Document: 1423, THE ARMOUR. AND ARMS of HENRY BOWET.

[worldantiques]

The Archaeological Journal, January 1, 1862, Royal Archaeological Institute.


https://books.google.com/books?id=21JaA ... &q&f=false

The articles next enumerated consist of various defences of mail ; amongst these may particularly be noticed “ qwysschewes,” namely cuisses, armour for the thighs ; also a “ paunce," with other objects described _as “ de mayle rotundo,” of round mail. This appears to designate a distinct peculiarity in the form of the rings of which such defences were composed ; the rings may have been occcasionally of elliptical or other form. In the Inventory of the Armour of Louis X., King of France, in 1316, we find-“ uns pans et uns bras de roondes mailles de haute cloiieure: Item uns pans et uns bras d’acier plus fons de mailles rondes de haute cloiieure :— Item une converture de mailles rondes demy cloées : Item une testiere de haute cloiieure de maille ronde."

[Ernst]

Thanks to worldantiques for providing the source link!
This listing places the valuation at the beginning in shillings (s.) and pence (denarii -d.), and I have shortened the formulaic wording after the first few listings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Bowet

The pope had already appointed Robert Hallam to the northern primacy, but, finding that Henry IV desired to see Bowet installed, he nominated Hallam to the see of Salisbury and gave the pallium to Bowet.
In 1402 Bowet briefly served as Lord High Treasurer, from February to October.
In 1417 the Scots invaded England and sat down before Berwick-on-Tweed. The Duke of Exeter marched to the relief of the town and Archbishop Bowet, then very old and feeble, had himself carried into the camp where his addresses are said to have greatly encouraged the English soldiers. The Scots decamped hastily in the night, leaving behind them their stores and baggage.
Bowet died on 20 October 1423 at Cawood Bishop's Palace and was buried in his cathedral of York Minster.

1423 Henry Bowet, Archbishop of York



Respondent executores -- de xx. s. receptis pro j. jake deffence de chamlet rubeo, cum iij legulis deauratis.
The executors reply: of 20 shillings receipt for 1 jack of defense of red camlet, with 3 gatherings of gold. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camlet
Et de iij. s. iiij. d. receptis pro uno pare de qwysschewes de mayle rotund' pro defencione crurum.
And of 3 shillings 4 pence receipt for a pair of cuisses of round mail, for leg defense. (I believe round refers to wire section.)
Et de vj. s. iiij. d. receptis pro una lorica debili de mayle rotund'.
And of 6 shillings 4 pence for a weak haubergeon of round mail. (The Latin lorica, or body armor, usually refers to a hauberk, but given the date I have chosen haubergeon, as "coat of mail" is redundant.)
Et de vj. s. viij. d. receptis pro una lorica vetere de mayle rotund'.
6s. 8d. - an old haubergeon of round mail.
Et de xx. d. receptis pro uno parvo paunce, maxime debili, de mayle rotund'.
20d. - a small paunce, greatly weakened, of round mail. (debilitated likely meaning holed and/or with failing rivets.)
Et de xx. d. pro uno parvo ventayle vetere de mayle rotund'.
20d. - a small, old aventail of round mail.
Et de ij. d. receptis pro uno ventayle vetere pro gall' de mayle rotund'.
2d. - an old aventail of round mail for a helmet. (galea would usually refer to a great helm, though I suspect the bascinet is intended.)
Et de vj. d. receptis pro uno ventayle vetere et valde debuli pro gall' de mayle rotund'.
6d. - an old, and very weak aventail of round mail for a helmet.
Et de vj. d. receptis pro altere ventayle vetere et multum debili pro gall' de mayle rotund'.
6d. - another old and highly weakened aventail of round mail for a helmet.
Et de vj. d. receptis pro uno bordoure de mayle rotund' jaggyde cum latone pro gall'.
6d. - a dagged edging of round mail with latten for a helmet. (Brass, "toothed" edge. The edging is distinct from an aventail.)
Et de ij. s. receptis pro uno pare de schynbaldes al' vamplattes pro tebiis virorum.
2s. - a pair of schynbalds, also known as fore-plates, for a man's shins.
Et de iij. s. iiij. d. receptis pro uno pare de qwysschewes de plate de antiqua forma.
3s. 4d. - a pair of plate cuisses of ancient form.
Et de xvj. s. receptis pro uno pectorali alias brestplate in ij. partibus, cum ij. wynghes, cum iij. bokeles, et quinque pendandes cum x. barres de argento et deaurat'.
16s. - a pectoral, also known as a breastplate, in 2 parts, with 2 wings, with buckles and five 'pendants'(?) with 10 bands of silver and of gold. (Decorated tassets? bells? ornaments?)
Et de iij. s. iiij. d. receptis pro uno pare de vambrace et rerebrace, in quatuor peciis.
3s. 4d. - a pair of vambraces and rerebraces, in 4 paieces.
Et de xiij. s. iiij d. receptis pro uno palet closs' cum j. umberelle, cum j. bono bordoure de mayle.
13s. 4d. - a close skullcap(?) with 1 "shade", with 1 good edging of mail. (See Richardson's thoughts on the pallet. The shade may mean some sort of brim or peak. Again the edging is distinct from an aventail.)
Et de ij. s. receptis pro uno pare cirothecarum cum condolis de latone de antiqua forma.
2s. - a pair of gaunlets with 'condolis' of latten of antique form. (The "condolences" might be gadlings - knuckle dusters.)
Et de lxxiiij. s. receptis pro omnibus aliis armis existentihus in garderoba, simul sic appreciatis.
74s. for all the other arms existing in the garderobe, valued together.
Et de xx. d. receptis pro barelle cum suis pertinentiis ad purgandas loricas et alia arma de mayle.
20d. for a barrel with associated things to clean haubergeons and other arms of mail.
Et de xx. d. receptis pro una cista vetere in qua ponuntur omnia arma predicta custodiendum.
20d. - an old chest in which all of the aforesaid armors are placed and kept.
Et de x. s. receptis pro viij. lanciis veteribus, cum sex capitibus do antiqua forma et schaftet' pro baner' et pensil (blurred).
10s. for 8 old lances, with six heads of antique form, and shafts for banners and penoncels.
Et do xiij. s. iiij. d. receptis pro stokgunnes de ferro multum debilibus.
13s. 4d. for greatly weakened stocked guns of iron. http://manuscriptminiatures.com/4499/11796/
Et de ij. s. iiij. d. receptis pro quatuor batelle axe multum debilibus.
2s. 4d. four greatly weakened battle-axes.

