The Armour Archive

earnest carruthers

Onion skin dyeing IIRC in England was banned under law - certainly the dyeing of cloth wit it was banned by guilds - which suggests it may well have gone on as it was hardly a random ban. But then some things can be made with all manner of items as long as they are not for resale - ie home made for ...

earnest carruthers

"and am just using it as a means to provide a framework for understanding some aspects of 14th century martial culture." Based on what? a nineteenth century perspective? so how do you know that it is accurate or not? Apart from it being a work of fiction, which immediately means it is likely to take...

earnest carruthers

Yes they are cheap, as is most information nowadays. Disinfection - well do you mean just good old fashioned hygeine ie washing hands before serving food, or the notion of bugs? If the latter then disinfection as far as I am led to believe was not well defined. If I were to clean wooden dishes in a ...

earnest carruthers

You may well be a merchant or artisan, however the clothes you wear on pilgrimage may not necessarily denote those ranks. As others have said there are paraphernalia associated with pilgrimage. Depending on how you wanted to be seen, you could be unostentatious and wear humble clothing, mainly as a ...

earnest carruthers

What oil are you using? I guess a non-drying oil. You could try using a varnish medium, which was a way of painting over metal, it hardens forming a crust. if not then boiled linseed oil wiped onto your armour left out in hot sun for a few days, this will oxidise the oil and bond it to the lid and n...

earnest carruthers

Theophilus is fine for 12thC but he was transcribed and used as a source up to the early 15th with contemporary additions. he is by no means a definitive source, in fact I would stick my neck out and say he covers a wide range but in certain aspects other sources are way more useful. Le Begue who co...

earnest carruthers

Conan Doyle, Kipling, all bastion writers of the British Empire.

To be honest people should be reading Mallory, a medieval romantic writer, who even if fantasy is contemporaneous to the late middle ages.

earnest carruthers

Thanks, I wont be trying it, just curiosity.

earnest carruthers

In about 1830 or so he 'compiled' the history of Spain, in one part it is the final battle of the reconquista and he describes english archers at Grenada, apparently transcribed from a priest, the priest never existed, the archers did but no description other than Irving's exists. His account is one...

earnest carruthers

Thought you might have been and it woudl have made a very nice olive oil soap.

My reply was somewhat 'caustic' for effect of course.

Anyway does caustic soda corrode zinc? Now I need to know, I really do.

earnest carruthers

Out of interest why use a work of fiction as a starting point, I realise that atmosphere etc is important, but as you highlight such works become reference items. You mentioned WC on the other thread about 14th C books didn't you? I read a few of the Dorothy Dunnet - Niccolo books, as far as I could...

earnest carruthers

[b]reducing amount of grease on aprons[/b] make a weakish lye solution from wood ash soak and rinse. [b]Cleaning ironwork[/b] Ladles, meat hooks etc Lots of variants on a theme, a carrier and an abrasive. Olive oil and fine wood ash Fat and ashes etc. wash off and oil and heat [b]To preserve iron wo...

earnest carruthers

I would recommend Tuchmann's - A distant mirror - a superb book, centred around Engeurrand De Coucy, a Frenchman. Barbara Hanawalt - the Ties that Bound - peasant life British Museum Press - craftsman series - one of which written by Paul Binski - covers a good range of late medeival crafts not just...

earnest carruthers

I would like to start this thread in order so that we can compile lists of how to do things correctly that are not expensive. Mainly as I beleive in many cases doing certain things correctly is not dearer than using say modern materials or processes in many cases actually cheaper. I shall start the ...

earnest carruthers

I can thoroughly reccomend this book

http://www.perry-miniatures.com/index2.html

I have seen the original that the Perrys reproduced and it is a wonderful drill book, plus the incomprehensible short hand notes

Two editions, the expensive one and the cheaper one.

earnest carruthers

Thread starter " Has anyone here stripped the zinc coating from mail using vinegar?" GB "Could you also not use caustic soda to strip the zinc? although not too sure of what gases are liberated, it is nasty stuff though." Dave "No, caustic soda is the other side of the pH scale, it's a degreaser. It...

