Check out Zac Evans' channel here: kzfaq.info

I love Zacs comment on the foolhardy psychology of younger soldiers and how it could tie in with levels of protection seen on period art.

Lol. Matt looks like a particularly militant chef.

Pretty good camera quality for the 15th century I must say..

I'd be interested to hear how the dressing process would change if you were caught by surprise and had to hurry; would you skip, or prioritise, any particular elements?

I'm glad Zac mentioned the italian mail only shoulder defenses, personally I love the look of the 3/4 arm harness with mail shoulders and I wish it was discussed more, Ian from Knyght errant briefly mentions it, but besides that this is the only video I've found that mentions it

I'm not really involved in reenactor circles and all, but I draw fantasy stuff every once in a while, and these types of deep dives into armor are really useful to me just because they point the way armor works out to me in ways i probably could never piece together just from pictures! Like, even with picture references, drawing plate armor (let alone trying to come up with an interesting but at least marginally plausible design for a given character's armor, rather than merely copying the first reference picture you happen to find) is incredibly hard if you can't tell how the different pieces are supposed to interact with each other, so seeing you go through it piece by piece and explain it is so useful as a reference because they help me actually think about and understand the functionality and what a certain piece needs to be able to do when I'm drawing. Thank you!

Congratulations guys this was absolutely fascinating. You play off each other really well. Matts a born educator and Zac just picks up at opportune moments supplying additional expertise.

This was a great video. I think it's worth mentioning that so much of our idea of German gothic versus Italian Milanese armour comes from survival bias and the historiography of armour scholarship originating with people trying to describe surviving armour rather than reconstruct the historical armour of different periods and regions. I imagine this is coming in future videos from both of you but I am excited to hear about your new armours from both of you since IiRC they are both going to be more English? As someone putting together a c 1470 harness I am definitely interested in seeing how yours comes together!

Me, seeing the title and the length of the video: "It took them an HOUR??" ... all right, I'll shut up now and watch it xD

I really, really, really love how those armours fit slim people. This brings back to the historical imagery of armours we have, and it feel more accurate, but also it is elegant and feels very light and transpires speed and dexterity.

I am an American rodeo cowboy, an experienced rider, but not a jouster. I do have a friend who does joust, and he recently let me try riding with only the two types of cuirasses he owns. One was a solid breast plate and back plate. The other had the breastplate and plackart combination, just like y’all’s. My friend and I are virtually the same size and weight, so even he felt that both of his cuirasses fit me. I’m here to tell y’all that I did not like the solid breast plate at all. I dismounted immediately. I felt that if I got bucked off my horse I had a real good chance of a severe neck or hip injury. The other breastplate and plackart armour was very comfortable with no chance of injuring me. I even roped with it on. Do y’all agree with what I experienced? I’ve always been fascinated with what seems to me to be the similarities of medieval knightly horsemanship and the American western style of riding. Both ride one handed, control our horses by neck reining and legs and spurs. We tend to ride a little more with straight legs and long stirrups, and at times stand in the saddle. We don’t swing a sword, but we sure swing a rope. The saddles look pretty similar in design and function. I sat in a medieval war saddle years ago and thought if it had a saddle horn I could rope cattle with it. Maybe I’m way off, what do y’all think? Joan of Arc stands some explanation. St. Joan is the Patron Saint of soldiers, I honor her because she got me through some tough spots in Iraq.

I'm a sucker for flutes and scallops, so i have to say Zach's armor wins in the looks department, hands down. But i wish we had gotten to see you put on your bevor and helmet, to compare the benefits of the additional articulation that you were talking about.

Speaking from experience in modern armor, and on the subject of what armor you keep on or ditch, it's a constant conversation between what you're doing and how fast you can deploy. I did a lot of scout work, so I'd be deep in the field, but a small 4 man team with rifles isn't going to do much offensively, so I'd be operating radios, optics writing gear etc. But then would transition to gunfighting or running jumping and climbing without warning. I had 2 pairs of gloves over a couple years and the difference was one had a large built in loop on the wrists and the other didn't. The ones with the loops were superior, I could put a clip on my armor and when I needed my finger tips, I'd hang them on my chest. If I needed to move suddenly I could very quickly jam my hands into my gloves and have them on in moments. The other pair when they came off went into a pocket and didn't come out unless I had a moments to put down my rifle and fish them out. As far as pieces of gloves, helmet shoulders etc, I have to believe this same convenience of deployment principle applies.

