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'''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 2006: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” [LEGIO 2004: 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]
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'''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>
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== References ==
{{Ref|Bishop & Coulson Coulston 2006}}
{{Ref|Cameron 1998}}
{{Ref|Cameron 2000}}
{{Ref|Harrison 19931993a}}
{{Ref|Legio 2004}}
{{Ref|Owen-Crocker 1998}}
