A MYSTERY about MEDIEVAL shields 

This RU-vid channel: Actual historical content. History Channel: Aliens.

Remember the good ol' days when History Channel used to show quality stuff such as this?

I was extremely impressed when you cut to personal demonstration footage of the kite shield on horseback instead of stock footage or artwork. This is some high quality stuff right here!

I can almost hear the discussions between an old medieval armorer and his son, who _dares_ to leave out the boss, which the father does not understand, because, sonny, we have done this as long as I can remember, while the son argues, that this is just a relic of the past no longer of any use, but the father just would not understand the younger generation…

I made a strapped kite type shield for my brother similar to the one you made and initially we did not add a boss. Later, we added one because we found that if you thrust at that spot between the straps where the arm is with a sturdy spear then you can break through the shield and stab the arm, so that boss might have more practicality to it.

The best educators are always the excited ones. If this isn’t the most arresting lecture I’ve seen... I’ve no idea what is.

*deep whiff* Smell that? It's a sincere passion for history.

One of the most enjoyable random recommendations RU-vid has ever given me.

Only 12th century kids remember this

I imagine the knight looking at older shields from before his time the way we look at older computers.

My teachers: you need multiple trusted sources Medieval historians: BAYEUX TAPISTERIE

The modern riot shield looks surprisingly similar to a Roman Legionnaire's shield, I suspect in large part because the way the baton is used( to thrust in to the rioter to push him.her back) is used much like the roman gladius was.

I think we need to start an online petition to get Jason Kingsley OBE his official knighthood.

I watched so much "mount and blade 2" video's that these is in my recommendation. Very interested, I try use that knowledge

Honestly this guy is the best, he indulges in your interest in knights meanwhile giving you good history in a friendly, enthused and non-condescending manner.

The heater shield is also a lot thicker than the kite shield. Improved armour led to an increase in weapons like hammers and maces. These rely on blunt force trauma, which transfers better through armour than cutting or piercing weapons. In other words, the armour itself is now good enough to protect from most light attacks, and the shield becomes specialised for heavy attacks.

RU-vid Logic: 'Oh you liked part 10, well naturally here is part 23 for your next video!'

This dude is so charming. He was born to teach.

I can't believe this guy is the CEO of rebellion games (who made AVP and sniper elite)

I think the boss on the kite shield would help protect from anything that could penetrate or split the shield. I bet it'd be quite handy if you got hit by a Dane axe. Also, I'd think the centre of the shield over your arm would be the worst place on the shield to be hit. A blow would be less likely to be deflected or to lose energy from the unsupported parts of the shield flexing. Non penetrating attacks may also injure you when the shield would bend under the blow. A boss would be stiff and spread the impact. It looked silly to me at first, but the more I thought about it, the more useful it seemed. It wouldn't add too much weight but gives a lot of protection where you need it most. Even the shape still makes sense as a dome is strong, spreads impacts over multiple boards, removes the weakness of gaps between boards, can absorb energy by crumpling... It goes on and on.

Wow, I started this journey watching videos of Freddie Mercury and somehow ended up here watching a video on Middle Age shields, and I’m not even mad. In fact I subscribed 😮

Listening to someone who clearly is absolutely fascinated by what they are sharing is a delight, especially if they can (like this fellow) pass that fascination on to you. Nice video!

The shields seem to change over time to suit a much more individualistic fighting style. The shieldwall formation is that of an entire army, and thus your shield has to serve the purposes of your comrades as well as yourself. It didn’t matter if you didn’t quite like the brace, it suited the army to have your shield standardised. Cavalrymen had to fight by themselves a bit more, because they were less likely to be in shieldwall, so they could afford to tailor them to their own needs a bit more. The knight’s shield betrays a total conversion to an individual style of fighting to accompany the individual style of plate armour. A knightly class fights as a group of individuals, the shieldwall fought as a more unitary army.

I would consider the modern rectangular police shield much more like a Roman scutum than like a medieval kite, both in shape and being a pure footman's tool. Also, tiny note, the talk about hitting the edge of the round shield to rotate it reminds me of a guy I saw once using a classic Viking round who deliberately flipped the thing back and forth, using the motion to block and to distract his opponents, so almost half the time his arm was actually in front of the the shield. It didn't look like it ought to work, but he was actually pretty effective--and the kind of strike described, he'd just go with, finishing the rotation so his shield was immediately in position again just faced the other way. It was really weird to watch in action. Very dynamic fighter.

