this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2024
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Illustrations of history
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This magazine is for sharing artwork of historical events, places, personages, etc. Scale models and the like also welcome!
Generally speaking, actual photos of a historical item should go to [email protected]
Photos of ruins should go to [email protected]
Photos of the past should go to [email protected]
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This is a common misconception. The idea of the ill-armed peasant levy is largely something that was relegated to the small-scale intrafeudal wars of the period. Most of those called to arms in large-scale wars would have been either middle-class farmers required to have a minimum quality of equipment by law, or else been mercenaries or part-time mercenaries who had a reasonable standard of training and equipment.
By the 1400s-1500s, munitions plate was in fashion for foot soldiers, and even poorer soldiers would have been more likely to been in a brigandine than mail. Mail during the period of full plate was more expensive than a breastplate - European metallurgy had at that point progressed to the point where forging a plate of metal was less resource and labor-intensive than interlocking thousands of individual chain links.
And a helmet! A good skullcap with a brim was like a shield for your head, even if it didn’t cover up your entire face.
Nothing wrong with a good gambeson.