• De stoelen in het koor daterend rond 1400

• De stoel van de duivel

• Het doopvont 

• De drie vrouwen op 

• De waterspugers op het zuidportaal.

• De wandbeschilderingen met kruiden

• En niet te vergeten de Maria kruidentuin voor al uw ziekten

Helaas heb ik niet overal foto’s van genomen, tijd en de warmte speelde ons parten. Ben je nog eens in de buurt dan is het zeer de moeite waard om eens een kijkje te nemen.

Yesterday, our order of custom made replica coins arrived. They are groten (groats) as minted by Jan IV van Arkel, bishop of Utrecht and lord of Deventer, between 1342-1364. On the front side of the coin is his portrait and his coat of arms.

Normally the coins of the bishopric were made in the city of Utrecht, but extraordinarily Jan van Arkel also minted in Deventer! Of course this is one of those coins. To make its provenance clear, on the back of the coin it says 'Moneta Davent' and, referring to the Deventer coat of arms, it also shows an extra little eagle in the second quarter of the cross on the backside. The full text is + IOH EPC TRA IECTENSIS , + BNDICTV SIT NOME DNI NRI IHV XPI , MON ETA DAV ENT. Of course originally these coins would have been in (partial) silver. To keep the costs down, our replicas are in pewter (but not cast!, really minted!).




 

We are going to have loads of fun using these coins for our display and events. Explaining to the audience, buying stuff, selling stuff... Of course we would never gamble with them, because that is against the law and we would not want to get cross with the bailiff.... ;)

But seriously, what could you buy with these groten back then? When in 1372 nobleman Jan van Blois was on his campaign to conquer the nearby duchy of Guelders, his army stopped by Deventer to buy some supplies. Here's a list:

• 156,8 groten: a shipment of fish, containing
• 65 hakes
• 50 big carps
• 2 'tal' of breams
• 6 fresh salmons
• 12 salted salmons
•  52 groten: more fish, containing
• 20 hakes
• 30 carps
• 200 breams
•  29,60 groten: fish!, containing
• 12 cods
• 1 'mese' of bloater herrings
• 1,60 groten: 100 wooden bowls
• 0,60 groten: 1 pound of beeswax candle
• 0,20 groten: 1 pound of tallow candle
• 8,13 groten: a collection of stuff, containing
• 9 pounds of oil
• 100 apples
• 1 'spint' of flower
• onions
• garlic
• 200 wooden bowls
• 8 pounds of almonds
• payment for the ferry across the river IJssel
• 0,53 groten: payment for the ferry for a wagon with fish
• 1,20 groten: payment for ferrying some people across 3 times
• 0,80 groten: the shoeing of 6 horse hooves
• 0,67 groten: 1 (blank) book of paper

You can imagine it is hard to pay someone in 0,67 part of a coin ór having to bring hundreds of them, so there was a need for smaller and bigger coins than just groten. That is why they also minted 1/8 groten, 1/2 groten and double groten, and of course they had gold ecu's from France. We just haven't ordered these yet...

So, I got myself a jupon! In this post I want to look at some of the sources we have for this martial garment between 1360 and 1370, as well as my reconstruction.

Sources

 

What's a jupon?

A jupon was a coat that was worn as an outer layer of body armour. Of course spellings varied from region to region, but the correct terms in the Low Countries and northern Germany seem to have been scoep (the 'oe' was pronounced as 'oo') and schope. By the third quarter of the 14th century, these coats were lined, stuffed and quilted to keep the stuffing in place. When very heavily stuffed and quilted they were also known as jacks. In 1364, the city council of Paris ordained a new law for their makers. It stated:

Se l'en fait cottes gamboisiées, que elles soient couchées duement sur neufves estoffes et pointées enfermes, faites à deux fois, bien et nettement emplies de bonnes estoffes, soie, coton ou autres estoffes, par lesdits maistres. Et quiconquefera euvre de gambesine, soit paletot, juppon, jacques ou houppelandes gamboisiées, que lesdits maistres puissent avoir Visitation, en quelques lieux que elles soient faites, pour sçavoir se l'euvre sera bonne et loyale et de loyaulx estoffes, et que tout ce soit fait à deux fois, excepté les houppelandes armoyés.

