The Armour Archive

Let's talk about another textile armor, or armorial garment with the usual confusion attached, the jupon. The current English usage is for the short, tight-fitting heraldic garment worn over armor like this fellow:
http://effigiesandbrasses.com/726/996/

This seems highly unlikely to have been the historical usage, though the meaning of words can change over time.

First, the item appears early. David Nicolle's Dictionary of Terms in Arms & Armour of the Crusading Era gives these sources:

Jube, gipe: [OF] garment worn over or under armour; from Arabic jubbah; France, late 12th century (Gre).
Jupeau d'armer: [OF] probably padded garment worn beneath hauberk, Required by Rule of the Temple; Crusader States, mid-12th -- 13th centuries (Conta).
Juponerium: [ML] possibly padded garment used by militia; from Arabic jubbah; southern France, mid-14th century (Noel).

The modern Arabic jubba or jubbah is quite long with long sleeves, though I have no idea of its medieval appearance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubba

Jubba (Persian: جُبّه‎‎; Turkish: Cübbe), is an ankle-length, robe-like garment, usually with long sleeves, similar to a kaftan. The jubba is especially worn in South Asia.[1] It is synonymous to the Arabic thawb.

In Islamic societies, jubbas are worn by clerics, judges, barristers, dervishes, and professors.

So perhaps jupon is merely an alernate word for a sleeved aketon or gambeson?

Then there's Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) and the Canterbury Tales.
The knight in the prologue is described:

Of fustian he wered a gypon
Al bismótered with his habergeon;

The early 15th century Ellesmere Chaucer has a matching illustration, which provides the contemporary view of what is meant by a jupon.

http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/d ... 03079A.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellesmere_Chaucer Is it at least fair to say the jupon isn't the short, form fitting, heraldic cloth worn over white harness?

They also show up in the passage of Jacques de Hemricourt where he complains that the kids these days don't dress properly:

HEMRICOURT (Jacques de).- Traité (Le) des guerres d'Awans et de Waroux.- Bayot (Alphonse).- Œuvres, t. 3.- Bruxelles : M. Lamertin, 1931, p. 1-49. c/o DMF wrote: Mais, à present, cascons est armeis d'unne cotte de fier appelée panchire, sor petis chevaz ; et ont vestut on joupon de festaine alle deseur, sy que nus n'est conus encontre son compangnon. Et, en liu de wardecors d'armes, ilh portent on eskuchet de leur blazon, atagiet à leur barbire. Neïs ly prinches n'ont atres habit, excepteit que leurs desoirtrains warnimens est overeis d'alconne envozure, sains atre connissance, si qu'il ne semblent nint saingnors ne gens d'armes, mais garchons.

You can find translations by professionals in most books on the HYW, but it means something like "But, these days, everyone is armed with a coat of iron called panchire, atop a little horse; and dressed in a jupon completely covered in fustian, so that nobody can tell them and their buddy apart. And, instead of a wardecors (body-protector) d'armes, they carry an eschuton of their blazon, attached to their barbire, ... without any ways of recognizing them, so they they don't look like lords or men at arms, just boys."

I think that Terry Jones talks about this in Chaucer's Knight.