A piece of 15th century mail -- myArmoury.com

Thomas McDonald · myArmoury Alumni

An old friend asked me to share this with you folks, as he felt you might be interested !

Hope everyone's St. Patrick's Day weekend is going great , Mac

15th century mail
The rings appear to have round rivets and are pretty small with an average inner diameter of 6.5 to 7 millimeters.

Steve Grisetti · Posted: Sun 19 Mar, 2006 4:56 am Post subject:

Thanks, Mac. The mail looks to be in great shape with limited corrosion. Where is the "rest" of whatever garment that was the source of this piece?

Edward Hitchens · Posted: Sun 19 Mar, 2006 8:21 am Post subject:

Wow, Mac! That's awesome! Thanks for sharing this.

It looks like it's been very well preserved. You think it was part of a coif?

Thomas McDonald · myArmoury Alumni

Hi Guys

This is what Patrick relayed to me, concerning this piece of mail.

"In regards to some of those questions on the mail fragment:
It came from a european shirt that Erik was doing some repair work on. I can't remember if it was for an individual or a museum. He did say that it was the largest mail shirt he'd ever seen and that the guy must have been huge, even by today's standards."

- Mac

Greg Griggs · Posted: Wed 22 Mar, 2006 7:24 am Post subject:

It's too bad the pictures can only give a small taste of what you are seeing. A person really needs to feel - just once in his/her life - a piece of living history. When Patrick brought out his little baggy with some sort of obviously old metal rings and said "take a gander at this", I was of course intrigued. As he literally poured the maile into my hand, I felt the shivers running down my spine, knowing immediately it was something special. He waited until Linda and I had the chance to see and feel first-hand, taking in the aura of age before he spoke again with a non-chalant "Oh, by the way, that's a piece of 15th century maile". Did we drool? Damn straight we did! Were we in our own little heaven? Ohhhh yeah!

Sure, that's a corny sappy way of putting the experience, but until you've "been there, done that", don't knock it. Our imaginations take us to many places, and with a small piece of history laying in your grasp, it's unbelievable just how far you can go. The images flow freely and if you don't see some sort of pictures in your head at a time such as that, then you are not alive. I'm glad for the opportunity to see and hold a piece of history, even if it is only a small, simple bit-o-15th C. maile, for too many of us never get such a joy. I'm happy Eric sent it to Patrick, and that my friend was kind enough to share it with me. Thanks Mac for showing this to others of the community. We are losing our history much too quickly.

Bob Burns · Posted: Wed 22 Mar, 2006 1:25 pm Post subject:

Beautiful pictures Mac! Greg I've never yet been able to hold an original piece but I do very much believe in the spiritual connection that you have described! I've been to museums and viewed things of history but never been able to touch anything and that is a huge difference I would imagine.

Thanks,

Bob