The Armour Archive

chef de chambre

Full plate for horse was never standard or common, it was extremely expensive. Fully barded horses were always a minority, no matter where you look in Late Medieval northern Europe.

The most common item of horse armour was the chamfron, and the saddle with steels.

chef de chambre

I don't know where you are getting your data regarding military crossbows, Cliff, but I am sure your assumptions regarding them are incorrect, or you have some bad data you are working from. By the early 15th century, the crossbow has every physical advantage over the longbow, other than rapidity of...

chef de chambre

I would disagree that by 1415 a man a mounted man at arms automatically implied a full harness of plate - this was an ideal, which was not often realized, even much later. In example, look to de Commynes description of the Burgundian men at arms during the War of Public Weal.

chef de chambre

I seriously doubt that the tiny percentage of longbow arrows that managed to punch through a solid piece of plate far enough to cause a serious injury had any effect of the outcome of any battle. It wouldn't matter whether armour was quench-hardened or not. I respectfully disagree, I have seen prac...

chef de chambre

I seriously doubt that the tiny percentage of longbow arrows that managed to punch through a solid piece of plate far enough to cause a serious injury had any effect of the outcome of any battle. It wouldn't matter whether armour was quench-hardened or not. If this were true it would be hard to exp...

chef de chambre

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chef de chambre

One of the reasons I didn't address this question when it was first posted, is I think most modern casual readers just do not understand the society itself, and some cannot begin to understand what modern viewers would see as a hopelessly chaotic military "system". These people - the nobil...

chef de chambre

I don't see how the English loss of Normandy, and Gascony in the 1440's can be seen without seeing the English incapability of adapting to the changing battlefield. Castillon is the obvious example of a system so inflexible as to not be able to contend with the newest tactical changes. It should be ...

chef de chambre

I don't see how they were ahead of any other European army of the 15th century, in point of fact, they were old-fashioned, and their tactical inflexibility is one of the reasons they lost the 100 years war. They were a military backwater until Henry VIII brought them, kicking and screaming against t...

chef de chambre

Some of those are charms, which are another thing entirely. I am not aware of any 'magical' charms on extant late Medieval armour, while there are hundreds of rings, broaches, and the like which are for spoecific 'magical' aide, especially when worn in combination with specific stones. Of course, a ...

chef de chambre

IN addition to Luke, 4:30, often is found the following Mater Dei Memento Mei 'And None Shall Beak a Bone of him' (I forget the Latin) Ave Maria IHS There are some German ones invoking Mary as well. (Help Here Maria, Oh Maria abide with us, and so on....) Some harness has more than one. Much extant ...

chef de chambre

Who says it is/was "virtually nonexistant"? 1.The extant artifacts are not the sum total of armour made. 2. If you look to documentation, you see that it was indeed made, albeit less commonly. 3. We actually do have an extant pair of gauntlets, which are arguably perfectly usable, or desig...

chef de chambre

It is most likely a parade piece, from a time we well know had parade pieces. Straw is lighter to wear than steel.

chef de chambre

From previous discussions on the AA, I was of the impression that through most of the period the exemplar manuscripts shown above depict, there was no substantial back defense in use. If that is the case, what do these straps attach to under the arming cote? Almost all those images are circa 1390-1...

chef de chambre

That clearly isn't the artist depicting the horses feathering, and he isn't riding a draft horse. You can see the horses very normal tufts in the image.

Shoes with protrusions for traction are known as well - spikes, they aren't. Most probably it is nailheads depicted as Jeffrey suggests.

chef de chambre

I guess the point I was trying to make about carrying a helmet on your back is that it would truly be a pain in the arse. Aside from it jostling around (which might hurt if it bangs and thumbs around), try reaching around to your back and pulling up a roughly 10-14 pound helmet with a limited strap...

chef de chambre

I think the problem we have here in essence is attribting to religion cultural and scientific developments with areas rich in the heritage of ancient cultures. Most of the areas with rich cultural development booming during Islams influence over the region have strong, solid foundations of rich cult...

chef de chambre

Parts, you need to work on your chronology and geography. You've got a lot of high culture in the Umayyad dynasty in the 8th century. Your simply wrong when you say that Muslims were nomadic for the first three centuries after Mohammed. You're also saying that Europeans borrowed culture from Africa...

chef de chambre

European documnents through the 15th century - household accounts and the like, use Roman numerals exclusively. The first coin they show up on in Northern Europe, indicating a date is the Double Briquette of Brabant, in 1474. I've yet to see any 14th century European document using arabic numerals f...

chef de chambre

I know there were Revolutionary War Brown Bess flintlocks in use in the Civil War, but I hadn't heard of wheellocks. I think that's a stretch. Could they simply have been displayed as examples of earlier weapons? I *have* heard that there were as many as ten matchlocks among the militia at Lexingto...

