[David Knupp]

I've been trying to research the evolution of the European cavalry lance and can find very little. I'm trying to find out when they first started to use lances with the swollen base and vamplates. Also, were those just features of a jousting lance or did that style of lance see use on the battlefield?

[Sean Manning]

I can't think of articles offhand but look up the rest (arrêt, really a "stop") of the cuirass (classic article in French by François Buttin), Toby Capwell's discussion of the difference between a lance and a lancegay (same word as Assagay!) ) or javelin in Armour of the English Knight Vol. 1, and Will McLean's essay on Lance Construction from 2011. Lancegay and javelin were the 15th and 16th century English names for the type of lance used before the introduction of the lance rest and grapper.

I think steel vamplates were a safety feature for jousting lances, but heavy war lances in the 15th century often had a swollen part before the handgrip which served a similar function of keeping points and splinters out of the top of the gauntlet.

[Anthony Clipsom]

Though not a full answer, the evolution can be seen to have started by the early 14th century . The Codex Manesse shows a basic vamplate and grapper in use on some tournament lances, though the lance itself is still parallel sided.

[T. Kew]

[Anthony Clipsom]

I've had a bit of an image search and the earliest definite example of the tapered and shaped lance I could find is this one from Germany c 1444



Couple of interesting things about this effigy. One is the old fashioned helmet and aventail. The other is if you compare the image on wikipedia of this effigy, you'll see the erosion damage it has suffered in the last 100 years. The inscription is largely gone on the left of the picture and the lance is badly damaged (the top has gone completely).

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Kloster_Eberbach_Basilika_Grabplatte_57.JPG

Add : Though I note that Ucello's San Romano pictures are now dated to the beginning of 1440s, which may have saved me some searching.

[Sean Manning]

[Anthony Clipsom]

[Ryan S.]

[Anthony Clipsom]

Alas, this is a picture whose subject is not certainly identified. It was discussed briefly on the forum here

http://myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.7168.html

But this was mainly about translation . So, if there is any story behind the picture, it is hard to pull out.

Incidentally, looking at this again, the knight with the bell frame is interesting. His horse appears to have perhaps leather armour on the head, kneck and chest. The rider's leg armour is also interesting - cuir bouilli perhaps?

[Ryan S.]