The Brigandine is in all likelihood the misunderstood progenitor of the Studded Armour myth of Hollywood and RPGs.

No offence Matt, I could really see you as a baddie in a Robin Hood film. Black brigandine, shaved head and English accent. As we all know, the goodies in English ‘historical’ films must have American accents!

Important to remember that the majority of surviving brigandines being tinned could very easily be a case of survivorship bias.

"Because it was the first thing to hand" says the man in front of a wall full of weapons

Probably One of my favourite videos from you. Also, you have basically described the brigandine I've ordered a few months ago, which Is going to be tinned steel, with brass Rivets, made by the same guy who made yours. As soon as I get It, we could make a video comparing our brigs and the choices we made.

I wonder if they had a system like our current armour classification system for ballistic armour. "This brigandine is class 3a, it can stop any bow up to a draw weight of..."

Man, I love brigandines. It's functional enough, looks great, easier to put on and wear, easier to fix, it's frankly the best "historically accurate fantasy adventurer" type of armour (something like *Kingdom Come: Deliverance* type of thing), so I just can't help but love this video!

What I'm really interested in (at the moment) is the decorations, colours and fabrics etc. I feel like even though "historically accurate" armour and weaponry etc seem to be more and more commonplace in movies and games, we're still not really getting the actual tones and aesthetic decorations that you see in manuscripts and art from the time. It feels like such a missed opportunity to make everything dark and drab. (not a jab at your choice of colour for your brigandine, Matt) Say what you want about fantasy and jrpgs etc. because even though they're a jumble of periods and eras and anachronistic gear, they very often at least get the philosophy of personal decorations and fancy colourways right. That people often wanted to show off their expensive gear or their heraldry.

Loose the mail shirt, get a dark saxon gambeson and some hunting gauntlets and you are ready to sneak and robb Czeck towns to your heart's content.

A decently armored soldier seems like they’d very difficult to kill.

Brass rivets don't snap more easily, at least not enough for my hands to notice after an evening of "arts and crafts" x) Steel ones, on the other hand, do snap when they rust, one of my belts was a victim of such mishap. I'm pretty sure they knew about it and greased/waxed their gear unlike we do with modern clothes.

I wish manufacturers would pay more attention to the shape of brigs, without that wasp waist they look rather goofy

I just want to say your brigandine is beautiful. I just love it.

I am currently making my own brigandine so your comments on material choices were very helpful!

I wonder if those brigandines with brass or bronze rivets were more likely to be tinned. To reduce the galvanic corrosion from the dissimilar metals.

Ahhh... So this is what the guards outside of the Imperial City were wearing in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion... It was classified as light armor, so I like that you touched on its actual weight in comparison to a cuirass. I also like that you mentioned its advantage of being able to put it on by yourself, that's huge for my story writing! Great video! Stay awesome!

Your inclusion of artwork images is very helpful, much more detail in those old paintings than I would have expected. The fabric brigandine coverings can be waxed like 'iron pants' where people rub wax on canvas trousers, jackets, and hats then use a heat gun/fire to melt the wax into the fabric providing very good water proofing -- after done waxing a garment this way it feels dry to the touch but will look somewhat darker. Greasing the metal plates inside would help with flexibility and rust prevention, animal fats were available. Generally, using different rivet and plate materials will cause galvanic corrosion (basically a battery with one electrode material being consumed in the process) so you need to be careful which mix of materials are used. Galvanic material corrosion charts are around the Internet for those interested -- if the rivets corrode faster than the plates there will be a problem with the armor falling to pieces.

Awesome outfit! I never thought that I would comment this under a youtube video

I'm a simple man. I see context, I click "like".

I've always wondered how much armor was painted. I know the few times I being it up I tend to get yelled at but the same thing can be said about marble statues being brightly painted and not just the white stone. Some people just can't accept that people loved bright colors and armor being "white" was just not that fashionable. Yes, they covered it in fabric or wore something over it. But, I'm still curious about someone slapping some paint on it just for a nice splash of color that also helped protect it from rust. Guess I'll have the keep looking for info.

Brigandine is a totally underrated armor, I think. So much more versatile, flexible, practical than a suit of full plate. Less protective, sure, but definitely not weak or "light" by any means. Plus it looks stupendous.

