V. O. Shpakovsky, Ph. D. in History, S. A. Timoshina, Associate
Professor
Penza State University, Russia
THE EFFIGIES AND BRASS AS THE
HISTORICAL SOURCE
Effigie (from Lat. “effigy”) are
sculpted tombstones, the images of the deceased, made of stone, wood or metal.
In the Middle Ages, those sculptures were made prone, kneeling or standing.
They were placed over the burial place of knights or nobles. There were
frequently paired effigies - figures of a husband and a wife (and even a wife
with two husbands at once!). Besides, there might be a completely flat image,
made of brass or bronze plates. They were put on the surface of stone tombstone
- "brass" (from English – “brass”). Some of the effigies were
originally made of wood, and then they were painted while others were coated
with a thin metal sheet. The type of effigies with recumbent statues was called
gizants (from French – “gésir”).
The importance of effigies as a
historical source is extremely high, as they are the rarest monuments of
medieval chivalric culture which are also well preserved. Authentic samples of
weapons and especially armor of XII-XIV centuries were found very rare.
Effigies differ from miniatures, as
they were made in full height. A lot of them are damaged, however, they survived
better than, for example, statues on the city squares.
The earliest sculptural depiction of
this type is believed to be a figure of Geoffrey Plantagenet with armor and a
shield , which is exhibited in the Museum de Tess (Le Mans) at present. The
plate dates back to 30 years after he was awarded with a shield decorated with
golden lions, which was considered the earliest known emblem [1, P.11].
Accordingly, his grandson William Longspi also received effigy in the Cathedral
of Salisbury, dating from about 1230-1240 years [2, P.9], even though he died
in 1226. The images of their shields are usually given as the examples of the
first real inheritage of stamp board color from the previous owner to the next
one.
However, according to some other
British historians, there had been the earlier effigies, for example, the
sculptures of Robert Berkeley in Bristol Cathedral, 1170 [3]; Geoffrey de
Mandeville, first Earl of Essex, 1185 (although he died in 1144!), in London Temple
Church; William Marshal, the second Earl of Pembroke (ibid. - 1231) [4, P.7],
and a lot of others, including many nameless. A lot of effigies appeared in the
XIII - XIV centuries, though they had been made later on. In all those
sculptures we can see knights in full gear, swords, daggers and shields, and the
head of some figures is placed on a special pad, and the others have a combat
helmet just below or near the head.
It was the effigies that became one
of the main sources of information about the knight arms in the book written by C. Gravett "Knights. History
of English chivalry" [5 ]. It was published in Russia by the publishing
house "Aksmo" in 2010 (the title of the original book in English is
"Noble Warrior of England 1200-1600", 2008). Effigies played an
important role as an information source in "Weapons and armor of the
Crusading Era, 1050 - 1350" by of D. Nicolle (the first volume was about
armored knights of Western Europe) [6].
Effigies as a historical source allow
determining the exact time and place of certain cross and pommel with handles
of swords, what helmets and helmet-mounted decorations the knights had and,
which shields, and armour robes they wore. Consider, for example, the sculpture
of Geoffrey de Mandeville, which C. Gravette relates to 1250 [5, P. 71]. It is
not important if the date is correct or not. It is interesting to note that the
typical "head-pan" on the head of the sculpture had a strange
"chin" resembling a metal plate, or a thick leather belt. We can see
a similar helmet in the miniature depicting the murder of Thomas Becket, made by
the end of XII or at the beginning of XIII century. But if the band was metal
the helmet could not be put on your head! Unfortunately, his effigy was quite
badly damaged, so that question cannot be clarified. Let’s study the two sculptures
from the west pediment of the Cathedral in Wales, dating back to 1230 [7, P.26].
The helmet of the left sculpture has a single viewing slot for both eyes and 12
vertical slots for breathing on each
side. The shield is almost triangular with a shield boss, so we can assume that
shield bosses on the boards were still in use at that time. Both effigies and
metal brass tombstones had chain-mail fabric that was the cause of a number of
ingenious hypotheses about the possible types of chain mail they depict. However,
it is believed at present that there was really only one kind of woven chain
mail, and "bands" depicted in sculptures were really different ways
of weaving options, for example, the
standard version was 1: 4, and the denser was 1: 8. In some cases, it could be
a leather belt passed through a series of rings for greater rigidity and
strength of the chain-mail fabric, and nothing more, as, at least, the British
historians believe and, in particular, K. Blair[8, P.28]. The nameless effigy in Pershore Abbey in Worcestershire
(about 1270-1280's.) is well known for that fact that we can see bonded straps
breastplate in the side slots of its surcoat [7, P.78]. That is, those breastplates were already worn at that time, but it's
not clear what material they were made of because they could be both leather
and metal. The same breastplate can be seen on the sculpture of Gilbert and
Marshall, the fourth Earl of Pembroke, who died in 1241, that is, knights’
breastplates obviously appeared in England in the middle of the XIII century.
