Henry VIII: the 'gadget master'

Tuesday, 31 March 2009

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� Royal Armouries

Henry VIII: dressed to kill

in pictures: Henry VIII - dressed to kill

Without Henry VIII’s personal patronage and enthusiastic backing, much of the rapid progress in the art of arms, armour and warfare that happened during his reign would have taken far longer. His personal interventions were what gave Tudor science and technology the impetus needed for radical progress.

The king's motivation for such innovation was fueled by two differing motivations: firstly there were the more obvious practical and tactical benefits to his numerous war efforts - better equipped armies won battles. Secondly, and crucially, there was Henry VIII's personal belief in the strategic and propaganda role of "awesome" arms and armour - for him, mightier leaders won wars.

A new display of the Tudor arms and armour will go on display as part of the "Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill" exhibition at the Tower of London, running from 3 April to 17 January 2010. Click on the image right to see a selection of pictures from the exhibition.

Comments

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Fertility and pins in the codpiece

sadman123456 wrote:

Thursday, 2 April 2009 at 07:53 am (UTC)

..In Victorian times young women would stick pins into the lining of the codpiece in the hope of increasing their fertility....." so the poor bugger donning the armour did not know there were a few pins strategically placed by his lady in waiting that would pierce his appendage or his bollocks ? Not exactly a good way to start a family was it?

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Re: Fertility and pins in the codpiece

dnmurphy wrote:

Wednesday, 4 November 2009 at 12:15 pm (UTC)

Did they have codpieces in Victorian England? I always associate that item of clothing with the Tudors and middle ages.

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Not practical

sadman123456 wrote:

Thursday, 2 April 2009 at 07:58 am (UTC)

This gauntlet does not seem practical at all. Besides the 90 lbs the poor fool would have to contend with he could hardly hold weapons which appear to have required they be thrust into the hole by the hand. A lightly armed opponent could take this overironed foll down in a second.

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Re: Not practical

johnjjonz wrote:

Thursday, 2 April 2009 at 12:33 pm (UTC)

The gauntlets are articulated, the plates move over each other so that the wearer can move his fingers. And these guys trained to fight in this gear, they were warriors by profession. I hear that Henry VIII was a real good athlete when he was young also.

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Re: Not practical

antique1960 wrote:

Thursday, 5 November 2009 at 02:43 pm (UTC)

This suit of armor is a very specialised suit designed for the jousting tournament. Note the vertical fin on the left shoulder. This was to deflect the lance of the opponent to help prevent seriuos injury to the face and neck area. Also note that the armor covers very little of the backs of the legs and buttocks area. This would not be needed whilst setting astride your horse. This was not the armor of some one who engaged in battle, possibly ending up on foot using swords or other close range weapons.

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Sure does protect one's hand

pontiacprince wrote:

Wednesday, 4 November 2009 at 12:52 pm (UTC)

Problem is that HRH would have been unable to 'ply' with his codpiece given the amount of armour on the hand.....

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Consult the book of armaments

brother_maynrd wrote:

Wednesday, 4 November 2009 at 10:42 pm (UTC)

King Arthur: Consult the Book of Armaments.
Brother Maynard: Armaments, chapter two, verses nine through twenty-one.
Cleric: [reading] And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, "O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy." And the Lord did grin. And the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths, and carp and anchovies, and orangutans and breakfast cereals, and fruit-bats and large chu...
Brother Maynard: Skip a bit, Brother...
Cleric: And the Lord spake, saying, "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.
Brother Maynard: Amen.

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kalywisper wrote:

Thursday, 5 November 2009 at 01:58 am (UTC)

Who cares!!! My boyfriend thinks the same with me. He is eight years older than me, lol. We met online at __Agelessmatch.com__a nice place for Younger Women and Older Men, or Older Women and Younger Men, to interact with each other. Maybe you wanna check out or tell your friends.

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Is that true, I wonder?

brazil2009 wrote:

Thursday, 5 November 2009 at 01:13 pm (UTC)

"The groin defence, commonly known as the cod piece, is of considerable size some think this was a propaganda device to suggest Henry s virility was not at fault despite his difficulties in fathering a son and heir." I once was told that that groin defence would protect his bits.He suffered from syphilis and that was why he had some trouble fathering viable infants.And that lower part of his anatomy would be painful if it was not properly accommodated. I would expect that this would sound more realistic than something designed to show off his ultimate weapon of war.

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