St_Maurice

St. Maurice Coat-of-Plates

Ca. 1250 German

Figure 1: Effigy of St. Maurice

The basis for my reproduction:

This armour is based off of early examples of coats-of-plates seen in 13^th century art. Specifically, this is based off of the effigy of St. Maurice seen in Figure 1. The effigy is dated to the second half of the 13^th century in Brandenburg. It is currently in the Cathedral Museum, Magdaburg, Germany. The effigy shows an early form of coat-of-plates with tall plates riveted on to the inside of a surcote. The plates wrap around the body and are laced or buckled at the back. The lower portion of the garment is not reinforced, but cut similar to other knightly dress of the time. “The similarity in the outline of at least the upper part of this coat-of-plates and the garment seen on the slightly earlier Bamberg Seal is striking.” (Nicole, 180.) Rivets shown on the outside of the coat-of-plates indicate that tall plates riveted at the top and bottom wrap all the way around the body. In the front, on the upper chest, another set of rivets is shown indicating a few additional plates. These plates are obscured by the separate coif which drapes over them. Under the coat of plates, St. Maurice wears a full maille hauberk with mufflers (mittens) over a longer tunic.

Figure 2: My reproduction after fighter practice.

Construction details:

My coat-of-plates is constructed with a heavy cotton shell (Figure 2). Most likely, the original would have had a linen shell. I used cotton twill because of its availability and cost. It is all stitched by hand using backstitch and whipstitch. The metal plates are approximately 20 gauge stainless steel. This gauge is probably close to what the original would have been considering it was worn over the full armour of the time. I will probably use 18 gauge in the future to better resist denting. Using stainless steel will add to the life of the plates and the fabric in frequent SCA combat. Roofing nails were used for the rivets due to their shape and availability. Large diameter rivet heads, as shown on the St. Maurice effigy, resist pulling through the fabric longer than small diameter rivet heads. My nails are plated with zinc while the medieval arming nails were more likely to be coated with tin. Either of these coatings will protect the iron rivet from corroding while helping the fabric last longer. The coat-of-plates secures in the back with 3 buckles as shown in Figure 3. Instead of using a crow's foot type strap, I simply enlarged the area around the rivet. I used a leather cord to keep the back flap down, as shown in Figure 4. The effigy is against a wall, so details and images of the back have been hard to locate. The only photograph of the back I have found is in Armour from the Battle of Wisby, and I discovered it after finishing my prototype. All of the metalworking for this project was done using hand tools at the armoury in Black Diamond.

Figure 3: Line drawing of St. Maurice style coat-of-plates

Figure 4: Back side of my St. Maurice coat-of-plates

History of St. Maurice:

St. Maurice was the head of the Theban Legion of the Roman army near the end of the 3^rd century. Maximian Herculius, (ca. 285-305) co-Emperor of Diocletian, sent the legion ca. 285 to strengthen the western front of an uprising of Gauls. The legion was composed of around 6,600 Christian men. To celebrate their successes, the soldiers were ordered to make sacrifices to the pagan gods. When they refused, Maximian had one tenth of the legion executed as a warning. St. Maurice encouraged his men not to resist and insisted that they would not disobey their God. After having another tenth killed, Maximian ordered the entire legion slaughtered. (St. Peter Claver.) Some modern research, however, has questioned the authenticity of this legend, but it was accepted as true in the middle ages (Woods.)

In 1230, the newly built cathedral in Magdaburg, Germany was dedicated to St. Maurice. St. Maurice, known as “the Egyptian” is given African facial features (Nicole, 180.) “From the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries, a group of German men, dedicated to the honor of St. Maurice, called themselves Schwarzhaupter, or Blackheads, in his honor.” (St. Peter Claver.) The feast day for St. Maurice is September 22.

Origins of the coat-of-plates and other early examples:

“It is, however, surely no coincidence that most of the earliest clear and less clear representations of German coats-of-plate are found in or near the eastern half of the country. These regions might have been under Slav or Hungarian influence, but more importantly they had more immediate experience of the armour worn by invading Mongol armies.” (Nicole, 180.)

One frequently depicted example is the Sleeping Guard at the Holy Sepulchre (Figure 5.) This painted carving dates to c.1270. It is located in the reliquary in Wienhausen Monastery, Germany. The sleeping soldier wears an otherwise typical surcote with plates riveted vertically to the inside.

Figure 5: Sleeping Guard at the Holy Sepulchre, c. 1270.

Another carving of Sleeping Guards at the Holy Sepulchre is in St. Maurtius Rundkapelle, Swabia. This c.1300 carving shows similar surcotes that lace or buckle at the sides (Nicole, 181-2.)

Perhaps the clearest representation of an early coat-of-plates is an effigy in Worcestershire, England, c.1270. The coat-of-plates is worn over a mail hauberk but under a regular surcote. The surcote hides most of the construction details except for the buckles allowing the coat-of-plates to open at the sides. (Nicole, 70.)

An Italian example is the Seal of the Ferrarese Guild of St. George, in Lombardy. The seal has been dated to c. 1290. The seal shows full-plate greaves, perhaps sabatons, and fluted, pointed poleyns. “The rider almost certainly also wears a coat-of-plates with a scalloped lower edge of a type not normally seen until well into the 14^th century. The apparently laminated or scale-covered skirt around the hips seems likely to have been an archaism adopted from Byzantine art, as would be his flowing cloak and bare right arm.” (Nicole, 225.)

An even earlier example is a Spanish source: Beatus Commentaries on the Apocalypse, 1190-1225. This manuscript is thought to have been made in northern Spain, probably Catalonia. One figure, with an early form of greathelm, seems to wear another form of armour over his mail hauberk. Nicole finds it unlikely that this would be a sleeveless gambeson over a long-sleeved hauberk. “Instead it seems more likely to be a very early representation of a scale-lined or splint-lined coat-of-plates.” Some form of buckles or lacing is shown under the right arm. “If it is indeed a coat-of-plates then its appearance in Catalonia could be significant. Such a style might have come from north of the Pyrenees, but there is little evidence for coats-of-plates in France at this time. It could be a result of Catalonian trade and cultural contacts around the Mediterranean, although such contacts were more characteristic of 13^th-century Catalonian history. This leaves the possibility of direct influence from Muslim al-Andalus, where the similar lamellar jawshan was known though not apparently widespread. In the absence of further evidence this possibly precocious appearance of a coat-of-plates in north-eastern Spain remains a mystery.” (135-6.)

Bibliography:

Nicolle, David. Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350: Western Europe and the Crusader States London: Greenhill Books, 1999.

St. Peter Claver Catholic Church. Saint MAURICE and the THEBAN LEGION, Martyrs (ca. 285) http://spclaver.tripod.com/id97.htm

Woods, David. The Origin of the Cult of St. Maurice. http://www.ucc.ie/milmart/maurorig.html, 1999.

Additional information:

Counts, David. Examination of St. Maurice Coat of Plates, http://www.arador.com/articles/stmaurice.html, 1995-2003.

Edge, David and John Miles Paddock. Arms and Armor of the Medieval Knight: An Illustrated History of Weaponry in the Middle Ages. New York: Crescent Books, 1996.

Norman, Vesey. Arms and Armour. London: Octopus Books, 1964.

Plattenrock, http://www.historiavivens1300.at/realien/plrock.htm, 2004.

Thordeman, Bengt. Armour from the Battle of Wisby. 2001