Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 2).djvu/334

 The next development that can be noticed in the evolution of counter guards is the placing of the half hoop at the base of either quillon so as to form what is known in the XVIth century as the pas-d'âne, a development to which we have already alluded. It is commonly supposed that the term pas-d'âne originated in the resemblance which these two semicircular guards beneath the quillon bear to the footprints made by a donkey's hoof. Littré, however, considers that the name was given to these two bars because they bear a likeness to an instrument known as a pas-d'âne, which was inserted into the mouth of a horse to keep it open for examination. In their very early form we see these guards on the little Italian sword in Mr. Godfrey Williams' collection at St. Donat's Castle (Fig. 671). This sword, which we place within the last quarter of the XVth century, has the straight quillon with its simplest double pas-d'âne. This form of sword hilt is constantly seen in Italian late XVth century paintings: for instance, many of the soldiers portrayed in Vittore Carpaccio's famous series of paintings, the Life of St. Ursula, now in the Accademia of Venice, are represented wearing such swords. The very beautiful weapon (Fig. 672) in the armoury of Madrid (G 13), known as the battle sword of Ferdinand the Catholic, and reckoned an admirable example of the closing years of the XVth century, shows another combination of the drooping quillon and pas-d'âne; here the hilt is of gilded and engraved iron, decorated with ornamentation much in the manner of that of the superb Venetian sword illustrated in Fig. 660. Another sword, with a hilt of the same formation, though apparently a few years earlier in date, is to be seen in the collection of Signor Osma. It was formerly in the collection of Conde de Valencia (Fig. 673). Around both faces of the pommels are these octosyllabic verses in Lombardic letters: [sic]  ("Peace with me I never see, and my desire is always war").

Towards the close of the XVth century the knuckle guard makes its first appearance as an additional guard, without which the hilt of no sword of subsequent date seems quite complete. In the fine portraits of the Giorgione and Titian schools, the "town" swords of the nobles represented are nearly always furnished with the knuckle guard; indeed, having now acquired pommel, knuckle guard, quillons, pas-d'âne, and counter guards, which naturally varied in degree according to the special use the sword was intended for, this particular kind of sword hilt was never altered in general construction after 1490. Among some of the earliest hilts showing the