"This is how they make gamboised coats: in them are duly laid down new stuffings and then quilted thoroughly, done twice and well, using good stuffings of silk, cotton or other stuff, by the said masters. And whoever makes gambesons (doublets), or paletots (type of doublet), juppon (jupons), jacques (jacks) or gamboised houppelandes (gowns), shall be visited (by the city council) to check that their work is good and that they use the right stuffings and do it (quilt) twice, except for the armed houppelandes (gowns)."

A law of 1358 that stated what prices the tailors of Danzig could ask for their services, said that they could charge 3 'scot' for a Jope with 1 pound of cottonwool stuffed inside, and 0,5 'scot' extra for each extra pound of cottonwool. Very similar the tailors of Stendal had a law in 1379 governing that they could charge 1 'lot' for a Jope that was quilted 'as usual', but could charge more for a Jope that was called a Jack and was quilted 'more costly'.

When was it worn, and Who wore it?

As said, padded jupons were worn from about 1350-1360 and onwards. This evolution was described in general by Jacques de Hemricourt from Liège, when he wrote (around 1398) about a battle near his hometown in 1325. He compared the armour worn at the battle with that worn in his own time:

Et estoiient armeis de plattes ... et lachiet sor les plattes, bons ryches wardecors d'armes, armoiiez de leurs blazons. ...
Mais, à present, cascons est armeis d'unne cotte de fier appelée panchire, ... ; et ont vestut on joupon de festaine aile deseur, sy que nus n'est conus encontre son compangnon

"And they were armoured with (a pair of) plates ... and covering their (pairs of) plates, (they had) good expensive coats of arms, armed with their heraldry. ...
But, in the present, each is armoured with a coat of iron called panchire (mail coat) ... ; and they are dressed with a jupon of fustian over this, so that they can not recognize each other (because of the lack of heraldry)."

And it is described more explicit by Tilemann Elhen von Wolfhagen, who wrote in his Limburger Chronik (1377-1398) in Limburg an der Lahn concerning the years 1350-1359:

In der selben zit da vurgingen di platen in disen landen, unde di reisige lude, herren, ritter unde knechte furten alle schopen, panzer unde huben. ... Di manirunge unde gestalt von den schupen hatten bescheiden lengde, unde di arme wanten endeiles ein spanne von der asselen oder zwo spanne, unde endeiles hatten nit me dan da man die armen ussstiss.

"In these same times, the (pairs of) plates went away in these lands, and the mounted people, lords, knights and riders all wore schopen (jupons), panzers (mail coats) and huben (bascinets). ... The manner and form of the jupons (is that they) had a modest length, and some of the sleeves measured one span from the armpits or two spans, while some did not have more than (a hole) which the arms stick out of."

In short, these two gentlemen described that many mounted men at arms no longer wore their heraldic surcoats after c. 1350-1360 but preferred to wear a non heraldic but stout jupon instead. Not only the noble soldiers wore jupons. If we look at prescribed pieces of armour that citizens should own we see that even poor people could be obliged to have one. For instance in the lawbook of the town of Nordhausen of ca. 1350, we find that whoever owned only 3 marks worth of goods should still own:

eyne schopen. Isenhut. wapenhenschu. eynen spiz. vnd eyn swert

"a jupon, iron hat, gauntlets, a pike and a sword"

Next to the poor guy also the wealthiest Nordhausen citizens that had 60 marks worth of goods should own a jupon on top of a full suit of armour. The wealthy and the crossbowmen of Braunschweig had to own two jopen in 1371, next to a coat of mail, iron hat, helm, collar, gauntlets, lances, etc. In the city accounts of Deventer of 1378 there is an entry for the purchase of fustian to give to the crossbowmen guild to make dobbel schopen for its men. The doubling possibly meant that these jupons were extra thick, mayhaps they were jacks. Fustian, a fabric with a linen warp and a cotton weft, seems to have been used a lot for jupons. When in 1372 nobleman Jan van Blois ordered a jupon to be made for him, he had 3 ells of fisteyns linnen lakens bought for it. And in the Canterbury Tales (1387-1400) the attire of the Knight is described thus by Chaucer:

Of fustian he wered a gipoun
Al bismotered with his habergeoun

All besmudged by his haubergeon (mail coat)"

As the jupon was worn over the mail coat, it was the inside that got 'besmothered' while the outside stayed (relatively ...) clean. In some instances the outer layer of fustian of the jupon had an extra cover of silk or woollen cloth. The purchase accounts of Jan van Blois state this and we can also see it on the (slightly later) extant jupons of the Portuguese king João I (c. 1385), the English crown prince Edward of Woodstock (+ 1376) and the French crown prince Charles VI (c. 1378).

That's a funky Shape

As stated by Tilemann Elhen von Wolfhagen, the length of the sleeves could vary. We encounter this in the numerous depictions of the jupon in art as well, for example in the Rhineland where they seem to have favoured a diamond cross hatch quilting pattern. These depictions also show that the jupon was really close fitting in the 1360-1370 timeframe with a pronounced waist and chest. While the chroniclers state that the pair of plates became relatively impopular, we know from other text sources that from 1360-1370 the separate breastplate came into use as a substitute. It is very well possible that it was worn on top of the mail coat but beneath the jupon and therefor hidden from sight of the chroniclers. Next to the corset-like doublet, such a hidden breastplate would have added significantly to creating that typical greyhound chest look that was so popular from about 1360. Plus, it would have been some nice rigid protection against lances .... !

Upper left: Folio from a c. 1360 Speculum Humanae Salvationis manuscript from Cologne of Westphalia (Univ.- & Landesbibl. Darmstadt, Hs-2505). Upper right: depiction of Johan I von Nassau (+1371) from Kloster Arnstein, now in the Landesmuseum in Münster. Lower left: effigy of Johann von Brandscheid (+1370) in the Stiftskirche, Kyllburg. Lower right: drawing of the no longer extant effigy of Johann III von Rappoltstein (+1361), from the church in Rappoltsweiler (now Ribeauville).

Reconstruction time

Since the new jupon had to fit me: over my doublet, mail coat and breastplate, I had Isis help me make a pattern while wearing these items. As you can see, we designed a small triangular cutout on the front of each small sleeve, like on the effigy from Kyllburg to give a bit more freedom of movement of the arms forward and upwards. Likewise, we accounted for circular cutouts on the lower hem of the skirt, like in the Kyllburg and Rappoltsweiler effigies, to allow the legs to move better and straddle a horse. Quite practical when you want to joust (or ride to the battlefield for that matter).



 

For the outer shell I chose a medium thick broadcloth from the Bavarian cloth company Mehler, in their '409' shade of blue. The lining was to be made of a handwoven fustian that I bought at an event at Ystad in Sweden in 2009. Like the Charles VI jupon I wished a flap lying underneath the buttons and buttonholes to protect this weak spot. Because buttons were one of the most common ways of closing this garment, I opted for this with my reconstruction. I wanted the thickness of the jupon, when stuffed with cotton batting, not to exceed 1 cm as it should be a jupon and not a thicker jack. All my wishes and the following overall design, together with the fabrics and patterns, I sent to A.D. 1410, who did a splendid job of turning it into a jupon.






Here's what the lining of my new jupon looked like after its first use: already quite besmothered by my mail coat. ;-)

 
And last week I used it for real, in a joust of war without central tilt and with historical solid lances. It performed splendid! Though with such a tight fit, it is quite a challenge for people to help me get it on or off...
 

