12628 m75&

Scripts, contemporaneous sculpture, decoration of artifacts, etc., as very little of the original materiał has survived. Therefore almost all writing on these subjects is interpretation of such evidence and open to argument. In this book the generally accepted yerdicts are given, with one or two questions raised.

In the case of the Turkish and Saracenic arms, armour and costume there is even less information available, for Islamie art of the period was highly stylized. The position is further confused by the clash of influences in the Middle East at the time; Byzantine military styles survived until quite late in Egypt, while Syria was influenced by Persia and then by the Turks, and in Iberia the Moorish fashions were strongly inłluenced by the West and each influx ofnewcomers from North Africa. What little pictorial evidence there is hints at a rich and varied costume about which we may never know very much.

An Egyptian hauberk (zardiyyat) of the late i5th century which, apart from the collar, is of the generał style worn by Egyptians and Syrians from noo to 1300.

The figures portrayed in Plates G and H are reconstructions based on contemporary materiał, often very simple, yet difficult to interpret: the artist has done his best with the limited information available.

Aj, A 4 Crusaders, ist-jrd Crusades Many of the fighting men who went on the ist Crusades were dressed and armed in the style so vividly illustrated in the Bayeux Tapestry (com-pleted between 1070 and 1080). In this Platę figures A3 and A4 especially show this style: conical helmet, often with nasal bar to protect the face; knee-length mail hauberk with wide elbow-length sleeves and slit at front and rear from hem to crutch; a mail coif which was usually madę as part of the hauberk; large kite-shaped shield; a spear which could be used from horseback either under or over arm, or could even be thrown; a sword or axe. This style of equipment was still being worn by foot soldiers and poorer knights as late as the 3rd Crusade.

A1 Crusader, ist-jrd Crusade

This ist Crusade warrior is of a higher rank and morę protected by mail than A3 and A4 (knight-hood was not synonymous with nobility until after the ist Crusade). Hauberks with fairly tight-fitting sleeves extending to the wrist were in use at the time of the ist Crusade but did not become popular until the 3rd Crusade, and never fully superseded the short-sleeved version. The mail hose, worn over cloth hose, were fastened to a belt worn under the hauberk and gartered below the knee, so as to decrease drag. Notę the separate coif, of leather for greater comfort; the lacing at the neck of the hauberk; and the straps on the back of the shield.

A 2 Knight, jrd Crusade

By this datę the sleeves of the hauberk had been extended to form mittens with a palm of leather or cloth, slit so that the hand could be withdrawn, and laced round the wrist to reduce drag. This hauberk incorporates a coif, which was usually secured to the head by a thong threaded through the mail at the brow, as here, and has a flap of mail, known as the aventail, which is drawn across the lower part of the face and secured to the brow band. Auentails