The Armour Archive

Gaston de Clermont

Could it be Brian Britt (Eagle's Tallon)? From the pics the hinge looks like how he's done his- does it have an Allen key headed bolt? The skull looks more rounded than I've seen him do though. What does the pattern generally look like? Is the skull two halves, and then a skirt on the bottom? Gaston...

Gaston de Clermont

Cool device, and a nice banner!
Gaston

Gaston de Clermont

The closest fighting manual for her time period is probably I-33, which you can find on ARMA's web site. It's dated by some historians to around 1295. The Manesse Codex at U Heidelburg might be useful too, for images of dress, fighting, and romance. A lot of the German minnesingers would be helpful ...

Gaston de Clermont

I'm certainly interested in what you're putting together. Are you doing linen on the inside and leather on the outside? Are the bolts you're using mild steel? Are you using hand files to make the flower heads, or power tools? Regarding your reanactment endeavors in general- I've basically been an SC...

Gaston de Clermont

Chef,
Simply being an enemy of the King of France didn't make you "not French". What, in your view, should be the criteria for being French?
Gaston de Clermont

Gaston de Clermont

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Scott: I don't remember that one. But how about that crown when Brand took a freak shot to the back of his gorget? Awesome fight. Scarey ending. - Scott<HR></BLO...

Gaston de Clermont

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Templar Bob/De Tyre: Linen chainse, modern cup with supporter, muslin braies, linen chausses, heavy cotton chausses, heavy cotton aketon and arming coif. <HR></BL...

Gaston de Clermont

I don't believe I've ever knocked anyone unconcious. I did hit one of my knights in the cup, and I think he wished for death at some point... I got whacked pretty well in a tournament once with a broad sword and went down. I don't think I went unconcious, but some of my friends on the sidelines seem...

Gaston de Clermont

Chef, It's possible that the Lalaings took some offense at being called French because it's wasn't so far from the truth. Hainalut belonged to the Valois Dukes of Burgundy at one point didn't it? They were (nominally) in fealty to the king of France, and they had the same last name. Modern Waloons g...

Gaston de Clermont

Of course it varied by region and time, but generally knights were the lowest rung on the ladder of nobility. So saying your not related to a knight or higher is to say you are not noble. That's not to say that all knights had wealth beyond what they needed for arms and a horse, and some lacked even...

Gaston de Clermont

There's a chapter on Bertrand du Guesclin in Frances Gies' "Knight in History." He was known as "the Mastiff of Britany" or the "Crapaud" the moniker used by the Company of the Argent Angel for their monthly tournament in his honor. There are numerous tales of his fighting prowess, and he was partic...

Gaston de Clermont

Steve, Welcome to the addiction. May you create wonderous things, and not smash or burn any part of your body more than is absolutely necessary. I'm still in the middle of making a great helm- it's my third. I've found that copying a top plate of that style exactly is astoundingly tough, even with h...

Gaston de Clermont

That's a decent foundation. I used to live near Oxford, and it's pretty country with a lot of interesting history. Was your father a knight? A marshal? Kent and Woodstock are far enough apart to make me ask what made your family move? Not that such a move would have been unheard of, but European fam...

Gaston de Clermont

I found several in Armour from the Battle of Wisby by Bengt Thordeman. Brian Price wrote the intro, and you can buy a copy from him at chronique.com. It's not cheap, but it's a very good book. My quick skim found these guys with splinted arms: Unknown knight circa 1350 Musee de la Porte de Hal, Brus...

Gaston de Clermont

My own experience- I had a pigface by Alan Bauldree for around a year before I got knighted (if that gives you any activity level guage), and I live in the West (one of the harder hitting kingdoms). It was mild, mostly 16 guage, and I think it's got a 14 guage skull. It had really nice lines to it, ...

