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hrjThis is going to be image-heavy so it's going behind a cut. The presenters explicitly allowed photographs to be taken and shared, given proper credit. The presenters (La Belle Compagnie) are a highly professional historic re-enactment group and did a wonderful presentation. They also have a gorgeous glossy coffee-table book on their activities The Peel Affinity which a recommend if you want to see more of what they do. By the way, this blog entry was posted within 15 minutes of the end of the presentation (including photo editing). So don't expect miracles.
Session 308 Fetzer 1005
Dress and Textiles II: How Shall a Man Be Armed? (A Demonstration)
Sponsor: DISTAFF (Discussion, Interpretation, and Study of Textile Arts, Fabrics, and Fashion)
Organizer: Robin Netherton, DISTAFF
Presider: Gale R. Owen-Crocker, Univ. of Manchester
Evolution of Armor during the Hundred Years War
Liz Johnson, La Belle Compagnie
Members of La Belle Compagnie, a living history organization focusing on English life during the period of the Hundred Years War, will dress four representative English “knights” (from approximately 1350, 1380, 1415, and 1450) in historically accurate reproduction armor to illustrate trends in armor design and techniques over this period. The presentation will include documentary, pictorial, and material evidence, supplemented by the knights’ feedback on the practical experience of wearing and working in each type of armor. The knights: James Barker, La Belle Compagnie; Thomas Taylor, La Belle Compagnie; Bob Charrette, La Belle Compagnie; and Jeff Johnson, La Belle Compagnie.
The focus here is specifically on English equipment. This isn't necessarily cutting-edge equipment, personal gear frequently built up overtime with pieces retained or replaced at need. Focus on foot-soldier. Equipment here is "typical" but may fall within a range of variation.
Under layers (not donned during the demo)
Note especially the changes in the hose, from separate pointed hose to joined full hose. Literary descriptions differ on whether a shirt should be worn, but practicality rules here. Over that, each model wears a doublet. The doublet may or may not have points attached to it (as opposed to being attached through lacing holes).
1337 -Knee-length doublet, fairly unshaped, high neck
1380 - Closely tailored doublet with grande assiette sleeves, shorter
1415 - Again, fitted, but with more conventional armscye. Quilting patterns also shift over time.
1450 - Similar and shorter, but with attached sections of mail on the shoulders
The 1380 & 1415 outfits include sabatons (shoes)
Legs may be full (3 later) or partial. 1337 wears mail on the lower leg and plate on the upper.
Some practical discussion of wear and fit issues and how they were fixed. Documentation/evidence for strapping systems is a problem so trial and error has established some approaches. 1380 has the legs pointed to the doublet itself, plus strapped at the greave to distribute the length. 13880 and 1450 have half-leather on the upper leg where they would sit in the saddle, which is more comfortable and secure than straps alone.
Shift from mail enhanced with plate to plate supplemented by mail. The earlier 2 have full mail shirts while the later 2 have only partial mail over the shoulders and with a lower skirt suspended from leather.
Torso armor: 1337 Visby style plates under leather. 1380 much smaller plates rivetted to leather in the skirts with a solid breast. 1415 solid breast with segmented skirt. 1450 separate breast and lower torso attached to segmented skirts allowing for more torso flexibility. By 1415 armor less likely to be covered by cloth or leather. (Not talking about surcoats but integral coverings. The demonstration doesn't include surcoats in order to show the armor more clearly.)
1450 has a few additions for jousting (lance rest and stop-rib on the breast).
Neck/shoulder: Earlier 3 have mail collars while the latest relies only on the helmet. Arms: earliest has only vambraces while later 3 all have full articulated arms. Misc. items of shoulder protection will show up in later photos in the series.
Multiple styles of sword belt found during this era. By 1450 sword belts were going out of style and the sword is buckled diretly to the cuirass.
Sword lengths and widths vary according to the type of armor they're trying to get through.
Helmets are the best documented item through survivals. Worn with padded liners.
Gaunntlets, much like the body armor, evolve over the several examples from small plates rivetted to leather through fully articulated with larger solid plates on the hand and wrist, but 1450 is more like a mitten with smaller coverage of the movable plates on the fingers.
Primary weapons are spear/poleaxe type, with the poleaxes designed for use against plate armor.
