Jul
26
ANTIQUE ARMS AND ARMOUR GLOSSARY (H-Z)
July 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Mail: armour made of interlinked rings which, on most European examples, are riveted. It was known in Europe at least as early as the 2nd century B.C., and was the normal defence during the early Middle Ages. It was relegated to a subordinate role with the general adoption of plate armour in the 14th century, but nevertheless remained in common use until well into the 17th. The extension of the term to cover all forms of defensive armour and the word chain-mail are both of comparatively recent date.
Match-lock: the earliest form of mechanical ignition for a gun, introduced late in the 15th century, in which an arm holding a lighted match (cord made of tow soaked in a solution of saltpetre) is brought into contact with priming powder at the touch-hole by pressure on a trigger. Despite the invention of the wheel- and flint-locks, it remained in use for military purposes, on account of its cheapness, until the end of the 17th century.
‘Maximilian’ armour: a modern term for the style of fluted armour which came into use in Italy and, more particularly, in Germany during the reign of the Emperor Maximilian I (1494-1519)- It is rarely found after c. 1540, but examples dating from as late as c. 1560-7o are occasionally encountered. Modern writers sometimes use the rare 16th-century English term for fluted, crested, to describe this style.
Morion: an open helmet much used by foot-soldiers in the second half of the 16th century. Contemporary texts mention two forms: (i) the Spanish-morion, called a cabasset by many modern writers, with a pear-shaped, pointed skull and a narrow, flat brim; (ii) the comb-morion, with high comb and a curved brim peaked before and behind. The modern term peaked-morion refers to an intermediate type with a curved brim, and a pointed apex terminating in a small stalk.
Musket: a military match- or wheel-lock firearm introduced in the third quarter of the 16th century. It was heavier than the arquebus (q.v.), and consequently was usually fired from a forked rest. After the introduction of the flint-lock (q.v.) the term was used loosely to describe any portable firearm larger than a pistol.
Musketoon: a short, heavy flint-lock gun with a large bore, generally used for discharging shot.
‘Pappenheirner’: a heavy rapier with a form of swept hilt (q.v.) incorporating two large perforated shells. It was used during the first half of the 17th century and was named after the celebrated imperialist general of the Thirty Years’ War, Gottfried Heinrich, Count von Pappenheim (d. 1632). Sometimes referred to as a Walloon sword.
Percussion lock: the latest form of ignition for a firearm, involving the use of a detonating compound. The first patent for a lock of this type was taken out in 1807 by the Rev. Alexander Forsyth (d. 1843). As put on the market, this had a small, flask-shaped magazine which could be rotated on a central spindle, and which contained detonating powder in the lower end and a spring-loaded striker in the upper. By turning the magazine through 18o degrees a small amount of powder was deposited in a recess in the central spindle, connecting through a channel to the touch-hole; when the magazine was returned to the normal position this powder was detonated by the striker, which was itself struck by a hammer-like cock.
Improvements made on the Forsyth lock included the pellet- or pill-lock, in which the detonating powder was replaced by a pellet, sometimes enclosed in a paper cap, and the tube-lock, which used a tubular metal primer held by a spring clip. All types were superseded by the percussion-cap system, apparently invented between 1818 and 1820, in which a thimble-shaped copper cap containing detonating powder was placed on a hollow nipple communicating with the chamber, and fired by the action of the cock. Many flint-lock guns were converted to this system, which remained in use until the second half of the 19th century.
Petronel: a large pistol, or short arquebus, fitted with a match- or wheel-lock and used in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. It had a curved stock, which was rested against the chest when fired.
6in __5 armour: a misleading modern term for a type of late 16th-century armour, apparently produced chiefly in Milan and Brescia. Its chief characteristic consists of bands of coarsely etched decoration of confused design.
Pistol: the smallest type of firearm, designed to be fired with one hand, introduced c. 1520- It was fitted at first with a wheel-lock and subsequently snaphaunce, flint- and percussion-lock, but in Europe never with a match-lock. The earliest pistols were used chiefly by the cavalry, being carried in large holsters attached to the saddle, but in the late 16th century smaller forms were devised to be carried in the belt, and later in the pocket. Numerous attempts were made to produce a revolving pistol, but none was really successful until the invention of the Colt percussion-revolver, patented in 1836.
