"North Africans in padded armour" Topic

North Africans in padded armour

Moorish cavalry and archers in padded armour on the Reliquary Casket of Saint Dominic of Silos, Cuenca, 1026AD, Museo De Burgos and details of archers in padded and mail armour.

. The back of the Reliquary Casket of Saint Dominic of Silos, Cuenca, 1026AD
. North African archer in padded armour, upper left of the back of the Burgos casket
. North African archer in padded armour, lower left of the back of the Burgos casket
Arab or Berber infantryman in quilted armour on a ceramic wall-plaque from the Sabra Palace, Tunisia, mid-11th century
Moorish Casket from Cuenca, c.1049AD, National Museum of Archaeology, Madrid
. Spearman and victims of lions in padded armour, Moorish Casket from Cuenca, c.1049AD
. Archers in padded armour, Moorish Casket from Cuenca, c.1049AD
Huntsman with spear in quilted armour on a frieze over the door of the Church of San Benedetto, Brindisi, late 11th century

MIRROR SITES
Moorish cavalry and archers on the Reliquary Casket of Saint Dominic of Silos, Cuenca, 1026AD, Museo De Burgos
Arab or Berber infantryman in quilted armour, on a ceramic wall-plaque from the Sabra Palace, Tunisia, mid-11th century
Moorish Casket from Cuenca, c.1049AD, National Museum of Archaeology, Madrid
Huntsman with spear, in quilted armour, on a frieze over the door of the Church of San Benedetto, Brindisi, late 11th century

Druzhina
11th Century Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers

Rudy Scott Nelson of Time Portal Hobbies had, at one time, some such warriors produced in 15mm. He still might have them available. IIRC, his were of warriors from further south, from what is now called Mali. An off the beaten path for ancient/medieval gamers that remains interestingly different.

Nice find.

One wonders if they are wearing a padded undergarment that would be covered by a mail coat in time of war. The Andalusians and North Africans were quite prosperous enough to afford metal armour for those wealthy enough to hunt from horseback. Later Medieval westerners wear mail over padding, and Spain would be a suitable pkace for the interchange I f such ideas.

It is possible, 3 of the 4 objects portray hunting rather than war, though the 'Reliquary Casket of Saint Dominic of Silos' does show 2 archers in probable mail, so the craftsman could have shown the horseman the same, but, didn't. I don't have a good image of the horseman on the back of this to see if he is different.

David Nicolle wrote:

Of course, lighter, non-metallic armours were worn and the more limited protection that they gave was either accepted or improved by the wearing of additional defences. Quilted armour, for example, gave protection against the impact of a blow, but helped little against penetration by a sharp object (Figs. …). Hence one tended to find quilted armours, such as the bughlutāq and khaftān being used in conjunction with scale, mail or lamellar in Islam, Byzantium and western Europe.

Druzhina
Spanish and north African Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers