__NOTOC__{{stars1| styleCategory ="background: PaleGoldenrod; width: 100%"Armour}}{{TOClimit|- 3}}| scope="col" width="0" |[[File:Stars2.png|110px|frameless|left|link=Completion Ratings|Completion Ratings]]| scope="col" width="1000" style="text-align: left;"|[[Completion Ratings|This article's completion rating is 2 out of 5]]|- | colspan="7" | Preliminary data has been collected but the structure of the article is still fluid |{{Armour}}
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== Introduction==We have no surviving mail shirts from the Viking Age in Britain. Even across Europe we only have the one find from Gjermundbu in Norway and that is seriously damaged due to being cremated. So to deduce the style of mail shirts worn during the Viking Age in Britain we need to look at both the manuscript evidence, both Anglo-Saxon and continental, and at the scraps of mail that we have managed to recover.Unfortunately although armour is mentioned in literature, for example Beowulf, it is usually refereed to simply as a byrnie. This translates as "body Armour" and doesn't necessarily mean that it's a mail shirt as it could equally be referring to scale armour or even lamella. This issue of separating Mail shirts from other forms of body armour is equally an issue with manuscript images. Here I have made a 'best guess' but I appreciate that other people may well interpret an image differently to myself. ==Type 1 : Short Mail Shirts== ===Type 1a: Short mail shirt ring sizesto just below the waist with short sleeves===''A mail shirt that stops a couple of inches below the belt. Sleeves are usually to the elbow but can extend to the wrist.'' '''Anglo-Saxon'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;"></gallery> '''Carolingian'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode=Literature"Packed" style="text-align: left;">Book of Maccabees1.png|''Book of Maccabees c.????''</gallery> It would appear that the typical 8th - 9th century mail shirt seems to end just below the belt line. Some of them appear as though they may be vandyked or side split – see below.<br> ===Type 1b: Short mail shirt to just below the waist with long sleeves==='''Anglo-Saxon'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;">Franks Casket.png|Franks Casket c.700-750</gallery> '''Carolingian'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;">BNF_Lat._12048_Gellone_Sacramentary.JPG|BNF Lat. 12048 Gellone Sacramentary, c.790-795</gallery> ===Type 1c: Short Vandyked mail shirt to just below the waist with short sleeves===''Vandykes are a triangular finish to the hem and sometimes the cuff of a mail shirt.'' '''Anglo-Saxon'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;">T49 f.18v 1.png|''BL Cotton Cleopatra C VIII f.18v, c.1000''BL Cotton Cleopatra CVIII f.27v.png|''BL Cotton Cleopatra C VIII, f.27v, c.1000''</gallery> '''Carolingian'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;"></gallery> We have a few pictures that can be interpreted as Vandyked shirts. London, BL, Cotton Cleopatra C VIII f.18v dated to the late C10th is perhaps the most famous although it may not actually be a mail shirt.[Migration era evidence?] ===Type 1d: Side split mail shirt===''A side split mail shirt’s skirt is open at the sides. An unsplit mail shirt has an additional side gore added to the side of the skirt to allow movement and offer protection.'' '''Anglo-Saxon'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;">Mail Shirt (Douce 296 f.40v).png|[[:Category:Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Douce 296|Bod. Lib., MS Douce 296]] c.1025-1050</gallery> '''Carolingian'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;">Codex Aureus Epternacensis f.18v 1.png|''Nurnberg, Nat. Germ. Mus., f.18v, Codex Aureus, c.1020''</gallery> Mail shirts are usually shown unsplit. A few of the depictions from Western European manuscripts do however show side split mail shirts. ==Type 2: Standard Mail Shirts== ===Type 2a: Mail shirt to mid-thigh or knee with short sleeves===''A mail shirt that reaches to the thigh, with sleeves that usually come to the elbow.'' '''Anglo-Saxon'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;"></gallery> '''Carolingian / Ottonian'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;">St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek 141.JPG|''[[:Category:St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 22|St. Gallen, Golden Psalter]], c.833''The Basilewsky Situla (V&A A.18-1933) - Detail 1.jpg|''The Basilewsky Situla (V&A A.18-1933), c.980-81, Milan''Aachen Ivory Situla Warriors.jpg|''[[:Category:Aachen Cathedral Treasury|Aachen Ivory Situla ]] c.1000''La Vie De Saint Aubin 1.png|''[[:Category:Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, NAL 1390|Paris, Bib. Nat., NAL 1390, La Vie De Saint Aubin]] c.1100''</gallery> ===Type 2b: Mail shirt to mid-thigh or knee with a small split and short sleeves===''A mail shirt that reaches to the thigh, has a small split front and back, and sleeves that usually come to the elbow.'' '''Anglo-Saxon'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;">Mail Shirt (Boulogne MS11 f.104v).png|[[:Category:Boulogne, Bibliotheque Municipale, MS11|Boulogne MS11 f.104v]], c.980-1041</gallery> '''Carolingian / Ottonian'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;">Shields_Vatican,_MS_Lat._9820.jpg|Vatican Lat. 9820, c.985-987British Lib. Egerton 3763 f. 116v.JPG|BL Egerton 3763, f.116v, c.998-1018DiJon, Bib. Mun. MS 488 f.68v.png|Dijon, Bib. Mun. MS 488 f.68v, Constellation, c.1000Hildesheimer Cathedral.png|Hildesheim Cathedral, c. ????</gallery> * 980AD Byzantine [NICOLLE 2005: p.51] <br><br>===Type 2c: Mail shirt to mid-thigh or knee, short sleeves & chausses===''A mail shirt that reaches to the thigh, sleeves that usually come to the elbow and mail covered legs (chausses)'' '''Carolingian / Ottonian'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;">Vercelli-MS CLXV-9C-detail 1.jpg|''Vercelli Bib., MS CLXV, c.825''</gallery> ==Type 3: Long Mail Shirts== ===Type 3a: Long mail shirt with a 'Bayeux style' split, an integral coif and short sleeves===''Interpreted as either a front split mail shirt or alternatively a mail shirt with mail shorts.'' '''Anglo-Saxon'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;">T86 Hexateuch1.png|Hexateuch c.1025-1050Winchester Carving.jpg|Winchester Carving c.1050-1100Bayeux Tapestry. Harolds Brothers.png|[[:Category:Bayeux Tapestry|Bayeux Tapestry]] c.1076</gallery> '''Ottonian / Norman'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;"> </gallery> The ‘mail shorts’ theory has been dismissed by Wilson [WILSON 1985] and Grape [GRAPE 1994]. They consider these images to simple show a stylised form of a long split (Type 3b).<br> ===Type 3b: Long mail shirt with a long style split, an integral coif, and short sleeves=== '''Anglo-Saxon'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;">Mail Shirt (Harley Psalter f.73v).jpg|Harley Psalter f.73, c.1025-1050</gallery> '''Ottonian / Norman'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;">Mail Shirt (Genève, Bibliothèque de Genève, Ms. lat. 357 - Apocalypse -Beatus).png|Genève, Ms. lat. 357, C11th </gallery> ===Type 3c: Long mail shirt with a long style split, an integral coif, and long sleeves=== '''Anglo-Saxon'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;"> </gallery> '''Ottonian / Norman'''<br><gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;">BnF_Ms_Lat._8879_f.148v_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse.jpg|BnF Ms_Lat. 8879 f.148v, Horsemen of the Apocalypse, c.1050Dijon Bib. Mun. MS. 14 fol.13 Goliath.png|Dijon, Bib. Mun. MS. 14 f.13, Bible of St. Etienne, Goliath, c.1109-1111</gallery> == Mail shirt Construction==
===6 - 8mm alternating riveted & welded===
{| class<gallery heights="wikitable"|+ align170px mode="topPacked" style="caption-side: top; text-align: left;" | Recreation guide>|NCH-| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|800-899]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|900-979]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guideGjermundbu Mail Shirt.jpg|Gjermundbu, Norway, c.980-1040]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|1041-1100]]|-| Colspan="4" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|Allowable]]|} </gallery>
====='''Archaeology====='''<br>
*Gjermundbu, Norway, 980AD (TWEDDLE 1992) riveted & welded, internal ring size = approx. 5.5 - 7.3 mm.
