Has anyone else watched "Secrets of the Shining Knight" shown today on NOVA ? I am not a scholar, merely an amateur enthusiast, I found this program immensely entertaining and learned quite a few things I didn't know about, concerning the forging of a Greenwich Garniture, or suit of armor. One of these was that armor proof to a musket at a certain distance was possible, by doubling the front plate. Hitherto, I had believed that it was only possible to have armor proof to a pistol or caliver, but a musket would penetrate at all battlefield distances. I also learned how that beautiful gilding and bluing was applied to the armor of Elizabethan aristocrats. Anyway, this was very much on point to many topics discussed on this forum. Highly recommended.
Henry

I watched the show - I was initially put off by the hype of "secrets lost", but in the end I was glad I watched. Some of the comparisons between Greek armor production and armored knights was misleading, in my opinion, but they didn't push it....

I thought the focus on plate armor during the entrance of firearms was fairly narrow, but still informative and interesting.

I'm just happy to see another documentary about knights, they're pretty rare. It's also on PBS's website for free for anyone else that missed it.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/secrets-shining-knight.html

Very informative and entertaining. Thank you for that link, Erold. :) .....McM

FYI, this show is available on Netflix now.

The show is excellent and they consulted with some of the best armour scholars out there. Really a lot of it is a popularization of WIlliams' arguments in The Knight and the Blast Furnace, and it's superb.