Barding

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This article discusses barding as armor. Another name for this piece of armor is a peytral. It is also a cooking term.

Barding (also spelled bard or barb) is armor for horses. During the late Middle Ages as armor protection for knights became more effective, their mounts became targets. This was an effective tactic for the English at the Battle of Crécy in the fourteenth century where archers shot horses and heavy infantry killed the French knights after they dismounted. Barding developed as a response to such events and the French eventually won the Hundred Years' War over the English.

The plate defense guarding the horse's face was called a chamfron. 14th century examples seem to be rare, with little refinement, using round pierced defenses for the eyes. The chamfron was better developed in the 15th century, when horses were more fully armoured in plate.

The crinet, another portion of horse barding, defended the horse's neck. It was made with overlapping plates from the top of the neck down to the saddle, held together either with leather strips or by sliding rivets. It is thought that thin metal was used for these plates, perhaps 22 gauge. Chainmail was often affixed to the crinet and wrapped about the horse's neck for additional protection.

The flank armor plates were attached to the side of the saddle, then around the front or rear of the horse and back to the saddle again. These appear to have been metal plates riveted to leather or in some cases cuirboille armour (which is boiled or treated leather sealed with beeswax or the like).

The peytral is an armor that was used to protect the chest of the horse.

Another commonly included feature of barding was protection for the reins. This could be metal plates riveted to them as seen in the images here, or chainmail linked around them. Cutting the reins was another effective way to disable the knight's control of his mount.

It is a modern misconception that knights were unable to move or defend themselves without a horse. However, knightly armor normally left the backs of the thighs and the buttocks unprotected. They were limited to single handed weapons by the need to hold reins. So a knight who lost his horse was at a disadvantage against the larger weapons used by infantry soldiers such as the halberd.

Barding was often used in conjunction with cloth covers such as an extended horse blanket. These coverings sometimes covered the entire horse from nose to tail and extended to the ground. It is unclear from period illustrations how much metal defensive covering was used in conjunction. Textile covers may also be called barding. Surviving period examples of barding are rare, though a complete knight and horse with barding are part of the William Wallace Collection in London.

[edit] External links

• Overview of Bards images of barding from period documents
• Society for Creative Anachronisms guide to creating replica equestrian armor
• The Curious Frau account of a sixteenth century barding recreation