Pole-arms: a modern term connoting any type of cutting or thrusting weapon mounted on a long handle. They can be divided into the following classes: (i) thrusting weapons, including the spear in all its forms; the horseman’s lance, at first simply a long spear, but later fitted with a large metal guard for the hand (vamplate); the pike, a long spear, often measuring as much as 22 feet in the 16th and 17th centuries, when it was used by the infantry to forma ‘hedge’ against cavalry; the partizan, which had a long triangular head, usually with two pointed lugs at the base; (ii) percussion weapons, consisting mainly of the various forms of club (including the horseman’s mace), the axe and the hammer, the last two often having a sharply pointed fluke at the rear of the head; (iii) weapons designed for cutting and for thrusting, including the halberd, which had a flat axe blade balanced by a fluke and a long, sharp spike above; the bill and the guisarme each with a cutting edge curving up to form a short hook, a fluke at the rear and a spike above; the glaive, with a large cleaver- or scythe-shaped blade.
Pot: a term used in the 17th century apparently to designate any type of open helmet. Modern writers usually confine it to the large, wide-brimmed variety used by 17th-
century pikemen.
Powder-flask: flask for carrying the black powder used for charging muzzle-loading guns. It was made in a variety of different shapes and materials, and was usually fitted with some kind of measuring device. A smaller flask was often carried for the finer powder used in priming.
Rapier: a sword with a long, straight blade, introduced in the 16th century. It was at first designed for thrusting and cutting, but as the science of fencing developed emphasis was laid increasingly on the former. It was primarily a civilian weapon and in the 16th and 17th centuries was usually used in conjunction with a dagger or a cloak held in the left hand.
Sabre: a heavy, curved, single-edged sword used chiefly by cavalry from the late 16th century onwards.
Sallet: the characteristic helmet of the 15th century, usually worn with a deep chin-piece (bevor). Its form generally followed that of the modern sou’wester, although it comes well down over the face, either having a movable visor, or a vision slit in its forward edge. The German type usually has a long, graceful, pointed tail, often laminated. The barbute (q.v.) is one of the forms of this helmet.
Schiavone: a basket-hilted sword with a straight, two-edged blade, used during the late 16th and early 17th centuries by the Dalmatian troops (stradiots) in the employ of Venice. It is often erroneously described as the prototype of the Scottish basket-hilted broadsword.
Shield: probably the earliest form of defensive arm. Shields have been used from prehistoric times, and made of a variety of materials, including wood, leather, wicker-work, metal, etc. They were usually attached to the left arm by straps (enarmes) or, when not in use, hung round the neck on a sling (guige). The earliest shields seem to have been mainly circular, oval or rectangular, but in the 11th century the tall kite-shape appears, remaining in use until the 13th century, when the ‘flat-iron’ (heater) form was introduced. This survived until well into the 15th century, when a large variety of shapes appeared, many of which had a notch (bouche) cut in the upper edge for the lance. In the 16th century the majority of shields were circular, one of the most popular types being the buckler (introduced as early as the 13th century), which was held in the left hand by means of a crossbar on the inside. Shields have at all times been the subject of adornment, particularly with the owner’s coat-ofarms or personal device after the introduction of heraldry in the I 2th century. Many of those made for parade purposes in the 16th century were of metal elaborately embossed or etched and gilt.
Smallsword: a light civilian sword with a simple hilt, often richly decorated, which succeeded the rapier (q.v.) in the third quarter of the 17th century, with the beginnings of fencing as it is known today. The slender blade, although designed principally for thrusting, was at first double-edged, but from c. 1700 one of hollow triangular section became almost universal. The modern term colichemarde is often used to designate a blade which is wide near the hilt and narrows suddenly half-way along. The smallsword remained in active use until the end of the 18th century, and still survives in the sword worn with modern court dress.
Snaphaunce: the earliest form of the flint-lock (q.v.), introduced apparently in the middle of the 16th century. It is regarded by many writers as a distinct type, its chief difference from the flint-lock being that the pan is fitted with a separate sliding cover opened, when the steel is knocked back by the cock, by the action of a cam. Most surviving examples date within the 17th century.
Spurs: early spurs were of the prick type, with a single spike, usually pyramidal or cone-shaped and often mounted on a ball to prevent deep penetration. There is some evidence for the introduction of the rowel spur, with a wheel equipped with points instead of the single spike, in the middle of the 13th century, but it did not become common until the second quarter of the 14th. In the second half of the 15th century spurs had straight necks of great length, while those of the 17th had their necks bent down almost at right angles.
