Speak to me of panzerhose. Tell me everything.

I assume they're mail leggings. Are they quilted?

Attached are two 14-15th century examples found at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, München.

Are they simply cloth/quilted hosen with mail gussets? Is there mail covering other areas other than just the backs of the knees?

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Panzerhosen found at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, München

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Panzerhosen found at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, München

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Panzerhosen found at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, München

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Panzerhosen found at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, München

Seems like they might have had more mail sections around the knee area at one time, instead of that solitary patch behind the knees. Does anyone think there are some sort of small metal plates covering the leggings?

Btw, "Panzerhosen" literally means armour trousers in German....

Nathan,

I have always thought it refered to mail leggings but cannot recall having seen any pictures of existant ones before so this is a first. I wonder if closer views might not show if at one time it had more mail. I suppose though that it could be both a fully mailed hose or just like gussetted hose and still retain the same name.

RPM

Nathan,

Encountered this very subject several years ago. If I recall they are hosen or leggings worn under plate armor for the legs. The mail would at the opening to span the gap between the top and rear part of the greave and the hinged plate(s) protecting the outside and rear of the thigh.

Thanks for keeping this site in the Class Act category!

Regards,
Dan

Reviving this thread, because I'm having some trouble finding more information about these hose. I understand they are most likely an alternative to leg harness, but I want to model my armour fighting hose after them. I'm really wondering what they are made of. Certainly linen would be the most durable answer, but linen does not provide very much mobility for hose. A hard wool could work, but at least with these, there would be a concern of the plates rubbing through the fabric. Perhaps a linen warp, wool weft? Seems like a best of both worlds.

But surely there is a description somewhere from the museum just saying what material they are?

In Pietro Monte's discussion of light armour, he talks about making leg protection with mail sewn into hose.

There's a set of these reconstructed in the Art Institute of Chicago which has tiny metal plates sewn between two layers of fabric. I think they're based on something they have in the archives, but it's been some years since I visited and I can no longer remember exactly what the curator said about them.

There is new research going on.

A treatise on the "Panzerhose" was recently published within a catalogue, presenting some special items kept at the Bayerisches Armeemuseum in Ingolstadt:

Christopher Retsch: Die Panzerhose im Bayerischen Armeemuseum. Hosen als Rüstungsteile im Spätmittelalter und in der Frühen Neuzeit. In: Plattenrock, Buckler und Conquistador. Aus der Schatzkammer des Bayerischen Armeemuseums. Kataloge des Bayerischen Armeemuseums Band 20. Ingolstadt 2021. Pages 190-211.

There is also another (short legged) "Panzerhose" kept at the Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford) mentioned in the treatise of Christopher Retsch. Both can be dated from the very late 15th until the mid 16th century.

The catalogue is completlely in German, but will also be available in English soon. Fortunately the catalogue can be downloaded as PDF for free on the museum's website:
https://www.armeemuseum.de/de/ausstellungen/armeemuseum-im-neuen-schloss/schatzkammer.html