j;ao A R M 
fcetiding to the knees, it was charged with the efchutcheons 
or armorial bearings of the wearer, and often was of cloth 
of gold or (liver, rich furs, or cut velvet. 
Another kind of armour, about this time in ufe, was 
called brigandincs, fo denominated from the brigands, a 
fpecies of mercenary troops, who firft introduced it. This 
armour was ccmpofed of a number of fmall plates of iron, 
dewed upon quilted linen or leather, through a fmall hole 
in the centre of the plate, their edges laid over each other 
like the fcales of a fifti. They were proof againft the ftroke 
of a fword, or pud) of a pike, and yet extremely pliable to 
every motion of the body. By a (trap, hung over the neck, 
the knights carried a fnield made of wood, covered with 
leather, 0 bound or ftrengthened with iron or brafs, having 
handles on the Wide for brafing it, which was the term 
then in ufe, to exprefs the putting it over the left arm. 
Thefe fhields were moftly of a triangular form, pointed at 
the bottom, and a little convex in the direction of their 
^breadth. The helmets of knights, or men at arms, were 
of different forms; fome conical or pyramidical, with a 
•fmall projection called .a nafai, to defend the face from a 
tranfverfe (Iroke ; fome cylindrical, covering the whole 
bead down below the chin, with apertures for fight and 
breath ; and others in which the face was totally uncover¬ 
ed. This was the prevailing kind of armour worn in Eu¬ 
rope, until the fourteenth century ; about which time the 
hauberk or coat of mail gave way to plate armour, which 
was formed of plates of iron, and fo conftru&ed, as to a6t 
upon the principle of the (hell or tail of a lobfter. A fuit 
of plate armour con.fi (ted of a clofe helmet, having a vifor 
to lift up and let down, or one with a vifor and beaver, 
both revolving on the fame pivots. When thefe were 
clofed, the air°was admitted through apertures made alfo 
for fio-ht, and other fmaller perforations oppofite the mouth 
und noffrils. The neck and throat were defended by a 
g oro-et, or hallercet; the body by a cuirafs, formed of two 
pieces hooked together, denominated backs and bread; 
piates, from the parts they covered : to the back was join¬ 
ed a o-ard de reines, or culet; the arms were covered with 
br^.darts, called alfo avant bras, and corruptly vambraces, 
the hands by gauntlets, the fhoulders by pouldrons, the 
thio-hs by cuiffarts, and the legs by iron boots, called 
o-reaves, and fometimes by boots of jacked leather. Un¬ 
der all thefe, was worn a jacket of thick fuftian or buff 
leather; and this they called armour cap-a-pie. On the 
crefls of the helmets kings frequently w'ore their crowns, 
‘dukes and earls their coronets, generals or other officers of 
rank either their armorial cognifances, or any other device 
they thought proper ; this was done to make them look 
larger and more terrible to their enemies, and to render 
themfelves copfpicuous to their officers and foldiers. In 
Bab. Cott. Tiberius, E. viii. is a manufcript, written about 
the time of Henry VIII. wherein, among other military ar¬ 
rangements, is one entitled “ The Order of a Kynge, if he 
.entered to fyghte. The kynge, arrayed in his own coat of 
armes, mu ft be on horfe-back, on a good horfe, covered 
alfo with his armes: the kynge muft alfo wear a crowne 
upon his headpiece.” Henry V. wore his crown at the 
battle of Agincourt; part of it was cut off by the duke of 
Alencon, with a ftroke of his-fword. King Richard III. 
wore’ his crown at the battle of Bofworth, which was, 
according to Rapin and others, after his death, found in 
jhe field°of battle by a foldier, who brought it to the lord 
Stanley. To this lift of defenfive armour may alfo be 
added the war-faddle, whole arcon or bows of fteel co¬ 
vered the rider as high as the navel. The knights of the 
three or four reigns next fucceeding the conqueft common¬ 
ly wore the pryck fpur, which had only a Angle point ; 
after which the rouelle, or wheel fpur, came in fafhion: 
fome of thefe rouelles were near fix inches in diameter. 
