Bulfinch’s Mythology · Chapter
Helmets explained
This chapter describes the construction and function of medieval helmets, including the headpiece, visor, bever, and ventayle, as well as how they were secured and the methods used to dispatch a fallen knight.
What happens
This chapter describes the construction and function of medieval helmets, including the headpiece, visor, bever, and ventayle, as well as how they were secured and the methods used to dispatch a fallen knight.
Key passages
“The helmet was composed of two parts: the headpiece, which was strengthened within by several circles of iron, and the visor, which, as the name implies, was a sort of grating to see through, so contrived as, by sliding in a groove, or turning on a pivot, to be raised or lowered at pleasure.”
A helmet had two main parts: a reinforced headpiece and a movable visor with a grating for vision.
Describes the basic structure and adjustability of the helmet.
“To secure the helmet from the possibility of falling, or of being struck off, it was tied by several laces to the meshes of the hauberk; consequently, when a knight was overthrown it was necessary to undo these laces before he could be put to death; though this was sometimes effected by lifting up the skirt of the hauberk, and stabbing him in the belly.”
The helmet was laced to the hauberk to prevent it from being knocked off, so a defeated knight had to be either unlaced or stabbed through the hauberk's skirt.
Explains the practical challenge of killing a fallen knight due to helmet attachment.