Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: null and void
I wonder how much a knight in shining armor, with his arms, and the saddle, and the armor for the horse weights? Anyone?
109 posted on 02/28/2002 5:21:39 AM PST by null and void
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 108 | View Replies ]


To: null and void
I wonder how much a knight in shining armor, with his arms, and the saddle, and the armor for the horse weights?

Honestly? Not as much as most people think. From about 1000-1300 AD, the standard chain-mail rig in use ran about 60 pounds or so - partly because people, on the average, were smaller back then than they are now. The full-blown plate armor, a la "Excalibur", that came into use around 1400 would have been slightly heavier, but not much more so - here's a modern maker who makes plate armor in the 50-70 pound range. That style armor didn't really last long, anyway - around the time it was introduced, firearms were being introduced also.

All told, a fully-equipped warhorse of the day would have carried not much more than about 300 pounds, which would have been relatively easy for a horse approximately the same size as a modern Clydesdale. The real reason for having such a big horse was because of the way the saddle was set up - when you hit something, the force of impact was transferred from lance to knight to saddle to horse. A bigger horse means a bigger blow to your enemy.

113 posted on 02/28/2002 7:46:16 AM PST by general_re
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 109 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson