Part 10

It was obviously important that the tailor should be in touch with the armourer and suit his material and cut to the equipment worn over them.

1591-5. _Instructions and Orders Militarie, p. 185_, Sir John Smith.[105]

No armed man should weare any cut doublets, as well in respect that the wearing of armour doth quicklie fret them out and also by reason that the corners and edges of the lames and jointes of the armours doo take such holde uppon such cuttes as they do hinder the quicke and sudden arming of men.

All parts of the suit were lined, for in spite of the padded undergarment there was bound to be a certain amount of chafing which, if the armour was unlined, would in time rub through the undergarment. In many portraits, especially those of the late sixteenth century, the linings are shown projecting below the edges of the various pieces of the suit. The edges of these linings are generally scalloped.

In the picture by Breughel on the frontispiece a cuisse is shown, immediately beneath the basket of glass bottles in the centre of the picture, which clearly has a padded lining. In a list of payments for work done to Henry VIII’s armour we find “9 yards of Cheshire cotton at 7d. for lining the king’s pasguard grandguard great mayn de fer.” A similar charge is made in 1521 for two yards of yellow satin at 7/4 for lining two head-pieces, two pair of tasses, a pasguard, and two maynd fers. In 1510 we find an entry of payment of 25 fl. 29 kr. to Walter Zeller of Innsbruck for lining armour with black velvet and silk.[106] Frequently the padding is shown in miniatures, especially on the inside of shields and bucklers. The Highland targes are generally padded on the inside with straw to take some of the shock of a blow from the arm. The lining of such pieces as the taces and pauldrons was added to prevent the metal over which they worked from being scratched, and also to lessen the metallic noise, which would be a serious factor in night attacks. Horse-armour, of course, needed heavy lining, but little of this remains. An excellent reconstruction of lined horse-armour is to be found on No. 620, Wallace Collection.

The stuffing of these padded garments was not always of cotton. In the inventory of the goods of Sir John Falstoffe, 1459 (_Archæologia_, XXI), we find “i. jack of black linen stuffed with mail and vi. jacks stuffed with horne, xxiiij. cappes stuffed with horne and mayle, vj. payre of glovys of mayle of shepys skynne.” Under the heading “Gambeson,” Du Cange[107] states that the gambeson was stuffed with wool soaked with vinegar, to resist iron, and he gives a reference to Pliny, Bk. VIII, c. 48, as bearing on this statement. This was probably done to keep out vermin, a serious factor when long marches with bad camping arrangements were undertaken.

In all the defences which were mainly composed of fabrics, the object seems to have been to provide a substance which would resist cut or thrust and at the same time would offer a certain resiliency to the blow. A practical experiment upon thick leather and upon folded or padded cloth will prove this. Till recent years the Japanese made much of their armour of quilted fabrics, the chief drawback to which was its heat and want of ventilation.

This linen armour or linen and fabric covering for armour was a distinct craft in itself, and was practised by the linen armourers, who had the sole right to cover armour or to make such defences as have been enumerated above. That they were also tailors we know from their subsequent incorporation with the Merchant Tailors and also from the Wardrobe Accounts[108] of Edward I, in which Robinet, the King’s tailor, is mentioned as making robes and armours and banners.

Besides the lining of armour and the provision of padded defences of fabric, there was a large field of employment in the covering of armour. As may be noticed in Appendix A, this covering of helmets seems to have been common in the first years of the fourteenth century. There were three reasons for covering the steel head-piece with fabric. Firstly, as Chaucer writes with regard to the mail hauberk (page 78), to keep it from wet, the enemy of all iron and steel work; secondly, as Roger Ascham writes of the peacock-wing for arrows, “for gayness”; and thirdly, to prevent the glitter of metal attracting attention.[109] In the _Treatise_ of Johan Hill, written in 1434 (Appendix C, page 173), the covering of the armour, especially for the legs, is ordered to be of scarlet “because his adversarie shall not lightly espye his blode.” Helmet-bags are mentioned in inventories, etc. In 1578 we find “steel caps with covers” noticed in more than one will,[110] and in the Lieutenancy Accounts for Lancashire, _temp._ Elizabeth, the archer’s dress includes a “scull and Scottish cap to cover the same” (Fig. 46). Several helmets in the Waffensammlungen at Vienna still show the silk and satin coverings, and in Munich a triple-crowned burgonet has a black velvet cover. The highly ornate Venetian sallads, covered with crimson velvet, over which is set a gilt open-work decoration of metal, are fairly common in collections (Plate XVI).

