fitting on armour for holding a lance

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ewie

ewie

Senior Member
miles away
English English
Me again. Does anyone know anything about medieval armour/combat?:rolleyes: I'm looking for a name for a fitting (or doodah, to use the technical term) which a knight would have inserted his lance into, presumably to hold it steady. Unfortunately I don't have a picture or anything more to go on ~ I'm not even sure if the doodah would have been on his saddle or somewhere on his suit of armour. I've hunted high and low for this term, obviously without success. Any help would be appreciated:)

Example with blank: The knight fitted his lance into the ________ and advanced towards his opponent.

P.S. I imagine it must've looked something like a rowlock.
 
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    • MuttQuad

    MuttQuad

    Senior Member
    New York, NY
    English - AmE
    ewie said:
    Me again. Does anyone know anything about medieval armour/combat?:rolleyes: I'm looking for a name for a fitting (or doodah, to use the technical term) which a knight would have inserted his lance into, presumably to hold it steady. Unfortunately I don't have a picture or anything more to go on ~ I'm not even sure if the doodah would have been on his saddle or somewhere on his suit of armour. I've hunted high and low for this term, obviously without success. Any help would be appreciated:)

    There is some discussion of this at:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Soldados/messages/2552?xm=1&m=e&l=1
    but you will have to do a little digging through the posts there.

    I gather that there was often a socket on the stirrup to hold the lance's butt, and a strap or sling for the rider's arm; but that these were mostly not used by the lancer.






    Example with blank: The knight fitted his lance into the ________ and advanced towards his opponent.

    P.S. I imagine it must've looked something like a rowlock.
    Click to expand...
     
    JulianStuart

    JulianStuart

    Senior Member
    Sonoma County CA
    English (UK then US)
    Well, I looked a bit too. Obviously you have discarded the obvious "Lance-a-lock®" :D

    Do you have some, ahem, context for the existence of such a thing or are you (justifiably, in my opinion, given all the other weights they carry) assuming they needed them?

    The bit I found left me with the impression that they didn't use them, at least during the actual joust
    "The stock is usually made of wood, and its length depends largely on how long and how heavy the point is—the main concern in making your lance should be your balancing point. The lance is held at the balance point"
    Click to expand...
    . The hand-holding bit presumably allows you to move and aim it better than you could an oar :D
     
    ewie

    ewie

    Senior Member
    miles away
    English English
    Thanks for the answers, folks. (You should trademark lance-a-lock, Julian ... ah, I see you already have:cool:) I think I might just go with socket. The annoying thing is that I know the term in Spanish because it lives on in an expression meaning 'at the ready'. Hold on ...


    Cancel that: I'll go with (lance-)rest ~ it's more of a rest than a socket, isn't it? And it's obviously attached to the side of the chestplate of the knight's armour, which is what the Spanish definition above says:)
    I must admit that rest never occurred to me: I thought it would've required something more substantial, more (ahem) rowlocky.
     
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    velisarius

    velisarius

    Senior Member
    Greece
    British English (Sussex)
    In Google Books, "Jousting in Medieval and Renaissance Iberia", there is a glossary. See P. 511 ristre : lance-rest.
     
    Packard

    Packard

    Senior Member
    USA, English
    "I am no longer going to race in the Tour de France", said Armstrong. "I am going on a lance-rest.":D
     
    gramman

    gramman

    Senior Member
    North Kingstown, Rhode Island
    American English
    In common, or "par" lance, this thread is lanced with (attempts at) humour. Of course, I'm hoping mine draws the loudest groans. :cool:

    Others having found the needle, here is a link to a view of the haystack from The Metropolitan Museum of Art:

    Details of armor: the lance rest and the codpiece explained
    A lance rest is a "support … bolted to the right side of the breastplate and was often hinged." emphasis added — Encyclopedia of historical weapons
    Click to expand...
    What about southpaws? "You're left-handed, Mr. Ewell."

    a reference to another, related piece of hardware:
    By the late 1300's a small "rest" was mounted to the breastplate of the medieval Knight, to aid the rider in supporting the lance. At this same time, a round "grapper" or ring was placed around the shaft of the lance, behind the hand and ahead of the armpit. The purpose of the grapper was to prevent the lance from sliding back under the arm. When it was used in conjunction with the rest, it served to distribute the force of the impact more evenly across the rider's chest. This had the added advantage of allowing more weight and force to be put directly into the impact. — Mounted Combat: Weapons: The Lance
    Click to expand...
    more related hardware: staples and a pin

    And just like Staples, that was easy — all those references are listed on the wikipedia page for lance rest, which seems to be a very useful resource for established historical information.

    The lance is couched in the rest.

    The fire spear, or fire lance, is one of the first gunpowder weapons, part of the continuing history of changes to armour.
     
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