Part 1

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

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THE ARMOURER AND HIS CRAFT

UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME

PASTE BY A. BERESFORD RYLEY

THE ARMOURER AND HIS CRAFT

FROM THE XITH TO THE XVITH CENTURY

By CHARLES FFOULKES, B.Litt.Oxon.

WITH SIXTY-NINE DIAGRAMS IN THE TEXT AND THIRTY-TWO PLATES

METHUEN & CO. LTD. 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. LONDON

_First Published in 1912_

_Printed in Great Britain_

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

THE VISCOUNT DILLON, Hon. M.A. Oxon.

V.P.S.A., Etc. Etc.

CURATOR OF THE TOWER ARMOURIES

PREFACE

I do not propose, in this work, to consider the history or development of defensive armour, for this has been more or less fully discussed in works which deal with the subject from the historical side of the question. I have rather endeavoured to compile a work which will, in some measure, fill up a gap in the subject, by collecting all the records and references, especially in English documents, which relate to the actual making of armour and the regulations which controlled the Armourer and his Craft. At the same time it is impossible to discuss this branch of the subject without overlapping in some details the existing works on Arms and Armour, but such repetition has only been included because it bears directly on the making, selling, or wearing of armour.

I have intentionally omitted all reference to the sword and other weapons of offence, for this would have unduly increased the size of the present work, and the subject is of such importance that it deserves a full consideration in a separate volume.

The original limits of this work have been considerably enlarged since it was offered as a thesis for the Degree of Bachelor of Letters in the University of Oxford in the Michaelmas Term, 1911. A polyglot glossary has been included, as this is a detail which has been practically overlooked by all English writers. The subject of Arms and Armour has not, up to the present time, received the attention in England that it deserves, but I would be the first to admit the value of the works of Meyrick and Hewitt, which are the foundations upon which German and French as well as all English authors have based their investigations. At the same time it should be remembered that these two authors were pioneers, and statements which they made have been contradicted or modified by more recent research. Two examples of this will suffice. Meyrick named the upstanding neck-guards on the pauldron the “passguards” and the neck-armour of the horse the “mainfaire.” From the researches of Viscount Dillon we learn that the passguard was a reinforcing piece for the joust and the mainfaire was a gauntlet (_main de fer._) Both these mistakes are still perpetuated in foreign works on the subject, which shows the influence of Meyrick’s work even at the present day.

The subject of the Armourer and his Craft has never received much attention in England, even at the hands of Meyrick and Hewitt. On the Continent, however, writers like the late Dr. Wendelin Boeheim, Gurlitt, Buff, and Angellucci have all added greatly to our store of information on the subject. Boeheim’s work on the Armourers of Europe (_Meister der Waffenschmiedekunst_) is the only work in any language which has given us some account of the armour craftsmen of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and I should be indeed remiss if I did not take this opportunity of acknowledging the assistance which this collection of biographies has been in the preparation of the present work. Signori Gelli and Moretti have collected interesting documents relating to the Missaglia family, but apart from this no other writers have made a study of the Armourer.

Gay’s _Encyclopædia_, which unfortunately was cut short after the letter G by the death of the author, is also invaluable as far as it goes, in that it gives in every case contemporary references relating to the use of each word. The late J. B. Giraud published certain records dealing with the Armourer in various French archæological journals, and M. Charles Buttin has placed all those interested in the subject under a deep obligation for his minute researches on the subject of the proving of armour.

Of living English writers I would express the indebtedness not only of myself, but also of all those who are true _amateurs d’armes_, to Baron de Cosson, who, with the late J. Burges, A.R.A., compiled the Catalogue of Helmets and Mail which is to this day the standard work on the subject. Last of all I would offer my sincere thanks to Viscount Dillon, Curator of the Tower Armouries, not only for his minute researches printed in the _Archæologia_ and _Archæological Journal_, which have brought to light much valuable information respecting the Armourer and his Craft in English records, but also for very great personal interest and assistance in the compilation of this work.

