ROUMANIAN HEAVY CAVALRYMAN, 15th CENTURY

An extract from Armies of the Middle Ages, Volume 2
by Ian Heath

79.      ROUMANIAN HEAVY CAVALRYMAN, 15th CENTURY

Despite the fact that armour is rarely mentioned in the sources it was, nevertheless, worn by many Roumanian noblemen by the 15th century at the latest. This figure, based on a Moldavian reliquary of the second half of the century, is probably an accurate portrayal of such armour, here comprising a helmet and half-armour of Italian design, probably imported via Hungary. Transylvanian heavy cavalry, in fact, were even more heavily armoured in full Western panoply of plate, whereas the figure depicted here lacks gauntlets and wears only poleyns on his legs (since full leg-harness would undoubtedly have severely hampered his ability to control his horse). Others seemingly wore mail corselets or fabric armour instead, and most carried shields, the one depicted here being based on a surviving 15th century Wallachian example in Bucharest; it is blue, charged with a rampant white lion with gold tongue and claws.