I'm looking for some information and clarification on the French terms Écu and Bouclier in relation to medieval / renaissance shields.

From various sources I've been able to find the following -

Écu / écu meaning / information:

1) a small shield, a buckler
2) the shield carried by a mounted man-at-arms in the Middle Ages.
3) medieval cavalry shield
4) Squire is old french escuyer, the manservant charged with the care of the knight's shield (Écu) and other belongings.
5) any of various former French gold or silver coins
6) any of various gold and silver coins of France, issued from the 13th through the 18th centuries, bearing the figure of a shield.
7) a coin worth £6. It was produced in 1792, measured 39mm across, and was made of solid silver. The original meaning of écu was ‘shield’, but in later years it came to be the French slang term for ‘cash’.

Etymology
French, from Old French escu, from Latin scutum, shield (from the shield stamped on the coin).


Bouclier meaning / information:

1) Generic term for a shield
2) a shield with a boss, a buckler

Etymology of Buckler
The word Buckler is derived from / a corruption of the Old French bocle for the “buckle-like” boss or umbo on a shield. The term “boss” is from the 12th century French Boce, bocle, called bloca, in 12th-13th century Spain (Nicolle, Arms and Armor, p. 549).

[Middle English bokeler, from Old French bouclier, from boucle, boss on a shield, from Latin buccula, diminutive of bucca, cheek.]

[OE. bocler, OF. bocler, F. bouclier, a shield with a boss, from OF. bocle, boucle, boss. See Buckle]

Buckle Etymology
[Middle English bokel, from Old French boucle, from Latin buccula, cheek strap of a helmet, diminutive of bucca, cheek.]


Does the term Écu refer to a buckler shield or is it referring to a Target / Targe shield or even a Heater Shield or perhaps the term is interchangeable between various types of shields?

Is Bouclier a term that means shield (generic term for any type of shield) or does it specifically mean a buckler?

Thanks

Danny
Sydney Australia

Danny;

From my old 1952 edition: Nouveau Petit Larousse Illustré.

Écu: " Ancien bouclier oblong, quadrangulaire ou triangulaire. "

Ancient shield oval. square or triangular.


Triangular meaning heater shield in my opinion.


Écusson: " Petit écu d'armoiries. Cartouche portant des pièces héraldiques, des inscriptions, etc." (Derived from Écu.)

Small heraldic shield. Escussion decorated with heraldic symbols, inscriptions, etc.

Anyway my opinion is that Écu is normally associated with heraldry and mostly heater shield.
Bouclier is the more generic term covering any kind of shield.

Jean

Thanks for the information.

So if Écu is a Heater Shield and Bouclier is a generic term for any type of shield, what french word / term was used to specifically mean a buckler shield??

Danny

Danny;

From one of my reference books: " LE COSTUME, L'ARMURE ET LES ARMES AUX TEMPS DE LA CHEVALERIE, book two page 32 by Liliane et Fred Funcken, édition CASTERMAN, 1978

Small buckler variously known as: "Rondache", small 12" diameter shield. Smaller versions called "Boce" or "Rondelle à poing (Also called "Rotellino" in Italy.)

Althougth "Rondache" in larger sizes might also be taken to mean Target or other medium sized circular shields. (Some inconsistancies here at times, or meaning changing over time making using the right term a bit confusing.)

"Targe" in early days used interchangebly for "Ècu" by early writers, and sometimes used for small round shields called
"Targes réondes"

Duelling shields: Small square or rectangular shields "Targettes de poing".

Jean

A Rondache from the book The Complete Encyclopedia of Arms and Weapons Edited by Leonid Tarassuk & Claude Blair is described as,
"A French term often used to denote a large circular Targe. Known at least from the Bronze Age, such heavy round shields made of iron or steel were used in Europe by horseman and men on foot until the 15th century, when they were gradually discarded by mounted warriors but were kept in service for a few more decades by some infantry swordsmen. A steel bulletproof shield designed in the late 16th century was occasionally used even in the 17th.
In the 16th century rondaches made of wood, steel, or leather became popular as parade shields. They were richly decorated in various techniques, depending on the main material, and usually had a padded velvet lining with gold or silver embroidery and trimmings. Particularly superb rondaches were produced in Milan by great artist-craftsmen, the famous Negroli family among them."

The term Rotellino (Italian) appears to be similar to the Italian term Rotella (Rottela) which is described as,
"a small round shield or targe usually metal" and "A target, or shield, carried on the arm by two straps, 16th century."

Through searching the net (obviously not the best source for accurate information), I came across the attached pictures regarding the term Rotella. From the pictures its clear that the Rotella is a Target shield.

Danny;

Thanks for your last post as it clarifies somewhat the distinctions between the various shield types: I guess calling them all Boucliers, which they all are makes things simpler for me.

Hope my minor contribution helped with the "possible" french names of some of these.

I do find that what looks like pretty much the same thing to me is called variously different things by different authors.

I can see buckler as being a small to tiny shield without too much ambiguety!

All the other medium sized round shields just seem to me to be called all sorts of things depending on region and or period.

This may just be my own ignorance?(I never paid much attention to what makes a target not a rondache nor a targe!)

Danny;

(" LE COSTUME, L'ARMURE ET LES ARMES AUX TEMPS DE LA CHEVALERIE, book two page 32 by Liliane et Fred Funcken, édition CASTERMAN, 1978 )

As far as I know those books are only in french or hard to find in english: The armour and weapons are very high quality,very detailled color illustrations of the arms, armour and costumes. The left hand pages are french text and every right hand page are the illustrations. very interesting even if one cannot read french. (Comparable to the "Men-at -Arms" series that is illustrated by Angus McBride, Osprey books: www.osprey-publishing.co.uk , I don't know if you are aware of this series but I can recommend them highly)

I don't have any "special" expertise on the subject of shields but having french as my first language I looked up and translated what I could find in my available references.

As to the definitions: I can't add much more than in my previous posts, the buckler seems to be called "boce", rondelle de point with the square or rectangular duelling bucklers being called "targettes de poing".

The "écusson" is not a shield in itself but the word is derived from "écu" and defines a small shield shaped plaque on which some symbols or texts is written, also a crest on a jacket (Like a school crest.)

Anyway hope this helps, I will repost this at the end of your original topic thread as I have rarely used the private message function and if my reply gets lost in cyberspace I want to be sure you get my reply. (Also there is nothing of a confidential nature in my reply, and some of this could be of general interest to all.)