Zac is such a wonderful guest, would love to see him appear more! Definitely going to sub to his channel, absolutely love his input and observations. Awesome!!!!

Great comparison with the armor side by side! I've found I CAN in fact, put on all my armor (based on this "frankenarmor", MET museum, Accession Number: 29.150.7). It can be awkward armoring solo, so if I'm doing it for the public, I'll use an assistant. Here's the trick:Point your arms to your arming doublet FIRST. Then don that doublet. Point the pauldrons to the leather shoulder straps on the cuirass. Alternatively I know in the 16th c. some people pointed or pinned the pauldrons to the gorget. FWIW, I have a skirt and voiders, but rarely wear them. My skirt needs some adjustments and the voiders are bulky and difficult to point. (A pair of sleeves is much easier.)

There are so many more useful things I should be doing in my life. I'll never get a set of plate, I'll never encounter one outside of a museum or shop. The knowledge I'm gaining here will be completely useless to me in every sense of the word. Yet here I am, with a coffee settled down to enjoy an hour and 9 mins, 25 seconds of content after work.

I would be interested in videos on 16th century armor as the “culmination” in armor design. Also, some reasons on why you guys prefer going for 15th century armor.

Great video! I love this stuff. Thanks guys!

I like the two finger glove-mitton. it seems like a nice compromise design between protection and dexterity. even in the fingers are hit, I think having the structure of two fingers in one sleve massively decreases the likelyhood of extreme damage as force from potential hits are distributed over a larger area. though it does seem harder to get off and on.

I really enjoy this video and the piece by piece explanation of the armor.

Thanks, very interesting, well produced. We collectors love talking about our collections. It's a passion that we are lucky to have.

Im so thankful for this video, i lover learning about historical arms and armor and this video helps a lot too, not just from what is said and told by you two but also by watching you move and interact in the various "levels" of armor put on Also matt's armor is beautiful and i love the blueing (im a sucker for blued armor) But style-wise and looks wise i love evan's cuirass, pauldrons and leg harness more, the couter are bit too big for my personal preference, i personally like having small couter with a fishtail or clover cover for the inside of the elbow Also the fluted gauntlets evan has are absolutely beautiful, id love to buy a pair too

Fantastic suits of armour guys , I really enjoyed watching this .

Very intresting video, thanks for the both of you guys

I haven't made any renaissance styles of armour yet, but I have been doing some research and sketching different styles. This has helped a lot. Thank you.

Suddenly I'm reminded of playing cricket in PE at school where we were only given a pad for our front leg.

Excellent video - thanks for this!

@scholagladiatoria Matt, I must say I like your medieval watch strap. It matches your armour so well and is far more accurate than the more traditional wrist sundials lol. Excellent and thoroughly absorbing video thanks.

I would just like to say thank you IMMENSELY for making this, it was a very interesting watch and, more importantly, a VERY useful reference for an art piece of mine. ^^

First of all, thanks to both you and Zack Evans for putting out this type of content. I am an artist and I am doing my best to design and create a story of a knight, and I have been desperately looking for plate armour dressing up videos, only to find like 3 good examples at most, and I must say this is by far the best one. I have been following your channel for close to 5-6 years now, if I'm not mistaken, and I've never written any comment, but here's the first one I guess, and it comes with this specific question: When it comes to helmets and other types of headwear, despite the maneuverability or rather... The adaptability of the sallet, how come people didn't use closed helmets more often? You mention that the Maximilian armour style is a very specific style for a very specific moment in time (or something around those lines), and that collection in particular has been the main inspiration for the protagonist of my story, which I already designed and illustrated an armor for. So I was wondering how the sallet was often preferred before the bascinet, for example, which, by the point of view of a complete ignorant on the matter of armor wearing such as me, seems to be a perfect design, if you can open or close the helmet when needed. So to put it simply: why was the sallet used so often in comparison to closed helmets? And did the close helmets evolve so drastically on the transition between the 15th and 16th century, so as to suggest that the old closed helmets were inferior to the sallet whereas the new ones were superior? And please, do correct me if I'm wrong and the sallet was actually still the preferred choice by the end of the 15th century and the start of the 16th century. Once again thank you so much, I will always leave the credit where it's due, and your channel has always given me (and will always give me) a lot of insight on this fascinating world that I try my best to get closer to. And I'm sure Evans' channel will do so aswell in the years to come. Thank you.

