"… If I do not see His wounds from the nails on my hands, and I do not put my finger in the wounds of the nails, and I do not put my hand in His ribs, I will not believe"
(Gospel of John 24-29).
"I would like to ask the distinguished author: Is it correct to analyze the armor of German knights on the basis of English effigies?"
(tacet (Vladimir)).
The interest generated by the publication of materials about battles and armor of 1240-1242 is understandable. This is our history, a glorious history, and we don't need "noodles on our ears" here at all. I personally, however, most of all liked the question of the correctness of the comparison of the weapons of the German knights and the English ones. Well, the one who asked the question was immediately answered in the comments and answered very well. But, as in the case of the article about the "chained Jarl Birger", it should be noted that words are just words! Even if based on something. So in this case it will be better to see it once than to read it ten times.
That is, again, here will be given the maximum possible (although far from exhaustive) selection of Germanic effigies, allowing to trace the genesis of Germanic protective armor from the "age of chain mail" to the appearance of "white", solid forged armor.
The earliest German effigy that has come down to us is St. Mauritius, passed off as an "Egyptian" in the Middle Ages, in connection with which specific African features were given to him. Magdeburg Cathedral, Germany, 1250 Dressed, as you can see, in a chain mail hauberk, over which is worn "coat of plates" or primitive armor made of metal plates riveted to strips of fabric. D. Nicole believes that the reason for the appearance of such armor among the Germans was the influence of … the Slavs, Hungarians and especially the Mongols, who shot the German knights from bows at the Battle of Legnica in 1241!
One should start, however, with what one should always start with - with historiography. The fundamental research on the history of the wars of the Crusaders in this case is the highly authoritative edition of D. Nicolas "Arms and Armor of the Crusading Era 1050-1350" (Greenhill Books ISBN: 1-85367-347-1) - "Weapons and armor of the era of the Crusaders 1050-135 ". The first volume has 636 pages. The second - 576 pages. It examines weapons and armor of the era of the Crusader wars throughout Eurasia, and all the sources used are shown in graphic sketches! That is, it is a very serious publication both in terms of volume and content. And this book is on the Internet, and you can easily download it!
Henry the Younger, d. 1298 Cathedral in Marburg, Germany.
Also readily available are the following “Medieval Scandinavian Armies” publications: Lindholm, D., Nicolle, D. “Medieval Scandinavian Armies (1) 1100-1300” (Men-at-Arms Series 396) and “Medieval Scandinavian Armies (2) 1300 -1500 (Men-at-Arms Series 399), edition 2003. They are closely related to the next book by David Lindholm and David Nicola about the Scandinavian crusaders in the Baltic in 1100-1500. Lindholm, D., Nicolle, D. The Scandinavian Baltic Crusades 1100-1500. Oxford: Ospey (Men-at-Arms Series 436), 2007.
Ederhard I von der Mark, mind 1308 Frondenberg, Germany. Such is the touching fashion knight with coats of arms on his chest. Very few such images are known on surcoat, and another such figure is located in the castle of Carcassonne in France. Is this not the best evidence of chivalrous "internationalism". Note the braided mittens with slits in the palms to let the arms out.
An extremely interesting article by D. Nicolas "Horsemen of the Ice War: Teutonic Knights against Lithuanian Horsemen" - Nicolle, D. Raiders of the Ice War. Medieval Warfar: Teutonic Knights ambush Lithuanian Raiders // Military illustrated. Vol. 94. March.1996. Unfortunately, it was published in 1996 in Military Illustrated magazine in England. But in the wilds of the Internet in the magazine "Warrior" No. 5 for 2001, an author's translation of this material was given under the title "Battle of the Ice in 1270" (Shpakovsky V. O., Galiguzova E.)
Otton de Grandson, d. 1328 Lausanne Cathedral, Switzerland.
A well-illustrated and detailed edition is the book by David Edge and J. Paddock. Weapons and armor of a medieval knight. (Edge, D., Paddock, J. M. Arms and armor of the medieval knight. An illustrated history of Weaponry in middle ages. Avenel, New Jersey, 1996.)
Rudolph I von Hohenberg, d. 1336 Rottenburg, Germany. Pay attention to his helmet and imposing horns - all in the best traditions of Germanic knighthood, but … dating back to a later time.
All of the above books are written in English. But there are also very interesting studies in Russian. This is Yu. L. Immortal Knighthood and nobility of the 10-13th centuries. in the views of contemporaries // Ideologies of feudal society in Western Europe: problems of culture and socio-cultural representations of the Middle Ages in foreign historiography. M.: INION AN SSSR. Pp. 196 - 221; Oakeshott, E. Archeology of Weapons. From the Bronze Age to the Renaissance // Translated from English. M. K. Yakushina. M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2004; Folks, Ch. Medieval Armor. Gunsmiths // Translated from English. THOSE. Lyubovskoy. M., ZAO Tsentrpoligraf, 2005.
