Saul dressed David in his own armor.
He put chain mail on him
and put a bronze helmet on his head.
First Kings 17:38
Military history of countries and peoples. To begin with, I read the comments to one of the previous materials and noticed that one of the readers wrote that he was tired of ceremonial armor and wanted about combat … and about those who used them. The latter is a separate and very complex topic. Regarding the first wish, we can say that it was precisely in that material that the ceremonial armor was not there! Which is easy to establish by the presence of either a lance hook on the cuirass, or holes for its attachment. They did not put it on the front ones. Why carry an extra load on yourself? And the fact that armor over time began to be richly decorated, and even military, let it not surprise anyone. To know and to know in order to emphasize with all his might his superiority over commoners.
And now let's remember what has been written here on the pages of VO more than once: armor XIV is a rarity. Armor XIII is an even greater rarity, and even further into the depths of the centuries, the finds of armor that museums can boast of can be counted on one hand - they simply have not survived!
Also, the knight's armor was expensive. And therefore they were more often preserved. In the same castles. As a memory and as interior details. The infantryman's armor was lighter, simpler and cheaper. And where would he keep them, even if he became their master? I would sell it right there, of course. And I would go to war - I got new ones!
In one of the documents, for example, we read that in 1372 a certain Liber Borrein - a fairly wealthy militia from modern Belgium - went to fight in a chain mail shirt with a collar and a mantle, in a bascinet with a visor and an aventail, having plate mittens, as well as bracers and hard leather leggings. However, it was clearly not a peasant, but a burgher. This was within his means!
Around the same time, crossbowmen, who were usually recruited into the same French army in Provence, and pavezier shield-bearers could have a helmet - a servillier or a bascinet, as well as a lamellar shell (plates), often supplemented by a "gipponus" or even a small chain mail (pansiere). Faudes could be attached to the chain mail, as well as poacher's plate shoulder pads (braconniére), or a chain collar. But only a few had combat mittens (gantelets, ghants) or leather mittens (manicae), or wrists (brasales) to protect the hands and forearms.
Well, the weapon of the French crossbowman was a crossbow, a relatively light sword (ensis), and they were covered with light shields (eusis or spato), and a dagger (couteau), some of them were covered with small shields (bloquerium).
Pavezier - a warrior with a pavese shield, was armed with a spear and a dagger or mantlet. Only a very few had a sword. The Provencal light infantryman "brigand" had a servilier helmet, bascinet or a brimmed chapel, and the few who had armor wore a jacque (a quilted jacket lined with metal or bone plates) or chain mail. They did not have shields, since they performed the functions of foot skirmishers in the troops.
Weapons and armor were produced on the stream, in particular, by the large arms manufactory at Clos de Galle in Rouen. So, in 1376, in only one arsenal in Chaumbre de la Reine, up to a thousand sets of battle armor were stored, although their description said that they were outdated and of poor quality.
Eight later, the king of France made an order for the manufacture of bascinets, boucliers, bracelets, bras de plate, chapeau de fer, quilted cottes, cuissots, heraldic shields (ecus), patches écussons, mittens (gantelots), bracers (garde-brass), plate collars (gorgerettes, gorgiéres), shells (harnois), shortened chain mail (haubergiers), large helmets (heaumes), aketons, jackets, paveses, plates and targes. Each set of armor weighed at least 25 pounds (about 6 kg), and each bascinet weighed at least 4 pounds (over 1.6 kg).
Another order, received in 1384, for 17,200 gold francs, was for the production of 200,000 crossbow arrows, the repair of armor, horse harness and artillery.
Some armor makers and arms dealers have made deals with colleagues overseas. Such a deal was concluded in 1375 by the craftsmen Guitard de Ginqueres from Bordeaux and Lambert Braque from Germany. They agreed to cooperate in the delivery of 60 bascinets and shells to the castle of the Comte de Foix in Morlas. The most detailed evidence of this deal comes from the archives of Datini, a merchant from Prato (Italy) who was a key figure in the arms trade in Avignon at the end of the 14th century. Here weapons and armor were sold and resold both wholesale and retail, and the same merchant sold both to ours and yours, and this did not surprise or outraged anyone at all, although it was still very far to "damned capitalism".
And, of course, chain mail was still in use, as evidenced by the same exhibits from the Wallace Collection.
Note that, contrary to popular belief, chain mail was never replaced with plate armor. Chain mail was worn not only by knights in armor, but also by archers, gunners and infantry of a lower rank. Thus, good chain mail could be inherited from its original owner, passed from hand to hand many times, and continued to be worn as long as it was considered useful.
One of the many reasons why chain mail was so widely used for such a long period (in Europe, more than 2000 years, from about the 3rd century BC to the 17th century AD), was that the chain mail could be easily repaired, restored or remodel. Even if it was badly torn, the damage could be quickly repaired and then reused.
Second-hand chain mail remained in use for a century or more, after which it was usually cut into separate chain mail sleeves and "skirts" (commonly called "paunces"), which were then worn with full plate armor. For this reason, apart from old age, full chain mail shirts from the early period are extremely rare today.
It is almost certain that this specimen at one time had sleeves either to the elbow or to the wrist. But at the end of the 15th century, full chain mail shirts became more and more obsolete, and many of the old chain mail had their sleeves cut off. But the chain mail sleeves themselves were worn with full plate armor throughout the 16th and even the 17th centuries. The lamellar armor itself had by this time become thick enough to render the chain mail behind it obsolete, but chain mail was still required to close the "slits" in the armor in the armpits and on the inside of the elbows. Moreover, it did not add a lot of excess weight!
It should be remembered that, contrary to popular modern misconceptions, armor manufacturers and wearers were more than aware of the need to avoid excessive weight, which would tire the warrior wearing them or affect his mobility.
The head was also covered with chain mail.
Used, and very widely, chain mail collars, often with double weaving. This was often the only defense for both the infantryman and the horseman.
Well, and about other accessories of "equipment for combat" of those distant years, we will tell here next time …
