Misplaced Pages

#350649

23-407: Redcap is depicted as "a short, thickset old elf with long prominent teeth, skinny fingers armed with talons like eagles, large eyes of a fiery red colour, grisly hair streaming down his shoulders, iron boots , a pikestaff in his left hand, and a red cap on his head". When travellers take refuge in his lair, he flings huge stones at them and if he kills them, he soaks his cap in their blood, giving it

46-519: A border fortress that was owned by the Bell family in the parish of Kirkpatrick-Fleming in Dumfriesshire , was haunted by a more traditional ghost known as "Old Red Cap" or "Bloody Bell". A description of the tower and ghost was given by William Scott Irving in the poem "Fair Helen" in which the "ghastly phantom" holds a bloody dagger beneath a red eastern moon. The term redcap is also used in

69-684: A crimson hue. He is unaffected by human strength, but can be driven away by words of Scripture or by the brandishing of a crucifix , which cause him to utter a dismal yell and vanish in flames, leaving behind a large tooth. The tale of a redcap in Perthshire depicts him as a more benign little man living in a room high up in Grantully Castle. He bestows good fortune on those who see or hear him. The Kabouter (Kaboutermannekins), or redcaps of Dutch folklore , are also very different and more akin to brownies . The ruin of Blackett Tower,

92-595: A more general sense. For example, in the village of Zennor in Cornwall fairies were often referred to as "red-caps" (including the more benevolent trooping fairies ) because of their fondness for wearing green clothing and scarlet caps. This characteristic is demonstrated by an excerpt from the poem "The Fairies" by the Irish poet William Allingham : Wee folk, good folk/trooping all together/Green jacket, red cap/and white owl's feather . Scots nobleman William de Soulis ,

115-428: A mounted knight's feet would be at perfect height for strikes from dismounted soldiers, and so sabatons or other foot armour would be vital when riding into battle. An earlier solution was for the mail of the chausses to completely cover the foot, but later the mail terminated at the ankle, either overlapping the outside of the sabaton or extending beneath it. The effigy of Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick in

138-489: A variation of this construction using mail armor is evidenced in a Sarmatian burial as reported by A.E. Negin. Prototype chausses separate from the torso armor develop by the 2nd century, as evidenced in a hybridized splint and scale leg armor found at the burial of Chatalka at Roshava Dragana in Bulgaria. This armor was constructed of a splinted cuisse and greave , with plate poleyns and scale demigreaves . By

161-532: Is evidenced at nearby Karanlik Kilise , dating slightly later to the 11th century CE. However, full-height mail chausses were probably already in use as early as the first or second quarter of the 9th century as shown in the Biblioteca Capitolare (Ms. CLXV) from Vercelli . They probably were transmitted up the Danube or the spine of Italy, as some form of mail or scale chausses are also evidenced in

184-405: Is often misunderstood as " les chaussettes de l’archiduchesse ". In addition, among some Catholic monastic nuns, the special stocking/leggings worn were called chausses. Prototype chausses are first evidenced in the late Scythian burials of Gladkovsina and Alexandrovka from the 5th century BCE, made of small scales and integrated directly into the hauberk (torso armor). By the 1st century BCE,

207-471: The Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick , shows how 15th century Italian-style sabatons would have been worn. These consist of a toe cap, four articulated lames, a foot plate and ankle plate, and a hinged heel cap, joined with buckled straps. Although the spurs are missing from the effigy, remains of rivet holes and staples may represent the way that the spurs would have been directly attached to

230-654: The Stuttgart Psalter of that same time period. One of the clearest depictions of mail chausses in west Europe is in the Bayeux tapestry of 1066–1083, with William the Conqueror and several other Normans and Early English wearing them. Chausses became more common as the 12th century progressed and by 1200 nearly all knights and men-at-arms were outfitted with them. Beginning in the 13th century CE, padded, quilted hosen or breeches would be worn over

253-648: The 3rd century CE, independent scale demichausses were in Roman military use and have been found at the fortress of Dura Europos, dated to shortly before its destruction in 257 CE. However, none of these armors had any form of integrated armored foot, likely due to the fact they were more closely related to the use of laminated arm and leg armor called manica . However, during the 3rd century, gladiatorial mosaics show fully-enclosing shin-height mail chausses with armored foot and mail or scale sleeves with armored mittens. Mail chausses are first archaeologically attested during

