欧洲中世纪的骑士马上比武用盔甲

杨澜

These are a collection of a few of the pictures that we use for reference. They are placed here for the people to view what some of the actual museum pieces look like.

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We often rent from small to large pieces, and will quote lower prices with higher quantities, and longer rental terms. Please call us for prices and availability of what you need.
We also create custom armour for movies and sword fight shows (incl. Excalibur Hotel, Las Vegas) for lighter theatrical or costume use. It still protects and functions perfectly, and we use it ourselves in sword fight demonstrations. This armour can save approx. 20% on cost.
"Thanks for everything. The armour worked great." - 'Stargate SG-1'

Please click on the pictures below to see lots of rental items hanging in our shop.

Please click on the pictures below to see our FULL SUITS for rent.

Click on the pictures below to see examples of armour and weapons for each time period.

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Evolution of the knight´s armour - from the doublet to the pompous armour Period from 1050 to 1250
Period from 1250 to 1360
Period from 1300 to 1600
Period from 1600 to 1650
During history the protective cloth of the knights and lansquenets went through profound technical developments. The climax of this deployment was the full armour suit, covering the whole body by metal plates. In this chapter I describe the armour´s evolution from the 11th to the beginning 17th century.
Also the funcion of the armour suit was enriched due to this development. While the armour was predominantly designed for protection at the beginning of its history, lateron its meaning as a peace of art for representative purposes increased. This function will be described more in detail below.
1050 – 1250Back to the top A useful source which tells us more about the knight´s armour of the eleventh century is the carpet of Bayeux, showing the conquest of England by duke Wilhelm. You can see a big variety of knights, weapons and armour suits on this carpet. These informations are very valuable because other sources of information regarding the knights cloth and armour are often limited to the rare archeological discoveries.
As you can see on the picture, the protective cloths of the knights consisted of a coat of mail that was long enough to cover the thigh. These coats were made of thousands of little iron rings and due to the required high expenditure of human labour extremely precious. The value of a coat of mail could easily be as high as 70 sheep so only liege lords could afford such a coat. Irrespective of this fact it was a knight´s privileg to wear a coat of mail while it was forbidden for lansquenets. Also the protection for the head was initially ensured by the chain mail, which covered the head as a hood. Above the coat of mail a colourful tunic was worn which showed the knight´s heraldry, thus his crest. Beyond the coat of mail the knight wore a lined doublet made of wool or leather, to avoid excoriating. As an additional protection served a shield, which was initially almond shaped, later triangle shaped. At all times in the technics of war innovation of defensive weapons led to innovation of offensive technologies, what again resulted in improved defensive weapons. As a consequence the mail hood was soon replaced by a helmet that was initially conical shaped. It had a stripe of metal above the nose and did not protect many parts of the face. Therefore lateron the pot shaped helmet became popular which covered the whole head and was equipped with trenches for the view and wholes to allow breathing. Both helmets had to be tied firmly to the head. Together with the cushion worn beyond the helmets this way a single unit could be formed. This was absolutely necessary to garantee the maximum protection. Also regarding the coat of mail improvements soon became unavoidable. Due to the development of new arrowheads which were very thin and acute, somehow nail-shaped , the coat of mail did not provide an optimum of protection. In those days (like today) developments in both civil and military clothing was influenced by fashion.
1250-1360Back to the top During this period the coat of mail slowly transformed to the full plate armour. Initially they began to cover exposed body parts like forearms, shins and knees with plates made of horn, wale bone, leather or iron. Later there were further plates added which were attached to the tunic and were worn above the coat of mail. This continuess development process bit by bit let to the protection of more and more body parts. Finally the coat of mail was reduced to the little rest of the body uncovered by plates - the full body plate armour was born. Beyond the armour the knights wore a doublet that was lined with wool or fur. The grooves between two metal plates were protected by strengthening the doublet beyond these parts.

