.: Destrier.org.uk :.

"The Arming of the Knight"

What is a knight- what are his duties and obligations?
A knight is many things, not just a warrior- a knight is a foremost landowner and manages an estate. He makes his money through agriculture, rent from tenants and farmers. However, managing the local area can also make him an important figure in local government. He can be responsible justice, as a local magistrate and justice of the peace. He can be a tax collector. He could also get further responsibilities as sitting on juries of higher courts. He may even become a member of parliament.

What are a knight's military duties?
At times of war he will be responsible for collecting tenants for soldiers and for fighting himself at their head- usually for his lord. For not all war is decreed by the king. A knight signs a document called an indenture- so called because it is perforated and torn in half- each keeps a portion of the contract should there be any dispute. This contract states that a knight must "take his masters part, and ride and go- in peace and war".

How is a knight trained?
A boy, born to a noble family would be sent- at the age of around seven- to the household of a neighbor. Here he was to learn many things that make him important and above the common people. He would have to learn to dress a knight- for the wealthy never dress themselves. He would have to learn to serve at table (medieval table etiquette is not a matter of throwing bones over the shoulder and hounds running around for scraps- it was as complex as a Japanese tea ceremony). He would have to learn to read and write- to even understand poetry and law. He would need maths to manage his accounts. He would learn how to handle birds of prey and ride.

At the age of about twelve he would have begun his military training. The hunt would have taught him military tactics- how best to command men and to corner an enemy and how to use terrain to his best advantage. He would have learnt how to use the sword, delivering cuts to a wooden post called a pell. He would have ridden at the quintain- a device with a shield on one side and a weighted bag at the other, such that he must hit it with the lance squarely and at speed so as to avoid the swinging weight. Then he would have been given these exercises in pieces of armour, to begin to learn how to manage the movement and weight difference.

It was written, by one Roger of Hoven, in the twelfth century- "No athlete can fight tenaciously who has never received any blows. He must see his blood flow and hear his teeth crack under the fist of his adversary. And when he is thrown to the ground he must fight on with all his might and not loose courage"

How is a knight made?
At the age of sixteen to nineteen the young squire could be knighted. This was an expensive ceremony. The day before the squire had his hair and beard trimmed. He bathed- thus he would rise clean and ready- a reflection on baptism. That night he would not sleep in a bed, but would be expected to stand in vigil in a church, in prayer and meditation in front of the Alter all night.

On the morning of the ceremony his clothes for the ritual would be brought to him. These are very symbolic- the details are from a French poem of 1220s: -

A white tunic to symbolize piety

A scarlet cloak, to symbolize the blood he would be prepared to spill in defense of the church.

Hose of brown cloth, for the earth that he has come from, and to which he will return in time- a death he must always be prepared for.

An undyed belt of pure white buff leather to symbolize his purity.

In the ceremony he would receive the real symbols of his knighthood. A pair of gilded spurs symbolized his sufferance in God's service. He would receive his sword-, which was always straight, and two edged- one edge for justice and loyalty, the other for defending the weak. There would be the dubbing- he would kneel and receive a tap on each shoulder with a sword. Sometimes the tap could be a strong buffet with the flat of the sword. This had a special purpose: -

It may have been the last he was expected to receive without retaliation.

It might have been to awaken him from evil dreams and henceforth keep God's faith.

It may have been to remind him of the person who gave him the blows- usually his Lord. (We know that witnesses to contracts might have their ears boxed to ensure they remembered the event)

There would be words of encouragement, oaths of loyalty- promises to defend the church, the poor, women and the weak, to refrain from treason or all unjust acts.

Armour in the 15th Century

What is it being shown?

What you see before you is a harness of armour- here's the first thing- it was never called a suit of armour. This was a term devised by the Victorians who collected old antique armour at the time of the gothic revival. It was always referred to as a harness of armour in documents, letters, inventories and contracts of the time. This harness is a reproduction of armour that a knight would wear at around 1450s-1480s.
How did a knight get his armour?
The knight would have to decide whom to buy from. He might find a merchant that was selling armour of assorted pieces in assorted sizes. A merchant may import a large number of armours for sale from continental armourers. However, a knight wealthy enough would always prefer to have his harness made exactly to fit, and buy the latest technology.

