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  A HANDBOOK

  OF

  PICTORIAL HISTORY.

  SOME OTHER
  HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY
  PUBLICATIONS.

  +HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS.+
  In Four Sets. By H. W. Donald.
  Price, each set, +1/6+

  +HISTORY TEACHING
  BY BIOGRAPHIES.+
  In Two Volumes. By Alice Eve, B.A.
  Price, each, net, +3+/-; post free, +3/4½+

  +“BRITANNIC”
  HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY.+
  In Two Parts. Price, each, net, +5+d.

  Details of the above will be found
  on pages at back of this book.

  A

  Handbook

  of

  PICTORIAL
  HISTORY

  Containing 680 Illustrations from Original &
  Contemporary Sources treating upon Architecture,
  Arms and Armour, Antiquities, Costumes,
  Customs, Shipping, Heraldry, The Church, etc.
  with Notes and Descriptive Articles on These
  Subjects for the use of Students & Teachers.

  Written and Illustrated
  _by_
  HENRY W. DONALD

  _Compiler of the Britannic Historical Geography &
  the Suggestions Historical Drawing Cards etc._

  LONDON:
  Charles and Son, Ltd.
  10, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, E.C.4.
  AND GLASGOW.

  Made and printed in Great Britain.

PREFACE.

It has been felt that in the study of English History, to the
ordinary student and teacher, there are great difficulties in the
way of consulting the numerous standard and other excellent works,
on the subjects dealt with in this volume. Many have not sufficient
leisure, and many are unable to make use of the facilities for study
and research offered by our great national and provincial libraries
and museums. And, to most, the prohibitive cost of a representative
collection of these standard works is an effectual bar to the
acquisition of a personal collection.

An acquaintance with these subjects is necessary to an intelligent
appreciation of the life history and development of our nation, and
of the conditions of life of our ancestors, and this work has been
undertaken for students and teachers with regard to these matters, with
the hope that, by its means, the path of study will be illuminated, and
the interest shown in the study of history correspondingly increased.

Too often, in the past, has history been taught as a series of dry
lessons on facts and dates, and although in late years there has been
a great improvement in this respect, to many the living facts around
us, as bearing on our history, in our churches, our historic buildings,
our museums, and our national collections, are still disregarded. What
eloquent tongues they have, and yet, on what deaf ears do their voices
fall!

Mr. Fairholt, in his well-known work on “Costume in England,” says:
“A knowledge of costume is, in some degree, inseparable from a right
knowledge of history. We can scarcely read its events without, in some
measure, picturing in the mind’s eye the appearance of the actors.”

What is true of costume, which includes, of course, civil, military,
and ecclesiastical costume, is equally true of architecture and other
matters associated with the daily lives of our forefathers.

How they lived and died, how they worked, how they dressed, how and
where they worshipped God, and the influences brought to bear upon them
by the Church, must be realized as factors in the development of the
nation.

It is hoped that this work may prove useful to the student, to the
pupils in our schools and colleges, and to teachers who have not been
able to make a special study of these things.

Several plans of arranging the subject-matter have suggested
themselves, and the writer has thought--though it is open, of course,
to criticism--that the work would be most usefully and most easily
consulted by arranging it under the heads of our historic periods.
It will be readily understood that this is merely an arbitrary
arrangement, and that there must be overlapping at times. The aim
has been to make each section as complete as possible in the given
space, and yet to avoid tedious details. To experts the food may seem
very light, but it is to the average student and teacher, to whom the
subjects are new, that the work must appeal.

Every effort has been made to secure accuracy and truthfulness, both in
the matter and in the six hundred and eighty drawings which illustrate
it.

Very many works have been consulted, and, as _all the illustrations
are from authentic and contemporary sources_, it is hoped that the
usefulness of the work will be very considerable.

The writer wishes to express his great obligation to the following
writers and books, whom he has laid under contribution:--

  Greenwell’s _British Barrows_,
  Dawkin’s _Early Man in Britain_,
  Evans’s _Ancient Stone Implements of Great Britain_,
  Strutt’s _Horda_,
  Grose’s _Military Antiquities_,
  Wallis Budge’s _Roman Antiquities at Chesters_,
  Jewitt’s _Ceramic Art of Great Britain_,
  Fairholt’s _Costume in England_,
  Mrs. Ashdown’s _British Costume during Nineteen Centuries_,
  Planche’s _Cyclopædia of Costume and History of British Costume_,
  Cutt’s _Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages_,
  Barnard’s _Companion to English History, Middle Ages_,
  Traill’s _Social England_,
  Green’s _Short History_ (Illustrated Edition),
  Parker’s various works on _Gothic Architecture_,
  Rickman’s _Gothic Architecture_,
  Boutell’s _Monumental Brasses of England_,
  Suffling’s _English Church Brasses_,
  Macklin’s _Brasses of England_,
  Ashdown’s _British and Foreign Arms and Armour_,
  Hewitt’s _Ancient Armour and Weapons in Europe_,
  Boutell’s _Arms and Armour_,
  Fox-Davies’s _Complete Guide to Heraldry_,
  Boutell’s _English Heraldry_,
  Bloom’s _English Seals_,
  Abbot Gasquet’s _English Monastic Life_,
  Commander Robinson’s _British Fleet_,
  Oman’s _History of the Art of War_,
  Fowkes’s _Bayeux Tapestry_,
  Gardiner’s _History of England_,
  The _Journals of the British Archæological Association_, and of
    various County Associations.

The writer, too, wishes to thank the Library Committee of the City
of London Corporation for permission to make drawings of objects in
the Guildhall Museum, and Mrs. Ashdown for permission to make use of
illustrations in her “British Costume.”

  HENRY W. DONALD.

CONTENTS.

                                                           PAGE

  THE STONE AGE. (Plate 1)                                    7

  THE BRONZE AGE. (Plate 2)                                   9

  PREHISTORIC POTTERY AND FUNERAL CUSTOMS. (Plate 3)         11

  THE ROMAN WALL. (Plate 4)                                  13

  ROMAN POTTERY, ETC. (Plate 5)                              17

  ROMAN ANTIQUITIES FOUND IN LONDON. (Plate 6)               19

  ROMAN ARCHITECTURE IN BRITAIN. (Plate 7)                   21

  ROMAN ARMS, ETC. (Plate 8)                                 23

  SAXON WEAPONS. (Plate 9)                                   25

  SAXON COSTUME, A.D. 460-A.D. 1066. (Plates 10-11)          27

  ANGLO-SAXON ARCHITECTURE. (Plate 12)                       31

  SAXON CUSTOMS. (Plate 13)                                  33

  SAXON FARMING. (Plate 14)                                  35

  SAXON ANTIQUITIES. (Plate 15)                              37

  DANISH VESSELS, ETC. (Plate 16)                            39

  NORMAN COSTUMES. (Plate 17)                                41

  NORMAN ARMS AND ARMOUR. (Plate 18)                         43

  THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY. (Plate 19)                            46

  EARLY NORMAN ARCHITECTURE. (Plate 20)                      51

  LATER NORMAN ARCHITECTURE. (Plate 21)                      53

  NORMAN CASTLES. (Plate 22)                                 55

  NORMAN SEALS AND COINS. (Plate 23)                         59

  THE JOUST AND THE TOURNAMENT. (Plate 24)                   61

  ENGLISH ARCHERS. (Plate 25)                                63

  EARLY CANNON. (Plate 26)                                   67

  A FIFTEENTH CENTURY SHIP. (Plate 27)                       71

  BRASSES. (Plate 28)                                        73

  HERALDRY. (Plate 29)                                       78

  THE TUDOR NAVY. (Plate 30)                                 83

  PLANTAGENET COSTUME. (Plates 31-32)                        86

  MAIL ARMOUR. (Plate 33)                                    93

  EARLY ENGLISH ARCHITECTURE. (Plates 34-35)                 98

  MIXED MAIL AND PLATE ARMOUR. (Plate 36)                   103

  LANCASTRIAN AND YORKIST PERIODS.

    Male Costumes. (Plate 37)                               107

    Female Costumes. (Plate 38)                             113

    Plate Armour. (Plate 39)                                115

    Decorated Architecture. (Plates 40-41)                  119

  TUDOR PERIOD.

    Male Costumes. (Plate 42)                               126

    Female Costumes. (Plate 43)                             131

    Plate Armour. (Plate 44)                                136

    Perpendicular Architecture. (Plates 45-46)              141

  STUART PERIOD (TO WILLIAM III.).

    Male Costumes. (Plate 47)                               144

    Female Costumes. (Plates 48-49)                         151

    Arms and Armour.--To end of Charles II. (Plate 50)       155

  ANNE, GEORGE I. AND GEORGE II.

    Male Costumes. (Plate 51)                               159

    Female Costumes. (Plate 52)                             163

  GEORGE III.

    Male Costumes. (Plate 53)                               165

    Female Costumes. (Plate 54)                             168

  THE MONASTIC ORDERS. (Plate 55)                           173

  GENERAL PLAN OF A MONASTERY. (Plate 56)                   174

  THE FRIARS AND CANONS. (Plate 57)                         177

  MILITARY MONASTIC ORDERS. (Plate 58)                      181

  ECCLESIASTICAL COSTUMES AND VESTMENTS. (Plate 59)         185

  PILGRIMS. (Plate 60)                                      189

THE STONE AGE.

_The Flint Weapons of Prehistoric Man in Britain._

When Britain was joined to the continent of Europe (at the time
when the mammoth lived), it was inhabited by the _Palæolithic_ or
_Ancient Stone men_. They were ignorant of the use of metals, and used
implements of bone and of rudely chipped stone and flint, which they
did not know how to fasten to handles. These implements and weapons, of
a different type from those of later periods, are found in the river
beds of drifts, and these early people are spoken of as the “Drift men.”

Cave-dwelling Palæolithic men succeeded these. Their weapons were still
very rude, but they made handles and fixed them to the flints, so
forming arrows, lances or javelins, and axes.

These were followed by a race called _Neolithic_ men, or men of the
_New Stone Age_. Their stone implements were better shaped, more highly
finished, were often ground smooth, and even polished. They also made
a rude kind of pottery. These men were, doubtless, of the race called
_Iberians_.

[Illustration: PLATE 1.

  (Fig. 1): Flint hand-hammer or axe found in Gray’s Inn Lane.
  This was the earliest form, roughly chipped into shape, with
  unsharpened edges. (Figs. 2 and 3): A dagger in the British
  Museum (front and side views). The dagger is one of the
  commonest weapons of the Stone Age, being simple in form and
  easy of construction. (Fig. 4): A javelin head; a simple,
  elongated splinter of flint, shaped to a small stem, which
  was inserted in the end of a shaft and fastened by means of
  ligaments. (Figs. 5 and 6): A stone celt (pronounced selt)
  or axe of the simplest form. This is ground, probably by the
  use of sand and water into a regular and sharp edge. (Fig.
  7): A flint flake, probably used as a scraper. (Fig. 8): A
  stemmed arrow-head. (Fig. 9): A barbed arrow-head (a later
  development). (Fig. 10): A lozenge-shaped arrow-head. (Fig.
  11): A polished stone axe, fixed in a stag’s horn socket.
  (Fig. 12): A perforated hammer found at Scarborough. (Figs.
  13 and 14): A perforated axe (two views) found in Yorkshire.
  (Both Figs. 12 and 13 show a very high degree of skill in the
  shaping of the form, in the drilling, and in general finish.)
  (Fig. 15): A polished celt fixed in its original handle, found
  in Cumberland. (Fig. 16): A flint chisel-shaped tool. (Fig.
  17): A flint borer, used for making holes in wood, bone, or
  stone, found in the Yorkshire Wolds.]

THE BRONZE AGE.

The Iberians were succeeded by the Celts, who conquered, and probably
intermarried with, the former.

They had a knowledge of the use of metals, and employed copper first
for the manufacture of their weapons and tools. Then they learned that,
by mixing tin with copper, a harder metal was obtained, which we call
bronze, and this period is, consequently, called the _Bronze Age_. The
early bronze weapons were of the same form as the flint weapons, for
probably the latter were used as “patterns” for forming the mould.
Later, in the case of the celt, flanges were formed at the side, and,
finally, a socketed celt was made, showing a considerable skill in its
manufacture. “The knowledge of bronze must have affected the warfare of
the time in the same way as the introduction of gunpowder affected the
warfare of the Middle Ages.” It has been estimated that the Bronze Age
commenced in Britain about 1500 B.C.

[Illustration: PLATE 2.

  (Fig. 1): A bronze spear head--Later Celtic--in the British
  Museum. It is probable that the flint spear-head continued in
  use into the Bronze Age, and that the spear-head with a socket
  was not invented until socketed celts were made. (Fig. 2): An
  ornamental bronze celt or axe found in Suffolk. The simpler
  form of the celt has been improved upon by the addition of
  flanges. (Figs. 3 and 4) show how they were probably fixed in
  handles. (Fig. 5): A bronze knife dagger found in the Isle of
  Wight (British Museum). (Fig. 6): A bronze arrow-head. (Fig.
  7): A bronze socketed celt. (Fig. 8): The same, with the
  probable method of fastening to a handle. (Fig. 9): A bronze
  cauldron found in Ireland. (Fig. 10): A late Celtic Helmet,
  ornamented and showing generally in its structure a very
  advanced skill in manufacture; found in the Thames; now in
  the British Museum. (Fig. 11): A bronze dagger in the British
  Museum. (Fig. 12): A bronze spear-head (elongated form), found
  at Stanwick in Yorkshire; now in the British Museum. Both the
  spear heads in Figs. 1 and 12 tend towards a leaf form. (Fig.
  13): A bronze sword, narrow and leaf-shaped, in the Guildhall
  Museum, London; showing rivet holes. The sword of the Bronze
  Age is remarkable for the beauty of its form. The average
  length of the blade was about two feet, the handle being made
  of horn or wood, split and rivetted on either, side. The sword
  was probably encased in a scabbard of leather, wood or bronze.]

PREHISTORIC POTTERY AND FUNERAL CUSTOMS.

