How A Man Shall Be Armed: 14th Century

This video offers a virtual tour of the Royal Armouries museum, filmed just before the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The description highlights the museum's collection of arms and armor, promising an "eerie tour" and inviting viewers to learn about behind-the-scenes activities, combat demonstrations, jousting, and expert insights. It encourages engagement through comments and directs viewers to the museum's website and social media for more content.

This video details the construction and function of 15th-century full plate armor, a pinnacle of the armorer's craft. It breaks down the protection offered by individual components like sabatons, greaves, cuisses, poleyns, the cuirass, and pauldrons. The explanation highlights the intricate articulation and design features, such as fluting and sliding rivets, that allowed for mobility, while also noting the eventual obsolescence of plate armor due to the rise of firearms.

This Royal Armouries "Arms in Action" video segment explores the historical development and enduring effectiveness of personal protective armor, specifically mail and plate armor, and projectile weapons like slings and spears. It delves into why these seemingly simple defensive and offensive tools have remained relevant throughout history, even in the face of advancing technology. The description highlights the evolution of armor from basic animal hides to sophisticated metal defenses and traces the origins of slings and spears from primitive hunting tools to their continued use in more modern conflicts, questioning the underlying reasons for their remarkable longevity.

This video offers a visual tour of Elizabethan armours housed in the Tournament gallery at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. It focuses on historical defensive wear, showcasing the craftsmanship and design of armour from that era, likely detailing different types, components, and perhaps historical context for their use in tournaments and combat.

This video discusses the medieval tournament as a spectacle, focusing on jousts, tourneys, and pas d'armes between 1100 and 1600. Speakers Alan Murray, Karen Watts, and Martyn Lawrence, from the Royal Armouries, delve into how these events evolved from military training to elaborate displays of chivalry, often incorporating theatrical elements. They highlight the social and economic significance of tournaments, the diverse forms they took across Europe (e.g., Tudor 'Joust Royal', Burgundian 'pas d'armes', Imperial jousts), and the inherent dangers despite sophisticated armor. The video also promotes a book on the subject with a special discount code and encourages viewers to subscribe for more content on arms and armor.

This video from the Royal Armouries introduces modern jouster Marie Baron, discussing her passion for the sport. The content ties into the 500th anniversary of the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520, where King Henry VIII participated in a joust. While the video is in French, English subtitles are provided. It is part of a series introducing various jousters, with a playlist linked for further viewing. The Royal Armouries aims to showcase its collection of arms and armor through events like jousting demonstrations.

This video features Ian McCollum and Jonathan Ferguson in a 60-second challenge at the Royal Armouries to find three unique firearms: a Charlton Automatic Rifle, a Schwarzlose Model 1898 pistol, and an early SA80 prototype. They discuss unusual mechanical operations and limited historical impact, highlighting experimental designs like the Sterling 7.62mm prototype and the Mars .45 Automatic Pistol.

The Knight's Armament KS-1, designated L403A1 by the British Army, is a new AR-15 platform rifle adopted for specialized units like the Army Special Operations Brigade and Royal Marines. It features a 13.7-inch barrel, ambidextrous controls, and is equipped with a Vortex 1-10x LPVO and an Aimpoint ACRO P-2 for versatile engagement ranges. The rifle utilizes a KAC QDC/MCQ-PRT suppressor and is part of 'Project Hunter' to enhance interoperability with allied forces.

This video details the armor and weaponry of an 11th-century Norman knight, emphasizing the evolution of protective gear. It covers the padded undergarments, the mail hauberk constructed from thousands of iron rings, and the nasal helmet for head protection. The kite shield offered significant defense, while primary weapons included the lance and a one-handed sword.

This video explores a unique modernization attempt of the Martini-Henry rifle using Captain Harston's Patent Magazine. Jonathan Ferguson details the Mark IV rifle's features and the external magazine's mechanism, designed to convert the single-shot rifle into a five-round repeater. Despite its ingenuity, the system faced issues with reliability, high conversion costs, and was ultimately overshadowed by superior bolt-action designs like the Lee-Metford.