A History of the Idea of Glued Linen Armour

[Feinman]

I would ask if your leather is actually generally the same as what the ancients had available. If not, that does not diminish your excellent work that we are all aware of.

I doubt that anyone is producing oil-tanned leather in exactly the same way as was done in the ancient Mediterranean.  What we can get is of the same family, so to speak.  Most "oil-tanned" leather on the market, if I understand correctly, is not in fact tanned with oil but instead veg- or chrome-tan treated with oil after tanning, so it has a smooth surface with the grain intact and is oily-feeling.  True oil- or fat-tanning is described in the Iliad:  You start with a wet hide, apply fat, and knead it until it's dry and the fat is absorbed.  Usually the grain is scraped off to make it easier for the fat to penetrate, unless you want a hair-on hide.  This is pretty much the same method as braintanning and (when semi-mechanized) used to produce chamois (at least as we define it in the States -- the kind here is actually sheepskin, not chamois goat) and old-fashioned German buckskin.

I've only worked with the latter two (plus buff, which is similar but also involves sulphur somehow).  I'm aware of one major difference:  Most braintan made for day-to-day use would be smoked in order to, as I understand it, infuse the hide with aldehydes from the wood and bind the fat to the collagen fibers, so that if the hide became wet, it would be easy to re-soften when dry, instead of reverting to a rawhide-like texture.  Chamois and German buckskin are made with fish oil which supposedly generates its own aldehydes as it oxidizes, obviating the need for smoking.  This is where I'm reading most of this:  https://www.taxidermy.net/threads/80733/

As far as dyeing goes, the upshot is that fish oil-tanned leathers would be lighter in color.  Smoked oil-tan varies from sort of a goldenrod color to medium brown.  So, in theory, a smoked oil-tanned hide should be to some degree darker and more yellow-brownish and this would be visible unless it were either dyed so darkly that the hide's intrinsic color difference is hard to see, or painted with an opaque pigment.

This is my chamois dyed with madder.


I haven't saved any of the test swatches with oil-wax paint. But I've used both red ochre and ultramarine. The result looks pretty much like you'd expect -- ochre gives you barn red, ultramarine gives royal blue. It's matte (maybe with just a hint of shine) and opaque, flexible, and waterproof when dry; the only drawback I've found is it has to be rubbed in and is no good for producing intricate designs.

I really enjoy your blog and work Dan! Great stuff.

[Feinman]

Some examples of twining.
Egyptian slings:



Hero Granger-Taylor writes that the retting process was not as thorough in ancient Egypt --I believe this would allow for even more shrinkage (desirable) of the final twined item:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/dig...lant2.html


Twined Maori war cloaks (with dog skin).
These twined cloaks were supposedly able to resist spear thrusts when they were soaked in water before battle.  The fibers would revert back to their original state and the cloak twining would tighten up.  
I think that the way flax yarn was made in Egypt and elsewhere used in twined armours would do the same thing, but permanently, after the linen armour was immersed in a water bath after being twined.  It wouldn't need to be soaked each time before battle..

https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/157407

Another one:

[Feinman]

Here is a detail of the Maori twining, and it appears the yarn is not plaited, either:
From:  https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/157407

   

[Creon01]

Twining is a form of weaving correct? It seem like this is a very plausible means of making the armor. For me the weave question is separate from the type of linen itself being twined. Has anybody encountered any modern spliced and twisted linen? The textile folks are all excited about it, but is it really such a big difference? Some big names in that community think so.

---

"I doubt that anyone is producing oil-tanned leather in exactly the same way as was done in the ancient Mediterranean. What we can get is of the same family, so to speak." It is not that important to me that the recipe and manufacturing technique be 100% authentic in every detail to arrive at some awareness of the efficacy of the material in regard to armor. Another big question is about the hide itself, with thickness not being as important as density of the skin. Density also means weight so all that ready to work lightweight leather we see in the leather stores is suspect now. I do see some folks using the lightest leather they can find to make their at times really beautiful reproduction tube and yokes...with not much thought as to that leather's ability to stop or even slow down a spear thrust or arrow head. These are not what I would call armor as they have little or no protective qualities, but some do look really really good.

[Feinman]

Hi Joe,
It seems that there is some debate as to whether or not twining can be classified as a form of weaving. The cords of the armour must be twined tightly, and the cords kept under tension, so it is handwork and a loom is not used. You have to pull the braided cords tightly and twist around the warp cord --as the fabric progresses, it becomes exceptionally sturdy, and after shrinking it, it becomes hard to even get an awl through the weave. I think the linen facing of the armour with the, apparently showing the quilting through the twining, helps to hold the form of the twined linothorax so it does not sag, and it helps to keep the twining tight while providing some tailoring for the human torso.

[Flavivs Aetivs]

Sounds like another dodgy translation to me. What does it say in the original language?

Ἀυτὸς μέντοι ἄνευ θυρεοῦ τηνικαῦτα διηγωίζε, ἐκ δὲ
λίνου πεποιημένου οἴνῳ αὐστηρῷ ἱκανῶς ἡλισμένῳ διάβροχον πολλάκις
περιπτυχθὲν δίκην θώραπος ἐνδύετο· ἐς τοσοῦτον δ’ἦν αντιτυπὲς ἁλσὶ καὶ
οἴνῳ συμπιληθὲν ὡς καὶ βέλους εἶναι παντὸς στεγανώτερον· ἠριθμοῦντο
δʹεἰς ὀκτωκαίδεκα καὶ πλείω τὰ τοῦ ὑφάσματος συμπτύγματα·

What's missing from all of this is that the most common middle Byzantine-era wine was Retsina wine, which had significant amounts of pine resin dissolved in it. Like other manuscripts which mention using pitch or resin to harden gambesons, a mix of salt and the resin in the wine is probably what hardened Conrad of Montferrat's.

Evidence from the military manuals shows the Romans themselves used twining up through at least the end of the 10th century. And as Manning, Gleba, Granger-Taylor, etc. have pointed out, the evidence strongly suggests twining was the primary method used in the Classical Roman period and Greek/Hellenistic eras as well. Felting/Fulling, Wadding, and Quilting all seem to have been ad-hoc measures used in emergencies.

[Feinman]

Interesting. I had only thought of red wine before, for some reason. The "Dregs" of the wine is apparently mentioned, and if retsina, then one would expect more resin, as it was used to seal the kegs.
Someone should try it! Not a hard thing to do --get some retsina and add a bit more resin to it.

[Creon01]

Evan, I don't know much about late Roman and beyond armor so can you elaborate on this "using pitch or resin to harden gambesons." Why would they harden these as I thought they were worn like heavy coats as armor or as a padding for metal armor?

[Dan Howard]

There were three main types of padded arming garment and they were not interchangeable.

1. These were worn under armour. They provided minimal protection because they were intended to reduce chafing and improve the fit of the armour. They were no thicker or heavier than a winter tunic but they sometimes had pads in key areas such as the shoulders and hips and they sometimes had cords to tie pieces of armour to them (called "points").

2. Standalone padding was intended to act as armour by itself. It was thick, rigid, and significantly heavier than metal armour. If you want to see a good example today then take a look at the quilted arm guards for kendo.

3. Supplemental padded armour was intended to be worn over the top of other armour. It was lighter and generally less rigid than standalone armour.