Plate armour, on the firft introduction of mufquetry., 
came to be made of a prodigious thicknefs; infomuch. that 
M. de la Noue, in his fifth military difcourfe, fays, “ that, 
.to "guard againft the violence of harquebuffes, the men at 
arms loaded themfelves with anvils, inftead of covering 
ARM 
tljemfslves with armour; it was alfo fo clofely fitted at 
to make it difficult to penetrate the joints with the rniferi- 
corde, or dagger.” Father Daniel defcribes an inftanceof 
this at the battle of Fornoue, under Charles VIII. where 
a number of Italian knights who were overthrown could 
not be (lain on account of the ftrength of their armour, till 
broken up like huge lobfters,,by the fervants and followers 
of the army, with large wood-cutter’s axes ; each man at 
arms having three or four men employed about him. Thus 
enveloped, and loaded with fuch a number of weighty in¬ 
cumbrances, it is by no means wonderful, that in the rr.idft 
of fummer, in the heat, duft, and prefs of an engagement, 
men at arms fhould be fuffocated in their armour, an event 
which we learn from hiftory has fometimes happened; be- 
fides the inconveniency arifing from the heat, a man thus 
fwathed up, like an Egyptian mummy, could have but 
fmall powers of aftion. Indeed, in a charge of cavalry, 
very little exertion was required on the part of the rider, 
the fuccefs chiefty depended on the ftrength of the horfe. 
All that the ancient knights had to do, was to keep their 
feats, and direft their lances ; but how they were able to 
ufe the fword or mace to any effeCt, feems incomprehenfi- 
ble ; though indeed, this in fome raeafure accounts for the 
fmall number of knights (lain in many .engagements between 
cavalry only, in .fome of which we read not one knight was 
killed ; probably, as ranfom was fo great an objedl with 
foldiers of thofe days, they rather wiftied to capture than 
to kill their adverfaries; for this purpofe therefore they 
endeavoured to unhorfe them, as a knight when overthrown 
was immoveable, and lay on the fpot till remounted by his 
friends, or feized by his enemies. Hence James I. ob- 
ferved, in praife of armour, that it not only protected the 
wearer, but alfo prevented him from injuring any other 
perfon. Of all this furniture of war, fcarcely any thing is 
now retained except the cuirafs; the gorget or neck-pi&ce, 
worn by officers, being at prefent only a badge of honour, 
and of no defence. 
After the heavy armour had had its day, and its ab- 
furdity was both feen and experienced, the gallantry of 
going to the battle naked, without any defenfive armour, 
prevailed fo far, that the French, during the reign of 
Louis XIV. were obliged to be continually iffuing ordon- 
nances to reftrain it ; in confequence of which the general 
officers, and thofe of the cavalry, were obliged to refume 
the cuirafs, which was yet but ill obferved. 
Armour-Bearer,/, [from annour and bear . 2 He that 
carries the armour of another. 
Armour, Coat, is the efcutcheon of any perfon, or fa¬ 
mily, with its feveral charges and other furniture; as mant¬ 
ling, creft, fupporters, mottos, See. Thus we fay, a gen¬ 
tleman of coat armour ; meaning.one who bears arms. 
ARMO'ZA, or Harmo'zia, a town in Carmania, at 
the mouth of the Anamis, which falls into the Perfian gulf: 
called Armuza by Ptolemy. From this the neighbouring 
ifland, and a fmall kingdom, take the modern name of 
Ormus. Lat. 27.20.N- lon.56.17. E. 
ARM'PIT, f. [from arm and pit."] The hollow place 
under the ftionlder.—Thd handles to thefe gouges are 
made fo long, that the handle may reach under the armpit 
of the workman. Moxon. 
ARMS, f. without the fingular number, \_arma, Lat.J 
Weapons of offence, or armour of defence. The enfigns 
armorial of a family. A (late of hoftility. War in general. 
ACtion ; the aCf of taking arms : 
Up rofe the viCtor angels, and to arms 
The matin trumpet fung. Milton. 
The feas and rocks and (kies rebound 
To arms, to arms , to arms! Pope. 
It is fuppofed that the firft artificial arms were of wood, 
and were only employed againft beads ; and that Belus, 
the fon of Nimrod, was the firft that waged war: whence, 
according to fome, came the appellation bellum. Diodorug 
Siculus takes Belus to be the fame with Mars, who firft: 
trained foldiers to battle. Arms of (tone, and even of brafs, 
1 appear 