*Gotland, Sweden, (TWEDDLE 1992) graves 14.7 & 14.8. Riveted & welded, internal ring size = approx. 7.4 – 7.6mm. Interestingly some copper alloy rings were in the Gotland finds.
*Sutton Hoo c.650AD (POLLINGTON 2006, p.152) - 8mm links, alternate riveted and butt-jointed, to mid thigh
*Dublin (HALPIN 2008, p.179)
=====Discussion=====
Most of the Viking Age finds seem to be in this size range.
'''Discussion'''<br>
Most of the Viking Age finds seem to be in this size range.<br>
<br>
===6 - 8mm riveted===
{| class="wikitable"|+ align="top" style="caption-side: top; text-align: left;" | Recreation guide|-| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|800-899]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|900-979]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|980-1040]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|1041-1100]]|-| Colspan="4" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|Optional]]|} ====='''Archaeology====='''<br>--<br>====='''Discussion====='''<br>Although we We have no finds of 100% riveted shirts from that have been dated between 800-????, it was felt that they are better than ‘butted mail’ and are thus included under optional1100.<br><br>
===Riveted links over 8mm===
===Butted / riveted links up to 10mm==={| class="wikitable"|+ align="top" style="caption-side: top; text-align: left;" | Recreation guide|-| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|800-899]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|900-979]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|980-1040]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|1041-1100]]|-| Colspan="4" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|Allowable]]|} ====='''Archaeology====='''<br>
*Tuna, Gotland (TWEDDLE 1992) has an internal link diameter up to approx.10mm in size
*Russia (D’AMATO 2012, p.34) some links measuring up to 25mm
=====Discussion=====
It appears that Eastern mail shirts could have even larger rings with some from Russia measuring up to 25mm. (D’AMATO 2012, p.34)
'''Discussion'''<br>
It appears that Eastern mail shirts could have even larger rings with some from Russia measuring up to 25mm. (D’AMATO 2012, p.34)<br>
<br>
==Copper alloy mail links used for decoration==
''A double row of copper alloy links used to edge mail shirts and aventails.''
{| class="wikitable"
|+ align="top" style="caption-side: top; text-align: left;" | Recreation guide
|-
| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|800-899]]
| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|900-979]]
| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|980-1040]]
| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|1041-1100]]
|-
| Colspan="4" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|Allowable]]
|}
=====Archaeology=====
*York, England, C8th (TWEDDLE 1992, p.1003) Coppergate helmet,4 links.
*Gotland, Sweden, C9th-12th (TWEDDLE 1992, p.1185) Graves 14.7 & 8. This had two rows of copper alloy links at a possible vertical edge.
=====Discussion=====
The Coppergate helmet possibly had either a double row of copper alloy links edging the aventail or alternatively they could have been talismans. Copper alloy talismans and edges are frequently found on medieval mail shirts (TWEDDLE 1992, p.1003).
=== Butted links ===
We have no finds of butted links that have been dated between 800-1100.<br>
<br>
==Mail edged with leather==
''A strip of leather sown over the edge of the mail shirt''
{| class="wikitable"
|+ align="top" style="caption-side: top; text-align: left;" | Recreation guide
|-
| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|800-899]]
| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|900-979]]
| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|980-1040]]
| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|1041-1100]]
|-
| Colspan="4" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|Allowable]]
|}
<br>
==Mail shirt lengths==
===Mail shirt from just below waist===
''A mail shirt that stops a couple of inches below the belt. Sleeves are usually to the elbow but can extend to the wrist.''
{| class="wikitable"
|+ align="top" style="caption-side: top; text-align: left;" | Recreation guide
|-
| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|800-899]]
| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|900-979]]
| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|980-1040]]
| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|1041-1100]]
|-
| Colspan="1" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|Optional]]
| Colspan="3" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|Allowable]]
|}
=====Art===Copper alloy mail links used for decoration==*C1 =====Discussion=====It would appear that the typical 8th - 9th century ''A double row of copper alloy links used to edge mail shirt seems to end just below the belt line. Some of them appear as though they may be vandyked or side split – see belowshirts and aventails.''
