This article is part of our series on the current Fantasy: Realms of Imagination exhibition, taking place at the Central Library until January 2024…
There are lots of exciting things to discover in the Local and Family History department at any time, but if you visit during the Fantasy exhibition, it’s even more exciting! Amongst the exhibits you will find a harness of armour, but it’s of a kind you might not have seen before.
A brigandine is a form of armour that became popular in Europe in the 15th century. Constructed of overlapping plates that were riveted to fabric, it offered more flexible protection than plate armour, and could be produced at a lower cost. The Royal Armouries have several in their collection:
Collection Search | Royal Armouries
This is a reproduction which has been kindly loaned by Rory Ware, a medieval re-enactment combatant. Here’s a picture of it in action:
They might not be as impressive as full plate, but brigandines are often seen in fantasy settings, sometimes for that very reason. How many of these fantasy versions do you recognise?
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Here’s the answers and links to where we found the photos:
Prince Caspian
How The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian began the end of a big-screen fantasy era (ew.com)
Braveheart
Exploring the Historical Inaccuracies of Braveheart | MovieBabble
Guy of Gisborne from Robin of Sherwood
RoS: “The Time of the Wolf.” (Part One) | Sword, Table, Antlers (wordpress.com)
Ned Stark (Game of Thrones)
Eddard “Ned” Stark – Game of Thrones Photo (24660240) – Fanpop
Jon Snow (Game of Thrones)
The armor sets of ‘Game of Thrones,’ ranked – CNET
Robb Stark (Game of Thrones)
The armor sets of ‘Game of Thrones,’ ranked – CNET
Assassins Creed game
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: All Armor Sets and Where to Find Them | Push Square
The Witcher game
Salmian brigandine | Witcher Wiki | Fandom
Fantasy: Realms of Imagination (a partnership between Leeds Libraries and the British Library) can be seen at the Central Library until January 2024. Lots of events are running alongside the exhibition itself – you can browse the full catalogue and book tickets on our Ticketsource page.
Please contact us on 0113 37 85005 or LibraryEnquiries@leeds.gov.uk if you have any queries about this article or the Fantasy exhibition.
The Secret Library | Leeds Libraries Heritage Blog 
The fashions of clothes. From the formal suit to the tee-shirt (deja-vu).
The word interest me. It is variously described as Old/obsolete English from a similar Old French word of a similar form. Could it be the Normans (once our invaders) coined this word as fitting to describe the attire and demeanour of the warring tribe the Brigantes (origin of the country’s name) who lived in this area, perhaps before Saxon settlement and at the time of conflict with the Romans. Indeed the Italian word ‘brigante’ means a feisty, warring, marauding natured person. We are a nation from bandits, thiefs and tricksters. Just a thought but nice to know!
Considering the time frame for William Wallace the armour he is supposedly wearing, it should be some sort of “coat of plates”, than a brigandine. The two are different in that the “coat of plates”, or “platta” here in the area of the Swedish kingdom at the time, predates the brigandine, and while the scales on a brigandine are horzontal, in a platta they were typically vertical and bigger, than those on brigandine, or on a “pair of plates”.
The one worn by Guy of Gisburne is not exactly a brigandine as such. It is a scale armour more fitting of the historical period of king John Landlack, that the Robin Hood stories are set and only a distant “relative” of the brigandine armour. Altough, it might have been considered already old fashioned. And such armour was ever more fashionable in the Byzantine empire, as worn by their “katafrakti” heavy cavalry.