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Emil Andersson




Location: Sweden
Joined: 17 Oct 2010

Posts: 136

PostPosted: Sun 30 Jan, 2011 10:34 am    Post subject: "3/4 plate armour"         Reply with quote

Hello,

When it comes to medieval harnesses I've seen some mentioning of a term called 3/4 or three quarters plate armour/harness, but I haven't been able to find any good illustrations of how this would look. My guess is that it was the kind of armour that normally mounted knights would wear while fighting on foot in order to reduce weight and heat buildup where protection could be spared, but how was it done?

Any descriptions or images to help me visualise this better would be great.

Thanks,
Emil Andersson
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Mikko Kuusirati




Location: Finland
Joined: 16 Nov 2004
Reading list: 13 books

Posts: 1,084

PostPosted: Sun 30 Jan, 2011 12:27 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

It's a particular configuration of plate harness, essentially leaving out the lower leg defenses to shed some weight and improve mobility. Like this.
"And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That's what sin is."
— Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum
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Gottfried P. Doerler




Location: Tyrol, Austria
Joined: 11 Oct 2009
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PostPosted: Sun 30 Jan, 2011 12:30 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

i think, 3/4 armour is not medieval, rather 17th century.
cuirassers in the beginning of the 30-years-war often carried 3/4 armour, problably also in the english civil war.
as far as i can remember in contrast to some other forms of reduced armour, (half-armour e.g.) the 3/4 still has integrated protection for the knees (poleyns ?).



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3/4-armour

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images2.jpg
this would be half-armour - without knee-caps
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Mikko Kuusirati




Location: Finland
Joined: 16 Nov 2004
Reading list: 13 books

Posts: 1,084

PostPosted: Mon 31 Jan, 2011 2:15 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Good points, yeah. Also note that the half armour features stripped down arm defenses, in addition to the legs.
"And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That's what sin is."
— Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum
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William Knight




Location: Mid atlantic, US
Joined: 02 Oct 2005

Posts: 133

PostPosted: Mon 31 Jan, 2011 7:37 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

You also see some 3/4 harnesses in the 16th century, particularly on medium cavalrymen.

An early depiction of it is Durer's Knight the Devil and Death from 1513, if you look closely the Knight is not wearing sabbatons or the lower half of his greave:



EDIT:
I'd forgotten that the studies that turned into the Knight the Devil and Death came over a decade earlier; this one is from the later 1490s: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons...r_1495.jpg

In general, I've seen a lot more 3/4 harness on cavalry than infantry, and it is probable that it's popularity varied from country to country for different uses.
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