Henry V's jousting helm reproduced, Part 2 - Capwell & Easton

Henry V's jousting helm (the original is in Westminster Abbey) has been reproduced and is at the Wallace Collection. Here Dr. Tobias Capwell & Matt Easton look at the reproduction and talk about the original helmet and crest. Part 2 of 2.
The helm weighs 7.3Kg.

[@freycomm35]

It's so nice to see Toby's facial expression getting brighter and brighter as he starts talking about armor. Truly his passion.

[@elgostine]

it really does suck you in learning this stuff and its so rewarding to share it with others

[@millstab]

I love how much Matt is enjoying Capwell's incredible encyclopedic knowledge of the helm. I'm totally echoing it, great video!

[@Nebula_Ultra]

Totally dude!!

[@robinburt5735]

I like that you could just lift of the top part and wear it like a funky hat

[@robinburt5735]

Also judging by them putting on the helmet. I'd reckon that the weight of it is around 12-14 pounds maybe.

[@Atrahasis7]

These vids with Tobias are great Matt to promote the museum. God knows we need more young people learning European history. Also incredibly chunky designed for the helm. I kinda expected more of a great bascinet which are similar in their angling but fit for heavy cavalry charge. I guess this is precisely when safety in jousting trumps field efficiency, and becomes extremely important to the point we get the frog mouths later.

[@patio87]

13mm or armor. I thought he was talking about early tanks for a second there.

[@hjorturerlend]

That should be able to stop a WW2 armour-piercing rifle bullet.

[@alinalexandru2466]

Kawaiiser-Genosse Wilhelm II von Hohenzollern Though I doubt it will stop an armour piercing bullet,the helmet's made out of iron,not steel.

[@hjorturerlend]

Yeah, he said that after my reply... But still, if it was RHA.

[@ericv00]

patio87 - He was.

[@rogerwilco2]

Yeah, that's Panzer 1 armor thickness. Knights were the tanks of the medieval era.

[@chstoney]

I just love Tobias Capwell's explanations.

[@kloppanator]

I just want to keep hearing more of Toby talking about his work.

[@shieraseastar9300]

Very interesting! I just saw Dr Capwell in the US airing of Nova's Secrets of the Shining Knight! :)

[@MisterSiza78]

Heavy is the head that wears the helm.

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

I saw this at the Wallace Collection yesterday, didn't realise it was the first day out on display, I was hoping the Agincourt exhibition would still be open. This Great helm does remind me of the breastplate I saw, with a deep indentation from a bullet showing how thick it was. Matt, if you do go back to the Wallace collection to do more filming, a video on pieces like that lucky man's breastplate and some of the exceptionally fine mail (that is almost closer to fabric than armour) from the oriental section would be really interesting as the museum's catalog was a little light on info for them.

[@Riceball01]

The dent on the breastplate might not have been a result of the wearer getting lucky in battle, it might have just been the smith's proof mark. When guns started to become a more and more common thing on the battlefield amorers were known to shoot at their breatplates and the resulting dent would be proof that it could indeed stop bullets, in other words, showing that the breastplate was bullet proof.

[@guyplachy9688]

I was rather amused to see a somewhat younger Tobias Capwell as a sort-of extra in one of Tony Robinson's TimeLine episodes "When Medieval Peasants Revolted Against The Establishment | Peasants' Revolt Of 1381 | Timeline" I decided to watch on KZbin tonight. Just one of those little reminders that people don't just spring up in their current role but live a life that leads to that role.

[@danielleriley2796]

The heavy helm and the rear only attachment is a shock absorber energy transfer type situation. The helm is above the rear fixing point so the helm will rotate around that point. Now when struck in the face the lance will rotate the helm back up and over the wearer. Sure the wearer is going to be hit in the face as the helm rotates backwards. Now the heavier the helm the more energy it requires to get it moving so the more energy is being removed from the lance strike that gets transferred to the knight himself. Also as the lance strikes the front of the helm and the helm starts to rotate backwards then the lance point is being pushed up and away from the knight and the visor slit essentially closes and can’t be penetrated anymore by the lance due to the geometry as the helm rotates backwards. Added to that is the face of the helm as it rotates becomes more and more sloped until it’s flat making the lance skate away up and to the side. So being a very heave helm and rotating at the rear with no front fixing makes sense.

[@justsomeguy3931]

I love your videos with Toby the most, I learn so much. He's basically what I'm trying to be. Thanks for helping me get there.

[@perfectibility999]

13mm is almost half an inch. That's very thick, even with the void filled with linen. Correction: 13 mm is slightly more than half an inch.

