Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 5).djvu/53

Fig. 1444. Three-quarter suit of armour

Associated with the name of Prince Rupert. Probably French, and of the Petit of Blois School, about 1612-15. Collection: H.M. the King, Windsor Castle

Interrupting our account of the three suits which are assigned to King Charles I, we will at this point mention that three-quarter suit of armour (Fig. 1444) in the Windsor Armoury (No. 810 in the 1904 Catalogue); since, in our opinion, it is the work of the so-called Petit of Blois, who is supposed to have made the last suit described. According to the 1842 inventory of the Windsor Armoury this suit of armour was worn by the famous Prince Rupert, son of Princess Elizabeth, eldest daughter of King James I; but such an attribution is rebutted by the evidence, partly of date and partly of fashion. As Prince Rupert was born in 1619, and this is a full-sized suit which could not be worn by a youth under eighteen, the mere matter of dates would bring the period of its production to somewhere about the year 1640, which, in the authors opinion, is too late a date for a harness of this style and fashion. We get this evidence from a comparison of this suit with the one just described, which it closely resembles, and which, taking into consideration its size, could not be much later than 1615, since in that year Charles, Prince of Wales, would have been fourteen years of age, and about of the figure to fit the suit. Therefore we have little belief in the Prince Rupert attribution to the Windsor suit, and we are inclined to think that at one time it may have been the property of Charles I when Prince of Wales. It is possible that it was once in the armoury of Prince Rupert at Windsor Castle, and so became associated with his name. All we can say is that it was