Helms with horns were worn by the Vikings, and in all probability the headpiece with these appendages dredged up with a shield in the Thames, and now deposited in the British Museum, is of early Scandinavian origin. Horned helms were probably originally emblematic of the goddess Hathor or Isis, and came to Northern Europe through the Greeks. A helm with horns, about B.C. 3750, found at Susa, has been already referred to in Part I. We have an example of an Etruscan helm with horns, and Meyrick says that such were worn by the Phrygians, though rarely. Diodorus Siculus refers to this form as used by the Belgic Gauls. There are instances of helms with horns as late as the fourteenth and even fifteenth centuries. One occurs on the tomb of Diether von Hael, at Borfe, in the Tyrol, near Moran. This helm has ears as well as horns. The warrior died 1368. Other examples, one on the effigy of Burkhard von Steenberg (died 1379), in the Museum at Hildesheim, and another on that of Gottfried von Furstenberg (died 1341), in the Church of Hasbach; and there is a grotesque helmet in the Tower of London, presented to Henry VIII. by the Emperor Maximilian, with ram’s horns; and such appendages were sometimes used on chanfreins of the sixteenth century—there are examples at Madrid and Berlin. The early Anglo-Saxons wore four-cornered helms with a fluted comb-like crest.

The great variety in mediæval and renaissance headgear is somewhat bewildering, but it may all be brought down to a few types with certain salient characteristics, which, however, greatly interweave. The knights of chivalry, or their armour-smiths, seem to have given as great a rein to their fancy and imagination as the constructors of feminine headgear of all time; still the change and application of weapons of attack played the most important part in the constant modifications of warlike headpieces, as of other defensive armour.

Both Normans and Anglo-Saxons used the word “helm”12 (of Gothic or Scandinavian derivation) in the eleventh century, as applied to the conical steel cap with the nasal then in use. The equivalent in French was “heaume.” The word “helmet” is of course the diminutive of “helm,” and is specially applied to the close-fitting casques, first used in the fifteenth century, of which more anon. The seal of Henry I. shows that monarch as wearing a conical helm.

The form of helm of the Bayeux tapestry is a quadrilateral pyramid with a narrow strip of iron extending over the nose; but this nasal is but rarely met with after the twelfth century, although it occurs in every century up to the seventeenth. The Norman helm was probably wholly of iron, and sometimes had a neckpiece.

The great helm or heaume, without a movable visor, is of English origin. It first appeared about the middle of the twelfth century, and was worn over a hood of mail, which was then found inadequate to resist either the lance or a heavy blow from a battle-axe or mace, or even a stroke from the then greatly improved sword. The helm had the effect of distributing the force of the blow, and to a certain extent parried it. The second seal of Richard I. shows him in a great helm, which is either flat-topped or conical, with the nasal, and is obviously derived from the antique. The cylindrical or flat-topped variety came into vogue towards the end of the twelfth century. There is an example of the conical form in the Museum of Artillery at Paris, and one of the nearly flat-topped variety, rising very slightly towards the centre, in the Tower of London. The great helm is often represented as a pillow for the head in effigies.

The next form, which is in great variety, the knight’s early tilting helm, was used pre-eminently for jousting; the visored bassinet being worn generally in battle. It was introduced to resist the heavy lance charge. This form was hemispherical, conical, or cylindrical, with an aventail to cover the face,13 and ocularia or slits for vision, and sometimes a guard for the back of the neck. Breathing holes first appear early in the reign of Henry III. It formed a very heavy single structure, sometimes with bands of iron in front constituting a cross; and in the earlier forms the head bore the whole weight; but later it was constructed to rest on the shoulders, and the crossbands disappeared. It was fastened to the saddle-bow when not in use. The movable aventail appears on the second seal of Henry III. An excellent example may be seen on the male effigy in Whitworth Churchyard, which is described in the Proceedings of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Society of Antiquaries, vol. iv., p. 250. This monument shows two recumbent figures—male and female. We are concerned with the male effigy, and have the authority of Mr. Longstaffe that it represented a member of the family of Humez of Brancepeth. The character of the armour would indicate a date in the second quarter of the thirteenth century. The helm is cylindrical and flat-topped. There are two other north-country effigies of about the same date, one at Pittington, the helmet of which is round-topped, and the other at Chester-le-Street (both in the county of Durham). The round-topped helm appeared late in the thirteenth century. A very early thirteenth century helm may be seen on an effigy in Staunton Church, Nottingham, and a flat-topped cylindrical specimen surmounts the figure on the curious water ewer shown in Plate XXII. of Archæologia Æliana, vol. iv. (O.S.). There are instances of this form as early as the last quarter of the twelfth century.

De Cosson gives drawings of several of these helms in his resumé of the specimens exhibited in 1880 (for which see Proceedings of the Royal Archæological Institute). That on the seal of Henry III. has breathing holes, and that of Edward II. shows his helm to have been cylindrical, with a grated aventail. Helms at this period were sometimes made of brass. The helm formerly hanging over the tomb of Sir Richard Pembridge, K.G., in the nave of Hereford Cathedral, and now in the possession of Sir Noel Paton,14 is a good example of the reign of Edward III. This helm has been minutely described by De Cosson in his catalogue of the helmets already referred to. The great jousting helm of the fifteenth century will be described later. The bassinet, lined with leather, basin-shaped as its name implies, was lighter and close fitting; and in England usually provided with staples for a camail. It was often used under a crested helm of large size, but, as mentioned before, when the bassinet became visored it was worn heavier, and then largely superseded the great helm. The bassinet was generally worn in England in the fourteenth century and late in the preceding. This helmet is more fully described later.

The chapel-de-fer is an iron helmet of the twelfth century, with or without a broad brim. It was often holed for a camail, and was worn sometimes under a hood of mail. The one without brim is often termed a chapeline, and is, we take it, the small bassinet. Illustrations of two great helms at the Zeughaus, Berlin, are given in Fig. 2.