Matt, I love your channel, I've been subscribed from when you've had like 30k subscribers. I love your work, and keep at it! I love your channel, and agree with pretty much anything you say, so thumbs up! Keep up the good work, coronavirus or not, you're awesome and I commend you for your work. I would support you on Patreon, but I can't, I don't get paid enough, I live in Greece.

Great video! I'm working on an Agincourt-era archer impression and I'm always eager for more information about brigandines!

Fitting armor makes a huge difference. I was once able to test several helmets and a simple iron hat felt terribly heavy, but the full armed light despite the latter covering more than twice as much and not being much thinner.

There is one big advantage of armor piece, like the brigandine, which you can put it on you and off you alone. Without help of someone. In case of injury, when spear head or blade of the dagger founds the way through mail etc., you can find a quiete place, take the armor off you and tend your wounds. When you cant take of you cuirass and stop the bleeding or clean you wound from the dirt soon, you are done for. You will bleed out or the infection will start soon.

Love it! I’m going to test the Rondel I bought from Tod’s Workshop on some pumpkins later this month! These episodes make me want to start collecting armour too! 😂

Wonderful video about one of my favorite types of armor! I'm always amazed by how beautiful the brigandines are in medieval paintings and illustrations. They bring a lot of color. I definitively agree that they are under appreciated. I think that if brigandines were done with hardened steel plates, the difference in protection with a steel breastplate of the same quality must have been more a question of degrees than anything else. Sure, the breastplate doesn't have gaps, gains in rigidity and will probably tend to make weapons slide on it more than a brigandine would, but you still have very good protection with a brigandine. In games, the later is often significantly worse than a breastplate, but it's certainly not accurate. Another thing that fascinates me is its etymology. It comes from the French word brigand. Today, in modern French, it means a bandit, but in old French, it originally meant a soldier member of a brigade. So, a brigandine is the soldier's armor. During the 14th and 15th century, most French soldiers who fought the Hundred Years War were paid mercenaries, but the state often struggled to pay them or brusquely disbanded them when they weren't needed anymore. So, they often banded together in "compagnies d'aventure" and pillaged the land for a living. So, the meaning of the word "brigand" slowly shifted toward someone who commits acts of banditry.

This was facinating. Thank you for making it.

Really nice stuff. Sallet and brigandine are beautiful together ! I don't know if you also have a livery ?

This set up of armor you’re wearing here is very aesthetically pleasing, love this armor, especially the sallet

Imagine how more beautiful fantasy armor would look if more plate armor was covered in velvet with gold thread patterns on it that is then riveted with gilded brass rivets. Instead of giant shoulder pads. xD

this is such an awesome video, Matt! Great hema content as always! If I lived in London, I'd be dying to learn at your hema school.

You really look the part now. You're sure to give those froggies a good hiding when you get to Castillon.

Now I wanna see Matt and some guys do reenactment battles.

Another great video. Did not realise it was covered by plates in the inside. Why not wear plates on the outside? What a great piece of armour.

In G.R.R. Martins 'A Song of Ice and Fire' (so not referencing TV show 'A Game of Thrones' :D ), Jamie Lannister, when he becomes the 'Lord Commander' of the Kingsguard travels to Riverlands to end remaining rebellions (this occurs in the 4th book, 'A Feast for Crows' so late, after the 'Red Wedding'). And GRRMartin specifically details that instead of using his typical 'shiny plate armour', he chooses to wear a plain, sturdy brigandine armour. Jamie Lannister's mission was to end last remaining rebellions and he, as a Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, has chosen appearance that will not 'offend' or better to say, not further provoke aggression. And he largely succeeds in this mission. Not saying that GRRMartin is an brigandine armour expert, but that is a very interesting perspective on how a nobleman would, or choose to, wear, in this case, a brigandine armour when his wealth, status and most importantly, his station demands that he wears 'the best of the best' for his protection.

Amazing video as always. I once read that the marines of the italian thalassocracies had some sort of quick-release on their brigandines in case they find themselves going over board, is that true? Sadly I wasn't able to find the source again ever since... Also, wouldn't it make sense to additionally wax the fabric on the outside of the armour?

