The Armour Archive

Hello Friends. As I assemble my armour poco a poco, the comical unintentional theme that my friends have said from seeing pictures to me is Darth Vader. The goal was to be list legal and from the more experienced folk I've spoken with have said it's 13th Century Western Europe (kind of). So, what I'm thinking of doing, since I went with mostly black is getting a cloak or a tabard (then belting the front leaving the back to hang freely) also in the colour black to cover up a little bit of the soft kit which is still...meh
My questions would be:
1. What kind of cloaks were worn in 13th Century England/France?
2. Would the tabard be belted like that or is it totally OOP?
3. Do you think a cloak would get in the way?

1. Most 13th c. cloaks seem to be half cirlcles, but these were worn for warmth in winter, and not used while fighting.

http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-ca ... other.html

2. Surcoats seem to be either unbelted, or belted with a thin belt all the way around.

3. Yes. In fact the 13th century dispensation to the Knight's Hospitaller allowing them to wear sleeveless surcoats was caused by their long monastic robes tangling up their limbs.

If you want to wear a cape or cloak in battle, don't fool yourself into thinking this is a 13th century custom.

I am fairly sure full circle cloaks are in use in this time frame especially with the crusading orders.

Do you know where the source (time/location) of this link? What's this guy wearing?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cpg359_46v.jpg

Aaryq wrote:1. What kind of cloaks were worn in 13th Century England/France?

http://larsdatter.com/cloaks.htm

Aaryq wrote:2. Would the tabard be belted like that or is it totally OOP?

It wouldn't be typical, AFAIK. See http://larsdatter.com/mens-surcoats.htm for several examples.

Aaryq wrote:Do you know where the source (time/location) of this link? What's this guy wearing?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cpg359_46v.jpg

Alsace, c. 1418. See http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/cpg359

I think this illustration is a fight between the knight Volker and the monk Islan, but I am not entirely sure which is which. I'm reasonably sure that the monk Islan is the fellow on the left, though.