medieval shields: How were shields made in medieval times?

Jason is joined by shieldmaker Luke Woods, who talks about the materials and construction of shields. Shields weren’t just painted pieces of wood but cleverly engineered pieces of technology, with all the materials working together to make a tough defensive item.
• Executive Producer: Jason Kingsley OBE
• Executive Producer: Chris Kingsley
• Senior Producer: Brian Jenkins
• Producer: Edward Linley
• Director: Dominic Read
• Presenter: Jason Kingsley OBE
• Subject Matter Expert: Luke Woods
• Camera: Andy Berryman
• Camera: Dominic Read
• Audio: Haroon Thantrey
• Stills Photographer: Kasumi
• Production Manager: Kevin Case
• Sound Design: Liam Flannigan
• Music licensed from PremiumBeat
• Additional Camera: Darren Cook
• Additional Camera: Neil Phillips
• Additional Sound: Elizabeth Carlyon
Special Thanks:
• Chris Payton
• Ed Savage
Facebook: modernhistorytv/
Twitter: @ModernHistoryTV
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[@dmshchep]

This is an amazingly underrated channel. I hope more people will find this. You guys need to seriously think about some form of marketing - the content is amazing! How come I never heard of you?

[@draco147]

from 10K to 100K in less than two months. The new algorithm in KZbin is doing the job.

[@jordanslater-cuthbertson4183]

Jason is so excited in this video. You can tell. I would be, too, if I was there! 😀

[@joshicus_saint_anger]

That's awesome. I'd never heard about the fabric/glue combo that was applied over the wooden boards. Great video

[@PpAirO5]

According to the painting of the Viking shield, it might be to distinguish between the Viking groups, clans, towns. Also i have heard they did it to cover the direction of the wood grain (sorry if i used the wrong word for it. Hope it makes sense) so an enemy would have less of a chance to split the shield. Edit.

[@Cricket2731]

Yes, it made sense, even tho you said strain instrad of grain.

[@PpAirO5]

@@Cricket2731 .. 😅 My english ain't sharp enough.

[@Cricket2731]

@@PpAirO5 , that's quite alright. My "translation" was more for others.

[@rangerintraining7477]

This videos are amazing man

[@BBQLord.]

He didn’t tell us the diameter of a shield and he didn’t talk about rawhide covering the entire front of the shield. What animal hide was most likely used?

[@Cricket2731]

Using the SWAG method, my guess is bull hide. Aurochs were still around then, & would be for some 700 years.

[@tatumergo3931]

The diameter of objects in general are based on the dimensions of the human body. That's where we get the original standard measurement sizes. The length of your hand, foot, arm, leg and torso. For a viking shield is between 33" to 36" more or less, my guess depending on the size of an individual. Archeological finds have also shown that some viking shields were quite small, about the size of a Scottish targe, roughly 28" in diameter.

[@NialasDubh]

I would not be asking that big lad to help me test a shield. He a CHONK

[@wolkcumulus2547]

awww I hope to see how it was made the shields... I wanted know how they made the shield in medieval times.. I feel tricked q.q

[@Oldgit51]

Like you videos but please stop with the background "music" it does nothing but annoy greatly

[@qlogic2002]

Totally agree! The damn dinging is driving me crazy

[@jonasstewart9632]

@@qlogic2002 Do you know which song is playing at 1:06?

[@steevemartial4084]

Just a detail : hammering a metal will make it stronger but not denser. It doesn't work by compressing the material, it works by creating flaws in the cristalline structure of the metal (called dislocations). Those will make it harder for the metal to deform, not compression. Trust me, I'm an engineer in material science. Otherwise very interesting video, as usual !

[@jasonkingsley2762]

Steeve Martial thanks, useful to know. As you know, my expertise is in horses, not metallurgy.

[@steevemartial4084]

I can understand that. I just thought it'd be worth sharing. On an unrelated note, may I know who forged your golden sword ? I'd be interested in having a similar one made.

[@jasonkingsley2762]

Steeve Martial Mark Vickers of St George Armouries. It was a custom order that took a long while to get made.