Various alternate pieces of armor were demonstrated, especially for tournament use.
Session 308 Fetzer 1005
Dress and Textiles II: How Shall a Man Be Armed? (A Demonstration)
Sponsor: DISTAFF (Discussion, Interpretation, and Study of Textile Arts, Fabrics, and Fashion)
Organizer: Robin Netherton, DISTAFF
Presider: Gale R. Owen-Crocker, Univ. of Manchester
Evolution of Armor during the Hundred Years War
Liz Johnson, La Belle Compagnie
Members of La Belle Compagnie, a living history organization focusing on English life during the period of the Hundred Years War, will dress four representative English “knights” (from approximately 1350, 1380, 1415, and 1450) in historically accurate reproduction armor to illustrate trends in armor design and techniques over this period. The presentation will include documentary, pictorial, and material evidence, supplemented by the knights’ feedback on the practical experience of wearing and working in each type of armor. The knights: James Barker, La Belle Compagnie; Thomas Taylor, La Belle Compagnie; Bob Charrette, La Belle Compagnie; and Jeff Johnson, La Belle Compagnie.
The focus here is specifically on English equipment. This isn't necessarily cutting-edge equipment, personal gear frequently built up overtime with pieces retained or replaced at need. Focus on foot-soldier. Equipment here is "typical" but may fall within a range of variation.
Under layers (not donned during the demo)
Note especially the changes in the hose, from separate pointed hose to joined full hose. Literary descriptions differ on whether a shirt should be worn, but practicality rules here. Over that, each model wears a doublet. The doublet may or may not have points attached to it (as opposed to being attached through lacing holes).
1337 -Knee-length doublet, fairly unshaped, high neck
1380 - Closely tailored doublet with grande assiette sleeves, shorter
1415 - Again, fitted, but with more conventional armscye. Quilting patterns also shift over time.
1450 - Similar and shorter, but with attached sections of mail on the shoulders
The 1380 & 1415 outfits include sabatons (shoes)
Legs may be full (3 later) or partial. 1337 wears mail on the lower leg and plate on the upper.
Some practical discussion of wear and fit issues and how they were fixed. Documentation/evidence for strapping systems is a problem so trial and error has established some approaches. 1380 has the legs pointed to the doublet itself, plus strapped at the greave to distribute the length. 13880 and 1450 have half-leather on the upper leg where they would sit in the saddle, which is more comfortable and secure than straps alone.
Shift from mail enhanced with plate to plate supplemented by mail. The earlier 2 have full mail shirts while the later 2 have only partial mail over the shoulders and with a lower skirt suspended from leather.
Torso armor: 1337 Visby style plates under leather. 1380 much smaller plates rivetted to leather in the skirts with a solid breast. 1415 solid breast with segmented skirt. 1450 separate breast and lower torso attached to segmented skirts allowing for more torso flexibility. By 1415 armor less likely to be covered by cloth or leather. (Not talking about surcoats but integral coverings. The demonstration doesn't include surcoats in order to show the armor more clearly.)
1450 has a few additions for jousting (lance rest and stop-rib on the breast).
Neck/shoulder: Earlier 3 have mail collars while the latest relies only on the helmet. Arms: earliest has only vambraces while later 3 all have full articulated arms. Misc. items of shoulder protection will show up in later photos in the series.
Multiple styles of sword belt found during this era. By 1450 sword belts were going out of style and the sword is buckled diretly to the cuirass.
Sword lengths and widths vary according to the type of armor they're trying to get through.
Helmets are the best documented item through survivals. Worn with padded liners.
Gaunntlets, much like the body armor, evolve over the several examples from small plates rivetted to leather through fully articulated with larger solid plates on the hand and wrist, but 1450 is more like a mitten with smaller coverage of the movable plates on the fingers.
Primary weapons are spear/poleaxe type, with the poleaxes designed for use against plate armor.
Various alternate pieces of armor were demonstrated, especially for tournament use.
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Date: 2013-05-11 12:38 am (UTC)Thanks!
Date: 2013-05-11 02:17 am (UTC)Re: Thanks!
Date: 2013-05-11 03:20 am (UTC)Re: Thanks!
Date: 2013-05-11 05:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-11 01:52 pm (UTC)Thanks for the write-up!