If you have spent any amount of time studying medieval art, chances are that you have come across the Maciejowski Bible and its beautiful illustrations of everyday life in the 13th Century. The Bible has several different names due to its several distinguished owners. Maciejowski was a Polish Cardinal who gifted the bible to the Shah of Persia thus it bears his namesake. However, the bible is also known as the Morgan Picture Bible for J.P. Morgan who purchased the bible and introduced it to the modern scholarly community.
The subject matter covered starts at Genesis and ends abruptly shortly after the death of David’s son Absalom in II Samuel. This means that the illustrations cover some of the most episodic parts of the bible, dealing with the Creation story, Abraham, Moses, the Hebrew campaigns to conquer the Promised Land, the time of the Judges, the story of Ruth, King Saul, and King David, including the slaying of Goliath.
The Bible originally had no text as descriptions of the illustrations were only added years later. That means that the illustrations had to tell a story in a way that few pictures books do. Moreover, because the bible deals with people of various social classes, the illustrations necessarily feature people of both low and high status. This is unusual in medieval art because artists typically dealt with subject matter that a rich patron would relate to. Moreover, instead of illustrating the bible to reflect ancient fashion or customs, the artists depict everything from a mid-13th century perspective. The armor, the weapons, the buildings, the clothing – in short everything about the bible – reflects the period in which the bible was created. Therefore, it is an invaluable trove for the medieval historian or reenactor as it provides some of the best depictions of 13th century life available. Also, because of the episodic based stories told in this part of the bible, we enjoy a great variety of events and see the characters doing everything from bathing, harvesting, feasting, picnicking, giving birth, traveling, building structures, battling, and more.
Since this site deals primarily with maille and armor, we will ignore the non-germane, but excellent, illustrations. However, I highly recommend reviewing the entire bible. You can purchase out of print copies online by looking for "Old Testament Miniatures", published by George Braziller, New York. You can also view the entire bible online at: http://www.themorgan.org/collections/swf/exhibOnline.asp?id=200. Although it is viewable online, I can say from experience that seeing the illustrations up close in a double oversized book imparts far more than you can ever realize. I would recommend trying to find a copy online or going to a local university. I originally found a copy of the bible while at university and later received a copy as a Christmas gift. Believe me, it will be well worth the hunt -- the illustrations are absolutely stunning in person.
A word of caution before beginning. It is important to temper any conclusions about a time period from a single source. There are many risks in viewing an illustration of armor and assuming that ALL armor was the same. It is also dangerous to view many illustrations and, not seeing a specific style or type of armor, to assume that such armor must not have existed at all. Finally, it is dangerous to think that just because something is illustrated that it accurately represents any type of armor whatsoever rather than merely being illustrative shorthand. Bearing all of this in mind, it is possible to get a good sense the type of clothing and armor worn as well as the specific styles of the period. This is especially true because the Maciejowski bible was illustrated by a half dozen distinct artists in different sections. You can see the stylistic differences in how they draw the same things but can also see that they are indeed consistent in their styles and can therefore get a better sense of what the illustrations are truly depicting.
Finally, each picture contains a list of where it is located in the original manuscript, which artist completed the illustration and also has a short description of its subject matter for reference. I have also included my thoughts on the particulars of what the illustration adds to our knowledge of medieval fashion and armor.
Folio 3 Recto, Image 20, Hand 2
The Capture of Lot: This picture shows a number of small details such as knights wearing shields around their neck with straps. It shows men at arms wearing gambeosed coats and that some of the men in armor wear maille leggings while some do not. Those who do have leggings with full toes. The coats of maille universally have attached hoods with face covering aventailles as well as having attached mittens. Finally, some of the knights appear to have darkened maille. This is not depicted in many of the illustrations, but this particular artist does this in nearly all of his illustrations.
f. 3 verso, I 21, H2
The Rescue of Lot: A truly fabulous illustration. Abraham and his men rescue Lot by taking the camp by surprise. We see men in various states of arming themselves and therefore can get an excellent idea of how the armor was worn. For example, we see one man trying to pull a maille shirt over his head while another sits on the ground putting on padded cuisses. Finally, another man carries a gambeson, which gives excellent details such as how the gambeson has attached mittens.
f. 3. v, I 22, H2
Abraham Is Blessed: This illustration shows Abraham with his maille hood off and we can see that he is wearing a cerevelle/secret style of helm underneath the maille hood. Think about the amount of head protection that would have been worn. First, a padded cap, then the cerevelle, then the hood with aventaille was pulled over that. Finally, a pot helm was worn over the maille hood.
