MAN-AT-ARMS c.1290 An extract from Armies of Feudal Europe 1066-1300 by Ian Heath

16.      MAN-AT-ARMS c.1290 Quite clearly the armour worn by a knight was steadily increasing in weight as the 13th century progressed, but this factor has often been overexaggerated by modern authors who refer to complete mail armour weighing over 40 lbs as if this is an immense weight, despite the fact that Napoleonic foot-soldiers in 1812 carried in excess of 58 lbs of equipment. Experiments carried out some years ago by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, proved that even full plate armour post-dating this period was nowhere near as cumbersome as we have often been led to believe, and a fully-armoured man could in fact run, lie down, get up and even jump into the saddle without considerable effort, the later being an exercise for which Edward I was noted. However, this would only be a fit man while he was fresh - the longer that armour was worn, the heavier it undoubtedly became. This may help to explain how, in one incident recorded as early as 1280, a knight thrown from his horse was unable to get up because of the weight of his armour, and lay helpless on the ground until captured (though it should be pointed out that this was not a young man). This Italian knight, based on the seal of the Guild of St George of Ferrara, wears a heaume, a coat-of-plates over a hauberk, cuisses with poleyns attached and closed greaves. The coat-of-plates is of a different design to that of 13, consisting of a larger number of smaller plates rivetted to the inside of his surcoat; the outlines of the plates and rivets show quite clearly. Closed greaves, protecting both the front and back of the lower leg, first appeared at about this date. His lance, added from the early-14th century 'Manessa Codex', has an early hand-guard or vamplate; although such guards occasionally feature in illustrations from the early-12th century onwards, they were uncommon until the 14th century. [Based on the seal of the Guild of St George of Ferrara.]