By the way, knee plates can easily be seen on his knees, so they were worn at
that time. This fact is proved by several sculptures of that time. The skills
of Spanish armourers can be seen on the examples of effigies whose mail sleeves
were woven together with a chain mail gloves and the sculpture has plate knee
pads on its feet [9, P.14]. But the
Danish knights, according to effigy of Berger Person (d.1327, the cathedral of
Uppsala), still continued to use the old-fashioned chain armor without any
plate additions even after 100 years [10,
P.11].
The effigy of sir Robert
Shurlund of Minster on the Isle of Sheppey (about 1320-1335's.) is valuable
because firstly, it shows the inner surface of the shield and the belt by which
it was held, and secondly, the sculpture is dressed up in quilted jupon, but it
hard to know if it has a mail [5, P.97].
It is well known that at the end of the XIII century the chains became popular
among the knights. They were attached to the handles of swords and daggers,
apparently in order to not to lose them. But pictures do not show how they were
attached. The brass of sir Roger de Trumpington of the church in Cambridgeshire
(about 1326) clearly shows that the chain of the helmet is attached to a rope
belt [11, P.10], it was a very early example of such an innovation.
The effigy of John de Northwood (about 1330) of Minster abbey on the
Isle of Sheppey (Kent) has the chain which clings to helmet by a hook
protruding from the socket on the chest [12]. But later the effigies had those
sockets paired, either those chains passed through the slots on the dress and were
fixed in some way on the chain mail, or on the breastplate, which is likely to
be closer to the truth. There were no folds in the attaching point of the chain
but they should be there. Then, as in the case of mounting them to the chain
mail they should be. Interestingly, since the beginning of XIII - until the end
of the XIV century, those chains can be seen almost on every statue, especially
in Germany, where they were the most popular. And there were often not three,
but four chains, but why the fourth chain was attached is not absolutely clear
[13, P.201, 454]. Of course, it's hard to imagine that a person could
successfully fight being wound by a
four-foot chain (and it was often gold!), with which the hilt was also attached
to his chest. It might be wrapped around his hand, in which he held the sword, be
tripped over his horse’s head or the weapon of his neighbor. And then, if the knight
lost his sword during a fierce and long battle on the horseback, it was quite
clear that the chain might snarl in the stirrup or legs of anyone who would be
nearby. However, although the risk of such an event was rather high, according
to English "master of swords" Ewart Oakeshott, the knights ignored it
or they knew what to do not to mix up all these dangling chains in the same way
as we zip up our jeans today without any hassle [14, P. 317].
Effigies also show that knights’ clothes usually had a heraldic character,
since we can see the coats of arms on the boards and on the clothes of many
statues.
Effigies demonstrate such element of
knightly weapons as shoulder pads – ailettes (a small board of wood or
parchment worn at the shoulder and usually painted with heraldic arms). They
were used some time as an element of identification, along with a shield, dress
and horse trappings. The most popular illustration of their use is the figure
of William de Setwans (Charham, Kent, about 1322). However, it can not show what
they depict. In this regard, their picture on the tombstone of Lambert de Eby
(about 1312) is much more evident, which clearly shows a visible image of the
knight’s coat of arms; it was also depicted on his shield.
Since wearing the "naked" armour was considered indecent for a
long time, that tradition was shown in many effigies. It was often not only a
coat-sleeve, but real clothes, under which the armor itself was almost
invisible.
The effigies allow us to understand that the knights were in the habit
of wearing more than one helmets at the same time. They wore two helmets
putting one on the other. And one of them was the "grand helm" with
slits for the eyes and the vents, it covered the face entirely, while the other
was basinet. It had a recess for a face,
so it was not easy to hit the knight by the blow on the head!
Effigies show that there were the first solid-armor cuirass with two
halves and "skirt bell" of the metal strips in 1400. That armor differed from the classic
"white armor" by the old-fashioned chain-mail hood with a mail coif
closing the shoulders, and partly the chest and the back. It is not known what
was beneath, but the reasons according which it was later abandoned are quite
clear. The chain rings were a real "trap" for the spear, and it was
necessary to allow it to slip from armor.
Interestingly, the visor on the basinet helmets appeared even earlier
than solid-armor, and the knights wore stand-up collars, metal-chin defending
the neck from hitting by the spear already in the middle of the XIV century.
According to the plaque of Sir Hugh Hastings of St. Mary's Church in Elsing (Norfolk),
we can tell that the knight wore that chin - buviger and basinet helmet with a
visor on the two side loops in 1367, and, apparently, such armor was quite
satisfying at that time. Although, this buviger was again mounted on top of his
shoulder collar of the chain mail [15, P.28]!
