Armour & Weapons

42 THE TRANSITION PERIOD CHAP. II of Louis Hutin, made in 1316, we find: ‘ ii heaummes d’acier, item v autres dans li uns est dorez.’ This seems to suggest that the gilded helm was of some other material than steel, possibly leather. It is rare to come across constructional detail in illuminations, but the illustration (Fig. 21) from a French manuscript of about the year 1350 shows a method of attaching the helm to the wearer’s body. In the preceding chapter we noticed the chain used for this purpose on the Trumpington brass. Fig. 20. Fourteenth-century helm, Zeughaus, Berlin. Fig. 21. Bib. Nat., Paris, Tite-Live, 1350. The most popular of the light helmets at this period was the Bascinet. It appears on nearly every monumental brass that depicts a military figure, and is an essential part of that style of equipment known as the ‘ camail The later form of bascinet has a movable visor which is known among armour collectors as the ‘pig-faced’ bascinet (Plate V). Sometimes the hinge is at the top, and sometimes, as in No. 2 of this plate, the visor is pivoted at the sides. Froissart calls the visor ‘ carnet ’ and ‘ visière In the Bohun Inventory, before referred to, are given : ‘ ii bacynettes, lun covert de quit lautre bourni.’ This shows that while some helmets were of polished metal, others were covered with leather, and indeed silk and velvet as fancy dictated. Frequent references to these ‘ covers ’ for helmets occur in Inventories and Wills. The helmet and other portions of the suit of plate armour were some-