# Armor



## Euripides (Jul 19, 2012)

Wondering if any one has some good references to read up about armor, the local library here didn't have much of anything so it would have to be stuff I could buy or get on library loan. 

Also potential websites. I had some book marked that I spent hours trying to find, but hubby wiped my computer. And I start going off on tangents when I'm researching online. 

I've got a jousting/tourney chapter floating around, and I would like to make sure I have any armor pieces named right. And get correct materials.

Thanks!


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## j.w.olson (Jul 19, 2012)

I know some about armor (I make chainmaille and some leather), and I have friends who know more. I have an awesome book about 13th-14th century armor I could look things up in or refer you to. The book is called "Techniques of Medieval Armour Reproduction."

Also, this is the best website, probably (especially the forums): The Armour Archive

Here's a free PDF I haven't looked at much yet:  http://www.brighthelm.org/downloads/Basic-Armouring.pdf

This is all mostly about making armour, but I think that'll help you get what you need too.


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## Euripides (Jul 19, 2012)

Thanks for the link! The Book title would help greatly, I'll see if I can find a copy. 
I want to make sure that I have the characters in the correct sort of armor for their role and station in life. And make sure that I don't have some heavy plate wearing guy doing ninja style back flips, or a light hand to hander in sub par boiled leather not taking damage from a heavy blow with an axe.


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## j.w.olson (Jul 19, 2012)

I edited my previous post with the book title (and added a free PDF I found). All of my sources are about making it, so there are probably other resources out there too, also worth looking into, but my sources will get you the information you need about names and materials for different pieces of armor.

Do you have any specific questions, or are you just looking to do general research yourself?


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## Euripides (Jul 19, 2012)

General research at this point. 
Types of materials vs relative expense/weight/strength/flexability/level of protection vs blunt/bladed/piercing weapons.

What it looks like, how it's made, ease of repair (if needed in the field), upkeep issues.

I had started research (mainly gathering sources and taking a cursory look at it) and recall enough to be dangerous to my characters well being (meaning, recall almost nothing).


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## Morkonan (Jul 27, 2012)

Euripides said:


> General research at this point.
> Types of materials vs relative expense/weight/strength/flexability/level of protection vs blunt/bladed/piercing weapons.



I'm no expert. These are just some quick observations:

Until late periods, armor was extremely expensive and was always a very welcome portion of any "booty" acquired. A full suit of armor was a very expensive affair and the cost might be equitable to a small holding or large farmstead. In the days of Full Plate, suits were crafted specifically for their wearer, but pieces could still be used by others in a pinch. A full suit of plate could weigh in at 75lbs or more, evenly distributed across the body. (Some were much lighter, depending on the period.) While that distribution helped, it meant that being a knight in full armor required you to be in good shape. It also meant that traveling was a particularly tough chore. Troops who were armored usually traveled unarmored or even partially armored, only donning their armor before battle. Hiking twenty miles with plate iron covering your legs is just not very possible. Not even the most superb athlete could do so consistently without injury. Spring steel wasn't available until late periods, either, so armor could "crack" under the right conditions. Unlike popular culture's interpretation of full armor suits, movement was not extremely restricted. However, vision and especially hearing was very restricted with certain types of full helmets. Those with less restrictive helmets may have even had a better chance of survival, providing that they didn't take an arrow to the eye... But, the important thing to note on this is that battlefield communication evolved to communicate tactics and actions to people who had trouble hearing orders and seeing banners. A medieval battlefield was a confusing place.

Piercing weapons proved to be the most effective against the widest variety of armors, followed by blunt weapons. Slashing weapons are generally ineffective against the widest variety of armors due to how the energy is distributed. In both piercing and blunt weapons, the energy is concentrated at a small point. In slashing weapons, that energy is delivered across a wider area. You'll find that weapons traditionally used against heavily armored opponents are piercing and blunt weapons, followed by very large, bladed weapons, that make up in momentum what they may lose in distributed energy. A huge halberd is still a huge halberd, even if it does possess a cutting edge. (Halberds also had hooks, spikes and hammers attacked to them, so they could be reversed and used against more heavily armored opponents if necessary. The invention of Bill Hooks, a specialized polearm weapon used against mounted and armored troops, proved to be extremely effective and created an entirely new set of armored cavalry and infantry tactics in an effort to avoid it.)



