Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

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Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Josh Wilson »

I've been looking at the gambesons in the Maciejowski Bible so that I can try my hand at making one for my persona. I've made a few observations that have raised a couple of questions...

Ive noticed that there's quite a variety of them. They are all long like the tunics as opposed to shorter like the 100 years war. Some have slits, some are dagged around the bottom and some have neither. There's long sleeves, with and with out attached mittens, there's short sleeves, and sleeveless. Some have high collars and some don't have a collar.Some of the drawings make me wonder if the sleeved ones were really sleeveless with tied in sleeves...

What I'm really curious about is, were they all pull over at this time, or were some open front that tied closed?Some are gathered and tucked into the belt, I can't picture a thick padded garment gathering and tucking the way they are drawn, so we're earlier gambesons thinner than later period ones? Also, they're wearing gambesons over mail, I thought the purpose of mail was to help protect the padding underneath, while the padding is what really protected you from the force of a hit?

Thanks for any help!
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Ernst »

The Maciejowski Bible is a great visual source, but keep in mind it dates closer to 1250 than 1200. For the earlier time frame, we have more literary than visual material.

There is no evidence in the visual record for the 13th century gambesons being buttoned or laced up the front. They all seem to be pulled over the head, though one Spanish source might show side lacing.
BNF NAL 2290, fo.106v
Image

I think the folds and gathers you see at the belt-line are caused by the gambeson having side gores like contemporary tunics, giving it a flared shape beneath the arms. Several early documents call for wearing both a padded armor beneath mail, and a second one (often specified as sleeveless) above mail. Like the later pourpoints and jupons being worn over armor in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, it seems that wearing the padded armor above mail was useful against missile weapons. No one has ever produced evidence for separate sleeves at this time, though we do have literary evidence from the end of the 13th century of gambesons being worn over aketons. I've argued that the thick shoulder lines might represent a felled seam like those found on the legs of blue jeans.

Tracy Justus has brought up the extant "Sleeve of St. Martin" which appears to be from a 12th or 13th century gambeson.
Tracy Justus wrote:There's the sleeve of St Martin, preserveed in the church of Bussy-Saint-Martin , which is from a padded garment of 1160-1250.

PDF, with photos

description

Both these documents are in French.
There is also a leather facing of a similar armor from Dublin, dated to 1150-1190.
Image
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Glen K »

Ernst, thanks! I've never seen or even heard of that before... very, very interesting.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Ernst »

Consideration for bringing the aketons on the Verona baptismal font to my attention some years ago.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... hlehem.jpg

Craig Peters via (Hadrian Coffin) brought the Dublin aketon cover to my attention on MyArmoury a while back: National Museum of Dublin, Ireland, and attributed as an aketon from 1150-1190, found at Cornmarket/Bridge St. in Dublin. Dating was from the archaeological context IIRC.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Ernst »

I think the side gores, besides being common in the tailoring of the time, might be necessary in order to pull the gambeson off. Notice the gathering both above and below the belt on this commonly seen figure from Maciejowski Bible fo.27v. A straight cut gambeson just doesn't give that look, and won't allow leg movement without a larger slit at the front.
http://www.themorgan.org/collection/crusader-bible/54#
Morgan M.638 fo.27v.jpg
Morgan M.638 fo.27v.jpg (54.87 KiB) Viewed 3744 times
So it has to be thin enough to gather with a belt, but thick enough to keep horizontal like the bottom of the one in fo. 3v.
Morgan M.638 fo003v-sm.jpg
Morgan M.638 fo003v-sm.jpg (91.55 KiB) Viewed 3743 times
I think the thicknesses mention in Tasha's analysis of the Charles VI pourpoint are about right for a stand-alone gambeson or one worn over mail. I doubt an aketon worn under mail would be so stiff, in fact, the King's Mirror calls for the one worn under mail to be "soft" and the one above to be "good", so more loft and less padding if it's beneath.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Ernst »