The surcoat and tabard hardly come within the province of the armourer, for they were quite distinct from the armour. They were, however, in fashion in various forms till the middle of the reign of Henry VIII, who landed in France, according to Hall, in 1514 with a garment of “white cloth of gold bearing a red cross.” Padded and quilted defences appear to have been worn in the early seventeenth century, for the Hon. Roger North in his _Examen_ writes that “there was great abundance of silk armour,” which in many cases was said to be of pistol proof. Some of these backs, breasts, and taces, wadded with cotton and covered with salmon-coloured silk, are preserved in the Pitt-Rivers Museum, Oxford.

THE LINEN ARMOURERS

As we have seen on page 91, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the tailor was often also a purveyor of armour. M. Buttin[111] quotes several extracts from documents of the fourteenth century in which different names of craftsmen appear classed as “Brodeurs et Armuriers.” It may not be out of place to notice here that the “milliner” of the present day was originally the Milaner or Milanese pedlar, who purveyed armour, weapons, and clothing of all sorts.

The Linen Armourers, as they were called, were a gild distinct from the Armourers, for in 1272 they were instituted as “The Fraternity of Tailors and Linen Armourers of Linen Armour of S. John the Baptist in the City of London.” Edward III was an honorary member of the gild, and Richard II also became a member when he confirmed their charter. Their first patent of arms was granted by Edward IV in the year 1466, and in this document the society is called “Gilda Armorarii.”[112] This naturally causes some confusion with the Armourers’ Company, and in many documents it is uncertain which gild is referred to. The first master was Henry de Ryall, who was called the Pilgrim or Traveller. As has been stated above, their first charter was from Edward III. Richard II confirmed by “inspeximus” this charter. Henry IV also confirmed the charter, and Henry VI granted right of search, which allowed the gild to inspect shops and workshops and confiscate any work which did not come up to their standard. It is doubtful whether the document given in Appendix A refers to this gild or to that of the Armourers, for it contains regulations which would affect both gilds. It gives details as to that “right of search” which was an important part of the duties of the gilds.

In the reign of Edward IV the gild was incorporated, and under Henry VII it became the Merchant Tailors’ Company, with the charter which is held by that company at the present day. This charter was confirmed by Henry VIII, Edward VI, Philip and Mary, Elizabeth, and James I.

FOOTNOTES:

[102] Meyrick, _Antient Armour_, I, 139.

[103] Cf. jupon of Black Prince at Canterbury, wadded with cotton.

[104] See also Du Cange, _Glossaire_, under “Jacque.”

[105] Cousin of Edward VI, and knighted by Elizabeth in 1576. His free criticism on military matters led to the suppression of his “Discourses on the form and effects of divers sorts of weapons,” and he was committed to the Tower.

[106] _Jahrbuch des Kunsthist. Sammlungen_, II, 995.

[107] Johnes’ edit., I, 131.

[108] _Lib. Gardrobæ_, 28 Ed. I, 1300. Soc. of Antiq.

[109] _Vide_ modern War Office regulations of the present day as to scabbards of swords, Highland kilts, etc.

[110] _Arch. Journ._, LX, “Armour Notes.”

[111] _Le Guet de Genève_, Geneva, 1910.

[112] _Hist. of 12 Livery Co.’s of London_, Herbert, 1836.

THE USE OF LEATHER

From the earliest times leather has been a favourite material for defensive armour. The shield of Ajax was fashioned of seven bulls’ hides, and the soldiers of the King and of the Parliament in the Civil War favoured the buff coat. Between these periods leather was utilized in many ways, and when specially treated was a most serviceable protection which had the merit of being lighter and less costly than metal. The word “cuirass” itself is derived from the body-defence of leather (cuir).

The Hon. Robert Curzon, writing in 1869, mentions a cuirass of three thicknesses of leather found in a stone coffin of the thirteenth century (_Arch. Journ._, XXII, p. 6).

