Early 15th Century Gauntlets, A Transitional Style
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- Опубликовано: 17 июн 2017
- Around the turn of the 14th / 15th century, Italian innovation in gauntlet design began to show itself in the evolutionary step between the tried-and-true 'hourglass' gauntlet to what would eventually become the mitten gauntlet commonly associated with Milanese armors of the later 15th century. Today we look at a pair of gauntlets that fit into this transitional niche!
Featured in this video:
Armorer - Jeffrey D. Wasson - www.wassonartistry.com
Owner - Robert Charrette - / schermitorecharrette
Support the Channel - / knyghterrant
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Website - knyghterrant.com
#medievalarmor #italianarmor #gauntlets
The knight with his hands on his hips at 0:51 "what did you do this time"
Man all of these videos just makes me even more mad on how Pop Culture depicts armor as completely restricting movement. The mobility is near perfect! You always see in games and movies that gauntlets dont cover all of the fingers for "mobility" when in reality something like these scales here give excellent dexterity.
Touche!....and they called this the Dark Ages?
Armoured Productions true and often times in movies armor are useless decorative clothing but at least armor in video games offer some form of protection
really agreed!
Armoured Productions to be quite honest i would NOT be surprised if that came from hollywood
I still do appreciate the beauty of samurai armor, but it honestly kind of sucks. Both knights and samurai were well trained of course, but one of them is pretty much indestructible, and they both have about the same amount of mobility as well. I just can't see a 14-15 century knight losing a fight against a samurai of the same period. Maybe if the samurai was using his yari he'd have a chance, but it would still be pretty unfair for the samurai. There's just not much you can do against a knight unless you're good at grappling, but that applies to everyone really.
That's a nice compromise between protection and mobility, i bet they're pretty comfortable to wear while fighting.
These are one of the most comfortable pairs of gauntlets I've ever had the pleasure of wearing.
"Oh, magahd, you don't have articulated gauntlets? Hourglass is soooo last century." Someone on Jan 1st, 1401
"Ye lack jointed handshields? The tideglass is so yore era..." - Angle mann
although the time period of that doesn't really line up
"Ir hābet niht geleitet hantschilde? Die sanduhr ist sō lētzt jarhundert..." - deutsch mann
would be more accurate
"Nemáte kloubené rukavice? Pískovcový hodiny jsou tak minulé století..." - czech muz
would also be possble
also I didn't include oh, magahd as that is blasphemous slander and you would surely be hanged for such sins! during those time periods anyways...
One issue with the hourglass cuff idea is that those large protrusions get caught on things. They can snag on the clothes, horse's harness, etc. And more steel = more weight. Every ounce counts, especially out near the hands.
I just got to see these gauntlets irl a few weeks ago and they are quite impressive.
I can see this as an inspiration for a modern combat gauntlet, possibly titanium with aramid or Spectra padded/lined gloves, to provide protection to the hands from shrapnel or even small caliber projectiles. I'm considering making a prototype from aluminum to test flexibility and use with modern technology. As a retired Industrial Design Engineer, the development of personal armor over the millennia has always been an interest. Thank you for your educational and informative material!
It continues to amaze me how you don't have 200k+ subscribers.
Maybe one day I'll get to 40k :) But seriously, I'm just happy there is an audience for this stuff at all. The wider audiences seem to want more entertainment than tedious detail, so I'm grateful that 30k people appreciate (or more appropriately, tolerate) the latter.
I am abolutely in love with the design! The best of both worlds from the 14th and 15th centuries!
Heck, some of those obsolete pieces of armour would be modified or integrated into newer suits as time went on. Even noblemen had to make do with what they had, and I'm sure sentimentality played a role at times.
There wasnt really an obsolete thing when it came to armor. Cost wise a full suit of plate would be like buying a house today in cost, a knight would wear the same suit for their entire career with replacing damaged or worn out parts. Development of armor was very slow compared to cars. By the time a suit of armor was obsolete the knight that owned it died of old age years prior and armor is not handed down to be used by their children, they get their own suit made for them because plate armor is tailored to the owner. Each generation there is advancements, 3 generations of knights armor is like 3 model years in cars advancement.
I think you may be the only youtuber I watch that has never made a video I didn't absolutely love. I'm completely ok waiting for them too, its like a present every time you make one. So thank you.
Thank you very much for the kind words, I appreciate it.
really like this style thats almost a mitten almost a glove
How does the real life Ian feel about digital Ian?
www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?743538-Spoof-Thread&p=15345098&viewfull=1#post15345098
Hahaha, that's awesome. I approve of the mustache!