Approx. 1300 to 1600Back to the top These three centuries marked the climax of the knight´s plate armour and the handicrafts involved in its production. Armour suits coequal to the European ones could only be found in Japan. There were several necessary conditions only available in Europe that were indispensable for the production of such an extensive product: For the existence of the armourer´s handicraft there had to be a minimum of economic prosperity, trade relationship and a well developed handcraft in general.
In the occident armours have been constructed since the ancient world. However it was during the late Medieval Age when there were technical innovations that finally allowed the production and use of the full plate armour. The invention of the saddle with high lips provided foothold - an important requirement for the fight in a plate armour. Also it was the breeding of stronger horses that allowed the use of a plate armour, because the weight of a knight in his armour was immense. In the course of these new possibilities it came to the application of heavy lances as well. These were hanged to the armour by a hook on the breast plate. Therefore the knight did not need to throw the lance against the objective with his muscular strength. Instead he could fight conveying the full vehemence of his horse and the weight of his body and armour to the lance. Fighting this way the knight could abdicate to use a buckler, because the plate armour provided an equally high protection. Furthermore the left hand that was not necessary for the buckler could now support the horse´s moveability by working on the reins. Last but not least it was the invention of the stirrups that improved the fighting tecnics. Instead of apliing the legs to control the horse the knight was now able to adjust the posture ideally to the necessities of the fight.
However a somewhat heavy plating was used primarily in the cavalry - for the knights of the infantry armour of thinner material and less quality was used. On the one hand a landsquenet could only afford a "mass product", on the other a minimum of moveability was inalienable in the fight on feet. This weight reduction was gained at the expense of the protective function. This conflict between the optimum protection and the weight reduction of the armour was settled by the great skills of the armourers. While the metal was thick at the most vulnerable body parts and where the majority of hits could be expected, it was reduced to the less important parts to save weight. For the most part the left side of the armour was kept particularly strong and equipped with additional protective items, because the knight handled his weapon with the right hand, so the left side was especially in danger to be hit. For this reason many armour suits were constructed asymmetric. While it was important to keep the right side very flexible, the left was less flexible but protected by thicker metal plates. Often there was a big metal collar attached to the left side. This object should avoid a sword flourish that was directed to the shoulder to slide into the neck.
The metal collar was also an element that supported an awesome look. This was a major goal in the design of armours. The oponent should become frightened looking at the plate armour. This ambition was constitutive for the shaping of many different parts of the armour. For example there were many plate armours decorated with the portrayal of wild animals and grotesque mythical creatures. Among the skillfull armours of the sixteenth century there were helmets that looked like the heads of creatures. Also visors in the shape of a lion could be found. The intention using these artistic ornaments however was not only limited to communicate fear. At the same time these precious plate armours marked exceptional pieces of artwork that should demonstrate the status of their owners. In this manner the knight was able to allegorise a totally different personality so you can consider wearing a plate armour as masquerad as well. These precious plate armours were not constructed to serve in combat. The inducement of there creation were representitive purpuses like weddings, jousts or parades. Paradoxically precious armours that could only be afforded by the wealthiest princes outlasted the centuries more often than the many thousand simple armours that were produced quasi industrially for the landsquenets and simple knights. These peaces were often melted when the plate armour fell into desuetude, so the iron could be used for other purposes like cannons. Fortunately there are some peaces that can be admired in the armoury of Graz.
Ambition for status was an important influence in the design of armours during the hole medieval age. Therefore it was always fashion and respective style in a larger time horizon that had a strong impact on the armourer´s handicraft . In Europe the armour production was dominated by the centres in South Germany, like Nürnberg and Augsburg, and Northern Italy, like Milano and Brescia. Simplyfiing you can distinguish between "German" and Italian styles. In both cases there were interdependences between the armourer´s handcraft and the actual vogue in civil fashion and arquitecture.
That way the armour suits of the late 15th century had acute metal feet and were close-fitting, for example. This imitated the actual civil fashion and adopted the linear accent of the Gothic. However in the fifteenth century in Italy there was a slight drift towards independence in the design of plate armours where the armour as a piece of art stood in the center of attention. In contrast in Germany it was the gothic armour which was in vogue during this time period. Its helmet was a very distinctive element due to its long tapering off to the back. At the early 16th century when the Renaissance initiated there was a sudden change in taste that led to the development of the Maximilian armour. This armour was distinctive and flamboyant. With its stripe shaped plates it marked the beginning of a period in the construction of plate armours when the armoures started to increasingly ornament their handcrafts. In this manner the armourers used grotesques (see above), religious themes and scenes from legends or heroic characters. These development continued during the whole 16th century and finally led to the manufacturing of precious armours. For the latter the best artists of the period were involved. For instance the famous Nuremburg artist Albrecht Dürer was embraced in the development of ornaments for these armours. Within the scope of individual costly assignments, these artists implemented the stylistic forms of the Renaissance in the design of precious plate armours. This way, extremely precious pieces of art were created that seem to be a little bit too flamboyant for our modern taste. However pompous art was ment to impress and an expression of an ostentatious culture. Althoug these precious armours were very rare in those days, also simple pieces have been decorated to some extend. Even a few parts for the landsquenet´s armour had some decorations, often showing the godhoods Mars and Venus or scenes of Adam and Eva.
In Italy people constructed precious armours during the sixteenth century as well. And they also served for representative purposes only. The Italian style however got its bearings from the ancient world. This manner there had been breast plates forged, showing the human body. Of course, these pieces had never been used for combat, but serverd as a status symbol. Apart from the price for such a piece, a breast plate, showing every human muscle could not be formed in the thickness necessary for combat.
Another category of armours among the ordinary one for combat and the precious armour was a piece, especially designed for the knight´s joust. Why was there a particular plate armour for the fight in a joust ? In combat the armour had to meet different needs than in a tournament. The knight in combat was endangered to fall off his horse. His horse could be injured (in spite of the horse´s plate armour) or he could get adjoined by the enemy´s lance. In such a case it was vitaly important that the knight could continue the fight on feet. To retain a minimum of flexibility in the fight against the lightly protected and therefore highly moveable landsquenets it was necessary for a combat armour not to exceed a certain weight limit. Therefore the armourers had to find a compromise between protection and weight. Additionally it was often necessary in a battle to wear a plate armour for several days, so it must not be too heavy and the helmet had to have a visor that could be opened. Altogether a plate armour that was designed for combat rarely was heavier than 25kg during the time period between 1450 to 1550.
In contrast in the knights joust the fight was relatively short so the weight of the armour was not that important - especially in the fight between knights on horses. This led to the construction of extremely heavily protected joust armours. Special helmets were produced that were made of such thick iron plates that the weight increase made it impossible to hold the helmet with the head. Instead it was firmly attached to the breast plates by screws. The shape of this helm was tapering off to the front, so the lance would slide away in the case of a hit. Due to the fixation of the helmet, the visual field was so reduced that such an armour could never be used for combat but exclusively for the joust on horses. Either the other parts of the armour were heavily protected so the weight finally increased so much that the knight could not ascend his horse on his own. Instead special platforms had to be used. The horse was protected in a joust by a plate armour as well. Sometimes the knight bought combination armours to save money These plate armours were designed like a combat armour. When the knight wanted to join a tournament, he could attach an additional plate on the breast that covered parts of the head as well. This manner the armour could easily be transformed to a joust armour.
Also for the joust on foot there were special armours constructed. For example in some jousts only blunt armours and even wooden clubs were used. Then the armour suits had a leather covering on the helmet and a fence shaped visor was used that allowed a bigger view field than ordinary observation slits did.
1600 to about 1650 Back to the top In this time period the armour fell into desuetude due to a changing technique of war. Firearms became increasingly precise and easier to use, so their usage rose continuously. In order to protect against bullets, such an amount of iron had to be used that the weight increased dramatically. A cuirassier armour had already 40kgs at the beginning of the 17th century. As a consequence infantery wore only a helmet and at best a breast plate. The plate armour was only worn by the heavy cavalry any more. Regarding the bullet proofness, it could be assured at best for the breast plate, so people started to leave the arms, hands and legs uncovered. After the climax of armour production around 1500, when thousands of simple armours were produced for the masses of landsquenets, the plate armour finally fell into desintuedue.
Stylistically this development began around 1600 when the rich decorations disappered. around 1600. Instead at the beginning of the 17th century chunky forms dominated that underlined the brutality of the thirty year war. Now it was en vogue to blacken the armour suits by burning in an oil solution.
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杨澜

