The Writer’s Guide to Medieval Armor: Part 2
Posted on September 11, 2020 1 Comment
I hope you enjoyed last week’s post on armor myths because I am covering some more this week.
As always, magic is the exception to the rules. Because magic.
Leather Armor
Fantasy seems to be in love with leather armor. You can see it from “Vikings” to “The Lord of the Rings” to Dungeons & Dragons. But how prevalent was it during the Middle Ages? An extremely heated debated is raging online.
What we do know is that boiled leather was quite common in medieval Europe and was used to make protective cases for books and delicate instruments such as astrolabes. As for its use in making armor, there are multiple examples of leather limb armor but few of leather torso armor. There are reports of starving soldiers eating their shields and other leather kit like Josephus’ account from the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD and advice from a medieval Arab author on coating leather armor with crushed minerals mixed with glue to made it tougher. It is believed the term “cuirass,” referring to armor covering the torso, comes from the French term cuir bouilli, meaning boiled leather. We have few physical examples of medieval leather torso armor but there is uncertainty whether that is due to its scarcity or because they rotted away.
Compounding the problem is a lot of misidentification of armor in medieval paintings. Much of what is thought to be leather or studded leather is in fact brigandine, a type of armor made up of small metal bands or plates riveted to an outer layer of cloth, canvas or leather. In short, the debate still rages. [1]
Expense
The price of armor of course depended on the type, quality, and time period. I will be detailing cost of specific types of armor in their own posts. I will however provide you with some highlights to give you an idea.
Mail during the 12th century cost around 100s. [2] A complete set of knight’s armor in 1374 was valued at £16 6s 8d. Armor owned by the Duke of Gloucester in 1397 was worth £103. [3] A suit of ready-made Milanese armor (meaning it wasn’t tailored) in 1441 was priced at £8 6s 8d while squire’s armor cost £5-6 16s 8d. [4] In 1590, a cuirass of proof (indicating it had been tested against the strongest weapons of the time) with pauldrons would run you 40s while one that had not been proofed would cost 26s 8d. For comparison, a cuirass of pistol-proof with pauldrons in 1624 was priced at £1 6s. [5] For more information as well as medieval prices for many other items, I recommend this website.
Social Class Limitations
There is a common belief that only knights wore armor. Obviously, the cost would limit who could acquire certain types but we have evidence of non-knightly people owning various types of armor. In fact, it was sometimes the law. In England in 1181 it was mandatory for every freeman who owned goods valued at 10 marks (1 mark = 13s 4d) to have a mail shirt, helmet, and spear. Any freeman poorer than that was required to own a spear, helmet, and gambeson. During the 15th and 16th centuries, soldiers in full plate made up 60-70% of the French army and the percentages were probably similar in other countries. [6] Brigandine was popular with outlaws and highwaymen because it was cheap and easy to make and repair. We also have a lot of artwork from the medieval period showing soldiers in various forms of armor. As you can see in the painting below depicting the 15th century Battle of Crécy, everyone is wearing armor, including the English archers who were commoners and weren’t even worth enough to ransom.
I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions by using the Contact Me form on my website or writing a comment. I post every Friday and would be grateful if you would share my content.
If you want my blog delivered straight to your inbox every month along with exclusive content and giveaways please sign up for my newsletter.
Let’s get writing!
Copyright © 2020 Rebecca Shedd. All rights reserved.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiled_leather [2] The Knight in History, Frances Gies, Harper & Row, New York, 1984 [3] Standards of Living in the Later Middle Ages, Christopher Dyer, Cambridge University Press, 1989 [4] English Weapons & Warfare, 449-1660, A. V. B. Norman and Don Pottinger, Barnes & Noble, 1992 (orig. 1966) [5] The Armourer and his Craft from the XIth to the XVIth Century, Charles ffoulkes, Dover, 1988 (orig. 1912) [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_armour
The Writer’s Guide to Medieval Armor: Part 1
Posted on September 4, 2020 42 Comments
I hope you have been enjoying my posts on swords and other medieval weapons. This week we are moving on to armor myths because, o boy! are there a lot of them. The armor worn in medieval Europe varied across time, region, and social standing. I will be covering common types of armor later.
As always, magic is the exception to the rules. Because magic.
Effectiveness
Obviously, the effectiveness of armor depends heavily on the type of armor and how well it was made. What amazes me is the number of times in movies, TV shows and video games I have seen someone stab straight through armor, include more protective armor like plate mail, without a problem. If armor were that ineffective against a knife stab or a sword slice nobody in the Middle Ages would have bothered wearing it. Plate mail is designed to take an enormous amount of abuse while still protecting the wearer. Chainmail is effective at guarding against slices. If you want to see firsthand how much abuse armor can take, I suggest finding footage of Battle of the Nations, an international medieval combat championship, or watching an episode of History’s “Knight Fight.”
