Osprey - General Military - Knight - The Warrior and ... - Brego-weard

padding being used to protect the thighs and the knees. In some images and effigies
the shoulders of the surcoat appear to stand proud, suggesting that they too were
padded, although whether tor defence or merely as decoration is unclear.
The body's protection continued to be of mail in much the same form as in the 12th
century. In the latter half of the 13th century, however, the first solid defences began
to appear. Knee and elbow caps are the most obvious, visible on a number of effigies.
The highly decorative nature of some of these, with their intricate foliate designs,
would suggest that they were made of cuir bouilli rather than iron or steel but, as noted
above, it is almost impossible to be certain.
One of the main problems faced in interpreting armour of the high middle ages
is that from the 12th century through to the mid-14th century the knight's body was
covered by a voluminous surcoat, which hid the armour beneath. This means that we
are not certain at what point the first plate defences for the torso appeared. One of
the effigies from the Temple church in London, identified as Gilbert Marshal and
therefore dated to the 1250s, has a series of buckles just visible under his right
armpit, which would suggest some form of coat-of-plates: broad bands of iron riveted
to an outer skin of leather. This is clearer in the contemporary sculpture of
St Maurice at Magdeburg Cathedral, where the saint is depicted wearing a surcoat
which is clearly stiffened and marked with rows of rivets top and bottom. Something
of the nature of these coats can be discerned by looking at the remains of several
found amongst the corpses in the mass graves at Wisby in Gotland. Although the
battle was fought in 1361 the remains recovered were those
of the Gotland militia whose equipment was certainly out
of date, even if it was not itself 50 or 60 years old. We also
see evidence of splinted defences, constructed in a similar
manner to the coat-of-plates being used to protect the shins
and forearms.
From the 14th century the pace of change in armour
increased dramatically The helmet continued to grow in size
and weight: whilst the mid-13th-century 'pot helm' had
skimmed the jaw line, the 14th-centuiy great helm' now
came down almost to shoulder level. Beneath it an added
layer of protection, a close-fitting iron cap or cervelliere, was
worn, originally dish-shaped but growing to cover the sides
and back of the head, becoming the 'bascinet'. This extra
protection obviated the need for a full mail coif, which was
reduced to a curtain of mail, called an aventaii, suspended
from the bascinet s edge.
ARMS AND ARMOUR •*}*•
Knights in Phrygian
helms from the early
12th century. There
appears to have been
a relatively short-lived
fashion for forward-sloping
helms that mimicked the
caps being worn at the
time. (Scala)
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