What Medieval Knights wore UNDER ARMOUR?

What did late-medieval and Renaissance KNIGHTS wear under armour, and what were the options?

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[JosefGustovc]

A quick addendum. Wearing separate bits of mail instead of a full shirt is well established already by the 1320's, if not earlier. So we kinda have to abandon the Idea that separate mail sleeves or voiders show up only in the end of the XIVth century.

And to reiterate your point about XVth century Italian mail, yes, separate sleeves and skirt do show up in inventories way more often than hauberks, and are almost always paired with full harnesses.

[michaelsmith]

We all know Matt wears a Superdry shirt under his gambeson.

[welshonsafari]

Interesting discussion. I am part of reenactment that does full armour duels centered around late 14th Century. I have thrown myself into the world of Maille armour making/repairing as I wanted a niche in my group. So I am very passionate about Maille.

To address one of the points made which I found interesting, you mentioned one disadvantage of Maille is the more movement restricting. I personally believe that the breast plate (or Churburg in my case) is more restricting for dueling with weapons such as Longsword or Hand and a Half.
My Maille shirt I made from scratch is designed to my measurements so flows nicely with expansions under the arms which don't then pull when my arms raise. Same with putting expansions on my shoulders. So I find the maille doesn't hinder me at all.
Now what I do agree on is due to the extra weight on your arms, you do fatigue quicker (Unless you are well built and have muscle) and then the maille is a hinderance not allowing you to raise your arms anymore (but this is due to muscle weakness than maille hinderance).
But hinderance does occur when those maille links get damaged and become like hooks. I have had it a couple of times when I have gone to lift a shield and my shield arm has become hooked on the maille to my side and stopped me lifting 😂
Let me know what you think 🙂

Anyway sorry for the long winded comment but this was a video about Maille and I have a very keen interest in the topic 😊 keep up the great videos!

[barnettmcgowan]

Great video as per usual. I imagine that if I were in a fight and my mail skirt slipped down with bad consequences, I'd be highly motivated to overlook the inconvenience and wear a full mail shirt next time.

[lscibor]

I think it's worth adding that mail from tiny rings can be woven into surprisingly light hauberk, so if someone had the money, even full, long hauberk didn't have to add that much weight.

For quick example, Met Museum has shirt of mail weighing only 4760 grams, though it seems that it's rather short and short sleeved.

Links have only 4.2 m of internal diameter, and thickness of wire is only about 0.8mm so it's very light. At the cost of protection, compared to thicker mail, but it was secondary defense after all.

There are some very light haubergeons in Wallace Collection too.

Denser weave under armpits, and other exposed places could be done too.

[holyknightthatpwns]

Another wonderful topic! Thanks for the extra details :)

[bramvanherck]

me in the hundred years war wearing my mail crop top and miniskirt because i'm a fashionable modern knight.

[stephenlewis]

I would love to see a video about the differences between of all the armor, Full plate knight vs a Long Bowman vs a moderately armored foot soldier.

[theghosthero]

Another note about double mail skirt in the 15th century :
Some people think it's a mail shirt worn with a mail skirt. The St Vincent Panels from Portugal do show that being done. However in most cases it's probably a mail skirt worn with a cuirass which has a fringe of mail at the bottom of the plate skirt. Cuirass hanged when not worn often have that feature in french, spanish and italian art.

[bencoomer]

Seems something for Todd to test. "How much does a mail shirt add to defense under plate."

[ecthelionalfa]

It would be funny to be sponsored by under Armour

[PackWolfypack]

Thank you for this video. I used to be part of the SCA, and if I ever get back into that sort of thing, I want to do it all historically correct. So in the interim I greatly enjoy learning from you guys about arms and armor, I also greatly appreciate Ian Lespina’s work on Kyght Errant.

[simonforrester]

I suppose the advantage of the full hauberk is that it can be worn alone, maybe if having very short notice of attack, or when there is a possibility rather than a likelihood of being attacked.

[terrenusvitae]

I like to think they wore a mankini under their armour, but I'm probably wrong again.

[torreyjones]

"Or putting together a suit of armour for your own personal purposes" *Looks at the bedroom* He On a more serious note I think a few other important considerations for why you might wear a full hauberk under plate would be A: grappling as there are a LOT of places that you could slip a knife in-between that I would rather have mail than cloth to greet it. And B: the ease of being able to add the plate elements over this whilst it being a complete armor system on its own. To clarify the second point using roleplay as an example (judge me not) traveling around in a mail hauberk with an open faced helmet is a really good level of protection despite not overly encumbering oneself. Then if you're expecting trouble it'd be fairly quick to throw on the rest of your harness and an attachable visor since you're already several layers deep into the process. Or at least quicker than starting from only the arming doublet.

[TobyVenables]

Presumably, all sorts of factors could come into play - what you're going to be doing, how much time you have to prepare, severity of the threat, the terrain, whether you're mounted, or on foot, or potentially both... Also, just what you happen to have. There's always a strong focus on knights, who generally are going to be wealthy enough and sufficiently well equipped to put on whatever they choose (assuming they packed it...). But lesser mortals - the majority of the army, in most cases - might have more restricted choices. I'm an archer - a well-equipped one. I have a brigandine but also a byrnie. I could wear one or the other or both. Or neither. Going 'heavy' could be a problem from the point of view of being able to shoot fast and not tire, but if I want to full protection it might be my only option.

[shockwave]

I was looking for justification for using my full Hauberk and chausses under my plate armor and you just gave it to me. Thanks! :D

[djc-]

I feel like Matt has made this video a dozen times

[yumazster]

Cool, I was waiting for this as I was wondering about that in the comments under the previous video 😁

[Jay-qlgp]

Thank you! I enjoyed this. And yes to a video about chainmail please!