Neolithic men (of the Later Stone Age) buried their dead in the caves
which they had used for dwellings, or in stone chambers, probably
representing the huts in which they lived. Each of these was used as
a vault, common to the family or tribe, for they are found containing
skeletons of all ages. The dead were buried in the tomb as they died,
in a contracted or crouching position, laid upon their sides, probably
due to their sleeping in that position, and not at full length on a
bed. Implements of various kinds, arrow heads, celts and pottery, were
frequently placed in the tombs, and were probably intended for the use
of the dead. The tombs were then covered with stones and earth, forming
mounds (also known as barrows and tumuli), which were usually long and
oval in plan.

Domestic animals were slaughtered, and a feast was made after the
interment in honour of the dead.

In the Bronze Age, there was a striking change in the custom of
burial, probably the sign of the introduction of a new faith. The
dead were burned on a funeral pile, and with them were burned their
belongings--the various articles and implements of daily use--and the
burnt remains were gathered up with the calcined bones and ashes and
placed in an urn. Sometimes this urn was placed upright, and at other
times it was inverted over the ashes.

As in former times, a mound was carefully raised, covering the urn and
its contents, and the memory of the dead was preserved by periodic
feasts, after each of which earth or stone was added to the top of the
mound, each feast being represented by a layer of the broken and burnt
bones of the animals consumed. These barrows of the Bronze Age were
generally circular in plan.

Cremation did not, however, altogether abolish the older practice
of burying. It is evident that both customs were carried on
simultaneously. Hundreds of these mounds have been carefully opened at
various times and the contents investigated, and, in almost every case,
earthen-ware vessels of various forms and sizes have been found. It is
entirely to these grave mounds that we are indebted for the examples of
prehistoric pottery that are preserved in our museums.

There are four classes of pottery of these early times:--

    1. Sepulchral or Cinerary Urns, which have been made for,
    and have contained or been inverted over, calcined human
    bones.

    2. Drinking Cups, which are supposed to have contained some
    liquid to be placed in the grave.

    3. Food vessels (so called), which are supposed to have
    contained an offering of food, and which are more usually
    found with unburnt bodies than along with interments by
    cremation.

    4. Immolation Urns (or Incense Cups), very small vessels
    found only with burnt bones, and usually containing bones
    and ashes also, placed in the mouths of, or close by, the
    larger cinerary urns. It has been suggested that these were
    simply small urns, intended to receive the ashes of the
    infant, perhaps sacrificed at the death of its mother. They
    are also known as incense cups, and are supposed by some to
    have been used to carry the sacred fire with which to light
    the funeral pile, or as censers in the funeral ceremonies.

These vessels differ much in size and ornamentation, and in the quality
of the clay from which they are formed.

In the examination of barrows, the spot where the funeral pyre has been
made can often be detected by the burnt soil there. It is considered
probable that, while the body was burning, the clay urn was placed on
the funeral fire and then baked.

“Drinking Cups” are usually burnt much harder than the other vessels.

Most of the vessels are decorated in a rude fashion with lines or
figures, probably drawn by a pointed instrument or comb whilst the clay
was soft.

They were made by hand, and are often very uneven and crudely formed.

[Illustration: PLATE 3.

  (Fig. 1): Food vessel of the prevailing type, ornamented with
  dots and lines, forming saw-like patterns around it. (From
  Greenwell’s _British Barrows_.) (Fig. 2): Immolation urn or
  incense cup, covered with a pattern. (British Museum.) (Fig.
  3): Food vessel of a rather uncommon type, of good form and
  elaborately ornamented. (From Greenwell’s _British Barrows_.)
  (Fig. 4): A large drinking cup, the outer surface being
  almost covered with ornament, formed by the point of a sharp
  instrument (found in a barrow at East Kennet). (Fig. 5):
  Drinking cup, found in a barrow near Goodmanham, ornamented
  with patterns formed with lines. (From Greenwell’s _British
  Barrows_.)]

THE ROMAN WALL.

Much difference of opinion has been expressed between archæologists
as to who built the Roman Wall, it being severally attributed to both
Hadrian and Severus. A recent writer of authority says: “No one really
knows who built the Roman Wall, and the evidence now available is, in
the present writer’s opinion, wholly insufficient to enable us to
decide the difficult problem.... A commonsense and probable view is
that Hadrian caused the vallum (earthen rampart), which may have been
there before his time, to be supplemented by walls and forts, built of
stone, in such extremely exposed and commanding positions as we find
at or near Borcovicus (Homesteads), and that, about 86 years after the
Emperor left Britain, Severus ordered these to be repaired, and the
whole of the Roman fortifications to be built of stone, and the wall to
be carried across from sea to sea.” It stretches from Wallsend, near
Newcastle, to Carlisle. A section of its general structure is shown in
Pl. 7, Fig. 11. It was very strong, and consisted of a ditch on the
north side, about 15 ft. deep, and then a broad stone wall about 18 ft.
high and 8 ft. thick. South of the ditch was a broad road, and next to
that a rampart or earthen wall. In some parts, however, there were two
roads made, parallel to one another.

At fairly regular intervals along the wall were fortified military
“stations,” variously computed at from 18 to 23 in number.

Between them, at intervals of about a mile, were rectangular towers,
called “mile castles,” and smaller towers or “turrets” were placed
about four to the mile between these.

The _Stations_ were small, rectangular towns, the inhabitants of
which lived probably under martial law. They varied in extent from
one to six acres, were always strongly fortified with walls six to
nine feet thick, surrounded by a ditch. Each Station had, at least,
four gateways, one on each side, and its area was crossed by two main
streets, which bisected each other at right angles.

The larger Stations were provided with a _Forum_, serving as a
marketplace and a place for public assembly; a _Pretorium_, or
residence for the Commandant; baths, barracks, and numerous smaller
dwellings for the minor officials and others.

The _Mile Castles_ were rectangular in form, and measured about sixty
feet by fifty feet. The Wall formed the northern wall of the Castle,
and each had two gates, north and south.

The _Turrets_ were also rectangular, but much smaller than the Mile
Castles, measuring about twelve feet by ten feet, and had walls nearly
three feet thick. They served the purpose of look-out towers.

The Wall required a garrison of from 10,000 to 12,000 soldiers to man
it, and these were of many nationalities, being drawn from different
parts of the Roman Empire. Borcovicus, one of the Stations, was
garrisoned for about 200 years by a cohort of 1,000 Tungrian (German)
Infantry. Other cohorts consisted of Astures (Spaniards), Batavians
(Dutch), Gauls, Dalmatians, Moors, and Thracians.

It must be remembered that the soldiers themselves built the Wall and
the various structures on it, and kept the masonry in repair, as the
numerous inscribed wall tablets testify (Figs. 1 and 2).

After the Romans left Britain, the Wall was used for many centuries
as a convenient quarry, with ready-prepared stones, by neighbouring
landowners and farmers, and many farmhouses, walls and outhouses in the
vicinity of the Wall are built entirely of stones from it.

During excavations on the sites of the Stations, many Roman
remains--altars, ornaments, coins, utensils, etc.--have been found,
particularly through the public-spirited work carried on by Mr.
Clayton, of Chesters.

[Illustration: PLATE 4.

  (Fig. 1): A wall tablet, sculptured in relief, with the
  figure of a boar, the badge of the 20th Legion. The tablet is
  20 in. in length, and was found at Vindolana (Chesterholm).
  (Fig. 2): Another tablet, inscribed with a record of the
  building of a portion of the Wall, 24 paces long, by the
  Thruponian Centuria; from the Wall at Procolitia. (Fig. 3):
  An altar, dedicated to the god Mihr, or Mithras, by Litorius
  Pacatianus, a consular beneficiary, on behalf of himself and
  his family; found in the temple of Mithras, at Borcovicus.
  (Mihr was a form of the Sun-god, who was worshipped in Persia
  in very early times, and about 100 B.C. the worship of this
  deity was adopted by the Romans.) (Fig. 4): Small plan of
  Procolitia (Carranburgh), probably the seventh Station on the
  Wall, from east to west. The northern rampart is formed by
  the Roman Wall. Procolitia was about 143 yards long and 118
  yards wide, measuring about 3½ acres, and was garrisoned by
  the 1st Batavian Cohort (Dutch). (Fig. 5): Plan of Cilurnum
  (Chesters), the sixth Station on the Wall from the east. It
  was 186 yards by 137 yards, and measured about 5½ acres.
  The Roman Wall does not, in this instance, coincide with
  the northern wall of the Station. The walls, surrounded by
  a ditch, are about five feet thick, and the corners are
  rounded off. It was garrisoned by the 2nd Ala of the Asturians
  (Spanish), a famous cavalry regiment. The Stations had usually
  four gates, but Cilurnum has six.]

ROMAN POTTERY, Etc.

(_In the Guildhall Museum, London._)

“After the Roman occupation of Britain, glass and pottery were made
here in large quantities, so that the importation of glass, which was
carried on at first, ceased to be necessary.”

_Samian ware_, which was a red glazed ware, was used ordinarily
throughout the western half of the Roman Empire. It was manufactured
first in Etruria, but afterwards its manufacture was imitated in Gaul.
Very little of the genuine Samian ware from Etruria found its way into
Britain, but the Gaulish Samian ware was imported in large quantities,
and was used throughout the province.

The finer specimens are decorated with design in low relief, of a
pictorial character, and the ware was of very good quality, for, 1,500
years after its manufacture, it preserves its colours and its lustre
perfectly.

_Castor ware_, a native product, was made at Castor (Durobrivae),
near the River Nen, and includes small vases of rusty copper or slate
colour, with white ornament in low relief. “Castor ware is not Roman in
character, but rather a local survival of late Celtic art.”

[Illustration: PLATE 5.

  (Fig. 1): A Roman tablet of wood. This was covered with a thin
  coating of wax, upon which the writing was done with a stylus
  of metal or bone. When the inscription was no longer needed, a
  hot iron was held over the surface, and a new surface formed
  on the wax. (Fig. 2): A Roman stylus of iron. (Fig. 3): A
  Roman amphora. (Fig. 4): An ornamented vase of Cologne ware.
  (Fig. 5): A bowl of Cologne ware. (Fig. 6): An ewer or water
  bottle, with indented mouth. (Fig. 7): A deep bowl of Roman
  pottery. (Fig. 8): A cinerary urn of grey ware for containing
  the ashes of the dead. (Fig. 9): A decorated urn of Cologne
  ware. (Fig. 10): A vase of Castor ware, red, with black glazed
  neck ornaments, decorated with pinkish-white slip. (Fig. 11):
  A Roman glass hemispherical bowl. (Fig. 12): A drinking cup of
  thick Samian ware, 3¾ in. high.]

ROMAN ANTIQUITIES FOUND IN LONDON.

(_Guildhall Museum._)

The Roman influence in Britain was directed to the civilizing of
the inhabitants. It gave the people better conditions of life; it
guaranteed protection against the tyrannies of petty chieftains; and
it gave to them the resources of Roman civilisation. The Roman remains
that are to be found in our museums, unearthed after centuries of
oblivion, show how definite was the influence of the Romans in the
comforts and necessities of daily life.

“Keys and steelyards, roofing tiles and hairpins, glass bottles and
spoons, statues and bells, represent wants and comforts strange to
the ‘savage and shivering Britons,’ dressed in skins, whom earlier
writers knew.” The manufacture of glass, chiefly beads, was carried on
at Glastonbury in Roman times, but most of the glass found is Roman
in character. The large green jars which were used for containing the
ashes of the dead were generally made here, but the best specimens came
probably from Gaul, where the manufacture of glass was carried on to a
considerable extent.

[Illustration: PLATE 6.

  (Fig. 1): A square bottle of green glass, found in a grave
  with cinerary urns. (Fig. 2): An unguentarium, or bottle for
  unguents, perfumes and other toilet requisites, of Roman
  glass. (Fig. 3): A Roman lamp of earthen-ware. The wick was
  inserted in the spout, and the central hole was for the
  purpose of feeding the lamp. (Fig. 4): Another Roman lamp,
  viewed from above. (Fig. 5): A Roman pole-axe, with expanded
  blade, oval shaft-hole, and pointed projection behind, 9 in.
  long. (Figs. 6 and 7): Two forms of Roman keys of bronze.
  (Fig. 8): A Roman shoe or buskin, with ten large holes stamped
  out on each side. (Fig. 9): An axe with crescent-shaped blade
  and tang for handle. (Fig. 10): A Roman spoon of copper (5 in.
  long). (Fig. 11): A Roman steelyard of bronze, with hooks and
  rings. (Fig. 12): A sacrificial knife (7¼ in. long). (Fig.
  13): A Roman iron knife with ornamented bone handle.]

ROMAN ARCHITECTURE IN BRITAIN.

Roman architecture in Britain, judging from the remains of buildings,
was generally of an inferior description, for Britain was a remote and
half-civilised province, and little attention appears to have been paid
to make the buildings very ornate.

There are two principal varieties of masonry employed in their
construction.

The first, which is very characteristic, consists of layers of
irregularly shaped stones and flat tiles embedded in mortar, generally
arranged in alternate layers of tiles and stones in mortar, forming a
kind of concrete (Pl. 7, Fig. 3). The Mint wall at Lincoln, the Jewry
wall at Leicester, and the walls at Richborough and Colchester are
built in this manner.

The other variety consists of walls formed of regular courses, with
wide joints of outer facings of square stones or ashlars, the interior
spaces being filled with a rubble embedded in mortar. The blocks, which
were of hewn sandstone, were about 8 in. by 10 in. on the face, and as
much as 22 in. long in the bed. The whole rests on a course of larger
foundation stones (Pl. 7, Figs. 1 and 2).

Roman mortar may generally be distinguished by the fact that it was
mixed with powdered brick, and it is extremely hard. It is often easier
to break the tile or stone than the mortar, and this hardness arises
largely from the fact that the Romans always burnt the lime on the
spot, and used it hot and fresh, for on the freshness of the lime the
strength of the mortar largely depends. The walls of Burgh Castle,
Suffolk, and Richborough, Kent, are among the most perfect Roman walls
in England.

There are vestiges of Roman towns and villas throughout the country,
but they consist of foundations only. The upper story of these Roman
houses was usually of wood, and all the innumerable Roman towns
and villas of which foundations have been discovered bear marks
of destruction by violence, fire having been usually the agent of
destruction.

[Illustration: PLATE 7.

