Shoulder defence during the 14th century appears to have seen more variance than previous centuries. Defence may have been given by maille shoulders, a coif, aventail, shoulder pieces attached to a coat of plates, a large single plate like defence a besague or even a combination of the above.

For the purposes of this piece we will assume a spaulder is the three lamed shoulder cap defence commonly seen on effigies such as the Black Prince and Sir Reginald Cobham.

No complete spaulder has been found from the mid to late 14th century that I am aware of, so there is some supposition in the design that is common to re-enactment and living history recreations, namely the strapping of the bottom lame (sometimes the one above) around the rerebrace of bicep. Careful examination of the more complete effigies more often that not show the bottom lame fitting snugly with the top of the rerebrace, showing that the spaulder may, in all likelihood, be an integrated part of the arm defence rather than an accessory to it.

However, the example we will be looking at in this exercise is a separate device to be pointed to the shoulder and strapped across the arm around the bicep.

The steel used in this example is 18 gauge (1.2mm) and has been worked cold. Measurements have been estimated against the author’s arms for the eventual user. However you would want these to fight as snugly to the arms as possible, if effigies are to be believed. Tight armour across adequate padding moves exceptionally well when compared to loose or large armour on the same or little padding.

As with most armouring tutorials I have read, these are not the only ways to do this work, rather they are the ways that I have found to work, if you can find a similar or better way to do it then go with that.

A word on Patterns.

No 14th century patterns have been found. In all likelihood a well apprenticed armour would have had several years to develop the eye and technical skills to be able to freehand the armour pattern onto the metal and go from there, assuming he was working on a sheet, rather than from a billet. I understand that excavation on some medieval armouries have found a large amount of filings and burrs; leading people to believe that the armour was made by eye to the size required and then refined through filing and cutting.

For the most part, most modern hobbyists’ work from patterns as we do not have the time and experience to develop the skill of doing these items by hand and eye, patterns aid us in speeding this part of the process, I have small, medium and large spaulder patterns from previous efforts to are fitted to suit the person, in this case the medium ones where an exact fit.

Spaulder Caps

I prefer to cut, de-burr, bowl and planish the spaulder caps before doing any other work. This way any changes in the width of the pieces caused by the dishing can be worked into the lames if needed. Most examples of spaulder caps from effigy show them to be dished almost to the very lower edge, rather than having a flat run to the first lame, so some distortion can occur as you bowl to the edge, but if you are careful this can be kept to a couple of mm, unlike my first efforts that were almost an inch! As you work the metal it will wrinkle around the edges as you stretch the metal, working from the middle out,keep an eye on these wrinkles and simply make sure that none fold back on themselves. Stop periodically and work them out over a stake or from the inside with a raw-hide hammer.

It is important to dish the spaulder cap evenly and more importantly deeply. Many first attempts look more like the head of a trilobite than the desired hemispherical shape. You will be surprised how much abuse the metal will take before showing any signs of thinning to the point of cracking, just go slowly and steadily moving the metal in even amounts across the whole piece.

Once completed you can accurately cut your lames. I find it best to add a couple of mm to the pattern to allow for error as it is easier to remove metal than add it later. If you look carefully at the effigies sited above you will notice that the lames have a curve to them and the bottom lames is significantly smaller across its longest length than the first. I have found making the lames from cardboard and marking the pattern you want and then cutting them to form the pattern allows you to easily follow the design you are basing your work upon.

After cutting and de-burring the lames comes the sanding. The client want a matt finish to his spaulders, so everything is sanded through a 180, 240 and 300 grit. Once all the dents, dinks and planishing marks are removed the lames can be bent around a bichorn or similar shape, gradually, to create the required shape. I have found that starting with the lame that will work against the spaulder cap allows you to get the shape right. I usually work the ends of the lame first over the bichorn with a raw hide hammer, so they can be bent out into shape later for a snug fit.

When you have the first lame, bend the second so it fits nicely inside the first lame. I tend to check this fit by laying them inside one another on their edge on the anvil face (or similar flat surface) and checking they fit exactly inside one another. Finally do the same to the third.

Once all of the fit together I take the sanded finish back down to the requested matt finish. This is done with a squirt of WD40 (3in1 or other oil would do) and a green scouring cloth. Then in gentle, circular movements remove the sanded finish until you are left with a smooth but matted finish.

Then starting with the bottom lame, punch two holes in the top half of the lame about an inch in from the each edge and attach the strapping that will hold the lames together overlapping the buckle and strapping leather through the same rivets. It is best to attach the buckle to its strap leather first for ease.

The strapping that goes around the arm is often alarming longer than expected. I prefer to have the buckles to the rear and close to the armour itself, after all you should have someone dressing you, the buckles position is their problem not yours :)

Then working out the position of the next lame over the first, mark and punch holes. In this example each lame is 2 inches high, so they allow an inch overlap on each lame. Probably more than is necessary but I prefer the fit and ease of maths :)

When you get to the cap you have a choice. Make the rivet heads plan to see or countersink and remove them. In the examples of the Black Prince and Sir Reginald Cobham no rivets can be seen and the Black Princes effigy carries a sighted rivet on his elbows, so in all likelihood the originals were either counter sunk or attached in a different unseen way.

I have the rivets in plan view on this work. The top two rivets hold in place a pointing leather that has been added through advice from people that have fought in modern sports (WMA and SCA) as they find their pointing laces break more when placed through the metal directly.  

Once completed you should have your first spaulder, now all you need to do is do the whole process again.

The spaulder, it is believed as none have been found, was pointed directly to the shoulder on the top and strapped to the arm below, unless they were part of the rerebrace in which case the pointing and rerebrace cap would have help them to your arm and shoulder well enough.

The spaulder is often seen as a good simple early armouring project allowing the armourer to practice and learn, cutting, de-burring, dishing, shaping, integrating, riveting, polishing and finishing techniques.

Happy Hammering,

Graham