I look forward to these videos so much, they're so interesting and you present them so well, please keep them coming!
I subscribed before seeing any of your videos. That was a good idea.
Excellent as always.
Another great video
i love this gauntlets and also your videos !
Great video Ian!
Great video and great timing! I'm just starting do some designs on sabatons and gauntlets to make, and I think I may go for a design similar to this one.
You have become one of my three favorite youtubers. I class you, Goddard's Journal, and Potholer54 as the best on youtube. You produce top rate educational video. Please keep it up
I'm trying to build my own sparring gloves for HEMA using materials like Kydex or ABS.
It's awesome that even in different context. These gloves still serve as a wonderful study pieces.
Thanks for the detailed look at the gloves, great content as usual!
This type of gloves are my absolute favorites...the perfect compromise between elegance and protection!
Great video!
Although it's monday and like 1 am here in Germany, I'll take my time to watch this video right now^^
Haha, I appreciate it! :)
Wow I've never seen those before, that's awesome. They have really cool aesthetic
Good video as always. One of the best channels about medieval European armour. Narrative is calm, knowledgeable and interesting. Thanks for sharing your your knowledge and time! There are so many unfair and ridiculous prejudices about European Medieval Age that such videos are simply "must watch" to properly educate oneself about those times.
Thank you very much!
Excellent pan shot.
Happy Father's Day Ian! And thanks for another awesome video!
Thank you on both accounts!
I am a simple man. I see good content, I like.
An excellent and interesting video as always. Have a good fathers day!
+Knyghy Errant cool video as always
Another awesome video. I have a question. Why do you think scale and finger gauntlets were developed before full mitten gauntlets? I would have thought that the protection offered plus the manufacturing of full mitten gauntlets would have been easier than producing protection for each individual finger.
That's a great question, and my answer is "I don't know." :) Mail mittens were well known, but it seems like when they started adding plate to gauntlets they decided that fingered gauntlets made the most sense and provided adequate protection for their needs.
Knyght Errant thanks for the response. Interesting that gauntlets with individual fingers seemed to become more common again in the 16th century (at least as far as I am aware), perhaps the introduction of firearms prompted this and perhaps an increase in dexterity was favoured over protection in late 14th and early 15th century as well.
Finger gauntlets never quite went away, and seemed to make a pretty good resurgence later in the 15th century, at least with German armors. So for at least certain individuals, dexterity also seemed to be the priority.
Maybe the initial assumption was that the strength of plate provided enough protection that a full mitten wasn't required,, considering they were still used to the protection level of mail. So possibly they focused on fingered gauntlets for some time because of that. Then through extensive use perhaps some started to think that it still wasn't enough. Or perhaps it's a response to the change in weapons.
Yeah I'd like to think that what influenced the change might have had to do with a response to something. Maybe even logistics had a part in it? Who knows.
I do SCA fighting and it is summer here really badly. How the heck did soldiers then get water back then? seriously I went through like two gallons. Were many lost to dehydration?
Great video, I find it interesting that they went from individual fingers to mittens, considering how in HEMA it seems to be going the other way. Personally, I'm of the opinion that wrist mobility is more important than finger mobility, but I don't have the money to test that hypothesis (or, well, I have the money, but I don't want to double up on gloves when I haven't bought a proper sword yet).
Hey Ian fist thanks for the great video, but is it possible to put links for the sources of your pictures in the video-description, because I whould love to have a closer look to all the details BR Seb
Great, informative video as usual! I always love it when I find out you have posted another video. Of all the RUclipsrs on medieval warfare out there, I think you give the most in-depth and well thought-out information on your topic. I wish you would branch into other aspects of medieval warfare than armor as a result.
Quick question: doesn't the gap between the extension of the metacarpal plate and the fingers when you make a fist in these gauntlets act as a possible weak point? It seems that a blow that landed between the plate and the fingers would have all of its force channeled into the joint between the plate and the fingers, causing a compromising point that doe not exist in the older gauntlet style. Since this gap is exposed when your fist is pointed at your opponent, it seems to me that this wouldn't be a too terribly uncommon way of being hit in the hands (especially while throwing a blow). I know that weak points in armor do not make armor useless--far from it--but given the premium medieval armor seems to place on creating glancing surfaces, this one kinda surprises me. Am I misunderstanding the dynamics of how the plate covers while you normally hold/swing a weapon, or is it simply not a big a weakness compared to the benefit from having the additional protection against blows from other angles?
Thanks!
