The Arms and Armor Iberian Mace is a great example of a 13th century impact weapon. Based on several examples from the Iberian Peninsula, this is a weapon of war designed to exploit the weaknesses of 13th century armor. We were inspired by examples in Spain, but took the design for the piece from examples in the manuscript Beatus, San Millan de Cogola 13th C., Acad. de la Historia, MS. 11 & 111, in Madrid.
Prior to the development of rigid plate, most knightley armors of the period consisted of maille and quilted fabric in layers. While this technology provided excellent protection from cuts, it did little to protect from crushing injuries that produced broken bones and concussion. The pictures below are period representations of 13th century knights from Spain and give a good idea of the types of armor they wore.
Knights in the 13th century Pamplona Picture Bible and Life of the Saints, Augsburg Library
13th century knights in maille, Monastery of Valbuena, Valladolid, Spain
Iberian Mace Review
Nathan Clough, Ph.D. is Vice President of Arms and Armor and a member of the governing board of The Oakeshott Institute. He is a historical martial artist and a former university professor of cultural geography. He has given presentations on historical arms at events including Longpoint and Combatcon, and presented scholarly papers at, among others, The International Congress on Medieval Studies.
Craig Johnson is the Production Manager of Arms and Armor and Secretary of The Oakeshott Institute. He has taught and published on the history of arms, armor and western martial arts for over 30 years. He has lectured at several schools and Universities, WMAW, HEMAC, 4W, and ICMS at Kalamazoo. His experiences include iron smelting, jousting, theatrical combat instruction and choreography, historical research, European martial arts and crafting weapons and armor since 1985.