You know the guy who came up with "Throat of Plates" had to be the pun guy everyone hated. "What do you call a coat lined with plate defenses? A coat of plates. What do you call a plate armor collar for a coat of plates? A THROAT OF PLATES! Get it? Get it?!" "Yes, John, we get it...Just like we got it yesterday....and every other day this week...."
At 15:47, is that your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather?
Knyght Errant Woah! I never thought you'd respond to that! I'm glad if I at least made you chuckle :) My wife and I love to watch your videos. She's an eager novice when it comes to armor and it is just as enjoyable to watch as your videos. Just a fanboy wanting to say that.
I really REALLY love your videos, not only I have an interest in armor, but I am also an artist, and your videos have been helping me soooo much to draw and design better armor. Thank you very much!!!
I just found your channel and I must say, It is bloody awesome. You remind me of Ian from forgotten weapons but with medieval armour and history. Keep it man you earned another sub!
Doubt it, just like I have zero interest in any historical combat after Agincourt... All that pesky gunpowder took the skill out of warefare.. No longer could you reasonably assume your skills can help keep you alive.. Now, war is random chance. Increased the stress results from people unable to have a locus of control over their situation, or the fight..
I love the videos! They are so incredibly detailed and informative. It seems like everyone on UA-cam focuses on the weapons but rarely the armor so I appreciate this immensely. But could you provide some more information on where you get all of these pieces of armor? And how the armor buying process works (Did you send in castings? Did you give measurements? Are they all custom made? Are there some features we can possibly skimp on to save money?)? Thanks again!
+TheWiseGuyzz I will cover some of that stuff in future videos, and some of it has been covered in previous videos (like the greaves video, I show the plaster leg casts a bit). All of my armor was custom made, most of it by Jeff Wasson. I went to him for initial fittings and he took a combination of tracings and measurements. Casts were used for the greaves specifically. My helmet was made by a different armorer, Piotr Feret, and since he lives in Europe and I in the US, he guided me through a series of measurements with large calipers to provide him precise data.
I'm so glad this glorious channel is on here, the videos you make are extremely well-researched, thought-out, and historical. You also obviously spend a lot of time making these videos. You have gained a new subscriber, good sir!
+*Hubert C* your google + settings are preventing me from replying directly to your question, but the dagger is just an Arms and Armor rondel dagger, a friend and I made the sheath for it (arms-n-armor.com/dagg110.html)
Here's a topic for common reproduction errors: Many mail collars are way to big and rest on your shoulders. It's kind of funny considering that it makes it more expensive and takes longer to make.
As many helmets in the14th century had aventails I can imagine it being a pain it the proverbial to work out if plated throat armour is additionally in use.
Small aside that I expect was left out for flow and clarity: I have seen a fair amount of research showing the rise of the avantail in eastern Europe (specifically Byzantium) centuries earlier. (Even in conjunction with much more minimal helms, such as skullcaps) I suspect this has something to do with the climate, with the additional airflow around the neck making it much more appealing than the coifs that were popular at the same time in the west. I've also seen research showing them made from padding or lamalar instead of mail at times, though I unfortunately don't have any information about layered construction. Also, while I expect similar armor through the rest of the middle east at the time, I don't know whether the development of this piece of neck armor is connected or paralleled between eastern and western Europe.
***** Try reading that again. I was talking about the avantail as an armor piece not the mail it was usually made from. When? The video mentioned a date for the adoption of avantail designs. My post wasn't without sufficient context clues. Please try to double-check your reading comprehension before you take that kind of insulting tone with me or anyone else.
I always appreciated the gorget and bevor used in conjunction with either the sallet or kettle helm. Used with a coif, that always seemed to me to be a good combination of protection, visibility/environment awareness and mobility. Given a choice I'd go with a sallet, but I think in this regard the kettle helm would be a great option too.
In the movies the main character doesn't wear a helmet so he looks cool killing bad guys. In reality you would have this on so you don't die. That quote is legendary.
Certain styles of greathelm barbers (two good examples in La fleur des histoires de la terre d'Orient des Hayton the two knights closest to the Moors) seem to be purposed for throat defence, and great helms are depicted with a plated colar in the (Roman de Troyes in conjunction with a visor(which surely cannot be opened in conjuncture with the gorget?)) I thought I'd bring these up as they're on subject and cool.
I just finished my own reproduction of mail pisan inspired by yours a lot, that means similar shape of mail, in sewn quilted fabric, soft leather around the neck and two leathers straps on the back, brass buckles in my case. Yet I have to say that I was little bit "sad" and dissapinted seeing that my weighs approximately 800g and yours just 595g :D 200g is not that much but it's still 1/4 of yours. No big deal of course but I was really excited about the final result compared to yours. Anyway thank you for your videos being good help during this small project of mine.
looking at that drawing at 15:51 it really looks like that knight is extra padded around the neck, almost like he might have so much padding it would prevent his neck from snapping back in a hard blow to the head. (sort of like those U shaped airplane pillows)
Howdy. Would be really nice if you make some videos on "common setups" for different kinds of soldiers. We kinda get what knights are wearing, and what other soldiers are wearing, but no specific information on crossbowmen, archers, guys with spears or guys with zweihanders. Mb they had some specialized helmets or pauldrons. Would love to watch such a video.
Zweihänders as far as I know only came to in the 16th century and they were used by knights or mercenaries (such as the Landsknecht) as an alternative to a polearm. They would generally be quite kitted out with quite good armor. General use of it is speculated to be breaking pike formations, so I imagine they would have the armor to back that up.
I haven't gone that far back in your videos to know this if it was mentioned, but I never knew that little thing I see on a number of breastplates was a stop rib and not just something to show off a little on their armors for design purposes. Pretty cool to know that little detail.
Would you please do a video specifically about gorgets and raised plate neck protection. I’m not really interested in beverages, but I like the clothes fitted gorget which looks like the Maximilian Gorget, and I’m also interested in just the standing plate method.
i swore i saw an drawing/painting of a knight with domed visored great bascinet with aventail. and aventail had leather strap going under armpit on both sides. and armpit had small oval hinged plate. but i was pretty young. it could be some fantasy or w/e
There's a really nice example of a C14th mail collar on display in the British Museum, showing the differences in the weave very nicely: britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe/m/mail_collar.aspx It's interesting that the Vendels and 'Vikings' had helmets with mail attached to form a kind of bevor/aventail, very similar in effect to the later periods. It makes you wonder why it went out of use/fashion.
is the effectiveness of the stop-rib hindered by the aventale? Or is it more for when an aventale is not present? very informative video again from you, thanks for taking the time to make these edit: you answered this aswel :D
+ILikeToColourRed The stop-rib really only becomes necessary if your opponent got under your aventail in the first place, so no it doesn't really hinder its function at all. Now if you wore the pizane (mail collar) over the stop rib as well, I think you'd start to degrade your defense a little more at that point.
Lol... back in the day I would argue with my DM that the neck was unprotected because it didn't say anywhere that you had specific protection and because I thought of helmets as we do in daily life (where the neck is not protected most of the time). I see now that not only was it protected, but probably the almost _the_ best protected part of the body. :)
Hey! I'd recognize the bishop's mantle at 8:45 anywhere! That's the one from the St. Louis Art Museum, right?? I've spent quite a lot of time peering closely at that piece. My favorite piece in the whole arms & armor collection.
Well I think you don't neet do thrust or slash through the aventail and pisan (not sure about the spelling). If they hit you hard with sword or mace, they'll broke your neck. Even if they'd thrust into the aventail and they wouldn't go through, it would still be painfull punch in the armed throat...
