The Helmets of the thirteenth century, though offering many points of difference on comparing particular examples, may yet be readily thrown into distinguishable classes. The first division that Suggests itself is that of the Helm (the great, close casque of the knight) and the Helmet, a defence, as the word indicates, of diminished completeness. The Helm must again be divided into two leading kinds: that in which the plates forming it are all rivetted together, so as to make one piece; and that in which the front is provided with a moveable ventail. The successive changes of fashion supply a further division of the helms; giving us the flat-topped, the round-topped, and the "sugar-loaf" form. The Helmets may be classed as the hemispherical, the cylindrical, the conical, the wide-rimmed (Petasus form), and the nasal. Besides which are some varieties of peculiar construction, which may be better noticed after the more general forms have been considered.

The word Helm among the Northern nations merely meant a covering of any kind: the Wærhelm of the Anglo-Saxons was the little cap worn by the soldier, of which we have seen many examples in our previous inquiries. But from the end of the twelfth century, when the great casque enclosing the whole head, like that seen on the second seal of King Richard, came into use, the term helm or heaume was restricted to this new kind of headpiece.

The flat-topped Helm forming a single structure, appears usually in one of the following fashions. I. A cylinder having bands in front forming a cross, and sometimes similar bands crossing on the crown, which is slightly convex or conical; two horizontal clefts for vision, but without holes for breathing. Examples occur in our woodcut, No. 71, fig. 1, from the statue of Hugh Fitz Eudo, in Kirkstead Chapel, Lincolnshire; in the chess-knight (woodcut 57); in the Whitworth effigy (Stothard, Pl. xxiv.); in the carvings of the Presbytery arcade of Worcester Cathedral (woodcut 71, fig. 2); all these early in the century: and in the groups of the Painted Chamber. II. A cylinder with the cross-bands as before; but, in addition to the ocularium, having apertures for breathing. This kind is seen in our woodcut 71, fig. 3, from Hefner's Trachten; in the Walkerne effigy (Hollis, Pt. i.); in the sculptures of the front of Wells Cathedral, circa 1225; in the miniatures of the Lives of the Offas (Cott. MS., Nero, D.i.); and in the seal of Hugo de Vere, earl of Oxford (woodcut 71, fig. 4). III. A cylinder with ocularium and breathing-holes, but not having the cross-bands: woodcut 71, fig. 5, from the very curious drawing on folio 27 of Harl. MS. 3,244, date about 1250. IV. In this variety, the front part is rounded below, has ocularium, but not any breathing-holes: woodcut 71, fig. 6, from the seal of Alexander II. of Scotland, 1214-1249 (Cott. Charter, XIX. 2); and compare the seal of Louis the Dauphin, circa 1216. V. This kind resembles the last, except that it is provided with apertures for breathing. A good example is furnished by the seal of Robert Fitz Walter, of the second half of the century: woodcut 71, fig. 7.

We must remark also the difference existing among these helms on the point of ornament. Some are altogether plain; as in our woodcuts 57 and 71, and the Whitworth effigy (Stothard, Pl. xxiv.): others have a profusion of ornament, as in the knightly figure from Roy. MS. 2, A. xxii. (woodcut, No. 62). The term cylindrical, which has been applied to them, must not always be understood literally. In woodcut No. 57 we have a true cylinder; but in other cases, the helm swells at the sides, taking the "barrel" form, as in the second seal of Henry III. (woodcut 81); or, when viewed in profile, it presents a concave line behind, as in the seal of De Quinci (woodcut, No. 87), or, more strikingly, in the example at Worcester (woodcut 71, fig. 2).

The helm was worn over the coif of chain-mail. An ivory carving engraved in the sixteenth volume of the Archælogia affords an excellent illustration of this usage; the knight being there represented in the act of raising his helm from his head armed in the coiffe de mailles.

