Armor & Weaponry

A brief overview of the typical hazards in an armourer's shop and the safety equipment necessary to keep you in one piece.

Great place to go for help in construction, things for sale, references, and tons of other information about armor.

A list of references to arms and combat in the Íslendingasögur.

As new fighters, many people are faced with the question of how to acquire a set of armour. For a substantial number of people the solution is -- "I'll make it myself." Unfortunately, most people don't know where to start. In this article I would like to discuss three basic things: how to set up an armouring workshop, some philosophies that are helpful for new and old armourers alike, and some basic techniques for armouring.

This comprehens ive report represents a landmark in the publicatio n of medieval finds from excavation s in York. It encompasse s very large assemblage s of medieval artefacts of a wide variety of materials, including iron, non-ferrou s metal, stone, jet, amber, fired clay, glass and textile. These were recovered from four major sites in York.

Selected illustrati ons from the Mendel Hausbuch, depicting 15th and early 16th century craftsmen at work.

The illustrati ons from the Mendel and Landauer Housebooks , indexed by profession and with lists of items found in each illustrati on.

I wrote this paper as a way to share what I have found in my search for the techniques used by ancient armourers in thier craft. It is a rough draft and is by no means a definitive paper on the construction of armour. I would love it if people tried my techniques to see if they can use them and to give me feedback on problems they had or new ideas.

In this paper, I have just touched the surface of general metal work and helmet construction. I don't go into details, just the basics.

Guild statutes provide precise indications for methods of fabrication of the objects of daily life in the Middle Ages. This webpage provides statutes from guilds for makers of aguilettes (points?), purses, armor, tallow candlesticks, hose, clothing, and writing-tables.

On the armorers' trade in the Middle Ages.

An ongoing site with articles and links on armour as it applies to the Middle Ages, the SCA and to SCA combat.

A series of engravings that bring to us the very clear representation of the crafts and technology of his time, and the relative importance which these discoveries and inventions had in the mind of a well-informed layman of the 16th century.

New Discoveries includes illustrations of: The Lodestone, The Magnet; The Astrolabe; America; Gunpowder; Printing Books; Iron Clocks; Guaiacum (a New World remedy for syphilis); Distillation; Silk, or the Silkworm; Stirrups, or Foot Rests; the Watermill; the Winged Mill (windmills); Olive Oil; Sugar; Oil Colors (oil-painting); Spectacles (eyeglasses); Longitudes of the Earth Found from the Deviation of the Magnet from the Pole; Polishing Armor; Engraving on Copper; and the travels & discoveries of Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, and Ferdinand Magellan.

A collection of armor patterns, oriented towards SCA combat. You should probably have some previous armouring experience before you tackle these projects.

This cross-indexed glossary defines terms for European Medieval armor. Different terms could mean different things at different times, so the terminology can be confusing. I have tried to give commonly agreed upon definitions.

The UK's national museum of arms and armor.

Links to several related articles.

The Royal Armouries collection has its origins in the arsenal of the British army preserved at the Tower of London. Most of the medieval material at the Tower was disposed of in the modernisation of the army by Henry VIII in the 1540s