A Story

Back in the dark days of 1998 I bought a cuirass, a back and breast plate. At the time, I was involved with 15th century medieval reenactment and needed the armour to keep my insides safe. But, instead of buying a replica cuirass suitable for the Wars of the Roses period (which would have been sensible) I was offered, and bought, a square topped cuirass, commonly described as "Almain Rivet", more suitable for the early 16th century.

Why did I do such a thing? Simply, I harboured a dream that one day I'd be able to wear it for reenacting the early 16th century. Back then it was a bit of a pipe dream. Nobody else seemed very interested in the period and I didn't fancy doing it by myself. A few years later I stopped doing 15th century reenactment, but for the last decade the armour (with its associated arm splints) has followed me from house to house, living in a succession of sheds and attics. I've kept it in the hope that one day I'd get to wear it.

Well, back in 1998 it seemed an awfully long time to 2013, but now it's not so far off and a few people have begun to explore the possibility of putting an event on to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Flodden. So, it's time to dust the almain rivet off and get the rest of the kit together to ride North and defend the border against those rascally Scots who have seen fit to invade while the King is away putting the French in their place.

So, over the next year it is my intention to put together a complete set of kit to represent a soldier at Flodden - arms and armour, clothing, accessories. Since my wife and kids will be joining me I suppose I'd better sort kit out for them too... this blog will be a record of my (our) progress.

I've chosen to portray a soldier of the Lord Admiral, Lord Thomas Howard's, division: one of the thousand or so soldiers that he brought from the fleet to augment the Northern army. There are a handful of reasons for this decision:

• By profession I'm a maritime historian, so it seems fitting to serve in the Admiral's division
• I've already got some information about the equipment of soldiers in the fleet in 1514, the year after Flodden which will help me to create a realistic impression
• Soldiers in the fleet seem to have worn liveries of green and white, which were the most common colours for soldiers in Henry VIII's service, so the kit will be easily adaptable to other portrayals.
• Sir Thomas Howard was involved in various actions and campaigns, from the defeat at sea of the Scottish pirate Andrew Barton in 1511 to an expedition through northern France in 1522, so it's a good portrayal for other early 16th century events too.

In the next post I'll make a list of all the kit I think I need (which will doubtless change over time), work out what I've already got (and how much of it needs overhauling), what I will need to buy, and how much of it I can make.

Til then, I remain etc etc.