The flat-topped cylindrical Helm, with moveable ventail, appears about the middle of the century. The figure of Ferdinand, King of Castille, in the windows of Chartres Cathedral, affords a good example. He died in 1252: the monument is engraved by Willemin, vol. i., Pl. xcvii.: the helm is fig. 8 of our cut 71. A real helm of this type is in the Tower collection: the ventail opens by means of hinges on the side (see Archæol. Journal, vol. viii., p. 420, and our woodcut 71, fig. 9). It is entirely of iron, weighing 13lb. 8oz. And it is not unworthy of remark, that a much later helm, one with the beaked visor characteristic of the close of the fourteenth century, also in the Tower of London, differs in weight from the above example by only four ounces. (Archæol. Journal, vol. ix., p. 93.) The moveable ventail seems to be portrayed also on the second seal of Henry III., and on the seal of Edward I. (woodcuts, No. 81 and 85).

About 1270 the round-topped Helm came into vogue: not, however, to the entire exclusion of the old fashion, of which examples are found to the end of this century, and even during a portion of the next. See our Plate lxxi., fig. 10, from Cotton Roll, xv. 7. The seal of Patrick Dunbar, tenth earl of March, affords another good illustration of the helm with round crown: engraved in Laing's "Ancient Scottish Seals," p. 54. It has moveable ventail, with apertures for sight and breathing, as before. Other instances occur in the groups of the "Painted Chamber" and the "Lives of the Offas." A very curious variety of this type is furnished in the seal of Louis of Savoy, 1294; where the ventail has the form of an eagle displayed, the clefts for sight and air being contrived between the plumes of the wings. (Figured by Cibrario, in the Sigilli de' Principi di Savoia, Pl. xxx., and in our woodcut, No. 71, fig. 11.)

About 1280 the Helm takes the "sugar-loaf" form; having bands which make a cross in the front of it. See woodcut, No. 71, fig. 12, from Roy. MS. 20, D. i.; and the brass of Sir Roger de Trumpington, 1289 (woodcut, No. 73). It will be observed that this kind of heaume is continued so low as to rest on the shoulders.

It is not improbable that some of these casques were formed in part of leather. An early helm made of cuir-bouilli, with iron bands, is figured by Hefner (Trachten, Pt. ii., Pl. lxviii.); and for the Windsor tournament of 1278, were provided "xxxviii. galee de cor͂."

The helm was made fast by laces. In the Romance of Perceval, the hero

These laces are very clearly shewn in our engravings, Nos. 47 and 62; from Roy. MSS., 20, D. i. and 2, A. xxii.

In order to recover the helm if struck off in the mêlée it was attached to some part of the knight's equipment by a chain. The brass of Sir Roger de Trumpington (cut, No. 73) supplies us with an illustration. And this usage is noticed in the Romance of Le tournois de Chauvenei, written about 1285:—

Crests are frequently found surmounting the helm at the close of this century; but they are not of that distinctive kind, consisting of lions, griffins, eagles, wings, axes, and-so-forth, which appear in such diversity during the next age. They are merely of the fan form. The seal of De Quinci, indeed, seems an evidence to the contrary, and has been often described as an instance of a helm of the early part of the thirteenth century bearing a wyvern for a crest (woodcut, No. 87). But the wyvern in the upper part of this seal seems to be placed there merely to fill up the space between the letters, and belongs to the legend, not to the effigy; just as we see a flower occupying the space beneath the lion's feet, and in the obverse of the seal, the wyvern filling up the void beneath the horse and under the housing. Heraldic bearings do in fact appear on the casques of several figures previously to 1300. But they form part of the headpiece itself: they do not surmount it. The helm of Richard the First has a lion, but it is a figure embossed or painted on a part of the casque. The well-known effigy of a Plantagenet (Stothard, Pl. ii.) is an analogous instance. The monument of Le Botiler at St. Bride's, Glamorganshire, (woodcut, No. 74,) affords another example: and in the curious helm of Louis of Savoy (woodcut 71, fig. 11) we have the heraldic eagle forming the visor of the casque, while the crest is composed of the usual fan ornament. This fan we have already seen on the helm of Richard I., but it does not come into general use till towards the close of the thirteenth century. See examples on our woodcuts, Nos. 71 and 72. Other instances may be found in Laing's "Scottish Seals," p. 54; in the Lives of the Offas, Cott. MS., Nero, D. i.; and in great number among the miniatures of Roy. MS. 20, D. i., where they are attached to the heads of the horses as well as to the helms. At the Windsor tournament in 1278, also, crests were provided both for man and horse:—

And for the making of these crests, calf-skins and parchment were employed:—

"lxxvi. pell' vitul' p̰ cres̄t faciend' p'̄c pell' iij. d."

