From the middle of the 1300s the English spaulder takes basically the same form until roughly the end of the century, with a domed cop19 protecting the shoulder and tightly fit dependent lames ending high up on the arm, with the rest of the upper arm being protected by the rerebrace. Despite some relative uniformity in the design hereafter, there are inevitably still variations.
Figures 17 and 18 are from 1360 and 1361 respectively and are of Sir John de Argentine (Horsheath Church, Cambridge) and Sir John de Paletoot (Watson Church, Herts), and both exhibit the typical form. The inside edge sports an interior cut-out curve, presumably to facilitate comfortable forward movement of the arm. The cop goes far up the shoulder, apparently under the jupon.
Figure 19 is an unnamed knight (St. Michael's Church, St. Albans) of 1370. His spaulders have an interesting variation, featuring two visible lames and what may be tabs of leather projecting from beneath his aventail, which are speculated to mimic French fashion of the time.20The lames seem to be illustrated with a double line along the bottom edge, which may represent gaps, extra thickness, or perhaps projections of some kind of leather lining.21 Latten trim for the shoulder defenses does not appear to be fashionable until the end of the century (though it is present on the cuffs of his gauntlets), so that is unlikely, but not out of the question, as a possibility.
Figure 20 is that of Sir Ralph de Knevynton from 1370 (Aveley, Essex). This weirdly proportioned effigy is illustrated without a jupon, the exposed torso armour covered in what are likely the rivet heads of a coat of plates. This is what his spaulders appear to be made of also, a style that diverges notably from his English contemporaries, though at least one other very similar example is known on the continent at the same time period.22Body defenses of this type were made of fabric or leather, so it could be that the spaulders are of the same construction with iron plates riveted to the inside.23
Figure 17 1360
Figure 18 1361
Figure 19 1370
Figure 20 1370
Figure 21 shows the fabulous effigy of Edward, Prince of Wales (The Black Prince), from 1376 (Canterbury Cathedral). His spaulders show the form typical of the time in every way. The obvious care and detail that went into this royal effigy24 makes it difficult to dispute the validity of this as a representation of the finest armour that could be had at that time, in all respects.
Figure 21 1376
Figure 22, the effigy of Sir William de Echingham (Etchingham Church, Sussex) of 1387 demonstrates the typical form, except that he has only two lames instead of the usual three.
Figure 23, Sir Robert Swynborne of 1391 (Little Horkesley Church, Essex) shows an interesting variation, in that the interior cut out shape at the armpit is gone. In fact, it is starting to fill in the other direction.
Figure 24 shows Sir John de Quintin of 1397 (Brandsburton Church, Yorkshire). His spaulders are of the typical form, though it is interesting to note that the curvature of the lames is shown in reverse to all other examples shown here.25Also, his spaulders have a central crease that is not previously seen in other examples, though that is a common feature to other parts of armour at this time.26
Figure 22 1387
Figure 23 1391
Figure 24 1397
Figure 25 shows both ends of the scale in the year 1400. The figure on the left, being Sir John Wingfield (Letheringham Church, Suffolk) has interesting smaller two-piece defenses, while to his right Sir George Felbrigge (Playford Church, Suffolk) has increasingly large shoulder defenses.
Figure 26 shows a knight of the D'Eresby family (Spilsby Church, Lincs) of 1410. The end of the 14th C. shows the spaulder well on its way towards its next development, the pauldron. The defense begins increasing in size and breadth to include portions of the chest and back. It is seen here moving toward the chest, forgoing the cut-out shape of its predecessors.
Figure 25 1400
Figure 26 1410
England has perhaps the most developed form of spaulder during this time period. The deployment of the powerful crossbow by the French during their frequent struggles with the English may have been the motivator for the greater need of iron defenses by the English.27 Conversely, the Italy and Germany appear to have been behind the constantly warring English and French in the develoment of this component of armour, as is seen on the following pages.
24 I am unable to cite my source, but I have read that this effigy was four years in the making, and completed during Edward's lifetime as he slowly died of dysentery (acquired during his campaigns in France). Back to Top
25 Price, page 350; the effigy of Sir Thomas Cheyne, dated 1368 (Drayton Beauchamp Church) also has lames illustrated as curving this way. It is not clear why this distinction was made by the artist, and may just be artistic license. Otherwise, his spaulders have two lames and lack the interior cut-out as in Figure 22. Back to Top
27 Edge & Paddock, page 91; Bull page 65; Turnbull page 35; Nicolle. Continental archers were usually poorly trained, and there is abundant documentation to support the efficacy of mercenary groups of crossbowmen and their usage, among others, by the French during English and French conflicts during the 14th C. Dr. Nicolle repeatedly cites crossbows as being a motivator for the development of rigid defenses throughout the continent, so it is not an unreasonable conclusion that it was a motivator for the English who faced them also. While crossbows versus longbows is not my primary field of study at this time, the English longbow's much greater rate of fire was its primary advantage over the more powerful crossbow, and this difference proved decisive. Longbows needed years of dedicated training to be effective, and only the English were able to provide and enforce such a system. Crossbows, on the other hand, could be fired by anyone. Back to Top
THE ARADOR ARMOUR LIBRARY Webmaster:Eric Slyter Assistant Forum Moderators: Mike Brock, Kara Frost-Slyter, Glen Kyle, Ron McWilliams, W. Reid Ripley,
Christian H. Tobler, Dave Womble Forum Archive: Marcus Grymme
No part of this site nor it's content may be reproduced without permission from The Arador Armour Library. Please see our Legal Disclaimer.