[@steevemartial4084]

Thank you ! I assumed it was custom made, but the result is worth waiting for.

[@tomasxfranco]

To my understanding, it accumulates tension in the material, a tension that can be released by returning it to the martensite state (heat less than tempering temperatures), allowing the crystal structure to reorganize itself enough to alleviate those micro-tensors.

[@joeyfive5245]

“Oak and iron, guard me well or else I’m dead and doomed to hell” Got to love a good shield 🛡

[@lordbear1822]

The secret is being thick as a castle wall

[@greenjack1959l]

Dunc the lunk, thick as a castle wall.

[@kochetovalex]

If I'm not horribly mistaken, viking shields were not so thick (1/2") but rather 8-9 mm in the center and decrease gradually to 4-5 mm at the edge of the shield - and this would dramatically decrease the weight of the shield. At least some of the archaeological findings say that.

[@ModernKnight]

yes, you are right, but they're very expensive to have made and we needed a lot for this test!

[@Estudiante-musico-con-hobbies]

@@ModernKnight can you please make the roman shield? Scutum

[@Evan-rj9xy]

I'd love to make a proper planked shield one of these days. Plywood's all well and good, but I don't imagine it was so easy to come by in the middle ages

[@jasonkingsley2762]

Evan yes, you are right, ideally i'd like to try a lime wood planked one and try it. Plywood is a useful substitute, but not quite right of course.

[@mdstmouse7]

roman shields were sometimes 3 sheets of wood. 2 horizontal 1 vertical.

[@johnswoodgadgets9819]

If it had been, they would have used it. Cross planking is essentially the same structure.

[@ericevans9507]

I’m trying to find someone who can make one for me and paint my family coat of arms on it.

[@rachdarastrix5251]

@@mdstmouse7 Huh, noted. I kept thinking its vertical then horizontal then vertical. But I'm not so egotistic as to think I know better than the ancients just because those who are project that onto me.

[@vanivanov9571]

If we consider Wisby... I wouldn't be surprised if some people did have to go into battle with just a painted lump of wood. In which case, the paint is important--it's so the enemy doesn't realize your shields suck!

[@ellenkarlsson9490]

The peasant army at the battle of Visby were surprisingly well equiped, though.

[@vanivanov9571]

@@ellenkarlsson9490 Not at all. Their equipment featured such things as armor made with carpet and scrap metal. It was a desperate defence by peasants, only some of whom had good military gear.

[@ellenkarlsson9490]

@@vanivanov9571 I have never heard that. They had things like chainmail, odd pieces of armor, helmets, swords and wooden shields. They were old, often kept in the family for generations but they were valued and well looked after. The Danish army had more modern equipment.

[@vanivanov9571]

@@ellenkarlsson9490 Yeah, if you're lucky you're using outdated military equipment with sentimental value. Otherwise, you have to use whatever you can scavenge.

[@Kroiznacher]

The shield looks a bit thick and heavy to me. In my expierience shields have quite the same weight as "their" sword.

[@bronzejourney5784]

Weight of sword/horse= offense Weight of armor/shield= defense Rate between them is something like a slider about how offensive/defensive you are. Heavy shields like this used in formations not 1v1s, because you would want your defensive stance of your army to be strong at the first impact so it wont scatter to billion pieces after first clash, you achieve this by being heavy.

[@OneEyeDollar6]

What experience? I'm curious.

[@wamken619]

Roland Warzecha's videos about shield-making show that the wooden planks were tapered thinner towards the edge, which I would assume not only lowers the weight but also concentrates the shield's center of mass to the grip/boss. Kind of like bringing a sword's point of balance closer to the hilt to make it feel lighter.

[@DrFunke]

This is a fantastic help in building shields. Thank you!

[@robertmatetich2898]

I see that you use stirrups in your demonstrations but were they actually used by the Normans in 1066 all the way through the 15th century, and how would this effect the use of the shield and lance or spear?

[@auntfanny3266]

Ooh! Look! A viking!

[@blameusa7082]

How did you make KZbin so mad at you... you should be world famous!!!

