Bascinet

The bascinet – also bassinet, basinet, or bazineto – was a Medieval European open-faced combat helmet. It evolved from a type of iron or steel skullcap, but had a more pointed apex to the skull, and it extended downwards at the rear and sides to afford protection for the neck. A mail curtain (aventail or camail) was usually attached to the lower edge of the helmet to protect the throat, neck and shoulders. A visor (face guard) was often employed from c. 1330 to protect the exposed face. Early in the fifteenth century, the camail began to be replaced by a plate metal gorget, giving rise to the so-called "great bascinet".

The bascinet – also bassinet, basinet, or bazineto – was a Medieval European open-faced combat helmet. It evolved from a type of iron or steel skullcap, but had a more pointed apex to the skull, and it extended downwards at the rear and sides to afford protection for the neck. A mail curtain (aventail or camail) was usually attached to the lower edge of the helmet to protect the throat, neck and shoulders. A visor (face guard) was often employed from c. 1330 to protect the exposed face. Early in the fifteenth century, the camail began to be replaced by a plate metal gorget, giving rise to the so-called "great bascinet". ==Early development== The first recorded reference to a bascinet, or bazineto, was in the Italian city of Padua in 1281, when it is described as being worn by infantry. It is believed that the bascinet evolved from a simple iron skullcap, known as the cervelliere, which was worn with a mail coif, as either the sole form of head protection or beneath a great helm. The bascinet is differentiated from the cervelliere by having a higher, pointed skull. By about 1330 the bascinet had been extended lower down the sides and back of the head. Within the next 20 years it had extended to the base of the neck and covered the cheeks. The bascinet appeared quite suddenly in the later 13th century and some authorities see it as being influenced by Byzantine or Middle-Eastern Muslim helmets. The bascinet, without a visor, continued to be worn underneath larger "great helms" (also termed heaumes). ==Protection for the throat, neck and face== ===Camails or aventails=== Unlike the cervelliere, which was worn in conjunction with, often underneath, a complete hood of mail called the coif, early bascinets were typically worn with a neck and throat defence of mail that was attached to the lower edge of the helmet itself; this mail "curtain" was called a camail or aventail. The earliest camails were riveted directly to the edge of the helmet, however, beginning in the 1320s a detachable version replaced this type. The detachable aventail was attached to a leather band, which was in turn attached to the lower border of the bascinet by a series of staples called vervelles. Holes in the leather band were passed over the vervelles, and a waxed cord was passed through the holes in the vervelles to secure it. ==Later evolution of the helmet== . The helmet would be free to rotate within the gorget. English, c. 1450]] Between c. 1390 and 1410 the bascinet had an exaggeratedly tall skull with an acutely pointed profile – sometimes so severe as to have a near-vertical back. Ten years later both the skull of the helmet and the hinged visor started to become less angular and more rounded. Almost globular forms became common by c. 1450. As part of the same process the helmet became more close-fitting, and narrowed to follow the contours of the neck. ===Bevors and gorgets=== Around 1350, during the reign of John II, French bascinets began to be fitted with a hinged chin- or jaw-piece (bevor (sense 2), ), upon which the visor would be able to rest. The visor and bevor that closed flush with each other thus provided better protection against incoming sword blows. This type of defence augmented the camail rather than replaced it. The bascinet fitted with a camail was relatively heavy and most of the weight was supported directly by the head. Plate gorgets were introduced from c. 1400–1410, which replaced the camail and moved the weight of the throat and neck defences from the head to the shoulders. At the same time a plate covering the cheeks and lower face was introduced also called the bavière (contemporary usage was not precise). This bavière was directly attached by rivets to the skull of the bascinet. The combined skull and bavière could rotate within the upper part of the gorget, which overlapped them. A degree of freedom of movement was retained, but was probably less than had been the case with the mail camail. ===Great bascinet=== In the view of Oakeshott the replacement of the camail by a plate gorget gave rise to the form of helmet known as the "great bascinet". Many other scholars consider that the term should be reserved for bascinets where the skull, and baviere – if present, was fixed to the gorget, rendering the whole helmet immobile. Early gorgets were wide, copying the shape of the earlier aventail, however, with the narrowing of the neck opening the gorget plates had to be hinged to allow the helmet to be put on. Early great bascinets had the skull of the helmet riveted to the rear gorget plate, however, some later great bascinets had the skull forged in a single piece with the rear gorget plate. The gorget was often strapped to both the breast and backplate of the cuirass. In this late form the head was relieved of the entire weight of the helmet, which rested on the shoulders; however, the helmet was rendered totally immobile and the head of the wearer had only limited abilities to move inside it. Though very strongly constructed, this type of helmet imposed limitations on the wearer's vision and agility. ==Historic use== ===Use with the great helm=== Bascinets, other than great bascinets, could be worn beneath a great helm. However, only those without face protection, or those with the close fitting bretache, could be worn in this manner. The great helm afforded a high degree of protection, but at the cost of very restricted vision and agility. The lighter types of bascinet gave less protection but allowed greater freedom of movement and better vision. The practicality of a man-at-arms being able to take off a great helm during a battle, if he wanted to continue fighting wearing just a bascinet, is unclear. By the mid 14th century the great helm was probably largely relegated to tournament use. However, Henry V of England is reputed to have worn a great helm over a bascinet at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. He was recorded as receiving a blow to the head during the battle, which damaged his helmet; the double protection afforded by wearing two helmets may have saved his life. ===Later use=== By the middle of the 14th century, most knights had discarded the great helm altogether in favor of a fully visored bascinet. The bascinet, both with and without a visor, was the most common helmet worn in Europe during most of the 14th century and the first half of the 15th century, including during the Hundred Years' War. Contemporary illustrations show a majority of knights and men-at-arms wearing one of a few variants of the bascinet helmet. Indeed, so ubiquitous was the use of the helmet that "bascinet" became an alternative term for a man-at-arms. Though primarily associated with use by the "knightly" classes and other men-at-arms some infantry also made use of the lighter versions of this helmet. Regions where rich citizens were fielded as infantry, such as Italy, and other lands producing specialised professional infantry such as the English and Welsh longbowman probably saw the greatest use of bascinets by infantrymen. The basic design of the earlier, conical version of the helmet was intended to direct blows from weapons downward and away from the skull and face of the wearer. Later versions of the bascinet, especially the great bascinet, were designed to maximise coverage and therefore protection. In achieving this they sacrificed the mobility and comfort of the wearer; thus, ironically, returning to the situation that the wearers of the cumbersome great helm experienced and that the early bascinets were designed to overcome. It is thought that poorer men-at-arms continued to employ lighter bascinets with mail camails long after the richest had adopted plate gorgets. File:Crécy - Grandes Chroniques de France.jpg|Illustration from a 15th-century manuscript showing horsemen wearing bascinets with the rounded visor used from c. 1410 File:Konrad Witz Sabobai And Benaiah (1435) fragment.jpg|Knight wearing a great bascinet. The strap fixing the helmet to the breastplate is visible as is the impossibility of rotating the helmet. German painting by Konrad Witz, 1435 File:Armadura medieval.jpg|A late-period great bascinet for tournament use. The skull and back gorget are formed in one piece, and there are strapping points to secure the helmet to the cuirass. ===Decline in use=== Soon after 1450 the "great bascinet" was rapidly discarded for field use, being replaced by the armet and sallet, which were lighter helmets allowing greater freedom of movement for the wearer. However, a version of the great bascinet, usually with a cage-like visor, remained in use for foot combat in tournaments into the 16th century. ==External links== Spotlight: The 14th Century Bascinet (myArmoury.com article) Battle of Agincourt from Olivier's Henry V YouTube – Laurence Olivier's film of Henry V. A depiction of Henry V wearing a bascinet with a bavier and a plate gorget, illustrating the mobility of the head and helmet within the gorget. It also shows the king's crown within an orle.

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