1522 March, record, in 1867, Calendar of state papers, pages 1557-8: also in 2015, J. S. Brewer, Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII, Cambridge University Press (→ISBN), page 1557-8:
Of Wm. Botre, mercer, 5 yards crimson satin, at 9s.; 3 ells of Holland cloth, at 10d., 4 lb, fine carded wool, at 6d, for lining 3 headpieces, 3 collars, 2 pasguards, 1 maindefer and 3 gauntlets, 10s. […]
[…] 181 yds. yellow satin, at 8s., for bordering the 4 gentlemen's bards and bases; 3 yds. crimson satin, at 9s., for lining a headpiece, a pasguard, a main de fer and 2 gauntlets; 1 yd. white sarsnet, for girdles, 3s.
1901, Hedley Peek, Frederick George Aflalo, The Encyclopædia of Sport: SAND-Z, page 398, caption on an image:
Armour of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, with the Grand-guard, Pasguard, and Main de fer for the tilt. This armour, now in the Tower of London, was made 1566-1588.
1902, The Archaeological Journal, page 68:
Meyrick and others absurdly called this the manefer; confusing it with the main de fer or bridle gauntlet . This part of the armour was probably […]
"manifer" but in italics:
1911, Henry Charles Howard Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire, Hedley Peek, Frederick George Aflalo, The Encyclopaedia of Sport & Games, page 259:
Below this pasguard again was over the left gauntlet a large manifer, or main de fer.
[ 1959, Claude Blair, European Armour, Circa 1066 to Circa 1700, page 159:
for the attachment of the helm and other pieces. These last consist of the following : (i) a main de fer ( English manifer) for the left hand, which is 'made of one piece and guards the hand and the arm up to three or four fingers above the elbow'; (ii) a small pauldron […] (iii) a small gauntlet for the right hand called a gaignepain, probably of leather; ]
[ 2012, Ewart Oakeshott, European Weapons and Armour: From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution, Boydell Press (→ISBN), page 265:
... a specially heavy and reinforced form of the fashionable close helmet, a main-de-fer, and a large plate, not unlike the renntartsche, covering the left side of the body and flaring out forward over the bridle-hand and a plate called ... ]
[ 2020, Michael Jecks, The Tournament of Blood, Canelo (→ISBN):
[…] he lifted away while Edgar pulled on bags of mail to protect his hands, then the heavy gauntlet, the main de fer or fist of iron, which would protect his left hand as it gripped the reins. ]
iron fist (metaphorical):
1913, Dame Elizabeth Wordsworth, Glimpses of the Past, page 210:
She gave a most minute description (which the latter would not repeat) of the sensation of dying; "the main de fer" which seemed to grasp you and prevent your speaking. At last she seemed to pass into a death-like condition ...
garden tool:
[ 1953, The European: The Journal of Opposition:
And to laugh and joke with him! Surely the situation called for a certain let them call it, retirement of demeanour […] A trowel! To point with a trowel; Pensez-y! If a trowel why not a main de fer, a dustpan?
2017, Ford Madox Ford, Last Post by Ford Madox Ford - Delphi Classics (Illustrated), Delphi Classics (→ISBN)
If a trowel why not a main de fer, a dustpan? Or a vessel even more homely! ... And Marie Léonie chuckled. Her grandmother Bourdreau remembered a crockery-merchant of the ambulating sort who had once filled one of those implements – a ... ]
[ 1976, Frédéric Dumas, 30 Centuries Under the Sea, Crown
I took a main de fer, which is a small, three-pronged gardener's tool, and clawed at the roots until I had exposed the lip that was intact - the other one was partially broken. With the whole perimeter of the tub projecting from the ... ]
birthing tool:
[ 1936, Victor Robinson, Encyclopaedia Sexualis: A Comprehensive Encyclopaedia-dictionary of the Sexual Sciences
Carrying on the idea of a metallic hand for grasping the fetal head, Palfyn, in 1720, invented his mains de fer, soon to be known as the "Palfynian hands," with wrist ... ]
[ 2016, Lawrence D. Longo, Lawrence P. Reynolds, Wombs with a View: Illustrations of the Gravid Uterus from the Renaissance through the Nineteenth Century, Springer (→ISBN), page 356:
Palfijn invented the tire-tête [pull head] also called the mains de fer [hands of iron], two curved or spoon-shaped levers held in opposition, but unconnected, to assist in delivering the fetal head. Perhaps because of their difficulty ... ]
