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Forum Index > Off-topic Talk > The 13th Century Man-At-Arms / Knight Reply to topic
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Grayson C.




Location: NCF, Sarasota, FL
Joined: 25 Oct 2006

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PostPosted: Wed 15 Nov, 2006 6:37 pm    Post subject: The 13th Century Man-At-Arms / Knight         Reply with quote

I'm afraid my knowledge of historical armour and weapons is certainly lacking

My question is this: What would the average 13th century man-at-arms/knight be wearing and wielding (a bit more specific than a sword and chainmaille please Razz )? What style of sword, what type of shield (if any), other weapons, type of chainmaille (both ring number [4 in 1, 6 in 1, etc...] and length), what helm, and finally what undergarmets (clothes, boots, etc..).



Thanks for your help! I'm a bit new here, so pardon my ignorance Happy
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Jared Smith




Location: Tennessee
Joined: 10 Feb 2005
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PostPosted: Wed 15 Nov, 2006 6:44 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I am interested too. I have been calling around today for a small (100 pound or 50 kilogram range) forging anvil to assist in making riveted chain and trasition era pieces of plate (elbow and knee cops, helmet.)

If we narrow this down a bit (lets say close to 1250 A.D.), and separate man at arms from "elite knight" there are probably more definative answers..... There was a lot of change between 1250 to 1300 (increasing use of plate.)

There is a range of things that could be passed off during this century as appropriate to men at arms and knights, but I suspect some equipment appeared on knights first.....

Absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence!
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Al Muckart




Location: NZ
Joined: 27 Dec 2005

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PostPosted: Wed 15 Nov, 2006 10:14 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hi there,

The best pictorial reference for the information you are after is the Maciejowski Bible, which is dated somewhere between the mid 13th, and very early 14th centuries, depending on who you ask.

There is an ugly, but useful site which contains the entire thing, and some detail pictures at this URL:
http://www.medievaltymes.com/courtyard/maciejowski_bible.htm

You should also try and track down a copy of Arms and Armor of the Medieval Knight by David Edge and John Miles Paddock which also has a lot of the information you are after.

I would also recommend having a look through the Manesse Codex, which is dated to the early/mid 14th century, but which depicts fashions and accoutrements more readily associated with the mid-late 13th century.

There is a facsimile of the entire manuscript available online at:
http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/cpg848

--
Al.
http://wherearetheelves.net
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Elling Polden




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PostPosted: Thu 16 Nov, 2006 3:14 am    Post subject: Re: The 13th Century Man-At-Arms / Knight         Reply with quote

Grayson C. wrote:
I
My question is this: What would the average 13th century man-at-arms/knight be wearing and wielding (a bit more specific than a sword and chainmaille please Razz )? What style of sword, what type of shield (if any), other weapons, type of chainmaille (both ring number [4 in 1, 6 in 1, etc...] and length), what helm, and finally what undergarmets (clothes, boots, etc..).


A typical 13th century knight has a kit consisting of;
-Arming coat-Not buttoned or buckled, max mid thigh length
-Mail hauberk, mid thigh to knee lenght, integrated mittens; Hood integrated, or the "collar" under the surcote.
-Mail chause(leggings)
-arming breeches; covering the leggs from the knee up, probably as padding under the hauberk... The arming coat is to short to cover the thighs...
-Surcote, typically single coulour without heraldry.

Optional;
Short armed or sleeveless gambeson, over the mail
From about 1250, a coat of plates.

Men-at-arms would wear parts of the same kit, often replacing the hauberk with a gambeson.

Helmets;
Greathelm, over cervilet, for knights on horseback
Cervilets or kettlehats for anyone fighting on foot.

Shields can be both kite and heather types, but the kites are late forms without the decorational shield bosses.

Swords are late hewing types, and early stabbing swords; typically type XII, some XIII and XIV in the later parts of the century. Straight curiform hilts for the win.

The primary polearm is the spear, in one and two handed varieties. The spearheads ar typically short. Some have wings. Two handed axes and glaives appear. No helbards or bills as of yet.

The undergarments are the strandard civilian kit; linen undertunic, Braies, and hose. Shoes are low or ancle high turnshoes. Regular tunics are wool, just above knee length, and typically without braiding or embroidery.

Mail is as always 4:1

Hope that helps

"this [fight] looks curious, almost like a game. See, they are looking around them before they fall, to find a dry spot to fall on, or they are falling on their shields. Can you see blood on their cloths and weapons? No. This must be trickery."
-Reidar Sendeman, from King Sverre's Saga, 1201
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