Info Favorites Register Log in
myArmoury.com Discussion Forums

Forum index Memberlist Usergroups Spotlight Topics Search
Forum Index > Historical Arms Talk > wearing the dagger in armour (13th century) Reply to topic
This is a standard topic  
Author Message
William P




Location: Sydney, Australia
Joined: 11 Jul 2010

Posts: 1,523

PostPosted: Tue 03 Mar, 2020 5:05 am    Post subject: wearing the dagger in armour (13th century)         Reply with quote

the question is simple, what is the general consensus on how knights and other men of war wore their daggers and also belts


was the dagger worn from the sword belt directly or, did it hang from the 'normal' belt much like one would wear in civilian life and have the sword belt fasten over the hanging thongings ( and this belt would also be ACTAULLY responsible for helping cinch the mail at the waist (sword belts seem a tad.. droopy, to do that..)
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Craig Peters




PostPosted: Tue 03 Mar, 2020 10:17 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hi William,

As best as I can tell, it would have hung on the sword belt. If you look at manuscripts that show illustrations of men using daggers, like the Maciejowski Bible or Codex Manesse, you do not see men wearing daggers in civilian contexts. Some re-enactors like to wear belts in a civilian context with pouches hanging off and daggers or knives hanging, but this probably wouldn't be correct unless you're specifically portraying a character on pilgrimage or otherwise travelling.

Please bear in mind I'm not saying they were never worn in civilian contexts; I'm just saying it was probably rare. Therefore, I would thinking wearing them on a sword belt would be the norm.
View user's profile Send private message
Anthony Clipsom




Location: YORKSHIRE, UK
Joined: 27 Jul 2009

Posts: 308

PostPosted: Wed 04 Mar, 2020 10:45 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I'm finding it difficult to find images of 13th century people in armour wearing daggers. If you do an image search through http://effigiesandbrasses.com/ you'll struggle to find any, though there are score of two-belt effigies. This may suggest that the dagger was not a standard part of the war gear of a knight at this time.
Anthony Clipsom
View user's profile Send private message
Ed W.




Location: New Zealand
Joined: 27 Mar 2016

Posts: 42

PostPosted: Wed 04 Mar, 2020 1:53 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Craig Peters wrote:

As best as I can tell, it would have hung on the sword belt. If you look at manuscripts that show illustrations of men using daggers, like the Maciejowski Bible or Codex Manesse, you do not see men wearing daggers in civilian contexts. Some re-enactors like to wear belts in a civilian context with pouches hanging off and daggers or knives hanging, but this probably wouldn't be correct unless you're specifically portraying a character on pilgrimage or otherwise travelling.

Please bear in mind I'm not saying they were never worn in civilian contexts; I'm just saying it was probably rare. Therefore, I would thinking wearing them on a sword belt would be the norm.


This is something that has puzzled me for a while as well. In the Mac Bible there are plenty of images of knights waving daggers about in combat, but I haven't been able to find a single image of how they're worn/carried in a military context either.

I'd love for someone to prove me wrong and find an image in the Mac Bible of a dagger being worn.

Ed.
View user's profile Send private message
Lloyd Winter




Location: Los Angeles
Joined: 27 Aug 2011

Posts: 201

PostPosted: Wed 04 Mar, 2020 5:51 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I’ve never been able to find any pics in the Morgan Bible of people actually wearing daggers. I’ve found one 13th century picture from another manuscript in the Morgan (dated 1260-1270) that shows 2 men, both wearing basilards

http://manuscriptminiatures.com/4718/12489/

Why then the worlds mine oyster
Which I with sword will open.
View user's profile Send private message
Anthony Clipsom




Location: YORKSHIRE, UK
Joined: 27 Jul 2009

Posts: 308

PostPosted: Wed 04 Mar, 2020 11:37 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Lloyd Winter wrote:
I’ve never been able to find any pics in the Morgan Bible of people actually wearing daggers. I’ve found one 13th century picture from another manuscript in the Morgan (dated 1260-1270) that shows 2 men, both wearing basilards


There is also this, from the Abingdon apocalypse

http://manuscriptminiatures.com/4075/12333/

Two rondel daggers suspended by hangers from the belt. Again, though, these men are only wearing a single belt.

Anthony Clipsom
View user's profile Send private message


Display posts from previous:   
Forum Index > Historical Arms Talk > wearing the dagger in armour (13th century)
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