The Armour Archive

I just saw a small book with a lot of pictures in a bookstore, and i figured I would buy it and take a look. It is called German Medieval Armies 1300-1500, and its by Christopher Gravett, who apparently is in charge of the Royal Armories. I figured it couldn't hurt to take a look. It has some great illustrations, but they show some interesting bits of armor that I am not used to seeing. Almost every knight had chains from his chest to his weapons. One guy has 4 chains on his body. On the cover even, a guy who looks like hes wearing a CoP has a big hole in it, filled with what looks like metal with some chains coming out of it. Whats up with that? I can link a copy that has everything except for the 8 pages of illustrations.

http://books.google.com/books?id=UGfHSC ... &q&f=false

(edited for wrong link)

Also, the Greenwich armor of Henry VIII has a big hole in the center, which got me thinking. Is that a really bad shot test? Or was it a place to attach a weapon chain? Or was it something else entirely? (It still is one of my favorite suits of armor )

that hole is for the attachment of an inner breastplate. Similar to the one on his 1540 armour.

It was a very rare idea, it only seems to appear on a few of Henry's Greenwich pieces.

Wade

alot of effigyies of german knights from around 1350-1375 have the weapon chains.

http://www.bildindex.de/bilder/mi04550c14a.jpg

Such chains were common throughout Europe from c. 1325 to 1400. Sometimes there will also be a chain attached to the helm.

There are a couple surviving examples of those chain lanyards.

Weapon chains are commonly seen on 14th century effigies, especially in Germany, but they far pre-date Henry VIII.

If you think about it having lanyards on your weapons is pretty smart, especially if you’re on a horse; if you drop your weapon it’s gone.

I just wonder if there was a “break” link that was designed to break after a certain amount of pull was put on it to keep an enemy from snagging the knight in combat.

RoaK wrote:

http://books.google.com/books?id=UGfHSC ... &q&f=false

Note the guy on horseback does not have the chains on his weapons while the guy on foot does. Imagine cantering past your enemy spearing one man as another's spear glances off of your breastplate but gets between your arm and the chain yanking you off the horse as your horse continues on its merry way.

The Henry VIII armour noted above if I remember correctly has a unique kind of sub-breast plate below it that is believed to have an effect distributing the armors weight. That might have somehting to do with the hole in it. Otherwise I would think it was for aligning some sort of reinforcing plate, maybe something that included a lance rest so he could joust with it. I don't think that is where it wouyld be shot in a proofing test and If that is the armour at the the NY Met I think the hole is much to round to have not been made with a tool.

The Hirschstein coat of plates is the only example I really know about. This was excavated in the mid 2000s and it's in okay condition despite some guy polishing it up real good so he could sell it, which is exactly what you shouldn't do if you come across a rare archaeological find.

Here is a c1500 suit that had rings, possibly for lanyards, but it was a rather unique harness to begin with.

Many of the images depicting weapon chains distinctly show independent chains for both the primary and secondary weapons (sword and dagger, for example).

Here's a clear one from 1325, Belgium - http://effigiesandbrasses.com/static/mo ... _r5462.jpg

I'm wondering how the presence of these chains would affect combat. Would there be a worry of getting tangled in your own chain while fighting with your sword?

I'd be interested in playing with one of these to see how it works with SCA combat (in lieu of the wrist strap), but I'm thinking that the longer chain may be disallowed due to the possibility of getting tangled with your opponent.

Theres a fair number of breastplates from the late period with holes or bolts for the attachment of an extra plastron.

At least, I can recall seeing photos of quite a few...And I can see no other reason to have actual holes in breastplates.

Weapon chains-
Yes, they do seem to have been quite common in 14th century art and effigies.
Why they seem to disappear in the 15th onward, I can't say beyond speculation that fashion changes over time, and they fell out of favor?

-Badger-