  (Fig. 1): Section of Roman masonry, showing the outer facing
  of regularly shaped stones and the interior of rubble and
  mortar. (Fig. 2): View of outside of wall. (Fig. 3): Roman
  arch at Colchester Castle, Hampshire, showing alternate layers
  of tiles or flat bricks and stones. (Figs. 4, 5 and 6):
  Fragments of Roman ornamental mouldings built in at Hexham.
  Roman building material is often used again in other buildings
  near the site of the Roman Station, as at Colchester Castle
  (Essex), St. Martin’s Church, Canterbury, and St. Alban’s
  Abbey (Herts.). (Fig. 7): Basement of Station on the Roman
  Wall. (Fig. 8): Arch of Roman gate at Lincoln. It was the
  north gate of the Roman city of Lindum, and still forms the
  principal entrance into the city from the north. There was
  a smaller arch on either side, but only the one on the east
  remains. It appears to have been without ornament of any
  kind. (Fig. 9): A stone capital, probably from the portico
  of a temple, found at Cilurnum (Chesters). It is elaborately
  sculptured with acanthus, is 17 inches in height, with a
  diameter, at its widest part, of 18 inches. (Fig. 10): A
  portion of the Roman Wall passing over a hill. The Roman Wall
  consistently passed in a straight direction over the country,
  and only swerved from a straight line to take, in the route,
  the boldest elevations. (Fig. 11): Section of the Wall in
  Northumberland. (_a_) Ditch of the Wall; (_b_) the stone wall;
  (_c_) the military way; (_d_) the ditch of the vallum; (_e_)
  the vallum (of earth).]

ROMAN ARMS, Etc.

[Illustration: PLATE 8.

  (Fig. 1): A Roman galley (from Pompeii). (Fig. 2): A Roman
  Eagle. This was mounted on a pole and carried before the
  Legion. The soldiers rallied round it and fought for its
  honour. It corresponded with the regimental flags of our
  time. (Fig. 3): A Roman sword. This was remarkable for the
  shortness of its blade. It was suspended from a shoulder
  belt passing over the left shoulder, so that the sword
  hung on the _right_ side, a custom which was possible on
  account of the shortness of the blade. The length was about
  twenty-two inches. The blade was straight, of uniform width,
  double-edged, and cut at the end in an obtuse angle to form
  the point. (Fig. 4): A short sword or sword dagger. (Fig. 5):
  Scabbard of the same. (Fig. 6): A Roman Centurion, with an
  oval shield, such as was generally carried by horse soldiers.
  The body was protected by a metal cuirass formed of back and
  breast plates, strapped together at the sides, and fastened by
  broad belts passing over the shoulders. At the lower part of
  the cuirass were two bands of leather, one showing underneath
  the other, the edges of both being tagged or scalloped.
  Below this double border there was a kind of leather skirt,
  reaching nearly to the knee. A military cloak or mantle was
  picturesquely draped over the shoulder. Metal greaves covered
  the shins, and sandals, which were often highly ornamented,
  covered the feet. (Fig. 7): A Roman laminated cuirass worn
  by the heavily armed troops. It consisted of lames or plates
  of steel encircling the body, with curved lames passing over
  the shoulders, and several lames hanging vertically over the
  lower part of the trunk. They were sewn or rivetted to a
  tightly-fitting leather garment. (Figs. 8, 9 and 10): Roman
  helmets, all fitted with neck pieces to guard the neck--Figs.
  8 and 9 with cheek pieces, hinged and fastening beneath the
  chin. (Fig. 11): Another form of shield, differing entirely
  from that in Fig. 6. “It is elongated and convex oblong,
  somewhat resembling a hollow watercourse tile.” It was carried
  by the legionaries, and was about 2 ft. 6 in. long. It was
  strengthened, at the top and bottom only, or all round, with
  additional bands of metal. With this form of shield, the
  well-known testudo or tortoise formation was made. (Fig. 12):
  A Roman sandal of leather.]

SAXON WEAPONS.

The Saxon arms were the spear, the axe, the sword, the dagger, the
long-bow, and the arrow.

The defensive armour consisted of helmet, shield, and byrnie.

The _Spear_ was the chief weapon of the Saxons. It was of two forms:
(1) 9 or 10 ft. long, for use against cavalry or as a cavalry weapon,
and (2) about 6 ft. long, for use as a javelin or throwing spear. When
the latter was used, it was generally carried in pairs.

The spear, or, rather, the spear-head is always found in Saxon graves,
as it was buried with its owner. The shaft was generally of ash.

The _Axe_ was a very characteristic weapon of the Saxon and kindred
races, but it is very seldom found in graves. There were several forms,
particularly a long, tapering blade (Fig. 6) and a broader blade (Fig.
7).

Sometimes the axe-head was mounted on a short handle, and at other
times on a long shaft, to form a pole-axe, as shown in the Bayeux
tapestry.

The _Sword_ was essentially the cavalry weapon, and was the weapon of
the upper classes, no person below the rank of Thane carrying it.

The earliest swords which have been found have no quillon or cross
guard. The sword was usually about 3 ft. long, the blade being 30 in.
long and about 2 in. wide near the hilt. It was double-edged, and
tapered slightly towards the point. It usually had a wooden scabbard,
and was often ornamented with gold and precious stones on the hilt.

The _dagger_ or knife was a very general weapon, and has been found
in many graves. It varies considerably in size. The soldier probably
carved his food with the same weapon with which he stabbed his enemy.

The _long-bow_ was not in general use among the Saxons. Our knowledge
of it, and of arrows also, is mainly from MSS. It is a disputed point
whether the English used the bow at Hastings, for only one archer is
depicted on the English side.

For defensive purposes, the soldier wore a _helmet_ of metal, or of
leather strengthened with metal bands and rims, and he carried a
_shield_. The latter was of wood, and was circular or oval in form. The
centre was formed of metal, and was called a _boss_ or _umbo_. As the
shield was buried with a warrior, many umbos have been found in the
graves, the wooden portion of the shield having decayed.

In early Saxon times, a protective garment called a _byrnie_ was worn
by the leaders. It may have been mailed or quilted and padded. In later
times, when the nation was in a more prosperous condition, the use of
this garment probably became much more general. At the time of the
Norman conquest, there was very little difference in arms and equipment
between the Normans and Saxons, on account of the intercourse between
the two Courts.

[Illustration: PLATE 9.

  (Fig. 1): A Saxon spear-head, 10½ in. long, with a socket
  for the shaft, found in Southwark. (Guildhall Museum, London.)
  (Fig. 2, 3 and 4): Saxon spear-heads, from MSS. The lateral
  projections from the shaft were probably guards, to prevent
  the shaft being severed by a sword cut. (Fig. 5): A spear-head
  of different form. (Fig. 6): A Saxon taper axe-head, 3½
  in. wide and 6½ in. deep, found in the Thames. (Guildhall
  Museum, London.) (Fig. 7): Another and broader form of
  axe-head. (Fig. 8): A Saxon sword from an 8th century MS.
  (Figs. 9 and 10): Sword handles, found in Cambridgeshire.
  (Fig. 11): Umbo of Saxon shield. (Fig. 12): Saxon dagger or
  knife, with ornamental wooden handle. (Figs. 13, 14 and 15):
  Saxon arrow-heads. (Figs. 16 and 17): Saxon helmets. (Fig.
  18): Saxon bow, from a MS.]

SAXON COSTUME, A.D. 460-A.D. 1066.

The main sources from which we obtain our knowledge of Saxon Costume
are the illuminated MSS. remaining to us. The earliest MS. we have was
written A.D. 720, about 200 years after the Saxon Conquest. Of this
long period we have no reliable record.

We know, however, that on their first appearance in Britain, they were
not so advanced in civilisation as the inhabitants, who had gained a
considerable advantage, in this respect, from the Roman occupation.
The only reliable source from which information can be gained of this
period is in the tumuli or graves. In these have been found weapons and
many personal ornaments of a rich character.

_Saxon Male Costume._

A kind of shirt, reaching to the knee, worn next to the skin, was the
universal, and, in the case of the humblest, the only garment, and it
was always made of linen. Over this was worn a _tunica_, which was
generally short, but, in the case of persons of high rank, it was worn
longer. It fitted closely around the neck, and was cut open in front,
being also often open at the sides from the hips to the hem. Sleeves
were worn to this garment, and for many years were worn rucked upon
the fore-arm in a very peculiar manner, probably so that the sleeves
could be drawn down over the hands in cold weather. The hem was often
decorated with embroidered work.

A short cloak, or mantle, was generally worn over the tunica, fastened
by a fibula or brooch upon the right shoulder or in the centre of the
chest. In the case of a person of high degree, a larger cloak was also
wrapped around the figure.

The head was generally uncovered, except in time of war. The hair was
worn long, reaching down to the shoulders, parted carefully in the
centre, and tucked behind the ears. When the head was covered, a cap of
the Phrygian shape (Fig. 8) was worn. Persons of distinction, like the
members of the Witan, wore a sugar-loaf shaped cap.

The beard was worn either round or long and flowing. In the latter
case, it was divided in the centre like a fork, and was called the
“bifid” beard.

The breeches were tight to the leg, and sometimes wide at the bottom,
reaching to the middle of the thigh.

Stockings were worn, either long enough to join the breeches or short,
reaching nearly to the knee. The rustic frequently wore no stockings.

Civilians often bound strips of coloured cloth, and soldiers
strips of leather, around their stockings, forming what is called
_cross-gartering_.

Their shoes were generally low, and had an opening up the instep.

_Female Costume._

The female costume was also very simple, and consisted of a long,
tight-sleeved garment, the _gunna_ or gown, reaching to the feet, with
a tunic over this, reaching to the knees. The tunica was girdled at the
waist, and had wide sleeves extending to the elbow.

A wide mantle, a characteristic feature of the costume of both men and
women, covered the upper part of the body, and a head-rail or hood
consisting of a piece of material adjusted over the head, was always
worn.

When making a journey, a large travelling cloak was also worn.

No illustration shows the complete arrangement of the hair, but, as the
women of Continental nations at this period wore it in long plaits, we
may conclude that the same fashion was followed here; but the hair was
always covered. A kirtle was also probably worn, corresponding in form
to the garment now known as a “princess petticoat.”

_Military Costume._

There was but little difference between the civil and military costume
of the men. In MSS., soldiers are often represented with no other
weapon than a shield or spear, or an axe or a bow with arrows, and
attired in ordinary costume. Occasionally, one is represented wearing
a kind of cuirass formed of scales, made of overlapping slices of horn
sewn upon coarse linen.

During the reigns of Edward the Confessor and Harold II., owing to
the constant intercourse between the English and the Norman Courts,
the English adopted many of the customs and much of the costume of
the Normans, so that, among the upper and military classes, at any
rate, when William of Normandy invaded England, the members of the two
opposing armies were armed and attired in a very similar manner.

[Illustration: PLATE 10.

  (Fig. 1): A Saxon rustic, wearing only a solitary garment,
  with a pointed cap which has a comb, and shoes. (Cott. MS.,
  Claudius B. iv.) (Fig. 2): A Saxon lady, attired in (1) the
  gunna, (2) the tunica, (3) the mantle, (4) the head-rail.
  (Harl. MS., 2,908.) (Fig. 3): A Saxon, dressed in (1) the
  tunica, (2) the mantle, (3) breeches, with cross-gartered
  stockings, and shoes, and (4) a banded Phrygian cap. (After
  Mrs. Ashdown.) (Fig. 4): Saxon, showing the bifid beard and
  the arrangement of the hair. (Cott. MS., Claudius B. iv.)
  (Fig. 5): An English Freeman, wearing a tunica, with short
  stockings and shoes, and armed with sword, spear, helmet,
  and shield. (From a MS.) (Fig. 6): A Saxon soldier, wearing
  a tunica covered with a mantle, stockings, and shoes, with
  spurs. (Note the manner in which the mantle is fastened on
  the right shoulder.) He is armed with a spear, and has his
  head covered with a conical helmet. As is pointed out above,
  the military costume did not differ from the civil costume,
  except as regards the helmet and the arms. (Figs. 7 to 12):
  Saxon head-dresses. (Fig. 7): A form of the square helmet.
  (Fig. 8): A Phrygian-shaped cap of leather, bound with metal;
  the bifid beard is also shown again. (Fig. 9): Another form of
  the square helmet, with a kind of crest or comb. (Fig. 10):
  A pointed helmet of simple form. (Fig. 11): A pointed hat
  serrated along the back like a cock’s comb. (Fig. 12): The
  commonest form of helmet, a conical cap with a rim, probably
  of metal. (The other form of beard is shown in this figure.)
  (Figs. 13, 14 and 15): Saxon shoes, from MSS. (Figs. 16 and
  17): Saxon crowns, from MSS.]

[Illustration: PLATE 11.

  (Fig. 1): A Saxon monarch represented as seated on a throne,
  wearing a square crown, and holding a sceptre in his right
  hand. He is attired in a richly embroidered tunica and a
  mantle of ample proportions, gathered up with a brooch on
  the left shoulder. His stockings are cross-gartered and
  ornamented at the knees and in the lozenges formed by the
  gartering. (Cott. MS., Tiberius Cvi.) (Fig. 2): A fiddler,
  wearing the tunica, long stockings and shoes. (MS., Tib. Cvi.)
  (Fig. 3): A gleeman or juggler, attired similarly to the
  fiddler. (From the same MS.) (Fig. 4): A husbandman, engaged
  in digging. (From MS., after Strutt.) (Fig. 5): A blacksmith,
  working at the anvil. (From MS., after Strutt.) (Fig. 6):
  A Saxon king, with a bifid beard, on the seat of judgment,
  crowned and attired in a tunica, covered with a short mantle,
  which is fastened in the centre of the chest by a brooch of
  rectangular form. (Fig. 7): A Saxon noble, with long hair and
  a bifid beard, holding a sword of characteristic Saxon form.
  He is wearing an ornamented tunica reaching to the ankles,
  and over it a voluminous mantle. His head is covered with a
  conical helmet. The rucking of the sleeve on the fore-arm is
  plainly shown. (Figs. 6 and 7 from a MS., after Strutt.) (Fig.
  8): A Saxon horn-blower, attired similarly to the fiddler
  and gleeman (Figs. 2 and 3), from the same MS. (Fig. 9): A
  carpenter at work with an axe. (From a MS., after Strutt.)
  (Note.--In Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9, all the heads are bare.)
  (Figs. 10 to 14): Saxon personal ornaments, buckle, rings,
  etc., found in tumuli.]

