The Armour Archive

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I think we can quite reasonably conclude that closed cuisses were not at all uncommon in the late 14th and early 15th centuries; even if important authors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries thought them impossible. Mac They did? I don't know why many people find the idea of closed cuisses so...

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Yule is older than Christianity - Christmas, by the very definition of it, is not.

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It is 'quite open' only if you haven't absorbed most of the archaeological and documentary information.

THere is no way getting around that the Towton pit excavated and under discussion is a ways from the actual battlefield, in the path of the Lancastrian flight.

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What you are describing is an Italian cioppa, which can been seen in various panels of Pisanello's 'Rout of San Romano'. They can be seen in normal civil dress in Italy in the mid to late 15th century.

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I have Thordeman, though I am borrowing it from Cad. I can't afford to buy it. But the bulk of my research is to reevaluate his claims. The work is tentatively titled "Beyond the Soil of Gotland: Revisiting Thordeman's Wisby." I'm treading into a topic here that I have not devoted a lot o...

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Some links m Reconstructing history has a pattern for one, as I just found by hitting Amazon m http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41mHaikyLnL._SL500_AA300_.jpg Bob and Kass' pattern drawing on the cover gives you an idea that it is a more complicated garment than a simple 'tabard' or cloak. Buy f...

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They aren't cloaks - they are an over-jacket, with buttons and all, usually (Hollywood costuming abbreviates them).

ETA, I believe the proper term for them is 'cassock' in English, and they most definitely are 17th century, although 1630-'s-40's, I think.

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Jon, Sorry, I overlooked that post somehow. Here's a link to the page: m I'm not sure where/what the tapestry is supposed to be. My research skills are lacking and I mostly bumble across things on the internet. My comment about bevors getting in the way: I'm used to a draw with the bowstring along ...

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1090's is way too early for any documentable plate knee defenses - articulated or not.

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And yet, amusingly enough, if you read Dantini's 14th century letters, we find Italian Merchants North of the Alps dressing according to the custom of whichever location they were working in, to avoid being singled out visually, and being attacked for being a foreigner by the locals. Add to that the...

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What is the date range of the gown? In most 15th century images I have seen, there is no standing collar, or any collar really on a gown, while the doublet has the standing collar.

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I have two silk-satin lined gowns, neither of which shifts about.

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Keep in mind that there were different weight gowns - Summer gowns weren't lined with fur, but we have plenty of evidence for them being lined with silk. For visual examples, look at a lot of the Rene of Anjou images in his Book of the tournament.

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I recall that the Von Prankh helm weighs a bit over 10 pounds, and another helm missing a plate also weighs about 10 pounds. I don't know if these were combat helms or early jousting helms, though their weights are comporable a 14g modern helm. But in any event, I think even an 18 gauge helm would ...

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Yup, depicted as a Bishop until the Reformation.

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Well, we have specific evidence from the Hall manuscript that in the 1440's, he was talking about cutting the arming points, so it isn't speculative, we know it was done sometimes, by some users.

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There is much too small of a surviving cross section of the objects to make any definitive startements regarding weight. Even generalizations must be difficult.

Obviously a seriously degraded sample, missing portions will not yield an accurate weight, although an estimate might be made.

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The earliest it possibly could be is 1490's. The size of the plates overall, the pattern of rivets, the cut of the armour, etc.

It was made for a child, which is why they probably have lumped it together.

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I don't know Jeff, it looks an awful lot like it might be a slip of the chisel representing a plain old square knot...

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Thanks for the clarification. Yes, I had a terminology glitch. I did not realize that they were sleeves. I thought they were covered pauldrons because of the size. I hadnâ€™t thought of spaulders. As a brig sleeve, would any other shoulder armour be worn under it? I would think not, but have to ask...

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THose 'pauldrons' are actually brigandine sleeves, not covered pauldrons. They would not go with cloth covered armour either on the Continent or in England. WHen we do see covered armour innimages from the continent, the pauldrons are bare. Keep in miond whil;e there was a prefered English style in ...

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That would count as one of the Cathederals treasures, and it may or may not be. Photography of such things is usually verbotten, without special permission from whichever relevant bishop.

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There are lots of pics of black guys in period clothing and armour in the middle ages. Only issue is, it's hard to tell often if they actually represent real people/forces, or are stand-ins for "Moors" or "Saracens." Context is everything. A Pisanello sketch for a larger work, t...

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THe fastest (broad-brushed) way to guage the age of an Italian import harness is the height of the plackart, and the overlap of the pauldron wings. The higher the plackart, the wider the overlap, the later the harness.

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If you look at manuscript illustrations of the same era, you will see they are *not* handlebar mustaches, like seen in the 19th century. They droop at the sides, and usually accompany a small beard.

Edited to correct 10th for 19th.

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They are guidance aides, they are not nitrous oxide boosters.

Just because some look impressive, or 'scary', does not mean they are used in a way to damage or injure a horse.

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A linstock is an artillerists tool, rather than a handgunners. A handgunner would have used loose match.

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Negative. You cannot get to the touch hole if it is way out in front of you. The tiller is for tucking under the arm, or resting on the shoulder, etc. An aiming aide, if you want to consider it that.

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Nobody in the mainstream of Medieval Military history has doubted it. Bert Hall did an awesome bit of groundwork covering the development of the tech.

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It is important to consider that the votive shields in question come from a contemporary tradition of craftsmanship, and the structure of European crafts guilds, which tended to very clearly specify the method of manufacture of items to be sold. To even consider the idea that a special sort of shiel...

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It was only four years after Kit Carson came back from exploring the west that Kit Carson: The Prince of the Gold Hunters was published. All of the wild west tales were invented shortly after they supposedly happened, so how can anybody decipher the sagas. If you can't trust our storytellers a 100 ...

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Chris Gilman wrote:Thomas,
I do not recall the specific date but I'm am sure they are 1650 +/- 10 years.

I'd say by the cut of the bucket-tops, that they are James II in date, roughly. I believe the lower example is early 18th century, German, and I have seen them published elsewhere.

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The silver spoon for the Christening is the traditional 'baby-gift' historically.

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fungi forge wrote:Thanks guys.
Chef want to buy this one?

It is beautiful Clay, but I'd guess it is beyond the range of what I can afford now. If you were serious, drop me a note via e-mail regarding what you would want for it.

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We have a large number of extant pendants and bosses of heraldic imagery, and they are almost invariably gilt latten or copper, or even 'nobler' metals. The actuakl heraldry is usually enameled or neillioed.