CHARLES FFOULKES

S. JOHN’S COLLEGE, OXFORD, 1912

CONTENTS

PAGE

PREFACE ix

THE ARMOURER 1

TOOLS, APPLIANCES, ETC. 22

IRON AND STEEL 38

THE CRAFT OF THE ARMOURER 44

THE PROOF OF ARMOUR 62

THE DECORATION OF ARMOUR 73

THE CLEANING OF ARMOUR 78

THE USE OF FABRICS AND LINEN 83

THE USE OF LEATHER 96

THE WEARING OF ARMOUR 104

THE ARMOURERS’ COMPANY OF THE CITY OF LONDON 120

LISTS OF EUROPEAN ARMOURERS 126

SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OF NOTABLE ARMOURERS 131

LIST OF ARMOURERS’ MARKS 147

POLYGLOT GLOSSARY OF WORDS DEALING WITH ARMOUR AND WEAPONS 153

APPENDICES

A. EXTRACT FROM THE RECORDS OF THE ARMOURERS’ COMPANY OF LONDON, 1322 (Lib. C, fol. 33) 169

B. REGULATIONS OF THE HEAUMERS’ COMPANY, 1347 (City of London Letter Book F, cxlii) 171

C. TREATISE OF WORSHIP IN ARMS, BY JOHAN HILL, ARMOURER, 1434 (Bod. Lib., Ashmole. 856, art. 22, fol. 376) 173

D. TRAITÉ DU COSTUME MILITAIRE, 1446 (Du Costume Militaire des Français en 1446, Bib. Nat., Paris, 1997) 177

E. EXTRACT FROM THE ORDINANCES OF THE ARMOURERS OF ANGERS, ETC., 1448 (Ordonn. des Rois, XX, 156. Rev. d’Aquitaine, XII, 26. Arch. des B. Pyrénées, E, 302) 180

F. EXPENSES IN THE ROYAL ARMOURIES, TEMP. HENRY VIII (Brit. Mus., Cotton. App. XXVIII, f. 76) 182

G. PETITION OF ARMOURERS TO QUEEN ELIZABETH (Lansdowne MS. 63, f. 5) 184

H. UNDERTAKING OF THE ARMOURERS’ COMPANY OF LONDON TO SUPPLY ARMOUR (Records of the Company, 1618) 186

I. PROCLAMATION AGAINST THE USE OF GOLD AND SILVER EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF ARMOUR (State Papers Dom. Jac. I, cv) 187

J. ERECTION OF PLATING-MILLS AT ERITH (State Papers Dom. Jac. I, clxxx) 188

K. REGULATIONS AS TO THE HALL-MARK OF THE ARMOURERS’ COMPANY (Rymer, XIX, 314) 191

L. PETITION OF ARMOURERS (State Papers Dom. Car. I, cclxxxix, 93) 192

M. EXTRACT FROM THE SURVEY OF THE TOWER ARMOURY, 1660 (Brit. Mus., Harl. MS. 7457) 193

INDEX 195

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

PAGE

1. Diagram showing the “glancing surface” 4

2. Diagram showing the position of the lance in jousting, from _Arch. Journ._, LV. 5

3. Pauldrons on the statue of Colleoni, Venice, and of a Missaglia suit in the Waffensammlung, Vienna (Plate II) 6

4. The solleret, practical and unpractical 6

5. Horse-armour 8

6. Harnischmeister Albrecht, from a painting in the Arsenal, Vienna 9

7. Cuissard for the off hock of a horse. Musée Porte de Hal, Brussels 10

8. Arms of the Armourers’ Gild, Florence. From the Church of Or San Michele 14

9. S. George, by Hans Multscher, 1458. Augsburg 14

10. Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, arming. Brit. Mus., Cott., Jul., E, IV, fol. 12 b 15

11. The Westminster helm 17

12. The Brocas helm 17

13. The Fogge helm 17

14. The Barendyne helm 17

15. The Mail-maker, from Jost Amman’s _Stande und Handwerker_, _circ._ 1590 23

16. The Armourer, from the same source as the above 24

17. Burring-machine or “jenny,” from the picture by Breughel given on the frontispiece 36

18. Method of making mail, from _Arch. Journ._, XXXVII 45

19. Representations of double and single mail, from the effigy of Robert de Mauley, formerly in York Minster, _Archæologia_, XXXI 45