Remarks on corrosion: Using copper alloy rivets would make the problem worse, not better. Once moisture gets into the gap between the rivet and the plate the differing metals will cause galvanic corrosion attacking the iron in preference to the copper alloy. The same thing will happen should the Tinning become damaged. Tinning may have been used because it was impossible to maintain the plates directly once they were covered in fabric. To protect the entire brigandine I suspect it was necessary to use liberal amounts of animal fat, fish oil, or vegetable oil. The smell of rancid fat of a C15th army must have been amazing.

22:00 also less prone to rusting! This alone should make it the better choice for reenactors ;)

The brig and mail looks awesome!

From a manufacturing perspective I can see why a brigandine would be cheaper. The blacksmith could use a wider range of raw stock to produce each metal plate, perhaps if he was particularly greedy, fit in lower quality iron in between the steel.

Matt, could you make a brigandine - jack-of-plates comparison video?

Going to need some gauntlets next Matt!

Nice video! I'd love to see more content about low to medium status soldiers of the 14th to 15th century. :)

The hardness of the material is not the only factor which helps to prevent penetration. Spacecraft, for example, are protected by so-called Whipple shields, as they are exposed to a constant bombardment of micrometeorites. A Whipple shield is nothing more than layers of metal sheets. There is always some air between the layers. This means that a micrometeorite gives off most of its energy to the top layer on impact and deforms it. In the second layer, the impact energy is drastically reduced. And with the third layer, it is almost zero. I guess all those layers of armour are compareable to this scenario. This means that more layers of armour allow for a lower quality of material. In addition, as you have already mentioned, softer materials can also provide good protection - especially against flat impact, like blunt weapons. They distribute the forces on the surface. The last important factor is shape. If the armour is designed to be rather curvy, the likelihood of a penetrating projectile or cut is drastically reduced. Which causes the impact to be deflected. In conclusion it's these factors: Amount of layers for reducing impact energy, hardness for pointy impact, softness for flat impact and shape for impact deflection.

Yay! Another video from Captain Context!

I'd always just assumed that the plates were internal to try and stop a blade sliding across the face until it found a gap? Or simply to hide the joins, making it harder for an opponent to gauge the potential gaps?

Being completely new to this whole area of arms and armour, and having only found you through Tod's Workshop, this is all totally fascinating. I'm loving the research and collaboration regarding seems and armour. As a question, related to the idea of steel and iron, when do we get the first references to steel rather than iron, and when was steel recognised as steel rather than iron? Coupled to that when is the first reference to tempered steel? How easy was it for the average blacksmith in the day to create a steel item, be it a weapon or armour? Maybe these are questions for Tod? However I'm truly fascinated everything you and Tod do and love the collaboration between you. Please keep it up. One day a few pints shall be bought by me for you both, lol.

I think I learned more here about armors than any other channel.

Enjoyed your video so I gave it a Thumbs Up

In my country we used to roof houses with tin plated mild steel and it lasted about 10 to 15 years until rust damaged it severely.

Interesting video. I had a friend who made a brigandine back when we were in college in the late 80s. He later went on to get a Ph.D. and specialized in brigandine of all things.

Always appreciate the 'realness' of a man in full harness. Why did you decide to go with this style of armour Matt? Sorry if i missed a previous explanation.

A brigandine with a full mail shirt is actually heavier than a breast & back plate and a light arm harness. Also, brigandines were often actually made from old breastplates. I remember reading about a surviving 15/16th century order from the Tower of London to send old obsolete breastplates to be cut up into brigs. Perhaps some of the round breasted ones were made from those 14th century bubble shaped breastplates?

As soon as you go back to history, just forget about through temper, just think of case hardening and differential hardening. This treatment is often, if not always, lost to archeological records due to corrosion. We're talking about a few micrometer of material on the surface of the piece that was actually carburized or "steeled" by the mere process of forging it into a coal furnace and/or deliberately smearing some hardening compound like cow horn. Most agricultural tools until the 19th century had wrought iron body with a small mild-steel welded piece for the working edge/tip that would take both a through temper and a case-hardening temper. Little known fact, that wrought low carbon iron was rust resistant due to the high silica content that the low furnace iron making process imparted.

The armor's looking good!

