[Matt Fields]

Hi all,

I am looking to build a new belt and scabbard for a late 14C knight setup, it will include an Arming Sword and Rondel Dagger.

Do any of you have any authentic examples of how this would look? is the scabbard vertical or offset? where did the dagger sit in the setup?

Any help/examples greatly appreciated.

[Alan Schiff]

I haven't looked into late 14th century belts, I'm more into early to mid 14th century stuff, but take a look at http://effigiesandbrasses.com/search/. You can search by date and by location if you want a specific region's look.

Hope that helps,
Alan

[Ian S LaSpina]

Late 14th C Knightly effigies almost always depict the sword scabbard hanging vertically from the plaque belt. The means of suspension is a bit of a mystery. Some effigies do give us a visual on how the daggers are suspended. They're typically just looped over the plaque belt using a simple leather thong or cord.

Here you can plainly see the dagger suspension on this rondel (1391, England)


As for the swords, a simple cord or loop is probably not quite enough to suspend it. What you will notice though is that virtually every knightly effigy that shows the sword suspended shows a scabbard with what appears to be a metal throat locket. The throat locket is usually in line with the plaque belt or sits just below the belt. The key to the suspension is related to that locket.

There is archaeological evidence and artistic evidence for two possible solutions. The first is a staple on the back of the throat locket. Here is an example of a find with a staple on the back of the locket. Through this staple a leather strap can be passed and then suspended to the belt. It will produce the correct visual. Likely a late 14th century locket would have a horizontally aligned staple to allow the sword to hang vertically instead of wanting to be at a slight angle.

http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/201477


The second possible solution is a buckle riveted directly the back of the throat locket which would effectively allow the same technique as the staple. On this falchion scabbard you can see what appears to be a buckle from a carving of the Guard of the Holy Sepulchre dated to 1345. The same could have been done for a cruciform sword scabbard.



We don't see any evidence for a secondary sword belt until the very end of the century and then they become more common in the early 1400s. But until then, these are two possible solutions for suspending a sword to a plaque belt.

The living history group I do work with has experimented successfully with both methods. They function properly and yield the appropriate visual.