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rondel dagger and a short falchion; a smali round iron buckler or ‘target’ was normally carried slung to the hilt. We have omitted the liveryjackets which both Di and D3 would normally have worn, for clarity.

D2: Archer

This longbowman has the visor of his visored sallet raised; notę forked chinstrap. The contemporary description of‘black’ helmets does not always mean a painted surface; the term was used for Steel items left ‘black’, i.e. unpolished, as they came from the forge. He wears a livery jacket, whose design we take from contemporary manuscript illustrations, adding to the breast a reconstruction of the badge of Sir William Paston’s men. Beneath this are a sleeveless padded jack, and a loosely-cut green woollen jacket. Most ofthis man’scostume is typical ofcivilian clothing of the last ąuarter of the century. He would wear a shirt and short underpants, over which would be woollen hose and a doublet, invisible here but probably long-sleeved and tight-fitting, and laced to the hose with ‘points’. The hose—which despite having diflerent coloured legs would by this datę have been madę in one piece, like low-cut tights, rather than having the separate legs ofearlier in the century—are worn with short, loose leather boots. The woollen cloth of doublets and hose was cut ‘on the bias’, and had an elasticity almost unknown today.

The arrows for the self-wood war bow are carried in a large canvas bag slung behind him. Belts support a sword with a simple cruciform hilt, a ‘bollock’ dagger, and—slung on the hilt of the sword—a smali buckler or ‘target’. This was often less than a foot across, madę of iron, with a sharply domed boss covering the recessed handgrip. Some had a convex surface, others a concave surface which, with the domed boss, gave a cross-section rather like a flattened ‘W’. They were used as fist-shields, for parrying blows in close combat. An archer’s bracer is strapped to the left forearm; shooting gloves are also mentioned in contemporary descriptions, but we have no direct reference to their design.

The term ‘levies’ might suggest to us an ill-eąuipped rabble, but contemporary documents make elear that this was far from the truth. Minimum standards of eąuipment were laid down

This crossbow, with a Steel stave, is i6th century, but is relevant in showing the loading windlass in place. Tlie ‘stirrup’ foot braces were sometimes, as in this case, two iron rods with a leather strap. (Castle Museum, York)

by regulation for the men selected by their lord or their town council: each had a sallet, a jack, a sword and buckler, and either a bow or a pole arm. The Mancini description of 1483, ąuoted in the body of the text, supports the view of these levies as seriously prepared soldiers.

Dj: Halberdier

Men armed with pole weapons might wear brigandines, but the jack is probably morę typical, often worn over mail, and with or without some piąte limb armour. This example has long sleeves, with bunches of‘points’ on the outer surface for the attachment of the chains or narrow linked plates which were sometimes worn as extra protection. (Again, as with Di, a livery jacket would often be

worn, but has been omitted here to show details of

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the jack.) The helmet, worn over a caped cloth hood, is a kettle hat with the brim longer at the back