I can't explain how much I would have been in heaven to have this kind of channel when I was a kid. Fortunately for me I have it now, and it's amazing.

I remember visiting the village where the Bayeux tapestry is kept in France and I still remember it well. Beautiful little historical stone village, even the gift shop was pretty.

I always thought that the boss was an additional way to help deflect blows on those early shields... but thinking on it now, that doesn’t really make a lot of sense! Fantastic video! You just earned another sub!

Im amazed at the attention to detail on the Bayeaux Tapestry

i always assumed the round metal bit was to bash with the shield since having the force of your thrust on a single point seems more effective in combat (sort of like a blunt weapon) than having it allocated over the entirety of a shield

If there was a box set of this show I'd buy it!

Like Bill Nighy and James May came together with a love for medieval history, love it!

The last shield feels more like a sacrificial layer now. You'd rather get your shield battered more than your armor due to the maintenance prices. Still useful and offers protection, but you don't really fully rely on it because you'd have plate armor now.

Got this video as an ad on my homepage. RU-vid and I are finally starting to understand each other 👌

"It's basically the same, except it's quite diffirent" *well yes but actually no*

Strange how I start to get video recommendations like this after looking at Bannerlord gameplay. But I'll still watch it because it's awesome!

I've always referred to the first example of kite shields as "teardrop" shields, due to their distinctive shape. That said, excellent video

Modern police shields, the long, rectangular ones, are also used to assault barricaded shooters, as they are bulletproof against handgun and shotgun rounds. Pretty cool that the humble shield has served for thousands of years and continues its service in our ultra modern world.

This man knows too much, hes a time travelling medieval knight

I’m so compelled to watch this over my regular RU-vid feed. Bless this man and his passion

I stumbled on this channel while researching to write a medieval fantasy themed novel. Great knowledge and much appreciated!

This channel is going to blow up soon because the quality is amazing. It's well researched and very well presented. Everything is perfect and incredibly interesting. I would only ask that your editing team try add images of the things you're not about that you don't have on site. Things that are a little more obscure to imagine so for example we don't need to see the riot shields used by police but the shields used by crossbowmen would be good to see as they're obscure for me to imagine And one other thing that doesn't really need to change and might be a personal preference but it would be nice for you to have more b roll. I'm not sure if you're doing the camera work by yourself or not but it would just be a little nicer for me personally. Over all amazing video, nothing really has to change but some changes would be interesting to see. Thank you for keeping me entertained :)

The boss does have a function. A few actually. Most important is how it misdirects the blow. A shield is used as a weapon as well as armour. Striking with a flat surface isn't as effective a condensed striking surface. As it has evolved it has changed to spiked or bladed bracers. Great vids love the channel

this is funny with the first shield i wondered "why isn't it strapped to the arm for more comfort and stability", and the next shield does just that, but it's long and hits the leg and i wonder "why not just turn the long part to the back", and that's exactly what i'm told next. that contrasts to whenever my partner who's really into military ships tells me stuff about their little obsession i end up thinking up weird ideas of "improvements", and every time i got a response of "well, they did actually try that, and it was a really stupid idea" lol.

Six foot tall guys in 2000's this mounted Norman shield hits me in my knee. 5'4" guy in 900 AD this shield is perfect goes all the way to my boot covered shins. ;)

10:15 I know I’m late to the party but I remember that in the first crusade they did do a shield wall. In the battle of Dorylaeum Bohemond ordered a shield wall to protect non combatants from a Seljuk ambush. And the shield wall held for a long while. To be fair the Seljuks never charged at them and just shot arrows from mounted archers. I’m also pretty sure that was the shield used during the first crusade

One thing I found when building an anglo-saxon shield based on burial site digs, is how thin they were. The edges were only about 6mm thick. The actual shields use that central bar that you grab to hold the shield together. The leather backing or other material that they used also held the planks together. But it is still relatively flimsy if you think about it. The thought might actually be that catching a weapon actually might have been a better reason for the shield that absorbing a blow.