+Tom Riley I'm not sure the aventail is as ineffective as you're making it out to be. The way it hangs from the helmet, it acts to kind of catch impacts from the front. A significant amount of the energy of the blow is removed before it actually gets to your neck. The neck is also not a static target, so no one is standing there with their neck extended looking to take a shot, it's constantly in motion and a competent fighter will do their best not to present a vulnerability to their opponent. You have to keep in mind that people's lives once depended on these things and they wouldn't have worn pieces of kit that didn't work. I can tell you from 10 years of military experience we simply didn't use the junk that didn't work like we needed it to. The aventail in this form was in use for nearly a century. Also keep in mind that armor doesn't need to make you invulnerable to be useful, it needs to make the fight survivable more often than not.
Interesting watch, it is nice to see how the details, such as the stop rib working in conjuction with the aventail, really work together in order to maximise defense. on another note, i am currently working on the gear a fully armored cavaleiro might have had 1139 at the battle of Orique, and am looking for information about how a coif would have been designed around that era. Does anyone know of any good sources one might find?
Would the pixane go over your haubergeon? That would be three layers of mail in total wouldn't it? Also, is all the lining linen stuffed with cotton for all the various bits of armour you wear?
+Lukas Walmsley The haubergeon does not have it's own collar, so even though the pizan sits on top of it, it's not adding an additional layer over the throat itself. Some haubergeons did have collars as described in some inventories, which in that case, yes you could end up with three layers of mail. The lining of the pisan is linen stuffed with cotton and so is my arming coat. Those are the only stuffed layers that I wear in my armor.
really nice Video, but I think that the Collar in the 13th C was not integrated in the Gambeson. One reason is that in Historical Texts it often has a extra name (Koller, Collier) and the other one is that its often showen in a other Collar (Mac-Bibel for instance).
That's interesting with the stop rib, I'm wondering, why not just make an exaggerated rolled edge to the neck opening of the breastplate too, for a little extra protection?
In the 1425-1450 range there also depictions of plate collars as throat defence. Often seemingly disconnect from the helmet worn. As in: manuscriptminiatures.com/4530/8532/ or commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Brabantsche_yeesten#/media/File:Battle_of_Worringen_1288.PNG Was this like a bevor? Because it seems not to be much form fitted to the chin but just simple and round for the neck. It also seems to be ridgedly fixed on top of the cuirass allot of the times. Any idea how this style of throat defence was used in period? And how much movement of the neck would be still left with this type of defence? It seems to me that this throat defence was very common and depending on the situation a more flexible or more protective helmet would be worn. As per usual although the events of the manuscript depict the battle of worringen and events surrounding it in 1288 the kit worn is defenitly of the time period of the production of the manuscript around 1425-1450.
I bet you get this a lot, but could you do something on arrows? I know that it is completely ridiculous to try and shoot an arrow through plate but it seems to me that even in this "weakness" of your throat protection that you showed here its very unlikely for an arrow to punch through that.
Knyght Errant by the way, Sir, is there any place you’d recommend to purchase a gambeson that’s closely resembles your design and construction? Again, I greatly appreciate your time and consideration. Many thanks and very best regards, William
If you mean an arming doublet, something that is being used as the foundation for plate armor, especially if armor will attach to it, the garment must be fit well to the wearer. Historically, styles vary by region and specific time period, if accuracy is a concern. It should really be fit in person if at all possible, but that's easier said than done. Places like 'AD1410' are doing pretty good work based on measurements if you don't have the opportunity to go to a custom tailor or to make it yourself. A more 'off-the-shelf' style garment, although still made to measure is the fantastic arming doublet by Gwen at Historic Enterprises. It uses some modern concessions to get a tight fit on multiple body shapes, but from a practical standpoint it works very well as a foundation for a 15th century style armor. A true gambeson is usually a much stouter garment and contrary to the way the term it's most used today, often found on the outside or as a standalone fabric armor, although the historical usage is inconsistent. Under plate armor, arming doublets or aketons are generally much more form fit and far less padded, especially by the time complete plate armors are commonplace. AD1410 - facebook.com/ad1410com/ Historic Enterprises - historicenterprises.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=101_135&products_id=713
Knyght Errant Sir, I am in your debt. Your time, knowledge and willingness to share these with your audience is a rare thing indeed. Now, I’m off to find your Patreon page to join immediately! I honestly can’t thank you enough. My very best regards, William S.
Would it make sense to tuck the aventail under the breastplate? Might be a tight fit, but you could even get a blacksmith to expand the throat of the breastplate a bit to allow room for the aventail.
+Xanatos712 It would kind of negate the mobility advantage of an aventail. You wouldn't be able to freely move your head anymore, and might as well just use a plate defense at that point. Not to mention taking your helmet on and off would become very tedious. You wouldn't be able to get it off without removing your breastplate which is no good.
If you have a plate bevor would a mail pizon be that useful? With a rigid plate wouldn't it be impossible for something to get under and slide far enough to touch your neck?
Blades can find their way between two plates without too much trouble in some circumstances. Most bevors are not rigidly attached to the breastplate, and even the ones that are are usually only attached at the central bottom point. A smooth breastplate can sometimes guide a narrow blade underneath a bevor or under the collar plates of a great bascinet. Having that last line of defense is important since the throat is one of the few places on the body that doesn't need a whole lot of penetration to result in a critical injury. It seems our medieval counterparts considered the mail standard / pizan an essential piece of kit even under more complete plate neck protection.
@@KnyghtErrant Yeah, I was thinking maybe because of the weird angle something would have to come in at to reach your neck would be pretty rare but I guess debating it isn't worth the couple ounces and a couple rows of mail.
Hey Ian, First of all; thank you for another very informative video on the details of (your) 14th century armour. Concerning the mail collar, I have a question though: Are there any examples of the time-period you display, where the mail collar is an integral part of the mail shirt? I have recently seen a lot of people from my emmediate sorroundings cut the fronts of their mail shirts open and attaching collars, claiming both to be accurate at one time or another.
+MoonfaceMartin88 After 1344 'mail shirts with collars' start showing up in the inventories of the Tower of London armouries. There are some survivals out there as well as far as I know, but I unfortunately have no photos to link to right now.
Hey Ian, thank you very much for the quick answer. Unless you stumble over one by chance, don't bother, Now that I know there where any, it makes sense to take the time and browse through some catalogues myself.
With your mail sewn to your padding and the padding to your helmet ( makes sit in really cool way btw) How do you clean your padding, inside of your helmet, and chainmail avential?
+Philip Dyer The padding for the aventail is only sewn to the aventail. The helmet liner is separate from the aventail liner. So when I remove the aventail (which I just did the other day) the padding comes off with it. If you need to clean the mail by itself you can just remove the thread attaching it to the liner, clean the mail, and then sew it back on. The process of whip-stitching back on doesn't take too long.
What's your opinion on depictions of soldiers (knights, man-at-arms, etc) slicing ou piercing through plate armor with swords? It really could be done in a battlefield scenario, was it a stylistc decision to paint it like that or it is depicted exactly because it was so unsual? (or none of the above) *Also sorry if i made any grammar mistakes ** Love your videos
+HEMAnisto In most cases, the manuscript illuminations that depict things like cleaving helmets in half, or cutting people through armor are in Bibles, showing heroic characters, or are depicting heroic feats of strength. In context, they're intentionally showing something 'super-human' to get the point across that what you're seeing in the image is being done by no normal person or that the action is fantastic in some way. Now in real life, I'm sure there were pieces of armor that failed in the field with pretty bad results for the wearer, but good armor should be proof against normal sword or weapon cuts. Piercing armor is possible, depending on the composition of the armor, and thickness etc...
What next? Weapon use in armor? Range of motion, ventilation, cooling? Which weapon and why? Mounted fighting? Lance! Lance! Lance! :-) Just throwing out some ideas. Don't treat it like I tell you what to do! I'm just trying to kindly suggest something.
