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Chartres Cathedral window
The story of the Murder of Thomas Becket



Image Source
Martyrdom of Becket
Date: 1215-25 ?
Location: France, Chartres
Contributor: University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh Digital Collections (for larger but out of focus images).



Referenced as figure 26 in Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350, Western Europe and the Crusader States by David Nicolle.
26A-C ‘Murder of St Thomas Becket’, County of Blois, c.1210
(in situ Cathedral, Chartres, France)

Considerable differences can be seen by the start of the 13th century. Mail hauberks now include mittens, while the coifs might be separate, though that cannot be identified here. Mail chausses are worn and the shields have become shorter and broader, generally with flattened tops. The most striking change is, however, in helmets. These are now flat topped, one or perhaps two with fixed face-mask visors (A and B), one without such a visor (C). None protect the sides or back of the head and so cannot be called great helms. They are, in fact, an important transitional form. The absence of a visor on one such flat-topped helmet suggests that some early face-masks may have been removable.




See also Medieval face-mask and transitional helmets.
Other Medieval illustrations of the Murder of Thomas Becket
Other 13th Century Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers






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