This volume has grown out of some “notes” printed in the ArchÆologia Æliana in 1898, and added to as any new facts and lights presented themselves to me. The text is compressed as much as possible, with a view to publishing at a moderate cost; and as a more general interest in arms and armour is decidedly growing, I venture to hope that this volume, however imperfect, may supply a want, and that it does not contain too many manifest errors and inaccuracies. The subject is treated chronologically, and no further detail entered into than seemed necessary for presenting it in a consecutive and concrete form.

All students, myself among the number, owe much to those experts whose original research and delineation of nice points of detail go to make history in the several branches of my subject, and it is to be regretted that more of them do not undertake further comprehensive work.

Defensive armour is the section I am most conversant with, and it is perhaps the one affording the most concrete materials for chronological classification and analysis.

The question of the weapons of the “middle ages” and of the “renaissance,” their chronology, description and classification, is far from being in a satisfactory state. There are no books dealing with the subject as a whole, and many of the “notes” and “papers” I have seen spread over many years are, most of them, very sectional and fragmentary in their scope and character. Technical terms vary exceedingly among the different writers, and some more generally intelligible codification is very desirable. International it cannot be, as Germany naturally has her own terms, while those of England are perhaps as necessarily mixed up with Norman-French.

There are often great difficulties in the way of reasonably approximating the date and nationality of both weapons and armour, owing to causes which will be touched upon later in these pages; but these apparent inconsistencies must needs be grappled with as far as possible, and herein lies the work of the archÆologist. In the case of sword specimens, it very often happens that blades and hilts belong to widely different periods, and even nationalities, and cases of this kind often give rise to much doubt and perplexity; indeed, unless there is evidence that a blade and hilt are contemporaneous, it is always well to consider that they may not be so; for blades were passed down from father to son, and often re-hilted more than once. Hilts also were often re-bladed.

The great question of smiths’ marks could only be adequately dealt with in a volume devoted entirely to that subject. This will be seen from the complexity arising from the piracy of marks—such, for instance, as that of the running wolf of Passau, or Scottish blades with the many variations of “Ferrara” impressed upon them. These marks came to be regarded merely as “standards,” and were often used without any intention to defraud—in the sense, in fact, of the name “Wallsend” being applied to express a certain quality in coals. A book dealing comprehensively with this branch of the subject has yet to be written.

While gratefully acknowledging much information and infinite assistance from other writers, I have found many manifest errors, which have been both inherited and perpetuated, handed down, so to speak, through long generations of book-making. I have taken as little as possible from books, especially over the period where actual specimens are available, but have endeavoured, by carefully studying many important collections, both at home and abroad, to compare, as far as possible, the types and fashions prevailing at the different periods dealt with, which, however, greatly interweave, especially among European nations, where easy facilities for interchange existed.

It takes many years and opportunities of study to achieve much in the direction of judging armour, and it is only by a close comparison, not merely of individual pieces, with a careful examination of every detail, but also a knowledge of the makes of steel of the various ages covered, their composition, manipulation, and relative degrees of hardness, that a reasonable amount of certainty can be arrived at. Much ingenuity has been applied in faking up and partially restoring many suits, still, it is obvious to an expert, in most instances, which pieces are of comparatively modern construction, especially in the cases where ornamentation has been applied, for here the best work of the “renaissance” cannot be adequately reproduced. Many suits, even in national collections, are not only doubtful, but now known to be spurious, while in others the restoration process has left much to be desired. The uninitiated would be surprised if they knew how comparatively few suits are absolutely homogeneous, so many having been set up by dealers, often more or less of pieces of various types and dates.

It is most interesting to trace what may be termed the evolution of arms and armour, and to follow the craft and ingenuity of the armour-smith as pitted against that of the makers of weapons; indeed, all through the history of the armour period this contest has proceeded with varying fortune. Fashion also has always been a potent and arbitrary factor in the direction of change, and hence so many preposterous departures, such as both the extravagantly long and ridiculously wide sollerets of the “Gothic” and “Maximilian” periods respectively. Expansive skirts of steel, which must have been very crippling to the wearers, were used at one time by all cavaliers who had the least pretensions to be considered À la mode.

At the risk of the general subject occasionally overlapping, and of some repetition in matters of historical retrospection, I have concluded to divide these pages into two main sections, viz., “Defensive Armour” and “Weapons of War” over the period set forth in the title-page. This has been done in the interests of conciseness and perspicuity, and more especially with a view to an easy reference to any branch of the subject under discussion.

ROBERT COLTMAN CLEPHAN.

Southdene Tower, Gateshead,
March, 1900.