PIARIN COUNTY FREE LIBRARY II 31111Q1S189812 ^.0 L «5. •* V harlc^Hr^ and DavHi li No figure in history is mor,:; vv.ri.d and dramatic than the me'.'jex :/< knight. Fierce in battle ana ga'Jant in their defense of the weak, these warriors of the Middle Ages are seen as champions of justice in a savage world. They did not always live up to our image of them, but they still represent a noble ideal. And when we think of knights, we think first of their plumed hel- mets, their flashing swords, and, most of all, the gleaming armor that covered them from head to toe. In lucid text and marvelously precise illustrations, Charlotte and —David Yue tell the story of armor how it evolved over the centuries, how was designed and made by it skilled craftsmen and armorers, even how the knight donned his armor. There are chapters on armor for horses, on jousts and tournaments, on the exotic armor of warriors in the Near East, the South Seas, and Japan. Here is an absorbing introduc- tion to a subject that has fascinated readers of history and legends for many years. Jacketart © 1994 by David Yue !>!;:ij;^M5T4 CIVIC CENTER r 3 1111 01518 9812 tiH i DATE DUE mi '^^' ' ) m 1 I 1996 MAY 0^ ip: '^ ^KUii «v> Vj; JT ^'^ MAR 2 8 199 11 ipCI 1 2 1999 .HOtt 2 7 iqqq - H»p 1 «! 2000 2- 7fc-C)5 FMior L^lkarloitite and Uavidl Yiie Houghton Mifflin Company Boston 1994 To the Classroom on CarpenterLaneforbeing ''graceland' Thanks to Frances Elise Yue forallherassistance in thepreparation ofthis manuscript Copyright © 1994 by Charlotte and David Yue All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003. Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Yue, Charlotte. Armor/ by Charlotte and David Yue. p. cm. ISBN 0-395-68101-4 — — — 1. Armor Eur—ope History Juvenile literat—ure. 2. Mi—litary history. Medieval Ju—venile literature. 3. Armor History Juvenile literature. [1. Armor History. 2. Military history, Medieval.] I. Yue, David. II. Title. U810.Y84 1994 93-50601 — 355.8'241 dc20 CIP AC Printed in9the8Un7ite6d S5tat4es 3ofA2mer1ica VB 10 Contents Knights and Knighthood 1. 1 2. The Development of Armor 13 3. The Armorer and His Craft 33 4. A Full Suit of Plate Armor 43 5. Getting Dressed 63 6. Armor for Horses 69 7. Tournaments and Jousts 71 8. Last of the Knights 79 9. Other Armor 83 Bibliography 87 Index 91 A Knight ofthe Fifteenth Century V/earing Italian Gothic Armor Knights and Knighthood CHAPTER ONE Two armies thirsting for a fight face each other on the battlefield in the first light of dawn. The king has formed the center of the line with his best men. Two of his most trusted leaders flank him with their men-at-arms. The enemy begins the fighting with a shower of arrows. Both sides shout curses and insults, trying to make their opponents angry enough to break ranks and fall into disarray. After the bombardment of arrows and insults, the foot soldiers close in bloody hand-to-hand combat. It is a grim trial of strength, with a confusion of men cutting, stabbing, and blud- geoning with swords, axes, clubs, and spears. Suddenly a horn sounds. At the signal, there is a thunder of horses and the gleam of metal. Knights charge into the fray with lance and sword. Iron-willed and iron-hearted, they move quickly and hit hard. Foot soldiers are no match for the combined force of man and horse, and they scatter and run before the invincible men of iron. KNIGHTS AND KNIGHTHOOD The knight in shining armor is one of the most vivid images We of the Middle Ages. envision vaHant warriors on horseback, completely encased in suits of iron. Knights were the masters of the battlefield; their fierce and determined charge would decide the outcome of a battle. Off the battlefield, we picture them fighting for the right, defending the weak, upholding justice, and trying to establish order in a savage world. In truth, knights frequently fell short of this image. They were often violent, de- structive, and cruel. And they were likely to be a major cause of lawlessness and disorder. Yet the image of knights as zealous champions of causes and chivalrous defenders of principles re- mains untarnished. For in spite of their many shortcomings, the medieval knights still represent for us a noble ideal that men were striving to attain. Who were these knights in shining armor, and how did they become such an important part of medieval life? The origins of the knight go back to the downfall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century a.d. At its greatest, the Roman Empire included most of what is now central and northern Europe west of the Rhine and Danube Rivers, as well as North Africa and practically all the Mediterranean world. It united millions of people within its realm andprotected them with an army ofwell-trained, profes- sional soldiers. But the vast size of the empire made it difficult to defend. Across the long borders of the Rhine and Danube, there were dense forests, treacherous mountains, and wild marshlands in- habited by tribes of people that the Romans called barbarians. Although the Romans thought them uncivilized, these people had their own laws and culture. They lived in villages of houses built of a woven matting of brushwood thickly plastered with clay. Their religion was based mainly —on nature worship. Important questions that concerned a tribe war, peace, migrations, se-