Replica of a plate armour Replikat eines Harnischs This plate armour was made using an archetype from the late sixteenth/early seventeenth century. During this time period it was characteristic for armour suits to be shaped in chunky forms. Furthermore the surface was blackened. At the end of the sixteenth century the surface was not esplendidly ornamented any more, as it was in vogue during the beginning and middle of this century. These impressive forms make the difference and let this replica look so special. Another criteria was the new symmtery in the construction of armour suits. In contrast in the decades before armour suits were often asymmetrical shaped. . All parts are made by hand, blackened and formed in 1,8 mm steel. Of course this plate armour can be worn due to its good quality. As I offer the best quality you can have a look at every single detail of this armour suits on the pictures below. All pictures are made at the frankonian ruin Leienfels and show me wearing the armour suit. The armour has a size of about 1,80 m, but it can be worn by people a little bit bigger and smaller as well. Me I am 1.90 m and as you can see the armour still fits well. Of Course the two handed sword is included in this offer and a wooden stand as well. Therefore you can use this plate armour as a fitment, which looks great in a pub, for example. You will be fascinated! If you like you can visit me in Bayreuth as well and inspect the suit. By clicking on the following pictures you can enlarge them to view every detail. The following pictures shall present this plate armour with every single detail. All fotos were made on the old castle`s ruin Leienfels The videos come in a zip folder and can be viewed with the windows media player. They show me wearing the suit at ruin Leienfels. Video 1 Video 2 Video 3 Video 4 Video 5

