Hi,

I was wondering if anybody could help me by providing a list of primary sources that mention arms and armour from the european medieval period for purposes of academic study. I already have a large list of the major fighting manuals - Fiore, Talhoffer, Ringeck, Vadi, Silver etc... but am still trying to add other primary sources (ie not fight manuals) that make reference to weapons/armour. If anyone can help me to build this list it would be greatly appreciated. I am specifically interested in polearms and the poleaxe.

Also does anyone know of any Australian or NewZealand academics working in this area (ie historical fight manuals, medieval military history, HEMA, arms/armour)? I have contacted a number of Academic institutions here in Australia but researchers in these fields seem to be few and far between.

Apologies for making this a multi-question post but I'll make this my last enquiry. I would also appreciate any information you have concerning relevant databases and/or academic journals that discuss military history, arms and armour and/or HEMA.

Thanks so much, any help is greatly appreciated.

Douglas Eacersall

The Reading List (s) on this site are a good place to start. Use the "books" link at the upper right on the home page.
Welcome to the site, BTW :D

An absolute essential from the list is Claude Blair's European Armour which is THE scholarly foundational text on the subject. If you don't have it, you don't have nothin'. ;) It may be 50 years old, and Mr. Blair has been intending to update it (maybe Toby Capwell will do it!), but there's nothing else that fills that niche.

Yep. You should read Blair from cover to cover before touching any other book on the subject.

If you are interested in fight manuals then Stephen Hand is the man to contact in Australia.
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/profile.php?mod...amp;u=2438

BENNETT et al., Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World ..., Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin Press 2005
ISBN: 0-312-34820-7
and
Snook's Halberds: http://www.myArmoury.com/books/item.php?ASIN=0919316387