[@slee3155]

13mm frontal armor?! I think that is nearly the same thickness of a WW I Mark III tank

[@onewhowaits7674]

Fine example of cultural anthropology, and hard physics meeting together in a speculative KZbin video. I applaud your efforts. Well done.

[@ML.80]

please do more videos like this!

[@klavakkhazga3996]

Capwell & Easton sounds like an old timey brand of shoe polish or something xD

[@TheBaconWizard]

Capwell & Easton Apothecary. Or Iron mongers. Or a relish/mustard.

[@warshipsatin8764]

or an old english pipe tobacco company

[@zlayd5146]

how are these videos not getting more views they are gems

[@rodneyrose6149]

You two work well together! I enjoy your vids very much!

[@markwallace1727]

Excellent video as always with these two. The sound deadening done on the helm is pretty much what I'm doing to my car at the moment. Slightly different, being I'm not doing a tank but sheet metal of a car. Sticking a layer of butyl (more a sticky rubbery layer instead of linen) to dampen the "ring" of metal. Then I stick a layer of foam to lessen the noise & reflection. Which would be like the inner lining of the helm. I guess when something works, it works. Using the same technology, just refined a little for application over a few hundred years. As Tod Cutler would say "They weren't idiots back then. They used this stuff, and figured out what worked." (or something like that).

[@TheLordRossy]

Great video! Many thanks Dr Capwell and Mr Easton :)

[@genghisdon1]

love it, and always love to listen to Capwell

[@BigZ7337]

Great video, thanks :)

[@Anelikital]

7:20 I don't believe you CAN break it Mat lol, also this helmet with the rest of the armor on would make you look like a freaking beast.

[@chirongodemperorof4127]

Anelikital i assume he means the ornimental lion on the top.

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

Emphasizes how thick and strong it is, then is worried about breaking it.

[@rat_thrower5604]

*nods in offscreen*

[@JosefGustovc]

I did. A lot.

[@penttikoivuniemi2146]

That helmet makes me want a fancy hat to put on top of my fencing mask.

[@neilmilburn5149]

Thank you.

[@alexandersarchives9615]

That thing looks like a great helm mixed with a frog mouth helm

[@jonnyone-truck2460]

if helmet knock off was a way to score, would fastening it down in front maybe have been seen as cheating?

[@RheaMainz]

Maybe fastening the helmet from the front significantly increases the chance of the wearer being knocked off. Like pushing a chesspiece over from its top compared to its centre.

[@genericfakename8197]

14th century composite armour, fascinating!

[@alexanderren1097]

Armourer: "How heavy do you want your jousting helm to be?" Henry V: "Yes"

[@PJDAltamirus0425]

If it is fastened only at the back, you can take the thing on and off without help or risk of losing it. Great thing to be to do in the space between multiple competitions.

[@scholagladiatoria]

It weighs 7.3kg. It's not terribly practical to have hanging from the back of your neck :-)

[@PJDAltamirus0425]

I thought you said the helmet lacy was attached to the back of his armor, so the wieght of the armor would be transferred to the back of the body armor, not to the throat.

[@muskyelondragon]

I watched Toby's jousting video. Toby! Dude you are fuckin' rad! You own some beautiful armor.

[@patliao556]

Re: Helms not being fastened in the front-- is it possible that having the helm 'plucked from your head' as it were, was another way to mitigate the force of a particularly heavy lance strike? A primitive sort of ablative armor-- if force is being spent to flip the helm straight off your head, it's not going straight into your neck, right? Alternatively, maybe it's just a matter of convenience, with an unvisored great helm, it's probably a huge pain to wear on your head while you're waiting in the lists, eh? Edit: Un-MOVEABLE-visored, I should say.

[@grinofthegrimreaper]

I feel like fastening the helmet both front and back would actually prevent your neck being strained by the blow, since the force of the blow is being diffused through the entire upper body. Being fastened at the front it would prevent your neck from suffering any direct hit, since the front fastener will prevent the helmet from moving backwards enough to force your neck back. of course on the other hand it would prevent neck mobility, or seriously limit it.

[@Robert399]

I doubt it. It's still fairly securely attached to your head. Think about how far back your head would have to whip before a greathelm would fall off.

[@patliao556]

+lorenzo galotti: That is true, but correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a tourney lance hit only counted as a point if you lose your seat? Maybe I've been reading too much Christian Cameron, which is obviously far from a perfect source, but my impression is that if the helm gets plucked off your head and you keep a perfect seat, not much is counted.

[@patliao556]

+Robert R: Greathelms have no chinstrap, no? Looking at this one in particular, the sheer size of the thing and the amount of space between the helm and your head makes me think that it wouldn't take that much. It's even somewhat belled out at the bottom.

