Livery Coats, Brigandines or Not

Some really interesting research by a Sir John Paston Household member, Alex Kay, on what C15th combatants may have been wearing  - based on intepreting the images in the Beachamp Pageant.


In summary, the Beachamp Pageant images show that coats without no obvious evidence livery badges seem to be the most common upper body clothing, followed by brigandines and "white armour".

From: Kay's "Project 'x' Statistics from the Beachamp Pageant"

Only a small percentage of costumes are clearly identifable as livery coats. Kay argues that this conclusion is worth reflecting on given that the Pageant was produced for the Beachamp family and therefore one would expect to see a high prevalence of Beachamp livery in the images. 

Other written and graphic contemporary evidence points to widespread use of livery coats including significant funding and material obtained for livery coats. Embleton's "Livery clothing, circa 1460-1480" in Dragon No 8, 1985, provides an excellent overview.

Where the balance lies isn't clear, but there is probably scope for re-enactors and wargamers to avoid far too uniformed (in both senses of the word) troop units representation. Handmade cloth production, incluing dyeing plus Kay's research suggests a bit more variety, including more brigandines may be needed.