02-08-2006, 12:25 AM
Quote:Travis and Paulus,
Like you, unfortunately I wasn't there and, therefore, I cannot tell anything for sure, but...
I think that wearing two superimposed subarmales would be far too cumbersome and unpractical. Far more than wearing a single, extra-thick subarmalis! :?
Aitor
Wear the heavier of the two over the top, not both underneath. The European padded jack was worn over the haubergeon which was worn over an aketon - the combination is proof against the longbow. In the Crusades it is likely that the Franks wore a heavy velt vest over their mail and the combination was proof against Saracen arrows. Saladin's biographer, Bahā’al-Dīn, wrote that the crusaders were:
drawn up in front of the cavalry, stood firm as a wall, and every foot-soldier wore a vest of thick felt and a coat of mail so dense and strong that our arrows made no impression on them… I saw some with from one to ten arrows sticking in them, and still advancing at their ordinary pace without leaving the ranks.
Author: Bronze Age Military Equipment, Pen & Sword Books