As I sit here taking a break from making preperations for our monthly presentation at the Higgins Armoury, I look forward to the day we will be setting up our own encampment at events.

The question is a bit misleading - I of course know what are useful tools to have at an encampment - shovels, picks, hatchets, mauls, etc. What I'm interested in making/aquireing are historcally correct items so we can leave them about the camp without shifting to hide them from the public.

As a for instance, a shovel. I think it would be neat to have one of those wooden spades with a small iron blade on the edge (probably stinks to dig with it). I do have a couple of small axes (Arms and Armours small bearded axe, and a Windlass bearded axe with a pierced blade ans a wooden haft)that can be used for chores. How would one go about making a lead maul and what would an appropriate one look like? I do have plans for making a wheel barrow like the one on display at Warwick Castle.

quote:

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Originally posted by chef de chambre:
What I'm interested in making/aquireing are historcally correct items so we can leave them about the camp without shifting to hide them from the public.

I do have plans for making a wheel barrow like the one on display at Warwick Castle.

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Chef,
Any chance of getting a link of where the plans are? Or a copy of them? I'm happy to mail you a big envelope to send back if necessary and pay for photo copies. You can't have too many plans on how to make stuff. Thanks!

For images of tools a couple come up quickly, but they are mostly carpenters and stone masons not necessarily camp tools.
The Bedford Hours c. 1423 http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/html/m/master/bedford/index.html
Jean FOUQUET, Building of a Cathedral http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/art/f/fouquet/cathedrl.jpg
Piero di Cosimo, The Building of a Palace, 1515-20 http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/art/p/piero/cosimo/building.jpg
Joseph's Workshop in the Merode Altarpiece, 1427 http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/art/m/master/flemalle/merode/3mero_r.jpg

I'm a little confused by your question about making a lead maul. My experience with lead is that it is very soft and therefore not particuarly suited to hitting things with, much more suited to hitting things into. Is there a particular reference that brings this up? As to how to make something of that size in lead I would use sand casting.

I think I'm with Peder on the hammers. From looking at hammers pictures and hanging out with a couple of metal workers I think the shape of a hammer head has much more to do with what you want to do with the hammer than time period. The better hammers are forged not cast so in this case it is a matter of newer techonlogy providing an inferior product. One note on handles, I don't recommend trying to do something fancy like turning a handle, they need to be oval or other wise you really have to look at how you are holding the hammer each time you pick it up. Hand made wooden mallets (e.g. bottom left corner of the ark building scene above) might also make a nice touch since woodworking seems your skill.

quote:

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Originally posted by Peder:
Have those ordinances I sent you revealed anything about what kind of stuff ya'll would have

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Brent, ... you wouldn't care to expand a bit o that would you! Which ordinances?

However the point is a good one ... if you want to know what you should have in your camp you'd best start by looking at what was bought for the campaign. Fortunately such records do survive ... including both the equipment for part of the 1475 expedition (for the king ordinance) and what was left in Calasi after the campaign.

It's very interesting reading ... vaious axes, hammers, stakes, carts, saddles, horse trappings, collapsible leather boats etc etc ... all the stuff you'd expect!

I haven't gotten around to translating the complete ordinances, but from my recollection of other translations, lead mallets aren't mentioned as part of the equipment. This really doesn't mean much, as the equipment listed in the 1472 & '73 ordinences are specifically arms and armour.

They are most definitely mentioned in 'The army of the Dukes of Burgundy 1465 - 68', specifically in reference to the 1465 campaign in the War of Public Weal.

We have our own copy of Gardiniers 'l'Artilerie de la Duc's du Burgognie' en-route, and I should from the primary information contained soon be able to list how many were bought each year... . They were specifically used to plant stakes as obsticals in front of archers.

I missed your question first time around - sorry about that! The plans for the barrow are in Daniel Dhiel's second book on Medieval Furniture, which is still in print. Had I the copyright to them, I'd give them to you freely, but I don't think the author would appreciate the gesture. I'd say it's the most useful pattern in the book as far as I'm concerned. It looks like wheelbarrows depicted in art, and it seems to match Plimoth Plantations reconstruction fairly well as well.

Shovels & spades
Mattocks & Pickaxes
Felling Axes
Hand Bills
Mauls of lead
Great Crows of iron
Small Crows of Iron
Great Cutting Hammers
Great Cutting Pincers
Small Pincers
Burners (?) of iron
Candel
Pavises
Lanterns
plus lots of bows, bowstrings, arrows of various sized fletchings and chests for them all

I've removed the numbers as I jotted several of the counts down wrong ... see my later post for more accurate numbers

Sorry

plus the guns and great crossbows, powder, brymstone, assaulting ladder, pontoon bridge leather boats etc. ...

plus all of the carts, horses and horse harness ...