<gallery heights=170px mode="Packed" style="text-align: left;">
YM Coppergate Hemet CA665.jpg|Coppergate Helmet, York, England, C8th
</gallery>
===Mail shirt from below groin to above knee===''A mail shirt that reaches to the thigh, with sleeves that usually come to the elbow.'Archaeology'''<br>{| class="wikitable"*York, England, C8th (TWEDDLE 1992, p.1003) Coppergate helmet,4 links.|+ align="top" style="caption*Gotland, Sweden, C9th-side: top; text-align: left;" | Recreation guide|-| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|800-899]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|900-979]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|980-1040]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|1041-1100]]|-| Colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|Optional]]| Colspan="1" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|Allowable]]| Colspan="1" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|Allowable]]|}=====Art=====*Aachen ivory font c12th (TWEDDLE 1992, p.1000AD (SKODELL 20081185) – mid thigh =====Discussion=====Graves 14.7 & 8. This seems to be the typical size had two rows of copper alloy links at a period shirt – see illustrations above. Some drawings do show shorter mail shirts but mail shirts seem to get longer as the period progressespossible vertical edge.
'''Discussion'''<br>
The Coppergate helmet possibly had either a double row of copper alloy links edging the aventail or alternatively they could have been talismans. Copper alloy talismans and edges are frequently found on medieval mail shirts (TWEDDLE 1992, p.1003).<br>
<br>
==Vandyked mail shirt==
Vandykes are a triangular finish to the hem and sometimes the cuff of a mail shirt.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ align="top" style="caption-side: top; text-align: left;" | Recreation guide
|-
| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|800-899]]
| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|900-979]]
| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|980-1040]]
| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|1041-1100]]
|-
| Colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|Allowable]]
| Colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|Allowable]]
|}
=====Art=====
*T49 London, BL, Cotton Cleopatra C VIII f.18v, Late C10th
=====Literature=====
--
=====Archaeology=====
--
=====Discussion=====
We have a few pictures that can be interpreted as Vandyked shirts. London, BL, Cotton Cleopatra C VIII f.18v dated to the late C10th is perhaps the most famous although it may not actually be a mail shirt.
[Migration era evidence?]
==Lined Mail shirts==
''Mail shirts that are lined on the inside with cloth or leather and that have a cloth or leather edging.''
<br>==Side split mail shirt==''A side split mail shirt’s skirt is open at the sides. An unsplit mail shirt has an additional side gore added to the side of the skirt to allow movement and offer protection.''{| class="wikitable"|+ align="top" style="caption-side: top; text-align: left;" | Recreation guide|-| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|800-899]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|900-979]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|980-1040]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|1041-1100]]|-| Colspan="3" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|Optional]]| Colspan="1" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation guide|Allowable]]|}=====Art=====* W1 National Museum, Nuremberg (Hs. 156 142) - Codex aureus Epternacensis. C.1030AD (SKODELL 2008)=====Discussion=====Mail shirts are usually shown unsplit. A few of the depictions from Western European manuscripts do however show side split mail shirts. Bayeux Tapestry
<br>==Front split mail shirt to kneeLiterature==
=====Art==Anglo-Saxon Chronicle===There appears to be 3 distinct types of front split mail shirts depicted in C11th artA. A ‘Short split’, ‘Full split’ and the difficult to interpret ‘Bayeux style’D. These are discussed in detail delow 1008. <br>=====Literature=====--=====Archaeology=====--=====Discussion=====They appear common on such sources as "This year bade the Bayeux Tapestry king that men should speedily build ships over all England; that is, a man possessed of three hundred and continue ten hides to make appearances on numerous manuscripts from the 1060’s onwards although they nether totally replace the traditional unsplit provide a galley or skiff; and a man possessed of eight hides only, to find a helmet and mail shirt."
===Short Split===
''A mail shirt to the knee with a small slit in the skirt and sleeves to the elbow.''
