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I was recently asked to post some photos of people wearing armor.

Naturally, I’m not just going to do that, I’m going to make a big long post about reproduction armor and armor in art.

I’ll be including pictures like this, most of which I’ve posted before. They’re by an Italian armorer named Augusto Boer Bront that runs the XIVth and XVth Century European Armor Facebook groups.

The above photo talks about how the aventail of a bascinet should sit on the wearer’s face. When it comes to bascinets, this mistake is a frequently made one, and a good pair of reproductions can be seen below, in the forms of the armor worn by Ian LaSpina (left) and Reese (right, I don’t know his last name,) both of whom have YouTube channels (I’ve linked them, you should check them out if you’re interested.)

This photo is a good example of how an aventail should fit though.

Ian LaSpina’s kit is an early XVth century English kit, sporting the classic heavily enclosed English style with a standard houndskull bascinet and hourglass shaped gauntlets (also lacking a textile covering for the breastplate) marking it as belonging to the 1400′s to 1410′s.

Another common mistake is the fit of a breastplate. You can see quite clearly on Ian’s kit above that the breastplate sits right on his natural waistline, giving way to the “paunce of plates” or metal skirt that covers the rest of his torso. This setup allows for freedom of movement. If breastplates stopped at the hip, like many reproductions and artistic renditions do, then the wearer wouldn’t be able to bend.

You can also see how the breastplate is domed. A breastplate must be domes like that, to encourage weapons and projectiles to glance. If it were flat, weapons could strike at right angles, imparting the entirety of their force and rendering the armor significantly less effective.

A few more things can be gleaned from this picture of Ian in an older version, less complete of his kit. The shape of his helmet, and the fact that his visor covers the vervelles. Vervelles are the points on the bascinet were the aventail is laced on. On a side-hinging bascinet, the visor should cover them, as pictured above. Bascinet shape is also very important, as expressed in the above diagram.

Moving on from Ian LaSpina, we can take a moment to appreciate the armor of one of the biggest names in the community: Dr. Tobias Capwell.

It’s absolutely stunning, isn’t it? Dr. Capwell’s armor is also English, like Ian’s, however his is later, about 1440. It’s blackened entirely, with gold trimming, and it is beautiful.

Here is Dr. Capwell wearing a reproduction set of the famous Avant harness, pictured below. This is the absolute epitome of what Milanese style armor in the late XVth century was like. The helmet is not contemporary with the suit, so it was omitted from the reconstruction.

Now, because I was asked to post pictures of people in armor, I’ll throw in this photo from “The Great Tournament of Schaffhausen” in Switzerland. The man on the left is wearing a classic suit of German Gothic armor, to his right you have Dr. Capwell in what looks like his English 1440 suit, pre-blackening, and the two gentlemen on the right appear to be in Milanese style Italian kits. It’s hard to say what the woman in the back is wearing, but it looks like it could be Gothic or Italian.

I’ve now included so many pictures of people in full plate that I would feel remiss not including at least one photo of someone in something else. So, here is Tom Biliter in a set of German Gothic armor (probably late XVth century,) but rather than a standard cuirass, he is wearing what’s known as a brigandine. A brigandine is a series of small overlapping plates riveted to a textile backing.

Here are a couple of pictures of Ian LaSpina wearing a reproduction of the Churburg S18 armet. This armet is from the armories of Churburg castle in Northern Italy, and dates to about 1410.

One final thing I’d like to touch on in this titan of a post: the applications of these principles in the design of fantasy armors.

Often when you see fantasy armor designs, they are quite ridiculous. They are large, have vast openings, don’t fit right, and so on. Now, the physics of these fantasy world are generally the same as ours, therefore the same principles of armor making should apply.

“But OP,” I hear you cry, “I want my armor to look fantastic and cool. How an I do that if I have to abide by dumb physics?”

Well first off, I’m not saying you have to abide by physics, but if you want to, you could do something like this.

The Sovereign armor. This armor was 3D printed by Melissa Ng, and designed with help from a name you’ll recognize by now: Ian LaSpina.

It’s super cool, very fantasy looking, but still applies all of the basic principles of how armor fits, allowing Melissa to move around properly, so the armor doesn’t restrict her.

So, this has been my armor post. If you’ve stuck around this long, good on you. I hope I’ve said something new to you, or at least shown you an armor you’ve never seen before. Cheers!

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hello naughty children it’s ring of power time

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But like legit though, Hussars’ pelisses are some of the most beautiful coats ever in history, like is this not the equivalence of WEARING ART? The embroidery and fur and hyper-complicate button system all combined makes me giddy and shit! Plz plz plz let these re-enter mainstream fashion after like 150+ years plz!

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A fantastic sword with a knife and eating spike, possibly a gift to Charles V, attributed to the goldsmith Lorenz Trunck, German, Nuremberg, ca. 1547, housed at the Staatliche Kustsammlungen Dresden.

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80s vibes with minimal gibes

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Small Devotional Acts to Odin

Learn the runes.

Walk in someone else’s shoes.

Create.

Go bird watching- keep an eye out for corvids.

Read about something that interests you.

Make a devotional playlist for Him.

Sacrifice something for the benefit of others.

Travel with no true destination.

Share a nice mead with Him.

Stand up for your beliefs.

Listen to others’ counsel.

Study for your classes.

Leave collected objects at His altar.

Do something noble- big or small.

