[A Casalucci]

Apart from padded protections wich go along with the gambeson, this one seems to be an early prototype of gorget. The dating is 1240, the statue is part of a group in the wells Cathedral.
What do you think about this? Are there other proofs of such an item in this century? In miniature or effigies?
http://www.themcs.org/armour/knights/Wells%20...%20631.JPG

A.

[Harry Marinakis]

Looks to me like a typical soft, padded fabric collar that is seen throughout the Mac bible.

Mac bible, leaf 16, AD 1250

[Mark Griffin]

Could be hard, could be soft. Could be leather, metal, cloth or a combination. Could be organic plates sewn into a liner, could be mail. Could be lots of things but as long as its made out of period materials and period techniques and looks like the sources I'd have thought whatever works for you.

[Harry Marinakis]

I know Blair is a little outdated, but...

Chapter 2: The Introduction of Plate Armour
"The last decade of the 13th Century also saw the introduction of a plate defence for the chin and neck (gorget* or brevor)."
"*Not to be confused with the later gorget or collar of which it was no doubt the precursor."

So my understanding is that the mail coif provided neck protection through the 12th Century. In the early- to mid-13th Century a padded collar was added (as seen the in the Mac Bible).

As stated above, the brevor followed the last decade of the 13th century. The gorget as we know it was not introduced until the 1430s:

"Before going on to discuss the arming of the limbs reference must be made to an important new piece of armour that seems to have been introduced in the 1430's: the collar or gorget. In its usual form this consists of two main plates, at front and rear respectively, enclosing the base of the neck and extending down over the top of the chest and back;..." [Blair, Chapter 4 The Great Period]

So the progression seems to be:
12th C: mail coif
13th C: mail coif > padded collar > brevor
15th C: gorget

[Harry Marinakis]

A Casalucci,
I just found a book that says that the gorget in your photo in your post is whalebone. (Walker, History of Armour 1100-1700)

[Mart Shearer]

That certainly sounds like pure speculation, given it's only a statue. Whalebone (baleen) as a material protecting the neck is given in this English translation of Guillaume le Breton's account of Bouvines, 1214 a.d., and the Latin copy I've seen supports its use. Still, it's a far leap to say that's what is being depicted on the Wells statuary with any certainty.

http://www.deremilitari.org/RESOURCES/SOURCES/bouvines3.htm

[Harry Marinakis]

Excellent reference Mart.

[Mart Shearer]

Harry, it leaves a lot of questions regarding construction, doesn't it? Possibly baleen inserted into sewn pockets, like later "boned" corsets, although now I'm the one speculating. It would explain the Maciejowski Bible's collar with horizontal stitching lines, but so would multiple layers of linen, padding, jaserant style defenses of fabric covered mail, etc. The Wells Cathedral example certainly looks rigid, but is it baleen, leather, or something else?

[Harry Marinakis]

Very good questions.

I happened to be researching neck protection this week and am still looking through the references. I saw mention of whalebone armor in some books but nothing in enough detail to help me to understand why they used whalebone or why whalebone was so special. Which bone(s)? I keep imagining a vertebraebody hollowed out and cut in half for a gorget....

As for the neck protection on the Wells Cathedral effigy, I keep thinking that the method of closure is somehow key to figuring out its construction. For instance, the Mac bible neck protection is closed by what looks like toggles. This means its either fabric or leather. The Wells cathedral effigy gorget is closed by a frontal tie? What does that suggest?

[Mart Shearer]

Whalebone almost always refers to baleen, the keratin "teeth" of filter feeding whales. It's an interesting material like horn or plastic, with modern whaling laws limiting access. I've seen specific medieval European references to baleen being used as tournament swords, and in gorgets, gauntlets, and vambraces. It was also used in the Pacific Northwest by natives for armor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baleen

[Mart Shearer]

A few examples from an English Apocalypse of c.1250, BNF Fr. 403.
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8447298r/f10.item
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8447298r/f55.item

We see examples in both a cross-hatched brown, and patterned green. These seem to lace in the front like the Wells Cathedral example.

[Dan Howard]

All of the various types of neck protection could be made rigid - even layered cloth and mail. There are tons of mail collars made rigid from dense weaves or reinforced with leather banding. The only real discussion should be working out the best way to replicate the neck guards depicted in various illustrations.

[Mart Shearer]

The second manuscript example has one collar which matches the depiction of the belt. It certainly leads to speculation that one possibility is leather. The white edging (also seen on the green collar) might indicate a fabric lining and edging.

[Lafayette C Curtis]

It could also be heavily quilted cloth with a strip of leather added on top for decorative reasons.