By Bethany Bray
Staff Writer
May 08, 2008 05:00 am If only there had been a dragon to slay or a damsel in distress ... Local youngsters — and a few adults, too — learned about the life and times of a knight from Neal Bourbeau, an educator and program manager at the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, when he visited Boxford's East Village Library on April 23. Sponsored by The Friends of Boxford Libraries, Bourbeau brought replicas of pieces from the Higgins Museum, including swords, various weapons, helmets, chain mail and other pieces of armor used by knights in the 15th through 17th centuries. Bourbeau talked about how warfare, armor and weapons evolved and changed throughout the medieval and Renaissance periods. He had volunteers from the audience try on the pieces, explaining how they worked. Nine-year-old Esme Juros of Boxford volunteered to try on the head-to-toe child-size suit of armor Bourbeau had brought. "She gets to be our Joan of Arc today," said Bourbeau as he fitted Esme with a mid-16th century helmet, breastplate, and leg and arm coverings, all of metal plate armor. It would sometimes take a knight 20 minutes — with a servant's help — to get suited up, he said. "The suit was pretty heavy," said Esme. "I was surprised that it was that heavy, and I couldn't see down (only straight out of the helmet). And I couldn't move my arm to reach my hair." The Higgins Armory Museum opened in 1931 and contains the personal collection of industrialist and Worcester native John Woodman Higgins. After buying his first suit of armor on a European vacation, Higgins "got the armor bug," Bourbeau said. The museum contains more than 5,000 artifacts related to arms and armory. Bourbeau had Kieran Scott, 3, try on a bassinet helmet — headgear used in combat — as part of the demonstration. Once he put the metal helmet on Kieran, Bourbeau asked, "How does that feel?" "Heavy!" cried Kieran, who lives in West Newbury. A knight would have to hold up the visor to see out of the bassinet helmet, Bourbeau explained, having Kieran demonstrate. "It took them another century to figure out how to keep (the visor) up," he said. Eventually plate armor was made with articulation, or joints that allowed pieces to move and bend, such as at the elbow, foot or knee. Eventually armor became lighter, less cumbersome, and custom-made to be adjustable and more comfortable for the wearer. A fully dressed knight was supposed to be able to leap on his horse without using the stirrups, Bourbeau said.
Did you know? Here are a few knight facts from Neal Bourbeau, program manager at the Higgins Armory Museum: r A knight would have spent the modern-day equivalent of $60,000 to $70,000 for a suit of armor. r It would take a knight about 20 minutes to put on all his pieces of armor. r Armor used for jousting tournaments was much thicker and heavier than that used for battle. Bourbeau brought a replica of a jousting helmet that weighed 20 pounds. r Lances used in jousting tournaments could be anywhere from 8 to 14 feet long. r Chain mail was a precursor to plate armor and could weigh 45 to 60 pounds for a head-to-toe suit. r Modern-day butchers and deep sea divers still use lightweight chain mail to protect themselves. r Bourbeau wore cotton gloves to handle all the pieces of armor — replicas of historical museum artifacts — because the oils and moisture on human skin damage the metal. "I can tell you from personal experience that cleaning suits of armor is not the most fun thing to do," he said.
—
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.