Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 2).djvu/238

Fig. 545. Brigandine

Possibly late XVth century

Burges Bequest, British Museum

Fig. 546. Portion of a brigandine

Early XVIth century

Burges Bequest, British Museum

cottes," are the brigandines which Meyrick has called millers' coats. But this is a case of careless transcription, for "millen cottes" mean Milanese coats. They would be for foot soldiers, and the account of the "Remaine of the Quenes Ma^{ties} armure," etc., in 1564, mentions at Westminster "15 Millen cotes called Brigendens." In the late Mr. W. Burges's bequest to the British Museum can be seen a nearly complete brigandine that might be as early as the closing years of the XVth century (Fig. 545). In the case of this last-named harness, the plates of iron, which are roughly rectangular, are fixed to the external covering of velvet and canvas by means of a multitude of rivets with tinned heads; the plates themselves have also been tinned to preserve them from rusting—a precaution taken also with a view to preventing the iron from moulding the material upon which it is sewn. The plates are placed downwards about the body, but upwards to the waist. Although the plates of iron in this and other brigandines appear to be thin, it should be remembered that, thanks to the method of attaching the plates to one another, there were always two thicknesses of iron to serve as a protection, and over certain vulnerable parts of the body three. This brigandine, which was originally in the collection of Sir Samuel Meyrick, was laced down the front; no less than 5,500 rivet nails are employed in securing its plates. There is another example, though