The 'Melisende Psalter'

Eastern Mediterranean (Jerusalem) between 1131 and 1143

David and Goliath

Next: Betrayal, the 'Melisende Psalter'. British Library.
Back to the Upper Ivory Cover, the 'Melisende Psalter'. British Library Egerton 1139.

Referenced on pp.277-8, Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350, Western Europe and the Crusader States by David Nicolle
729A-C Ivory cover of Queen Melisende's Psalter, Palestine, early 12th century
(British Museum, London, England)
A - Goliath; B - Pride slain by Humility; C - Fortitude slaying Avarice. An interesting variety of arms and armour is shown on this ivory book cover, and it might be possible to guess why particular styles are given to particular figures. Both Goliath (A) and Pride (B) seem to wear armour in Byzantine style, perhaps reflecting a current coolness in Crusader-Byzantine relations. These two armours are probably very stylised, even archaised, and seem to consist of mail jerkins with splinted upper-arm protections. Pride is the most Byzantine of all, having a splinted skirt, a helmet with some form of non-mail aventail, a sword hung from a guige, and a small round shield. Goliath is less Byzantine in appearance and may be an attempt to show certain Middle Eastern Islamic fashions. His mail shirt includes a coif and could be intended to extend beneath his kilt. His large kite-shaped shield, however, looks Western European.