ANGLO-SAXON ARCHITECTURE.

Buildings erected from about 500 A.D. to 1050 A.D. are called
Anglo-Saxon, or simply Saxon, in their style.

The Romans built in stone and brick, but the English, when they
conquered Britain, razed the Roman buildings to the ground, and built
their own structures of wood.

It is interesting to note that the Saxon word for “build” was
“getimbrian,” to construct of wood.

From the middle of the 5th century, for nearly 700 years, until
the time when the Norman Castle arose, well-nigh every building of
architectural merit was in some way or other connected with the Church.

The English were essentially workers in wood, and profoundly ignorant
of masonry. The churches that sprang up all over England after the
conversion of the country to Christianity were, no doubt, of wood, and
even in the 9th and 10th centuries we hear of “the worm-eaten walls of
cathedrals.”

They were decorated internally with paintings in various bright
colours, and the ornamentation was of metal work, bronze or the
precious metals.

Before the end of the 7th century, stone churches were built at York,
Ripon and Hexham, the latter being largely built of materials from the
Roman Wall, which passes within a short distance of the place, and
Roman inscribed slabs have been used in forming the roof of the crypt.

Bede tells us that Benedict crossed the sea to Gaul, and carried back
with him masons to build churches of stone, “after the manner of the
Romans that he loved,” at Monkwearmouth and Jarrow, about 680 A.D. Each
of these churches contains portions which are, without doubt, from
their rude construction, parts of the original fabrics of Benedict.
Anglo-Saxon stone churches were small, rectangular or cruciform in
shape, and without aisles.

A lofty tower, without buttresses, stands at the west end, or at the
intersection of the nave and transepts. The walls were usually of
rubble or small stones, of very irregular shape, covered with “rough
cast” or plaster. The kind of masonry termed “herring-bone” is often
used, and Roman bricks, taken from the ruins of earlier buildings, seem
to have been freely used.

It is probable that the sides of the towers terminated in acutely
pointed gables, from which the roof is carried up, as at Sompting
Church, in Sussex.

The towers were without staircases, the different storeys being reached
by means of ladders.

The old church at Bradford, in Wiltshire, is one of the most perfect
specimens of the Anglo-Saxon class. It is probably the small, original
church of the Abbey, built by Adhelm, in the 8th century (A.D. 705).

It is constructed of Bath stone, and it is considered, on account of
the fineness of the building, that there may have been a certain amount
of later restoration.

In the 9th century, many churches were destroyed by the Danes, and
Canute rebuilt many churches which his father and his followers had
destroyed. But, for a period before the year 1000 A.D., the building
of churches stopped on account of the expected millenium. After that
date, when the hopes and fears of the people had proved groundless, the
building of churches commenced again with renewed vigour.

[Illustration: PLATE 12.

  (Fig. 1): The Anglo-Saxon tower of Earl’s Barton Church,
  Northants. At the angles, there are “quoins,” or
  corner-stones, formed of long stones set upright, alternately
  with others laid horizontally, and technically known as
  “long and short work.” The surface of the walls is also
  divided up by “pilaster strips,” which are an imitation in
  stone of wooden construction, and are evidently intended
  to bind together the rude masonry of the walls. It is “the
  design of a carpenter executed by a mason.” The parapet is
  comparatively recent in construction. (Fig. 2): Tower arch of
  Anglo-Saxon character at Barnack, Northants. Barnack was one
  of the places where the old church was burnt by the Danes, in
  their raid through that part of the country, and rebuilt by
  order of Canute after the settlement of the Danes. The impost
  mouldings (_b_) appear to have been suggested by a pile of
  boards overlapping. (Fig. 3): An enlargement of the belfry
  window (_a_, Fig. 1). Double windows are usually round-headed
  or triangular-headed. The lights or single windows are not
  separated by a stone moulding, but by a kind of shaft or
  “baluster,” set in the middle of the wall, and supporting the
  impost. (Fig. 4): Belfry window in the tower of Deerhurst
  Church (1050 A.D.). The windows are triangular-headed, the
  head being formed of two straight stones placed obliquely,
  and meeting at a point. (Fig. 5): A window at Caversfield,
  Bucks, with small opening and very wide “splay.” This window
  is splayed, or widened out, both outside and inside, the
  window itself being set in the middle of the wall, so that the
  wicker-work or oiled parchment, that did duty as a glass, was
  protected from the weather. (Fig. 6): Section of Anglo-Saxon
  wall, which consisted of two rows of fairly regular stones,
  the intervening space being filled with irregularly shaped
  stones, embedded in mortar, the latter comprising nearly half
  the substance of the wall. The layer of stones in the interior
  of the building was generally plastered over. (Fig. 7): An
  Anglo-Saxon triangular-headed doorway. (Figs. 8, 9 and 10):
  Different forms of Anglo-Saxon balusters.]

SAXON CUSTOMS.

At meal-times the company sat down in the hall, the master, mistress,
and honoured guests taking their places at a “high” table placed on a
dais at the upper end of the apartment. Dinner was generally served
either at noon or at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

The walls were decorated with coloured and embroidered curtains, for
English ladies and their maidens were famed for their skill with the
needle in embroidery and decorative needlework. The tables consisted of
boards laid upon trestles, which could be easily removed when, the meal
being over, the ladies retired to the bower and the men settled down to
drinking.

Sometimes the tables were bare, at other times covered with a
table-cloth. Some MSS. show a circular table arranged for the meal.
On the table appear the round cakes which served the Saxons as bread,
also dishes containing meat, fish, and other food. A few spoons and
razor-shaped knives, and drinking vessels of varying sizes and shapes,
were also placed upon the table.

While the meal was in progress, wandering minstrels played on their
instruments and sang; jugglers and conjurers delighted their patrons
with feats of balancing and sleight-of-hand; while others danced and
postured, or exhibited the feats of dancing bears and other animals
that they led about.

[Illustration: PLATE 13.

  (Fig. 1): A dinner party standing at a long table. (After
  Strutt.) MS., Claud. B. v. (Fig. 2): A dinner party seated
  around a circular table with embroidered curtains behind them,
  and serving men waiting upon them. (After Strutt.) Cott. MS.
  Tiberius Cvi. (Fig. 3): A Saxon bed. (After Strutt.) MS.,
  Claud. B. iv. An apartment called the bower or bur was used
  chiefly by the women and children for sleeping and dwelling
  in. Sometimes there were recesses in the wall, covered by
  curtains, and in these the beds were placed. The bed furniture
  consisted of bolster, pillows, coverlets, and sheets, and, as
  far as can be gathered from the MSS., the sheets were wrapped
  about the naked body. (Fig. 4): A dancing girl with musicians.
  (After Strutt.) Cott. MS., Cleopatra C. viii. In MSS., women
  are represented almost invariably with the head covered by a
  hood or head-veil even when they have retired to rest (Fig.
  3), and we may assume that it was considered disgraceful for
  a woman to appear in public with the head bare. When women
  are represented with the head uncovered they are people
  whose calling was considered more or less of a questionable
  character, as dancers, strolling players, etc. (Fig. 5):
  A labourer threshing corn with a flail. (From a MS. after
  Strutt.)]

SAXON FARMING.

Both these figures are taken from an Old English calendar of the
eleventh century (after Strutt). Cott. MS., Julius A. vi.

This calendar is arranged as in a modern almanack, with a page to each
month and a line to each day. At the foot of each page there is a
drawing, typical of the work carried on during that month.

[Illustration: Plate 14.

  (Fig. 1): _January_. This month was called by the English,
  when heathen, “Wolf-monath,” because the wolves were most
  troublesome at this period of the year. When the English
  became Christians it was called “Aefter-Yule,” i.e.,
  After-Christmas. Here there is a ploughing scene. Four oxen
  yoked together in couples are drawing a plough of a very
  solid-looking type. (In those days horses were not employed
  in farm work.) A farm-hand, bare-headed, bare-footed, and
  wearing only a single garment, is goading the oxen with a
  sharp-pointed ox-goad, similar to a long spear in appearance.
  A man in superior attire is guiding the plough, while another
  is scattering seed as the plough passes. A good representation
  of the plough of that period is shown here. (Fig. 2):
  _August_. This month was called by the English “Arn-moneth”
  or “Barn-moneth,” i.e., “harvest-month.” This drawing gives
  a representation of a farm wagon of good construction, and
  of the costumes of the workers, who appear to be of at least
  two grades--some bare-footed, wearing a single garment,
  while others have better-cut garments, and wear shoes and
  stockings in addition. At the head of a party is a man with
  a spear in his right hand, blowing a horn, who may be either
  superintending the work or may be the “advance guard” of a
  hunting party entering the field. The implements, sickles, and
  forks appear to be very similar to those in use at the present
  time.]

SAXON ANTIQUITIES.

[Illustration: Plate 15.

  (Fig. 1): A long Saxon drinking glass, ornamented with raised
  and decorated ribbons of glass. The bottom is rounded, so that
  when filled with liquid it had to be emptied at one draught.
  (British Museum.) (Fig. 2): Another form of Saxon drinking
  vessel. (British Museum.) (Fig. 3): Old English bronze vessel
  found in a barrow at Taplow, in Bucks, in 1883, now in the
  British Museum. (Fig. 4): A silver spoon (Anglo-Saxon) found
  at Sevington, in Wiltshire, in 1834. (British Museum.)
  (Fig. 5): Great Seal of Edward the Confessor. The King is
  represented crowned and seated upon the throne, bearing the
  sceptre in his right hand and the orb in his left. Edward here
  calls himself “By the Grace of God, King of the English,”
  using the Greek and not the Latin term. (Figs. 6 and 7): A
  silver penny of Alfred the Great, minted at London--(6) the
  obverse bearing Alfred’s portrait and name; (7) the reverse
  with the word “Londini” (as a monogram). (Figs. 8 and 9): A
  silver penny of Edgar the Peaceful--(8) the obverse; (9) the
  reverse. (Figs. 10, 11, and 12): Three views of King Alfred’s
  jewel. This was found near the site of Athelney Abbey,
  Somersetshire, in 1693. Fig. 10, the obverse, is faced with
  an oval plate of crystal, having under it a miniature of a
  man, in enamelled mosaic (probably St. Neot, Alfred’s special
  protector), holding in each hand a fleur-de-lys. Fig. 11, the
  reverse, is a detached plate of gold bearing a fleur-de-lys
  ornament. Fig. 12, the edge, on which is inscribed “AELFRED
  MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN” (Alfred bid me be wrought). The stalk
  end bears a grotesque figure, apparently the head of a sea
  monster. It may have been the head of a stylus or pen, or have
  served as a standard in battle. (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.)
  (Fig. 13): An ornamented fibula or brooch at Goldsborough,
  Yorkshire. (British Museum.) (Fig. 14): An Anglo-Saxon
  comb--St. Cuthbert’s comb, at Durham Cathedral.]

DANISH VESSELS, Etc.

[Illustration: Plate 16.

  (Fig. 1): A Norseman’s boat found in a peat bog at Nydam,
  in South Jutland, in 1863. It is clincher-built of oak, is
  large, open and pointed at both ends, and is designed only for
  rowing, as there is no trace of a mast and no arrangement for
  stepping one. It is 78 ft. between the high points at the stem
  and the stern, and 10 ft. 9 in. broad amidships. It was rowed
  with fourteen pairs of oars, which are like those still used
  in the North, and are 11 ft. 2 in. long. The rudder is narrow,
  and was fastened to one side of the boat near the stern end.
  During the latter part of the heathen times, boats were drawn
  up on land for the winter or when they were not wanted for
  some time. This boat has holes at the ends for the ropes by
  which it was hauled up on land. (Montelius’ “Civilization
  of Sweden.”) (Fig. 2): A Danish vessel reconstructed from
  a representation of a Danish ship from the MS. of Caedmon
  Bodl. Junius ii., c. A.D. 1000. It is steered, like the one
  in Fig. 1, by a rudder fastened near the stern of the ship
  on the side still called the starboard or steer-board. (Fig.
  3): Noah’s Ark. Another drawing from the same MS. The Ark is
  represented in the form of a Danish ship, showing the dragon’s
  head at the bows and the stern. It is interesting, also, as it
  illustrates the fact that when the old illuminators wanted to
  represent any circumstance--Biblical or classical--pictorially,
  they made use of the material they saw around them, copying
  the buildings, the ships, the persons, and the costumes of
  their own time, so that MSS. form very reliable contemporary
  evidence of these things. (Fig. 4): A Danish sword found
  in the River Withalm, very similar in general design and
  construction to the Saxon sword illustrated on Plate 9. (Fig.
  5): A Jutish or Danish shield, made of wood with a bronze rim
  and a boss or umbo of bronze in the centre, of the period
  before A.D. 450, found in Jutland.]

NORMAN CUSTOMS.

The ordinary costumes of people in early Norman times differed little
from that of the Saxons.

At first the Norman warriors were clean-shaven, but after settling in
England the courtiers gave way to a love of finery. They wore long,
embroidered garments with long white sleeves, and they allowed their
hair and beards to grow long so that they incurred the reproach of the
clergy, who called them “filthy goats.”

The Norman ladies also changed from the simplicity of their costume to
a great extravagance of shape and material. The gowns were very ample,
and were sometimes worn with a kind of train.

The general garments of the men were the tunic, the super-tunic, and
the mantle.

The upper classes wore a garment next to the skin, under the tunic,
called the _just-au-corps_; but amongst the lower classes the tunic
was worn next to the skin. The _Tunic_ was made of linen or cloth, had
short sleeves, and reached at first to the knees, but later to the
ground. Over this was worn a _super-tunic_ corresponding to the Saxon
tunica, with tight sleeves, reaching to the wrist, and subject to the
same modification as the tunic.

The _mantle_ was similar to the Saxon mantle, but was fuller. In later
Norman times it was made of the finest cloth, and was lined with rich
furs. There were several forms of cap, as illustrated in the plate. The
lower limbs were covered with a kind of trousers called _chausses_. The
shoes in early Norman times were quite plain, but later they were very
elaborate, coloured, and had pointed toes.

The costume of Norman ladies consisted of a robe, a mantle, and a
couvre-chef.

