The bascinet – also spelled bassinet, basinet or bazineto – was an open helmet used throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. The bascinet developed from a simple steel skull cap (cervelliere), but quickly evolved into a helmet with a taller and more pointed helmet bowl. The helmet extended further down the back and sides to better protect the neck. Usually, a camail – a maliënkap collar – hung from the lower edge of the helmet to protect the throat, neck and shoulders.
Development of the bascinet
From around 1330 onwards, a visor was often added to cover the face. Early in the 15th century (around 1400–1420), the maliënkap camail was increasingly replaced by a metal gorget or mail collar (maliënkap standard). This new combination led to the type of helmet we now call the "great bascinet". The first known mention of the bascinet (then called bazineto) comes from the Italian city of Padua in 1281, where it was worn by infantry.
Origins from the cervelliere
It is believed that the bascinet developed from the simple steel skull cap, the cervelliere, which was often worn with a maliënkap (coif). This was sometimes worn loosely, but could also be worn under a great helm. The bascinet differed from the cervelliere in that it had a taller, more pointed shape.
By around 1330, the helmet had clearly developed further: it extended further down the sides and back of the head. Over the next twenty years or so, around 1350, it reached the base of the neck and also covered the cheeks. The bascinet appeared remarkably quickly in the late 13th century, and some researchers believe it was influenced by helmets from Byzantium or the Islamic world. The bascinet without a visor continued to be worn under a great helm after that as well.
Aventails / Camails (mail collar)
Unlike the cervelliere, which was often worn under a loose maliënkap, the first bascinets had a mail camail attached directly to the helmet.
The earliest camails were riveted to the rim of the helmet. From the 1320s onwards, however, a detachable version became common. This removable mail collar was fastened to a leather band. The band was attached to the helmet with small metal loops, so-called vervelles. A cord was threaded through these loops to secure the band.
Some bascinets had a removable nose and mouth guard, called the bretache, usually made of plate steel. This was attached to the camail at the chin and to a hook on the forehead of the helmet. According to weapons historian Boeheim, the bretache was especially used in Germany, roughly 1330–1370.
It was also known in Italy: an early depiction of it can be seen on the equestrian statue of Cangrande I della Scala, who died in 1329. Another example appears on the tomb of Bernardino dei Baranzoni, made around 1345–1350 in Modena.
The advantage of the bretache was that it could be worn under a great helm, yet still offered some protection when the great helm was later removed. The bretache remained in use during the same period that the first visors appeared, such as the klappvisor.
Bascinets with visors
Although the bascinet with camail was reasonably protective, the face remained unprotected. Therefore, from around 1330 onwards, visors were increasingly used.
Klappvisor (1330–1380, especially Germany)
The klappvisor was a visor that could be flipped up with a single hinge point in the center of the forehead. This type was especially used in Germany, but also in Northern Italy. A well-known example appears on a crucifix from 1367 in Florence. In Italy, this type disappeared around 1380, but in Germany it remained in use until the 15th century.
Some historians use the term "klappvisor" for all smaller visors that only cover the face not protected by the camail.
Side-hinge visor (from ca. 1340)
Around the 1340s, the visor with two hinge points, one on each side of the helmet, emerged. An early example is the monument of Sir Hugh Hastings (died 1347) in Norfolk, England. The hinges often had a removable pin so the visor could be completely removed. This side-hinge system became especially popular in Italy.
Houndskull bascinet
In the first half of the 14th century, visors were still flat and protruding little. But around 1380, the visor was greatly extended into a pointed snout, also called houndskull (from the German Hundsgugel, "dog hood"). Modern writers sometimes call this ("pig snout").
This protruding visor offered better protection because blows were more easily deflected. It also offered better ventilation: because the visor was larger, more air holes could be made in it.
Rounded visors (1410–1450)
From around 1410 onwards, the visor lost its pointed shape. It became increasingly rounded, and by around 1435, the helmet had an almost ape-like profile. By 1450, the bascinet had become almost spherical. The air holes became larger and more numerous.
Between 1390 and 1410, some bascinets were actually extremely tall and pointed. But around 1420–1430, both the helmet and visor became rounder and less sharply formed. The helmet came to fit increasingly close around the neck for a better fit.
Bevors and gorgets (chin and throat plates)
Around 1350, during the reign of French King Jan II (1350–1364), the French bascinet was fitted with a bevor, a metal plate for the chin and jaw. The visor rested against it. This combination significantly improved protection. The bevor did not replace the camail, but worked together with it.
Because the bascinet with camail was quite heavy and that weight rested on the head, around 1400–1410 the metal throat plate (gorget) was introduced. This shifted the weight to the shoulders. At the same time, a plate for the cheeks and lower face was added, also called bavière. The whole moved in limited fashion within the upper part of the gorget.
The great bascinet
According to Oakeshott, the replacement of the camail with a plate-gorget led to the emergence of the great bascinet. Many other experts believe this name should only be applied to helmets where the helmet bowl was attached to the gorget, so the entire helmet could no longer move.
Early gorgets were broad and resembled the shape of the camail. Later they became narrower, making hinges necessary to put the helmet on. In later forms, the helmet was even forged in one piece with the rear part of the gorget. The helmet then rested entirely on the shoulders, meaning the head could hardly turn at all. The protection was excellent, but movement and visibility were limited.
Use under the great helm
Originally, most bascinets could be worn under a great helm, except for the types with visors. The great helm offered very good protection, but severely limited visibility and movement. Therefore, knights often removed it once the first lances were broken.
King Henry V of England reportedly wore a great helm over his bascinet during the Battle of Agincourt (1415). He is said to have received a blow to his helmet, where the double protection likely saved his life.
General use (14th–15th centuries)
By the mid-14th century (ca. 1350), most knights had abandoned the great helm and used a fully closed bascinet. The bascinet was the most widely worn helmet in Europe during the 14th century and the first half of the 15th century, including the period of the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453). So many knights wore it that "bascinet" was sometimes used as a word for a heavily armored knight.
Infantry also used lighter versions of the bascinet, especially in countries where citizens had to arm themselves, such as the Italian city-states, or where professional archers were employed, such as English and Welsh archers.
The early pointed models were designed to deflect blows. The later great bascinet covered almost everything for maximum protection, but noticeably reduced freedom of movement – actually much like the great helm had done earlier. Poor soldiers often held on to lighter bascinets with camail for longer, while wealthy knights had already switched to the great bascinet.
End of use
After around 1450, the great bascinet quickly disappeared from battle. It was replaced by lighter helmets such as the armet and the sallet, which offered much more freedom of movement. Yet a variant with a latticed visor remained in use for tournaments and foot combat until the 16th century.
Internal links
- Cervelliere: hemispherical steel helmet from the Middle Ages
- Aventail (Camail): Flexible Neck and Face Protection
- Bevor: metal chin and neck protection for armor
- Maliënkap: Medieval head and neck armor
Sources:
Archaeological Collection: The legendary collection of Churburg Castle (Sluderno, Italy), with the largest concentration of authentic 14th-century bascinets (including houndskull/hound head visors).
