15th Century Jacks

Jack Construction Options

I have assembled extent examples; historical text, and historical images (paintings and manuscripts) of jacks, this section we will give the options as I see them.

Materials

The shell of a jack must be of linen or leather in accordance with the historical ordinances below.

• Linen
• Leather
• Fustian - modernly it is a linen cotton blend historically one material ran warp and one weft on a loom. Fustians is for the insides of the jack only.
• Raw cotton (for stuffed jacks)
• The shell of a jack may be a stag's leather skin

Thickness

These thickness are based off the ordinances listed bellow and the extant examples

• A Jack of 30 layers of linen can stand alone
• A Jack of 25 layers and a leather shell can also stand alone
• A jack of 18 layers of fustian and 4 plus layers of linen
• A Jack of 10 or more layers should have a maille shirt with it
• A Jack that is four to six layers of canvas stuffed with raw cotton (a.k.a. cotton wool)

Body

• 8 piece body construction. Separate body and peplum pieces divided at the waist.
• 4 piece body construction. No divide at the waist.

Sleeves

• Long sleeves attached to the body
• Long sleeves laced on with maille voiders or a maille shirt under it.
• Short sleeves that cover to mid bicep
• No sleeves worn with a maille shirt.

Quilting

Any pattern you see in the period art at the bottom of the page is appropriate.

Closures

Only a few images shown in the art show closures and the extent jacks have closures. Here is a list of period methods used to close clothing that may be used and examples from the art and extent jacks:

• Lacing up the front with a long lacing cord though point holes (Must have a reinforce known as a porte piece)
• Parallel points at the neck, waist, and mid body. This method is used on the Lübeck Jack with a breastplate over it.
• Hook and eyes; there are period hook and eye designs but they are not tight closing and your jack may open up with this method
• Buttons; some art show a style of art where the front panels overlap and close with buttons
• Points; the last image in the gallery, Saint Moïse l'Éthiopien et demons, shows a line of points closing the jack.

Armor Worn with a Jack

• A breastplate may be worn with any jack with long sleeves

  • Seen in Hans Memling St Ursula Shrine
  • Stendal extent example was worn with a breastplate
• Jack Chains; long sleeves are required to lace jack chains onto.

  • Seen in Hans Memling St Ursula Shrine
  • Stendal extent example was worn with a breastplate
• Leg armor is sometimes worn with a jack

Extent Jacks

The following is an edited version of information on extent jacks posted on the Fire Stryker BBS by Ivo. These extent examples are of a continental design and I would not replicate them exactly but they are a good learning tool on stitch quality, stuffing, and closures.

There is a nice book by Heinrich Müller entitled "Albrecht Dürer. Rüstungen und Waffen" (ISBN 380532877X) dealing with arms and armour depicted in Dürer´s art. In this volume there are two photos of surviving jacks, dated to the late 15th/early16th century.

One of the pictures below shows the two jacks in the Holstentor Museum in Lübeck. The one still on display. Another picture shows a specimen which is in the possession of a museum in Stendal. It looks pretty much like the Lübeck one, but seems to be in a better condition.

According to the book combined with my observations of Ivo when in Lübeck, here are some details.

Construction:

• Two layers of stout linen canvas, interlined with compressed cotton batting, and quilted.
• No standing collars
• The skirt is cut quite wide to allow for the legs. There is only short slits in the sides at the bottom about 5 to 10 centimeters measured from the lower edge.

Length:

To just about mid-thigh, plus the daggings which must have reached to just below the knees.

As to the sewing:

• Finely stitched quilting.
• The Lübeck specimen seems to have been patched up quite often; there are different stitches used for the finishing of the edges.

Closures:

• On both, the Lübeck and the Stendal specimen, the skirt part is closed by means of regularly set eyelets, eight on each side, i.e. by four pairs of points or laced crosswise as shown in the photo posted above.
• Since the chest piece of the Lübeck jack is lost, we can only refer to the Stendal example, which is closed up the chest by only three pairs of eyelets for points. One set of eyelets is placed close to the neckline, one on breast level and one at waist level.
• According to the description given in the book this jack used to be worn underneath metal armour since there are stains of rust upon the garment. Given that a breastplate was worn with it, these three points were largely sufficient to keep the garment closed and fitting tightly to the soldier’s body.
• There is no "porte piece" flap being only necessary if the jack is meant to be worn as the stand alone defense for the torso for which purpose a multi-layered garment would be the better choice in terms of safety against penetration.

Text taken from a post by Ivo on the Fire Stryker web board. Amature photos taken by unknown source.

Museum photos from Bildindex Museum

Photos from the book; Albrecht Dürer. Rüstungen und Waffen" (Dealing with Arms and Armour Depicted in Dürer´s Art.) (ISBN 380532877X) Heinrich Müller

Historical Ordinances and Text

From the ordinance of St. Maximin de Treves , published October of 1473.

