Posts: 1,435 Location: California, Maryland, USA
Sat 18 Oct, 2008 10:49 am
In Arms and Armor of the Medieval Knight, they mention that the word Curiass is derived from cur, the French word for leather, so I always figured there was some kind of "leather armor" in existance, somewhere. That's not to include the Roman leather musculata (spelling?) that officers are seen wearing, as I always figured that to be more of a mark of rank (similar to the chevrons on modern soldiers, only more expensive).
As for leather armor in the "viking age", I recall cattle being very important for milk (which is why beef didn't feature much in their original diet, not to mention that beef is the least efficient food source), so I highly doubt they would slaughter milk animals for their hide, and the ones dying of old age wouldn't have been frequent enough to sustain such an industry.
Importing leather from across the sea doesn't seem sensible either, as that's a long distance and time for something that isn't very useful at all; all other leather goods you have reindeer for, so purses, etc are taken care of.
Additionally, the
shield the vikings used covers most of their upper body (the biggest target), and only leaves the face and legs open for attack. The face and head is covered by your helmet and diligence, and your legs are covered by your ability to parry and or block the attack to them. Armor, especially for the upper body in this case, wouldn't be a primary concern as you are already well protected. Wearing one would be nice, however, and I'm sure if you could get your hands on one, you would probably wear it unless you're very confident in your ability to not need it (the unarmored ones wealthy enough to afford one of their own).
Also, the Nordic style of mobile infantry warfare seems to lack one thing: maintenance units. Armor gets damaged in battle, and who brought the tools required to fix it, and are you going to be in the same place long enough to do so? I could, however, be wrong. I do know medieval armies attracted specialist craftsmen to fill their needs, slowing the army down sometimes, but never heard about these in Nordic invasion forces.
M.