f. 4 v, I 29 H2
Jacob’s Covenant: This illustration gives a very detailed depiction of men-at-arms who are seen wearing only gambesons. Based on their armor, we get a good idea of what was likely worn under maille. In this illustration, we see thick padded gorgets on the neck. If you look closely, you can see that there is vertical stitching on the article to help keep the padding in place
f.7 v, I 54, H4
The Burning Bush: This illustration is included because it shows Moses taking his calf boots off and we get to see his hose without shoes. It appears that the hose only come down to the ankle and do not cover the feet at all.
f. 10 r, I 71, H3
Repulse from Hai: Again, we see darkened armor but this time by a different artist. Also of note are the various colored gambesons in this illustration. We see tan, red with a green gorget, green with a white gorget, blue with red sleeves and others. Also, some of the gambesons have full-length sleeves with attached mittens while others are only half-length sleeves.
f. 10 r, I 74, H3
Capture of Hai: This illustration shows a soldier wearing a shield on his back while he strikes the gate and also features without doubt the most gruesome slaying in the entire bible. Note the entrails.
f. 11 v, I 78, H3
The hanging of Five Kings: Although graphic, this illustration is an excellent front on depiction of maille hoods and aventailles. We can clearly see that the aventaille hung down in a pouch in front of the wearers faces while the hood hung from the back of the maille shirt. Also, We again see that the cerevelle was worn under the maille hood rather than over it. Also of note, in this and many other illustrations we clearly see that the lining of the surcoat is a different color that the outside of the surcoat. Finally, it is interesting to note that in the entire bible, no surcoat ever bears a blazon. This may be for artistic rather than historical reasons
f. 12 v, 84, H1
The Calling of Gideon: Again, although this illustration does not depict any armor, it is included because it gives a great sense of the entire wardrobe. We see the baggy braies and the individually legged hose quite clearly and get an idea of how these garments were worn.
f. 13 r, I 86, H1
The Fleece/calling forth the army: This one is interesting because the person at left and at center is Gideon at two different parts of his story. On left is when he puts out the fleece and at center is when he calls forth a militia. It is interesting because we see him wearing just a maille coat but with a tunic underneath. In the center, we then see him wearing a blue surcoat with no blazon. This gives a good idea of the kinds of layers that were worn either at the same time or different times and that a surcoat was not worn over maille at all times even by the same person. Finally, we can see the militia that came forth for the call. They appear to be lightly armed peasants with no armor. This tracks well with the bible story, but is also likely an accurate representation of how local peasant militias arrived at battles for which they were needed.
f. 13 r, I 87, H1
Gideon’s victory: Carrying over the surcoat/no surcoat theme from the last illustration, in this one, again, not everyone wears a surcoat. This may be a status issue with some being lesser knights or men at arms. However, it appears all have similar maille armor. In other illustrations, we see the same where some mailed men wear surcoats and some do not.
f. 20 v, I 133, H1
Carrying of the Ark to Battle: Note the various colors of the helms and how they are not coordinated to the surcoat and that the surcoat is not coordinated to the shield.
f. 27 r, I 166, H1
Goliath Mocks the Israelites: This picture highlights a number of features including an excellent view of the back of Goliath’s shield showing how the straps on a heater were attached. Also, Goliath wears plate greaves and is the only person in the entire bible to wear any visible plate armor. Another point of note is that the spear shafts are painted various colors.
f. 27 v, I 169, H1
David delivers supplies to his brothers: The wagon in this picture is carrying military supplies and gear including helms, maille shirts, and shields.
f. 28 r, I 172, H1
David rejects armor: In this picture, David famously rejects wearing armor and instead chooses to fight on his own terms. This picture superbly shows the form of maille as it is pulled over the head.
f. 42 r, I 254, H7
Uriah at David’s door: This picture shows Uriah at dinner while in his armor. This is the only picture in the bible to depict a man in armor who has his maille mittens removed. This picture shows the mittens as having slits in the wrists to allow the mittens to be removed and that the mittens would hang freely at the arms.
The Maciejowski bible has many more illustrations that I hope you will take the time to view. This article merely focused on the armor and dress of the medieval soldier. However, the bible has so much more to offer. The depictions of armor in the Maciejowski bible do not necessarily alter our perceptions of medieval armor. That is, there is nothing earth shattering in what we see. However, the depictions of armor are detailed enough and consistent enough that we can refine our understanding of what was worn, how it was worn, and how the armor functioned and laid on the body. Taking the time to study the bible will certainly give a deeper understanding of the period.