The price of this unique work of art is 2000 Euro. Please send inquiries to Lennart Viebahn; [email]lennart.viebahn@web.de[/email] or use the contact formular. For legal purposes (EU law) the following note: This is a private offer so any warranty is excluded. However, to facilitate the decision for you, I offer you a two day money back warranty. If you do not like the plate armour, you can send me an e-mail with a cancellation within two days after receiving the package. You will then get a refund immediatly after you send back the armour suit. This manner, there is no risk for you. However I ask for understanding that I will not refund any shipping charges in such a case and you are responsable for any transportation damages that occur on the way back.

杨澜

A practical example of what I mean by my "unending search for perfection".

As a practical example of what I mean by my "unending search for perfection", may I tell you something about a series of miniature replica helmets my wife Byrne and I made in the 1980s?  Our miniatures are one-fifth scale.  This produces a helmet about the size of a hen's egg, which would lie comfortably in the palm of your hand. Yet despite their tiny size, we reproduced in our miniatures every hook, leather and spring of the original, all fully functioning.  If you click on my photograph on the left, it will enlarge, not to the size of the miniature, but almost to the SIZE OF THE ORIGINAL HELMET!  This will allow you to examine its finish and detail much more exactingly than would be possible in real life.  The photograph of the miniature on the right shows it with all the catches released, so that you can see how the plates making up the front half of the helmet pivot up and back so that it could be fitted over the wearer's head.