chef de chambre

I bought a flat wedge rivetted maille skirt with dagging and brass edged for about $300 australian which would be close to parity with the greenback. I can ask my local guy who distributes for the indian company in your neck of the woods and pm you if you like Bob. Thanks for that Andrew, I would a...

chef de chambre

The madonna of victory depicts an arming doublet, with a 'jack chain', I believe.

chef de chambre

The problem with viewing Islamic culture as not stultifying even after the crusades is that to do so one must deny reality. As Effingham points out with a *single* example, a hard braking went on within the society itself , preventing forward momentum, that had not a solitary thing to do with the We...

chef de chambre

I'd hate to sink $800 into a haubegeon to chop up. I'd rather keep one as a habergeon.

That is how I got my first mail though, thanks to Jeff Hedgecock, when it was the best and only available option.

chef de chambre

It would seem GDFB has them as well, in my searching. Unfortunately, mail skirts are out of stock at HE, or they aren't listed currently on the website. Haubegeons, voiders, standards, but no skirts.

chef de chambre

I'm looking to replace my old (like, 13 years old early import) Indian made mail brayette with something more accurate.

Who is importing decent flat ring, wedge rivited mail nowadays?

chef de chambre

Early period is easier. What's more work, a lamellar breastplate over a gambeson and leather bauzubands, or a cherbourg breastplate and articulated 5 piece elbows with 3/4 arms? A viking apron dress, or a full elizabethan with corset and ruffed collar? Yeah, I love the beauty of later period stuff ...

chef de chambre

Have you read the context the image was pulled from? Or are you just going by how it looks?

chef de chambre

I should add, as you suggest, I have a composite 'garniture' of a harness, consisting of mix and match pieces allowing for a light half armour up to a complete harness with armet, and full pauldrons, etc. When you look through the documentary evidence such as inventories, you find a lot of evidence ...

chef de chambre

Yes, but that is a splint in the actual 15th century usage, meaning a demicannon of the vambrace, couter, and rerebrace. The original poster was asking about cuirboli with added strips of iron or latten reenforce, which, not to beat a dead horse, seems to have very little if any actual evidence for ...

chef de chambre

Circa 1505 -1520. The knight is in an up to date maximillian harness of 1520, the seargent with the sallet is wearing harness that could have been produced between 1490-1505. They didn't stop making sallets in January of 1500. The Hospitaliers (or Knights of Rhodes at this point, if you prefer) kept...

chef de chambre

Since I don't have access to a scanner, I did some poking around, and found this link online with an archaeological context.

http://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/resour ... 20York.pdf

This is one of the books covering fasteners anyone interested in the subject ought get.

http://www.amazon.com/Hooked-Clasps-Eye ... 0953245055

chef de chambre

There are the stains, tawny, and mulbury.

I understand what you are saying, but I have seen historical images with a range of depiction of yellow/gold, from an orangy colour, to a true gold.

chef de chambre

Your gryphon is argent (silver) your field is party-per pale or (gold), and azure. Your escalop shells are 'proper', (at least they look as if they are, meaning 'natural'. Don't worry about it if it makes you happy. SCA rules and historical heraldry differ, the SCA mostly copying later English heral...

chef de chambre

It probably has more to do with increasing knowledge of the better armourers in larger production centers realizing tempered armour did not need to be quite so thick. By the time the phenomenon you are talking about occured, it was well past the Late Middle Ages, and limb armour as a rule was going ...

Re: English Military Structure in the late 15th Century

Re: English Military Structure in the late 15th Century

Re: English Military Structure in the late 15th Century

Re: English Military Structure in the late 15th Century

Re: English Military Structure in the late 15th Century

Re: English Military Structure in the late 15th Century

Re: English Military Structure in the late 15th Century

Re: English Military Structure in the late 15th Century

Re: English Military Structure in the late 15th Century

Re: Biblical scripture on armor

Re: Biblical scripture on armor

Re: Why is brass/bronze armour virtually nonexistant?

Re: 16th c straw helmet hat in Met

Re: 14th cent. back straps: or things that make you go hmm.

Re: Spiked Horseshoes?

Re: 14th cent. back straps: or things that make you go hmm.

Re: Decline of Islam?

Re: Decline of Islam?

Re: Numeral use in Medieval Europe?

Re: Revolutionary War era matchlocks?

Re: Mail skirts/brayetts

Re: Splinted armour/15th C.

Re: Decline of Islam?

Re: Mail skirts/brayetts

Re: Mail skirts/brayetts

Mail skirts/brayetts

Re: What is the appeal of "Early Period?"

Re: Splinted armour/15th C.

Re: Splinted armour/15th C.

Re: Splinted armour/15th C.