This is not to say however that armor could ward off any blow. For every advance in armor technology there was an advance in weaponry to counter it. When plate armor was developed, a thicker version of the bodkin arrowhead was created that increased the chances of penetrating plate in thinner spots. Usually the only shots that made it through were lucky ones that found the proverbal “clink in the armor.” YouTuber Tod Todeschini of Tod’s Workshop has a fantastic video here about arrows versus armor.
Writer Tip: Your character taking a hit to the armor and shrugging it off could be a great opportunity for them to be thankful they spent the extra money on good armor.
Weight
When most people think of medieval European armor usually their first mental image is of a knight being winched onto his horse because he can’t manage it in his armor on his own. “A Knight’s Tale” has a perfect example of this trope. However, a complete harness of plate armor usually tipped the scales at 33- pounds (15-27 kg). [1] By contrast, an American soldier in World War II was carrying up to 75 pounds (34 kg), which is why so many of them drowned during the D-Day landing. [2] Jousting armor was made substantially heavier to provide as much protection as possible and since the wearer didn’t need to move freely. It could weigh up to 110 pounds (50 kg). Below is a table that shows the average weight of 135 armors from 21 museums. Here is the link to the entire study.
Mobility
The weight of medieval armor was distributed across the body. In the case of plate and brigantine, the pieces were articulated to give the wearer full range of motion. The armor worn on the upper body was suspended from the shoulders and that worn on the lower body from a wide arming belt (or an arming doublet from the mid-15th century onward), causing the waist and hips to carry the weight. Plate was buckled or laced into the gambeson or arming doublet at multiple places to connect it snugly with the wearer, distribute the weight, and make it easier to move. Most armor was custom fit so there was no unnecessary extra weight and the armor conformed to the body. An armored warrior, including on in full plate, could run, jump, fight, and mount his horse unassisted. [3]
I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions by using the Contact Me form on my website or writing a comment. I post every Friday and would be grateful if you would share my content.
If you want my blog delivered straight to your inbox every month along with exclusive content and giveaways please sign up for my newsletter.
Let’s get writing!
Copyright © 2020 Rebecca Shedd. All rights reserved.
[1] Warrior Race: A History of the British at War. James, Lawrence (2003). St. Martin’s Press. P. 119. ISBN 0-312-30737-3. [2] https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a25644619/soldier-weight/ [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_armour
The Writer’s Guide to Medieval Self-Defense Weapons
Posted on August 28, 2020 2 Comments
This week we continue our exploration of common medieval weapons other than the sword with a focus on day-to-day use and self-defense. For those who could afford them, swords were the most popular choice for a self-defense weapon because they are portable, effective, and can be used in close quarters. However, some cities had laws against the wearing of swords above a certain length during times of peace and some people could not afford them. Of course, in pinch, just about anything can be used as a weapon.
Daggers and Knives
Knives, usually defined as short single edged slicing blades, were commonly carried by all social classes in medieval Europe. They were a handy everyday tool for eating, preparing food and trimming quill pens.
Daggers, being double-edged stabbing weapons, were more closely tied to knights and the nobility because the cruciform shape of the weapon matched the shape and style of most arming swords of the period. The earliest depiction of the cross-hilted dagger is from 1120 AD in the “Guido relief” inside the Grossmünster of Zürich. [1] However, as the Middle Ages progressed other versions of the dagger were developed by the lower classes such as the bollock dagger, the ancestor of the Scottish dirk.
Writer’s Tip: It was common for people to carry their eating utensils with them, meaning if you were having a dinner party you were invited a group of armed people into your house. This could be a great start to a medieval whodunit.
Axes and Hatchets
As I mentioned in my previous article, small axes and hatchets were household tools used for cutting wood. Although many men-at-arms carried them into battle, they were also common self and home defense weapons because they were so handy.
Staffs
A basic and easily made weapon also known as a short staff or quarterstaff. Usually fashioned of hardwood and between six to nine feet (1.8 to 2.7 m) in length, the staff was popular across the social spectrum. Swordsmen such as George Silver in the 16th century and Joseph Swetman in the 17th century praised the staff as being among the best, if not the best, of all hand weapons. [2]
Farm Implements
Many tools for farming could be used for self-defense in a pinch. Most were long-handled and were modified over time into polearms. For example, the threshing flail has a long handle with a short heavy wood head with an articulated attachment such as a strap, rope or chain. Originally used to thresh grain, it was brutally effective against people. Another example is the bill hook. Consisting of a curved wide hook sharpened on the inside edge on a haft, it was originally used to trim tree limbs but was good at unhorsing riders. Other examples include pitchforks, scythes, and sickles.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
Courtesy of Shutterstock.
