The popular image of the medieval suit of armor looks formidable enough that any of us could be forgiven for assuming that, with its steel-plated protection, we’d emerge from even the most harrowing battle without a scratch. Yet if we really found ourselves transported to, say, the French side in the Battle of Agincourt, we’d probably feel a keen sense of just where those English arrows could nevertheless land a fatal hit. This is the matter investigated in detail in the video above, a production of Tod’s Workshop, a British maker of “accurate and detailed historical reproduction crossbows, sword scabbards, swords, daggers and other medieval weapons, and artifacts.”
This isn’t some backyard target-practice session for Medieval Times habitués, but a gathering of experts in a variety of relevant fields. Tod’s Workshop proprietor Tod Todeschini brings on both the company’s armorer and fletcher (that is, maker of arrows), as well as arms-and-armor historian Toby Capwell and a highly skilled archer named Joe.
It is Joe’s task to shoot a great many of the workshop’s faithfully crafted early-fifteenth-century arrows at its faithfully crafted early-fifteenth-century suit of armor in order to provide a visual — and, in slow motion, visceral — demonstration of just how well it could really hold up against the mighty English longbow.
In some respects, the suit acquits itself nicely: many of Joe’s arrows simply bounce off plate armor, sometimes snapping in the process. But whenever a shot hits something other than a plate, things get considerably dicier. The layers of chainmail in the gaps between helmet and breastplate or breastplate and pauldron (which covers the shoulder) turn out to be more vulnerable than they look, and as for the wholly un-plated groin area, the less said the better. The year 1415, the hosts explain, was before the development of the head-to-toe suit of armor that comes to mind today when we think of medieval knights — a development no doubt inspired in part by the fate of the numerous but hopelessly outgunned French army at Agincourt.
Related content:
Ancient Greek Armor Gets Tested in an 11-Hour Battle Simulation Inspired by the Iliad
What It’s Like to Actually Fight in Medieval Armor
How to Get Dressed & Fight in 14th Century Armor: A Reenactment
How to Make and Wear Medieval Armor: An In-Depth Primer
What’s It Like to Fight in 15th Century Armor?: A Surprising Demonstration
How Well Can You Move in Medieval Armor?: Medievalist Daniel Jaquet Gives It a Try in Real Life
Based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and culture. His projects include the Substack newsletter Books on Cities and the book The Stateless City: a Walk through 21st-Century Los Angeles. Follow him on Twitter at @colinmarshall or on Facebook.
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