The Armour Archive

Andrew Young

Nice. Its one of those 'why havent I dont that yet' projects. Did you learn anything that suprised you? Insightful thoughts? Im amazed at how simple sementata appear but how few actually get them right in terms of shape and fit compared to the natural human anatomy. Looks great so far....keep up the...

Andrew Young

Truly, it doesnt get any cooler than this....

[img]http://www.alt1040.com/uploads/20051015mk01.jpg[/img]

Andrew Young

Found this image....Notice the cuissess: --on horsebound knight on the rightside --and the footsoldier to his immediate right (holding the prisoner) ....the lines on the cuisses rise very far up the plate and appear to be parallel, they dont appear to be fluting. Is this some form of splinted leg......

Andrew Young

chock full of bascinets and pointed kettles....note the general lack of crests on most infanty helmets....or on noble/knight helmets....so if the holes in these flatback bascinets is for crests -as a rule- , than why dont more bascinets in artwork ---even the crappy bascinets---really show crests???...

Andrew Young

It's interesting that the crest and the like show up more in Spanish artwork, that you've found. Spanish libido ? hey, if ya need an army, look no further. I wonder though why 1 in 5? Could this show a breakdown of a spanish army in terms of squads? If so, are there any text that would back that as...

Andrew Young

That is a 19th century artists interpretation of a 15th century tapestry, and so intrinsicly unreliable. Artists would produce copperplate pictures of famous objects of art for print in books at a time when photo technology, although existing, made for less than reliable or detailed pictures of art...

Andrew Young

Could it be that crest, feathers or other decorations were there for identification purposes on the battlefiled and were worn only in combat situations? Yeah sure. Also as status markers. And another really good point worth mentioning.... most of the bascinets with crests show a cap on the tip. Now...

Andrew Young

Just how many is many? I was only aware of 4 bascinets with threaded holes. For that matter how mant total bascinets are there in existance? Of those, how many have threaded holes? How many have non-threaded holes or keyhole shaped holes? How many have no holes at all? I don't know, but would like ...

Andrew Young

Well chef de chambre, your at your best when you must resort to insults. Predictable . Why cant you offer your opinion or point of view without resorting to insults? Did mommy or daddy treat you poorly as a little boy? Is this why you resort to playground insults? But wait, just to be sure youre the...

Andrew Young

While the heat vent is just my own theory, I think, it would still be an interesting experiment to carry out. I would like to see how much, if any heat was lost through the hole. On a side note, I do a lot of bicycling, both on road and off. I have several helmets, 1 of which is extremely ventilate...

Andrew Young

Found this.... one of the captions read 1910 so Im not sure if that was a date or some form of inventory (it also read 15th century).... definatley heavily fantasy driven but worth discussing--the middle figure's cuisses, that is--some odd inconsistencies about each leg....have at it lads: http://im...

Andrew Young

I thought we should dump armourer illustrations while we discuss this stuff.... Here is an image which if fascinating because it shows the charactoristic image of the armourer with his arm raised high up but clearly holding the piece with his hand....Id love to know what he is working on....and what...

Andrew Young

I am well aware that there are more bascinets without holes than with. I am convinced that a vast majority of these holes were done after the bascinet was fabricated. What makes you so convinced Steve? I mean, why is the hole almost exclusively seen on the flat back varieties? I would submit to you...

Andrew Young

XRF? destructive sectioning? Microscopic analysis? Close physicl examination? Metalurgical analysis? Who here is expert enough in this to answer this question? I certainly do not know? Yes, all of these thing would need to be done. I also think its fair to say that many people did not realize that ...

Andrew Young

Ivo Youre arguement actually raises very good points about metal content, and impurities. However not all historically forged pieces show such break down, they just dont. Yet we are talking about a wider spectrum. Lets assume armourers did roll and forgeweld cones. This would then presume that they ...

Andrew Young

reinforced with five or six small rods the thickness of a finger, glued on, that run the length of the arm just to the joints. Glued on? That is weird. Are we sure thats transated correctly? Glue is somewhat period, but that is really strange. And to think glue would hold up under tourney situation...

