as it was the same that Ferdinand and Isabella and their grandson the Emperor, used in the ceremony of conferring knighthood. This statement is in the _Relacion notarial de Valladolid_, thus: ‘a wide sword, old, for making knights, with flat pommel with holes and gilded cross’--a description which agrees with the illustration of the same sword in the Illuminated Inventory of Charles V.

“In our opinion, it is the Royal sword which, during the rule of the House of Austria, and in accordance with the etiquette of the Houses of Castile and Burgundy, in the solemn entries into cities and on Princes taking the oath, was carried bare by the Chief Equerry of the King, in the absence of the Count of Oropesa, ‘whose privilege it was in Castile, and the Count de Sástago’s in Aragon.’ In support of this opinion we may instance picture 787 in the Museum of Paintings in Madrid, called the Pacification of Flanders, where Philip IV. is represented crowned by the goddess Pallas, assisted by the Count-Duke de Olivares, who has the sword referred to in his left hand.”

(G31--plate 13). The battle sword of Ferdinand the Catholic is thus described: “The blade is hexagonal, fluted ricasso with scallop for the index finger, and narrow groove down to the middle, in the centre of which are the words--ANTONIVS ME FECIT. (This must have been the famous swordmaker mentioned by Diego Hurtado de Mendoza in the _Vida del Lazarillo del Tormes_.) Length, 0.900; breadth, 0.040.

“The whole of the hilt is of gilded iron, delicately chiselled; the arms of the cross, which broaden at the ends, are flat and curve towards the blade; it has branches curving to the ricasso; the grip is also gilded and chiselled; pommel disc-like, with four crescent-shaped indentations equidistant from each other; around both faces, in monachal letters, are these octosyllabic verses:

“‘PAZ COMIGO NVNCA VEO Y SIEMPRE GVERA (_sic_) DESEO.’

(There is never peace with me, and my desire is always for war.)

“Both the author of the 1849 Catalogue and Jubinal attribute this sword to Queen Isabel the Catholic, but without giving their reasons for so doing. We find that the great Queen in the year 1500 owned several cuirasses of Milan plates, covered with gold, which she doubtless wore to defend herself from attacks like that at Velez-Malaga. She also had a small dagger, the gold and enamelled handle of which was formed like a sheaf of arrows (which was her badge); a sword with hilt of silver and enamel, with strapwork of gold; and another with ‘iron hilt,’ possibly the one we are now describing. As these words are not sufficient of themselves to dismiss all doubt, we may refer to the document which proves that the arm in question belonged to Ferdinand the Catholic. This does not prevent its having belonged to his illustrious wife previously.”

The Hispano-Moresque sword (G27) was long cherished as the sword of Boabdil. The Conde de Valencia and other antiquaries have rudely dispelled this tradition--like that which ascribed the blades numbered G21 and G22 to the Cid and to Roland respectively. The blade comes from the Berber district, and the hilt is certainly modern.

At this point the remarks of Don Juan Riaño (_Industrial Arts in Spain_) on the manufacture of the Toledo blade cannot fail to be of interest. “The celebrity of Toledo blades has excited the curiosity of many who wished to ascertain the cause of their great excellence and renown. Some supposed the sword manufacturers of Toledo possessed a secret for tempering their arms. It was not so, however, their only secret being the waters of the Tagus, and the fine white sand on its banks. This sand was used for cooling the steel: when the steel was red-hot and began to give forth sparks, it was uncovered a little, sprinkled with sand, and sent on to the forgers. As soon as the blade was ready, it was tempered in the following manner: a line of fire was made, and the blade placed in it for four-fifths of its length. As soon as it was red-hot, it was dropped perpendicularly into a bucket of Tagus water. When cold, if it was found to be bent, a small portion of sand was poured on the yoke, the blade placed upon it, and beaten until properly straightened. After this, the remaining fifth part of the blade was fired; and when red-hot, was seized with tongs and rubbed with suet. After this, the blade was sent to the grinding stones, and finished by being polished on wooden wheels with emery-powder.”

The armour worn in the latter half of the fifteenth century is remarkable for its symmetry, simplicity, and graceful line-forms. From the beginning of the century the Missaglias, a family of famous armourers, had been settled at Milan, and the style they designed soon became fashionable all over Europe. Fortunately for art, a rival appeared in Nuremberg, in the person of Hans Grünwald, who died in 1503. The competition between the Italian and German masters of the craft resulted in the production of what are, perhaps, the most beautiful pieces of armour ever forged.