... and a coule of tents

If I get the time I'll write this all out in full
Cheers
Dave

Browse their catalog, select Medieval World. I believe it is under Medieval Sources/References, you can search for "howard household".

I don't know if the Edward IV records are still in print or not. Try consulting the Richard III Society. http://www.r3.org

Jenn

quote:

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Originally posted by Peder:
Dave, Have these been published and if so where?
Brent

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They have, sort of ... they are in a PHd Dissertation I was pointed to by Neil McGurk so thanks to him ... the ref is

Holmer, Paul Leroy
Studies in the Military Organisation of the Yorkist Kings
University of Minnesota, Ph.D., 1977

It's a good piece of work and well worth reading if just for the appendicies ... as well as the lists of Ordinance it includes Indentures and a Ordinance of Edward IV for discipline in the Army.

This is a more full (and hopefully accurate rendition of the Ordinance from John Sturgeons expedition ... I'm quoting from Paul Homer's translation (and only including those bits relevant to this topic) but these have also been published elsewhere (or at last in part) and the PRO (Public Records Office refs. are included as well) E 101/198/13 is a later (but near contemporary) Ordinance Book based on extant original records of expenditure ...
I am going to try to get some (at last) of the originals to look at as I think there is actually quite a lot more than has been printed ...

Word of warning ... I transcribed this early hours last night and I've not proof read it yet ... so be careful!

Cheers
Dave

The Particulars of John Sturgeon's Indenture
Transfer from John Sturgeon to William Ross by the hands of William Bowes
E101/198/13 PRO

f.32a
Sturgeonz Indenture
...In chistes for bowys arowys and bowstringes ccl
In shovylles and spades m iiij[cc] xij
In mattokkes and pyke axes cciiij[xx] xvj
In felling axes lxvj
In hand billes lxxij
In malles of lede cccvj
...
f.32b
...In gret crowes of yron xlvij
In small crowes of yron xix
In gret cuttyng hamers viij
In gret cuttyng pynsors iij pair
In small pynsors j pair
In gret hokes of yron with cheynez xij
...
f.33b
In cressettes of yron iij
In stele j barell
In candell c xij dosser
In pavres xviij
In lantrannys iij
In sawting ladders viij
In botys of ledder iij
In peces of tymbre for a ffleting bregge xlj
In horsshome cc
In horsshp nailez c m
In vj peny naile m ccl
...

War material Listed in Sturgeon's Indenture which was shipped to Scotland in 1481 through the hands of William Comersale. Dated May 12 1481
E101/198/13
ff5a-6b PRO
(less perfect copy also in E101/198/13 ff.33a-34a

...Item in ffellyng axes lx
...
f.7
...
Item in lanternes
Item pelewes of lede ij
Item in leden mallys ccc
Item in grette kuttyng pynsors iij
Item in greate kuttyng hamerys vij
Item in greate hakys of yron w[t] cheynes vj
Item in smale crowys of yrin xv
Item in greate tamponnes ccl
Item in hegge bylles and handebilles lx
...

War Material Remaining at Calais after the shipment to Scotland
E 101/198/13
ff.35a-35b

Remanent of John Sturgeon

...Item vij gret crowes of yron
Item xij small crowes of yron
Item j gret cuttyng hamer
Item j peir if small pynssors
Item vj gret hokes of yron with chaynez
...
Item iiij bootys boats of ledder
Item xli peces of tymbre for ffloying brygges
...Item a di. barell of stele
Item in candell cxij
Item in old pavres xviij
Item in old lantrannys iij
Item in sawting ladders brokyn viij

Great question, Chef. I hope someone out there can post some references...

[ 04-26-2001: Message edited by: Yeoman ]

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We didn't dig with a shovel in the mine, you would do nothing but break the shovel eventually if you lasted that long at it. We dug with a pick or mattock, or spade-ended or pointed bar (crowes of iron?), and used the shovel only to remove the loose material.

It isn't evidence, of course, but it possibly explains why an iron-edged wooden shovel was sufficient.

The images definately concur with Gaston's observations about using shovels. When they are breaking up ground they are using pick axes or maddocks. When they are shown with shovels the ground seems to be already tilled and they are just removing material.

I have also come into the possession of a book with many images from late 14th century Germany. Some interesting tools are shown. Unfortunately for me the book is in German, so I am looking for someone who might be interested in working with me to better understand some of the passages.

Most of the shovels that I have seen in illuminations have either been completely made of wood or made of wood with a metal reinforcement for the edge of the blade. I believe that someone in La Belle has made a number of these.

Chris

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