Posts: 2,121 Location: Northern Utah
Sat 06 Jun, 2009 10:37 pm
We also have a great number of accounts that come up indicating the use of padding and other armour.
Our good friend Endre here on the forum wrote this.
'The King's Mirror, ca 1250, says:
This get-up the man himself needs have: good and fine hosen made from soft and well "svorta"(?) canvas that reach all the way to the belt of the breeches and outside these a pair of
maille hose, so tall he can fasten them to a belt that goes around the body twice and outside those a pair of "maille pants" made from the same kind of canvas and the same way before said, and outside those good kneescreens of iron with steel-hard rivets. On the torso he must closest to the body have a soft pannzara that does not reach longer than mid-thigh, then a good breast-screen of iron and outside that maille and outside the maille a good panzzara, made on the same way before said, but armless.
(Pannzara and vapntræiu are used in the literature interchangeably. A "soft pannzara" or vapntræiu seems to be a textile armour worn closest to the body, inside the maille, whereas the "good pannzara" or "strengthened vapntræiu" is worn outside maille or as armour in itself. '
From it is a good example of how a knight would have been armed and the order it took place. People have been very slow to accept padding in the 13th, usually pointing to artwork, which I think is not a very string foundation for it. While artwork is nice it is very limited, though all period sources have limitations, artwork I think has more than others. By the early fourteenth century you see coat of plates everywhere in literature. I'd be very surprised if by 1310-1320 event he lowliest knight did not won one as in the 1320s you see commoners required to wear them to war and in their ownership.
Now regarding existing leather armour…. Only one I know of is a 14th century leather rerebrace. We do get leather equipment pop up in various accounts (Register of the
Black Prince has 300-500 leather helmets bought for archers at one point).
As far as aketons and gambesons. In Western Europe in period there is little, perhaps 0, difference. We have decided modernly how it is easiest to use them. That said I agree we need some order or it makes such talk online impossible. There are only two ordinances that give weights I know of so I’d avoid any general ideas like that. A Parisian 1311 and a Royal Wardrobe Account (English) 1323 or 1326. The first is 3.1lbs. of cotton and the second 2.3lbs I think (going off a very tired brain). One issue is we do not know if these were stand alone armours or under armours. The English one indicates it an under armour. With decent weight linen my aketon had 3.4lbs cotton (I added some as I am above average medieval height) mine weighted less than 5lbs in total, linen, thread and cotton. That said if I were to use it as stand alone armour I’d bolster the cotton. I think both these examples were for earlier under armours.
RPM