How A 15th Century Valet D'armes Shall Be Armed

By around the beginning of the 15th century, we see professional armies become more common in medieval Europe. Previously, a knight would be responsible for mustering up some of his local villagers, arming them and taking them on campaign with him. Minimal military training would take place, and the soldiers were often used as more of a barricade or obstacle on the battlefield. During the Hundred Years' War, French knights began to be accompanied by at least two servants who were also professional soldiers, called the valets d'armes. This particular valet d'armes is considered a gros valet, which is one of the more heavily armoured versions of this professional French soldier. First the leg harness is worn. The first part of the leg harness to be worn is a fully enclosed greave to protect the At this point, I would like to invite you to support this reenactment group, Gendarmes 1415, by following their social media pages which I have put in the description below. It is important to support the reenactment groups you watch in these videos, as it allows me to make more videos with other groups showcasing military arms and armour throughout many periods of history. Next, the cuisse and polleins are worn, which protect the knee and upper legs. The pollein features a large fan plate on the outer sides of each leg, which help protect the back of the knee, which is one of the most vulnerable areas of the body. You couldn't put plate armour around the back of the knee, as you required this area to be exposed for mobility, so the fan plate helped to at least reduce the likelihood of injury. The leg harness is then strapped in place, and tied to the arming jacket with the use of laces, called points or point ties. The points feature small brass cones on the end, which helps poke the laces through the holes when attaching the armour. Unlike knives, Valet d'Armes did not always own their own arms and armour. Instead, the residential knight to whom they paid service to would sometimes provide the kit that they required. During this time, Italy was leading the way in the armour making industry. Their technologically advanced blast furnaces made working with metal much easier, so they could more easily make armour on an industrial scale for the export market. The Italian export market sold arms and armour mostly in three sizes, small, medium and large. It seems to be armour purchased through these Italian export markets that was reserved for these retinues of soldiers. A male collar is worn around the neck, complete with a leather trim for comfort. The collar is called a standard, and is made of many small metal rings, all linked together and riveted closed. Next, a quilted coat is worn. This padded garment is called a jack, and provided a basic level of protection, but the wearer would still be very vulnerable from thrusting attacks from spears as well as arrow fire. Sometimes a male shirt was worn underneath to help layer up protection against these threats. During the medieval period, male rings varied in size, but most had an internal diameter or hole of between 4-8mm. The sleeves can be tightened to bring them closer to the wrist, which is needed for when the gauntlets are worn later. There were many types of padded armour in the 15th century. Jacks, jupons, gambesons, pawpoints, akatons and many more were all examples of experimental padded armour. A globose breastplate is worn over the jack. These are rather expensive components of armour due to the amount of metal required to make them. The name globose comes from the globular shape, purposefully designed to not have any flat surfaces, making incoming strikes more likely to glance off and be less impactful. The breastplate is strapped around the back of the torso by the use of free straps and buckles. Circular plates, called rondels or spaulder plates, are attached to the jack by the use of laces. These provide at least a minimal level of protection for the shoulders and often worn when the soldier is going to be relying on a shield to protect his shoulders further. Hourglass gauntlets are worn to protect the hands. This style of gauntlet features multiple small strips of metal overlapping each other and sewn onto a leather glove to form the finger protection. Later on in the 15th century, these types of gauntlets were mostly replaced by the mitten style which featured large plates protecting all fingers at once. Mitten gauntlets provided more protection, but at the cost of lower dexterity in the fingers. The Grasse valet is handed his sword scabbard and belt, which is adorned in brass decoration. This shows that while he may not be a knight or a nobleman, he still carries considerable wealth and may own this item himself rather than being issued it as part of his kit, but of course he is also in the service of his residential knight, meaning that his retinue is representing him, so looking good would still be very important. A rondel dagger, the most popular type of dagger in the 15th century, is also worn and used to dispatch opponents at short distance. Next the servant fetches him his shield. This is an oval shield with a significant curve to better protect the soldier. The shield is strapped over the shoulder and around the arm to allow the soldier to equip his polearm in two hands, which greatly improves his ability to use his weapon effectively as opposed to only holding it in one hand. The last piece of armour to be worn is the helmet. This is a barbute or barbuta, and was popular in French and Italian militaries throughout the 15th century. It provides excellent close protection to the head and the back of the neck, while also providing unimpeded vision, as such these helmets have no visor to protect the face. The helmets feature an internal padded liner, providing additional comfort to the wearer. Finally the soldier is handed his main weapon, the spear. Spears were incredibly common during the medieval period, as they were cheap and easy to use. Their length meant that they could reliably keep the enemy at bay much easier than with a sword or axe, and their ability to be used in conjunction with a large shield meant that the soldiers were very well defended. One spearman on their own may not be too useful, but a wall of spears provided an excellent barricade to stop the enemy from advancing, giving the knights precious time to manoeuvre around the battlefield in relative safety.