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).

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.

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 (60b), 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 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

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

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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]

Here we find a return to the primitive defence of the eleventh century, due to the increased weight of armour which was necessary against the improved firearms which were by this time a serious factor in war. The serecloth recommended was probably a stout waxed or oiled canvas. In recommending sleeves of mail, which are shown on Plate XVIII, Sir John Smith considers that they are more convenient for the handling of the halberdier’s weapon than the more rigid brassards worn by the cavalry. These strips of chain are shown on one of the figures painted by Memling for the “Chasse of S. Ursula” at Bruges, 1486, which is given on Fig. 24 of this work. They have been re-introduced as shoulder-straps for heavy cavalry at the present day.