"Īt p̰ qualibet cresta j. pell' parcamen̄ rud'. Sm͂. lxxvi. pell' rud' p̰cameni[352]."

Occasionally feathers supply the place of the fan ornament. A plume of seven peacock's feathers surmounts a crowned helm on folio 205 of Roy. MS. 20, D. i.; and similar examples occur at ff. 60^vo. and 239^vo. of the same manuscript. Compare also Add. MS. 15,268: both these books being of the close of the century.

The Helms of kings have a crown encircling them, as seen in the seals of Henry III. and Edward I. of England (woodcuts, No. 79, 81 and 85); but on the capelline of King John is no such ornament. See also our engraving, No. 72. The crown is occasionally placed on the coif of chain-mail: as on folio 7 of the Lives of the Offas (woodcut, No. 80), and in the pictures of the Painted Chamber.

Of the smaller casque—helmet, or chapel-de-fer—we have already observed that some were worn beneath the coif-de-mailles. Others were placed above it, or formed of themselves the whole arming of the head. They are cylindrical, hemispherical, conical, wide-rimmed, and of the nasal kind. The first-named appears in our woodcut, No. 53, from Harl. MS. 5,102, of the beginning of the century. It is found also on the seal of St. Louis, and in the effigy in the Temple Church, figured by Stothard, Pl. x. The rounded helmet occurs on the seal of King John (woodcut 52); in our engraving, No. 53, from Harl. MS. 5,102, early in the century; and in Nos. 49 and 74, both monuments of the close of this period. It appears plentifully in Roy. MS. 20, D. i., and in the groups of the Painted Chamber. The conical chapel is seen in our engraving, No. 58; it occurs also in Harl. MS. 1,527, and in the Painted Chamber and Lives of the Offas. The Wide-rimmed Helmet is found throughout this century. An early example appears in our engraving, No. 50, from Harl. MS. 4,751. The figure here given is from Add. MS. 11,639, fol. 520; of the close of the century. It represents Goliath, and the casque is thus painted: crown, iron-colour; rim and crest, gold. The book is in Hebrew, but believed to have been written in Germany. See also our woodcut, No. 49, from Add. MS. 15,268; and Hefner's Plate v.; and the pictures of the Painted Chamber. A good example in sculpture occurs in the arcade of the north aisle of the Lady Chapel at Worcester Cathedral. On Cotton Roll, xv. 7, a variety of this headpiece has an upright spike at the top. In the Archæological Journal, vol. viii. p. 319, is engraved a knightly effigy in which the wide and pointed iron-hat is worn over a close skull-cap of plate, to which, is joined a coif of chain-mail. The Nasal Helmet is found of three varieties: the cylindrical, the round-topped, and the conical. The first occurs on the monumental effigy of Raoul De Beaumont, in the abbey of Estival, founded by him in 1210. (Kerrich Collections, Add. MS. 6,728.) The hemispherical appears in the Lives of the Offas and the Painted Chamber, and on Plate xxxiii. of Hefner. The pointed crown is found among the subjects of the Painted Chamber, of which the following is an example. See also our woodcut, No. 82.

Besides the above, which are the usual types of casque found in the thirteenth century, there are some varieties of occasional appearance. Among these may be mentioned the open-faced helmet of the Temple effigy figured by Stothard, Pl. xv. In this curious example, all the head above the neck is cased in a defence of some rigid material (metal or cuir-bouilli?), and encircled by a band or turban. Another singular headpiece occurs on folio 7 of the Lives of the Offas (woodcut, No. 80); where the coif of banded-mail is covered in front with a plate, perforated for vision and breathing, and strengthened with the cross-bands already seen in the knightly heaume. Helmets formed of a framework of metal covering a cap of leather, similar to the defence noticed at an earlier period (see page 69), seem to have been in use during this century. Hefner has figured the metal portion of a real one found in the island of Negropont, which he assigns to this period (Trachten, Pl. lxiii.) It closely resembles the bronze example discovered at Leckhampton (woodcut 18), consisting of a hoop from which spring two arcs of metal crossing at the crown. Of similar mixed materials appear to be those helmets seen in the groups of the Painted Chamber, where a frame of gold-colour encloses a cap of crimson or purple (Plates xxxv. and xxxvi.). And compare our woodcut, No. 82, also from the Painted Chamber, in which the frame of the headpiece is of iron-colour, while the enclosed portion is painted yellow.

