Henry

England, circa 1513

By the time Henry VIII ascended the throne, enmity between England and Scotland was reaching its peak. Henry wanted a standing army - professionally-trained soldiers with the arms and armour they needed to fend off an invasion. 

Between 1512 and 1513, Henry ordered 7,000 'almain rivets' from Florence and Milan for his army, so named due to the design's provenance from the Almain region (now part of Germany) and the manner in which the plates were secured together. He didn't need a beautiful army clad in exquisite white harness - he needed a horde of violent men in fighting armour. 

Our reproduction of this iconic armour stays as faithful to the originals as possible in terms of proportions, materials and finish. We have used the extant harness at Winchester as the basis for this product. The set includes breastplate, backplate, tassets, splint arms and a proto-burgonet but each part can also be purchased separately.

The rough, hammer blackened and waxed finish is archetypal of munition armour from the period. This wasn't made for nobility - it was made for men who would be grateful to be issued any sort of protection, never mind their own full arm armour with retractable gauntlets. The blacking also provided some protection from inclement weather. 

This armour can be used to represent English troops in the early 16th century though this style and type was common on the continent, particularly across the Holy Roman Empire, Italy and France. 

Price: £2,500