jan 1, 1499 - brigander

Description:

Body armour for a foot-soldier, possibly in two halves, so sometimes a plural. 1499 <i>arraied in maner of war with ... Corsettes, Brygendyns, Jakkes, Salettis</i>, Pickering (NRR1/172). It consisted of iron rings or thin plates which were sewed onto canvas or leather and then covered over with the same material. It derives from ‘brigand’, originally a term for a lightly-armed soldier which was already being used of undisciplined freebooters by the 1420s. Gerard de Usflete of North Ferriby was possibly serving in France when he made his will in 1420: he left <i>unum par de bregaunters</i> to whichever church he might be buried in (SS4/397). The word was unusual enough to serve as a second name for a York man: <i>Jacobus Brigendermaker</i> took up his freedom in the city in 1453 (SS96/174) and paid <i>pro stallagio suo </i>in 1455 (SS192/87). In fact this entry was crossed through so he may not have been trading and it seems likely that he died soon afterwards. There are administration documents for <i>James Roderyk, bregandyn maker</i>, in 1459 (YRS6/139) and this implies that his occupation had previously been unusual enough to identify him. His rare second name suggests that he was not an Englishman.

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