Sometimes I miss my late teens to early 20s, when I was invincible and invulnerable (or at least thought I was), but mostly I just wonder how I managed to survive them. And I never went to war!

You guys are REALLY serious about Halloween.

Good video and thanks for sharing the information. ⚔️

Great video hope you see both of you do similar with the new armors once at hand. As for the bevor strap ending up with the closed helmet I believe that to be the case as well, the trouble is sorting the pairing. Particularly when looking through continental sources you see them paired with simple infantry helmet to bascinets etc. I believe the earliest example the comes to mind is a French bascinet/closed helmet from BL Royal 20 B XX Le Livre et le vraye hystoire du bon roy Alixandre. So at latest 1425.

Great video. It would interesting to learn about the blueing process used on the armour as many medieval paintings of war depict knights/men at arms in black armour.

I loved this video so fascinating, more of this please!!

Exhellent video highlighting the complexities of medieval armour but also the issues reenactors have to sdeal with to create a historicaly accurate but at the same time comfortable and safe armour.

Re the idea of "Italian" vs "German" armor. It really reminds me of tanks. Sometimes people think there are "american" or "western" tanks and then there are "russian/soviet" or "eastern" tanks. Yes, those two groups are easily reconginzed, famous and very different from each other. But. The reality is that there are many countries, like France, Germany, the UK... which build their own vehicles, and those vehicles tend to be somewhere in between the spectrum, taking inspirations from each other and making different compromises, depending on what that country at that time prefers. Any design is inherently compromised and brings its own pros and cons, and you can easily find European vehicles which have some inspriration in the western ones, some in the eastern ones, and doing some things in their own, unique way as well. It's easy to believe medieval armor in individual countries was no different, and it should be probably viewed and studied as its own thing, unless it's clearly just an unmodified import from elsewhere.

Nice, more armour videos as promised.

When I saw the video length I wasn't sure I would watch it in its entirety but here I am 1 hour later still being entertained. Thanks Matt.

Zach's gauntlets are made for Vulcans. Live long and prosper!🖖

I want a hat like that! good video man...nice armor!

Different sabatons are constructed differently. For cavalierly the plates hinge on rivets along the edge. And for fighting on foot the articulation comes from the internal leather. (Witch doesn't jam up with a bit of mud) Spolders cover only the top of the arm and pauldrons cover the shoulder and the gap to the cuirass. (Draw a line from the armpit up) The big advantage Mat has in regards to the lance gap under his right arm are the pin's holding the outer plates on the shoulder. You can take the small plate off and put a bigger one on to match the left (same thing in reflection) The besagew are not just to cover the gap. They work very well in helping to redirect a blow. As they hang somewhat lose an incoming attack tilt's the plate and allows the weapon to slide off away from the body (along other bits of armour)

Great video, super interesting.

I learned so much from this video. You saved me from some expensive bad choices. Thank you.

Your caveats are very much appreciated, Matt. Yours, Augusto.

30:57 I wonder what both knights would be talking about while armoring each other before going into battle....did they pray? or just boosted the morale of each other before going to war? that scene of a knight helping another knight was probrably very strong to the other soldiers going to battle as one big team.

That was very interesting. Thank you.

Very interesting video; I think this is the first time I've seen Matt in harness

Great video, on the subject of arming doublets how heavy does the armour get after a while with low padding? I still use a moderatly thick gambeson under my armour for reenactment and since I'm the only one in the group with a full harness I tend to be used to show it all day long. Overheating aside I find that the full harness gets quite heavy and squashes the padding but with my current level I never get sore. Contrast to my 17th century half harness where I use just a buff coat and a shirt after only the battle I'm sore. Keep in mind that the 17th was made on me but following the regular foot soldier standard while the 15th one was tecnically off the shelf and still falls better on the body.