+Pieter Batenburg Sometimes :) So with an armet, you have an additional optional plate that you can wear that provides double coverage for the neck and lower face called a 'wrapper plate.' Without the wrapper plate on you can turn your head just fine. If you opt to wear the wrapper you will restrict neck movement a little bit, but you have the advantage of a more solid throat defense (really nice for a jousting situation).
That is true. Modern day soldiers drag an incredible amount of weight. More armour is less other stuff you can carry. The present-day armour race can compare to the middle-ages. Weapons and armour in a continuous race.
Dear Ian, I would appreciate your opinion about usage of few decorative rows of brass rings on the edge of mail pisan/ standard? I know extant pieces having decorative rings from copper alloy. I don’t really aim to match the material, but the visual effect the yellowish rings have on the edges. Do you find it appealing to the eye and based on sources or would you stay away from it. Also if you know the place where to buy brass rings I would appreciate such an information. Thank you.
Copper-alloy rings are perfectly historical and can be found on a variety of different mail garments. I personally stay away from it only because my impression is not supposed to be too knightly. I portray a landed esquire in service to a minor knight, so I stick with very modest embellishment on my own armor, but for a more up-status impression it would be perfectly legitimate for a variety of types and styles of armor. And yes, I think it looks good. I think cap-a-pie in the UK sells loose brass rings.
You've covered protection for most of the body, but what about protection for the crotch? The breastplates don't seem to go down that far, so was it just mail and the padding underneath?
+Brant Heilman At this point in time the fauld of the breastplate was getting longer and could provide some protection, but the groin protection came primarily from the mail. Some mail shirts had a flap from the back that you pulled through to the front to cover the groin more than just the skirt of mail could, like this (www.pinterest.com/pin/449515606535364188/)
+Knyght Errant Thanks for the reply. One more question: With all those layers of padding, mail, and plate I'd imagine it is very easy to overheat. Did this effect when (time of day, or of year, weather conditions) and how long these armored knights could fight? Were there features in the armor designed for cooling? How do modern reenactors deal with it?
If it's hot out it makes you hotter, cold it makes you colder. If you're staying active when it's cool it is comfortable. The natural fiber textiles underneath the armor do breathe and act as a radiator when they are soaked with sweat on a hot day, but hot is still hot. If you were having to stand around in formation for a long time in armor, men would likely retire from the line for a short rest/water period. You should only be wearing armor if you intend to fight. It's not like in the movies where armies were on forced march in full harness, that's what baggage trains were for :) Modern re-enactors hope for weather in the 60s (F) and drink a lot of water.
Hi Ian. I've watched most of the armor series and while you talk about mobility and such in combat, you never talk about comfort. Being comfortable isn't a very high priority in battle but the average fighter (of any stripe) spends far more of his time not fighting than he does fighting. That might mean marching down the road with full kit, sitting on your horse in armor while you wait for the order to charge, or any number of a million things like that. So how does it *feel* to wear this stuff?
+Matt L *IF* the harness is made to you, and you are wearing proper arming garments, it is far more comfortable than most people realize. The key is in proper weight distribution and ensuring that the bulk of the weight ends up in places where it can be tolerated for long periods of time (like the waist as opposed to the shoulders). The longer you sit around in harness not doing anything, the heavier it tends to feel. In cold weather it tend to make you colder. In hot weather it tends to make you hotter. When it's cold out and you're being physically active you stay pretty comfortable. In hot weather though, it can get to you pretty easily. The natural fiber arming garments breathe well, and do act to draw heat from the body once they get soaked with sweat as kind of a radiator, but hot is hot. Now, in camp, it would be likely that men-at-arms stripped down to just their leg harness, maybe with the mail shirt still on if they thought they were in danger, helmets and things like that can also be removed if you're standing around doing nothing. I can spend all day in leg harness and be perfectly comfortable (and have done so many times). It's also probably pretty unlikely that people were going on forced march in harness. The real weighty stuff was packed on carts in the baggage train. If you were preparing for a battle, you put on your harness in your camp, rode to the field, dismounted (in the case of the English) and then played the hurry up and wait game. It's the standing around that would get tiresome after a while. Men would likely retire to the back of the line in turns to get water or rest temporarily until the battle actually began. You also have to remember that 'pitched battle' was more so the exception than the rule to warfare.
+Knyght Errant Could you do a video sometime about how medieval soldiers handled their need for water and rest? It's a fascinating subject that I think is overlooked. Did they carry skins with water in them like we have canteens today? Could you even carry such miscellaneous, personal items with you if you're armored in a lot of mail or plate?
You probably wouldn't have those things on your person in battle formations, but at Agincourt or any of the other major battles of the Hundred Years War, the supply train was usually immediately to the rear of the army with a lot of people acting as support.
So I just finished making my aventail to attach to my helmet, and I've never really had any experience sewing at all, do you have any tips on sewing maille to padding?
There's also plenty of pre-waxed spools of heavy linen thread out there that make it a little more convenient. I took my aventail off the other day to make some adjustments to the liner and had to stitch the liner back in. I just use the pre-waxed stuff for doing things like that. Stuff like this works great with mail (www.amazon.com/Tandy-Leather-Factory-Thread-25-Yard/dp/B001QJNMPY/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1446415966&sr=8-6&keywords=waxed+linen+thread)
At the neckline of the breastplate? Yes, sometimes they are made very tall, just as tall as the stop-rib. It's not universal, or even super common, so it may have had drawbacks. I suspect it might not play nice with certain types of helmets.
I guess any plate throat defense will greatly limit the rotational mobility of your throat ey? Except for the lower edge of an armet, but then there is still that tiny gap between it and the breastplate that's only protected by a pisane. Like on Jeff Watson's 15th century suit when he didnt have his armet's 'wrapper' on. With two layers of rivetted mail backed by padding, I'd say your throat is very well protected indeed, practically as well as by plate. I couldnt imagine any hand held weapon being able to penetrate that many layers, and even blunt trauma would be greatly mitigaged by the amount of padding. There was that account from Usama Ibn Mudqidh's memoir where a lance strike pierced through a Frankish knight's mailed back and emerged out of his mail clad chest, but I didnt think such things happen very often!
+John Huang And that's exactly where people traded off more protection for less mobility, lance combat. For example, with gauntlets, you wouldn't want to wear mittens if you expected that your main combat role was as a lancer who had to meet other lances, if a lance getss caught at full force between your fingers, those fingers are not gonna stay on, same with the throat and the aventail. On solid plates however, the lance is far more likely to be deflected.
A lance to the throat wearing just mail with padding will hurt, and probably crush it. Unless that you wear so much padding that it doesn't, but that would also be counter-intuitive because after a certain thickness it is much more uncomfortable than plate and restricts movement almost as much.
+William Distracted In general if you're just sitting or standing around it will make you hotter when it's hot outside, and colder when it's cold outside. If you're moving around you will stay comfortable in the cold. The natural fiber base layer breathes pretty well, and when it's soaked with sweat it helps to wick heat away from your body, but it can still get toasty.
+SGTDan3 My group portrays the household of an English Knight of the Hundred Years War. I personally portray one of his gentleman men-at-arms / esquires. While English and French armors of this period were very similar, one of the big giveaways for my kit being peculiar to England is the type of arm harness I wear.
+DushinSC I don't think you need one. The mere weight of the helmet + aventail + padding probably is enough to keep it in place. And there is no protruding edge a weapon could catch so an upward blow could lift the helmet. But I think it becomes an issue with sallets, as they have these kind of edges, and I don't want to give misinformation, but I think I saw depiction of sallets worn in combination with a bevor, and there was a chin strap passing under the bevor. My opinion is that you better have your helmet lifted and fly off, that getting strangled by your own chin strap. That's why on modern helmets, the chin strap really is a chin strap, with a molded piece or strap craddle resting on the tip of the chin, and three attachment points at least (often one behind the neck, and one near each temple), so it cant slip and strangle the wearer.
