The Armour Archive

Alright I've been doing some serious armouring now for about two years and really wanted to step it up a notch and finally feel comfortable enough to make my own complete kit. I am aiming for a Venetian Man at arms from 1400-1410 I have a pretty good idea of what type of armour was in fashion but thought I should double check to make sure here

Helmet: Klapp visor helmet (I was told they did not stay long though in Italy so were they still around in the time period I am aiming at?) and whats a good place to find vervelles? how would one make them?


legs -Churburg style
arms- Churburg style, however were the larger pauldrons in use by then or am I still looking at smaller spaulders?
full sabatons, or was maille still in use for the feet? Also were mitten gauntlets in use by now?

for the body I was gonna go with a "corrazina", however I am confused as to whether they had faulds or the vertical plates I see on a lot in modern reproductions? Also I am pretty clear on what the steel patterns would look like but what does the actual fabric patter look like? am I simply making a vest and riveting the plates in? or is it more complex?

Also was it still common place to wear a full hauberk under the plate? or would voiders suffice?

Kasem wrote:full sabatons, or was maille still in use for the feet? Also were mitten gauntlets in use by now?

for the body I was gonna go with a "corrazina", however I am confused as to whether they had faulds or the vertical plates I see on a lot in modern reproductions? Also I am pretty clear on what the steel patterns would look like but what does the actual fabric patter look like? am I simply making a vest and riveting the plates in? or is it more complex?

Also was it still common place to wear a full hauberk under the plate? or would voiders suffice?

Fairly sure you can get away with maille sabatons but plate would be more accurate, IIRC mittens are fine
Faulds.
I'd go a full hauberk rather than gussets/voiders until about mid-late 15th.

I would stay away from mittens until about 1430-1440, hourglass finger gauntlets are still pretty near ubiquitous in the 1400-1410 period. If you want to get really fancy, the S-18 brigandine gauntlets (sort of a middle ground on the finger/mitten line) could arguably be used in that period.

For the shoulders, this is something I am still sorting out myself - the large pauldrons typical of milanese harnesses of the mid-late 15th C were not around yet... so I would stay away from them. There are earlier 'pauldrons' that I think show up around 1420-1430 (though were apparently more common in Germany), that look like the one attached. So personally, I would go for the smaller style. There are also some indications (that no (or at least no visible) plate shoulder defense was worn.

For maille, all the indications I have point to the haubergeon still being in use - it would go to about mid thigh, and have sleeves that would go to about the elbow, possibly a bit shorter or longer. C. Blair says there was an Italian style to wear the maille sleeves under the shoulder defence, but over the arm harness. I haven't actually looked for much to back that up though.

As far as sabatons - maille or plate would probably work. Personally I am going with maille sabatons.

For the helmet, the klappvisor seems much less common in art than the pig-faced, side pivot styles. The bascinet in various forms (most dominantly the pig-faced or open faced varieties it seems) was around in Italy for a rather long time and very certainly in 1400-1410.

Vertical plate faulds basically have only a couple historical references (the modern repros almost always use the Bashford Dean corrizina which itself is a modern reconstruction based on extremely fragmented pieces), and I believe these are always on foot soldiers (as in the pistoia altar piece). The vertical plates cause issues (they flop up) when you make leg motions much different than walking. Sitting in a chair (or a saddle from what I understand) with them is rather a pain.

For the fabric cover - each of the plates should be fully enclosed in an the cover (something like a thick wool or silk). The one I have (based on the Dean) has the front plates in a vest-like arrangement, but the back is done in a 2 separate pieces, with the shoulder plates in one cover and the lower back and fauld in another. These pieces are then strapped together. Personally, I think the nicest one I have seen is this one: http://www.oaksarmoury.com/corrazina/im ... azina1.jpg , though the shape of the back and sides may not be good for everyone.

Hope that helps.

... that said - you may find several useful threads on this topic in 'Historical Research' and 'Interpretive Recreation'