1250 Knights Hospitaller Sergant

[sabrewolfe]

Ok so currently got kit on the go for doing a Knights Hospitaller circa 1250.
So far Ive got my split legged hoes sorted, my braies (sp) Aketon, Gambeson, Chainmail haulberk, polearm, sword and kettle helm and shield and it looks kinda like this.

Tintagel

9013930.jpg (24.27 KiB) Viewed 1628 times

(my best side according to Panda ) THe only few things I need to sort out is a coif, chauses (maybe) and a Cappa. The cappa is the one thing I have not got a clue about I bought material for it ages ago and never got around to making it, the period im aiming for (as far as I know) Hospitallers had not yet adopted milittary surcoats (which i think happened 20ish years later). Does anybody have any ideas? Is there things I have missing from my list of kit? Another question I have on a Hospitaller of this period is would they have had a white cross on their gambeson and if so where? Would it be central over the heart or on the right how big would it be ? What style would it be?
Any ideas please folks

[ratatosk]

According to my research and the timeline I assembled for my own Hospitaller group, and I can not remember which source I found this information in, but the dates for the various Hospitaller over garments in battle are as such:

Up to 1248: All brothers wear black cappa in battle.

1248: All brothers wear red surcoat in battle (this change was approved by Innocent IV)

1259: Brother knights wear red surcoats, while brother sergeants wear black surcoats (approved by Alexander IV)

1278: All brother knights and brother sergeants are to wear red surcoats on the battle field, while wearing black cappas in the convent

As far as the cappa goes, I do not think it is anything more than the traditional monk's robe. In this case probably made a bit larger to fit over the armor. See the pics below. (There are lots of patterns for monk's robes, some way more complicated than necessary. Mine is two long trapezoids for the front and back, with sleeves and a hood attached.)

I can not say for sure regarding the cross. I favor the position in the center of the chest because I just think it looks better.

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o28/ ... 000121.jpg

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o28/ ... 000075.jpg