20. The coif of mail, from the effigy of William, Earl of Pembroke, Temple Church, and an unnamed effigy in Pershore Church, Worcs, after Fairholt 46

21. Attachment of the camail, from the effigy of Sir R. Pembridge, Clehonger Church, Hereford 46

22. Attachment of the camail reconstructed 46

23. Suggested arrangement of “banded” mail, from _Arch. Journ._, XXXVII, figure from _Romance of Alexander_, Paris, Bib. Nat., _circ._ 1240, and the effigy at Newton Solney, Derbs. 47

24. Foot-soldier wearing a jack, from the _Chasse of S. Ursula_, by Memling, 1475-1485. Bruges. 49

25. Construction of jack, from _Arch. Journ._, XXXVII 50

26. Brigandine in the Waffensammlung, Vienna, No. 130 50

27. Detail from the picture of S. Victor and donor, by Van der Goes, Glasgow 51

28. Effigy in Ash Church, Kent, XIV cent. 51

29. Statue of S. George at Prague, 1375 51

30. The sliding rivet 52

31. Sections of brassards in the Tower 54

32. Locking gauntlet of Sir Henry Lee. Armourers’ Hall, London 55

33. Locking hooks, turning pins, and strap cover 55

34. Bracket for jousting-sallad. Dresden, C, 3, 4 57

35. Detail showing proof mark on the breast of suit of Louis XIV. Paris, G, 125 69

36. Proof marks on a brigandine plate in the Darmstadt Museum 71

37. Poleynes on the brass of Sir Robert de Bures, Acton, Suffolk, 1302 74

38. Beinbergs on the statue of Guigliemo Berardi, 1289, in the Cloisters of the Church of the Annunziata, Florence 74

39. Brass of an unknown knight at Laughton, Lincs, 1400 75

40. Pourpointed cuisses, from the brass of Sir John de Argentine, Horseheath Church, Cambs, 1360 83

41. Padded horse-armour, from King René’s _Traicté d’un Tournois_ 85

42. Padded “harnische-kappe” and helm showing the attachment of the cap, after Dürer 89

43. Sallad-cap, from a picture by Paolo Morando, 1486-1522, No. 571. Uffizi Gallery, Florence 89

44. Helmet-cap, from a XVI-cent. engraving of Jacob Fugger 89

45. Detail of eyelet coats, XVI-XVII cent. Musée d’Artillerie and Musée Cluny, Paris 91

46. Sallad with cover, from a XVI-cent. engraving 93

47. Cuirass, from the sketch-book of Willars de Honecourt, XIII cent. 96

48. Leather gauntlet, XVII cent. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford 96

49. Brassard of leather and cord for the tourney, from King René’s _Traicté d’un Tournois_ 97

50. Leather and steel hat of Bradshaw the regicide. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford 99

51. Stripping the dead, from the Bayeux Tapestry 105

52. Knight arming, from the _Livre des Nobles Femmes_, Bib. Nat., Paris, XIV cent. 105

53. Brass of Sir John de Creke, 1325, Westley Waterless, Cambs. 106

54. Arming-points, from the portrait of a navigator. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford 108

55. Attachment of brassard, from the portrait of the Duc de Nevers. Hampton Court Palace 108

56. Moton attached by points. Harl. MS. 4826 109

57. Arming-points on the foot, from a picture of S. Demetrius by Ortolano. National Gallery, London 109

58. Sixteenth-century suit of plate with the several parts named in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish 110

59. Attachment of jousting-helms to the cuirass 112

60. Side view of the above 112

61. The armourer in the lists. Heralds’ Coll., MS. M, 6, fol. 56 113

62. Arms of the Armourers’ Company of London 120

63. Design on a gauntlet of the suit made for Henry, Prince of Wales, by William Pickering, _circ._ 1611. Windsor Castle 122