earnest carruthers

Chicken fat is a medieval anti-rust treatment. Boiled linseed oil oxidises quicker than olive oil so in effect sets hard, olive takes longer but eventually does, but not before it has probably gone rancid (having said that who wants the smell of chicken fat instead??). But linseed needs to have been...

earnest carruthers

There is a York bracer a century or two earlier but made from one piece of thick leather, straps and all, which were pared thinner than the main part of the bracer, it also has decorative rosette studs/strap holes, no sewing other than the buckle. Ovoid in shape. Sorry no pics saw it in a book recen...

earnest carruthers

English archers and other footmen of the 14th centiury onwards had few or no shields and little armour (apart from the upper orders), they had weapons that meant shields were pointless. Apart from personal protection on one on one they are not much use tactically if the enemy is slowly whittling you...

earnest carruthers

critter

one of the main reasons I use open hose, much easier than fiddling with points whilst your turtle's head makes an appearance.

earnest carruthers

Dave W " How much did a typical pavise weigh? It must have been difficult to use one as a typical shield" they vary a lot in design and function, as I said in the siege of Marlbork Castle pic there are variants there, smaller ones being used by hand, larger ones as a wall. Other sources show pavises...

earnest carruthers

" pavises dont count! Theyre more of a lean-to or personal wall than a shield! " yes and no, they are depicted as a 'wall' as well as personal shields, the seige of Marlbork castle 1490 (picture not siege) depicts men using them in both ways plus variations on a theme, eg smaller ones used strapped ...

earnest carruthers

er aren't chausses just a frenchie word for early forms of hose, braies - breech - the former over garment the latter under?

certainly in respects to HE items.

earnest carruthers

The crossbowman in question has an odd strip under the upper garment but over the mail skirt, it looks like a load of plates with small nails. A couple of things to remember that whilst this has potrayals of what appear to be actual items of kit it does also at the same time have representations of ...

earnest carruthers

In the very same lists huge quantities of specifically named bridandine nails were also brought in, signs of busy people.

earnest carruthers

Chef the London import rolls for 1480 mention a half brigandine in one entry, any ideas what that might be?

Also as a general note brigandines and much armour was imported from Flanders and Germany, presumably not tailored.

earnest carruthers

Aboriginal australians and bushmen in the Kalahari drink any water they can get, including the wrung out stomach contents of certain animals.

we are too used to 'sweet' water.

earnest carruthers

Patrick Kelly, with all due respect take a chill pill and don't patronise me. I know full well the image is later (I did acknowledge that), however you missed the point, twice in fact, that one of the arguments about not tying them up is bulking up and also to show a tying method that would not rest...

earnest carruthers

A better picture, only used to show a possible tie style, one that would not bulk up at the rear/sides. But also I wonder if he is wearing two items, an upper mail shirt with hood plus separate legs, or are the legs integral? That to me is pertinent to this particular question. I guess we will never...

earnest carruthers

Interesting thread Mord. My personal fave is 'peasant' widely misused by us. It has no real meaning in many of the eras we portray and conjures up images of land locked mud eating slaves and forlock tugging ingrates. As for Celts - pah! Most terminology is a flag of convenience, it gets more specifi...

earnest carruthers

yeerrs I do.

Why you ask, boy?

earnest carruthers

Fletching glues are somewhat of a mystery or more precisely they vary, animal glue made up gloopy will stay soft enough for the fletchings to be set into place under the ties, you can add some alum to the glue as a preservative, likewise some verdigris as an insecticide - protects the fletchings fro...

earnest carruthers

Patrick - I put it there as it shows at least one method of tying legs, ie they do not meet at the back.

So could this be an option for legs that are tied?

earnest carruthers

Ha Mathijs, I heard that. Whilst Theophilus is great, he is not definitive, good for 12th century refs, but he spends more time making workshops and tools than painting IMHO!! Bad Helmerhausen. Anyway painting metal is primarily done with what is translated as a gluten varnish, basically boiled lins...

earnest carruthers

Hello guys, I hope you all had a cool yule. Cap'n Jamie, I think one of the problems you will have is trying to amalgamate national differences and practices and eras. If you are talking 15th C England the term peasant is meaningless, as would be Levy, however the intent and term may not be so for s...

Authentic and cheap - or at least not dearer