THE HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COSTUME

ALBERT RACINET

THE CLASSIC WORK OF THE 19TH CENTURY

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EUROPE FROM BYZANTIUM TO THE 19TH CENTURY

EUROPE

THE 14TH AND 15TH CENTURIES - ARMOUR

Lower Register

2.3 A knight on horseback, part of the light cavalry that was developed in imitation of the Eastern fighting tactics met in the Crusades. Light cavalrymen were less encumbered than the traditional knight on horseback, and had greater freedom of movement.

2.4 & 5 An archer and a cross-bowman. The shoulders and legs of the crossbowman were not always protected by armour, following the adoption of the studded leather jerkin around 1320. Rules laid down by the Dauphin, later Louis IX, in 1474, dictated that crossbowmen had to have "doublet, breeches and a white hood under the sallet." This was to reduce the excessive amount of armour, both defensive and offensive, worn by some foot soldiers.

2.9 & 10 Men of the Grand Guard of the army of Charles VII. These guards took their name from the weapons they carried, and as they abandoned the mace and took up the bow and arrow, they became known as archers. The white cross was the French national emblem, as opposed to the red cross of England.
On his entry into Rouen in 1449, Charles VII was followed by his Grand Guard of archers and cross-bowmen. According to Mathieu de Coussy, they wore: "sleeveless hoquetons coloured vermillion, red and green, and decorated with gold, with plumes in matching colours."

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