At a time when the weaving of fabrics was in a more or less primitive state, the skins of beasts were used either as the sole defence of the warrior or were reinforced with plates of metal applied over the most vital parts of the body (Figs. 47, 48).

It is always a matter of some difficulty, especially in the earlier examples, to tell what materials are intended in illuminated miniatures, for we find what appears to be plate armour painted brown or parti-coloured, and this points to the fact that armour of all kinds was frequently painted, even chain mail being coloured to suit the taste of the wearer, and also, a more important reason, to preserve it from wet and rust. In some representations of scale armour, the drawing of the scales, as for example the figure given on Plate 1, 2, of my book on Armour and Weapons, suggests leather rather than metal, and certainly the much-debated-upon “banded mail” must have been a mixture of leather and metal.

Towards the end of the twelfth century we find the material known as “cuir-bouilli” or “cuerbully” mentioned as being used for the armour of man and horse. The hide of the animal was cut thick, boiled in oil or in water, and, when soft, moulded to the required shape. When cold it became exceedingly hard and would withstand nearly as much battle-wear as metal.

It had the advantage of being easily procured, easily worked, and also of being much lighter than the metal. For this reason it was used largely for jousts and tourneys, which up to the fifteenth century were more of the nature of mimic fights than was the case at a later date, when the onset was more earnest and the armour was made correspondingly heavy to withstand it.

The best leather seems to have come from Spain and especially from Cordova. Among the _Ordonnances des rois_ in the Bib. Nat. Français (T. II, 357) we find it distinctly stated that Cordova leather was far better than that of France or Flanders. This may have been due to the breed of horses or cattle found there, but it is more likely that the tanners of that town had made a speciality of treating the hides.

On the sculptured effigies and monumental brasses of the fourteenth century we find the jambs and poleynes often richly decorated and moulded with more skill than the other parts of the armour,[113] and these were probably of cuir-bouilli.

The d’Aubernon, Setvans, and Gorleston brasses are good examples of this. Chaucer in his _Rime of Sir Thopas_ mentions jambs of cuir-bouilli as being part of the ordinary equipment of the knight (see page 100).

Both King Rene and Antoine de la Salle prescribe cuir-bouilli as the material for the brassards used in the tourney (Fig. 49), and this fashion seems to have lasted from the last quarter of the thirteenth century, at which date we have cuir-bouilli armour mentioned in the roll of purchases for the tournament at Windsor Park, held by Edward I, down to the last quarter of the fifteenth century. Oliver de la Marche, writing at the end of the same century, describes the armour of Mahiot and Jacotin Plouvier fighting in a duel as being of cuir-bouilli sewn on the body, legs, and arms.[114] In his _Advis de gaige de battaile_ the same author mentions leather armour as being only fit for the man who is “point gentilhomme.”

As late as the year 1500 cuir-bouilli was much used for horse-armour on account of its lightness. Of this we have two specimens remaining to us in the full suit at Turin (G, 2) and the crupper at the Tower (VI, 89). The horse on Plate XVII is apparently armed with mail which is covered with trappers of leather. The original, which was an ivory chessman in the possession of Rev. Eagles, has disappeared. It was figured by Hewitt in _Ancient Armour_, Vol. I, and was cast. The photograph given here is from the cast. Among the few specimens of leather armour for the man may be noted a morion in the Zeughaus, Berlin (60_b_), and a pair of seventeenth-century leather “lobster-tail” cuisses at Goodrich Court, Herefordshire.

The reason for this dearth of examples of leather armour in collections at the present day is twofold. Much of the discarded armour of this nature would be used for various domestic purposes, such as jugs, horse-furniture, and such-like uses, and also much would be thrown away as useless, for leather unless carefully kept and oiled tends to crack and warp out of shape.

The above-mentioned bards for horses appear frequently in paintings of the early sixteenth century. The picture of the battle of Pavia in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford,[115] shows many of these brilliantly painted with armorial and fancy designs, and the absence of rivet-heads points to the fact that they are not of metal.

