The Armour Archive

Norman

1/4 inch square cord. I think you're mismeasuring. Judging from the picture it looks like the same stuff I use (and in the same color ) -- the stuff you'd buy at a shoe supply as moccasin boot laces? I believe it tends to a little less than 3/16 thick -- I use holes that are 5/32 - the leather pull...

Norman

Not entirely relevent to Spain, but here are some 12th/14th century (i can't remember, was visiting too many churches that day), frescoes from Souther Serbia. Shape of the scales are the same, and in some cases the colour. Would that cancel the possibility of China or am I jumping the gun? m m The ...

Norman

Looking for a new project, was wondering if anyone had resources on something along these lines: m I'm specifically interested in the design of this fellow and to the left in the background... m Anyone know where I can find more detailed images? My impression based on the period artifacts and perio...

Norman

Not sure whether you are doing this as a technological exercise (ie: something you want to try for the heck of it) or as something you feel you need to do. If it something you feel you need to do - then you realy don't. Period lamellar could well use alternating bands of brass (or whatever cooper al...

Norman

Technicaly the Chernigov helmets (I assume you mean the famous 10th century Chernaya Mogila finds) are believed to be of a Turkish (more specificaly Khazar) manufacture or at least model. And the guys buried in Chernigov were more likely Scandinavians than Slavs. At least over in what was becoming R...

Norman

I argue that a statue or illumination of St. Maurice created in the 12th century is extremely relevant. ...The artists was clearly trying to depict what St. Maurice would look like in armour from the artists own era. ...they had some sense of what a sub-Saharan African may have looked like. It is r...

Norman

Richard de Scolay wrote:My guess is that the dude was very proud of his ripped chest ...Either that or he didn't have a ripped chest but really wanted one.

Norman

Looks a heck of a lot like a breastplate edge to me, Norman. Looks like a big crack in the rock to me. Putting aside my totaly nonsensical post from earlier, I had thought I was reading the edge of a breastplate in the smaller photo at the begining of the thread -- but now in the detail it looks mo...

Norman

There is an unfortunate tendency in online forums for us to talk out of our ... So - I cut all the theorising and tried google. Based on my Russian, I'd guessed that if the word is Slavic, the "che" ending would mean "big" -- basicaly if it was Russian "Kapanishe" would...

Norman

"kapaniÃ§e" I guess is the origin of the modern word Chapan and Caftan. Why do you think Chapan and Caftan are modern words? Why do you think kapaniÃ§e is any older than the other two? They are "modern" in that they are the words we use to describe the garments in modern English...

Norman

Dragon_Argent wrote:"kapaniÃ§e" I guess is the origin of the modern word Chapan and Caftan.

Why do you think Chapan and Caftan are modern words?
Why do you think kapaniÃ§e is any older than the other two?

Norman

You are all missing the obvious and clearly correct answer

This guy was a truely macho knight.

That belly/ chest you guys are breaking your heads over was simply naked.
Documentation:

Norman

The guy represents a Centurion ... Mel Gibson's choices for his Jesus movie were largely based on medieval theological sources (presumably all Catholic). One of those choices was to have a contingent of Jewish soldiers involved. Do you know what the Byzantine theology (theologic historiography?) wa...

Norman

Russain uses a totaly different alphabet - so when things get transliterated into English, they tend to be normal letters. Romanian uses a c with a curleycue underneath. I think Hungarian does as well. Yes, I suppose so does Turkish. The word does have some sort of slavic sound to it though. Are you...

Norman

I found a referrence to a kapaniÃ§e and that it is a sleeveless, fur lined, wide collared, garmet. Tried doing some more research and none of them are in English so I'm having a hard time at it. I'm now finding referrences of it being sleevless as well as long sleeved. Norman, can you use your Russ...

Norman

This kind of hat/scarf appears a fair bit in Byzantine imagery, but I'm not sure whether it's always associated with Jewish people. Thank you. Can you possibly provide other images of these? Is there a reconstruction? Would it be possible to get context? (ie: scenes with description- so as to evalu...

Norman

Thank you D for those pictures Unless anyone knows what that hat of his is, then I don't see anything about this picture to indicate anything other than an artist drawing a soldier based of the soldiers he had seen... And Norman I think your argument may be just as circular and speculative as mine. ...

