Medieval quivers

[Matt Easton]

Hi chaps,
I thought you might find this thread on our forum of interest:
http://www.fioredeiliberi.org/phpBB2...pic.php?t=2431

I'd be interested to know of you have any more original images of medieval (English if possible) quivers.

Cheers.

[gwynn]

Umm, not too many medieval English quivers around. Arrows seem to have been transported in large arrow bags [probably blocked out with wicker] and you grabbed what you wanted, threw them on the ground or stuck them in the ground or under your belt.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f6...andarrows1.jpg

but then saying that, there are pictures of smaller tie top arrow bags worn under the belt [and also seen on the ground in the previous pic]
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f6.../Horsemen1.jpg

the tie top is long enough to cover the fletchings when it rains and can be rolled back when you're working. The neck of the quiver is held open with a leather disc or, as in mine, with rope sewn around the sides. I wear mine under my belt at the back, it sits horizontally and it works very well.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f6...Openquiver.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f6...osedquiver.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f6...randhammer.jpg

You never see a back quiver! I believe Howard Hill worn one when he was doing the shooting for the original Robin Hood film, with Errol Flynn, and it became accepted as the norm - though he probably got the idea from the American Indians [?]
Leather tubular quivers, worn at the waist seem to appear in Tudor times but then I have a piccy of Henry VIII shooting and he's got his arrows under his belt as well.

[Matt Easton]

Hi Gwynn,
There were definitely leather side quivers earlier than the Tudor period - they are actually shown in quite a few 14th-15th century manuscripts (mostly in hunting scenes though).
Here are a couple of late-15thC Flemish examples:
http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Visualiseu...0&M=imageseule
http://www.fioredeiliberi.org/galler...2_itemId=10598
15thC French:
http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Visualiseu...1&M=imageseule
http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Visualiseu...1&M=imageseule
14thC French:
http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Visualiseu...9&M=imageseule
http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Visualiseu...1&M=imageseule

Matt

[gwynn]

Oh ja, I've seen them, I thought you were mainly after English quivers though.

[Matt Easton]

If possible, but very few manuscripts (relatively) were actually made over here unfortunately, so the chances are slimmer . Plus a large chunk of Flanders and a quarter of France was 'English' until the middle of the 15thC .
As everyone here is probably aware, one of the most common ways of carrying arrows shown is simply stuck through the belt. Does anyone here do that? Isn't it a pain in the ass? I can't get the blighters to stay there and not either slip down or pop out when I draw one.

Matt

[gwynn]

Originally Posted by Matt Easton

As everyone here is probably aware, one of the most common ways of carrying arrows shown is simply stuck through the belt. Does anyone here do that? Isn't it a pain in the ass? I can't get the blighters to stay there and not either slip down or pop out when I draw one.
Matt

When i'm doing displays with Purbrook Bowmen I tend to keep my 'specialist' arrows under my belt, usually the broadheads, as they are easy to pull out downwards, the long bodkins in the ground in front of me and the short ones in my waist quiver.
My maille shirt and jack weigh 27kg and I found out long ago the secret is to wear your belt really tight [takes the weight off your shoulders and puts it on your hips] a tabbard and another belt on top of that and the arrows don't seem to slip at all - I know of some archers who have sewn leather pads onto their kit where the arrows sit, but that seems too much hassle.
I have not tried more than a dozen under the belt - I think you would have problems then with arrows slipping and being able to move without stabbing yourself!

[Greenman]

Originally Posted by Matt Easton

If possible, but very few manuscripts (relatively) were actually made over here unfortunately, so the chances are slimmer . Plus a large chunk of Flanders and a quarter of France was 'English' until the middle of the 15thC .
As everyone here is probably aware, one of the most common ways of carrying arrows shown is simply stuck through the belt. Does anyone here do that? Isn't it a pain in the ass? I can't get the blighters to stay there and not either slip down or pop out when I draw one.

Matt

In the 17th- 18th centuries when arrows were stuck through the belt the arrowheads seem to have been contained within a small pouch suspended about 6/9 inches below the belt. Also, after wandering through some rather rough undergrowth with some swallowtails stuck through my belt, I found that they got caught by every fern , bramble, etc, I came across,regardless as to whether they were facing front or back. Fineally , after getting caught up on more time, turning round to retrieve an entangled arrow, loosing balance and sliding 10 ft down a bramble infested slope decided it was a Bl***y stupid way to carry arrows and a back Quiver would make a lot more sense. Seem to remember seeing some back quivers on the Bayeux Tapestry, might be wrong.

[gino]

Greenman, back quivers were used for the exact reason you just stated, hunting in dense woodland. It kept the arrows out of the way. It's a myth that they were used in battle though.

[Matt Easton]

Originally Posted by Greenman

In the 17th- 18th centuries when arrows were stuck through the belt the arrowheads seem to have been contained within a small pouch suspended about 6/9 inches below the belt.

Seems they had something like that in the 13thC as well:



Matt