#cuir-bouilli

Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral: Natural Resources The extent to which natural resources are utilized is well documented. We find a veritable menagerie of animal parts, with mammals providing the lion's share. Baleen plates from enormous filter-feeding whales are used in the construction of gauntlets, reinforced sleeves, and crossbows. The hides of a range of ruminants are purchased: cows, calves, bucks, roes, goats, and sheep. The differentiation of 'white' and 'red' from the norm relates to the plant-matter used in the leather-tanning process: oak and birch bark for bog standard whilst more exotic plants produce fine colours - an example being the sumac shrub for a vivid red. Parisian armourers in 1296 are prohibited from covering gauntlets with cheap black-tanned sheepskin or mégis: a thin, alum-tanned, sheep or goatskin (basaine noire ne de mesgueiz'). The 1312 regulations of the same city continue the prohibition of 'cuir de mouto' noir'. Hungarian leather is singled out at the Tower of London – presumably for its superior quality. Twisted horsehair is formed into tough ropes for the torsion- powered springald, and sinew is used to construct the composite crossbow. From the avian species, the flight feathers of the goose and peacock are prepared for arrow fletchings. The striking feathers of the peacock's train serve as crest ornaments.

Text: A knight of the 13th century who wishes to reinforce his mail against the growing threat of crossbows. A cuir-bouilli reinforce might only increase the energy needed by an arrow to about 150J; which is not enough to stop a crossbow bolt at short range. He might opt to wear a coat of iron plates instead. Such a plate might be 2 mm thick and probably be made of iron (* quality). This would need another 70J to defeat it, making a total of about 220J -- enough to defy a crossbowman, although making his armour uncomfortably heavy.