The Armour Archive

Felix Wang

As far as I know, there is no evidence of a guige on a Viking era shield.

Alas, I have no idea of where you would want to put one.

Felix Wang

I have never handled a yari, but I wasn't aware that it was ever used with a shield; I had thought that it was generally used with two hands (if not always with both hands at once).

Felix Wang

I don't think there are any surviving historical works on spear + shield; certainly not Irish spear + shield. I would like to add that the combination of "fast", "unarmoured" and "steel" makes my concerned for the safety of those involved. If this is choreographed combat, that may work, but if not, ...

Felix Wang

Thanks, Ivo. It seems in this case the Germans had a word from everything. English doesn't have a well developed vocabulary for these later quadrangular shields. (English doesn't have any word for the Hungarian tartsche, since the Hungarian - English interaction was limited.)

Felix Wang

Most of the answers depend on exactly when you are talking about. The fall of Jerulsalem (1187) had full hauberks with integral coifs, ventails (the flap over the mouth you were talking about) which split just below the waist. There wasnt really anything in the way of chausses that I have found, un...

Felix Wang

Equipment varied from Morocco to Iran, and the early Islamic period is not the best documented (no graven images, etc.). Armour would mostly have been mail, and helmets seem to have been conical. Lots of small, round centergrip shields; I think larger infantry shields probably co-existed, likely rou...

Felix Wang

I think an important point may be that russet is not scarlet. "Red" covers a number of shades, and perhaps the earlier versions were more rust colored than cardinal colored.

Felix Wang

The "blackamoor" head shows up in heraldry at least as far back as 1316, and the coat of arms of Freising leaves no doubt that the artist was thinking of a sub-Saharan African, not someone from Morocco.

http://fotw.fivestarflags.com/de-by-fs.html#moo

Felix Wang

Everyone is being very polite. :shock: Those shields are "possible" as Albrecht said. That being said, a parachute was technologically possible (if anyone could get enough silk). There is lots of physical and imagery evidence of English shields, and none of it suggests anything like those pallets. :...

Felix Wang

Of course, there is evidence of weapons being stored or shipped in bulk, suggesting that they might be issued to troops under some circumstances. Two well known cases are the swords recovered from the Dordogne River at Castillon - a bunch (80+?) of type XV swords from the end of the HYW, clearly div...

Felix Wang

A variant suggestion from WinterTreeCraft's: "Did the longbow revolutionize medieval warfare?" Plenty of discussion on this subject here, on Swordforum, MyArmoury, NetSword. There is a lot of primary and secondary source material about this online, and in print - start at www.deremilitari.org . You ...

Felix Wang

In re axes: http://www.gransfors.com/htm_eng/index.html see under Products, the replicas of old axes. Gransfors knows a bit about axes used in Sweden, which were probably rather like the ones used in England. The battle axe is longer and lighter than the chopping axe and broad axe - its head is big,...

Felix Wang

I do not think it is at all certain that thegns (or anyone else) was given equipment or training at this time. It was clearly expected they would have certain gear, depending on their status as thegns, or part of the fyrd; but it is more likely they were expected to furnish these items rather than h...

Felix Wang

Yes, but... :roll: If you are fighting Romans, and a six foot spear is thrown right at you, if it isn't sticking in your shield, it is probably sticking in you . It is even harder to fight with the pilum sticking out of your gut rather than your shield. As for knocking a javelin (or arrow) aside, th...

Felix Wang

Agreed. The later half of the 12th century and first half of the 13th century should serve well. This is the period of the classic heater shield. A surcoat can cover a multitude of sins; and while saltshaker and great helms were popular, there were a fair number of open-face helmets in use as well.

Felix Wang

Then there were small rectangular bucklers used in Renaissance swordsmanship.

Felix Wang

Try searching through the "I wannabe..." threads on these fora.

For example, the Carolingian Frank: http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=46376

Felix Wang

If you know someone who works at a hospital, the medical library at the hospital may be able to get a copy of the article.

