For the Roman segment a lad in Aber who is part of a Home Guard unit was given a set of cr*p Lorica (the kind that doesn't meet properly, articulate properly, and leaves the upper chest exposed), I thought that lorica should have fitted together properly. What a pitty that it's so poorly done. Coli...

I'm afraid that there is much about the series Instruments Of Death that is utter B***cks. Sadly much of it spouted during the demonstration segments by 'experts' from the re-enactment world. For example I 'learned' that musketeers kept musket balls in their mouths to the extent that their lips wou...

I'd personally surmise it to be something like an accepted standard of function- like as you said, it must lob a standard arrow x distance or within x paces put a shaft through y thickness of linden or somesuch. Bowyers know their trade and obviously the penalties for shipping inadequate equipment w...

The kettlehat does seem to appear in sources from the Maciejowski onwards as one of the common lower-class helmets, alongside skulcap-type unadorned helmets- the main objection people seem to find is that it's ugly, and the precise design seems to change over time (into more of a sallet later). It's...

If you want to e-mail them to me I could refer you to similar medieval chests for some inspiration. I've got an archive of online listings somewhere... including the magnificently painted Breton marriage chest (early-mid 12thC).

Forgot I'd posted this so sorry it took me a while to reply. There seems to be a trend for making them- A) A good height to sit on and B) Good for storing a sword and maille. Now, whilst I wouldn't immediately assume this is a causal thing, it could be perhaps because they descended from sea-chests ...

Hrmmm. We do some set pieces that tend to include coins (tax collection, doling out pay to mercenaries, etc. etc.) but never actually had someone use the echequer board. We did have someone making records of rents due and recieved though, and then had the coins thrown into the warchest. Unfortunatel...

Lancaster- Fabrix. Good range of period wools and linens (which they've stocked on request)- their price is very variable but good service and usually include a discount on reenactment-size orders.
http://www.fabrix.org.uk/

The Assize of 1181 specifies lancea as the only weapon to be carried by freemen, most of whom fought on foot; it was mainly professional military serjantz (also of the freeman class) who fought on horseback. The assize of arms was also constantly re-issued by successive medieval kings with stiffer ...

Chests of this size were usually referred to as ''coffins'' in medieval manuscripts (as indeed any wooden chest under the size referred to as a 'chest'). Pictorial images are a little sparse and don't generally show much to go on design wise- most people have just scaled down one of the extant 12thC...

Second you tell people they'll get to work up and then include 'bottom', you immediately round up the perverts. Just what we want.
-Dan

http://www.normannis.co.uk We do everything from 1066-1215 if the client demands, but our bread-and-butter (and standard kit) is 1170's-1180's. We have cells nationwide (the website has a full list) and more opening all the time- current 'high' concentrations are mid-to-South Wales, North West Engla...

I did speak to the Mulberry dyer about black in the 12th century, and he had a few samples to look at- one that had been overdyed in multiple colours until it had reached almost the modern standard of 'true' black, a deep brown wool from Welsh Black sheep that had then been dyed with (I think he sai...

The depiction of such items is indeed rare, however one can assume given the depiction of lower-ranking combatants is in itself rare in 12th-13th century manuscripts, the relative 'rarity' of the items is more a question of convention rather than real-life reflection- for instance, it is unusual to ...

I know it's not the period for the BC references... but my diss. touched on this AND... 1) When appointed as the Archdeacon of Canterbury Thomas Beckett was put in charge of a few (failed) military expeditions in his role as the Lord Chancellor when Henry II campaigned on the continent. In at least ...