The Knight and the Blast Furnace

Alan R. Williams, Ph.D. (1974) in History of Science, University of Manchester, is Visiting Research Fellow, Engineering Department, Reading University. He has published extensively on the metallurgy of armour and weapons, and is the co-author of The Royal Armoury at Greenwich (1995).

Foreword by Claude Blair
Acknowledgements

SECTION ONE IRON
1.1 The earliest ironmaking
1.2 Swords
1.3 Hardening of steel

SECTION TWO MAIL
2.1 Mail
2.2 Armour of the later Roman Empire and the early Middle Ages

SECTION THREE KNIGHTS
3.1 The birth of the knight
3.2 Infantry and crossbows

SECTION FOUR ITALY
4.1 The triumph of an industry
4.2 The flourishing of an industry - The Metallurgy of Italian armour
4.3 The metallurgy of Italian armour before 1510
4.4 The eclipse of an industry - Italian armour after 1510
4.5 The metallurgy of Italian armour after 1510

SECTION FIVE GERMANY
5.1 "German" armour up to 1450
5.2 The metallurgy of "German" armour up to 1450
5.3 Augsburg armour
5.4 The metallurgy of Augsburg armour from the later 15th century onwards
5.5 Innsbruck armour
5.6 The metallurgy of Innsbruck armour
5.7 Landshut armour
5.8 The metallurgy of Landshut armour
5.9 Nurnberg armour
5.10 The metallurgy of Nurnberg armour
5.11 The metallurgy of Nurnberg tournament armours of the late 15th century

SECTION SIX THE REST OF EUROPE
6.1 Miscellaneous "German" armour
6.2 Flanders
6.3 The metallurgy of Flemish armour
6.4 England
6.5 The metallurgy of armour (presumed to have been) made in England
6.6 Spain
6.7 France
6.8 Sweden
6.9 North Germany and The Netherlands

SECTION SEVEN GUNS
7.1 The invention of guns
7.2 The earliest guns in Europe
7.3 Guns in 15th century warfare
7.4 Handguns in the 16th century

SECTION EIGHT PRODUCTION
8.1 Furnaces and blooms
8.2 Hardening armour
8.3 The mass-production of armour

SECTION NINE PROTECTION
9.1 Thickness of armour
9.2 Attack on armour
9.3 Effectiveness of armour according to contemporary evidence
9.4 Estimating the effectiveness of armour
9.5 Conclusion - Did it work?

Index