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LOW COUNTRIES MAN-AT-ARMS c.1340

An extract from Armies of the Middle Ages, volume 1
by Ian Heath


65.      LOW COUNTRIES MAN-AT-ARMS c.1340

The figure depicted here is from a Flemish ms. which is dated 1338-44, i.e., almost precisely the period of the Anglo-Imperial alliance against France. The equipment portrayed in this source is notably different from that worn by contemporary Englishmen and Frenchmen (see figures 1-4 and 32), particularly in the widespread use of coats-of-plates of sundry types, worn without surcoats. That worn by this man is of the same form of construction as the one described under figure 13 in Armies of Feudal Europe, with the sides wrapping round the body to be tied together down the middle of the back, while others are shown with lacing down the sides. Such armour is typical of that in use in the German territories at this time, the evolution of which will be set out in Armies of the Middle Ages, volume 2.

[Based on the Romance of Alexander, Flanders, 1338-44AD. Bodleian Library, Ms. Bod. 264, Oxford]



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