Target ( eng. Target, targe ) - a type of West European shield of the Middle Ages and modern times. The target had the shape of a regular circle of medium size, which distinguished it from another round medieval shield - buckler . If the buckler was a small fist shield held by the hand on the handle from the back, then the target was attached to the hand with straps. Target was mainly an infantry shield, while the knights preferred first almond-shaped , and later either triangular shields ( ecu ), or figured with a neckline for a spear ( tarchi ). Used from the beginning of the Middle Ages to the XVII century, the Scots - until the middle of the XVIII [1] .
Like all medieval shields, it was made of wood covered with leather, could be strengthened by strips of metal or horn plates, at the end of the XVI steel steel targets appeared with bulletproof properties. In the same century, targets sometimes had a long flat hook on the outer surface, or a series of concentric rings protruding above the surface of the shield, presumably in order to cling to the tip of the enemy blade, after which it could be knocked out or broken [1] .
A slightly different target was understood by the American researcher , who used this term only in relation to some (excluding, for example, rondash- type shields) round shields of the second half of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries. At the same time, Dean used the form of the name targe as a synonym for the term pavese [2] .
Scottish Target
From the beginning of the 17th century until the Battle of Kulloden in 1746, the target was the main defensive weapon of the Scots [3] . After the defeat of the Jacobites in this battle, Scottish targets were banned, many shields were destroyed. The surviving samples are well decorated, therefore, belonged to noble people. The targets were mainly round shields with a diameter of 45–55 cm. The inner part of the shield was made up of two very thin wooden plates with the perpendicular direction of the fibers fixed by small wooden pins. Outside, the shield was covered with cowhide, which was often decorated in Celtic style. Leather was nailed to a tree with many copper or silver nails. Sometimes supplemented with brass plates. Some targets in the center had a umber , sometimes supplemented by a long steel spike. This tenon in the stowed position was unscrewed and placed in the sheath located on the inside of the shield. The inside was usually covered with suede, sometimes with red cloth from the uniform of killed enemy soldiers [4] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Blair, Claude. Knightly armor of Europe = European armor. - M .: Centerpolygraph , 2008. - S. 200-202. - 256 s. - ISBN 978-59524-3356-4 .
- ↑ Bashford Dean. Educational charts of arms and armor . - New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY). Department of Arms and Armor, 1928.
- ↑ A. A. Kislova, Olga V. Chernysheva, E. S. Tokareva, Institute of World History (Russian Academy of Sciences). Essays on the history of Western Protestantism. - Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 1995. - P. 255.
- ↑ George Cameron Stone. Big encyclopedia of weapons and armor. Weapons and armor of all times and peoples: [full reference: per. from the English.]. - Astrel , 2010. - S. 200-202. - 767 p. - ISBN 978-51705-2752-6 .