HELMETS AND HELMS. Armor for protection of the head. Often the term casque, the French equivalent, is used synony mously for helmet. The fully developed hel met consists of a skull-piece called or 'bowl' (a domed piece of metal beaten into a shape closely fitting the back and top of the head) ; the (a projection extending from the forehead to the nape of the neck, similar to a cock's comb); a (protect ing the forehead and eyes) containing a slit or cleft, called the socularium,s in front to allow vision; a sventail* below the visor, pro tected the features and had, usually, perfora tions to admit air; a chin-piece, called Thevors or smentonieres ; and, lastly, the neckguard, called either scolletin,"gorgets or sgorgerin." In the rear was often a tube or other device for holding the knightly plumes.
Helmets date back, at least, to the ancient Egyptians and Assyrians, when they were made of strong fabric or leather, then metal. The oldest metal helmets extant are Assyrian (8th century s.c.). Homer's heroes wore elaborate bronze helmets with flowing horsehair bushes, chin-straps and plates protecting the neck, ears and cheeks; later the Greeks adopted an im movable visor with ocularium. These helmets had crests of great height and fantastic forms. The ancient Roman helmets, originally of leather (cudo), were soon replaced by bronze (cassis) during the republic. The 'gales' (Minerva's classic helmet), first of leather, was later made of bronze and encompassed the entire head, cheeks as well, leaving orbicular eye openings and a nasal projection in the cen tre of the opening. From about 600 A.D. to about 1000 A.D. the 'Spangenhelm," a conical or headpiece was in vogue. It was made of leather and reinforced with tri angular plates rivetted at the lower extremity to a metal ring, the apex of each piece meet ing at top in a button. The Norman helmet in William the Conqueror's time (1066) was of conical shape and had a nasal projection. Cheek pieces and neck defenses were next added to the nasal helmet. A cylindrical, or shaped, flat-topped "great helm" or 'heaume' (heavy headpiece) came into use in the 12th century, quickly followed by the "round topped* near the close of the century. The great helm was worn over the (see CHAIN ARMOR), and was followed by the "sugar loaf" helm with conical form and with 'camail" attached. The cup-shaped "cervelliere) or "basinet) was worn under the helm or by itself ; and the "wide iron hat (Eisenhut) was worn from now on all through the period of metal armor, in spasmodic intervals. This is the helmet worn in this century's World War as defense against shrapnel). The sugar-loaf helmet next took on a ((beaked) movable visor pivoted at the sides, after the middle of the 14th century. Middle of the 15th century arrives the asalade with its rear extension protecting the neck. Growing longer in front, with a horizontal "cleft' for sight, a movable visor is next at tached before the end of the century. An other variety was known as the salade; its low neck part was extended round the sides, protecting the ears and cheeks. They were termed "barbutes) as they developed, by the end of the century, into the ancient galea form with oval eye apertures and nasal piece. In the 15th century the great jousting helm was in use; it was very heavy and large, with some what flat crown, and was fastened to the body armor by screws. To this century belong the wide-brimmed hat-shaped "chapels-de-fer.' Also in this century developed the greatly ad mired, perfect head-piece — the "armet' Earli est of these is the "armet I it con sists of the "calotte" (skull-piece), or "timbre,* which is shaped to the head and prolonged to the nape of the neck; a "visor) protecting the face is movable on side pivots; the "bevor,) covering the chin; the "gorgerin" composed of several plates of steel binding the armet to the corselet (see PLATE ARMOR) ; a or disc, mounted in the nape of the neck, like a mushroom, to the shaft of which was at tached a scarf called (hinged plate).
Later armets ("close helmets") avoided the de feet of the open contact of the neck-plate (gorgerin) with the body armor by giving the lower edge of the gorgerin a half-round (bead) projection which overlapped and fitted in a shallow rim in the upper edge of the body armor, thus closing up the joint and allowing the casque to rotate on the corselet. Crests soon appeared in this very light, closely fitting helmet — the armet. The armet was in use through the reign of Henri IV and even under Louis XIII (17th century). Later improve ments in the armet were fluting the "timbre* to strengthen it and thereby allowing reduc tion in thickness and weight. Next, the visor has two parts (upper and lower) both working on the same pivot; crests come next together with betterment of the gorgerin. Out of the armet arose another casque form termed "bur gonet) (spelled also burganet, burgonette, etc.); an or “umbrere,)) was added fixedly to the visor to protect the eyes. It was shaped and acted just like the modern peak of a cap. In some of the early burgonets was an easily detachable chin protection called "buffe," in stead of the umbril. A lighter form of burgo net has flaps at the sides to protect the ears, and is free from either visor, umbril or buffe; but the lower part projects rear and front to protect face and neck; ear plates are at the sides. Another development was the extension of the neck protection by overlapping plates; this is the "lobster-tail" burgonet of Crom well's Ironsides. In the last evolution of the burgonet the laminar neck-piece is raised to nearly horizontal, or is displaced by a horizontal plate; a nasal rod is on some and can be raised or lowered at will. The lobster-tail and later burgonets belong to the 17th century. A 16th century casque was the "motion) of His pano-Moresque origin, with grotesque high crest ridge and uptilted peaks front and rear; these developed into the "cabasset," becoming more and more pot-shaped. The morion and cabassets were head defenses of the pikemen, and in the 17th century became the epikeman's pot" and "iron hat' or "kettle hat. ° Armor decadence, with advance in fire-arms efficiency, brought about the last remnants of head de fenses in the form of metallic "hatlinincrso (first solid plate, then perforated, lastly a wattle of metal strips), and the so-called "spider-helmet," in which the strips continue be low the cap with spider-like appearance and so jointed as to be conveniently folded together into the smallest space.
Bibliography.— Ashdown, C. H., and Foreign Arms and Armour) (London 1909) ; Boyer, J., nouveaux Casques me talliques de l'Armee franeaise) (in Nature, Paris 1915) ; Dean, Bashford, on Arms and Armor' (in Museum of Art Handbook,' New York 1916) ; Earles, F. R., The Evolution of the Medieval Helmet' (in Genealogical Magazine, London 1897) ; Hewitt, J., Armour and Weapons in (Oxford 1860) ' • Shubert-Soldern, F. von, nzittelalterliche Helm and seine Entwickelung) (in Zeitschrif t zur historischen Wall enkunde, Leipzig 1909). See also PLATE ARMOR; CHAIN ARMOR, etc.