Targe
≈ 3 min read
Names in other languages
No names in other languages are held for this entry yet.
Article bodies are English and are not machine-translated. A name in another language is not a translation of the article.
The targe ( ) is a type of strapped round shield that was used by Scottish Highlanders in the early modern period. From the late 16th century, until the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the Scottish Highlander's main means of defence in battle was his targe. In February 1596, the clan leader John Grant of Freuchie was able to muster 500 men, including 40 armed "according to the Highland custom" with bows, helmets, swords, and targes. After the disastrous defeat of the Jacobites at Culloden, the carrying of the targe was banned by the Disarming Act, and many were destroyed or put to other uses. Those that remain have intricate patterns and are decorated, indicating that they would have originally belonged to important people. The targe is a concave shield fitted with enarmes on the inside, one adjustable by a buckle, to be attached to the forearm, and the other fixed as a grip for the left hand.
]] The targe ( ) is a type of strapped round shield that was used by Scottish Highlanders in the early modern period. From the late 16th century, until the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the Scottish Highlander's main means of defence in battle was his targe. In February 1596, the clan leader John Grant of Freuchie was able to muster 500 men, including 40 armed "according to the Highland custom" with bows, helmets, swords, and targes. After the disastrous defeat of the Jacobites at Culloden, the carrying of the targe was banned by the Disarming Act, and many were destroyed or put to other uses. Those that remain have intricate patterns and are decorated, indicating that they would have originally belonged to important people. The targe is a concave shield fitted with enarmes on the inside, one adjustable by a buckle, to be attached to the forearm, and the other fixed as a grip for the left hand.
Etymology
Targe ( , ) was a general word for a shield in late Old English. Its diminutive, target, came to mean an object to be aimed at in the 18th century. The term refers to various types of shields used by infantry troops from the 13th to 16th centuries, or earlier. From the 15th century, the term could also refer to special shields used for jousting. A fair number were created wholly for show.
Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1346301341 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.