I really like that one,because short of money and deceived by all my trys on full plate,Ispent a lot to buy myself a late 15th brigandine 5 years ago,and still do battles and tournaments with it,of course just like you say,with chainmail underneath,lot of weight(certainly more than full plate)but such mobility!Full fights(except weapons are blunt)and no wound at all,I mean not even hematome(with chainmall,decent paded jacket etc!)was just worryed about the historical aspect of that,since YOU claim it was in use in the late 15th,I'm glad

You would think that they would have lacquered them, to prevent rust also, as well as tinning them to prevent rust. Nice video on this.

Regarding price of armor, and most people perspective- there are examples, that were surprising to some people, whose ideas come from video games, movies... In my country, at the beginning of history of our famous lancers(disregarding first phase, where there was no armor whatsoever)- Hungarians in service of our kings used mail shirt, with short sleeves, vambracers and turkish style helmet(open faced), and our noblemen emulated that. But after Battle of Seret, where Moldovan infantry really gave them what for with ranseurs, hussars started to use cuirasses... Yes, that mail shirt gave adequate defense against light arrows from composite bows, or slashing attacks, but any piercing attack was death to the rider But there was one more reason. Turned out that well made mail shirt cost at the time(mid XVIth century in my country) up to 9 florens. But sort of mid range cuirass was for about 1 floren... So cost effectivnes came into the play as well... I guess same thing happened with brigandine. There were really high end ones, which cost a lot and were really good at defending against certain types of attacks, but overall effectivness couldn't compare to cuirass... And i think after some time making one big sheet of steel was easier, than making a lot of small rings, or sticking a lot of small plates onto a piece of cloth. Not to even mention, that cuirass can be oiled or otherwise prevented from rusting after each use- brigandine, not so much... So, economy strikes again...

Fun fact around 15 years ago in mid 00s in central Europe there was a move from plates to brigandines among historical reenactors simply because a lot of judges on tournaments judged also by hearing and with brigandines with thick padding you have almost no sound upon hit so this gave small advantage.

I realize this is a year old video, but I find it quite fascinating and informative. Would you consider doing a video on this set of kit from the ground up? By that I mean under garments out, including source information. If possible would you include options like play for arms and legs, helmet options, etc.

Why do i suddenly see Matt as an elder in the ”Underworld” series in my head? 🦇

Hey matt, any chance we can get a video on one of my favorite medieval weapons; The "Goedendag" aka The Club Spear. I like your videos, keep up the good work.

Yes very very useful, thanks, I feel ok now about getting copper rivet's for mine now. As you say there are over a thousand of them . Definitely using your vid. As reference material if that's ok ?

I wonder how effective a brigandine would be without a full mail shirt; but instead just mail sleeves, for instance. As Matt rightly pointed out, wearing a brigandine AND a mail shirt can be quite heavy; and would be thus quite tiring when worn for long periods of time. Foregoing mail around the torso area could reduce that weight quite considerably; thereby allowing the soldier to potentially be lighter on their feet, and certainly be able to wear their armour for longer periods of time. Yes, it would offer less protection but fighting is not all that a soldier does. Does anyone know if such a thing (i.e. brigandine with only mail sleeves) was something that was done historically?

As far as rust protection goes. It is very easy to put a rust proof finish on metal plates during the forging process with any kind of oil, or bees wax. It is rubbed on while the metal is in the black heat(between 600 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit or 315 and 200 degrees Celsius) . It works the same as seasoning cast iron cookware. It is a surface protection and will wear off but will work very well for a long time.

*I, the MSM, the fashion world and historical drama actors INSIST that Raphael (the 'Metatron') and Matt do a Renaissance armour 'Fashion Shoot'. Showing off their shiny, sharp brigandines. I can even see the music that the two of you could stride and rule the catwalk with. Play 'I'M TOO SEXY' by Right Said Fred. Matt already has the bald look for the mercenary professional while Raphael can give us the romantic Knight as his contrast in context. Who wins?? 'Beauty vs The Beast'! Imagine the drama! It would be fabulous!*

God I love metal talk...

