86292 m75'

An assortment of drawings based on Saracen and Turkish contemporary manuscripts and sculp-tures. Top left is a different type of i2th-century Saracen helmet; belo w are Turks wearing lamellar armour, also I2th century; and on the right a group of Seljuks.

were introduced at the end of the i ith century.

The strips of mail covering the fronts of the legs and tops of the feet were introduced in i ioo and were secured to the belt. Both forms of leg defence shown in this Platę were in common use by knights by 1150. Round-topped helmets were introduced about the same datę, although they did not replace the earlier conical type, which continued to be used until the mid-i3th century.

Aj, A6, Aj Crusaders, mid-i2th century Many of the knights of the ist Crusade wore a long linen coat under their hauberks (A2). The purpose ofthis coat can now only be guessed at. By mid-i 2th century some knights hacl adopted the surcoat, an early example of which is shown by A6, which is based on the figurę ofWaleran de Bellemonte on his seal, attached to a charter earlier than 1150. The theory that such coats were copied from the Saracens, who wore long loose-fitting gowns over their armour, cannot be discounted, but they are unlikely to have been used to shade the armour from the sun. It is morę likely that they followed the Saracen purpose morę closely (see text 011 Plates G and H) and were worn mcrely so that the wcarer might look better, a sort of dress uniform, and it should be noted that this figurę is wearing a ‘surcoat’ and hat which both follow civilian fashion of the time.

The ‘pot’ helmets worn by A5 and A7 first came into use about the middle of the i2th century, and were common by 1180. The shield held by A7 has