Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Clothing, Weapons and Accoutrements No. 1


2. Moreover, every free layman who possesses chattels or rents to the value of 16m. shall have a shirt of mail, a helmet, a shield, and a lance; and every free layman possessing chattels or rents to the value of 10m. shall have a hauberk, an iron cap, and a lance.

3. Item, all burgesses and the whole community of freemen shall have [each] a gambeson, an iron cap, and a lance.
-The Assize of Arms 1181




 Our illustrious member, Josh Wilson has done an excellent job really honing in and using the Assize of Arms of 1181 as his guide to a laymans weaponry and accoutrements at the start of the Baron Wars. He writes : 

 “My medieval kit has largely been taken from the Maciejowski Bible. (Also called the Morgan Bible and the Crusader Bible) It consists of a hood, tunic, belt, braies, chausses, and shoes. We have very few, if any, remaining examples of clothing from the time of the first Baron’s War. This means that we have to rely on what articles, or fragments of articles are left, and also on contemporary drawings and paintings for clues. This is where experimental archeology comes into play, as we try to reverse engineer some of the fragments we have, and images we see. Books such as Sarah Thursfield’s “Medieval Tailor’s Assistant”, Dorothy Hartley’s “Medieval Costume and how to Recreate it” and “Medieval Costume in England and France: The 13th, 14th and 15th Centuries” by Mary G. Houston are excellent sources for learning to make your medieval clothing to put your impression together. “Medieval Garments Reconstructed” by Lilli Fransen, Shelly Nordtorp-Madson, and Anna Norgard is also a good book for seeing surviving examples and patterns. 


 I chose to recreate the basic working clothes of the average man from the time. 












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