brasset

noun

1. (alt-of, alternative)Alternative form of brassard (“armour for the arm”).

   “Under their veſts they had coats of mail and braſſets, and little morions in form of caps upon their heads, with viſors; and were perfectly well dreſſed […]”

   “Figure 21 is another defensive arm, consisting of a brasset, with its gantlet.”

   “The duke rushed between them, and aimed a stroke at the assailant's helmet, who parried the blow; and the sabre, which had been directed against the Marshal de Rieux, fell on the arm of the Duke of Orleans. It pierced his brasset, and the blood flowed from the wound: his sword fell from his powerless grasp.”

   “A breastplate; to which were generally added the gorget or collar around the throat, the back-piece, and brassets or sleeves, forming altogether a complete vest of steel covering the upper part of the body.”

   “This object was a brasset of Milan, or, in less technical language, a long gauntlet, composed of the glove and wrist-plate, articulated together, and of the iron sheath intended to cover the fore-arm.”

2. (historical)A casque or armour covering for the head; a helmet.

   “Oh, that's a head-piece, called a casque; but they've lots o ' names for it — such like as 'morion,' or 'brasset,' or 'helmet.' That's what they call the vizard; they breathed through them perforated holes.”

   “The manner of arming a newly-made knight was first to put on the spurs, then the coat-of-mail, the cuirass, the brasset or casque, and the gauntlets.”