=====Art==Beowulf===* T44 Boulogne, MS11 fWritten in c.104v late C10th (Possible – detail hidden)* A carving at Hildesheimer cathedral (SKODELL 2008)1000 but from an older story.<br>* 980AD Byzantine (NICOLLE 2005, pWe've started working on a comparison between translations to determine what words may have possibly represented mail shirts.51)<br><br>
===Bayeux Style===''Interpreted as either a front split mail shirt or alternatively a mail shirt with mail shorts.'' =====Art=====* Bayeux Tapestry cHeorot http://www.1076AD (WILSON, The Bayeux Tapestry 1985)heorot.dk/beowulf-rede-text.html * T86 The Old English Hexatech 1025Gutenburg http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16328/16328-1050AD h/16328-h.htm * Winchester carving 1050Orford {{listRef|Crossley-1100AD (WILSON, The Bayeux Tapestry 1985)Holland 1982}}=====Discussion=====The ‘mail shorts’ theory has been dismissed by Wilson (WILSON, The Bayeux Tapestry 1985), Grape (GRAPE 1994) and others* Old English Translator http://www.oldenglishtranslator.co.uk/
===Full Split===Note: <br>Corslet is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as meaning "a piece of defensive armour covering the body."<br>
=====Art=====Byrnie<br>* Bayeux Tapestry cBennet, M.1076AD (WILSON, The Bayeux Tapestry 1985)* R1 DijonBradbury, Bibliotheque Municipale MS 14 folJ.13, Bible DeVries, K., Dickie, I., & Jestice, P. Fighting Techniques of Stthe Medieval World. EtienneThomas Dunne Books, 1109-1111AD – Picture 2005, p. 82<br>''"There is some dispute among historians as to what exactly constituted the Carolingian byrnie. Relying... only on artistic and some literary sources because of Goliath (SKODELL 2008)the lack of archaeological examples, some believe that it was a heavy leather jacket with metal scales sewn onto it. It was also quite long, reaching below the hips and covering most of the arms. Other historians claim instead that the Carolingian byrnie was nothing more than a coat of mail, but longer and perhaps heavier than traditional early medieval mail. Without more certain evidence, this dispute will continue."''
==See Also==
==References==<br>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Original Anglo-Saxon !! Heorot !! Gutenburg !! Oxford !! Old English Translator
|-
| (37) of feorwegum '''frætwa''' gelaéded
|| from far-off lands ornate '''armour''' and baubles were brought;
|| (I 37) The famed by the mainmast. A many of jewels,
|| And adornments from far and wide were gathered there
|| 'frætwa' = '''armour'''
|-
| (40) billum ond '''byrnum'''· him on bearme læg
|| bill-blades and '''byrnies'''; there lay on his breast
|| (I 42) Bills and '''burnies'''; on his bosom sparkled
|| Swords and '''corslets'''; on his breast
|| 'byrnum' = '''Corselet'''
|-
| (214)
||
||
||
||
|-
| saéwudu '''saéldon'''· syrcan hrysedon
|| moored their vessel; their '''mail-shirts''' clanked
|| (IV 37) Fastened their vessel (battle weeds rattled, '''War burnies''' clattered)
|| Tying up the boat their '''corslets''' clanked
|| 'saéldon' = '''coat of mail'''
|-
| (237)
||
||
||
||
|-
| (238) '''byrnum''' werede þe þus brontne céol
|| bound in '''byrnies''', who thus your tall keel
|| (IV 49) Clad in your '''corslets''', come thus a-driving A high riding ship
|| In your '''coats of mail''' who have steered your tall ship
|| 'byrnum' = '''Corselet'''
|-
| (322) heard hondlocen '''hringíren''' scí
|| harsh, linked by hand, '''ring-iron''' glittering
|| (VI 4) The ring-sword radiant rang ’mid the '''armor'''
|| The strong links of shining '''chain-mail''' clinked together
||
|-
| (1211) '''bréostgewaédu''' ond se béah somod
|| mail-coat and the ring together
||
||
|| 'Bréost' = '''Breast, stomach, womb, mind, richness''', 'gewaédu' = ????
|}
==References==
{{Ref|Grape 1994}}
{{Ref|Nicolle 2005}}
{{Ref|Skodell 2008}}
{{Ref|Wilson 1985}}
<brHarvardReferences />gav said [RINK 2000]<br>This is a test subnote. [Smith 2010:21][*Smith 2002:90]
<HarvardReferences>* [*Smith 2002:90] Captain John Smith - Biography [httpCategory://www.preservationvirginia.org/history/jsmith.htmlArmour]. * [Smith 2010:21] Gav Test* [*Rink 2000] ARCHER, G (2010) Blah Blah.</HarvardReferences>