The Armour Archive

Hi,
I've seen numerous COP's with a leather outer layer but I was wondering if they were also done using fabric instead. Considering the amount of variation in COP's across Europe I would be very surprised to find out that they all had leather outers.

Pietro (14th Century Northern Italian)

Well, the brigandine is essentially a CoP with small plates. And most of those seem to be on cloth, not leather. In Bengt Thordeman's book _Armour from the Battle of Wisby_, the reconstructed Type I is on a cloth backing. I am not sure if there was evidence from the site at the time to dictate that. Color paintings from the time often seem to have colored coats, which may have been dyed leather, but I suspect was cloth.

In the SCA, I have seen leather and cloth both. The cloth can be truly lovely. Velvet over canvas makes a sturdy and showy armor. And it will last for years, too. Sure, the leather may last longer, but look at the cost! Today, I'd use heavy fabric. It weighs less, too.

-Patrick

In "Armour from the Battle of Wisby", Thordeman states in Chapter 5 that the coat "...in those cases where it could be proved, was made of leather but may also have been made of, or covered with, cloth...). Leather remnants, usually under the heads of rivets, as well as the length of the rivet shaft protruding past the plate indicate leather. However, armor 2 (Type 1) has round washers beneath some rivets. "These washers were visible on the outside of the cover, to judge from the traces of coarse cloth--very likely from the cover or its lining--which clearly pass beneath the same." Also, "As has already been mentioned there is on the outside of these plates a coating of rust with a distinct fabric pattern. Here and there this coating runs below the rivet-heads, and consequently leaves traces of the cover to which the plates have been riveted...These traces of cloth do not, however, show conclusively that the covering consisted only of cloth, they may also conceivably be the remnants of a cloth lining of a covering of some other material. Actually, some remnants here and there, esecially distinct round a rivet on the left breastplate, show that such had been the case, and that the covering itself had consisted of leather."

Also, armor fragment 33, a back plate of a Type 1 armor, with the iron loop at the top for suspending the side plates from the back, has "traces of cloth on the outside."

In other words, Thordeman seems to indicate a cloth covered leather as a foundation. However, I have seen SCA plates on a fabric coat with leather washers beneath the rivet heads, which reportedly kept the rivets from pulling through.

[This message has been edited by Ernst (edited 07-14-2002).]

Thanks for the responses.
Since it sounds plausible that it could have been done does anyone have any tips about how to construct a COP using cloth instead of leather?
What type/weight of cloth to use?
What needs to be done to ensure that the plates don't rip through it?
Any other tips would be good to.
This is my first COP so nothing is too trivial.
Thanks.
Pietro