Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 2).djvu/18

Saint Quintin—The funerary gauntlets of Edward, Prince of Wales—Two extant iron
gauntlets of mid-XIVth century date that show the remains of an exterior textile
covering—Some famous existing gauntlets of the latter part of the XIVth century: the
extreme rarity of extant examples—Another type of gauntlet evolved late in the
XIVth century—The forerunner of the true fingered gauntlet of the latter part of the
XVth century—No existing specimen of the type known to the author—The mid-XVth
century gauntlet: those of the simple mitten order of Italian origin: the more
ornate fingered type of but little later date seen on suits of German fashion—A
splendid pair of gauntlets of this fashion probably the work of Hans Grünewalt of
Nuremberg, and once the property of Philip le Beau—Examples of the gauntlet of the
closing years of the XVth century most generally met with; its evolution into those of
the Maximilian style—The final form of the gauntlet reached in the early years of
the XVIth century from the point of view of a defence—Vagaries of form assumed by
gauntlets generally when made solely for use in the tilt yard; the guanti di presa 203


CHAPTER XVI

THE TRUE SHIELD OF THE XVTH CENTURY

The rectangular shield of the latter part of the XIVth century: the so-called Edward III
shield in the Abbey Church of Westminster: a suggestion as to its actual age—A
comparison with extant shields of the same type—An evolution from the rectangular
shield, the type which introduces la bouche de la lance—The shield of John of Gaunt,
formerly in St. Paul's Cathedral: certain extant shields that show the bouche de la lance
formation more or less developed: a fine late XVth century shield of the type, in the
British Museum—An historical shield of "heater" form, belonging to the first quarter
of the XVth century; the shield hanging above the tomb of King Henry V in the
Abbey Church of Westminster—The rectangular shield as it appeared in the second
half of the XVth century—Some characteristic examples extant—The so-called
Hungarian shield—The character of the kite-shaped shield, as developed in the XVth
century—Its representation in all Renaissance ornamentation, its popular form, and
its almost uninterrupted use since the XIth century—Some fine XVth century examples
existing, with certain variations of form—The rectangular pavis of the archer, its
use: some notable specimens—The circular target or "boce": its continuous use through
all ages—Its proportions at the end of the XIIIth century, according to the perished
frescoes of the Painted Chamber, Westminster Palace: as it figures on effigies—Some
extant examples of the XVth and XVIth centuries—A specimen of historical interest:
Hans Burgkmaier's representation of the "boce" or target, in his famous "Triumph of
Maximilian"—The buckler of the XVIth century; the pistol bucklers in the Tower
Collection—Variously formed shields used solely in the tilt yard 223


CHAPTER XVII

THE SWORD OF THE XVTH CENTURY

The knight's sword in the early years of the XVth century, its scarcely perceptible alteration
in construction from those of the second half of the preceding century—The bastard
sword: the single-handed sword: the now more advanced method of gripping it: an