This summer I recreated a mid 14th century helmet with a nasal piece, this is its story.

Prologue

Our decision to attend the 2016 re-enactment of the battle of Wisby of 1361 meant I had a big deadline to come up with a whole new suit of armour. As it was my wish to partake in the battle on horseback I could no longer use my old 14th century armour of a foot soldier (which had not been updated since 2004 anyway and shamed me to hell). Luckily I was able to buy several good pieces of armour second hand (thanks Jan!), so I could focus on making the few still missing items myself.
This also gave me the opportunity to recreate a piece that was particularly special to me because I discovered it over ten years ago: a nasal of a bascinet helmet. This piece, which had been excavated at the market square of the town of Amersfoort by its archaeological service in 1991, was published in the book 'Nering en vermaak' with the subscript that its original purpose was unknown. I recognized it for what it was, contacted the archaeologists in 2005, took photos and measurements and was asked to write a small article:

Brokamp, B. (2005), Een raadsel opgelost; vondst blijkt onderdeel wapenuitrusting. In: Oudheidkundige Vereniging Flehite, Kroniek: Tijdschrift Historisch Amersfoort, jaargang 7, nr. 4, pp. 2-3. Amersfoort: Museum Flehite.

When Doug Strong asked me in 2011 if he could use one of my photos in his to be published volumes on surviving plate armour 1250-1430, I photoshopped one to look good and send it to him. This photo has mysteriously made it onto pinterest a year ago, with a wrong dating (1330-1380). We know from the archaeological publication that the cattle drinking pond in which it was found was filled in around 1375 with rubbish from the market square (such as the nasal).

Left: The photo I took of the Amersfoort nasal in 2005. Right: My photoshop clean-up of that photo in 2011.

The Amersfoort nasal did not consist of steel plate of X mm, but was made out of a thick slab, slightly hollowed out at the backside. This made it very sturdy and not likely to get bend easily when hit by a weapon.

About nasals

In the late 13th century it was common practice for knights to wear an iron or steel skullcap in combination with a maille hood (which was separate or part of a maille shirt) and an all enclosing helm over these two. The helm offered good protection against lances and arrows but could be taken off to be better able to do close combat with swords and such (and be still protected by the skullcap).
This skullcap, known as bascinet in English and French and as huve/hube in Dutch and German (meaning cap), evolved in the early 14th century into a helmet that came further down the sides and back of the head. Also the maille hood was dispensed with, instead a maille curtain was attached to the bascinet. In the Holy Roman Empire armourers started experimenting with lengthening this maille curtain in a triangular shape upwards over the nose, where it could be temporarily attached to the brow of the helmet. By 1330 this flap of maille was replaced by an iron or steel plate counterpart, a nasal piece, which stayed in use as late as 1370, judging by its depiction in funerary art until that time.

Left: A Bildindex picture of the effigy of Rudolf I von Hogenberg (+1336) in Rottenburg am Neckar. Right: A Bildindex picture of the effigy of Gunter von Schwarzburg (+1349) in Frankfurt am Main.

According to the late 19th century armour historian Boeheim this nasal piece was called a bretèche. I assume he meant in France, but he does not state a source (!!!) or further explanation in his Handbuch der Waffenkunde. A Flemish manuscript about the story of Gawain, written in 1350, does tell us the probable Dutch / German name: a nesebant (noseband).

Mettien heifti tswaert verheven
Ende gheraectene weder metter hant,
Ende cloofde hem helm ende nesebant,
Ende sloech hem in al toten tanden,
Doe trac hijt uut met beden handen,

Which I translate as:

"At once he lifted the sword
And hit (him) again with (the force of) the hand,
And cleaved his helm and noseband,
And smashed him in all unto the teeth,
Then he pulled it out with both hands,"

As you can see here, the sword cut through a helm and through a noseband. You could argue that this noseband might be a part of the helm but why then mention them separately? The logical explanation would be that the noseband belonged to a smaller helmet underneath the helm. Around this time helms were still carried on top of bascinets, as you can find in depictions in contemporary art but also in a description of the armour of men at arms in the year 1351 in the Limburger Chronicle.