[@adamorlowski4886]

Nice auxilary Roman shield in the back

[@magicknight8412]

Saw Luke Woods at Arundel Castle , directing kids to re-enact the Battle of Hastings! Great guy !

[@kurbelgehause]

What gram strength hide glue do you use? How long is the glue working time? Thanks

[@Cindy-by3ho]

No music please.

[@luisebraunsperger]

I recently discovered your channel and I its amazing! Watching every single video ❤️

[@ModernKnight]

Welcome!!

[@shannonesty9298]

When he first picked up the Shield the thing that came Into my mind was “I was an adventurer like you until I took an arrow to The knee”

[@minerwaweasley1008]

Heck, such a great, useful video, and the whole conversation is barely 64 posts. And earlier, under the (also otherwise great!) film about the fact that a knight in an armor freezes his butt in the cold - over four thousand entries. Hm (thinks). Maybe because few people had the opportunity to use the shield, and everyone's butt was cold?

[@highlanderNC-mr8fe]

That background music could be a little lower.

[@pophap]

the Yellow shild doesnt look very good 🤔 he probably made it in a hurry, they will laugh at me if I bring this to a historical event

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Gor. He's a big boy ;-)

[@Cr4cKf0x]

This is very informative but I only managed half the video because of that incessant, annoying, completely incongruous music blasting away. So distracting. We aren't children.

[@ModernKnight]

Thanks for commenting anyway.

[@Asertix357]

Wasn't the age of vikings well prior to the medieval time period?

[@ModernKnight]

The medieval period starts in early 400 and continues to late 1500, depending on where you are. Viking raids were around 800 to 1100 ish.

[@bellfartsonme]

that shield seems way too thick, most round shields tapered from 1cm to 6mm. As well, the edging would have been sewn through the board, simply because of the cost of iron.

[@ianalexander6977]

I’ve also heard that it was more common to cover the shield in parchment thin vellum than linen/fabric. But then the extant examples of surviving shields are so few it’s hard to know for sure.

[@snakycake4790]

of course line your shields with some sort of material, linned/leather/canvas, makes the structural integrity alot stronger also makes it easier to paint

[@markberlanga6375]

@@ianalexander6977 i believe both parchment and vellum would have been more expensive back then than linen/fabric

[@ccityplanner1217]

3:02: "Heaten" - wow: distinction of simple & participle on a weak verb. Linguistic evolution in action. I sometimes do this.

[@Steinmetal4]

Like the video but guys... who... who decided on the background music?

[@xxlCortez]

Luke sounds like Chris Hemsworth.

[@OneEyeDollar6]

Not really. Chris Hemsworth is Australian not English.

[@texasbeast239]

My understanding is that Viking shields used rawhide rather than linen. Rawhide is tough and flexible, and also is easily repairable after battle to re-seal the damaged areas. It's also translucent, so designs could be made on the wood, and then covered with the tough skin on top. That way, you don't have painted images wearing off.

[@ccityplanner1217]

I found detailed instructions for making dairy glue on the RSC website. Having fabric on a shield might increase the friction of the surface. The question is whether this would be a good thing or a bad thing in combat. If there is too much friction on a shield, your opponent may be able to use his weapon to push you. If there is too little, he could slide his weapon up the shield to your head.

[@greenjack1959l]

Can I ask what was used to fasten the rawhide edging onto the Viking shield?

[@ModernKnight]

nails

[@greenjack1959l]

@ModernKnight that'll do for me, carpet tacks I think. I've seen articles suggesting that it was stitched on, which would mean drilling hundreds of tiny holes through the rim with corresponding ones in the rawhide through which you thread some sort of cord. This has held me up on the one I made, as, although I try to be as authentic as possible with projects, drilling all those tiny holes with a bow drill or some such thing, didn't really appeal to me Lol!

[@iancorrie7043]

Those Kite Shields are great things,you can do a good roll and recover your feet with one.And they are great for bashing.Dont try this at home.😂👍

[@jonkerr6782]

Steel does NOT become "denser" by planishing or hammering of any kind. It may become "work hardened" although only if done cold and that may or may not be beneficial as hardness=brittleness.