1
A knight would ask his friends and neighbours of noble rank who had made theirs, and write to the armourer, requesting that he make a harness for him. The armourer would send a journeyman to attend on him. A journeyman was like a traveling salesman, though he knew much of the craft himself. He would bring with him pattern books- catalogues if you like, which would show drawings of the armourers work. It would also contain illustrations of the latest pieces, which would give the knight choices of what variations to buy. Here would be his first decisions- whether to have a helmet that offered more defense, though less ventilation- or one that meant he had more air and movement, but not so solid protection.

The journeyman would then measure the knight- in every dimension and part of his body. The armour would have to fit exactly the man buying it. In one instance an armourer watched the king of France sleep- to observe how his muscles moved subconsciously. How much of this is sales hype we may never know. If the journeyman could not attend, then a knight may send a set of his finest clothes to the armourer. Fifteenth century clothes for the wealthy are very tight fitting and this would mean that the armourer could stuff these with wool, providing a mannequin in his workshop of the subject he was making the harness for.

Armourers and manufacture
Armour was made in specialist areas. Some we know of- Milan in Italy, or Innsbruck an Ausberg in Germany. Other places existed too. Each one of these production centres had guilds of master craftsmen to ensure the town's products were of the highest quality. These centres had two have two things nearby- a supply of iron ore; and a strong running river- these would work some of the machines used- that of the hammers that broke the iron ore to make the steel, and drive the polishing wheels that put the finish to the product.

However, most of the work was special hand craftsmanship. An armourer would take over 8 years to learn his trade. Eventually he would pass an exam by making a greave- the piece for the lower leg- for the guild master. This had to fit perfectly, but was one of the hardest pieces to make, as the metal had to be hammered exactly to the shape of the curve of the muscle behind.

We don't know how long it took to make a harness. One of the boasts of the guild of Milan was that in two weeks it could supply armour to 200 condottieri, or heavy cavalrymen. How much was made 'off the peg' and how much was bespoke 'made to measure' we don't know.
Price and its relativity
When the journeyman made the delivery of the harness and any last adjustments, the knight would have to pay for it. He would pay dearly, for the armour will be one of the most expensive purchases that could be made. It could cost around £12- then. A knight might earn between £9 and £200 a year- widely differing because of the large variation of worth in this social class. However, a knight of much income would have equally big outgoings. He would have a manor house, servants, horses, business expenses- even such a thing as an expensive wife. Buying bespoke armour was like buying an Aston martin or Ferrari today.

In one instance Sir John Paston bought armour that cost him the exorbitant sum of £20. His father wrote and complained to him, asking why he had wasted so much when £10 or £12 would have done. Sir John wrote back to say that he had recently been promoted to a knight of the body- a bodyguard- to King Edward IV, so must look his best to represent the family.
Workings
Armour like this weighs between 60 and 70 lbs- around 35 kilos. That might sound heavy, but a modern soldier carries almost twice that in his backpack. This has the weight distributed all round the body. Indeed, when I joust the weight of me, the armour and the saddle is less than the weight of a cavalryman in 1914, the last war in Europe that cavalrymen were used in (This is because the cavalry trooper of the Great War carried much personal equipment- a rifle and about 180 cartridges of ammunition- these weren't invented; plus all things from spare underwear, shaving kit, spare clothes, spare horse shoes, food for him and his horse for a couple of days etc- a knight would have all of this in the baggage train on carts or pack horses at the back of the army).

Armour is designed to work in many ways- each of the pieces that have several parts aren't not simply held together with rivets to make them pivot. Each one has not only a whole to rivet through but a slot, so that the rivet can shuttle along the slot, allowing the piece to expand and contract as well as just pivot at a joint.

Armour often has ridges or raised creases in it. This is not only for decoration- for armour had much of the gothic art taste built into it- German armour in particular had a lot of this decoration. The real reason was for added strength. If you imagine sheet metal and corrugated metal, the corrugated is stronger because of the shaping in it helping to disperse strain put on it. The ridges and creases helped to strengthen the metal against damage.

