Gambeson A&S class

Gambeson A&S class by Leonhart
Leonharthunt@gmail.com http://squirespath.blogspot.co.nz/

Note this is a work in progess - I still have more researching to do and need to add more links and sources, if you have spotted any info or mistakes/ false assumptions please email me.

The gambeson, a term that until at least the end of the 13th century was used interchangeably with Aketon, acton, arming coat, auqueton, hacketon, haqueton, Treyja, panzari/panzer, vápntreyja, wambais, wambesium, wambuis, wambs or Zabai.

But with all the different names, its purpose remains the same this was as a padded garment worn under or over armour to reduce kinetic damage.

The term gambeson is a loan from Old French gambeson, gambaison, originally wambais, formed after the Middle High German term wambeis "doublet", in turn from Old High German wamba "stomach" (cognate to womb.)

The term aketon, originally medieval French alcottonem might be a loan from Arabic al-qutn "cotton cloth” In medieval Norse, the garment was known as vápntreyja, lit. "Weapon shirt," or panzari/panzer. Treyja is a loan from (Middle) Low German. Panzari/panzer is probably also a loan from (Middle) Low German, though the word has its likely origin in Italian, and is related to Latin pantex 'abdomen.

Padded garments were part of soldiers’ kits in varying forms. As early as the late Roman (subarmalis) /early Byzantine period (Circa 330) there is documentation for quilted or padded coats called Zabai or Kabadia.

Zabai
The Gambeson can be worn as external protection and is not limited to under plate padding as shown by the Zabai even with no additional reinforcement offered by leather or steel, but this was dictated by the weapons of the culture/period, No additional reinforcement was required in early African culture where the Zabai originates due to the weapon being mostly blunt force trauma so the Zabai was very heavily padded to reduce the kinetic impact trauma, unlike the Roman Subarmalis which was worn under Lorica segmentata (note: the name is actually not correct, Lorica Segmentata was coined in the 16th Century the original name is unknown) which was much, much thinner and designed as secondary kinetic impact protection after the originating trauma is spread by the plates.

You will find that the gambeson adapted to the situations presented and changed dramatically with style and fashion of the times.

Roman Subarmalis
Roman Subarmalis
The purpose of a gambeson is to either be a primary or secondary source of Kinetic trauma protection and this is achieved in various ways,

Layers upon layers of Cloth usually linen although other materials are documented as being used up to 30 layers in some cases, but the average was 15 alternating layers (laid with weaves opposing)
This creates quite a resistance fabric, that has shown to be pierce resistant and is quite similar to modern body armour. While it does absorb some kinetic impact trauma these kinds of gambesons were mostly used alone as a “jack”, sometimes used with a breastplate with no back-plate, or in gaps as pieces of additional protection or reinforcement. The most detailed account of a 30 layer Gambeson are found in the household accounts of Sir John Howard 1st Duke of Norfolk in 1485 describing 30 alternating layers of Linen and fustian (a linen and cotton mix) with an outer layer of Deerskin, often these were quilted with the “channels” following the movement of the body, or by dictates of fashion.

Sir John Howards household accounts also provides insight into The "doublet of fence" for each front quarter 18 folds of white fustian, 4 folds of linen, and one fold of black fustian for covering (23 folds total). Each back quarter was made with 16 folds of fustian, 4 folds of linen, and one fold of black fustian for covering (21 folds total). The sleeves were of 6 folds of fustian, two of linen cloth and one of black fustian. Sir John Howard paid 20d for the doublet. Interestingly, Robert Reed notes that there are no records of arming doublets in Sir John Howard's books. But do mention "Scottish" or "Welsh" jacks could these be referring to arming doublets?