The _robe_ was worn with long sleeves, and in later times with long
pendulous strips at the wrists, often of such a length that they had to
be tied into knots to keep them from trailing on the ground. The skirt
of the robe was long, full, and hung in folds on the ground.

The _mantle_ was worn over the robe, and the head was covered, as in
Saxon times, with a head-veil, which was now called the _couvre-chef_.

The hair was worn plaited into two long tails. From illustrations in
MSS. it is seen that the costumes of the lower classes during Norman
times were similar to those worn during the three preceding centuries.

[Illustration: PLATE 17.

  (Fig. 1): The figure of Queen Matilda, wife of Henry I. The
  sculptured effigies of these two sovereigns are the earliest
  of those of English sovereigns in existence, and are at
  Rochester Cathedral. They are mutilated, but still show
  clearly the details of royal costume. In the figure of Matilda
  the hair is plaited into two tails. She wears a long robe
  girded at the waist and having long sleeves. Over this she
  wears a long mantle. (Fig. 2): Costume of a young man of the
  middle classes. (Representing David with a sling in Cott.
  MS., Nero C4.) He wears a long tunic reaching to the ankles,
  having a collar, long cuffs extending nearly to the elbow,
  and an embroidered border along the bottom. He also wears
  tight-fitting chausses, and the lower parts of his legs are
  covered either with high boots or with leg bandages. (Fig.
  3): Costume of an older man. (From the same MS., representing
  Noah with an axe about to build the Ark.) He wears a Phrygian
  hat with a band around it, a long, full tunic with hanging
  sleeves, and a green mantle bordered with gold thrown over
  it. He appears to be wearing stockings reaching to the knees,
  and his shoes are ornamented with diagonal lines crossing
  each other. He has long hair and a moustache and beard. This
  is considered to be a good example of the ordinary costume
  of the time. (Figs. 4 and 5): Examples of a covering for
  the lower part of the leg. (From the same MS.) (Fig. 4): A
  swathing for the leg worn by shepherds, similar in appearance
  to the hay bands of the modern carter. (Fig 5): Shows a leg of
  the breeches ornamented with diagonal stripes ending at the
  ankle, where there is a band or garter. No shoes are worn, as
  frequently appears to have been the case when persons were on
  a journey. (Fig. 6): A sock or half-boot ornamented around
  the top. (Fig. 7): A Norman shoe with stocking. (Fig. 8): A
  shoe of later Norman times, decorated with bands and coloured.
  (Fig. 9): Pointed military shoe from a seal. (Figs. 10, 11,
  12, 13): The four commonest forms of head-dress in use. (Fig.
  13): Shows that called the cowl. (Fig. 14): Figure of a Norman
  lady showing the robe with long sleeves, the mantle, and the
  couvre-chef.]

NORMAN ARMS AND ARMOUR.

The military costumes of the early Normans and the Saxons were very
similar on account of the intercourse between the Courts of England and
Normandy at the time immediately preceding the Conquest, and much of
our knowledge of Norman military costume is obtained from the Bayeux
Tapestry. The arms in use among the Normans were the sword (which only
soldiers of superior rank were allowed to carry), the axe, the lance or
spear, the mace, and the bow and arrows. The _sword_ was, as might be
expected, of the same type as the Danish or Norse sword--straight, long,
and double-edged, with a slight taper to the acute point. The scabbard
was worn on the left side, and was suspended by a cord or strap around
the waist. The _axe_ was of various forms, as may be seen from the
plate. The _lance_ or spear was generally similar to that used by the
Saxons, but had a pennon with several points. Sometimes several lances
were carried, and were probably thrown as javelins.

The _mace_ is depicted several times in the Bayeux Tapestry.

The _bow_ and _arrows_ played an important part in the Battle of
Hastings, and were of the form used by the Saxons.

The defensive armour consisted of the helmet, the hauberk, and the
shield.

The _helmet_ was generally conical in shape, with a nasal or nose-piece
of iron to guard the forehead and nose against a horizontal stroke.
The nasal was fixed or movable. Sometimes there was a peak behind the
helmet to protect the neck. The nasal was generally discarded about
1140.

The _hauberk_, or military tunic, was a garment in one piece, fitting
almost tightly to the person and reaching to the knees, with sleeves
reaching to the elbow. Occasionally it appears to have ended in
close-fitting trousers at the knee. The hauberk was of quilted and
padded material or of leather, covered with metal rings or plates
or studs of metal and leather, and formed a very effective body
armour. The plated or mailed tunic of William I. and his followers
was superseded early in the twelfth century by a defensive hauberk,
covered, as before, with various straps and plates of metal, or more
generally formed of interwoven ring or chain mail. The legs and feet
were enveloped in simple bandages or fillets bound around them.

The _shield_ completed the defensive equipment, and was generally long,
rounded or oval at the top, with a pointed base, so that the shape
resembled that of a kite. Many of them were decorated (according to the
Bayeux Tapestry).

[Illustration: PLATE 18.

  (Figs. 1 and 2): The ordinary costumes of Norman soldiers.
  Each is clothed in a military hauberk, which fitted the
  body very closely, and was probably slit a little before
  and behind. In the case of these two the hauberk ends in
  close-fitting trousers to the knee. The heads are protected
  by conical helmets with nasal pieces, fitting over hoods of
  mail. In Fig. 1 the warrior is armed with a sword, an axe,
  and a spear. The shield is of the kite shape. The hauberk is
  covered with ringed mail, and the sleeves reach to the wrist.
  In Fig. 2 the sleeves reach to the elbow only, and are covered
  with rings, but the body is covered with what is known as
  “trellised” armour, formed of strips of leather fastened on a
  body of quilted cloth and crossing each other diagonally, with
  knobs of steel fastened in the angular spaces as an additional
  protection. He holds in his hand a _gonfanon_ or lance with a
  small flag--carried only by the leaders of the army. (Fig. 3):
  A Norman sword. (From the Bayeux Tapestry.) (Fig. 4): Two
  Norman soldiers, each carrying a decorated shield and spear,
  one being armed with a sword. Each wears a flat-topped helmet,
  one only being fitted with a “nasal.” The shield of the
  right-hand one is curved to the form of the body. The hauberks
  of mail are shown, and also the tunics worn under them
  reaching nearly to the knee. (Figs. 5 and 6): Norman axes.
  (From the Bayeux Tapestry.) (Fig. 7): A Norman archer. (From
  the Bayeux Tapestry.) Dressed in a close-fitting vest with
  narrow sleeves, and full breeches, gathered apparently above
  and below the knee, and ornamented with large red spots. He
  carries a quiver of arrows slung over his back. Other archers
  are represented in the Tapestry fully dressed in ringed mail.
  (Fig. 8): The head of a mounted soldier. (From the Bayeux
  Tapestry.) A peculiar custom existed among the Normans at the
  Conquest of shaving the back of the head as well as the face.
  When spies sent by Harold reconnoitred the Norman camp, they
  saw the Normans with shaven heads, and they returned with
  the news that “the Duke had far more priests than knights
  or other troops.” (Fig. 9): Guy, Count of Ponthieu. (From
  the Bayeux Tapestry.) He is armed with an axe, and wears a
  hauberk of scale armour. These scales were either of iron,
  bronze, or _cuir bouilli_. (The latter was leather which had
  been softened by boiling in oil and stamped or moulded into
  a definite form while in that condition. When it was dry it
  became very hard and tough.) He also wears a mantle gathered
  on the right shoulder, but has no head covering.]

THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY.

The Bayeux Tapestry is a valuable picture of the manners and costumes
of the Normans and the English about the time of the Norman Conquest.
It is traditionally recorded to have been worked by Queen Matilda
(the wife of William the Conqueror) and the ladies of her Court, to
commemorate the invasion and conquest of England by her husband.

There is no evidence to prove this, and consequently there is much
doubt about it; but it is held on the best authority that though the
Tapestry is a _contemporary_ work, Queen Matilda had no part in its
manufacture, since it was probably ordered for his cathedral by Bishop
Odo (the half-brother of William I.), and made by Norman workers at
Bayeux.

It is preserved in the Hotel-de-Ville at Bayeux, and consists of a long
band of linen about 231 ft. long and 20 in. wide.

It is divided into 72 scenes or compartments, separated from one
another by trees or buildings, worked in the material in a conventional
manner. On it are represented 623 people, 202 horses and mules, 55
dogs, 505 other animals, 37 buildings, 41 ships and boats, and 49
trees, making a total of 1,512 objects. It has always been known
as “tapestry,” but it is really an enormous piece of woolwork or
embroidery, yet it has been known so long by the previous name that it
will probably continue to bear it.

No attempt has been made to depict the figures in their natural
colours, for we find horses coloured yellow, red, blue, and green, and
perspective has been totally disregarded. But “if the drawing be rude,
the composition is bold and spirited, and is always rendered with great
truth of expression, which is, at times, exaggerated.”

The narrow border which runs along both the top and the bottom of
the Tapestry (Pl. 19, Fig. 3) is for the greater part not connected
with the thread of the story, and is decorated with animals, real and
fabulous, and scenes of husbandry and the chase; but in some parts it
contains allegorical allusions to the scenes depicted.

Over most of the scenes are worked Latin inscriptions in Roman capitals
about an inch high, explaining the pictures. The reasons for supposing
that, although not made by Matilda, it is nevertheless contemporary
work, are:

    (1) The accurate representation of the civil and military
    costumes of the eleventh century.

    (2) The attempt to represent Edward the Confessor and
    William I. as they appeared on their seals.

    (3) Certain words used in it suggest an English origin, but
    admit of the explanation that the dialect spoken in Bayeux
    was a mixture of Saxon and Norman.

    (4) The prominence given to Odo and to less-known persons.

    (5) The introduction of the local form of wine barrel and
    certain dialectic peculiarities of the district.

The Bayeux Tapestry is not mentioned in any historical document until
1476, when it appears among an inventory of the ornaments of the
Cathedral of Bayeux.

In 1522 its safety was threatened by the Calvinists who pillaged the
cathedral, but it was restored to the authorities and was used to
decorate the nave on festive occasions.

It remained forgotten till 1724, when, a drawing having been made of it
by an antiquarian, public interest was aroused in it, both in France
and in our own country.

In order to preserve it, it was lined and strengthened, for it was used
to decorate the nave for eight days at the time of St. John’s Day. It
has passed through many vicissitudes, and once or twice it was nearly
destroyed, but a number of the leading inhabitants of Bayeux formed
themselves into a committee to protect it.

Napoleon I. went to see it, and was much impressed by it when it was
exhibited in Paris. It was afterwards returned to Bayeux, where it was
visited by Mr. Charles Stothard, a clever and accurate young artist,
and at the request of the Society of Antiquaries of London he made
drawings of it, the work occupying him for two years.

In 1842 the Municipal Council of Bayeux provided a permanent resting
place for the Tapestry in the Hotel de Ville, where it is still
exhibited under glass, and where it has been visited by artists and
archæologists from every part of the world. During the Franco-German
war it was taken down, sealed in a zinc cylinder, and hidden away till
all danger was past.

In 1871 permission was given to the English Government to make
a photographic reproduction of the Tapestry, and a copy of this
full-sized reproduction, coloured after the original, is now preserved
at South Kensington.

The Tapestry commences with a picture of Edward the Confessor, and
continues with scenes illustrating Harold’s visit to Normandy;
his capture and appearance before William; his taking the oath of
allegiance to William; his return to England and to Edward the
Confessor; the death of the latter; the crowning of Harold; the
preparations made by William (building ships, assembling soldiers,
collecting food and arms) for the invasion of England; the passage of
the English Channel; the landing at Pevensey; the march to Hastings;
the preparations for the fight; a long and spirited picture of the
battle, illustrating various incidents in it and culminating in the
death of Harold and the flight of the defeated English.

(The writer wishes to express his great obligation for the above to Mr.
Frank R. Fowke’s very complete work on _The Bayeux Tapestry_. Geo. Bell
and Sons.)

[Illustration: PLATE 19.

  The figures illustrate the following scenes:

  (Fig. 1): _Duke William came to Pevensey_. A very clear idea
  is obtained of the general character of a Norman ship and
  the manner in which it is steered by an oar on the starboard
  (steer-board) side, etc. This ship, the _Mora_, bearing
  William, was given him by Matilda, his wife, and bears on
  the stern an effigy of his little son Rufus, blowing a bugle
  and holding a banner. (Fig. 2): _Harold made an oath to Duke
  William_. William is shown seated on a throne while Harold,
  one hand on an altar and the other on a reliquary containing
  the sacred relics, is taking the oath. (Fig. 3): _A scene in
  the Battle of Hastings_. The English Army withstanding the
  charge of the Norman horsemen after receiving a flight of
  Norman arrows. Most of the English are armed with javelins and
  shields, few with axes and swords. One figure is shown using
  the bow, and he is the only one thus armed on the English
  side. It has consequently been asserted by some authorities
  that bows were not used by the English in the battle, but, as
  Mr. Fowke says, “this seems to be hardly correct literally
  ... though ... the use of the bow as a weapon of war in
  our country was then probably rare.” This scene shows the
  whole width of the Tapestry with the two borders, the upper
  containing allegorical figures, and the latter displaying the
  fallen warriors. It may be noted that throughout the picture
  of the battle the arms and accoutrements of both Normans and
  English are similar, probably accounted for by the close
  intimacy that existed between the two countries. (Fig. 4):
  _Here is seated Harold, King of the English; Archbishop
  Stigand_. Harold was crowned in Westminster Abbey on the
  same day that Edward was buried in the same building. He is
  represented seated on the throne, wearing the crown on his
  head and holding the sceptre in his right hand and the orb in
  the left. Stigand, who, the Normans allege, crowned Harold, is
  shown standing at his left side.]

EARLY NORMAN ARCHITECTURE.

Norman, Anglo-Norman, or Romanesque architecture was called by the
former name because it followed the Norman style. It is found in
Normandy itself, in England, in Italy, and Sicily--in fact, wherever the
Northern conquerors established themselves.

Its chief characteristics are solidity and strength--walls of enormous
thickness, huge masses of masonry for piers, windows comparatively
small, and a profusion of peculiar ornaments.

The earliest Norman work in England--as the transepts of Winchester
Cathedral--is almost as plain as Anglo-Saxon; but the Norman churches
are larger and higher than those of the Anglo-Saxon period. They are
generally cruciform in shape, with a square tower over the intersection
of the nave and transepts. The towers are not lofty, but are very
solid, and usually contain windows with two lights. In a number of
instances the choir ends in a semi-circular apse after the Roman style.