The Huelgas Apocalypse has some of the earliest miniatures showing gambesons over mail.
http://manuscriptminiatures.com/4648/12023/
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Josh Wilson »

http://pinterest.com/pin/49166648429893 ... =messenger

If you check out they way this one is draped over the belt, it really doesn't look like it could be that thick. I agree with you from a design stand point, that the slits and the tapers would make it easier to pull on and off. Thanks for all of the info guys! Keep it coming, please! :-)
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Geoffrey of Blesedale »

Josh, there has been debate as to whether the Mac Bible gambesons were one piece or a separate torso piece. The image a couple posts up, showing one draped over the shoulder, clearly shows a one piece and convinces me that the seams at the shoulders depict a set-in sleeve.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Ernst »

However, the gambeson draped over the shoulder shows no sign of the doubled shoulder line. There is certain evidence of gambesons being worn over aketons at the end of the century, but it's worth noting that nowhere in the Maciejowski are quilted armors with two colors shown, for example, no blue sleeveless gambeson over a red aketon appears. The sleeves always match the color of the body. If all of the doubled lines at the shoulder indicate two pieces, they were very conscientous to always wear red with red, or white with white. I think the evidence leans towards it being a single garment with a noticeable sleeve seam.
Watch and Ward at the City Gates.
25 Edward I. A.D. 1297. Letter-Book B. fol. xxxiii. old numeration. (Latin.)

It was ordered that every bedel shall make summons by day in his own Ward, upon view of two good men, for setting watch at the Gates;—and that those so summoned shall come to the Gates in the day-time, and in the morning, at day-light, shall depart therefrom. And such persons are to be properly armed with two pieces; namely, with haketon and gambeson, or else with haketon and corset, or with haketon and plates.
EDITED 'cause I can't spell tonight.....
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Ernst »

England, Assize of Arms, 1181, no requirement of gambesons or aketons to be worn by those using mail, but burgesses and free men are required to have a gambeson (wambais) as their sole body armor.

Provence, Aliscans, L.LXIII, 1180-1190, mentions of both aketon (auketon) and gambeson (gambison) being used in conjuction with mail. Unfortunately it's not clear if one is above and one beneath, or if the poet is merely using alternate words as a poetic device.

Guillaume le Breton, Philippidos, Book III, 1215-1225 mentions a gambeson (gambesum) worn with mail, though the text doesn't specify whether it's over or beneath the hauberk.

Heinrich von dem Türlin, Diu Crône, 1220-1230 mentions gambesons (wambeis) made of white buckram (buckeram blanc). For tournament, there is a wambeis beneath the hauberk, and either another wambeis, or a silk surcoat (wâfenroc sîdîn) worn above the hauberk.

Anonymous Norwegian text, The King's Mirror/Speculum Regale/Konungs-skuggsjá. c. 1250, calls for horsemen to be armed with a soft gambeson (blautan panzara) beneath mail and a good gambeson (góðan panzara) over the mail, though the top one is sleeveless (ermalausum). Men fighting on ships are urged to use gambesons made of soft linen canvas, well blackened (en þó eru panzarar höfuðvápn til hlífðar skipum görvir af blautum léreptum ok vel svörtuðum) without mail. No one has come up with a definitive understanding for the "blacking". Jessica Finley has examined the later Lubeck Jacks, and the blackening was made of linseed oil and carbon, a sort of medieval "oilcloth". Others have suggested pitch or tar as a form of waterproofing and to stiffen the fabric.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Geoffrey of Blesedale »

Ernst, the way the one-piece is draped, it would be difficult to show shoulder seams. Your reasoning on the color schemes of illustrations is also what I believe.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Glen K »

Consideration for bringing the aketons on the Verona baptismal font to my attention some years ago.
Pshaw, that's what friends are for. :) Though you see how far I've gotten with my much-vaunted project to create one of those for experimental purposes... I have a rough pattern in muslin, and that's as far as I got. maybe over the Christmas break I can put some time into playing around with that. I'm still very much convinced (as much as one can be, anyway, for the "Great Mystery of 10-11th Century Armour Studies") that what's shown on that font is a thinly-padded aketon made specifically for wearing under mail.