Gaston de Clermont

I whole heartedly agree. It was fun, interesting, and showed great promise of more to come.
Gaston de Clermont

Gaston de Clermont

Gascoing,
Nicely written. I appreciate the detailed references and the time you obviously spent crafting your post. You illuminated more options than I was aware of.
Regards,
Gaston

Gaston de Clermont

I'm excited to check out the class. Who else is going?
Gaston de Clermont

Gaston de Clermont

Gwen's probably the best expert on the subject around here. I'm pretty sure there's more than one way to skin this cat- and they seem to have used more points and a more fitted chause as time progressed, but for the chauses Gwen sells there's a single pair of holes in each chause, and a pair of hole...

Gaston de Clermont

I drilled into my thumb a couple years ago, and part of it is still numb. Drill bits kind of till the flesh like soil, so their wounds heal oddly. Trimming a vambrace once I tried to grind it, then abandoned that approach because it was taking too long. When I cut the piece off on the Beverly shears...

Gaston de Clermont

I'm impressed! What was your heat source, and what did you raise it over?
Gaston de Clermont

Gaston de Clermont

Probably a great helm. A maile hauberk with some form of padding, or perhaps more likely a coat of plates. Arm and leg defenses were still fairly simple, splinted defenses were fairly common. Irish armour probably lagged behind English somewhat. The book "Armour from the Battle of Wisby" would proba...

Gaston de Clermont

It's not my forte, but I think the Romans used amphorae, basically big clay jars. That approach may have had hold outs into the early Middle Ages. There are certainly references to stone, copper, and iron cauldrons for beer and meade brewing, and wooden casks for wine. I'm not sure if oak has always...

Gaston de Clermont

I agree, you've put together an outstanding harness, and had some good attention to details- like the buckle on your belt.
Gaston de Clermont

Gaston de Clermont

Congratulations Munz!
Gaston de Clermont

Gaston de Clermont

There's a German helm used for a funeral achievement in 2500 years of helmets that has an avantail on it. I'm suspicious about it. The cross on it is paint, rather than brass, and the avantail seems very short. I'm not sure if it was something that would have seen tourney or war combat, or that it w...

Gaston de Clermont

It would probably help if someone on the knights council knows what's going on. We've all got mundane lives (well we should, anyway) so we understand. Be the best knight you can be, have a sucessful career, and don't worry about it.
Gaston de Clermont

Gaston de Clermont

In the Wisby book Thordeman went to great lengths to compare the gauntlets they found with other examples. I don't recall them being able to date anything similar before the mid 14th century in the various Scandanavian and Germanic statuary he sited.
Gaston de Clermont

Gaston de Clermont

Master Talbot has a pretty extensive discussion of spurs on his web site- a google search should find it. The 13th century isn't my forte, but I'm thinking fairly straight armed prick spurs would probably be right. I've fought in spurs, and if they fit well, they're not too much of a pain. Just be c...

Gaston de Clermont

4
I'd love to see the same kinds of changes for heavy combat.
Sir Gaston de Clermont

Gaston de Clermont

Some of Froissart's Chronicles seem to show them being worn by archers who also wear a sort of body bracelet, and a brig-like harness to protect their upper chest. I don't know how common that would have been, or if it's really appropriate for anyone by archers.
Gaston de Clermont

Gaston de Clermont

There's a reference in The Murder of Charles the Good (12th century, Flemish, by Galbert of Bruges, and a fascinating read) to a judicial fight where one of the combatants has his tender parts torn rather savagely. The diction is a little unclear, and it may have blurred some in the translation, but...

Gaston de Clermont

Strictly speaking, that's true, and I appologize for my slopiness in terminology. However, if I understand the reaction correctly, ferric chloride (FeCl3) in water ionizes to iron and chloride ions, while the water ionises to hydrogen and hydroxyl ions. The iron combines with the hydroxide ions to m...

Gaston de Clermont

You might want to find a copy of Barber and Barker's book, "Tournaments." It's got a lot of depictions of this style mostly from King Renee's treatise. It shows many crests and mantling. There's a copy of King Renee's treatise on line at Princeton (search on Google) and it shows you in some detail t...

Gaston de Clermont

The ferrochloric acid you can buy at Radio Shack is a good place to start. It's best suited to metals with copper in them, so it handles brass, and bronze well. You only need a few plastic vessels to soak things in, some gloves, and ventilation. You can use sharpie or testers enamel as resist. A dec...