[Gregory J. Liebau]

Hello,

I've been reading through Harold Peterson's Arms and Armor in Colonial America 1526-1783. In the armour chapter (which is my primary focus in the text, obviously) I came across the descriptions of the Spanish cotton armour, or escaupiles. Peterson states that these were patterned after the Aztec armour, and its use spread throughout Spanish-influenced America during the late 16th century, and requests for the armour was even put in from Spain where it was exported back to from the Americas! Quoting the book, here are two references, one to the construction and one to the widespread use of these garments.

"These garments were normally made of canvas and stuffed with cotton. They had the advantage of being light and easy to wear, and in addition they were effective against the arrows of the Indians who had, indeed, devised them for that very purpose." (125)

"Since this cotton armor was so practical and also so inexpensive, it rapidly gained in popularity among the Spaniards, especially those in Florida. It was issued to soldiers at Santa Elena in 1573, and in 1577 and 1578 there were repeated requests for them from Spain and instructions that every soldier was to have one issued both from Santa Elena and St. Augustine. In the inspection of the forts of Florida made by Alvaro Flores in 1578, escaupiles were the only kind of armor listed in the official stores with the exception of one buckler." (125)

So, now that the reader knows what I'm talking about, someone tell me how these things looked! How tightly woven would the layers be, or how many layers would there be? What other information can I get on these garments? Are there any surviving examples? I'm very excited about the idea of reproducing one of these with the help of a local seamstress and wearing it for my late 16th century impression.

Cheers!

-Gregory-

[Sean Flynt]

I don't know about the "patterned after the Aztec armour" part. It's possible, but such armour was in use in Europe for a very long time before the Conquest. It may be that the Spanish colonial experience simply forshadowed the English colonial experience--colonists/soldiers abandoned plate armour for "outmoded" forms such as the jack because the cloth or mixed cloth and plate armour was sufficient defense against native weapons and was significantly lighter and more flexible than plate. It's conceivable that the Aztec armour inspired the Spanish to revive the European cloth armour tradition of late 15th/early 16th c., maybe with some Aztec influence thrown in as needed to defend against their arms and tactics. Looking at a 16th c. European jack of plate, it's hard to imagine that anybody could teach the Europeans about making quality cloth armour. I can certainly imagine them applying their traditional techniques to designs suited to the specific demands of combat in the New World, though.

HP' s book is great, but dated, and should be double-checked when undertaking serious research. Beverly Straub's intro to the new edition gives some sense of where HP was wrong about the English experience, for example. There may be similar problems with his South/Central Am. writing as well.

In HP's defense, dying at such a young age froze him in time, for better or worse. He simply didn't have available to him all the research of the intervening years and didn't have a chance to update his work.