The Arms and Armour of The English Civil War 

I want this guy as my history teacher

The presenter is the epitome of "the right man for the job."

As a Swedish museum curator I can only say - a brilliant show. Such museum educators are worth gold.

Who is the guy who's speaking? He presents it really well and this 9 minute video feels way too short. :)

I find it hilarious that people were willing to risk their lives just to look fly

17th Century Military fashion at its most FABULOUS!

Young lindybeige? Is that you?

This guy needs to make his own RU-vid channel. He could make a good bit of coin with his superb presentation skills and enthusiasm.

1:21 My man just had that shit stowed away on the ready.

This guy is basically a younger Lindybeige, and i love it. Something to note, however, is that medieval plate armour did actually protect against firearms... just not to the same degree. Hand-held firearms of the late medieval era were less powerful than Civil War-era firearms, so medieval armour was moreorless able to withstand contemporary firearms - especially at long-range. It wasn't invincible, sure, but tests have been done which show that reproduction late-medieval plate armour can actually withstand some types of modern firearm (such as certain kinds of handgun). After the medieval period, armour simply adapted to keep up with the development of firearms. There wasn't a sudden rush to replace "obsolete" 15th century plate. As firearms became more fearsome, plate armour became gradually thicker to resist them. This is also why Civil War-era plate didn't cover the entire body; the armour weighed more, and there's only so much weight a person can wear and still be combat-effective. Omitting lower leg armour was a weight-saving measure, as protecting the shins was not considered a priority. Incidentally, this is why riding boots came to exist. After plate armour for the lower legs was phased out during this period, cavalrymen took to wearing taller leather boots, as leather provides some level of protection for the shins without piling on the pounds. The main reason why medieval-style plate armour fell out of use was mentioned in this video; people could not afford the expense. Plate armour was the height of medieval military technology (and so was extremely effective), but with the end of the Feudal System and the increasing reliance on lowly professional soldiers, the concept of the "noble knight" simply became antiquated. Because most professional soldiers could not afford a suit of plate armour (which cost the same as an expensive house), tactics changed to focus on larger formations of more uniform, disciplined troops. This lead to the era of "pike and shot", where infantry soldiers wielded polearms and firearms in large, dense units - both of which could cause knights a lot of grief. Compared with these more streamlined and efficient types of military unit, employing small groups of hyper-elite, melee-oriented cavalry (who only fought when they could be persuaded to) became prohibitively expensive, not to mention tactically impotent. The states of Europe focused instead on building professional armies in the style we know today. Sorry, i just get really into this. ;-;

Making education fun like this means people learn more, great video.

Love the humor while imparting historical background facts that are really worth knowing when one reads accounts of the military actions in the English Civil Wars. GREAT job!!!

This dude deserves his own museum.

Thank you for these little snippets of the vast collection! It is wonderful to see such priceless historical arms and armour, and to learn about their history.

outstanding presentation, I could listen to this guy all day! Natural talent, I wouldn't be surprised if he had stage experience.

4:40 *ABSOLUTELY G O R G E O U S*

Educational and entertaining, this guy is a star. Fantastic delivery.

i love how he refured to the musket ball as a Malteser to help most people imagine the size of a round.

Been to Leeds Armoury twice this year, looking forward to a 2018 visit. Fantastic place.

What a superb presentation, this young chap you can tell loves his job and the energy he gives off is incredible. Well done 👏🏻

I thought I was an ECW nerd but even I learned some new things, excellent video, thank you!

Not too bad for 10 minutes. The enemy general was actually a colonel of the Parlementarian army, Sir Arthur Haselrigge. He led a regiment of cuirassiers known as Haselrigge's Lobsters. The battle where he was shot by Atkins (and others) was Roundway Down, 13th of July, 1643. The flintlock was better known as a firelock at this early stage of it's development. In the 1640's it would have been the very latest thing & quite expensive.

i cant tell if this guy is a history teacher or lord flashheart after he calmed down a bit

8:45 As it happens, rapiers WERE quite heavy (especially the military ones which were less sporty). A typical rapier weighs 3 pounds. The center of gravity is close to your hand, so they _feel_ quite light and handy; but a rapier can certainly parry a backsword, sabre, or other such cutting sword. They're also very stiff in spite of being slender.

