The Late Byzantine Military (1204-1461)

Originally posted by CPWN It was made by metal,leather and rivet. The scale also could be hardened leather,but all leather armour usually used by cavalry or light infantry.   This kind armour wasn't only scale type. It had lamellar,too...etc...... (I'll try to find some pics out)

Originally posted by CPWN Looks like chain mail inside. Quite interesting.

Edited by Byzantine Emperor - 06-Nov-2006 at 04:06

Here we have a Round chest plate

I was in the local public library of Veroia, searching for some villages of the region. In a book I found pictures of saints of a local byzantine church.

What was notable was that one saint held a mace. (This comment is for what you were discussing above that no saints are holding weapons like maces and axes)

Originally posted by BigL heres wat looks like a combination of star scale armour with plate chest

Edited by Byzantine Emperor - 08-Nov-2006 at 17:29

Originally posted by BigL Preobrazhenskoe picture of armour looks fake, like a hallowenn costume

Hm, interesting. Is there a separation between the pterugai and the main body? It looks like a separate piece that was strapped around the waist,  very different from the leather pterugai that are usually attached to the klivanio. I may be extrapolating far too wide, but I'm guessing that this would be too expensive to produce as standard equipment. Could this then be a depiction of a higher officer and not be the way your average 14th c. Byzantine cavalryman looked like?


Edited by konstantinius - 09-Nov-2006 at 19:55

@Bizantine Emperor : star scales is something I do not have info about, but Merkourios' armour as depicted
there might be a stylized version of the plumata. Plumata was a small scale armour worn usually less for the
sake of protection but for elegance and parade purposes. Standard bearers in Roman army are usually wearing
squamata whilst some officers are occasionally represented wearing plumata.

>Is there a separation between the pterugai and the main body?

Pterugai were actually attached to the subarmalis if I am not mistaking. Subarmalis was the roman equivalent of
the gambeson and had symmilar purposes : protecting the body from shocks which otherwise could do harm
even if the armour was not pierced, preventing pieces of disrupted metal to penetrate into the body should the
armor having been breached and of course preventing the armor itself to tear the clothes and eventually the skin
of the wearer.

St.Theodor / St.Nikolaos Orphanos -Thessaloniki-1310/20

A discussion before months...a Saint with a mace!
St.Demetrios.
Icon -now in Belgrade museum (the inscription though in Greek)-end of 14th-beginning of 15th century.