+DushinSC I will be doing a video about this in the future. There have recently been discovered some obscure accounts of chin straps on great helms and bascinets, at least in a tournament setting. It may not apply to anything outside of that context, but it suggests it was at least done sometimes. The problem is things like sallets and kettle hats have dedicated rivets for mounting a chin strap while a bascinet has none. If they did have chin-straps, they would have to be attached directly to the liner most likely, but because of the nature of the bascinet you'd never see it in artwork.
A bevor (sometimes called a 'buffe') is a piece of armor that usually protects the throat _and_ cups the chin, jaw, and lower part of the face. A gorget is usually of a different design and is usually focused on protecting the neck specifically.
Yes, in this particular type of helmet that could happen. In some instances in artwork you see a strap coming out from underneath the back of the helmet and buckling to a back defense which would limit that twist, but it's not universal.
Most of the paintings you see are in the form of manuscripts, which were preserved in libraries. Standalone artwork like frescoes will last quite a while on a wall as long as no one intentionally destroys them. Arms and armor on the other hand get used with regularity, they are disposable items. Unless someone stuck them in an armory somewhere and didn't touch them, they get used until they are no longer serviceable, or discarded. We have a disproportionate amount of fancy armors today because they were _worth_ preserving to someone. Even today, we make an effort to preserve art and paintings etc, but military gear tends to be discarded after use, unless someone has a very good reason to keep it around.
If your going for a 15century armor and you have a mail troat defence on a low brimed kettelhelm should you have a pisan under that aswell when you wear a cuiras? Oooow I do have a padded coif underneat the mail that protects my troat aswell does that chance things?
Seeing your beard and hearing you talk about mail coifs, mail collars, mail bevels... Doesn't that beard get stuck between the links occasionally? I imagine that could get painful at times, especially when moving the head very quickly?
+Stefan B I've never had a problem with the mail collar. The mail aventail is lined and padded so it's also not a problem, but my old helmet once had an aventail without a lining, and that can and will definitely snag. One of the many reasons I believe most aventails were lined.
How protective were those byzantine aventails covering the face ski mask style? Were they padded beneath? If so it would be quite hot. But I don't see mail alone doing much to stop a thrust. img03.deviantart.net/4844/i/2010/206/d/6/klibanaphoroi_by_krstovukoje.jpg i.imgur.com/EJSbNtwh.png
+majungasaurusaaaa It was protective enough to keep you from learning how the Joker got his scars. Mail isn't really for thrust defense, but its amazing for slash defense.
***** If thats true, plate armor would really never have come about. That's why plate came about, to stop you from being stabbed through your mail. Unless you're talking 8-2 mail, which is referred to as King's Mail, it can be stabbed through by normal humans, pretty reasonably.
***** No, I have historical mail in mind, sorry to break your belief that mail is a force field that protects you from everything and anything. There's a damn reason why plate came about.
It is also quite good for piercing defenses, just not good enough. It could still stop all swords used during that time, and with a bit of padding stop most arrows enough so that they didn't penetrate (save powerful ones from short distance). It was however, very bad against blunt trauma especially in places you need protection from that, for example the throat.
+Aardvark In this section of the bascinet video I try to help demonstrate the peripheral vision you get with the visor on: ua-cam.com/video/JYXu8LGddWU/v-deo.htmlm5s
tis question is unrelated to this video but a woud like to know if around this time period if a man at arms wore full sleeve mail or short sleeve? thanks
You'd have to be more specific. The answer is both, but it would ultimately depend on the configuration of the rest of their armor. Geography will play a factor as well. English seem to always be shown with a long sleeve of mail under their arm harness. Italians might be shown with a shorter baggier sleeve draped over the top of their arm's rerebrace, but possibly an additional layer of mail worn under it in the gaps of the elbow and inside the arm etc... There's a lot of variation.
Knyght Errant thanks for replying. The geographical area is England im looking for, im just glad to know the variation is so broad. I am purchasing a mail shirt and im trying to be as real as possible. what are some good sorces for this info? also if you dont mind me asking what sorces you use for your research?
English effigies almost universally show a long sleeve, underneath the plate arm harness. It's virtually always shown as long enough to be captured by the vambrace, protecting the inside of the elbow. This site is invaluable (along with its sister sites), you can narrow search by time period, geographical region, and by searching for tags - effigiesandbrasses.com/ Other resources can be found here: knyghterrant.com/index.php/medieval-internet-resources/
Love the matching mustache at 15:45
You know the guy who came up with "Throat of Plates" had to be the pun guy everyone hated. "What do you call a coat lined with plate defenses? A coat of plates. What do you call a plate armor collar for a coat of plates? A THROAT OF PLATES! Get it? Get it?!" "Yes, John, we get it...Just like we got it yesterday....and every other day this week...."
At 15:47, is that your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather?
+Rasgonras Can't you see the resemblance? :)
Knyght Errant
Woah!
I never thought you'd respond to that! I'm glad if I at least made you chuckle :)
My wife and I love to watch your videos. She's an eager novice when it comes to armor and it is just as enjoyable to watch as your videos.
Just a fanboy wanting to say that.
I'm not famous or anything, I'm just a medieval geek who likes to make videos! :) Thank you though, I'm glad you guys are enjoying them!
Rasgonras your wife sounds awesome
Love your videos man, very informative and I haven't ever really found anything this detailed before, really apprieciate these
Couldn't have said it better myself
+INT3RNAL0BL33DING Thank you very much!
I really REALLY love your videos, not only I have an interest in armor, but I am also an artist, and your videos have been helping me soooo much to draw and design better armor. Thank you very much!!!
Thank you, that's very kind of you to say! I'm glad that you're finding my work useful!
Thank you for making this wonderful work. I have many friends who are also into armor, totally recommended your channel to everybody.
I'm so happy I found your channel. Nothing interests me more than medieval warfare. This video is a amazing.
Armor version of Forgotten Weapons, including the facial hair. Fascinating content, all the details in function.
Thanks for making these videos. Your Chanel is a goldmine for someone who has no idea about armor, I need this for game development
I just found your channel and I must say, It is bloody awesome. You remind me of Ian from forgotten weapons but with medieval armour and history. Keep it man you earned another sub!
Thank you, and welcome to the channel!
@@KnyghtErrant Armor Jesus.
I really like the look of the big plate bevors. If I could afford a suit of armour, I think I'd go with sallet and bevor for my head protection
Finally a good youtuber who talks about armour.
Good video
I wonder if in 600 years we will look back at kevlar armor and be fascinated with ceramic and kevlar plates we used
Doubt it, just like I have zero interest in any historical combat after Agincourt... All that pesky gunpowder took the skill out of warefare.. No longer could you reasonably assume your skills can help keep you alive.. Now, war is random chance. Increased the stress results from people unable to have a locus of control over their situation, or the fight..
Yes! Gorget = /GOR juht/ not /gor ZHAY/. I knew I could trust Knyght Errant to get it right.
I love the videos! They are so incredibly detailed and informative. It seems like everyone on UA-cam focuses on the weapons but rarely the armor so I appreciate this immensely. But could you provide some more information on where you get all of these pieces of armor? And how the armor buying process works (Did you send in castings? Did you give measurements? Are they all custom made? Are there some features we can possibly skimp on to save money?)?
Thanks again!