[@Robert399]

+Cook Yeah but it's still cylindrical and heavy and your head's taller than it is deep. So your head would need to tip back before it could fall off. For that to work, you'd have to be able to wiggle it back and forth while it's on your head normally. I'm not saying it _can't_ fall off but I doubt that you get struck in the head, the helm flies merrily away and you ride on still upright. I imagine that being "de-helmed" means you were struck in the face, your head got knocked back and then the helm fell off (after the impact).

[@jellekastelein7316]

This helm has a very high pimp factor.

[@vicnighthorse]

Tobias kinda looks like he is a Hannibal Lecter sort of guy. I'd be extra polite with him if I was Matt.

[@DoktorWeasel]

Hey Matt. Any chance of getting a jousting lesson from Dr. Capwell and filming it? That could be an interesting thing to see. And not just to see you get clobbered.

[@Nick-hi9gx]

13mm is like having a thin, metal shield on your face. At that point, it might be easier to just cut some eyeholes on a shield and strap it on.

[@Camcolito]

'You actually can score a joust according to whether you knock your opponent's helmet off' - Then they check it and if the head is still in it you automatically qualify for the knock-out stages.

[@TheZinmo]

Iron vs steel: Shock absorbtion through deformation? Could the thick iron of the helmet work as a kind of crumple zone, absorbing heavy shocks with some limited deformation? A helmet that ist too elastic could make the konsequences for the human inside worse instead of better, leading to worse whiplash.

[@RambleOn07]

MadZin Moo wouldn't it be at more of a risk of shattering though?

[@zerozerosud]

We want more Augusto!

[@russelltimmerman3771]

Could the pure iron be there for intentional deformation? Like the front of a car in a crash? Hard steel might transmit more force to the wearer when soft iron might simply dent a bit.

[@scholagladiatoria]

If the plate were thinner then this may be possible, but with 9mm of iron just on the outer plate this is not going to deform - the first thing that will happen is that the wearer's neck will bend backwards. The human neck is not strong enough to resist the bending of 9mm of iron.

[@dorians4148]

Vivo en México y he construido varias armaduras pero me gustaría hacerlas con mucha más precisión y no tengo ninguna referencia para llevar a cabo una armadura bien replicada se que puedo llevarla a cabo pero teniendo una original y observar todos los detalles y trabajarla tal cual se trabajaron en aquellas épocas y me encantaría replicar una por completo me gusta mucho lo de las armaduras medievales construirlas y perfeccionar a detalle este arte en hierro

[@nightslayer78]

Do you think the head piece and it's weight was also built to keep the weight up to reduce the movement when hit in the head with a lance?

[@scholagladiatoria]

I think that helmets were sometimes made deliberately heavy to absorb more energy from a strike and help protect the neck.

[@Bristan]

Could that also be the reason the helm is made of iron? Is the iron that much softer then steel so that it might flex easier to absorb energy and make a difference alla modern crumple zones on cars?

[@Gam3B0y23r0]

Well... this helm could fit in Warcraft as a Tank helm very well ))

[@theprof739]

Since Matt put the helm with the Royal crest on it, does that now make him the King of England? :P

[@2adamast]

It's a funeral helmet. Makes him death

[@imsunk5813]

It looks very similar to the cap of maintenance of the Black Prince who died in 1376.

[@fisadev]

question: what would the rest of his armor look like? What kind of armor were they using for jousting at that period?

[@scholagladiatoria]

In around 1415-1420 the rest of the harness would probably appear like any normal plate harness - it seems only the helmets were specialised for jousting at this date. The harness could be something like this, but in a more English syle: image1.masterfile.com/getImage/ODM4LTAyNDk2MjM3ZW4uMDAwMDAwMDA=APnZoW/838-02496237en_Masterfile.jpg

[@fisadev]

thanks! I was having trouble imagining it because that helmet would look strange (to me, not being an expert) over a normal plate harness, almost like the typical fantasy stuff where 15th century plate armor is mixed with 13th century great helms, hehe.

[@duchessskye4072]

The great helms have been worn with the coat of plates, or corazzina as the later development was known, even into the late 14th century sometimes as depicted by artwork. A corazzina looks basically like a plate harness covered in textile, and some of them were actually solid breastplates covered with textile.

[@ARR0WMANC3R]

10:32 the nodding madman returns!!!

[@JosefGustovc]

I did!

[@MravacKid]

Holy hell, that helm is more armored than some warships... :)

[@boydgrandy5769]

Was the crest somehow glued or otherwise fastened to the helm?

[@thelonerider5644]

Wow Henry V was decked out like Iron Man!

[@Giloup92]

So, this helm has spaced armor on the front, like a tank.

[@exploatores]

how heavy can a helmet be before it damage the person who has it?