The Bassinet and Cervellière are named in documents of this time, but do not appear to have been anything more than the round-topped skull-cap already noticed.

The bassinet is mentioned in the will of Odo de Rossilion in 1298, cited by Ducange[353]; a monument further curious from its giving us the detail of a knight's equipment in these days:—

"Idem do et lego domino Petro de Monte Ancelini predicto centum libras Turonenses et unam Integram Armaturam de Armaturis meis, videlicet meum heaume à vissere, meum bassignetum, meum porpoinctum de cendallo, meum godbertum[354], meam gorgretam, meas buculas[355], meum gaudichetum, meas trumulieres[356] d'acier, meos cuissellos, meos chantones[357], meum magnum cutellum, et meam parvam ensem."

The Bassinet with camail attached is not a characteristic of this century, though isolated examples may perhaps be found. The knightly effigy at Ashington, Somersetshire, already noticed, seems to be one of these: the mail-coif being fixed to the plate-cap by rivets. (Archæol. Journ., vol. viii. p. 319.) It will be remarked in that very valuable monument, the Pictures of the Painted Chamber, that the skull-caps of plate are in many instances so placed on the coif-de-mailles as to shew very clearly that the two defences are quite distinct.

Guiart, in the Chronique Métrique, frequently uses the name cervellière:—

An amusing tale is told in the Chronicon Nonantulanum, of the invention of the cervellière by Michael Scot, "Astrologus Friderici Imperatoris familiaris." Having foreseen that he should meet his death from the fall of a stone of two ounces weight upon his head, he contrived a cap (infulam) of plate-iron. But being at mass one day, at the exaltation of the host, he reverently lifted his cap, when a little stone fell upon his head, and inflicted a slight wound. Weighing the stone, he found it to be exactly two ounces; and then, knowing his doom to be sealed, he arranged his worldly affairs and died.

From the manuscript collection of "Proverbes" of the thirteenth century, preserved in the Imperial Library at Paris, and cited by Le Grand d'Aussy in the Vie privée des François[358], we learn that the "Heaumes de Poitiers" had obtained the highest meed of approbation.

The ordinary Shield of this period was the triangular: its dimensions decreasing as the century advanced. It was bowed or flat. Other targets of this time are the kite-shaped, the pear-shaped, the heart-shaped, the round, the quadrangular, and a shield angular at the top and rounded below.

The triangular, bowed shield appears in our engravings, Nos. 52, 53, 57 and 87; all early examples. Later instances occur in the seal of Edward I. (No. 85), and our woodcut, No. 75, from Add. MS. 11,639. The flat triangular shield is found in the very curious figure on folio 27 of Harl. MS. 3,244, circa 1250; in the brass of Sir John D'Aubernoun, 1277 (woodcut, No. 55); in the glass-painting at Oxford Cathedral (woodcut, No. 77); and in the effigy of Le Botiler (woodcut, No. 74): the last two monuments, of the close of the century. See also Painted Chamber, Plate xxxvi. It will be observed that the shield of D'Aubernoun is curiously small. Those of Crouchback and William de Valence on their tombs are scarcely larger. (Stothard, Pl. xliii. and xliv.) The Kite-shaped shield appears very frequently in Roy. MS. 20, D. i.; a subject from which, with this form of target, is given in our woodcut, No. 72. It occurs also in Harl. MS. 1,527, and on Plate xxxvi. of the Painted Chamber. This form, like the foregoing, is sometimes bowed and sometimes flat. The Pear-shaped variety is found on the seal of Saer de Quinci, 1210—19, engraved in Laing's Ancient Scottish Seals, Pl. xi.; and on that of John de Methkil, c. 1220 (Laing, Pl. vii. fig. 3). Another Scottish seal gives us the Heart-shaped shield, a rare and early example (Laing, Pl. x. fig. 11). The Round target supported by its guige appears in a group of fighters in Harl. MS. 1,527; again in the Malvern effigy (Stothard, Pl. xix.); in the Lives of the Offas; and among the pictures of the Painted Chamber. The quadrangular bowed shield is figured in our woodcut, No. 88, from a Tower Roll, commemorating a wager of battle in the reign of Henry III. The shield made angular at top and rounded below may be found on Plate xxxi. of the Painted Chamber, and occurs again on the seal of a Melros charter of 1285, engraved on page 30 of Laing's Scottish Seals. It is scarcely necessary to say that the types which we have endeavoured to distinguish will be found somewhat varied in particular examples: to describe every modification of the general forms we have detected, would be a tedious and a useless task.

The Boss is still retained in some of the shields of this time, though but rarely. It appears in our woodcuts, Nos. 75 and 88, and on folio 4 of the Lives of the Offas. The Enarmes, or straps by which the knight sustained his shield in combat, are well shewn in the effigy of De Shurland (Stothard, Pl. xli.), and receive some further illustration from the statues of De Vere at Hatfield Broadoak, Essex, and of Brian Fitz Alan at Bedale, Yorkshire. Compare also folio 4 of the Lives of the Offas, and Plate xxxviii. of the Painted Chamber. The Guige, or strap by which the shield was hung round the neck, is a usual adjunct to this defence during the whole of the century, and is sometimes of a highly enriched character. Many of our woodcuts shew the manner of its use.

From a passage of "The Ancren Riwle," lately printed by the Camden Society, from a MS. of the thirteenth century, we learn that the materials of the shield at this time were "wood, leather, and painting." (p. 393.) These ingredients frequently reappear in the real targets of a later time which have been saved from the destruction of passing centuries.

Armorial bearings are the usual adornment of the knightly shield throughout this period; and the field was sometimes richly diapered, as in this example from the window of the north transept of Oxford Cathedral. Compare the monument of De Vere at Hatfield (Stothard, Pl. xxxvi.) Where heraldic devices are not found, a "pattern" generally takes their place: a cross, a rosette, a star, a fret, or some such simple ornament. In other cases the face of the shield is painted of a single colour. In the effigies placed over the tombs of the knights, the shield is usually represented as borne on the arm. The figure of William de Valence in Westminster Abbey has it slung at the hip; an arrangement frequently adopted in French monuments, and occasionally in those of other continental countries.

Another continental custom sometimes imitated by our own countrymen, was that of adorning the walls of the banqueting-hall on great occasions with the shields of distinguished heroes. When, in 1254, the English king entertained the French monarch in the Temple in Paris, "the banquet was given," says Matthew Paris, "in the great hall of the Temple, in which were hung up, according to the continental custom, as many bucklers as the four walls could hold." Amongst others was seen the shield of Richard, king of England, concerning which a witty person present said to King Henry, "Why, my Lord, have you invited the French to dine with you in this house? See, there is the shield of the noble-hearted English king, Richard! your guests will be unable to eat without fear and trembling[359]."

From the curious volume already cited, the Ancren Rule, we learn that at the demise of a brave knight, his shield was hung aloft on the church walls, in honour and remembrance of his valorous deeds.

The Spur of this century is of three kinds: the simple goad, the ball-and-spike, and the rowel. The goad is sometimes straight, sometimes curved. The straight spike is seen in this example of an iron spur found in the churchyard of Chesterford, Cambridgeshire, and now preserved in the collection of the Hon. Richard Neville. Compare our engravings, Nos. 58 and 85. The curved goad appears in woodcuts 55 and 73. Our engravings, Nos. 62, 72 and 81 shew the ball-and-spike kind; of which we have already seen examples in the statues of Henry II. and Richard I. at Fontevraud. The rowel spur is found but in one or two instances during this century. It is represented on the seal of Henry III., here given; where, in order to bring up the rowel to the middle of the heel, the seal-engraver has resorted to the singular expedient of raising the field into a sort of hillock, on the top of which he has sculptured the star-like rowel. See Harleian Charter, 43, C. 38. The rowel spur again appears on the effigy of Le Botiler (woodcut, No. 74). It is, however, rather a characteristic of the fourteenth than of this century; and, generally speaking, its presence alone should lead one to hesitate long before assigning a monument to the earlier period, even though it should exhibit all the other features of the more ancient costume. The monument of Johan Le Botiler, just named, is by no means exempt from the operation of this rule.

