The Armour Archive

I have a question?

is there any war damaged armour still around? I mean the stuff from all the dead on the field? All the stuff I have seen looks like it was worn by victors of battles. Where are the loosers armor?

I would like to see some pics of armor that someone was mortally wounded or died in.

No I am not touched in the head, but I am just curious as to where it is at? (if there is any) and to look at the damage factor based on the "Hollywood" damage factor.

Insane Irish

Three words:

Battle of Visby

Excavated from a mass grave of half rotting corpses (well they were half rotting when they went in)

There's also the battle of townton...i think there was a pretty good helmet that was severly pokerd by a bec de corbin...

-+G

Its still around, the museums usually put the finest examples out on display, keeping the damaged pieces in the basement.You see very little denting on the old stuff, usually cracks and punctures,from war hammers ect.The old stuff was amazingly hard and thin,except for the helmet bowls and breastplates,but munition grade helmets were often quite thin also.......Otto

Could they be thin from years of surface rust eating away at it?

Thats a factor too, and over zealous polishing,but most on the pieces that show the original finish are very thin indeed.

Another collection that has a number of war damaged pieces is the collection in Graz Austria. Most of the items there have been on racks since they were originally used. I recall a number of helms with dents, creases, and puncture marks. Some of them it is quite obvious someone died in. There used to be a link with picts from this collection, but I am unsure where it is now. Patrick

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Patrick Thaden
Thaden Armory
http://www.thadenarmory.com

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Rev. George:
[B]Three words:

Battle of Visby

<SNIP>

There's also the battle of townton...i think there was a pretty good helmet that was severly pokerd by a bec de corbin...

interesting side notes, not a single helmet was buried at Wisby, and all of the gauntlets found were in the fill layers of the graves (ie NONE were found on the bodies)

so many people say no helms were found as they werent ont he bodies (thus werent filled with rot and stench and were reuseable), wonder why the gauntlets were tossed in when they obviously would have been easy to salvage?





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Hálvgrím Aðálraðarson

The Gratz has A book of there armor out. it is called Shiny Shapes and it has some of the ugliest period armor I have ever seen in it. I dont mean in shape I mean in actual build. If you love great books on armor this is one you have to have. It shows Proff marks and lousy hamer works and lack of planishing. It is not easy to see you have to know what you are looking at. Find the book and buy it. It is well worth it.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Rev. George:
<B>Three words:

Battle of Visby

Excavated from a mass grave of half rotting corpses (well they were half rotting when they went in)

There's also the battle of townton...i think there was a pretty good helmet that was severly pokerd by a bec de corbin...

-+G</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

not to be the technical one, but thats 41 words, 185 characters (223 if you include spaces).




Aidan

Hi All,

I have handled a simple cevellier housed in the Higgins reserve collection, which was recovered I believe by Violet le Duc (and published by him) during one of his restoration projects - allegedly out of a castle moat.

AIR, it originally had a skull in it, which was transfixed - pinned to the 'hat' by three arrows that came up under the poor fellows jaw (presumably he poked his head over an embrasure, and was hit by several 'snipers' simultaniously). The holes (clearly punched from the inside to the out) are still there.

To my sure knowledge, no helmets (or anything identifiable as armour) was found in the Towton Grave pit. Many of the skulls were pieced by a weapon with square beak - either a bec, a warhammer, or a pollaxe.

Many of the Rhodes pieces bear working life repairs of battle damage, the write ups on each individual piece are in "The Medieval Armour of Rhodes", a book I can't reccommend highly enough.



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Bob R.

"Shihey Shapes" has a number of poieces in it with workiung or combat damage.


Alail/Scott

Including one helm with a number of small punctures and one HUGE 3/4" square hole in it. If I could figure out how to post pictures...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Alcyoneus:
Including one helm with a number of small punctures and one HUGE 3/4" square hole in it. If I could figure out how to post pictures...</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

under "adding images" here:
http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/ubbcode.html

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-Let cry the skies to cleanse my soul, let weep the heavens to make me whole.

i know that there are a few swords and a targe or 2 that are in Blair Castle in Scotland. They found them in Culloden battlefield. When they brought them to the surface, there was still bone attached. Saw the real things too!!! SO GO TO BLAIR CASTLE!

Wolf