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Agincourt English Knight

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Sir_Edward_ReBrook:
Gentlemen:

Does anyone know of any good examples of armour worn by the English Knights at Agincourt? How did it differ from the French Knights' armour? I'm reading an amazing book - "Agincourt" by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Bt. - and it's inspiring me to get a plate suit in 1415 style after I acquire my Westminter Psalter harness.

Ian:
My personal kit is contemporary to Agincourt and would be appropriate for an English gentleman man-at-arms in 1415.  A more cutting edge kit than what I wear for a wealthier knight or lord would have included a more complete cuirass, besagues at the shoulder and likely a grand bascinet with integrated rigid throat defense.  It is also possible the hourglass gauntlets at this time could feature extended metacarpal plates.

One of the things that makes English field armor different from French armor during the middle Hundred Years War is the inclusion of a fully articulated arm harness from shoulder to wrist, as opposed to the separate 3/4 arm harness and discrete spaulder more common on the continent.  The English preference was to fight on foot, and their armor was optimized for this type of fighting.

If you want the absolute best book on the subject, Dr. Toby Capwell (Curator of Arms and Armor at the Wallace Collection) just published his book on the armor specific to England in this period.  The pre-orders are just starting to trickle in to the US so it will likely be a bit of a wait to get your hands on it, but it can be purchased here:

Armour of the English Knight 1400-1450

Here's a photo from one my living history club's events this year of our post Agincourt scenario (2 weeks after victory, outside of Calais).  It's not the best photo, but for this purpose it's informative because it contains a variety of armors that could be seen in 1415.

On the far left, you have Sir Geoffrey (the one holding the pollaxe) in a very typical 1415 English armor like I was describing above.  Great bascinet, full cuirass, long fauld, English arms.  I'm in the back, next from the left with the bright red scabbard carrying the mostly bright yellow flag, think gentleman man-at-arms, not cutting edge for 1415, but still typical of the time.  Breastplate with fauld, no backplate, English arms and wearing my bascinet with no visor.  Next you have Bob with the dark red sword scabbard.  He's in super cutting edge modern Italian export harness (the scenario was that this was captured armor as it is not 'English' in style.  This would be the best armor of Western Europe in 1415 but not of an 'English' style.  Then off the the right side is Will (requiescat in pace).  His helmet is an early great bascinet, it retains a mail aventail but includes a rigid bevor plate to protect the thoat.  His trunk armor is of a late 14th century style globose Coat of Plates, still serviceable in 1415 but going out of style, however it's been updated with round besagues in the armpits.

Sir_Edward_ReBrook:
Sir Ian:

As always, a truly excellent and helpful reply. I wondered, if I were to raise my budget to $12K, not including sword, do you know if I could get close to an Agincourt knight? Even if I have to take a phased approach, I am quite driven by the idea. Also, do you happen to have the contact number for Jeff at Custom Chainmail? I quite liked your review of his work.

Ian:
Unfortunately I don't have any contact numbers for Jeff at CC beyond the info on their website.

Yes, $12k could probably get you there depending on your specific preferences.  There's a lot of variance in price depending on things like materials, level of finish, fit, historical shaping and the status you wish to portray.  Other budgetary considerations are travel for fittings should go that route as well.  When getting into higher end armor it usually involves custom fittings in person, very long queues (sometimes on the scale of well over a year or more from initial inquiry to project start) for very in-demand and highly skilled armorers etc.  You can save a lot of money if you go with an overseas armorer, as they generally charge a lot less than the high-end guys in the US, but obviously going to them for a fitting can become almost impossible, so you're taking a risk on final fit of some of the more sensitive pieces.

Central European Armorers, especially in Poland and Czech Republic right now are turning out some of the  nicest historical armor for the best prices.  The further East you go, they seem to cater more to the modern medieval combat sport crowd (like Battle of the Nations) where some of the strict adherence to historical lines can be compromised for modern needs.  If historical shaping is your goal, even within the US, you'll probably want to avoid the armorers who cater specifically to the SCA, again for similar reasons as the Battle of the Nations guys.

Sir_Edward_ReBrook:
Sir Ian:

Do you have any thoughts on the types and grades of steel? For example, if I wanted to use armour in live steel combat, what are your thoughts on:
* 1mm (20 gage)
* 1.5 mm (16 gage)
* 2 mm (14 gage)
*stainless 1.5 mm (16 gage).

I'm assuming one is more preferable to the others in terms of durability and rust prevention? As always, I sincerely appreciate your thoughts.

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