+TheWiseGuyzz I will cover some of that stuff in future videos, and some of it has been covered in previous videos (like the greaves video, I show the plaster leg casts a bit). All of my armor was custom made, most of it by Jeff Wasson. I went to him for initial fittings and he took a combination of tracings and measurements. Casts were used for the greaves specifically. My helmet was made by a different armorer, Piotr Feret, and since he lives in Europe and I in the US, he guided me through a series of measurements with large calipers to provide him precise data.
i wish someone would make this type of videos about melee weapons, guns, motocycles, tanks, planes ect. really helps to understand design.
I'm so glad this glorious channel is on here, the videos you make are extremely well-researched, thought-out, and historical. You also obviously spend a lot of time making these videos. You have gained a new subscriber, good sir!
+Necro Argumentum Ad Hominem Thank you, welcome to the channel!
14:50, I laughed for like a whole ass minute because of what you said.
Respect, very good historian for medieval armor.
Really like your videos, very informative, well made, well narrated, and always with practical showcases of real armor. Keep up the good work !
+*Hubert C* your google + settings are preventing me from replying directly to your question, but the dagger is just an Arms and Armor rondel dagger, a friend and I made the sheath for it (arms-n-armor.com/dagg110.html)
+Knyght Errant A thousand thanks for making this video. You were very well spoken and I've learned quite a bit! I've subscribed. Again, Thanks.
My pleasure, welcome to the channel!
Here's a topic for common reproduction errors: Many mail collars are way to big and rest on your shoulders. It's kind of funny considering that it makes it more expensive and takes longer to make.
Thanks for the free education mate. Nice to see someone go this in depth and actually showing us how these things function, great content.
Great videos. I hope you're planning on doing a video about and with you wearing the whole suit of armor as well as weaponry.
+Jatreos Lots of future videos planned!
Please keep doing these videos. I like them a lot.
As many helmets in the14th century had aventails I can imagine it being a pain it the proverbial to work out if plated throat armour is additionally in use.
I've always been a fan of the Gorget.
Thank you for these videos they're really interesting 😃
Now I understand why there are two pieces of mail throat protection. Thanks, a really interesting video.
great video, i learned a lot from this, thanks
Small aside that I expect was left out for flow and clarity:
I have seen a fair amount of research showing the rise of the avantail in eastern Europe (specifically Byzantium) centuries earlier. (Even in conjunction with much more minimal helms, such as skullcaps)
I suspect this has something to do with the climate, with the additional airflow around the neck making it much more appealing than the coifs that were popular at the same time in the west.
I've also seen research showing them made from padding or lamalar instead of mail at times, though I unfortunately don't have any information about layered construction.
Also, while I expect similar armor through the rest of the middle east at the time, I don't know whether the development of this piece of neck armor is connected or paralleled between eastern and western Europe.
***** Try reading that again. I was talking about the avantail as an armor piece not the mail it was usually made from.
When? The video mentioned a date for the adoption of avantail designs. My post wasn't without sufficient context clues.
Please try to double-check your reading comprehension before you take that kind of insulting tone with me or anyone else.
DynamicWorlds weren't they around during the crusades?
I love these videos. Please keep them coming
I always appreciated the gorget and bevor used in conjunction with either the sallet or kettle helm. Used with a coif, that always seemed to me to be a good combination of protection, visibility/environment awareness and mobility. Given a choice I'd go with a sallet, but I think in this regard the kettle helm would be a great option too.
Never really thought about that...
Great video!
I am enjoying your videos immensely. Thank you for your time and efforts.
You're very welcome, thank you for watching!
In the movies the main character doesn't wear a helmet so he looks cool killing bad guys. In reality you would have this on so you don't die. That quote is legendary.
Reality is, helmets look cooler than the bare face of one dude.
Certain styles of greathelm barbers (two good examples in La fleur des histoires de la terre d'Orient des Hayton the two knights closest to the Moors) seem to be purposed for throat defence, and great helms are depicted with a plated colar in the (Roman de Troyes in conjunction with a visor(which surely cannot be opened in conjuncture with the gorget?))
I thought I'd bring these up as they're on subject and cool.
Really nice. I am planning to get my own aventail for my bascinet in the nearest future.
awesome demonstration, thanks
I just finished my own reproduction of mail pisan inspired by yours a lot, that means similar shape of mail, in sewn quilted fabric, soft leather around the neck and two leathers straps on the back, brass buckles in my case. Yet I have to say that I was little bit "sad" and dissapinted seeing that my weighs approximately 800g and yours just 595g :D 200g is not that much but it's still 1/4 of yours. No big deal of course but I was really excited about the final result compared to yours. Anyway thank you for your videos being good help during this small project of mine.
looking at that drawing at 15:51 it really looks like that knight is extra padded around the neck, almost like he might have so much padding it would prevent his neck from snapping back in a hard blow to the head. (sort of like those U shaped airplane pillows)
Amazingly detailed!
Howdy. Would be really nice if you make some videos on "common setups" for different kinds of soldiers. We kinda get what knights are wearing, and what other soldiers are wearing, but no specific information on crossbowmen, archers, guys with spears or guys with zweihanders. Mb they had some specialized helmets or pauldrons. Would love to watch such a video.
Zweihänders as far as I know only came to in the 16th century and they were used by knights or mercenaries (such as the Landsknecht) as an alternative to a polearm. They would generally be quite kitted out with quite good armor.
General use of it is speculated to be breaking pike formations, so I imagine they would have the armor to back that up.
I haven't gone that far back in your videos to know this if it was mentioned, but I never knew that little thing I see on a number of breastplates was a stop rib and not just something to show off a little on their armors for design purposes. Pretty cool to know that little detail.
Awesome video, thank you so much.
You look like magician merlin from excalibur but in armor you look like medieval knight. Your explanation and stuffs aer just great.
First time watching your channel and I love it!
0:07
Medieval loading screen.
Would you please do a video specifically about gorgets and raised plate neck protection. I’m not really interested in beverages, but I like the clothes fitted gorget which looks like the Maximilian Gorget, and I’m also interested in just the standing plate method.
i swore i saw an drawing/painting of a knight with domed visored great bascinet with aventail. and aventail had leather strap going under armpit on both sides. and armpit had small oval hinged plate. but i was pretty young. it could be some fantasy or w/e
There's a really nice example of a C14th mail collar on display in the British Museum, showing the differences in the weave very nicely: britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe/m/mail_collar.aspx
It's interesting that the Vendels and 'Vikings' had helmets with mail attached to form a kind of bevor/aventail, very similar in effect to the later periods. It makes you wonder why it went out of use/fashion.
is the effectiveness of the stop-rib hindered by the aventale? Or is it more for when an aventale is not present?
very informative video again from you, thanks for taking the time to make these
edit: you answered this aswel :D
+ILikeToColourRed The stop-rib really only becomes necessary if your opponent got under your aventail in the first place, so no it doesn't really hinder its function at all. Now if you wore the pizane (mail collar) over the stop rib as well, I think you'd start to degrade your defense a little more at that point.
Have I seen armors where the "stop rib" gets really big, or was that only in fiction?
True plate bevors for life!
Lol... back in the day I would argue with my DM that the neck was unprotected because it didn't say anywhere that you had specific protection and because I thought of helmets as we do in daily life (where the neck is not protected most of the time). I see now that not only was it protected, but probably the almost _the_ best protected part of the body. :)
Hey! I'd recognize the bishop's mantle at 8:45 anywhere! That's the one from the St. Louis Art Museum, right?? I've spent quite a lot of time peering closely at that piece. My favorite piece in the whole arms & armor collection.
Well I think you don't neet do thrust or slash through the aventail and pisan (not sure about the spelling). If they hit you hard with sword or mace, they'll broke your neck. Even if they'd thrust into the aventail and they wouldn't go through, it would still be painfull punch in the armed throat...