I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions by using the Contact Me form on my website or writing a comment. I post every Friday and would be grateful if you would share my content.
If you want my blog delivered straight to your inbox every month along with exclusive content and giveaways please sign up for my email list. To celebrate my first newsletter I will be giving away a copy of “Build Your Author Platform” by Carole Jelen and Michael McCallister, a book that has been invaluable in helping me build my platform. The deadline to sign up to be entered in the drawing is Aug. 30th.
Let’s get writing!
Copyright © 2020 Rebecca Shedd. All rights reserved.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagger [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarterstaff
The Writer’s Guide to Medieval Battlefield Weapons
Posted on August 21, 2020 1 Comment
I hope you have enjoyed my previous posts on sword myths. Today we will be moving on to other common medieval weapons with a focus on those used on the battlefield. Although swords are synonymous with fantasy and a lot of historical fiction, they were not used excessively in battle during the Middle Ages. There were several other weapons that were more effective than the sword, although quite a few soldiers carried them as a back-up weapon.
Writer’s Tip: Including weapons other than swords in your novel is a great way to expand your fantasy or historical arsenal, include weapons that are vastly under-represented in fiction, give an indication of social standing, use military tactics other than sword stances and inject some realism.
Polearms
Polearm is the name for a class of weapons with a long wood pole. The most basic and common polearm is the spear. Starting in ancient times as a sharpened stick, the spear was improved first with a chipped stone head then bronze, iron and steel. Differently shaped heads were developed, often adapted from farm implements, resulting in the military fork, trident, partisan, pole-ax, glaive, bill, halberd and hammer, all of which had multiple variations. Polearms have the advantage of reach, ranging from the height of a person to about 16 feet (4.8 m) in the case of 17th century pikes. Also, infantry armed with polearms can be tightly packed into multiple ranks, creating a virtual hedge of protection. [1]
Clubs, Maces and Picks
The club is probably the first purposely created weapon. On the Bayeux tapestry, William the Conqueror is depicted several times carrying a club. [2] Over the centuries, the club has been improved upon and by the Middle Ages there were flails, maces, picks, and war hammers.
Axes
Throughout most of human history, an axe with a common household tool, necessary for cutting wood for the fire. As a result, it became a handy weapon. Archers during the Hundred Year’s War carried axes on their belts to be used for cutting sharpened stakes for protection as well as self-defense if they were attacked by infantry. [3]
Bows
Originally developed for hunting, the bow was used to great effect in medieval warfare in such battles as Agincourt and Crécy during the 15th century. It was a common weapon that was not that expensive to buy nor too difficult to make. Most of the bowmen in a medieval army were yeoman, free commoners or part of the lower end of the middleclass. I will be delving deeper into archery myths in future posts.
I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions by using the Contact Me form on my website or writing a comment. I post every Friday and would be grateful if you would share my content.
If you want my blog delivered straight to your inbox every month along with exclusive content and giveaways please sign up for my email list. To celebrate my first newsletter I will be giving away a copy of “Build Your Author Platform” by Carole Jelen and Michael McCallister, a book that has been invaluable in helping me build my platform. The deadline to sign up to be entered in the drawing is Aug. 30th.
Let’s get writing!
Copyright © 2020 Rebecca Shedd. All rights reserved.
[1] Weapons: An International Encyclopedia from 5000 B.C. to 2000 A.D.. The Diagram Group (1980). Diagram Visual. p. 56-62. ISBN 0-312-03950-6. [2] Weapons: An International Encyclopedia from 5000 B.C. to 2000 A.D.. The Diagram Group (1980). Diagram Visual. p. 14-15. ISBN 0-312-03950-6. [3] https://imgur.com/gallery/RswSL
The Writer’s Guide to Medieval Swords: Part 2
Posted on August 14, 2020 2 Comments
I hope you enjoyed my last blog post on swords. If you have not read it you can find it here. Today we will be tackling three more common pieces of misinformation regarding swords. As in my first post I will be focusing on medieval European swords since most fantasy is inspired by this period and region.
As always, magic is the exception to the rules. Because magic.
Sword Through the Belt
I have seen this trope in multiple video games, movies, and television shows. If a sword is sharp the motion of putting it through the belt or pulling it out will likely cut through the belt, not to mention the high likelihood of the person cutting themselves. You can only get away with this if the sword is dull. Medieval swords were normally kept in a scabbard when not in use. The scabbard protected the blade from moisture and dulling of the edge. The scabbard was usually hung from the belt by a frog, which caused the sword to hang at the level of the hip and at the forward slant, making it easier to draw.