[@ModernKnight]

sometimes surface carbon is added by hammering, and the crystalline structure changes, in effect adding a micro laminated surface.

[@jonkerr6782]

@@ModernKnight I dont know what you mean by a "micro laminatef surface". The crystalline structure will not "improve" by hammering, other than to work-harden the material which is probably not beneficial in the case of a shield boss. You might introduce surface carbon by soaking in a low-heat for many hours but not enough to make any real difference in the case of a shield boss. And certainly not as an incidental effect of a bit of planishing. And again, carbon in itself wont necessarily be beneficial unless you with to harden the material. Hardness is not strength. Hardness is also brittleness. Source: I'm a full time blacksmith with a masters degree in aerospace engineering (involving some metallurgy).

[@ModernKnight]

I've seen papers on the structure of medieval armour steels, though I can't remember many details. It appears that you can see significant differences between the surface and the interior of each plate. In effect the paper said it forms a type of laminate with differential hardening, similar to the differential quenching used for some swords and knives. I am not a metallurgist though. I was under the impressions that various toughnesses of steel were created by specific heat quenching and then tempering for knives? Is that not the case?

[@jonkerr6782]

@ModernKnight ah! Now that makes more sense and is very interesting. You could in theory have a situation where the side you've hammered is hardened, while the back side remains soft. This would be a best of both worlds effect where blades might glance off the hardened exterior without shattering the steel thanks to the soft steel behind. Achieving this would be quite difficult though as most planishing is done against a hard object such as an anvil or dolly, which provides an equal and opposite reaction thereby work hardening the underside at the same time you planish the top. Perhaps it could be done against a sandbag or leather surface to protect the inside from the effects of impact? Not easy. This must also be done cold. Any subsequent heating removes the effect entirely. If you care about such things you have to be careful about words such as strength, toughness, hardness as they are all different properties with different meanings and achieved in different ways. You're right in a sense. HARDNESS (the ability to take and retain an edge, but also brittleness) is achieved by quenching (rapid cooling) of steel. This must then be offset by tempering (gentle heating between 216-316c, depending on the desired hardness) to soften the steel to a sensible final hardness, as appropriate for the tool or weapon in question. For example, an axe needs to be softer than a kitchen knife. Due to the brittleness factor, this is probably less desireable in armour, but I dont know much about this. All I can say is that hammering does not inherently make steel "denser" or "stronger".

[@level_1_for_now]

Where does one buy the raw hide in wide strips like that?

[@ModernKnight]

natural dog chews can be soaked in water and unwrapped to create low quality rawhide.

[@greenjack1959l]

​@@ModernKnightthey also make a good hide glue.

[@jemparsons4398]

What documentation is used to prove fabric coverings on a shield?

[@ModernKnight]

a few extant examples in museums.

[@jemparsons4398]

@@ModernKnight Can you tell me of an example, I am part of a reenactor group in Australia and my group has had our shields(which are made the same way as the ones shown) called into question. This influential person is causing trouble for us and the method of construction proposed by this individual would cost us $200-300 AUD which is untenable for a piece of equipment only meant to last a few years. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

[@ModernKnight]

I'll see what I can find. basically they were making plywood from thin but wide strips. Using hoof glue or hide glue and then coverign that with any fabric also soaked in the glue. they'd have used plywood if they had it! what is this person suggesting? the sagas talk about linden wood, but almost all the remains are not linden wood.

[@jemparsons4398]

@@ModernKnight I appreciate it. The main problem we are experiencing is the shield coverings. The timber being used is less important because there are very few European timbers available in Australia. I know of the Szczecin shields both of which are bare timber one with a straw and bark rim the other without any rim and I know about the Marburg shields though I am struggling to find construction information on those ones.

[@lilywhytewallis6897]

Recently watched (and absolutely loved!!! 'Vikings') So I find this all so interesting... to see how they might have been constructedf!

[@qlogic2002]

Can you please not add background music? This is taking away from trying to listen closely to what is being said.