[@taekatanahu635]

2:32 I think Toby's battery might be running low.

[@florianlindenberger4185]

Just speculation, would this be bulletproof?

[@Camcolito]

It's like wearing light tank composite armor on your face.

[@docstockandbarrel]

👍🏻

[@jcorbett9620]

Is it possible that heavy armour like this, aimed at a specific, formal event, rather than "battlefield" armour, be responsible for the myth that knights couldn't get up unaided if they were knocked over in full harness? Both Toby and Matt state that the helm is exceptionally heavy, due to it's layer of extra protection and Dr Capwell also mentions how badly mobility has to be compromised in favour of protection. If this mobility v protection ratio is maintained across all important bodyparts, like the chestplate, the full harness would be far heavier than a "battlefield" one and may require aid to mount and arise if knocked over. If someone was looking at a manuscript with drawings of a knight being winched onto his horse, without the knowledge we have today, it would be easy to assume that was the norm, rather than a specialised event.

[@crigby46]

It's certainly more likely based in armour like this than battlefield equipment, for sure! IT would be pretty difficult to get up off one's front in this too, as with it fastening from the back only the whole weight would bear down on your shoulders at a 90 degree angle, like holding out a breezeblock at arm's length, only from your head. To be fair, I suspect a lot of the whole idea with armour making it hard to get up has to do with instances where people were knocked insensible. It makes a good story to take back to your family after all; "I saw the knights at joust, and one who was unhorsed? His armour was so heavy that he couldn't even take his feet without help and make it away from the lists!"

[@PalleRasmussen]

Pardon, but what helmet in Cph?

[@cityandsuburb]

Incredible Schola.......

[@notpulverman9660]

I thought the gold part was a really fancy wig

[@metamaggot]

the front of that is basically bullet proof

[@cityandsuburb]

So it is a shock-absorber.....

[@dantrusty1259]

At least this channel seems legit and serious. I can't stand viewing the half baked channels that handle the whole sword and armour stuff like wannabe comedians.

[@merlball8520]

Oh, but Samurai armor was impenetrable and katana could cut European plate cuz I've seen it in videos... 13mm armor you say? Uh... Nvmd.

[@yamiyomizuki]

Merl Ball if you're going to make stupid meme jokes at least know the meme. I've never heard anyone talk about samurai armor being impenetrable, in fact generally it's shown as being cut through like it's nothing to show how awesome the swordsman and his sword are. I should also point out the the idea of swords cutting through armor is not unique to Japanese swords or Japanese media. Watch any film with s medieval or medieval fantasy setting and you'll see people with stabbing and cutting through armor just as easily.

[@duchessskye4072]

If you're gonna correct a meme, please correct it without ruining it

[@Miraihi]

I like them THICC I mean, helmets. Right.

[@ttomajo]

Hey Matt - another very interesting video. I'm sure you've seen this movie duel several times before kzbin.info/www/bejne/mnXNZoiGj7Otqbc but I was wondering what you think about it? It's one of the most realistic movie sword fights i've seen - the actors seem to know what they're doing and its Polish sabre, which I think is cool. Could you make a review? Cheers

[@Ken19700]

With iron being so soft, it would be easier to build.

[@godofimagination]

2:00 Augusto cringes.

[@JosefGustovc]

I didn't cringe, but me and Matt did exchange an amused look. =)

[@godofimagination]

Ah, ok. Good.

[@xenophon5354]

Thicc

[@chucknoris9527]

realpimpshit

[@IZokoraI]

Aragorn would cut this helmet into pieces with no effort.

[@rdwaldofeastanglia4327]

"Many many pounds". Why do so many English people insist on using imperial measurements these days? We use the far superior metric system in Britain, so use it. Pounds mean nothing to me or anyone else viewing in the UK. Great video otherwise.

[@RambleOn07]

Rædwald of East Anglia because it's more fitting, you savage.

[@TheBaconWizard]

You seem to forget that the change to metric is only very recent and was not instantaneous. Some people grew-up more comfortable with Imperial than metric and it is their instinctive go-to measurement. We still use pints in pubs, measure distance in miles. I consider myself to be 6ft tall and have to look it up to find that i'm 1.83m tall. I'm (only??) 43. I'm a chef, and many recipes are still in lbs and oz if they are traditional because converting them gives less memorable relationships between ingredients (such as 8oz flour, 4oz butter, 2oz sugar, 1 egg)

[@2adamast]

He was saying mm all the time. Pounds are 'easy', grains are a pain (nearly 3 barley or 4 wheat in 1 carat). What grain?

[@eddiel7635]

I’m 40 and I alternate with both for weight and height. Just the way I grew up.

[@jobdylan5782]

wahhhhhh