The shank of the spur is curved, each end being formed into a loop to receive the strap. The strap itself is single, buckling over the instep. See Stothard's Plates xvii. and xxii. Some exceptions occur to this usual arrangement. In the effigy of a De L'Isle, figured by Stothard, Plate xx., the outer shank is flattened into a trefoil and rivetted upon the leather. In the figure at Norton, Durham, (woodcut, No. 70,) the shanks terminate in rings, and two straps are employed to fix the spur to the foot. Both straps and spurs are occasionally shewn of an enriched character. On folio 27 of Harl. MS. 3,244, the spur is ornamented with a row of studs or bosses. In the brass at Acton, Suffolk, 1302 (Waller, Pt. ii.), the pattern consists of rosettes.

The gilded spurs of the knights occasionally became the trophy of a victory; as in the case of the battle of Courtray, in 1302. More than five hundred pairs, Froissart tells us, were suspended in a chapel of the church of Our Lady of Courtray: "Et ces éperons avoient jadis été des seigneurs de France, qui avoient été morts en la dite bataille; et en faisoient ceux de Courtray tous les ans, pour le triomphe, très grand solemnité[360]."

The Beard during this century appears to have been usually worn by the aged only. The young knight has commonly neither beard nor moustache: indeed, this imberbed state of the Western cavaliers is made a reproach to them by the Saracens. The Sultan, we are told by Matthew Paris, under 1250, addressing his chiefs, in arms against the forces of St. Louis, exclaimed: "What rash madness excites these men to attack us and endeavour to deprive us of our inheritance, who have inhabited this noble country since the Flood? A certain motive, however slight, urges the Christians to covet the land which they call Holy: but what have they to do with Egypt? Unfit indeed are they to lord it over a land which is watered and enriched by the river sent from Paradise: beardless, shorn men, unwarlike and imbecile, more like women than men, what rash daring is this[361]!"

For the arrangement of the beard of this time, see the effigies of King John and Henry III. (Stothard, Plates xi. and xxxi.), and Plate xxxix. of the Painted Chamber.

The fashion of the Hair differs considerably in the first and second portions of the century. In both it was cut short at the forehead: but in the first half it was allowed to fall in its natural flow to some length at the sides of the head and behind; while, in the second, it was most carefully arranged in large curls, which cover the ears, and give a strongly marked character to the monuments of this time. In the effigy of King John at Worcester, the side hair is cut sheer off just below the ear. In the figure of Prince John, the son of St. Louis, in the Abbey Church of St. Denis, the hair falls in a natural ringlet to the neck[362]. The large and formal curl of the later period is well shewn in the knightly sculpture from Norton Church, Durham (woodcut, No. 70). See also the statue of Henry III. (Stothard, Pl. xxxi.), and the series of monumental figures sculptured in 1263-4 by order of St. Louis, to perpetuate the memory of his ancestors entombed at St. Denis. (Guilhermy, pp. 218, 223, 225 and 228.)

