The Armour Archive

What is the earliest date we could be seeing them? I know splinted ones went out of style in 1380s but how early would you find full plate cuisse?

From effigies I think it seems until the mid to late 1360s splinted ones look more common. In the 1370s this changes where most of the effigies I looked at seem to be becoming more and more one piece plate cuisses. In the 1350s everyone has splinted cuisses from what I can tell. I will keep looking and post any exceptions to this I may find.

RPM

What do you define as plate? In other words, how long/wide does a piece of metal have to be in order for it to be considered....plate?

If splints dont qualify, well how about anime cuisses. We see some horizontal anime (overlapping) plate cuisses from 1360 onward.

Are you sure "anime" is the right term?

Donal Mac Ruiseart wrote::?: Are you sure "anime" is the right term?

Well.. if we were talking later period Italian, then yeah, it's definitely the right term. I don't know the effigies Drew is referring to here, and haven't heard the anime appellation for anything that early, but - yes, "anime" is a perfectly good armour term.

eh, anime may or may not be correct for somethign this early, but its easier than saying 'horizontal overlapping cuisse lames"

Here's a picture of what Andrew's talking about; it's c. 1380, from Castello di Pavia (?).

National Geographic sourced that one as from a French manuscript. Did they blow it? (The same book thought the pic of David removing a mid-thirteenth hauberk [Maciejowski 1 Samuel] was of a man putting one on.)

Not wishing to go off topic but, those edges to the bascinets look very similar to the covers over the vervelles that we see on some effigies of English Knights?

Lawrence

If I'm reading Dr. Boccia right (Armi e Armature Lombarde), he says it's from Lancelot du Lac, c.1380, now at Paris, but from Castello di Pavia. "Un altro testo Francese illuminato in Lombardia, ricchissimo di testimonianze sull'armamento del tempo." Hmmm. The armour is molto Italian, the faces of the people are very Giotto (what I posted was a small bit of the whole picture), so I'm going to say that the text is French, but the illumination was done in Italy.

Ah, thats it James...thanks.

One thing thats interesting to note is the rounded edges of some of the "lames." I would imagine they had some natural articulating ability, perhaps a crude attempt to incorporate what we will see in another century or so with respect to the longer upper cuisse and shorter fauld. On some level this technology would make sense given the use of coats of plates but the usefullness of any articulation over the full thigh is obviously debatable.