Felix Wang

A very worthwhile article; Alan Williams is also a co-author. The lead author is an MD named Blackburn.

Felix Wang

The French did get to Idaho, though - somebody had to name Coeur d'Alene.

Felix Wang

"People in earlier times were familiar to the point of the commonplace with killing and slaughtering animals. Why would the same treatment of a man be invariably and in all cases traumatic---even amongst sociopathic personalities?" Because man is taught not to murder, it is a biblical tenet (a tene...

Felix Wang

There is a Shakespeare play about PTSD. Can you figure out which one? Alright Sir Vitus, give. You have two votes for Henry IV, one with a quote from a relevant passage, one for Othello and while Shakespeare may have referred to the Trembler, I believe it was Herodotus' in Aristodemus who made the ...

Felix Wang

I don't recall any Crimean incident, but there was an incident in Napoleon's Russian campaign, in which the Tatars' bows made little impression on French cavalrymen guarding Boney. The only source I can recall off hand is an old wargame by SPI called Grenadier; but I have read something about this s...

Felix Wang

I shall see you there. I will be mostly doing Fiore-related studies (if things go as planned).

Felix Wang

Yes, or rather one big spike on a Goedendag.

http://www.liebaart.org/goeden_e.htm

Felix Wang

This practice is mentioned by Shakespeare - although I believe he refers to the greenery as a "bush"; something to the effect that good ale is known by its bush. That probably has a double meaning. Willy was a dirty ole boy Perhaps. :?: "If it be true that good wine needs no bush, â€™tis true that ...

Felix Wang

This practice is mentioned by Shakespeare - although I believe he refers to the greenery as a "bush"; something to the effect that good ale is known by its bush.

Felix Wang

With cuibouilli, a ridge would be child's play, as mentioned. Are other cuirbouilli artifacts known from Ireland during this time? A side note - the 27 layers of shirt do suggest the possibility of fabric armour. That thickness of linen does correspond nicely with the makeup of a late medieval jack....

Felix Wang

And in Boston, the basketball team is the "Seltics". In re mail, some Irish chronicles from the 11th -12th centuries make a big point about how the Vikings are heavily armoured and the Irish are not. Stereotypically, the Irish would be fighting protected only by shields, in their "Sunday Best" cloth...

Felix Wang

In re: "How do we know that the representations of the scale tunics and hauberks in Carolingian, Byzantine, and High Medieval Italian pictorial sources are metal and not leather or courboulli scale?" A couple of points: leather scale is known from other times and places - Tutankhamun's tomb, Scythia...

Felix Wang

Not that I can think of. The English were using swordsmen with targets; the latter being a largish round or oval shield, arm mounted. I suppose a target could have a boss, but I can't think of an example offhand.

Felix Wang

Alcyoneus wrote:I don't understand why they would call it a 'theory' that the Norse were here prior to Columbus.

It is a theory, just like Newton's theory of gravity. Both just happen to be true.

Felix Wang

"Ceignent espees de l'acer vianeis; (Swords of Viana steel gird on their thighs; ) N.B. Viana is in modern Portugal, while Vienna and Innsbrook in Austria have a long reputation for quality steel. " Just to confuse things, there is a Vienne in France - on the Rhone, part of the old kingdom of Proven...

Felix Wang

Very handsome design! I haven't covered any shields with leather, but cloth should not cause any particular warping (aside from Maeryk's warning about excess soaking of one side of the wood). Now if you were using rawhide or parchment, then warping can be an issue, as these materials shrink as they ...

Felix Wang

Here is Sallust: "XXXVIII. Aware of the folly and unskillfulness of the legate, Jugurtha craftily fostered his madness, sent a succession of beseeching embassies, and, as if to avoid him, kept leading his army amid forests and bypaths. At last he enticed Aulus by the hope of a secret agreement, to l...

Re: medieval post traumatic stress disorder