[Ernst]

All of the mail seems to be in a poor state of repair, which is reflected in its valuation.

I wonder what the difference between the mail edgings (bordures) and aventail (ventails) might be. Is one closed while the other is an open drape? Is it merely a matter of length, or has the scribe merely grown tired of using 'ventail' over and over?

Richardson has equated the palet with the iron skullcap, so the umbrella or shade is an interesting attachment. Perhaps it had a sort of baseball cap appearance?

The gauntlet 'condolences' (if I correctly perceive the intent) share the same humor as the Flemish goedendag.

[Mac]

I wonder what the difference between the mail edgings (bordures) and aventail (ventails) might be. Is one closed while the other is an open drape? Is it merely a matter of length, or has the scribe merely grown tired of using 'ventail' over and over?

Perhaps a bordure is the sort of mail that goes around the gorget plates of a great bascinet, like the one on the Burgundian Duke's effigy from Champmol.

Mac

[Mac]

Et de xvj. s. receptis pro uno pectorali alias brestplate in ij. partibus, cum ij. wynghes,...'

I think it was Sean Manning who told me that he thought that "wings" were most likely to be the sort of flank plates that we rudely call "saloon doors".


Mac

[RandallMoffett]

Hmmm. This is very interesting. I thought this was an inventory I used for a paper back in 2006 but I think this is a new one. I will see if I cannot find my notes with it but another inventory of his I think is in the Probate Inventories of York.

I do think the idea that weak is not usable is dangerous. I think it can mean something like in need of repair. They are not bashful about stating and of no worth or that an item cannot be used to drop value.

RPM

[Ernst]

I wonder what the difference between the mail edgings (bordures) and aventail (ventails) might be. Is one closed while the other is an open drape? Is it merely a matter of length, or has the scribe merely grown tired of using 'ventail' over and over?

Perhaps a bordure is the sort of mail that goes around the gorget plates of a great bascinet, like the one on the Burgundian Duke's effigy from Champmol.

Mac

Although it also appears with the palet....

[Ernst]

Randall, I still have to pick through the bits of armor siezed from Piers Gaveston and Edward II, and the bits not seized from Humphrey de Bohun. If you're aware of any other digital sources, please feel free to post the links.

[Mac]

I wonder what the difference between the mail edgings (bordures) and aventail (ventails) might be. Is one closed while the other is an open drape? Is it merely a matter of length, or has the scribe merely grown tired of using 'ventail' over and over?

Perhaps a bordure is the sort of mail that goes around the gorget plates of a great bascinet, like the one on the Burgundian Duke's effigy from Champmol.

Mac

Although it also appears with the palet....

That does leave my idea hanging out to dry... Unless, a palet close is a sort of armet, in which case the bordure might be what one calls the diminutive sort of aventail that those helmets get.

Does Richardson have a good argument for "palet" being a skullcap? If I've read what he has to say, I have forgotten it.