Swept-hilt: a modewi term for the type of rapier hilt, introduced in the 16th century, in which the guard consists of a complicated series of curved bars.
Sword: throughout the whole of the medieval period the commonest type of sword was cruciform with a straight two-edged blade. As early as the 14th century, however, an additional guard was occasionally provided in the form of a single loop alongside the base of the blade; this enabled the user to get a better grip on the sword by looping his finger over the cross-guard (quillons). During the 16th century the introduction of the practice of duelling as opposed to armoured combat in the lists, and the corresponding development of the science of fencing led to the adding of more supplementary guards, finally producing the swept-hilt rapier (q.v.) of the second half of the century. This remained in vogue until the second quarter of the 17th century, when a lighter form of rapier was introduced with a simple shell-guard and a single curved bar over the knuckles, ultimately developing into the smallsword (q.v.). In Southern Italy, and particularly in Spain, at this period the swept-hilt was superseded by the cup-hilt, with a guard formed by a circular bowl supplemented by straight quillons and a knuckle-guard, which remained in use until the 18th century.
The two-hand sword enjoyed a brief period of popularity in the 16th century, picked men being specially trained to its use. The basket-hilted sword, usually with a broad blade, was introduced at the end of the 16th century, and was much used by cavalry in the 17th; it has survived in a modified form until the present time (see also Backsword, Broadsword, Cinquedea, Claymore, Cutlass, Falchion, Hanger, Heading Sword, ‘Pappenheimer’, Rapier, Sabre, Schiavone, Smallsword, Swept-hilt.
Tschinke: a light wheel-lock gun, generally rifled, used for bird-shooting in the area of Germanic culture during the 17th century. The butt usually takes a sharp downward curve while the lock has an external mainspring.
Wheel-lock: mechanism for igniting a gun, in which a piece of pyrites, fixed between the jaws of a cock, is pressed against the grooved edge of a wheel projecting through the bottom of the priming pan. The wheel is forced to rotate by a spring, released by the trigger, and rubs against the pyrites, causing a shower of sparks which ignite the powder. The lock is usually wound by means of a spanner, but on rare examples this is effected automatically when the cock is drawn back.
The earliest known illustration of a wheel-lock mechanism is that in the Codex Allanticus of Leonardo da Vinci (d. 1519). There is, however, no evidence to show that this was ever made, the first practical wheel-lock apparently having been produced in Germany in c. 1520. It is rarely found on military weapons, probably on account of the expense of manufacture, but it was much used for sporting and target guns until well into the 18th century.
Jul
26
ANTIQUE ARMS AND ARMOUR GLOSSARY (A-H)
July 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment
GLOSSARY
The glossary which follows includes all major technical terms which the beginner collector will encounter in a study of European arms and armour. Oriental armour has not been included. Most of these terms have their individual translations in French, Italian, German and Spanish. These will be learned by the serious student in the course of acquiring knowledge.
Arinet: a term used in x5th- and early 16th-century texts, apparently to denote a close-helmet (q.v.). Modern writers generally confine it to the early form of this helmet with hinged cheek-pieces overlapping and fastening at the chin, and usually having at the back a steel disc (roundel) on a short stem.
Arquebus: a term occurring as early as the 14th century referring to some type of hand-gun. In the late 15th and early 16th centuries it was applied to the earliest type of portable gun fitted with a shoulder-butt and a match-lock (q.v.). In the late 16th and early 17th centuries it was applied loosely to almost any type of light wheel- or matchlock gun.
Backsword: a sword having a blade with a back on one side and a single cutting edge on the other.
Barbute: a 15th-century open helmet of Italian origin, one of the forms of the Ballet (q.v.). It was tall, at first with a pointed apex, later becoming rounded, and extended over the cheeks, leaving only the eyes, nose and mouth exposed. Some examples closely resemble the classical Greek Corinthian helmet, on which they may perhaps have been directly based.
Bascinet: the characteristic light helmet of the 14th and early 15th centuries. It was conical in shape and usually had a mail curtain (aventail) laced to its lower edge, protecting the throat and neck. In the second half of the 14th century it was often worn with an acutely pointed ‘pig-faced’ visor, a form for which the rare medieval term `hounskull’ is now generally used. In the 15th century the helmet became more rounded, and the aventail was replaced by a plate gorget; in this form it remained in use for fighting on foot in the lists until the beginning of the 16th century.