Armour from the time was made in different thickness. Leg armour was less likely to sustain blows, and a knight needed to be able to feel his horse through the metal wrapped round his legs. Other areas were more vital- such as the body and head. These were made of thicker steel.
Maintenance
Armour is cleaned in several ways- it can be scoured of rust by using oil or fat with finely ground sand mixed in. Or the oil or fat can be used alone to provide a film to protect it from rain and sweat.
Difficulties in use
The weight of the armour is something the knight would have to get used to. He would learn how to dine in it, perform courtly dances, in order to explore the subtleties of movement. He would learn to perform gymnastics in it- a fit man could do a cartwheel in armour. He would need to be able to mount his horse or rise unaided if struck to the floor.

The one thing that is a problem with armour is the temperature. In winter armour can attract the cold- with freezing metal about the body, it causes muscles to cramp up. In summer it can be very hot. The metal gets hot to touch, but inside it means that the temperature the body makes cannot escape, so this builds up more. Heat exhaustion is a real problem once you become physically active- even on cold days. For this men in armour used to have a special drink- made from water, wine and salt. This was so that the wine helped the fluids through the kidneys into the body's system quicker. The salt was to replace that lost through sweat. It's like an isotonic drink for sports people today.

Individual pieces

Sabatons were the name for the pieces for the feet. These had many complex articulations.

Greaves fitted over the calves and lower legs. These were a difficult piece to shape and make to fit correctly. An apprentice armourer would have to make a pair for the master of a town's Guild of Armourers as his final examination.

Poleyns fitted over the knees. These had large side wings on to make sure that whether the knee was bent or straight that a sword cut could not hamstring a knight by cutting the tendons at the back of the knee.

Cuisses covered the thighs. These had the Poleyns attached to them. The inside of the legs is left exposed. This is because a knight needs to be able to sit on his horse. It is a weak point in the armour and shows how function still dictated how the armour was designed.

The arming doublet covered the body before the armour was strapped on to it. This has two functions- one was to provide padding beneath the armour to cushion the shock of impacts on the armour. If you put a saucepan on your head and hit it with a hammer, it would still hurt. But look inside a modern cycling helmet and one can see that the hard shell has a cushioned lining. This is one of the purposes that the arming doublet served. The other was to give something for the armour to be tied on to. Laces on the arming doublet were there in the exact positions where armour was to be attached. It is important that the arming doublet is thick and made of strong materials- such as leather or canvas and had to fit tight to the body.

The laces on an arming doublet are special. In recreating the use of armour we know that you can't use shoelaces or leather thongs. These either break easily- or in the case of thronging- the knot unravels. To use armour we have had to explore how it was attached 500 years ago.

If it worked then it is likely they had a better solution. The answer lies in a book, written by Sir John Astley- a famous jouster- in 1450. Sir John's book, with the unwieldy title of "How a Man Shal be Armed at his Ease When he Shal Fight on Foote" explains what should be used. He says to "take the stuff that bowstrings are made of, the very strongest of thread. Have these platted into laces and coated in beeswax. This will give the strongest of lace with the tightest of knot". In this way we have had to explore how armour should be worn and learnt that medieval people had learnt exactly what to do for the best. It gives us an example of how they were not stupid simply because they had not invented the car or the computer.

On the arming doublet are attached pieces of mail. This is often referred to as chain mail. This is an incorrect term. In old Norman French (where all the words come from for the pieces of armour) the word for 'chain' is 'mail'- so when we say chain mail we are saying chain-chain in two languages. This was a name given to us by the Victorians in the gothic revival of the 19th Century. We know it was always referred to as mail in letters, accounts and documents from the medieval time.

Mail is an old form of armour dating back many centuries. It is made by winding wire around a metal rod, like a spring, then cutting along the rod to make a lot of split rings. The ends of each ring had to be flattened out, and then have a hole drilled in each. When put in place it was then closed up with a tiny rivet to help it not to split open again. It was a fiddly, long and boring job.

Mail is only good against sword cuts. It only gives some protection against crushing blows with a mace, for example. A thrusting blow with a very pointed weapon- such as the amour piercing head of a longbow or crossbow arrow at close range- had a good chance of splitting a ring wide and continuing through the padding below. However, we can see that this is the best defence a knight can get for his armpits, elbows, back of the neck and groin, where it would be too complicated for the plate armour to be made to articulate.
5 7
The body armour is called a cuirass, though this is itself a collection of parts. These are often some of the thickest pieces, be ensure the knight is well protected in this vital area.
The breastplate and back plate fit round the upper body.