Albrecht von Hohenlohe, d. 1338 Schontal, Germany. Here we are shown a whole arsenal: a dagger on a chain, a bascinet helmet on the head of the deceased and a tophelm helmet nearby, armor gloves. Note the wide chain mail sleeves. That was the difference with the British. They preferred narrow sleeves. Italians, Germans (not all!) And Scandinavians had wide ones.
Well, now more specifically. To begin with, by 1066, chain mail had dominated the battlefields for nearly two hundred years. How can we prove this? Code of the same Charlemagne. In particular, the "Capitulare Missorum" (Capitulare Missorum - one of the basic codes of the Carolingians), 792 - 793, prescribed that the entire "nobility" of the Carolingian Empire should have a full set of armor, as well as have a horse and appropriate offensive weapons.
Archbishop of Cologne, d. 1340 Mainz Museum, Germany. Even though he is a bishop, his equipment looks older than that of the previous knight.
In 802 - 803. followed by another capitulary, according to which each horseman had to be armed with his own helmet, shield and chain mail armor, called "brunia". In 805, a clarified law appeared, by which Charles commanded everyone in the empire who owned twelve mansi (mansi) of the land, to serve in the cavalry in their own armor, and in case of failure to appear for service, both land and armor could be confiscated. The infantrymen did not have such good defensive weapons, however, the Aachen capitulary in 802 - 803. demanded that each of them have a shield.
Rudolf von Sachsenhausen, d. 1370 Frankfurt am Main. Very handsome and "modern knight", isn't that so? On the chest there are gold chains (one for a helmet with a cross-shaped slot for a "button" on the chain), a gilded helmet with a heraldic helmet lining, a coat of arms, gilded knee pads, and boiled leather leggings on the legs. An embroidered jupon, a dagger on a rich belt on the hips - everything is with him.
However, Claude Blair has repeatedly argued that the "age of chain mail" in Europe is the period from 1066 to 1250. Why? There is “Bayesian canvas”, there is “Carpet from Baldishol” … Someone has their own numbers (for example, Ewart Oakeshott gives a slightly different periodization, starting from 1100 to 1325), but these time frames are most justified, since they are confirmed by many sources. Interestingly, until the end of the 13th century, chain mail in Europe was worn without padded cotton clothing under it, and the only quilted element of the knight's clothing was a cap on his head! In the famous manuscript of this period - "The Bible of Maciejewski" there are many images of chain mail, which are both put on and off, and in all cases the only clothing under it is a colored shirt with sleeves to the wrist. It remains only to assume that some kind of lining could have been on the chain mail itself, but it is almost impossible to prove this assumption today. But, of course, in winter people simply could not help but "warm themselves" and put on something warm and quilted under the chain mail and, most likely, on it, which increased its protective properties.
Burkhard von Steinberg, d. 1376 Nuremberg Museum, Germany. Pay attention to his legs - they are wearing almost full plate armor, but on the torso under the fabric one can clearly see the “imprints” of square plates, which, apparently, were not riveted (rivets are not visible), but inserted into “pockets” made of fabric.
The knights who took Jerusalem by storm in 1099 were also dressed in chain mail and conical helmets. But even at the beginning of the XIII century. since 1066, the armor has changed very little, which is confirmed by the image from another "carpet" - "Norwegian", the beginning of the XIII century. from the church in Baldishol, where the warriors look exactly like the horsemen on the tapestry from Bayeux.
Eberhard von Rosenberg, d. 1387 Boxberg Evangelical Church. Germany. It is known that around this time it became fashionable to cover armor with clothes made of expensive fabric, and now we see that the deceased managed to pay tribute to the fashion. But pay attention: he did not have enough money for a full plate cover for his legs, or he considered that he did not need it, because he had chain mail on his thighs! And the aventail is also chain mail. By the way, note that ALL knights whose effigies are shown here (and there are many more besides these images!) Are wearing chain mail. No one is wearing "leather armor covered with forged scales." Not one!
What is noted by researchers of the topic of "Baltic crusaders"? The fact that with their weapons they were always … a little late! That is, they did not go in the vanguard of "scientific and technological progress" in the development of armor, but rather constituted its rearguard. This is again indicated by the same effigies, in which the Norwegian and Swedish knights are shown not in the most modern armor. But the effigies of the German knights - by the way, despite all the military destruction of the Second World War, surprisingly enough of them survived - show us almost everything the same as those of the effigies of the British, French, Spaniards and Italians. Well, this once again confirms the fact that European chivalry was international in its essence, not to mention the spiritual and knightly orders. Well, the ones you are looking at now only confirm that the forged armor of the order knights did not appear in 1240 or 1242, but many years later, just like the British, and … the English effigies! So we are simply not talking about the incorrectness of comparisons.
Georg von Bach, d. 1415 Steinbach, St. Jacob's Church, Germany. Everything is about the same as on the breaststrokes of the English knights of the same year. Only this effigy is made of stone …