Bayonet: a dagger, or short sword, fitted to a musket to convert it into a pike. Known early in the 17th century, it was not generally adopted for military purposes until the second half of that century. At first simply a dagger with round grip, tapered to fit into the musket muzzle, a form which remained in use until well into the 18th century, but this was gradually superseded by the socket-bayonet introduced in the late 17th century. This had a tubular hilt fitting over the muzzle, the blade being set to one side so that the musket could be fired with the bayonet fixed. It was superseded in the 19th century by the sword-bayonet, attached to a lug on the barrel by a spring-catch and with a hilt like that of a sword.
Blunderbuss: a short musket with large bore widening at the muzzle, designed to fire shot. Apparently introduced into England from the Continent in the middle of the 17th century, it was used principally by civilians as a protection against thieves until well into the 19th. Many blunderbusses are equipped with a hinged spring-bayonet, which is thrown forward into the fixed position when a catch is released.
Brigandine: a light, flexible body defence consisting of small, overlapping metal plates riveted to the interior of a canvas or leather jacket. It was usually covered with coloured silk or velvet, the rivet heads on the exterior being gilt to produce a decorative effect. The term first occurs at the end of the 14th century, but the majority of surviving examples date from the 16th and early 17th centuries.
The jack was a cheaper form of the brigandine, its plates, which were often of horn, being held in place by stitching.
Broadsword: a sword with a straight double-edged blade. The term is applied chiefly to the basket-hilted cavalry sword of the 17th and 18th centuries. It survived in the Scottish basket-hilted sword, often erroneously called a claymore.
Buff-coat: a coat of thick buff-leather, usually with full skirts and often sleeved. It was thick enough to withstand a sword-cut and became very popular, particularly for cavalry, when armour was falling into disuse in the 17th century.
Burgonet: an open helmet, used chiefly by light-horsemen in the 16th and early 17th centuries. It usually had a peak (fall) over the eyes and hinged cheek-pieces fastening under the chin. It was sometimes worn with a deep chin-piece (buffe).
Cabasset: see Morion.
Chanfron: the plate defence for a horse’s head, introduced early in the 14th century and remaining in use until well into the 17th.
Cinqueda: a short sword, or large dagger, with a flat triangular blade some five fingers in width near the hilt (hence the name from the Italian Cinque dei), and often elaborately etched and gilt. It was essentially a civilian weapon, and was used chiefly in Italy in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
Claymore: from the Gaelic claidheam-mor (great sword). The Scottish two-hand sword introduced in the 16th century. Of very large proportions, it usually had straight quillons inclining at a sharp angle towards the broad, straight blade. In the 17th century the quillons became curved and were supplemented by two (sometimes only one) large solid shells bent towards the hilt. Since the 19th century the term has been applied erroneously to the basket-hilted Scottish broadsword.
Close-helmet: a close-fitting, visored helmet completely enclosing the head. The term is now usually confined to the type of headpiece introduced early in the 16th century, with the visor and chin-piece pivoting at the sides, as opposed to the armet (q.v.), which has hinged cheek-pieces fastening at the chin.
Cross-bow: a bow mounted at right-angles upon a stock, which is grooved for the arrow (bolt), and fitted with a trigger-mechanism so that it can be discharged from the shoulder like a gun. The bow was made variously of wood, steel, or a composition of layers of wood, horn and sinew glued together; it could be spanned by hand, a stirrup at the end providing purchase for the foot by a forked lever, or by various forms of windlass. It was known in Europe as early as the 4th century, but did not become popular until the loth. Its use against Christians was prohibited by the Church in 1139, but despite this it was used extensively in warfare throughout the remainder of the Middle Ages. As a sporting weapon it has remained in use until the present time, especially in Switzerland.
A light version of the cross-bow fitted with a sling to fire bullets or stones, and known as a prodd or stone-bow, was much used from medieval times onwards for shooting small game. It remained popular, particularly in Lancashire and East Anglia, until well into the 19th century.
Cuirassier armour: armour for the heavy cavalry of the first half of the 17th century, consisting of a close-helmet and defences covering the whole of the body down to the knees.