64. Mark of Bernardino Cantoni on a brigandine, C, II. Real Armeria, Madrid 133

65. Detail of shield by Desiderius Colman (Plate XXIV) 135

66. Capital formerly in the Via degli Spadari, Milan, showing the mark of the Missaglia family 138

67. Design on the left cuisse of Henry VIII’s suit, made by Conrad Seusenhofer. Tower of London, II, 5 141

68. Design by Jacobe Topf for gauntlet and armet of Sir Henry Lee, from the _Armourer’s Album_. Victoria and Albert Museum 146

69. Design on the breast of Sir Henry Lee’s suit by Topf. Armourers’ Hall, London 146

LIST OF PLATES

Venus at the Forge of Vulcan, by Jan Breughel and Hendrik van Balen, _circ._ 1600. Kaiser Friedrich Museum, Berlin _Frontispiece_

FACING PAGE I. Armour for the “Stechzeug,” XV-XVI cent. Germanische Museum, Nuremberg 4

II. Armour of the fifteenth century exemplified by the effigy of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, S. Mary’s Church, Warwick, cast by Bartholomew Lambspring and Will Austin, _circ._ 1454, from Blore’s _Monumental Remains_. S. George, by Andrea Mantegna, 1431-1506, Accademia, Venice. Armour of Roberto di Sanseverino, by Antonio da Missaglia, _circ._ 1480; Waffensammlung, Vienna, No. 3 8

III. A Contrast. Armour of Count Sigismond of Tirol, 1427-1496; Waffensammlung, Vienna, No. 41. Armour of Louis XIV, by Garbagnus, 1668; Musée d’Artillerie, Paris, G, 125 12

IV. Armourers at work, Brit. Mus., Roy. MS. 16, G, v, fol. II. Wood-carving of Duke William of Aquitaine, XV cent., S. William’s Church, Strasburg. Venus and Vulcan, XIII cent., Königl. Bib., Berlin, Codex MS. Germ., fol. 282, p. 79 16

V. Anvils in the British Museum (Burges Bequest) and in the possession of Mme. Bellon, Avignon 20

VI. The Workshop of Conrad Seusenhofer, from the _Weisz Künig_, by Hans Burgmair, 1525 24

VII. Armour of Kurfürst Moritz, by Matthäus Frauenpreis, 1548. Königl. Hist. Museum, Dresden, G, 39 28

VIII. Armour of Henry VIII for fighting on foot in the lists. Tower of London, II, 28 32

IX. Italian brassard (front and back), cuisse, 1470; Ethnological Museum, Athens. Inside of leg-armour of suit shown on Plate VIII 36

X. Helmets of Henry VIII; Tower of London. (1, 2) Made by one of the Missaglia family; II, 29. (3, 4) Made by Conrad Seusenhofer, 1514. (5) Bevor for the latter; II, 5. The last three numbers form part of the suit shown on Plate XII 40

XI. Brigandine (inside and outside), XV cent.; Musée d’Artillerie, Paris, G, 204, 205. Breast-plate of a brigandine, 1470; Ethnological Museum, Athens. Right cuisse of suit for fighting on foot in the lists, early XVI cent.; Musée d’Artillerie, Paris, G, 178 44

XII. “Engraved Suit,” by Conrad Seusenhofer, presented to Henry VIII by the Emperor Maximilian I, 1514. Tower of London, II, 5 48

XIII. Helmet of Sir Henry Lee, by Jacobe Topf, 1530-1597. Tower of London, IV, 29 52

XIV. Armour of King Sebastian of Portugal, by Anton Peffenhauser, 1525-1603. Pageant armour of Charles V, by Bartolomeo Campi, 1546. Real Armeria, Madrid, A, 290, 188 56

XV. Alegoria del Tacto, by Jan Breughel. Prado, Madrid 60

XVI. Venetian sallad, XVI cent.; Bayerischen National Museum, Munich. Back-plate of a brigandine, 1470; Ethnological Museum, Athens. Morion, XVI-XVII cent.; Stibbert Collection, Florence. Surcoat of the Black Prince; Canterbury Cathedral 64