Oh, and PS, thanks for the link to that image, that's the best one I've seen of it!
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Ernst »

As far as fabric selection goes, I think buckram and fustian seem to be mentioned fairly often, though we see coverings of silk, usually cendal, as well as thin leather being used in later times.

Perhaps the fabric experts can chime in on what we know of these. From what I've seen in my research there are a number of stout fabrics which seem to have been used as a shell:

* A linen "canvas". (Canvas, i.e. cannabis, is made from hemp.)
The King's mirror differentiates between hemp (hampi), linen for clothes (linklæði), and a linen "canvas" (lérepti) used in gambesons, gamboissed cuisses, and horse barding.
* Fustian, which seems to be a blend with linen warp and cotton weft.
* Buckram, which seems to be an all-cotton "canvas".
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Josh Wilson »

So after looking at web pages, via Google, I'm confused as to whether a gambeson is several layers of cloth, quilted together,or just two layers quilted together, with padding/batting/filler stuffed down the "tubes" made when quilting the topside to the lining vertically. What way is best?
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Ernst »

Perhaps Tasha's examination of the Charles VI pourpoint will give you some ideas, though I doubt there was only one single way of doing things. The armors made of 10s of layers of fabric alone are jacks, not gambesons.
http://cottesimple.com/wp/wp-content/up ... d-size.pdf
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Ernst »

There is this late 13th century French regulation, with translation attempt by Konstantin the Red in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=178394
1296: Ordonnances des Metiers de Paris

Que nus (armuriers) ne puisse fere cote ne gamboison de tele dont I'envers et I'endroit ne soit de tele noeve, et dedenz de coton et de plois de toiles, et einsi que est qu'il soient dedenz d'escroes.
That we armourers could make neither cote nor gambeson of fabric, which the lining and outside not being of new fabric, and of cotton inside, and of more fabrics, and also that they be inside of rags.

It, Si Ten fait cote ne gamboison dont I'endroit soit de cendal et I'envers soit de tele, si veulent il que ele soit noeve et se il i a ploit dedenz de tele ne de cendal, que le plus cort ploit soit de demie aune et de demi quartier de lone au meins devant, et autant derrieres, et les autres plois Ions ensuians. Et si il i a borre de soie qui le lit de la bourre soit de demi aune et demy quaritier au meins devant et autant derrieres et se il i a coton, que le coton vienge tout contreval jusques au piez.
Item, if having made [neither?] cote nor gambeson of which the outside should be of cendal and the lining of tele [maybe tulle?], if desired that it be new and if there be (ploit) within of tele nor of cendal, which the shortest cut (ploit) be half of (aune) and half-quartered of the one at least in the front -- and also in the back, and the other (ploits -- portions, parts, quarters?) following suit. And if there is (borre) of silk which the bed of the (bourre -- same as borre?) should be of quartered of (one and the other?), at least in front and even in back; and if there is cotton, that the cotton should come all (contreval) unto the feet. (Perhaps toile, i.e. canvas or stout cloth rather than tulle, i.e. gauze-like fabric?- Ernst)

Que nules d'ores en avant ne puisse faire cote gamboisee ou il n'ait 3 livres de coton tout neit, se elles ne sont faites en sicines et au dessous soient faites entre mains que il y ait un pli de viel linge empres I'endroit de demi aune et demi quartier devant et autant derriere.
That (nules d'ores) henceforth could not make gamboised cotes with less than three pounds [livres*] of cotton in them, which they are not made (en sicines) and beneath are worked between hands, of which there should be a ply of old linen within the outer layer quartered of the one and the other in front and also behind.
*Per Wiki, .4895kg. .4895 x 3 = 1.4785 kilos cotton in there, but who's counting?

With 3.25 lbs. or so of loose cotton, plus the weight of the fabric, I think you're looking at a minimum of 5 lbs. weight for the gambeson. Remember that's a bare minimum legal requirement, and others made for nobles may well have contained more cotton fill.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by RenJunkie »

I. Love. This. Thread.

Would this have been made based on a civilian clothing pattern, or its own style?

