Authenticity Officer’s Photo Guide – Examples of Authentic Kit

The primary garment is the tunic. Its skirt comes to the knee cap or just above and it’s always worn tight to the forearm and wrist. Neck-holes are either round, oval or square, and often have a keyhole opening. Decoration, in the form of facings, embroidery, silk strips or tablet weave, can be applied to the cuffs and neck-hole. Embroidery is sometimes applied to the tunic’s skirt but never around its hem. Tunics are usually made from wool but can also be from linen.

Some European styles of tunic are becoming more popular with the fashionably rich. This includes tunics with a wider neck-hole facing and applied facing to the hem of the tunic’s skirt. The Norman style of split front and rear shirt is also growing in popularity.

Belts can be made from either braided wool or from a leather strap. They can be simply tied or else closed by a buckle of bone, iron or copper-alloy. Belts sometimes have strap-ends attached.

For warmth a cloak can be worn, clasped on the right-hand shoulder by ties or a large disc brooch or pin.

Leg coverings, if worn at all, should be tight to the leg and are usually hose and braies or more rarely trousers. Leg wraps can also be worn. These are long strips of 10cm wide woollen cloth worn wound about the lower leg from the ankle to the knee.

Shoes are of the simple, two-part turn shoe construction and are usually low, coming to below the ankle.

Jewellery is usually of copper-alloy or pewter although some silver is still used. Romance and Urnes styles are common.

This period sees the adoption of European military styles of combat especially after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Weapons and armour are generally plain and utilitarian being mass produced in the industrialised towns.

The conical iron helmet is worn by all warriors. The European kite shield rapidly becomes the dominant shield shape, although the traditional round shield continues to be used by some. Mail shirts are worn by most warriors. Generally they come to the elbow and to mid-thigh. The rich however now wear the haulberk style, a long mail shirt coming to the knees, split front and back and with an integral coif.

Warriors carry into battle 1 or 2 javelins to throw and a spear to use one-handed and overarm in combat. Additional weapons could include a seax, a large single edged knife; a simple hand axe; or a sword. Swords are generally plain and carried by most warriors. The seax was carried by the English both as a status symbol and as a weapon of last resort. Dane Axes are carried by some, a large axe wielded in both hands and deployed to stop mounted warriors.

Before the Battle of Hastings in AD1066 the English still mainly fight on foot and only use archery in siege warfare. After the Norman Conquest both archery and mounted combat become common. Most arrows are bodkins, designed to pierce mail-shirts.