the question is simple, what is the general consensus on how knights and other men of war wore their daggers and also belts


was the dagger worn from the sword belt directly or, did it hang from the 'normal' belt much like one would wear in civilian life and have the sword belt fasten over the hanging thongings ( and this belt would also be ACTAULLY responsible for helping cinch the mail at the waist (sword belts seem a tad.. droopy, to do that..)

Hi William,

As best as I can tell, it would have hung on the sword belt. If you look at manuscripts that show illustrations of men using daggers, like the Maciejowski Bible or Codex Manesse, you do not see men wearing daggers in civilian contexts. Some re-enactors like to wear belts in a civilian context with pouches hanging off and daggers or knives hanging, but this probably wouldn't be correct unless you're specifically portraying a character on pilgrimage or otherwise travelling.

Please bear in mind I'm not saying they were never worn in civilian contexts; I'm just saying it was probably rare. Therefore, I would thinking wearing them on a sword belt would be the norm.

I'm finding it difficult to find images of 13th century people in armour wearing daggers. If you do an image search through http://effigiesandbrasses.com/ you'll struggle to find any, though there are score of two-belt effigies. This may suggest that the dagger was not a standard part of the war gear of a knight at this time.

I’ve never been able to find any pics in the Morgan Bible of people actually wearing daggers. I’ve found one 13th century picture from another manuscript in the Morgan (dated 1260-1270) that shows 2 men, both wearing basilards

http://manuscriptminiatures.com/4718/12489/