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REAL LIFE NEWS: MEDIEVAL ARMOUR SO HEAVY IT AFFECTED BATTLES

by Hazed

I think this goes into the "stating the bloody obvious" category, but new research has shown that the suits of armour worn by medieval soldiers were so exhausting to wear that they could have affected the outcomes of famous battles.

Scientists found some volunteers who agreed to wear 15th Century armour while they walked and ran on treadmills. The result: the subjects used high levels of energy, bore immense weight on their legs and suffered from restricted breathing.

The conclusion is that this may have had an impact on one particularly famous battle: the Battle of Agincourt, where the English trounced the French despite being outnumbered.

The armour-clad French had to trek through a muddy field to reach the stationary English battle line, so the researchers say their study suggests that by the time they got there, they were so exhausted by their march that it's no wonder they were defeated.

Read more about the results of these tests here.

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