SECTION 10

#1732788036351

276-544: The broad-toed variant is the true sabaton, whereas the earlier versions should be referred to as a solleret. At least in theory, French princes and dukes were allowed to have toes of Gothic sabatons 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 times, lords (barons and higher) 2 times, and gentry only one time the length of their feet. If we assume pied du roi as the standard length, these would be 81.2 cm (32 in), 64.96 cm ( 25 + 9 ⁄ 16  in), and 32.48 cm ( 12 + 3 ⁄ 4  in), respectively. The sabaton

299-637: The conspiracy against Robert the Bruce in 1320. Sir Walter Scott in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1802) records a ballad written by John Leyden entitled "Lord Soulis" in which Redcap has granted his master safety against weapons and lives in a chest secured by three strong padlocks. Scott states that the Redcap is a class of spirits that haunts old castles, and that every ruined tower in

322-412: The foot. Steel shin plates called schynbalds came into use during the mid-13th century. Unlike greaves , schynbalds protected only the front of the lower leg. These early plate additions were worn over chausses and held in place with leather straps. While chausses never truly became obsolete, they gradually stopped being used on their own by wealthier armed retainers in the late 13th to the middle of

345-461: The front half of the leg. They generally extended well above the knee, covering most of the leg. Mail chausses were the standard type of metal leg armour in Europe from the 9th to the early 14th centuries CE. Chausses offered flexible protection that was effective against most hand-powered weapons, but was gradually supplemented and then replaced with the development of iron plate armor for the legs in

368-593: The heel cap of the sabaton, rather than being strapped on afterwards. "Sabaton" is also the name of a type of broad-toed Flemish shoe, popular in the Late Middle Ages. Sabaton is the name of a Swedish heavy metal band who write songs based on military history. Chausses Chausses ( / ˈ ʃ oʊ s / ; French: [ʃos] ) were a Medieval term for leggings, which was also used for leg armour; routinely made of mail and referred to as mail chausses , or demi-chausses if they only cover

391-499: The mail chausse on the upper leg. This type of armour was known as the gamboised cuisse , and is frequently depicted in the Majeciowski "Crusader" Bible from the 1240s CE. Reinforcing plates for knees called poleyns began to supplement mail chausses after about 1230. Because most leg armor had to be pulled on from the foot, rather than snapped on such as a breastplate, a chausse might have been considered to be worn on

414-610: The middle ages in the 9th century CE, as evidenced by the find of a mailed foot from the Kyulevcha Village Catacombs in Bulgaria, of early Bulgarian or Byzantine attribution. Byzantine art depicts shin-height mail chausses in the early phase of the New Church at Tokali Kilise in Cappadocia, datable to the third quarter of the 10th century CE. A more definitive depiction of full height maille chausses

437-495: The second half of the 13th to first half of the 14th century. Chausses were also worn as a woollen legging with layers, as part of civilian dress, and as a gamboised (quilted or padded) garment worn under mail chausses . The old French word chausse, meaning stocking, survives only in modern French as the stem of the words chaussure (shoe) and chaussette (sock) and in the tongue-twister: Les chausses sèches de l’archiduchesse Sont elles sèches ou archisèches? Today this

460-464: The south of Scotland was supposed to have one of these spirits residing within. Robin Redcap should not be confused with the mischievous hobgoblin known as Robin Roundcap of East Yorkshire folklore. Sabaton A sabaton or solleret is part of a knight 's body armor that covers the foot. 14th and 15th-century sabatons typically end in a tapered point well past the actual toes of

483-422: The wearer's foot, following fashionable shoe shapes of the era . Sabatons of the late 15th and early 16th century followed the duckbill shoes of the time, ending at the tip of the toe but often extending greatly wider. The sabatons were the first piece of armour to be put on, and were made of riveted iron plates called lames . These plates generally covered only the top of the foot. Some sources maintain that

SECTION 20

#1732788036351

506-437: Was not commonly used by knights or men at arms fighting on foot. Instead, many would simply wear leather shoes or boots. Heavy or pointy metal footwear would severely hinder movement and mobility on the ground, particularly under wet or muddy conditions. Attacks against the feet are not common in dismounted combat, as a strike to an enemy's foot would typically put the attacker in a very awkward and vulnerable position. Conversely,

529-587: Was said in folklore to have a redcap familiar called "Robin Redcap". This entity was said to have wrought much harm and ruin in the lands of his master's dwelling, Hermitage Castle . Ultimately, William was (according to legend) taken to the Ninestane Rig , a stone circle near the castle, then wrapped in lead and boiled to death. In reality, William de Soulis was imprisoned in Dumbarton Castle and died there, following his confessed complicity in

#350649