New kit for my friend... need some input

Wulfgar Ullicsson · Post by **Wulfgar Ullicsson** » Mon May 06, 2002 2:25 pm

Getting a co-worker into the SCA...

He has gotten a look at the 12 ga. aluminum maille shirt I am making (he also owns a 16 ga. steel byrnie that he purchased off of me), and fell in love wi'it.

My original plan for him was to put him in a sugarloaf, with a COP and splinted arms and legs.. going for a transitional look. (Almost all of the research I have done has been focused on the Dark Ages, and I know very little re: Armour outside of this period. Here's where you guys come in.)

Now, he has discovered other eras, and would like to explore his options. A couple follow...

1) Norman... obvious how to pull this one off. Full length hauberk, conical, sword/spear, kite shield, hide everything else

2) He really likes the COP idea, but also loves the idea of chausses and full maille sleeves. I seem to remember seeing a pic of a kit, full maille with a leather thigh length COP over it, with a kettle helm. I don't remember where, nor do I have any idea to it's historical accuracy.
Can anyone back up such a kit?

------------------
"Wulfgar spake, the Wendles' chieftain,
whose might of mind to many was known..."

Wulfgar Ullicsson inn Gerpir

Wulfgar Ullicsson · Post by **Wulfgar Ullicsson** » Mon May 06, 2002 7:37 pm

taltosh · Post by **taltosh** » Mon May 06, 2002 8:13 pm

Greetings Wulfgar

Are you planing on checking out the transitional tournament in Edmonton this July 6th? I'll probably be there myself and it would be good to meet some of the local archivers IRL.

Brodir · Post by **Brodir** » Sat May 11, 2002 6:04 pm

The picture you are referring to is in Tim Newark's 'Celtic Warriors', it's a color painting of Edward Bruce being ambushed by Irish warriors c. 1300. As far as I know, that painting is pretty much imagination; the CoP looks to be more of a non-overlapping brig made of coin-shaped plates.

Check your library, it's a pretty common book.

[This message has been edited by Brodir (edited 05-11-2002).]

Gaston de Clermont · Post by **Gaston de Clermont** » Mon May 13, 2002 12:35 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Wulfgar Ullicsson:

My original plan for him was to put him in a sugarloaf, with a COP and splinted arms and legs.. going for a transitional look.

2) He really likes the COP idea, but also loves the idea of chausses and full maille sleeves. I seem to remember seeing a pic of a kit, full maille with a leather thigh length COP over it, with a kettle helm. I don't remember where, nor do I have any idea to it's historical accuracy.
Can anyone back up such a kit?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The earliest coat of plates generally cited is the sleeping guard statute in the Weinhausen Monastery, Germany, c.1270. He wore a full hauberk, with sleeves and IIRC maile mittens, and a coat of plates over it. He has a very cylindrical barrel helm on his knee. I'd have a hard time citing a source for you without my books in front of me, but I'm sure a coat of plates and a kettle helm would be compatible. Some of it depends on what era he wants to depict. Sugar loaf helms and coats of plate are contemporary, as are splinted arms and legs.

You can find all the elements you're looking for between 1250 and 1350. Some of them, like splints and sugar loaf helms really narrow in the date of your harness pretty specifically. Edge and Paddock is a great resource for what you're looking for, as are various brasses like these:
http://www.mbs-brasses.co.uk/pic_lib/picture_library-armour.htm
Gaston de Clermont