How did knights pee in their armor?

It's a myth that armor was so heavy that the knight had to be lifted on to his horse with a crane. But he did need attendants to pick him up if he fell off his horse in battle. When the fighting was over, they cleaned his armor with a mixture of sand and urine to stop it from getting rusty!

How did knights go to the bathroom in armor?

While wearing all that, a knight desperate for the toilet would have most likely needed the assistance of his squire to lift or remove the rear culet, so that he could squat down.

Where did they poop in medieval times?

The waste shafts of some medieval toilets ran down the exterior of a fort into moats or rivers, while others were designed with internal castle channels that funneled waste into a courtyard or cesspit. Other privy chambers, meanwhile, protruded out from the castle wall.

How did knights protect their groin?

The groin may be protected by the skirt of an entire mail shirt worn under plate armour - this was common in the 14th century and the Italians and some others continuedto wear it well into the 15th century.

How did knights clean their armor?

Chain mail was cleaned by swirling the armour around a barrel full of sand and vinegar; squires must have been as relieved to see the advent of smooth plate armour as the blacksmiths who had spent untold hours of tedium forging tiny metal rings into a coat of chain mail.

How Did Knights in Armor go to the Bathroom?

How did knights stop armor from rusting?

It's a myth that armor was so heavy that the knight had to be lifted on to his horse with a crane. But he did need attendants to pick him up if he fell off his horse in battle. When the fighting was over, they cleaned his armor with a mixture of sand and urine to stop it from getting rusty!

How heavy was a knight's sword?

Whereas a single-handed sword on average weighed 2–4 lbs., even the large two-handed “swords of war” of the fourteenth to the sixteenth century rarely weighed in excess of 10 lbs.

How did knights protect their balls?

A codpiece (from Middle English: cod, meaning "scrotum") is a covering flap or pouch that attaches to the front of the crotch of men's trousers, enclosing the genital area. It may be held closed by string ties, buttons, folds, or other methods.

Why did armor have codpieces?

The historical consensus on the origin of the codpiece is that it was devised to fill a gap and, initially at least, preserved men's modesty. From these practical beginnings, the codpiece ('cod' was slang for scrotum) became a fashion item in its own right.

Who has the best armor in history?

Did castles stink?

Often the moat surrounding the castle was used as a sewer. Both the moat and the castle quickly became smelly and dirty. It's said that the kings and queens of England never stayed longer than eight weeks in one of their castles because of the build-up of foul odors.

What did a medieval village smell like?

They were ankle-deep in a putrid mix of wet mud, rotten fish, garbage, entrails, and animal dung. People dumped their own buckets of faeces and urine into the street or simply sloshed it out the window.

What was hygiene like in medieval times?

Soap was sometimes used and hair was washed using an alkaline solution such as the one obtained from mixing lime and salt. Teeth were cleaned using twigs (especially hazel) and small pieces of wool cloth.

How was a knight paid for his work?

A knight would typically give 40 days of service each year to his liege lord. What did a knight get paid? Charlemagne's knights were given grants of conquered land which quickly put them on the road to wealth. They might also receive gifts of money or other precious things.

Can you sleep in medieval armor?

Sleeping in light armor has no adverse effect on the wearer, but sleeping in medium or heavy armor makes it difficult to recover fully during a long rest. When you finish a long rest during which you slept in medium or heavy armor, you regain only one quarter of your spent Hit Dice (minimum of one die).

Can knight armor stop a bullet?

Some types of modern body armor, mostly used by the military, offer a certain degree of protection against bladed weapons, but far less than medieval armor. Medieval armor would be essentialy useless against a modern high-power pistol bullet.

Why did Henry the 8th wear a codpiece?

This was the codpiece, and its role was a protective one, to safeguard the precious honourable member from harm. By the sixteenth century, everything had changed. The Tudor monarch Henry VIII was a power-dresser.

Why do they call it a codpiece?

The codpiece is buttoned, or tied with strings, to a man's breeches. It takes its name from the word 'cod', middle English for both 'bag' and 'scrotum', and arose because medieval men wore hose – essentially, very long socks – beneath their doublets, and nothing else in the way of underwear.

What is a knit codpiece?

The codpiece began as a solution to changing fashion. Throughout the Renaissance, various forms of the doublet-and-hose combination characterized men's dress. A doublet was a fitted, often quilted jacket that varied in length from above the knee to the natural waist.

Did knights fight to the death?

@Jared K Knights in full suits of armor mostly did not die in combat. Not dying in combat was their motivation for wearing expensive full suits of armor in battle.

Did knights really sword fight?

Two knights might fight each other alone (this was called single combat) while a huge crowd watched and cheered. Or else a large number of knights might form two teams, like two enemy armies, and try to beat one another at jousting (fighting on horseback with a lance) and sword-fighting.

Why is medieval armor so small?

There was a lot of recycling and upgrading done to armor while it was in use, and pieces that fit were used and reused, often to death. Pieces that were too small were more likely to end up shoved aside. So it may be like getting to a shirt sale late--all that's left is "small" and a couple of "extra-large".

Did knights fight in full armor?

People assume that knights were the only people who wore armor during battles, but this is certainly not true. While there's no denying that knights were the dominant force of most armies in medieval times and almost all of them wore armor, there were plenty of others who wore it too!

Did knights fight on foot?

Yes, they fought on foot quite frequently. The italicized line is a quote from a French knight named Philippe de Commynes who thought that the English had brought the practice of dismounted knights to France. At Agincourt the vast majority of the French and English knights fought on foot.

Can swords cut armor?

The edges can still be used against more lightly-armored opponents: no matter how effective a sword is against forms of armor such as brigandine and mail, no sword, no matter how sharp, can cut directly through plate armor.