07-27-2021, 12:10 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-27-2021, 12:52 AM by Sean Manning.
Edit Reason: Added link to thread "Linothorax vs Quilted linen vs spolas" from 2009
)
RAT veterani veteranaeque will remember the long thread on glued linen armour ("Linothorax vs Quilted linen vs spolas") which inspired a book by three researchers in the Midwestern USA. It quickly became clear that none of the people putting this theory forward could point to strong evidence, so where did it come from?
My article on the history of this idea has appeared in the Canadian journal Mouseion Vol. 17 No. 3 https://doi.org/10.3138/mous.17.3.003 With the help of Joe Balmos and Todd Feinman (who are in no way responsible for my conclusions) I show that linen armour was first linked to glue in a bad English translation of a French summary of a Byzantine chronicle, not in an archaeological report or an ancient text. There was never anything substantial behind the theory (although it is always possible that in the future archaeologists will turn up some evidence that some people somewhere before 1970 made armour by gluing linen together).
And that will finish the Manichees!
If you do not have access to this journal (its cheap enough that many public libraries have subscriptions), and you are not on my list for receiving copies, send me an email address and I can add you to the list.
My article on the history of this idea has appeared in the Canadian journal Mouseion Vol. 17 No. 3 https://doi.org/10.3138/mous.17.3.003 With the help of Joe Balmos and Todd Feinman (who are in no way responsible for my conclusions) I show that linen armour was first linked to glue in a bad English translation of a French summary of a Byzantine chronicle, not in an archaeological report or an ancient text. There was never anything substantial behind the theory (although it is always possible that in the future archaeologists will turn up some evidence that some people somewhere before 1970 made armour by gluing linen together).
And that will finish the Manichees!
If you do not have access to this journal (its cheap enough that many public libraries have subscriptions), and you are not on my list for receiving copies, send me an email address and I can add you to the list.
Nullis in verba
I have not checked this forum frequently since 2013, but I hope that these old posts have some value. I now have a blog on books, swords, and the curious things humans do with them.
I have not checked this forum frequently since 2013, but I hope that these old posts have some value. I now have a blog on books, swords, and the curious things humans do with them.