Thanks!
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Ernst »

It seems to me that arming clothes always follow the style of the time in which they were made. You're simply not going to find a globose-breast pourpoint like the Charles VI example in 1200. It's best to cut the body straight and insert gores into the skirt, though two side-gores are probably adequate.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Glen K »

It seems to me that arming clothes always follow the style of the time in which they were made.
Would our Verona font not suggest otherwise, at least to a certain extent? One of the things that I found most surprising and intriguing was the form-fitted-ness; the fuller shirts/tunics of the period appear to be bunched up and billowy coming from underneath the arming garment.

And given how closely it follows the body, I'd have to guess there is some type of lacing/strapping on the sides or back to achieve that, and I say sides or probably back just because of the lack of them in the image.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Josh Wilson »

I think I've got a pretty good game plan laid out for how I'm going to make my gambeson. One site suggested adding 3 inches of seam allowance to make up for the space it will take to quilt and stuff it. Does that sound about right?
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Primvs Pavlvs »

Josh, I do not believe they were quilted and then stuffed. That would leave a vulnerable spot between the stuffed and sewn seams. I am of the belief they were layered and then quilted.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Ernst »

Primvs Pavlvs wrote:That would leave a vulnerable spot between the stuffed and sewn seams.
As Tasha's article notes on the Charles VI pourpoint,
The maker then placed a tightly compacted tube-shaped roll of cotton tow
on the linen base, pressed firmly against the first line of stitching. The top layer fabric was
then molded over it and the next quilt line was stitched, encasing the roll. This was repeated
until all channels were stitched. A lack of padding under the stitches could arguably reduce
sturdiness or protective qualities, but the body of the garment still had five layers of fabric
through which stitches passed, providing a significant amount of solidity.
The lack of cotton padding at the stitched lines was not considered vulnerable in a padded armor worn over metal body armor, and it would seem to offer no increased vulnerability when worn beneath mail. Presumably there would only be four layers of fabric if a silk cover wasn't used. The difficult language of the 1296 Ordonnance, "of which there should be a ply of old linen within the outer layer" might indicate a similar construction which, as Tasha notes, makes hand sewing such thicknesses more manageable. Of course I'm only extrapolating backwards from later techniques, and other methods might have been used as well.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Ernst »

Glen K wrote:
It seems to me that arming clothes always follow the style of the time in which they were made.
Would our Verona font not suggest otherwise, at least to a certain extent? One of the things that I found most surprising and intriguing was the form-fitted-ness; the fuller shirts/tunics of the period appear to be bunched up and billowy coming from underneath the arming garment.

And given how closely it follows the body, I'd have to guess there is some type of lacing/strapping on the sides or back to achieve that, and I say sides or probably back just because of the lack of them in the image.
Glen K,
It's a good question, and I'm not certain I have a satisfactory answer.

There seem to be gores in the "skirts" at the front and sides, in the manner of contemporary tunics. The fact that the garments in question (which we presume are aketons or gambesons) are only about hip length might obviate the need for laces or buttons. Perhaps the lack of draping is as much related to a close fit as it is to the stiffness of the armor and the short hem?
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Primvs Pavlvs »

Ernst wrote:
Primvs Pavlvs wrote:That would leave a vulnerable spot between the stuffed and sewn seams.
As Tasha's article notes on the Charles VI pourpoint,
The maker then placed a tightly compacted tube-shaped roll of cotton tow
on the linen base, pressed firmly against the first line of stitching. The top layer fabric was
then molded over it and the next quilt line was stitched, encasing the roll. This was repeated
until all channels were stitched. A lack of padding under the stitches could arguably reduce
sturdiness or protective qualities, but the body of the garment still had five layers of fabric
through which stitches passed, providing a significant amount of solidity.
The lack of cotton padding at the stitched lines was not considered vulnerable in a padded armor worn over metal body armor, and it would seem to offer no increased vulnerability when worn beneath mail. Presumably there would only be four layers of fabric if a silk cover wasn't used. The difficult language of the 1296 Ordonnance, "of which there should be a ply of old linen within the outer layer" might indicate a similar construction which, as Tasha notes, makes hand sewing such thicknesses more manageable. Of course I'm only extrapolating backwards from later techniques, and other methods might have been used as well.