With Matt's comments about brigandines generally being more comfortable and easier to put on that plate cuirasses, its interesting that their use declined in favour of plate cuirasses in the 16th and 17th centuries. Even poorer soldiers tended to wear cheap, often mass-produced plate body armour, rather than mail or brigandine as time went on. Often this was 'munition armour' actually owned by the authorities and issued to soldiers when they were called up. This corresponded with the growing prevalence of firearms, and armour during this period increasingly tended to consist of smaller quantities, concentrated on the vital areas, and made thicker to better deflect bullets. Anyway, this leads to a few questions: 1) With poorer soldiers wearing plate cuirasses later, were there some designs that were more practical for the wearer to put on themselves? Or did poorer soldiers just have to help eachother get dressed? 2) How did brigandines fare against early firearms? Were they inherently more vulnerable to bullets than plate, or was it just that the construction methods more easily allowed plate cuirasses to be made thicker? (I suspect a bit of both). 3) With the difficulties involved in rust-proofing brigandines noted, how did this compare to plate harness? Was it easier or harder to rust-proof plate? This would be an important consideration on long campaigns. 4) How easy it was to repair brigandine compared to plate? On the one hand, a severely damaged component would be easier to remove and replace, on the other, its more complicated construction and reliance on a fabric superstructure would make it potentially more vulnerable to various types of damage. My suspicion is that in the long term, plate was more durable, which would have been seen as a plus by soldiers looking to make an expensive long-term investment.

Todd is soon to post a brigandine vs warbow level power arrows test. can't wait.

Using bronze or brass rivets as fasteners for steel or iron plates will allow for galvanic corrosion to occur, most likely attacking the rivets themselves first. Galvanic corrosion is also the reason that "tinning" of iron and steel plates works so well; the tin or zinc plating becomes a sacrificial anode, and prevents the iron from reacting until the tinning cover has corroded away.

Matt looks really badass in that brigandine.

matt: so i'm about to start strippnig off me: _drops bong_

Lovely brigandine! Surely there's another variable, too, of not wearing a mail hauberk between the foundation garment and the brigandine? Or perhaps bits of mail only -- sleeves plus skirt, or skirt plus the "crop top"/bolero style mail garment, that's basically sleeves connected across the upper back?

Nice kit, Matt. I would think the variety of materials might also affect the coat. How protective would a Coat of Wood, stone or other odd materials be? Was there any historical use of non-steel plates? They had stone, wood and bone weaponry and armour too.

So just looking at it, I would think that the entire core out to the sleeves would be pretty much immune to sword cuts and thrusts. The face and limbs beyond the mail sleeves would be vulnerable to thrusts. The core would likely be immune to low poundage crossbows, while the extremities and neck might be vulnerable to a 350lbs crossbow with a needle bodkin head. Impossible to say whether the core would be vulnerable to high poundage warbows without some serious testing, as you say some brigandines probably would provide protection against high poundage bows. Polearms (billhooks, certainly corseques) would pose a serious threat to the extremities and anything not directly covered by the brigandine. It would require testing to determine how much of a threat polearms posed to the brigandine covered core and the head with the helmet on (a slashing strike to the head with a polearm should provide enough percussive force to be pretty deadly even if it can't penetrate the helmet). Since I assume that your typical soldier is armed with either a polearm of some sort or a high poundage bow or crossbow then your typical soldier shouldn't have an absurd amount of difficulty killing another typical soldier. Overall pretty good protection. Not perfect by any means, and if I were a rich nobleman I would want more comprehensive protection. But if I was a commander I would feel pretty confident if my average soldier had about this level of protection.

With regard to sweat causing rust: it’s entirely possible to sweat through armor. I managed to sweat entirely through my body armor with plate nearly every day while serving in Iraq. It rusted the snaps on my ammo pouches and all other exposed metal rather quickly. During actual combat, the adrenaline rush left everything I was wearing thoroughly soaked in sweat in minutes. Even in the middle of a particularly cold winter. This is only a guess, but I suspect the cloth could have been oiled to protect the metal. It would have also shed rain water if the outer layer was oiled, so dual benefits.

Please do a video on Jacks of Plates!

Perhaps my favorite armor type for fantasy: believable, can be used by a lonesome wanderer, variable in stats and styles. Put some drakescales in there and that's a great non-metal variant.

