The Armour Archive

Egfroth

Matt, what period were you looking at? Certainly by the 11th-12th century that would probably be ok, though the neck is probably wrong. See Dr Tim Dawson's "Levantia" site, in particular here and here for neck openings that are more appropriate. The woven decoration would have been both possible wit...

Egfroth

Nice one, Rod. Good to see people dressed as knights actually fighting on horseback!

And very visually appealing!

Egfroth

Corby, See the attachment for surcoats which at least reflect the colour scheme of the shield, even if they don't have the actual "coat of arms" on them. It's from the Winchester Bible - English, some time about 1170 (though the details to me suggest somewhat later). Oswyn, Sorry, mate. I got it fro...

Egfroth

Sir Mord wrote:Endre,

PS: Egfroth--living in "Victoria" does that make you a "Victorian?"

Perish the thought. I'm a West Australian, though I've lived in Victoria for about 13 years now. But my wife is a Victorian - born and bred.

Egfroth

What century are we looking at? "Early" covers a fairly large range. However, I know of no AS shields before the Bayeux Tapestry that are any other shape but circular. A large proportion of 11th century ones are shown as bowl-shaped, but unfortunately there are very few represntations of shields fro...

Egfroth

The "Victorians"did a lot of the heavy, shit-moving, pioneering work, and I'd be the last to denigrate what they achieved. The world of archaeology and mediaeval (Yes! I STILL spell it this way - as do all people raised in the British Commonwealth of Nations, where we didn't adopt "American English"...

Egfroth

It's actually the sleeve of the tunic worn under the mail. The hand is bare. the picture in AAoMK is a bit clearer. Eg would you have a larger version of that pic from the cloisters? Yes, that's right. The sleeve is pushed up the arm a' la Michael Jackson. Sorry Thaddeus, that's the best copy I hav...

Egfroth

I question whether the Romace of Alexander images are meant to show plates on the outside. I think these are supposed to be covered in red fabric with silvered/tinned nailheads, and the black lines are simply emphasizing the shapes of the plates beneath, esp. in the second case, where you can see t...

Egfroth

I got mine from a "throw-out"sale for about $5 Ausytralian. Then at some tme or other I lent it to someone, and have never seen it since . . .GRRRR!!!!

Egfroth

I've seen at least three contemporary illustrations that suggest they existed. I'd have to search them up, though, and I'm just about to leave home for a week. I'm attaching one, but can't get hold of the others immediately (one's in the Romance of Alexander of 1348; the other is a 14th century mise...

Egfroth

And yet more . . .

Of course, if you want to go Byzantine, you can have as much scale armour as you like . . .

However, if you're looking to find an extant 12th century scale hauberk, I'm sorry - there just doesn't seem to be any such animal surviving.

Egfroth

And some more . . .

Egfroth

See below for some nice examples.

Egfroth

It looks like it was a late 12th century invention, which is really close to what time I am considering. Actually, it first appears in the first half of the 12th century, but was certainly very commonly in use by the end of the century. On the statue of Roland carved on the column, what is the guar...

Egfroth

Or you could be a monk . . .!

Egfroth

I THINK I might have a copy of the second, but not the first. You're not after the TILE of Richard i, then, from (I think) Chertsey?

I'll have a bit of a look.

Egfroth

There's more information on this at http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=58966 , though it concentrates on flat-tops. You have a choice - both were used.

Egfroth

And here's the shield mentioned by Alcyoneus above - it's known as the "Seedorf" shield, and it's pretty obviously been cut down from a round-topped kite.

Hope this is of help.

PS: What are "earmines"?

Egfroth

More mid-late 12th century stuff, with an emphasis on flat-topped kite shields , at http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... 034#753034

Egfroth

And still more . . .

Oh, and there's a mid-12th century representation of Geoffrey of Anjou (the founder of the Plantagenet family) here

Egfroth

And yet more flat-topped kites.

Egfroth

Some more flat-topped kite shields.

Egfroth

There are quite a few contemporary pics - if you know where to look. The Aberdeen Bestiary - English about 1200 - has two illustrations with them in - see the Bonnacon and the Tiger links. Then there is the Hortus Deliciarum produced in Alsace, on what is now the French-German border in the late 12t...

Egfroth

You should look at Peter of Eboli, whose Liber ad Honorem Augusti was produced in about 1195, and has LOTS of Italo-Norman soldiers with shields. Getting a pattern is ususally a matter of trial and error. First get your curved shield blank, then work out how long and wide it needs to be by comparing...

Egfroth

Interesting thesis, but, as you say, by no means the only cause of the renaissance (you'd need MUCH more space even to list them, let alone describe in detail.)

One tiny criticism - the singular of "oxen" is "ox". So your descendants own "a healthy ox or two . . ." (or they have two oxen . . .)

Egfroth

It's certainly possible to make combs from bone without the teeth breaking off - I've done it. Whether this has any bearing on whether they actually did it, is another thing . . .

Egfroth

IIRC, Spain was something of a trendsetter - items seem to have appeared first there and moved north. Perhaps the contact with the sophisticated Moorish civilisation?

Egfroth

I'd recommend you start with http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=43165 - this subject comes up a fair bit, and after looking at this thread, maybe use the search function to look for mentions of the subject "Viking".

Egfroth

I don't know if mightn't be something you already know about but there's a Mediaeval Spain discussion forum at m Could be of help. Dr Tim Dawson also did a fair bit of research on this some years ago, but he was concentrating more on the 12th century. I seem to recall some carved ivories with archer...

Egfroth

Are you talking about a "two-headed" axe (ie a labrys of the Minoan type), as shown at http://www.geocities.com/egfroth1/Labry ... 5146841890 ?

They're called "wings" - at least "bipennibus" means two-winged (or possibly two-feathered) when referring to axes.

Egfroth

Many thanks. A great help.

Egfroth

Some more pics . . .

Egfroth

A bit difficult to find a LOT of stuff from 11th century Castile, but if you're willing to include Catalonia, there's more available. There's the Farfa Bible and the Bible of Rhodes , both supposedly 11th century (though the Rhodes Bible contains a picture of a staff-sling, which I don't think appea...

Egfroth

Yeah, but just nothing from my own period and region of interest. (sigh).

Egfroth

Can somebody help with a source (and/or a rough dating) for the picture at the top of the page at http://usuarios.lycos.es/historiador196 ... lleria.htm ?

Need help with source for a picture