medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On 11/1/2007 11:14 AM, Henk 't Jong wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Hi John,
>
>
>
> You wrote:
>
> >I don't think that they were wearing much plate armour in the
> thirteenth century.
>
>
>
> There is some evidence of the wearing of 'plates' of metal under the
> jupon (the loose cloth overtunic, usually sleeveless) and over the
> mail during the 13th c. Also knee- and elbowprotectors are seen in
> some later 13th c miniatures. These also could have been made of
> leather, boiled or waxed, but they look the same as those in the early
> 14th c, and these have been found to be made of metal.
>
>
>
> > In ancient Latin a _lorica_ is a cuirass, not always made of metal.
> In the central Middle Ages the term ordinarily denotes a garment of
> mail and is usually translated (except when Biblical reminiscence
> supervenes) as "mail shirt". The latter, like a nightshirt, could
> descend well below the waist. When it does it is now often called a
> "mail suit".
>
>
>
> Well, not exactly. Modern armorists call a complete set of mail
> (shirt, coif, gloves and leggings) a suit of mail. That does not mean
> that contemporaries called them thus. It also depends on of which
> period we are speaking about.
>
>
>
> I don't know whether Fonte Avellana keeps a garment designated as the
> _lorica_ of the eleventh-century San Domenico Loricato but a mail suit
> said to be the _lorica_ of Bl. Lorenzo Loricato (d. 1243) used to be
> on display at the Sacro Speco at Subiaco and perhaps still is.
> There's a photograph of it in the _Bibliotheca Sanctorum_, vol. 8,
> cols. 139-40.
>
>
>
> A mail shirt worn on the skin is certainly not very pleasurable.
> Especially if you are of a hairy disposition. Also every part that is
> sat upon or is put pressure on by any limb presses the rings into your
> skin. This soon becomes painful. That's why professional soldiers and
> other frequent wearers of mail, wore a padded garment under it called
> a gambeson or an aketon. Mail worn without that is definetely a way of
> self-mortification.
>
Chain mail was definitely painful if it was worn without a garment
protecting the skin. If one were to move around in it all, it would
generally start to rub off the skin. This is one of the pieces of
evidence some scholars cite when the argue that the Bayeux Tapestry by
Anglo-Saxon women rather than the warriors or even Norman women -
because they portray the knights having full length chain mail covering
their legs - which if true, would have rubbed their horses raw.
Apparently, these Anglo-Saxon women knew a lot less about chain mail
than their Norman counterparts.
>
>
>
> Henk
>
>
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