Changes
{{stars2}}
==Leather or cloth jack==
''A leather or cloth jack is constructed from one or two layers of leather or cloth in the same shape as a mail shirt and is designed to protect the wearers clothing from the mail shirt, offer a degree of water proofing and to help to distribute the energy of any blows against the mail shirts.''
'''Discussion'''<br>
We have no Viking Age evidence of any padding being worn under the mail shirt. Many people point to the late C4th Roman document ‘De Rebus Bellicis’ and its reference to a ‘thoracomachus’ [BISHOP and & COULSTON 19942006:p.63]. The thoracomachus is described as “it is made of thick cloth, covered with leather (or with a separate leather garment over it) for waterproofing” [LEGIO2004: Subarmalis 2004]. <br>
Mail would be more effective over a leather jerkin but there is no evidence until the middle ages. [POLLINGTON 2006: p.152]<br>
It is possible that the jack was attached to the mail shirt. Arguments for this come from manuscript evidence. Manuscripts often show a line around the hem and cuffs that could be interpreted as either a leather edging or an attached jack. On the Bayeux Tapestry fallen warriors can be seen being stripped of their armour, that appears to be removed in one go leaving the warrior naked underneath.<br>
Again we have no evidence of any type of armour being worn in Britain other than mail shirts. Some manuscripts have been interpreted as possible leather armour [CAMERON 1998]. <br>
|Literature =
* Sturlinson in the Heimskringla mentions the gift of 13 body armours of reindeer hide. [HARRISON 19931993a: p.48]
}}
<br>
'''Literature'''<br>
The word Gambeson only seems to arrive in the English language in the C13th.<br>
The use of padded armour by the Byzantine army is well documented [HARRISON 19931993a]<br>
<br>
Cameron makes an argument that the Anglo-Saxons had the theoretical technology to create Cuir Bouilli but that no archaeological finds of its use exist. [CAMERON 2000: p.25-33]. <br>
'''Discussion'''<br>
There are no Roman leather cuirass finds but they are depicted in images. It is not known how they were made. [BISHOP and & COULSTON 19942006]<br><br>
== References ==
<HarvardReferences />
[[Category:Armour]]