Early Norman work was much plainer than that of the later period; the
arch is not recessed, or only once recessed, the edges are square, or
have a plain round moulding cut in them, and the zigzag ornament (Pl.
20, Fig. 14) is used, though not so abundantly as at a later period.
Windows are generally plain, small, and round-headed, and consist of
single lights except in belfry windows. Doors are square-headed under a
round arch. The simplest form is a narrow, round-headed opening with a
plain dripstone. But Norman windows are not met with as frequently as
doors, since they have, in many cases, been destroyed to make room for
those of later styles. In England the Norman style is usually assigned
to the eleventh century, and in the latter half of it the transition to
the Early English style took place. It was introduced into England in
the reign of Edward the Confessor, who was more Norman than English,
and who himself founded the Abbey of Westminster. Some buildings were
of a mixed character (Anglo-Saxon and Norman), some in the old style,
others altogether in the new.

Soon after the Norman Conquest, the Norman Bishops who supplanted
Englishmen in English sees and abbacies in very many instances
commenced to rebuild the cathedrals and churches from their foundations.

The entire English fabric was usually pulled down, and a new building
was erected on a much larger plan and in a better manner. It is chiefly
in remote places, where the inhabitants were too few and too poor
to rebuild and enlarge their churches, that we find remains of the
original Anglo-Saxon work.

Early Norman masonry is very rude, the joints between the stones being
filled with a great thickness of mortar, from one to three inches
thick (this is called “wide-jointed” masonry), and the stonework was
usually rubble. In the later work the joints are comparatively fine
(“fine-jointed” masonry). The Normans were very active builders.
William I. and his son, William II., built one hundred and ninety-five
religious houses during their reigns, and all the cathedrals and great
churches in the eleventh century were rebuilt, while many new ones were
founded; though it is said that of the many churches commenced in the
reigns of these two kings but few were completed until after 1100 A.D.

Gundulph built the Cathedral of Rochester, while certainly St. Albans
and Ely were also commenced in the reign of the Conqueror. In the
earliest work the ornament was not characterised by the same profusion
so common in later work. It was shallow, and cut with the axe, as the
chisel was little used at that time.

[Illustration: PLATE 20.

  (Fig. 1): Pillar with spiral fluting in Waltham Abbey (founded
  by Harold II.) The spiral grooves were originally filled with
  chased and gilt metal. Of the twelve pillars in the Abbey two
  are indented spirally and two with chevrons. The others are
  plain. (Other instances of this work on the pillars may be
  found at Durham, Lindisfarne, and Kirkby Lonsdale). The arches
  are decorated with the indented zigzag ornament. (Fig. 2):
  Flat Norman buttress (Iffley, Oxfordshire). The buttresses
  at first were merely flat, pilaster-like projections, wholly
  devoid of ornament. (Figs. 3 to 8): Norman capitals. These
  were either plain, cubical masses with the lower angles
  rounded off, forming a rude cushion shape (Fig. 3), or they
  have a rude kind of volute cut upon the edges of the angles
  (Fig. 8, from St. John’s Chapel in the White Tower). The
  scalloped capitals (Figs. 6 and 7) belong to a later period.
  This form of capital is most common in all the first half of
  the twelfth century. The capital is the member by which the
  styles are more easily distinguished than by any other. The
  abacus (A, Fig. 4) is square in section. (Figs. 9 to 14):
  Norman mouldings, which were almost endless in variety. They
  were most abundantly used in doorways and other arches and in
  horizontal strips. The most general is the zigzag (Fig. 14).
  (Fig. 9): The star. (Fig. 10): The round billet (a square
  billet is also used). (Fig. 11): The billet and lozenge. (Fig.
  12): The beak-head. (Fig. 13): The bead course. (Fig. 14): The
  zigzag or chevron. (Fig. 15): Early Norman pier, recessed at
  the angles, and square edges, in St. Alban’s Abbey, 1080 A.D.
  (Fig. 16): Norman doorway with recessed pillars and decorated
  head, at St. Mary’s, Shrewsbury. (Fig. 17): Norman chamfer.]

LATER NORMAN ARCHITECTURE.

The Earlier period of Norman architecture may be approximately closed
in 1120 A.D. (fifty-four years after the Battle of Hastings).

In the Later period the chisel took the place of the axe in the cutting
of the ornament. Consequently there is a fineness and a more finished
style of work, which could not be executed with the latter tool.

The Later or rich Norman style is chiefly characterised by the
abundance of the ornament and the deep cutting. Sculpture, which
was sparingly used in the earlier work, was frequently added to it
at a later period, and as the style advanced, greater lightness and
enrichment were introduced.

It is said that through the Crusades men saw the architecture of many
cities, and their return from the wars was marked by a striking change
not only in the masonry, but in the character and feeling of Norman
work. It is said, also, that the ornaments in Later Norman work and
in the Transition period which followed often partook very much of a
Greek, Byzantine, or Oriental character.

St. Bartholomew’s Church, Smithfield, is a good specimen of Norman
work. It was the church of the Augustinian Priory, founded 1123 A.D. by
Rahere, the King’s minstrel.

The rich doorways of this period form one of the most important
features of Later Norman work. They are considered to be the most
beautiful and characteristic specimens which remain to us, and the most
elaborate workmanship was bestowed upon them by the Normans. They are
generally round-headed and very deeply recessed, and frequently have
several small shafts at the sides of the doorway. The tympanum or
semi-circular space above the door within the arch is frequently filled
with rich sculpture (Pl. 21, Fig. 2). The mouldings are richly overlaid
with ornament, which, though of a peculiar and rude character, produces
great richness of effect.

The west door of Rochester Cathedral is a very striking instance of
this.

The windows are, in general, long and rather narrow, round-headed
openings. Many of them were ornamented very richly in the same manner
as the doors with zigzag and other mouldings.

[Illustration: PLATE 21.

  (Fig. 1): Very rich Norman sculpture from Shobdon Church,
  Herefordshire, about 1180 A.D. (Fig. 2): South door, Kilpeck
  Church, Herefordshire, showing the richly ornamented arch,
  the decorated tympanum, and richly sculptured pillars at
  the sides. (Figs. 3 and 4): Ornamented capitals from York
  Minster. (Fig. 5): Ornamented capitals from St. John’s Abbey,
  Chester. (Fig. 6): Capital preserved in the Chapter House of
  Westminster Abbey, carved with the story of the Judgment of
  Solomon. (Fig. 7): Pointed arch with pure Norman mouldings and
  scalloped capitals from Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, 1135-1139
  A.D. It is generally assumed that _all_ Norman arches are
  round, but the pointed arch, taken by itself, is no proof of
  change of style. The semi-circular arch is the characteristic
  form of the Norman arch, but there are a few Early examples in
  which the pointed arch is used, supported by massive piers.
  (Figs. 8 and 9): Bases of Norman columns.]

NORMAN CASTLES.

When Duke William of Normandy invaded England in 1066, the existing
type of fortification called a _burh_ was a moated hillock, either
wholly or partly artificial, surmounted by a timber stockade enclosing
a wooden house or tower. He repaired and enlarged many of the existing
strongholds, and also built many new wooden castles. But in order to
overawe the conquered English he erected in the larger towns square
stone keeps or castles, like the White Tower in the Tower of London.
Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester, the great architect in the reign of
William I., built the latter in 1081 A.D. It is one of the best
examples that we have of Early Norman work, and is a huge quadrangular
structure more than 100 ft. square, built of rudely coursed rubble,
with a vast amount of mortar.

Many of the existing Norman keeps were founded in the reigns of William
I. and William II., but were rebuilt at a later period. These keeps
were usually square or rectangular towers of stone (not having much
height in proportion to the breadth), with small, slightly projecting
square turrets at each angle, and one or more flat buttresses up the
centre of each face, with a dividing wall passing up through the centre
of the building from the ground. (Pl. 22, Fig. 3, B C.)

Comparatively speaking, the windows were generally small, and the walls
exceedingly thick. Those of the White Tower are 15 ft., and of Carlisle
Castle 16 ft. thick. The connecting passages and staircases were
constructed in the thickness of the masonry.

Norwich Castle, for its size, is a perfect type of the square Norman
keep, and Castle Hedingham is another. Many magnificent stone keeps
were built or rebuilt in the reign of Henry I., such as Rochester,
Newark, Corfe, and Chepstow. Henry II. was also a great builder of
keeps, and those of Dover, Canterbury, Scarborough, and Newcastle are
shown by the Pipe Rolls to have been his work.

The solidarity of the keep made it impregnable against the siege
operations of the day. Such a building could not be battered down,
and at best it could only be injured by undermining. This was done
by removing the earth from an angle of the building and gradually
introducing wooden props. A fire was then kindled about them, and as
the props burnt through, the wall fell.

The square keep was followed by the polygonal and the round ones.
Coningsburgh is circular, Berkeley is circular flanked by four
towers, and Oxford is polygonal. The base of the keep was generally
“battered”--_i.e._, sloped outwards (see Fig. 1)--to give a firmer
foundation and also that it might better withstand the operations of
the sapper. Very few of the existing keeps have openings in the lower
storeys, which were used either as _dungeons_ or _store rooms_, and
were only accessible by a trap-door from above. Generally there were
two floors, occasionally three floors above the basement. One of these
floors is assumed to have been the _hall_, and in the larger keeps the
floor above it may have been reserved for the use of the ladies of
the household. In the latter half of the twelfth century small mural
chambers, probably for use as bedrooms, became more frequent.

In many keeps there were _chapels_, but every one contained a _well_,
so that when besieged the occupants would not have to depend on outside
sources for the supply of water. Dover Castle still has a well which is
capable of supplying fresh water, although the keep is on the summit of
a high cliff.

There were no _kitchens_ in Norman keeps, as the cooking was either
done on the roof or in a special building in the yard. Fire-places
were not invariable. In the White Tower, where for a long time it
was supposed that there were no fireplaces, holes in the wall have
been found which probably answered the purpose of chimneys. There
was only _one_ entrance, perhaps some 20 feet above the ground,
sometimes approached by a removable wooden staircase, sometimes by
a fore-building with elaborate precautions for defence. The only
ornamentation to be found is at the entrance doorway, on the staircase,
or in the chapel. The keep soon had _outer defences_ added to
it--ditches, palisades, and outer walls of masonry.

Into the outer defences the cattle and stores from the surrounding
country would be brought, and the dwellings of the soldiers of the
garrison, together with the domestic offices and stables, were erected
within these.

It is more usual to find the keep at one end than in the centre of the
system of walls, and the whole was surrounded by a _moat_.

[Illustration: PLATE 22.

  (Fig. 1): Newcastle Keep, founded in 1080 A.D. The battlements
  are of later date. In this keep there is a large room in
  the thickness of the wall, known as the King’s Chamber, and
  another which is assigned to the Queen. (Fig. 2): Rochester
  Castle, which was probably entirely rebuilt in the twelfth
  century on another site. The parapet or battlements are
  considered to be the original ones. (Fig. 3): Plan of the
  middle floor of the White Tower (Tower of London). A is St.
  John’s Chapel, and the circular stairs are shown in the corner
  towers, D D D. B C is the parting wall running through the
  building. (Fig. 4): A Norman castle. (From Grose’s “Military
  Antiquities.”) Showing the general arrangements of the
  buildings, etc.]

NORMAN SEALS AND COINS.

Seals are held in the highest estimation as reliable _contemporary_
authorities in English heraldry, costume, armour, etc.

The matrix or die was usually of latten or bronze, and in the case
of large seals two dies were used--one for the front, or _obverse_,
the other for the back, or reverse--so that when complete the seal was
similar to a coin or medal.

In the earlier seals pure white beeswax was used as the medium on which
to impress the seal, and at other times this was coloured--green, red,
brown, and nearly black.

There were two types of seals--_Plaqué_ seals, those impressed in
wax direct on the document, and _Pendant_ seals, in which the wax
impression was suspended by cords, or a ribbon, or strip of parchment
from the document. (Figs. 1, 2, 3). Great precautions were taken with
regard to the Royal Seals, or the Great Seals, as they were called.
Seals may be classed as: (_a_) _Lay Seals_--(1) Royal Seal, (2) Personal
Seals, (3) Official Seals, (4) Common Seals of Corporate bodies.
(_b_) _Ecclesiastical Seals_--(1) Official Seals (Bishops, Abbots,
etc.), (2) Corporate Seals (chapters, religious houses, etc.), (3)
Personal Seals.

Many of the Royal Seals are very beautiful. The _Great Seal_, or the
chief Royal Seal, was, and is still, in the keeping of the Chancellor,
who has to keep it in his personal custody wherever he goes.

[Illustration: PLATE 23.

  (Figs. 1, 2, 3): Pendant Seals. (Figs. 4, 5): Obverse and
  reverse of silver penny of Stephen. (Fig. 6): Seal of Anselm.
  (Fig. 7): Reverse of Seal of Henry I. The obverse of Royal
  Seals bears a picture of the King seated on the throne in
  robes of peace, and the reverse the King on horseback armed
  for war. (Figs. 8 and 9): Obverse and reverse of a silver
  penny of William I. At the Conquest there was no change in the
  monetary system of England, and a coinage of silver pennies
  only, continued to be issued of the same character as under
  the Saxon Kings, and the silver penny continued to be the
  only coin until the end of the reign of Henry III. The weight
  was about 21 grains. (Fig. 10): Reverse of the Royal Seal of
  William I. He is represented on horseback, armed in a hauberk
  of leather on which metal rings are sewn. A conical helmet is
  on his head. He carries a typical kite-shaped Norman shield
  on his left arm, and bears a long lance with pennon in his
  right hand. The motto or “legend,” when translated, reads:
  “Know ye this William, Patron of the Normans, and by this seal
  recognise him King of the Angles.”]

THE JOUST AND TOURNAMENT.

It was natural that men whose profession it was to bear arms should
engage in friendly contests with one another, and in this way acquire
skill in arms as well as indulge in a manly pastime. When only two
combatants fought, it was called _jousting_. If a friendly trial of
skill only were intended, the lances were blunt, and if swords were
used it was only with the edge which could not inflict a wound on a
well-armed man. This was the _joute à plaisance_.

