04-20-2009, 07:12 PM
Wow, you guys really know your stuff!
This [url:3uacxb3y]http://www.durolitum.co.uk/articles/helms.html[/url] is a ridge helmet. That and the Fankish spangenhelm were probably the most available amongst the Britons, especially in South Britain and Armorica. The ridge helm would probably have been more common in the North.
Like Angus McBride's picture shows, the British nobility probably relied on mail and scale armor, like the kind shown in the Vergilus Romanus, a manuscript whose illustratrions probably came from Vth Century Britain.
[url:3uacxb3y]http://www.arthuriadofcatumandus.com/i/badon.gif[/url]
underneath it all he probably wore a simple long sleeved tunic(depending on his rank), trews (possibly striped in the Celtic style, especially if he came from Gododdin or Strathclyde), and riding boots or Roman style caligae (see the link above). Over it all he would have worn a cloak (orange/tan for commoners, rebed for warriors and elite, purple for royalty--again see above) with a brooch.
He would have been armed with a spatha sword, a dagger (possibly a seaxe), throwing javelins, and a roound shield with a metal boss, probably with a cross, twin fish, or the Phi-Rho symbol.
[url:3uacxb3y]http://www.aurorahistoryboutique.com/products/R000009.jpg[/url]
[url:3uacxb3y]http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.grippingbeast.com/sizeimage.php%3Fsize%3D150%26image%3Dphotos/ART%2520SMALL%25201.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.grippingbeast.com/shop.php%3FCatID%3D59&usg=__DSGakF-9ycHvJ3_cpFH2Tp9DGXA=&h=150&w=117&sz=26&hl=en&start=7&sig2=qDZfsravJ2Nh-DEab0iQjg&um=1&tbnid=eTadessk2bX33M:&tbnh=96&tbnw=75&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlate%2Broman%2Bshield%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1&ei=AMjsSeKKNcGOkAWZu82pCA[/url]
As for leather greaves and vanbraces, I definitely imagine those beign utilized in the late Vth/early VI Centuries. However, leather equipment like that probably didn't last very long over time and use.
As for the use of heavy cavalry, I'm not much of an equine expert. I know that Roman saddles lacked stirrups, so couching the lance was out of the question. horsemen using the contus, however, could still put it to deadly use in a cavalry charge (see comitatus.net) My question is, could these horses be used in an all out frontal charge to open up the enemy ranks, or were the put to better use attacking from the sides or flanks? Also, the horse armor of the cataphracts may have been too rare and expensive, but could leather armor have substituted?
This [url:3uacxb3y]http://www.durolitum.co.uk/articles/helms.html[/url] is a ridge helmet. That and the Fankish spangenhelm were probably the most available amongst the Britons, especially in South Britain and Armorica. The ridge helm would probably have been more common in the North.
Like Angus McBride's picture shows, the British nobility probably relied on mail and scale armor, like the kind shown in the Vergilus Romanus, a manuscript whose illustratrions probably came from Vth Century Britain.
[url:3uacxb3y]http://www.arthuriadofcatumandus.com/i/badon.gif[/url]
underneath it all he probably wore a simple long sleeved tunic(depending on his rank), trews (possibly striped in the Celtic style, especially if he came from Gododdin or Strathclyde), and riding boots or Roman style caligae (see the link above). Over it all he would have worn a cloak (orange/tan for commoners, rebed for warriors and elite, purple for royalty--again see above) with a brooch.
He would have been armed with a spatha sword, a dagger (possibly a seaxe), throwing javelins, and a roound shield with a metal boss, probably with a cross, twin fish, or the Phi-Rho symbol.
[url:3uacxb3y]http://www.aurorahistoryboutique.com/products/R000009.jpg[/url]
[url:3uacxb3y]http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.grippingbeast.com/sizeimage.php%3Fsize%3D150%26image%3Dphotos/ART%2520SMALL%25201.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.grippingbeast.com/shop.php%3FCatID%3D59&usg=__DSGakF-9ycHvJ3_cpFH2Tp9DGXA=&h=150&w=117&sz=26&hl=en&start=7&sig2=qDZfsravJ2Nh-DEab0iQjg&um=1&tbnid=eTadessk2bX33M:&tbnh=96&tbnw=75&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlate%2Broman%2Bshield%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1&ei=AMjsSeKKNcGOkAWZu82pCA[/url]
As for leather greaves and vanbraces, I definitely imagine those beign utilized in the late Vth/early VI Centuries. However, leather equipment like that probably didn't last very long over time and use.
As for the use of heavy cavalry, I'm not much of an equine expert. I know that Roman saddles lacked stirrups, so couching the lance was out of the question. horsemen using the contus, however, could still put it to deadly use in a cavalry charge (see comitatus.net) My question is, could these horses be used in an all out frontal charge to open up the enemy ranks, or were the put to better use attacking from the sides or flanks? Also, the horse armor of the cataphracts may have been too rare and expensive, but could leather armor have substituted?
Ryan "the Wolfman" Hatch
Aspiring halfwit
2 wins, 0 lossess
![[Image: britonessenioresxl0.jpg]](http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/593/britonessenioresxl0.jpg)
Aspiring halfwit
2 wins, 0 lossess