The other type of gambeson was a stuffed garment with 2 – 6 outer layers of Linen or deerskin with channels sewn into the fabric then stuffed with a variety of materials, Raw wool made the most superior padding but other materials were used like Tow (tow is the waste from linen cloth production) and emphasised that the English considered that the softer they were the better they were able to withstand blows. Other references mention the illegal use of rotten linen ... the advantage of rotten linen is that it is softer and moves better but is weaker and degrades quickly or even Horsehair (Arabian)



Horsehair gambeson


There are also many “treatments” to improve the protection by Soaking the cloth in brine or vinegar to close the weave increasing resilience or lice/odour control (as has been suggested by others) to linseed oil and beeswax to increase longevity and water resistance (although this is not an experiment I have yet tried) , but this treatment was used by sailors in period to increase the speed of their ships at the cost of increasing the degradation of the fabric.

Quilted gambesons with a batting as the absorption layer are anachronistic and I have found no period references to their use, but quilting with stuffed pockets were prevalent and even today a few samples have survived in the form of bed coverings, One such example is the Tristan quilt that depicts scenes from the story of Tristan and Isolde. This is one of three surviving examples that were made in Sicily at the end of the fourteenth century. These quilts were made of linen and only stuffed in selected areas after the decorative stitching was completed.

The images from the Maciejowski Bible (circa 1250) Show Aketons, but these terms were interchangeable in surviving documentation, but the weight of evidence suggests that the “Aketon” referred to garments worn under mail while the “gambeson” were worn overlaying mail, the Gambeson is often referred to in period accounts as being worn by the common soldiery and is a required piece of equipment required by the Assize of Arms of 1181,  A proclamation of King Henry II of England concerning the obligation of all freemen of England to possess and bear arms in the service of king and realm and to swear allegiance to the king, on pain of "vengeance, not merely on their lands or chattels, but on their limbs" specifically Item 3: all burgesses and the whole community of freemen shall have each a gambeson, an iron cap, and a lance (by lance its suggested that it means pike/long spear not a horse lance)

Maciejowski Bible

Maciejowski Bible

Infantry as laid down in the Assize of Arms of 1182, often wore one of two types of gambeson. One type was a sleeveless garment with a stiff collar and stiffened arm openings; the other was a plain quilted garment reaching the knee, with full-length sleeves.” Some had 4 padded collars, some dags, some integral mittens and they were seen quilted in a variety of ways. Their styling often followed the fashion of the day, especially in the later middle ages but the type of gambeson during those times remained as either the padded or layer cloth design based on the availability of cloth and the type of armour that was worn with it. (In the case of the poorest soldiers no additional armour at all)

Examples from the fourteenth century include the pour point of Charles de Blois (d. 1364) and the late fourteenth century jupon of Charles VI. Fifteenth century.

Pourpoint of Charles de Blois

Jupon of Charles VI


These garments were worn under maille, over maille, under plate, over plate, or on their own. Some were designed to encase maille or plate (coat of plates/jack of plates some surviving examples had integrated padding so can be referenced under the term “gambeson”)

The English Great Wardrobe Accounts detail the use of linen, cotton wool (2.3 lbs/ 1.4 kg’s), silk thread, and linen thread for the construction of an Aketon (13434) to be covered with fustian and enclosing a coat of mail or plate.

When wearing a gambeson you are essentially wearing a quilt which can have major drawbacks this was alleviated in many ways throughout the ages, Even as detailed by the 15th Century Treatise “How a man schall be armyd at his ese when he schal fighte on foote” (c.1450) an excerpt: He shall have no shirt upon him but a doublet of fustian (cotton/linen weave) lined with satin, cut full of holes, presumably to reduce heat build-up.

Quilted leather open jackets and trousers were worn by Scythian horsemen before the 4th century BC, According to Herodotus (the father of history), Scythian costume consisted of padded and quilted leather trousers tucked into boots, and can be seen on Scythian gold ornaments crafted by Greek goldsmiths.

Sythian Goldwork

Sythian Goldwork


Gambesons underwent a revolution from their first proven use in the late 11th and early 12th centuries as an item of armour that simply facilitated the wearing of mail to an item of independent armour popular amongst infantry.

