The Henry VIII suit, the gift of Maximilian, is known to be the work of Seusenhofer; but in the case of the other Tower suits which presumably belonged to this same monarch, there is no direct evidence to identify the armourer who produced them. The fighting suit we have just described shows, however, traces of German influence, adapted to a fashion that might almost be considered English. It is a harness made essentially for fights on foot in the lists, the weapons used in conjunction with it being the two-handed sword, the estoc, the pole and battle-axe, and the pike. Many of its constructional features are interesting, foremost, its absolute protective quality; for save the palms of the hands every portion of the body is covered with plate. The inside bend of the knee and arms, the gluteal muscles and privy parts, and even the exposed parts of the armpit have lames of steel for their defence, each lame working on the other by means of the slotted almaine rivets, such as are well shown on the inside view of the culette (Fig. 1019). It should be noted that the toe-caps are grooved and that the elbow-cops have fluted fans at the sides. An interesting feature is that neither the gauntlets nor the sollerets could be wrenched off; for the former fit beneath the inturned lower edges of the vambraces and the latter fit over the ridged lower extremities of the jambs. The last method is also employed for attaching the lower edge of the helmet to the gorget plate. The helmet is illustrated separately in Fig. 498.
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Fig. 1019. Inside view of the culette of the suit (fig. 1018)
Showing the working of the slotted almaine rivets. Tower of London, Class II, No. 6
With the exception of a lame from the gorget and one thumb-piece nothing is now missing from this harness, which is entirely void of decoration. It is probable that it was originally a blue-black colour: indeed, as we have said, it is described as "black" in the 1683 inventory, but that may be on account of the black paint with which most of the armour at the Tower was coated, presumably to preserve it, previous to the reign of William and Mary.