If the combatants fought with sharp weapons and put forth all their
skill and force, it was the _joute à l’outrance_.

When a number of knights were engaged on each side, it was called a
_tournament_.

Sometimes this was played with weapons of lath, the players being
arrayed in gorgeous costumes. Sometimes the tournament was a mimic
battle, and was then usually fought between hostile factions. In a
contemporary MS. in the British Museum we have a detailed account of
all the preparations for a contest of arms.

The heralds of the King, noble, or lady who designed to give a joust
travelled to towns, castles, and sometimes from court to court of
foreign countries, clothed in the insignia of their office, and made
public announcements of the event in each place, inviting knights to
come and try their skill against the home champions.

In the MS. there is an account of all the equipment that is required
by a knight for such an occasion: a suit of armour and horse with
trappings, an armourer, with hammer and pincers to fasten the armour,
two servants on horseback in suitable costume, who are his squires, and
six servants on foot, dressed alike.

As the fixed day approaches, the visitors flock from all parts, and
find lodgings in the castle or in the town, or else pitch their tents
in a meadow near the Castle. A suitable piece of ground is selected,
barriers are put around it, and “grand stands” are erected for the
ladies and gentry. On the day, the knights rise up at sunrise and
bathe, and then are carefully armed, by their squires and armourers.

Then they come into the field, with their helms borne before them,
and with servants (squires) carrying their lances. They are announced
by the heralds to the assembled company of “ladyes and gentilwomen.”
Each of the strangers who comes to the field has to satisfy the
officer-at-arms that he is a “gentilman of names and armes,” and to
take oath that he has no secret weapons or unfair advantage.

When this is satisfactorily completed, they put on their helms, and
each of the home champions in turn runs two or more courses with a
stranger knight. A course is successfully run if each breaks his lance
full on the breastplate or helmet of his adversary, but neither is
unhorsed; and they retire amidst the plaudits of the spectators.

If a knight is unhorsed, or lose his stirrup, he is vanquished, and
retires from the game. Following that, there is probably a miniature
tournament between the home champions and the strangers.

At length, when all have run their courses, the knights remove their
helmets before the ladies, make their obeisance, and retire to their
lodgings to change. Then they return, and a lady presents a prize to
the one who is considered the best “juster,” and prizes of less value
to those who have taken the second and third places in the contest,
making a little speech suitable to the occasion. The herald comes
forward and announces: “John hath justed well, Richard hath justed
better, and Thomas hath justed best of all.” A dance completes the
function, in which the champion knight leads off with the lady of the
tournament.

There were two distinct ways in which the jousting took place: (1)
On an open course; (2) with a barrier. In the former, the combatants
usually started from the ends of the lists, and met about the centre.
In the latter, a wooden barrier was erected down the centre of the
lists lengthwise, and, when the signal was given, the combatants
charged, each of them having the barrier on his left. (Fig. 1.) For
these two methods of jousting, different arrangements of armour were
worn; for some, the upper part of the body was armed more than the
lower limbs, and sometimes it was _vice versa_.

[Illustration: PLATE 24.

  (Fig. 1): A joust between Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick,
  and an opponent, each charging on the left of the barrier. The
  Earl of Warwick has his arms displayed upon his tabard, and
  there is also a display of arms on the trappings, or bardings,
  of his horse. This was not the first of the charges, for a
  broken lance lies on the ground. (From the Life of Richard
  Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, written in MS. by a Chantry
  priest of Guy’s Cliff, named Rouse, about 1485.) (Fig. 2):
  The combat on foot after the charge. The Earl of Warwick is
  armed with a lance, and the other knight with a pole-axe.
  Several splintered lances on the ground show that the combat
  has been going on for some time. The Earl of Warwick’s crest,
  “a bear with a ragged staff,” appears on his helmet, while his
  adversary has a single large feather as crest.]

ENGLISH ARCHERS.

In Saxon times, little value was placed upon the bow as a weapon, but,
after the decisive part it played at Hastings, its use was practised
generally.

From early times, archers carried long stakes, sharpened at both ends,
and when they took up their position on the battlefield, they stuck
them into the ground before them, with the points sloping outward, to
break up a cavalry charge which might be made against them. In the 12th
century, English archers became renowned for their skill, and Richard
I. himself used the long-bow on more than one occasion. By the end of
the 13th century, it had come into great prominence. Each archer--in
later times, at least--carried two dozen arrows under his belt, and
archers sometimes carried great movable shields, which they fixed
upright by means of rests, and so sheltered themselves from the enemy’s
bowmen. They also carried swords, so that they could defend themselves,
if attacked, hand to hand.

The great bow, or long-bow, was five feet long, and was formed of yew,
which, at a range of 240 _yards_, discharged a strong arrow, sharp and
barbed. The arrows were usually “a yard or an ell long,” but one, now
in the United Service Museum, recovered from the “Mary Rose,” which
sank in 1545, is six feet long.

The archers always began the battle at a distance, as the artillery do
in modern warfare, to disorganise the enemy before the main bodies came
to actual hand-to-hand fighting. The cross-bow, or arbalest, had been
used in sport for many years, but in the 12th century it came to be
employed in warfare, though its use was forbidden by the Pope as “being
unfit for Christian warfare.” It was driven out of use by the long-bow
in England at the end of the 13th century. In the Continental armies,
it continued to grow in use in preference to the long-bow, so that in
time the long-bow became essentially an English arm. There were several
kinds of cross-bows, which may be classified accordingly as the string
was drawn back (1) by hand, (2) by means of a lever, and (3) by means
of a wheel and ratchet.

The missiles shot from the cross-bow were short and stout, and had
heads of different forms, and were called quarrels or bolts.

There were several reasons why the cross-bow was superseded by the
long-bow: (1) A good bowman could shoot about six arrows while a
cross-bowman was winding up his bow and making one shot. (2) The
penetrative power of the arrow, and the distance which it could travel,
were quite equal to those of the quarrel from the cross-bow. (3)
Long-bowmen, using their bows when held in a vertical plane, could
stand more closely together than cross-bowmen, who had to discharge
their weapons while holding them in a horizontal plane. (4) Greater
skill and strength were required in handling the long-bow with
precision than was the case with the cross-bow; consequently, more
practice was necessary, and more enthusiasm and confidence developed
with the use of the former than with the latter.

Of the archers who took part in the Hundred Years’ War, Boutell says:
“In those days, the archers of England were the best infantry in the
world; but then their famous long-bow acquired its reputation, in no
slight degree, from the fact that, in peace, archery was the favourite
pastime of the English yeomanry.” Crecy, Poitiers, Agincourt--indeed,
most of the great victories gained over the French--mainly resulted from
the unrivalled skill of the English long-bowmen. All our old writers
are agreed upon the vast superiority of our English bowmen over those
of other nations. The Scotch depended on their pikemen and the French
on their men-at-arms.

The English archers were held in high esteem and trust by the English
nobles, and it was the custom for some English barons and distinguished
knights always to join the archers in battle, fighting side by
side with them in their own ranks. On the other hand, the French
nobles were very arrogant, and despised the common people, who were,
consequently, made unfit to become good soldiers.

But the reputation of English archers rose so high that several foreign
princes, in the 15th century, deemed their armies materially reinforced
if they could retain 200 or 300 English archers in their service.

In 1363, and again in 1388, statutes were passed in England calling
upon people to leave their popular amusements of “ball and coits” on
their festivals and Sundays, and to practise archery instead. “Servants
and labourers shall have bows and arrows, and use the same on Sundays
and holidays.” By an ordinance made in the reign of Edward IV., every
Englishman or Irishman dwelling in England was required to have a “bow
of his own height, either of yew, witch-hazel, ash or auburne, or any
other reasonable tree, according to their power.”

Butts were encouraged in every parish, and traces of them still remain
in the names of places, as “Newington Butts.” Henry V., who was very
proud of his English archers, ordered the sheriffs of several counties
to obtain geese feathers for his archers, plucking six from each goose.

The arrows were carried in a quiver, or bound together into a sheaf,
suspended from the waist-belt. When the battle was about to commence,
the archer placed his arrows under his left foot, point outwards, or
stuck them, point downwards, into the ground, or into his girdle. He
was able to discharge his bow twelve times in a single minute, at a
range of 240 yards, and “he, who in these twelve shots once missed his
man, was very lightly esteemed.” In the reign of Edward III., a painted
bow sold for 1s. 6d., a white bow for 1s., and sharp-pointed arrows at
1s. 2d. per sheaf of twenty-four.

As is well-known, at Crecy, and in many other battles, the English
archers shot down or wounded the horses of the French knights so
considerably that, in their pain and terror, the maddened horses upset
the ranks of the cavalry and quite destroyed its efficiency.

At first, archers were not protected by body armour, but in later times
they wore _jazerine_ jackets, consisting of overlapping pieces of
steel, fastened by one edge to a garment of canvas, and then covered
over with velvet or cloth.

A similar defensive garment of the 15th and 16th centuries was the
_brigandine_, a specimen of which may be seen in the Tower of London.
Archers often wore _salades_, or shell helmets, which covered the head
and eyes, and sometimes had movable visors.

[Illustration: PLATE 25.

  (Fig. 1): An English archer of the 15th century, wearing a
  salade with movable visor to protect the head. It will be
  noticed that he has stuck some arrows into his girdle, so
  that they may be “handy” for shooting. See Fig. 8 also, and
  compare with Fig. 7. (From Royal MS., 14 E. iv.) (Fig. 2): An
  English salade. This was worn by archers, and it also formed
  the usual head-piece for soldiers about the time of Henry VI.
  (Wars of the Roses.) (Fig. 3): A Brigandine, from a specimen
  in Warwick Castle. (Figs. 4 and 5): Quarrels, quarells, or
  bolts, for shooting from the cross-bow or arbalest. Fig.
  4 is feathered; Fig. 5 is from the Tower of London. (Fig.
  5a): A bird-bolt, used for shooting birds from a “sporting”
  cross-bow. (Fig. 6): An English arrow of the ordinary form
  during the Middle Ages, showing the sharp projection of the
  barb, which rendered the extraction a difficult and painful
  matter. (Fig. 7): An English archer using the long-bow, and
  cross-bowman winding up his cross-bow. It will be noticed that
  the former is left-handed, as the arrow was usually drawn
  back with the right hand and shot from the right shoulder.
  He has arranged his arrows for shooting by sticking them,
  point downwards, into the ground at his side. Both he and
  the cross-bowman are wearing _jazerine_ jackets, but the
  former has a camail and a chain mail jacket beneath it. The
  cross-bowman has, hanging from his girdle, a leathern bag, to
  contain the quarrels for his cross-bow. (Fig. 8): A sea-fight,
  showing four archers using the long-bow, one cross-bowman,
  and one soldier using the military flail. One of the archers
  has placed his arrows in his belt, as in Fig. 1. (From the
  Cambridge MS. of the “Greater Chronicles,” by Matthew Paris,
  who died 1259 A.D.)]

EARLY CANNON.

The discovery of gunpowder, which, by degrees, totally changed
military tactics and the constitution of armies, was the event that
most powerfully influenced warfare in the Middle Ages. Very little
is known about its actual invention. It is supposed that Greek
fire, which was used with such terrifying and destructive effect in
warfare, particularly in sieges, consisted of the three ingredients of
gunpowder, with resin and naphtha in addition.

Roger Bacon, an English friar, discovered the secret of the composition
of gunpowder in the latter half of the 13th century; but Schwartz, a
Franciscan, at Cologne, perfected it about a century later.

The use of cannon for siege purposes commenced in England in the armies
of Edward III. Froissart says that the English army used them against
Calais, when besieging it in 1347. But there were very few made at
first; an important fortress like the Tower of London, in 1360, only
mounting four guns, while Dover Castle, in 1372, had six.

When first introduced, cannon were small and vase-shaped; they were
slow in fire, and very liable to accidents.

They were called “bombards,” and were mounted upon a wooden cradle or
frame. Towards the end of the 14th century, they had become of large
dimensions, firing heavy _stone_ shot of from 200 to 450 lbs. weight.
All the shot were stone until, because they did not do sufficient
damage in battering down a wall, it became the practice to bind and
otherwise strengthen them with iron.

The earliest cannon were of the rudest possible description. They were
made of bars or thin sheets of iron, arranged longitudinally over a
wooden core, in the form of a tube, around which were welded iron hoops
to hold them together.

In 1338 there existed breech-loading guns, with one or more movable
chambers, to facilitate loading, but, even then, the fire was very
slow; “three shots an hour was fair practice for a big bombard.” It
is not certain when wheeled carriages were introduced, though mention
is made of two-wheeled bombard carriages in 1376; but it must be
remembered that the gun at first was looked upon as a substitute for
the balista and other war machines employed in the siege of a fortified
place. Its value as an effective and movable weapon on the battlefield
was not realised for some time.

The powder was fired at first by the insertion of a red-hot wire, but
this was often very dangerous to the gunners, because the gun was so
liable to burst. James II. of Scotland was killed by the bursting of
a gun at the siege of Roxburgh in 1460. It became the custom, in the
case of large bombards, for a small train of powder to be laid from the
ground leading to the touchhole. The gunners fired the train, and then
hastily betook themselves to a place of safety.

The earliest known representation of a gun in England is contained
in a MS., “De Officiis Regum,” at Christ Church, Oxford, of the time
of Edward II. (1326). It shows a knight in armour, firing a short,
primitive weapon, shaped something like a vase, and loaded with an
incendiary arrow--that is, one charged with an inflammable substance.
Firearms of this type were evidently very small, as only 2 lb. of
gunpowder was provided for firing forty-eight arrows.

From the beginning, contrivances had been made to resist the recoil of
the gun when it was fired; heavy timbers, etc., were packed up against
the breach to prevent the gun from flying backwards, but this plan
often brought about the bursting of the gun. About the middle of the
15th century, trunnions (small cylinders of solid metal projecting
from the sides, at right angles to the axis of the gun) were formed
with the gun, and by means of these the recoil of the gun could be
transferred to the carriage, and the pivoting of the gun up and down on
the trunnions made the laying and sighting an easier task.

