Bruno, thanks for sharing that article in Italian about secondary torso defenses. The picture from the Maciejowski Bible (f. 27v) it refers to is an interesting one. Based on the context, it's not at all clear whether this guy is a servant who's just going along with the cart or a soldier who hasn't...

Incidentally, Russ, who are the berroviere you're referring to, please? Based on the name, I guess they're some sort of Italian brigands, but when, and to what ethnic group do they belong?

Anne

Incidentally, kudos for all the documentary references that have been flying around. Did everybody but me know the text of the Paston letters is available online? There are a zillion of them, though, I'm not going to track that one down for myself. I might check out the "Song of the Cathar Wars" (a ...

Boy, what an interesting discussion. Full of useful references. I fear some of you may be talking at cross-purposes, however. I think no one is claiming there's good evidence for the sort of hardened leather primary defenses in European armor that I suspect the original poster might have been imagin...

I wear a "Charles de Blois" type pourpoint to fight in. It has cloth buttons (all round stuffed -- I've had no success with the flat or wood-cored kind). I've had it for a year and a half, and I'm totally sold on the durability of cloth buttons. My globose breastplate doesn't scrape them off. Not on...

For those of a slightly later period than the original asker of the question, there's an issue of the Company of St. George's newsletter, the "Dragon," which contains a wealth of information on period lanterns. I'm not willing to go any later than 1420, and I was mainly able to determine that there ...

I'm getting ready to experiment with pointing my arms and legs to the same garment. I want to learn from other people's mistakes in this area, so I don't have to make them all myself.... A number of people have said this doesn't work for them because the weight of the legs restricts your arm movemen...

I wear a pourpoint of the Charles-de-Blois type, to which I point my arms. My current legs are suspended from a belt.

When my new spring steel legs are done, I'm going to try pointing them to a garment, though....

Alienor
the somewhat unhelpful

Why is the Churburg #13 breastplate segmented? "Because the technology didn't exist to make it out of a solid piece" sounds like the sort of bizarre theory somebody might suggest, but I agree it doesn't seem plausible. There has to be a reason, though. We can't really know the motivations of that pa...

Egfroth wrote:It appears to be directly attached to the breastplate - I know not how - maybe a tight-fitting jupon or glued to the armour?

It is a tight-fitting garment. There's a great effigy in Westminster Abbey which demonstrates how these are fitted by lacing up the side.

Alienor

I'm not sure we can take this effigy as representative or typical, though. In addition to the debatable vambraces, he's also wearing something that looks like a muscled cuirass. It seems entirely possible that both may be fantasy.

Alienor

I think you're right. That may be the best way to regard this issue.

Thanks for sharing your point of view.

Alienor

Hey, that's a great site -- thanks for the reference.

Alienor

I also am in just the position you've described, Melisent. I agree that it's useless to try and explain being a woman fighter in a historical context. That's one glaring inaccuracy we've more or less embraced, and I'm not going to stop fighting because of it. Authenticity in appearance and behavior,...

I do read French, but thanks for this clarification. The reason I ask is that all the Froissart manuscripts I've seen deal with events that occurred in Froissart's lifetime, but the two Grandes Chroniques de France I'm familiar with both go back to the mythical foundations of France and include thin...

Karen, do you mean to say that the Grandes Chroniques de France is the same as Froissart's Chronicles? I'd never realized this.

Alienor

Maelgwyn wrote: When my lady wife takes the field she is one of the warriors and does deeds of arms as any noble warrior should. I honor her with my combat and she honors me with hers. Sir, this seems an excellent solution for you and your lady; it is one which my husband and I also sometimes employ...

Gode yeve yow good cheere! I, too, have been given the honour to organize such a pas d'armes, this fall. I've been pondering this question: what to do with the female fighters? Obviously, they're welcome to enter the lists, but part of the "extra" dimension that makes a pas so cool is the emphasis/i...

Here's a site I recently came across that may be of some help: m "This exhaustive collection of nearly 1000 electronic French dictionaries, glossaries and wordlists gives access to hundreds of thousands of words, terms and expressions." In reality, many of the links are broken, but I've still found ...

Are you looking to begin doing business in French, or just to understand the technical language for your own research? I'd think that doing some reading about armor in French would be the best way to begin getting up to speed. That said, I don't know of any to recommend to you. I also speak French, ...

I have been fighting for about a year in my new à la Charles de Blois pourpoint, which has cloth buttons. I wanted to use flat ones above and round ones below, like the original, but couldn't get the hang of covering a wooden disc nicely, so the whole garment has cloth stuffed buttons instead. I ha...

A little advice on choosing an SCA name: Try hard not to pick one that starts with A. There is a hugely disproportionate number of A names, chosen by people who started at the beginning of an alphabetical list and found one they liked early. When you find one you like, consider whether people will b...

I've been to Puy du Fou. Not to the park itself, but I saw the "Cinéscénie" production. It was really interesting, huge and spectacular, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I was 20 at the time, and didn't know nearly as much about the Middle Ages as I know now, so I can't speak with authority about the...

Bob R. said: <font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">These sorts of articles are written by two sorts of authors in general. People in very authentic groups trying to drive fellow members onward to greater hieghts, and people belonging to groups less interested in authenticity as an explanation why eve...

It's true, rawhide gives very good results. It's really durable and looks nicer than hose. The process of edgine a shield with rawhide is a little gross, though. I know a lot of people who have contemplated or begun one, but few who have finished. If you're going to try it, be aware that some dog ch...

This is somewhat earlier, but still fairly useful (and quite detailed):

http://www.42nd-dimension.com/NFPS/nfps_stitches.html

Anne

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Blakthorne: <B>...I am rather wondering as well, what a woman might wear for her upper half? ...is some form of protection reccomended, or can I get away w/a sports bra, etc un...