Hi all,
Talking with my friend about maille against arrows or swords, asked me to explain this picture. I obviously read the article by Dan, I wanted to ask if the Maciejowski Bible is considered a reliable source.

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Well, it's reliable in regards to what gear people wore, and what stuff they used. But in reagrds to the wounds and what not, I think it was the artist intention to show a bit of blood and gore rather than actual wounds that may have bee sustained.
Then again, some of the weapons you see might've been able to bust through a few links. :confused:

good question which comes up from time to time. not trying to kill the thread but this has been discussed many times before here at mA, SFI and Armour Archive. if you use the search function you'll find threads with many opinions, both laymen and academic, as to the accuracy of the images in question. i think its safe to say that as Christopher and Sam have stated, the general consensus is that the helm splittings, mail breakage, cleavages, and wounds are a bit of an artistical exaggeration for the most part. if the armour was poorly made it is certainly possible but very unlikely to be a general state of affairs. it is confusing because other than that, the Maciejowski bible has some very accurate renditions of arms and armour. tr