De Bueil was a warrior who knew and understood arms and armour in a way this author (and perhaps even you the reader) will never truly be able to. What was ubiquitous, everyday, working equipment to him has become – to us – extremely rare and precious artefacts. Terminology now opaque was – to him – common parlance, artistic representations commonplace, working documents and narrative accounts self-explanatory. Yet through the tremendous efforts of curators, scholars, artists, crafters, living-history practitioners, and their ilk we have been drawn much closer to De Bueil's world. This sourcebook is but one more weapon to be added to our armoury. My hope is that the reader, thus armed, will be engendered with the courage to engage more fully with our fascinating discipline – for there is so much more waiting to be discovered.