F
freewheelin
Guest
Damon a quick historical thing about plate armour. There were 2 types, jousting and battle:
- Jousting armour - very thick and heavy, often inflexible, need help mounting horse. This was all to lessen or prevent injuries in the tourney. For the formal joust was hold lance, point in right direction, and charge.
- battle plate - quite light (same as an infantryman's pack today, about 70 lbs), very flexible because of design and use of rivets, which meant that a knight could run, jump on his horse, wield weapon, use shield and control horse etc. Of course had problems if ended up on boggy, muddy ground (Agincourt) - but even here it was the number and the crushing that was the main problem.
The needing a crane to mount horse etc comes from Mark Twain's a Yankee in the Court of King Arthur and has sort of stuck as the myth as to this is how it always was.
If you are in the UK I suggest a visit to the Royal Armouries museum at Leeds where they have many examples of both jousting and battle armour.
The difference between them is staggering - one designed for survivability in the formal joust to reduce injury and broken bones, the other to surivie the battlefield allowing movement, flexibility and weapon handling.
- Jousting armour - very thick and heavy, often inflexible, need help mounting horse. This was all to lessen or prevent injuries in the tourney. For the formal joust was hold lance, point in right direction, and charge.
- battle plate - quite light (same as an infantryman's pack today, about 70 lbs), very flexible because of design and use of rivets, which meant that a knight could run, jump on his horse, wield weapon, use shield and control horse etc. Of course had problems if ended up on boggy, muddy ground (Agincourt) - but even here it was the number and the crushing that was the main problem.
The needing a crane to mount horse etc comes from Mark Twain's a Yankee in the Court of King Arthur and has sort of stuck as the myth as to this is how it always was.
If you are in the UK I suggest a visit to the Royal Armouries museum at Leeds where they have many examples of both jousting and battle armour.
The difference between them is staggering - one designed for survivability in the formal joust to reduce injury and broken bones, the other to surivie the battlefield allowing movement, flexibility and weapon handling.
