The epaulets, dropped-crotch jacquard biker pants, quilted cummerbunds, storm trooper boots, mink greatcoats, hauberks and assorted braid and regalia summoned up images of Scott Thorson, Liberace's tragic companion, or else a praetorian guard for Ming the Merciless, the despotic Flash Gordon villain.
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Marren 1066 pp. 108–109 The main armour used was chainmail hauberks, usually knee-length, with slits to allow riding, some with sleeves to the elbows. Some hauberks may have been made of scales attached to a tunic, with the scales made of metal, horn or hardened leather. Headgear was usually a conical metal helmet with a band of metal extending down to protect the nose.
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We surely have > iron sides, a breast of bronze, a mind void of fear; and our feet have never > known flight, nor our backs a wound. What gain were their hauberks to the > Gauls at Clitheroe? Did not these men unarmed, as they say, compel them to > throw away their hauberks, to forget their helmets, to leave behind their > shields? Let then your prudence see, O king, what it is to have confidence > in these, which in a strait are more burden than defence.
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Infantry were more heavily armored than cavalry. Hauberks and large wooden or wickerwork shields were used as well as long-shafted spears. Infantry spears were about 2.5 meters long and those of the cavalry were up to 5.5 meters long. Swords used were a short infantry weapon like the Roman gladius and the Sassanid long sword.
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The soldiers all wield swords and spears, conical nasal helms, teardrop kite shields with center boss, shin length maille hauberks, shoulder to foot tunics (no doubt shorter gambesons sandwiched in between) and pointed shoes. This suggests that the estimated date of 1150 is incorrect as by the 12th century kite shields already began to lose their rounded tops and bosses (but not entirely until the 13th century approx.), maille hauberks shortened to knee or thigh length and helmets soon evolved into kalotas (early great helm) by losing their conical tops and eventually harnessing faceplates instead of noseguards. It is assumed these figures represent part of the Holy Sepulchre, these soldiers stood guard asleep and backs turned to the resurrection. Another theory is these are King Herod's soldiers, who didn't realize St Peter escaping prison.
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The standard form of body armor was chainmail. There are also references to the practice of wearing two coats of mail (dir’ayn), the one under the main one being shorter or even made of fabric or leather. Hauberks and large wooden or wickerwork shields were also used as protection in combat. The soldiers were usually equipped with swords hung in a baldric.
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Description of the battle is almost word-for-word the same as Tytler p. 31, and draws heavily on the Scotichronicon. Tombstone of Gilbert de Greenlaw in Kinkell ChurchIt is likely that most ordinary highlanders would have worn for armour, if anything, a padded gambeson, known as a cotun. Wealthier highlanders would have been equipped in a similar way to the gallowglasses of Ireland and the Isles, with long padded gambesons, mail hauberks, and sometimes partial plate.
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Transitional armour describes the armour used in Europe around the 14th century, as body armour moved from simple mail hauberks to full plate. The couter was added to the hauberk to better protect the elbows, and splinted armour and the coat of plates provided increased protection for other areas. Armourers in general began experimenting with various forms of rigid defense. They worked in a variety of materials, including wrought iron, latten, leather, cloth and even bone to substitute rigid materials for maille as the knight's harness progressed.
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Sarnecki, Nicolle, p. 14 This period is - as the previous one - little understood, but the Battle of Legnica has such rich iconography, that it is possible to attempt to make some estimates. Armour of an ordinary soldier changed very little, but eminent knightsobserve the coats of arms on shields and banners (including Henry II the Pious) had their hauberks enriched with iron plate elements, and great helms, nicely ornamented. Leszek Czarny, who died in 1288, is depicted on his gravestone in Kraków in full plate armour.
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There is no surviving description of the equipment of the original Irish hobelar, but they may have been equipped after the style of native Irish cavalry of the period, dressed in aketons, hauberks, and basinets and wielding a sword and sciansThe scian is a knife Retrieved 14 March 2009 and lances. The pony itself was unarmoured, and was ridden in the Irish style, i.e., no saddle, no bridle, no stirrups. In the 1335 description mentioned above, the English hobelar equipment is listed as horse, aketon or plates, basinet or palet, gorget, iron gauntlets, sword, knife and lance.
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Seven hoards of Byzantine and Arabic coins (more than 1,100 of the latter) and a Byzantine dish bearing an image of Simargl have shown that the local community carried on a prosperous trade along the Dnieper. The metal objects represented include hauberks (not typical for Scandinavian sites), helmets, battle-axes, Carolingian swords, and arrows. Among the more surprising discoveries were an early folding razor with a copper handle and a pivoted scissors, probably the earliest found in Eastern Europe. The most unexpected discovery at Gnyozdovo was a Kerch amphora with the earliest inscription attested in the Old East Slavic.
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