Linothorax again

[Dan Howard]

Quilting will greatly increase the armour's ability to resist damage. Vertical rows spaced less than an inch apart increase stiffness and cause most attacks to bounce off. We had better luck getting cutting tips (broadheads, etc) to penetrate (but not all the way through) while spikes, such as bodkins, bounced off every time.

We compared the same number of linen layers glued together (only PVA, not animal derivatives) and quilted together, and discovered that the quilted layers provide equal or better protection against every weapon from various types of arrows to swords, spears and maces. There is absolutely nothing either in the sources or in practical experimentation to suggest that glue was used in construction of the linothorax. The only thing suggesting glue is the stiff "springy" nature of the shoulder guards in some illustrations. However, this exact effect can be created using quilting.

Since mail is more vulnerable to spikes than cutting tips, the combination of a padded jack (Gr. linothorax) and a riveted mail haubergeon is likely to provide a defense that is virtually immune to arrows. This combination (with the mail worn underneath) seems to have been common during the 14th-15th centuries when the longbow was in its heyday - supporting this hypothesis. The Royal Armouries have conducted experiments with longbows against this combination and came to the same conclusion. (I think the results are in Hardy's latest edition of "Longbow")