Jonathan Hill wrote: |
A point to refine your statements:
It seems commonly accepted here that the footman with arrows sticking all over them are wearing padded jackets, or cloth armor on top of the chainmail. This being the case the cloth armor is what defeated the arrow, not the mail, stating that chain held up to arrows while the chain was behind the cloth is like claiming chain armor will protect you from a bullet, provided you wear a bullet proof vest above the chain. The cloth armor diffuses the energy of the arrow so that by the time it gets to the mail it does not have the energy to punch through it and it is easily stopped. There was a reason you wore both chain and cloth and it is the combination of armor that kept them safe from many threats. Keeping this in mind the historical examples of porcupines in the crusades only shows that cloth armor will help protect against arrows. If an arrow were to stick into chain itself it would have defeated it as the arrow needs a portion of the tip to be inside the target to hold, otherwise it bounces off. |
I will have to disagree. Most written and illustrated records show that Mail almost always worn on top of the padding (In the middle east, cloaks and robes were often worn on top of the mail, but that was mostly to stop the mail from heating). This make sense, because even if an arrow broke a mail link, the force of the arrow will most likely be sufficently weakened for the padding underneath to stop it.
That doesnt mean that there arent any exceptions to this, but I am quite sure the majourity of medieval soldiers wore their mail over the cloth armour. If you have any records that prove otherwise, I more than willing to change my mind.