The painting of bards seems to have been a distinct trade, for we find in the Statuto de’ pittori Fiorentini rubr. 79 (_Carteggio ined. d’artisti_, T. II, p. 40) regulations forbidding any but the registered bard-painters to undertake such work.

That cuir-bouilli was not proof against firearms we learn from Jean de Troyes (page 260), who writes: “Si y eut un cheval tout barde de cuir bouilli qui fut tue d’un coup de coulverine.” This refers to the date 1465, when firearms were but primitive weapons. Dressed leather, however, in the form of the buff coat was used up to the middle of the seventeenth century, when the penetrating power of the bullet was greater. At the same time we should remember, as Marshal Saxe very truly points out in his advocacy of plate armour (_Rêveries_, p. 58), that many wounds at this time were caused by sword, lance, and spent bullet, all of which might have been avoided by the use of some thick material. The Marshal suggests sheet-iron sewn upon a buff coat, but the buff coat itself, ⅜ in. thick, would be a very adequate, though hot and heavy, protection without the addition of metal.

The leather guns of Gustavus Adolphus will be found mentioned in the following pages, but these were only covered with leather, presumably to protect them from wet, and were not made entirely of this material. We have no record of cuir-bouilli being employed to make artillery, and of course the chief reason against its use would be the weakness of the seam or join.

The only use of leather or cuir-bouilli for defensive armour found at the present day is found in the small bucklers of the hill tribes of India. These are often so skilfully treated that the leather is transparent and is almost impervious to a sword-cut, forming a very fair defence against the bullet from the primitive flintlocks in use among those tribes.

The leather hat reinforced with steel plates given at Fig. 50 was worn by the regicide Bradshaw at the trial of Charles I.[116]

REFERENCES TO LEATHER AND CUIR-BOUILLI FROM CONTEMPORARY DOCUMENTS

1185. _Chanson d’Antioche._

Moult fu riches qu’il li a chief mi Son poitrail lui laca qui fu de cuir bolis.

The “poitrail” in this extract is the breastplate of the knight and not of the horse.

1278. _Roll of Purchases for the Tournament at Windsor Park._

De Milon le Cuireur xxxviij quiret: p’c pec iij s.

Itm. ij Crest & j Blazon & una galea cor & j ensis de Balon de Rob’o Brunnler xxxviij galee de cor p’c galee xiv.

This tournament seems to have been more of a pageant than a serious contest like those of the fifteenth century. No armour of metal is mentioned among the purchases and the weapons are of whalebone, a material which was used also for gauntlets, as we know from Froissart’s[117] description of the equipment of the troops of Philip von Artevelde at the battle of Rosebecque in 1382. Whalebone was also employed for “privy coats” or brigandines, in which it was inserted between the lining and the cover. Buckram is also mentioned as being used for body-armour, which material will be found alluded to in the section devoted to the Linen Armourers.

1345. _Les Livres de Comptes des Freres Bonis_, I. 174, Forestie.

Item deu per un brasalot ... de cuer negre.

1351. _Ordonnances du roi Jean IV_, 69.

Ordenons que l’arbalestrier ... sera arme de plates ... et de harnois de bras de fer et de cuir.

These brassards of cuir-bouilli seem to have been common in the fourteenth century; their popularity being doubtless due to their lightness and cheapness as compared with metal. M. Buttin in his interesting pamphlet _Le Guet de Genève_[118] gives several extracts from inventories and other documents which bear out this statement.

1350. _Rime of Sir Thopas_, Chaucer.

His jambeux were of curebully.

The skilfully modelled jambs and poleynes which appear on many brasses and effigies of the fourteenth century rather suggest that leather was used and not metal, as the rest of the armour does not show such skill of forging. These leg-pieces are nearly always shown as richly engraved, which also points to the suggestion that they were of cuir-bouilli, which would be an easier material to decorate with painting or modelling than metal.

1411. _Inventorie de l’ecurie du roi, f. 108 vo._

Une armure de cuir de Surie pour armer l’homme et le cheval.

1450. _Traité d’un Tournoi_, Roi René.

En Brebant, Flandres et Haynault at en ces pays la vers Almaignes ... mettant unes bracieres grosses de 4 dois d’espez et remplies de cotton sur quoys ils arment les avant bras et les garde-bras de cuir bouilly.

