(historical) Part of ahelm, now usually identified as the hinge (near the neck) by which the helm was secured to the breastplate.
1836, George Payne Rainsford James,Darnley, Or the Field of the Cloth of Gold, page134:
The knight did as he was desired, and broke his spear twice on the verycharnel of his helmet. It being now Sir William Cecil's turn, each knight charged his spear directly towards the other's head, and galloping on, both lances[…]
1836,Archaeologia: Or Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity, page401:
1 Are these thecharnels, or pinnacles of helmets? See Meyrick,[…]
2010, Noel Fallows,Jousting in Medieval and Renaissance Iberia, Boydell Press,→ISBN:
[page 78:][…] knight being struck on the charnel, a device for attaching the helm to the breastplate[…] [page 497:] Most of the knights at this passage of arms were wearing sallets with bevors or armets with wrappers. Here we have a rare exception, since reference to thecharnel indicates that Joan de Camós is wearing a helm. Given the effect of this particular spear stroke, it can be inferred that he was struck high on thecharnel, near the neck, which would have made him choke or gag.
In the 1800s, some antiquarians initially identified thecharnel orcharnell as thecrest orpinnacle of a helm; the 1933OED defines it as the hinge by which the visor andbevor move. (Comparemanifer andtapul, where the identification has also evolved.)
1842, S.R. Meyrick,A Critical Inquiry Into Antient Armour, as it Existed in Europe, Particularly in Great Britain, from the Norman Conquest to the Reign of King Charles II: Ill. by a Series of Illuminated Engravings : with a Glossary of Military Terms of the Middle Ages, page159:
[…] with the vizors and bevors of their helmets closed; the tops of the helmets rise to pinnacles, called charnels[…]
1897,The American Encyclopaedic Dictionary, page833:
char-nel (2), †char-nell, s. [Fr. charnière.] 1. A hinge. 2. The crest of a helmet. (Halliwell.) "The charnel of his helmet."
2021 November 5, Charles John ffoulkes,The armourer and his craft from the XIth to the XVIth century, Good Press:
Charnel, O.E. the bolt that fixed the tilting-helm to the breastplate. [...]Cimier, the crest on the helm.
