Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 2).djvu/263

 CHAPTER XVI

In the earlier chapters of this work (chaps. ii and iii, vol. i) we discussed at some length the shield of the knight, and described in some detail the fine example which hangs over the tomb of Edward the Black Prince in the Cathedral church of Canterbury (vol. i, Fig. 188). We now propose to resume our account and to trace the history of this important defence from the end of the XIVth century onwards. Up to the period we have covered, the spade or "heater"-shaped shield, to employ the name given it by English antiquaries, had, after its development from the Norman kite, remained in favour for nigh upon two hundred years; but with the advent of the XVth century old forms were improved upon and new ones invented. In the Abbey Church of Westminster the visitor is shown the shield of Edward, together with the sword of state (Fig. 707). But the question presents itself, is the shield of that monarch's time? Or is it a shield of a type one is accustomed to associate with the last quarter of the XVth century? We understand indeed that little is known about either the sword or shield in question beyond the fact that they have been in the Abbey Church many hundreds of years. We give illustrations of the back and front views of the shield (Fig. 586, a, b). This relic is now in a dilapidated condition, a circumstance which, though lending it an air of great antiquity, rather hinders us in our endeavour to investigate its supposed provenance; indeed, to-day there remains of it but an almost bare rectangular wooden foundation slightly convex with a semicircular base. It is composed of five lengths of some close-grained tough white wood, joined at the back by three thin iron bands; while at some early date three plates of thin iron have been clamped around its much-broken base. Around the whole of the exterior border of the shield at 1-1/4 inch from the edge is a deep, incised groove; while a patch of metal and strips of canvas have been plastered over the face of the shield by way of restoration. Travellers, and we should imagine many Westminster boys, have been careless enough to record their names upon the face of this poor