[Anders Kramer]

Hi Everybody!

I am about to start writing my Bachelor thesis in medieval archaeology here in Denmark. I have decided to write about the Wisby armours and their development with comparison to the general armour evolution in Europe.

So why am I writing here. Well, i hoped the wide spread knowledge of myArmoury might have some suggestions to literature i might have missed or should use. I am seeking both general literature on the evolution of medieval armour, but also specific to the Wisby finds.

I hope you can help me!

Regards
Anders

[Gregory J. Liebau]

One major snag you're going to come up against is the fact that most of what we know about armor in the rest of Europe in the 1360s is derived from our understanding of the Visby finds. Art and architecture can only provide so many details regarding the construction and materials of historic armor, and most European depictions are reaffirmed by, rather than contrasted to, the finds at Visby. Also, you have to consider that the Visby artifacts are frozen in time, from a very particularly time and place in history. You'll have to confirm what you want this body of evidence to be represent in developing your thesis, and will need to find material from the mainland that corresponds directly to this framework as a "control," if you will, in developing your scientific comparison.

What exactly prompted your question? Is there any particular trend(s) that made you interested in a comparative work?

-Gregory

[Anders Kramer]

Yeah that's going to be a big problem. I'm not quite sure as to how exactly I am going to use the Wisby finds, i do however know that it is an important part of understanding armour of that period, and that is why i want to work with it.

Right now i am seeking all relevant literature on the subject of armour in Europe, and in Wisby so that I will have all possible information to base my thesis on.

Suggestions as to interesting angles or even complete subjects is as welcome as literature-suggestions.

Regards
Anders

[Kurt Scholz]

You might go slightly back in time to work out under what influences Scandinavian armour was. As far as I remember, they had a strong connection to Eastern European armour. So I would use this to point out that there's reason to be wary that their armour translates 1 to 1 to Western European habits. I also advise to ask people fluent in battlefield archaeology about finds pre- and postdating Visby in order to highlight how Western European Scandinavia was in warfare and how Eastern.