The Armour Archive

Just wondering if wire was used in rolls. If it was used, is there any pattern to when, where, or anything like that?

Thanks,

Chris

There is a barbute at the MET with a bit of wire that can be seen sticking out of a missing section of a roll on the lower edge of the helm. Grancsay mentions the roll in one of his articles as original. Don't know how common this was.

They are very rare, apparently. Patrick Thaden found an example of a gauntlet, that may be original (in some small German museum) that had a wire rolled edge on the cuff.

Having rolled a few edges, I don't think a wire is very necessary for strength.