The suits numbered A1 to A8 in the Catalogue of the Armoury belong to the last decade of the fifteenth century, and were the ordinary war-harness of the Spanish man-at-arms of the period. They do not differ materially, and consist of the following pieces: armet, breastplate and backplate, taces, tassets, espaliers or espalier-pauldrons, hauberk of mail with short sleeves reaching to elbows and showing at the armpits, coudes, vambraces, gauntlets--in most cases without articulated fingers--cuisses, genouillères, jambs, and square-toed sollerets, or shoes of mail. In some cases heavy reinforcing pieces only used for the tilt have been added, such as heavy elbow-gauntlets and the “grande-garde,” or extra piece for the left arm. The armets or helmets merit close attention (plate 14). That of the suit A1 has a comb and a reinforcing piece over the forehead; visor sharply pointed; large side or cheek-pieces covering the chin, hinged above the ears, and secured at the nape of the neck by a small rondel; and beavor of two plates, with attachment to breastplate. In A5 the armet has, in addition to the beavor, a tippet or skirting of mail; the beavor is of one plate only; and the neck is protected by a gorget. The helmet A9, belonging to the early part of the sixteenth century, and worn by the Duque del Infantado has no beavor, and is of the “sparrow-beak” type, like that of A7, where the occularium is the interval between the crownpiece and visor.

The horses’ bards, for the most part, belong to a later period than the riders’ suits. The barding (A3) probably dates from the last years of the fifteenth century. It is composed of large plates of burnished steel, and comprises: chanfron, mainfaire (mane-covering), croupière--with wide hangings attached by thick tags of silk--flechières, and poitrel with hinges and pins, allowing free play to the horse’s shoulders.

The marriage of the third child of the Catholic Kings with Philip, heir to the houses of Habsburg and Burgundy, in 1496, drew closer the relations of Spain with the rest of Europe. The going and coming of foreign princes, ambassadors, and statesmen rapidly familiarized the Spaniards with the customs, fashions, and products of other countries. Native art had new models, and began to lose some of its individuality. The earliest example of foreign armour we find in the Madrid Collection is the half-suit (A11-15--plate 15). It is of Flemish make, and, thanks to the investigations of the Conde de Valencia, may be attributed with certainty to Philip the Handsome, afterwards Philip I. of Castile. The constituent pieces are the following:

Breastplate, with lance-rest, and over-breastplate; taces, placed over the last-named to prevent the adversary’s lance finding an upward opening; backplate with garde-rein (loin-guard) placed under it; hauberk of mail with short sleeves covering rere-braces; espaliers; rondels protecting armpits; coudes; vambraces; gauntlets; mentonnière, or beavor-gorget, in three plates; peculiar steel hat, or _caperuza_, with wide brim, turned upwards and outwards, of the shape of the cloth or velvet caps worn in Flanders at the period (plate 16). The neck defences are strengthened with mail.

The suit is decorated with gilding and engraving. On the breastplate we note the emblem of the Order of the Golden Fleece, of which Philip was Grandmaster, and the inscription, JESVS NASARENVS REX JVDEORVM. On the backplate, O MATER MEI MEMEM; on the left rondel, the angelic salutation in old Flemish, WEEST GHEGRVT MARIA VOL VAN GRACIEN DE HER ES METV ... GHEBEN D; on the right rondel, the same in Latin. On the right coude, IHES NASARENVS REX; on the left, O MATER MEI MEMENTO MEI. On the right gauntlet, AVE MARIA ... GR.... IHES NASAR ..., and on the left, IHS MARIA RENVS REX JVD ... On the brim of the caperuza, JESVS MARIA GRACIA PLENA DOMINVS TECVM BENEDICTA TV-IN MVLERE (_sic_).

The two-handed sword bears the device of Philip, and the decoration is in German style; but the mark is the same as that of the sword GI, belonging to Ferdinand and Isabel, proving that the blade is of Spanish make.

The Armoury contains a variety of pieces dating from the end of the fifteenth century (plate 17 _et seq_). By using odd pieces of the ancient stock in the Armoury, others from the dispersed collection of the Dukes of Osuna, and particularly a series of Aragonese brigantines, acquired, like the preceding, by Alfonso XII. in 1882, various types of Spanish soldiers have been formed, such as pike-men, mace-bearers, and other infantry of the fifteenth century--copying at C1 and C2, sculptured figures decorating the portal of the Church of St. Paul at Valladolid, and the choir seats of Toledo Cathedral carved by the master, Rodrigo (1495), representing the then recent victories gained by the Catholic Kings over the Moors of Andalusia.

D86 is a leather Moorish light cavalry shield, probably a trophy of the Conquest of Granada (plate 161). The inside is bound in linen, embroidered, especially the clasp, with floral and other devices in coloured silk. Forming a band, which extends round the circumference, and repeated on eight oval medallions, is an Arabic inscription which reads, “And only God is conqueror.” On a like number of circular medallions, smaller than those mentioned, may be read, “Happiness for my master.”

The more interesting of the other objects of the same period are of foreign make. The helmet D12 (plate 123), formerly attributed to Boabdil, is certainly the work of the famous Missaglias of Milan, who began to be known by the name of Negroli about this time. The decoration exhibits a skilful blending of the Renaissance and Oriental styles.

