44 The History of the Spur 



inch wide at the heel, and slightly tapering towards the ends. 

 The spread is sufficient to go outside the solleret. The total 

 length of these spurs is fourteen inches. I have drawn them in 

 the illustration on Plate 22 in the position in which they are 

 placed on the figure, but I think they were worn the other way 

 up. As they are at present placed there are two slits near the 

 lower edge for the attachment of two hooks side by side, which 

 were doubtless rivetted to a broad strap, while near the upper 

 edge is one slit for one hook, attached to a narrower strap. 

 It is much more likely that the broad strap went over the 

 instep, and was probably decorated, while the narrow strap 

 went under the sole. 



There is an identical pair of the same size and with 

 precisely the same ornamentation in the Stibbert Collection in 

 Florence, and as Zschille and Forrer have several illustrations 

 of similar spurs, they appear to have been not uncommon in 

 Germany, 



There is also another form of straight, long-necked spurs 

 of the fifteenth century, examples of which I have not seen 

 anywhere in England. There are several at Florence and at 

 Turin, and Zschille and Forrer have several illustrations of 

 them. They are, I believe, of German make. The long, straight 

 neck, often ten inches in length, sometimes tapers towards the 

 end and sometimes not. They have usually eight-pointed star 

 rowels, sometimes as much as four inches in diameter. Their 

 peculiarity consists in their having, instead of ordinary sides 

 or arms, a cup-shaped casing, two inches or more deep, with a 

 sole or floor to it, which encloses the entire heel of the 