1:26 When you and the lads are riding through East Anglia looking for witches to hang when some bloke comes up to you and says “God save King Charles”

I'm the other side of the world (New Zealand), but have gone quite out my way to visit the leeds Armoury, its very impressive. It was ironic however that there was a exhibition of The Lord of the Rings weaponry there which I have already seen in my home town.

I've been to this Museum in Leeds, it is well worth the visit and there are endless exhibits to look at.

Brilliant presentation, entertaining, informative, and clear as the proverbial bell! I'm aging and having trouble hearing/understanding most dialog in television programs and need to use the closed captioning most of the time, but I didn't have a single issue with this fellow's presentation. Thank you. :)

Can we get more of this guy? He's great!

He really reminds me of Adam Nagaitis' "Cornelius Hickey" from the TV show The Terror. Except his voice is a bit higher.

That was an amazing presentation. It’s a pleasure to watch someone who really enjoys their work.

As a tour guide myself i can say that this guy is very good, enthusiasm and engagement is the key always

I have visited this place twice... I love it!

3:07 whoever that armor set was made for was an absolute *unit*

I'd love to know what were the specifically British caracteristics of this equipment compared to, let's say its Habsburg, Dutch or French counterparts of the same period.

How have I not found this channel before now? This video is amazingly well done and the presenter is so engaging!

To the people talking about the loading of firearms: A lot of people are referring to how he mentioned you load, 'powder, ball, wad', & a lot of people seem to be upset by this, let me explain a little bit. During the English Civil War soldiers using flintlocks, snaplocks, snaphaunce, doglocks, miquelete locks, wheellocks, arquebuses, (other like-terms), etc. For the sake of convenience, we'll call them firelocks. I don't think necessarily had pre-made / rolled cartridges like they would've had during the American Revolutionary War, or Napoleonic Wars. They didn't really have cartridge boxes like you'd see during those time periods. Instead, soldiers of the time often relied on carrying loose balls, & had a bandolier that carried pre-measured black powder charges that they'd pour down the barrel of their firelock. They'd then typically use a powder horn / flask to prime the pan of the firelock, then give fire. Pre-rolled / made cartridges sort of negated this, & only the rifle regiments really used powder flasks. With a premade cartridge, I can bite, prime with a little powder, pour down the muzzle, then paper, & remaining shot, I can smash down with the ramrod, thus creating a double seal that would help the round travel. Now, I'm not saying that this guy isn't right, but logically speaking, armies of the time period weren't concerned with superb accuracy, it was about volume of fire. Adding wads means more steps which means more time. Armies just wanted a mass wall of lead flying towards their enemy. Your average soldier wasn't a marksman. Also if you notice, he's referring to a pistol, specifically cuirassiers using pistols, & pistols were only effective at close range, & cuirassiers were practically planting the pistol on people's chests, one of the reasons they probably didn't do the powder, wad, ball method was 'cause with a wad on the outside, you're less likely to have the ball roll out of the barrel while it's holstered, or while you're galloping around. So maybe this guy didn't know exactly what he was talking about, maybe he forgot a step, perhaps he was right, & we just had the wrong idea. If you don't believe me, look at some examples of cannons, they'd do double wadding even after the shell or round ball was placed, double sealing, & it means that your round isn't gonna' necessarily roll out. A lot of the times wads were waxed too. The 95th Regiment of Rifles explains that they used both loose balls, loose patches, & a powder flask, for when they need to make really accurate shots, & then they also carried pre-rolled ammunition for faster reloading purposes, & firing in formation. This way they could be utilized as formation units, & skirmishers. A lot of you that shoot modern black powder do so for hunting or target practice, not for war (obviously), with that said, you're not doing a lot of running, or tilting your musket or rifle barrel down where the ball could potentially slide out. So simply powder, wad, ball works in that case. But really, you'd ideally want, powder, wad, ball, wad, of some sort; which is why the pre-made rounds were the way they were. You bit the end, poured the powder in the priming pan, & then down the barrel, then stuffed the rest in the barrel. Spit tapping is a whole other thing, & could be potentially dangerous; however, it is faster, & has been proven to work.