> What it looks like, how it's made, ease of repair (if needed in the field), upkeep issues.



You can probably get a better idea online. But, notice that there is an evolutionary tree to armor, that's what is important. As conditions and weapons change, armor changes to provide protection against them. Armor is a defensive innovation and is in response to offensive tactics and the development of new weapons. Full Gothic Plate Armor is the classic imagery that one is generally presented with, but more effective armor might be Partial Plate or Plate-Mail hybrids. There's also "Tourney Armor" which is a different class, sort of like the protection that American Footballers wear - It's great for sport, but wouldn't be very helpful in wartime unless you recreate the field conditions and tactics. While wearers could field-dress their armor and care for it, specialized care was always needed. Things broke, harnesses came.. unharnessed, leather cracked and split, rivets popped, etc.. A good armorer was needed to keep armor in repair. Armor could be reworked, but I don't believe the mastery of "welding" had come into its own, yet. So, welding patches on armor may have been beyond most smiths. Plate Armor, once reheated and then combined with a patch, would have likely had its strength reduced. That's just my assumption. But, chain mail, chain armor and the like, could easily be repaired. Also remember, there was no stainless steel, as such. All iron armor had to be oiled and well maintained, lest it rust. Any oxygen barrier would do, so I wouldn't be surprised to read that several armies cared for their armor and weapons by rubbing them with grease in the field.



> I had started research (mainly gathering sources and taking a cursory look at it) and recall enough to be dangerous to my characters well being (meaning, recall almost nothing).



There are all sorts of practical "Coffee Table" books on Armor. Check the "coffee table" sort of book section in your boostore and you're likely to find one. Also check the discount sections, as books on weapons and armor tend to find themselves there after a short shelf-life. 

Two books you may be interested in that I have found personally helpful as a resource on this setting - "Life in a Medieval Village" by Francis and Joseph Gies and "Life in a Medieval City" by Joseph Gies. I plan on picking up more titles from them. Excellent work and very helpful.

Are you writing historical fiction or a fantasy story?

On the actual protection armor provides:

Padded Armor - Some protection against slight piercing and slashing attacks.
Chainmail - Good protection against cutting/slashing weapons, but not from their physical impact. A claymore might not always cut through chainmail, but it'd likely break bones, crush ribs and push the chainmail pieces through the padded coat underneath and into the skin.
Full Plate - Big iron monstrosity. Very scary. Very effective against many forms of attack, but susceptible to troops armed with polearm weapons and piercing weapons. Contrary to popular belief, plate armor was effective in stopping even English Longbow arrows, even with the "armor piercing" arrowhead designs.
Plate Mail - A combination of full plate and chainmail, provided excellent mobility and good all around protection.
Full Gothic Plate - Heavy, looked great, brought a lot of prestige, very excellent protection against incidental attacks, but vulnerable to any concerted effort by one or more opponents. Great for calvalry charges and looking good, bad for ground combat in a mass of angry men.

A note - Armor is designed for those who wear it. A Knight on horseback would wear different armor than a ground soldier, even if that ground soldier was in full plate. Several city-states and cultures had specialized troops in heavy armor specifically designed for use by ground troops. These were the most feared opponents because it was not necessary to design their armor around the needs of a horsed combatant. They had few weaknesses until someone could manage to get close enough to find an opening for a pike, dagger or poignard.

Don't disregard shields. Shields were probably the most useful of all armor inventions and anyone could use them. Specialized crossbowman would carry very large shields and use them as portions of what amounted to a mobile wall, when firing their volleys. Shield Bearers for some knights were common - They'd carry the shield and protect the knight's vulnerable areas as the knight went about swinging their great two-handed weapons. Shields came in all sizes and configurations, from small dinner-plate sizes used on the arm to large, heavy mobile walls used by massed troops to get in close and fire a volley of high velocity, low range bolts.


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