The Armour Archive

Russ Mitchell

Yes, Buster, but you'll notice that what you're posting doesn't exactly look like anything I've recommended?

Russ Mitchell

Gerhard,

That is correct, but they're not necessarily apples and apples there; 6 million people in a gentle 1300 climate is far different than the same number during the Maunder minimum.

Russ Mitchell

We were all beginners once, bro...

Russ Mitchell

That's a bit harsh: how about "intead of more profitable and methodical" study?

Russ Mitchell

For much of the reasons I listed above, Buster. I don't know the Scandinavian context very well, but in East-Central Europe ("Eastern Europe" being ruled by the Tatars with a totally different armoring tradition heavily influencing the region), full pieces of plate are frequently the wrong tool for ...

Russ Mitchell

1. Could it be cheaper? Depends on the relative prices of thread and wire, I suppose. And to answer your question, no, it would match the sculptural trace posted by Len, and wouldn't match your brass at all. Again, while I think it's a *plausible* interpretation of what Len's showing, I do *NOT* thi...

Russ Mitchell

It is indeed in conflict, though it may be that we just have a lopsided archaeological record. Dunno. Like I said in the transitional-plate thread, I know the Hungarian armory has mail out the ears that nobody's able to even look at -- God and basically two people know what they look like. Keeping a...

Russ Mitchell

Barrett, In the 1350s the Vlachs are still for the most part not oriented along western lines, and transitional plate is of very little use to them -- they're organized for mobility and flexibility, as their primary foe is the Tatars. Louis the Great and the Vlachs are on good terms, as Louis campai...

Russ Mitchell

For example, hang mail the "wrong way, and push the links together, and you get" left/line/right/line." Not a gap in this case, but something that very much is on-part with a line shown in the artwork.

Russ Mitchell

I'll be coming on Saturday (I'm a complete beginner, so except on a say-hi appreciation basis, anything other than the basics workshop would be arrogance/overmyhead on my part). I don't have any tools, but I'll bring a few original artifacts with me just so I'm not clueless AND empty-handed.

Russ Mitchell

Yeah, can't trust an afterdrawing on the gap, but the left/right is pretty clear. However, your conclusion is a false-dichotomy.

Russ Mitchell

Basically, it's like that 18-20mm mail shirt from Hungary I posted on a couple years ago, only the links are flattened. So you have, in effect, a 12mm i.d., 19mm o.d., roughly 22-24 gauge riveted washer making up the links, which are otherwise completely conventional 4-in-1. Take a fairly large link...

Russ Mitchell

Trying to sell during Pennsic sucks. I'll start with $100 just because.

Russ Mitchell

I was more thinkning of them as Academic institutions than Architectural, but even so, the Kings College Chapel is fairly swish for a 15th-16th C Non Cathedral chapel. Yep. From the mid-to-late 14th onward, England starts to really get spiff and stay that way. My quibbles are solidly aimed at the h...

Russ Mitchell

I think the baidana I posted nails that row/gap/row/gap appearance nicely and is much closer to the artwork than the above photos, which I've never found convincing (in an otherwise very good essay). In addition, the construction method is a clear extension of things we already know were going on, a...

Russ Mitchell

Russ, That might be so but the lynch pin on this to me is just because their military lags to me does not equal backwater during the High Medieval Period, and to the moment, that was your only example of their supposed backwaterness. I think militarily they do not follow the lines of the mainland l...

Russ Mitchell

Except insofar as that photo is something different than what you're describing....

Russ Mitchell

Thanks, Wade. I've seen examples like that before, but I've never seen a really noticeable round/flattened mix before (though I'm sure it's been done), and as described by Ashdown, yeah, uh, no. Nothing in favor of it, especially compared to known items such as this: http://www.mailleartisans.org/ga...

Russ Mitchell

If lowland Scotland wasn't considered a backwater compared to the rest of mainstream Europe, then I'm afraid we're working with such vastly different yardsticks that we simply have to agree to disagree.

Russ Mitchell

I'd definitely add Monmouth. I've read some of that stuff in the original Anglo-Norman (what a pain in the ass, I am *not* a linguist :lol: ). The Magna Carta? It has a close parallel in Hungary, but I'd suggest that charters of these types are more influential after the medieval period than in it (...

Russ Mitchell

Any evidence that was done?

Russ Mitchell

I wish people would stop using backwater regarding England until some one really has some solid reasons why that prove it is vastly inferior to mainstream Europe. Okay. We could go round the bush militarily all day, since individual leadership is a huge thing (and then arguments regarding the relat...