Norman

I think there is a tendency here to fall into a circle - and I think that is what you are doing Mikhail. The line is like this - we have a set of 10th century crucifixion scenes showing these warriors with what have already been defined as specificaly Jewish hats in the iconography. So the one thing...

Norman

Lovely work By way of some constructive criticism - The Sabatons would improve substantialy with smaller lames and a less "bulbous" end plate. If you're doing generic (rather than some specific reproduction) I would (I have) shape the end plate by close fit to your shoes and you want the e...

Norman

I was aprenticed to an armourer who specialised in Italian ren armour (ie: Medieval - age of plate stuff) and branched to some Roman helmets and "Lorica segmentata" My personal interests tended to the East and so I have wasted a sh-load of time becoming "expert" in Eastern Europe...

Norman

Glancing at one of my Osprey books the other night, I came across the following illustration ( Byzantine armies, 886-1118 By Ian Heath, Angus McBride, page 26) m I have a few questions on it - The description says that the illustration is typical of a type that comes in the 10th century in crucifixi...

Norman

Here is the picture...(Osprey Men at Arms #348) it is from the Beatus' Commentaries on the Apocalypse 975AD. The biblical figure is wearing a cloth wrap around his mighfar (mail coif) and held in place by a fillet. This is the only depiction I am aware of for a simple cloth wrap for the head. IMO t...

Norman

Um.. For now my contributions on Peter: (not quite relevant to military) * Peter brought a black slave from some outing. This slave impressed Peter so much that Peter freed him and made him a nobleman. Alexander Pushkin (probably the best known Russian poet) was the grandson of this black slave. * P...

Norman

These were linked from another current thread (this one m ) Looks like mostly Turbans with a neck drape in the other pictures below but note the musician to the right of the chess players http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g154/philgreg/025.jpg m m On the other hand -- that musician does not have a b...

Norman

Peter wore armour - so it is not Off Topic

But it could be that most of us here just don't know about the period.
And you'd get even less on the Off Topic board.

Norman

Let me first preface that it seems to be the wrong way to go to create a personna because you currently have a particular garment. The SCA is quite forgiving on imperfections in costuming (especialy with respect to non-European personnas -- since mostly they don't know or care). You may decide to mo...

Norman

And the Grammar Police can be stern here. Remember you have a full-size keyboard ... Konstantin, I've never seen you get so @-holish before! What gives? You had absolutely nothing of any relevance to contribute on the actual question - just a diatribe on legibility. Granted, as far as such diatribe...

Norman

Well, the Arabs are easier -- these are the tribes in the Arabian peninsula who in the 8th century go out with a number of wars to conquer the rest of the world in the name of Islam. To oversimplify a bit - After those initial wars, for the most part they remain a distinct Middle Eastern set of peop...

Norman

Arms and Armour of the Medieval Knight Arms and Armour of the Samurai These are both fairly new and complete introductions (within the last 20 years) Ffoulkes ... I think its "The armourer and his craft" - from before WWII (maybe 1911) but still quite important George Stone's Encyclopedia ...

Norman

i guess i was totally general in the images depicted there are "moors" and im trying to find a documented way of bringing a moor persona to life. Well, all of the Saint Maurice images are irrelevant to a reconstruction of a person of African origin. As the article, I believe, mentions - h...

Norman

If you are talking about historical Bazubands, It depends on what specific "national" style. The deep late-period Persian ones are pretty good though I included an articulated tab in mine to protect from very odd point shots to the elbow (If you go to www.archive.org and type in www.geocit...

Norman

Let me know when you get my helm ready then.
I can't wait.
What a pleasant surprise.

Norman

it was common practice to bury Viking Age folks in their finest. Finest being defined by class of course. Except that from how Ibn Fadlan describes the burial, they actualy created a set of special gear for it. That makes our life a bit more complicated -- not only do we have the first asked questi...

Norman

I find that for Russian and Jewish names using SCA sources makes for some realy odd results. If you can in any way do so, do some backup checking for the Ottoman name. And if you can -- ask a Turkish friend if the name doesn't sound ...off And as a thorough assumption, I would guess that late perio...

Norman

The materials from Gulbishe, I beleive are in GYM (government history museum in Moscow) Here's what I quickly found on the net -- (I'll dig some more after the weekend) Helmet number 2 on this picture is from Gulbishe - it is essentialy the same design as the ones from Chernaya Mogila just a bit mor...

Byzantine "Jewish" Hats? - looking for more info