Gambeson

Culture, General Things, Church Monuments, Church Monument Details, Armour, Gambeson

Gambeson is in Armour.

Gambeson, aka Aketon aka Aqueton aka Wambais. A padded defensive jacket, worn as armour separately, or combined with mail or plate armour. Probably made of linen or cotton, stuffed with wool or tow ie unworked linen fibres.

Introduction. On the subject of plate and mail armour, Mr. Stothard himself makes the following remarks, in a letter addressed to that eminent antiquary, the late Rev. Thomas Kerrich: "It is, I believe, a most difficult thing to say when plate-armour was first introduced, because no representations, however well executed, can tell us of what was worn out of sight, and inventories of armour, as well as notices of writers on the subject, are not common; the only things by which we can gain information. Daniel, in his 'Military Discipline of France' cites a poet who describes a combat between William de Barres and Richard Coeur de Lion (then Earl of Poitou), in which he says, that they met so fiercely that their lances pierced through each other's coat of mail and gambeson, but were resisted by a plate of wrought-iron worn beneath. This is a very solitary piece of information; and the poet cited (whose name, I believe, is not mentioned) might not have been contemporary with the event described, and of course gave the custom of his own time. It however strikes me, that plate was at all times partially used. We find in the reign of Henry the Third pieces of plate on the elbows and knees. I have a drawing from a figure about the time of Edward the First, in mail, with gauntlets of plate; and I strongly suspect that a steel cap was worn under the mail oftener than we imagine. How can we otherwise account for the form in the mail chaperon of William Longespee? Would not the top of the head be round instead of flat, if something were not interposed to give it this form? And how ill calculated to receive a blow, supposing nothing but the mail and linen coif interposed. See the effigy in No. 8. of my work, from Hitchendon church^a: where a piece of mail appears cut out, does it not seem that there is a cap beneath the mail?

Note a. The effigy of Richard Wellesburne de Montfort.

Introduction. "But, to dwell longer on this head, plate-armour appears, from our paintings in MSS. and monuments, not to have gained any ground till the fifth or sixth of Edward the Third. John of Eltham and the Knight at Ifield, with Sir John Dabernoun, are the first specimens. Yet to show how careful we should be on this point, we find, in an account taken 1313, the sixth of Edward II. of the armour which belonged to Piers Gaveston, the following items: 'A pair of plates (these covered the body, and most probably were the back and breast plate), rivetted and garnished with silver, with four chains of silver, (see for chains the effigy of the Blanchfront,) covered with red velvet, besanted with gold. Two pair of jambers (armour for the legs) of iron, old and new; two coats of velvet to cover the plates.' All the monumental figures I ever saw, of the time of Edward the Second, have been in mail, as far as I could judge; so that you see I am in some difficulty. I am not surprised that mail was not so much worn after the introduction of plate; considering how the body then became loaded, it was necessary to get rid of something. On the Knight at Ifield, and Sir John Dabernoun^a, we may see first the thick quilted gambeson, over which is the haubergeon of mail, having above that what I take to be the If there was any plate on the body, it was hidden by the surcoat, which went over all; but there is reason to suspect there was: for, in the profile of the Ash Church Effigy, we see between the lacings of the surcoat that the body is covered with narrow plates. After the introduction of plate-armour the gambeson first disappears; which was followed by the aqueton. The aqueton is seen without the gambeson in Sir Oliver Ingham: it is blue, with gold studs or points.

Note a. See the figures referred to by Mr. Stothard in these observations, delineated in the work.

Introduction. Those whose property did not qualify them to become knights, and wear the distinction of the knightly order, the hauberk of mail, were to supply themselves with a quilted gambeson, or wambais, as a defence:

"Quicumque vero 20 librarum vel amplius habebit de mobilibus, tenebitur habere loricam, vel loricale et capellum ferreum et lanceam. Qui vero minus de 20 libris habebit de mobilibus, tenebitur habere et capellum ferreum et lanceam." [But whosoever shall have 20 pounds or more of movables, must have a belt, or a breastplate and an iron hat and a lance. But he who will have less than 20 pounds of movables, he must have both an iron hat and a lance]

Effigy of Richard Wellesburne de Montfort. THIS very remarkable effigy lies on the north wall of the church of Hitchendon in Buckinghamshire. After the battle of Evesham in 1265, in which the famous Baron Simon de Montfort, with his eldest son Henry, lost their lives, his wife^a and children fled the country, with the exception of the youngest son Richard, who assumed the name of Wellesburne (from a manor so termed in Warwickshire, an ancient possession of the family), and retired to Hinchendon as above, where he resided at a mansion called Wreck Hall. The armorial bearings on this effigy, and the peculiarities which mark the period of its execution, enable us very confidently to appropriate it to this identical personage. He became the founder of the family of Wellesburne, which was extant in the county of Buckingham, in the reign of Henry VI. In the church of Hitchendon down to that period were placed numerous monuments of his successors, one of which will be found in another place. A deed of this Wellesburne de Montfort has been printed in Nichols's History of Leicestershire, the faulty Latin of which is perhaps no proof of its being fictitious. There are two seals appended to this instrument, one of which has the legend "Sigillum Bellatoris, filii Simonis de Montefort; [Seal of the Warrior, son of Simon de Montefort]" the other bears the rampant lion of his house, the legend "Wellisburne de la Monteforte."