Cutlass: a term first appearing in the 16th century, denoting a short, single-edged sword, usually curved, the successor of the medieval falchion (q.v.). In the 18th and early 19th centuries it was a standard naval weapon. Dagger : the diminutive of the sword, designed to be used
chiefly for thrusting, and common in a variety of forms from the earliest times. The main types are: (i) the quillon dagger, with a simple cross-guard; (ii) the ballock-knife (called by modern writers the kidney-dagger), which had a guard formed by two lobate protuberances; it was probably from this that the Scottish dirk developed in the 17th century; (iii) the rondel-dagger, with disc-shaped guard and pommel; (iv) the ear-dagger, with pommel formed by two flattened discs set at an angle and resembling ears; it is of Eastern origin and, when found in Europe, is usually Venetian or Hispano-Moresque; (v) the left-hand or main-gauche dagger, used in conjunction with the sword in 16th-and early 17th-century fencing; it usually had quillons (often strongly arched to entangle an opponent’s sword-blade), and a side-ring, but a special form, with a triangular knuckle-guard, was used in Spain during the last three quarters of the 17th century; in conjunction with the cup-hilt rapier. (vi) the stiletto, a variant of the quillon-dagger, first introduced in the 16th century with a stiff, narrow blade designed for stabbing only; the gunner’s stiletto has a scale on the blade for converting weight of gun-shot into diameter of bore.
Falchion: a short, curved, single-edged sword, known as early as the 12th century. The medieval form had a broad, cleaver-like blade.
Flint-lock: a type of gun-lock developed from the snaphaunce (q.v.) in the first quarter of the 17th century. It is fitted with a pan (holding priming powder round the touchhole), with a hinged cover from which rises a flat steel. When the gun is discharged, a specially shaped flint, held in the jaws of a spring-operated cock, strikes the steel, throwing it and the pan-cover back, and at the same time sending a shower of sparks into the priming.
In its earliest form this lock had a horizontal scear, the tip of which projected through the lock-plate and engaged with a projection on the heel of the cock, holding the latter back until released by the trigger. There was no half-cock (safety position), although on English locks this was provided by a dog-catch, a small pivoted hook which engaged in a notch at the rear of the cock. The flint-lock proper, with a vertical scear engaging in one of two notches in an internal tumbler, giving respectively half- and full-cock, appears to have been invented in France about 1610-15, possibly by Marin le Bourgeoys of Lisieux (d. 1634). This form became increasingly popular and virtually superseded all others in the second half of the 17th century, remaining in use until well into the 19th. A special type of flint-lock used in Spain and Southern Italy was the miquelet, which had an external mainspring and a scear operating through the lockplate.
‘Gothic’ armour: a modern term for the style of plate armour, characterized by slender elegant lines, and decorated with cusped borders and shell-like rippling, developed particularly in Germany in the 15th century. The term is extended to cover the 15th-century Italian style, which was rounder in form than the German, and usually had smooth, plain surfaces.
Greenwich armour: armour made in the only English royal workshop, founded at Southwark by Henry VIII in 1511, and subsequently removed to Greenwich Palace, where it remained until closed in about 1637. It was staffed largely by foreign workmen, of whom one of the most important was Jacob Halder, master workman, 1576-1607. He was almost certainly responsible for an album of drawings of armours made at Greenwich, now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, which has made possible the identification of a number of surviving suits, several of which are in the Tower of London.
Half-armour: a light armour covering the whole body excepting the legs, and often also excluding the arms.
Hand-gun: the earliest form of hand firearm, introduced early in the 14th century. It consisted simply of a tubular barrel attached to a long wooden stock designed to be held under the arm, and ignited at the touch-hole by hand.
Hanger: (i) a light, curved, single-edged civilian sword used by horsemen, huntsmen and sailors in the 17th and i8th centuries. The term when first used appears to be synonymous with falchion and cutlass; (ii) the triangular buckled sling attached to the belt, in which a rapier was carried in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
Heading sword: an executioner’s sword, usually with a plain cruciform hilt long enough to be used with two hands, and a broad, straight, two-edged blade with a rounded or squared point. It was employed on the Continent, and especially in Germany, from the 16th to the early 19th century.
Helm: a large headpiece, covering the entire head and face and reaching nearly to the shoulders, introduced at the end of the 12th century. The top was at first flat but by the middle of the 13th century had become conical, giving an improved glancing surface. During the first half of the 14th century the helm was often worn over the bascinet (q.v.) in warfare, but was subsequently relegated to the tilt-yard, where it remained in use until well into the 16th century. In its later form it was usually bolted down to the breast and back.
‘Lobster-tail’ helmet: a modern term for a form of burgonet (q.v.) worn by cavalry in the 17th century. It had a laminated tail, hinged cheek-pieces and a peak (often pivoted), with one or more bars extending from it over the face. The English form with three bars was the characteristic helmet of the Civil War.