 |
| For the time being I will not provide much historical infromation on maille. I have a great interest in history and would like to share that, however I have not the time just now to do it properly. So I will provide a link to a very useful sight. Here you will find some basic history, as well as some fabulous pictures of surviving pieces of maille. A few things I would say about these pages. Notice that all of the larger pieces (shirts, cape etc.) run the expansion of the maille across the body. This is almost totally universal in historical maille. It is widely known and accepted by most armourers today, however from time to time I still do come across someone who states that the correct way (in view of history) is the hang the maill vertically. This is just not the case. (Though it is prefectly acceptible to do so in many non-armour applications produced now a days. Notice also though that in the maille gloves, the strech is not around the hand, but down it, to allow for the most mobility. (This is highly logical, but is still something many people will refute. Running the maille horizontally should not be taken too far!) There is an hisotrical piece of 6-1 featured on this page, a relatively new find. It is reasonable to assume that the jump from 4-1 to higher density maille would have been simple to make, however this has only now been proved. 6-1 may now be considered historically legitimate, at least from about the 18th century on. Though the oldest pieces of maille found to date suggest a Celtic origin to this armour, there is some very interesting textual evidence that it may well have evolved seperately, and possibly earlier, in the middle east. I will post a link to information about this soon. Lastly, though it does make up the bulk of historical finds and does provide a superior combat protection, it is unlikely that rivited maille was all that was used in battles. This for the simple reason that it woul have cost (as today) at least twice as much as butted maille. I am sure that some people would have resorted to the less expensive model. Also to be considered, rivited maille may have held up better to the elements of the centuries which could account for the relative proponderance of it in the archeological record. Also to be considered, riviting is a fairly advanced process, and was probably learned over time. The first malle, it seems likely to me, would have been butted because it is the simplest method of production. Being from an earlier time, this armour may no longer be left for us to find. In general there is very little maille found in tact, and certainly even less of the very early armours. Time, ware and war have taken a heavy toll and so it is hard to say with absolute certainty just what maille of the past was like. Some speculation is needed. All that to say that rivited, or rivited and forged ring, maille does not necessarily have a higher right to "authenticity" then the butted variety. |
|