Armour & Weapons

CHAP. IV PLATE ARMOUR 83 and can only be put on by opening the helmet, as is shown on Plate V and Fig. 31. The various parts of the armet have been already described in Chapter III. The armet does not appear in monumental effigies in England before the reign of Henry VIII. The English were never in a hurry to take up new fashions in armour ; being to a large extent dependent on the work of foreign craftsmen, they seem to have waited to prove the utility of an innovation before adopting it. Against this, however, we must place the fact that in the picture at Hampton Court of the meeting of Henry VIII and Maximilian, the English are all shown wearing armets, while the Germans still wear the salade. The armet on the Seusenhofer suit in the Tower, which has been noticed in this chapter, is a very perfect example of this style of headpiece. The Burgonet is an open helmet, and, as the name implies, of Burgundian origin. To those students who consult Meyrick it is advisable to give a word of warning as to this author’s theory of the burgonet. He assumes that it is a variety of the armet, but with a grooved collar which fitted over the gorget. His authority for this assertion is a single reference in the Origines des Chevaliers Armorids et Heraux, by Fauchet.1 Space will not allow of the in- vestigation of this authority, but Baron de Cosson in the Catalogue above quoted effectively disposes of Meyrick’s theory.2 The salient points of the burgonet, as may be seen on Plate V, are the Umbril or brim projecting over the eyes, and the upstanding comb or (in some cases) three combs that appear on the skull-piece. In the best examples these combs are forged with the skull out of one piece of metal, a tour de force in craftsmanship that could hardly be surpassed. The ear-flaps are hinged at the sides, and at the base of the skull is fixed the Panache, or plume-holder. The face- guard, when used with the burgonet, is called the Buffe,3 and, like the beavor worn with the salade, is held in place by a strap round the neck. This form of helmet was chiefly used by light cavalry. 1 Paris, 1606, fol. 42. See Cat. of Helmets, Arch. Journ., xxxvii. 2 Arch. Journ., xxxvii. 3 The term Bufe is sometimes wrongly used for the upright shoulder-guards on the pauldron. F 2