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Watch my recent video about Norwich cathedral that I posted last week ;)

Yes he certainly would have. Gambessons weren't really a thing during the Saxon period, that was more of a thing beginning in the 12th century. The Romans did have a form of padded shirt similar to a gambeson though.

@ that’s super cool thank you for answering

They were certainly multi layered, unfortunately this perishable material rarely survives in any state which is useful to archaeologists but we do know that they likely had thinner gambessons than the 12th century equivalent.

The Saxons certainly had kaftans!

@AlexTheHistoryGuy I don't doubt it. I'm poking fun at modern anti-globalists.

The Anglo-Saxons certainly had long coats that looked like what we call kaftans today (as I am sure most cultures did), but they didn't call them kaftans. The proper Asian kaftan wasn't really introduced into the west until late Victorian times.

​@@RasheedKhan-he6xx I'm anti-globalist, what you saying? Come at me.

'Knight' is a norman word but it's essentially the same thing. I highly doubt lance on horseback is useless without a stirrup as cavalry were using lances for thousands of years before the stirrup was invented. Less impactful, sure. Useless, no.

I believe he had an internal liner sewn into the helmet

Sad times :(

That's what the shield is for.

I love West Stow, it's fascinating. Oh wow really? I'd love to see that!

Haha well in comparison to the 15th century, these 11th century guys can don their armour pretty quick!

why wouldn't they be? red isn't THAT hard of a color to get man, it isn't blue. even that could be gotten without too much struggle if you wanted it just had to put up with the smell

@ARC5 don't know the dying process for either lol (I mean granted I could look it up). But to clarify my comment was an "oh I didn't know that" not being snide ^^

Haha don't worry I know what you meant, and I appreciate your intrigue :) If you watch my recent "Hidden Secrets of Norwich Cathedral" video, I discuss the quest for colour during the medieval period and why it meant so much to them :)

@@AlexTheHistoryGuy I shall certainly do that!

I believe it was custom made from Habibi Armoury in India, very good value and decent quality.

Explain

You have to consider that Rome had far more resources and wealth than the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms

@@MarcoCaprini-do3dq I know. Jus a fact of tecnology degradation.

@@AlexTheHistoryGuy Even a simple Roman soldier who served on a remote frontier was equipped in a similar way. But in a time of anglo-saxonic period only the village nobility could afford to equip themselves in this way?

@@EykisCorporation Thegns were often minor nobility, warriors like earls and huscarls would have worn maille

Yep, UK reenactment support Ukraine a lot

Saxons certainly did fight on horseback, the Snape burials even had horses buried with the owners :) Hastings was just an outlier where the Saxons were on foot.

​​@@AlexTheHistoryGuy werent they more like mounted infantry? Just like the normans were?

I thought they rode to the battlefield on horseback, but then dismounted to fight on foot (apart from some light cavalry/skirmishing units).

​@@JohnyG29 this is true, even after the Norman conquest, the English knights went back to dismounting before fighting.

Thank you! This is exactly the reason why I make videos like this, I've always learned better from visuals and in-depth video guides rather than text in books so I'm glad that others appreciate it too:)

How fun!

I had the same issue. Kept having to pause it to read.

It's a tricky one. I only have a certain amount of footage so there's a limit to how long I can show text on screen until the footage moves onto another scene so I only have a small amount of time to display the text. So yes, pausing may be your best bet haha.

Thank you :) yes indeed, not everything has to be armour!

Thank you, the Saxon in question is a friend of mine from a reenactment group, his wife makes most of his kit :)

I've been visiting here since I was a child and I continue to notice new bits and pieces every time I walk around the cathedral! Hope you get to see these for yourself next time you visit.

They were indeed, as were most artillery, bloody dangerous for both the user and the opponent

I didn't actually get very long to speak to him, the little time I had to chat was spent mainly talking about the Shorwell helmet as that was the main component I knew about. I've been told by various people that the wide belts are a Larp thing but no one has ever actually been able to tell me why. In my own personal use, wide belts help support maille a lot better, keeps everything tucked in and allows me to breath through my chest better rather than lower in my diaphragm so I have nothing but good things to say about wide belts. Of course, I have no solid evidence one way or the other.

Bears a strong resemblance to a late-Roman military belt "balteus".

It wouldn't surprise me, this kit is only from a couple hundred years after the Romans formally left Britain, and the majority of Romano British were still living alongside the Saxons during the 6th century

@@AlexTheHistoryGuy The Sutton Hoo belt buckle is quite wide for the time, not as wide as this one though. So maybe there are wider belts, but not as wide as this? I've never seen anything this wide as a material find, or in any art from the period.

Nearly everything I normally wear as a viking.As for the belt I do have a thicker belt but I was kept being told it was to thick so I got thin ones. But the thicker one is still used if I carry my sword on my belt I find it more comfortable.And my helmet has the nose guard. But I was thinking of get the same sort as in the video as they probably was the most common from around the 4 to 14th century they was cheap.But I read somewhere that someone was found with a cook pot on his head. And they might have used boiled leather helmets.The problem is people expected things like leg wraps but they was not really used as much as you think.My spear is how long as I can get in my car. Nearly every one carries a sword but I think axes are more fun.

Thank you :)

Thanks! They are my favourite types of videos to make at the moment, unfortunately reenactment season is now over so I'll have to wait until next year to make more. Feel free to share on your channel!! :)

I've had Dunfermline on my radar for a while. Unfortunately Scotland is difficult for me to get to as I live in Norfolk. I have been to various Scottish places like Melrose, Kelso, Hermitage, Edinburgh etc but that was a few years ago and before I began recording all the places I visit for making videos. I shall have to return!

@@AlexTheHistoryGuy Hopefully, one day, you will find your way back north of the border. I can totally understand where you're coming from. There are parts of Scotland that I'm struggling to get to, and I live here. The joys of being stuck in a badly paid day job.

My pleasure :)

Some did, some didn't :)

Yes there are tonnes of Green Man / Wild Man depictions throughout the cathedral. I believe there are 3 local 'Green Man's tales in East Anglia.