It's very good to know that in the West people like you still exist. I remember how once I was visiting the Hermitage with a group with different people, mostly from the West, our guides were a Russian couple. Every member suggested a room to visit and I suggested the Arms Room, full of full plate Italian and German Gothic armor, a true mastership! Russians did not say a word, some o' them got impressed even, but the German lady, who was a theater director got offended, since it's "too violent and there is no beauty in it". That was quite strange, specially from a German person.

I wouldn't say you always require a servant to fasten up a brigandine with buckles in the back. You just require a fellow soldier with the same problem. Noblemen might consider it beneath themselves to help another into their armor (who goes first?) but two fellow campaigners likely don't have the same status questions among eachother.

Great video! Where did you buy your Birgandine?

Tinned steel wouldn't be heat treated. The tinning process would draw the temper back very near to non hardened. Your choice Hardened Steel or Rust Resistant?

I have a brigandine, and I really enjoy it. More flexible than a plate cuirass, as well as allow for bodyweight changes (fat/muscle). I think it looks nice as well.

Kingdom Come Deliverance has some wonderful examples of Brigandines and other armor and they actually stick to one time and area.

In kingdom come i wear the brigandine and only wear mail around my neck with a gambeson i like to be as light weight as possible to outrun ambushes and not make lots of noise and be more blending in than a shiny Cuirass lol

The rivets are just there to hold the plates in place an spread the loads without tearing the fabric base.

I found a oiled mail shirt tends to help get rid of rust .

As ever an excellent video Matt. My query is how would they be stored when the owner was not on campaign? How would soldiers of different classes keep them? Also would they have been oiled for storage? If I remember correctly longbows were carried in waxed bags to keep them dry, is there any source that soldiers wore a waxed or similar jacket over the top to keep the armour dry?

The point you made about the rivets being a copper/ bronze alloy makes sense to me. Do you think it also had something to do with maintenance? By That I mean, the removal and either reshape or replacement of individual plates. This to makes sense as the softer metal would allow this do be done more efficiently both in time and cost.

Matt I think it would be very intresting if you made a video on the premise that you had been tasked to train a group of people wearing the level of armor you show in the video how to fight with their sidearms against similarly equiped opponents. From what I understand most tretises and other historical sources deal with unarmored fighting and we also have some sources on how kinghts/men at arms wearing full plate would fight but what about fighting in this "medium heavy"-armor?

A pattern can also help for keeping track of who is who. You may also be able to mess with the enemy's perception a bit with the pattern

These discussions always end up with the one and only conclusion: "it depends..."

Ever since you mentioned the hip load bearing superiority of a closer waistline fitment to your Brig vest I can't stop looking at it now and I really want you to send it back and get the measurements redone so it clasps your pelvic area like the way they are depicted in the period artwork you pointed out, it's bad man..

Matt it’s interesting you talk about the flexibility of brigandine for defence being a bad thing against a lance I can understand this as it would likely buckle but against a weapon like a bill mace and maybe even an arrow that little bit of give in the armour can 1 prevent penetration (something very rigid is penetrated easier) and 2 and much more likely it would provide some cushioning to the blows due to the natural give in the armour without having so much give as to increase damage taken

What is the comparison between brigandine and lamellar armours . I’d also like to see you do a review of lamellar as I don’t think you ever have . Thanks for all your hard work

Looking at Matt suddenly reminds me that most of the wounds found on the Towton grave finds were on the arms and head, and not the chest.

It would be interesting to see a video on thoughts about defeating armor. Meaning, when you see someone on the battlefield, how can you know how well armored he is and where to hit him or what techniques to use, to defeat his armor as fast as possible.

In the case of maille armor modern mild still is probably a reasonable analogue for a top-quality, case-hardened original since the higher surface area to volume ratio means the added carbon will soak into more of the metal. What's hard to judge is the variation. Modern, machine-made rings or plates are far less likely to have random weak spots due to metal impurities or manufacturing error. And bronze rivets being weaker probably wouldn't be an issue since either metal is stronger than the cloth backing.

I wonder if armorers would vary the types of metal depending on their location. Maybe using hardened or tempered steel for the chest pieces to protect the vital organs & using mild steel or iron for the sides & such. This could be an option not largely available to those wearing plate harness.