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My Harness...almost complete :)

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merc3065:
Been a while since I've last posted here, but my harness is almost fully complete.

The goal here is to have something somewhat unique but remaining as close as I can to the 14th century.
It's a mixture dating from early 14th to early 15th from what I can gather.
Any thoughts on how "close" this would be to a 14th century harness?



I have the following:
15th century cloth button up padded gambeson
Visored sugarloaf (ca. 1325?) great helmet from a polish guy, screen named Tengushen
Pistoia altarpiece breastplate and backplate (ca 1350-1375?) from MadMatt's armoury in Orillia
14th century arm harness with besagews from Merctailor's in Rochester
15th century leg harness from Merctailor's in Rochester (would this pass for a 14th century leg harness?)
15th? century finger gauntlets from Merctailor's in Rochester (Where would these date? or was it strictly hourglass in the 14th?)
Medieval-ish demi greaves from Merctailor's in Rochester

Few things I need:
14th century pourpoint with points for leg harness
14th century gambeson, with points for arm harness (mine is starting to tear in places)
14th century gorget that can be used with WMA/steel sparring
14th century sabatons
14th century fully enclosed greaves
14th century padded chausses
14th century heater shield

Any ideas for how to protect your hips and your backside? 
Would maille sewn to the gambeson work or a series of hanging, cloth covered plates maybe?

I checked with revival clothing and looks to be the place for the 14th century gambeson and pour point.
I am thinking of sewing swatches of maille to exposed joints on my current gambeson as I've seen in some pictures, but not sure if that's 14th century accurate or not?

Anyone have links to where I could find some items for my shopping list above?

Thanks

Ian:

--- Quote from: merc3065 on 2013-06-05, 15:08:32 ---Been a while since I've last posted here, but my harness is almost fully complete.

The goal here is to have something somewhat unique but remaining as close as I can to the 14th century.
It's a mixture dating from early 14th to early 15th from what I can gather.
Any thoughts on how "close" this would be to a 14th century harness?

I have the following:
15th century cloth button up padded gambeson
Visored sugarloaf (ca. 1325?) great helmet from a polish guy, screen named Tengushen
Pistoia altarpiece breastplate and backplate (ca 1350-1375?) from MadMatt's armoury in Orillia
14th century arm harness with besagews from Merctailor's in Rochester
15th century leg harness from Merctailor's in Rochester (would this pass for a 14th century leg harness?)
15th? century finger gauntlets from Merctailor's in Rochester (Where would these date? or was it strictly hourglass in the 14th?)
Medieval-ish demi greaves from Merctailor's in Rochester

Few things I need:
14th century pourpoint with points for leg harness
14th century gambeson, with points for arm harness (mine is starting to tear in places)
14th century gorget that can be used with WMA/steel sparring
14th century sabatons
14th century fully enclosed greaves
14th century padded chausses
14th century heater shield

Any ideas for how to protect your hips and your backside? 
Would maille sewn to the gambeson work or a series of hanging, cloth covered plates maybe?

I checked with revival clothing and looks to be the place for the 14th century gambeson and pour point.
I am thinking of sewing swatches of maille to exposed joints on my current gambeson as I've seen in some pictures, but not sure if that's 14th century accurate or not?

Anyone have links to where I could find some items for my shopping list above?

Thanks

--- End quote ---

Looks really good!

It's not quite a 14th century harness, as you've stated.  It's about a 100 year span of harnesses in one.  You've dated most of the stuff correctly.  The gauntlets are mid to late 15th century.  Early 15th you see the evolution from hourglass to what you're wearing.  For late 14th, you're looking at hourglass.  For slightly earlier in the 14th, wisby style gauntlets or hourglass would be appropriate.

The breastplate is squarely late 14th century.  The helmet is definitely early 14th.  The cuisses are definitely 15th century.  In total, from the helmet to the gauntlets you span about 125 years.

If you want to go full 14th century (I'm assuming late 14th), then you would need to get hourglass gauntlets, a bascinet, replace the cuisses, fully encased greaves, and sabs are really optional (you can also cover your feet with maille.  You should have a full haubergeon of maille on underneath all of your plate. 

In the late 14th century, the hips weren't really protected unless you had a hoop fauld (your fauld is a different style, but very suitable).  And your back would be protected by your maille haubergeon.  Backplates were not really common until the turn of the 15th century.  Padded chausses are not required if you have well fitted 14th century cuisses.

The revival clothing gamby is great, and the revival pourpoint is a thing of modern convenience.  It has no basis in history as a real arming garment, though having used one myself for many years it works very well (much better than a c-belt when properly fitted).  The real 14th century arming garment should be a close-fitted gambeson, lightly padded for maille, and tight enough in the hips and waist to support your leg  harness like mine here:
http://modernchivalry.org/forum/index.php/topic,2516.0.html

Sir William:
Allan makes 14th C legs- I am wondering why you did not get those, especially since you're looking to complete a rig for the 14th.  I also could not say for sure what the main differences between the two styles are, but others on here can and most likely will.  That fauld I've seen before...its a nice look, but I wouldn't try to mount a horse with it on. 

Overall, your kit is good looking, how period are you looking to go?  Depending on that, you'll get a good answer.  For cosplay/ren faire and general SCA purposes, your kit's just fine.  If you're looking to get into the Living History side of things, well, you've already outlined what you'll need- except for the pourpoint - that is, if you're talking about the sleeveless vest with the mounting points at the bottom.  Better still is to have an all-in-one garmet, such as the de Blois pourpoint that Sir Ian just made, or the one he got from Jess Finley of Fuhlen Designs.  It should also serve as your aketon as you'll not need the padding of an earlier gambeson because you're wearing plate instead of maille.

That fauld you're wearing precludes the attachment of tassets (which would protect the front part of your hips, a maille skirt would cover the back and sides- combined with the aketon, that's plenty of protection); you could go with a kidney belt if you're going to be bouting and are worried about side or back shots.

The sewing of swatches of maille to the exposed parts- I'm not sure how period that is, but it makes sense; it is something I've thought of doing myself.  I've seen artwork that seems to suggest this but I can't find the references I'm looking for.

Edited to add: got ninja'd by Sir Ian.  lol

Ian:
Tassets are not 14th century, nor is the practice of sewing maille to your arming garments.  Voiders and maille skirts only appear in the 15th century.

Sir William:
Voiders, that's the term and I stand corrected; thank you, Sir Ian.

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