I first rode a horse in March of 1967, while wearing a mail birnie/ hauberk that I had made from about 550 wire coat hangers that I had coiled around a half inch diameter mandrel and cut into rings. It weighed 40 pounds. I was also carrying a 24 inch diameter metal round shield made of 14 gage steel on my left arm, with my left hand holding both the reins and the front leather enarm/handle. In my right hand I couched an eight foot long, steel tipped spear. On my head I wore a coif of the same mail , under a four plate nasal spangenhelm, that I had built out of the four triangles of steel that were leftover from cutting out the roundshield disc from the square sheet I had bought to make the shield from. The horse was completely unknown to me moments before I asked the lady riding it if I could try out my new armor on it, as she stopped to inquire what a bunch of people in medieval garb were doing in the park she regularly rode in. Surprisingly she agreed and even more surprisingly, the horse didn’t balk or refuse my riding it around , trotting and cantering easily as I mock jousted at an imaginary opponent for a couple of passes. Controlling speed and direction was not difficult ,even with the shield solely carried on my rein hand and arm, without any guige strap. { To see a photo of me doing this in 1967, go to the SCA’s West Kingdom History’s Website and look in The Who’s Who Listings and find the listing for “ Henrik the Dane”, and look for the fourth Tournament photo. } Since then I have ridden a lot with lance and shields of various shapes and sizes, always the reins in my left hand while actively controlling the shield at the same time. While riding at the Hastings re-enactments in 2000 and 2006 , I never hung my kite shield from its guige except while standing and waiting for the next charge up the hill. I would simply slip the guige over my helm and onto my neck to rest and off my neck to ready for a charge. One important thing about carrying a spear or lance in the right hand, is to have a leather or metal cup fixed to the right stirrup, to stand the spear butt in so you can encircle the shaft with the right forearm, allowing the right hand to be free to assist the left hand in repositioning the reins as circumstances may require.

14:40"The shields we were looking at in history... are also kinda re-imagined and re-invented by the modern-day police for very similar purposes." The suppression of peasants!

I really love how informative and well explained are your videos, and how clearly exited you get as you talk about the topics, it kinda makes it more entertaining. Please continue with that energy

Can we just appreciate how badass that unicorn on the last shield looks? That is no pansy unicorn, he will mess you up!

This make my gaming in Bannerlord much more fun. Thank you!

in my dorky old fighting vs shield walls we would have 1 row of shields followed by 2 rows of pikes. job of the first pikeman was to hit the bottom corner of the opposing shield pulling the arm out and pushing them off balance. 2nd row of pike would then go in to the now open chest for the kill. It worked fantastically even against tower shields although sometimes your hitting different corners. once the shield was pulled out the person was defenseless.

Words cannot describe how much I am loving this channel!

I think that a lot of the improvements in shape and strapping design might have come from soldiers not just shield makers (though they realize the design changes of course) because as you said, the older viking shields are easy to open up. Whoever trained with them would know that. Vikings weren´t dumb. I would assume like most people do they at first thought "okay, I know this, my oponent knows this. Of course he´s gonna try to open me up: I can counter that!" That´s the practical thought right. Until probably some guy at one battle field, probably even someone who is okay but not the greatest fighter in his clan shouts something like "somebody got a leather strap? strapping the shield should make it better to use." (and I might be wrong but I think the straps help agains the turning as well although it would bind the shield closer to the body which absolutely takes away some technical possibilities. ) it works and then gets told to the shield makers "ey, that one guy, that isn´t that good had a really good idea. can you put straps on your shields? They don´t open with straps. and it´s more comfortable" . I mena that´s the reason sports gear companies work very closely with top athletes. That´s not just for commercial: No they need testers that know their stuff. I would think the same exchange happened between soldiers and weapon makers. So it´s a bit unfair to attribute the changes in form for weapons and protective gear entirely to the craftspeople and generals who came up with new tactics.

I always imagined that the evolution of the rounding of the shield vs a flat face was to increase the likelihood of a glancing blow against the shield, causing less of a felt impact and more than likely increasing the lifespan of the shield. I figured it’s easier to hit or stick an arrow in a flat surface than a rounded one..

Simple, effective and informative. I like the enthusiasm and how excited you are, you're basically me when topic of conversation switches to something historical. You're a good chap :D

I'm sure I remember being told that round shields prevented the enemy from easily finding the grain in the wood and splitting it. Also why they were painted. Don't quote me on that.

I am reading history at university. I stumbled onto this channel and think it is fantastic. These videos are full of information and really processionally put together. Good job!!!!