The Spear for war of the thirteenth century offers no change from that of the preceding age. The shaft of it is still uniform from end to end, not yet being hollowed out for the grip, as in the lance of a later date. The head is of three forms: the lozenge, the leaf, and the barbed. The lozenge spear-head is the most usual, and appears in the accompanying group from the Lives of the Two Offas, Cott. MS., Nero, D. i. fol. 7. See also our woodcuts, No. 62 and 75. The leaf-shaped head occurs on fol. 4 of Nero, D. i.; on fol. 27 of Harl. MS. 3,244; and on the Shurland monument (Stothard, Pl. xli.) The barbed spear was probably not considered a knightly weapon, but carried by soldiers of an inferior grade. At all events, we occasionally find men-at-arms furnished with it, as in Roy. MS. 20, D. i., a book of about the close of this century. And earlier in the period, at the battle of Bovines in 1214, we have the curious account of Rigord, shewing the jeopardy in which the life of King Philip was placed through the attack of a soldier armed with a spear of this description. This soldier of the emperor's host struck at the neck of the king, the usual point of attack, and though the gorget of the monarch prevented the weapon from inflicting any wound, the barbs of the spear became so firmly fixed between the hauberk and the head-defence, that the sturdy German was enabled to pull Philippe Auguste from his horse and lay him prone at his feet. The king managed to raise himself again, but the soldier held firm. The emperor, who was near at hand, rushed forward to terminate the strife by the death of his rival, and all seemed over. Galon de Montigny meanwhile, the Bannerer of the king, proclaimed the danger of his master by incessantly raising and lowering the Standard over the spot where this contest was taking place. The French were animated to new exertions: a band of seigneurs and gentlemen cut their way to the spot where the king was struggling in unequal conflict with his foes: the spearman, struck down or slain, let go his hold: the fight continued, furiously as ever, but in numbers less disproportionate than before: Etienne de Longchamp, one of the bravest of the French nobles, is slain by the side of the king: Pierre Tristan, another distinguished knight, leaps from his steed, and gives it to his monarch: Guillaume des Barres at this moment comes up with reinforcements, charges the German host with impetuous bravery, and turns their triumph into a rout.

The Lance is occasionally furnished with a streamer, as at a former period. It is seen in our last engraving (No. 80), from the Lives of the Offas; and again in woodcuts, Nos. 55 and 62. Compare also Harl. MS. 3,244, fol. 27, and other groups from the Lives of the Offas. In some of these examples, the lance-flag is ensigned with a cross only; in others it is quite blank: in others, again, as the brass of D'Aubernoun, it bears a device clearly heraldic.

In a few rare instances the spear is represented on the tomb of the knight. The necessity of reducing it far beneath its legitimate proportions, in order to be comprised within the narrow limits of the sepulchral memorial, would furnish a sufficient reason for its being generally excluded from the monumental design: but it is not improbable that mere fashion (for the tomb has its fashions) contributed in some degree to this exclusion; because we find that the royal and knightly seals, which at a previous date constantly exhibited the lance with its streamer, now more usually represent the warrior armed with the sword. The lance is found on the brass of D'Aubernoun (woodcut, No. 55), on the sculptured effigy of a knight in the churchyard of Ruabon, in Wales, and in the incised slab at Ashington, Somersetshire, figured in the Archæological Journal, vol. viii. p. 319.

For the hastilude, the spear-head was blunted, and "about the breadth of a small knife;" as we learn from Matthew Paris, in his account of the Round-Table Game held at the Abbey of Wallenden in 1252. Here, one of the knights, Roger de Lemburn, aimed his weapon, the point of which was not blunted as it ought to have been, in such a way that it entered under the helm of his adversary, Arnold de Montigny, and pierced his throat; for he was uncovered in that part, and without a collar (carens collario). The Earl of Gloucester with the other knights immediately sought to extract the fragment of the lance, and when he had succeeded in withdrawing the wooden shaft of it, the iron head remained behind: on this being at length extracted, and examined by the surrounding knights, it was found to be very sharp at the point, like a dagger; though it ought to have been blunt, and about as broad as a small knife. Its shape was like that of a ploughshare on a small scale, whence it was commonly called a little plough (vomerulus), and in French, soket[363]. We have here the description of two spear-heads very distinct in character: one rebated for the Jousts of Peace, seemingly the prototype of the coronel which afterwards replaced it; and the other a sharp instrument, the form of which we may perhaps recognise among the tilting weapons of the Triumph of Maximilian. See, for instance, the group of knights armed for the "Course appelée Bund."

When, in battle, the charge had been made with the Lance, and that weapon was no longer available in the mêlée, it was cast aside, and the conquest carried on with the Sword:—