I think a lot of this is mitigated by the fact that armored-fighting techniques, especially blows, do not really mimic those of unarmored blossfecthen style cuts. These gauntlets really belong most at home on an Italian equestrian armor, so your rein hand is usually going to be palm in, and your other hand couching a lance. On foot, with a polearm or if you're forced to half-sword, I don't envision throwing a lot of cuts like we see unarmored HEMA practitioners utilizing. But yes, that is a place that can inadvertently catch a weapon. It's a question of whether the likelihood of that happening outweighs the added protective value in the specific contextual use of that armor.
Hi Ian, I´ve been thinking alot about ranged combat with plate armour, and I´d like to know which ranged weapopns are usable while wearing Plate Finger- or enven Mitten-style gauntlets. I´m specifically asking about Javelins, Throwing axes and crossbows. I`m a big fan of your channel and I´d really appreciate the awnser
I have to say these new design of gauntlets, have a very captivating effect, in their functionality, its the scale armor effect on the fingers that really draws me, you could fight, writ & cook with these ones, not effectively but still far for then the other ones.
How heavy are they?
Those look pretty bad ass.
May you do a video about the finger roundels debate on whether or not those actually are historical or not?
I wonder if that overlapping medicarpal plate could be used as a knuckle duster in combat😄I guess they didn't really used their fists to punch, unless there was nothing else.
Question would they ever sharpen the edge on the knuckel plate to use as a weapon, similair to how later gauntlets sometimes are given knuckelspikes? Seems to be a somewhat logical thing to do that's why I ask if your aware of examples with a sharpend knuckelplate.
Why do the scales face towards the finger tips instead of back towards knuckles?
Stupid question, but what was the main reason for the transition from individually fingered gauntlets to mitten-style gauntlets? I'd have thought the latter would be simpler to make from an engineering perspective. Did some changes in weapons and tactics make better protection more important, at the expense of mobility?
I don't know exactly what the driving force was. Perhaps increasing use of percussive weapons and more powerful lance strikes to the hand drove the transition, but I'm just guessing.
Hello Ian,
I'm interested where one can get good leather gloves that can be sewn into plate gauntlets. I'm kind of desperate to find something looking good enough than ordinary non-fitting fantasy stuff. Could you recommend me something? Thank you
Is it possible to use bow effectively in these gauntlets?
Poderia fazer um tutorial de como fazer 👍👈
gothic armor is all well and good but cmon those scale fingers are damn cool
10:00 Maybe the owner broke/lost one and got a replacement?
Hey! I'm new to your channel, and I just wanted to say - I'm amazed at the debth of information you present in all the videos I've seen so far.
Now that that's out of the way, a question occurred to me while watching this video. What, if any, is the linguistic connection between the words "gauntlet" and "gaunt"? I fear that the answer is either blindingly obvious or only known to the linguistics majors, but in any case I'd love to know the answer.
Hi, and welcome! I'm not a linguist and I can't say for sure, but the etymologies of the words seem to suggest that the spellings have simply converged over time but the origins of each word are unrelated despite their modern similarities. Gauntlet seems to have Germanic roots in the word for glove _wantuz_ or _wantos_ and the other from words meaning stick or thin, like _gandr_ (Old Norse) or _gandaz_ (Proto-Germanic).
@@KnyghtErrant Thank you for the succinct answer! The english language continues to be baffling.
Thanks for another interesting and informative video. What makes me ponder though, is the French not having a style of armour of their own, despite being a major European power in the middle ages, and playing major roles in almost all of the period's important engagements... why might that be?
Well, obviously, since the year started on March 1st back then, everyone would have changed their gauntlets out in March of 1400, obviously.
visby gauntlet please... all the types if possible
Can you do judge armor in tv shows and videos games and see if they would work in real life
If you had to choose, would you wear this kind of gauntlet or a mitten gauntlet in a real medieval fight (like a tournament or a battle)?
I've heard Battle of the Nations fighters refer to this style as "Please break my fingers"-gauntlets.
They're not the best if you know you're gonna be in heavy combat.
mitten style
personal opinion
I have nothing against Battle of the Nations / ACL / HMB etc., style fighting, but I wouldn't use their experience as an indicator of what is or is not effective in real medieval combat, the two are very different and have very different expectations of armor performance and injury tolerance. The modern guys also get hit a *lot* more, but that's all a discussion for another time (or video :) ).
+Arcticwulf I would wear what's most appropriate for the regional style of harness I was wearing at the time of course :) But if I could choose any gauntlet from any point in time, there are some examples in the mid 15th century where the fingers barely peak out at all, which I think would be as close as you can get to a 'best of both worlds' scenario.
From what I've heard, Battle of the Nations fighting is not particularly realistic, instead of trying to go for the weak spots in the armor they're deliberately hitting the armor in order to prevent injuries.
