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Armour from the Battle of Wisby: 1361 Hardcover – January 1, 2010

by Bengt Thordeman (Author)

11 ratings

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On a hot July day in 1361, 1,300 poorly armed men stood their ground to defend their city of Wisby against the pressure of King Waldemar. Unfortunately, the defenders were slaughtered. It was three days before the besieged city capitulated and the defenders were finally able to come out to bury the dead. Putrifying in the hot sun, pits were dug in the peat bogs and the bodies hurriedly cast in and buried. In the 1920s, Bengt Thordeman and a team of archeologists excavated at the site of the burial and produced a work that has stood the test of time. The 900+ photographs and illustrations record in great detail the coat of plate cote armours, brigandine finger gauntlets, dress accessories and wound pathology for many of the victims.Reproduced for the first time since 1939 with a new introduction by Techniques of Medieval Armour Reproduction author Brian R. Price, this elegantly printed single volume version of the original 2 volumes is a must for any library on medieval knighthood, arms and armour, archeology or warfare.

Print length

664 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Chivalry Bookshelf
Publication date

January 1, 2010
Dimensions

9 x 2 x 11.25 inches
ISBN-10

1891448056
ISBN-13

978-1891448058
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bengt Thordeman led the various excavations of the Wisby battlefield site from 1919-1929, earning international renown for the scope and quality of his work.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Chivalry Bookshelf; 2nd edition (January 1, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 664 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1891448056
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1891448058
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.32 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9 x 2 x 11.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,440,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #454 in Sweden History
- #4,942 in Conventional Weapons & Warfare History (Books)
- #8,037 in Archaeology (Books)

Customer Reviews:
11 ratings

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KO

Armor from the battle of Wisby

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2012

Verified Purchase

For the amount of money paid for a new item, I am disappointed. The item is either used or has been on the shelf for years, showing age and wear. I was surprised to see that the package was so shoddily packed and not insured since the price was high.

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Doc

Book Ok Binding destroyed

Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2009

Verified Purchase

I had read about this book and it's exhaustive detail for a while and took the plunge and purchased it. I avidly scanned the book after recieving and found that it had shipped with the binding damaged and hanging on the pages by a thin strip of gauze. It is a heavy book and it came without shrink wrapping around it. It appeared that somebody grabbed the books' hardcover and yanked it up and the hardcover actually ripped away from the bound pages. I supposed somebody could have fumbled it during the packing process as well, Either way I sent it back and got a full refund without problem. Disappointed as anyone would be when expecting a new book.

Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2005

This book contains a wealth of knowledge about medieval armour and the effects of weapons. The pictures are fantastic, skeletons buried in their armour, rarely does one get to see how armour was actually worn. The breakdowns and detail of actual armour construction is immaculate and enables any competant armourer to reproduce the examples shown. The detail from an archeologist's point of view was a little too in depth for my interest but if you are that way inclined then great. Only issue I have is the "analysis" of some of the wounds seen, Mr. Thordeman seems to imply that this battle was unusual in some way, that the combatants fought with unusual fury. He sites one incident of one combatant having both legs severed by a single blow as an indication of some great fury and intensity. I only disagree as there are very few examples of medieval battle wound pathology to compare the Wisby corpses. It seems that the author is looking at the battle from too detached a viewpoint, forgetting that killing was the purpose of the people who showed up to battle that day. This is a small detail but supposition as to the mental states of combatants, by someone who has no first hand experience of battle is unproductive. Otherwise a great book.

8 people found this helpful

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Laura Wenham

A must have reference for anyone studying or making armor

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2001

I've been learning to make reproduction armor for several months now, and this is the second most useful reference I own (right after Mr. Price's "Techniques").
From a historian's point of view it discusses the history of the battle, the development of Coats of Plate and Lamellar armors, as well as providing extensive archeological information on this dig.
From an armorer's point of view, the book shows photographs and line drawings of each of the 25 suits and 20 gauntlets, as well as proposed reconstructions. This allows for very accurate reproduction of some very interesting armor. The drawings are to scale allowing for easy translation into patterns. I am personally about to build one of the armors shown (the #21 coat), and feel that the information presented is more than adequate for the task.
In short, I would heartily recommend this volume to anyone interested in the history, making, or use or armor, especially if they are interested in the 14th century.

5 people found this helpful

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Ellen Kuhfeld

It works!

Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2001

I've made armor using the diagrams of existing armor types from this book. I didn't much care for some of the strapping arrangements described, so I designed my own. (Hey, this is the armor the regular fighters left behind - Wisby was defended by the teens and the oldsters to judge from the age of the bodies. This suggests the men of prime fighting-age were elsewhere, with their primary armor.) It worked, well, and protected me in combat. And the illustrations and text were clear, clear, clear.

13 people found this helpful

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Steve Muhlberger

A scholarly masterpiece finally reprinted

Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2001

I have read and used the original 1939 edition of this work, and found it to be a scholarly masterpiece. Unusual resources and care were mobilized to investigate the burial pit from the Battle of Wisby, and the writing, the diagrams, and the photos were all first rate. The only investigation of a medieval battle even close to this one is the recent *Blood Red Roses*, on the English Battle of Towton.
The book treats many more subjects than the armor alone -- it says much about the human cost of battle -- but the sections on the armor were pioneering in their time and unsurpassed today.
Brian Price and Chivalry Bookshelf are to be congratulated for making this book, formerly available in only a few scholarly libraries, accesible for those with a serious interest in medieval armor and warfare.

13 people found this helpful

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Idraz

A true masterpiece!

Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2003

This book has a very special meaning to me since I'm from the town of Wisby(nowdays spelled Visby). Born and raised on the island Gotland and lived most of my life thete. I'v built several of these coats of armour and so far everyone I've tried on have been of satisfatcion. The book is so far the best resource book I've ever found. I have for a long time tried to find the first edition, but IF you can find it somewhere it's incredibly expensive. So jus imagine my joy when I saw there was a reissue! And very soon I'm going to be proud owner of this masterpiece...
The book is really easy to use and have exceptional drawings and scetches. Transforming the scale of the objects in the book to original size is really easy and there's a lot of information i general. At last a recommendation for all you SCA-fighters out there. Try out armour no.6 and no.9 because they give very good protection and are comfortable to wear.

5 people found this helpful

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Kelly Tvrdik

Great book!

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2001

This is the complete version of the orginal book all in one book, not two sets like the first. There is just a little intro added by Price. BUY THIS BOOK! It has wonderful information on the skeletal finds, plus it shows the orginal armor that was found, sketches of it, and recreations done by Bengt and company. I am thrilled they republished this book! It is impossible to find the orginal two volume set.

9 people found this helpful

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