This quilted defense was also used as a standalone defense by the lower ranking soldiers from the 12th century until at least the end of the 15th century. It had tight-fitting sleeves which could end in straight or dagged edges. The bottom of the aketon could also be straight or dagged. Almost invariably, these defenses had collars that seem rather stiff. It appears that the length of the aketon evolved with the armour worn above it. In the 12th and 13th centuries the hauberk was the main metal defense worn, and it reached to the knees; the aketon of the period followed suit. During the 14th century the hauberk shortened to reach above the knees and the aketon shortened respectively. In the second part of the 14th century the waist of the aketon narrowed significantly to reflect the other changes in fashion (the so-called "wasp-waist"). These defenses could have had slits on the sides and the back to allow for riding. Until the 14th century virtually all examples of padded defenses worn under the armour were shown to be pulled over the head like a shirt. This suggests that initially the quilted armour did not have an opening on the front. During the 14th century, padded garments which open on the front were shown. These were closed by lacing, or more rarely, buttons.
With the advance of full plate armour after 1410, the metal plates used could withstand blows due to their rigidity and transfer the force over a much wider body area. Thus the use of plate largely removed the necessity for very thickly padded textile defences, but still required a thinner garment to be worn. These new, thinner quilted garments are called arming doublets (or arming coats, jacks or pourpoints). They were usually shorter than the previously described aketons and gambesons, and had full length sleeves. Arming doublets provide an armour attachment base in addition to providing comfort in wear. Since plate covered most, but not all, of the body (like some joints), the arming doublet was sometimes covered with mail voids to add more protection to vulnerable spots like the armpits or groin.

14th C Arming Doublet
Out of period - Although quilted armour survived into the English Civil War (1642–1651) in England as a poor man's cuirass, and as an item to be worn beneath the few remaining suits of full plate, it was increasingly replaced by the 'buff coat' – a leather jacket of rough suede.
While the use of linen has been shown in archaeological evidence, the use of cotton – and cotton-based canvas – is disputed since the access to large amounts of cotton cloth was not widely available at this time. It is quite probable that Egypt (and Asia-Minor generally) still produced cotton well after the 7th and 8th centuries and knowledge (and samples) of this cloth was brought to Europe by the returning Crusaders. However logistics and expense of equipping a town militia or army with large amounts of cotton-based garments is doubtful, when flax-based textiles (linen) was in widespread use.

Padding was not just limited to the chest but also other area’s Gamboised cuisses were quilted defenses for the thighs. Their method of construction appears to have been much like that of aketons and gambesons. One of the richest resources depicting what gamboised cuisses were like is the Maciejowski Bible. According to depictions therein, gamboised cuisses were "like a pair of vertically quilted waders cut immediately below the knee" as described by Blair. These cuisses were sometimes adorned with embroidery. Gamboised cuisses were in use from no later than 1250 until at least the beginning of the 15th century, and maybe later. The basic construction did not change much except when the cuisses were studded with rivets. This was indicative of reinforcement with metal plates. Gamboised cuisses were worn not only under the mail cuisses, but also over them. The lower ends of the cuisses were secured just under the knee by a strap and buckle or by a thong. One of the main roles of the cuisses was to serve as an attachment base for the poleyns (a metal cup covering and protecting the knee).

Maile Voiders

Leather stripes, not just for decoration but reinforcement.


The head of the medieval soldier was often protected by quilted, soft armour: the arming cap.
Arming caps were used until the 16th century, though past the end of the 14th century they are rarely seen as a standalone form of head protection. The arming cap was a padded version of the civilian "coif" that closely fit the head and had ear lappets that were tied together under the chin. Such arming caps were worn alone, or with some sort of metal armour, mail coif or a helmet. There are examples of arming caps worn over the mail coif suggesting that there might have been a thinner garment underneath the mail coif to prevent chafing. Some arming caps have a thick circlet around their periphery that is presumably used to support a helm. Arming caps were often used in conjunction with the padded liners of helmets, It is also arguable that indeed the arming caps may have evolved into the padded linings of the helmets of 14th and later centuries.

The padded linings of two visored bascinets from the Churburg castle were made from canvas or wool and stuffed with cow hair to provide padding. Two mid-16th and mid-17th century quilted liners of German and Italian close helmets reveal that they were made from linen and were stuffed with cotton. The thickness of those liners varied from 2mm to 15mm, the thinnest parts being where the stitching was.

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