be examined as perhaps one of the oldest mediaeval examples of which there is actual record. We may add that the sword and helmet attributed to Saint Wenceslaus are also to be seen in the Prague Treasury (vol. i, Figs. 55, 170). There is a chance that the helmet may possibly be as old as the date to which it is ascribed; indeed, it is interesting to note that it bears Northern Runic ornamentation, a circumstance which might give rise to yet another speculation as to the provenance of the Wenceslaus achievements. The blade of the sword may be of early date; but the hilt and scabbard have been adapted to it in the latter part of the XIVth century. A tippet of chain mail has been placed upon the hauberk; this appears from its make to be Austrian or Polish, and was no doubt added in the early years of the XVIth century (Fig. 508).
Early mention of chain mail other than that we have alluded to in the opening chapters of this work is constantly met with. In the admirable article contributed by Mr. Francis Kelly to the "Burlington Magazine" for March 1905, which deals with the inventory of Raoul de Nesle, Constable of France, and contains the description of a knight's wardrobe in the first years of the XIVth century, several entries of chain mail appear. The original inventory is now preserved with the archives of the town of Lille. In the list of the Constable's apparel are the following mentions of chain mail:
The Old French English Translation
Item, i hauberiau et i camail Item, an haubergeon and a camail.
Item, vii hauberions que corsés Item, vii haubergeons and corses.
Item, xlii pieche de causes Item, xlii chausses.
Item, pour viii que hauberions, Item, to viii haubergeons and hauberks
que haubers et iii camaus and iii camails.
Item, haubers a tournoier Item, a tourney hauberk (or hauberks).
Item, pluseurs menues pieches de Item, several small fragments of
hauberjons haubergeons.
Occasionally confusing allusions to chain mail hauberks are found: in Chaucer's "Rhyme of Sir Thopas," for instance, the knight has a "hauberk full fyn . . . of plate." This can only be explained by the doubtless loose nomenclature of the time, which allows iron chain mail to be spoken of as if made "of plate." As in the case of most individual armaments, certain towns were famous for their production of chain mail; of these, Chambly (Oise) in France, and Milan in Lombardy, stand out pre-eminently. Thus, in the inventory of Louis le Hutin we find reference to the names of these places:
Haultes gorgières doubles de chambli
Un haubert entière de lombardie.
