Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

I received this picture of a pair of medieval statues (Grave monuments) from a web visitor (Brad) who is a fan of all kinds of medieval things.  He needs help identifying the figures in the picture. I am not sure who these figures are and I could make a few guesses but I want to be sure. Maybe you recognize these statues. The architecture and stained glass in the background, not to mention the dress of the figures gives us some great clues as to the country and time period.

Anyway, If you recognize these figures just send me an email! And thanks for your help!

If you have been following my blog for some time, or if you visit my medieval website you might be familiar with the unusual case of the mysterious medieval chest. Someone sent me pictures of a beautiful wooden chest and wanted to see if I or my readers could lend some insight into what it was, when and where it came from. I got a lot of great responses to this and you can read all about it on my medieval castle website here: The Mysterious Medieval Chest

A lot of the speculation revolved around the front of the chest which had what appeared to be a carving of a castle.

I received an email from somebody (Stephen W.) about this carving on the front of the chest. He proposes that it looks more to be a group of bell tents in an encampment rather than a castle. And it makes sense. I think he has really pegged this just right. Here is a partial quote from the email he sent me:

I have an interest in military architecture, tents and chests and the “castle” idea does not fit with what I saw.

I see a group of bell tents with unusual rounded topped door ways, but with the conical shape depicted in some manuscripts and other depictions (i.e. Lorenzo Ghiberti’s, Gates of Paradise (East Doors), Baptistery in Florence (1425 - 1437 A.D.), second panel from the bottom left, a group of five bell tents.

Some tents have been depicted with dorma windows (i.e. Jean Froissart’s Chroniques de Froissart, The Jousts of St. Inglibert (British Library, MS Harl, 4379, f 23v). The structures show a number of features of bell tents; apex decoration, valance decoration anc clear demarcation between the roof and the side panels.

So this could encampment scene may date from the 15th century and not 13th century, which would correspond with the type of chest and over decoration of the chest. See this link http://www.larsdatter.com/chests.htm for clearer picture of chest design and development over time.The decoration and style of chest looks more like this: http://www.insecula.com/oeuvre/O0002751.html

Here is a picture that he refers us to:

The similiarity is uncanny and I think that Stephen really pegged this! My thanks to him for this insight and for the research he did toward this mystery.

You can also read my previous blogpost about this Medieval Chest here: The Case of the Mysterious Medieval Chest

In doing my research I have been coming up with a lot of interesting turns-of-phrase (and words) that we use today yet find their roots in medieval times. Here is an interesting selection of some of them:

Carry your heart on your sleeve - During tournaments a knight would often wear on his sleeve a favor from a lady such as a ribbon or veil.

Stretch a point - Points were laces that attached pieces of armor to the doublet. If they got loose or stretched they could render the armor ineffective or useless. A knight would not want his points to stretch.

Chink in the armor: Refers to weak spots in real armor such as gaps where different armor parts met.

Crestfallen: This refers to the crests on the tops of knights helmets during tournaments. In some tournaments the goal was to knock off the opponents crest.

Run the Gauntlet: A dangerous risk or dangerous undertaking. The gauntlet was a form of punishment for swedish and german military where a person being punished would have to run between two facing rows of soldiers who would strike him.

Knight in Shining Armor - This appears to be a compliment but could be used as a slight. The point being that if a knights armor were shining he was not tested in combat.

Panache - This was the name of feather endowed crests on the tops of helmets during the renaissance. They could be very bright and extravagent.

You probably know I have been working hard on a visual dictionary of medieval armor and weapons and that is a project that is going well. I am having fun and learning a lot of cool stuff. But, in my research I am also digging up all kinds of interesting medieval tid bits that don’t really fit into anything I am working on. They are however rather interesting so i thought I would share some of them with you.

Famous knights of yore had the tendency to name their swords:

• Roland (from The Song of Roland) named his sword ‘Durendal’ (Enduring)
• Charlemagne named his sword ‘joyeuse’ (Joyous)
• The Saracen Emir Baligant named his sword ‘Precieuse’ (Precious) Sounds very lord of the rings doesn’t it?
• Some other knight named swords were ‘Hauteclair’ (High-Bright) and ‘Murgleys’ (Death-Brand)
• Beowulf named his borrowed sword ‘Destroyer’

Ok now let’s test your knowledge of weapons and armor.

Do you know what Gonfalons are?

How about a Scramasax?

Ever heard of a Spangenhelm?

LOL, Some fun stuff isn’t it?

I have been tinkering with the idea of a compendium of medieval weapons and yesterday I finally started working on it. It just seems like it would be a fun project to undertake and it will be interesting to see how many weapons I can get into it.  The first section is on Polearms from the middle ages and I have spent two days now drawing sketches and researching just the polearms.

The history and development of polearms is pretty interesting and it is of course logical to see how they morphed over the centuries and how they were often adaptatations of farming tools - at least in the early centuries.

Well, if you are interested in polearms or medieval weapons in general hop on over to my medieval site and check out the new section on Medieval Polearms.