09-25-2007, 08:51 AM
But the question about the protection performance is easier, isn't it? It could be testet at least.
I'm a bit uncomfortable with the opinions that padded mail is better than plate, even mild steel/iron plate. Contradicts the medieval experiences. Plate came in wider use already in the 13th c. AD. As Sean Manning wrote it was normally worn in addition to mail. Only from the beginning of the 15th c. AD the mail shirts beneath the plate cuirass were discharged when the plate became much more like hard steel (I think never in history heavier clad warriors existed than in the 14th c. AD).
At the battle of Benevent 1266 AD the French knights had big problems with the German knights who wore plate armour (cloth covered laminated cuirasses probably) over their mail shirts. Only after the French used the armpits, only protected by mail, as targets they could overhelm the Germans (number could have played a role too). Nice anecdote, but perhaps a hint that even plate made from soft iron had it's merits and padded mail alone was not the best.
I'm a bit uncomfortable with the opinions that padded mail is better than plate, even mild steel/iron plate. Contradicts the medieval experiences. Plate came in wider use already in the 13th c. AD. As Sean Manning wrote it was normally worn in addition to mail. Only from the beginning of the 15th c. AD the mail shirts beneath the plate cuirass were discharged when the plate became much more like hard steel (I think never in history heavier clad warriors existed than in the 14th c. AD).
At the battle of Benevent 1266 AD the French knights had big problems with the German knights who wore plate armour (cloth covered laminated cuirasses probably) over their mail shirts. Only after the French used the armpits, only protected by mail, as targets they could overhelm the Germans (number could have played a role too). Nice anecdote, but perhaps a hint that even plate made from soft iron had it's merits and padded mail alone was not the best.
Wolfgang Zeiler