The plackart covers the stomach. This is a very important part of armour, as the medieval surgeon could not treat damaged intestines if a weapon cut open the stomach. Such a wound always becomes infected and there was no cure- only a long agonising death. Consequently the plackart was often the thickest piece of armour and has a clear ridge down the middle, rather like the prow of a ship. Just like the way a ship cuts through the water, the ridge of the plackart helped to deflect blows. Only a powerful blow, hitting square on could stand a chance of getting through. Anything not dead square to the armour would skid or ricochet off. This is why tank armour today is angled or sloped- hence the pronounced ridge in the plackart.

Attached to the plackart is the fauld. A fauld is made of up hoops or bands around the waist, each called a lame. There could be quite a number of these. They resemble roman armour, the lorica segmentata of the ancient legions. These could collapse inside each other to permit a knight to rise from the floor if knocked down, or to cock up a leg to mount his horse.

Attached to the fauld are shield like pieces called tassets. These cover any gap between the cuirass arrangement on the body and the cuisses on the upper legs. There lies a difference in regional choices- as Italian armour usually only one pair of these. German armour often had none. English armour had many smaller ones- maybe three pairs. This is due to differences in how these countries chose to fight. Italians often fought on horseback- so needed no protection round the back (allowing them to sit in the saddle- which protected their rear). Germans preferred more agile movement, so may have thought these an encumbrance, as they can sometimes get in the way. The English taste for several is quite jack-of-all-trades, as it allowed maximum protection, with the choice of removing the back two if riding was required.
10 9
The arms are covered by the upper vambrace, the lower vambrace and the couters on the elbows. Italian armour had articulations- like the knees- to make the whole assembly stronger. They often had bigger elbow pieces on the left arm than the right arm. This is because they preferred to fight their wars mounted. Fighting from horseback usually means the left arm is often quite stationary, holding the reins of the horse, so could not be moved out of the way of a incoming blow. German armour has three pieces that are assembled on the arming doublet at the elbow using more laces. Quite often German arm armour only protects the outer arm- shaped like rain guttering. The inside of the arms would have mail only. This whole arrangement allows more movement- but offers less full protection than the Italian method. English armour has the three piece laced arrangement- giving more freedom to the elbow, but was fully enclosed like Italian pieces, wrapping all the way round the arm. This can be seen to try to give the best of both systems, as a jack-of-all-trades (probably the ideas were mixed where the trade routes combines, in Flanders, for example).

The pauldrons cover the shoulders. These are important, as we know from inspecting the wounds on a recent archaeological find of bodies in a mass grave from a battle of this time, that by far the most popular target was the head. However in trying to hit an opponent's head, these downward blows often landed on the collarbone or shoulders. This made the pauldrons quite important. Pauldrons were often not symmetrical. Often the right one seems cut away to expose more of the right armpit. The left one often has an extra plate pinned on to reinforce it. This is for using the lance. The lance often had a thick butt to be tucked under the right arm- to counterbalance its forward weight (a lance could measure over 10 feet). When jousting the participants passed left side to left side, over a barrier. It meant the lance was lowered over the horse's neck and aimed at the opponent. One was therefore likely to hit and be hit on the left side. The reinforce helps to ensure that the complex moving parts of the left pauldrons was not so easily mangled.
11 12

The piece for the throat was called a bevor. This again comes from the Norman French. It means 'to dribble'. This was because when closed the knight's breath and sweat would condense on the inside and run down to appear on the front of the cuirass. A bevor was an important but problematic piece. Commanders of armies would need to get their voice heard to give orders. The bevor can muffle the voice. Quite often commanders would leave off their bevor, or open it at an inopportune moment to take on necessary water. An arrow to the throat when opening his bevor killed Lord Clifford at the Battle of Ferrybridge. The following day, at the Battle of Towton, Lord Dacre was killed was likewise killed by an arrow whilst taking on water. The future Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was also injured having left off his bevor- though he survived. We can see then that the bevor held a contentious question for commanders of medieval armies. Spurn self-protection to command your army better, or trust to hope and protect yourself.