Andrew Young

I hesitate speaking among such experienced hands, but it strikes me that given the level of finish on the bascinet in the original post, that it seems very unlikely the whole would have been left as is if it were just a by-product of construction technique. The hole could have been easily closed. W...

Andrew Young

Brian ....thanks!

Ill yank out my copy of L'Arte delle'Armature in Italia

David Teague.....nice leg armor!

Andrew Young

don't think you are understanding my point. Rene describes the cuirbolli defenses, and he describes them as being reinforced with cord. In point of fact, in the very same manuscript, the arm defenses are illustrated front and back, and quite clearly, the linear reenforces are braided cord. Again I ...

Andrew Young

But still be identifiable... of which none have been found. I do not buy that a forge weld could simply be made to disappear on sheet metal in the 14th century. Especially given the less than pure materials they were using... and especially to remain undetectable after hundreds of years of wear, co...

Andrew Young

Well, in additon, not that this is necessarily the case here , but fashion in a modern context at least, is usually associated in decades not centuries. What was vogue around 1350 might seem curious around 1450....100 years later. We do know that there were certain retro interests in Elizabeths cour...

Andrew Young

I dont think what youre saying is useless gibberish Brian In fact speculation, even without hard science, can lead to new avenues of exploration. Brainstorming is good-- all ideas have merit until others seem just as, if not more possible. I do agree these holes were used for crest mounts in some ca...

Andrew Young

Talbot, Rainey Gents....can you post some photos? So series of small rivets along edge of cuisse, etc to hold a strip of leather in place. The excess of the strip would be pointing toward the center of the armor. To this excess the padding is stiched. Correct? Does it look something like this: http:...

Andrew Young

Ya know Thomas, Im not entirely sure what Ive got....poplar, birch ? Ive been looking for a good online visual wood identification site. I got the wood from a carpenter in northern Virginia.....on a 300 year old homestead site. Doesnt prove much, even if I told you his father was one of the guys sho...

Andrew Young

Ah, I love seeing period furniture being used in a modern manner....nice miscreant !

Andrew Young

Not to change the course here....

but has anyone seen good photos under the arms? or up under the legs?

Andrew Young

All I can say to you is read the text instead of relying on artwork. Rene clearly describes the cuirbolli defences as I have indicated in his book - and keep in mind there are multiple copies of that book in which the artwork does not correspond one with the other. I understand what youre saying. H...

Andrew Young

Doug--- wording is everything: they were not the norm and if they ever existed were well outside of the range of knightly helmets of the 14th century in western Europe I agree there were certainly not the norm in wester europe. Though a fair number of eastern european sources seems to suggest things...

Andrew Young

As far as I know, there isnt much to go on as far as one lace or several. We are left with a degree of interpretation. One lace makes it easier, but a few is not out of question, especially on campaign or the field. Ever snapped your shoelace and had to re adjust your shoelace You wish you had a new...

Andrew Young

There is little reason to believe the riveted bascinets shown in this source represent an applied reinforcement, as the rivets appear beside a single line, like an overlap on a heaume. There is also reason to question why this design would be of "two-piece" construction. This could be mad...

Andrew Young

A thong acts like a shoe lace...its usually a more evenly distributed 'pull' when correctly threaded through mail.

Andrew Young

Looks more like a macehead

Andrew Young

Oh I believe you Ivo, Im not questioning your assesments per se. Im merely saying that for every supposedly ideal piece, there are several that just dont fit the 'mold'...but are apparently authentic.

Andrew Young

In light of recent threads concerning rivetted bascinets and theoretical construction methods, I thought Id add some interesting photos of the holes found in a number of bascinets tips. There are several possible explanations; and its possible there could be concurrent truths regarding function and ...

Andrew Young

Probably the case with most softwood furniture, it doesn't wear well Yes I suspect this is probably the case. My pine trunks have proven suprisingly strong but will break if dropped, obviously.....but some of this has more to do with the over dried nature of modern wood. Ive worked some green wood ...

an amazing cuirass discovery....

15th century 'spanish' armour...some odd things...

Mysterious holes in bascinet tips....