For an independent assessment of our work, perhaps I may quote to you what E. Andrew Mowbray wrote, as Editor and Publisher of Man at Arms, The NRA Journal for the American Arms Collector, in an article on page 10 of volume twelve, number four, July/August 1990.  Mr Mowbray's opening words were: "Sadly, we have all become accustomed to the disappointments that usually follow close inspection.  What looks splendid at arms-length, frequently appears a good deal less grand when put to magnified examination.  Not so in the case of the limited series of one-fifth scale helmets lovingly crafted by a husband and wife team in Kent, England.  In this rare instance, the article under  study survives the merciless stare of the glass brilliantly, all the while confirming a near-insane dedication to detail and accuracy on the part of the makers, Magnus and Byrne McLeod."

If you entrust me with painting a portrait, you may be sure that I will not rest until I have made it as perfect as I can.  What to me is a perfect portrait?  To quote myself, "A perfect portrait is one that brings to life before your eyes a person, and not just the physical features, but the whole personality and character.  A perfect portrait should reveal more of a person than might well be visible if the subject were before you in person.  Clearly, in a perfect portrait, a very high degree of realism is just the starting point."         

Our subject was a close helmet 'for the field', in other words, for use in battle, made by Queen Elizabeth the First's craftsmen in Greenwich, in about 1585.  The original helmet is Inv. No. IV.41 in the  Royal Armouries, HM Tower of London. The then Master of the Armouries, the late AVB Norman, gave us permission  to make the necessary study of the original.  Hundreds of measurements and numerous photographs had to be taken of the original, and templates, drawings, tracings and notes made, before every detail could be reproduced in a perfect miniature replica.  Nearly four years were devoted to this, and to the development of special tools and techniques, before we could begin work on our first miniature helmet.  At every stage we strove for perfection and ignored the passing of time.  Each completed miniature was granted a Certificate of Authenticity signed by the Master of the Armouries, initially AVB Norman and latterly by the current Master, Guy Wilson.

In the sixteenth century, the Queen's armourers, working by hand in Her Majesty's Greenwich workshops, made helmets which were as individual as people's faces.  Despite its beautiful form, each helmet has small imperfections in symmetry and idiosyncrasies of detail which give it an individual character and what I can best describe as its 'expression'.  Capturing the original's 'expression' in a miniature replica was the most challenging and enthralling aspect of our work, and the element which, in our view,  turned our model making into an art form. On the left is a photograph of the original in the Royal Armouries, accession number IV.41, the photograph © The Board of Trustees of the Armouries, and used here with their courteous permission.  This beautiful photograph was taken by the official photographer in HM Tower of London, Jeremy Hall.  Our miniature is directly in front of its prototype, and not some distance beyond, as it appears to be. You might like to click on it and compare the helmets for yourself.  In the original helmet, the gorget plates which protect the neck were riveted tightly to each other, which is why they have rather a flat appearance.  In the miniature they are correctly joined and articulated by leather straps.  Happily, the original has since had its gorget plates separated and re-leathered, so now it looks just like its miniature!  Where our miniatures do differ from the prototype is in their finish.  We decided to make them represent the original as it would have looked when new, undamaged by use and by four centuries of cleaning.  To this end we went to much trouble with the burnishing of the plates, to reproduce the right degree of  reflectivity in them. This can be judged from contemporary paintings.  Another example is the hook you can see on the right side of the bevor, the plate that protects the chin.  There are minute flecks of gold on the original, indicating that it was once gilded: we accordingly gilded the hooks in the miniatures.

My photograph on the left  illustrates one of the special tools we had to make in our quest for perfection.  A hair-fine steel rod protrudes from the remodelled tip of a fine syringe needle.  This rod can be wound in and out by turning the knurled disk on which the tool is standing.  The rod can be used to transfer measurements in thousandths of an inch from the depth gauge on a vernier calliper to the least accessible points on miniatures.  Next to the tool lies a bevor, the plate which protects the chin.  I sometimes feel that it  is my favourite plate in this helmet.  The hook is a safety catch which prevents the visor catch button from being operated inadvertently.  The three leather straps will hold and articulate the two front gorget plates which protect the front of the neck.  Yet every plate is beautiful in this helmet...  The original was made almost at the end of the era of armoured knights, and centuries of evolution had brought the forms of functional armour to perfection.  In the photograph on the right, the visor and upper bevor are raised.  Every curve, every form is utterly beautiful.