This is such a great channel!! Thanks for all your research!

I like his enthusiasm and the way how he explains the evolution of shields, it would be great to learn more about crossbowmen shields and bucklers and more weird protection stuff from late Medieval period

Great video. I believe 10-15 min videos with some depth will draw in more viewers. Keep it up!

I love the attention to detail regarding the utility, motivation, and evolution of tools and methods of warfare.

I really appreciate your vast knowledge and in depth personal experience. Thank you for consistently great content.

If I was in these times I would have the shield on my back (for the stamina boost) and be in 2-handed mode.

This is an amazing series! Thank you so much!

This lockdown is making me watch some historical videos,

This channel deserves a million subscribers and more.

Thank you for your knowledge and the passion for a fascinating subject. You successfully explain a complex subject in detail and quite well.

The Roman scutum has the curved surface to deflect blows and also a boss at the center. However, the handle wasn’t vertical like the first one you showed, but horizontal. My guess is that this would make it very hard to be turned by strikes.

Really interesting and informative! I will look at these shields differently now. Thanks

First time seeing this channel. I admire his excitement. Keep up the good work man. Amazing video.

Another interesting application of the shield in modern day policing or warfare is just straight up body armor. Law enforcement uses soft body armor typically and out military uses plates, whether it be ceramic, steel or poly.

Why am I just discovering this channel? COME ON.

“I learned just one useful lesson as a child. Beware the blow that comes under the shield.” ~ Uhtred of Bebbanburg, *The Burning Land* by Bernard Cornwell

Protestors also have an interesting history of using shields, often made from either improvised materials (even sometimes including traffic signs) or cheap materials like plywood.

Your positive excited energy keeps me coming back!! Keep it up!

Could you use the shield boss on the kite shield at 4:00 as a sort of "sweet spot" to block incoming attacks? A downward sword strike that's blocked by the boss will not only have to cut through the boss and the shield, but if the blow lands off-center on the boss, the spherical slope of the boss will redirect the blade and slide it down to the edge of the boss, ruining its edge alignment entirely and basically rendering the attack's power and impact useless. You could also maybe use the boss as a bludgeon if you were going for a shield bash.

Awesome, loved the food series for peasants to duke/kings. Very simple but drawing formula. Background music also compliments your vid!

Easily the best shield video I have seen!

Incredibly informative! Great, succinct, easy to follow information, and very interesting!

I'm glad people are leaving comments suddenly now. I guess the channel got good to the algorithm?

Although the Boss doesn't create a space for the hand on the kite shield, it's still great for smashing people in the mush! :-)

Awesome video look forward to diving into your library

Glad I came across this channel. Love it!

Would love to see recreations and information about shields from other cultures like Zulu and Aztec

Great stuff, thanks! Don’t forget the SWAT shields used by the pointman to help protect the team entering an area or room, or the reversed concave shields used by prison response teams to immobilize and capture rioters. Modern riot shields are actually designed to rip away to prevent officers from getting dragged out into rioting crowds if they get grabbed. 🤓

Your enthusiasm is intoxicating. Great work.

Everything I didn't think I needed to know about the evolution of shields! Fascinating as usual sir.

Great video! subbed immediately

First ad I’ve actually watched fully and enjoyed

First video I watch from this channel and I absolutely love it!!!

Fascinating stuff. Subscribed

i swear this is the last video then i'll going to sleep

I think the Boss on the strapped shield would still be an effective striking surface, akin to Brass Knuckles, or Knuckle Dusters, depending on where you live. Either straight on, or as glancing blow, where the convex shape protruding would prevent them from essentially sliding along the shield, particularly when on a horse with speed, passing by an adversary. More so if they are running away.

Excellent coverage!

With the school we once had simple plywood shields, took it home and made a hammer with a longer shaft, and spent the weekend shattering the shield

Quick question: Would people ever put their coat of arms on their shield or something to identify themselves? Or perhaps would one whole army put a flag design on their shield so they can differentiate between friends and enemies?

Great video. I'd love to see you talk about some smaller shields like the buckler or Scottish Highlanders targe.

Love your videos!!! Keep up the great work!!

Absolutely fascinating! This is the first video of yours I've seen, but I feel like I'm about to go on a RU-vid binge session. Fantastic :)