There were many versions of the helmet- with a variety of purposes- big clumsy ones for the joust, where there was not the need to manage inside it for hours or see around you. They were designed purely for sporting occasions- to be safer against one threat- the frontal impact of the lance. Others were designed to be more robust for the sport of foot combat in tournaments- where rules and only one opponent meant they could be more protective and less practical. Battlefield helmets were the Armet and the Sallet. These offered less protection but were more manageable and allowed more movement. Away from the sanitised environment of the tournament they needed to allow the knight to move his head for better vision, but at the cost of greater protection. They were still one of the thickest of armour pieces.

Moveable visors on helmets allowed them to be opened when safe enough to allow more air to the face and heat to escape- and better field of vision. The eye slot, called a 'sight' permitted the knight to be able to see out. It was important to make these as thin as possible- as a weapon could be thrust into the slot- the thinnest slit would only allow the slimmest of blades to enter. One might think that a thin sight allowed little vision- but if one knelt at one's front door an peeped through the letter box flap a lot of the outside world can still be seen- but if you propped it open and stepped back one can see a lot less. Helmets were made to measure and were close fitting to the face. This allowed the sight to be very near to the eye line and permit more to be seen.

Gauntlets- for the hand- were the last pieces to be put on, along with the helmet. Again surviving armour offers a variation- often dictated by regional popularity. Italian armours could have mitten style gauntlets. These are clumsier to wear, but allow more protection- as the big plates of metal disperse the force of a blow better. German armours prefer fingered gauntlets for greater dexterity, but the smaller finger plates give less protection from the bones being broken under a smashing blow. English gauntlets have a large cuff and hand plate, which extends over the rest of the hand; whilst beneath separate finger scales allow movement. This can still be clumsy, but is a mix of both options.
WeaponsA knight would have a bewildering selection of arms to hand. All of which had evolved over the last few centuries in order to keep abreast of developments in armour. It is very comparable to a race in military technology today. New missiles are made to get through armour on tanks and ships, whilst other arms manufacturers are busy devising methods to confound or shield against such weapons.

The sword- ever the symbol of a knight- was really a second choice weapon, much like a pistol in a holster on the belt or a soldier today. A sword could cut through poorer armour or unprotected areas on common solders on the battlefield- but the cut was mostly useless against plate armour. Many of the participants in a medieval battle would not have the expensive protection of a knight. However the sword had evolved to have a needle sharp thrusting point. This allowed the user to seek out any gaps in armour or try to pierce the mail covered weaker spots in the armpit or elbow or groin of an opposing knight. Eventually this would cause the sword to evolve into the slim thrusting rapier- more akin to the modern fencing foil.

The knight no longer needed a shield (his armour was much better than a wooden board on his arm). This gave him two hands to wield a two handed weapon for more powerful blows. On foot he would have the option of a longer sword that employed both hands to use for more powerful cuts or longer reach on thrusts. In particular an array of vicious weapons on wooden shafts became common. Chief of these was the poleaxe. The poleaxe was not named as an axe on a pole. It got its name from 'poll axe' referring to the poll, a common word for the head- so the name referred to the head on the weapon. This head had not only an axe blade for chopping at lesser armoured opponents- it also had a hammer head on the back of the blade so it turned in the hand to be swing against armoured opponents. A percussive weapon was most useful in denting and smashing up armour- shock from a well-placed blow could still break a limb or buckle armour to injure the man inside. Blows on complex joints could damage these areas of the armour so they failed to function well, hindering the movement of one's opponent to create an advantage. The poleaxe also had a spearhead spike on the tip so that the gaps in armour could be exploited. The shaft was called a que. The bottom of the shaft usually carried a second spike so it could be used as a spear when reversed, such as while it was swung back for a swing of the head.

Many other weapons like maces and war hammers could be smaller one handed weapons- typically for use from horseback once the heavy lance had been used in the cavalry charge. Like the poleaxe these allowed for smashing the armour and hopefully the man inside.

500 year old fighting manuals also prescribe methods for wrestling, cunning use of angles of attack and evasion, footwork and position- of the body and the weapon- both unarmoured and armoured- and explain the use of these moves both on foot and on horseback. European martial arts were very advanced and complicated- they needed to be, as this was a serious matter of life and death and not one of wading in, flailing about with clumsy weapons.

“Arming of the Knight” lecture script reproduced by kind permission of Rob Martin Historical Presentations (copyright Rob martin 2003)