A plate located on the sarcophagus of Don Alvaro de Cabrera Jr. of the
Church of Santa Maria in Lerida, Catalonia has a stand-up collar and his body is
now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. It can clearly be seen that the
collar is attached to the Mantle of tissue, which, according to the heads of
rivets, was knocked out of the metal plates! And a figure of Bernardo de
Minoris (about 1330) of the Church of Santa Maria de la Seo, Manresa, Spain has
the same stand-up collar which means that it was widely spread at this time [16,
P. 139,422].
But still, one of the most unusual effigies is located in England at the
church in Kensington, although there is nothing special about it at first
glance. The fact that is the figure of the unknown knight is dressed in
monastic hood [17, P.6]. And the question if he wore it permanently or became a
monk before his death that was shown by the sculpture has no answer.
Progress in arms developed so fast that less than in ten years plate
"necklace" on basinets was used in group effigy of Dutch Lady
Margaret and her two husbands - Thomas, Duke of Clarence (d. 1421) and sir John
Beaufort, Earl of Somerset (d. 1410 ), at the cathedral in Canterbury [18,
P.18]. And that steel "collar", covered neck entirely, it had a
characteristic V-shaped rib in the middle. Both sculptures were dressed in the
cloak of "tabard" over their "white armour", leaving the
hands free, but still covering the armor on the torso up to the thighs.
However, the fashion changed slowly but surely, so that the attitude to the
"bare armour" obviously changed by 1410, that can be seen in effigies
showing us the knights who did not have even a shred of the fabric on the armor.
However, some knights wore the same 'tabard' with heraldic images later in the
XVI century. So saying that "everything new is well forgotten old",
was, apparently, also relevant at that time!
As for the most famous effigy in England, it is, of course, the
sculpture of Edward, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of King Edward III,
nicknamed the "Black Prince", who died in 1376 and was buried in
Canterbury Cathedral [19, P.5]. By the way, there is an image of black shield
with three white ostrich feathers in his sarcophagus. That is the so-called
"Peace Shield" intended for the tournament and it was not the black
color of his armor but the shield gave the nickname "Black Prince"
because, according to the effigies, he wore a heraldic jupon decorated with
France lilies and leopards of Britain over their armor! Thus, the serious study
of knightly weapons in Western Europe without recourse to effigies as a
historical source is simply impossible.
Notes:
1. Слейтер С.
Геральдика. Иллюстрированная энциклопедия. Издание второе, переработанное и
дополненное / Пер.И.Жилинской. - М.: Эксмо, 2006.
2. Gravett C. English Medieval Knight 1200-1300. - UK.
L.: Osprey (Warrior series №48), 2002.
3. The Medieval Combat Society /Twelfth to Fourteenth
Century Armour/Monumental Effigy and Brass Timeline -
localhost/F:/12th%20to%2014th%20Century%20Armour.mht
4.Wise T. Armies of the Crusades. UK. L.: Osprey
(Man-at-Arms series №75), 1991.P.7
5. Граветт К. Рыцари:
история английского рыцарства 1200-1600/ Кристофер Граветт: [пер. с англ. А. Колина]. - М.:Эксмо, 2010. - 312с.
6. Nicolle D. Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era,
1050-1350. Western Europe and the Crusaders States. UK. L.: Greenhill Books,
1999. – 636 p.
7. Nicolle D. The Third Crusade 1191. UK. L.: Osprey
(Cаmpaign
series №161), 2006.
8.Блэр К. Рыцарские
доспехи Европы. Универсальный обзор музейных коллекций/Пер. с англ. Е. В. Ломановой. - М.: Центрполиграф, 2006.
9. Wise T. Armies of the Crusades. UK. L.: Osprey (Man-at-Arms
series №75), 1991.
10. Lindholm D., Nicolle D. The Scandinavian Baltic
Crusades 1100-1500. UK. L.: Osprey (Man-at-Arms series №436), 2007.
11.Gravett C. English Medieval Knight 1300-1400. UK.
L.: Osprey (Warrior series №58), 2002.
12.The Medieval Combat Society /Twelfth to Fourteenth
Century Armour/Monumental Effigy and Brass Timeline -
localhost/F:/12th%20to%2014th%20Century%20Armour.mht
13.Nicolle D. Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era,
1050 – 1350. UK. L.: Greenhill Books. Vol.1.
14. Окшотт Э.
Археология оружия. От бронзового века до эпохи Ренессанса // Перевод с англ.
М.К.Якушиной. М.: Центрполиграф, 2004.
15.Gravett C. English Medieval Knight 1300-1400. UK.
L.: Osprey (Warrior series №58), 2002.
16. Nicolle D. Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era,
1050-1350. Western Europe and the Crusaders States. UK. L.: Greenhill Books,
1999.
17.Nicolle D. Knight Hospitaller (2) 1306 – 1565. UK.
L.: Osprey (Warrior series №41), 2001.
18.Gravett C. English Medieval Knight 1400-1500. UK.
L.: Osprey (Warrior series №35), 2001.
19.Gravett C.
English Medieval Knight 1300-1400. UK. L.: Osprey (Warrior series №58), 2002.