Hi, my name's Kevin Hicks, welcome to my Youtube channel
the History Squad and we're going to look at today is what a bowman what a medieval bowman
wore on his head, not only just on a daily basis but also when he went on campaign,
when he was in combat and we're going through the ages here, so I'm just going to go
straight into this subject yeah? First of all you got to start with the basic your head yeah,
but everybody in the medieval times they covered their hair this is your medieval coif.
I say this is nice to keep your lice nice and warm underneath your head covering then you can put
other caps on yeah, but before we go any further I've just got to show you the lady version.
The ladies, in medieval times particularly, suffered quite a lot when it comes to the
church and I'm going to show you this quickly. So they had long hair
but they couldn't show it out in public because they would be regarded as a lady
of the night or if she's a married woman and she has a hair uncovered, so I understand, it was a
sign that she'd been unfaithful to her husband. So this is quite uh important, so you put the hat on
all of your hair goes into the back you then bring it round. Now remember I'm a Kevin I'm not a Julie
so I don't know if I'm doing this 100 you then turn it back how's that yeah enough of that so
the coif let's put the coif back on and start with a couple of just simple helmets.
Bowmen weren't always rich. Bowmen were often regarded as quite low so you might find him
just with a sheepskin cap yeah? It might be all he has to wear but as he makes his money
he might be able to afford a leather cap. Now I've made this, boiled leather, and I will tell
you right it's actually comfortable right? You can see, you can shoot, you can feel,
you can do it up and I'm going to just take it off and just bring it a bit closer to you.
It's just boiled leather that's all it is. See Edmund there, the Patron Saint of Bowmen
yeah? So leather cap, boiled leather cap you won't see these in the films will you, right?
My fave, without a doubt my favourite,
an archer's woollen cap. Now these, I think it was a little bit later were called Monmouth caps
and and true to form this was actually made in Monmouth right. Right on the border South
Wales and England. Sometimes it was in England sometimes it was in South Wales.
Hey get out of here, so I like this. It's stylish yeah, and it's warm and also if
somebody clunks you on the head it might just cushion the blow and of course we have
Robin de Bois, Robin Hood
yeah. Robin Hood, stylish. Now what I used to do at Sherwood, I used to tie me coif up
yeah, so I could hear and when you look at some of the drawings, some of the pictures of the medieval
times these coifs are often are tied up. This is good except you can't shoot very well in it,
this gets in the way. So I have to tilt it right back when I'm shooting yeah. But of course combat
yeah I've got a series of helmets here now that I'm going to show you and we go basically from
1066 and through but these are what bowman would have worn. This isn't particularly what knights
or men at arms would have worn so we'll put the coif back on keep my lice nice and warm yeah.
So what we have here is a very simple conical helm. Uh the Normans had these
right, they had the nasal bar these went through 1066 the Saxons had them, the Vikings had them
and then they went right the way through the 1100s to the 1200s it's a very simple
helmet yeah? It's already lined, I can put that on. It's good to shoot in yeah, it's pretty good
except for one problem I feel like a bullet when I wear it yeah? I don't like the look yeah.
The reason I haven't got the nasal bar is it gets in the way when I'm shooting. Don't forget this
is for the bowman so conical helm. Now let's move up just one tiny little notch, now i've
got to show you this because it’s, it's quite, it'll explain what bowman did on the battlefield
so we're going to go on to a pig-faced bassinet now. Now this is what a knight would have worn, so
before I put it on I'm going to put on my trusty sheepskin cap all right, this is for comfort and
protection you can have an entire arming cap but I prefer this. Now the pig face bassinet.
You're a bowman on the battlefield, the knight is wearing this,
he's coming straight for you. Let's put it on so you can see what the night looks like.
It fits really well it's very snug.
But the front comes off. Now the bowman, when a knight is down on the deck on the floor,
the bowman can pinch his bassinet. He now has an open face. He is on the battlefield,
but just have a look at this, this is the knight's view through the visor of one of these.
Yeah because I shot him right, so the pig-faced bassinet the bowman has himself a helmet
yeah now let's change it.
Let's get on to Agincourt this is my latest one, this is my Agincourt
sallet these are called. Fit it on my head nice and comfortable, I can do it up if I like
nice, shoot yeah, I can see around and the sallet has this piece coming back to protect
your neck. This is nice, I like this helmet, it could quite easily become me favourite yeah? The
only problem with it is it is heavy, so you have got to fasten it, fasten it down tight yeah so,
The sallet, open faced, but if we go into the Wars of the Roses.
Sorry if my hair's a mess, they change yes, they had these for sure
But how about the kettle helm?
I wore this so much at Warwick Castle over the years that it fits me perfectly inside it is so
nice and it's it's yeah it's well oiled. There’s so much oil in this you wouldn't believe it
yeah but I've got a full cap in there that makes it mine yeah, so
I think I just put it on backwards yeah. The kettle helmet, they had these earlier
on and they were a little bit broader. Now the one that people really like.
The visored sale. This is very typical of the Wars of the Roses time
So there we go the open face has now got a visor. You can bring it down.
Now I have shot with it down I've done demonstrations but
I'll tell you it's difficult. But you've got to weigh it up haven't you? If you've got this
on and the enemy is shooting down at you, take the battle of Towton for instance. If you're a
Yorkist at the bottom of the hill and you can see the arrows coming down you might just lock
this down for a little while then when it's your turn to shoot bang you know, so there we have it
a nice selection medieval headgear for the bowman and it's all part of my collection. I
am going to add to it, so in the future stand by, you might meet some new kind of helmets.
Well I hope you enjoyed the film, if you did please give us a thumbs up and do me a
favour share these films if you can yeah? Let's grow this site and I can make more films yeah?
But we have a Patreon account now so these people are helping me
to grow this site as well. So I'm going to give a thank you to some of the guys. P G Guillaume yeah,
now if I didn't pronounce that right you've got to tell me yeah? Gregory Clark,
thanks mate and Maxwell Gross yeah, so thank you very much guys and I'll see you soon. Bye.