Armour & Weapons

2Ô THE AGE OF MAIL CHAP. I meeting at the apex. Sometimes a Nasal or nose-guard was added (Plate I, 4, 6). That this nasal must have been broad enough to conceal the face to a great extent we may judge from the story how the Norman soldiers believed their leader to be killed, and how William, raising his helm, rode along the Fig. 2. From the effigy of Hugo Fitz Eudo, Kirkstead, Lincs., thir- teenth century. Fig. 3. From a figure in the Cathedral at Constance, thirteenth century. lines crying ‘ I am here, and by God’s help I shall conquer The Bayeux Tapestry illustrates this incident. On some of the Conqueror’s seals we find the helmet tied on with laces. Ear- flaps were sometimes added, as may be seen on the chessmen found in the Isle of Lewis, now in the British Museum. Fig. 4. From the Great Seal of Fig. 5. Brit. Mus. Roy. MS. 20. D. i, Alexander II of Scotland, thirteenth thirteenth century, century. During the twelfth century the helmet gradually became the helm. The ear-flaps were fixed, becoming an integral part of the defence, and closed round to join the nasal, this arrangement forming at length the ventail or visor. This gives us what is known as the ‘ Barrel helm ’ (Fig. 2), in which the whole head is enclosed and the only opening in the front is the ‘ ocularium ’ or vision slit. Next we have the same kind of helm with the addition of holes for breathing in the lower portion (Fig. 3). In some varieties