There is some reason to conjecture that Richard Wellesburn de Montfort was imbued with the martial character of his race. His effigy represents him in the attitude of a Crusader (he might, not improbably, have passed some of the years immediately after his father's overthrow, abroad, in the service of the cross); his right hand grasps a dagger, his left sustains a ponderous broad-bladed sword, on the scabbard of which are escutcheons of various armorial coats, borne doubtless by the connections of his noble family. On this and all the effigies of his descendants the pride of heraldry obtains, which shows that they resigned not, under adverse fortune and a change of name, the remembrance of their honours.

The quilted gambeson appears in bold folds under the hauberk and descends to the upper part of the knee. His feet rest on a lion, on which is a crescent for difference. The bearing of the shield is very remarkable; a lion rampant à la queue fourchée, holding in his mouth a child^b the field semée with crosslets fitchée. The bearing is repeated on the surcoat quarterly, with a griffin segreant, holding in his paws a child, and with the addition of a chief cheque, no doubt for Mellent, to which Earldom the Montforts succeeded about the time of the Norman Conquest.

This effigy is executed in a truly noble style, and recalls to us at a glance the age of chivalry and romantic feeling; and it is somewhat remarkable, that it commemorates a name which has become hacknied among the writers of fiction, without allusion to the historic tacts connected with it, merely for its sound. The slender but striking circumstances which are known concerning Wellesburne de Montfort surely afford admirable ground-work for the writer of historical romance.

Note a. Eleanor, second daughter of King John and Isabella of Angoulesme, she retired to a nunnery at Montargis, in France. Simon her second son, was Count of Bigorre in France, where he founded a family bearing his patrimonial name; Almaric, her third son, was first a priest in York, but embraced the military profession abroad; Guy, the fourth son, was Count of Anglezia in Italy, progenitor of the Montforts of Tuscany, and of the Counts of Campobachi in Naples; Richard, the fifth son, is commemorated by the effigy.

Note b. Gules, a Hon rampant with two tails argent, was a bearing of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. See the vignette above, from an architectural decoration in Westminster Abbey. This shield with the addition of a child in the lion's mouth, was blazoned in the windows of Wreck Hall at Hitchendon, and carved on the reading desk of Hitchendon Church. Argent, a lion rampant, with ten cross-crosslets fitchée sable, are the Montforts of Warwickshire. Bendy of six. Or and Gules, changed temp. Edward 1. to bendy of ten, are the Montforts of Beldesert. Gules, a griffin segreant, a chief cheque Or and Azure, over all a bend Ermine, is a coat of the Wellesburn Montforts. There is at Hitchendon a monumental figure of a withered corpse, enshrouded in a loose shirt, having marked on his breast the figure of a priest and eight crosslets on his body. This represents, it may be well conjectured, some incumbent of the parish church of the Montfort family. Langley conceives (but the style of the figure by no means supports the idea) that it is a memorial for Peter, son of Peter de Montfort, who died at the battle of Evesham. See Hist, of Desborough Hundred, p. 478.

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Time Team Series 2 Episode 1: Lord of the Isles was filmed between 24 Jun 1994 and 26 Jun 1994 was filmed. It was originally shown on 08 Jan 1995.

Location: Finlaggan, Islay [Map]

Category: Time Team Prehistory, Time Team Early Medieval.

The Time Team:

Tony Robinson  (age 47), Presenter

Mick Aston (age 47), Bristol University Landscape Archaeologist

Carenza Lewis  (age 30), Royal Commission on Historic Monuments

Phil Harding  (age 44), Wessex Archaeological Trust Field Archaeologist

Robin Bush (age 51), Archivist

Victor Ambrus (age 58), Historical Illustrator

John Gator, Chris Gaffney, Geophysics

Stewart Ainsworth  (age 42), Landscape Archaeologist

David Caldwell, Director of Excavations

Kate Bonner, Excavation Team

Sally Ann Chandler, Period Clothing Expert

Donald Macfadian, Finlaggan Trust

Simon Mears, GPS System

Historical Figures: King Somerled of Argyll

Sources: Chronicle of Man and the Isles, A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland by Martin Martin, A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland by Martin Martin.

Outcomes: Partly complete Glass Bead, Replica aketon, possible mesolithic site, possibly stone rows aligned to Paps of Jura.

Channel 4 Episode