The Armour Archive

I am in the process of getting some information on the sorts of gauntlets which would have gone with a harness in the style of the Churburg S-18 (first quarter 15th C, Milanese style)

I posted this question previously (and got a few answers) on the Armor Construction board (http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=78513), but figured it may be better suited here.

Basically - I will by using these in a HES/WMA environment against steel, wood and rubber, so in addition to authenticity, I am concerned about blunt trauma.

So, since the gauntlets that are shown with the S-18 are a bit less protective than I would like, I thought using a mitten style would fit the look as well as provide some rather nice protection. However, the more I search, the more it seems the mittens were popular in the second half of the century and hourglass finger gauntlets seem to be more common in the first half.

So 2 questions came up:

does anyone know of any early 15th C examples of mittens (heck even pre-1450)?

Are there any examples of Milanese styled finger gauntlets with a more extended cuff than the typical hourglass form? (the half gaunts on the S-18 seem more extended to my eyes)

I can find artwork. However, I'm not an armour geek so I might be out of my element.

The Ghent Altarpiece by Van Eyck has a panel with the "Knights of Christ" and it looks like they have mitten Gauntlets with relatively high cuffs.

Jan van Eyck painting "Ghent Altarpiece", finished 1432.

http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/e ... index.html

There's also one listed from "The Medieval Arms and Armour of Rhodes" on page 107 that show a mitten gauntlet from the mid-15th century.

There's also this piece from René d'Anjou which shows a combo with a high cuff.

Fire Stryker wrote:I might be out of my element, however the Ghent Altarpiece by Van Eyck has a panel with the "Knights of Christ" and it looks like they have mitten Gauntlets.

Jan van Eyck painting "Ghent Altarpiece", finished 1432.

http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/e ... index.html

ah - yes, they link to a detail shot of the 'soldiers of christ' that makes it very clear that they are wearing mittens.

Fire Stryker wrote:There's also one listed from "The Medieval Arms and Armour of Rhodes" on page 107 that show a mitten gauntlet from the mid-15th century.

There's also this piece from René d'Anjou.

I will have to see if I can find that reference from "The Medieval Arms and Armour of Rhodes".

I did also see the Rene d'Anjou page (in one of Chef's posts, I think) - bit of a different style, but still near mid century I guess?

1460 I believe

In doing some more research, I have decided to abandon the idea of getting mittens, and instead spend more time investigating the possibilities of the brigandine half gauntlets from the S-18 (possibly with a set of removable finger bucklers for use when/if needed), as well as more hourglass style finger gauntlets.

After coming across some more information on the S-18 gaunts, I think those will be what I go with... though they seem to be of a much more rare construction than hourglass finger gauntlets.