Are all of the padded armour depictions in the Macejowski meant to illustrate maile being worn underneath or are some of them worn as armour alone? I can agree with your assertion that there is no need for padding or additional layers in the sewing channels for gambesons worn over maile but worn alone, I would think this is a "chink" in the armour.


I try not to conflate construction methods of earlier or later time frames when they are so far apart. With this rationale, we can only assume that a padded garment was used by Viking era warriors, since the Romans were known to wear a padded garment.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Ernst »

Indeed, the majority of the depictions in the Maciejowski Bible are of standalone gambesons. It is quite possible that different techniques were used, as the King's Mirror calls for soft gambesons beneath mail and "good" ones above. There is some question as to how much additional protection would be obtained at the seam from some loose fibers if there were already 4 or five layers of fabric. Every armor has weaker spots -- if they can be hit, e.g. the seam in the arm pit of a mail hauberk. This might also explain the London watch wearing gambesons over their aketons, or the heavy-appearing shoulder seams. Wearing two layers minimizes the risk of a thin seam.

I agree with the caution regarding dates, but the closest contemporary example we have is the Sleeve of St. Martin, which doesn't seem to have been as thoroughly analysed in the published French article. The available evidence requires some extrapolation if we want to attempt a reconstruction.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by RandallMoffett »

I have seen a fair number of padded liners and all of them have material sew in place between the fabric layers. I have not been able to see the Charles VI in as close detail as Tasha but none of the ones I have seen are like that so I assume they used different methods. Years and years ago I took a gent I knew from MyArmoury.com to the museum I was working and we looked at a number of the remaining bits of padding. He took a fair number of pictures but I sadly do not have them any more. You could see along the lower edge on several where they had worn open the stitching was passing through the stuffing material keeping it between the two fabric layers. There were about half a dozen e could see but they were all from 1500-1650ish.

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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Primvs Pavlvs »

Instead of using the term gambeson for stand alone padded armour, why don't we agree to use a specific term for it?
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Ernst »

Dan Howard has tried to get some agreement for modern usage, to little avail. Goll's classification for plate armor is based in part on the differing terms used in differing languages. Perhaps Textile Armor Type I and Textile Armor Type II will be more difficult to implement. I prefer to see what the original documents use, but that leaves us with the problem of determining what the differences between aketons, gambesons, jupons, doublets, and jacks were at any given time and with any given reference.

I have pants, slacks, khakis, BDUs, jeans, etc. on the hangers. If I agree to use the word pants for all of them, I lose some of the meaning.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Dan Howard »

I like "gambeson" for more flexible standalone armours, "jack" for the rigid standalone armours, and "aketon" for underpadding. I don't really care what we use so long as we all agree to use the same terms. It will avoid a lot of confusion.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by mordreth »

Ernst wrote: I think the thicknesses mention in Tasha's analysis of the Charles VI pourpoint are about right for a stand-alone gambeson or one worn over mail. I doubt an aketon worn under mail would be so stiff, in fact, the King's Mirror calls for the one worn under mail to be "soft" and the one above to be "good", so more loft and less padding if it's beneath.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Winterborne »

I made mine without a collar, because it would interfere with my helm, and I made it button up the front because I could not imagine squirming out of a wet sack after a day of fighting in the sun. I did my sleeves separate, but from matching fabric. It is quilted canvas. With two or three layers of batting, depending on the spot. No batting inside the elbows. I wear kydex plates under it.