Russ Mitchell

...and that's nice and all, but an occasional nice thing does nothing at all to relieve England of having been a distinct backwater, barely able to fend off a sixth-rate military threat whose ability to project force was scarcely better than that of the Obodrites. (i.e., the Scots) Got nothing again...

Russ Mitchell

Something that might appeal to y'all, by some former colleagues of mine. Past Perfect! is CEU Medieval Radio’s show on medieval and early modern history and culture in association with Civil Radio FM98, where Christopher Mielke casually discusses with his guests various issues from the crusades to a...

Russ Mitchell

Point blank, the *threat* of such a charge forced their foot soldiers to stay put. That in and of itself was as much a factor, or more, than the actual casualties inflicted. Russ Threaten foot soldiers with a charge, make them bunch up to resist, then hit them with artillery, rinse & repeat. Ranif ...

Russ Mitchell

AwP: the word you're looking for is "koncerz." In Hungarian, it's "hegyesto"r." (which means, believe it or not, "pointy dagger.") Eventually hussars discarded the lance entirely in favor of the koncerz, as it was handier. Still considered a disposable weapon, however.

Russ Mitchell

Spurred by a recent project, I started studying how lances were used in several different cultures. When I delved into the Central Asian lance I learned a lot. The type of horse you are on (Your weapons platform, so to speak) makes a HUGE difference. For example, the Kumane, having the Scythians as...

Russ Mitchell

Right. But for the pike to resist the horse, it must remain in a FIXED position. As soon as they start moving, BAM.

For a great explanation of this, and why neither pikes nor infantry firearms did NOT wipe the knight off the field, see "Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe," by Bert Hall.

Russ Mitchell

Hrm...
it'd be more a "two-off," since Ken wants one, too, but you're right -- I can't ask you to build a custom press for that small a run. Thanks, though.

Russ Mitchell

The painting is gorgeous but you never replied to my earlier query -- have you dropped any attempt on the wood?

Russ Mitchell

A Catalan that throws a pointy stick into a horse takes out a tank.

there, ftfy.

Russ Mitchell

Yeah, I'm with Ernst here -- the alternate weaves don't result in something that looks like the art, and the washer theory just doesn't have any evidence to back it up (compared to a lot of reasons why it'd be suboptimal). I start to wonder if thonging was perhaps a bit more common, as it produces t...

Russ Mitchell

Point blank, the *threat* of such a charge forced their foot soldiers to stay put. That in and of itself was as much a factor, or more, than the actual casualties inflicted.

Russ Mitchell

I've just noticed that he has a skirt of scales protruding from the edge of his brigandine skirts. I wonder if it is a separate defense, or part of the body armor. Likewise, is the scale collar part of a "scale shirt", or a separator piece worn under the brigandine? My guess is the later. That is m...

Russ Mitchell

It's a bit outside my speciality, but lots of Rus and Hungarian stuff of the 10-12th century had decorations that were a blend between Hungarian/Turkic and Scandinavian motifs (Ziad's post at 8:03 being a textbook example, as is the "Attila's sword" sabre). I'm not well-versed on specific hilt dynam...

Re: 1350 transitional plate armour

Re: Was England laging behind other areas of Europe?

Re: Was England laging behind other areas of Europe?

Re: Was England laging behind other areas of Europe?

Re: 1350 transitional plate armour

Re: How plausible is banded mail?

Re: How plausible is banded mail?

Re: 1350 transitional plate armour

Re: How plausible is banded mail?

Re: Hammer In

Re: How plausible is banded mail?

Re: How plausible is banded mail?

Re: FS: auction - simple full arm harness.

Re: Was England laging behind other areas of Europe?

Re: How plausible is banded mail?

Re: Was England laging behind other areas of Europe?

Re: How plausible is banded mail?

Re: How plausible is banded mail?

Re: Was England laging behind other areas of Europe?

Re: Was England laging behind other areas of Europe?

Re: How plausible is banded mail?

Re: Was England laging behind other areas of Europe?

Re: Was England laging behind other areas of Europe?

Past Perfect!

Re: Mounted Cavalry Charge with lances

Re: Mounted Cavalry Charge with lances

Re: Mounted Cavalry Charge with lances

Re: Mounted Cavalry Charge with lances

Re: custom shields F/S

Re: custom shields F/S

Re: Mounted Cavalry Charge with lances

Re: How plausible is banded mail?

Re: Mounted Cavalry Charge with lances

Re: St George - Hradcany Square - Body armour - Thoughts?

Re: [Russian help] Michailovsky burial mound