| Coventry Sallet | |
|---|---|
 The Coventry Sallet | |
| Material | Steel |
| Created | c. 1460 [1] |
| Present location | Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry |
| Registration | AR.1962.54 |
The Coventry Sallet is a 15th-century helmet now on display at Herbert Art Gallery and Museum. [2] English sallets have been considered both rare and important. [3]
The Sallet is 11 inches (28 cm) in height, 12.25 inches (31.1 cm) from front to back and is 7.75 inches (19.7 cm) wide. [2] It weighs 5.25 pounds (2.38 kg). [2] It has a short tail and a jawbone type visor with a brow reinforcing. [4] Stylistically, it is termed a "high crowned" helmet, different from the style usually seen in Italy or Germany. [5] A plume holder was added to the helmet at some time after its manufacture. [4]
The helmet was made around 1460, during the period of English civil conflict known as the Wars of the Roses, and the armourer's marks suggest that it was made by an artisan originating from Italy. [1] During the 19th century it was used in Coventry's Godiva Procession. [2] For a period it was kept on display at St Mary's Hall, Coventry, and is now shown at the city's Herbert Art Gallery and Museum. [2]
Very few pieces of English-made armour survive from this period; the Coventry Sallet is believed to be the only example of its type in England. [5]
Armour or armor is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or from a potentially dangerous environment or activity. Personal armour is used to protect soldiers and war animals. Vehicle armour is used on warships, armoured fighting vehicles, and some combat aircraft, mostly ground attack aircraft.
Boiled leather, often referred to by its French translation, cuir bouilli, was a historical material common in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period and used for various purposes. It was leather that had been treated so that it became tough and rigid, as well as able to hold moulded decoration. It was the usual material for the robust carrying-cases that were made for important pieces of metalwork, instruments such as astrolabes, personal sets of cutlery, books, pens and the like. It was used for some armour, being both much cheaper and much lighter than plate armour, but could not withstand a direct blow from a blade, nor a gunshot.
A gambeson is a padded defensive jacket, worn as armour separately, or combined with mail or plate armour. Gambesons were produced with a sewing technique called quilting that produced a padded cloth. They were usually constructed of linen or wool; the stuffing varied, and could be for example scrap cloth or horse hair. During the 14th century, illustrations usually show buttons or laces up the front.
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A visor was an armored covering for the face often used in conjunction with Late Medieval war helmets such as the bascinet or sallet. The visor usually consisted of a hinged piece of steel that contained openings for breathing and vision. Appropriately, breaths refers to the holes in the metal of the visor. Visors protected the face during battle and could be remarkably durable. One surviving artifact was found to be "equivalent in hardness to cold worked high speed steel."
Plate armour is a historical type of personal body armour made from bronze, iron, or steel plates, culminating in the iconic suit of armour entirely encasing the wearer. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, especially in the context of the Hundred Years' War, from the coat of plates worn over mail suits during the 14th century.
The sallet was a combat helmet that replaced the bascinet in Italy, western and northern Europe and Hungary during the mid-15th century. In Italy, France and England the armet helmet was also popular, but in Germany the sallet became almost universal.
The bascinet – also bassinet, basinet, or bazineto – was a Medieval European open-faced combat helmet. It evolved from a type of iron or steel skullcap, but had a more pointed apex to the skull, and it extended downwards at the rear and sides to afford protection for the neck. A mail curtain was usually attached to the lower edge of the helmet to protect the throat, neck and shoulders. A visor was often employed from c. 1330 to protect the exposed face. Early in the fifteenth century, the camail began to be replaced by a plate metal gorget, giving rise to the so-called "great bascinet".
The armet is a type of combat helmet which was developed in the 15th century. It was extensively used in Italy, France, England, the Low Countries and Spain. It was distinguished by being the first helmet of its era to completely enclose the head while being compact and light enough to move with the wearer. Its use was essentially restricted to the fully armoured man-at-arms.
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The great helm or heaume, also called pot helm, bucket helm and barrel helm, is a helmet of the High Middle Ages which arose in the late twelfth century in the context of the Crusades and remained in use until the fourteenth century. The barreled style was used by knights in most West European armies between about 1220 to 1350 AD and evolved into the frog-mouth helm to be primarily used during jousting contests.
The burgonet helmet was a Renaissance-era and early modern combat helmet. It was the successor of the sallet.
Schynbalds were an early experiment in plate armour for the lower leg. Schynbalds were metal plates strapped over chausses. Each schynbald was a single piece of steel that covered the front and outside of the shin. Schynbalds did not enclose the lower leg: hence, they were not true greaves. Schynbalds first appeared in the 1230s or 1250s and remained in use during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
A bevor or beaver is a piece of plate armour designed to protect the neck, much like a gorget.
Kasten-brust armour — is a German form of plate armour from the first half of 15th century.
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Christopher Gravett is an assistant curator of armour at the Tower Armouries specialising in the arms and armour of the medieval world.
The close helmet or close helm is a type of combat helmet that was worn by knights and other men-at-arms in the Late Medieval and Renaissance eras. It was also used by some heavily armoured, pistol-armed cuirassiers into the mid-17th century. It is a fully enclosing helmet with a pivoting visor and integral bevor.
Tobias Emanuel ("Toby") Capwell FSA is an American historian who lives and works in London. His principal interest is in European arms and armour of the medieval and Renaissance periods. He was formerly Curator of Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection in London. He has written and spoken extensively on both the historical and the practical aspects of his subject. Capwell is also a skilled jouster, and has claimed to be the world's only jousting curator.
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