... mit iren gekroneten helmen, darunder hatten si ire kleine ponthuben.

Which I translate as:

"... with their crowned helms, and underneath these they had their small pointy bascinets."

The noseband has the added advantage that it helps to stabilize the helm on top, which might explain why we see the bascinet with noseband often depicted on funerary monuments of knights but not so much in depictions of foot soldiers (who would not have worn a helm on their bascinet). Taking this thought further, I would best justify using such a setup within Deventer Burgerscap if my alter ego, merchant Henrik ter Brugghen, was a mounted man at arms. Luckily he is mentioned specifically as such in the Deventer accountbook of 1375. He was an alderman this year and with a few other aldermen lead several military campaigns on horseback of the city militia.

Reconstruction

In 2009 I made a simple small bascinet of 1.5 mm thick mild steel, but I never got round to furnishing it with a liner and maille. This was the perfect victim to install a new noseband on, which is what I did.

The bascinet that I made in 2009, photo taken prior to installing the vervelles (tubes for attaching the maille).

I made the noseband out of a thick slab of steel: a bit of hammering and a lot of stock removal. Of course I kept a picture of the original noseband nearby, printed on a 1 on 1 scale, for instant reference.

Time to create the latch to keep the noseband in place on the bascinet.

Noseband and latch finished.

Left: Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, c. 1370, photo by Roel Renmans. Right: Gunter of Schwarzburg effigy again (+ 1349), photo by me (2005).

Both the bascinet on the left and on the right in the above picture were a general inspiration for this project and for the method of fastening the noseband to the bascinet brow. The DHM bascinet probably had a visor instead of a noseband, but the latch system was likely nearly the same. I have not yet seen convincing evidence of a turning pin system. There is a bascinet in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg that seems to show this, but this pin is so flimsy that I guess it is a later addition by some collector or curator.
These days many bascinets are made way too large, because 95 % are not custom made for clients (or if they are, the producer still does a shitty job) and because of the whole current thing of 'medieval battle as a sport where you beat each other up' it is necessary to have a really thick layer of padding to prevent concussions. I wanted to keep my bascinet snug like the originals and depictions in art, and keep the ability to wear a helm over it. As you can see, in also keeping the measurements of the original noseband, the proportions of both together are still good. While if I had a too large bascinet, the noseband would have dwarfed next to it or I would have had to alter its shape. In the next photo you can see the size of my old bascinet, bought in 2001, next to the size of my new one with noseband. I could literally put the new one inside the old one.

Making the liner for the bascinet, and comparing my old and new bascinet (the latter with the new liner installed)

Left: Making a pattern for the maille liner from an old bedsheet and the pattern for the leather strap in paper. Right: The nearly finished liner which is waiting for the maille to go on top before I could see where to cut off the lower edge so they would line up.

Left: The way too large piece of maille that I had bought from India and needed to be cut short a lot, and triangles added up along the face opening of the bascinet. Right: the leather strap for attaching the maille and maille liner (that is why there are two rows of holes).

Here I am over halfway tailoring the maille. Left: Effigy of Gottfried von Arnsberg (+1372) in Cologne, whose length of maille I tried to copy. Right: Effigy of Lodewijk van Lichtervelde (+1375) in Koolskamp, whose small protruding chin and leather band running across the brow I used as inspiration.

Due to the fact that the organisation of the Battle of Wisby event asked me to portray the Danish king Waldemar I decided to make a crown that would go on top of the bascinet. As I still wanted to put a great helm on top, it needed to lie flat against the helmet surface. Also as I wanted to be able to take it off, I needed to give it 'loops' that could temporarily attach it to the vervelles. To cover the two frontal loops I opted for the leather band to run across the brow, like in the Lichtervelde effigy.

