The Norman Bib Reconstructed.

The “Norman Bib” Reconstructed
with some thoughts about decorative borders on armour
By Steven Lowe

References Notes Pictures

A version of this article appeared in Varangian Voice of May 1994. It was re-printed in New Hedeby after re-working and revision.

There has been considerable discussion over the years about a feature shown on the Bayeaux Tapestry which, for lack of a better name, I call the “Norman Bib”. This appears to be a square of mail attached to the hauberk, covering the chest. It has a coloured border similar to those at the cuffs and hem of the hauberk itself (see figures 1 & 2). This feature keeps popping up, particularly around the late 11th-early 12th century, appearing in the Italian Hrabanus Maurus and the Catalan Bible of Rhodes, among others (see figures 3 & 4).

It has been suggested that this square was a reinforcement for the chest armour or simply a neck opening in the hauberk (the second idea can be dismissed immediately, as it is visible both when the hauberk is empty and when it is being worn.) A third interpretation, which I hope to demonstrate is the correct one, is that the “bib” was a form of ventail, a mail covering for the throat, usually left open, and fastened in place only when the wearer was just about to engage in combat. That ventails were in use in this period and region is demonstrated by a quotation from the Oxford version of the Song of Roland, dated to the end of the 11th century:

“He goes to strike Escremis of Valterne
Shatters and shivers the shield at his neck
Rends from his hauberk the ventail away . . .” (1)

In the Bayeux Tapestry the “bib” is almost never shown on someone actually involved in combat. However, further scrutiny shows that many engaged in combat do have one horizontal border showing at the base of the neck, and the neck itself is covered by mail (see Fig.6, and also Fig. 5 from the Bible of Rhodes).

I first tried a reconstruction of the “bib” in 1992; as part of a continuing correspondence we were having on the subject, Graeme Anderson in Tasmania came up with an explanation which led us to a solution of the problem. He proposed that the mysterious circular “blobs” at the corners of the square were actually large metal rings, two of which were tied to the hauberk by leather thongs just below neck level. When the ventail was open, the square would hang from these two rings, falling across the chest as in the Tapestry and other illustrations. When in use, the ventail would cover the throat, and the other two rings would be tied to thongs already attached to the sides of the coif.

This is even more clearly shown in the Bible of Rhodes, (though the large rings do not appear - perhaps they use two sets of laces instead); the warrior in Fig. 4 has his ventail open, while the one in Fig. 5 has his done up. The church pillar in Fig. 7 is particularly useful, as it shows the item in three dimensions.

I was also interested in the coloured borders shown on hauberks in the Bayeux Tapestry and elsewhere. An illustration from the Golden Psalter of St. Gall (c. 800 AD) (Fig. 8) shows decorative borders on a hauberk. But in this depiction (alone, unfortunately) its pattern is identical to the braid on the warrior’s tunic. The Bible of Rhodes and the Bayeux Tapestry also show decorated borders on mailshirts (Figs. 4, 5 & 9) and based on this I added braid to both mailshirt and bib. However, in my 1992 version I sewed braid on both sides of the mail, with the thread passing through the mail-rings, not sewn to them.

The ventail was simple to make and worked quite well; but it hung awkwardly if I bent forward and was a bit of a nuisance, and when tied up it didn’t look quite like the Tapestry illustrations (Fig. 11). I wasn’t all that happy with it, and ended up recycling the mail into a later style ventail, integral with the coif.

Late last year, I decided to have another go, this time sewing braid on to only one side of the ventail. This meant stitching it directly to the rings, which made the bond considerably firmer, and stiffened the edges of ventail. I attached it as before and - Lo and behold! The thing worked beautifully. No more flopping about when I leant forward.

There is still a little restriction on turning your head from side to side, which I think is a fault inherent in the design. This would be an incentive to leave the ventail open when not in use, and also to develop a better form of ventail. But in general it is most satisfactory, and as fig. 12 shows, it looks very similar to the contemporary illustrations. It’s quick and easy to do up by “feel”, even when wearing a helmet. By the way, due to its design, this type of ventail always seems to be done up under the chin, not over the mouth; if you do it that way, it sags and falls under the chin anyway. Covering the mouth seems to have come in when the integral ventail was developed.

From this reconstruction I have satisfied myself that the “bib” is a form of ventail which though simple, works efficiently and well, and that the borders on the armour of the Bayeux Tapestry were probably braid, a fashion which lasted from c. 800 AD but seems to have vanished after the early 12th century. A further argument in favour of braid (and against, say, leather), is that the braid cushions the underside of the chin when the ventail is tied up, protecting the skin from contact with the mail.

References

Edge, D and Paddock J.M., The Arms and Armour of the Mediaeval Knight, Bison, London, 1988.
Foss, M., Chivalry, (publisher and date unknown).
The Bayeux Tapestry
Owen D.D.R.(trans.), The Song of Roland, Boydell, Woodbridge, 1990.

Notes

(1) The Song of Roland. Trans. D.D.R. Owen.

Pictures

Fig. 1 From the Bayeux Tapestry. Anglo-Norman c. 1070 AD.

Fig. 2 From the Bayeux Tapestry. Anglo-Norman c. 1070 AD.

Fig. 3 From Hrabanus Maurus, Italian, late 11th century.

Fig. 4 From the Bible of Rhodes, Catalan, 10th or 11th century.