This is clearly a man who loves his job. Wish all teachers were like this

Its mad to think that guys with suits of armour and swords were sharing the same battlefield as musketmen.

this is a great video!!! for some reason i have never read anything on the English civil war so all of these weapons and armor are new to me!!!

I want your job, can we get an hbo series about the english civil war plz? Maybe include some cossacks and ottoman pirates and winged hussars while ur at it?

Great presentation! Wish we had something similar in our war and archaeological museums

Excellent explanation!

who knew bullet proof was such an old concept and it actually makes sense that we use that word combo today

That was a fantastic overview my friend. You are a natural.

Brilliantly performed

This guy is pure talent. Salute!

What wonderful presentation. Sir, I thank you.

Just found this video. The presenter was fantastic. Full of information with humour thrown in to keep one's attention.

Outstanding presentation.

Fab presentation. Loved the use of the prop items.

Loved this, well done.

I like your english accent for pronouncing french words. Its like watching hollywood trying to pronounce french accents xD

What a wonderfully engaging and informative story.

Great demonstration and speaker. Thank you.

Great video. Informative and entertaining at the same time.

Fantastic

Splendid show !

Reminds me of the actor who plays Cornelius in The Terror.

A great presentation! Well done, sir.

A fabulous introduction to the equipment 👍

What an excellent talk! Very well done to the guide 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

16th and 17th century man outfit is cool

Excellent presentation.

A brilliant and interesting presentation.

What an interesting and entertaining presentation!

Amazing presentation.

National disgrace in the U.K. we refuse to educate our youth on their own history. This is a topic that never enters the curriculum. We need more of this 👍

I love this guy, he's like an English Garand Thumb. He's got all the same mannerisms. SMLE Thumb

I wish I'd known about this as I love the English civil war era and this type of history. I live in Leeds also..

excellent teaching skills.

It's amazing how even in the face of death and battle, many men thought "I should look good for this".

Absolutely great video.

I once accompanied my friend, who was a historian, and they were showing off a new piece they had acquired. It was a used Reiter's cuirass with numerous dents made by musket balls from pistols. And I noticed the dents were made deeper and deeper the closer it got to the chest, and I kept thinking to myself "Man they must have hated this guy to focus on him so much." Then as if right on cue they revealed the rest of the plate showing a massive dent on where the calf would be. Apparently even *God* hated him because he didn't die to a musket ball no, he was knocked from his horse, and the stirrup caused him to get stuck and the horse's hoof crashed into his calf paralyzing him till he died of blood lost and shock.

Very good explanation and interesting video. I'm not entirely sure what it is but something about David's delivery makes it far more interesting to listen to.

Top man. Very interesting time period

Thank you David. Very Interesting. God Bless 😊

Excellent. Thanks

Spectacular presentation

Great video

Well done!

Quite an excellent presentation.

What a great tutorial. Really good.

Please make more videos like these.

great information

I met this guy when I was there! Gotta check out the pistol and rapier. Love this kinda stuff

This was incredibly interesting

I wish he had been my history teacher at school. Really well told

Thanks this helped me with my homework

Great vid.

If I ever visit the UK, this would be one of my destinations

As with every piece of tech it all has it's strengths and weaknesses and he is very good at explaining them.

Where does one get this dudes outfit

What a great video, love the mortuary hilt back sword its my personal favourite, is the one your showing made by Armourclass of scotland?

By about 1650, armor and also nobility was in its last days. So it's cool to see what that looks like.

Very entertaining and simply superb! Enjoyed it so much I've subscribed. One correction; it is, "this armour" not, "these armours". Armour is an irregular noun and maintains its original form even when plural.

Great but I wish you'd distinguished between muskets and pistols.

0:26 That skull flag with the flames looks badass ngl.

This was such an interesting time in history.

Thanks for the update. I thought they still used wheel lock pistols in the 1640's rather than flintlocks.