The Armour Archive

chef de chambre

Hi Ourdecay, The short answer is "not really". Breastplates with plackarts are still the norm on Italian (and German) armour up till around 1500. Sometimes the plackart is so whopping big that it is almost a second breastplate (a la the 'devils harness'), which looks like a complete suit, but is rea...

chef de chambre

Sir Rhys, If you are "doing knightly recreation", and not just 'posing', then you need to start working on riding in harness, and at least practising with steel weapons as well. Work on that geometry of the cut so it actually cuts, rather than slapping (a slight deviation from a proper angle will no...

chef de chambre

Hi All, I got my copy very shortly after Brian made the announcement. I have to say, having studied the topic for pushing four years now, Christian has presented with a clarity rarely found the basic "thrust" of the German style of swordsmanship. His making clear the concept of the before the after ...

chef de chambre

Hi Sebastian, If you are a big gent, then you may want to go for something like the one in Madrid that has in essence a two part globose breastplate, using 'false' nails on these overlarge lung plates to give the garment a fashionable pattern. The garment in question is a brigandine, with brigandine...

chef de chambre

Hi Sebastian & All, I always reccommend Michael Lacy's monograph - in point of fact it is the only compleate anachronist I reccommend, as it was held to a professional scholarly standard being his Masters Thesis. That said, while there are some good ideas in it, it tells the history of the evolution...

chef de chambre

Hi Guys, Thin "blanket" wool is what to use - we have a TON of red wool for making livery that I cut mine out of, as we could literaly outfit the combattants of 3 or 4 companies of the ordinances with bold red St. Andrews crosses out of the mass we have. I simply fold it in thirds, so it covers the ...

chef de chambre

Hi All, Thee and Thou are familiar forms of English, and still are used in German (the "du" familiar, between intimates, rather then the formal 'sie'). The usage in English falls out of general use sometime between the last third of the 17th and first third of the 18th century, except amongst "bumpk...

chef de chambre

HI Sebastian,

I'll be glad to post a lengthy reply when I return from work this evening. At this point I can only give general advice, as I haven't completed mine, and I am sure there are pitfalls awaiting me as I progress toward the rear of the armour.

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Bob R.

chef de chambre

Hi All, I thought I ought add a few "fun" bits of information regarding horses in combat, from primary documentation in the observations of my family members. My Great Uncle Al was a driver in a field artillery battery in the First World War - service in the Artillery is a family tradition. From his...

chef de chambre

Hi All, I cannot help but think that part of this diatribe was directed erroneously toward me. I say erroneously, as 1. I don't call myself an expert, only a student of historical armour 2. While I am not a professional armourer, I have made armour (out of metal - oh my!), and am currently in the mi...

chef de chambre

Hi Amalric, The "troops" did indeed suffer heavily - the infantrymen not wearing a full harness would be mown down like ripe wheat. People forget only 10% of a late Medieval host would be wearing a hosting harness. You could have concievably inflicted 90% casualties on the French Army without killin...

chef de chambre

Sir Rhys is absolutely 100% correct. Wearing the armour thusly causes no discomfort, and it is the historical solution.

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Bob R.

chef de chambre

Hi Amalric, The point you are missing is that these men (the French at Crecy) were not "cowering" at all. Neither of us having been in an arrow storm that literaly could block out the sun for a few seconds (say, 10,000 archers simultaneously firing through 24 arrows apeice over the course of a minut...

chef de chambre

Hi RYan, Struggling through that book now, it is essentially Boccias thesis on the development of Italian harness through the course of the 15th century ( the '400 bit). To sum up his thesis in a nutshell, Boccia believed that Italian armour evolved in some small fashion @ every five years over the ...

chef de chambre

Nobody on this list has Mike, and unless you use a Ouija board you won't be able to communicate with one (if you believe in that stuff).

The number of people who have fought for their lives with rifle & bayonet is a shrinking minority.

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Bob R.

chef de chambre

Hi Horsefriend,

I have seen no documentation for brigandines with horn plates. I have seen references in inventories to jacks "stuffed" with horn or mail, but these are different defensive garments.