Cast Off (aka You’re Not Walking Off that Battlefield Clean)
If you’ve ever watched CSI or any other crime scene investigation show you already know that melee weapons are messy. After the first hit, any movement of the weapon will produce cast off. This means that anyone walking away from melee combat such as a battle will likely be quite grimy. Yet I’ve seen a number of medieval and fantasy movies and shows where the hero is spotless after a battle. Thankfully, several recent productions have tried to show how gruesome medieval melee combat can be, most notably “Game of Thrones” and Netflix’s “Outlaw King.”
Writer Tip: The grisly stain of battle can be an opening for your character to reflect on the brutality of war or the people they lost, especially as they literally clean the blood off their clothes and equipment.
Cleaning Your Sword
I admit it. I shudder every time I see a character finish up a battle and slide their sword back into their scabbard without cleaning it. The problem is that once debris has been introduced to the scabbard it’s pretty much impossible to get out. Also, if there is any moisture it will cause the blade to rust. If a sword is left in a contaminated scabbard too long it can actually “glue” the blade inside the scabbard, making it impossible to draw.
I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions by using the Contact Me form on my website or writing a comment. I post every Friday and would be grateful if you would share my content.
If you want my blog delivered straight to your inbox every month along with exclusive content and giveaways please sign up for my email list. To celebrate my first newsletter I will be giving away a copy of “Build Your Author Platform” by Carole Jelen and Michael McCallister, a book that has been invaluable in helping me build my platform. The deadline to sign up to be entered in the drawing is Aug. 30th.
Let’s get writing!
Copyright © 2020 Rebecca Shedd. All rights reserved.
The Writer’s Guide to Medieval Swords: Part 1
Posted on August 7, 2020 2 Comments
Swords are almost synonymous with the fantasy genre, from Sting to Excalibur to Ice. Yet because they are not an item most people encounter anymore, there is a lot of misconceptions. Unfortunately, this misinformation is repeated in movies, books, and television shows until the producers and their audiences all think it to be correct. I will be focusing on medieval European swords since most fantasy is inspired by this period and region and it’s where the bulk of my experience lies.
As always, magic is the exception to the rules. Because magic.
The “Sheath of Shing”
You probably already know what I’m talking about. Someone pulls their sword from the scabbard with a loud dramatic “shing!” I admit it: this is one of my pet peeves. Most swords from the Middle Ages had scabbards made of wood covered in leather although there were some all leather scabbards. A sword drawn from one of these hardly makes a sound.
Of course, there are exceptions. Military swords from 19th century Europe commonly were either all metal, wood covered in metal or, if they were all wood or leather construction, had a metal throat. A sword drawn from a metal scabbard will produce the iconic “shing.” The sound can also be produced by any scabbard with a metal throat that touches the blade, although it won’t be as dramatic. I recommend watching Schola Gladiotora’s video here. [1]
Writer Tip: Ask yourself why you want to include the “shing” in your scene. Is it to build tension and drama? Is there another way you could achieve the same effect? Also, consider the dramatic opportunities of a sword being drawn without a sound.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
Weight
One of the common misconceptions about swords is the weight, especially if you’re referring to a larger sword such as a claymore or a German zweihänder. I’ve seen claims of medieval swords weighing 10-15 pounds (4.5-7 kg). The average medieval sword weighed between 2 ½ to 3 ½ pounds (1 to 1.5 kg). The average zwaihänder had a weight of 4 ½ pounds (2 kg) and claymores tipped the scales at 5 ½ pounds (2.5 kg). For more information, I suggest ARMA’s article by J. Clements here [2]. The thing to remember about swords is a person had to be able to wield one for up to hours at a time. For example, the Battle of Hastings lasted for nine hours. Imagine swinging a ten-pound sword for that long!
Balance
The other factor to keep in mind with swords is balance. The balance point is the physical place on the blade where the weight is equally distributed between the blade and the handle, usually located 2-3 inches (5-7.5 cms) up the blade from the hilt. You literally can balance a sword on the edge of your hand at the balance point. The reason balance is so important is because it prevents fatigue and effects speed. If a sword is blade heavy it will take more effort to swing it and the swing will be slower.[3]
I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions by using the Contact Me form on my website or writing a comment. I post every Friday and would be grateful if you would share my content.
If you want my blog delivered straight to your inbox every month along with exclusive content and giveaways please sign up for my email list. To celebrate my first newsletter I will be giving away a copy of “Build Your Author Platform” by Carole Jelen and Michael McCallister, a book that has been invaluable in helping me build my platform. The deadline to sign up to be entered in the drawing is Aug. 30th.
Let’s get writing!
Copyright © 2020 Rebecca Shedd. All rights reserved.
[1] https://youtu.be/0xAjpdkO-6o
[2] http://www.thearma.org/essays/weights.htm#.XwiuJShKjIU
[3] https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/sword-terminology.html
Rebecca Shedd - Author 