I have an interest regards the earliest date the sallet/bevor combination was worn. Does anyone have an opinion?

No later than 1430 in France. The 'celata' form shows up much earlier, though, in artwork if not in surviving examples, as do plate bevors of various sorts, especially in Spain, but also showing up in an English illustration of the 14th c. More information and pictures forthcoming when I can get to it.

Here's an early celata - like helmet from a 'Slaughter of the Innocents' from Italy, c. 1340. This is just one example in art that I've stumbled across over the years; few soldiers are portrayed wearing them, but they're around.

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Here's a French image dated 1430 - see Claude Blair, 'European Armour', p. 201, for a closeup. The nose peeking out is a frequent feature in the art.

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I'm at work at the moment so I don't have any references handy, but I'm pretty sure that the oldest surviving sallets date to 1430ies. I'm pretty sure that there is a sallet in an English church that dates to about 1440. I don't know about bevors though.

I think with celatas we are on thinner ice. Judging by its appearence the celata seems to have evolved from the bascinet, but when does it stop being a bascinet and become a celata? I think what complicates this further is that the 2 were probably used side by side for a few decades. AFAIK bascinets were still being used in the 1440ies when both sallets and celatas were definitely around.

Thanks for those excellent pics of celatas/bascinets BTW.

In fact thanks for all the pics, they're really interesting. :)

Interesting, so the celata is the missing link between the bascinet and the sallet? I heard that the sallet evolved from the kettle-hat. *confused*
However, what is that thing hanging from the celata in the slaughter of inncoents pic? :wtf:

Gentlemen, thank you very much for your replies, I do appriciate all of your research.
Would I then be safe in saying that the sallet/bevor combination could have been worn by some French men-at-arms during the Orleans Campaign of 1429?

I was in the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds today, and I saw 2 helmets which made me think of this thread. Click on the thumbnails please:

A Milanese sallet dated 1440-1450:
[ Linked Image ] [ Linked Image ]

A Venetian-style sallet of the same approximate date:
[ Linked Image ] [ Linked Image ]

Please excuse the quality. My camera isn't all that good.

I also saw a book in the museum shop on the Rhodes armours (which I didn't buy), but it had a few pictures of early 15th century sallets and bevors.

I was just thinking about this statement:

James Arlen Gillaspie wrote:

Here's a French image dated 1430 - see Claude Blair, 'European Armour', p. 201, for a closeup. The nose peeking out is a frequent feature in the art.

That first sallet I posted (The Milanese export sallet) has very short visor, so the nose would presumably be visible on the wearer. I was wondering if this is the same kind of sallet depicted on that picture dated 1430 posted by James A. Gillaspie.

That 'Burgundian' salade in the RA would indeed look very similar with a bevor, but here's one in Paris that is dated to c. 1430.

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Dear Mr. Gillaspie: Thanx very much for your unselfish research. The photo you posted c. 1430 is tremendous! It will virtually win a long standing friendly argument regards this topic, and win a small wager as well. Thanx again!

Something to keep in mind - the tail of the 1430 salade is round like a 'barbute', not pointed as in the German style. This seems to be characteristic of French salades. The 'burgundian' has a tail that narrows, but doesn't come to a point, either.

Christian, I had quite a set-to with Jean-Pierre Reverseau, the curator of armour at the Army Museum in Paris when I was there about the helmet in question, and he wasn't budging. My own belief is that it could be later (the crest influences me in that direction), but the pictorial evidence is abundant, and the later salades don't look noticeably different than the earlier.

P.S. The associated bevor is another matter, and it looks later to me. We didn't discuss it, however.

Yes, I can buy that James. The bevor is what was bugging me the most.

Take care,

Christian