CHAPTER XVI
THE TRUE SHIELD OF THE XVth CENTURY
In the earlier chapters of this work (chaps. ii and iii, vol. i) we
discussed at some length the shield of the knight, and described
in some detail the fine example which hangs over the tomb of
Edward the Black Prince in the Cathedral church of Canterbury
(vol. i, Fig. 188). We now propose to resume our account and to
trace the history of this important defence from the end of the XIVth century
onwards. Up to the period we have covered, the spade or "heater"-shaped
shield, to employ the name given it by English antiquaries, had, after its
development from the Norman kite, remained in favour for nigh upon two
hundred years; but with the advent of the XVth century old forms were
improved upon and new ones invented. In the Abbey Church of Westminster
the visitor is shown the shield of Edward III, together with the sword of
state (Fig. 707). But the question presents itself, is the shield of that
monarch's time? Or is it a shield of a type one is accustomed to associate
with the last quarter of the XVth century? We understand indeed that
little is known about either the sword or shield in question beyond the fact
that they have been in the Abbey Church many hundreds of years. We
give illustrations of the back and front views of the shield (Fig. 586,
a, b). This relic is now in a dilapidated condition, a circumstance which,
though lending it an air of great antiquity, rather hinders us in our
endeavour to investigate its supposed provenance; indeed, to-day there remains
of it but an almost bare rectangular wooden foundation slightly convex
with a semicircular base. It is composed of five lengths of some close-grained
tough white wood, joined at the back by three thin iron bands;
while at some early date three plates of thin iron have been clamped around
its much-broken base. Around the whole of the exterior border of the shield
at 1-1/4 inch from the edge is a deep, incised groove; while a patch of metal
and strips of canvas have been plastered over the face of the shield by way
of restoration. Travellers, and we should imagine many Westminster boys,
have been careless enough to record their names upon the face of this poor