In the section describing the equipment of members of a lance - specifically the mounted archer "The mounted archer must possess a horse worth not less than six francs, and should wear a visorless sallet, a gorget (This may mean a maille standard or bevor), a brigandine, or a sleeveless mail shirt under a ten layer jack"

From the Ordinances of Louis XI of France (1461-1483)

And first they must have for the said Jacks, 30, or at least 25 folds of cloth and a stag's skin; those of 30, with the stag's skin, being the best cloth that has been worn and rendered flexible, is best for this purpose, and these Jacks should be made in four quarters. The sleeves should be as strong as the body, with the exception of the leather, and the arm-hole of the sleeve must be large, which arm-hole should be placed near the collar, not on the bone of the shoulder, that it may be broad under the armpit and full under the arm, sufficiently ample and large on the sides below. The collar should be like the rest of the Jack, but not too high behind, to allow room for the sallet. This Jack should be laced in front, and under the opening must be a hanging piece [porte piece] of the same strength as the Jack itself. Thus the Jack will be secure and easy, provided that there be a doublet [pourpoint] without sleeves or collar, of two folds of cloth, that shall be only four fingers broad on the shoulder; to which doublet shall be attached the chausess. Thus shall the wearer float, as it were, within his jack and be at his ease; for never have been seen half a dozen men killed by stabs or arrow wounds in such Jacks, particularly if they be troops accustomed to fighting."

Dominic Mancini wrote this about the archers in Richard III army in 1483 as they arrived at London:

There are hardly any without a helmet, and none without bow and arrows; their bows and arrows are thicker and longer than those used by other nations, just as their bodies are stronger than other peoples’, for they seem to have hands and arms of iron. The range of their bows is no less than that of out arbalests (crossbows); there hangs by the side of each a sword no less long than ours, but heavy and thick as well. The sword is always accompanied by an iron shield… They do not wear any metal armour on their breast nor any other part of their body, except for the better sort who have breastplates and suits of armor. Indeed, the common soldiery have more comfortable tunics that reach down below the loins and are stuffed with tow or some other material. They say that the softer the tunic the better do they withstand the blows of arrows and swords, and besides that in summer they are lighter and in the winter they are more serviceable than iron.

Howard Accounts mid 1400s. On having a doublet of Fence made:

"I toke to the dobelete maker..to make me a dobelete of fense, fore hevery for qwarter xviii folde theke of wyte fostyen, and iiii fold of lenen klothe, and a folde of blake fostyen to pote wethe howete"

Translation: "I took to the doublet maker, to make me a doublet of fence, for every four quarters 18 folds thick of white fustian, and 4 folds of linen cloth, and a fold of black fustian to put without."

My comments: In this case we are talking about a doublet of fence which works the same as a jack but is cut to look like a doublet. It is used as a civilian armor that is hidden so attackers do not know the wearer has protection on such as the case where John Paston (lawyer) was stabbed in court and his doublet of fence turn the attacker's blade. Because it is made to look like a doublet Howard had his made with a black material on the outside

Image Gallery
Please click on the thumbnails for a larger image

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Jan Van Eyck. Crucifixion c. 1440.

Rogier van der Weyden. Crucifixion c. 1460.

Jean Fouquet. Unknown Illumination c. 1460. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

King René's Tournament Book. Varying Illustrations c. 1460s.

Simon Marmion. Crucifixion c. 1470. John g. Johnson Collection, Philadelphia

Hans Memling Scenes from the Passion of Christ c. 1471. Galleria Sabauda, Turin

Hans Memling. Crucifixion c 1480. Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

Housebook Masters. Road to Calvary c. 1480. Rijks Museum , Amsterdam

Hans Memling St Ursula Shrine c. 1489. Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges

Hans Memling . Passion (Greverade) Altarpiece c. 1491. Museum für Kunst- und Kulturgedichte, Lübeck

Manuscript, Valerius Maximus, Des faits et des paroles mémorables 1475 came from Koninklijke Bibliotheek National Library of the Netherlands (Click here for the search engine)

Manuscript, Augustine, La Cité de Dieu, Books I-X 1475 came from Koninklijke Bibliotheek National Library of the Netherlands (Click here for the search engine)

Beauchamp Pageants c 1483. The British Library. (Click here for the search engine)

Chronicle of Diebold Schilling, Bibliotheque de la Bourgeoisie de Berne.

Manuscript, Siege of Thebes c. 1460. The British Library, England. (Click here for the search engine)

Saint Moïse l'Éthiopien et démon(s), Vincentius Bellovacensis, Speculum Historiale (trad. Jean de Vignay) 1463.