On the lantern Shield, Or: "Whats the hell am I holding

[Kilian_the_warlike]

Good gentles, esteemed and educated peoples of the archive, I have recently developed an interest in what can only be discribed as one of the most awkward and odd pieces of equipment ever to be developed:

The Lantern shield

What can anyone tell me about this monstrosity? Was it a judicial piece? Did it legitimately have use? I can seem to find anymore information of the damn thing than the time period of "late 15th to possibly mid 16th century".

Yours in curiosity,
-Kilian

[Baron Eirik]

I see it as analogous to the extremely modded tuner show cars.

[Saritor]

Here's one of the more useful threads from myArmoury.com about the topic:
http://www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=15706

I got some amusing mileage out of them a couple years ago as an April Fool's joke, but the multi-use combo weapons are more likely fanciful creations for patrons to display the skill of the artificer in an Italian court setting.

[Diglach Mac Cein]

It was the 15th century Batman's answer to the utility belt....

He is the Dark Knight....


.

[Tomburr]

Nothing comes to mind as far as evidence of actual use in combat. Having said that, I am by no means an expert, just a 15th C. enthusiast.

[J.G.Elmslie]

every time I see that, I have this horrible image of a poor craftsman returning from a meeting with his customer, shaking his head, and saying to the apprentice "and now, he wants a bloody lantern in it!"

[Baron Alcyoneus]

There were several versions, in a number of countries. I can't imagine them being that useful, but we're used to much brighter lighting.

[herrhauptmann]

every time I see that, I have this horrible image of a poor craftsman returning from a meeting with his customer, shaking his head, and saying to the apprentice "and now, he wants a bloody lantern in it!"

I would recommend then that you track down an old movie called "Pentagon Wars" with Kelsey Grammer.

Describes the creation and testing process of an APC over the course of like 20 years.

[Cian of Storvik]

The only way a candle could blind someone is if you jab the taper in their eye socket.
Maybe it's because we've desensitized our eyes with all of the artificial light. But a beeswax candle puts out one candle power of light. Which is 1 lumen of light at 1 foot distance (1 foot candle = 1 lumen). If you use reflective surfaces to channel all of the light emitted in a single stradian, you're looking at a whopping 12 lumens. Even if you flash it 3' from their face, it's hardly going to disorient much less momentarily blind. (Note a glow stick at it's brightest point in cold temps is around 2 lumens).

Now, assuming it's very dark, a 12 lumen light source bobbing around back and forth in the dark while you're trying to get a bead on the person you're fighting could be VERY distracting. Your eye constantly drawn to the porthole on their shield, it would be difficult to gain a sight on their vital parts. If it's really dark, the glowing light source will make the person behind the light look like they are even more in the dark.

I doubt the lantern shields really saw much use. If they had worked, they would have been more widely used or atleast notoriously written about during the time they would have seen service.
-Cian

[Ernst]

I suspect they were used by the Night Watch. Patrolling the streets at night before gas or electric lamps, holding a sword, shield and candle at the same time is problematic.

[Baron Alcyoneus]

That is why one guy carries the torch.