Sit in or under a tree and let your mind wander.

Write meaningful poetry.

Let go of yourself for a while.

Disregard others’ judgement and social constructs.

Use musky scents in an oil diffuser.

Work on your divining skills.

Donate to a wolf conservation or veteran’s organization.

Flirt with others for the fun of it.

Practice using a weapon.

Offer Him a savory food.

Forgive yourself.

Talk to those you normally wouldn’t.

Draw inspiration from that which surrounds you.

Know when to fight, but in turn, to back down.

Keep an open mind and an open heart.

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how millennials are ruining the third kinslaying

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A Cuirassier’s Armor with a bullet proof, Italy, Milan or Brescia, ca. 1610-1630, housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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"You all dance for awhile."

“It’s lit as fuck.”

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“In the early Viking Age, modern notions of nationalism and ethnicity would have been unrecognisable. Viking culture was eclectic, but there were common features across large areas, including use of Old Norse speech, similar shipping and military technologies, domestic architecture and fashions that combined Scandinavian and non-Scandinavian inspirations.

It can be argued that these markers of identity were more about status and affiliation to long-range trading networks than ethnic symbols. A lot of social display and identity is non-ethnic in character. One might compare this to contemporary international business culture which has adopted English language, the latest computing technologies, common layouts for boardrooms and the donning of Western suits. This is a culture expressed in nearly any country of the world but independently of ethnic identity.

Similarly, Vikings in the 9th and 10th centuries may be better defined more by what they did than by their place of origin or DNA. By dropping the simplistic equation of Scandinavian with Viking, we may better understand what the early Viking Age was about and how Vikings reshaped the foundations of medieval Europe by adapting to different cultures, rather than trying to segregate them.”

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Is the painting a metaphor for the Britons (red dragon) and the Anglo-Saxons (white dragon)?

Detail from Lambeth Palace Library MS 6, folio 43v, illustrating an episode in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae (c.1136) in which Vortigern meets the young Merlin, who explains that the underground fight between red and white dragons is causing his fortress to collapse

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Resources For Fantasy & Mythology Writers

Designing A World

City and Town Name Generator

How To Create a Believable World

Fantasy Religion Design Guide

Fantasy Map-maker

The Language Construction Kit

Fantasy Name Generator

The Pagan Name Generator

Writing Fantasy: Tools & Techniques

Fractal World Generator

Creating a Magic System

The Middle Ages

A Large List Of Articles On The Middle Ages

Middle Ages Weapons

Medieval Clothing

Medieval Clothing Pages

Medieval Name Archive

The Domesday Book

European Nobility Titles

Mythology

General Folklore

Various Folktales

Heroes

Weather Folklore

Trees in Mythology

Animals in Mythology

Birds in Mythology

Flowers in Mythology

Fruit in Mythology

Plants in Mythology

Folktales from Around the World

Egyptian Mythology

African Mythology

More African Mythology

Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

The Gods of Africa

Even More African Mythology

West African Mythology

All About African Mythology

African Mythical Creatures

Gods and Goddesses

Aztec Mythology

Haitian Mythology

Inca Mythology

Maya Mythology

Native American Mythology

More Inca Mythology

More Native American Mythology

South American Mythical Creatures

North American Mythical Creatures

Aztec Gods and Goddesses

Chinese Mythology

Hindu Mythology

Japanese Mythology

Korean Mythology

More Japanese Mythology

Chinese and Japanese Mythical Creatures

Indian Mythical Creatures

Chinese Gods and Goddesses

Hindu Gods and Goddesses

Korean Gods and Goddesses

Basque Mythology

Celtic Mythology

Etruscan Mythology

Greek Mythology

Latvian Mythology

Norse Mythology

Roman Mythology

Arthurian Legends

Bestiary

Celtic Gods and Goddesses

Gods and Goddesses of the Celtic Lands

Finnish Mythology

Celtic Mythical Creatures

Gods and Goddesses

Islamic Mythology

Judaic Mythology

Mesopotamian Mythology

Persian Mythology

Middle Eastern Mythical Creatures

Aboriginal Mythology

Polynesian Mythology

More Polynesian Mythology

Mythology of the Polynesian Islands

Melanesian Mythology

Massive Polynesian Mythology Post

Maori Mythical Creatures

Hawaiian Gods and Goddesses

Hawaiian Goddesses

Gods and Goddesses

List of Gods

Encyclopedia Mythica

Mythical Creatures & Beasts

Questions To Ask When Worldbuilding

The World

Physical and Historical Features

Magic and Magicians

Peoples and Customs

Social Organization

Commerce, Trade, and Public Life

Daily Life

Basics

Alternate Earth

Not Earth at All

Climate and Geography

Natural Resources

World History

Specific Country(s) History

Rules of Magic

Wizards

Magic and Technology

Miscellaneous Magic Questions

Customs

Eating

Greeting and Meeting

Gestures

Visits

Language

Ethics and Values

Religion and the Gods

Population

Government

Politics

Crime and the Legal System

Foreign Relations

Waging War

Weapons

Business and Industry

Transportation and Communication

Science and Technology

Medicine

Arts and Entertainment

Architecture

Urban Factors

Rural Factors

Fashion and Dress

Manners

Diet

Education

Calendar

Magic

The Hypertext List of Spells

Gemstone Properties

Gemstone Meanings

Crystal Healing

Fairy & Other Spirits

Elven Phrases