XVII. Cast of ivory chessman, XIV cent. The original of this was in the possession of the Rev. J. Eagles in 1856, but has since disappeared. Ivory mirror-case showing squires arming their masters, XIV cent. Carrand Collection, Museo Nationale, Florence 68

XVIII. Portraits of two unknown noblemen, by Moroni, 1510-1578, showing the arming-doublet and mail sleeves. National Gallery, London 72

XIX. Helm for fighting on foot in the lists, XVI cent. It formerly hung over the tomb of Sir Giles Capel, in Raynes Church, Essex, and was sold as old iron to Baron de Cosson, from whom it passed to the collection of the Duc de Dino, and from thence to the Metropolitan Museum, New York. Arming a knight for combat in the lists, from a MS. of the XV cent., in the possession of Lord Hastings 76

XX. Armour of Henry, Prince of Wales, son of James I, by William Pickering, 1591-1630, Master of the Armourers’ Company of London. Royal Armoury, Windsor Castle 80

XXI. Suit of “puffed and slashed” armour, _circ._ 1520; formerly in the Meyrick Collection; Wallace Collection, No. 380. Tonlet suit for fighting on foot in the lists, by Conrad Lochner, 1510-1567; Musée d’Artillerie, Paris, G, 182. Armour of Ruprecht von der Pfalz, _circ._ 1515; Waffensammlung, Vienna, No. 198 84

XXII. Gauntlets. (1, 2) Left and right hand gauntlets, probably by Jacobe Topf, 1530-1597; Tower, II, 10. (3) Bridle gauntlet of James I; Tower, II, 24. (4) Left-hand gauntlet, XV cent.; Madrid, E, 87. (5) Locking gauntlet, XVI cent.; Tower, III, 59. (6) Left-hand bridle gauntlet, XVI cent.; Tower, III, 95. (7) Left-hand gauntlet of Kurfürst Christian II, by Heinrich Knopf, _circ._ 1590; Dresden, E, 7. (8) Left-hand gauntlet for fighting on foot at barriers, XVI cent.; Tower, III, 58. (9) Gorget of Kurfürst Johann Georg II, showing the Garter badge and motto, by Jacob Joringk, 1669; Dresden, D, 29 88

XXIII. Armour for horse and man, middle of XV cent. Musée d’Artillerie, Paris, G, 1 92

XXIV. Pageant shield, by Desiderius Colman, 1554. Real Armeria, Madrid, A, 241 96

XXV. Drawing by Jacobe Topf, 1530-1597, No. 15 in the Album in the Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum, London 100

XXVI. Armour of Sir Christopher Hatton; formerly in the Spitzer Collection, now in the Royal Armoury, Windsor Castle 100

XXVII. Drawing by Jacobe Topf, from the same source as Plate XXV, 18 in the Album 104

XXVIII. Armour of Sir John Smith, by Jacobe Topf. Tower of London, II, 12 104

XXIX. (1) Armet, middle of the XVI cent.; Musée d’Artillerie, Paris, H, 89. (2) Armet, engraved and gilt with heavy reinforcing plates on the left side, end of XVI cent.; Paris, H, 108. (3) Helm from the tomb of Sir Richard Pembridge, Hereford Cathedral, _circ._ 1360. It was given by the Dean of Hereford to Sir Samuel Meyrick, and passed from him to Sir Noel Paton, and is now in the Museum at Edinburgh. (4) Parade casque, after Negroli, middle of XVI cent.; Musée d’Artillerie, Paris, H, 253. (5) Sallad, by one of the Negroli family, end of XV cent.; Real Armeria, Madrid, D, 13 108

XXX. Armour of Friedrich des Siegreichen, by Tomaso da Missaglia, _circ._ 1450; Waffensammlung, Vienna, No. 2. Armour, _circ._ 1460; Musée d’Artillerie, Paris, G, 5 112

XXXI. Portrait medal of Coloman Colman (Helmschmied), 1470-1532. Designs for saddle steel and visor, by Albert Dürer, 1517, from the Albertina, Vienna 116

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The author desires to express his thanks for permission to reproduce illustrations contained in this work to the following:--