SHIELD (AS. scild, scyld, Goth. skildus. 011G. scilt, Ger. Schi/d, shield; possibly connect ed with Lith. skein, I split). A piece of defensive armor borne on the left arm or in the hand, to ward off the strokes of the sword and of missiles. It is common to all nations and all ages in the Old World. The large shield worn by the Greek hoplites was circular or oval, and often orna mented with devices. The shield (Lat. se.utuin) used by the Boman heavy-armed infantry was quadrangular and bent to encircle the body in part. The shields were built so strongly as to afford protection against heavy missiles from the walls of a besieged city. (See TESTCDO. The Romans also had a lighter form of shield known as the c/ipetts. Among the Germanic peoples the shield was the warrior's chief in signia of honor, and to be lifted on the shield by the warriors of the tribe was to be made leader in war or king. In the early :Middle Ages the shield was most important for both horsemen and foot soldiers. Its form was usually round and bent, with a boss of metal in the form of a hollow button or spike in the centre of the convex surface. Across the hollow of the boss was placed a handle of wood covered with iron. If the shield was held at arm's length it was called a buckler; if it was swung over the arm it was known as a target. The body of the shield was made of limewood, though leather was sometimes used.
The shields of the northern peoples were fanci fully decorated, and as Christianity spread the cross became a common decoration. The heraldic device appears after the age of the Bayeux Tapestry. With the form and visage of men totally concealed under suits of armor, the de vice on the shield was ill fact the only means of distinguishing in the heat of battle between friend and foe. (See HERALDRY.) In the eleventh cen tury the kite-shaped shield was much used, and many shields of this form are found on the Bayeux Tapestry. By the middle of the twelfth century the triangular shield was much in vogue. It was customary at this period and later to make the shield the dead knight's bier. In the thirteenth century the custom was intro duced of hanging shields in churches. shaped, heart-shaped, and quadrangular shields were used in this period, and the shield was much smaller. In the fourteenth century we have mention of large shields carried by the foot soldiers. In the fifteenth century the sMall buck ler was used by the foot soldiers, although large wicker shields were still in use. Even as late as the seventeenth century the target was used ef fectively by the soldiers of Maurice of Nassau. Consult: Hewitt, Ancient Arm4pur (London, 1860) Gourdon de Genortillac, Grammaire he raldique (Paris, 1S60). See Almon.'