Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 2).djvu/176

 years of the XVth-XVIth centuries, we will pause to consider the manner in which it was worn, and the elaboration of detail necessary in order to adjust it carefully upon the head of the wearer. If the reader will imagine a muscular man in a set of tilting armour weighing often over 100 lb., on a heavy charger, carrying also the great additional weight of the saddle, chanfron and thickly padded caparisons, meeting a similarly armoured combatant, shock to shock, even at a slow gallop, he can form some idea of the violence of the encounter, and of the precautions that must have been taken to reduce the dangers. The literature dealing with the etiquette of the tournament in the closing years of the XVth century is voluminous, and admirable illustrations of the joust and ceremonial are extant from the pen of Hans Burgkmair in the Freydal, and also in the drawings of the Swabian artist Hans Baldung, sometimes called Baldung Grein or Grün. But the actual adjustment of the armaments is somewhat lightly passed over, as is also the description of the great precautions taken to catch an unhorsed knight before he reached the ground. This office, which required great agility and presence of mind, was performed by the Grieswartel, and it was upon them that the combatant depended for his escape from serious injury. It was a most dangerous moment for the knight, and the greatest attention was paid to the construction of the lining and padding of the helm, in order to protect at least the most important part of the human body, the head, from contact with the ground. As can be seen, the shape of the tilting helmet was adapted to this purpose. It was so large that neither the neck nor any part of the head touched it on the inside. On the head itself was worn a cap made of thick cloth lined with ordinary linen, and stuffed with tow. This, when put on, was again secured to the helmet with leather laces and straps, in fact[extra. removed P2], with the aiglettes. Of these padded caps, only some half-dozen original specimens are in existence, which as far as we know are all in the Imperial Collection, Vienna, whither they were brought from Castle Ambras. A description of one of the padded caps given by the late Herr Wendelin Boeheim is accurate and most interesting. Although the caps varied a little at different times and places, they were yet in the main similar. Herr Boeheim states that this head-pad consisted of a close-fitting, thick cloth cap, covering the head and the neck as far as the breast-bone, with a small opening for the eyes and nose. To the upper and lower edges of this opening were attached narrow leathern straps, the ends of which, of equal length, were left hanging free. On four, or sometimes only on three, parts of the crown, and on the sides, leathern straps were sewn, also