English longbowman – a soldier of fortune

Leather vest with diamond pattern Modest and costly, full of royalty and monkish humble, this leather armor costume represents leather vest with diamond pattern – true choice of the kings. This armor is for everybody who wants to have royal look without spending the treasury.    Steel armor provides with perfect protection, but it is quite heave and will restrict your movements. Expensive brocade or velvet doublet is sightly one, but it will not protect you at all. So, in this sticky situation, when you need not too strong, but comfortable body protection, which look so good-looking that it is not a shame to wear it for royal court, so there is only one choice – functional leather armour – light, firm and steady going. The best armorers of Steel Mastery have made precisely this leather costume. Inspired as by ancient gravures of the medieval knights, so by modern pictures of fantasy warriors, after long meetings, debates and fights, our masters reached conclusion and created perfectly sustainable medieval le..

Early cabasset (chapel) Here is a pinnacle of the French armorers’ engineering in the XV century. Yes, don’t smile and look so surprised. This “egghead” and funny medieval helmet was the best protection against the most tremendous hand-held weapon of that epoch. But, let’s talk about step by step. Cabasset, Aragón, Spain. 1490-1500, Philadelphia Museum of Art Chapel is an identifiable ancestor of cabasset, as it was the only affordable type of head protection for unwealthy mounted knights and infantrymen. However, such plain and unattractive medieval steel helmet saved many lives. In comparison with expensive and complex closed helmets, cabasset had such undeniable advantage as lightweight, easy breathing and hearing. Such disadvantages as non-covered face and neck are obvious as well. So, why did helmet with such weak protective qualities not die out, but developed, changed and existed much longer, than its closed comrades? Chapel becomes flatter on the sides and more extended top, transforming into cabasset,..

Medieval shoulder blades are a good pauldrons choice, but also an interesting armor element with its own story and features you will undoubtedly be interested to know of. Their story begins a long long time ago, somewhere between the late XVth - early XVIth century. Now it seems like a brutal tale, but in Medieval times, there was a man whose courage and skill, strength and luck led him through the heat of battle. His life was bright like a shooting star but just as short... However, it wasn’t always that bad if this brave warrior had time to concern about decent armor to protect himself in battle. This man – English archer – wore plate spaulders. This cool guy’s outfit wasn’t that fashionable in the capital, however, trendy in Surrey. Simple chain mail, almost like this one (only a little bit shorter plus made of stainless steel), worn under the leather jack, and cabasset on the head. But the most interesting armor part was the shoulder blades that he got as a trophy from the fallen knight (do not ask how this happened, bel..