Attatching Prayers to armor

[Sir Matthew]

Ok, so one of the guys I reenact with asked me an interesting question over the weekend that I didn't know the answer to, so I thought I would throw it out to the group here. It seems that in the Warhammer game, which is a sci-fi/fantasy rpg based heavily on history, many of the soldiers minis have papers waxed to their armor upon which are supposed to be inscriped prayers. He asked me if this was actually done in the period or if the game creators simply made this up because it souned cool. I have never heard of such a thing, but thinking upon it, it certainly sounds plausible. Does anyone else here know of this practice?

[Sir Edward]

It sounds plausible, but I haven't heard of it. Prayers in Latin were often painted onto shields and helmets, but I haven't heard of scrolls being pinned on. The thing that makes me doubtful though is that paper was fragile and expensive. So while I can't say it wasn't done, it's certainly understandable that people would opt for paint.

[Sir Gerard de Rodes]

It sounds plausible, but I haven't heard of it. Prayers in Latin were often painted onto shields and helmets, but I haven't heard of scrolls being pinned on. The thing that makes me doubtful though is that paper was fragile and expensive. So while I can't say it wasn't done, it's certainly understandable that people would opt for paint.

Yes I would have thought it would be more likely to paint or engrave armour with prayers and blessings etc etc.

G.

[Leganoth]

Ok, so one of the guys I reenact with asked me an interesting question over the weekend that I didn't know the answer to, so I thought I would throw it out to the group here. It seems that in the Warhammer game, which is a sci-fi/fantasy rpg based heavily on history, many of the soldiers minis have papers waxed to their armor upon which are supposed to be inscriped prayers. He asked me if this was actually done in the period or if the game creators simply made this up because it souned cool. I have never heard of such a thing, but thinking upon it, it certainly sounds plausible. Does anyone else here know of this practice?

Ive seen that in Warhammer 40k space marine, good game it looked cool also, they had used red wax stamped with the insignia of the empire and had a paper of text attatched to it, cant recall the name the game used though. Im not sure if its historical, maybe though, japanese had prays on their swords so its not fully myth.

[Sir James A]

Agreed with Sirs Edward and Gerard, it doesn't seem a historical thing to do since it would be a considerable waste of hand-made paper and hand-scribed text. However, etching of biblical verses, prayers, and other phrases was common in the late eras of plate armor.

This might be of vague use: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/deca/hd_deca.htm

I know I've seen historical armor decorated as such, but I can't remember which book(s) I saw it in. It's likely at least 1 or 2 pictures is in Medieval Knight by Miles & Paddock.

[Sir William]

I have heard of blessings, most like with holy water, on armor pieces- designed to provide that extra bit of divine protection.  Funny, in that the armor protects the wearer from damage as they dole out damage to someone else wearing armor most like.

"Please protect me, O Lord, as I go about killing people You have made in Your name, Amen."

[Sir Edward]

Yeah, the irony wasn't completely lost on them either. One of the methods that was used to encourage knights to join monastic orders such as the Templars or Hospitallers was that they would be absolved of their sins committed in battle (the killing, that is), since they were doing it for a holy order.

[Sir William]

And in later times, warriors were shriven and confessions heard prior to battle; amazing how that assuaged any and all feelings of guilt (that we know of).

[Sir Matthew]

It seems like the general consesus is running along the same lines as what I thought. The game designers liberally adapted the period practices of etching prayers on armor and weapons, and the blessing of armor, weapons and soldiers for the game with the parchment prayers. Still it's an interesting concept and nice to see some adoption of historical practice into a rpg.

[SirNathanQ]

I would go for paint, much more practical.

And in period, here was a bit of fuss over the whole issue, but it didn't go as far as to put he whole "warrior social elite" business in jeopardy.  The Church has a whole bunch to say on just war and duty, and what is acceptable or not in war.
In the end, it boiled down to Jesus' statement "Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword"  This was perfectly acceptable to many. In period, it wasn't really a statement to decry violence as much as it's interpreted in modern day context. Simply a warning really.