+Tom Riley I'm not sure the aventail is as ineffective as you're making it out to be. The way it hangs from the helmet, it acts to kind of catch impacts from the front. A significant amount of the energy of the blow is removed before it actually gets to your neck. The neck is also not a static target, so no one is standing there with their neck extended looking to take a shot, it's constantly in motion and a competent fighter will do their best not to present a vulnerability to their opponent.
You have to keep in mind that people's lives once depended on these things and they wouldn't have worn pieces of kit that didn't work. I can tell you from 10 years of military experience we simply didn't use the junk that didn't work like we needed it to. The aventail in this form was in use for nearly a century. Also keep in mind that armor doesn't need to make you invulnerable to be useful, it needs to make the fight survivable more often than not.
You forgot to mention that awesome beard adds a layer of sweet defense ;) Lol.
+Rollo Red And my beard very much appreciates a padded aventail ;)
Interesting watch, it is nice to see how the details, such as the stop rib working in conjuction with the aventail, really work together in order to maximise defense.
on another note, i am currently working on the gear a fully armored cavaleiro might have had 1139 at the battle of Orique, and am looking for information about how a coif would have been designed around that era. Does anyone know of any good sources one might find?
Would the pixane go over your haubergeon? That would be three layers of mail in total wouldn't it?
Also, is all the lining linen stuffed with cotton for all the various bits of armour you wear?
+Lukas Walmsley The haubergeon does not have it's own collar, so even though the pizan sits on top of it, it's not adding an additional layer over the throat itself. Some haubergeons did have collars as described in some inventories, which in that case, yes you could end up with three layers of mail. The lining of the pisan is linen stuffed with cotton and so is my arming coat. Those are the only stuffed layers that I wear in my armor.
Wow, you really seem competent :-)
Defense in Depth: a layered approach.
really nice Video, but I think that the Collar in the 13th C was not integrated in the Gambeson. One reason is that in Historical Texts it often has a extra name (Koller, Collier) and the other one is that its often showen in a other Collar (Mac-Bibel for instance).
That's interesting with the stop rib, I'm wondering, why not just make an exaggerated rolled edge to the neck opening of the breastplate too, for a little extra protection?
In the 1425-1450 range there also depictions of plate collars as throat defence. Often seemingly disconnect from the helmet worn. As in: manuscriptminiatures.com/4530/8532/ or commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Brabantsche_yeesten#/media/File:Battle_of_Worringen_1288.PNG Was this like a bevor? Because it seems not to be much form fitted to the chin but just simple and round for the neck. It also seems to be ridgedly fixed on top of the cuirass allot of the times. Any idea how this style of throat defence was used in period? And how much movement of the neck would be still left with this type of defence? It seems to me that this throat defence was very common and depending on the situation a more flexible or more protective helmet would be worn.
As per usual although the events of the manuscript depict the battle of worringen and events surrounding it in 1288 the kit worn is defenitly of the time period of the production of the manuscript around 1425-1450.
I bet you get this a lot, but could you do something on arrows?
I know that it is completely ridiculous to try and shoot an arrow through plate but it seems to me that even in this "weakness" of your throat protection that you showed here its very unlikely for an arrow to punch through that.
It might be possible, but doesn't seem very likely no.
If I may ask, where did you purchase your gambeson? Thank you for your time and consideration! Really fantastic videos, Sir!
Hi, I made my arming doublet myself.
Knyght Errant VERY impressive! And thank you for the kind reply.
Knyght Errant by the way, Sir, is there any place you’d recommend to purchase a gambeson that’s closely resembles your design and construction? Again, I greatly appreciate your time and consideration. Many thanks and very best regards, William
If you mean an arming doublet, something that is being used as the foundation for plate armor, especially if armor will attach to it, the garment must be fit well to the wearer. Historically, styles vary by region and specific time period, if accuracy is a concern. It should really be fit in person if at all possible, but that's easier said than done. Places like 'AD1410' are doing pretty good work based on measurements if you don't have the opportunity to go to a custom tailor or to make it yourself. A more 'off-the-shelf' style garment, although still made to measure is the fantastic arming doublet by Gwen at Historic Enterprises. It uses some modern concessions to get a tight fit on multiple body shapes, but from a practical standpoint it works very well as a foundation for a 15th century style armor.
A true gambeson is usually a much stouter garment and contrary to the way the term it's most used today, often found on the outside or as a standalone fabric armor, although the historical usage is inconsistent. Under plate armor, arming doublets or aketons are generally much more form fit and far less padded, especially by the time complete plate armors are commonplace.
AD1410 - facebook.com/ad1410com/
Historic Enterprises - historicenterprises.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=101_135&products_id=713
Knyght Errant Sir, I am in your debt. Your time, knowledge and willingness to share these with your audience is a rare thing indeed. Now, I’m off to find your Patreon page to join immediately! I honestly can’t thank you enough. My very best regards, William S.
Would it make sense to tuck the aventail under the breastplate? Might be a tight fit, but you could even get a blacksmith to expand the throat of the breastplate a bit to allow room for the aventail.
+Xanatos712 It would kind of negate the mobility advantage of an aventail. You wouldn't be able to freely move your head anymore, and might as well just use a plate defense at that point. Not to mention taking your helmet on and off would become very tedious. You wouldn't be able to get it off without removing your breastplate which is no good.
If you have a plate bevor would a mail pizon be that useful? With a rigid plate wouldn't it be impossible for something to get under and slide far enough to touch your neck?
Blades can find their way between two plates without too much trouble in some circumstances. Most bevors are not rigidly attached to the breastplate, and even the ones that are are usually only attached at the central bottom point. A smooth breastplate can sometimes guide a narrow blade underneath a bevor or under the collar plates of a great bascinet. Having that last line of defense is important since the throat is one of the few places on the body that doesn't need a whole lot of penetration to result in a critical injury. It seems our medieval counterparts considered the mail standard / pizan an essential piece of kit even under more complete plate neck protection.
@@KnyghtErrant Yeah, I was thinking maybe because of the weird angle something would have to come in at to reach your neck would be pretty rare but I guess debating it isn't worth the couple ounces and a couple rows of mail.
Hey Ian,
First of all; thank you for another very informative video on the details of (your) 14th century armour. Concerning the mail collar, I have a question though: Are there any examples of the time-period you display, where the mail collar is an integral part of the mail shirt? I have recently seen a lot of people from my emmediate sorroundings cut the fronts of their mail shirts open and attaching collars, claiming both to be accurate at one time or another.
+MoonfaceMartin88 After 1344 'mail shirts with collars' start showing up in the inventories of the Tower of London armouries. There are some survivals out there as well as far as I know, but I unfortunately have no photos to link to right now.
Hey Ian, thank you very much for the quick answer. Unless you stumble over one by chance, don't bother, Now that I know there where any, it makes sense to take the time and browse through some catalogues myself.
With your mail sewn to your padding and the padding to your helmet ( makes sit in really cool way btw) How do you clean your padding, inside of your helmet, and chainmail avential?
+Philip Dyer The padding for the aventail is only sewn to the aventail. The helmet liner is separate from the aventail liner. So when I remove the aventail (which I just did the other day) the padding comes off with it. If you need to clean the mail by itself you can just remove the thread attaching it to the liner, clean the mail, and then sew it back on. The process of whip-stitching back on doesn't take too long.
What's your opinion on depictions of soldiers (knights, man-at-arms, etc) slicing ou piercing through plate armor with swords? It really could be done in a battlefield scenario, was it a stylistc decision to paint it like that or it is depicted exactly because it was so unsual? (or none of the above)
*Also sorry if i made any grammar mistakes
** Love your videos
+HEMAnisto In most cases, the manuscript illuminations that depict things like cleaving helmets in half, or cutting people through armor are in Bibles, showing heroic characters, or are depicting heroic feats of strength. In context, they're intentionally showing something 'super-human' to get the point across that what you're seeing in the image is being done by no normal person or that the action is fantastic in some way.