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Bob R.

chef de chambre

Regarding the 14th century effigies. How do we know that the lack of a visor is not an artistic convention in this case? Most illuminations of western European noblemen in combat show them with visored helmets. It was important to depict the nobleman on his tomb at the "perfect" age of 33, and usual...

chef de chambre

Hi DanNV, The skullcap (for that is what it is, it is in the Higgins collection, and I have personaly handled it) that was penetrated by three "arrows" is a cap of the lightest form. It was a product (one of thousands of such items) of the Missaglia shops, and an item of low quality. If it weighed a...

chef de chambre

Hi Bob, There is exactly one example of 15th century plate armour documentable having been pierced by an arrow. It is a letter form Sir John Paston, to his mother, dated a week post the Battle of Barnet (1471). He describes how he was injured by an arrow penetrating his vambrace, and asking her to s...

chef de chambre

Well Sir Rhys, The contest was for the "greatest Medieval Master". Unless the person historicaly could preform these sorts of things, they wouldn't have been considered the "greatest" in their own day. Why do you think the saddle vault apocryphal? There are atheletes who can vault into the saddle wi...

chef de chambre

HI Brennus, The AEMMA armoured tournament is held annually, and there are participants from across the continent (and others), including experienced SCAdians. Since they only allow historic combat styles, this would be your best forum to "test" mastery. The forum is already established, and particip...

chef de chambre

Hi Muttman, The "small plate" brigandines are 16th century. 15th century examples have larger plates than later examples (roughly twice the size). The plartes are still much smaller than a coat of plate. I will only write this once more, as I am sick of writing it over the past several years. THERE ...

chef de chambre

Hi Muttman, The complete Anachronist #69 has patterns you can use as a rough guide. That said, with this type of defence, it needs to be tailored to the individual, so a "pattern" can only really be a rough guide - since we aren't all the same shape. Brigandines are almost exclusively a textile and ...

chef de chambre

Hi Aaron, There is absolutely no reason not to reuse the mail itself. All that would be necessary is for any rent to be repaired with new rings, and these can be obtained easily and cheaply from Steve. You are also assuming armor penetration, which isn't necessarily going to happen. If a plate does ...

chef de chambre

Hi Aiden, Actually, no test can ever exactly duplicate combat conditions unless it is subjected to combat. Your "stationaly target" objection can be overcome by the expediant of placing the object on a sandbag (of bag of wood shvaings, or what have you) and suspending it from a beam by a rope. The o...

chef de chambre

Hi Aaron, I'd be glad to help your tests. Unfortunately, you have both Bascot and myself confused. My mount is Normandie, and he has only a years worth of being ridden under his belt, and is still in training. I haven't begun training with a lance yet. Bascot no longer has Merlin, and his new mount ...

chef de chambre

To Add, If you want the test to be taken seriously, leave the SCA specific weaponry and armour, or out of period and place weaponry to the harness in question. What Vladimir proposes in good for a hand weapons test, and I think my proposal is the only way to remotely test the effectiveness of the lo...

chef de chambre

Hi Aaron, Most importantly, to get the best result, you would have to have the closest possible approximations to the armour and weapons in question to get an accurate result. You would need someone like Erik Schmidt or Steve Belden providing the mail for the test, and someone like Mac providing the...

chef de chambre

Hi All, If by jack you mean a 15th century infantrymans defence, then there is much more than 4 yards going into it. Said item was up to 20 layers thick of layered cloth, with no padding in it (had to be cut away at waist or elbows to allow bending). Sinric made one of the thinnest I have seen descr...

chef de chambre

Sir Rhys, I agree with all you have writtten save the last bit. Polearms did not 'drive out the use of the armoured knight'. Your concentration on the 14th century and France has blinded you to what occured after. As I had typed out a list some time ago of engagements that were principly cavalry eng...

chef de chambre

Hi Allonen,

Well, first off, there wern't any Romans there - the Greeks fought the Celts at Delphi.

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Bob R.

chef de chambre

To add my two mites..... Most do not "dislike", but they do actively "dissacociate themselves from" the SCA. The reason for most dissasociation is simple - if you want your position to be taken with credebility in an academic setting, you cannot wave the title SCA about. This may be unfair, but in t...

chef de chambre

Hi Vincent, Actually, 15th century plate armour was often carried in contaniers as varied as barrels fitted with locks to 'panniers' designed to tie on a pack saddle of a sumpter beast. I might go for the latter solution as being particularly cool - basicaly a slant sided wicker or board chest (in e...

chef de chambre

Hi Watt & Jacob, By 'wings', I assume ytou are referiong to the extension of the brow reenforce rather than the jugulars. If this is what tou are refering to this is all one with the brow reenforce- it is a single plate. As it tightly conforms to the skull of the armet, it also aids in keeping it th...

chef de chambre

Hi Wat, The rivets are present (That particular item is in Philidelphia, the Keinbusch collection, and Boccia dates the armet to the 1490's). They are hidden by the upper edge of the visor at the side. I have yet to see an armet where none are present, as the brow reenforce would not function withou...