"Secrets of the Shining Knight" PBS" - 4 October (1 Viewer)

[BLReed]

Tonight on PBS's NOVA a program about making armor. Perhaps some of you knights
could pick up some pointers.

"A knight in shining armor may sound like a character out of a storybook, but once upon a time, knighthood was serious business, and for countless medieval fighters, their armor was what stood between life and death. But what was it really like to live beneath the metal? How was that shining armor crafted, and how strong was it? Could it withstand impacts from the most lethal weapons of the day, including crossbows, muskets, and early guns? NOVA challenged blacksmith Ric Furrer and master armorer Jeff Wasson to recreate parts of an elite armor that was originally manufactured in the Royal Workshop founded by King Henry VIII. We trace their successes and setbacks from start to finish as they rediscover centuries-old metalworking secrets, then put their new armor to the ultimate test against a period musket."

 

[nysoldiers]

Thanks....watched this last night and was quite fascinated by the complexity of making plate armor. The design, planning and manufacturing were challenging for modern makers with more advanced tools so it is hard to fathom how they did it hundreds of years ago. The heat needed to melt the iron ore and the assumption that protective gloves and face masks were not available must have made the process very dangerous for Medieval and Renaissance workers.
Makers in the 1400's and 1500's, centered in Italy, Germany and England produced high quantities of armor albeit in many different levels of quality.
The Metropolitan Museum in NYC has a nice collection of armor and I visited several museums in Italy (Milan and Genoa) that also had extensive collections.
JJD's Wars of the Roses series illustrates 15th century plate armor very accurately.