I've always wondered about the idea of some armour being much better suited for either foot or mounted combat. If the armour is geared towards foot combat, does it really mess up your ability to ride, let alone fight on horseback? - If you are say an English man-at-arms in the WOTR, on the march and heading towards a major battle.... You're intending to fight on foot, but are on horseback currently. Does this mean you CANNOT wear your foot-combat armour on horseback, or at least cannot wear certain parts of it whilst mounted? And what about if you need to mount up during the battle for various reasons, including having to flee for your life.... If you are wearing foot-combat armour are you screwed? Do you have to shed parts of the armour before you can mount your horse? - If you're a European knight with the full Italian harness geared towards cavalry combat... Expecting to fight from horseback... But then are in a situation where you're forced to fight on foot.... Do you just make do with your usual armour? Or do you reluctantly lighten it and shed parts of it so you can fight more effectively on foot?

Love the video wish I had someone to talk to about armor.

Thanks, that was hugely interesting, both the contrasts and similarities of those two armours. One niggle: lovely music, but I'd have loved to hear what you ere saying to each other while helping to get all those pointes laced up ...

This video as well as others are great. This reminds me a lot of experimental archaeology. Y'all are probably encountering things the knights did back then that worked and didn't work and came up with solutions the same way. I can see how reenacting is a very valuable thing.

Interesting video! I especially liked the chant during the fast forwards. Any idea on what the chant was or what the Latin words are?

Had a double take when I read the title I thought it said: "How medieval knights cross dressed."

Fascinating, thank you!

Thank you guys for sharing this insight into how knights dressed in armour . I wondered if both of you would prefer to wear full coverage armour like the one Henry the 8th wore for foot combat , you know the one with the codpiece.

Thoughts on 1:02....bevor gap. In modern buhurt I espouse helmets made such that when a blow is coming in you can tuck your chin and /or shrug your shoulders to take a hard polearm blow on the helm and body armor without nearly as much scrambling the brain. By reflexive action you can benefit from linked super protective armor while otherwise having enough space to move and turn your head relatively freely....I suggest that the bevor gap functioned much the same way. The gap allows a lot of fresh air (and added visibility when looking down at the ground) but when a hit is coming in the wearer can essentially close the gap and lock the helm to the bevor, and therefore cuirass, by shrugging. I think this eventually becomes obvious when you wear armor and take mighty blows for long enough.

Finally got around to watching this, and I have to say I really enjoyed the amount of detail and seeing the armor come on - gave me plenty to think about for writing armor! Though one question: I noticed that Zac's armor seems to be tighter around the stomach while Matt has, for lack of a better term, a 'beer gut', but both guys look similarly fit and slim when outside of the armor. Was the "beet gut" breastplate (or rather, a beer gut plackart since the front armor is two components) a style choice, a limitation of manufacturing ability, or something practical like room for the gut to expand while breathing heavily when exhausted or to offer a more domed surface for frontal attacks to deflect off of?

RIP Myarmory. Maybe one day someone will come back and fix you...

Very interesting - I know nothing about armour but it's a riveting subject.

Hey guys. Thanks for the interesting video. Well done! But I want to say you underestimate the amount of armour variability that went on in the first half of the 15th century. Floating couters were around in German armours quite early, at least in the 1410-20ies. Close helmet like constructions are featured in some Kastenbrust armours like the Lorcher Kreuztragung. The time between the battle of Tannenberg and the end of the of the hussite wars was a time of intense innovation and cross pollination, especially in Germany.

One small thought. The more polish on white armor, the more it reflects infrared rays from the sun, black actually absorbs more causing the armor to actually absorb heat. It's the same principle as the shiny foil covering on insulation that reflects heat away from a building. Possibly our ancestors noticed this, and maybe fashion wasn't the only reason they polished their plate to a mirror finish.

Part 2 once the new armours arrive to you two, I hope!

Never realised that was what Point Break was about... :)

14:00 We do have Duerers rider from 1495. 21:00 also consider the Tonlet armours in battle use by Polish dismounted men-at-arms at the battle of Orsza.

loved this video

Medieval Cinematic Universe strikes again!

Also worth pointing, the idea of a sallet with a before with eye slits in the bevor, did essentially become common, but we are then essentially describing a burgeonet with a falling buffe.

Just the boys playing dress up with skirts and leggings in the garage, absolute cuteness

I think the Sallet is the most badass of all the helmets. Would definitely be my choice.