If you would like to know more about the miniatures, please email me at magnus@portraits-by-magnus.com and I will tell you more.  Armour has fascinated me since childhood.  If you would like a print of one of my photographs, or of, perhaps, the miniature in profile and other views grouped round it, we could negotiate a price.  I am sad to say that you would not be able to persuade me to make you one of  the actual miniatures.  The Tower of London's website is http://www.armouries.org.uk/tower/index.html;  the Royal Armouries at Leeds (the home of the national collection of arms and armour) has http://www.armouries.org.uk/leeds/index.html . Fort Nelson, the setting for the national collection of artillery, is at http://www.armouries.org.uk/fort/index.html .

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Authentic Armour Scans
Click the picture to see the full picture

Armor found at the site of the Battle of Wisby 1361[size=-1]Drawing of Wisby gauntlet #1 (31k)[size=-1]Drawing of Wisby gauntlet #2 (34k)[size=-1]Detailed drawing of Wisby gauntlet #3. (105k)[size=-1]Drawing of Wisby gauntlet #3 (29k)[size=-1]Detailed drawing of Wisby gauntlet #4 (49k)

[size=-1]15th Century harness (214k)	[size=-1]HenryVIII 1514 Tonlet harness (136k)	[size=-1]HenryVIII 1514 harness (208k)	[size=-1]Bascinet with grill (15k)	[size=-1]Closeup (12k)	[size=-1]Lord Hungerford 1455 (185k)

[size=-1]15th Century kettle hat formed like a bascinet (152k)	[size=-1]Churburg Mail Coat c1350-60 (number T2) (159k)	[size=-1]A unique mail gorget 15th Century from Churburg (298k)	[size=-1]The Coat armor of Charles of Blois (192k)	[size=-1]A deep Celata all'italiana (136k)

A series of pictures of a German 14th Century Bascinet in the Met[size=-1]Right side (41k)[size=-1]Occuliumn (33k)[size=-1]Inside of view visor (30k)

[size=-1]Inner part of skull (36k)	[size=-1]Inside view of skull (31k)	[size=-1]Left side (31k)

A series of pictures of an Altar in the Isabella Gardner Museum[size=-1]The arrest of Christ (41k)[size=-1]Man with scourge (34k)[size=-1]Male costume (36k)[size=-1]Bystanders (42k)

[size=-1]Maximillian Harness (52k)	[size=-1]Cad with Max (Note: The close helm is a reporduction by Billy Radford, UK) (55k)	[size=-1]Mail European (40k)	[size=-1]Churburg Harness (139k)	[size=-1]Archangel Michael from the Metropolitan Museam of Art in NY. (139k)	[size=-1]The Bascinet from Churburg that is now in the Tower Armories at Leeds 1366. (RATL IV 470). (243k)

Leg Harness of the 14th Century. Mainly from Churburg[size=-1]Churburg 1360 (66k)[size=-1]Churburg c1365-70 (159k)[size=-1]Churburg c1365-70 (57k)[size=-1]Churburg c1385 (69k)[size=-1]A wooden statue of St. George, Tirol, c1370 (66k)[size=-1]St. George detail of legs (109k)[size=-1]Churburg c1410 (38k)[size=-1]Churburg c1410 (50k)Churburg Harness S18, c1410 and an early Armet c1410[size=-1]Churburg S18 (248k)[size=-1]Armet for S18 - Front (98k)[size=-1]Armet for S18 - Side (111k)[size=-1]Early Armet c1410 (118k)

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