“This helmet is of one piece, and is strengthened with supplementary pieces that can be taken off and put on at will, being, by its rare make, a complete head armour for two distinct purposes. Without the added pieces, it is a simple helmet for war, similar to those on the low-reliefs of the triumphal arch of Alonso V., of Aragon, in Naples; with the reinforcing pieces, it is transformed into parade armour of surprising beauty and good taste. These extra pieces are of plated steel, chiselled with the outlines of leaves and arabesques in niello, and the whole design beautifully shaded. The crest is defended by a coif like that used for combat on foot. The plume-holder is placed over the forehead. It is to be regretted that a piece of so much merit and value has been deprived of much of the crest-work that once enriched it.”

The next piece (D13) is a salade (or helmet covering the nape of the neck), of German fashion, but made by one of the Negroli family. It is a pure, vigorous piece of work, cast, except the visor, in one piece. The decoration exhibits the same happy combination of the Italian and Oriental styles that characterises D12. The design inside the circles on the skull might easily, at a cursory glance, persuade one of the Moorish origin of the helmet.

The headpieces D14 to D22 emanate from Flanders. The Salade D14 (plate 125), worn by Philip I., has the skull-piece of octagonal shape and ending in a knop, surmounted by a pomegranate. It seems to have been suggested by the Moorish helmet and turban; and we read, in fact, that Philip appeared before Ferdinand and Isabel in the tilt-yard at Toledo in Moorish dress. D22 is a Flemish cabasset--an ungraceful head-covering--forged in one piece.

III

THE AGE OF CHARLES V

Armour reached its highest point of development at a time when it had become at least highly probable that the use of fire-arms would drive it altogether from the field. Yet the armour-smith’s craft, so far from languishing, seemed to renew its youth, and flourished exceedingly in the early sixteenth century. That was an age of mighty Kings--of Maximilian and Charles V. of Germany, of Henry VIII. of England, of Francis I. of France, and of Ferdinand of Aragon--Sovereigns who loved “the pomp and panoply of glorious war,” and who were keenly alive to the potentialities of the knightly harness as a medium for display and ostentation. This, too, was the age of the Renaissance, when the setting of a gem or the moulding of a goblet was a matter that would occupy a grave potentate to the exclusion of affairs of state. The armourer’s art came in for a large share of the interest taken in all the applied arts. But as in the latter half of the fifteenth century, armour had already arrived at a purity of line and adaptability to its purpose which could not be improved upon, the energies of the Renaissance artists were perforce expended upon ornamentation and enrichment. This tendency was naturally the more freely indulged as the inefficiency of armour as a defence for life and limb became more generally recognized.

The “Maximilian” style of armour, which superseded the “Gothic” or late fifteenth century style, seems to have originated at Milan, probably in the workshop of the Negrolis of Missaglia. It was modelled on--or suggested by--the civil costume of the time, and derives its name from the approval it received from the Emperor Maximilian (1493-1519). That monarch was distinguished above all the princes of his age for his fondness for warlike exercises, and for his skill and courage in the lists. The armour named after him is fluted, and is usually characterised by heavy-shoulder defences, and skirts of plate or lamboys.

The earliest pieces introduced into Spain by the Emperor’s son, Philip I., do not belong to this style; nor does the handsome suit (A16--plate 15), believed to be of Spanish make, and worn by the Prince, possibly at the tilt organised in his honour in the Zocodover in 1502. Of the heavy tilting heaulme forming part of the harness, the Conde de Valencia says:

“This handsome helm, to judge by the dimensions of the shutter, might be thought either Spanish or Italian; but in forming a definite opinion it must be remembered that it is marked with a _fleur-de-lys_, very similar to that of a _Chapeau de Montauban_, which we have seen in the Hefner collection at Munich.”

The cuirass, decorated with gold brocade, is composed of two stout plates of steel, tin-plated to prevent oxidation, the lower defending the body to the waist, and the upper or over-breastplate only protecting the breast down to a horizontal line of gilded nails. They are fastened together by a screw in the centre of a rosette of gilded and engraved metal. The cuirass is completed by a third plate, which covers the shoulder-blades, connecting with the backplate, and protects the shoulders from the pressure of the helm. It is all lined with brocade over strong canvas, and fits close with cords and tags like a corset.

“This remarkable breastplate for tilting is evidently Spanish. In addition to the Moorish character of the engraving and openwork adorning the central rosette, inside the plates is a mark which shows its Valencian origin. It is the tetragon with the Aragon bars, given as a shield of arms by James I. to the city he had conquered.”

The lance-rest is of the hollow kind, peculiar to Spain and Italy. Note on the right hip the pocket, cork-lined, on which the butt-end of the lance was rested before being couched. Above the left breast is a large ring, to which, by means of a bolt, the target was fastened and held in position. The leather ball, filled with tow, hanging to this ring, was to deaden the effect of a blow on the shield. We are ignorant of the use of the four rings hanging from the central ridge of the breastplate. The tassets are of three laminæ. The left hip is protected by a strong reinforcing piece in two plates. The left arm being defended by the target has no espalier or pauldron, but only coude, vambraces, and gauntlets. The right arm, in addition to these pieces, has a sort of espalier-pauldron, called _épaule-de-mouton_, with a fluted pikeguard. The lance is of pine-wood, and has the point blunted. The next suit (A17) differs only in a few unimportant particulars from the one just described.