This entry may be compared with that of the Windsor Park Tournament quoted above. King René’s book has the advantage of being illustrated with drawings of these and all the other details mentioned in his regulations for a tourney. The brassards shown in the drawing have cords fixed lengthways so as to provide an extra protection against the blow of the mace or wooden sword which René describes as the weapons to be used. Brassards of a similar kind are mentioned in Antoine de la Salle’s _Des anciens tournois et Faictz d’Armes_ (edit. B. Prost., p. 120).

1471. _Inv. du Roi Rene à Angers, fo. 3 vo._

Quatre targetes de cuir bouilly a la facon de Tunes.

These targets, made after an Oriental model, would probably resemble those which are frequently seen in India and Persia at the present day, in which the leather is hard and often highly polished and decorated with painting and gilding. The Highland targe is fashioned differently, for the foundation is of wood and the skin or hide stretched over it.

1480. _L’Artillerie des Ducs de Bourogne, Garnier, appendix, p. 230._

Onze gands et huit brasselets de cuir pour archiers.

Here the “brasselets” are not arm-defences, but are simply the “bracer” or arm-guard which protected the wrist of the archer from the string of his own bow when released.

1493. _L’advis de gaige de battaille_, O. de la Marche.

S’il n’est point gentilhomme il peut combattre selon l’ancienne coustume armé de cuir bouilly.

This evidently refers to the regulations laid down by King René in 1450, and suggests that by the end of the fifteenth century they had become obsolete and that full plate armour was the only equipment for the joust or tourney.

1500. _Inv. de Francois Ier. de Luxembourg, p. 6._

Plusiers bardes de chevaux de cuyr de cartes ou cartons.

The last-named materials were obviously only employed for parade or masque. They would be early forms of papier-maché, but were probably more like the modern cardboard than the hard papier-maché now in use.

1559. _Notes sur Dioscoride, II, chap. 21_, Matthée.

Le cheval marin une beste du Nil [the hippopotamus] de la peau l’on en fait des écus, animes et rondelles; aussi n’y ha il armes n’y poinctures quelles qu’elles soyent qui la puissent transpercer, si premièrement elle n’est baignée.

This entry shows clearly that even the hide of the hippopotamus was not held to be weapon-proof till it had been soaked (in water or oil). One of these leather bards exists in the Armeria Reale, Turin, B, 2. It is catalogued as being of hippopotamus hide. A crupper of cuir-bouilli (VI, 89) is the only specimen of leather armour in the Tower.

1630 (_circ._). _Hist. of London, p. 26_, Pennant (1790).

Robert Scot ... was the inventor of leather artillery which he introduced into the army of Gustvus Adolphus.

1644. _Military Memoirs of the Great Civil War, p. 42_, Gwynne.

At Crobredery Bridge (Cropredy) we overtook Waller’s army which we engaged and beat, took Wemes General of their army prisoner and withal took his leather guns which proved serviceable to the King.

These leather guns were formed of a cylinder of copper round which was twisted thick hempen cord and the whole enveloped in a leather jacket. An example which is traditionally stated to be one of Scot’s guns used by Gustavus Adolphus, is exhibited in the Rotunda Museum, Woolwich (II, 173). The dolphins on this specimen are fashioned to the letter “G” placed horizontally. There are two similar guns in the Musée d’Artillerie.

1678. _Traité des Armes, p. 55_, Gaya.

Quoy que les Bufles ne soient proprement que les habillemens de Cavaliers, nous pouvons neanmoins les mettre au nombre de leurs armes deffensives, plus qu’ils peuvent aisement résister à l’Epée lors qu’ils sont d’une peau bien choissie.

Les Bufles ... sont faits en forme de Juste-au-corps à quatre basques qui descend jusqu’aux genoux.

Il n’y a pas un Cavalier dans les trouppes de France qui n’ait un habillement de Bufle.

The buff coat of leather or “cuir de bœuf” was a part of the military equipment as early as 1585 and was in common use during the Civil War. It was worn by the Life Guards at the Coronation of James II in 1685 and by a detachment of the Artillery Company at the entry of George I in 1714. It ceased to be worn as part of the uniform in the following reign.[119]