Your best video so far, extremely well researched and scripted. Much more to the point and concise. Aa lot less repetitive in stretching certain points multiple times. I struggle a bit with the bever fit. It would actuall ybenefit a lot by breathing holes or not obstructing air flow. Breathing, hyperthermia/heatstroke or exhaustion from mobility are youre prime vulnerabilities in armor. People would simply seek to single you out, exhaust your breath and bring you to the ground. Any gangof peasonsts with pitchforks, treshing flails and scythes would if you ever fell out of formation or back and flank cover. As Infantry armot this would be most useful as elite shock troop, elite guard or point-defense armor in castles or city gates. Just for the sake of mobility, stamina, comfort & wear on the skin. Also moisture from breath and sweat would make it a pain to maintain this for daily wear in the field.

One greave at a time, just like everybody else...

I'd be fascinated with your thoughts on Mongolian armor. Were they so successful simply because of their numbers, or was their armor an added benefit? Excellent video.

I'd like to know where both of you got your armours made and how much these kinds of armours cost. I'm asking as someone who's always been interested in getting my own armour at some point.

Superb amount of knowledge being shared here. My question is: Is it common for medieval soldiers to only wear gambesons with little to know plate armor on top?

The two of you need to do a q&a Livestream

Excellent docu! BTW: When fully clad you look like you were born to wear armor!

Amazing watch thanks guys, I have a few questions along these lines that maybe you can clear up for me? 🙂 When deciding on what style of 15th-16th century harness I prefered, 1st I was trying to figure out if the fluting was simply for aesthetics or whether it was actually giving me more protection? And I was considering how much a plated cuirass of any configuration would compare to my brigandine? I think my brig is easier to get on, more comfortable and doesn't get as hot and I'm not sure what benefits I'd get from a plated cuirass 🤔

37:10 I always wondered whats actually the difference between having those guard plates on and off, I watched the whole video to see how much of a difference it makes and to see how the attachment mechanism work and how strong it is but you never took them off :(. Ive looked everywhere and Ive seen videos that explain the workings of every part of the armor BUT the shoulder pieces and I would love to know how they actually work, specially the bigger ones. Ive seen videos of people with whose big pauldrons lifting their arms but I dont know how it works and whats the engineering behind it.

Zac in his armor provides a glimpse of what an actual 15th century knight might look like in a way that few other people could. He has that Auschwitz-type physique that was probably typical for the average male of the period.

24:59 "Kastenbrust" means "Box Chest" (because it looks fairly boxy^^)

"Damn it! canned Food again!?" ~ Hungry Lion during the Crusades, sneaking upon a Knight sleeping under a Tree That's the only Knight joke I know and always comes to my mind when I see Armour😑🙄

I can't wait to start getting my armor I plan on joining the buhurt or hema armor combat sport. I already know what weapon I'm choosing which is the great sword.

I would actually really like to see a video on where 16th century armor ended up going. It'd also be fun to hear why you don't like it as much as 15th century stuff.

It must be super cool to go on a halloween party in full plate armor :D

Finish on the presenter's armour is pretty cool.

Zak's Armour sounds great !

I think what's really interesting to me is learning how many armoured knights weren't all that armoured, and those that were might have had gaps from a bad fitting. Arrows versus armour part 3! With a series of archers, exactly how exposed is a guy with armour gaps?! :p

Great content

as a former Modern soldier. I kind of recoginze the thing. where you try to to figure out the balance between protection and comfort. I was a company radioman. so my kit was in a bag when I was in a the staf tent or radiocar.

4:35 "helmet is the last thing(...)" uh... I usually put my helmet before the gloves, as the later restrict my hands movement, stopping me from closing the helmet

Interestingly, the phrase ‘stretching a point’ comes from the fact that if a point is tied too tightly, the armor chaff it and it might break.

Incredibly beautiful armors.

70 minutes of pure historical epicness and shinyness!

Lovely armours !

Thank you very much guys, that was wonderful to go through all the finer points about late 15th century European armour design and wearing. And also thanks for explaining some of the different designs that are fitting for different fighting contexts. It is also great to hear, that the scholarship of this subject, is getting muck more accurate, and granular. I absolutely love to learn more and more new things (to me) about this subject. Also can you provide me with a book reading list that covers all European armour from the 14th century to the late 16th century and websites and a list of armour catalogues and any other information about this fascinating subject. Well done and please more of this sort of content!🙂👍

Man, I wish I could borrow the services of someone as knowledgeable as you too design the best possible armor for an archer one day