Early Crusader Knights

Three more early Crusaders. Black Tree Design. Below is shown a bit of the inspiration for one of the above shields: an ivory bookcover from the Meuse-Region, Europe, 2nd half 8th century showing Christus Victor. As it looks very timeless byzantine it's just right for my Antiochian Crusader army.

Somewhere I heard the bellicose franks prefered warrior saints like St. Martin or St. George. In a similar way medieval frankish crusader knights fought as "milites christi" and worshiped Christ as their invincible hercules. And somewhere on my harddisk there is a picture of a 13th century illumination showing Christ on a charger leading a bunch of heavly armoured knights in his raised right hand an open book and between his lips the blade of a long dagger, a symbolic gesture emphasizing the superiority of the spoken word over ... hm...sometimes I'm not sure over what...over violence? Hm...but anyway, makes for a good banner-emblem for a lead army.

Christ bares his cross over his right shoulder like an axe.

Crusader Knights with St. John Order Foot

Early Crusader Knights

Some Black-Tree-Design Normans I painted as Early Crusader Knights, maybe members of the Order of St. John. I think Black Tree Design produce the most beautiful horses. But they are huge. I got problems putting them on 60x40mm DBA bases.

The Sicilian Army 13th Century

Miniatures from: Crusader-Miniatures, Artizan, Black Tree. The Knights look a bit dated - Still them good ole Normans...BUT: I ordered the right models for this period from Mirliton...but that's another paint-job...will it ever end? By the way, these pictures make for great desktop-backdrops.

Painting Shields and Textiles

I practice the designs first on a sheet of good drawing paper, experiment with colour schemes and get used to painting them with verve so they appear more lively on the model.

Norman Blades

Some Norman Blades 25mm (Foundry miniatures). They can figure in any norman or frankish army of the 11th or 12th century, even as crusader knights (after eating their horses). Historical evidence for early heraldry is scarce. I imagine these footknights to be of a lesser status then their mounted comrades. To show this I paint monochrome heraldic devices on a simple eggshell-colored background (wood and parched leather). They probably painted their shields themselves. The heraldry is made up except the blue one with the six golden lions: this is the coat of arms of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou (1130-1151). It reappears on the tomb of William de Longspee, Earl of Salisbury , bastard son of Henry II Plantagenet and his maitresse, Rosamund de Clifford. I will probable stick this shield on a rich mounted knight later on and give this guy here a simpler design.
Geoffrey d'Anjou Le Beau Funeral plate 12th century

Norman Spears

Here are some Foundry Norman spears 25mm. I painted the heraldry for the heck of it, I think the crisscross patterns are quite familiar. The gold lion on blue is made up, too.