Sapphire Lebesque's Blog: Margin Notes - Posts Tagged "romantic-fantasy"

Chain mail was made by linking each ring through four others, either riveted, welded or butted together. Riveted rings were most secure as being most resistant to impact.

But there was a cost. Warriors had to lumber round and fight with an extra 10 or so kilos, plus a shield and sword, the combined weight was burdensome. One advantage of chain mail was flexibility and mobility over and above rigid plate armour, which also carried a weight cost, a necessary price to pay for added security on the battlefield.

It was also expensive in terms of labour, taking a skilled armourer many months to make and also in materials, quality steel or bronze being the most expensive.

Today, battle armour for a knight might cost thousands of pounds, euros or dollars, and only wealthier lords and knights could afford quality, and it carried a status. Sometimes rulers would foot the bill for chainmail for their elite warrior knights.

The word 'dungeon' is derived from the old French 'don-jon' which meant 'great tower', also from the word 'dominiumem' in Gallo-Roman. A don-jon was originally the strongest tower within the castle keep and the dungeon evolved into cramped and dark cells beneath the castle.

The 'oubliette' was the most horrific form of confinement, being no more than a hole in the ground where the hapless prisoner was lowered and didn't have room to change position or lie down. The word comes from the French and as it implies, once the trap door above was closed, often the occupant was simply forgotten about.

But medieval France wasn't the only nation to think of horrible ways to make prisoners suffer. The English adopted the concept with enthusiasm and the Spanish Inquisition turned torture into an artform, famously satirised by Monty Python.

Dungeons feature in Princess Vanora, Book 2 of Romances of The Chivalrous series. Poor Sir Nathan keeps getting locked up!