Mac

[Ernst]

Clearly not an armet, unless the meaning changes over time. The earliest reference he gives is the will of Fulk Pembridge in 1325: deux haberiouns, un healme, un bacinet, un aventail e un colret, un palet, un peire de espaudlers, un peire de gans de plate, quisseux e greves. 2 haubergeons, a helm, a bascinet, an aventail and a collar, a palet, a pair of spaulders, a pair of gauntlets of plate, cuisses and greaves.

p.61

The identity of the palets at this time is unclear. They seem from the context
and later usage to be head defences of some form, but how they differ from bacinets
is as yet unclear. It is conceivable that they are the simple skull-caps known as
cervellières, worn over or perhaps even under the mail coifs that were worn beneath the great helms, and some were issued for wear with kettle hats.172 It may be that the
usage of the term changed as the century progressed, as they became a more
numerous form of head defence, much cheaper than the bacinet, in the later accounts.

I don't know that I've seen any skull caps with a peak or neck defense from the late-14th or early-15th century, though. I'm thinking the mail might be the sort of curtain seen on the earlier Coppergate or Vendel helms, only covering the neck, but don't know of any visual evidence for those either - though there are plenty pictures of cloth and gamboissed defenses used in that capacity. I tagged some examples on Manuscript Miniatures as "havelocks", the cloth shades used on kepis in the 19th century. Perhaps that's an "umbrella"?
http://manuscriptminiatures.com/search/ ... avelock%22

How does one interpret the "double" aventail seen in some Italian sources, a second piece, a folded over edge? I've never seen anything like that in England, though.
http://manuscriptminiatures.com/3952/10868/

[Mac]

I see what you mean. I guess it can't be an armet.

Mac

[Sean M]

Et de xvj. s. receptis pro uno pectorali alias brestplate in ij. partibus, cum ij. wynghes,...'

I think it was Sean Manning who told me that he thought that "wings" were most likely to be the sort of flank plates that we rudely call "saloon doors".


Mac

Yes, that is my working hypothesis. Very many breastplates in the Italian sources I am reading have big or small or no wings/winglets (alle, alette), in one case they are available separately, and the ones with big wings are worth a lot more than ones without wings or with small ones. Since there are no other plausible words for the extensions of a breastplate under the arms in the archive, and some breastplates in the late 14th century clearly had them ...

I won't have time to give all the sources and discuss the different possibilities for a few years yet, but here are some prices in soldi imperiali for breastplates of steel bordered with brass by one Milanese shop in 1383:

with big winglets, s. 118
with small winglets s. 70
without winglets, s. 66

That strikes me as a plausible ratio for breastplates with saloon doors covering most of the back, breastplates with small extensions under the arms like Churburg S-13, and breastplates without flank protection.

[Ernst]

So the small wings or winglets only cover the flanks, while the larger ones cover the back?

[Ernst]

From the 1397 Duke of Gloucester inventory:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=180283

Itm j pallet de Lumbardy ove j viser p's ... ... xx.s.
Item, 1 palet of Lombardy with 1 visor valued 20s.

Adding to our confusion of the palet as distinguished from the helm and bascinet, this one has a visor. Now we know that they can have umbrellas (cloth mantles?), edgings of mail, and visors. They appear as early as 1325, are purchased alongside bascinets, though the palet costs considerably less.

[Gustovic]

Perhaps a smaller version of a bascinet?

Like, a bascinet is quite well formed and tall, while a palet is a skull cap with vervelles and a pivoting visor?

[Sean M]

So the small wings or winglets only cover the flanks, while the larger ones cover the back?

That is my best guess. I suggest that a breastplate with small wings covers about as much as Churburg S-13, and one with big wings covers a large part of the back as well like some of the early backplates which open vertically in art.

Unfortunately the Italian sources do not name the parts of corazze and corazzine (= English pairs of plates) so there is no name for Mac's "upper-back plate."

[Ernst]

Et de xvj. s. receptis pro uno pectorali alias brestplate in ij. partibus, cum ij. wynghes, cum iij. bokeles, et quinque pendandes cum x. barres de argento et deaurat'.
16s. - a pectoral, also known as a breastplate, in 2 parts, with 2 wings, with buckles and five 'pendants'(?) with 10 bands of silver and of gold. (Decorated tassets? bells? ornaments?)

It seems the pendants may be the strap ends, as they always appear to be tied with buckles in Edward III's purchases for the Order of the Garter. So 10 straps with 3 buckles and 5 strap ends? How does that work?

And for making a cloak, supertunic, tunic, and hood, for the King's Person, of long blue cloth powdered with GARTERS, with buckles and pendants of silver gilt; blue cloth, card, gold plate, silk, 168 buckles for GARTERS of silver gilt, and 168 pendants for the same GARTERS of silver.
And for making a Jupon of blue taffeta for the King's Person, powdered with GARTERS, and buckles and pendants of silver gilt, taffeta, gold plate, and sixty two buckles and sixty two pendants of silver.
And for making a Jupon of blue satin powdered with blue GARTERS with buckles and pendants, tafeta, plate, and 62 buckles and 62 pendants of silver gilt.