The end result, while me being King Waldemar at the battle of Wisby. Photo by Vera Bos.

Here I am wearing the bascinet underneath the helm, it worked fine.

I have a new knife!

 

Phase I: Documentation

Ever since I received my copy of the book 'Der Pritzwalker Silberfund; Schmuck des späten Mittelalters' in 2010, it has been on my bucket-list to have a knife made with a silver handle-mount like the one displayed on page 31.
This mount was part of a hoard that was discovered by father and daughter Amunde in 1858 at the parish of Burs on the Baltic island of Gotland. It had been buried there in 1361 for safekeeping when the Danes invaded the island. The Gotlanders were slaughtered at the battles of Mästerby and Wisby and we can assume that the owner of the hoard was one of them, since the treasure was never reclaimed. It is now kept in the Historiska Museet (Swedish History Museum) in Stockholm.

from Krabath, S. (2006), Der Pritzwalker Silberfund; Schmuck des späten Mittelalters

Masterpieces mentioned in north German goldsmith guild statutes

It is this type of knife-mount that was one of the masterpieces that a goldsmith-journeyman had to make before he could become a master of his trade. We find this mentioned in the goldsmith guild statutes of several important Hanseatic towns of the fourteenth century and even as far west as Groningen in the early sixteenth century. The underlined parts of the text are about the knife-mount in particular and I have translated these bits for you.


Stade, early fourteenth century
Quicunque aurifaber volens fieri suus ipsius dominus debet facere annulum aureum, fibulam anglicam, fibulam subarracionis gheblakmalet et anulum cultello circumdatum dictum byworp eciam gheblakmalet.
- 'a ring around the knife, called a byworp, also inlaid with niello' -

Riga, 1360
Vortmer we sulhere wille werden, de sal maken en gulden vingerin mit vinsteren und ene Engelsche brazen, und ene hanttruwe brazen geblackmalet, und einen biworp mit smelte; desse clenode sal he wisen den mesteren und den olderluden des ammetes.
- 'a biworp with enamel' -

Hamburg, 1375
Darna scholen de wergkmeister darto zeen, dat he sin ampt wol kone, unde schal maken eyn guldene vingern mit wormeshoveden unde eyn par bende mit smelte to eneme meste, by des wergkmeisters brede.
- 'a pair of bands with enamel for a knife' -

Wismar, 1380
Vortmer, welk goltsmit sines sulves wil werden, de schal tovorn maken en guldene vynghern, ene enghelsche breetzen vnde ene hanttruwe gheblackmalede breetzen unde enen byworp ghelecht umme een mees, ok gheblakmalet.
- 'a byworp laid around a knife, also inlaid with niello' -

Riga, 1393
Und he sal maken dre stucke werkes, dat en en gulden vingerlin, dat ander 1 paar biworpe mit text-buckstaven, dat derde en hantrouwe bratze, und de dre stucke werkes sal he vor dat werk bringen.
- 'one pair of biworpe with letters' -

Lüneburg, around 1400
Item schal he maken dre stucke werkes in des werkmesters bode: dat erste is eyn gulden vingeren myt vinsteren und myt wormeshoveden; dat ander is eyn par byworpe myt swibogen und myt dereken darynne und amlegeret; dat drudde is eyn handtruwebratze gegraven myt bökstaven und amlegeret.
- 'a pair of byworpe with arches and with doors (?) therein and enameled' -

Wismar, 1403
Item Wen hir danne en knecht en Goldtschmidt werdt de schal also syn werck maken Int Erste enen golden rinck mit ener hogen kasten und mit twene drakenkopken und eme Bresse mit enem engell, und ene bresse mit der vortruwing gheblackmalt, und enen byworp baven up dat Mess, ock gheblakmalt
- 'a byworp on top of the knife, also inlaid with niello' -