Stone cannon shot were employed until 1520, and, when it was considered
necessary to use very heavy projectiles, correspondingly enormous guns
had to be built. Mons Meg, a well-known gun in Edinburgh Castle, of
this large type, is a wrought-iron gun of the 15th century. It is built
of iron bars and external rings, with a calibre of 20 inches, and it
fired a shot weighing 350 lbs.

Bronze guns, of a great size, were cast in 1468 at Constantinople, and
one of them is now in the Rotunda at Woolwich. It was actually used
in warfare against the English at the Dardanelles, in 1807. To show
the destructive power of such a large piece of ordnance, even though
a crude and ancient construction, it may be mentioned that the stone
shot, weighing 700 lbs., which was fired from it against the English
fleet, cut the mainmast of the British flagship in two, and another
killed and wounded sixty men. These old 15th century guns in the
battle altogether accounted for six of our men-of-war damaged and 126
men killed and wounded. The gun at Woolwich is in two pieces screwed
together. The front part has a calibre of 25 inches for the reception
of the shot, and a rear portion, forming a powder chamber, 10 inches in
diameter. The whole gun weighs nearly 18¾ tons, and was presented to
Queen Victoria by the Sultan of Turkey.

Late in the 15th century, guns began to be more regularly employed on
the battlefield. In the 16th century, the extremely large guns were
discarded, and small, wrought-iron guns were made, this change being
due to the use of cast-iron shot, which was as destructive as the more
bulky stone shot formerly used.

In 1521 the first bronze gun was cast in England, cast-iron cannon
being made also in 1540, by foreign workmen, introduced into this
country by Henry VIII. to teach the English the art. The first foundry
was at Uckfield, in Sussex, and Sussex iron was used, smelted with
charcoal.

The small gun of this period was made very long, and a specimen is
to be found in Dover Castle. It is known as Queen Elizabeth’s Pocket
Pistol, and is 24½ feet long, with a bore of 4¾ inches. It was
cast in 1544, and was presented to Henry VIII. by Charles V.

Generally speaking, the English were much behind other nations in the
use of artillery until the end of the 18th century. The quality of
the gunpowder used in the early days of the cannon was very poor. The
ingredients were often mixed on the spot at the time of loading, and
the powder burnt slowly, with but little strength, and naturally varied
from round to round. When the more fiercely-burning granulated powder
was introduced into England, in the middle of the 15th century, it was
often too strong for the larger pieces of that date, and could only be
used for small firearms for more than a century afterwards.

In the 17th century, bronze and cast-iron guns were strengthened, and
were more adapted to the use of grained powder, and, at the same time,
more energy and greater range were obtained.

[Illustration: Plate 26.

  (Fig. 1): Bombard or mortar of a very early date. (From a MS.)
  (Fig. 2): Vase-shaped bombard of a date posterior to the reign
  of Henry IV. It is fastened to a wooden bed or trough, which
  rests on a movable pivot in a stout square timber frame. (From
  a MS.) (Fig. 3): A soldier with a hand-gun fitted to a stock.
  (From a treatise, “De Re Militari,” printed 1472.) (Fig. 4):
  An early gun, in a primitive gun-mounting. It is supported on
  a massive timber framing at each side, while the flat breech
  is resting against a strong wooden support, driven into the
  ground, to prevent recoil. (From Mallet’s “Construction of
  Artillery.”) (Fig. 5): A gun as used during the chief part
  of the 15th century. It is fixed on the swivel principle,
  being suspended between the branches of an immense fork of
  iron. The elevation or depression of the gun was effected by
  means of a large iron bar, in the form of a scythe, standing
  in a vertical position. The whole thing is fixed on an iron
  plate fastened on a massive bed of oak. (Fig. 6): A hand-gun
  of the reign of Edward IV., fired by means of a match. (From
  Roy. MS., 15 E. iv.) (Fig. 7): A gun called a Peterara, of
  the time of Edward IV., in the Rotunda at Woolwich, made of
  bars of iron laid longitudinally, and bound together with iron
  hoops. The powder chamber is seen, with the handle to raise
  it, and there is a locking arrangement, so that it cannot be
  blown out when the gun is discharged. It has trunnions, and is
  fastened into the metal frame, which supports it on the wooden
  carriage. (Fig. 8): A cannon of the 15th century, more of the
  form of the mortar, supported in a wooden framework. (From
  Roy. MS., 14 E. iv.)]

A 15th CENTURY SHIP.

[Illustration: Plate 27.]

This engraving, taken from Rouse’s MS. ‘Life of Richard Beauchamp, Earl
of Warwick’ (British Museum, Julius E. iv.), of the latter part of the
15th century (1485) gives a very clear representation of a ship and
its boat. The Earl is setting out on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In
the foreground, we see him, with his pilgrim’s staff in hand, stepping
into the boat which is to carry him to his ship, lying at anchor in
the harbour. The costume of the sailors is illustrated by the men in
the boat. The vessel is a ship of burden, but such a one as kings and
great personages had equipped for their own use, resembling an ordinary
merchant ship in all essentials, but fitted and furnished with more
than usual convenience and sumptuousness. In Earl Richard’s ship, the
sail is emblazoned with his arms, and the pennon, besides the red cross
of England, has his badges of the bear and ragged staff. The ragged
staff also appears on the castle at the masthead.

The castle, which all ships of this age had at the stern, is, in this
case, roofed in and handsomely ornamented, and, no doubt, formed the
state apartment of the Earl.

There is also a castle at the head of the ship, known as the
forecastle, though it is not very plainly shown in the drawing.

It consists of a raised platform; the round-headed entrance to the
cabin beneath it is seen in the picture; the two bulwarks also, which
protect it at the sides, are visible, though their meaning is not at
first sight obvious.

Incidentally, also, are shown the costumes of the men-at-arms, with
the small, round, close-fitting cap, and the various forms of shafted
weapons. No one is in armour.

Mr. W. Laird Clowes, in “Social England,” describing this picture,
says: “The ship is clincher-built (_i.e._, the planks overlap one
another), with a rudder and roofed stern-cabin or round-house. In the
bulwarks of the waist are apertures (not portholes), through which
cannon are pointed. The mainmast has shrouds, a top and one large
square sail. The mizen is much smaller, and has one sail, which is
reefed. The top is ornamented with the Earl’s device, a ragged staff.
From above it floats what in the bill (still preserved) of Seburg
(painter)” and Ray (tailor) is described as “a grete stremour of forty
yards length, and seven yardes in brede, with a grete Bear and Gryfon
holding a ragged staff, poudrid full of ragged staves and a grete
Crosse of St. George.”

BRASSES.

As many references have been made in this work to “Brasses,” and a
number of the illustrations of armour and costumes are taken from them,
it is fitting that a section should be devoted to so important a series
of national records.

Monumental Brasses are plates of brass, embedded in stone slabs,
which have been placed over graves in the floors of our churches and
cathedrals.

Their use began early in the thirteenth century, and took the place
of the carved stone slabs, which had, up to this time, served as
sepulchral monuments. Their value is as great as their interest, for
they represent very accurately, and with the weight of contemporary
authority, the costumes and armour of our ancestors.

They are found from the reign of Edward I. down to the time of
Cromwell, and may be seen in many churches throughout the length
and breadth of the land. There are between three and four thousand
that are known to exist at the present time, these forming, however,
only a small proportion of the number originally existing. At the
Reformation, particularly in the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward
VI., and during the time of Cromwell, when the fanatical Puritans
ravaged our churches and cathedrals, many thousands were torn up and
sold as old metal; while during the misguided “restorations” of many
of our churches very large numbers have disappeared or have been
destroyed. In most cases where the brasses remain they are in excellent
condition, notwithstanding the fact that they have been trodden over
by generations of worshippers. On account of the great hardness of the
metal of which they are composed, they are almost as fresh and “sharp”
now as when they left the hands of the engravers.

There is an additional advantage which the brass possesses over the
stone monument, and that is that the brass is found as a memorial of
members of _every_ class of society--the knight, the noble, the bishop,
the abbot, the priest, the nun, the lord of the manor, the judge, the
lawyer, the University don, the merchant, the wool-stapler, the yeoman,
women of every rank, and even the schoolboy, have their brasses.

In speaking of their value as historical records, Mr. Macklin says:
“Brasses give a complete pictorial history of the use and development
of armour, dress, and ecclesiastical vestments from the thirteenth
to the end of the seventeenth century.... All these (members of
every class of society) we see, not in fancy sketches, but in actual
contemporary portraits.” Perhaps one of the greatest values of the
brass is that it is a great and authentic record of _middle-class
costume_ during the Middle Ages.

Light, too, is thrown by them upon the social conditions and customs
of the people, for example, when, during the Wars of the Roses,
practically every noble was ranged under one or other of the rival
banners, we find there was a great _increase_ in the number of brasses
of the middle classes, showing that in the midst of civil strife not
only were they unaffected to any appreciable degree, but that the
property and wealth of the middle and trading classes were actually on
the increase.

The _material_ of which the brasses were made consisted of 60 parts
of copper, 30 of zinc, and 10 of lead and tin. This gave a very hard
alloy, which would stand very hard usage. It was called _latten_ or
_laton_, and until the reign of Elizabeth was manufactured exclusively
in Flanders and Germany--particularly at Cologne, whence they were often
termed _Cullen_ plates.

They were imported into England in rectangular plates of the required
thickness. When the plates were manufactured in England, they were very
much thinner, and consequently more liable to injury; so that though
they are not nearly so old as the earlier brasses, they are yet in a
much worse condition.

In the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries brasses were
manufactured in great quantities, and the work gave employment to many
people. It is probable that the engravers worked in guilds established
in London, Norwich, Ipswich, and Bristol.

The figure was drawn (generally in a recumbent position, with the hands
in the attitude of prayer) upon the flat brass plate, and then the
lines of the armour, the folds of the drapery, and the features, etc.,
were deeply cut into the metal.

After these lines had been engraved, the whole figure was cut out of
the plate just as a child cuts out a figure from a picture.

A brass consisted of the following parts:

(1) The figure or figures; (2) heraldic devices and armorial bearings
on shields; (3) mottoes or epitaphs; (4) other subsidiary figures or
ornaments (angels, canopies, etc.).

In the English brass each of these elements was cut out separately
and placed in position upon a stone slab. The outline was then marked
round each, the brasses were lifted off, and the stone cut away in the
portions thus marked out, to a depth equal to the thickness of the
brass. The plates were then placed in position in this stone matrix,
the surfaces of the brass being level with the surface of the stone,
and each piece was fastened down by means of metal screws.

In a number of cases, part or even the whole of the brasses on a slab
have disappeared, but the empty matrix clearly shows the general form
of the missing parts. (Fig. 1.)

We have in England a few magnificent brasses of a different kind that
were manufactured and engraved entirely in Flanders or North Germany,
and they are known as Flemish brasses. The great difference between the
English and Flemish brasses is that in the former the figures were cut
out of the rectangular sheets of metal, and the lines of the drawing
were bold and few in number as was compatible with clearness; whereas
in the latter the brass was kept in a rectangular form, and the whole
plate was engraved as the plate of a picture might be. The figures were
incised upon a background which was entirely filled in with diapered
ornaments and suitable heraldic devices and patterns, while the
inscription was engraved around the edge of the plate.

In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the inscriptions on all
brasses were in Norman French; in the fifteenth century they were in
Latin; and in the sixteenth century in English.

In the reigns of Edward I., II., III., and Richard II., the brasses
rose to their highest quality and magnificence. The figures were
usually life-sized; the lines were deeply and boldly cut, and there
was an absence of “shading,” the brass being usually a pure, outline,
incised drawing.

In the reign of Edward II., architectural canopies were often
introduced (Fig. 1), and then the figures were consequently made less
than life-size. At first only knights and ladies were represented, but
in the reigns of Edward III. and Richard II., members of the great
middle classes, which were increasing in power, wealth, and public
influence, were included.

From the time of Henry IV. to Richard III. the brasses were not of
so high an order, and at the latter part of the period they began to
deteriorate in quality and size.

The Tudor period may be called the decadent period of brasses, for
the drawings were often disproportionate and lightly cut, the figures
crude, and the plates thin. There is often an excess of “shading” in
them which detracts from the beautiful simplicity of the drawing. The
practice of laying down these brasses, probably through these very
causes, began to decay, the last known being laid in 1773 A.D.

Copies of brasses, or _rubbings_, are made in a very simple and
interesting manner by taking a sheet of white lining paper (plain
wallpaper), laying it upon the brass, and carefully rubbing over it
with a piece of shoemaker’s heel-ball. The flat portions of the brass
“catch” the heel-ball during the process, while the incised lines are
left white, and if care be taken that the paper does not shift, a very
faithful copy of the brass can be made. The rubbing should be continued
until a deep black tone is obtained, for the heel-ball does not smear
on the paper.

Most clergymen are proud of the brasses in their churches, and readily
give permission for rubbings to be taken from them if a courteous
application be made.

Brasses are not scattered at random throughout the country. They are
met with most frequently in the eastern and home counties. Probably
this is because these parts are nearest to Flanders, and the cost of
transporting the sheets of brass far inland would be a considerable
addition to their cost.

(For those who wish to pursue this subject, Macklin’s _Brasses of
England_ (Methuen) and Suffling’s _English Church Brasses_ (Upcott
Gill) will be found most useful, as in addition to other matter they
contain a register of all brasses known in the British Isles.)

[Illustration: PLATE 28.

  (Fig. 1): The despoiled slab of Bishop Beaumont of Durham,
  about 1335 A.D., showing the matrix for the brass in the slab,
  and also the form of a canopy brass. The place where the
  inscription was fixed is shown in the white band just inside
  the edge. (Fig. 2): The brass of a Notary (name lost), about
  1475 A.D., in St. Mary Tower Church, Ipswich. “Notaries wore a
  plain gown, with an ink-horn and pen-case suspended from the
  belt, and a scarf and cap on the left shoulder.” (Macklin.)
  (Fig. 3): The brass of Dame Elizabeth Harvey, Benedictine
  Abbess of Elstow, Bedfordshire, about 1525 A.D. Figs. 2 and 3
  show the actual appearance of “rubbings” of brasses.]

HERALDRY.

Heraldry has been called the “shorthand of history,” and “the critical
desire for accuracy, which fortunately seems to have been the keynote
of research” during recent times, necessitates an inquiry into the
history and practice of Heraldry, which played such an important part
in the life of the Middle Ages.