Castle Thun at War; Metalwork. Castle Chillon. Armor for Women and Men, Castle Defenses

Part III. Women in War 

Men in War

Metalwork, War, Culture

Without the forge, the smith, there could have been no weapons or defenses as effective as were developed in medieval-renaissance times.  Look at the detail work on the mechanisms, the suits of armor for both women and men here at the Chillon Castle.  The woman's is (obviously) third from right. Room for the busty-chesty (not quite Rubenesque, who would have come later) and with an efficient, tidy, defined waist. 

Woman's armor, among the men's, Chillon Castle, Switzerland, 3d from right.

How was the metalwork done. Forges used to be commonplace. See a forge, for farm implements - like scythes - at ://www.beautifuliron.com/vienna_techmuseum.htm/. For a history of medieval technology, see ://www.engr.sjsu.edu/pabacker/history/middle.htm/  It sounds like a short step from the sharp heavy blade of the scythe to the fine steel of the sword, but the differences in tempering, honing, took centuries. Locks, bolts, hinges, not just the swords and armor, all needed for survival. Anything could be a weapon. See ://www.medieval-castle-siege-weapons.com/weapon-of-medieval-times.html/

Iron bolt, door, Thun Castle, Switzerland

The sword - mastery of it began in childhood, with gradual strength building so that the young adult and adult eventually had the shoulder, back, core and arm, hand and wrist strength to wield the 4-foot blade, length estimated here.
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Medieval Sword, looks about 4-foot in length, to handle. Thun Castle Museum, Switzerland.

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Castle stairs as a defense.  The coiled stairs to the tall towers wound up to the right, so that the attacker coming up the stairs (assuming a right-handed assailant) could not swing his sword from his strong side.  The defender, however, looking down at the attacker, had the room and advantage of a full right-arm swing at him.  Ropes were used to thread through as railings, so that if attacked, the rope could be severed and not interfere with the sword's action. A metal railing would obstruct.

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Castle tower staircase, winding up to the right.Thun Castle, Switzerland. The defender above had full arm swing down, for the sword. The attacker's right arm, as he fought his way up, would be constricted. 

Armor.  Armor that covered the entire body was designed for equestrian use. Thus, it is logical that a woman could play that part as needed, and did. Some armor has a female appearance.  It takes time to recognize it, however, because we are not taught that role in history classes. It takes seeing. Then do the research and find that it was so.

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Woman's armor, Thun Castle, Switzerland.

Other armor has no such suggestion, just accommodations for different body types.  These do not look at all female.
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Suits of men's armor, Thun Castle, Switzerland

Now look back at the woman's armor, in its position next to the man's at Thun Castle Museum.  The two are intentionally juxtaposed to show the difference. See Women and Knighthood in the Middle Ages at http://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/

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Armor for the woman, front angle in context with armor for the man; Thun Castle Museum, Switzerland

Women in war.  Not unusual. Done as needed, and done as the skills and interest warranted.  Then quietly slipped out of the history books as her cultural role became as constricted as the castle coiling staircases, deny the one trying to get up.

Medieval Female Knights.

There were female orders of knights.  See Women Knights at ://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/wom-kn.htm/.   Read about the Order of the Hatchet in Catalonia (Spain) 1149 AD - and the women who defended Tortona against the Moors.  A dame so admitted to the order received benefits, tax exemptions, "and took precedence over men in public assemblies." They were called cavalleros or knights - the author suggests using cavalleras,

Read on there about the Order of the Glorious Saint Mary in 1223, where women of Bologna were granted the rank of militessa. Pope Sixtus dissolved this group in 1558.

On and on.  Netherlands, England, military orders, the female grand-cross. Modern military orders include the French Legion of Honor where the women are called "chevaliers".  Take a day with the heraldica site.  Order thee some armor, lass.

Chateau or Castle Chillon: Innards, Furnishings, Ladies in Armor?

 Castle Basics
Chillon

Join us going through rooms and ins and outs of the Castle at Chillon. The top "teeth" on the battlements are called crenellations: archers and other defenders behind getting some protection, ducking frpom cover to cover. It also is a common sense kind of minimal fencing. See ://architecture.about.com/od/buildingparts/g/battlement.htm

Security checkpoints, Castle Chillon, defenses.

Castle interior design did not include closets.  People used wardrobes - large and bulky; or these movable chests that could then be packed and sent on with the owner to the next castle stop.  To the equivalent of Miami for the Season, or perhaps to the next place where tolls were being collected and books had to be audited.
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Clothing chests, or other household goods, wooden-carved, Chillon Castle, Switzerland

Some chests are religious in theme, others secular. As today,  it all depends on your predilection. Here is Adam and Eve, the snake now morphed into a female representation, when the Bible says the Snake is a "he."  All to suit the increasing masculinization of the Church?  Start trashing the ladies?  Above is a contemporary merchant kind of dress on the people represented.

Religious theme: Adam and Eve and, oh, no, a female snake (the Bible says the snake was a "he"); all the better for dogma, my dear. Castle Chillon, Switzerland

This kind of wardrobe - armor - would not fit into the chests. Women in armor.  Look at the shape, second from the left.  Then fast forward to other collections of armor, say, at Thun, Switzerland.  Unh-hunh. Amazing how a cultural need to box in a group succeeds just by never mentioning. Let the evidence just slide by, so nobody's antennae are set in that direction. Is that so?

Women in War. Woman's armor? Chillon Castle collection, second from left, Switzerland

Firebacks are familiar but have a longer history than we may think.  A fireback is a cast iron backer that deflects and absorbs and radiates back into the room the heat, away from the rock stone fireplace, where such heat can lead to cracking over time.  Let the fireback crack first.  See ://www.fireback.com/ for American colonial firebacks.  Can't remember the theme of this one: should have made a note.

Fireback, Chillon Castle, Switzerland

How to keep warm.  Small fireplaces had iron firebacks to reflect heat back into the room.  Beds had constructions available for curtains, and little roofs to them of solid wood instead of just fabric canopies for additional warmth.  We were told that the mattress, just a few inches of something, sat directly on a wooden platform.

Bed, Chillon Castle, Switzerland; portable. Guide said Duke took furnishings with him castle to castle.

Roofs served many functions inside and out:  here, outside, the roof to the battlements were solid, for weather-proofing, as well as to withstand invaders' weapons and fire arrows. Hurling weapons at each other, including setting fire to them and then firing them off, has a long history among enemies, see History of Rocketry at ://www.spacearium.com/special/spaceline/spaceline.org/history/1.html

Roofed battlements structure, post and beam, Chillon Castle, Lake Geneva, Switzerland

The roofing was not only protection for the fighters beneath, but also could deflect a fire weapon into the courtyard where somebody else could cope.

Medieval post and beam structure: here on battlements.
Large medieval fireplace with overhang, not heat-efficient, Chillon Castle, Switzerland

In fireplaces, even the huge ones, most heat went straight up.   It took the later wood-burning stove, or coal burning, with its ducts leading hot air to different floors and rooms, to make large places livable without an active fireplace in each room. See Europe Road Ways, Themes, Wood-Burning Stoves.