Linothorax vs Quilted linen vs spolas

[John Conyard]

The Cordwainer's Guild is still going strong in York, and they share a hall with other Guilds in the city. I've organised banquets in the hall.

I promise to spend some time looking at leather tanning and the possible use of leather for armour. And I promise to report back. There is a great deal to consider.

For example milk could be used in leather preparation to produce a white finish, and milk can also be used to laminate leather panels.

Perhaps a conflicting line of enquiry is that leather from areas using alum in tanning was used to make shields in Egypt in a later period. Later Arab armours may have something to teach us in terms of leather preparation.

My initial feeling is that laminated, "buff" leather, would make the ideal armour. It would be strong, relatively soft, and require no special treatments like heating, moulding or lacquering. It could be easily weather proofed, produce a stiff yoke which could stand upright, and be produced naturally in off white. Or any other colour!

But this does sound like a simple 17th century solution.