Now in real life, I'm sure there were pieces of armor that failed in the field with pretty bad results for the wearer, but good armor should be proof against normal sword or weapon cuts. Piercing armor is possible, depending on the composition of the armor, and thickness etc...
Thank you very much for the swift and enlightning reply.
What next? Weapon use in armor? Range of motion, ventilation, cooling? Which weapon and why? Mounted fighting? Lance! Lance! Lance! :-)
Just throwing out some ideas. Don't treat it like I tell you what to do! I'm just trying to kindly suggest something.
At 8:08. Can you still turn your head with that type of helm?
+Pieter Batenburg Sometimes :) So with an armet, you have an additional optional plate that you can wear that provides double coverage for the neck and lower face called a 'wrapper plate.' Without the wrapper plate on you can turn your head just fine. If you opt to wear the wrapper you will restrict neck movement a little bit, but you have the advantage of a more solid throat defense (really nice for a jousting situation).
So, the old question. Mobility versus protection. There seems to be no easy answer to that one.
Still very much holds true today on the modern battlefield.
That is true. Modern day soldiers drag an incredible amount of weight. More armour is less other stuff you can carry.
The present-day armour race can compare to the middle-ages. Weapons and armour in a continuous race.
How weird is it that I am thrilled you say gorget instead of gorjay? Drives me crazy for some reason.
Screw French pronunciation, not even the French should be allowed to use it.
Dear Ian,
I would appreciate your opinion about usage of few decorative rows of brass rings on the edge of mail pisan/ standard? I know extant pieces having decorative rings from copper alloy. I don’t really aim to match the material, but the visual effect the yellowish rings have on the edges. Do you find it appealing to the eye and based on sources or would you stay away from it. Also if you know the place where to buy brass rings I would appreciate such an information. Thank you.
Copper-alloy rings are perfectly historical and can be found on a variety of different mail garments. I personally stay away from it only because my impression is not supposed to be too knightly. I portray a landed esquire in service to a minor knight, so I stick with very modest embellishment on my own armor, but for a more up-status impression it would be perfectly legitimate for a variety of types and styles of armor. And yes, I think it looks good. I think cap-a-pie in the UK sells loose brass rings.
You've covered protection for most of the body, but what about protection for the crotch? The breastplates don't seem to go down that far, so was it just mail and the padding underneath?
+Brant Heilman At this point in time the fauld of the breastplate was getting longer and could provide some protection, but the groin protection came primarily from the mail. Some mail shirts had a flap from the back that you pulled through to the front to cover the groin more than just the skirt of mail could, like this (www.pinterest.com/pin/449515606535364188/)
+Knyght Errant Thanks for the reply.
One more question: With all those layers of padding, mail, and plate I'd imagine it is very easy to overheat. Did this effect when (time of day, or of year, weather conditions) and how long these armored knights could fight? Were there features in the armor designed for cooling? How do modern reenactors deal with it?
If it's hot out it makes you hotter, cold it makes you colder. If you're staying active when it's cool it is comfortable. The natural fiber textiles underneath the armor do breathe and act as a radiator when they are soaked with sweat on a hot day, but hot is still hot. If you were having to stand around in formation for a long time in armor, men would likely retire from the line for a short rest/water period.
You should only be wearing armor if you intend to fight. It's not like in the movies where armies were on forced march in full harness, that's what baggage trains were for :)
Modern re-enactors hope for weather in the 60s (F) and drink a lot of water.
+Knyght Errant
A belated thanks again.
I would really like to see a German Full helm
Hi Ian.
I've watched most of the armor series and while you talk about mobility and such in combat, you never talk about comfort. Being comfortable isn't a very high priority in battle but the average fighter (of any stripe) spends far more of his time not fighting than he does fighting. That might mean marching down the road with full kit, sitting on your horse in armor while you wait for the order to charge, or any number of a million things like that.
So how does it *feel* to wear this stuff?
+Matt L *IF* the harness is made to you, and you are wearing proper arming garments, it is far more comfortable than most people realize. The key is in proper weight distribution and ensuring that the bulk of the weight ends up in places where it can be tolerated for long periods of time (like the waist as opposed to the shoulders). The longer you sit around in harness not doing anything, the heavier it tends to feel. In cold weather it tend to make you colder. In hot weather it tends to make you hotter. When it's cold out and you're being physically active you stay pretty comfortable. In hot weather though, it can get to you pretty easily. The natural fiber arming garments breathe well, and do act to draw heat from the body once they get soaked with sweat as kind of a radiator, but hot is hot. Now, in camp, it would be likely that men-at-arms stripped down to just their leg harness, maybe with the mail shirt still on if they thought they were in danger, helmets and things like that can also be removed if you're standing around doing nothing. I can spend all day in leg harness and be perfectly comfortable (and have done so many times).
It's also probably pretty unlikely that people were going on forced march in harness. The real weighty stuff was packed on carts in the baggage train. If you were preparing for a battle, you put on your harness in your camp, rode to the field, dismounted (in the case of the English) and then played the hurry up and wait game. It's the standing around that would get tiresome after a while. Men would likely retire to the back of the line in turns to get water or rest temporarily until the battle actually began. You also have to remember that 'pitched battle' was more so the exception than the rule to warfare.
+Knyght Errant Could you do a video sometime about how medieval soldiers handled their need for water and rest? It's a fascinating subject that I think is overlooked. Did they carry skins with water in them like we have canteens today? Could you even carry such miscellaneous, personal items with you if you're armored in a lot of mail or plate?
You probably wouldn't have those things on your person in battle formations, but at Agincourt or any of the other major battles of the Hundred Years War, the supply train was usually immediately to the rear of the army with a lot of people acting as support.
So I just finished making my aventail to attach to my helmet, and I've never really had any experience sewing at all, do you have any tips on sewing maille to padding?
+Jared McClelland To attach the mail to the padding just use a heavy linen thread, well-waxed, and just whipstitch it down.
thanks
There's also plenty of pre-waxed spools of heavy linen thread out there that make it a little more convenient. I took my aventail off the other day to make some adjustments to the liner and had to stitch the liner back in. I just use the pre-waxed stuff for doing things like that. Stuff like this works great with mail (www.amazon.com/Tandy-Leather-Factory-Thread-25-Yard/dp/B001QJNMPY/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1446415966&sr=8-6&keywords=waxed+linen+thread)
Thanks for the link. I already have thread for doing it but if I ever go back to adjust it I'll try that out.
Did they ever make that rolled top into more of a second stop block? If you rolled it more to make a lip wouldn't it work really well to stop blades?
At the neckline of the breastplate? Yes, sometimes they are made very tall, just as tall as the stop-rib. It's not universal, or even super common, so it may have had drawbacks. I suspect it might not play nice with certain types of helmets.
Pretty sure I seen you fighting for the Starks.
The North remembers.
Or Ragnar... Wanna go raid 8th century Paris?
With a little longer of a mustache, you'd look just like the guy in that one painting you showed. :) Thanks for another great video.
+zarbran Working on it!
I guess any plate throat defense will greatly limit the rotational mobility of your throat ey? Except for the lower edge of an armet, but then there is still that tiny gap between it and the breastplate that's only protected by a pisane. Like on Jeff Watson's 15th century suit when he didnt have his armet's 'wrapper' on.
With two layers of rivetted mail backed by padding, I'd say your throat is very well protected indeed, practically as well as by plate. I couldnt imagine any hand held weapon being able to penetrate that many layers, and even blunt trauma would be greatly mitigaged by the amount of padding. There was that account from Usama Ibn Mudqidh's memoir where a lance strike pierced through a Frankish knight's mailed back and emerged out of his mail clad chest, but I didnt think such things happen very often!
