Info Favorites Register Log in
myArmoury.com Discussion Forums

Forum index Memberlist Usergroups Spotlight Topics Search
Forum Index > Off-topic Talk > Barding questions Reply to topic
This is a standard topic  
Author Message
Ben P.




Location: Mountainous Terrain
Joined: 10 Jan 2009
Reading list: 1 book

Posts: 200

PostPosted: Sat 10 Jan, 2009 5:03 pm    Post subject: Barding questions         Reply with quote

How effective was it? what types of barding were used?
View user's profile Send private message
Jason Daub




Location: Peace River, Alberta
Joined: 14 Jan 2005
Reading list: 78 books

Posts: 162

PostPosted: Sat 10 Jan, 2009 8:26 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Ben,

What era? What location? Barding has been made of the same materials and in basically the same manner as the riders armour in nearly every cavalry using culture at one time or another. To restrict it to Europe there are tons of period illustrations showing bards. As an example, the Luttrell Psalter (1325-1340) shows a caparisoned horse armoured with only a shaffron, other illustrations show mail under the caparison. Various household accounts include orders for bards "made in the manner of a brigantine" and others of quilted fabric. Cuir bouilli examples exist in various collections. At the other extreme are the full plate bards made after 1450, several are shown in "The Armored Horse in Europe, 1480-1620". There were also specialized bards for the joust, popular in "Germany" these were basically giant pads to prevent injury to the horse through a collision in the course of the contest.

The effectiveness of horse armour is not something I have made a study of and I haven't come across any hard information. There are anecdotes about men-at-arms riding through a pike square without being injured, not having reason to doubt these, the horse would have to be as well armoured as the man. I would infer due to the investment required and the massive expense of good horses that it was effective, or at least effective enough.

'I saw young Harry, -with his bevor on,
His cuisses on his thighs, gallantly arm'd,-
Rise from the ground like feather'd Mercury,
And vaulted with such ease into his seat,
As if an angel dropp'd down from the clouds,
To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus,
And witch the world with noble horsemanship.'
View user's profile Send private message
Luka Borscak




Location: Croatia
Joined: 11 Jun 2007
Likes: 7 pages

Posts: 2,307

PostPosted: Sun 11 Jan, 2009 4:57 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

How vulnerable horse in a close fighting that lasts some time actually is? Would infantryman automatically strike horse when horseman appeared in front of him or there is no time to waste on horse while man on the horse attacks you? I don't think horse charge on spearmen, of course spearmen would try to stop the charge with meeting the horses with spears. And what about cavalry vs cavalry fight? Would cavalrymen try to kill the opponents horses as soon as possible or concentrate on the real enemy?
View user's profile Send private message
Ben P.




Location: Mountainous Terrain
Joined: 10 Jan 2009
Reading list: 1 book

Posts: 200

PostPosted: Sun 11 Jan, 2009 9:08 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Jason Daub wrote:
Ben,

What era? What location? Barding has been made of the same materials and in basically the same manner as the riders armour in nearly every cavalry using culture at one time or another. To restrict it to Europe there are tons of period illustrations showing bards. As an example, the Luttrell Psalter (1325-1340) shows a caparisoned horse armoured with only a shaffron, other illustrations show mail under the caparison. Various household accounts include orders for bards "made in the manner of a brigantine" and others of quilted fabric. Cuir bouilli examples exist in various collections. At the other extreme are the full plate bards made after 1450, several are shown in "The Armored Horse in Europe, 1480-1620". There were also specialized bards for the joust, popular in "Germany" these were basically giant pads to prevent injury to the horse through a collision in the course of the contest.

The effectiveness of horse armour is not something I have made a study of and I haven't come across any hard information. There are anecdotes about men-at-arms riding through a pike square without being injured, not having reason to doubt these, the horse would have to be as well armoured as the man. I would infer due to the investment required and the massive expense of good horses that it was effective, or at least effective enough.


Era(s): from 1000-1630?

Location(s): Byzantium, England, Spain, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, etc.

BTW what are the names of the barding components?
View user's profile Send private message
Dan Howard




Location: Maitland, NSW, Australia
Joined: 08 Dec 2004

Spotlight topics: 2
Posts: 3,636

PostPosted: Sun 11 Jan, 2009 1:53 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Nobody can answer your question in an online forum. You need to at least make an effort to do your own research and ask questions later, not vice versa. Pick a specific time period. Pick a specific region or culture. Then ask a specific question AFTER you have used the search function and tried to find the answer elsewhere.

The various components can be found online or in a great many armour books. Don't be lazy.

Caparison: A flexible armored blanket (quilted cloth, scale, or mail) covering the animal’s back, chest, and hindquarters, reaching down to the knees or even lower. Also known as a "trapper", it sometimes had a hole for the saddle.
Chanfron: Head armor.
Crinet: Protects the back and sides of the animal’s neck.
Peytral: A rigid plate protecting the chest.
Crupper: Plate armor protecting the animal’s hindquarters and upper legs
Flanchards: Plate armor attached to the saddle covering the flanks of the animal. It closed the gap between crupper and peytral.
View user's profile Send private message
Jean Henri Chandler




Location: New Orleans
Joined: 20 Nov 2006

Spotlight topics: 1
Posts: 1,420

PostPosted: Thu 29 Jul, 2010 9:36 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I would like to see some images of European horse armor from 1100 - 1450 AD.

J

Books and games on Medieval Europe Codex Integrum

Codex Guide to the Medieval Baltic Now available in print
View user's profile Send private message


Display posts from previous:   
Forum Index > Off-topic Talk > Barding questions
Page 1 of 1 Reply to topic
All times are GMT - 8 Hours

View previous topic :: View next topic
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum






All contents © Copyright 2003-2024 myArmoury.com — All rights reserved
Discussion forums powered by phpBB © The phpBB Group
Switch to the Basic Low-bandwidth Version of the forum