Groningen, 1512
de twe stucke werckes soelen zijn twe bewarpe myt beesten ghesneden onder glas gheanuliert ende elck beworp sal hebben een sunderlinge manieer. Dat derde werck sal syn een gulden gestrengede rynck gedreit vergadert
- 'two bewarpe cut with beasts and enameled with glass and each beworp shall be in a different manner' -

Other sources and thoughts

In the Historical Museum of Szczecin in Poland (the former Hanseatic town of Stettin) another three extant pieces of these 'byworpe' are kept. They were part of a local hoard that was buried in the early fifteenth century. Hugh McDonald made the following photo when he was there in 2013, for which he has my gratitude. Two of these have the same opening from which the knife blade can protrude as the Gotland specimen has.

photo by Hugh McDonald (2013) of three silver knife mounts in the Historical Museum of Szczecin

Alas, I know of no extant examples of silver knife mounts from the Low Countries. There is evidence though that knife handles were indeed furnished with silver over here in the fourteenth century too. In the 1358-1359 household account of Dutch nobleman Jan van Blois there are three entries for knives mounted with silver, for example: Item den selven een mes mit sulver beslaghen, 40 sc.
Because the medieval goldsmith guild statutes of Deventer are no longer around, it is unclear if these mounts were called 'byworpe' there as well. The fact that Deventer was situated on the border of the Low German language region and the fact that they were called 'beworp' in Groningen in 1512, gives food for thought though.

Phase II: Reconstruction

The design

In Deventer Burgerscap I portray a merchant called Henrik ter Brugghen. In the war of the Hanseatic League with Denmark in 1367-1370 he was one of Deventers soldiers on campaign in Denmark and Skane, so he might have picked up the knife there. And as Deventer merchants also traded intensively with the Baltic area through the Hansa network, it seems logical that Henrik might also have bought a knife with silver mounts on one of his business trips there. As you can see the provenance of the knife makes for a great conversation piece at living history events today.

With this in mind I decided to have a knife reproduced, using the Gotland extant mount. I asked a friend who works at the Historiska Museet if he could come by detailed photos of it. In response, the museum had the piece photographed and put them online in their collection database, for which I am very grateful. The text says + HELP MARIA -+ HELP x IHESVS. The 'collar' through which the blade should go seems to have been gilt.

photos by Historiska Museet (2015) of the knife mount from Burs, Gotland

In the north German goldsmith statutes sometimes a pair of mounts are mentioned. Therefor, I opted for a pair of mounts on the reproduction as well. I thought it easiest to have the top mount to be a copy of the extant one too, but with a cap on the end instead of the 'blade-collar'. Because of the mention of wormeshoveden / drakenkopken (wyrmheads / dragonheads) on rings in the statutes, and because of the mural paintings in Archeon being from house Drakenburg in Utrecht (one of my research projects), I chose a wyrm / dragon as cap decoration. I found a good example of such a beast in the fourteenth century finds from Wiener Neustadt in Austria.

from Hofer, N. (2014), Der Schatzfundt von Wiener Neustadt

from Hirschberg, R. M. (2005), Messerformen im Hochmittelalter unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Mark Brandenburg

drawing by Bertus Brokamp (2016)

The replica

In October 2015 I contacted Anton & Ludmila of Gothic Cast and asked if they could make this knife for me and gave them the above design info. I requested a blade with iron core and steel cutting edge, for the handle to be made in walnut burl wood and to have gilding on the mounts' collar, arches and end cap.
A few weeks ago, at the Battle of Wisby reenactment at Wisby, they gave it to me in person. It was pretty special to get this knife there; a knife with a silver mount that was based on the one that had been buried nearby in Burs, because of that same war in 1361. And although the knife differs from my design (it is straight all along, instead of having the sleek curves from tip to end), I still think it looks majestic! Or should I say Mercantile? ;-)







Now I just need a good scabbard to go with it....