+John Huang And that's exactly where people traded off more protection for less mobility, lance combat.
For example, with gauntlets, you wouldn't want to wear mittens if you expected that your main combat role was as a lancer who had to meet other lances, if a lance getss caught at full force between your fingers, those fingers are not gonna stay on, same with the throat and the aventail. On solid plates however, the lance is far more likely to be deflected.
A lance to the throat wearing just mail with padding will hurt, and probably crush it.
Unless that you wear so much padding that it doesn't, but that would also be counter-intuitive because after a certain thickness it is much more uncomfortable than plate and restricts movement almost as much.
If I could put subtitles in English it would be of great help !!
Great Work!!!
How warm can it get inside the armor you wear?
+William Distracted In general if you're just sitting or standing around it will make you hotter when it's hot outside, and colder when it's cold outside. If you're moving around you will stay comfortable in the cold. The natural fiber base layer breathes pretty well, and when it's soaked with sweat it helps to wick heat away from your body, but it can still get toasty.
Knyght Errant Thank you.
What do you usually portray when renacting Ian? You look incredibly French with that Aventail.
+SGTDan3 My group portrays the household of an English Knight of the Hundred Years War. I personally portray one of his gentleman men-at-arms / esquires. While English and French armors of this period were very similar, one of the big giveaways for my kit being peculiar to England is the type of arm harness I wear.
hi im stilll watching your videos hope youre okay
Does your helmet have a chin strap or do historical pieces have chin straps?
+DushinSC His Kettlehelmet in his video about Kettlehelmets had chin straps.
KLRGOFFIRE I meant the bascinet, I couldn't see a chinstrap.
+DushinSC I don't think you need one. The mere weight of the helmet + aventail + padding probably is enough to keep it in place. And there is no protruding edge a weapon could catch so an upward blow could lift the helmet. But I think it becomes an issue with sallets, as they have these kind of edges, and I don't want to give misinformation, but I think I saw depiction of sallets worn in combination with a bevor, and there was a chin strap passing under the bevor. My opinion is that you better have your helmet lifted and fly off, that getting strangled by your own chin strap. That's why on modern helmets, the chin strap really is a chin strap, with a molded piece or strap craddle resting on the tip of the chin, and three attachment points at least (often one behind the neck, and one near each temple), so it cant slip and strangle the wearer.
+DushinSC I will be doing a video about this in the future. There have recently been discovered some obscure accounts of chin straps on great helms and bascinets, at least in a tournament setting. It may not apply to anything outside of that context, but it suggests it was at least done sometimes. The problem is things like sallets and kettle hats have dedicated rivets for mounting a chin strap while a bascinet has none. If they did have chin-straps, they would have to be attached directly to the liner most likely, but because of the nature of the bascinet you'd never see it in artwork.
What is the core difference between a gorget and a bevor?
A bevor (sometimes called a 'buffe') is a piece of armor that usually protects the throat _and_ cups the chin, jaw, and lower part of the face. A gorget is usually of a different design and is usually focused on protecting the neck specifically.
If you were stuck in a grappling situation, could your helmet be twisted by the opponent?
Yes, in this particular type of helmet that could happen. In some instances in artwork you see a strap coming out from underneath the back of the helmet and buckling to a back defense which would limit that twist, but it's not universal.
why did paintings and other items last from this time period, but weapons and armor commonly didn't?
Most of the paintings you see are in the form of manuscripts, which were preserved in libraries. Standalone artwork like frescoes will last quite a while on a wall as long as no one intentionally destroys them. Arms and armor on the other hand get used with regularity, they are disposable items. Unless someone stuck them in an armory somewhere and didn't touch them, they get used until they are no longer serviceable, or discarded. We have a disproportionate amount of fancy armors today because they were _worth_ preserving to someone. Even today, we make an effort to preserve art and paintings etc, but military gear tends to be discarded after use, unless someone has a very good reason to keep it around.
what would they use for throat defence for middle to late 14th Century say between 1350-1390 ?
If your going for a 15century armor and you have a mail troat defence on a low brimed kettelhelm should you have a pisan under that aswell when you wear a cuiras? Oooow I do have a padded coif underneat the mail that protects my troat aswell does that chance things?
Seeing your beard and hearing you talk about mail coifs, mail collars, mail bevels... Doesn't that beard get stuck between the links occasionally? I imagine that could get painful at times, especially when moving the head very quickly?
+Stefan B I've never had a problem with the mail collar. The mail aventail is lined and padded so it's also not a problem, but my old helmet once had an aventail without a lining, and that can and will definitely snag. One of the many reasons I believe most aventails were lined.
the problem is if you even have a neckguard and get hit with a warhammer or mace you will choke to your death
How protective were those byzantine aventails covering the face ski mask style? Were they padded beneath? If so it would be quite hot. But I don't see mail alone doing much to stop a thrust.
img03.deviantart.net/4844/i/2010/206/d/6/klibanaphoroi_by_krstovukoje.jpg
i.imgur.com/EJSbNtwh.png
+majungasaurusaaaa It was protective enough to keep you from learning how the Joker got his scars. Mail isn't really for thrust defense, but its amazing for slash defense.
***** If thats true, plate armor would really never have come about. That's why plate came about, to stop you from being stabbed through your mail.
Unless you're talking 8-2 mail, which is referred to as King's Mail, it can be stabbed through by normal humans, pretty reasonably.
***** No, I have historical mail in mind, sorry to break your belief that mail is a force field that protects you from everything and anything. There's a damn reason why plate came about.
It could have also been 18 gauge mail.
It is also quite good for piercing defenses, just not good enough. It could still stop all swords used during that time, and with a bit of padding stop most arrows enough so that they didn't penetrate (save powerful ones from short distance).
It was however, very bad against blunt trauma especially in places you need protection from that, for example the throat.
How is the peripheral vision in that?
+Aardvark In this section of the bascinet video I try to help demonstrate the peripheral vision you get with the visor on: ua-cam.com/video/JYXu8LGddWU/v-deo.htmlm5s
Very nice. Thank you.
You're welcome. Most people seem to be pleasantly surprised by the amount of peripheral vision you get in that type of helmet.
Is your dagger sharp or dulled? Thank you
Sharp
Thank you for your answer, much appreciated.
tis question is unrelated to this video but a woud like to know if around this time period if a man at arms wore full sleeve mail or short sleeve? thanks
You'd have to be more specific. The answer is both, but it would ultimately depend on the configuration of the rest of their armor. Geography will play a factor as well. English seem to always be shown with a long sleeve of mail under their arm harness. Italians might be shown with a shorter baggier sleeve draped over the top of their arm's rerebrace, but possibly an additional layer of mail worn under it in the gaps of the elbow and inside the arm etc... There's a lot of variation.
Knyght Errant thanks for replying. The geographical area is England im looking for, im just glad to know the variation is so broad. I am purchasing a mail shirt and im trying to be as real as possible. what are some good sorces for this info? also if you dont mind me asking what sorces you use for your research?
English effigies almost universally show a long sleeve, underneath the plate arm harness. It's virtually always shown as long enough to be captured by the vambrace, protecting the inside of the elbow. This site is invaluable (along with its sister sites), you can narrow search by time period, geographical region, and by searching for tags - effigiesandbrasses.com/
Other resources can be found here: knyghterrant.com/index.php/medieval-internet-resources/
Knyght Errant thanks so much
Who makes your pixane? I hope I spelled that right
+Charlie Broder I purchased the bare mail from icefalcon armory. I sewed up the padding, leather straps and buckles myself.
+Knyght Errant awesome I might have to do that. You've heard this a lot but best medieval channel.
Nice dagger, where does it come from?