Chapter III: Lancastrian Period. 1400-1453

There now begins to be evident a slight deterioration; careless and poor work is found side by side with some of the very finest. In part this is because so many different classes were now adopting this type of monument.

About 500 brasses belong to this period, including clergy and laity.

The armed figures may be conveniently divided into three groups, and it will be found that their wives naturally fall into similar divisions.

The first is practically the same as that of the later Plantagenets and still retains the camail. (See list (I).)

Sir Wm. Bagot and his wife wear the collar of S. S. This collar was conferred by Henry IV and the other Lancastrians on their friends. It is found on many brasses during this period and is worn by ladies as well as knights. We may appropriately refer here to the Order of the Garter. Unfortunately there are not many instances of its being shown on brasses, only six or seven being known. (See Appendix.)

Our illustration of Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, not only shows the style of armour, but also that the armorial charges on his jupon and on his wife’s mantle are wrought with a beautiful diaper work. This way of depicting arms (by lightly engraving the surface with dots, instead of lines) is unique.

The ladies in this division, like their husbands, wear practically the same costume as before. But at the same time other brasses were being laid down showing that changes were taking place. The jupon was abandoned, and the plain cuirass shown. This has a skirt of hoops, known as taces. These cover the mail shirt, which gradually disappears. The camail is likewise covered by a gorget of steel and later abandoned. The bascinet becomes globular.

An interesting example of the transitional period is the brass of Sir Thos. Swynborne and his father at Little Horkesley in Essex. The father, Sir Robert (died 1391), is shown in the armour of that date, while his son shows the armour of 1412.

Later, roundels are placed at the elbow and in front of the armpits. (See list (II).)

The illustration of Sir Simon Felbrigge is of special interest. He holds the Royal Standard in his right hand charged with the arms of Edward the Confessor impaling France and England. He was the Royal Standard bearer during Richard II’s reign, yet was made K.G. by Henry V. He did not die till 1443, but probably prepared his tomb in 1416. The palettes at his armpits are charged with the cross of St George, and he wears the Garter. Additional plates are placed on the shoulders and cuirass. More changes now occur, the left side begins to be more fully protected than the right, since the extra weight would have prevented free action. Tuilles or plates are strapped to the lowest tace, and other slight changes become noticeable.

For examples of these changes see list (III) in the Appendix.

Sir Christopher Baynham (c. 1448) at Newland, Gloucester, has a most curious crest--a miner with a candle in his mouth, a bag on his back and a pickaxe in his hand. The brass is unfortunately rather mutilated.

In the last section (section (iv)) the helmet is discarded and the hair is close-cropped. The skirt of taces is very long, having often ten hoops; tuilles are not used. Pauldrons are worn on the shoulders.

The ladies do not vary in costume so much. The mantle is often omitted and a high-waisted gown with long sleeves and turned-down collar worn. The hair is gathered into a net and a kerchief draped over the top.

Examples may be found at Routh, Yorks., c. 1410; East Markham, Notts., 1419; Digswell, Herts., 1415; Horley, Surrey (canopy), c. 1420.

From 1420-1450 we find the plain kirtle and mantle (occasionally the sideless _cote-hardi_, as at Trotton) and the horned or mitred head-dress. This means that the hair, enclosed in a net, is raised above the head in the design indicated and then draped with a kerchief. Most of the ladies depicted with their husbands follow this arrangement.

Examples alone, at Hever, Kent, 1419; Lingfield, Surrey, 1420; Cobham, Kent, 1433, etc.

The civilians are of great importance during this period, and two groups demand special attention, the Woolmen and the Judges. Wm. Grevel and wife, Chipping Campden, Glos., 1401 (woolman) may be taken as an example of the earlier type. He wears a long gown buttoned right down the front, a belt with an anlace, and mantle opening at the right shoulder. His wife has no mantle and wears a similar dress to that of the Plantagenet period. The magnificent double canopy has a central column, a rare feature.

This type of dress, with slight variations, continued for the whole of the Lancastrian period. Towards its close, however, certain changes became more and more common. Mantle and hood are seldom seen, except as a sign of municipal office. The dress becomes shorter, reaching only a little below the knees, the hair is cropped and there is no beard. Nicholas Canteys, St John’s, Margate, 1431, is an exception, having a long beard.

The brasses of the woolmen are the finest, as they were the richest. Their feet often rest upon woolpacks or lambs.

In many brasses, merchants’ marks on shields will be found, as in Grevel’s. At Fletching, Sussex, there is a curious brass to Peter Denot, glover, 1450. It consists of a pair of gloves and an inscription.

The fine series of woolmen’s brasses at Northleach are specially noticeable, and Gloucestershire takes the lead throughout England, Lincolnshire coming next.

We cannot leave the subject of the civilians without referring to the legal profession. The judges are by far the most important. (See Appendix.)

John Cottusmore and his wife (1439) have two brasses; the first large, with a fine canopy on the floor, the second small, on the wall, showing them kneeling.

The costume consists of a gown reaching to the feet, with close sleeves. A fur tippet, a mantle lined with minever, a hood and a close cap or coif.

Sir John Cassy and wife (part of marginal inscription omitted),
1400, Deerhurst, Glos.
]

Sir John Cassy, chief baron of the Exchequer (1400), has a magnificent brass at Deerhurst. He shows most of these features but the tippet, which is concealed. The fine double canopy no longer has the figure of St John the Baptist, which was still there when the rubbing was taken. The other figure is of St Anne and the Virgin as a child. The inscription, as is often the case in Gloucestershire, is in raised letters with curious leaves, and a dragon separating the words, but the lower part is here omitted. The dog beneath Lady Cassy’s feet was evidently meant to represent an old pet. It has a collar of bells round its neck and its name, Terri, underneath. This is the only named pet now extant, but a “Jakke” existed formerly at Ingham, Norfolk, on the brass of Sir Bryan de Stapleton, 1438. It was sold as old metal in 1800.

Three Serjeants-at-law belong to this period: John Rede, Checkendon, Oxon. (triple canopy), 1404, Nich. Roland and wife, Cople, Beds., c. 1410, and Thos. Rolf, Gosfield, Essex, 1439.

Thomas Rolf has the most characteristic dress, consisting of a cassock and academical tabard, a tippet, hood with two bands and a coif.

These include most types of civilian brasses, but there are numerous variations, and therein lies the interest of the subject.