Well, it's because I was under the impression that most household archers would have been mounted from the late 14th c onwards. I'm not married to the idea of being "mounted" per se, though I want to do a professional archer in service, rather than an indentured blacksmith or whatever. I'm a "solo practitioner" and not attached to any group, though I think La Belle Compagnie is close by for my 14th c interest if I get the itch to play. For my 15th century interest, I've been focusing on being an English archer in Burgundian service, for no other reason than I really like the Wolf Argent website. I also want to be flexible enough to play WotR if that's not too much to shoot for.

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Originally posted by Strongbow:
"...why a mounted archer rather than a foot archer?..."

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I will see if we can find something more specific regarding the boots and spurs.

~J

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Mounted archers would have worn boots - besides looking at pictures of civilians riding (the most popular and readily accessable being various illuminations from "Canterbury Tales"), reading sources lik De Haynins memoires mentions them being worn by mounted archers during the expedition against Liege in 1468 (this is the source where he mentions such small details as the archers removing their spurs when they dismounted to fight), and the Ordinances published by Charled the Bold from 1471-1476 (check Vaughn for an overview), specifying the type of boot as required equipment.

it is the one part of your kit that marks you as a mounted archer specifically - the only way I would see round it is if you had full cased greaves, in which case you would still be wearing some form of ankle boot.

I hope this helps.

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So... tall boots with tinned bronze spurs?

I'll add it to the list!

English 15th c; brass; 6 pointed rowel

French 15th c; bronze; 6 pointed rowel

- steel, tinned, latten finish; 6 pointed rowel (cites that several others like it exist in the Kunsthistoriches museum in Vienna).

German 15th c; most were iron; 6 pointed rowels

Italian spurs it was the same in this book.

As Jeff mentioned back at the beginning of the discussion, "The Medieval Horse and its Equipment" has an excellent archaeological survey on spurs found in England.

Another book which has a fine description (which I cannot seem to lay my hands on at the moment) is the "Salisbury Medieval Catalogue Part 1" (you can find it at www.kingskeep.com > Books > Artefacts).

I've excluded spurs that were obviously noble due to the engravings and mottos found on them and some of the strap material. Many of them were mercury gilt bronze.

To answer your question:

• get a pair of riding boots - It marks you for a mounted archer even if you don't ride.
• I'd get a pair of steel or iron spurs, or if I used another metal, I'd tin them. I don't think the common man would be wearing anything gold colored or gilt.

Jenn

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Originally posted by Woodcrafter:
Gwen, yes iron would be silver when polished, but it also easily rusts. Tinned iron would not rust and therefore be really low maintenance. Any servant would be too busy attending and would want a quick fix for his own appearance. At least that is how I feel after years in the military.

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Contrary to what you might think, iron doesn't rust as much as modern mild steel. As I understand it, that's why many iron objects survive, yet steel ones don't. And even modern steel is rather rust resistant if well polished.

You shouldn't attach your idea of a modern military person's "lack of time" to a Medieval soldier, especially a mounted archer. Mounted archers were generally better paid than other soldiers, so could likely afford to have a craftsperson occasionally maintain their equipment, especially if they are attached to a nobleman's household.

So far, I have not seen any published survivals of conclusively tinned spurs. Tinning seems to be something done to lower class objects. Gilding was generally something done to middle class objects to give the "appearance" of a gold object but without the expense of solid gold, as many of the gilded pieces in my collection and the collection of numerous people and museums will attest. Gilding of average quality bronze fittings was a common practice apparently, as I believe the large number of surviving gilded middle class everyday artifacts supports, whereas items belonging to the upper end of the economic spectrum (ie. the nobility) would be silver gilt or solid gold.

Just because something was "gold" colored, doesn't mean it was solid gold.

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Just because something was "gold" colored, doesn't mean it was solid gold.

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Never made that assumption and hope you didn't think I was.

Jenn

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If you are buying, HE makes some very nice ones and Jeff lists the materials and the process they use and why (1st post on the topic).

The archeological records are all over the board with material, geographic location of the find, span of years, and how they were decorated (coated or not).

It's going to come down to a personal preference and what you feel comfortable with. I don't think any of the LH groups in the US will tell you that you cannot wear "gold toned". I think the only time you'd potentially have a problem is if you are wearing spurs that are coated in real gold.

Jenn

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