Crupper Plate early 16th century Possibly Flemish or German Much lighter, and probably faster and cheaper to produce than metal defenses, armor made from shaped and hardened leather (cuir bouilli) was used throughout Europe for war, tournament, and parades from at least Roman times until the end of the sixteenth century. Although very few examples of cuir bouilli armor survive, its use as a defense for both man and horse was once much more widespread than is commonly assumed. In 1547, for example, the Master of the Armoury at the Tower of London bought forty-six "leather barbes" (bards), toget

Crupper Plate early 16th century Possibly Flemish or German Much lighter, and probably faster and cheaper to produce than metal defenses, armor made from shaped and hardened leather (cuir bouilli) was used throughout Europe for war, tournament, and parades from at least Roman times until the end of the sixteenth century. Although very few examples of cuir bouilli armor survive, its use as a defense for both man and horse was once much more widespread than is commonly assumed. In 1547, for example, the Master of the Armoury at the Tower of London bought forty-six "leather barbes" (bards), together with the same number of leather crinets, for an imminent campaign in Scotland. In addition, the inventories of the armory at Neuburg Castle, Bavaria, seat of the Counts Palatine of the Rhine, list no less than half a dozen sixteenth-century leather bards for the personal use of the counts' horses. Leather bards could be worn without further protection for the head or neck, although shaffrons, with or without crinets, were usually added for increased protection. The record of the 1547 English purchase reveals that such neck defenses could also be of leather, while the Neuburg inventories indicate that their leather bards were completed by metal shaffrons and crinets (see acc. nos. , .1655).The Museum's three cuir bouilli elements (this crupper plate and a pair of peytral plates, acc. no. –.3) originally formed part of a horse's complete front and rear defense. The front defense, or peytral, which protected the chest and shoulders, is represented by its two side panels; the central section that connected them is missing. Of the rear defense, or crupper, which covered the horse's croup and hindquarters, only the upper plate is preserved. Shaped over the points of the hips and tail, the crupper would have been completed by one or more small pieces elongating it at the front, as well as by several plates at the sides and rear protecting the rear flanks down t

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