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The brass of John de Creke, 1325
St Mary the Less, Westley Waterless, Cambridgeshire, England
Source: THEMCS, 12th to 14th Century Armour
Referenced on page viii, Ancient armour and weapons in Europe vol.2 by John Hewitt
19. Monumental brass of Sir John de Creke, c. 1330, at Westley Waterless, Cambridgehire.
The knight wears a quilted gambeson, a hauberk of banded mail, terminating in a point at the skirt, a defence of studded armour, and over all the "uneven surcoat" noticed at p. 145. The most exposed part of the arms and legs have pieces of plate, the bosses on the arms being wrought in the form of lion masks. The construction of the bassinet is singular from the portion of mail hanging loose on each side of the temples. The surcoat, it will be remarked, laces at the sides . .
p. 142: The upper Pourpoint, interposed between the hauberk and surcoat, is seen in the brass of De Creke, c. 1325 (woodcut, No. 19).
p. 145: Last of his body-garments, the knight donned the SURCOAT. ... When, in the early part of the century, the knights and men-at-arms descended from their coursers to fight on foot, the long surcoats of the old fashion were found to be a serious impediment to their free action. The garment, therefore, underwent a clipping in front, which produced the Uneven Surcoat here seen (woodcut, no. 19). The date of this monument is about 1330.
