Notes to: Arms and Armor-- Common Misconceptions and Frequently Asked Questions

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

Notes to: Arms and Armor--Common Misconceptions and Frequently Asked Questions

"Armor was worn only by knights.--Wrong."

• "Knights rarely fought alone, nor did medieval and Renaissance armies consist entirely of mounted knights." 
• "It is wrong to assume that every nobleman was a knight. Knights were not born but created, by other knights, feudal lords, or sometimes priests. And, under certain conditions, people of non-noble birth could be knighted (although the knighting was often regarded as their admission into lower nobility). On some occasions, mercenaries or civilians fighting as ordinary soldiers could be knighted for exceptional displays of courage and valor, while in later times a knighthood could be bought." 

"Women of earlier times never fought in battle or wore armor.--Wrong."

• "While some evidence is available for noble ladies-turned-military commanders, such as Countess Jeanne de Penthievre (1319-1384), there are only scattered references to women from lower levels of society taking up arms."

"Armor is extremely heavy and renders its wearer immobile.--Wrong."

• "An entire suit of field armor (that is, armor for battle) usually weighs between 45 and 55 lbs. (20 to 25kg), with the helmet weighing between 4 and 8 lbs. (2 to 4 kg)-- less than the full equipment of a fireman with oxygen gear, or what most modern soldiers have carried into battle since the nineteenth century. Moreover, while most modern equipment is chiefly suspended from the shoulders or waist, the weight of a well-fitted armor is distributed all over the body."
• "It was not until the seventeenth century that the weight of field armor was greatly increased in order to render is bulletproof against ever more accurate firearms. At the same time, however, full armor became increasingly rare and only vital parts of the body, such as the head, torso, and hands, remained protected by metal plate." 
• "The notion that a man in armor could hardly move and, once he had fallen to the ground, was unable to rise again, is also without foundation." 
• "Modern experiments with genuine fifteenth- and sixteenth-century armor as well as accurate copies have shown that even an untrained man in a properly fitted armor can mount or dismount a horse, sit or lie on the ground, get up again, run, and generally move his limbs freely and without discomfort." 
• "Tournament armor was made for very specific occasions and would have been worn only for limited periods of time. The man-at-arms would have mounted his steed with the aid of his squire or a small step, and the last pieces of his armor could then be donned after securely sitting in the saddle." 

"The military salute originates from the raising of a visor.--Uncertain."

• "It is sometimes argued that the military salute originated during the Roman Republic, when assassinations were common and citizens were required to approach public officials with their right hand raised in order to show that they did not conceal a weapon." 

"'Chain mail' or 'mail'?"

• "Defensive garments composed of interlinking rings should correctly be referred to as 'mail' or 'mail armor'... The common term 'chain mail' is in fact a modern pleonasm (a lingual mistake meaning 'the use of more words than are necessary to express an idea': in this instance, both 'chain' and 'mail' refer to an object made of interlinking rings)."

"How long did it take to make a suit of armor?"

• "A complete armor could comprise elements made by several specialized armorers. Pieces might also be held in stock half-finished and then fitted for a specific commission." 
• "Throughout the German-speaking lands, most armorer workshops were controlled by strict guild regulations, which limited the number of apprentices, and thus had a direct effect on the number of pieces that could be produced by one master and his small workshop. In Italy, on the other hand, no such regulations existed, and workshops could accordingly be much larger, which undoubtedly must have enhanced speed and quantity of production." 
• "The commonly encountered myth that 'it took years to make a single mail shirt' accordingly is nonsense (which is not to deny, however, that mail making was an extremely labor-intensive occupation)."

"Only knights were allowed to carry swords.--Wrong, or not entirely true." 

• "Since in most regions swords were regarded as 'weapons of war' (as opposed to the dagger, for example), peasants and burghers, not belonging to the 'warrior class' of medieval society, were forbidden from carrying swords. An exception to this rule was granted to travelers (citizens, merchants, even pilgrims) due to the inherent dangers of travel by land and sea. Within the walls of medieval cities, however, the carrying of swords was generally forbidden for everyone--sometimes even nobility--at least during times of peace. Standardized measures for the trade, usually attached prominently to medieval churches or city halls, often also included examples of the permissible length of daggers or swords that could be carried inside city walls without fear of penalty." 
• "Due to social changes and newly evolved fighting techniques during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it became gradually acceptable for civilians and noblemen alike to carry the lighter and thinner successor of the sword, the rapier, as an everyday weapon for self-defense in public. Indeed, until the early nineteenth century, rapiers and smallswords became an indispensable dress accessory for the European gentleman." 

"Swords are heavy and crude weapons.--Wrong."

• "Whereas a single-handed sword on average weighed 2-4lbs., even the large two-handed 'swords of war' of the fourteenth to sixteenth century rarely weighed in excess of 10 lbs. With the length of the blade skillfully counterbalanced by the weight of the pommel, these swords were light, sophisticated, and sometimes beautifully decorated. As illustrated by documents and works of art, such a sword, in the hands of a skilled warrior, could be used with terrible efficiency, capable of severing limbs and even cutting through armor." 

"'Blood grooves' and poisoned blades?"

• "The actual function of such a groove or grooves is simply to lighten the blade, decreasing its mass, without weakening the blade or diminishing its flexibility. Consequently, such grooves should be correctly referred to as either a groove or a fuller, or by another appropriate technical term."