It is very thick, so make generous seam allowances. You can always make it smaller! I mocked it up with a moving pad to be sure it could be both thick and roomy. Before I put on the belt it is kind of bell shaped.

http://s1370.photobucket.com/user/scott ... 6.jpg.html
Berach de Winterborne

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Sean M
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Sean M »

Mart, I have been thinking about this ... the Itinerarium Peregrinorum uses the word pourpoint for a story set in 1187, and jupon was the term borrowed from Arabic, so digging around under those words might turn up a few more 12th/13th century citations. As English speakers we tend to look for aketon and gambeson because those are the most common words in sources from Britain.

Frédéric Godefroy, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) s.v. pourpoint, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k ... f319.image

Pourpoint in Dictionnaire historique de l'ancien langage françois, ou Glossaire de la langue franxoise depuis son origine jusqu'au siecle de Louis XIV. Pub. par les soins de L. Favre (Paris, 1875-1882) https://archive.org/stream/dictionnaire ... 6/mode/2up

Du Cange v.s Perpunctum http://ducange.enc.sorbonne.fr/PERPUNCTUM

Really you have been thorough! You have copied out most of the sources which those old antiquarians found.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Ernst »

There are a number of early to mid-13th century Italian ordinances for urban militia which give the "çupam" as an optional body armor along with the "guayferiam" and "lameriam". I believe this "çupam" is the same as the jupon, but what distinguishes this armor or the medieval "al jubbah" which inspired it is unclear to me.
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Sean M »

Yeah, I need to look up medieval Italian phonology and Italian orthography, but I think that <çu> <zu> <giu> and <ju> are all variations of the same sound depending on local pronunciation and writing habits.

They still have a word in the jubba family in Tiroler Tracht, these days the juppe or juppa is a hip-length jacket of fulled cloth or a sleeveless pleated dress.

I think that Italian farsetto ("stuffed garment" related to words like farcia "stuffing" (material) and farcitura "stuffing" (the act of stuffing)) shows up relatively early, there is a sumptuary law with clauses like: Item quod prædicti comites, magnates, barones, milites, et uxores eorum possint habere in ætate guarnimentum unum de serico, sub eo Farsetum vel dublectum ac juppam de serico.

"Item: that the aforesaid counts, magnates, barons, knights, and their wives shall be allowed to have in summer one garment of silk, in addition to a farsetto or doublet or jupon of silk."

Du Cange cites it as Constit. Feder. reg. Sicil. A forum post by an italian reenactor tells us that this is the Constitutions of Melfi/Costituzioni di Melfi (1231) or Liber Augustalis of Frederic II. I can't find an online edition but there is a printed translation:

James M. Powell tr., The Liber Augustalis; or, Constitutions of Melfi, promulgated by the Emperor Frederick II for the Kingdom of Sicily in 1231 (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1971)
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Re: Questions about Gambesons, Circa 1200

Post by Sean M »

The Gebrüder Grimm have another poem from around 1200 in their entry for Wams (n.). I think that Bertus could handle this better than I can.

dô zôch er aller êrste an (there he put on first of all)
ein wambes von buggeran. (a gambeson of buckram)
dô hieʒ er im reichen
einen vilz weichen (a very soft)
und bant in für sîniu knie. (... and bent/bound in for his knee? I don't have practice with medieval German)
alsô bewarte er sich ie. (that way he always took care of himself)
zwô hosen wîʒ ûʒ îsen (two hosen of iron ...)
hieʒ er im ane brîsen ...
dannoch zôch er ane mê (after that he put on ...)
einen halsberc wîʒ als der snê. (a hauberk white as the snow)

Moriz von Craon 828 Schröder (ie. verse 828 of the edition by Eduard Schröder)

Another early romance by Heinrich von den Türlin which Gerhard found mentions knights wearing gambesons of white buckram.

In later times, my impression is that buckram tended to be a smooth-finished, plain-woven part-cotton cloth (whereas fustian/barchent was more likely to have a nap) but this is pretty early. So probably a good strong linen-based, hemp-based, or cotton-based cloth would do for a modern gambeson.

(And yeah, this was maybe not the best thread to revive, but Mart has a few talking about 12th/13th century sources for gambesons/aketons/jupons/pourpoints/???)
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