grip. In 1554 the use of a "locking" gauntlet in a tournament was first prohibited as giving an unfair advantage.
Next there is the bridle gauntlet for the left hand, No. 103 in the 1904 Windsor Catalogue, now Class II, 8 H, in the Tower (Fig. 1027), which, besides being remarkable for its fine proportions, presents a feature that is extremely rare—that of the presence of a rondel attached to a stem and riveted above the metacarpal plates, as in the case of the Genouilhac gauntlet. This particular gauntlet is also similar to that now placed on Fig. 1024. What can have been the duty of a rondel upon the gauntlet? Yet it is a feature that appears in Italian XVth century pictures.
In the picture by Uccello in the National Gallery (see Vol. i, Fig. 238), we see certain of the knights with such a rondel upon the gauntlet. In the XVth century armet head-pieces (see Vol. ii, Fig. 438), a rondel is nearly always found at the back of the skull-piece. Its use there cannot be explained, unless it protected the closed joints of the side plates of the helmet; but its presence upon the solid plate of the gauntlet has yet to be explained. Next in interest in this series of pieces from this Henry VIII larger suit are the three small plates, No. 109 in the 1904 Windsor Catalogue, Class VI, No. 17, in the Tower (Fig. 1028), from the croupière of the horse armour; at least we imagine they are such, but Mr. S. J. Whawell is inclined to consider them to be a reinforcing piece for the left leg, guarding the thigh, and attached to the tasset by a rivet in the centre of the top plate. They are similar to those of the Genouilhac suit, and described by Dr. Bashford Dean as a defence worn within the breastplate. Next are the splendid pair of cuisses, or thigh pieces, Nos. 96 and 100 in the 1904 Windsor Catalogue (Fig. 1027). Apart from their large and fine proportions, which render them good examples of this particular defence, they present no special feature in construction. They almost duplicate those set on one portion of the double suit (Fig. 1023). The less important odd pieces of this suit formerly at Windsor include (a) the two grand-guards, Nos. 114 and 114A in the 1904 Windsor Catalogue (Fig. 1027), exactly alike in all details, conventional in form, but presenting, as does the Tower example, illustrated detached from the suit in Fig. 1023, the grill on the right-hand side of the face-guard, (b) a pair of mitten gauntlets, Nos. 92 and 94 in the 1904 Windsor Catalogue (Fig. 1027), (c) the large tilting guard used for reinforcing the left arm, No. 102 in the 1904 Windsor Catalogue (Fig. 1027), (d) two plates from the right-hand saddle burr, No. 105 in the 1904 Windsor Catalogue, (e) three plates from the cantle of the saddle, No. 107 in the 1904 Windsor Catalogue