Idk , if your opponent is wealthy enough to wear articulated armor instead of munition it'd be pretty wise to capture him alive.
Do you think that rediscovering late medieval / renaissance designs will come in handy was we explore the possibility of mechanically assisted exoskeletons and exosuits?
I think knowledge of these things sure couldn't hurt. Their understanding of making human anatomy work in other mediums is very impressive, and I'm sure there are some lessons to be learned that could apply to future technologies as well.
Are the Visby Gauntlets the earliest known plate gauntlets?
i personally think this kind of gauntlet is balance in terms of protection and flexibility which makes it the perfect gauntlet
I havent even watched the video but I know its gonna be great since it is made by you
I always figured the Mitten gauntlet came first and then went into articulated separate fingers into the more advanced alte 15th century gauntlets.
I always think it is odd that the simpler mitten gauntlets were the later style instead of the fully articulated finger gauntlets which are a lot harder to make right.
You missed that punching a non- or lightly armoured opponent with that extended meta-carpal plate would also be extremely effective. ;-)
so some had built in knuckle dusters? does that mean fist fights would actually happen too?
Hell yeah! According to the surviving manuals, fighting was taught as a very holistic skill - anything goes, do whatever works. And in armour, you can hit people with most parts of your body and injure them.
I was expecting a no answer, the yes cracks me up too much, oh my god
If the opportunity presents itself.... they are obviously primarily for *defense* but I'm not gonna bet against the chance that someone somewhere got punched with something similar :)
I bet it would bloody hurt
If you punch a unarmored soldier with gauntlets it will hurt like hell. But punching an armored soldier with gauntlets wont do much
it will looks bomb ass ass spanking awesome if it was full of intricate engravings or carvings
Transitional? I could maybe use a pair when its time for HRT lol. Seriously though those look really neat I wish I had a pair.
How do you get high-quality medieval armour in Australia?
Two armorers that come to mind are Manning Imperial and Red Hart Reproductions, both located in Australia.
@@KnyghtErrant Where do you get yours lol
Hey guys it's January 1, 1401 we need new gauntlets.
whats your `dream harness`?
1415 English and then probably something 1460/70s Italian
Where did you pull the image at 9:48 from?
www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437742
Woah, that was quick! Thanks a ton, Ian!
(On January 1st 1400AD) 'Those are so 14th centurary!'
1400 was the last year of 14th century! So from 1/1/1401 anno Domini people could say "those are so 14th century"!
You always talk about armor in the latter half of the 14th century (when you talk about the 14th century), but what about the first half? Were hourglass styles used then?
My original gauntlet video will take you through a much broader history of hand protection if you want (ruclips.net/video/hnnSkG-kkgI/видео.html). To answer your question directly though, the more common style of gauntlet in the earlier parts of the 14th century were constructed similar to how a coat-of-plates is built, with a individual plates being riveted to a foundational glove like the various extant Battle of Visby examples.
11:52 That's some armor-porn material.
Sadly pornhub doesn't have a category for that...
Technically.
I WANT MOOOOOOOORRRREEEE
Still waiting for the video, where you play guitar in gauntlets.
I have a knight helm that got rust on it I got the rust off with white vinegar and scotch brites and applied gun oil to it.It is now badly scratched anybody know a polish that would make it shiny again?
you need to use progressively finer grits of abrasive until you reach the desired finish you want. Each finer grit removes the scratches from the previous one. It sounds like you may have started with too rough a grit for the finish that was already on your helmet.
Knyght Errant It started out really shiny the scratches are super small do you mean like a belt sander or by hand
I do everything by hand with progressively finer scotchbrite pads.
Knyght Errant Ok cool
Knyght Errant Could Brasso work it's a great helm with brass accents
If those were mine, I'd reinforce the plates, so I could punch with them
People forget 1400 was still 14th century partly because we've had stupid "new millenium" celebrations on 1st of January 2000
wow those look uncomfortable
They are probably one of the most comfortable pairs of gauntlets I've worn, and I've had the pleasure of wearing a lot of very well made gauntlets.
im surprised having your fingers on lock down isn't a problem. I like to be able to straiten out my fingers, but I have some mild damage to my hands from carpentry somewhat like arthritis so I roll my wrist and fingers often. Thanks for the gauntlet videos hand protection is complicated.
You can straighten your fingers with no restriction in these.
I guess its just outside perspective that makes it look restrictive while the padding makes up for it. they also appears to have more plate protection over the knuckles than the originals could be a light trick the replicas are in great shape and its easier to see the individual components.