Did they actually look like that?

**KrooK** · 11-19-2006, 12:58

It seems to be Great Master of teutonic order. But I think that in reality he didn't have that cross over helmet.

**Watchman** · 11-19-2006, 15:26

There was one phase when it was fashionable to have, well, pretty much anything atop your great helm as decoration. As such paraphenelia was normally made out of something like papier-mache or somparable materials the effect, one way or another, was purely cosmetical.

**Innocentius** · 11-19-2006, 16:14

To give a simple answer: No.

Decorative things like the "crown" atop the helmet were only worn in tourneys and during other social occations.

**hellenes** · 11-19-2006, 16:36

Well except the crown cross thing on the helmet is the rest historically accurate?

**The_Doctor** · 11-19-2006, 18:27

Well except the crown cross thing on the helmet is the rest historically accurate?

Yes.

**Marshal Murat** · 11-19-2006, 19:15

The shield looks a little small for a knight.

**Seamus Fermanagh** · 11-19-2006, 20:24

Shield size varied according to custom, period, social standing, etc. For those fighting on horseback with the lance, the shields trended smaller as the quality and specialization of the armor trended higher, with the shield eventually disappearing altogether from high-end armors in the late middle-ages/early renn.

Your Megaknight depicted in the first post is clearly kitted out for some form of ceremony/parade. Anything that could catch an edge -- particularly when you were trying to duck your head away from a shot -- and anything that could tangle you up/encourage a fall would be discarded in battle as a matter or practicality. The romans did the same thing with all the horsehair crests you see in movies, just a parade item.

**Innocentius** · 11-19-2006, 21:29

Originally Posted by The_Doctor

Yes.

What?!

No, it must certainly is not. To begin with, the fabric seems to be silk, there is some form of pattern on the lance, the knight wears colours (gold) that were not used by the Teutonic Knights, he's got a flag attached to the lance, the "clothes" worn by the horse are way over-decorated (as the clothes belonging to the knight), the knight wears some form of robe and on top of that: the horse has some really odd proportions.

Perhaps, a teutonic knight in the mid-to-late 13th century (judging from the armour) could have looked like this at a tourney or parade or something (apart from the gold), so in a way it's all historically correct. But no knight would ever have dreamed of going to battle dressed like that.

**IrishArmenian** · 11-20-2006, 01:26

If I remember correctly, most Catholic Warrior Monks wore white with Red Crosses (See English Flag, not UK, for a look-alike).
The Warrior Monks, despite their prowess on the Battlefield, wore chainmail, a large helmet like the one pictured (minus the bells and whistles) and a white tunic with a red cross on it. Most fought on horseback, but could dismount.