Visby mail coifs: ring sizes & mysterois disposal

[Subdeacon Joe]

*** Visby mail coifs: ring sizes & mysterois disposal ***

Two of the Visby mail coifs that had been clearly removed from the fallen soldiers' heads before getting tossed into the mass grave. One coif is of ~13 mm flat rings, another of 3.5-4 mm rings. This shows nicely the full range of mail sizes found in the Visby material.
In my opinion, deliberate disposal of mail armours, especially those already removed from the bodies, and especially those of the coveted small rings, constitutes a mystery that is not satisfactorily explained by any theory to date.

Once again, I thank the SHM curators Helena Rosengren and Maria Neijman for providing me access to these items.

#history #medieval #medievaladvisor #armor #reenactment #helmet #knights #warfare #romanesque #manuscript #art #medievalart #gothic #castle #medievalarmor

 

[Sedalia Dave]

That is interesting.  Given the time and expense of making quality mail and the fact that it is more forgiving of fit than plate armour, you'd think that it wouldn't be discarded. 

 

I'd also expect the same to be true for other weapons.

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

I was given to understand (this from an armor maker in the current Medieval re-enactment community) that a captured knight was not infrequently held for ransom.

The family back home generally would ransom the armor, as it cost a young fortune.

The theory was that they could always sire another son, but armor was terribly expensive!

[Alpo]

According to Scott, in Ivanhoe, in the tournaments when one knight unseated another one, he not only won that joust but he won the losing knight's horse and armor. At the end of the day the loser's squire would bring his master's horse and armor over to the winner's tent, along with a bag of gold to ransom it back.